“Rylan, could you excuse us for a while?”
“Of course. I’ll continue patrolling outside.” He exited through the kitchen door, stripped and shifted into a large white wolf. He patrolled the area outside, staying far enough away to give them privacy but close enough to come to Evie’s aid, should she need him.
Remington leaned back in his chair and surveyed Evie. As soon as the coffee was finished brewing, Evie poured out two cups. She gave one to Remington then sat across from him. She added cream and sugar and slowly stirred her coffee.
Unsure of where to begin, Remington sat and stared at Evie. Feeling uncomfortable under Remington’s direct gaze, Evie finally said, “You mentioned something about Serena?”
Remington clenched his fist at the mention of his run away mate.
“Yes,” he said gruffly. “I know you were good friends.” He paused. “Did you know she was planning on leaving me?” he demanded. Evie shifted uncomfortably.
“Remington, I—”
“I know she came to see you, Evelyn. I followed her scent here while you were gone.”
“She stopped by the night before the mating ceremony,” Evie admitted.
“What did she say, Evelyn? Why did she leave me?” he demanded. Stalling for time, Evie took a sip of coffee.
“You really don’t know?”
“Evelyn.”
“You were not true mates, Remington.”
“So? Just because we were not true mates didn’t mean I wouldn’t fuck her as if she were mine. I was planning to treat her as my mate.”
“I think that was the problem, Remington,” Evie said gently.
Confused, Remington asked, “What do you mean, ‘that’ was the problem?”
“You are an Alpha, Remington. Alphas are known for their aggressiveness. I think you were just too…sexually aggressive with Serena, and it made her uncomfortable.”
“She’s a wolf. Sex is part of our nature.”
“Yes, but….” Evie faltered, not knowing how to tell Remington his mate wasn’t attracted to him.
“I never deceived her, Evelyn. She knew exactly what would be expected of her.”
“Do you care about her, Remington?” Remington seemed perplexed by the question.
“She’s my future mate, Evelyn.”
“You didn’t really answer my question.”
“Serena is one of my Pack. Of course I care about her.”
“Remington, women need to feel loved. They need to feel special.” Remington snorted.
“Serena was chosen above all others to be my mate. What more does she need to feel ‘special’? I showered her with attention whenever we were alone.” Evie shook her head in disbelief. She had an idea of what Remington’s idea of ‘attention’ was.
“I made sure to set time aside every day to see her and spend time with her. Although she was already chosen as my mate, I still courted her, as is customary in our situation.”
“Have you ever done anything that wasn’t ‘customary’?” Evie asked.
“We have rules for a reason, Evelyn. Pack law keeps us safe. It makes us cohesive. There is comfort in knowing what is expected of you and what you can expect of others. Would you have me flaunt the rules like Lucien of the Last Hope Pack? He tainted our bloodline by mating with a human and creating a mongrel child,” he said with disgust.
Infuriated, he continued, “Wolves are renowned for our strength. Any offspring of his will be weak because of its human heritage. Wolves like Lucien are a threat to our way of life by creating weak half-breeds.” Appalled by Remington’s narrow-mindedness, Evie said nothing.
Remington remembered something else about Lucien and his recent claim.
“Is that why she left, Evelyn? Is Serena looking for her true mate so that she can have pups?”
“She didn’t say anything about wanting pups, Remington,” Evie answered honestly.
“Is there someone else? Another wolf?”
“No,” Evie denied.
“Do you know where she’s going?” Evie shook her head.
“Is there anything you can tell me that will help me find her, Evelyn?” Evelyn shook her head.
“I’m your Alpha, Evelyn. You owe me your allegiance,” he reminded her.
“I really don’t know where she is going, Remington.” The chair slid back as he stood suddenly.
“What will you do when you find her, Remington?”
“According to Pack law—”
“What do you want, Remington?” she interrupted.
“What do I want? I want my fucking mate!” he snarled.
Chapter 8
As soon as Remington left her house, Rylan shifted, dressed and knocked softly on the kitchen door. He waited a full second before opening it and stepping into the kitchen. Evie was still sitting at the kitchen table, frightened by Remington’s behavior and worried about Serena’s safety.
“Evie?”
“I can see why she ran from him,” Evie shared. Ryan pulled out a chair and sat next to Evie.
“Want to talk about it?” he offered.
“Not really much to talk about. Serena was chosen to be Remington’s mate. She didn’t want him so she ran away. She is out there…all alone…without the protection of a pack. I don’t see any way you can help Serena. I don’t think anyone can.”
Wanting to comfort her, Rylan reached over and held her hand. He squeezed it gently. They both knew it was impossible for a wolf to hide from an Alpha. It was only a matter of time before he found her.
“Remington’s ego has been crushed and he fears he has lost the respect of his pack,” Rylan explained.
“What will he do to her, Rylan?” Evie asked.
“I don’t know, but it will be publicly humiliating. I don’t know Remington well enough to speak to him about this. Perhaps another alpha?” Evie shook her head. Tarchannen kept to themselves. She doubted another alpha could sway Remington.
The only one who can possibly sway him is his true mate, she thought.
She heard the children moving around upstairs, so she got up and began making breakfast.
Rylan poured himself a cup of coffee and watched as Evie prepared breakfast. His eyes followed her around the room as she gathered ingredients to make pancakes. She set a griddle pan on the burner and turned on the stove. She mixed the batter then gathered several plates and a spatula, setting them on the counter by the stove. Evie added a container of butter and bottle of maple syrup to the table. Then she searched through a drawer and withdrew a measuring cup. She added the batter to the pan and Rylan closed his eyes, inhaling the sweet scent of pancake batter.
Smells like…home, he thought.
Evie stayed by the stove, gently flipping her pancake, removing each one carefully once it was ready. He thought it odd that she plated each pancake individually. Before he could ask her why, the children came running in.
“Pancakes!” they shouted happily. They ran to Rylan, giving him a warm hug as they greeted him, “Good Morning!” Max climbed onto Rylan’s lap and sat there happily as he watched his brother and sister move around the kitchen. Finn opened a drawer, removed two cups and set them on the table. Gabby opened the fridge and removed the container of milk.
“Can you get down Max’s Sippy cup?” Gabby asked shyly.
“Sure, Sweetie. Where is it?” Gabby pointed to a cabinet. Rylan adjusted Max so he could carry him to the cabinet. He removed a Sippy cup and returned to the table. He set Max in his high chair, filled his Sippy cup then gave it to him. He poured milk for the other two children then returned the milk to the fridge. When he turned around, he saw Evie presenting each child with their pancake. They squealed delightedly as they read the letters she had created for them.
“M! M!” Max stated happily. Evie buttered Max’s pancake and added some maple syrup. She cut it into bite sized pieces so Max could feed himself.
“Do I get a letter too?” Rylan asked Evie. She glanced up at him, a little surprised.
&n
bsp; “Hmmm…‘R’s’ are kind of tricky. I guess I could try it.” She returned to the stove and a few minutes later, set a plate down in front of him.
“If you squint and use your imagination,” she suggested, “it kind of looks like an ‘R’.” Rylan laughed.
“It’s perfect, Evie. Much better than what I could do,” he replied honestly. Evie made a few more pancakes before settling down to have breakfast with her family.
Once breakfast was over, Evie took the children upstairs so they could shower. Rylan cleaned up the kitchen, wondering how Evie managed to take care of three small children all by herself. As he returned the last plate to the cabinet, he heard Evie and the children on the stairs.
“Go play in the living room. Once I’m finished with the kitchen, we can go outside for a bit.”
“Why can’t we go outside by ourselves?” Gabby asked.
“It’s too dangerous, Gabby.”
“But—” Finn interrupted.
“No, Finn.” Evie said sternly, ending the discussion. The children ran into the living room as Evie headed to the kitchen.
Surprised to find the kitchen spotless, Evie said, “Rylan, thank you for cleaning up, but you didn’t have to.”
“It’s the least I could do for such a fancy breakfast,” he replied. “I can honestly say no one has ever made me pancakes like that before.” Needing to keep his hands busy, he poured himself another cup of coffee.
“Would you like another cup, Evie?”
“No thanks. Rylan—” She paused for a moment, considering her words carefully. She stepped closer so the children wouldn’t overhear.
“Did I do the right thing, Rylan? Are the children going to be safe here?”
“Do you doubt my ability to keep you safe?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. Realizing she had insulted Rylan, Evie gushed, “Rylan, I didn’t mean that you couldn’t—”
Rylan set his cup down and held a finger against her soft lips, silencing her.
“Shhh. I know you didn’t, Evie.” He removed his finger and leaned closer.
“I promise, Evie, I will keep you and the children safe from harm.”
“How? We don’t know anything about them.”
“We know enough. They know about us. They don’t know we are aware they are hunting our kind. That gives us a slight advantage. You live within your Pack’s territory, which is private land. No human has any business in this area. With my heightened sense of smell, their presence here would be detected almost immediately. I plan on doing patrols throughout the day and at night.” Evie still frowned, the worry for her children’s safety evident on her expressive face. Rylan pulled her into his arms and held her gently. She wrapped her arms around him, accepting the comfort he offered. Rylan closed his eyes, reminding himself that he was only here to protect them.
“You did the right thing, Evie. Your children need to roam free in the woods, not be cooped up in the city.”
Evie gave Rylan a gentle hug before stepping away from him.
“I’d better go change. Normally we play outside and then go for a run. But it’s too dangerous. I promise we’ll stay in the yard, close to the house.”
“No need, Evie. I’ll join you.” Evie’s eyes lit up at his response and she smiled brightly.
“We’ll be ready in five minutes, Rylan.” Evie headed for the living room, where she told her children to strip and shift. She went into her bedroom so that she could strip in privacy. She shifted into a grey wolf then returned to the living room. Rylan stepped outside, stripped and shifted. He waited patiently for Evie-wolf and her pups to join him.
Chapter 9
Evie exited the house through the Wolf Door and her pups followed. Keeping her ears close to her head and her head low to the ground, slowly she approached the large white Alpha. Following her example, her pups did the same. Two feet away from the Alpha, she stopped and lowered her head.
Rylan-wolf approached Evie-wolf, acknowledging her submission to him and greeting her by rubbing his snout along hers. He nuzzled her neck, easing some of the discomfort of his wolf. He left Evie-wolf and approached her pups. They lowered themselves to the ground, almost bowing to Rylan-wolf. As he did with Evie-wolf, he accepted their submission and greeted them by rubbing his snout against theirs.
Since Evie-wolf was more familiar with the area, Rylan-wolf gave a sharp bark, giving her permission to lead. Evie-wolf replied with a soft bark and took off. The pups followed Evie-wolf and Rylan-wolf brought up the rear.
Evie-wolf led her pack through the woods. She leaped over tree roots and fallen logs, raced down sloping valleys and charged up small hills. She led them to clearing with a small waterfall, where her pups could rest and drink from the cool stream.
After drinking from the stream, the pups chased each other around trees, leaping and tumbling on the leaf covered ground. Evie-wolf stood beside Rylan-wolf, watching her pups. Rylan-wolf gently rubbed his snout against Evie-wolf’s side, testing her. She stayed immobile, still keeping a watchful eye on her pups. He moved to her neck, nuzzling her, whining softly. Evie-wolf finally returned his attention by rubbing her snout along his neck. Rylan-wolf barked softly, content to stand guard while Evie-wolf rubbed up against him. They took turns, each standing guard as the other wolf nuzzled their neck.
As if sensing the Alpha’s growing interest in their mother, the pups suddenly stopped playing and ran to the wolf pair. Gabby-wolf and Finn-wolf rubbed up against their mother. Unable to reach Evie-wolf because his siblings blocked him on one side and the Alpha blocked the other side, Max-wolf whined softly. Rylan-wolf walked over to Max-wolf and nudged him to Evie-wolf’s side. The pack spent a few minutes bonding, all five wolves rubbing against each other.
Satisfied that her pups had enough time to recover from their run, Evie-wolf gave a soft bark and took off at a slow trot. Her pack followed her back to their cabin.
Chapter 10
As they did every morning after breakfast, they shifted and Evie-wolf led them on a run through the forest. Although she varied her route, they always ended up by the waterfall. The pups drank from the stream then played along the bank. Evie-wolf and Rylan-wolf stood side by side, watching the pups play. As he did whenever they were in wolf form, he rubbed his snout against hers and nuzzled her neck.
Afraid to be affectionate in his human form, Rylan allowed his wolf to flirt and court Evie-wolf. Thinly disguised as bonding behavior, each day Rylan-wolf would rub against her body and nuzzle her with his snout. Every day he would sniff the air, hoping to catch a hint of her arousal, and each day he would be disappointed.
Although Evie-wolf allowed his courting behavior, even returning his affection by rubbing her snout against his, she would growl a warning whenever he tried to sniff her tail region.
Rylan-wolf raised his head and sniffed the air, hoping today he would catch a whiff of arousal from Evie-wolf. His nose caught a strange scent and he stiffened. His ears straightened as he listened intently to the surrounding forest. Inhaling deeply, he caught the scent again.
Human!
Rylan-wolf barked a warning and took off.
Evie-wolf darted to her pups, hoping to move them out of the clearing and hide them in the forest. She heard a Whizz! seconds before she felt a sharp pain in her hind leg. She yelped with surprise and the world faded quickly before her eyes.
The pups yelped, terrified when they saw their mother fall. They began to howl, a mournful wail that echoed through the silent forest.
Rylan-wolf’s sharp nose followed the scent of the human. The scent of his fear and excitement permeated the air, revealing his hiding spot in a mature Cottonwood. Rylan heard the pain lanced howls of his wolf pups and growled viciously. Unable to scale the tree in wolf form, he shifted and climbed the tree.
The Procurer saw the wolf shift into a man and nearly lost his footing. The shift had been instantaneous, unlike the previous wolf transformation he had witnessed in the lab. He withdrew a blade from his boot and waited for the m
an-wolf to climb up.
As soon as Rylan placed his hand on the tree limb below The Procurer, he reached down and stabbed his hand, sinking the blade two inches into the branch. Rylan growled in pain.
“I’m going to kill you,” Rylan promised in a deep, wicked voice.
Rylan pulled his hands towards his body. The knife blade sliced through the rest of his hand until he was free.
The Procurer began to panic and climbed further up the tree, away from the menacing growls. Hindered by his sliced palm, Rylan slowly followed him as he ascended the Cottonwood. Soon The Procurer was out of tree. Having nowhere to go, he held on tightly to a branch. Rylan extended his razor sharp claws and swiped at The Procurer’s legs. The Procurer yelled as the claws sliced through his calf. Startled by Rylan’s attack, he shifted, the movement causing him to become unbalanced and he fell down the tree. The Procurer screamed as he fell down the tree, flailing his arms in an attempt to stop the fall. He hit several branches on the way down, slowing his descent. The Procurer fell to the ground, his body wracked with pain. Rylan howled in frustration as his prey stood up shakily, turned and ran.
Rylan moved quickly down the tree. As soon as he reached the main trunk, he shifted into his wolf and sprinted after The Procurer.
Pain seared his body each time his front paw landed on the ground. By now, Rylan-wolf realized that he only heard his pups howling in distress. Not one sound came from Evie-wolf. Enraged that this human had somehow hurt Evie, he pressed on, ignoring the pain.
The Procurer reached his campsite and hurriedly reached for his Sig Sauer pistol. He turned, firing one shot as the large white wolf leaped. The bullet whizzed by Rylan-wolf’s ear as he leaped. Their bodies connected as Rylan-wolf landed on The Procurer.
Knowing his life depended on it, The Procurer gripped his Sig tightly as they fell. Rylan changed into his human form and shifted to his right to block The Procurer’s right arm. The Procurer swung his right arm, trying to point his gun at Rylan. They rolled and The Procurer ended up on top of Rylan. They fought for possession of the gun.
Abandoned Mate Page 4