To Win A Mate (A Western Shapeshifter Werewolf Romance): Somewhere Texas Saga (VonBrandt Family Book 3)

by Krystal Shannan

  “You know I tried to win that date with you, Elise. You know I would treat you better than some random cowboy from Texas. He probably didn’t even know how to eat with silverware. Did he smell like a horse?”

  She wiped her sweaty palms on the front of her slacks and fought to come up with a response that wouldn’t invite further investigation.

  “The doorman said a car service dropped you off this morning, Elise.”

  “I—” she started and stopped. This was ridiculous. He couldn’t make her feel like pond scum because she’d chosen to spend the night with an amazing man. “Why do you care who dropped me off, Mr. Nelson? My personal life is mine.”

  “So you admit he dropped you off at the office this morning? Elise, I gave you a chance here when no one else would hire you. When you leave, no one else will hire you again. Do you understand me? You owe me.”

  Embarrassment blossomed into outrage. Maybe she desperately needed this job, but she’d never let a man treat her the way she’d let this asshole torture her for the entire eleven months she’d worked here. No job was worth this. “I don’t owe you a thing, Mr. Nelson. If you hired me under the pretense that I would eventually sleep with you, you’ve made an error in judgement. I’ll have my resignation on your desk shortly. You can take your skin-crawling slimy harassing comments and shove them where the sun doesn’t shine. Just because you own the company doesn’t give you the right to harass and torture your female employees. You should be ashamed of yourself. I can’t believe I put up with this as long as I did. I praised God in heaven when Jared won the bid at the auction.”

  The stress of the last year fell away, freeing her from the shame Elise had become used to dealing with on a daily basis.

  His mouth opened, but he didn’t speak.

  She turned on her heel and froze in place. Jared was standing next to her desk, his arms folded across his chest. She pulled the glass door open and walked toward him. How long had he been standing there? How much had he heard? Why is he even here?

  “I’m so proud of you,” he said, opening his arms.

  She leaned into his embrace and sighed, breathing in his fresh scent. It filled her with peace.

  “I was worried I’d have to flatten his face for what he said. I’d still like to, but my gut says the fleeting pleasure of making him bleed wouldn’t be worth the trouble,” Jared said.

  “Get out of my office, VonBrandt, or I’ll have security escort you out,” Pier growled from the doorway behind her.

  “Grab your stuff, love. I think you just turned in a permanent vacation.”

  She smiled up into his sparkling brown eyes. Warm, full of adoration, full of pride. It wasn’t something she’d ever seen in a man’s eyes before, and it felt damn good. Elise wasn’t a weak woman in need of saving, but it was nice to know that she had a man like Jared willing to fight for her all the same.

  He gave her another squeeze before releasing her.

  She grabbed her purse from the drawer and darted around to Mary. “I’ll call you soon,” she said, hugging her friend.

  “Take care of yourself. Although, with a man that fine, I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

  Elise chuckled. “Fate threw me a line.”

  “Girl, fate threw you the whole yacht.” Mary stepped back, and narrowed her gaze on Jared. “You take good care of my friend. If you hurt her, I’ll hunt you down and kick in your teeth. Got me?”

  Jared nodded, flashing his adorable smile and heart melting dimples. “Understood.” He saluted her friend.

  Elise slipped her hand into his palm and looked up into his eyes.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  “Absolutely.”

  Chapter Seven

  The trees cleared as they neared what Jared had called, “the main house.” She couldn’t help the gasp when they rolled by it. Three stories. Gorgeous stone work that would put many other mansions to shame.

  “How many people live there?”

  “Just my cousin, the alpha, and his wife, Aaron and Tonya. They have two boys, but both of them are living elsewhere now. The house is rarely empty, though. The family is huge and it’s not uncommon for ten to fifteen people to show up for meals or just drop by throughout the day. Before a full moon, it’s packed. Typically there’re about ten out-of-town guests staying there for the run.”

  “Wow.” Her attention was drawn to another building set off behind the house. A large barn, busy with people and horses. “Where do you live?”

  “My place is a little west of the main house. Just a few more minutes.” He turned his truck down a dirt road a little past the barn.

  The driver had dropped them at long term parking in Houston and then they’d taken the last leg of the drive in Jared’s dually pickup truck. Two and a half hours later, Elise was more than ready to get out of the truck and stretch her cramping legs.

  They drove out of the cleared land, in through a cavern of trees for several minutes, passing a couple of large cabins on the right and then a couple more on the left. Some were bigger than others and some looked to be barely one room cabins.

  “How many people live on the ranch?”

  “Well, at any given time, maybe fifteen to twenty. Haven’t counted in a while. Some of the cabins are empty, and used by guests during the full moon runs. Especially if they aren’t pack. Aaron and Tonya only allow out-of-town family to bunk in the main house.”

  He made a right turn and then a left, taking a winding dirt road another few minutes before stopping in front of a large log cabin style home. It had a large front covered porch with several rocking chairs. The home was two stories and probably as big as her entire apartment building.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said, opening her door and jumping out before he could come around. “And big.”

  He smiled suggestively. “Room to grow.”

  “You’re not beating around the bush are you?” Elise chuckled.

  His hand slipped to the small of her back and she walked with him up the front steps and through the front door.

  Some of the walls were polished stained wood logs, other were sheet rocked and painted a light beige. Large windows on the outside walls of the living area brightened the large room. Open beams crisscrossed above her head, and natural stone floors spread out in every direction. The furniture was large and masculine —black studded leather. A huge TV graced the far wall, complete with a game station on the stand below it. Typical.

  The large living area was open to a beautiful kitchen area that sported natural cabinets and gorgeous black granite countertops. Stone accented the backsplash and a large picnic style table sat off to the side in the dining area with high back chairs.

  “It’s very rugged.”

  “You don’t like it?”

  “I didn’t say that,” she shot back. “It’s just so different when I’m used to, everything being French provincial.”

  Jared nodded. “Would you like to see the upstairs?”

  “Yes,” she said, taking a step toward the back of the living room. She grabbed the smooth railing and climbed the stairs ahead of him. “It’s really big for one person.”

  “I don’t like to move. So I built everything I might ever want or need the first time around.”

  Elise poked her head into one bedroom after another. One was obviously an office. Another was a library. Most were just empty rooms, though.

  Double doors at the end of the L-shaped hallway opened into what had to be the master bedroom. She pushed them open and took a quick breath. It was gorgeous. Instead of wood floors, a light brown carpet spread out before her. A huge four-poster wrought-iron bed, accented with leather panels, was set off to one side with a black-stained dresser. A free-standing mirror sat in the corner next to the dresser and the other side of the room was set up with a small couch and a couple of super-comfy-looking chairs. Several giant picture windows let in tons of natural light through the white linen curtains.

  “Jared, this is
amazing.”

  “Made up for the bottom floor being so sparse?”

  She nodded and wandered across the room, toward an ajar door.

  He leaned against the bedroom doorjamb and let her explore.

  Elise peeked through the open door into a beautiful spa retreat style bathroom. “A woman helped you design this, didn’t she?”

  Jared chuckled. “Aaron’s wife. She insisted, and nobody tells the alpha’s wife no…except maybe her kids.”

  “It’s lovely. The whole suite is just…perfect.” She turned around to face him and froze.

  He’d moved from the doorway, and was standing barely a foot from her.

  Her breath left her lungs and her heart jumped, slamming the inside of her ribcage.

  Jared laid his hands on her shoulders and held her gaze locked with his. “I want you, Elise Blanchard.”

  “Right now?” She smirked.

  “You’re determined to make this difficult, aren’t you?”

  “I did quit my job.” She took a step closer.

  “You did,” he said, his voice deepening.

  “I’ve never felt about anyone the way I feel about you. At the same time, I’m so excited about meeting your family tonight. But I’m terrified they won’t like me. You’re the only other werewolf I’ve ever met.” She sucked in a quick breath. “You are going to ask me to stay with you, right? I’m sorry, I’m totally jumping the gun and assuming and—”

  He pressed a finger to her lips and his face broke into a huge smile. “I think I just fell in love with you a little more. I want you to stay more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life. If you don’t want to stay here, I would follow you wherever you might go. You have my heart and soul, Elise. I can only ask that you would offer me the same.”

  Tears overflowed and poured down her cheeks. She sniffed through a sob of happiness and nodded. “You had me the second I saw you standing beside my desk after we’d already said goodbye. I couldn’t believe you came back. I’d just given up everything to go after you…and there you were. Just standing there, waiting…”

  Jared cupped her face and captured her mouth.

  She melted into his kiss and locked her arms around his neck, pulling her body closer to his.

  His hands slid to her ass and lifted her from the ground, coaxing her legs to wrap around his waist. Then he carried her to the bed.

  “Wait.” She sat up on the edge.

  He unbuckled his jeans. “For what?”

  “Isn’t your family waiting? You called them from the car. We don’t have long before the sun sets.”

  Jared smiled. “You’re worrying too much. Just let me love you. We’ll get to them later.”

  Clothes were stripped and she was naked and underneath him in moments. Exactly where she wanted to be.

  Elise wrapped her legs around his hips and took his cock deep on his first thrust. Her body was slick and ready. Nothing else mattered anymore, but being with him. He filled her body, and her soul.

  One thing was missing, something intangible she couldn’t explain…she just knew she didn’t have it yet.

  He made love to her, worshiping her body as if she were the goddess Aphrodite herself. There wasn’t a place Jared’s lips hadn’t tasted or his hands hadn’t caressed.

  When she came around him, the world exploded in a shower of white lights. Her body floated on a cloud of pleasure Elise wished would never dissipate.

  He buried his face in her shoulder and roared as he came. His seed filled her and she tensed, remembering they’d forgone protection. The worry didn’t remain more than a split second. Even if she did get pregnant. There was no one else she’d rather start a family with.

  Everything had happened so fast, but everything with Jared, it seemed to fit perfectly. Like her life had been split into thousands of plain brown jigsaw pieces. But now with him, the pieces had color and she could see how they would fit together and make a beautiful picture.

  Chapter Eight

  Jared walked down the dirt road, hand-in-hand with Elise. She was so small next to him, but so strong. He gotten an email back from his brother Jason that afternoon detailing everything was known about Elise Blanchard.

  Not much. None of the southern pack records listed her name, or anyone else who used the surname Blanchard. Jared asked him to keep digging, but if the official United States pack records didn’t have any information on her or her family, her parents were dead and her mother was probably human. In the meantime, just on the off chance there was more to her story, he wanted to make sure no one ever came to try and take her away.

  She was his mate.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He glanced down at her and then ahead of them where the main house was just coming into view. Family and visitors were already starting to gather on the back lawn.

  “The United States pack records don’t list anyone with your name or surname.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I asked my brother to investigate, just in case there were details we knew that you didn’t.”

  “Oh,” she murmured. “But there wasn’t anything?”

  He shook his head. “We can still reach out to the European alphas, but it’s unlikely we’ll find any records.”

  “Which means?” she asked.

  “Which means your father probably doesn’t know you exist and your mother is or was human and unbonded.”

  She squeezed his hand and smiled.

  Why? What about that news would make her happy? “What did I say that made you happy?”

  “It means that I might have a dad out there somewhere. He might not be dead. This isn’t bad news, Jared. This means I might have family out there that I only ever imagined.”

  He sighed. “If you belong to another pack, you won’t be allowed to stay with me—”

  “Unless we do…that spell or bond you spoke of?”

  “Yes. A mate bond would supersede any claim another pack might make on you.”

  She stopped walking and grabbed both of his hands, tugging him to face her. “Then do the spell.”

  “Now? The sun is dropping as we speak. The run is about to start. Plus, typically there’s a ceremony and everything. It’s like getting married.”

  She was grinning from ear to ear. “Right here, right now. Do you want me to stay with you? Be your wife or mate forever?”

  Jared chuckled. She’d come into his life in a whirl and now she was here, home in Somewhere with him. He’d just made love to her for the second time, and there was nothing he wanted to do more than seal the bond he could feel already growing between them. “I’d hoped to have time to propose and buy you a ring…”

  “That can come later. I’ve never wanted to belong to anyone like I want to belong to you. If it will quiet any fear or anxiety you have about my history, I want this to happen right now. Before we meet your family. Before I strip naked in front of them and run through the woods as free as the wind.”

  “By the gods, Elise. You are a force of nature.”

  “That’s me, Hurricane Elise,” she answered. “The werewolf who hides in her apartment every full moon and doesn’t know a damn thing about what it means to be a wolf. I—”

  He dropped her hands and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her close. “You need to stop putting yourself down,” he ordered before covering her mouth with his to mute her complaints.

  Pulling away from her for a moment, he caught her heated gaze. Gods, she was gorgeous…and his. Mine. The possessiveness had flooded his heart and mind so fast. She was unexpected and wonderful. “You are strong and brave and will learn everything you need to know, one step at a time.”

  He kissed her again, loving how sweet she tasted and how soft and responsive her lips were beneath his.

  She mewled into his mouth and he was instantly hard again. There wasn’t time for any more play. If they didn’t hurry, they’d shift inside their clothes right here on the driveway.

  “I want it, Jared. Pleas
e give me what I’m missing. I can feel the magick swirling around us, calling to me…to my wolf.”

  He nodded and took a deep breath. “I love you, Elise.”

  “I love you, too, Jared.”

  “Chun tú Geallaim mo chroí agus anam go deo.” He spoke softly, his voice near to breaking the second time through. “Chun tú Geallaim mo chroí agus anam go deo.”

  “That sounded beautiful. What does it mean?”

  “I pledge to you my heart and soul forever.”

  The blanket of magick that had been building around them since they’d first slept together last night exploded with energy. His skin tingled and he smiled when he saw flecks of gold glow in Elise’s eyes. He laced his fingers with hers, palm to palm, and raised their arms between them. A shimmer of iridescence showed on his wrists and hers where the tattoos were forming.

  She gasped and her eyes widened as the green Celtic lines knotted and settled into place, creating a unique bracelet design they would both wear forever. Proof to any other werewolf they were bonded and inseparable. The psychic link between them snapped into place and he held her hands tightly as her emotions poured into his mind.

  Desire.

  Excitement.

  Absolute joy.

  “It’s amazing.” She looked up, meeting his gaze again. “I never imagined something like this was possible.”

  “It’s better than I thought it would be,” Jared answered. “We’ll learn to control it with time, but right now, we need to run.” He rolled his neck and pushed against his wolf. The moon was rising and there were only a few seconds before the animal within would come out and stretch its legs.

  She shivered. “I can feel it. We have to change now.” Elise grabbed the hem of shirt and yanked it over her head. She was naked and changing right in front of him. Beautiful white fur graced her wolf form and golden eyes—so rare.