by Mercy May
Contents
Series Notice
Title Page
Copyright Information
MARK
ZEKE
MARK
ZEKE
MARK
ZEKE
MARK
ZEKE
MARK
ZEKE
EPILOGUE
Author's Note
About The Authors
Other Works
Other Books in the Furbidden Mates Series
The author recommends reading this series in order for maximum reader enjoyment.
Striped and Bear (Book 1)
Bear My Stripes (Book 2)
White and Striped (Book 3)
Bear My Stripes
(Furbidden Mates Book 2)
Mercy May
Bear My Stripes
By Mercy May
Copyright © 2015 Mercy May. All rights reserved.
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MARK
I ran my hands across the old oaken desk, eyeing the ever-growing stacks of documents and folders spread out in front of my mother as she pressed a finger and thumb to her temples. She was leaning against the desk, propped up on one arm, while her free hand worked away at signing one dotted line after the next. I could sense her tension, as I always could, and it pained me to see my mother so stressed out.
“Are you sure there’s nothing I can help with?” I asked her, offering my best smile.
Mother looked up at me and shook her head, her graying curls bobbing every which way as she did. The poor woman looked as if she’d aged a decade over the past six months, something that all but defied the dominant she-bear I knew was inside her. This wasn’t supposed to be her job. She wasn’t supposed to be stuck tending to the constant needs and pressures as alpha of the Bruner clan. That job was supposed to be my brother’s. It was supposed to be Matthew’s. But I hadn’t seen or so much as heard from him in nearly six months.
“There’s got to be something I can do,” I offered, desperate to help her in some way. It had been all I could do to watch her silently suffer her burden alone over the past several months. My father had grown broody and almost cruel since his last encounter with my brother, and he had refused to so much as lift a finger to help my mother. Instead, he locked himself away in his study, silently hating the lot that life had handed him. And, to be honest, I can’t say that I blamed him.
My brother, Matthew, was supposed to marry a she-bear from a powerful western clan. He was supposed to take over the role of the alpha then, allowing my father to retire with pride rather than wallow in misery. Instead, my brother had ran off and eloped with a tiger, taking only the time to utterly destroy my father’s dominance and leave the alpha’s duties with my mother.
I shook my head at the thought. It was sickening how Matthew had just forsaken his duties like that. I knew better, though. There was a reason family principles and traditions were put into place. There were roles to be upheld and a way of life to be committed to. Matthew had been selfish. He’d let his own desires come before the needs of his family, and that was something I hadn’t been able to forgive him for. Not yet.
“Mark,” Mother whispered, staring up at me. “Just calm down. Go relax. Let me get this done.” She offered me a weak smile, and I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.
“It isn’t right,” I snapped, finally fed up with it. For too long I’d been holding back, biting my tongue and keeping my thoughts to myself. My mother had enough to worry about without me whining to her, but I couldn’t handle it anymore. “Something has to give, mother. Either Father needs to step up and help, or someone else needs to be named alpha. You shouldn’t have to do this alone.”
Mother shook her head at me, her golden eyes that reminded me so much of Matthew’s glimmering from the light of the chandelier hanging above our heads. “My alpha directed me to help run the clan, Mark. Your alpha. You’re a sweet boy, Mark, but you’ll do well to remember that.”
My bear let out a growl and I had to make a conscious effort to keep him from nearing the surface. Just the mention of Matthew as my alpha was enough to get the bear riled up. “Matthew isn’t my alpha,” I hissed. “And he damn well isn’t yours either. Alphas provide and protect their family. They don’t abandon them.”
Mother just smiled at me again. “You more than anyone should understand that this is the way things are. This is how our people survive. Your brother is alpha and he gave us direction before he left. That’s all there is to it.”
I bit my tongue, doing my best to contain the anger of both my bear and myself. I didn’t understand how Mother could talk this way. After all Matthew had put her through, why would she defend him?
“Fine,” I managed finally, clenching my fists as I spoke.
“Fine it is,” Mother smiled. “You should know, though, Matthew didn’t just leave and cut ties. He didn’t just abandon us.”
I stood there for a second, not comprehending. “What are you saying?”
“I speak to him pretty regularly. He isn’t very business savvy himself, but he has been helping me shoulder the load. Though, he does so from where he lives with his mate rather than from here.”
My jaw dropped. I hadn’t spoken to or even heard from Matthew since he’d left with his tiger. As far as I knew, he hadn’t even bothered to make contact with the family. And yet, here I was finding out that my mother had been in constant contact with him.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, my voice weaker than I’d intended.
Mother shrugged. “It never came up. And besides, he asked me not to. I chose to respect his wishes.”
“He…he asked you not to?” I could feel the well breaking inside me. Yes, I’d been angry at my brother. But he was still my brother, and I still loved him. In a way, I still needed him. He had answers to questions I never had a chance to ask him.
Mother nodded. “He did. Or, he asked me not to until you came to me like this. He said that once you came to me with these concerns, these questions, these statements that I should tell you and…”
I stared at her, my eyes starting to mist. “And?”
She smiled. “And that I was supposed to give you this.” Mother opened the top drawer of her desk and pulled out a plain white envelope. She handed it to me, and I turned it over and flipped it open. Inside, there was a folded up sheet of paper. When I unfolded the paper, a single plane ticket fell out and into my hand.
“What is this?” I asked.
“That’s a ticket to Mumbai,” Mother told me.
“Mumbai?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.
Mother nodded, “Your alpha requests your presence. At your earliest convenience. That paper,” she pointed to the piece of paper I’d unfolded, “has your brother’s address on it. Don’t lose it, though. Mumbai can be very…confusing.”
I stared at her for the longest moment, slack-jawed as realization dawned on me. Matthew was in Mumbai and he wanted to see me.
“I don’t understand,” I t
old her. “Why can’t he just come home?”
Mother flashed a larger smile than any I’d seen in months. “He will. But for now… Let’s just say it’s not safe for him to fly.”
I arched an eyebrow at that, but the look in her eyes told me that I wouldn’t be getting any other details out of her. “Okay,” I said. “When should I leave?”
She shrugged. “Like I said: at your earliest convenience.”
My eyes widened at that. She was dismissing me. Edging me out the door. She wanted me to go ahead and leave. Wanted me to go ahead and fly to Mumbai. How could I say no?
“Okay,” I said flatly. “But first, where’s the nearest airport?”
My father had raised both Matthew and myself in a somewhat secluded manner. We’d rarely been allowed to leave Black Canyon, and when we did it was only to travel with my father on business trips. I’d only ever been as far as the nearest city, and I didn’t remember there being any airports near there.
“I think your best bet is going to be Nashville,” Mother told me, her golden eyes dancing. There was a joy on her face that I hadn’t seen in months. I’d almost forgotten what it looked like to see her genuinely smile.
I nodded eagerly. “Okay then. Are you sure?”
Mother just continued her wide-mouthed smile. “More than anything, sweet boy. Now, go pack. You’ve got a bit of a trip ahead of you.”
Without so much as a response, I turned and immediately bounded for the door of my mother’s office, then made straight for my bedroom. In a matter of minutes, I had a suitcase packed and was on my way out the door. My mother was waiting in the garage with wide arms and a tight hug. After a quick goodbye, I climbed into my waiting cherry-red Camaro and backed out.
It had been over half a year since I’d last seen or spoken to my brother. By my count, that was half a year too long.
ZEKE
I’ve never been fond of airports, and Nashville International is no different. There’s just something about flying that makes the tiger in me scamper back into the depths of my skin. Just the thought of surrendering myself to a giant mechanical bird is enough to leave me nauseated but, in this day and age, it really is the best way to get around. And as much as I prefer my life as a drifter - moving from one city to the next (preferably by foot or, at worst, by motorcycle) - sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and buy a plane ticket. I mean, it’s not like I can walk or drive across an entire ocean. And there’s no fucking way I’m getting on a boat. No way, no how. Not while there’s a big cat still lurking inside me.
Despite all that, as I made my way through the security checkpoints - even with having to disclose my shifter registration license to the scowling TSA agents - I couldn’t help but feel a little excited. Yes, I hated flying, but it had been a long time since I’d been home, and I had to admit that I was looking forward to it.
I’d gotten the call from my cousin a few days ago. He’d gone on and on about how he’d found the one, his mate. That, in itself, was something that was wholly foreign to our kind. Tigers were prone to wandering and drifting, more often than not alone. Much like our fully bestial counterparts, we didn’t settle down and we definitely didn’t mate for life. Not typically anyways. It’s part of why we were such a rare breed of shifters, with no more than a handful of us left on the planet. My cousin, much like myself, also tended to have an atypical sort of appetite when it came to sexual partners - something that should have stood between him and finding his so-called fated mate. And yet, to hear him talk, he’d found him. For the first time that I could remember, my cousin sounded happy. That in itself would have been enough to lure me back to Mumbai. But, really, there was more to my trip than that.
My cousin had awoken something inside me. Or, rather, he’d made me realize something that I’d always known. My tiger had been craving a mate for a long time, and I’d been following his whims as we searched. Just to satiate his desires, I’d made every attempt I could at bedding every two-legged dick-wielding man between California and Tennessee. Nothing seemed to satisfy my inner-beast, however. And I was starting to think that I’d gone crazy. I was starting to give up. And then, out of the blue, came the phone call. So yes, I was flying back to Mumbai to visit my cousin and offer him congratulations. But I was also flying back so that I could get his advice, and to see him and his fated mate in person. Call me cynical, but I needed to see it with my own eyes before I could dive back into the hunt. It just hurt too much to keep on like this, and I needed to see that there might actually be some payoff in the end.
After boarding the plane, I stalked my way into the first class cabin, thankful that I’d been able to afford the pricey ticket. The plane was incredibly crowded, and in such a tight space, it just wasn’t something that my tiger would have agreed with. In fact, I could feel him inching ever-closer to my skin, threatening to emerge at the first sign of undue stress. Crowds and flying were a perfect recipe for tiger-induced disaster if there ever was one.
Stepping into the cabin, I immediately came up short, my breath catching in my throat as my eyes fell on the single-most attractive specimen of a man that I’d ever seen. He was standing in the aisle, grumbling about his carry-on as he attempted to force it into submission and into the overhead storage compartment. He was a big man, bigger than any I’d ever seen, with massive shoulders that seemed almost herculean. He had thick brown hair that had clearly been mussed up in a fit of frustration. He was wearing a black tank top and a pair of desert-camouflage cargo shorts fell to just below his knee, offering a perfect glimpse at his tight and muscular calves. His skin was a dark tan, and my jaw slackened a bit at the sight of his muscles bulging from his strong back as he struggled with the luggage. He had his back to me, and I just couldn’t stop myself from staring at his ass. Even from across the cabin, I could smell the bear in the man. He smelled of pine and sweat and stone, and it was more than enough to have my tiger growling just beneath the surface, sending out an audible rumble to anyone close enough to hear it.
Damn. I’d never once reacted to a man that way, and especially without even so much as speaking to or seeing their face. Just watching him for a brief second had my cock hard and pressing against my jeans, and it was all I could do to keep from tearing across the cabin and jumping his bones right then and there.
With a grunt, the man slammed his luggage into the compartment, then slapped the door shut with an extra celebratory smack for good measure. He must have felt me staring at him, because the man immediately snapped his head in my direction then, with a bewildered look on his face, pointed toward the seats beside him.
“This your row too?” He asked, his voice deep and with an air of ferocity embedded in it. The words came out almost forced, as if he’d struggled to say them.
I glanced at my ticket to check, hoping that Fate had somehow granted me the miracle of sharing a plane ride with such a compelling man. Instead, it looked like I was going to be sitting half the cabin away from him. I cast a quick look behind me to see if any of the other passengers were spilling into the cabin yet, then turned back to the man.
“Sure is,” I lied, before making my way toward him.
“No carry-on?” the man asked as I slid into the seat beside him.
“Nah,” I told him. “I travel light.”
It was all I could do to keep from staring into the man’s eyes. He had a pair of golden-brown orbs that all but melted my insides just by falling under his gaze. He had strong, but sharp features, with a faint shadow of a beard falling into place. He was, for lack of a better word, downright sexy. And at a distance of only inches instead of feet, I could make out every detail of his massive and muscular form. Twenty hours on a plane with this guy without stripping him down was going to be damn near impossible.
“Smart,” the man said, then he offered me his hand. “I’m Mark, by the way.”
My fingertips lit up as I took Mark’s hand in mine, gripping it into a firm handshake. My skin felt like it was going to melt off, a
nd the resounding heat worked its way from my fingers down to my toes. My heart was drumming in my chest and my tiger let out a low guttural noise, signaling his approval. Much to my surprise, the bear lurking inside Mark responded in kind. His jaw dropped slightly, matching my own expression, and he quickly released my hand and pulled away, turning his eyes to the window beside him.
“Zeke,” I offered, my throat suddenly dry.
Shit. If this is what I thought it was, it wasn’t supposed to be like this. Mark was a bear. I knew it. And even though tigers often ignored the idea that it was taboo to fuck around with humans, it was definitely unheard of for us to be attracted to other types of shifters. That was crossing a line. And yet, even acknowledging that, I still wanted to grab a fistful of Mark’s hair and crash my lips into his. In fact, my tiger was practically begging for me to.
Mark turned back to me, the cherry-red coloring his face. “Look,” he said in a low and dangerous tone. “I know what you are. I don’t know what the fuck that was, but it needs to stop. You need to shut that shit down.”
My heart sank at that. I didn’t know why he was reacting like this to me, but I figured it must have had something to do with us being different types of shifters. Still, he felt it. I knew that he did. I could practically smell the arousal on him.
Before I had a chance to respond, a shadow fell over me, and I turned to see a large and sweaty ball of a man standing over me, his hands planted firmly on his hips. “If you’ll excuse me, sir,” the man snarked, “I believe you’re in my seat.”
With a smile, I apologized and stood, casting one final glance at Mark as I made my way to my own seat. His eyes were locked onto the seat in front of him, and beads of sweat were working their way down his brow.