Her Mate: Badlands Territory/Shifted Love Crossover

by Davenport, Fiona

  Her Mate

  Badlands Territory/Shifted Love Crossover

  Fiona Davenport

  Copyright © 2020 by Fiona Davenport

  Cover designed by Elle Christensen

  Edited by Editing4Indies

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Her Mate

  1. Luke

  2. Adley

  3. Adley

  4. Luke

  5. Adley

  6. Adley

  7. Luke

  8. Adley

  9. Adley

  10. Luke

  Epilogue

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Her Mate

  Luke Besnik wasn’t looking forward to visiting the Badlands Territory. His alpha has given him the impossible task of talking some sense into his selfish sister. But the moment he met Adley Hoyt, his trip was more than worthwhile.

  Adley has yearned for a fated mate ever since her adopted parents told her about shifters. Just when she almost gave up hope, Luke turned up in town. Discovering she was meant to belong to him was a dream come true—until she realized his connection to the girl who’d made her life miserable for the last year.

  1

  Luke

  My cell phone dinged with a notification as I was shoving the last bite of the leftover lasagna my mom had heated for my lunch into my mouth. After swallowing and flashing my mom an apologetic smile, I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the screen. Although my mom wasn’t a fan of electronic devices at the table, I was glad I hadn’t waited to check to see who the message was from. “I hate to eat and run, but Kace needs to see me. Sorry about cutting my visit short, Mom.”

  “Do you know what the alpha wants to talk to you about?” she asked, twisting her hands together.

  I hated seeing how anxious she’d become over the past few months. “No, but I’m sure it isn’t anything bad. He’s been vocal about how happy he is with my contributions to the pack. There isn’t anything to worry about.”

  Ever since my sister fucked up and got herself a temporary transfer to another pack, my mom had been nervous about my place in ours. Although our alpha had been more than lenient with Heather’s punishment after she had tried to cause trouble for his new mate just because she was human, my sister’s absence had hit my mom hard. My mom had hoped Heather would clean up her act, so her exile from the pack wouldn’t take too long. As the months added up, my mom’s mood worsened, and my frustration with my sister grew.

  Heather had still been hurting for another pack mate who had become a loner after being denied by the human female fate had paired him with. She’d had a crush on Aaron ever since he saved her from drowning in the river when she was ten—if that was even the right word for it since shifters didn’t feel a physical or emotional pull toward anyone other than their fated mate—but that didn’t excuse the shit she’d pulled. One of our most sacred rules as shifters was not to interfere between mates, but Heather hadn’t been willing to listen to reason. It pissed me the fuck off that my mom was paying the price for her transgression just as much as she was.

  Her brow was still wrinkled when she nodded and said, “Okay, but please come to see me as soon as you’re done speaking with Kace.”

  I crossed the room and wrapped my arms around her body, lifting her off her feet as I gave her a fierce hug. “I’ll always take whatever excuse I can to stop by and visit you, but there really isn’t anything to worry about. Do me a favor and take a bath, read a book, or have a glass of wine while I’m gone. Take some you-time; you more than deserve it.”

  She smiled at my suggestion, and some of her tension melted away. I wanted to do a fist pump but limited myself to brushing a kiss across her cheek before heading toward the door. If my mom knew how worried about her I was, she would just have something else to be anxious about, and that was the last thing she needed. I wished I could do more to help, but Heather wasn’t prone to taking my advice. Taking other people’s feelings into consideration—even our mother’s—wasn’t something my sister often did. She was young and spoiled. I hoped her punishment would help her mature, but I was losing faith that anything would open her eyes to the damage she’d done.

  That was a concern for another day, though. My alpha was waiting for me, and he didn’t like to waste time. Especially not since his mate had their first child. Kace was an excellent leader who cared deeply for every member of his pack, but he fiercely protected his schedule so he could carve out as many hours each day as possible to spend with Larissa and Talon. His mate and pup were the center of his world, which was exactly as it should be when a shifter found the person who was fated for them.

  Since my parents’ house wasn’t too far from where Kace lived, I decided to jog over. It only took about five minutes before I was knocking on his front door. “Come in!”

  I paused inside the doorway, my lips curving up in a grin at the sight of the tough alpha who fearlessly led our pack with a tiny, sleeping baby strapped to his chest. I didn’t want to wake Talon, but Kace waved me closer. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come back after his nap?” I whispered.

  “No, once he’s conked out, it would take a lot more than us talking to wake him up again.” Kace pointed at the smoke detector on the ceiling. “I don’t even know that the blare of the alarm would bother him.”

  I dropped onto the chair closest to the couch he was sprawled on. “My parents had shared horror stories about how the slightest noises used to wake Heather and me up when we were little, so you definitely got lucky.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” he grumbled, rubbing his hand up and down the baby’s back. “Noise doesn’t pull Talon from sleep, but the second I have Larissa under me, the boy goes from a deep sleep to screaming his head off in the blink of an eye. My son is almost as possessive of his mom as I am.”

  I chuckled and shrugged. “He’s an alpha in the making. What did you expect?”

  “For him to be able to walk and talk before he started tossing attitude my way.” His smile didn’t match his disgruntled tone, communicating without words that he didn’t truly mind that his son’s dominant nature was already making itself known.

  I didn’t want to take too much of his time, so I asked, “What was so urgent that you wanted to see me during Talon’s nap?”

  His expression turned serious as he answered, “I need you to go to the Badlands Territory.”

  “Fuck,” I groaned, scrubbing my hands over my face. Kace’s request was the last thing I’d been expecting to hear. My parents had gone to visit my sister, but I hadn’t seen her since she’d been sent there for her punishment. “What kind of trouble has Heather gotten into now? Please tell me she hasn’t pissed off Jackson Havoc.”

  “No, if there was an issue with the alpha of the Havoc pack, I’d go there myself,” he assured me, shaking his head. “It isn’t so much what she’s done as it is what she hasn’t. The separation had gone on for longer than I expected when I handed out Heather’s punishment. And I hate seeing the pain in your mother’s eyes. She’s always been one of the first pack members to welcome babies into the pack, but she was the last to visit after Alena was born.”

  My mom loved babies so much—and could barely wait for the day when I found my fated mate because then she could start demanding grandbabies—but the recent births in
the pack had seemed to bring her more pain than joy. I knew she was happy for our alpha, beta, third, and their mates, but seeing them with their babies made her miss Heather more. Especially now that Tane and Calliope had a little girl. “I’m sorry—”

  Kace held his hand up to stop me from finishing what I’d been about to say. “You don’t owe me an apology. None of this mess is your fault, but I still need you to help me fix it.”

  I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees and heaved a deep sigh. I wasn’t sure how I would make Heather understand how bad things were getting for our mother, but if my alpha wanted me to step in, that was exactly what I’d do. “What do you need me to do while I’m in the Badlands Territory?”

  “You’re not going to like what I’m asking of you,” he warned.

  I grimaced, steeling myself for what I was going to need to do. With my mother’s happiness on the line, I was willing to try just about anything. “I figured, but I’m still in.”

  “Normally, this is a task an alpha would do, but this message needs to be delivered in person, and it will be a while before I’m willing to leave our territory for anything other than a life and death emergency.” He got to his feet when Talon stirred and let out a little whimper. Pacing back and forth in front of the couch, he added, “But your sister needs a swift kick in the ass to get her back on the straight and narrow. If it’s not going to come from me, you’re the next best option since your dad has a tendency to coddle her.”

  “You don’t have to worry about me going easy on Heather. Not when my mom is paying the price for her fuckup.” My knuckles turned white because of how tightly my hands were clenched into fists. If anything, I was going to need to hold myself back from wringing my sister’s neck for not pulling her head out of her ass sooner.

  2

  Adley

  “Hey, sweetie.” My mom brushed her hand over my head as I turned to look up at her. “What’re you doing out here all by yourself?”

  I lifted my tablet to show her I’d been reading, but it really was just an excuse to get out of the house that hadn’t felt much like a home for me over the past year. I was trying my best to pretend everything was okay because I didn’t want to make my mom or dad worry about me. Having saved me when I was a toddler, they meant the world to me. I didn’t know what would have happened if they hadn’t taken me in after my parents died in a car accident on the highway running through the outskirts of the Badlands Territory.

  Several members of the Havoc pack came running when they heard the crash, including my adopted dad, who had pulled me from the car before it burst into flames. My injuries had been minor, only some scratches and bruises, but my parents hadn’t been as lucky. When I was old enough to ask questions, I’d been assured they’d died on impact and hadn’t felt any pain when their bodies were burned in the aftermath. The alpha had instructed my adopted dad to bring me to his house so his mate could get me cleaned up and tend to my wounds.

  When they couldn’t find any living family members, my adopted mom insisted I stay with them. She’d always wanted a daughter of her own, but she and her mate hadn’t been able to have children. Since I was happy with them, the alpha had granted her request. It hadn’t taken long for us to become a happy family, and I didn’t remember a time when they hadn’t been my parents. They never gave me a reason to doubt their love for me, and I’d grown up with their relationship as a model for what I wanted when I fell in love.

  “Ah, another romance novel.” The worry eased from her eyes as she smiled at me. “I should have known that’s why you disappeared into the backyard.”

  I pulled my legs up so she could join me on the hammock, laughing softly when I had to hold on because it swung wildly when she dropped down. With her reflexes, she didn’t have to worry about getting thrown off the hammock, but I was only human and wouldn’t land as gracefully. With my luck, I’d probably end up breaking something and being stuck in a cast for the next six weeks. “Yeah, it’s such a beautiful day. I thought I’d get some fresh air while I finished my book.”

  My mom folded her arms behind her head and leaned back to stare up at the sky. “What an excellent idea. Mother Nature had certainly blessed us with great weather today.”

  Since the snow from our last storm had only melted a few days ago, the sunshine and sixty-degree temperature had been a welcome surprise when I’d headed outside an hour or so ago. Fall was my favorite season, and I liked nothing more than to bundle up in a sweater and blanket to enjoy the crispness in the air. For a couple of months of the year, it wasn’t rare to find me stretched out sound asleep in the middle of the night. At first, the habit had driven my dad up the wall because he worried something would happen to me. But when I’d explained how I knew he’d keep me safe no matter what, he’d melted like a marshmallow and put a tent up in the backyard so I could still sleep outside when it was a little bit colder.

  But the temperature had steadily dropped as we headed into December, making it hard to sit comfortably outside. So the unexpectedly warm day made it easier for me to get away and helped me forget why I was hiding out here in the first place.

  I tucked the blanket I’d brought out with me over her legs, too. “Maybe we’ll get lucky, and the warm front will stick around.”

  “I hope so,” she agreed.

  We sat there in silence for a while, enjoying the feel of the sun beating down on us before my mom finally got around to bringing up what had sent her outside looking for me. “You’ve been awfully quiet lately. It reminds me of when you first came to live with us. We could barely get a peep out of you.”

  I needed to be careful with how I responded because my mom was likely to go into protective mama bear mode if she found out what had been going on lately. Even though she shifted into a wolf, she reminded me of a sow defending her cubs when she thought I needed to be protected. I couldn’t lie to her and say nothing was wrong because she knew me too well, but there was something else on my mind that was a safer topic to discuss. “It’s been difficult to see so many matings around here lately. I want everyone in the pack to be happy, and I’m thrilled for everyone who has found their fated mate. But I can’t help but feel as though it’s not going to happen for me since I’m human.”

  “Just because you’re human doesn’t mean you aren’t someone’s fated mate,” she pointed out as she wrapped her hand around my ankle and gave it a squeeze. “Our alpha’s mate is a human, after all.”

  “I know,” I sighed, shrugging my shoulders. “But there’s no guarantee for me like there is for shifters. I may not be one of the lucky ones who gets a mate who loves them as unconditionally as Dad does you. Maybe fate didn’t pair me up with anyone.”

  “Life doesn’t offer guarantees to anyone, sweetie. You know that as well as anyone,” she reminded me.

  She made a fair point since plenty of shifters never found their fated mate. Even worse were the few who were rejected and spent the rest of their lives pining over the person they were meant to be with. But I would never do that. If I was lucky enough to have a fated mate out there waiting for me, nothing could stop me from being claimed by him. Only I was starting to doubt it would ever happen for me. “Yeah, but it would really suck to be stuck falling in love the human way when I’ve been dreaming of a mating of my own ever since I realized you and Dad were shifters, and you explained how it all works.”

  “I never expected that conversation to go so easily,” she laughed, remembering how I’d reacted when she’d told me she and Dad could shift into wolves. “I’d spent years worrying over how you’d take the news, and all you wanted to know was why you couldn’t change into a wolf, too.”

  Most of the tension eased from my body as I thought about how excited I’d been by the possibility of running around in wolf form. I’d been so disappointed to find out I didn’t have the same abilities as the parents who adored me. But the possibility my children would be shifters had given me hope. “And if I’d have a fated mate.”

  �
�Yes, that too.” She sat up and pulled me into her arms, somehow keeping the hammock steady, so neither of us fell. “Don’t give up hope, Adley. You’re still so much younger than most shifters are when they find their mates. There’s plenty of time for you to find the same happiness I have with your dad.”

  “Maybe,” I conceded as I snuggled into her embrace. “But I’ve already met every unmated male in the Badlands Territory, so I feel as though the odds of me being someone’s mate is slim.”

  “Hush now, sweetie. You’re letting your fears surpass reason,” she chided, patting me on the back. “So many of the recent matings happened because someone new moved into town, came to visit, or thought they were just passing through. The same thing could happen to you. For all you know, the man of your dreams is on his way to town right now, and you’re getting all blue for no reason.”

  I pulled back and saw the sincerity shining from her eyes. She really believed there was a mate out there for me somewhere, and her certainty gave me hope again. “I guess you could be right.”

  “Of course, I am.” She pressed her hand over my heart. “You’ve never felt a thing for any of the boys around here, and I choose to take that as a sign your soul is waiting for the person fate intended for you.”

  “Another good point.” Most human girls my age would have crushed on half a dozen boys by now, judging by the ones I went to school with. But I hadn’t met anyone who’d made butterflies swirl in my belly. I’d never even felt the tiniest spark of desire for a boy before. Now that my mom had pointed it out, I couldn’t help but believe my libido was sleeping because it was waiting for the perfect moment to come roaring to life—when I finally met the shifter meant just for me.