Stolen Mate

by Kimber White

  My nipples rose to hard peaks as I pressed against him. Hunger. Craving. Desire like I’d never felt before poured through me. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe.

  Finally, Clint found the strength to pull away, setting me back on my heels. He wiped the back of his hand over his lips as if the lingering taste of me had set his insides on fire as well. I knew instantly that it had.

  Then, that smoldering smirk lit his face. He said one word that turned me inside out.

  “Good.”

  Nine

  My heart felt spun like a top. Hunger sparked in Clint’s eyes and I could see myself mirrored in them. My own hunger gripped me, taking over my senses. The world fell away. I couldn’t hear, see, taste or feel anything but Clint’s strong arms wrapped around me. I wanted more. So much more. I couldn’t breathe.

  The Rise.

  I never missed my mother. I’d been so young when she died, barely old enough remember her. She and my father hadn’t been a love match. She mated with him for the good of the pack. I existed for the good of the pack. Jarred too. As I stared into Clint’s eyes, my need pulsing through me, I knew I could never be like her. Not ever. Now, I was beginning to understand why.

  Clint broke away first. His faint, black tiger stripes made shadows across his chest and arms as he struggled to keep his tiger down. My wolf responded. A low, predatory growl bubbled up and I knew my eyes flashed silver. He wanted her just as much as I wanted Clint’s tiger. A vision flashed behind my eyes of what it would be like...feel like to give in to it.

  My craving for Clint made me quiver. My body had become a volcano about to erupt. Lust poured through me like molten lava. The heat centered between my legs and I knew if I touched myself there, I’d be wet. I was naked from the waist down with only Clint’s shirt covering me. I was vulnerable, exposed, and never more aroused in my life.

  “Lucia.” Clint barely got the word out; his voice cracked. “It’s not safe for you out here anymore.”

  It was as if my mind were on a delay. I heard the words, but it took a second for me to process his meaning. I shook my head as if I could physically clear it that way.

  “That pack, the one I sensed earlier, they’re just over the ridge. They’re looking for you.”

  I took a faltering step backward. I had to get a hold of myself. No matter what this was between us, lust made me vulnerable. Closing my eyes, I turned my nose into the wind. There. Faint. But I sensed them. Peter and the rest of his pack were hunting on the northeast boundary. Clint was right; they were hunting me.

  “Come on,” I said, grabbing his hand. “You need to get back to the cabin. I’ll head up to Aunt Pat’s house.”

  “I’m not leaving your side,” he said, his voice deep with conviction. The tone was so much like my brother’s. An Alpha’s command.

  “You’re going to be in a hell of lot more danger than I am if any of the Wild Lake wolves see you or even sense you. Like it or not, I’m the thing that’s keeping you from them. If you really want to get to Canada, it’s now or never. I can handle Peter’s pack. Lead them away from you. But you have to go quickly and right now.”

  My heart slammed in my chest. My words were rational, reasoned. With the packs focused on me, Clint would never have a better chance to get away. The thought of him leaving tore at me. Maybe Jarred was right. The Rise had clouded my judgment. It was driving me a little crazy.

  “You’re the one who’s not safe, Lucia. God. It’s not just this Matthews pack. It’s everywhere. I can feel all of them. It’s all over Wild Lake.”

  “What is?”

  Clint’s tiger boiled to the surface again. His eyes flamed bright and shadow stripes rippled across his chest. My urge to lay hands on him nearly drove me to my knees. Oh, I was wet. Dripping for him. And I knew he could sense it.

  He gripped my elbows, pulling me gently toward him. “Their need. I know you can feel it. Some of them might not be strong enough to fight it. If any of them tries to...if they…”

  He roared. The vibrations of it rattled my chest, stoking the flame inside of me even more.

  Howls came from everywhere. Clint’s eyes narrowed. He set his jaw and met my eyes. “I’m not going anywhere. I can’t. Not yet. Not while…”

  His sentence died on his lips. Whatever he meant to say, he couldn’t bring himself to finish. I had my own reasons for wanting him to stay. I couldn’t give voice to them yet either.

  “Come on,” I said. “The Bonner property is still the safest place for either of us to be. We can outrun the pack. Not even Peter Matthews would break the treaty. He won’t come on Aunt Pat’s property without an invitation.”

  Clint didn’t seem entirely convinced, but I gave him no choice. I broke from his grasp and started to run. With a thundering roar, he followed.

  Ten

  I tried one more time to get Clint to stay at the cabin while I went up to the main house. He refused. The fiery glint in his eye told me he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

  “Fine,” I said as he followed me through the woods. I stayed away from the worn trails. If Peter was stupid enough to follow me to Pat’s backyard, it would slow him down at least a minute or two.

  We came out behind the barn. Chester and Pat’s gray mare, Gladys, were in the paddock. Sarah was there grooming Gladys. Clint’s silent growl rumbled through him. I put a hand on his back to steady him.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “That’s just Sarah. She works in the stables for Aunt Pat and Uncle Harold. Even if she saw you, she wouldn’t say anything if I asked her not to. But, let’s not test it. You stay hidden until I can figure out what to do.”

  “There’s someone coming out of the barn,” he said. Aunt Pat’s brother, Uncle Harold came out the back. He closed and latched the barn door behind him. Clint went rigid beside me. Harold looked straight at him and cocked his head toward the wind.

  Clint straightened, that soundless growl ripped through him as he pushed me behind him. Good lord, Clint was about to pounce.

  “Stop!” I whispered, tugging at Clint’s arm. He froze at my touch. He relaxed his posture as he saw what I was about to tell him.

  Harold Bonner was blind. A cruel scar cut across his eyes. Three deep slashes. Not long after we came to Wild Lake, Harold was injured in the last shifter war. Sometimes, I still had nightmares about his cries of pain those first few days while Aunt Pat and my father nursed him back to health.

  Whistling as he went, Harold felt along the fence as he headed up to the house. “You stay clear of that right hind leg on Chester,” Harold called out to Sarah. “He’s been getting ornery in his old age.”

  Sarah’s bright laughter echoed across the yard. “So are you!" She threw her long, dark hair over her shoulder and worked the brush over Gladys.

  “I told you it was better if you waited back at the cabin,” I said.

  “They’re out there, Lucia.” Clint turned to me. “I want you where I can see you.”

  My pulse tripped. If Jarred were here now, there’d be no mistaking the raw hunger in Clint’s eyes as he looked at me. I meant to argue with him. It really wasn’t safe for him out in the open like this, even on Pat’s property. Before I could get the words out, another pair of voices reached us. They were coming up the hill toward the front of the barn.

  “Get down!” I shoved Clint hard. No way could I have moved him if he hadn’t wanted, but he listened. He went to his belly, making himself invisible in a small ditch near the fence.

  Holy hell, it was Marcus. I closed my eyes and tried to sense the rest of Jarred’s pack. Mercifully, they weren’t with him. Only Pat emerged at his side. They started walking toward us. My mind whirled with how I’d explain Clint if they saw him. But Marcus stopped before he reached the fence. Pat stayed with him, turning her face out of the sun.

  “Tell me the truth,” Marcus said. “How do you think Jarred will take it?”

  Pat carried a pail of feed. Marcus took it from her and set it on a hook near the barn door.
“Never mind that. How do you think Lucia will take it? But, Marcus, I think you’re wrong.”

  Marcus stood close to her. The two of them turned so they had their backs to us. She looked so small beside him as Marcus towered over her. When he tilted his head down to look at her, his eyes flashed. It was just an instant. I doubt Pat would have even registered it if she’d been looking straight at him.

  “I wish I was,” he said. “I’d give just about anything to be. But you and I have been around too long to ignore what’s right in front of us.”

  “She belongs here,” Pat said, indignant.

  Marcus chuckled. “Pat, that girl has been running ever since she was a little girl, and you know it.”

  My heart lurched. That girl was me. Clint stiffened beside me. I put a steadying hand on his back. He stayed flat on the ground as I crouched beside him.

  “I love Lucia like a daughter. And haven’t I given up enough to this pack? Haven’t you?”

  There were tears dancing at the corner of Pat’s eyes. I wanted to go to her. I wanted to hug and her and tell her I was sorry for any bit of pain I had caused her.

  “It’s different with Jarred,” Marcus said. “Luke knew it. You know it. Wild Lake is in his blood, somehow. He was born to lead this pack. But Lucia? She’s been restless from the beginning. How many times did you have to turn this place around looking for her when she ran off? It’s gotten worse since she’s become an adult. And Pat, I’m not saying Peter Matthews is the right mate for her, but Andre Lanier? Jack Monroe? They’re good, solid men. There’s a reason she’s rejecting them. Maybe it’s not just her rebellious streak.”

  Clint’s whole body quaked. The ground shook beneath him, and I prayed Marcus couldn’t sense it. I tried to put a steadying hand on his back. He went rigid beneath my touch, but at least he didn’t draw attention to himself. Yet.

  “Luke said she just needed time.”

  Marcus turned to her. He put a gentle hand on Pat’s upper back. My heart felt heavy. Why hadn’t I seen it before? There was a tenderness between them that hadn’t always been there. They’d lost my father together. Marcus lost his own mate too, Asher’s mother. They were bonded in grief. As I let out a breath, I knew what my father would have done. He would have told Marcus to look after Pat if something ever happened to him. I was sure of it.

  “Patricia, look at me.” A faint blush colored her cheeks. My throat felt tight. The only person who had ever called her that was my father.

  “Luke knew. He knew.”

  A single tear fell down her cheek. “Don’t say it.”

  “I have to. Look, we’ll find a way to handle Peter’s challenge. At least, I hope. But you know it won’t be the end of it. As long as Lucia refuses to take a mate, there will never be peace in Wild Lake.”

  Pat pulled away from him. I felt like I had left my body. I had no choice. Anger bubbled up inside of me. If I let it take root, I would have shifted right then and there. Instinct told me Clint would utterly lose his shit.

  “You mean as long as Lucia stays in Wild Lake without a mate, there will never be peace.”

  Marcus dropped his head. I wanted to pop up, run toward them, grab Marcus by the shoulders and shake him. But, my own heart beat with the truth of what he said.

  “Jarred will never admit it. He’d rather fight to the death for her. Hell, we all would. You know that. But even Camilla knows what’s going to happen. What happened in Washington State with her people will happen here.”

  Pat was full on crying now. My heart shattered into a million pieces. Clint stirred beside me. He seemed tuned to my emotions somehow. It was more than just lust tying us together. I couldn’t feel it. I couldn’t process it.

  As long as I stayed in Wild Lake, there would never be peace.

  “So what do we do about it, huh? It’s not her fault. Lucia’s a free spirit. She always has been. If her nature doesn’t call to any of the other Alphas, there’s a reason. Unmated, she’s not safe anywhere, and you know it. This isn’t just about Wild Lake.”

  Marcus straightened his shoulders. The air felt charged with secrets. Something pulled at me. I wanted to run. I wanted to shut my ears and drown out the sound. No. No. No.

  “It’s why he went down there,” Pat said, her voice flat, devoid of emotion. “Tell me the truth, Marcus. Luke went down to Ohio over this, didn’t he?”

  Marcus broke. He bent at the waist as if she’d just delivered a gut punch. To me, she had. I clamped a hand over my mouth to keep from screaming.

  “There was going to be a challenge from the Kentucky Chief Pack, yes,” Marcus finally answered. “They were going to make a play for Lucia. But, Luke should have never gone down there to face it alone.”

  Pat wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “He went for Lucia, but he went for Jarred too. He wouldn’t bring himself to say it. It was only after...when I could think straight again, that I understood. He was getting weaker. Luke was afraid he wouldn’t be able to hold on to the pack much longer. He knew it would be a one-way trip. He didn’t want Jarred to ever have to challenge him. This way…”

  Marcus nodded. “This way, he’d make a clean break.”

  No. No! My father. My poor father. He went down south for me? He died, for me? Grief ripped through me. My inner wolf rumbled. Beside me, Clint couldn’t control it. He roared.

  The sound of it spooked the horses in the barn and out in the paddock. Sarah turned toward it, dropping her brush. Pat and Marcus ran to the other side of the barn. As I quaked with rage, an eight hundred pound tiger pushed in front of me, putting himself between Marcus’s wolf and me.

  Eleven

  Clint’s low, creaking growl rattled over me. Marcus’s wolf, shimmering red with his golden eyes blazing, advanced. I put a firm hand on Clint’s back. His tail slashed upward as he bared his huge fangs.

  “Marcus,” Pat cried out. She knew. God. If Marcus tried to attack Clint, he’d get his head ripped off.

  Marcus snapped his jaw and sidestepped, pushing Pat further behind him. Out in the paddock, Sarah tripped over a bucket as she backed away. The clang as the bucket overturned drew Clint’s attention. I grabbed him, digging my fingers into the scruff of his neck. I pressed my lips to his ear. Marcus hunched lower, poised to strike.

  “Don’t,” I whispered. “You’ll kill him.”

  Marcus knew it, but he held his ground. My heart twisted. Marcus was willing to die to protect both Pat and me. I loved him for it. But, Clint was willing to do the same if I didn’t find a way to get them both to back off. At the same time, my wolf flared hot inside of me. It was Aunt Pat who grounded me.

  “Lucia,” she said, her voice steady and calm. “Get him to stand down. Do whatever you have to.”

  I acted on instinct. In hindsight, it might have been foolish. Marcus saw Clint as nothing but a deadly threat to both Pat and me. Still, I stepped between them. Marcus growled a warning. Clint flashed those massive, deadly fangs again.

  I put one hand on Clint’s head, the other on Marcus’s. “I’m safe with Clint,” I told Marcus. “He’s a...a friend.”

  I was barely hanging on. My own wild nature clamored to get out. Pat understood. She stepped around Marcus and stood by my side, putting her within inches of Clint’s reach.

  “Take him up to the house,” Pat said. “Clint, is it? If you’re a friend of Lucia’s that’s good enough for me for now. If you try anything, you know you’ll have every wolf pack in Michigan after you. Big as you are, you can’t take them all on at once. Do we understand each other?”

  She was so brave, so calm. Only a tiny flicker in her eyes told me how scared Pat really was. But, it was enough. Letting out a warning chuff, Clint took a step backward. Marcus stayed still as granite. I pulled my hands away from them, slowly moving toward the house.

  Clint pawed the ground and gave one last fearsome roar that sent all the horses in the barn into a stomping frenzy. Sarah had the presence of mind to run to them. She was human, but like Pat, she’d
been around shifters her whole life. Incredibly, she wasn’t afraid.

  I took a chance, turned my back and began the slow walk up to the main house. Clint followed. Thank God. He followed.

  I couldn’t bear to look behind me to see what Marcus did. He was Pat’s to deal with. Harold stood on the front porch, gripping the railing. He didn’t need his eyes to sense something big had happened. When I reached the porch steps, I stopped to face him. How the hell was I going to explain any of it to him?

  “You okay, honey?” Harold asked. Though he couldn’t see Clint’s tiger, he sure as hell sensed it.

  “I’m okay,” I answered. “I suppose you heard everything?”

  Harold gave a slow nod, turning his face toward Clint. “I expect you plan on following her in here.”

  I opened my mouth to answer for him, but Clint shifted. Harold sensed it. He took a step backward.

  “I’m not planning on letting any harm come to her,” Clint said, his breath coming heavy.

  “Well, that makes at least two of us,” Harold said, his mouth splitting into a wry smile. “Honey, you think Marcus has called your brother’s pack by now?”

  My heart lurched. I’d been so preoccupied trying to keep Clint and Marcus from attacking each other, I hadn’t even thought about what else might be going on in Marcus’s head. I didn’t feel Jarred though. For whatever reason, Marcus had kept my secret.

  Clint stood in the hallway, coiled, predatory fury. He kept his fists curled at his sides and the shadows of his tiger stripes rippled across his chest. I went to the hall closet and pulled out a pair of jeans for him. Pat was used to shifters traipsing through her house after whatever skirmishes they faced outside.

  “Thanks,” Clint said through tight lips. My heat still thundered inside me. This was bad. Horrible. Marcus may not have called to the pack when he sensed a threat, but it was only a matter of time before he filled my brother in. There was really only one thing to do now and it shredded my insides.