The Wolf's Mate Book 5: Bo & Reika

by Butler, R. E.

  Two of the lynxes crouched, ready to spring on the female, and the third, who she didn’t see, slipped behind her. As they’d planned, she turned to race away from the two and ran straight into the third, who snagged her scruff in his jaws and shook her hard, her teeth snapping together, until her body went limp.

  Bo didn’t stop to consider the consequences of his actions; he simply acted. Roaring in rage at the treatment of the female, he leapt at the male who held her, smashing into his side. The lynx released the she-wolf with a surprised grunt as he tumbled to the ground beneath Bo. Moving quickly, Bo grabbed the lynx’s back leg in his jaws and jerked him further away from the she-wolf. The lynxes had not considered him a threat; that was their mistake. Bo crouched protectively in front of the injured female and snapped at the other two. They circled him, growling low, but he didn’t back down, daring them, with growls and snapping jaws, to come closer.

  The lynx righted himself, shook the snow from his back, and growled a warning to Bo. But Bo wasn’t going anywhere without the woman who had suddenly come to mean everything to him. She’s mine! He growled and lowered his head, preparing for their attack and planning his counter-attack. He wasn’t third-ranked for nothing. He had fought and trained his whole life so that his leg didn’t stop him from being the best. These cats could go to hell.

  The lynxes eyed him warily, casting glances back and forth. After staring at him for a long moment, the one who Bo had tackled growled sharply, and the lynxes turned as a group and padded away. Bo held his rigid, protective stance until he could no longer see or hear them. Then he relaxed, but only slightly, turning his attention to the wounded female in the snow. Nudging her gently with his nose, he listened for her heartbeat and found it weak and her breathing shallow. He shifted into his human form and carefully picked her up.

  His truck was still at the full moon clearing. From his best guess, he was several miles away. He walked as fast as his leg would allow, ignoring the pain and the cold, and concentrated on the slight form in his arms. Beautiful inky, blue-hued black fur covered her body. He’d never seen a wolf colored like her. Jason’s family line was black, but not like this. Whoever she was, she faced down a group of three lynxes alone. If they hadn’t tricked her, she might have escaped.

  Exhaustion plagued Bo — physically and mentally — but that didn’t stop his brain from trying to process everything he’d seen. Three male cats had attacked a lone she-wolf. He’d never seen a were-lynx before, and he sure hoped to hell he wouldn’t see those three anytime soon.

  He couldn’t deny that there was something about her. Something that called to him. All he knew for certain was that he was going to take care of her for however long she would allow.

  The full moon clearing was empty as he’d expected. Wolves only stayed in their shift for a few hours on the full moon, until they sated their need to run and hunt. The pack would have come back to the clearing, shifted, and left. Some of the pack, the younger, single males and females, would head to someone’s home and hang out. Casual hookups were normal on full moon nights.

  A thin layer of snow covered his truck. With his leg burning as though hot pokers were shoved beneath the skin, he put the female inside his truck, dressed, and drove home.

  He carried the unconscious woman, still in her wolf form, into his bedroom and laid her on his bed, pulling a thick comforter over her. Her fur was chilled, her ears ice cold. Bo opened the hall closet and pulled extra blankets from the shelves, stopping to kick up the heat in the house. When he returned to the bedroom, she had shifted to her human form. She shivered uncontrollably, but remained unconscious. He laid the blankets on the end of the bed and went into the bathroom to grab a first-aid kit.

  He pulled the blanket back gently so he could tend her wounds. Seeing her injuries made his breath catch in his throat, and his wolf howled for revenge in his mind.

  One of the lynx’s claws had torn a jagged gash from under her arm to the curve of her waist. He cleansed the wound carefully with antiseptic pads from the kit, grateful the gash had stopped bleeding and was starting to heal. He covered the large wound on her side with gauze pads and tape and tended her other scratches and scrapes. Her ivory skin was covered with bruises and scrapes, and as he gently tested her joints and bones for breaks, his rage grew.

  Once he finished, he laid the comforter on top of her and then covered her with every blanket in the house. With a warm, wet cloth, he carefully cleaned her face of dirt and dried blood and was astonished to see how beautiful she was. Even injured, she was simply stunning. He rubbed at his leg and looked at her, wondering what her name was and how she had gotten into trouble with the lynxes.

  After an hour, except for her shivers going away as she warmed up, she hadn’t moved or made a sound. He didn’t know what else to do.

  Picking up his cell, Bo stepped out of the bedroom and called his Aunt Lia. She was human and dabbled in wicca healing because she didn’t believe in Western medicine. Lia married his uncle, who was a wolf and had died in a car crash several years earlier. Lia lived on the outskirts of town and made house calls for people who didn’t want to go a traditional doctor.

  Bo told her what had happened, and his aunt agreed to come right away. Half an hour later when she walked into Bo’s bedroom, Lia took one look at the woman and made clucking noises in her mouth. She checked the woman’s vitals and hummed in her throat as Bo stood protectively nearby. Even though it was his aunt, Bo didn’t like anyone else’s hands on the woman. Lia pulled the blankets aside and lifted the bandage, looking at the deep wound. From a small bag she had brought, Lia pulled a vial and two clean, white cloths. She opened the vial and soaked one cloth with clear oil that smelled herbal but not any herbs he could place. Lia gently pressed the cloth onto the large wound and then covered it with fresh bandages and secured it to the woman’s side with tape from the first-aid kit. Wetting the other cloth, she rubbed the oil on the other cuts.

  Almost reverently, Lia placed the blankets on top of the woman and turned to him. “Do you know anything about lynxes, Bo?”

  He shook his head. “I’ve never even seen one before. If I hadn’t recognized the fur tufts on their ears, I might have thought they were some kind of leopard. Why? What do you know about them?”

  “Do you remember my friend Ada? She lived in Phoenix for a while, and she told me that a group of lynxes came through their town once a year. They’re like the gypsies of the shifter world. They don’t stay in one place too long, and they trade for what they need. They also make arranged marriages.”

  He stiffened and looked down at the woman in his bed. Was she promised to those males who hurt her? Not for long, his wolf growled in his mind.

  “You said her coloring was unique. It’s possible, and I’m just guessing here from the things Ada told me, that her parents promised her to one or all of those males as some kind of arranged marriage. Maybe to form an alliance, or maybe in payment for something the lynxes did. You’ll have to wait until she wakes up to find out her situation. Whatever the reason, though, the fact that they injured her so badly in an effort to subdue her doesn’t speak well to their intentions, or what her life would be like if she went back to them.”

  “What can I do for her?”

  Lia looked up at him, and Bo couldn’t quite decipher her expression. Pride and something else. “She’ll need to sleep until her body is healed. When she wakes, she may be terrified. There’s no way to know what she remembers. I can take care of her, if you want me to take over for you.”

  His wolf snapped angrily. She’s mine! “No! I mean, no thank you, Aunt Lia, I’ll handle it.”

  She smiled, rose from the bed, and returned the empty vial to her bag. “The oil I put on will help her wound heal, aiding her natural healing ability. Treat her well and take care of her, Bo. I know you’ll do just fine.”

  He kissed her cheek. “Thanks.”

  “Call me tomorrow, and let me know how things are going. If she’s really been given to
those males, I doubt they’ll let go of her so easily. If they chased her here, then they possibly have a way to find her no matter where she is. Please be careful.”

  Bo saw Lia out and locked the door. He stood next to the woman on his bed, brushing a lock of hair away from her face. Her ivory skin complemented her delicate features. Dark hair fell like an obsidian curtain, pooling on the pillow beneath her head. She had an adorable nose, pink lips, and ears that looked just right for nibbling and whispering tantalizing desires. He hadn’t exactly been able to ignore how her bare body looked as he’d tended her wounds. Full breasts, skin that looked as soft as satin, flat belly, and perfectly flared hips. He wondered what color her eyes were.

  Thinking about those lynxes who had been attacking her made his hackles rise. If what Lia said was true, and her family had promised her to them, the fact that she was running from them spoke volumes. She should get to choose who she mated with, and Bo didn’t only believe that because she was gorgeous and caused his wolf to desire to claim her. Not that she’d want him. He was broken, after all. What female of worth in her right mind would choose a wolf who would be out of commission in a few years due to a bad leg? And he didn’t even want to think what their love life might be like once the pain overtook him. No, she deserved better than he could ever be.

  But what he could do for her was help her get free of whatever claim those lynxes had on her. Based on his aunt’s information, the lynxes wouldn’t be afraid of losing her because they could track her somehow. Perhaps by her scent.

  Bo left her and made himself a few sandwiches while he called Jason. It was still early in the morning, and he knew that Jason would still be in bed, like most wolves, sleeping in the day after the full moon.

  Jason answered on the second ring, sounding hoarse and groggy. Bo apologized for waking him, and then explained what happened, finishing the story by adding that he might have led an angry group of lynxes to town.

  “That’s a hell of a thing, Bo,” Jason said finally. “But I always knew you were noble.”

  Bo snorted. “Thanks, man.”

  “Look,” Jason said evenly, “if they come to town looking for her and she doesn’t want to be found, the pack will back you up. They can probably track her by scent, but your trail would have ended at the circle. If they come to town to ask about her or you, we’ll send them on their way.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Hey, if her people just gave her away to another shifter group and she doesn’t want that, then I think it’s a shit thing, and she’s more than welcome to sanctuary in our territory for however long she needs it. Besides, once I tell Cades what happened, you know she’s going to rally the females to her cause. If the lynxes think you’re worth backing down from in a fight, they haven’t seen my wife when she’s pissed off. They don’t stand a chance.” Jason laughed, and Bo joined in. Cadence might only be half wolf and unable to shift, but she was all alpha, right down to the very core.

  “Is she about Cades’ size? I can send some clothes over,” Jason offered.

  Bo hadn’t even thought about what she would wear when she woke up. “That would be great. If they don’t fit, at least they’ll do until I can get her something else.”

  “Alright. Keep in touch, and let me know if you need anything at all.”

  Bo ended the call, proud that he could count on his friend and alpha. He hadn’t expected less. He went into the master bathroom and took a shower, letting the hot water work on his sore muscles. He’d been up for more than twenty-four hours now, and he was damn tired. After rubbing a numbing ointment onto his bad leg, he pulled on a pair of jeans and sat down in the leather chair in the corner of the bedroom.

  As he settled himself to rest, he made a vow to himself and to the woman in the bed. Today was the start of his new life. He’d been dealt a shit hand in life with his injury, but he’d never been forcibly mated before, chased down by another group when he was weak and wounded.

  The woman needed help, and Bo was going to do anything in his power to set her free from those who would harm her. He would keep her safe.

  Chapter 3

  Sleep eluded Reika, slipping away like a shadow being chased by the sun, and although she tried to hold onto it, she couldn’t. And then she remembered that she wasn’t supposed to be asleep; she was supposed to be running for her life.

  Her eyes snapped open, and she bolted upright, her blurry vision taking in everything too fast for her to process. Rubbing her eyes with her palms, she blinked several times and scanned the room. She wasn’t racing through unfamiliar woods at night with the lynxes hot on her tail. This was someone’s home. And that someone was seated in a chair in a corner, slumped down and fast asleep.

  Reika knew him immediately by his scent as the events of last night replayed through her mind quickly. He was the male wolf she had seen before she was rendered unconscious by one of the lynx’s harsh actions. The wolf had clearly come to her aid. But what happened to the lynxes? Dare she hope that they were dead and out of her life forever? Although her luck had improved considerably with the wolf who had saved her, she doubted the wolf spirits liked her enough to kill off the lynxes, too.

  She remembered the taxi had driven her for an hour and dropped her off at an all-night car rental. Using her new ID, she rented the first car available, tossed her bag in the back, and drove. She had no idea where she was, but she could practically feel the lynxes on her tail even though she never actually saw anyone. She sped, turning down various streets. She pulled the car into a park when the gas tank was nearly empty. It was near dusk. She saw a truck moving slowly down the park’s main drive, the same truck that had picked up the young woman with the rose on her birthday. With her heart pounding, she looked around frantically for help but saw no people or open businesses. She had only one chance to escape, and that was to shift and run.

  She stripped, tucked the keys into the visor, left her bag under the passenger seat, shifted, and raced off. The full moon loomed in the sky, and Reika ran quickly for as long as she could. She could feel she wasn’t alone. She felt the menace and hatred emanating from the lynxes. They weren’t going to take her nicely. They were pissed she’d run.

  She ran as far and as fast as she could, but they caught up to her, trying to injure her so she couldn’t run anymore. She remembered them striking out at her, wounding her. She closed her eyes against the memories and shook them away.

  Reika would never be able to hide from the lynxes. They had excellent scenting abilities. She had no idea how they’d found her in the airport in the first place, but it didn’t matter. If the wolf who had saved her had chased them off, it was only because the lynxes knew they would be able to find her again, no matter where she was. She shivered in the bed.

  The only thing Reika could do was keep running. One problem was that she was out of money. Her belongings were in the rental car in the park, and she had no idea where the car even was.

  She looked at the man. If he had saved her life, could he help her escape? There had to be a place she could go where the lynxes would never find her, or he could perhaps help her contact the WAA again.

  Reika noticed he was handsome. Thick black hair cut short and carelessly mussed, tan skin, stubble-darkened jaw, and a mouth made for kissing, with a slightly larger lower lip that just begged to be nibbled. As she let her eyes roam over him shamelessly while he slept, she noticed his features shift slowly, from peaceful and smooth to frowning and drawn. His brows drew together, his lips pressed into a thin line, and his body went rigid.

  “No, no,” he murmured, lost to his bad dreams. His hands tightened slightly and his body jerked.

  Reika couldn’t stand to watch him suffer in his nightmare, so she pulled the sheet around herself and straightened from the bed, wincing at a tugging pain in her side. She moved to him, kneeling and laying one hand on his arm.

  His eyes popped open immediately, hazel and bottomless.

  “You shouldn’t be up, sweetheart. You’ve
got a bad gash on your side,” he said, his deep voice rumbling pleasantly in her ears. His jaw was clenched tight, and his knuckles were white, but his body remained relaxed so he managed to look at ease. She guessed he was doing that for her benefit.

  “I do?” She blinked up at him. She parted the sheet to reveal where the pain radiated. She pulled away a bandage, and saw three claw marks that were healing.

  Shaking her head slightly at the wound, she said, “You were having a nightmare. Are you okay?”

  His eyes rested on her, warmth in the depths, and he pressed his palm to her cheek. “I’m not the one who was attacked by three males last night.”

  With a quick motion, he scooped her up in his arms and set her back on the bed, squatting on the floor in front of her. “Can I get you anything?”

  “Your name?”

  “Ah, sorry.” He smiled, and she had a feeling that he didn’t smile much, or he hadn’t smiled in a long time. She liked his smile, though. Took him from handsome to gorgeous in 2.2 seconds. “My name is Bo Elliott.”

  “I’m Reika Snow. Thank you for saving me.”

  He told her the story of how he’d followed her scent and stumbled into the middle of the lynxes trying to subdue her. She clutched the blanket to herself in shame. It must all seem so barbaric to him.

  “Hey, hey,” he chided softly, “I don’t give a damn what their reasons were. You’re a person and not property to be treated so poorly.” He stood slowly and winced, but schooled his features quickly to hide the pain that temporarily marred his features. Her healing nature told her that something was wrong with one leg, something old, and that he had been tormented with nightmares from the injury ever since.

  “Thank you, Bo.”

  “I’m glad I was there, Reika.”

  She liked the way he said her name. Like a verbal caress. She chided herself for thinking such sweet things about the man. He was her hero, sure, but she needed to hit the road quick so she didn’t bring hell to whatever town she’d landed in.