by Olivia Arran
“Did you say the words back? Did you accept him as your mate?”
I picked up on the urgency in her voice. “No.”
“Shit!”
“Why? What does that mean?”
She looked at me, sympathy twisting her lips in a frown. “It means you can’t disown him as your mate. He has to do it.”
The hope that had been building quickly sank like a rock. “That’s what Oliver must have been talking about.” There was no way Bert would let me go. He wasn’t that kind of man. He didn’t have a shred of decency in his body, let alone compassion or kindness.
“Oliver? Talking?” Kara smirked, then catching my expression her eyes widened. “You’re not joking are you?”
She’d lost me.
Luis sauntered over, a smug smile tugging at his lips. “Ana is Oliver’s true mate.”
“Oh! But...wow!” Kara stuttered, her face flashing from shocked to worried then back to shocked.
What the hell what that about? I was his true mate?
“You didn’t know?”
Kara shot Luis a furious look, one promising a roasting later.
Hell, no! I already had a mate I didn’t want. I sure didn’t need another!
CHAPTER SEVEN
Oliver
Shoving all thoughts of Ana to the back of my mind, I stalked up to the small shack and shoved open the door. I could finally let go of the rage that had been threatening to consume me, burning inside of me the second I had laid eyes on Ana.
There she was again, invading my thoughts!
I shook my head, searching for the focus I was known for. Concentrate!
But it looked like I was too fucking late. Bodies lay broken on the floor with Gregg and Sean—still in wolf form—standing sentry around the room, their gazes focused on the two men who circled each other in the center.
My fingers cracked, balling into fists of frustration.
“Oliver, you nearly missed it.” Gregg gestured me over to where he leaned against a crate.
Stifling a curse, I stalked over. Nodding at them both, I watched as Bert took a swipe at James, his claws missing the other man’s throat by bare inches.
“James wouldn’t let either of us have a turn,” Gregg commented, and Sean huffed, adding his own thoughts on the matter. “Said as Alpha, he needed to be the one to bring him down.”
“Well, he needs to get a move on. The women and children are ready to be moved.”
Gregg raised a single eyebrow. “Any problems?”
Apart from meeting my true mate, and finding out she’s already mated to that bastard over there? I ground my teeth together. “None.”
I refused to meet Sean’s eyes, knowing he would be calling me out on my bullshit. He had witnessed Ana and me in the yard earlier, and he wasn’t an idiot.
“James, Oliver says you need to get a move on, or from the looks of things he’ll be taking matters into his own hands,” Gregg called across the room, letting me know my frustration wasn’t going unnoticed.
James growled, his eyes flashing silver at the challenge.
“I can take you all, just wait your turn, pup,” Bert snarled, dodging James’ retaliating blow.
I lurched forward, his words ringing in my ears as my claws extended, ready to show him exactly what sort of a man he was dealing with.
“Oliver! Stand down.” A hand dug into my arm, pulling me back.
“I won’t.” My words were nearly unintelligible, my animal speaking for me. I ripped my arm away, unable to stop myself from stalking forward, until I was face-to-face with the man I hated more than anyone I had hated before.
Bert took a step back before he could stop himself, his face frozen in shock. “What’s this? You’re admitting your Alpha can’t take me down, so you’re helping? Where’s this honor you all speak so highly of?” he spat out, his hands twitching at his sides.
“Oliver, what are you doing?”
I ignored James’ low growl. “I’m the fixer, therefore this fight is mine if I want it.”
“Oliver, you will not undermine me—”
“Oh, this is hilarious! You can’t control your own pack!” Bert drawled.
“Oliver—” James growled.
I spared him a glance. He was furious, but underneath it I could detect confused concern. It was what made James a good Alpha. He didn’t let the power go to his head, didn’t let it rule him. Even now, riled up and fighting, he could think.
I just had to give him a reason good enough to consider.
“I found my true mate.” There. That should be enough.
Understanding dawned in James’ eyes.
Bert started to laugh, the sound manic and cruel. “Oh, this is brilliant! Which one is yours? The redhead, the brunette or the blonde? I can never remember names so I collect colors.”
“Fuck!” Gregg muttered from behind me.
“He’s all yours, but remember, keep him alive,” James ordered, taking a step back.
I didn’t waste a second, plowing my fist into Bert’s face, obliterating his smug expression and sending him crashing back into the wall. Stalking over, I dragged him to his feet, pinning him with one hand, the other pulled back, readying to strike again.
“Fight, damn you!” I shouted, shaking him.
He spat in my face, the wet globule splattering onto my cheek and sliding down. Laughing, he snarled, “If I don’t fight back then you can’t release your holier-than-thou fury on me, can you?”
“I can beat the living shit out of you whether you fight back or not.”
“But you won’t, because that wouldn’t be honorable. It must kill you to know that I’ve fucked your woman, that she screamed when I took her, pounding my dick inside of her and seeding her with my child. Or is it that I’m bonded to her, and that she’s mine forever?”
My head filled with static, his words echoing in my mind, tearing through me and clawing at my heart, my soul.
I slashed my claws, shredding through his shirt, digging into his skin. “You will release her from the bond!”
“No. I won’t. Not now, not ever,” he snarled.
I dug my claws in harder, my heart thundering in my ears. He was going to pay for his crimes. The trial before the Council wasn’t certain. It wasn’t a sure thing. Anything could happen. He could get away with—
“I surrender to the Council.”
No! A roar tore from my throat, my hand twisting in his chest, digging deeper. He couldn’t surrender, not before I had to chance to make him release her!
Arms pulled at me, wrenching me back. I swiped out blindly, cutting and tearing. Power pressed down on me, suffocating me, my rage choking me until I was drowning, lost in a sea of red.
My knees buckled, pain shooting through them as they hit the floor, and all I could see was Bert laughing at me.
Then his eyes flicked to the side.
My limbs felt like they were wading through molasses. Thousands of knives carved into my skin as I threw myself at him, taking him down as he sprinted for the exit.
Claws ripped at my sides, tearing through my shirt and shredding skin, as he snarled and tried to buck me off him.
Rearing back I plowed my fist into his jaw, and the only thought running through my mind was that of driving it through him to connect with the floor beneath.
He went slack beneath me, his claws falling from my ribs, his mouth lolling open in a grotesque smile of fangs and teeth.
“Fucking hell, Oliver,” James muttered, giving me a hand up.
I stiffened, remembering the power that had crushed me, pinning me to the ground.
“It took both Gregg and me to get you off him and hold you! Next time, could you try and rein it in?” he muttered, before bumping me on the shoulder in an offhand manner. “I get why you’re pissed, but—”
“Do you?” I growled. “Do you really? I seem to recall when it was Kara, and Eric was all over her, you didn’t hold back—”
“Watch it! This is different,
” he growled, his back stiffening and eyes flashing.
I squared up to him, leaning forward, beyond pissed. “Yes, it is, because he has already abused my mate!”
“And you nearly abused your power and your place in the pack.” The words were a low rumble, a not-so-subtle reminder of exactly what my place was.
“My place in the pack can be remedied,” I snarled back, curling my hands into fists.
“James! Oliver! Back off!” Gregg ordered, his power beating at me.
I held James’ gaze, refusing to be the one to back down.
I’d had enough. It had been a really long day, my head was still spinning, and they just kept pressing! “Will you fucking quit it with the power games?”
“I will quit when you stand down. Both of you!” Gregg replied sharply.
“My true mate has been abused for years, has been made to bear this maniac’s son, has been mated without her consent, and you wonder why I have a fucking problem?” Adrenaline pumped through me, the tingle of the shift threatening.
“It’s shit, but get it together. You’re no good to her like this, or to the pack,” James ground out, his eyes flashing from silver to brown and back again.
“Get it together? I don’t even know where to begin! I don’t know what to do with this rage that’s consuming me, eating at me! What the fuck am I supposed to do?”
“Get used to it; it’s called emotion. You have someone you care about now. Someone who is beyond your control, who is going to keep you awake at night worrying because you can’t stop things from hurting them, and it’ll fucking kill you, if you let it.” James sighed, his eyes settling back to brown, his frame relaxing. “And it gets worse, I should know. Kara’s pregnant.”
Some of the anger dissipated in the face of the good news. That explained why James was so quick to rile, but didn’t give me much hope for my future. “Congratulations?” I offered, unsure of what to say given the glower on his face.
“Thanks. I’m happy, truly I am, but it’s like I said, double the worry. Hopefully, once Bert has been dealt with we can enjoy a time of peace and I can learn to relax a little. Kara keeps nagging at me, telling me I worry too much.”
Crisis averted, we glanced down at Bert who still lay sprawled on the floor. Sean was sitting on top of him, probably crushing the man’s ribs, his ears pricked as he stared at us.
“Can I trust you to take him back and put him with the others until the trial?” James asked, his face creased with concern.
I hated the fact that he even had to ask, that I had given him reason to doubt me, but I couldn’t blame him. “You can.”
“Back to your usual effusive answers I see,” James said, grinning, then slapped me on the back.
“Will you let Ana know I’ll see her back at the house?” I wanted to say more, but what? I didn’t know.
“I will.”
“She’s petite, with long dark hair, dark eyes, and a gorgeous plump ass, not that I want any of you looking at her ass. If you do, I’ll have to kill you.”
Gregg arched an eyebrow at my detailed description. “From the sounds of it, Ana is quite the woman.”
“She is, and she’s mine.” I wasn’t sure when I’d actually come to that conclusion. Sure, I’d thought it earlier, but then doubts had crowded in, making me second guess my resolve. Now I knew for sure. Human or not, she was mine. Maybe I had Bert to thank for that, not that he’d be getting anything but a pounding from me, if he was lucky.
Sean jumped off his dad, and giving me a quick bark, shot off into the night.
I pulled the older man up onto my shoulders, shifting his weight until it felt comfortable. It was always a bit harder to carry a dead weight, but I’d had plenty of practice. The trick was not to think of them as a person, more like a sack of potatoes.
Nodding at the remaining two men, I set off at a jog, setting a path for the packhouse, one that didn’t intersect with the rendezvous point.
There was no need for either Ana or Josh to see me carrying Bert.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ana
I collapsed on the bed, the soft mattress bouncing under me as I stared at the ceiling.
I was free! I still couldn’t wrap my head around it, having checked over my shoulder the whole journey through the forest, half expecting Bert or one of his men to appear.
But James said Bert had been captured, and I believed him. Kara’s mate was a handsome man. I could see why she was smitten and he appeared to be just as smitten with her, if the way he swept her off her feet the second he got back was anything to go by.
And she was pregnant, her secret given away by the tender way James had stroked her stomach, and the look in her eyes as she held his hand still, just for a second, a secret smile passing between them.
I’d had to look away, grief threatening to overwhelm me.
But I had Josh. I turned my head, still unable to believe he was here, lying beside me with a similar look of exhaustion on his face.
“Time for bed?” I murmured, watching as he fought to keep his eyes open, his long lashes flickering in a losing battle. He had a room next to mine with an adjoining door. It was as far away from me as I could bear, but he deserved his own space. Probably needed it after everything that had gone on tonight.
Picking him up, I carried him into the next room and pulled back the comforter, ready to put him down.
Just one more minute, I promised myself as he snuggled his head against my chest, his arms curling around me, fingers clutching at my T-shirt.
Breathing deeply, my heart started to unclench, the constant worry of being caught and taken back finally starting to release its hold.
“Is he asleep?”
The deep voice startled me and I jumped, panic consuming me.
“Shhh, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” A side lamp switched on illuminating Oliver in the doorway. “I knocked but I didn’t want to knock too loud, you know, just in case he was asleep.” He shuffled his feet awkwardly and I had to stifle a giggle that threatened to escape. The man looked like a fish out of water, unsure of what to do or say.
Laying Josh down in the bed, I pulled the cover up to his chin. Brushing his hair back I kissed his brow and forced myself to let him go.
Following Oliver back into the other bedroom, I pulled the door too, but didn’t close it fully. I wasn’t ready for that quite yet.
Suddenly feeling self-conscious I busied myself with fussing with the coffee pot someone had kindly provided, pouring two cups and adding cream to both. He was just so big, his presence filling the room and making it hard to look anywhere else.
“Ana, we need to talk.”
My hand froze in the midst of scooping sugar from the bowl. “Sugar?” I asked.
“Four.”
“Four?” I couldn’t help the look of judgment that I knew must be on my face.
“I’m a big boy, I need the energy,” he replied, grinning, displaying a set of perfect, white teeth.
No fillings that I could see. Yet. His smile did funny things to me, setting off a swirling inside my stomach. No man had the right to look that irresistible. It wasn’t fair.
“Why are you scowling at me? What have I done now? I need a fucking roadmap and compass,” he added under his breath.
He sounded so put out and confused I couldn’t help but smirk, hiding it while scooping spoonful after spoonful of sugar into his cup, then giving the syrupy-sweet liquid a quick stir.
Handing it to him, I grabbed my own, giving my hands something to do before perching on the edge of the table, watching as he sat down on the bed, the frame creaking ominously under his weight.
Scowling, he took a sip of the scalding-hot coffee, hastily blowing before taking another sip. “They don’t make beds like they used to.”
“They just don’t make them for giants, you mean?”
“I’m not a giant, you’re just short!”
“Compared to you, everyone’s short.”
H
e snorted, taking another sip of his coffee, seeming to mull over my words. “Sit down. I’m the perfect height actually.”
I debated not asking, but I couldn’t resist. “For what?”
“Come here and see.”
His eyes were dancing with challenge, daring me to accept.
I considered him, Kara’s words playing in my mind. “Why was Kara so surprised when I said you had been talking with me?”
“You spoke to Kara about me?” It was his turn to be surprised.
“You came up in conversation.” There was no need for him to know that the conversation had been about Bert. “So, why was she so surprised?”
He set the cup carefully on the floor and propped his elbows on his knees, resting his chin on his hands in a look of deep contemplation. “I’m a man of few words—”
“No you’re not!”
“I usually am, but around you I seem to be able to…talk.”
Bless him, he looked utterly perplexed. I took a deep breath. I might as well ask. “Is that because I’m your true mate?”
“Sweet Mother of All, who’s been running off at the mouth?” he groaned, rubbing a hand across his eyes, then collapsed back on the bed. “I didn’t want you to find out like that,” he mumbled from behind his arm.
My mouth had gone dry at the sight of his T-shirt inching up, exposing a flat stomach rippling with muscle, a thin line of blond hair running down the center and disappearing into his pants. “Um,” I tried to answer and failed miserably, my mind struggling to focus. What had I been about to say?
“Ana?” He peeked at me from behind his arm, drawing my eyes up to focus on the thick bicep that bunched with the movement, straining what looked to be flimsy fabric judging by the jagged tears down each side.
Jagged tears?
Before I even had time to think, my feet had darted forward, my hands reaching out to inspect the tears, searching for matching wounds.
“What—?”
There was nothing. Not even a scratch.
I blinked, heat burning my cheeks as awareness flooded me. I was crouched above him, my hands inside his T-shirt, legs straddling him.
Slowly I lifted my gaze, avoiding having to meet his. Could I back away? Kind of jump off him, like a dismount?