by Nalini Singh
She ran her claws down his back, hard enough to bite. “I’m not your mate yet.”
“Just a matter of time.” That gorgeous smile back in full force, he bent down to scrape his teeth over her jaw.
Growling, she tussled with him, tumbling him to his back. He managed to get her under him again, their bodies rubbing against each other. The scent of arousal grew hotter, deeper, until the tussling was slower, her claws kneading his shoulders as she welcomed him into her body. His cock was thick and hard; the stretching sensation made her moan and wrap herself around him.
She held him close as they moved together, his breath mingling with hers and his skin sliding hot and a little damp over hers. She loved how he smelled, how he felt, everything about him. Her leopard was in full agreement, but she was a cat, wanted to play some more, wanted to see what else he had up his sleeve.
• • •
Felix received more than a bit of gentle ribbing after people glimpsed his smile the next day—and especially when he stripped to go for a run and word got out about the claw marks on his back. Whistles sounded from his packmates, but he could handle it. As long as Desiree wanted to be his, he could handle everything.
Including a mating dance with a cat.
He thought of her smile the previous night, of the way she’d pounced so playfully on him, and knew he’d got it right. He’d surprised and delighted her. But the game wasn’t over yet, wouldn’t be over until he’d won her. So he found out her watch route and left her cake pops, sparkly bracelets made of faceted crystal, tiny chocolate sculptures, and other silly, fun things in secret places, then messaged her clues.
Her DarkRiver packmates accidentally found a few of the treats and, after figuring out what was going on, started turning up along her watch route to see what she’d discover next. Word spread to the wolves, and suddenly Felix had to avoid not one but two groups of nosy packmates when he went to hide the treats.
Then there was his mom, who beamed at him whenever she saw him, then tried to get him to confess his plans, and his dad, who slapped him on the back and said, “That’s my boy! Showing these cats how to court a woman.”
His sister, meanwhile, teamed up with Drew and Sienna to distract packmates so Felix could slip away quietly to hide his surprises for Desiree.
As for Desiree’s parents—Harry had taken his measure during a work shift, while Meenakshi had invited him down for a “little chat” that turned out to be more of an interrogation. Felix had liked Harry since their first meeting and, during the interrogation, he fell a little in love with fierce, protective Meenakshi. Apparently, he passed muster, because they’d smiled and wished him luck—then told him he’d need it with their independent and strong soldier daughter.
His courtship of Desiree had become far more public than he’d intended, but Felix found himself dealing with it without worry.
Because he had Desiree.
And he was going to keep his cat.
• • •
Desiree bit into a cake pop with a goofy grin on her face. Felix had hidden this one high up in a tree. The climb had to have taken him forever, which made it matter all the more. Sitting on the tree limb, legs swinging, she suddenly caught his scent when the breeze shifted. She froze and, finishing the cake, walked very carefully through the canopy until she was almost right on top of him.
He was hiding something else, this time in the roots of a tree. She saw the hint of a sparkle before his body blocked it.
Her leopard grinned at having caught him.
Muscles bunched, she pounced. They went rolling to the forest floor, Felix’s startled eyes looking up into hers as she stretched out on top of him. “You were meant to be in the other sector,” he said with a scowl.
“I know.” She’d swapped sectors with another soldier after deciding to see if she could find some of his hidden treats before he sent her the clues. “What did you hide for me?”
He gripped her hips. “Bad kitties don’t get presents.”
Pretending to growl at him, she wiggled out of his hold and went to the tree roots. His gift was hidden in a small hole among the roots. It wasn’t a necklace or a bracelet. No, it was a string of tiny sparkling beads meant to tie off braids. Her eyes burned at the beauty and perfection of the gift. “Where did you get this?”
Nuzzling at her from behind, he said, “Special order from New York.”
He was so damn wonderful. And she wanted the whole wide world to know he was hers, for no one to ever again question their relationship. Placing the beads on the ground with care, she turned into his arms and kissed him. He groaned, hitching her onto his thighs as he knelt on the ground. “Say yes,” he whispered. “Say yes, Dezi.”
Her heart overflowing with love, Desiree wrapped her arms around him, put her lips right to his ear, and said, “Yes.”
The mating bond ignited, stealing her breath and making the air rush out of his lungs. His arms locked around her, hers around him as the power of it gripped them both by the throat and demanded everything they had. Trembling in the aftermath, Felix in a similar condition, she realized she could feel the earth and the warmth of him inside her now.
Her leopard stretched out in pure, happy delight as Felix fell back, taking both of them to the forest floor. Lying flat on his back, his hands on her hips, he watched her push the hair off her face . . . and he smiled. A gorgeous, deep smile that creased his cheeks and that was so infectious she was grinning madly when she kissed him. “You taste smug.”
“I am smug,” he said, shifting his hands to her ass. “I just convinced my impossibly beautiful, dangerously sexy dominant leopard changeling to mate with me.” Amber eyes glowed with the wolf’s delight. “This smug isn’t going to wear off for a while.” He groaned as she rubbed her body over his hard one. “Especially if you keep doing things like that.”
Desiree decided she liked him smug. She particularly liked how he held her eyes as they just lay there looking at one another with matching grins. “I feel slightly drunk.”
“Yeah, the mating bond packs a punch.” He ran a hand over her back. “Thanks for hitting on me right back at the start.”
“Thanks for taking the risk and playing with me.” Running her fingers through his hair, she rubbed her nose against his. “So, where are we going to live?”
Epilogue
They ended up building an aerie near the SnowDancer den. As a wolf and for his work, Felix needed to be physically closer to his pack, and Desiree was plenty fast enough to run down to DarkRiver land whenever she wanted. Settling in the den was out, however—she loved the sense of family and stability that was Pack, but she’d go nuts living that close to so many packmates.
The aerie was a happy medium, ensuring her leopard had its own small territory while giving Felix quick access to the den. Desiree didn’t stick to the aerie, of course, coming in and out of the den as needed. And Felix came down with her to see her parents and packmates regularly. The distance could’ve been problematic with her own responsibilities as a DarkRiver senior soldier, but Riley and Mercy had figured things out so she now worked with both the SnowDancer and DarkRiver teams.
Her alpha had cupped her face at the news of her mating and, panther-green eyes holding her own, said, “You may have mated with a wolf but you’re DarkRiver—no way in hell am I allowing Hawke to steal you.” A snarl. “You’re on the road to becoming a sentinel and I expect the same things from you that I expect from my other sentinels.”
“Yes, sir,” Desiree said, Lucas’s approval the icing on her joy.
“It’ll mean a lot of hard work and long hours for you,” Lucas warned. “Your mate going to be able to handle it?”
“Absolutely.” Desiree had not a doubt in her mind about that, not after Felix had offered to leave his beloved greenhouses and find a position at a lower elevation, should she need to remain in DarkRiver territory.
It had taken her over a month to convince him that she’d be more than fine with an aerie near the SnowDancer den. Leopards were far more independent than wolves in terms of their living arrangements, and it wasn’t as if she didn’t see packmates on a regular basis—especially given the increased cooperation between DarkRiver and SnowDancer.
Plus, her sister was grown and currently roaming the world, while Felix’s sister was a teenager who looked to him often for advice.
When Desiree did need to be in DarkRiver territory for a longer period, she and Felix bunked in her old aerie, Felix adjusting his own schedule so he could come down with her. He’d already started talking to her father about setting up a greenhouse on DarkRiver land, and he was never not busy when in leopard territory. Once, she’d returned from a sentinel and senior soldier meeting to find three small leopard cubs asleep on the sofa beside him as he drew up plans for the proposed greenhouse.
“Emergency babysitting,” he’d said with a smile.
People trusted him not just because he was Desiree’s mate but because he was Felix: strong and honorable and with a quiet courage that meant he’d fight to the death to protect the innocents in his care.
“We’re making it work,” she said to him six months later, as they sat on the balcony of their SnowDancer aerie, spring a crisp green scent in the air around them. “We’re really making it work.”
“Of course we are.” Picking up her hand, he kissed her knuckles. “We belong to each other. Whatever it takes to stay together, that’s what we’ll do.”
Yes, Desiree thought as the setting sun’s rays hit them both. It gilded his hair, stroked his skin with gold. “I really love that our folks get along.” The four were having dinner together that night, having clicked at their very first meeting.
Desiree loved Felix’s mom and dad, could see where he’d gotten his heart and warmth. “When’s Maddy back from her camping trip?” That trip, run by Riley, was meant to teach the pack’s young dominants advanced survival skills.
“Two days.” Felix’s smile was affectionate. “She wanted me to ask if she could go on patrol with you sometimes after she comes back, to get some experience.”
“Sure. But why didn’t she just ask me?”
“You know she idolizes you.” Another kiss on her knuckles. “I’m her hero for mating with you.”
Her lips quirked. “You’re her hero anyway.” The way Felix treated his sibling, and all the other young cubs and pups who were drawn to him, it was simply another indication of the huge heart that beat in his chest.
And the way he treated her . . .
Her eyes stung, her throat closing up.
He gave her flowers every day.
“Hey.” His arm coming around her, tucking her into the protective warmth of him. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said, her voice husky as she looked up into the eyes that never hesitated to meet hers now, the trust between them an unbreakable thread. “I’m really happy, Felix.” Sometimes she just had to say it aloud, release all the happiness building inside her lest it explode.
Her mate’s startled half laugh, half smile was her reward. “Me, too,” he whispered. “I’m so glad we didn’t give up.”
“Want to go exploring together?” she asked some time later, after the sun had set and the stars had started to sparkle. “Indigo told me about a hidden waterfall about a mile from here.”
“I’d go anywhere with you, Dezi.”
Her heart, it was all achy and full of puppies and rainbows and all kinds of other things that weren’t the least tough-shit and Desiree didn’t care. Not here, not with Felix. Nipping affectionately at his throat, she said, “Come on, mate. My cat wants to race your wolf.”
“Only after we’re on the ground.” A scowl. “If I try to jump off the aerie like a certain cat, I’ll break both legs.”
Desiree laughed . . . and her sneaky wolf mate pounced on her.
FLIRTATION OF FATE
Promises
Kenji saw Garnet take off into the trees.
The party to celebrate their alpha’s mating was going full blast and he could tell from the way Garnet had danced and laughed that she was more than enjoying herself, but he’d predicted she’d sneak out to the lake sooner or later. Garnet was as much a pack animal as the rest of the SnowDancer wolves around her, but she loved the lake deep in central den territory, always visited when she was up in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
He followed her even though he knew he shouldn’t. He’d made himself a promise a long time ago when it came to Garnet and a whole lot of that promise depended on keeping his distance. But tonight the stars were out and he’d had a couple of beers and he’d been watching her dance with everyone but him except for that one time when he’d broken in for half a song; his defenses were at an all-time low.
He just wanted to spend a few minutes alone with her.
Yeah? And what if she isn’t looking for alone time by the lake? What if she’s heading off to exchange skin privileges with another packmate?
Kenji’s gut lurched, his claws pricking the insides of his skin.
If he saw Garnet with another man, he’d force himself to walk away as he’d been doing since the day of her twenty-first birthday, seven years earlier. No matter if he wanted to tear that other man to shreds. He’d had a long time to learn to control his primal instincts where Garnet was concerned.
He refused to think about the fact that it was getting harder rather than easier to rein in his possessiveness. As if as he matured, so did his need for her. He’d probably go to his grave loving Garnet Sheridan.
Tonight, however, he didn’t have to call on his dwindling reserves of strength. It soon became clear that Garnet wasn’t meeting a lover. A smile on her face and her eyes looking up at the stars, she was walking barefoot and unhurried through the forest in a direction that would eventually spit her out at the lake. He stayed upwind, content to see her so simply happy.
Not at all stalkerlike and creepy, Tanaka.
Shut the fuck up. It’s only one moment.
The rest of the time, she ran the Los Angeles den—which wasn’t in L.A. proper at all, but in the Santa Ana Mountains, and he ran the den at the southern end of the San Gabriel Mountains, his remit including the San Fernando Valley. Garnet’s geographic region was smaller but it had more people packed in, with the attendant higher incidents of trouble, so they had around the same level of responsibility.
Busy as they were in their own regions, their paths only crossed via comm conferences, or the occasional pack event. They worked together to keep pack lands safe and they flirted in a way that was all sarcasm and razor-sharp wit, but that was where it stopped. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—cross that line. Even if he slipped up and betrayed his need for her, it wouldn’t be a total disaster—after all these years, he was pretty sure Garnet didn’t take anything personal he said seriously.
As he watched, she took a deep breath of the cool mountain air and did a little swirl. Her soft blonde hair was up in a fancy knot and her midthigh-length dress was the color of a blood orange and fitted, but at that instant, she moved as if she were a pixie with flowers in her hair, one who wore a frothy summer dress.
The image made him smile. Garnet had never been the frothy-skirt type—she’d always been so small that she’d had to fight to be taken seriously, even as a powerful dominant. Now only the stupid didn’t realize that she was as lethal as any of her fellow lieutenants. However, there were no hard edges on Garnet. Not only was she petite, one of the smallest adults in the pack, her face was delicate, her hair fine, the tiny tendrils around her face kissing skin of sun gold.
His fingers curled into his palms as he fought the urge to reach out and thrust his hands into her hair, bunching the softness in his grip as he brought his mouth down on the lush temptation of her own.
• • �
�
Garnet was enjoying the brilliantly clear mountain night and trying not to think about a certain man and how damn good he’d felt against her during their dance, when she caught the scent of oak and fire and something intensely masculine. A scent that had surrounded her a half hour before, when Kenji broke into her dance with another SnowDancer lieutenant. She’d caught it on her skin afterward, a silent, aggravating taunt.
Her wolf rising to the surface of her skin on the memory, she growled low in her throat. “Go away, Kenji.” There was no need to raise her voice—his hearing was as good as her own, and he was close. He must’ve stayed upwind to sneak up on her.
“Why do you have to be like that?” he said, prowling out of the trees to fall into step beside her, tall and graceful and with the handsome features of a Japanese pop star. All clean angles and dramatic bones. That his slightly overlong hair was dyed a rich purple and sprayed with tiny golden stars only added to the effect.
She’d have thought it an affectation, except that he’d been doing things like that since he was a kid too young to think about being cool. As a seven-year-old, he’d once drawn “tattoos” on himself with permanent marker.
Then there was the time he’d painted his hair with house paint. She could still remember his shaved head afterward—it had been the only way his parents could strip off the toxic paint, as shifting might’ve redistributed the paint all through his wolf fur. They’d been more distressed than Kenji. He’d asked the barber to cut zigzag patterns into the resulting stubble.
She liked the way he wore it now, how it was just long enough to hint at rebellion, the strands thick and silky.
“Going to the lake?” he asked, green eyes locked on her.
Putting a half meter of distance between them because she knew it wasn’t a good idea to be alone with gorgeous, teasing Kenji Tanaka when she’d had a drink or three and her inhibitions were lowered, she said, “Going to the lake—to be alone.”