“Are you okay to clear up, Maya? I need to go and lie down.”
Maya forced a smile. “Of course, Mom.”
“I feel bad leaving you with all the mess.”
“Don’t be silly. Chance can help me, and the staff can handle most of the clean-up. That’s what we’re paying them for. I’ll just make sure the place is locked up when they’re done.”
Her mother leaned in and gave her a hug. “Thank you, Maya. You’ve been incredible through all of this. I’m so proud of you.” Her eyes shone with tears.
Maya squeezed her hard in return. “I’m proud of you, too, Mom. Dad would have been proud of us both.”
She gave a sad smile. “Yes, he would. I love you, sweetheart. Your dad did, too, more than anything.”
“I love you, too, Mom.”
Barbara turned around and left them to it.
Chance put out his arms for Maya and she stepped into his embrace, allowing him to fold her against his body. She placed her head on his chest, her arms around his waist, as he held her.
She looked up at him. “Thank you for being here. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
He smiled. “Good thing you got your leg caught in that snare when you did.”
“Yes, who would have thought it?”
Movement came from outside and she frowned as an expensive looking car pulled up. She thought all the mourners had left already. Had she forgotten someone?
Chance must have noticed her change in body language and glanced over his shoulder to follow her line of sight. “Who’s this?”
She shook her head. “I’m not sure.”
The car door opened, and a man in a suit stepped out, readjusting his jacket before slamming the door behind him.
Maya straightened, her shoulders squaring. “Son-of-a-bitch.”
“What? Who is it?”
“He’s a vulture who’s been sniffing around. He works for that big burger chain, Big Buns Burgers, and he came here offering to buy this place. I told him to get lost.”
Chance’s face had taken on a hard slant, his jaw fixed, his hazel eyes narrowed. “You think he’s heard of your father’s death?”
“I don’t know, but if he has and he’s hoping to catch us when we’re vulnerable, that makes him worse than pond scum.”
Chance pushed up the sleeves of the black shirt he wore. “Leave this to me.”
“I can handle—” Maya started, but he’d already gone, storming out of the front door of the diner, causing the little bell above the door to ring. Maya hurried after him.
Chance blocked the other man’s path. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“I’m here to speak to Miss Brookes, or even better, her parents.”
“She doesn’t want to speak to you right now.”
The man looked over Chance’s shoulder toward her. “Have you even given the letter to your parents yet, Miss Brookes? I need to know what your father had to say about our generous offer.”
His words felt like a punch in her gut. “My father’s dead.”
Daryl Jacobs was thrown by the news, but only for a fraction of a second. “I’m sorry to hear that, but the offer still stands.”
Chance stepped forward, using his body to press Mr. Jacobs back down the path again. “Leave them alone. They’re a grieving family.”
“Who the hell are you, anyway? I’m allowed to present my offer to the owner of this place, which I assume must now be your mother.”
“My mother is sleeping. She doesn’t need this shit right now.”
Chance moved forward again. “Get off their property, or I’ll have to remove you myself.”
Chance’s eyes flashed yellow, he let out a growl which rumbled low in his chest. Shocked, the other man took two swift steps backward, his feet tangling together, sending him stumbling.
“What the fuck?” he exclaimed.
“I told you to leave them alone,” Chance snarled.
“And you’re going to make me?” He sounded incredulous, as though he couldn’t believe someone had the nerve to stand up to him.
Chance let out another low growl. “Just try me, and we’ll see what happens.”
Daryl Jacobs faltered, half turning back toward his flashy car, before twisting back to Maya. He pointed a finger. “This isn’t over, Miss Brookes. I always get what I want.”
“Not this time, you won’t,” she called back, secretly delighted by the way Chance had seen him off. Chance looked fierce and sexy, all dressed in black, with that mean look on his face. She felt a throb of lust for him and bit her lower lip, holding herself back from jumping him then and there.
They stood and watched the car tear off down the street, the wheels screeching on asphalt.
Maya wound her arms around Chance’s neck. “Thank you.”
He smoldered. “I’m sure you could have handled it yourself, but I couldn’t stand seeing that guy’s smug face.”
She stood on tiptoes and kissed him, pressing her body up against his. “I want to thank you.”
“Maya, are you sure? Now?”
“Let me remember the good stuff about life.”
She took his hand and pulled him down the alley beside the diner. She could have taken him inside, but the waiting staff were all there cleaning up, and she didn’t want to disturb her mother in the house.
She pushed him up against the wall and kissed him. She could feel the length of his erection, already hard. He always seemed to be ready for her. As she kissed him, she pushed her hand down the front of his pants, grasping for his erection. Her fingers met his silky soft skin and his mouth opened in a gasp as she gripped him firmly.
“Ah, fuck, Maya.”
“Shut up. Let me do this for you.”
She didn’t know what had come over her. With her other hand, she popped open the button on his pants, giving them both more space. She dropped to her knees on the hard ground, the short black dress she wore offering no layer of material to cushion her skin, but she didn’t care. She wanted to fill her every thought and sense with him, forget her father’s death and the vulture sniffing around them now. She took his erection in her mouth and swirled her tongue around his head then pushed her lips down his length, sucking him deep. The salty, musky taste of him slicked over her tongue, and she fought against her gag reflex as he hit the back of her throat. His fingers knotted in her hair and he bucked his hips forward, letting out a moan above her. She wanted to do more for him, wanted to drive him wild, a way of saying thank you for him being there for her so much. Cupping his balls in her hand, she sucked him, swirling her tongue and creating friction with her lips. She slipped her fingers farther back, past his balls, and across the smooth skin of his perineum, until she reached his ass.
“Oh, God, Maya.”
She pulled her mouth from his cock, but only for long enough to slip her index finger between her lips, looking up at him the whole time as she did so. Then, when her finger was slicked in her saliva, she took his cock in her mouth again, and repositioned her finger, so the ball of her palm still cupped his balls and her finger pressed against his tight hole. He stepped his feet apart slightly, giving her more room, but not doing or saying anything to make her think he wouldn’t want this.
She pushed her finger higher, penetrating him. He let out a little ‘ah’ or what could have been pleasure, or pain, or most likely a little of both. She felt his cock grow even harder between her lips, and she increased both the pressure and movement. Her digit sought the fleshy pad of his g-spot. She knew the moment she’d hit it, not only from the feel, but from the reaction Chance had as she gently stroked with feather light touches.
He came hard, letting out a cry as he did so, hot cum pulsing into her mouth and across her tongue.
Chapter Thirteen
He couldn’t believe she’d done that for him. Had he ever felt pleasure so intense? She slipped her finger from his body and wiped her mouth. He pulled her to her feet and kissed her, even
though he could taste himself on her mouth.
“Fuck, Maya, I love you. You know that, don’t you? I love you so fucking much.”
“I love you, too, Chance. I wasn’t sure at first, the whole mating thing, but I know now, as sure as I know my own name.”
He pulled her in and held her tight.
“We need to figure out what we’re going to do,” he said, his mouth pressed against the top of her head. “We need to know if what my alpha said is correct. If you’re half shifter, instead of fully human, it might make the rest of my pack look at you differently.” He realized he’d taken for granted that she’d even want to come and live with him at the compound. “If that’s even what you want.”
“Honestly, I don’t know what I want right now. I have so much responsibility sitting on my shoulders, with this place and my mom being on her own. I don’t know if I can just walk away from it all to live with the pack, even if the rest of the shifters said it was okay.”
He shook his head. “You’re right. I’m an idiot. I’ve been so ingrained on pack life that I never took a moment to think of an alternative.”
She looked up into his eyes. “I don’t want to be the one who drags you away from your pack.”
“There have been cracks in my relationship with my pack for a while now—it’s not just you, though of course you play a massive part in my decision. It’s a long story, but I promise I’ll tell you everything soon.” He kissed her nose, then bumped his forehead to hers. “You’re what’s important to me now. You’re my everything.”
“I want to be with you, too.” She bit her lip. “I’ll talk to my mom and find out the truth. Not today, but soon. I want to know, not just for your pack, but for myself as well.”
“Okay, thank you. What do we do in the meantime?”
She gave a small shrug. “Just carry on as we are, I guess. I want to spend every minute with you, but we both have our own lives.”
“I want to be with you, too, Maya. I want you to be the last person I see at night, and the one I wake up to in the morning. I can’t get enough of you, and I hate that it might be my pack that will keep us apart.”
Her arms wound around his neck and they held each other tight. “I’ll speak to my mother, Chance,” she said. “Neither of us can make any decisions until I know for sure what I am.”
Chapter Fourteen
Maya knew she couldn’t put off the conversation with her mother any longer. She felt sick with nerves at the thought of it, and also at upsetting her mom at such a difficult time, but she needed to know the truth. Though it wasn’t in her nature to think badly of someone she loved, she used the fact that if what the pack’s alpha said was true, then it meant her mother had been lying to her for the past twenty-one years. Perhaps she should be angrier than she felt, but instead the idea only made her sad.
Chance had gone back to the pack to give them some space to talk. Maya found her mom at her customary position, sitting at the kitchen table, nursing a cup of hot tea, which she had always preferred to coffee. She looked up as Maya walked in and gave her a smile.
“Hi, Mom,” she said, pulling out the wooden chair opposite and sitting down. “How are you doing?”
“I’m okay, sweetheart. How are you?”
Maya nodded. “All right, but there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
Her mother gave a small nod. “I’m going to guess it has something to do with that young man of yours.”
“Yeah, in a way, it does.”
“About where he comes from and what he is?” she continued.
Maya glanced down at her hands on the table. “Kind of.” She took a breath and jumped in. “When we first met, something happened. It was as though we already knew each other. We had such a strong connection, and then Chance told me it was because I was his mate. Problem is, shifters shouldn’t be able to mate with humans, which means I might not be all human.” She paused, hoping her mother was going to step in with the truth without her having to say the words, but it didn’t seem that was going to happen. “Is there something you and Dad never told me?”
Immediately, guilt crossed her mother’s features like a shadow, but still she didn’t respond.
“I know, Mom,” Maya continued, “about what I am. Does it mean—” She couldn’t bring herself to say it, the words sticking like glue to her tongue.
Her mother put her face in her hands. “I’m so sorry, darling.” Her voice was muffled, and so Maya reached out and pulled one of her hands away, forcing her to look up. “We meant to tell you. Every year, we promised each other that this would be the year we’d tell you the truth, but then we kept putting it off. We couldn’t stand the thought of rocking your world like that, when there didn’t seem to be any point in doing it.”
“There was a point, Mom! The point was that I wouldn’t have been living a lie.”
“You were never living a lie. Your father was always your father, no matter the genes. He was the one who took me on when I was pregnant with another man’s child. He was at the bedside, holding my hand when I gave birth to you. He gave you your first cuddle, helped change your first diaper, got up with you in the night. He was there for you, every single step of your life.”
She was right, but Maya couldn’t let it rest.
Her voice was thick with tears. “The problem is, Mom, genetics do matter. Chance is from the Dark Ridge wolves, and if he says I’m his mate, then it must mean I’m half wolf, which means…”
She didn’t want to say it.
Her mother did instead. “It means the man who got me pregnant was a shifter, Maya. I won’t call him your father, because he was never that to you. We had a couple of nights together, and then he was gone.”
“He was a lone wolf.”
“Yes, he was. He wasn’t father material. I’m fairly sure he smelled my pregnancy on me, which was why he suddenly turned cold and vanished.”
“Do you know his name?”
“Of course I do. His name was Tate Martins.”
This piece of knowledge did strange things to her insides. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to process it. “Have you tried to look him up since he left?”
She shook her head. “No, why would I? I met your father not long after, and we fell in love. Tate was never my soul mate, not like you and Chance. He was just a passing fling.”
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now.”
She reached out and her hand covered Maya’s. “You don’t need to do anything, sweetheart, except take this knowledge and know that you have a rightful place at Chance’s side. That man is good for you, I can see it. You’ve always been so strong for everyone else, and it’s been wonderful to see you with someone you can lean on.”
Maya sniffed and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. “Yes, I feel the same way.”
“I can’t stop you looking up the man who got me pregnant, but I’d rather you didn’t. I’d rather you forgot he ever existed, and remember your father as your real father.”
“It’s not as easy as that.”
“I know. And I’m sorry. I wish I could change things, and make your dad your biological father, but I can’t.”
“And if you could, then I wouldn’t be Chance’s mate.”
Her mother gave her a sad smile. “There is that.”
Maya gave a sigh and rubbed her hand over her eyes. It was all so much to take in. She hadn’t even grieved for her father properly yet, and now she had to somehow figure out how to come to terms with the fact he’d never been her biological father. She couldn’t stop her thoughts from going to the man who’d gotten her mother pregnant. Did she look like him? While she’d got her heart-shaped face and her mouth from her mother, she now wondered if her brown curls and blue eyes had been a gift from her real dad. No, he wasn’t her real dad. She couldn’t let herself think like that.
“I need to see Chance,” she said, getting to her feet. “He needs to know the truth, too. Some of the other shifters in his pac
k have been ridiculing him for finding his mate in a human. This information will at least go some way to making things right again.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you sooner.”
Maya only nodded. What more could she say?
Leaving her mother still sitting at the table, she turned and left the house. Chance would be at the compound, and she needed to see him. She took the truck which belonged to the business. They’d still not opened the diner since her father had passed. The staff had all been paid, but at some point they’d need to open up again. The bills were still coming, even when the diner was shut, and they couldn’t keep hemorrhaging money. Because of her father’s long term illness, he’d not been able to get any life insurance, and they still had hospital bills that needed paying. At some point, she was going to need to get on with things.
Maya did the hour’s drive with the radio blasting, trying to use the music to drown out her thoughts and worries. She felt a pang of envy for all the other twenty-something women out there, who were just enjoying life and having a good time. Her responsibilities felt as though they were crushing her, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to do this.
She arrived at the compound, driving through the narrow lane leading to the meeting house at its center. Sudden nerves churned in her stomach. She needed to speak with Chance, but perhaps she should have waited until he’d come to her. If only he had a cell phone, like most other people in the country, but the shifters didn’t like technology, and preferred to rely on natural instinct to know when they were needed. His instinct appeared to have failed at this point, however, as he was nowhere to be seen.
Pulling up beside the couple of other vehicles the shifters owned, she switched off the engine. Her arrival had garnered some attention. Several people emerged from the surrounding homes, curious of the new arrival. Maya imagined they didn’t get too many visitors.
Self-conscious, she opened the door and climbed out of the truck. She lifted a hand in an awkward wave at the men and women standing around her. “Hi, I’m looking for—”
Wolf Betrayed (The Dark Ridge Wolves Book 3) Page 7