“There’s one of only a few females left who haven’t accepted any of the males’ advances,” Rath said dryly as he stretched his legs out in front of him and rested his bare feet on the railing around the deck. “Or maybe it’s her mother who isn’t accepting them.”
Cobalt grunted at that. Her mother had high standards, expected only the best for her child and had been that way since they had lost her father in the Archangel attack.
It counted Cobalt out since he was a total fuck up.
And a failure.
All of his brothers were prospering, their businesses going well, and their lives with them. Rath ran Cougar Creek and had Ivy now. Storm’s security business was flourishing and now he had his fated mate too. Even Flint, his youngest brother, had found his mate and was talking about expanding the wildlife viewing company he ran in the north of Canada.
They all had their mates, a woman they loved and would be with forever if things went to plan.
Cobalt had nothing.
Hitting rock bottom hurt like a bitch, slashed deep into his pride, and he had no one to blame but himself.
“What’s up with you, Cobalt? You’ve been more distant than usual… something’s bothering you, and I’m getting a bit tired of waiting for you to come chat about it.”
He had to smile at Rath for that. It was typical of his brother to give him space, even when he had noticed something was wrong. Cougars were a solitary species, the males liable to fight over the slightest thing, and Rath sticking his nose into Cobalt’s business would have only made him lash out at his brother.
Cobalt parked his ass against the railing next to Rath’s feet, his back to Ember and the river.
“I fucked up,” he muttered, weathering Rath’s curious gaze but refusing to look at him. If he was going to do this, he was doing it his way. He stared at his reflection in the window, into his own grey eyes, and spoke to himself. “Everything was going great… and maybe I got a little cocky… I figured I could handle shit, knew the damned deal was foolish but I thought I had it and it would be a breeze.”
He sighed and leaned more heavily on the railing, so the wood creaked beneath his weight.
“But you didn’t have it,” Rath said softly and Cobalt shook his head. “You can fix it though?”
He swallowed hard and shook his head again. “It’s gone. The whole damn business. Bust. Just like that. It’s all gone fucking south and… and… well, there’s no fixing it.”
“Shit,” Rath muttered and laid his hand on Cobalt’s leg. “That’s… I’m sorry.”
He shrugged that off, because what was there to apologise for? It had been his choice, not an act of the gods or something beyond his control. He had made a mistake and he had paid for it.
“What are you going to do?” Rath eased his feet down and sat up, and Cobalt felt the full force of his brother’s focus settling on him and sensed his need to do something to help him.
A need that Cobalt had been banking on.
“I was thinking,” Cobalt started and looked down at his brother. This was one thing he couldn’t say to his reflection. He needed Rath to see how important this was to him, because he hoped that if his brother saw it, he would give him the green light without hesitation. “Maybe I could stay… here. With Ivy around now, you’re going to need help at the creek… and you’re bound to want to go with her whenever she travels.”
Cobalt had picked up that Ivy wasn’t going to give up her career as a wildlife photographer and Rath wouldn’t let his mate out of his sight. He would travel to the ends of the Earth for her, and that meant leaving the creek unattended for long periods while he travelled with her.
“I can take care of things in your absence. Keep an eye on your territory and the cabins.” Cobalt scrubbed his hand over his tousled hair again and then around the back of his neck as he sweated, waiting for Rath to say something.
His cabin was on the other side of the community, away from the others because of his temperament, the side of him he couldn’t quite control at times.
He hated that part of himself, the way he could be in control one moment and savage the next, attacking relentlessly, unable to stop himself. He hated it because he knew everyone at the pride was aware of it, many of them having witnessed the night it had been born in all of its horrific glory.
They all viewed him as a threat, and some of them had wanted Rath to cast him out of the pride.
Storm had fought to keep him in it, his younger brother the reason that side of Cobalt had emerged. Cobalt had been on the verge of maturity, ninety-nine years old, when Archangel had attacked the pride. Their parents had allowed him to fight because he had been strong enough, and Storm had foolishly fought too, despite being close to a decade from maturing.
When hunters had severely injured Storm, Cobalt had lost it.
Everything had been a blur after that, but Rath had filled him in on what had happened, how savage and dangerous he had turned, and how he had ripped through almost a dozen hunters in order to protect their younger brother.
Since then, everyone had viewed him as fucked up.
Now, he had proven himself worthy of that title. A fuck up of the highest order.
“Sure,” Rath drawled.
Cobalt snapped himself back to his brother, stared at him as he struggled to take that single word in and make sense of it, as if it was utterly foreign to him.
“Sure?” He would have fallen on his ass if he hadn’t been leaning against the railing, the shock that blasted through him on realising his brother was giving his consent, was going to allow him to stay at the creek and help out, sending his mind reeling. “Really?”
Rath nodded.
“You’re right, and Ivy is keeping me pretty distracted.” A grin teased his brother’s lips, one that said she kept him distracted a lot and he wasn’t complaining. “She wants to shoot spirit bears soon, and I will want to go with her. The thought of leaving the creek unguarded has been bothering me, so maybe this is the perfect solution. You can stay here year-round with me. Some of the cabins are getting old and need more than just repairs now too.”
“I was thinking about adding metal roofing,” Cobalt said and when Rath’s dark eyebrows lifted, he shrugged stiffly. “It’ll be better for when the snow falls, will last longer than timber shingles, and I hear it offers added protection from forest fire embers.”
Ember.
His focus instantly zoomed to her cabin, his senses stretching to reach her. He needed to feel her. She was as devastating as a wildfire ember, made him burn just as fiercely, and turned his focus to ashes whenever he was around her.
“That’s a good idea.” Rath’s voice cut into his thoughts of her and he forced himself to give his brother the whole of his attention. “It’ll be a lot of work though.”
“I can handle it.” He could.
This was his chance to prove himself to his brother.
Maybe it was more than that. Maybe it was a shot at proving himself to the pride too.
He had never really fitted in at the creek, had never felt it was his home, but now he wanted to make a place for himself here.
He wanted to get his head on straight again and felt in the pit of his soul that this might be something he was good at and wouldn’t mess up because of his problem. He would keep enough distance from Rath, would work on his own parcel of land and help around the creek, and would make a go of it here, where it was quiet and soothing.
“Measure up the cabins, start with our ones, and see what sort of prices you can get. I’ll talk to the other cabin owners, but I’m sure they’ll be onboard.” Rath’s faith in him touched Cobalt, eased the weight on his shoulders and had him eager to get going, and unable to believe he had put off talking to his brother for so long.
He should have known Rath would be understanding about it and would give him the second chance he badly needed.
He looked around the creek as the sun rose, bathing the mountains that surrounded the remote val
ley in warm light that turned the snow on their peaks gold and seemed to make the rich green of the forests that swathed their bases even more vivid.
He could make a home for himself here, finally settle down and plant some roots. No more wandering. It was time he stopped moving, stopped running from himself and faced things head on.
Ember was here now.
He had waited for her for so long, and sure, this wasn’t how he had planned it, but he was damned if he was going to let the female he had been craving for the past two decades, a female who owned his heart and him completely, go without a fight.
His irises must have changed, glowing golden as thoughts of Ember merged with a need to fight for her, to take down any male who stood between him and her.
“The work thing the only stuff you need to talk about?” Rath eyed him closely.
Cobalt forced himself to nod.
While it felt good unburdening his heart to his brother, getting it all out there, he couldn’t tell Rath the other reason he was feeling volatile, constantly on a razor’s edge. That would mean confessing something he wasn’t ready to tell Rath yet.
Something he had been aware of from the second he had set eyes on her all those years ago.
Ember was his fated mate.
Craved by her Cougar (Cougar Creek Mates series #4)
For the last twenty years, Cobalt has burned with a need of one female, a beautiful raven-haired cougar who captured his heart the moment he set eyes on her. His position as pride protector has been a blessing at past mating gatherings, keeping females away, but this time it feels like the worst of curses, because the female who has bewitched him so thoroughly is taking part for the first time and all he can do is watch as males battle for her.
As much as she hates the way her mother controls everything in her life, Ember is thankful for it as she constantly turns away suitors, unaware of the pain she’s sparing Ember from with every male she rejects. Every male who isn’t the gorgeous blond with darkness in his eyes and an easy smile she burns for with an intensity that scares her, awakens feelings in her that have her verging on doing something reckless. Damaged goods he might be, dangerous and unpredictable, but with every contest over her that pulls her closer to her doom, she grows more determined to follow her heart, no matter the consequences.
With every fight over the right to Ember, the tethers on Cobalt’s feelings twist and threaten to snap, a torment he cannot bear and one that has him willing to risk it all, because a single kiss would make even the harshest punishment worth it. He would die for one moment with her… his fated mate.
Available September 29th 2018
order your copy now
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author who writes passionate paranormal romance books. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons!
If you're a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter, Larissa Ione and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.
If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, her best-selling Her Angel romance series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm romance series or any of her stand alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try her Vampire Erotic Theatre romance series. Or if you like hot-blooded alpha heroes who will let nothing stand in the way of them claiming their destined woman then try her Eternal Mates series. It’s packed with sexy heroes in a world populated by elves, vampires, fae, demons, shifters, and more. If sexy Greek gods with incredible powers battling to save our world and their home in the Underworld are more your thing, then be sure to step into the world of Guardians of Hades.
To see her other novels, visit: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk
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PARANORMAL ROMANCE BOOKS BY FELICITY HEATON
Stories in the Cougar Creek Mates romance series
Book 1: Claimed by her Cougar
Book 2: Captured by her Cougar
Book 3: Courted by her Cougar
Book 4: Craved by her Cougar - Available September 29th 2018
Stories in the Eternal Mates romance series
Book 1: Kissed by a Dark Prince
Book 2: Claimed by a Demon King
Book 3: Tempted by a Rogue Prince
Book 4: Hunted by a Jaguar
Book 5: Craved by an Alpha
Book 6: Bitten by a Hellcat
Book 7: Taken by a Dragon
Book 8: Marked by an Assassin
Book 9: Possessed by a Dark Warrior
Book 10: Awakened by a Demoness
Book 11: Haunted by the King of Death
Book 12: Turned by a Tiger
Book 13: Tamed by a Tiger
Book 14: Treasured by a Tiger
Book 15: Unchained by a Forbidden Love
Stories in the Guardians of Hades romance series
Book 1: Ares
Book 2: Valen
Book 3: Esher
Stories in the Vampire Erotic Theatre romance series
Book 1: Covet
Book 2: Crave
Book 3: Seduce
Book 4: Enslave
Book 5: Bewitch
Book 6: Unleash
Stories in the Vampires Realm romance series
Book 1: Prophecy: Child of Light
Book 2: Prophecy: Caelestis & Aurorea
Book 3: Prophecy: Dark Moon Rising
Book 3.1: Spellbound
Book 3.5: Reunion
Book 4: Seventh Circle
Book 5: Winter's Kiss
Book 6: Hunter's Moon
Book 7: Masquerade
Book 8: Hunger
Books 1-3 are also available in one anthology ebook: Prophecy Trilogy
Stories in the In Heat romance series
Book 1: In Heat
Book 2: In Heat: Mating Call
Stand alone paranormal romance books
Blood and Snow
Love Immortal
Ascension
Forbidden Blood
Heart of Darkness
Vampire for Christmas
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2018 Felicity Heaton
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written consent of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The right of Felicity Heaton to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First printed September 2018
First Edition
Layout and design by Felicity Heaton
All characters in this publication are purely fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincide
ntal.
Cover by Felicity Heaton
Courted by her Cougar (Cougar Creek Mates Shifter Romance Series Book 3) Page 18