by Clare Atling
‘Don’t call me that. You marked me. You fucking marked me as your mate? You didn’t ask, or wait for me to be ready. You just took. I can’t be your mate, Colt. I just can’t.’ Hope sobbed into her hands.
‘I know,’ he replied quietly. ‘I’m sorry. God, am I sorry. It’s no excuse, but my wolf just wanted you so bad. I wanted you so bad it just happened.’ He kissed her forehead and stood up, turning his back to her. ‘I shouldn’t have come tonight. But the thought of not seeing you again burnt inside me that I just had to be selfish for once. I had to have you, just once, even if I knew I would never have you again.’ He lowered his head. Hope rose to her feet and ran her hands over his shoulders, ignoring his attempts to shake her off.
‘You just took me by surprise,’ said Hope, ‘and I wasn’t ready to mate with you. Not yet. But it’s done and we can’t turn back now.’ She didn’t know when she had suddenly become so brave. ‘You make me feel all kinds of things I’ve never felt before, but when I think about your leaving I mostly feel pain in here.’ She reached round and placed her hand over his heart, mimicking his earlier actions. Slowly, he turned round and locked his blue eyes with her amber ones.
‘My family pretty much hates you,’ Hope continued, ‘and I’m confused about what I should feel for you. But I know I would be lost without you if you left.’ She reached up to touch his scarred cheek again and, standing on tiptoes, she kissed his lips as softly as she could. ‘Please don’t leave yet. Give it time. Plus, my brothers would kill you if you marked me and left.’ She smiled at him, but he just flared his nostrils and snorted.
‘They could try,’ he replied gruffly, ‘but I have something they don’t in my arsenal.’ Her look of confusion almost made him retract, but he would just say it and hope she would know it was true. ‘You, Princess.’
‘Well, whether you like it or not, I am yours now. But remember – you’re mine, too.’ She looked sad suddenly and her head dropped. ‘Colt?’ Her voice was whispered. ‘Would you stay with me tonight? I know you should go back before they notice you’ve gone, but I really need you here tonight.’
‘Don’t you know that I would follow you anywhere, my Princess?’ replied Colt. With that, he picked her up and took her back to the bed to show her that he meant every single word.
Chapter Six
Marcus needed to kill something. Preferably tear it apart with his bare hands so he could release some of this pent-up anger that raged inside of him. He had allowed himself these few weeks to heal and grow strong again, but as soon as he heard that his only son had been taken by those bastard wolves and held captive on their island he wanted to rip someone apart. Although he no longer cared what happened to Callie, he still wanted her to die at his hands so he could show those Penn brothers that he would always be the stronger one. He had licked his wounds from fighting Christopher, but he was getting stronger every day and he would make sure every one of them paid. He would rescue Colt and start to build a new elite pack better than before. Penn Lake Island would be his and nothing would stop him.
‘David!’ His now second-in-command since Greg had been killed and Colt taken jumped at his voice. ‘I need to know where on the island they are holding Colt. I also need you to find out what is happening over there. I want to know all comings and goings, because next time I attack those fuckers someone is going to die.’
Losing Greg had been a pain in the arse for him because, although he hated the snivelling prick, he had his uses. Greg had informed him when the island would be unprotected and who was working where. Well, he may have laid low for a while, but he was coming for them and they were all going to pay with their lives.
Chapter Seven
The last two weeks had flown by for Hope and life on Penn Lake had pretty much resumed to normal, with no sightings of Marcus for nearly a month. They were all still on high alert, but her brothers had gone back to work at the old spa, where Seth had first met Sarah and Callie, and they were only a few weeks away from the grand opening. All the women had been promised a long weekend stay courtesy of Penn Lake Construction, which her brothers ran, and, even though half of their group was now pregnant, Hope couldn’t wait to get pampered.
The last few weeks had been the same, with Colt slipping out of his cell and sneaking into her bed. She knew she had to tell her brothers at some point, but she enjoyed the whole secret lover fantasy for now. Man oh man was he hot and all hers. She couldn’t wait till tonight, when he would no doubt sneak into her house and take her against whichever surface was near at the time. She loved the spontaneity of Colt and never before had she been taken so thoroughly.
The knock at her door brought her from her daydreams as she moved through the house to open the door. Alex stood the other side holding flowers and a few DVDs. Shit, she had forgotten this was the night he was coming over to watch the latest vampire film, although she was pretty sure the only reason he wanted to watch it was because the actress was covered head to toe in tight leathers.
‘I’m sorry, Alex,’ she said. ‘I completely forgot.’ The look of disappointment on his face had her puzzled. Sure, she and Alex would hook up when they needed to, but he was just a friend. ‘Sorry, come on in.’ Hope motioned for him to enter and shut the door behind him. Alex was shorter than her brothers, but what he lacked in height he made up for in width. He was solid muscle underneath the stretched T-shirt and, before she’d met Colt, she would have been happy to peel that T-shirt straight from his shoulders. Now, however, it felt wrong even looking at him, as she felt like she was cheating on Colt.
‘You okay, Hope? You seem kind of distracted. We can switch nights?’ Alex held out the flowers for her to take. Hope smiled at his romantic gesture, but she had to be clear it wasn’t romance she was after.
‘Thanks for the flowers.’ She sniffed them and closed her eyes, taking in the scent. ‘They smell beautiful. You shouldn’t have spent your money on me, Alex. You need to start saving for when you find your mate. She might have expensive tastes.’ Hope smiled and he followed her to the kitchen.
‘No way would fate put me with a princess like you.’ The smile on his face let her know he was joking.
‘Right. You would be damn lucky to have me for a mate.’
‘I know, Hope.’ He came closer and took her face in his hands. ‘You’re the only girl that I can honestly say I would be proud to be my mate.’
‘Alex...’ began Hope. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings or lose him as a friend. ‘I...’ But before she could speak, he held his finger to her lips.
‘I know Colt’s your mate,’ replied Alex, ‘and, believe me, the last thing I want to do is piss him off. But you need to know your options if you don’t want to be with him. I know we wouldn’t be true mates, but I would look after you and love you like you were.’ He kissed the side of her cheek and pulled her into a hug. She hadn’t realised she was crying until she felt the stinging in her eyes.
‘Thank you, Alex, but I think my wolf has already chosen. Colt’s not too bad if you can get past the whole “I’m in charge” thing with him. Since I’ve got to know him, he seems okay and, hopefully, one day my brothers will accept him.’
Alex pulled away from her and laughed. ‘Whoever you chose as a mate would never be welcome to your brothers. Why do you think I never let them know we were involved? They would have skinned me alive.’ He laughed again. ‘Come on. Vampires and sexy damsels in distress are waiting. You grab some food, I’ll put the film on.’
‘Alex, thanks for everything,’ said Hope smiling at him. ‘Someday you’re going to make someone a great mate.’
‘Yeah, I know. She’ll be real lucky.’ He winked at her before walking away and into the front room.
Once the food was ready, Hope joined Alex on the sofa and watched the film, which she was enjoying despite Alex’s running commentary about how unbelievable it all was. They relaxed on the sofa and she rested her head on his shoulder, not realising it was now dark outside. She checked her watch – it
was past eight. Where was Colt? She thought about going to check on him to make sure he was okay. The film finished and Alex stretched out beside her. He pulled her in for a hug and kissed the top of her head.
‘Well, that’s my cue to go home,’ he said. ‘The first ferry out is early tomorrow, as your brothers want to get that spa finished. They’re running out of hands to help, what with Greg gone and the others staying here to protect those who are left.’ He stood and gathered the films up. ‘Night, Hope. Remember, I’m always here if you need me. For anything.’
She followed him to the front door and watched him open it and step outside. ‘Good night, Alex.’
Slowly, she wandered around her small living room collecting up the glasses and bowls to take to the kitchen. Her arms full, she walked through the doorway to see Colt leaning against the counter with his arms folded against his chest. Hope let out a scream and dropped the glasses she was carrying.
‘Shit! Colt, you scared the crap out of me.’ She bent down to start picking up the smashed pieces, but looked up at him when he didn’t move to help or answer her. ‘Colt? What’s...’ Before she could finish, he let out a sinister laugh that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
‘You think because you’re this perfect princess that everyone will bow down and help you pick up the crap you’ve made. Well, you’re on your own now.’ With that, he made to walk past her to the door.
‘Wait. Colt, what’s gotten into you?’ She pulled on his arm. Colt span around and snarled at her, causing her to recoil against the wall. For the first time since she had met him, he frightened her. ‘Colt?’ She whispered his name but didn’t look at him. His hands had turned to claws at his side and his eyes had turned the brightest blue of his wolf. She had never seen him look so angry.
‘You fucked him? I can smell him all over this house.’ He spat the words out at her.
Hope stared at him in disbelief. ‘Alex? No, he’s just my friend.’ Shit, he thought she was cheating on him. ‘No, Colt. Alex is just my friend. We used to hang out all the time, but since being with you I haven’t seen him. He brought over some films and we talked. That’s all.’
‘I saw you against him. Tell me, Hope, have you fucked him before?’ His wolf was still close to the surface. She hated it when he called her by her real name. He always called her Princess.
‘Before you, yes. You knew I wasn’t a virgin when you, as you so gracefully put it, fucked me.’ Her temper was simmering now. How dare he assume she was in the wrong! She hadn’t done anything with Alex since she had met Colt and she knew she would never want to, but at this moment she was wondering if Colt was a man she could ever love. She already had three overbearing brothers and the last thing she needed was an overbearing mate. ‘It’s not like you waited for me, either. You’re over four hundred years old, for god’s sake. You’re telling me you never slept with anyone before me?’
‘Oh, I slept with plenty before you, but you don’t see me throwing myself at anyone else now, do you?’ His hands had returned to normal, but his eyes still shimmered with his wolf. ‘And yes, I knew you weren’t a virgin before, but that doesn’t mean I want to see you flirt around all the guys you’ve fucked.’
‘Stop saying that. I’m not one of your whores who spread themselves for you when you wanted to get laid. Alex is still my friend and I’m not going to stop talking to him or spending time with him just because you might get upset. You don’t own me, Colt.’ She crossed her arms, hoping her voice didn’t give away how upset as she felt.
‘Forget it, Hope,’ he replied. ‘Go back to your pristine life and fuck whoever you want. You’re right – I don’t own you and I never wanted to. You’re just something to pass the time before I leave this island.’ His eyes were staring right through her.
‘You don’t mean that,’ said Hope. ‘You marked me. I’m sorry you think that Alex and I cheated on you, but you can’t mean what you said.’ She couldn’t believe how hurt his words had made her feel. He was her mate and she loved spending time with him. Was it all so one-sided? Did he not feel the same way about her as she felt about him?
‘Why not? You think I’d want to spend the rest of my life with the Penn Lake Princess? The sister of the man who gave me this?’ He pointed to the scar Seth had given him when he’d tried to take Sarah. ‘You were a nice revenge fuck, but that’s it. Keep away from me from now on.’ He turned to leave.
‘Colt, please. You don’t mean that…’ He stopped and turned to look at her again. Tears were flowing down her face and she made no effort to clean them away.
‘I mean it, Hope. Stay away from me. Dry your tears – they have no effect on me.’ Hope immediately wiped them away with her sleeve and braced herself.
‘That’s right, the mighty Colt not used to girls crying, begging you to stay. More used to them begging you to stop.’ She immediately regretted what she’d said. Colt’s huge frame dropped in defeat.
‘Right.’ He opened the front door and walked out. Hope watched him go for a moment before she ran to the door. Holding onto the frame for support, she shouted after him.
‘And don’t come back. I hate you, Colt. Do you hear me? I hate you!’ She slammed the door so she didn’t have to watch him walk away. Once the door stopped shaking in its frame, she fell to the floor crying. Her body shook with her sobbing and she felt like she had just lost the best thing in her life.
She couldn’t seem to get her crying under control and she didn’t know how long she sat there before there was a knock at the door. She leapt up, hoping it was Colt coming back to her. She didn’t care if she appeared desperate; she just wanted to see her mate again. She wanted to feel his warmth against her and forget the last half hour had ever happened.
‘Colt, I...’ She swung the door open, only to find Brandon standing there with Maggie.
‘I guess that answers my question as to whether you knew Colt had broken out of his cell.’ Brandon took one look at her puffy, wet face and rushed to her. ‘Hope, are you okay? Did he hurt you?’ Hope buried her face in his shirt and cried all the more.
‘Yes,’ she sobbed, ‘but not in the sense you think. I said some horrible things to him and he left. He never wants to see me again.’ She sniffed out each word, trying to catch her breath. Brandon swung her in his arms and carried her to the sofa.
‘I’ll go put some tea on for you,’ said Maggie. ‘Brandon, can I speak to you for a second?’ She motioned her head to Brandon to speak to him in private.
‘Now?’ Brandon didn’t want to leave Hope alone.
‘Brandon, I’m okay,’ said Hope. ‘Go with Maggie. I promise I’m fine.’ She reached for the box of tissues on the side and wiped her eyes. She must look a mess. Brandon stood and followed Maggie out into the hallway.
Maggie spoke in a hushed voice. ‘Brand, you know they are mates, but Colt has never had family around him like you guys have. You locked him in a cell and forced him to be apart from his mate. Did you really think he was going to stay there and wait for you all to decide his punishment? He is older than any of you and twice as strong.’ She stoked his face and Brandon leant in and kissed her palm. ‘He doesn’t know how to be around us all,’ she continued. ‘Trust me, it’s hard to take in all the love floating around this place when you’ve never experienced it before.’
‘I love you, Maggie,’ said Brandon. ‘Never again will you be without love. Let’s find out what’s happened and see if we can fix this. If he hurt her, I swear to god I will kill him.’
‘He is not like his father. You have to remember that. If he was, he would have hurt me long before I came to you. He didn’t. He saved Callie’s and my life.’ Maggie had spent most of her life living with Colt, but never really knew the real him. She hoped she hadn’t been wrong when she said he wasn’t anything like his father.
‘For that he will be forever in my debt,’ replied Brandon. ‘But still I don’t trust easy.’ He saw the pain flash through Maggie’s eyes. ‘I’m sorry, Maggie. I
didn’t mean it the way it came out. I know we have been through a lot, but I trust you. Always.’ He kissed her lips and pulled back again to look at her.
‘Then trust him,’ she said. ‘You need to believe he’s not like his father.’ She kissed him soundly on the lips and she turned to move toward the kitchen, while Brandon went back to Hope.
When he walked back into the living room, he found Hope had gone and the window wide open. Damn it, she must have left when he was distracted with Maggie. Normally, he would have heard her moving around.
‘Maggie, don’t worry about that tea,’ he called out. ‘Hope’s gone.’ Maggie came straight into the room. ‘She’s left. Shit, where would she go?’
‘I have an idea,’ said Maggie, ‘but let me deal with it. This may need a girl’s touch rather than an over-protective brother’s.’ She winked and hugged him before they left.
Brandon went to their parents’ home to fill them in on what had happened, while Maggie went to find Hope. She had called Callie and Sarah, asking them to meet her at the bakery. She knew Hope loved eating her way through the freshly-cooked sweet treats when she was upset and Maggie had never seen her so upset, so she figured by now Hope had eaten her way through most of the day’s leftovers.
She reached the bakery just before she saw Callie and Sarah walking round the corner, both smiling whilst they were talking. She guessed they were still talking about babies and a pang of jealousy swept through her. She so wanted to be a mom and she knew she would spoil her children with so much love that she’d missed out on, but Brandon had never really brought up the subject. She had yet to fall pregnant, even though they made love without protection. She put aside her thoughts and smiled at the girls as they approached. Callie was the first to speak.
‘What’s the emergency? Why are we meeting here?’ Callie and Sarah looked up at the bakery window.