Can't Be Love
Page 27
A shifter could have numerous compatible mates, but only ever one, true mate. I used to believe in the power of true mates. I believed it when they said you would know immediately, and it would alter your life the moment you met, like some sort of ridiculous fairy tale. Yes. I, Cole Anderson, Westin's resident elusive bad boy, standing at six feet four, weighing in at two hundred and forty pounds of solid muscle, and covered in tattoos was once upon a time a true romantic. That was then, before Elizabeth Collier.
I had just celebrated my eighteenth birthday. I was a clean cut all American teen with high hopes and promising expectations. Jason Westin had recognized me as with alpha potential at a young age, confirmed when my wolf surfaced at only sixteen years of age.
My parents were good people and raised me to be considerate, dependable, and yet not take any shit from anyone. I loved them deeply, and as an only child, I had a closer than average relationship with them. My parents had been true mates. My dad was killed in a car wreck, and because he and my mom had been fully bonded, I lost them both to that accident.
I remember the day clearly. Mom and I were cooking dinner together and laughing and talking. I had just graduated high school and had already been accepted into university. They had been enormously proud of me. She hugged me tight telling me just that, and then she was just gone, collapsed in my arms.
I didn't know what was happening. We had been waiting for Dad to return from a business trip. He worked for the Westin Foundation and had been out of town. I couldn't wake her and when I realized she wasn't breathing, I started to freak out.
I called Jason, only to find he was already on his way, having received a call from my dad's partner. He had been driving when their car was T-boned on the passenger side. He had lived, my dad had not. I was suddenly an eighteen-year-old orphan.
Jason had encouraged me to take an internship with Zach Collier. They had started doing that in an attempt to strengthen both packs. He thought it was best if I got away for a while, and I couldn't have agreed fast enough. I spent that whole summer before my freshman year at university in Collier territory shadowing Zach Collier.
I would never forget the day I met Elizabeth. She was sixteen years old with long brown hair that fell in waves halfway down her back and she had bright blue eyes that mesmerized me from the first moment I saw them. She stirred my wolf in a way I had never imagined, and I was convinced she was to be mine.
It had freaked me out a little, in a very excited way. I took leave that night and drove an hour to a hotel. I had called my Alpha and told him what was happening to me. I explained how I felt, how the hair on my arms had literally stood up and my whole body tingled with nervous energy. He was happy at first, until I told him I thought my one true mate was Elizabeth Collier.
Lizzy, as everyone always called her, was two years younger than me. Jason was quick to squash my hopes and dreams telling me that he knew for fact that her wolf had not yet surfaced and that there was no way that my wolf could possibly recognize her before then. He told me I needed to be patient and wait.
I waited and watched her all that summer, never acting on the emotions I felt. Elizabeth was the eldest daughter of Zach Collier. Her mate would someday be second in line to the Alpha. She was highly protected, as were all the Collier daughters. . . all six of them.
A week before I was due to leave, Lizzy wanted to go shopping for the upcoming school year. She was heading into her Junior year and finally an upperclassman. Zach asked me to escort her, which really meant he was entrusting me to protect his daughter. It was a big moment, and the first truly responsible thing I was given that summer.
I was nervous, sweaty palms, the whole bit, just sitting next to her in the car. Her scent overwhelmed my senses and I couldn't think straight, let alone carry on a coherent conversation, so I didn't even try. She didn't last long in the silence though before she began to babble on about this and that and asking me questions. To my surprise I even managed to answer then without bumbling like a complete idiot. It made the drive go by much too quickly, and by the time we arrived at the mall, over two hours away, we were on comfortable, friendly terms.
It amazed me how easy she had been to talk to. Once I let go of my nerves, being with her was truly as easy as breathing. I opened the car door for her upon our arrival and she reached for my hand, pulling herself up. The fire that shot through me felt like I'd been hit by a lightning bolt, and I was again convinced this girl had to be my one true mate. Yet she looked entirely unaffected.
She wrapped her small hand around mine and kept it there as we headed in to shop. I had imagined that shopping with any girl would be a nightmare of an experience, but not with Elizabeth. It didn't seem to matter what we did or where we went, life was just better with Elizabeth Collier.
That shopping experience was only the first. The next day she had told her dad she hadn't found everything she wanted, despite having a new wardrobe that would clothe half her pack and asked if I could escort her to another mall a little further away this time. He didn't even hesitate to say yes to her.
Elizabeth had not shown any signs of recognition, as Jason had warned would be the case, because she hadn't yet shifted, but that didn't seem to stop the chemistry between us. I was trying to tell myself it was all one-sided. My wolf didn't want to hear it. He wanted this beautiful creature, there was no doubt in my mind that it was not just my personal infatuation with her.
Busying myself with reminders that she did not feel the same, or anything at all for that matter, I ignored all the signs she continued to send out. The fact that she always held my hand when we walked through the stores, or the way she'd look away and blush when I caught her staring at me. I couldn't let myself give in to the internal turmoil my wolf was causing that told me she was our mate, when it wasn't even possible.
She had gone into the dressing room of a department store to try on a few things when I heard her yell out my name. Fearing the worst, I immediately ran to her dressing room door.
"Elizabeth, what's wrong?" I demanded, my wolf already on high alert.
"Nothing," she said sweetly. "I just need your opinion on this outfit."
She opened the door and I hesitated but entered. It was the largest dressing room I'd ever seen, with a long bench that ran down one side, but that was all missed as I stepped in and stared at Elizabeth Collier standing in the middle of that room in nothing but a sexy black lace bra and thong panty set.
I froze, certain my mouth hung open in shock. My tongue felt dry and sticky just before I started salivating. Still over a decade later, it was the sexiest damn thing I'd ever laid eyes on. No moment before or since has ever been as great at that day.
"Close the door, Cole," she said in a huskier than usual voice, and I obeyed without question.
She watched me closely. My hands twitched to reach out and touch her. I wanted to close the gap between us more than I'd ever wanted anything in my entire life, but I just stood there like a statue.
She twirled around, a mischievous twinkle in her eye as posed.
"So? What do you think? Do you like it?" She sounded innocent in her question, but there was nothing at all innocent about her in that moment.
I growled in response and watched the fire it caused ignite in her eyes. I smelled her desire and heard the quicken of her heart. In two seconds flat, I had her pressed up against the wall of the dressing room, my mouth devouring hers. She opened to me and my tongue explored, memorizing every inch of hers.
When I finally pulled back we were both panting hard and my need for her was a thousand times stronger than it had already been. I had never experienced anything like it before.
She gave me a slow, sexy smile, wetting her lower lip with her tongue, as I stared transfixed.
"So, I'm going to assume, you like it?" She giggled, but not in a nervous way. No, Elizabeth was one hundred percent in control, or at least that's what it felt like to me.
I shrugged, "I think it would look a hell of a lot better
on the floor over there." I shocked myself by my audacity. I was a good boy, and that was not something I had ever imagined could come out of my mouth. Her cheeks flushed, and she nodded. I didn't need further invitation to strip off that tiny lace lingerie and give her my virginity right there on the bench in that dressing room. Turned out, it had been her first time too, which had only heightened my desire to make her mine.
Walking out, with my arm proudly around her, we passed a tattoo parlor.
"We should definitely mark this day with matching tattoos," she had said.
"I don't know, Elizabeth. They're so, I dunno, permanent. And the needles? I don't know if I could do it. I'm not really a fan of them. Besides, don't you have to be eighteen or have your parents' approval."
She just grinned and shook her head. "Come on, it'll be fun."
I knew in that moment that I was screwed. I would never in my life be able to say no to this girl. Before I knew what was happening, she had flashed my id and a fake one of hers claiming she was nineteen, and we were in chairs next to each other as she pointed out which one she wanted, and I walked away with a black silhouette of intertwined wolves howling at the moon on my right upper arm. She had a tiny version of the same thing just inside her bikini line. She had tried to talk me into getting it in the same spot, but the dude had told me that was okay for girls, but I needed a real tattoo.
It was now ranked amongst the top ten dumbest things I had ever done. At the time it had burned like a son of a bitch, but I was convinced Elizabeth and I were destined to be together forever and I wanted the whole world to know it. That was the real reason I had gone all in, proudly showcasing the tattoo that only I knew matched hers.
The remainder of that week we snuck off every chance we had to be together, while trying hard not to bring too much attention to it. By the time we had to say goodbye and head off to college, I was head over heels in love with Elizabeth. I had even considered staying, just to be with her, but she was level headed and practical as well as passionate and sometimes impulsive, and she still had two more years of high school to complete.
For the first month we spoke on the phone every day, but as school for her started and she settled into a new routine, the calls were fewer and further between. I had even considered calling her father a few times just to check on her, but he didn't know about us and I wasn't sure how he'd take the news.
By Christmas break, I wasn't sure there was an us. It all felt more like a dream. Depending on the day, that stupid tattoo was either heckling me or holding my sanity, confirming it all really had happened. Jason had insisted I spend the holidays with his family, so I was unable to see her and she no longer answered my calls. My wolf was restless, and I started growing more irritable.
The next summer I was sent to Texas to shadow the alpha at Longhorn, despite my protests and requests to go back to Collier. It would be two more years before I'd see Elizabeth again. This time I was twenty-one and she was nineteen.
I had heard the news the moment her wolf had surfaced just before her eighteenth birthday. It had taken every ounce of my restraint not to run to her, confirming what I had already known. Elizabeth and I were true mates.
Finally, the moment had arrived. I would look upon her again and we'd know. I hadn't been with another female in that time. It was only her for me. I had grown bigger and stronger during our time apart and I was used to deflecting women on a daily basis. For me, there was only one, and I would wait forever for her.
I was traveling with Jason. One of the Collier wolves had taken a mate, and as w as custom with our kind, the mating trials were opened. The mating challenges were a fight to the death. Any wolf could challenge for a mate and pack position. One of our Westin wolves had chosen to do that. I was just grateful I had an excuse to finally see Elizabeth again.
The moment our eyes met, it was like seeing her again for the first time. I had wished we were not in such a public place, but I had prepared myself for the impact a best as I could. As I knew it would, the mating call flared wildly within me. My wolf was excited and immediately recognized hers. The physical response to seeing my mate again was stronger than anything I had ever imagined, but Elizabeth was on the arm of another man.
I fought back the urge to growl at him and warn him off of her. I was on foreign territory, representing my pack. It would not bode well with Jason or Zach if I caused a scene, especially one involving Elizabeth.
I waited until the moment came that I could steal a few minutes alone with her. I didn’t' say a word or give warning as my lips crushed against hers. She sighed and started to kiss me back. Next thing I knew, she was pounding my chest and pushing away from me. I was shocked and confused.
"Cole, stop it," she demanded. It hurt on a cellular level.
"We can't do this. Santos is the future Alpha of a pack in Venezuela. We're together now. You can't just go around kissing a girl like that. I know we were friends once, but we haven't even seen each other in years. You have to stop it."
I was so confused. Everything inside me was screaming this is your mate, but she didn't seem to feel it at all. There was no way it could all be one sided for me. I did not wait three years for her just to be rejected.
"Friends? Elizabeth," I started, and she cut me off.
"My name's Lizzy, Cole. Everyone calls me Lizzy. Why do you insist on calling me by my full name?"
She was changing the subject, trying to start an argument, but I didn't understand why.
"Lizzy reminds me of a little girl in pigtails." I looked her up and down and saw her skin flush. Knowing I could illicit such a response despite her protests, encouraged me. "And you are no little girl, Elizabeth." Rendering her momentarily speechless, I continued. "I know who you are to me. I've always known, and I know you have to feel it to."
She gulped, and her pupils dilated. It was the only sign that I might be right.
"What do you know?" She asked softly.
"You are my one true mate, and I am crazy in love with you. I've known it since the first moment I laid eyes on you, and I have waited for you all these years."
Yeah, I was that sentimental sap, and what did it get me? Nothing. Elizabeth had laughed in my face. She told me she felt nothing of the sort. My heart broke into a million pieces that day and I swore from that moment on, I would never go looking for love, or allow it to affect me again. If Elizabeth Collier wasn't my one true mate, I didn't want one. No one would ever get close enough to hurt me the way she had that day.
Since then women came and went. I kept them at a distance, used them for my personal pleasure, and then I sent them on their way. I preferred human women as they were much less clingy with no idea what it meant to mate. Many ladies over the years had tried to capture Cole Anderson, but I would never allow myself to be vulnerable to anyone like that again. She had shattered my faith in true mates, and even seeing friends and people I cared about finding their happily ever afters would not thaw my heart and leave it vulnerable to love ever again.
SNEAK PEEK
PACK’S PROMISE
An ARC Shifter Novel
By
Julie Trettel
Coming October 2018
Karis
Chapter 1
I could barely contain my excitement as we loaded up the truck with all my possessions and headed south. I’d never even been out of Alaska. California seemed like an enormous feat, especially since we were driving, and it would take a few days to reach the destination—Archibald Reynolds College, affectionately known as the ARC.
I didn’t think I’d be able to go. I didn’t even think Oma and Upa would allow it. Upa was my Pack Alpha and I was a proud Alaskan wolf shifter, only surviving heir of Tulok. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I had been small child when my parents went packed up the truck, loading up my three older siblings and headed off on an adventure. My brother was fourteen, the eldest of us. He was ten years older than me and being groomed for to take over as Alpha someday, second in line behi
nd my father. He had been my hero and seemed larger than life, then in the blink of an eye he was gone. They all were.
The truck had skidded on some ice and went down a ravine. Dead. My mother, my father, brother, and two sisters, all dead. I didn’t even know where they were going or what they planned to do, only that I was very little and had come down with some sort of sickness, and they’d left me behind at the last minute. I grew up believing that I was supposed to have been in that truck too. I should have died that day, and I never understood why I was allowed to survive without them.
Upa told me many times over that only God truly knows his plan for us, but that there was a promise to the pack straight from God himself that a <
My grandparents were true believers and revered God’s nature and provisions above all else. Respect the land, respect the animals, bring harm to no one. That theory was preached to me for as long as I could remember.
It wasn’t that we lived entirely off-grid and I was completely out of touch with the real world. I wasn’t. We had cable and the internet. I wasn’t naïve, exactly, just very inexperienced. Simply driving down the highway on the journey of the destination to my new path in life, was an adventure for me. Everything was new and exciting.
I had read up everything I could on the ARC and my new roommate and I had spoken numerous times on the phone and texted daily. I felt like I already had a kindred spirit waiting for me.
The excitement of the drive became underwhelming quickly as one day blurred into another. I was beginning to think we’d never arrive. It didn’t help that in the last remaining hours we were stuck in back-to-back traffic as students from all over arrived to start the new school year.