by Raeden West
He had watched her often as they grew up together and she had always been this way. When she would mistreat others while her parents were around they would laugh it off and say something like “cubs will be cubs.” It was always the same thing, never taking any responsibility for their daughter's actions.
Now, Tate was going to make sure that she knew it was her actions that were going to cost her the title of princess. Tate decided that he was going to follow the two women until he could get Shandra alone. He wanted to talk to her, but wanted to make sure that Accalia was not around. He was a smart man and understood how angry his family as well as Accalia’s would be when they found out that he wanted to mate Shandra. He did not want them to find out until it was done and there was nothing more they could do about it.
It took a while, but Accalia finally went to her own apartment and allowed Shandra to go to hers. Not before Shandra carried all of Accalia’s bags into her apartment and put everything away, of course. Then she cleaned up Accalia’s apartment before starting her dinner for her. It occurred the Tate that Accalia already saw herself as royalty and that Shandra was nothing more than a servant to her.
Tate wondered how Shandra would react if she knew that Accalia was a werewolf. He wondered how she would react when she found out that he was a werewolf. Anxiety tied his insides into knots. He knew he was an attractive man and he knew that Shandra was attracted to him, but there was always the fear of rejection. It was even worse now that he knew his entire future depended on what this one woman would say.
If he could not make Shandra understand what he was and make her love him, he would be forced to spend the rest of his life with Accalia. That was not a future that Tate was looking forward to. Once he was sure that Accalia was not going to call Shandra back over to her apartment, he made his way to the door and knocked gently.
He could hear Shandra walking to the door with a fast paced step. He assumed it was because she thought that he was Accalia wanting something else from her. As she opened the door, her look of stress turned to one of surprise.
“Oh,” Shandra said. “Mister Tate. Um. Accalia is not here, her apartment is the next one over.”
Tate smiled down at Shandra. She hadn’t even had the time to change out of her work clothes and she looked completely exhausted. “I’m not here to see Accalia,” Tate said gently. “I wanted to talk to you.”
“Oh,” Shandra said, opening the door, allowing Tate into her apartment. “I assume you want to talk about the wedding?”
Tate stopped just inside the door and looked at Shandra, stunned. She blushed and looked down at the floor as she closed the door behind him. “It’s just that, you know, that is all Accalia has talked about all day. I didn’t know there was still anyone who practiced arranged marriages,” she stammered.
Tate could tell that she was already uncomfortable, but he needed to make her understand that he did not want to marry Accalia.
“What would you do if I told you I was not going to marry Accalia?” he asked, staring straight at Shandra. Mating with Accalia was so much more than just marrying her, but he knew that he could not explain that to Shandra. At least not yet.
Shandra looked at Tate with nothing less than complete confusion. He reached out and took her hand. As he led her into her living room, he said, “I am not here to make you work anymore, you have done enough of that. I am here because I do not want Accalia.”
Shandra interrupted, “Please don’t ask me to tell her that. She will kill me.”
Shandra had no idea just how true that was but Tate thought it best that he keep his opinions to himself. Tate sat down on Shandra’s sofa and patted the cushion next to him. Shandra slowly sat down next to him.
“I would never ask you to do such a thing,” Tate began. He looked deep into Shandra’s dark brown eyes and he could see the fear that was within her. Seeing that type of fear caused the animal within him to start clawing to the surface trying to break through.
“I am glad to hear you don’t want to marry her,” Shandra said, blushing. “She is an awful woman, but I don’t see what any of this has to do with me.” Shandra was looking down at the floor. It was something that she did quite often now that she worked for Accalia.
Tate had not known Shandra before that time, but he remembered that when he had first met her she was full of joy and always held her head up. He could tell that Accalia and her words had taken a huge toll on Shandra.
“I know the way you feel about me,” Tate began. Shandra lifted her head, looking at Tate with her eyebrow raised. “It’s okay,” he continued, “I’m not going to say anything to Accalia about it. I feel the same way about you and I can’t go on hiding it.”
Shandra didn’t want to cause a problem for herself. She began walking to the front door. “I think that it would be best if you leave,” she struggled to tell him. “If this is some kind of test that Accalia has for me, you can tell her that I passed, but I will be looking for new employment. I can’t work like this anymore.”
Tate quickly rose and rushed toward Shandra. He grabbed her waist from behind and turned her to face him before she could open the door. She stared up at him, taking in all of his beauty. He was a man like none she had ever known before. He had beautiful White skin, not pale exactly, but he did not look as if he had spent too much time in the sun, either. His dark black hair was sleek and straight. She smiled as she watched a strand of it fall down on his forehead. It was one of the things that Accalia loved to complain about. She did not like his messy hair, but Shandra loved it. He had the most beautiful blue eyes that Shandra had ever seen and even though she had always preferred brown eyes there was something in Tate’s that mesmerized her. His lips were a beautiful shade of light pink and clearly defined just as his strong jawline was. He was a very muscular man and Shandra knew that he must have worked hard for that body.
As she thought about Tate’s body she was forced back into reality. She knew that a man who worked that hard on his own body would not want a woman like her. She was clearly more than a few pounds overweight and Accalia had made it very clear that no man would ever want her the way she was.
Shandra could feel tears welling up in her eyes as Tate held her against her front door. It wasn’t because she was afraid. It was from knowing that she would never be good enough for this man in front of her and that there would never be another man like him in her life. When Accalia had announced to Shandra that she was going to marry Tate, it felt as if she had ripped Shandra’s heart out of her chest and stomped all over it. For the rest of the day that was all she could think about. She had loved Tate in secret for some time.
Now here was the man that she wanted more than anything in the world, standing in her apartment with his hands on her waist. Shandra could not allow herself to think that it was anything more than a trick set up by Accalia.
Shandra was pulled from her thoughts as she felt Tate’s lips land hard on her own. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. Tate licked at Shandra’s lips, begging for entrance, and even though she was unsure of what she should do she parted them for him. His tongue slowly entered her mouth and began to explore and as he kissed her so deeply she wrapped her arms around his neck.
She knew that even if it cost her everything this moment in her life was going to be worth it. It would be something that she would never forget. Tate began kissing her harder as his hands slid up and down her back. Never in her life had she been kissed by a man like him. He was successful and his family well known. Accalia was the type of woman that these men went after, but here he was in her apartment, kissing her.
Shandra felt as if she were melting into Tate as he kissed her and held her close. When he pulled his head back she whimpered, not wanting it to end, glad that he did not let go of her. “This is not a test from Accalia,” he said, smiling down at her. “This is me telling you that you don’t have to let her yell at you anymore. She is never going to put you down again and your days of wor
king for her are over.”
Shandra wished that what he was saying was true, but in her life she had learned that she could not trust people, especially ones that made big promises like the one Tate had just made.
“How can you say that?” Shandra asked. “Your families have arranged for the two of you to marry. What are you doing here?”
Shandra was becoming more and more confused as each minute passed.
“Let’s go for a walk,” Tate said, as he released Shandra from his grip. “Then we can talk and I can explain everything. You never knew if Accalia is next door with her ear to the wall.”
Tate smiled as he talked, but Shandra could tell that there was a bit of truth in what he was saying. She was not going to give up the chance to be with the man of her dreams so she quickly grabbed her things and they headed out the door. The two of them were quiet as they passed Accalia’s apartment door. Tate did not want her running to her father just yet. He knew that as soon as he had mated with Shandra nothing less than war would break loose in his family and he wanting to enjoy the little bit of time he had before that happened.
Tate had thought a lot about the consequences of his actions. He knew that there was a huge chance that his father would excommunicate him. He would lose his title as prince and he would be on his own in the world. What gave him hope was knowing that he would become the king of his own pack. He knew that some of the werewolves of his pack, the ones who were not purebred anyway, would follow him and that he and Shandra would be able to start a pack of their own. That was if she was willing and did not freak out when he told her what he was.
They headed out of the apartment building and into the night air. It was already dark outside and the town was lit up with life. Tate missed seeing the stars the way he had when he was just a cub and lived in the forest. He missed that life and wanted to go back, but his family had not allowed him. They told him that his responsibilities were in the world of the humans. To live like a human. It bothered him that he could no longer tell the difference between members of his pack and humans. This was not how it was supposed to be and Tate knew it.
Tate took Shandra’s hand and led her through the city and into the park. It was the closest that he could get to the forest and he wanted to feel at home when he opened up to her.
“Why have you brought me here?” she said. Her voice was teasing, but the smile on her face was unmistakable. Tate had never seen her so happy in all of the times that he had seen her with Accalia.
“I want to be alone with you,” Tate replied quietly. He was unsure how to begin telling her about himself. What could he say? He began to question his entire plan.
“We could have been alone at my apartment,” Shandra pointed out.
“With Accalia next door?” Tate growled and made an ugly face that made Shandra laugh.
“You really can’t stand her, can you?” Shandra asked.
“Do you have to ask?” Tate laughed. “She is a terrible excuse for a were… Person.” Tate bit his tongue, knowing that he had almost slipped and that was not acceptable. He had to ease into this.
Shandra looked up at him confused. “What were you going to say? A ware…what?”
“Oh, nothing,” Tate stammered. “I just got lost in my own thoughts.”
The two of them were walking along a path in the park, it was dark and he held Shandra close to him. He could feel that she was shaking and felt bad that she was cold.
“Come here,” he said, pulling her closer. “You’re shivering.”
“Yeah,” she replied, snuggling into his chest. “I do that sometimes.”
The smile never left her face as they talked and walked through the park. When they reached a bench at the edge of the park Tate asked her if she wanted to sit. He knew she had been walking all day and that she had to be tired.
“There are some things that you do not know about Accalia and myself,” he said as they sat down.
Shandra looked at him curiously. “Did the two of you have something going on?” she asked quietly.
“No,” Tate quickly answered. “Nothing like that. This thing I’m talking about is what keeps our families so close together. We’re not like other people. In fact, we have an entire group that is like a large tight knit family.”
Shandra leaned back away from Tate. “I don’t understand what you are telling me,” she stated. “Are you part of a cult?”
Tate let out a loud laugh. “No, not a cult,” he said, trying to compose himself. “I don’t think I’m doing a very good job of explaining myself.”
Shandra shook her head and Tate reached over to her, pulling her close to him. “All that matters is that I want to be with you and not with Accalia. Can you tell me that I can have what I want?” he asked, looking into her eyes.
“Why do you want me?” Shandra asked. She knew that was not what Tate was looking to hear but she needed answers. She was not the type of woman that she would expect for a man like him to be interested in. “Why not Accalia?”
Tate looked down at the ground in frustration. “Has she really beaten you down so low that you can’t understand why I would want to be with you and not her?” he asked. “She is an evil woman, one who treats others as if they are not as good as she is. You have more class in your pinky finger than she has in her entire body. You are sweet and meek and gentle. What man in his right mind would want a woman like Accalia raising his young when there is a woman like you sitting right here?”
Shandra’s eyes widened. Tate hadn’t realized what he was saying and could tell that he had startled her. “I’m not saying that I want to have any right now,” he smiled, trying to play it off, “but I am not the type of man who leaves things to chance. Can you imagine the type of mother she would be?”
Shandra laughed at the idea. “The type that would make me raise her kids.”
She was right and Tate knew it. No matter what he had chosen to do it was always going to be Shandra or another woman who raised his cubs. It would never have been Accalia. She would have been too busy with her own life. He just wished his family could see her the way he did.
He turned and began to kiss Shandra again. His hands slid around her and her breathing quickened. Each time he touched her, it made her heart start racing. She could feel it pounding throughout her entire body.
“Do you want to be with me?” Tate whispered in her ear.
Shandra nodded her head, knowing that she had wanted him since the first time she had seen him. She had never believed in love at first sight up until then. She had never believed that dreams came true up until this very minute.
Tate slid his hand from around her, up her arm, barely brushing the side of her breast, and then placed it on the back of her neck. He pulled her mouth hard onto his and kissed her passionately. She placed one of her hands just above his hip and the other was on the side of his face. She wanted to climb on top of him right there. She could feel the moisture between her legs beginning as he ran his other hand up her other arm until it rested on her chest.
Tate had never had a woman react so quickly to his touch. He could smell that she was already turned on. It was something that werewolves were able to do. He could also smell when a woman had just had sex. He could smell when they wanted sex. He could smell when they were thinking about sex.
It was something that he had to learn how to deal with as he became an adult. It was something that humans took for granted, not knowing when the opposite sex was horny, but he was growing up in the city where human woman always smelled of sex.
He gently moved his hand down her chest until he was at her breast. Slowly, he cupped her, and it overflowed out of his hand. He felt her take a sharp breath as the muscles in her body tightened. He had no idea when she had last been with a man, but he knew it had to have been a long time. She had worked with Accalia for years and there was no chance that she had been given any free time.
“There is so much you don’t know about me,” Tate whispered in her ear.
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“It doesn’t matter,” she said, trying to calm her breathing, “none of it matters.”
She heard a deep growl come from within Tate, but it did not scare her. Instead, she found that she was turned on even more. Tate began fumbling with the buttons on her shirt until he was able to unclasp them one by one. Shandra’s shirt burst open, revealing a light pink lacy bra. The lace strained against her hard nipples and Tate could not help but run his thumb over one of them. Her dark skin contrasted beautifully with the light pink and Tate could tell that the material was struggling to contain her large breasts.
He looked up at Shandra with a smile on his face as he ran his hand over the lacy material. He wanted to lay her on the ground and take all of her clothes off, but was afraid of how she would react to that. He knew they were in a part of the park that few people came to, especially this late in the evening, but he also knew that she would be afraid of getting caught.
Suddenly, Tate heard a low growl coming from deep within the woods. He quickly turned, and then the scent of the werewolves that worked for Accalia’s father came to him. As he looked at the edge of the woods, he could see the shadows starting to emerge.
He turned to Shandra. “Run,” he said sternly.
Shandra had no idea what was going on. She had not been able to hear the growls and of course she could not smell the werewolves. She looked back at him, confused at what he had just said to her.
“Shandra, run. Go home and lock your door. I will come to you as soon as I can.” He tried to make her understand before it was too late. But when he saw the look on Shandra’s face, he feared it was already too late.
Tate turned and saw three wolves walking out of the woods, followed by a man. Tate recognized the man. Langda. He was in charge of the workers of Accalia’s family. Many of the werewolves that lived in the city worked for Accalia’s family and they were intent on her becoming the princess just as much as her parents were.