by JoAnna Grace
“You can look around in a minute.” Sampson smiled at him. “The other, and more likely possibility—because I believe if she were in the house, your wolf would sense her—is that she’s not used to emotional intimacy. Sleeping in a bed with someone is a vulnerable act. Waking up next to them, well, it can be intimidating. We aren’t exactly at our best first thing in the morning. See exhibits A and B.” Sampson motioned back and forth between them.
Ezekiel laughed. They were both sporting wild hair, morning breath mixed with coffee, and they needed to shave. Sampson even had holes in his flannel pants.
“Now you take a woman like Amilynn, who is very conscientious about her appearance, and that could be overwhelming. But you mix in the fact that you didn’t have sex with her, and now she’d doubting her appeal to you.”
“Are you saying I should have screwed her?” He was so confused. Damned if he did, damned if he didn’t.
“No.” Sampson took a sip of his coffee. “I think you did the right thing. Ami assumes that all men want from her is sex. If you were to have slept with her, she would discard you into the pile of jerks and never make an emotional connection. That’s where the problem is. See, to most women, sex is an emotional act. They have to be mentally aroused as much as physically. But thanks to assholes from her past—don’t tell your mother I said that—Amilynn has shut off the emotional connection to sex.”
“You’re saying she thinks of sex like a dude?” Ezekiel said in a dry tone.
Sampson grinned. “Yeah, basically. She can turn it on and off with a switch, just like we can.”
“So when she asked me into her room last night, it wasn’t because she was connecting with me; it was just a physical reaction?” If that was true, he was in a lot more trouble than he thought.
With a heavy shrug, Sampson said, “I can’t say for sure. The physical reaction between mates is a crazy thing.”
Ezekiel groaned and tilted his head back. “How am I supposed to react? What does it mean? She could be pissed I didn’t sleep with her; she would’ve been pissed if I did. Either way, it’s one tiny step forward and two leaps back.”
Sampson clapped him on the shoulder. “Welcome to the world of the mated, son. Where women are the puzzle and there are always missing pieces. My advice? Chill out, go back to her room, and wait for her to come to you.”
“Can I ask you one more question?”
“As many as you need, son.”
“What’s it like being mated? Really mated, like, married and forever kind of mated.”
A joyful serenity came over his father’s face. It was what he referred to as the Bianca Effect. When Sampson thought about his mate, his face reflected a deep, soul-stirring love that Ezekiel had yet to grasp. “It’s a gift from God. You and Ami might have a hard road ahead, but I promise you, once your animals settle, once the human side is accepting and committed, you and Ami will become like one person. She’ll be the calming presence in your mind, the only person who truly understands who you are and where you’re going. You’re lucky to have found your mate so young, Ezekiel, believe it or not. As you both grow and mature, so will your bond. It will shift and change and look completely different with each passing decade. Don’t be scared, son.”
Easier said than done, his wolf thought.
Sampson watched his oldest son walk away and took another sip of his coffee. As a father, his instinct was to warn Ezekiel away from a woman with so much baggage and heartache. Then he realized this wasn’t just some woman. This was Amilynn. If anyone had a shot at helping to heal her heart, it was her mate. Over the last couple of weeks, he’d grown very fond of Ami and her wild but loving spirit. Bianca might have given birth to only boys, but they had a daughter in Ami. Sampson was finding out why it was said that father/daughter relationships were special. Ami was his to protect and his to love.
He thought back on the night Ezekiel came home after being gone a week. The moment Ezekiel and Amilynn locked eyes, Sampson assumed something was going on with them. At first, he feared they’d slept together and now had to suffer that I’ve-seen-you-naked awkwardness. He was proud that Ezekiel had controlled his wolf thus far.
As he climbed back into bed and curled up with his mate, Sampson smiled. One day, maybe in the near future, Ezekiel and Ami would share a love like he and Bianca did.
“Is everything all right, dear?” his lovely wife asked on a yawn.
“Ezekiel and Amilynn are mated.”
“Oh, I know. She’s going to kick his tail. Isn’t it wonderful?” Her voice fell off as she drifted back to sleep. Of course she knew. A mother always knows.
Yeah, he thought, it’s wonderful.
IT WASN’T THE sun that eventually woke up the leopardess. In fact, the warming rays had sent Ami further to sleep. What jarred her leopard was the familiar scent of a cat; a shifter, but not one of her family. The leopard came to life and every one of her acute senses scanned the area around her for the intruder. The mountain lion was crouching behind some bushes below her perch, at least sixty yards away. Its prey was a wolf sentinel making his morning rounds. The wolf, although on his guard, was completely unaware of the stalking enemy. Amilynn rushed downward to stop the attack, careful not to make too much noise or be seen. It was not easy. From her vantage point, both the mountain lion and wolf could see her. She came at them both from above.
The wolf noticed her first. He instantly bristled and bared his teeth, hunkering down to deflect the blow of the incoming leopard.
Ignoring the wolf, Ami leapt into the air and met the attack of the mountain lion. It didn’t spot her until the last second before their bodies collided. As it angled his head to look at her, Ami lost the opportunity to clamp down around his neck and ended up sinking her teeth into his shoulder instead. They landed hard against a tree and she felt a rib crack. The pain was nothing. She’d endured worse and kept fighting. Ami vaguely registered the howl of a wolf before her ally came to her aid.
Ami was a formidable fighter. The leopard outweighed the mountain lion by only fifty pounds or so, but Ami was quick and she had her family to defend. Sinking her teeth into the lion’s neck, she tried to take him down and at least get him on his back. The wolf attacked from another angle, getting a good bite to the lion’s midsection. The intruder seemed to understand that it was about to be killed and a shot of adrenaline was just what it needed to slash its claws across the wolf’s face and then lodge them into Amilynn’s right thigh. Flesh ripped away and she cried out, releasing her grip on the mountain lion’s neck. Had the wolf not taken the lion in his jaws, it would have gotten her. She was able to scoot away and let the incoming wolf sentinels take care of him.
She shifted—which hurt like a bitch—to tell the wolves to take the prisoner alive. The scent of the Nevada Pride was all over him and she wanted to know exactly why this spy was in Blackburn territory. Ami examined the wound on her thigh. It was ripped to shreds and bleeding like freaking crazy. Bone and muscle were damaged. She wouldn’t be able to walk.
“Amilynn? What the hell are you doing here?” Martin. Fuck. He had been the wolf she saved. Ezekiel was going to love this.
“Hell, if I would’ve known that was you—” She sucked in a breath as Martin made a tourniquet. “I might have stayed the fuck out of it.” She tried to laugh, but ended up groaning instead. The loss of blood made her dizzy.
“Damn it, Amilynn.” Martin hung his head. When he made eye contact again, she was shocked to see he was on the verge of tears. “What the hell were you thinking?” To his fellow soldiers, he said, “I need more medical supplies, now! She’s bleeding out.”
Ami’s head lolled to the side and she met the astonished eyes of a mountain lion. One of the wolves, now in human form, injected the intruder with what she guessed was a sedative. She knew those eyes. They were unsettling and familiar. But the pain in her right leg drowned out all thoughts and she passed out with Martin screaming for her to stay awake.
She awoke with the need to
vomit as Martin carried her down the mountain.
“Stay with me, Ami. I’m sorry. I know this hurts like hell. Stay with me. I hear the chopper. Keep your eyes open.”
Ami’s eyelids were too heavy. Even with the pain, the growing noise of the rotors, she was too tired. Ezekiel. All she wanted was Ezekiel.
Why did she leave him in the first place? She could be warm in bed, wrapped up in his arms. Ezekiel . . .
Amilynn? Ezekiel came to attention and threw down the book he was reading while waiting for Ami to return. Her call for help had him running from the house. The entire family came piling out of the alpha house and stood in the meadow, watching the helicopter land and the EMTs exit.
From the edge of the woods emerged Martin with a naked and bleeding Amilynn. Ezekiel took off, Tyrone hot on his heels.
“Get a blanket,” Vivian shouted to Bianca. His mother shot back into the house.
“We can only have one in the chopper,” said the EMT as Martin laid her on the gurney. He and Ezekiel both tried to enter.
“Let me go,” Tyrone said, pushing them both aside.
“Wait. No. I’m her mate, damn it.” Ezekiel fought the arms that pulled him away. Kasey. He didn’t understand why Tyrone had priority until the other male stuck his hands inside the wound on Ami’s leg and they began to glow. Ami came up off the gurney screaming and Ezekiel’s wolf lunged for the person hurting his mate.
“What’s he doing? What is that? He’s hurting her! Stop!” Now his father and Kasey held him back. “No. Ami!” He couldn’t breathe as the chopper lifted from the ground and flew away. His father and uncle let him go. Ezekiel turned his burning rage on the nearest person: Martin.
Martin stood staring at the helicopter as if in shock. He had a deep set of claw marks down the side of his face. Ezekiel launched his body at Martin, taking him to the ground and pinning him with an elbow at his throat. “What the fuck did you do to her?” Martin coughed and gagged. “Answer me, you bastard.” Ezekiel punched him in the jaw before he was once again restrained.
“I thought she was attacking me,” Martin yelled as Conall helped him sit up. “I was on patrol and everything was quiet until she came bolting down the hill, flying at me like a madwoman. I didn’t even see the other cat—”
“Other cat?” Vivian asked.
“A mountain lion. It’s sedated.” Martin touched his bleeding face. “Amilynn saw him before I did and kept him from attacking me.” Martin’s light blue eyes met Ezekiel’s. “Trust me, if she would’ve known it was me, she might have thought twice.”
“Ezekiel,” Kasey said in his alpha tone, “you take Melissa and Vivian to the hospital. Conall, Sampson, and I will sort this out. We’re locking down the territory. No one in or out . . .” Kasey kept giving orders, but Ezekiel headed for the car, Melissa and Vivian in his wake.
“I’m driving,” Ezekiel said just as Vivian grabbed the keys from him.
“Shut the hell up and get in the car.”
He took a step back at Vivian’s growling tone. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one whose sanity was hanging by a thread. Melissa tugged at his arm and warned him with a slight shake of her head.
Vivian drove like she was auditioning for a NASCAR team. None of them said a word as they rushed to the hospital. By the time they arrived, Amilynn was in surgery with Dr. Charles, who was a Pack surgeon. His entire staff was bear and wolves, trusted to hide the abnormalities of their patients from others in the hospital.
Vivian and Ezekiel paced the hallway. Melissa sat quietly and watched them wear a track in the floor. Tyrone came out of the ER, covered in blood, half an hour later. The nurse took him to a private room so he could shift, effectively cleaning his body and covering him in new clothes. Melissa met him in the hallway with a long hug.
“I did all I could.” His face was pale and eyes were so bloodshot they looked eerie, almost evil.
“Sit, baby,” Melissa said, guiding him to a seat. “You remember what happened after you worked on Vivian.”
“What happened?” Vivian asked.
“Nothing,” Ty said, but Melissa cut him off.
“He passed out for two days once we knew you were going to live. That magic takes all his energy, leaving his leopard withered and exhausted.”
“Mel.” Tyrone shook his head like he didn’t want her telling people their secrets.
Curiosity ate at Ezekiel. He had to know what kind of voodoo Tyrone was into and if he might have infected Amilynn. “What magic? What were you doing to her?”
Tyrone’s eyes met his. They were so hard and yet full of the kind of fire that burned to the marrow of one’s bones. “Family secret.”
“Oh, don’t give me that bullshit. What are you into? Voodoo? Black magic? Devil worship of some kind?”
“Heavens, no,” Melissa gasped. “What kind of people do you think we are?”
Ezekiel threw his hands up; his voice rang out down the hall. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
Tyrone had him by the neck and against the wall in an instant. “You will apologize to my mate for using that tone, boy. Or I’ll—”
“Tyrone,” Vivian said, the growl thick in her voice. The tigress was close to the surface and showing her dominance.
“Apologize, asshole,” Tyrone said through clenched teeth, choking him harder.
“I’m sorry, Melissa,” Ezekiel said, straining to speak and never taking his eyes off Tyrone.
“It’s fine. We all need to relax.” Melissa touched Tyrone’s arm and a visible wave rippled over the other male. “Baby, he’s upset and rightfully so. Baby?” She cupped his cheeks and forced him to look at her. The smile she gave him made Tyrone’s entire body unwind. He removed his arms from Ezekiel and placed them on Melissa’s hips. “Look at me.” She cupped his face. “There you are. Wouldn’t you be upset if I were injured?”
Tyrone growled and Ezekiel realized just how close he’d been to shifting before Melissa calmed him down.
Melissa petted her mate’s face and spoke to him with soft but sure words. “Of course you would be. We’re all worried. Why don’t you and I go grab some coffee and get some sugar in your system, okay?” Her soothing voice mesmerized Tyrone and he nodded slowly, as if under a spell, never breaking eye contact with Melissa. She took his hand and led him down the hall away from Ezekiel and Vivian.
“You’ve got a death wish,” Vivian sighed, collapsing into a chair.
“I have a right to know—”
“You have a right to know jack-shit-nothing until Amilynn gives you that right.” Vivian was hostile as she leveled her eyes with him. Ezekiel had to remember that Ami was her best friend. Melissa was Vivian’s blood sister, a bond deeper than the abyss. But Amilynn was just as much her sister for all they’d been through together.
Vivian spoke the truth. Until Amilynn accepted his wolf as her mate, he didn’t have any grounds to ask about family secrets. “All you need to know is that Ty has some pretty cool abilities dealing with the energy and magic that makes us shifters. It saved my life and I have no doubt it’s going to save Ami’s. The end.”
Ezekiel sat in the chair beside her and rested his elbows on his knees. He hung his head. “What the hell is wrong with me?” He’d gone about this all wrong. He’d pissed off his mate’s brother, raised his voice at someone as sweet and loving as Melissa, gone all caveman on Martin, and now he’d snapped at Vivian.
Vivian reached over and rubbed his back. “You’re a male whose mate hasn’t accepted his claim. It makes you guys go crazy. And to top it off, your mate is injured. It’s a double kick in the balls. I’m sorry.”
He looked up at the woman his uncle had claimed for a mate. Her hazel eyes, gorgeous auburn hair, and flawless complexion might have fooled people into thinking she was simply a pretty face. Vivian was anything but. He knew how tough a broad would have to be to take on her alpha and win. Blake had done so twice. The alpha of the Nevada Pride she conquered with her claws, and Kasey she had co
nquered with her love.
Vivian and Ezekiel took turns pacing the hall. It felt like hours had passed and no word from the surgeon. Eventually, Melissa and Tyrone came back with plenty of coffee to spare.
“Was this what it was like waiting for me?” Vivian asked, drinking her third cup. “I’m about to go ape-shit bananas.”
Ezekiel nodded. “Yes, except you were fighting for your life, not just your leg.”
“It’s the same thing for Amilynn,” Melissa said. “Without her leg, she would be missing a huge part of her life.” Her blue eyes misted over and Tyrone put his arm around her, placing a kiss on her hair.
Amilynn was so active, always dancing and fighting, running, swimming, climbing. Hell, she never stopped. Even if she lost her leg, she would never stop. But she wouldn’t be able to do the things she loved to the fullest. The thought pierced through Ezekiel, rupturing his heart so painfully he rubbed his chest. His precious leopardess had to heal. Whatever kind of crap Tyrone was able to do, Ezekiel prayed it was enough to make his Ami whole again.
They all sprang their feet when Dr. Charles approached. The man looked like he’d run a marathon and his arm had fresh bandages of his own. He cast his eyes wearily to Tyrone but spoke to Vivian, recognizing the alpha female from her stay in this same hospital a couple weeks ago. “We were able to save her leg.”
Ezekiel sagged with relief. Charles continued on in a bunch of medical jargon he didn’t understand about what damage was done, but all Ezekiel heard was that Amilynn would recover. She would dance. She would fight. She would live.
“We’re transferring her to a private recovery room now. A nurse will come get you when she’s ready. I want to keep her for a few days to make sure there’s no infection, but it looks good right now.” Charles glanced at Tyrone again. “Pretty handy magic trick you have there, sir. You mind telling me how the heck you do it?”