Barbara pasted a huge smile on her face. He’d seen that look many times in his life. She had been a busy little bee plotting something, and he was more than likely the target of whatever elaborate scheme she’d hatched.
As it was, Barbara didn’t need to reply. He knew by the look on her face exactly where they were going. A quick glance at the calendar on his cell phone confirmed the date. “Fuck!” he shouted to his wolf. He had indeed been set up.
“Maybe we’ll actually find our mate there.”
“We better not or I’m going to owe Aric—big time,” he teased his wolf.
Tonight was the night of the annual Mating Ceremony. Shifters from far and wide gathered in the clearing just outside of town with the hope of finding his or her fated mate. All of the local wolves would be present, as would many from outside packs. The Ceremony was the largest organized gathering in the country that offered shifters their shot at finding their fated mate.
“Put a smile on your face, boy. You look like we just fed you arsenic or something,” Tristan joked.
Jay laughed. “Is arsenic an option, because that would be my choice any day of the week over attending another Mating Ceremony?”
“Please.” Barbara rolled her eyes. “It will be good for everyone to see that you are back in town.”
“Uh-huh, sure. I’m only here for a few weeks. I’m not quite sure why it makes a difference.”
The last thing Jay wanted to do was watch other wolves circle around each other, sniffing out their potential mate. Had he known the Mating Ceremony was today, he would have put off the long drive and stuck around Black Paw for another day or two—given Rafe some lame excuse that he couldn’t get away from work. Tempting Rafe’s wrath, no matter how ferocious, would have been preferable to attending the Mating Ceremony.
“Come on, Minx! We’re going to be late.” Jetta swept by her friend in a flurry of motion.
“Calm your tits, woman!” Minx said with more enthusiasm than she’d felt. Her day had sucked, and she was dead on her feet.
“You could act a little bit excited, you know. Great things could happen tonight! Our mates could be out there, as we speak, waiting for us!”
Minx watched her BFF bounce cheerfully along while she stuffed everything she thought she might possibly need for the evening in her purse—which was roughly the size of a suitcase.
“Or nothing could happen tonight. Just like every other Mating Ceremony that we’ve been to. Call me Debby Downer if you want, but it’s the same shit every year.”
“That’s not true and you know it,” Jetta huffed. There are always two dozen or more successful matings each year. Ones that would be otherwise impossible without the ceremony.”
Minx rolled her eyes. “Two dozen matings out of thousands of shifters who show up. I may not be great at math, but even I know the odds of finding our fated mate tonight are pretty damn suckish.” Minx knew without a doubt her mate would not be at the ceremony. It seemed to be her curse. To know who her mate was, where he was, and not be able to do a damn thing about it. That was her problem to deal with. Since there was still hope that Jetta would find her mate, Minx needed to pull up her big girl panties and get her ass in gear.
“Whatever.” Jetta grabbed her jacket. “I’ll still the take the odds—even if they are suckish. It’s better than sitting around here waiting for my mate to land in my lap.”
“Fine. I guess we’re doing this—again.” Minx pulled the door closed behind her and stopped to lock the deadbolt.
“Another Mating Ceremony—another night of disappointment,” Minx said to her wolf as she stared out of the car window.
“If only.”
Minx knew exactly what her wolf meant—what she longed for.
Their mate.
She’d found him once. And she’d lost him. He’d moved on—left Blue Creek long ago. To be fair, it wasn’t like he knew that she was his mate. When he’d left, Minx had just turned sixteen, and was in the throes of adolescence. He was five years older than she was, and completely unaware that she’d even existed.
Everyone said it was only a crush…that she was far too young to recognize her mate, but they were full of bullshit. She knew it, her wolf knew it. They’d found their mate the second they’d caught his scent. The scent she would never forget. Cinnamon and honey mixed with the aroma of the wild outdoors.
She’d watched him for years, hoping he’d recognize her as his mate, but it never happened. When she’d finally made up her mind to confront him, he was nowhere to be found. He’d left the area—found another pack to call home. Not that she could blame him for leaving. His parents had been brutally murdered by rogues. She couldn’t imagine not being able to walk through town without someone stopping to ask about her parents’ murders, but that’s what Jay had faced every day that he’d remained in Blue Creek. Who needed that type of constant reminder? No, thank you.
Though she understood his reason for leaving, it didn’t make his sudden absence any easier for her. Distraught…crushed…heartbroken. Tears that seemed to never end bombarded her daily for months as did the constant ache in her chest.
In the years that had followed, she longed for his return. Prayed the Gods would send him back. Hell, she’d even thought about showing up unannounced on his doorstep, but knew she didn’t have the guts to attempt such a daring move. Her friends and family had convinced her that her attraction to him had been nothing more than a crush. After all, none one finds their fated mate at sixteen. Maybe they were right. Maybe he was just a crush. Maybe he wasn’t her fated mate.
She’d finally given up and moved on with her life. Dated here and there. Even made the colossal mistake of marrying a man she thought she could love—though she knew damn well he wasn’t her fated mate. She had thought life with him could still be good. How wrong she’d been.
Maybe she’d meet her mate in the clearing tonight and she could finally move on with her life—yet again. Ha! She almost snorted and laughed out loud. The lucky ones who find their mates tonight would be the younger generation. Young shifters who had barely passed the threshold into their adult lives. Who still had a gleam in their youthful eyes. Hearts that hadn’t yet been harden by real life. Young adults still filled with hope and big dreams for a bright future. Those who believed happily ever afters were more than fairytales.
As if.
“Minx,” Jetta snapped her fingers. “We’re here!”
Minx looked around, confused. She’d been lost in her own thoughts. “I guess we are.”
Jetta opened the door and grabbed her bag. “Why do you weird out on me every year for the Mating Ceremony? You’re not still hung up on that guy you had a crush on when we were kids? Are you?”
“Of course not.”
Lie.
The last thing Minx wanted was another lecture on why he couldn’t have possibly been her mate. She’d take a hard pass on her BFF reading her the riot act—yet again, and lie her ass off if that’s what it took to avoid that conversation.
Minx stood at the edge of the forest. The clearing right in front of her. Sure, she could shift and stroll around like everyone else, hoping to catch the scent of her mate while letting others sniff her up, but she had zero desire to do so. There was only one man she was interested in, and she had a better chance of hell freezing over than seeing her man stroll into the clearing.
His image flashed in her mind once again. Not the image of her mate that she’d carried in her memories for years. No. Instead, images that she’d seen of him on Facebook and Instagram flipped through her mind.
Bile rose in her throat as she thought of the candid pictures she’d seen of him with his wife. Her chest ached at the thought of him willingly giving himself to another woman—a woman who wasn’t his fated mate. But hadn’t she done the same with her ex-husband? Bound herself legally to someone the Gods hadn’t intended for her?
Minx had wanted to reach out over the years. Ask if he remembered her, but she didn’t. It would h
ave hurt far too much had he not even remembered her. As the years passed, so did her life and his. She no longer looked him up on social media platforms, not wanting to feel the pain that came with knowing someone other than her had made him happy, bore his children, or warmed his bed at night.
“Ugh! I’m out. I can’t deal with any of this,” she said to her wolf, and headed off into the forest to clear her mind.
“I can’t believe we got suckered into this,” Jay said to his wolf as they stared out at the clearing.
He’d forgotten what it felt like to attend the Mating Ceremony. The raw power that hung over the area from the influx of so many majikal creatures gathered together in one spot made the tiny hairs on his forearm stand on end.
His beast was on high alert, ready to charge forward and take control. Clearly the majik bothered him as well. The animal within longed to stretch his legs and run—be one with nature, but Jay held the animal back. He shifted his stance as a feeling of unease swept over him.
He scanned the clearing, searching for any sort of threat. Two large black wolves entered the area he’d trained his eyes on. Snarling at each other, they circled a brown coated female who appeared to have little interest in either of the males.
And on, and on, it went. He’d seen enough. Heard enough. He’d wished for the thousandth time he would have told Rafe to go fuck himself when his Alpha had ordered him to go to Blue Creek.
“We need to get the fuck out of this clearing. All this majik together, in one spot, it’s driving me crazy.”
“Agreed. Something feels off, but I can’t put my paw on it,” his wolf agreed.
Jay surrendered to his animal, letting instinct take over. He closed his eyes as he felt an ancient majik swirl around him. His canines lengthened, fur sprang up all over his skin, each bone in his body melted and reshaped from man to beast. He welcomed the shift.
When he opened his eyes, his sight was tenfold what it had been in his human form. His sense of smell, easily a hundred times stronger than that of his human body. Majik surged through his veins, raw power through his muscles. The animal took off through the dense forest at a dizzying speed.
He had forgotten what it was like to run in this area. The lush, dense trees cascaded to the rolling hills that gave way to a small inland lake, complete with a sandy beach where he used to swim. Blue Creek was indeed a beautiful area. He felt a sense of sorrow for his extended absence. Returning home hadn’t brought back the loss he’d expected to feel. For years, the grief that had followed him around like a shadow was suddenly absent. For the first time in ages, his soul felt free of the misery that had accompanied him. Each breath he drew in came a little easier, each thought about Blue Creek was a little less jaded. He’d longed for this day, though he never truly expected it.
When he’d left Blue Creek to strike out on his own, he’d created a new image and a new life for himself within the Black Paw Pack. Working hard to distance himself from his sorrowful past, he buried his pain and trudged forward with each new day. The only person who knew the torment he’d been through was Rafe and his mate, Mina.
Life at Black Paw had been freeing. No one looked at him with pity. No one tried to watch what they said around him for fear of hurting him. Had enough years passed that he could finally be free at Blue Creek?
“It’s her,” his wolf whined in his head, picking up a scent Jay hadn’t. The animal’s ears twitched, he put his nose to the ground and took off, acting like a bolt of lightning had struck him in the ass. Towering trees flew past him as he ducked under fallen limbs. Branches struck him in the face as he bounded over others that he couldn’t fit under. The animal never once slowed his frantic pace.
His lungs burned, his legs began to tire as his wolf continued on at a breakneck speed. The trees started to thin out the further he ran. Thankfully, he knew the area as well as his wolf did. Jay had been tempted to put the brakes on this little run and regain control, but something told him not to. A nagging voice in the back of his head urged him on. The voice and his own curiosity about what his wolf was after was the reason he had allowed the animal to continue on his quest. The smell of peaches and cream filled his nose, making him hungry—for what? He didn’t know. It was the scent that his wolf latched onto and chased after. The intoxicatingly sweet smell lingered in his mind far longer than it should have.
Just when he wondered if his wolf intended on running to the state line, the animal came to a sudden halt. For Jay, it was the equivalent of riding shotgun in a car that was traveling ninety miles per hour, and the driver suddenly slamming on the brakes.
It took him a minute to recover before he looked around and tried to determine their location.
“Mine!”
One single word the Jay had waited what felt like a lifetime to hear. The word he never truly expected his wolf to speak in his mind.
“It’s not possible,” he said to his wolf.
“MINE!” This time his wolf roared his thought.
His eyes roamed greedily over the sight before him, wanting to know who claimed his wolf’s attention. The full moon hung high in the sky, glinting off the gentle waves cresting in the water. As beautiful as the scenery was, it wasn’t what had captured or held his attention. It was the woman, the one his wolf demanded to claim as his mate—who his eyes couldn’t seem to stray away from.
To his right, a small pile of clothes lay on the sand. The woman stood waist deep in the water. Her creamy skin darkened not only by hours in the sun, but the shadowy light of the night. Pale blonde hair hung in loose ringlets that flowed down her back. Her head tilted back, her eyes seemed to be trained on the sky.
His eyes roamed greedily over her hourglass body, sizing up each of her gentle curves. What he wouldn’t give to see how her hips flared beneath the water, or the perfect ass of hers that was hidden from his line of sight.
He silently begged for her to turn and face him, wanting to see more of her, but she didn’t. Nor did she acknowledge his presence.
Minx sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves and steady her shaking limbs. Someone was behind her—watching her. Someone she’d thought for certain she would never see again. Her heart pounded against her ribs. His scent washed over her and she tried not to gasp. “It really is him,” she said to her wolf, positive she’d been hallucinating when his familiar scent, cinnamon and honey mixed with the wild outdoors, reached her nose.
“It is. And he sees us for who we are,” her wolf responded.
“He knows that we are his mate?” she squeaked. Even in the silent conversation that took place in her head with her wolf, Minx was surprised by her high pitched response. Had the Gods finally heard her pleas and returned him to her?
“Yes, he knows. I sense his wolf, and his need to claim us.” Her wolf was excited by the mere thought.
The statement from her wolf should have sent excitement coursing through her or even relief, but it didn’t. Fear pulsed through her body. “This is exactly what I’ve dreamed of. Why am I terrified?”
“I have no idea, child,” her wolf answered.
It was a game the ancient soul that she shared a body and spirit with liked to play. It didn’t matter how much Minx aged, her wolf referred to her as a child when she wanted to antagonize her.
The reply pissed her off more than it should have—more than it normally would have. She wasn’t a child, and didn’t appreciate being referred to as one. Hadn’t been for many years. She’d grown up, no longer the scared, meek young girl who found her mate and lost him. It felt like a lifetime had passed since her heart had broken in two.
That’s not who she was anymore. She had zero intentions of reverting back to the mouse of the girl she’d been. Minx had promised herself many times over that if she’d ever laid eyes on Jay fucking Dalton again, she’d tell him exactly how she’d always felt about him. Now, that he stood less than fifty feet away from her, the panic pulsing through her threatened to steal away her promise.
“Su
rrender control to me,” her wolf demanded, worried the girl would run.
Still pissed off about the child comment, Minx ignored her—completely and thoroughly, acting as if she didn’t share a body, mind or soul with her animal. Minx closed her eyes, summoning the courage she desperately needed to make the first move. She wasn’t going to stand by, knowing that her mate was right there, and do nothing about it. She’d done that before and look where it had gotten her.
I am not that person anymore. She reminded herself.
Tiny goose bumps broke out over her skin as a light breeze swirled around her, but the wind hadn’t been the reason for the goosebumps. She could feel his gaze upon her—almost like a sixth sense. The realization that she was stark naked and waist deep in the water hit hard. Thoughts of rushing to cover her bare body with whatever she could find crossed her mind, suddenly regretting the fact that she had dropped her clothes on the beach, wanting a quiet evening swim. The last thing she’d expected was for someone, let alone Jay, to happen upon her with the Mating Ceremony in full swing.
All Minx had wanted was a little time away from everyone to rest her head. Now, she wished she’d never left that damn clearing.
She wanted him. Had for years. Of that, she had no doubt. Her dreams had always produced different scenarios of her seeing him again for the first time. Being as naked as the day she was born had never once factored into those scenarios.
Finding the courage to turn around and face him seemed to be her main problem. She willed her body to turn, yet she stood frozen in place. Terrified by the possibility that he might find her revolting. Her head dipped as she glanced down at her stomach. Covered in ugly crisscross scars that should have healed, but hadn’t. It had taken her years to come to grips with the damage that had been done to her against her will. To find a way to love herself, despite the hideous reminders of her past. She would not let her abuser win. She would not hate herself because of something he’d done to her. She was worth more than that.
Your Sass is Mine: Sassy Ever After (Black Paw Wolves Book 5) Page 2