by Lia Davis
Her gaze still on Hayden, she shrugged. It was the best she could think of at the spur of the moment. Not giving him too much time to respond, she steeled her back and said, “I need a pickup.”
“Of course.”
Damn him. He was being too quiet and too calm. She shook her head at Hayden and hoped he understood that she was trying to tell him Vance wasn’t buying it.
“I’m not far from the Blue Ridge checkpoint. I could meet you there.”
Vance was silent for a few moments before responding. “Very well. See you soon, Christa.”
Cold dread crept up her spine as the call disconnected. She handed the phone back to Hayden with a shaky hand. “He won’t be there.”
Movement at the doorway made Christa shift her gaze to Luna. The Alpha had her arms folded over her chest and her lips were pressed into a hard line. “Then you will have to allow whoever picks you up take you to him.”
“Hell no!” Hayden whirled around to face his mother, his body tensed for a fight.
Luna unfolded her arms and walked toward them. “What choice do we have? If we had something personal that belonged to Vance, we could have Addyson or Will read the object.”
“I’ll do it.” Christa pushed past Hayden to stand in front of his mother. If she was going to gain respect from the rest of the pack members, she had to do this. After all, this was her Pack now too. At least it would be once she completed the bond with Hayden and became his bonded mate.
Ten minutes later, Christa was in Hayden’s Range Rover heading to the pick-up location that was a mile from the checkpoint Shield used for emergencies. It was a small cabin about a half-mile off the main road and used to store supplies and serve as a pickup location.
Hayden hadn’t spoken to her since they’d left Ashwood Falls. Instead, he just growled as Dane fitted her with the wire and tiny GPS they’d use to track her.
“This is the only way to get close enough to Vance,” she said softly, hating the silence between them.
Hayden let out a sigh. “I don’t have to like it.”
“If it make you feel better, I’m scared too.”
He took his hand from the steering wheel and reached over to cover her hand. Giving a gentle squeeze, he glanced at her briefly. “Promise me you’ll come back.”
She linked her fingers with his. “Promise. I’ve trained for this.”
There was silence again as Hayden pulled off the road and parked the SUV. He turned to her, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her hard. When he pulled back, he ran his thumb over her lips. “Just say the word, and I’m there. Don’t take any risks.”
Taking a deep breath, she nodded. “Promise.” She wanted Vance and the rest of the rogues stopped just as much he did, but she wasn’t stupid. “This is a team operation. Once they take me to Vance, I’ll give the signal.”
He gave her one last quick kiss before releasing her. “Now go before I drag you back to the den.”
Christa opened the door and hopped out of the Range Rover then jogged off into the forest. A few yards in, she tested the two-way wire system. “Dane?”
“Gotcha. Everything’s good.”
Here goes. She took off to the east toward the cabin.
It was a thirty-minute hike to the checkpoint, and when she spotted the small cabin, her heart started thumping in rapid beats, and her palms became clammy. She stopped a few feet from it, still hidden by the trees that surrounded it, and took calming breaths to slow her heart rate.
When she was in control of her emotions again, she walked up the three steps to the porch and knocked on the door.
A moment later, Jonathan, a solider she’d worked with a number of times over the years, answered. He frowned when he saw her and stepped aside to allow her to enter the cabin. He didn’t say anything until the door was shut behind him.
“They are watching the place.”
Christa nodded. “I expected no less.”
Jonathan met her gaze and stepped closer to her so there were only a couple of inches of space between them. “You know this is a trap. He plans to kill you.”
Fear burned in her veins despite the fact that she already guessed that Vance would most likely kill her, or try to. “I know, but he’ll have a fight on his hands,” she whispered, hoping Jonathan understood what she was trying to say.
He stepped back and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Like a good prisoner, she turned around so he could cuff her hands behind her back. Just as he clicked the second cuff into place, she felt him press the key into her palm.
She bit her lip to keep the smile from forming.
Jon leaned in and whispered in her ear, “I hope you have a plan.”
No longer able to fight the smile, she released her bottom lip. “When do I ever not have a plan?”
“Right. Let’s get this party started.” He nudged her to door then opened it.
As soon as they stepped off the last porch step, three Shield officers that she’d seen before in passing, but never worked with stepped out from the trees on the opposite side of the house. With them were two very large mutants and a man she’d never seen before.
As they got closer, she realized the man was a shifter. A feline of some kind. She knew that because his eyes looked like those of a cat. He stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder then Jon’s. A moment later, the forest faded away as she felt as though she was being pulled through invisible jelly before everything around changed to a stone room.
Dizzy, she tried to make sense of what had happened. Her stomach churned as if it was about to give up everything she had consumed in the last twenty-four hours.
She took deep breaths and steadied herself. Peering around the room, she frowned. It wasn’t a room, but a cell.
The shifter nodded to Jon to come with him. Jon complied, following the male out the cell’s glass door.
Once alone, she ground her teeth. “Hayden?” she whispered.
“Here.” His rough reply sent chills across her skin.
“Please tell me the GPS is working.”
Alec cut in, surprising her. Had they moved to MoonRiver while she was talking with Jon? “I got ya. The teleportation throws us for a moment. Dumbass bastards are twenty miles outside of Ashwood.”
She rolled her eyes, to no real effect. There was no one here to see her. Fiddling with the key in her hand, she moved it around until she could get it into the keyhole. “How far away are you guys?”
“Five minutes,” Hayden growled.
Just then she heard footsteps coming from down the hall. “You need to make that two minutes. Someone is coming.”
Her cell door swished open, and Vance walked in. She swallowed the fear that threatened to rise and kept her hands behind her back.
“Hello, Christa.”
The bastard thought he was so smart.
“Do you know that I’ve known about your true nature for a while?”
He shrugged and leaned his back against the door. “You were always too smart for your own good. Where are those brats of yours?”
She stiffened involuntarily and hated that she showed him how much his words affected her. “The twins are no concern of yours.”
He pushed off the door and stalked toward like the animal that lived within his soul. His leopard flashed in his eyes as he moved. She forced herself to remain standing in the middle of the room.
When he stopped inches from her, he smiled, but there was no humor in that smile. There was an evil that crawled over her skin like a million tiny ants. He reached out and stroked her cheek with his fingers. She jerked away, which only pissed him off.
He grabbed a handful of hair and yanked her head back. “Your thoughts betray you.”
Realization filled her at his words. “You’re a telepath?”
He laughed. “No, but my Alpha is a mindbender. I can draw from the telepathic side of his ability.”
Her fear from earlier shifted to anger then to a rage she hadn’t felt until the day she
’d seen her sister’s dead body. Rick might have killed Mary, but it was the rogues—ones like Vance—that were responsible for her death.
She brought her foot up and slammed it down on his toes then swung one arm around to slam a fist in his nose while her knee connected with his balls.
Vance screamed and fell to the ground.
Christa ran out of the cell and down the hall, expecting to be ambushed by rogues and mutants, but none came.
When she rounded a corner, she ran into someone. Startled, she swung at him, only to have Jon grab her hand. “Chris. It’s me.”
Heart pounding, she peered into his eyes, unsure if she should trust him. “Let me go.”
He released her wrist and stepped back. “Come this way.”
“Why?”
He let out a heavy sigh. “Because the mutants will be upon us in two minutes.”
Without waiting for her reply, he grabbed her wrist again and dragged her through the maze of hallways.
“Where are we going?”
He didn’t look back at her. “We’re getting the hell out of here before it blows.”
“What?”
They came to a door at the end of a corridor. Jon kicked it opened and pulled her out into the evening air. They made it about fifteen feet away from the building before it exploded. Jon pulled her into his body and turned so he covered her as they fell to the ground.
She felt the heat from the fire as it washed over them. Tears stung her eyes, and she screamed until she no longer felt the heat.
Her heartbeat hammered in her ears as silence filled the night around them. She nudged Jon, who still lay over her, protecting her from the blast, but he didn’t move.
Oh God. “Jon? Please wake up. Damn it!”
She heard footsteps, and she started to panic. Breathing became hard, and the tears rolled down her cheeks. She hadn’t even said good-bye to the twins.
A voice she thought she’d never hear again called out to her. Hayden. Thank God.
“I’m here.”
A moment later, Hayden knelt beside her then Jon’s body rolled off her. When she was free, she scooted from under him and flung herself into Hayden’s arms. He squeezed her tight and kissed her temple.
After a few moments, she raised her head to peer at Jon. “Is he alive?”
Dane, who hovered over Jon’s body as if accessing the damage, nodded. “Yes, but he has severe burns on his back.”
“He saved my life.”
Hayden lifted her in his arms as he rose from the ground. “We know. He’s coming with us.”
Christa just nodded. She was too tired to speak any more. Snuggling into her mate’s chest, she closed her eyes. God, please let Jon be okay.
Chapter Twenty
Hayden thought he’d never get Christa home and in bed. His home was one of the many that had gone untouched during the attack. The rogues’ firebombs hadn’t reached the back of the den where his, Keegan’s, and many other homes were located.
Christa obsessed about the Shield soldier’s health until she knew he would pull through.
“I can’t believe I never knew he was half-shifter,” she said as she lay across his bare chest, her fingers raking through his chest hair in sensual, calming motions.
“Many like Jon, who don’t develop the ability to shift, live most their lives as humans until they realize they aren’t aging.”
“I guess. I mean we weren’t ever close. We worked on assignments together, but never shared personal information.” She lifted her head to peer into his eyes.
He kissed her forehead. “Shifters, whether they live as humans or not, are still sworn to secrecy. In his case, it was most likely for his own survival.”
She nodded and laid her head back on his chest. They laid there in silence for several moments before she spoke again. “Hayden?”
“Yes?”
“How long will it take to rebuild the den?”
He shrugged. “A few months. There wasn’t as much damage as we thought. We’ll start bringing everyone back in about four months to be sure.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
She fell silent again. He wasn’t sure how long they lay there, nor did he care. Having Christa in his arms and in his bed was heaven. It gave him a peace he hadn’t had in a long time.
Finally she broke the silence. “What does it truly mean to be mated? I mean for a human to a shifter?”
He ran his fingers through her silky blond curls. “You know that we change you. You will remain human, but take my lifespan. Which means you will stop aging.”
She stilled her fingers, and his heart stopped for a brief moment. Fear that she’d reject him and back out of the mating filled him.
Finally she straddled him and leaned down to press her lips to his. “What else?”
“Our souls will connect. You would feel me inside your mind and body.”
She moved down his body and kissed his chest. “Sounds permanent.”
He sucked in a breath as she moved down farther and pressed a kiss on his stomach, inches away from where his cock lay under his jeans. “Wolves mate for life.”
She unbuttoned his jeans then slid the zipper down. “How do we complete the bond?”
“You have to accept it in your heart and open to me completely.” He cupped her head in his hands and sat up so he could press his lips to hers. “I love you. I want you for my mate. Say yes, Chris.”
She smiled, and he felt the bond slowly forming, weaving a thread from her heart to his. “I love you too. I want to be your mate and your partner for however long that will be.”
He growled his approval and flipped her to her back. She gasped then laughed. God, he loved the sound of her laugh. “Are you sure? There is no divorce in my world. Only death can break the bond.”
She fisted a handful of his hair and pulled him down for a kiss. Thrusting her tongue into his mouth, she deepened the kiss and moved her hips against his hard cock. When she broke the kiss, she held his gaze. Her hazel eyes appeared more blue in the dim light of his…no, their, bedroom.
“I’m sure. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.”
His wolf howled at her words, and the man agreed. This was his female. “I love you.”
Christa smiled. “I love you too. Now make love to me and complete the bond.”
Hayden pushed his jeans down enough to free his cock then, with his claws, ripped her jeans and panties off her, patience forgotten.
He captured her lips in a hard kiss as he thrust deep inside her. She groaned into the kiss and rocked against him as he moved in and out of her pussy in a fiery need to claim what was his. She wrapped her legs around his waist, making it possible for him to go deeper.
Breaking the kiss, he trailed his lips down her jaw to the throat, then further to bite down on her shoulder. A moment later, an orgasm rocked through both of them in a rush of combined pleasure that grew with each shutter, snapping the threads of the mating bond in place.
He shuddered as the last tremor rocked through him, and he rolled to his side, pulling Christa with him. She snuggled into him and kissed his chest.
“Now you’re mine, forever.”
She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. “I’d have it no other way, my mate.”
The End
Coming next in the Ashwood Falls world:
Misguided Path
About the Author
Lia Davis is a mother to two young adults and two very special kitties, a wife to her soul mate, a paranormal romance author, graphic designer, and co-owner to Fated Desires Publishing, LLC. She and her family live in Northeast Florida battling hurricanes and very humid summers. But it’s her home and she loves it!
An accounting major, Lia has always been a dreamer with a very activity imagination. The wheels in her head never stop. She ventured into the world of writing and publishing in 2008 and loves it more than she imagined. Writing and designing are stress relievers that allow her to go off in her c
orner of the house and enter into another world that she created, leaving real life where it belongs.
Her favorite things are spending time with family, traveling, reading, writing, chocolate, coffee, nature and hanging out with her kitties.
www.AuthorLiaDavis.com
Also from this Author
Now Available
Ashwood Falls
Winter Eve
A Tiger’s Claim
A Mating Dance
Surrendering to the Alpha
Ever After
Divided Loyalties
The Divinities
Death’s Storm
Coming Soon
Ashwood Falls
Misguided Path
The Divinities
The Dark Divine
Sons of War
War’s Passion
A Mating Dance
Did you enjoy this selection? Why not try another romance from Fated Desires?
From the Ashwood Falls series by Lia Davis
Chapter 1
Cameron Nickels crouched low to the forest ground, her eyes fixed on two rogue wolf shifters, members of outlawed Onyx Pack. She knew they were rogues by the Onyx tattoo on their forearms, and by their scent. Rogues had an unmistakable coppery scent of blood mixed with a hint of dirt and decay.
She shuttered and tried not to breath in the recant odor.
The rogues circled around the trees searching for whoever they’d chased into this section of the forest. Cameron, Blaine and several other enforcers trailed the rogues about a mile outside Ashwood Falls—the wolf/leopard Pack located high in the Smoky Mountains—which, as far as Cameron was concerned, was too fucking close to Pack territory.
The night was perfect for rogue killing—clear, slightly warm, and the full moon high in the sky provided just enough light filtering through the trees. It was almost the end of March, and the air was finally starting to feel like spring.