The Gift of My Mate (Siberian Volkov Pack Romance Book 9)

by Caryn Moya Block

  “Sleep if you like. We will stay here until sunrise. Then we will make our way back to the cabin.”

  Too tired, and too confused to do otherwise, Margot closed her eyes and rested her head on her paws. Mathis laid down next to her, pressing his body against hers. Margot leaned into him, needing the warmth he provided, if only for now.

  §

  Mathis slept lightly. Margot crossed into nanuk territory. He must be on guard. Not all the nanuk tribes welcomed lycans. Mathis might be able to talk his way out of a confrontation, since he was amarok and could claim kinship, but Margot would be fair game. Until he could take her to bed and cement the heartmate bond into place, the nanuk could be a problem.

  Nanuk tribes were low in numbers and like their animal brothers were polyamorous. Mates were shared. In early times, depending on the population, a male might have several wives, or a woman would be required to take several men to her bed. Because their numbers were low, every woman was expected to give the tribe a child each year if the hunt was successful. Only because of health reasons could the woman refuse.

  The system sounded barbaric, but these relationships weren’t forced. The woman was cherished by her men and kept safe from other unwanted suitors. Other times a triad would consist of two women and one male, the women sharing the household duties and rearing of the children. A female polar bear could be fierce when fighting for her home and children.

  Mathis’s grandparents were a triad. He loved both of his grandfathers and grandmother. He saw the love in their eyes and how his grandmother was treasured.

  Though Mathis understood the premise of the triad, as an amarok, he took after his mother’s lycan ancestors. He wanted one woman, forever. Margot was that woman.

  The sound of sniffing, and a low growl, made Mathis jump up and go to the entrance. Margot sat up, her ears easily picking up the sound. Light filled the cave proclaiming a new day had arrived. The smell of polar bear filled the air. Mathis didn’t know if it was friend or foe, animal or shifter. A hunting polar bear was one of the most dangerous predators on Earth.

  Mathis growled low as first arms and then a head appeared in the doorway. A naked Ujarak crawled into the small cave. Mathis looked over at Margot, glad to see she averted her eyes, even though nakedness and shifting went together.

  “Hey, big brother. You’re a lot farther north than I expected.” Ujarak looked at Margot and winked. “Malina was so worried you might find trouble that she sent me after you. Guess Margot gave you a run for your money.” He winked again. “Good girl, keep him on his toes.”

  Margot turned her back on them and laid back down. Ujarak looked from Margot to Mathis, the smile falling from his face. “What’s wrong? Is she okay?”

  “She’s tired from her run. She’ll be all right once we get back to the hunting cabin,” Mathis sent telepathically to his youngest brother.

  Grief and misery flowed through the golden light that connected him to Margot. Even with the mating bond being as thin as a pencil, the emotions almost brought Mathis to his knees. Margot was devastated by his deception. He didn’t know if she could ever forgive him.

  Mathis didn’t want to share his problems with Ujarak. He would never give up Margot. Somehow, he must get her past his lying to her.

  He sent his enormous strength through the mating bond, tempering her grief and trying to wrap her in reassurance. They must still make their way back to the cabin. Margot needed to get up. Mathis went over and nosed her shoulder, and licked at her muzzle, before giving her a nudge. “Come on, Margot. We need to go.”

  Margot sighed, and got to her feet.

  Ujarak crawled from the snow cave and Mathis followed. He waited at the opening until Margot climbed out of the makeshift shelter. Ujarak had already shifted and rolled around in the snow, playing like a cub.

  Margot froze, her whole body quivered and on alert.

  “It’s all right, Margot. Ujarak is my brother. I am only half-lycan.”

  “Your brother is a polar bear shifter?”

  “Actually, all of my siblings are nanuk. My mother and I are the only wolf shifters. She named me, Mathis, after her grandfather. My brothers and sister have Inuit names since they are nanuk.”

  “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

  “The mating bond snapped into place for my mother and father. Their mating is interracial, but it is filled with love. Mother left her pack and moved to nanuk territory with my father. It happens sometimes.”

  “Can you turn into a polar bear?”

  “No. It seems I inherited my wolf shifting genes from my mother, while my siblings inherited the polar bear shifting genes from my father. Now if my brother will stop playing around, we can get on our way.”

  §

  Mathis was half polar bear shifter? Margot stared at the huge bear that was Ujarak as he rolled in the snow. He came up smiling with a goofy grin and winked at her. She glanced at Mathis. He stood a little way from the entrance to the snow cave, testing the air.

  Suddenly, he ran over and stopped in front of Ujarak. The huge bear began to lumber away. Next, Mathis ran up to her and nosed her shoulder. “Run, Margot. Back toward the cabin. We’re being hunted.”

  The tone of his command rang in her ears. Margot began to run. Mathis followed her, nipping at her heals. She lengthened her stride and he moved up beside her. Mathis increased their pace, urging Margot to go even faster. “Hurry, Margot. We must make it back to the cabin.”

  “Who is hunting us and why?”

  “We are in nanuk territory without permission. Not all nanuk are friendly with lycans.”

  “You’re saying we are being hunted by polar bear shifters?”

  “Yes. Now, run! Our only chance is to get out of their territory before they can catch up to us.”

  Margot tried to match his speed, running full out. She was confused about where the danger came from, still she ran. She glanced at him. It made sense that he was half polar bear with his white coat and broad body. He was so much stockier than a regular lycan. He even smelled different from other lycans, with that hint of frost scent mixed into his lycan aroma.

  The cabin was up ahead. Mathis growled low as two polar bears lumbered into view. “Keep running, Margot. Don’t stop for anything. You need to get into that cabin and stay there.”

  Mathis dropped back behind her, keeping his body between his mate and the polar bear shifters behind them. Margot pulled on the last of her reserves and shot into the trees next to the hunting cabin. Shadows darkened the ground. A man stepped out between two trees, his body covered in furs, a rifle at his shoulder.

  Margot yipped as the dart hit her hindquarter. She stumbled, but tried to push on. Mathis leaped at the man, knocking him down. Then he shifted and struggled for possession of the gun.

  Margot continued to run, her pace slowing, her gait becoming uneven. She stumbled again, and then collapsed. She lay in the snow, unable to force herself up. Her vision blurry, she let her eyes close. She heard the roar of a polar bear and expected any minute to be mauled.

  Strong arms lifted her, rousing Margot from her drugged haze. She recognized Mathis’s touch as much as his scent overlaid with the smell of blood. She struggled to wake. Mathis was hurt. He might not want her for a mate, but she needed to help him.

  Chapter Four

  “Margot, I need you to wake up, sweetheart. Come on, hear me. I need you to shift.”

  Warm hands rubbed at her head and face. Margot felt fuzzy. Her eyelids weighed a ton and her tongue tasted like cotton. She tried to moisten her mouth. She blinked her eyes, the action almost too much to manage. Mathis’s face swam in front of her. Her eyes started to close.

  “No! Stay with me. Margot, you must wake up.”

  Something in his tone tugged at her. She pulled on her will and blinked her eyes open. It took a moment for them to clear. Mathis kneeled in front of her. He wore fur pants, boots, and a shirt. That’s when she realized how cold it was. She lay on a pile of furs that
rested on the icy floor of the hut they were in.

  “That’s right, fight the drug. I need you to shift. Shift, NOW.”

  Margot called the change, unable to resist the Alpha’s command, even when she didn’t understand why Mathis wanted her to freeze. White lights surrounded her, bones broke and reformed, fur sank under her skin. In moments it was over and she was human.

  The cold swamped her. Her skin broke out in goose pimples. She shivered. Mathis grabbed one of the furs and pulled it over her body. He searched her eyes, before nodding his head.

  “This isn’t how I wanted our mating to begin, but we have no choice. We’re being held in a nanuk village. Luckily, it’s my family’s village. My uncle is calling for a trial. He wants to charge us with trespassing and spying. I could probably talk my way out of the charges because I am amarok, but you are lycan and the only thing that will protect you is our mating.”

  Margot closed her eyes, trying to hold the tears inside. Mathis would mate her to protect her. Not because he loved her and wanted a life with her.

  “Margot, don’t go back to sleep. I need you to hear me.”

  “I hear you, Mathis.” Margot opened her eyes. “You want to mate me to protect me. I can’t let you do it. I understand that I am a disappointment and you don’t want me. So it would be better if you let the fates fall as they may. If I am to die by the hand of your uncle, then so be it.”

  Mathis gazed at her. Then he did something she had never seen before. He laughed. A full belly guffaw. Margot stared at him, not knowing how to respond. When he finished, he leaned over and with one finger pushed up on her chin to close her mouth.

  “Your mouth is hanging open. It’s such a beautiful mouth. I dream about your mouth and the many things I wish to do to it.”

  Then he kissed her. He dove in, tasting like a man needing substance. When he pulled back, he sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, holding it there as easily as he enthralled her with his kiss.

  “You have come to some wrong conclusions, Margot. I think we need to clear them up. First off, I want you. I’ve wanted you since the first moment I saw you sitting by the Christmas tree two years ago.”

  A spark of hope lit in her chest. Mathis lifted his hand to her cheek, his thumb lightly caressing her skin. He let his fingers trail down her face and neck to her collarbone, where he ran his fingers over the length.

  “I have enemies and I feared they would target you. I thought I could protect you better if no one knew you were my mate, and that included you. I was wrong. Can you forgive me?”

  His hand moved up, until his thumb caressed her bottom lip, still tingling from his kiss. Margot melted, leaning into his caresses. All she ever wanted was a mate to love her.

  “I want you, Margot. I ache for you. Let me have you, baby.”

  Mathis’s hand pushed the fur down and off, exposing her body to his gaze. He cupped her right breast. The warmth of his hand seared her. He tugged her nipple and then squeezed lightly on the globe. “Anana! Say you want me, too, Margot.”

  Her eyes burned. He wanted her. All of her longing pushed forward, flooding her. His hand moved to the other side, teasing and tantalizing her flesh. “I want you,” came out of her mouth before she knew she was going to say it. “Don’t ever deceive me again, Mathis. You hurt me, and I won’t have my choices taken away.”

  His eyes gleamed with triumph and possession. “I know, baby. Give me a moment to get out of these clothes.”

  Mathis withdrew his hand, and Margot wanted to cry out from the loss. Her gaze flicked from his face to the deft fingers unlacing his shirt. In moments he shrugged it off. She noticed right away the four pink furrows marking his chest.

  “You were hurt! I remember now, the smell of blood.” Margot’s fingers traced each mark. The cuts must have been deep to not heal completely when he shifted.

  “A polar bear is a vicious opponent. One wolf has hardly a chance of surviving an encounter. They would have killed us both, if Ujarak hadn’t arrived when he did.” Mathis pushed off his boots and pants. “Malina and Kumaglak heard the fight and came running as well.”

  Margot took a moment to admire his physique, bronze skin over defined muscles. This beautiful man was all hers, her mate. She licked her lips wanting to taste him. Mathis groaned and speared his fingers through her hair, pulling lightly, while bringing their heads together.

  He took possession of her mouth. Mathis demanded control, pushing in his tongue, licking and nibbling at her lips. Margot relaxed into his hold and felt an answering warmth between her thighs. She would always respond this way to her mate.

  The mate who deceived you, rang in her thoughts.

  “You must forgive me. I was stupid. Please Margot, feel how much I want you.”

  Mathis took her hand and placed it over his burgeoning flesh. She ran her fingers down his length, then back up to the head, feeling the drop of moisture sitting on top. She swirled the liquid around the small slit. He groaned and jerked in her hand.

  He caressed her breast, then wandered lower, caressing and tickling her skin. He pushed at her thighs, demanding she open to him.

  Thinking became difficult. All she could do was feel. Mathis’s desire flowed into her mind. His touch brought her skin to life, tingling and tantalizing, until she needed to drive him as crazy as he drove her.

  She ran the nails of one hand down his hip while the other squeezed his shaft. Mathis groaned and began to kiss his way to her breast. He licked at her nipple before blowing lightly across its surface.

  Margot moaned. Mathis sucked the sensitive flesh into his hot mouth. She buried her hand in his hair.

  Mathis kissed his way to the other side, before once more sucking her nipple into his mouth. Margot’s back bowed as she came off the furs. She needed him, needed his body taking hers. She pulled at his length, trying to force him to enter her moist heat.

  “Mathis, please. Please fill me, I feel so empty without you.”

  “I am here with you, in your thoughts, in your mind. Feel me, Margot. Link your mind with mine.”

  Mathis removed her hands from his body and brought them up over her head. His fingers probed at her core, pushing through petals of flesh. Margot whimpered. She reached for Mathis with her telepathy, sharing her desire. Their minds merged through the mating bond. Desire poured over both. Margot trembled.

  Mathis positioned himself between her thighs. “Look at me, Margot. Look at your mate.”

  Margot stared into his eyes. His gaze captured her. He pushed into her core with one mighty thrust. Margot’s whole body quivered with the invasion. He rested there, seated deep.

  “I claim you as my mate. I take everything you are into my keeping and give everything I am into your care.”

  Mathis eased out and then pushed back in again. Margot felt fullness turn to heat. He moved again, and bliss burst over her. Soon Margot met him thrust for thrust. Pushing up with her heels, she encouraged him to fill her completely.

  Their thoughts swirled into a mass of sensuality and desire. Margot didn’t know where she began and Mathis ended. He pulled out, and suddenly, he flipped her. His hand under her stomach pulled her up to her knees. His other hand spread her thighs and he pushed in again. Over and over, he connected them. It was too much, the fire built until Margot’s flesh wanted to ignite.

  Mathis moved his hands to her hips, pulling her back into each pounding thrust. Margot rode a whirlwind. One little push, and she would explode into the universe.

  Mathis leaned down and licked at her shoulder. Then he bit down, his teeth sinking through flesh. Margot screamed as she detonated, her orgasm sending her into the ether. Mathis followed her, shouting as he came, “Mine!”

  §

  It was done. Mathis licked at the wound he left on Margot’s shoulder. No one could take her from him, nothing but death would ever separate them. She was his. A deep sense of peace swept over him. He smiled and pulled from her body. Then he rolled to his side and gathered his mate into
his arms. Margot lay completely relaxed, her eyes slumberous. He pulled the fur over them and enjoyed the intimacy of having her in his arms.

  She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. Mathis leaned closer, her touch feeding a need, he didn’t realize he possessed. She ran her fingers over his scruffy chin. “Next time we do this, can we find a bed?” Margot asked.

  “Did I hurt you?” He should have thought about taking her on the hard ground, only a fur beneath her.

  “No. I just thought the first time with my mate wouldn’t be in a shack on the frozen ground.”

  Mathis kissed the tip of her nose. She smiled, her face lighting up. Mathis’s heart did a little flip. He vowed he would give Margot thousands of things to smile about.

  A sudden noise outside brought fear back to his mate’s eyes. Mathis frowned as the light left her face. He cocked his head to listen. Someone came, walking over the frozen ground.

  “Shift back into your wolf form. I have nothing to clothe you with. Don’t worry. We’ll get out of this.”

  Margot nodded. Mathis looked away from the swirling lights that suddenly surrounded her. When he looked back, a beautiful silver and white wolf, lay in his arms. She leaned over and licked his face. Mathis smiled, his heart warming. He got up and reached for his clothes. Margot stood near, watching his every move. Mathis kept his mind lightly linked with his mate. He needed to comfort her while facing this situation.

  He laced his shirt, when the lock opened, and three men filled the doorway. The youngest man of the three, stepped into the hut. He frowned.

  “So this is where they think to keep my son. Outrageous. Itigaituk has gone too far this time. Mathis, come here, ernetuar, son.”

  “Father. I hoped you would find me.” Mathis stepped into his father’s embrace. Warmth speared his heart. He missed his family. It was hard being an outsider, sent away because of his lycan heritage.

  “Your uncle is not the only one who has friends in this village. The angakkuq listens to my voice. Itigaituk and his charges are ridiculous. I will see they are dismissed. Until then, you will come to the house and see your mother. Who is the little wolf you have with you?”