by E A Price
Heat suffused her face. “That’s okay; I’m fine now.”
Hmmm she sure was a skittish little thing. Perhaps she was a virgin? His bear was elated at the thought. The idea of any other man having touched his mate was intolerable, but the thought made the man blanch. He wasn’t sure his animal nature would allow him to be gentle with her, not the first time they were together. If she were a virgin, it could be pretty damn rough on her…
“Look Cain, I wanted to apologize for my behavior last night.”
“It’s fine, why don’t you come over her, and shake my hand in apology?” Cain again reached out to her.
Carly ignored the waving meaty paw and continued. “I shouldn’t have run out on you like that… I was just upset.”
The bear cringed at her hurt laced tone. He had wounded his mate. Admittedly it was unintentional, but still.
Cain rubbed his hand over his face. Scraping back an inch of control, his eyes shifted back to their usual dark brown. “No, I’m sorry. That wasn’t how I wanted to meet you. My behavior was inexcusable. I don’t blame you for running.”
“Those women…”
“Meant nothing to me, I don’t even know their names.” He interrupted quickly. “They were just two women I met in the bar, and they wanted some fun, that’s all.”
Carly mulled this over. “Is that the kind of thing you often do? Pick up women to have sex, and don’t even bother to learn their names?”
Carly’s tone was neutral, but he could tell by her words that she was stung.
“It’s the kind of thing I used to do before I met you… I won’t be doing it again, if that’s what you’re concerned about. I only want to be with you.”
“You don’t know me…”
Cain leaned his head against the bars. “I know fate chose you for me because you’re the perfect woman for me. Fate was right; you are perfect in every way.”
Carly scoffed. He’d soon change his tune. Just wait until the first time he wakes in the middle of the night, to find her having a meltdown, and crying on the floor of the bathroom. Let’s see how well he handles that!
“I just couldn’t imagine sleeping with someone I didn’t care about, even a little.”
Cain’s face turned stony. “How many men have you been with?” He aimed for nonchalance but came up somewhere between antagonistic and livid.
Carly rolled her eyes, a spark of willful playfulness appearing. “Don’t get snippy with me. I’m guessing you could multiply my number by ten, and it still wouldn’t put a dent in how many women you’ve been with.”
Cain tried for a softer approach. “I just can’t imagine any man taking you to bed, and ever letting you go again.”
Her wolf preened, but Carly fell back to self-deprecation. “Maybe you should sleep with me before you say that…”
Cain’s eyes lit up. “Invitation accepted. Now if you could just open this cell, we could run back to my room at the Bed and Breakfast.”
“What?! No I wasn’t…” Carly blustered.
Her body tingled at the thought of taking him inside, and she couldn’t fail to notice the impossibly large bulge the bear was sporting in the front of his trousers. He should cover that up, he might scare children.
“Too late pretty wolf, you already offered. Let’s seal it with a hug, come here!” Once again, he reached out his arms to her through the bars.
“I can’t let you out of that cell anyway; that’s up to Adam or Alec.”
Cain sneered at the mention of the other males. “The two that touched you.”
“They’re my Alpha and my Beta; they wouldn’t hurt me, and they’re definitely not interested in me that way…” So few wolves had ever been.
“I don’t like you touching other males. You are not to touch anyone else. Ever!”
Cain knew he was a hypocritical ass, and he didn’t care. Since meeting Hans and Don’s mates he had hugged, made sly innuendos and kissed the women on the cheek repeatedly. All to piss off the two possessive wolves. It mostly only worked in Hans’ case, but Don only had so much patience. He laughed at how ridiculous their attitudes were to their women. But now with his mate, he was even worse than them!
Carly tensed a little. “That doesn’t bode well for our future then… I’m an Omega. It’s my responsibility to soothe my pack members. I have to touch them. It’s not sexual.”
“I don’t like it,” groused Cain. “Can’t they find some other chump to be the Omega?”
“What?!”
Chump?! Her wolf forgot about her desire for the male and snarled at his arrogance. Okay, so over the years Carly had complained about being an Omega. A lot. But that was her right, who was this bear to say anything about being an Omega? What did he know?!
“I don’t want my mate to be an Omega.”
Carly placed her small hands on her hips; her cheeks burned with fury. “You think I’m a chump? Clearly you’ve no idea what it means to be an Omega. I’m sorry that I’m a disappointment as a mate. I’m sorry that I’m an Omega and that I’m not like other she-wolves. I know I’m not tall, and skinny, and beautiful, and strong like them. But do you think I won the lottery in the mate department either? Do you think I wanted a horny, insensitive, overgrown bear for a mate? You don’t want me, fine with me! Don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.”
Carly breathed heavily; she’d never been so forceful. She wasn’t one to argue or fight back, but her perceived slight, by the one person in the world who was supposed to love her unconditionally brought out her fighting side.
His bear whimpered. “Carly baby…”
“Don’t baby me!” shrieked Carly, eyes flashing.
Carly spun on her heels and stalked out of the room, ignoring her pack mates as she went. Dimly she was aware of her mate roaring her name, and throwing himself against the bars, but she was too angry to look back.
As soon as she could she started running and didn’t stop until she got home, and crawled into bed to cry into her pillow.
*
“What the fuck did you say to her?” Hans paced up and down in front of Cain, berating the pitiful bear.
After Carly had stormed out, Mrs Martin decided she wasn’t actually interested in pressing charges against Cain. It had all been a misunderstanding. Instead, she hightailed out of the station, keen to pass on the gossip about what happened between the bear and the Omega.
Everybody in the station had been listening to the exchange between Carly and Cain. And soon everyone in Rose would know of it too.
Grudgingly, Alec had released Cain. The disgruntled Beta had been all for kicking Cain out of town, and the Alpha was swaying that way too. Cain told them that Hans and Don could vouch for him.
So Hans and Don, much to their displeasure, were charged with making sure that Cain behaved himself while he was in town. Cain was allowed to walk out of the Sheriff’s station, but not before the Alpha warned him about not hurting their Omega.
Dejected, Cain returned to his room and warned the bobcat owner that he might actually need to stay a few more nights. He was now lying on his creaking bed, staring at the ceiling, whilst Hans wore a hole in the carpet. Melanie sat at the window looking out at the street, and Kayleigh sat on Don’s lap in the armchair.
“I… I’m not sure…”
Kayleigh snorted. “Don’t tell me she caught you having sex with two women in your cell? Or do you only do that in bars?”
Cain snapped his fangs at the witch, whilst Don clamped his arms around his mate protectively.
Hans stopped and looked at the bear. “Is that why she ran off crying last night?”
Cain’s jaw twitched. “She didn’t catch us having sex; we were just…”
“About to?” supplied Kayleigh.
Cain ignored her, and instead went over what he said in the cell over and over. “She thinks I rejected her at the station.”
“Why would she think that?” asked Melanie softly.
“I just told her I didn�
��t want an Omega for a mate.”
All four members of the pack sucked in sharp breaths. He looked at them all in turn. Evidently he had made a mistake.
“So basically yeah, you rejected her.” Melanie lost all sympathy for the bear.
“No! I meant I wanted her to stop being an Omega; I didn’t say I didn’t want her.”
Don sighed. “Carly was born an Omega; it’s not what she chooses to be. She can never stop bein’ an Omega, any more than Adam could stop bein’ an Alpha. It’s in their natures.”
Cain propped himself up on his elbows. “I didn’t realize.”
“Thank god!” exclaimed Kayleigh. “I’m glad you’re an ignorant idiot, rather than a heartless bastard. Especially after her last boyfriend…”
Melanie leaned over and pinched her friend. “Shut up loudmouth!”
Cain’s bear stirred. “Why? What happened? Is he an asshole? Do I have to hunt him down, and kill him?”
Hans clucked his tongue. “Take it easy. He just left town a couple of hours ago, for a vacation with his new girlfriend. He’s not an issue.”
Cain grunted, appeased… a little. The bear was still unsure. If he found out the bastard hurt Carly, he would still hunt him down. “What should I do?”
Melanie snorted. “Well, an apology wouldn’t hurt…”
Cain felt a twinge of hope. “You’re going to tell me where she lives?” Yes, if he could go to her house, and if he could get his hands on her…
Don chuckled. “Yeah, that’s not happenin.'”
“You’re trying to keep me from my mate,” grumbled the bear.
Hans groaned. “No, we’re trying to keep you from doing something fucking stupid. If you rushed over there you’d upset her, and she’d tell the Alpha, the Alpha would kill me and Don, and then sic the rest of the pack on you.”
Cain’s eyes flashed to black. “So how the fuck can I apologize if I can’t even see her?”
Kayleigh tutted. “Take it easy not-so-gentle Ben. She’s opening a cake shop next to Pizza Moon; that’s where she’ll be tomorrow. You could go and see her, when she’s had time to calm down a little.”
Melanie bobbed her head. “And Hans and I will be right next door in case… well just in case.”
Cain frowned. “In case what?”
“In case you fuck up dude.” Hans growled.
Cain curled his upper lip at the wolf, but Hans paid no attention. “I suggest you think about what you’re going to say tomorrow.”
With that, Hans looped an arm around his mate and left with Don and Kayleigh close behind.
Cain lay back on the lumpy, too-small bed. He scrubbed his hands down his face. Why couldn’t things just go smoothly? Twice now, he’d managed to wound his mate without even trying.
He felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. It had been constantly ringing earlier. It was distracting, so he had put it on silent. He found fifty-two missed calls, all from Bailey.
Sighing, Cain answered. “Yeah?”
The jackal screamed irately. “Where the fuck are you? Why the fuck haven’t you been answering your phone? What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Cain really wasn’t in the mood. “Look something came up okay. I’m out of town.”
“Out of town? Out of fucking town? Where are you? Are you at least keeping up with your training?”
“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll have any time for training, I have something I need to do.” He needed to be with his mate, at that moment it felt even more vital than oxygen.
“You fucking idiot, your fight with the polar bear is now less than two weeks away! You need to train, or he will fucking destroy you. You are… you are going to fight aren’t you?” Doubt assailed the jackal. Cain wasn’t exactly reliable or easy to control, but he had never been so blasé about training and fighting. He lived for those things!
“Yeah, I’m not sure, there’s this woman…”
Right then, Cain had no idea about what the immediate future held for him. He wanted to be with his mate, and nothing else registered as important, his bear agreed with that wholeheartedly. But he wasn’t sure how long it would take to win her, or even if his little she-wolf would want him to continue to fight. The women he usually picked up were fight groupies, who thought he was sexy because of what he did. Carly wasn’t like that. She wasn’t the type to be swayed by violent displays of dominance. Carly was an altogether gentler creature.
“Not sure? Not sure?!” Cain could imagine the veins popping out on Bailey’s forehead. “I’ve sunk a lot of money into this damn fight, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to take a loss, just because you’ve gone balls out for a piece of tail!”
“Do not speak about Carly that way,” ground out Cain.
“Oh? Carly is it? Well, when you’ve finished getting your end away with Carly, you better fucking remember who it was that saved you from living on the streets. You owe me bear! Without me, you’d either be rotting in jail or scraping a living fighting bums! Do you know how much cash I’ve spent on you? On staging your fights? On bribing the cops, every time you land yourself in jail? Or airfare, when you end up drunk and in another state? Do you know how much you’ve cost me?”
Cain was silent for a couple of beats. “Not nearly as much as I’ve earned for you. Over the past three years, I’ve fought for you, and I’ve always won. I never asked for money. I was happy for the bit you gave me.”
The jackal breathed heavily. “Is this you holding out for a raise?”
Cain snorted. “No, I don’t want the money. I don’t care about money. But I don’t owe you anything; I’ve more than paid you back. If I decide to fight, I’ll let you know.”
Cain clicked the phone off, amid irate shouts from the jackal. He wrapped it in a pair of socks and pushed it to the back of a draw.
He pulled his clothes off, frowning at the rips and tears. Probably wasn’t a good idea to challenge those three wolves to fight. His bear harrumphed at the memory. He surveyed himself in the mirror, gingerly fingering a pair of burn marks. Particularly as one of them had a taser. Hopefully, that would heal by tomorrow.
Cain picked up his bag of groceries. On his way home, he’d stopped by the market and picked up some food. For now, he just wanted to hide in his room. He sat nakedly on his bed as he demolished a pack of beef jerky, before moving onto a king size bag of chips.
Today hadn’t been great, but at least he had spoken to his mate. He had enjoyed watching her small, yet curvy body undulate as she walked. He loved the way her cute mouth pouted, and her eyes shimmered between green and brown as her mood changed.
Since meeting his mate, he had been in a constant state of arousal, but seeing her up close almost made him howl with desire. Desire that wouldn’t be sated until he had her beneath him, writhing in a tender embrace. His bear was wilder than ever. He probably wouldn’t relax until he had her bonded to him, marking her as his forever. And even then he’d doubtless be jealous, and edgy of any male that even looked at her.
Cain leaned back on his bed and closed his eyes. His huge erection pointed to the ceiling. Ready, raring and nowhere to go.
“Housekeeping!” A young, female coyote shifter bustled into his room, yelping when she saw him naked.
“Shit!” Cain threw himself off the bed and held a pillow over his groin. The girl smirked at him; her shoulders shaking.
Cain cleared his throat. “Uhhh, it’s fine. I don’t need anything right now thanks…”
“Sure, I’ll come back tomorrow. I’ll umm, I’ll knock first.”
The girl gave him an admiring look before sauntering out, and closing the door. Cain heard her burst into laughter.
Well, at least he made a good impression on her. Perhaps he should flash Carly too... If she were impressed by his body, maybe, she would forget about his foot-in-mouth syndrome.
Would it be considered too strong if he just rocked up to her cake shop, and stripped for her? Hmmmm…
Chapter Seven
20th
January
Carly stared at the paint samples. Perhaps the citron shade, or maybe lemon chiffon. The shop was pretty much ready; she just had to paint it. After that, a little practice in the kitchen and she would be raring to go.
She eyed the sheet covering Rosalee’s mural. She was tempted to sneak a peek, but Rosalee insisted she wait until it was finished.
Carly yawned. Ugh another sleepless night spent fretting over her mate. It’s possible she might have overreacted… again. Lying in bed all night, when she wasn’t sweating from desire, she went over what happened in her head.
At the time, she thought he was telling her he didn’t want her for a mate. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized he was just jealous; her role in the pack meant that she had to be a bit touchy feely. The fact that he didn’t want her near any other males was sort of endearing, in a crazy kind of way. Damnit now she had to apologize to him again! Not to mention, she had said a few things less than complimentary about him…
Why couldn’t she act normal? Why did she have to be so melodramatic? She wasn’t really proving to Cain that she was a mate worth having. So far all she done was demonstrated how big of a temperamental drama queen she was. Something her ex-boyfriends had all disliked about her.
Carly had three ex-boyfriends altogether.
The first had been a wolf called Will, a member of the pack who had since moved away and joined a new pack in Montana. He had heard that sex with Omegas could be intense, due to their ability to share emotions. He had pursued Carly with aggressive flattery until she submitted and gave him her virginity. It hadn’t gone well. He hadn’t been gentle enough with her; in the moment she had lost control of her powers, and flooded him with all her emotions. It was too much for the young wolf, and afterwards, he spent an hour locked in Carly’s bathroom, whining about how fat his thighs were, and how the other girls picked on him. Yeah, he couldn’t handle a woman’s emotions. Unsurprisingly, he dumped Carly after that.