Forbidden Claim

by R. L. Kenderson

  “Before what?” she asked and rubbed her head against his chest.

  “Before I finished marking you as mine.”

  Zane put his arm around her waist and moved her off to the side, so she faced the wall.

  “Hands on the wall.”

  “Zane?”

  He picked up her wrists and placed her palms where he wanted them. “Shh…it’s okay.” He nuzzled her cheek. “You know I would never hurt you.”

  She nodded even though he hadn’t phrased it as a question.

  “Don’t move, Isa.”

  He trailed his hands across her arms, over her shoulders, and down her back until he reached the waistline of her underwear. He gently nudged her legs apart before pulling the crotch of her underwear away and pushing two fingers inside her.

  Isabelle whimpered and pushed against his hand.

  Fuck.

  She was scorching hot and almost dripping with her pleasure.

  Zane turned his fingers away from him and rubbed them against her G-spot.

  He could feel her swell underneath him. Around him. She was already close.

  Zane pulled his fingers from her body, and Isabelle made a sound of protest. He ripped the crotch of her panties in two and unbuttoned his jeans. He wrapped a hand around her neck and an arm around her waist and slammed into her.

  “Oh, shit!” Zane yelled. He was never going to last. “Fuck me, Isabelle.”

  When she hesitated, he showed her how he wanted her to move against him.

  She moaned as she pulled her body away and pushed back against him.

  “Yeah, Isa, just like that. Fuck me.”

  Isabelle picked up speed, and soon, she was almost slamming her body against his. That was when Zane tightened his hold and began to fuck her in return. He eyed her vulnerable neck, loving that she never tried to escape his grasp.

  She was his for the taking.

  Right before he knew it was over for him, before his orgasm hit, he bit down on the side of her neck, sinking his teeth in so far, she was going to be in pain. Yet he was unable to stop himself from marking her so deeply.

  He roared around her body as he exploded inside her, and Isabelle followed him over the edge. Her pussy sucked his cock in as far as it could go as his barbs extended from his head to scrape the inside of her vagina.

  Isabelle swallowed against his hand around her neck, but Zane didn’t release his teeth. Instead, he pulled his still-hard, barb-covered dick from her body.

  Isabelle came again, so hard that she collapsed against the wall, and Zane was forced to let go of her neck with his mouth.

  They were both breathing hard, and he slid his hand from her throat to rest on her hip.

  “Isabelle…” he started, but he was unsure of what to say. He’d never fucked anyone so violently before.

  His mate turned around in a flash, extended her claws, and ripped his shirt in half. She jumped into his arms and sank down onto his body. At the same time, she pushed her teeth into his neck, and with that move, Zane knew he hadn’t done anything wrong.

  EARLY THE NEXT morning, Damien slipped from his bed, leaving his mate naked and sated. Payton had fallen back asleep after they made love, and he didn’t want to wake her as he got up for the day.

  He’d tried to go back to sleep, but the whole Isabelle situation was weighing on his mind. He wasn’t sure if he’d made the right calls and done the right things. This was his first big dilemma where he’d had to make sole decisions as an alpha, and he hoped he wasn’t screwing things up for everyone.

  Damien quietly closed the bedroom door behind him and headed downstairs. Payton and he had reclaimed their room after Isabelle left for Vegas. She would be staying with Zane now that they were mated, and Damien didn’t want Payton alone at their house.

  He’d been thinking about having them move in permanently with the sentinels, but he knew his mate really liked her own space. Once they had children, his family would be more vulnerable, but at the same time, he wasn’t sure having kids in the house would be for everyone.

  They had several acres of land on their property, and he had been considering building a second house there for him and Payton and their future children. Or building a good-sized mother-in-law suite onto the main house for them to live in.

  Either way, he’d better decide soon because Payton had told him she wanted to try to get pregnant during her next heat. And just thinking about that made him hard as hell despite having just had sex with his mate less than a half hour ago.

  He hadn’t taken her during her heat after that first time. They’d gotten lucky that she didn’t get pregnant then, so they had stayed away from each other all the times after. It killed him, knowing she was miserable without him during her heat time, but they were both adamant that she should finish her master’s degree first.

  She was done now and had settled into her job at L & L Construction, and she was finally ready to try. And so was he. He would never admit it to his sentinels, but he couldn’t wait to see what Payton looked like while carrying his child and who their children would favor. And would they be wolves or cats? Only time would tell.

  Damien started the industrial-sized coffee pot. He was the only one up so far, and the ones on night duty hadn’t arrived home yet. The sun hadn’t begun its ascent into the sky, so he had a little time to himself.

  He grabbed his first cup of coffee and was making his way to his office when there was a knock at the front door. Damien paused and looked at the clock on the wall.

  It was about five in the morning. Who the hell is knocking at the door?

  Damien stiffened.

  Bram.

  It had taken Isabelle’s ex two days to find her, but that wasn’t surprising. Isabelle had told him that Bram knew she was friends with Damien. She had mentioned it in passing, but Bram had probably remembered it. He was an asshole, but he wasn’t stupid.

  It was a good thing Isabelle was in Las Vegas.

  Damien calmed himself, not wanting his scent to give anything away. There was a second knock right before he reached the door, and he knew what he needed to do not to give anything away.

  “I’m coming; I’m coming. Did you forget your keys again?” Damien pulled the door open and feigned surprise when he saw that it was indeed Bram on the other side. “Oh, hello. I’m sorry. I was expecting it to be one of my sentinels.”

  Bram was on the shorter side, but he was stocky. He clearly worked out. Maybe a little too much, going by the size of his neck. His blond hair was slicked back, and his hazel eyes were narrowed. And the chip on his shoulder was the size of Texas.

  What the hell was Isabelle doing, dating this guy?

  “So, you’re Damien, the Minnesota Pack alpha?” Bram looked Damien up and down, evidently unimpressed.

  Damien had to calm his wolf. His wolf didn’t like the disrespect Bram was displaying and wanted to show him who his new alpha was because, if Bram lived in this state, then Damien was his alpha.

  But the human side of Damien wanted to play this cool. Bram was the kind of guy just looking for a fight. And, even though Damien would kick the asshole’s ass, he didn’t want to fight Bram. He didn’t want to give Bram any ammunition to come after himself, his mate, his sentinels, or Isabelle. Bram was also the kind of guy who would and could spin situations to his advantage.

  Bram might not be stupid, but neither was Damien.

  Damien took a sip of his coffee, casual and cool. “I am he. What can I do for you?”

  “I’m looking for my girlfriend.”

  When Bram didn’t offer any more information, Damien raised his brow. “Okay?”

  He wasn’t going to let Bram know that he knew who Bram was or that Isabelle had told him about Bram. As of a couple of days ago, it had been true, so Damien was mentally going back in time.

  “And you are?”

  “I’m Bram Varg,” Bram said, obviously thinking this announcement would mean something to Damien.

  “Oh, yes. Your fa
ther told me you had moved to the area.” Damien smiled into his cup of coffee as Bram gritted his teeth. Damien swallowed his drink. “Is there something I can help you with?” He pretended to be concerned. “Is someone causing you trouble? Usually, we don’t have problems with shifters who move here from out of state, but you never know,” Damien rambled on. “I’m sorry that Minnesota hasn’t been the best place for you. Please tell me who is bothering—”

  “Minnesota is fine,” Bram said through clenched teeth.

  Damien grinned. “Oh, good.” Then, he frowned. “Then, why are you here?”

  Bram took a deep breath and sighed, frustrated.

  Damien tried not to smile, but he was having fun, pretending to be clueless.

  “I’m looking for my girlfriend,” Bram said again.

  “Oh, yeah. Sorry. We got off track.” Damien took another sip of coffee. “Who’s your girlfriend?”

  “Isabelle Rand,” Bram said, studying Damien’s face for a reaction.

  Damien grinned again. “No shit? Isabelle’s got herself a man.” He shook his head. “And she’s been keeping you a secret.” Damien tilted his head and stiffened. “What do you mean, you’re looking for her? Did something happen?”

  Bram’s eyes widened. He probably didn’t know what to do. He had expected to find Isabelle there, but instead, he had put her alpha on alert. He raised his arms. “No, no. I don’t think anything happened. She went out of town and didn’t tell me where she was going.” He backpedaled.

  Damien relaxed a little and realized he hadn’t invited Bram in the house. Even though he didn’t want the asshole to set foot in the same house where his mate slept, it would look suspicious if he didn’t.

  Damien stepped back and opened the door wider. “I’m sorry. Would you like to come in? You just have to be quiet. I’m the only one awake.”

  Bram shook his head, but he did take the opportunity to stick his nose in the air and sniff.

  It wouldn’t do any good. They had hired a professional cleaning service to come and clean the whole house from top to bottom, and they’d left every single window open in the house. If there were any traces of Isabelle, it would be very hard to find.

  “Can you tell me the last time you saw Isabelle?”

  Damien gave Bram a guilty look. “Two years.” Before two days ago, that had been true. “I’m not a very good friend.”

  “How about the last time you spoke to her?”

  “Oh God. It’s been months. I should really call her. It’s been a little crazy around here.”

  “Don’t bother. She didn’t take her phone.”

  Damien stiffened. “What?”

  Bram’s eyes widened. “I mean, she doesn’t have it on.”

  “Oh. That’s weird. She must really want to be left alone.” Hint, hint, asshole.

  There was movement upstairs. Someone was up.

  Please don’t be Payton.

  He didn’t want Bram to meet his only weakness.

  But Damien should have known the encounter with Bram wouldn’t go so smoothly.

  Feminine arms wrapped around his waist from behind, and Payton peeked her head around Damien. “Hello.”

  Damien put his arm around his mate and pulled her next to him. He squeezed her shoulder, giving her as much warning as he could.

  “Hey, baby girl.” He kissed Payton on the forehead. “This is Bram. He’s new to the area.”

  Payton smiled and held up her hand in a wave. “Oh, hi. It’s always nice to have new people move to the area.”

  Damien wanted to shut the door in Bram’s face and kiss the hell out of her. She had caught right on and given nothing away. She was beautiful and smart. He was one lucky wolf.

  Bram cleared his throat.

  The scent of Damien’s arousal was in the air. “Sorry, dude. She’s just so irresistible.”

  Payton shook her head but laid it on his chest. “What brings you here so early?” she asked Bram.

  “He’s looking for Isabelle.”

  Payton raised her head. “Oh?”

  “Yes. Bram is dating her, and she seems to have left town.”

  “Oh. Well, she’s smart enough not to come here,” Payton told Bram.

  He raised his brow. “Why is that?”

  Damien drained the last of his coffee as Payton said, “She used to fuck my mate.”

  Damien began coughing and had to pound on his chest a few times. Holy crap. He hadn’t expected Payton to say that.

  “You okay?” she asked him.

  He nodded.

  She looked back at Bram. “I’m kind of jealous and possessive. I like Isabelle well enough, but I don’t like her here. She knows it’s best she just stay away.” Payton ran her hand down Damien’s chest and past his waist, and when she reached his crotch, she grabbed. “This is mine and no one else’s.”

  “O-kay.” Damien took his arm from around Payton’s shoulders and removed her hand from his dick. “I apologize for my mate,” he told Bram, but Bram was barely listening.

  The wolf probably didn’t like the idea of Isabelle and Damien having sex. It was ages ago, and Bram knew Damien was mated now, but Bram was obviously affected. That meant, he was going to be a little off his game.

  Damien’s mate was a genius.

  “It’s fine. I’d better go. If you find her, please let me know.”

  Damien nodded as Payton hugged him from behind again. “Will do.”

  Bram turned and walked back to his car, not even realizing that he hadn’t left a number with Damien.

  Damien made a mental note of the make, model, and license plate number, and then he shut the door and turned in Payton’s arms. “You are diabolical.”

  She shrugged and batted her eyelashes. “Little ole me?”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, little ole you.” He kissed her. “I need to make a phone call. I want to tell Isabelle to stay in Vegas for now. And I need to speak to Quentin quick.” He kissed her again. “But, after that, I’m taking you upstairs and fucking you again.”

  “Promise?”

  “You can count on it.”

  BRAM PUNCHED THE window of his car door and shook off the sting of pain. That fucking bitch. He wasn’t sure if he was talking about Isabelle or the stupid she-cat the alpha was mated to.

  Bram got behind the wheel and slammed the door. He needed to cool his head before he drove. The last thing he needed was to get pulled over.

  He should have brought Stan and Larry with him. He hadn’t wanted his two bodyguards to seem like a threat to the Minnesota Pack alpha, but now, he had to drive himself.

  He’d thought for sure that Isabelle would be here. When she had mentioned she was friends with Damien Lowell back when they started dating, Bram had forbidden her from ever speaking to him again. He didn’t want her in contact with her ex, but since she left town this seemed like the most logical place to go.

  He banged his hand down on the steering wheel. But she wasn’t here.

  He looked up at the house, imagining the Minnesota alpha having sex with Isabelle.

  That wasn’t going to calm him, and he couldn’t sit in front of the house forever.

  He started the car and slowly drove down the long driveway.

  He had no idea where Isabelle was, but he was going to have to punish her for her disappearance when he found her, since she hadn’t seemed to learn her lesson in the past.

  First, he was going to force her into their mating. Then, once she was his, he was going to beat the living shit out of her to let her know who the fucking boss was in this relationship. He had wanted to raise his hand to her many times before, but, except for the stint where she tried to leave him, he’d always managed to rein himself in.

  Not this time. That bitch was going to get what she deserved.

  As Bram drove away, something nagged at him. At the back of his brain.

  He glanced in the rearview mirror at the house and tried to replay the conversation over in his head.

  The alpha ha
dn’t seemed to recognize him by sight. And his name only triggered his father. Nothing about him dating Isabelle. And yet…

  He snapped his fingers.

  It was the alpha’s mate. He had tried to play it casual, but his demeanor had changed. He’d gone stiff. And he never introduced his mate to Bram. It was true that they’d gotten off topic, but still…

  Bram needed to look into this situation further.

  If the alpha was lying to him, he was going to regret the day he did.

  No one knew it, but one of the reasons his father had kicked him out of Illinois was because Bram had almost killed a shifter. He’d beaten the male with his bare fists. Bram’s only saving grace had been that the male lived and had lost his memory of the night. No one but Bram and his father knew what had happened.

  Of course, the male was dead now. It was a shame the brakes had gone out in his car. One day after getting out of the hospital. It was also a shame that his girlfriend had had to die with him.

  But maybe the cunt shouldn’t have left Bram for another male.

  He shook his head.

  Maybe he should tell Isabelle this story, too. Apparently, she needed a good fucking reminder not to cross him.

  The whole situation was getting him riled up again. He wanted to punch something, someone, but he was trapped in his car.

  Movement off the side had Bram looking to the left.

  He rolled his window down to speak to the male walking up the driveway. Maybe he would give Bram more information than the alpha had.

  But, as he got closer, Bram wrinkled his nose. It was a fucking vampire.

  What the fuck is a vampire doing here?

  He’d heard rumors about the shifters and vampires coming together to form some kind of alliance. Apparently, it was true.

  He curled his lip. It was another reason to get out of this stupid, godforsaken state and go home.

  This only fueled his rage, and suddenly, Bram knew what would make him feel all better. If only for a minute or two.

  He cranked the wheel and rammed the gas. The stupid vampire looked up as Bram neared, his face full of shock. He tried to jump out of the way, but he didn’t make it.