Her hand went to her throat. “The amazing wolf, is he?” Oh my God, she’d been tagging the locals.
“That’s Reid.”
“The angry friend who needed your spare pants?” She buried her hands in her face. “He’s going to hate me.”
“Probably, but he’ll get over it.” Finn approached her. “Can I sit with you if I promise not to bite?”
Mack patted the bed beside her. Hell, she’d already let him inside her, letting him sit on her bed should be easy, but it wasn't. His thigh touched hers and that familiar ache raced through her body.
“I’ll answer any question you have.” He laid his hand on her thigh furthering her struggle to keep her body in check.
“This thing between us…”
“We’re fated mates. It doesn’t happen for everyone, but when it does, it’s powerful. You feel like electricity running through my veins when I’m near you.” His hand rubbed up and down her bare leg.
The skirt of her dress rode higher up her thigh, and the tingling sensation grew until her core pulsed with need, but she knew she couldn’t feed her hunger for him until she had all the answers.
“The two smaller wolves. Were they his mates? Will he try to hurt me because I tagged them?”
Finn shook his head and raised his hand to cup her cheek. “Not every animal shifts. Those were wolves. Reid on the other hand is an alpha wolf and leader of his pack. I clipped his tag. He’ll get over it.”
She reached up to touch his ear. “That day at your house, you were bleeding. That was because of me.”
His nod nearly broke her heart. She’d hurt this man. She’d caused him bodily harm.
His hand reached down to stroke the lobes of her ears. “Have you ever pierced your ears?”
She had no idea why he was talking about ear piercing at a time like this, but she’d play along if it kept his hands on her. “Yes, but my body rejects them.” He smiled and she understood. “I’m a bear?”
“Yes, love. I believe you're a half-breed, or what I prefer to call a hybrid. Half human and half bear.”
When he said half-breed her gut twisted. It was what her mother always called her. Consumed by bears was how she’d described her dad. “My father.” Once more her soul knew the truth.
“We’ll find him.” Finn laid back and pulled her to his side.
“Really? How?” Her body curled into him naturally.
“The Wereweb of course.”
He said it like it was common sense, but to her it was like she’d woken up in Narnia.
“What happens to us?” Her heart raced. Was there some rule about fated mates? She’d never shifted in her life. She wasn’t sure she could. She always felt like there was something itching under her skin, but it never pressed forward. “I don’t shift.”
“No, you don’t, but that’s because your parents weren’t a fated match, however, our cubs will shift because you, my love, were made for me.”
Her insides warmed at his words. They were words she’d dreamed a man would tell her. She never imagined they would come from a man who was also a bear.
“Is everyone here a shifter?” She couldn’t stop her hands from running up and down the muscles of his chest.
“No.” He leaned in and nipped at her lip leaving it wet and her wanting.
“How do you hide it?” She licked at the place he’d nibbled on. His taste coated her tongue.
“Here’s the thing. Once someone finds out, they either have to be mated or …”
Mack let out a gasp. “Killed?”
“Pick your poison, love. I’d rather spend my life loving you than spend it mourning you.”
“You’d kill me?”
“I’d have to, and then I’d kill myself because there’s no life without you, Mackenzie Smith. I’d rather die.”
“Are you sure I’m the one?”
He pulled her hand to his heart, and she felt its beat skip and race until it matched her own. “We’re connected in ways neither of us will understand.”
“It’s fate.”
“Honey, we barely had a choice.” He rounded her hip and grabbed her ass to pull her closer to him. She loved the way her body sang when he touched her.
“You mean B-E-A-R-L-Y a choice. Right?”
He nodded. “What’s it going to be?”
“Does this mating thing have you inside of me again?” She wiggled her body against him. His dick jerked under the towel.
“That’s part of it.”
Mack pulled at her dress trying to get it off as fast as she could. “I’m all for that then.”
Finn rolled away from her and stood by the bed. “Not here, love. Pack your bags. You’re coming home with me. When I mate you it’s going to be long and loud. My bite will leave you screaming… in a good way.”
Did he say bite? “You’re going to bite me?” She should have been terrified, but she wasn't. Didn’t she have the urge to bite him earlier?
He leaned over her and licked her collarbone. “I’m going to mark you right here.” He bit her gently and the stirrings between her legs started again, or maybe they never stopped. “Everyone will know you’re mine.”
She pulled him down on top of her. “How will they know you’re mine?”
“You can tattoo your name on my forehead if it makes you feel better. I know I’m yours, and that will never change. Now, let’s go. I’m having a hard time keeping my bear in check.”
Finn didn’t wait for her to pack her stuff neatly. He threw her bag on the bed and shoved everything he could find inside it. Within minutes, he was pulling her down the stairs. He was still wrapped in only a towel.
He threw the bag into the back of the truck. “Stay here.” He fluttered a kiss across her lips and ran to the tree line. Minutes later he came back with pants on, and his arms full of everything else.
“Ready to go home?”
Mack reached for his hand. “Anywhere you are is home, Finn. I’ve known that from the first minute I saw you.”
“Fate, sweetheart. It’s fate.”
Chapter 12
Finn
God she was beautiful. Her naked body glowed under the moonlight that shone through his bedroom window. It was like a spotlight highlighting the first moment of the rest of his life.
“Are you scared?” He reached down and stroked his hard cock.
“No.”
“Do you want me to explain it all again?” Finn had done his best to explain that at the moment their bodies sang in unison, he would mark her as his for life.
“Damn it, Finn. If you don’t get on this bed and make love to me right now, I might bite you.” She wiggled her hips and her luscious breasts shook from side to side.
He stalked toward her and kneeled on the floor in front of the bed. “No condom. I’m planting my seed in you, and if we’re lucky, you’ll be having my cub in the spring.”
“Finn,” Mack growled. And it was a growl. Her inner bear was done waiting too.
He kissed her legs from ankle to hip and dipped his tongue to lap up a taste of her honey. He could spend an entire night licking at her sweetness.
His bear began to surface. Just the part of him that was needed for the mating. His bear chuffed at the idea that all of him wasn’t needed, but all Finn wanted was his teeth.
“Finn, I need you.” Mackenzie pulled at his hair. She was torn between what she wanted and what she needed. She lifted his face from between her legs and then pressed it back down. He was happy to oblige. He pulled her tight little bundle of nerves inside his lips and suckled.
Her hips bucked off the mattress, and a moan that could shake the rafters left her mouth.
“That’s it, love, just go with it.” Finn spent minutes pulling her to the edge and throttling her back. When he came inside her, he wanted her to growl his name.
Next he crawled up her body and lavished attention on her beautiful breasts. There was more than a mouthful and not an inch was wasted. Her dusky nipples turned into
pebbles and begged his mouth for attention. His cock bobbed between her legs. It was glorious torture.
“Now Finn. Now.”
“Is my mate impatient?” He positioned himself at her wet entrance.
“Damn it, Finn. Your mate is desperate.” She grabbed at his hips.
When he slid inside her, his whole world made sense. Every stroke was a promise to her to be the best husband, friend, and father to her and their future children.
“That’s so good,” she said as she pumped her hips up to match his thrusts. “So, so good.”
Finn knew she was close when her body began to vibrate beneath him. “I love you, Mackenzie.” He pressed deep inside her and waited for her body to pulse around him like he knew it would. Her moans turned into a primitive growl, and that’s when he bared his teeth and sunk them into the soft flesh above her collarbone. The minute he punctured her skin, they both came undone. His name echoed to the vaulted ceiling just like he’d imagined. But his mate surprised him when she pulled his throat to her mouth and bit him. Razor sharp teeth pierced his skin, and a burst of light exploded behind his lids. Ecstasy.
His mate had marked him as surely as he had her. Her tongue shot out to lick the wound, and it closed immediately, but he knew when he looked in the mirror, he’d see her claim on him, and it made him roar with pride.
“Oh. My. God. I bit you.” She licked at her receding eyeteeth. “Did I shift?”
He collapsed on top of her and laughed. “No, love, but you found your teeth.” Her face fell like somehow she’d failed. “We’ll find your bear one hair at a time.”
“Can we do that again?”
“You want me to bite you again?” Finn smiled and showed her his eyeteeth that were also receding.
“No.” She seemed to consider her reply. “Unless you want to. I liked it, but what I really want is you deep inside my body.”
He rolled over and placed his palm on her soft stomach. “If we’re lucky, a piece of me is already growing in your belly, but I’m happy to do it over again and again. I could spend my life between your legs.”
“I love you, Finn Marks. You’re mine.”
Finn was hers and he had the mark to prove it.
After they made love all night long, they woke to the afternoon sun beaming through the window.
“Hey love, we have to get up. You have to meet the Itan and Itana.”
“Who?” She rolled to face him, and his heart twisted with love. How lucky was he that he’d found the one. The only one who could be his forever.
“Ty and Mia. They’re the clan leaders here. He gave me until today to mate you or else.”
“On my God, they’ll know we did it.” Her face turned candy apple red.
He traced the puncture marks on her neck. “They would have known regardless. You’re marked as mine.”
She jumped from the bed and rummaged through her bag.
“What are you looking for?”
“A scarf.” She tossed things out until the bag was empty.
“Mackenzie, you will not cover our love for each other.”
She stopped at his firm words, and a smile as wide as a canyon spread across her face. “You’re right, this is love, and I wear it proudly.” Her fingers traced over the marks on her neck in a loving fashion. He might as well have given her diamonds.
An hour later when she emerged from the bedroom, Finn expected to see her in a turtleneck, but she was dressed in a low cut shirt proudly displaying his mark. If he hadn’t already called Ty and said they would be there soon, he would have taken her back to bed. There was nothing sexier than his mate.
“A couple of things you should know.” Finn said as they approached the big house. “Don’t swear. Mia will fine you. If I’m paying for anyone’s college education, it will be my own cub.” He looked down at her belly. He knew his cub was already growing inside her womb. He felt it as fact. It was as clear as it was that she was his mate.
He’d let her get used to the idea of being his before he broke the news that in just under a year they’d be a threesome.
The front door opened and Sophia rushed down the steps with her mother racing after her.
“Come back here young lady.” Mia swept the little girl into her arms. Ty rushed behind her. “You don’t run outside without Daddy or Mommy with you.”
“But Mommy, I wanted to see the girl who shot a dart into Reid’s ass.”
Mia looked at her husband. “Did you hear your daughter?” She put the little one on her feet and patted her bottom. “Go get your allowance young lady. You owe the swear jar.”
Sophia glued a pout to her angelic face, put her hands on her hips, and strutted into the house to get her piggy bank.
The next hour was spent with Ty and Mia as they welcomed Finn’s mate into the family with a stern warning that they better never see her tag another clan member.
When Mia took Mackenzie on a tour of the grounds, Finn assured Ty that Mackenzie wouldn’t have time for anything but him and their future cub.
Finn was amazed at how quickly Mackenzie adjusted to her life as a hybrid, but then again it was part of her DNA. Her soul knew the truth.
Chapter 13
Mackenzie – Nine months later
Finn paced the room. In between Mack’s contractions, he pressed a cool washcloth to her head and popped ice chips into her dry mouth. All the while she growled and cussed like a bear caught in a trap. It was a good thing Mia wasn't there to collect for each foul word that burst past her lips because the jar would have been full after the first three contractions.
“Is it time?” Mack’s father Eric Corda peeked into the bedroom.
“Get out,” Mack yelled. “Maybe it was a mistake to find him.”
Finn sat beside her and held her hand. “You asked me to find him, love.” His smile held a hint of apology.
He had searched every clan in North Dakota until he found her father. Eric never knew where her mom had taken her, and after ten years of looking, he’d given up his search. All this time she was living one state over in Montana thinking her father had abandoned her when the truth was he couldn’t find her because she’d taken her stepfather’s last name.
The clan doctor stood at the end of the bed and peeked beneath the sheet. “It’s time, Mackenzie. Are you ready to meet your cub?”
She ground her teeth and pushed. A moment later the scream of a child pierced the air, and a pink bundle was placed on top of her chest.
“A boy,” the doctor said as he covered her up.
“Of course it’s a boy,” Finn said. He appeared to get wider and taller in front of her eyes. Her prideful husband wanted a boy first so when they had a girl, she’d have a big brother to take care of her. It wasn’t like anyone would pick on her. There was an entire clan to protect her. No one messed with the Grayslake clan.
The door burst open and her father and Finn’s brother Brix rushed into the room. Mack laughed when she glanced around the room to see three of the biggest toughest growly men in tears. Brix and Eric patted each other’s backs as if they’d just spent hours in labor, not her. They ogled over the next generation of Marks and walked out to celebrate with a BE’s Brews.
“You did it, love, look at him. He’s beautiful.”
In her most admonishing tone, Mack said, “Finn. My son is not beautiful. He’s absolutely amazing. He’s rugged and handsome like his father.”
Finn put his hand on his child’s head in the most reverent of ways. It was like he was touching a delicate piece of china. “Look at him, sweetheart.”
She looked down at the little boy in her arms. His mouth rooted around for her breast. A boob man already, and he wasn’t even five minutes old.
He had a head full of burnished brown hair and his eyes weren’t blue like a fully human child. Her son was extraordinary. Finn was right. He was beautiful all the way from his hot chocolate colored eyes to his tiny little feet.
Finn and Mack looked down at Quinn like he was a
miracle, and he was. He was living proof that love existed in the strangest places. That a woman could fall in love with a man who growled like a bear. That she could be told her whole life she was a half-breed, and the only time she believed it was when she met him. She was the other half of his whole. When it came to love, Finn and Mack were given bear-ly a choice.
A sneak peek at Fated and Furr-oscious
Fog as thick as honey blanketed the road ahead. The last thing Fawn wanted was to end up dead in a crumpled late-model, four-wheel drive. It would be bad enough to die in a car accident in a strange place, but to die in a gas-guzzling tank of a vehicle was unthinkable.
Taking her mom’s car was the only concession she made. She’d spent a week arguing the merits of self-discovery and living green. Mom had spent the week warning her against claiming her estranged father’s property.
“It’s a different place,” she said. “The people in Grayslake aren’t like us.” She begged and pleaded, but in the end, Fawn did what she always did.
She did what she wanted.
In the rearview mirror, the last glimpse of sunshine flashed before a wall of black clouds snuffed out its flame. The trip to Grayslake was different than she had imagined. Visions of sunshine and flowers paraded through her thoughts. In her fantasy, eagles swooped overhead like welcoming sentinels and bunnies and ground squirrels dotted the landscape, entertaining her with their silly animal antics.
Pa-pling. Pa-pling. Pa-pling. Boom. The sky opened, and sheets of rain poured down making the drive treacherous. By the sound of the thunder, the gods were angry.
She took one last look at the deed. Fawn Blackly was handwritten across the top of the page. Seventy-six Grays Lane would be her home. She had no expectations—no preconceived notions—just a hope and a dream she might find the missing pieces she had always been searching for
A flash of lightening nearly blinded her just as something large ran from the woods onto the road. Why do things happen in slow motion in your head, and in fast forward in your life? Reflex action had her slamming on the brakes, turning the steering wheel, and missing the big, brown bear that stood in the center of her lane. Her heart stopped at the same time the car did. She threw it into park and exhaled. They were at a stand still—a stare down.
Grayslake: More than Mated: Bear-ly a Choice (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 7