The black wolf was beautiful. Massive. Big and strong.
Nina couldn’t tell if the blood that marred his fur and stained his snout belonged to Raoulf or her would-be attacker.
“Raoulf?” she whispered.
Right before her eyes, he changed into human form. It was the most magnificent thing she’d ever seen in her life. He prowled slowly toward her as if tested whether she’d receive him like this or not. He picked up the shirt he had torn off upon arrival and wiped most of the blood from his skin and mouth, revealing some nasty bites and scratches.
When he reached Nina, she couldn’t help herself. She threw herself against his chest and pressed her face against his rapidly beating heart. She couldn’t stay mad at him. She was so glad that he was alive.
“I’m all dirty,” he said.
“I don’t care,” she said. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll live. I’m sorry this happened to you, Nina.”
She parted from him and caught his gaze. “I guess that’s what I get.”
“It’s not what you deserve,” he said
“The other wolf…will he be okay?”
Raoulf growled. “He’ll be okay once he heals. Could take days though.”
“Was that…?”
“No, it wasn’t Warren. I caught a whiff of some familiar scents on him. Maybe Warren, possibly even a blood relative of Warren, so it’s pretty clear who sent him.”
Nina shook her head. “He won’t stop. I have to go and do what he wants—”
“No.” Raoulf put his hands gently on her shoulders. “You can’t go to him. Ever. He sent someone else here to inflict pain on you today. He’s obviously disgruntled and he’s playing games. If he wants to pick battles, he needs to pick battles with someone his own size. I’m going to put a stop to it.”
Nina bit her lip and then said, “I called him this morning and told him I’d meet him to sign the reversal. I said some things that…I think I angered him. I shouldn’t have called him.”
Raoulf pulled her close to his chest again, comforting her. “We’ll fix this, but you won’t be involved in this violence. I need you to trust me, Nina.”
She swallowed. “I do. And that’s what scares me. Why do I feel this way with you?”
“It’s possible that we’re linked in ways you could never imagine.”
“You mean this imprinting thing? Where the male shifter releases some kind of pheromone that attracts the woman?”
Raoulf laughed and then cringed in pain.
“You’re still hurt,” she said, her fingers skirting gently over some of his wounds.
“It’s possible the imprinting has started, but we haven’t…you know…had sex. It’s very possible that a bond between us already existed.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It has something to do with the horseshoe birthmark on your pretty little hip. We’ll talk about this, but first I want to get you someplace safe. I still have work to do. I won’t have you living in fear, so my job isn’t done yet.”
“What will you do?” she asked.
“Depends on how crazy Warren Chestnut and his brother Ronald are. Don’t worry. But you have to promise me, that you’ll never make any more plans with him. He’ll use whatever information he manages to get from you to track you down like he did here today.”
Nina nodded. “I understand that now.”
“I need to get you far away from here. At least for a little while, until I do what has to be done,” Raoulf said.
She shrugged and frowned. “Won’t be the first time. I’m used to running.”
“It’s not running. It’s ensuring your safety while I eliminate the threat. And make no mistake, Warren Chestnut is a threat to both of our societies. We can’t live in this type of violence. It’s my civic duty to handle this.”
“Where do you suggest I go?”
“I can make arrangements to get you on safer territory. My Pack’s territory. No one will bother you there.”
“Why do I get the impression that this involves me leaving you behind?”
He grinned. “Don’t worry about me. You know I always come back. I can’t leave you alone.”
She smiled. “It would be a shame if I didn’t have anyone to taste test my dishes anymore.”
“And it would be a shame if I lost the woman I was never meant to live without. Speaking of…we better clean up out here and make some moves. I’ve been in touch with someone at the airport about getting you on a private plane to Aspen Valley. I tried calling you all morning.”
“Yeah, I know…sorry about that.”
“We’ll talk about your punishment later.”
“I’ll see if I can dissuade you with dessert.”
Chapter 17
Two days had passed since he’d sent Nina off to Aspen Valley on a private helicopter, and in those two days, his soul wept for her. His wolf missed her. He missed her. Both of them were becoming grumpier by the minute. The wolf was anxious to get this over and done with and then head out to Aspen Valley where he knew his mate was waiting. But Raoulf was patient. He knew that this thing had to be settled before he could fully enjoy a lifetime of happiness with his true mate.
Raoulf was staying in Nina’s home for obvious reasons, but he could barely cope without seeing her face. Talking with her morning, noon, and night on the phone just wasn’t enough. He longed to have her in his arms again. It seemed that she was making it out alright out in his cabin in the woods, enjoying time away from the hustle and bustle that was once her life. He’d had to walk her through his kitchen several times to explain to her where all of his cooking tools where. Funny thing was, he didn’t have much. He hated taking Nina away from the thing she enjoyed most, but he’d promised that she’d soon be able to dictate her life without the fear that someone was watching her.
When a burning aura floated toward the living room, Raoulf jumped up from the couch and rushed into the kitchen. By the time he yanked the oven open and tugged on the mitts, his attempt at buttermilk biscuits had already burned. After examining them, he deemed that the middle portion was still edible. He filled his bowl with some canned chicken noodle soup, tossed a few biscuits on the tray, and then he went out to the living room to enjoy his meal in front of the television.
He was missing Nina so much. His taste buds craved the special touch she added to all of his meals. He took out the grainy photo of her that Warren had given him when he took the job and sat it down on the coffee table. Despite the dryness of the biscuits and the chemical taste in the soup, he ate his semi home-cooked meal.
And he waited…
Chapter 18
It wasn’t until the next evening that Raoulf sensed a presence outside of Nina’s townhouse. It was well past midnight and the neighborhood was so silent, it was almost eerie. In the countryside of Aspen Valley, at night, everything seemed to come alive. The community thrived on togetherness and usually came together at night for runs or just good conversation. If it hadn’t been for the quiet streets and lack of tree leaves rustling in the wind, he might not have heard someone moving around outside trying to break in.
Raoulf grabbed the knife he kept on the end table and held the hilt tightly in his fist. He moved quietly about the room and turned off all the lamps in the home. As he planned to do, he waited, allowing the intruder to break into the home.
There was only one man—a shifter.
Raoulf caught the shifter’s scent as he hid in the coat closet near the door. The distinct aura he expected to smell was too faint to have belonged to Warren, but it was damn near close. This scent belonged to a blood relative of Warren.
The man started tapping the butt of what sounded like a gun on the furniture pieces as he walked through the home.
“Come out, come out wherever you are,” he called out. “I know you’re in here, little bitch.”
Raoulf’s blood began to boil in agitation. He kept his wolf at bay…or at least he tried to. He slipped his phone out of
pocket and sent a text message to his reinforcements.
“Oh…where are you? You lying little bitch. You told us you’d sign our shit and we’ve been waiting for days.”
Something crashed to the floor.
“I smell you, cunt! You’ve been living in this little dipshit townhouse a while. We should have known you would move to a swanky shit town like this.”
He thought Nina was in the home. Hiding. Good. That’s what Raoulf wanted him to think. The idiot.
A door slapped against the wall. More objects crashed to the floor. “Alright, bitch. I ain’t got time for this shit. Come on out!”
A gunshot was fired and a mirrored shattered. “Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to give you ten seconds to come out. It’ll be much easier on you if you just cooperate. If you don’t, I’ll rape your sweet little cunt for everything you have.”
Raoulf barged out of the closet and it only took him seconds to find the man in Nina’s bedroom. Before he could turn around, Raoulf pulled him back, grabbing him by the neck in a chokehold. He slapped the gun from the man’s hand down to the floor and pressed the blade of the knife firmly against his throat.
“Do I look like a motherfuckin’ bitch to you?” Raoulf demanded.
“Who the fuck are you?” he spat.
“I’m the motherfucker who’s going to ruin your life.”
“Look, I ain’t here for you, man. This cunt—Ahh.”
Raoulf dug the knife into his throat drawing blood. “You just threatened my mate, so you might as well be threatening me.”
“I’m a Chestnut, man. I’ve got money. Let me go! I’ll leave.”
Raoulf shoved him forward and bashed his head hard against the wall. Before he could slump to the floor from the blunt force, Raoulf shouldered him against the wall and shook him conscious again.
“Your name is…?”
“R-ronald Chestnut.”
“You’re Warren’s cowardly little brother.”
Ronald struggled against his hold but failed. Blood seeped from his nose down on the front of his chest.
“I don’t believe Warren was clear about who the fuck you were dealing with. I want to make sure we’re clear about you leaving Nina Moore alone.”
Ronald didn’t say anything.
Raoulf took the knife and speared Ronald’s hand so that it was impaled to the wall. Ronald hollered in agony.
“What’s that? I couldn’t fucking hear you.”
“Yeah…yeah…okay,” Ronald panted. “Man, just let me go. I’ll leave the bitch alone. I just didn’t want her to talk. If she talks, our whole family is fucked.”
Raoulf jerked the knife out. “Why are you chasing her? She wasn’t talking. Your family—you and your brother were the one’s hunting her down. You started this mess and then your dumb assess did cowardly shit to threaten a woman who was trying to move past this mess.”
“Humans aren’t supposed to know—”
“Do you think I give a fuck about your family’s pact to keep your shifter gene a secret? I don’t give a rat’s ass. It’s the twentieth fucking century. Get with the program!”
“You’re a Justice bastard. You wouldn’t understand a goddamned thing about keeping the bloodlines and old codes intact.”
“You think so? A bastard I may be, but I know a few things about gutting a coward.”
“Put yourself in my position. This is a family matter.”
“Likewise. You're messing with the wrong woman.”
Ronald laughed. “Now I get it. This is where you eat, sleep, and fuck. What did you do? Hide her?”
“I did what any civilized person would have done?”
“Civilized? You are far from the definition of civilized as a man who once hunted and killed for a living.”
“Once?” Raoulf sneered.
Heavy footsteps could be heard not even fifty feet away trudging through the house. When Raoulf’s reinforcements filed through the room, Ronald’s eyes widened. “You mean you…you d-didn’t leave t-the Outlaws.”
“Once an outlaw. Always an outlaw,” Raoulf told him.
An outlawed shifter by the name of Danny Dino stepped forward. He was the vice president of the shifter outlaw group that Raoulf still had ties to.
“You thought we’d never catch up with you, boy.”
Dino punched Ronald clear across the face. The force sent him careening to the floor.
“Please…” Ronald pleaded for his life as Dino assaulted him. “I didn’t know she was your daughter.”
Ronald was on the Outlaws’ most wanted list after he raped Dino’s youngest daughter.
Seeing the damage that had already been inflicted in Nina’s home, he caught Dino’s arm before he could deliver another blood splattering blow.
“Not in here,” he told Dino. “Take that outside. You wanted him. You got him. Do what you will with him. If I see him again, he’ll be dead.”
“I owe you one, Raoulf,” Dino said, giving Raoulf a handshake.
“No, we’re even. This freak needs to be put in his place.”
Dino’s backup hog-tied Ronald, who was too beaten and battered to protest or even speak and hauled him out of the room. They took the back door outside as Raoulf walked Dino to the front entrance.
“His brother might be expecting him to come back,” Raoulf said.
“Good,” Dino said. “If his brother wants some, he can come get some too. He’s too ashamed to align with his own kind. I’ll knock the shifting gene right outta him.”
“If you’ve got other news, you know where to find me.”
“Aspen Valley, eh?” Dino replied on his way down the sidewalk.
“That town will always be my home.”
“See ya when I see you, Rebel.”
During his active in the shifter outlaw group, the members referred to Raoulf as a rebel without a cause. That wasn’t the case anymore. He now had a cause. Protecting and loving the woman he would not live without.
Epilogue
Two Weeks Later
“Someone is a little excited to see me.”
Nina closed her eyes as a pair of big strong hands encircled her waist. She dropped the plate back down into the sudsy water and pushed herself back against him.
“I’ve missed you.” Raoulf kissed the back of her neck and gently nipped the side of her throat.
“You’ve only been gone since this morning,” she teased.
“What can I say?” he replied. “I’m excited and hungry.”
“Of course you are.”
She spun around and snaked her arms up to wrap around his neck. Their lips met at the same time and they kissed with urgent need. She’d missed him too. She had been craving his touch all day.
He backed them up into the center of his tiny kitchen until his legs hit the table, and then he maneuvered her body around and led her hands to grip the edge of it. Her legs turned to putty the moment he slid his hands under her dress to caress the plumpness of her backside. He rained kisses across her shoulders and back, arousing her. Eager fingers slipped between her legs and pushed aside her panties to caress her creamy center.
Raoulf left her momentarily to kneel down on his knees. His lips pressed firmly to the curve of her ass and his palms massaged her heated skin. He pressed a single kiss to the imprint blazing hot on her hip. Ever since they made love for the very first time, the birthmark seemed to come alive whenever he was around.
Nina cried out when he nipped her ass. He pushed her downward until her breasts were smashed against the top of the table and her pussy was fully bared to him.
“Raoulf—” Her breath caught in her throat when he drove two fingers into her pussy.
He pumped into her over and over again and worked her clit until she was swollen and soaking wet. He kissed the back of her thighs, creating a heated trail until finally, his mouth took her pussy.
He buried his lips between the folds of her pussy, burying his tongue deep into her. He ate like she hadn’
t fed him at all this week, driving his tongue in and out. She clutched at the edge of the table as he devoured, lapping up her honey. When she came, she screamed.
He rose and quickly unzipped himself. After tugging her hair up into a ponytail and tightening his grip, he entered her pussy and fucked her hard. Her body plummeted into another climax. She was so high on ecstasy, she could barely breathe. He pumped himself to orgasm, coating her insides with his seed.
Every day since she’d been with him in Aspen Valley, they’d made love and fucked all over the house and even outside of it. His appetite was insatiable and so was hers.
She had the best man in the world. She felt safe and secure with him.
It pleased her to know that Raoulf would be hers forever. Her Mate. Her Rebel.
Story Summary
OMEGA UNMASKED (ASPEN VALLEY WOLF PACK)
A lone shifter who has lost his family and a fun-loving scientist who is desperate to escape the monotonous lifestyle she once wanted equals one exciting tale of finding romance in unexpected places.
* * *
Aspen Valley has always been home to Jacques Kent, wolf shifter and MMA fighter. Leaving now in the midst of the loss of the woman who raised him after he was abandoned would mean turning his back on his birth Pack. Just when he thinks his string of bad luck has ended and he can finally move on with his life, another wrench is thrown in his path. He’s about to throw in the towel, but then fate reveals his mate.
After a nasty split with her ex, Natasha Bennett starts her life over in a new town. Her ego is bruised and she’s down on her luck, but she promises herself that she won’t make the same mistakes again. But then she meets Jacques, the sexy, brooding shifter that swears from the beginning that he’s less than perfect. His honesty along with his savage and imperfect nature sparks her curiosity. It only takes one moment in his arms and Natasha knows she wants to remain there forever.
Aspen Valley Wolf Pack (The Complete Series) Page 36