Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
About the Author
Look for these titles by Dana Marie Bell
For her, there’s only one fish in the sea.
Poconos Pack, Book 3
Charlie Lowe is going crazy. Why does her mate run from her? Is it her hair? The fact that she’s a Lion to his Wolf? Or are her family connections driving him away? If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was allergic to cats.
Ted Pedrozo loves his fiery Lioness with his whole being. But mating the sister of the Leo? That’s a big hairy deal. What if the Leo—or worse, Charlie—finds out he’s just a dork in wolf’s clothing? Ted never shies away from the tough jobs, but this time he steers clear…until she pounces on him like a catnip toy.
A little flirting, a lot of innuendo, and one dire threat of blackmail later, Charlie has her mate. And, wonder of wonders, he and the laid-back Sebastian Lowe hit it off.
The Leo’s chief bodyguard, on the other hand, won’t be convinced Ted is worthy until he’s passed a few tests. Or made Charlie sorry she chose him.
Warning: This book contains graphic language, explicit sex, and a Lioness going full-on Nala on her Wolf’s furry ass.
Sorry, Charlie
Dana Marie Bell
Dedication
To Mom, who told me she wants to retire in a tiny house. With my father. Forty-eight years of marriage, and she thinks she can live with him in a house the size of my garage. The betting pool will be fast and furious as to which one bumps off the other first, and how.
To my father, who realizes my mother is crazy and loves her anyway. After forty-eight years of marriage, he understands that they need space to get away from each other lest there be a fiery accident. One where someone is shrugging innocently and proclaiming they have no idea why the fire department thinks it’s arson, officer.
And to Dusty. Here’s hoping for forty-eight plus years of crazy together.
P.S.: I wanted to do a special shout-out to Samhain Publishing and Christina Brashear. Without them, I would never have been able to give you these stories. Thank you. It’s been a pleasure working with you.
Chapter One
She stood in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom, staring at her reflection with an equal mix of hope and trepidation. This had to work, or she’d go crazy and chase a certain Wolf down like the dog he was. She’d go full-on Nala on his furry ass.
He’d never know what hit him.
It wasn’t the way she wanted to do things. She’d much rather he bite her because he couldn’t help himself. But if she had to use…persuasion, she’d totally go there.
She made sure her blonde hair was in the perfect curly ponytail. Her green eyes were made up to highlight their deep emerald color, and her slim jeans hugged every curve. Even her tank top had been chosen to entice, the V-neck showing just the right amount of cleavage.
Her boots, on the other hand, were made for kicking ass, because Charlie Lowe wasn’t the type of woman to get caught without the ability to end shit with the best of them.
Honestly, she couldn’t think of what else to do. Her mate was skittish as hell, and she had no idea why. Maybe he was allergic to cats? But that couldn’t be true. His Luna was a Puma shifter and Charlie had seen him hug her without sneezing or hacking or dying.
Whenever she saw him with the rest of the Pack he was a self-assured man, clowning around with others in a self-deprecating way that made her gnash her teeth in rage. She saw the way he took care of them, how much of himself he invested in the Pack. She’d grown to admire the way Ted kept track of what was happening inside the Pack and silently, cheerfully took care of what needed to be done without a single complaint. He never shied away from the tough jobs Rick or Ben assigned him. As the Marshal’s Second, it was often Ted’s job to protect and defend the Pack, but that protection could be done in such a subtle manner the protected didn’t even realize they’d been in any danger.
That was her Ted. Compliment him and he denied that he’d done anything special. And maybe that had been where she’d gone wrong. The few times she’d managed to get him alone she’d complimented him, on both his looks and his role in the Pack, thinking that he’d appreciate it. Because damn if her man wasn’t sex on two legs. Dark hair with a hint of curl that he kept just long enough to be messy, demanding that she run her fingers through it. His dark brown eyes warmed her through and through. Even his skin was sexy, the color of mocha with hints of caramel. It made her want to lick him all over. And all that delicious skin covered muscles he’d earned as the Pack’s lead enforcer. The man was simply stunning, and he had no idea.
Instead of giving him a sense of how she felt about him, any compliment from her sent him running. In some cases, literally. Now, months later, she was unmated, being driven insane by the mate dreams, and ready to hump her chair if it would give her some relief. Hell, she’d given up a sweet little cabin all to herself to move into a room closer to where Ted was. He lived on the second floor of the Lodge to be closer to his work, so now Charlie did too.
“If he doesn’t claim me soon I’m going to rip something apart, and it won’t be pretty.” Charlie patted her hair, making sure not a strand was out of place. She’d put more into her appearance recently than she had in years, and it still didn’t seem to be enough. She’d tried calling him, thinking that he was shy. It went to voice mail. She’d emailed him, thinking he just wasn’t good at talking on the phone. A lot of men weren’t, so there was no shame in that. There was no response. So now she was down to stalking him, whistling at him to heel and making a general pain of herself in the hopes he’d at least yell at her or something.
Nope. Not a thing. Pretty soon she’d be down to tossing his shy ass a bone. Maybe it would hit him in the head and knock some sense into him.
What drove her really crazy was the fact that, when she was in her room, she could sometimes smell him at the door. By the time she got to it to answer he was gone, running away as if he were being chased by, well, a hungry Lion. In fact, she was pretty sure he was out there right now. The scent was growing stronger by the minute.
Charlie picked up her phone and dialed the one woman she knew who could help her. The one woman whose meanness Charlie bowed down to and worshipped at the feet of.
“Hello, Charlie.” Belinda Lowell, the Luna of the Poconos Pack and one of Charlie’s best friends, answered with a smirk Charlie could hear loud and clear. “Is he out there again?”
“Yup.” Charlie glared at the door to her room. “He doesn’t knock or anything. Just stands there and breathes before he runs away. It would be creepy if it wasn’t so cute.”
“Get out there and hunt his ass down, woman.” She could picture Belle rolling her eyes. “You’re the cat, he’s the mouse. Stop playing with him already and eat him.”
“You’re worse than Dave,” Charlie groaned. She flopped down on her bed, no longer caring about the perfect ponytail or whether or not her shirt would get wrinkled. It wasn’t going to work, so why bother? She’d rather be comfortable anyway. “He told me to just lay in wait. Maybe put out some bait, like I should kill a rabbit and lay it at Ted’s door. When he comes out, bam! Bites galore.”
“Don’t you dare. Rabbit guts are hell to get out of the carpets. Besides, that didn’t work on Dave, so he should know better.” Belle hummed quietly. “Do something to ensure he can
’t ignore you, then corner him somewhere he can’t get away from.”
“And then bite his ass?” Charlie wiggled into a more comfortable position, pulling the hairband out of her hair and letting it hang loose. She’d run a wide-toothed comb through it later. If she used a brush, all the curls would turn into frizz. “I’d hoped he’d be the one to do it, but if it’s the only way to get the man then I will.”
“Trust me, if Dave had bitten Ben years ago neither of them would have suffered the way they did.” Belle sniffed in annoyance.
Charlie, as Dave’s best friend, felt she needed to defend him. After all, she’d been his Best Woman at his wedding. “Ben should have trusted the mating instinct and taken him.”
“True. Damn stubborn males.”
“Are we talking about Ben or Rick?” Charlie laughed as the Luna snarled. “Let me guess, Rick has been getting on your nerves.”
“Not my nerves, but he is yanking my whiskers.” Belle grunted, the sound filled with pain. “But enough about me. Let’s talk about Ted.”
Charlie whined. “It’s killing me, you know?” She rolled over onto her side, curling in on herself. “What if he just doesn’t like blondes?”
“Then dye your hair red.”
“Then the curtains won’t match the drapes.” Charlie bit her lip. “I thought this whole find your mate, bite your mate thing would be easy, but it’s not.”
Belle sighed. “I bit Rick when I first met him, and not in the mating sort of way.”
“Really?” She hadn’t heard this story yet. “Do tell.”
Belle chuckled. “I’d just gotten out of the hospital and was staying with Adrian and Sheri. Rick was there with Ben, and I was trying to walk after having the pins put in my hip.”
“That had to hurt.” Charlie couldn’t even imagine the agony Belle had been in. As it was, Belle was still in pain on an almost daily basis, all because of Gina Maldonado, Dave’s banished sister.
“It did. Rick was there, and, well, we all know how well he reacts when I’m hurting. And I hurt bad that day.” Belle giggled. “He tried to get me to stop moving, so I bit him.”
“I bet he loved that.” She did, too. Rick loved that his teeny mate stood up to him. It showed her strength, a huge turn-on for the Wolf alpha.
“He did, actually, he just couldn’t admit it.”
“Maybe I should try that with Ted?” She thought about it for a moment. “Nah. That won’t work with him. I’d have to nail his ass to a wall or something just to get close enough.”
“Hunt him at night. He’s asleep then. Sneak in his room and pounce on him all naked and oiled.”
Charlie huffed. “With my luck I’d slide right off him and out the window. Then he’d wake up wondering why he had a snail trail over his face.”
Belle started laughing. “Ew! That’s gross. I might never want oral again.”
“Ugh, that’s disgusting!” Charlie was the one laughing now. “Only you would go there.”
“Please, bitch, tell me you weren’t thinking the same thing I was.”
She wasn’t, but she wasn’t about to tell Belle that. “Who’s the bitch, Luna? Hmm?”
“Pfft. If I’m the bitch, I’m the Alpha Bitch, bitch.”
“Then please, Sensei, tell me how to be bitchy enough to snare my mate.”
Belle wasn’t laughing anymore. “I’m telling you, you just don’t want to listen. Corner him like a rat and bite him.”
“It feels like cheating.” And made her feel unwanted. What was wrong with her that her mate ran the moment he saw her?
“You’ve tried everything else. Now’s the time to be the kitty I know you can be.” There was a pause for a moment before Belle added, “Want me to bring the rolled-up newspapers?”
“I think I’ve got this, thanks. If I’m going to do it, I’ll have to do it my way, with my threats of retribution.” Maybe she could chase him in Lion form. He couldn’t be faster than her when shifted, could he?
“Well, good luck with that. How well has it been going so far?”
“God, I hate you.” A total lie, of course. Charlie had never felt more at home than she did at the Red Wolf Lodge and Spa.
“Me too. Plus your ass is fat.”
Charlie stood and went to her mirror, twisting to look at her butt. “Is not.”
“You just looked, didn’t you?”
“Of course I did. My ass is fabulous, after all. Much better than yours.”
“That’s not what your mate said. He said my ass was fantastic. Of course, he was talking about Rick.”
Charlie could hear the Alpha bellowing in the background. “Did he hear you?”
“Nope, something else is going on. We’ll grab breakfast and you can tell me all about biting Ted—”
“Sorry, Charlie, I need to steal my Luna,” Rick Lowell’s deep voice was polite, right up until he began speaking to Belle. “Do not bite me, kitty, or I swear I’ll limit your nip to two a day.”
Charlie hung up, not wanting to hear Belle and Rick’s foreplay. At least not when she wasn’t getting any. Maybe Belle was right. Maybe it was time to hunt Ted down and bite his ass. At least then he’d belong to her and she could finally get to the bottom of why he kept running away. Maybe she’d get lucky and find out it had nothing to do with her.
Charlie put her phone in her pocket and stared at the door, where her mate’s scent was still strong. Perhaps it was time she found out just what bug had crawled up the man’s ass and killed it.
Chapter Two
Teodoro “Ted” Pedrozo, Marshal’s Second of the Poconos Pack and proud member of the inner circle, stood before his mate’s door and sweated like a twelve-year-old boy about to ask Abby Figliono, the prettiest girl in his seventh grade class, to the dance.
Of course, Abby had said no, after laughing in his face for twenty minutes. He just hoped Charlie was a little friendlier. She had to be. Of course she did.
They were mates.
Ted took a deep breath, straightened his shoulders…
And ran like that twelve-year-old boy he’d once been, hiding around the corner as the door to Charlie’s apartment opened.
He heard her purr. Damn cats. They loved to play with their prey before devouring them. “Here, wolfie wolfie. Good wolfie. Mama’s got a treat for you.”
Ted gulped. He was feeling remarkably like a catnip toy right now. “If you say tuna I swear to God I won’t attempt to knock on your door again tomorrow.”
Her soft, throaty laugh did horrible things to his insides. Okay, maybe not horrible. More like it sent bunny-humping hormones shooting through his system. He’d never wanted to bunny-hump before, but then again he’d never met someone like Charlie before.
He’d never met his mate before.
God, just the thought gave him shivers. Part of him wanted to bounce on his toes with glee, part had bunny-humping on the brain, but most of him was absolutely terrified she’d figure out he was a big old dork and laugh in his face.
His nervousness had nothing to do with how gorgeous his mate was compared to him. He had curly dark hair that tended to go all Jheri curl if he let it grow out. He had plain brown eyes and thick eyebrows. He was…normal looking. Charlie, on the other hand…
Charlie had the prettiest green eyes he’d ever seen, a curvy body to die for, and blonde curly hair that fell to the small of her back. He was pretty sure he’d die of a heart attack the first time he saw her in a bathing suit. And then he’d come back from the dead to rip the eyes out of anyone who dared look at her.
Nope. What scared the crap out of him and sent him running like an idiot was—
“Hi.”
To his dying day, Ted would refuse to admit he’d screamed like a twelve-year-old boy whose voice hadn’t broken yet.
Charlie bit her lip. “That was quite the hello.” She leaned against the wall, watching him with the sleepy eyes of the predator she was. There was even a hint of gold in her eyes, showing her cat wasn’t far from the surfa
ce. “Are we gonna do this or do I need to call Belle?”
The one female who terrified him more than his mate was his Luna, Belle Lowell. She was Charlie’s boss and the only other cat shifter in the Pack. Everyone knew Belle was insane, but it was the good kind of insane that cut a bitch when said bitch went after her BFF. Which Belle had done, come to think of it.
He still wondered where Gina Maldonado and her posse had wound up. He hoped it was overseas, like in Antarctica. She’d probably enjoy trying to dominate Polar bears.
“Yoo-hoo. Hello, lover boy.” Charlie’s fingernail dragged down his shirt. “You’re not thinking of another girl while I’m right here, are you?”
“No, ma’am,” he replied swiftly. He knew when his gonads were on the line, and he was rather attached to said appendages. “I was thinking about Belle.”
“Belle is another woman.” The blood-red nails turned into claws that quickly.
“Belle isn’t a woman. Belle is a benign hurricane of cupcakes and rainbows and razor-sharp teeth.” Ted stared at Charlie, ignoring the way she started silently laughing. “And rolled-up newspapers.”
For a moment, he just enjoyed the fact that he’d made his mate laugh. Then he realized that there were no other people around, and it was just the two of them.
He could lean over, nip her neck, and be out of there before anyone was the wiser. They’d be mated, and he wouldn’t have to worry about introducing her to his weird side. He’d still have to face—
“Just bite her already.” Chela Mendoza, the Omega of the pack, strode past them with a clipboard in one hand and a frown on her face. “Jeez, the tension could choke a yak.”
She turned the corner, probably heading to the front of the Red Wolf Lodge and the big doors that lead to the outside. She, like Dave and Ben, had a cabin that she shared with her mate, Steven Hoode. He had the feeling they’d be the next couple to use the reception hall the Lodge boasted of. The couple before them had been Ben and Dave. The Pack was still talking about that one weeks later, well into spring.
Sorry, Charlie (Poconos Pack) Page 1