Hunted And Claimed (Wayward Mates Series Book 7)

by Delta James

“Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by what I said earlier.”

  “Sure you did, Jules. You’re just sorry you got called out. And I meant what I said. If you come at me, you’d better bring your A-game. If you don’t, I’ll drop-kick your ass all the way back to Vegas.”

  With that Riley headed out the door.

  Chapter Three

  Just outside Galveston, Texas

  Cameron Nichols sat atop his big appaloosa gelding surveying his herd down below. It was a cross breed of his prized Wagyu and Black Angus cattle. Their meat couldn’t be sold as Wagyu, but they seem to produce a better quality of beef than just a straight Angus. There was nothing all that unusual about a Texas cattleman surveying his herds. What was unusual was that this particular Texas cattleman also happened to be a powerful alpha wolf-shifter. All of the ranch hands who worked for him were members of his pack.

  In addition to the prized beef cattle ranch that sat outside of Galveston, Cameron had a commercial fishing fleet of five boats that supplied most of the upscale restaurants in Galveston and its neighboring cities with the freshest seafood available straight from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the coolers of some of the best restaurants in all of Texas.

  The Nichols family and pack had been on their land, Wolf Meadow, before Texas was Texas. As wolf shifters were rare in this part of America, Cameron’s pack had been integrating humans for almost as long. However, the pack was proud of their heritage of never having forced a human to turn. That wasn’t to say they didn’t have their fair share of women who had to be persuaded to become someone’s mate, but that was to be expected of strong, spirited women. And the Wolf Meadow pack had a strong preference for, and long history of, women with those traits, Cameron’s mother among them.

  When the alpha of New Orleans, Jean-Michel Gautier, had asked Cameron to join the Coalition to try to put an end to those who were raiding for females, both wolf and human, Cameron was more than ready to commit whatever resources he had. Up until they went on the raid together, Cameron had only known Jean-Michel casually and by reputation. He had found the reputation paled in comparison to the man and the two had deepened their friendship since that time.

  Cameron turned to see his omega and resident vet, Sam Davis, approaching.

  “Cameron?”

  “What’s up, Sam?”

  “Jean-Michel called and was hoping you could take a break and have the three of us get on a conference call with some of the other packs in about an hour.”

  “Did he say what it was about?”

  “No, but he made me think it was important.”

  “Any idea where Gabe might be?” asked Cameron as he turned his horse for home.

  “He was on the other side of the ranch. But unlike our alpha, he usually has his cell phone with him and took one of the trucks. So instead of having to saddle a horse and ride all over hell and gone to find him, I just placed one simple phone call,” Sam said, riding up next to him.

  Cameron grinned. It was a fairly well-known fact that when Cameron swung up in the saddle, he left his cell phone behind.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Poor picked-on Sam. You know you’ll never leave.”

  “Hey, there are a couple of new packs starting to form, and one is up in Maine... they don’t have scorching summers.”

  “No, just brutal winters. I’m not thinking Amy would much care for that.”

  Sam laughed. “I can keep my mate warm.”

  “I thought that might be the case when she needed a pillow to sit on this morning.”

  Shaking his head, Sam said, “I swear to God, I’m going to break her of going for a run in the hills without letting me or anyone else know how long she’s going to be gone or what route she’s planning to take.”

  “You know I’m not one to meddle in your relationship, but if taking your hand to my sister’s butt isn’t working, you might want to try your belt.”

  Sam laughed out loud. “I’ll tell her that you suggested that.”

  “Hey, I’m just saying this isn’t the first time you’ve gotten after her about it. I love my little sister dearly, but you need to take her in hand... and you need to do it now.”

  “I know you’re right. But when she’s crying and promising to behave, it’s tough to keep after her.”

  Cameron stopped his horse and looked at Sam. “I’m sure it is. But I warned you when you were called to her that she was something of a brat and she plays you. I’m sure you spank her hard enough to get her attention and warm her backside, but if she keeps doing it, you aren’t getting the job done.”

  Sam shook his head. “Wait until you find your fated mate. You’ll see it’s a whole lot harder than when it’s just one of your pack members. Ask Gabe. He’s never had any problem keeping the rest of our women in line, but that feisty female he brought home from New Orleans dealt him fits.”

  Cameron grinned. “His Heather is a spitfire, that’s for sure. I thought one of Jean-Michel’s men was going to challenge him for her, but she was set on Gabe and Jean-Michel’s mate was prepared to back whatever Heather wanted.”

  “Gabe said Gautier’s mate is nothing short of spectacular.”

  “Darby is a rare woman of fire and passion. She’s too smart by half, fearless, and almost as cunning as Jean-Michel. I only hope my mate and I are as well suited to each other as they are.”

  “She was one of the Bae Diogel girls, wasn’t she?” Cameron nodded. “Why weren’t we up at Calon Gwyllt when that all went down?”

  “We were invited,” said Cameron, “but I didn’t think we needed any more rogue she-wolves. We seem to have more than our fair share. Your mate—my sister—chief among them.”

  “I hear you, Alpha. If she goes for a run without letting someone know...”

  “Damn it, Sam. It isn’t just going for a run. You need to make her mind you. Period. Regardless of what it is. The fact is, once she settles down, you’ll both be happier. Amy needs to know that the boundaries are whatever you say they are and that she can’t move them around to suit her.”

  “You don’t regret giving us your blessing, do you?” Sam asked a bit anxiously.

  Cameron shook his head. “Not at all. It is obvious that you two were fated. Hell, Gabe and I have had a running bet for years.”

  “Well, shit. You could have given me a clue. I was certain you wanted her to go outside the pack and preferably to an alpha.”

  “My sister and an alpha? Not a good match. For all of Amy’s bravado—and that’s what it is—she was never suited to be the mate to an alpha. A beta maybe. But truly she has far more omega qualities. As I said, she’s a brat of the first order but once you get her brought to heel, she’ll be the best mate that any omega ever had. Besides, I love my little sister and I’m glad she’s going to be here.”

  “Well,” drawled Sam, “Gabe’s Heather hasn’t been the model of an obedient mate either.”

  Cameron nodded. “You’re right. She pushed Gabe until the night she got on that half-broke mare and almost got herself killed. Gabe had warned her, if she got on any horse he hadn’t approved for her to ride, she’d find herself over his knee for a session with his belt. He made good on his warning and welted her for disobeying him. She’s been fairly well behaved since then and seems to enjoy the lustier side of our Gabriel’s disposition.”

  “He has been a whole lot happier since she came home with him. You’ll see when it’s your own mate. You’re torn between punishing them for whatever they’ve done and wanting to forgive them and put things right.”

  “TMI. TMI,” laughed Cameron. “I don’t need to hear about you and my sister forgiving each other. I also saw how she was damn near purring at you this morning.”

  Sam grinned at him. “She’s a very forgiving mate.”

  Cameron shook his head. “You’re not the one who needs forgiving. On a more general note, I’ve been giving the safety of our women some thought. Some of the other alphas in the Coalition are tightening up their security and the
ir women are being kept close to home unless they have an escort.”

  “I want to be there when you make that announcement.”

  Cameron chuckled. “I’ll make sure they’re unarmed first, but I’m not going to risk one of them getting snatched. You have to admit, our pack is blessed to have the women we have.”

  Both men picked up a lope and made good time getting back to the ranch.

  As they rode up to the barn, a stable hand came out and took both horses.

  “Have a good ride, Alpha?”

  “I did indeed. See that he gets a good rubdown,” said Cameron to the young man who was new to the pack.

  “I’ll make sure of it,” he said.

  The two men walked up onto the front porch. Amy came out and launched herself at them.

  “I missed you,” she said, wrapping her arms around Sam.

  “I’m pretty sure she means you,” chuckled Cameron. “We’ve got that conference call with Jean-Michel.”

  Amy looked at her older brother. “You don’t need Sam for that.”

  “Amy, if Cameron wants Gabe and me in a meeting, then that’s what happens.”

  Sam kissed Amy as he extricated himself from her embrace. Amy stomped her foot.

  “Cam, tell him you don’t need him. Whatever pack business there is, you and Gabe can handle it.”

  Cameron said nothing, but merely quirked his eyebrow at Sam.

  “Enough, Amy. I need to meet with Gabe and Cameron. I’ll come find you as soon as I’m finished.”

  “But I don’t want to wait,” said Amy with her best pout.

  “Amy,” said Sam, becoming exasperated and a bit embarrassed. “You don’t always get what you want and trying to go around me to your brother isn’t going to work. Now behave yourself or you can wait for me in our room.”

  “But it’s our room I want to go to,” she said seductively.

  Cameron snorted and headed into the house.

  “Damn it, Amy,” said Sam, turning her toward the door and giving her a sharp swat to her jean-clad backside. “I said enough. You go upstairs to our room and wait for me.”

  “I don’t want to,” she said, turning away from him.

  Sam held her in place and swatted her a second time with even more force. This time the blow made her yelp.

  “I don’t care what you want at this point. You get yourself upstairs and you stay there until I come up.” Sam watched her carefully. “Now, Amy, or I’ll ask your brother’s leave to take you upstairs and deal with you right this minute.”

  Cameron watched his little sister search Sam’s face and find nothing that indicated he was going to let her have her way. She started into the house and headed for the stairs.

  Making a pointed nod toward her older brother, their alpha, she said, “My brother is a bad influence on you.”

  Cameron laughed and turned back toward his sister.

  “Not nearly as bad as I’d like to be, little sister. If you aren’t careful, I’m going to tell Sam he has my leave to be late for the meeting, take you upstairs and deal with you, and suggest perhaps a session with his belt is in order.”

  “He wouldn’t!” she cried before turning to Sam. “Would you?”

  “I’m beginning to think the idea has merit. Now you get upstairs to our room and stay there.”

  Cameron had to stifle a laugh as he watched his little sister decide that perhaps backing down and doing as she was told might be her best option.

  “Okay,” she said quietly before going back to Sam and kissing him on his cheek. “I’m sorry.”

  “Go on,” Sam said, turning her back toward the stairs.

  Amy trotted up the stairs and down the hall to the room she now shared with her mate.

  Sam looked at Cameron. “Who knew just the very mention of leather would have such a powerful effect?”

  Cameron clapped his omega on the back and headed into his study. Gabe already had Jean-Michel and his ranking pack members on the other end of a video conference call.

  “Cameron, gentlemen, thank you for agreeing to meet.”

  “What’s up, Jean-Michel?” asked Cameron, genuinely curious.

  “We’ve been hearing rumors as have our brothers on the East Coast of a she-wolf who has put herself in the crosshairs of both those who would destroy our way of life with their kidnapping and breeding schemes and the Ruling Council.”

  “How’d she manage to do that? We had to have two simultaneous raids and collect plenty of evidence to get them to take notice.”

  Jean-Michel was bemused. “She’s doing the same thing on a much smaller scale. She’s finding where they are hiding the women and going in and getting them out.”

  “Leaving much of a body count?” Cameron asked.

  “More than enough. That’s part of what’s got the Ruling Council up in arms. I believe they fear retaliation from those who have lost men to this she-wolf. She’s torched a couple of their operations and probably gotten close to three dozen girls to safety. She knows what she’s doing. She’s making lightning strikes—getting the girls out and then leaving them with packs that are safe... those within our circle.”

  “How would she know which packs those would be?”

  “Not sure at this point. We’re thinking she may have found a way to hack into our network. Anna and Ava are both working to ensure that we aren’t the source of her information and to increase security for our communications. To that end, you should be getting a new computer that is already set up with some pretty sophisticated security measures that are automatic so we don’t have to worry about it.”

  “I can’t imagine you called this little conference to tell us this... if that’s all there is to tell.”

  Jean-Michel grinned. “You are correct, mon ami. By all reports the woman is an American, and there has been some speculation that she may be operating out of the Gulf area. I have my men trying to see if it’s here in New Orleans, which would make a great deal of sense, but then it occurred to me that Galveston might be an even better choice.”

  “We’re smaller, which might mean she’d be more easily spotted but we also don’t have the level of security you do. I’ll put my men on it and see what we can find out. What will happen to her if we find her?”

  “That will depend,” said Jean-Michel. “Most of us figure she isn’t mated and probably not even integrated into a pack. I’ve shared with the others my thoughts that she may well have been Bae Diogel at some point. Darby, Summer, and Megan say they have no idea who it is, but I rather suspect my beloved mate has a pretty good idea and is keeping that to herself. I mean to get to the bottom of what she knows one way or another.”

  Cameron chuckled. “I’m not sure that’s a task I’d want to take on. Your mate, I fear, is a rather formidable opponent.”

  Jean-Michel grinned again. “That she is, but only until she finds herself face down over my knee... then not so much. But I worry this woman, whoever she is, may be biting off more than she can chew. The Ruling Councils want her found and stopped and we’ve heard the rogue packs have put a bounty on her head... more if she’s caught and brought to them alive than dead.”

  “Do we know yet who’s at the heart of this whole thing?”

  “Another mystery that’s yet to be solved. Declan’s—the newly made alpha up in Maine—mate Ava is starting to find threads to unravel on the dark web so we may be able to figure it out within short order.”

  “I’ll see if there’s anything we can find out on our end,” said Cameron. “Good to talk to you, Jean-Michel, although I’ll be a damn sight happier when it’s about something other than these damn rogue packs and all of their bullshit.”

  They signed off and Cameron turned to face the other two ranking members of his pack.

  “You don’t think any of our girls might know something, do you?” asked Sam.

  “I don’t think any of them are this she-wolf who seems to be running amok. But do I think they might know something? Definitely a possibility.
As I said to you earlier, our girls are not a group to be trifled with and can have a bit more spirit than they need to.”

  It was now Gabe’s turn to laugh. “That’s a nice way to put it. One of my first suspects would be my Heather. She is very close to Jean-Michel’s mate. And the other would be your sister, Amy.”

  “Amy?” exclaimed Sam. “No! I’ll grant you she’s a handful. And Cameron, I did hear what you’re saying and take it to heart. But I can’t see that she’d be up to anything.”

  “I think you woefully underestimate my little sister. What concerns me is that Heather may well have inspired the rest of our girls to some kind of foolishness. I talked to Sam earlier about the fact that like a lot of other alphas, I’m going to issue orders that our women are not to leave the ranch without permission and an escort. Permission can only be given by one of the three of us. And Sam, they need to have a damn good reason.”

  “Why do you single me out?”

  The two other ranking members both laughed before Cameron said, “Because you are one of the best omegas in existence, which means you are far more empathetic than most anyone else. In this pack, you are extremely valued and what you bring to the table as omega could not easily be replaced. But holding the line, especially with the women of our pack, is not your strong suit.”

  Sam looked at them both and laughed along with them. “That may be true in most instances, but I mean to get after Amy when I go upstairs and I’ll ask her what she knows. If you gentlemen will excuse me?”

  Sam withdrew from the study. As the door closed, Gabe turned to Cameron. “Think he’ll get a handle on your little sister?”

  “I do. In fact, I think Amy is about to learn that her easygoing omega has more than what is needed to put enough sting in her tail to get her to mind.”

  “When do you plan to issue your edict?”

  “I believe everyone is supposed to be back in time for supper. I’ll make the announcement then.”

  “I’ll give the men with mates a heads up. We may see some blowback from them.”

  Cameron grinned. “Oh, I don’t think there’s any ‘may’ about it. But thankfully we don’t have any unmated females at the moment so that should be easier.”