Claimed Mate

by Jessica Aspen

  She went back into the house just in time to hear a knock at the front door. “I’m coming.” Tossing her phone on the bed she ran through the short hallway and into the main room and opened the front door.

  It was the weekend and this part of the compound was deserted. She’d driven up past the ranch and the big council house after breakfast. It had been full of kids and wolves and sheep and horses. But up here, tucked away from the action, things were eerily quiet.

  “Hello?” Serena heard the dwindling sound of a car engine. She craned her neck to scan the yard, but there was no vehicle in sight. She looked down. On the stoop at her feet rested a bouquet of bloodred roses in a clear glass vase. She bent down and picked them up. The soft, silky petals were perfect, just slightly open and ready to bloom. She leaned in to smell them, but was hit by the strong scent of fertilizer. She wrinkled her nose at their fertilizer scent and wished they had the full perfume of the old-fashioned roses in her mother’s garden instead.

  She carried them in, searching for the card buried in among the dark-green leaves. Gabe or Sam? Despite how lovely the flowers were, she was irritated. The card read: For Serena, with love.

  Now she was in a pickle. Did she ask Gabe? Or did she just assume they were an apology from Sam for his behavior at breakfast? All her good feelings from her conversation with her sister fled.

  Chapter Ten

  Vince hadn’t had time to see what Serena’s reaction was to his gift. It was Saturday, and he’d had to get back to his mother, but he was sure Serena would love the roses. They were the prettiest in the grocery store and he’d picked out the vase himself. Clean, pure glass. Just like Serena.

  He hadn’t had the nerve to write his name on the card. He knew she liked him. She’d been nice to him every time they’d met, but it was too soon. It would be improper for him to make a move until they’d spent a little more time together.

  Screw it. It wasn’t that it would be improper or wrong. He was scared. His father would have had a field day with how scared he was every time he tried to tell her how he felt. How he started to shake and got a lump in his throat.

  Stop it! Stop listening. His father was dead—he couldn’t tear him down anymore. And his mentor had told him over and over again not to listen to the voices of the dead. He wasn’t a spelltalker—he was a dreamwalker with infinite possibilities on the dreamscape.

  But, what if she rejected him? What if she got that look in her eye that said he was weak? He’d been fretting about it all day. Should he tell her? He’d seen that look too many times in his life—from teachers, his parents, other girls. There was no way to defend against that look, the judgment had already been made—he sucked.

  But Serena was different from the others. He’d done his research. Like him, she’d grown up in a family of shifters. Like him, she had to feel the resentment moving under her skin, just as much as a wolf. Never emerging, but always pushing and surging with hate.

  It was after six now. Dinner was over and Mother was finally settled in front of the TV with her third glass of wine. Instead of watching Carousel for the hundredth time, he’d told her he had to run an errand for the shamans’ circle and gotten out of the claustrophobic room with all its faded memories. He’d driven the thirty-plus minutes from where the family cabins were on one side of the compound to the top of the ranch, where the guest cabins were located. He’d just check in on Serena and see how she was doing. See if she liked the roses.

  And maybe, just maybe, once he saw how grateful she was for the flowers and attention, he’d tell her they were from him.

  He took the turn off the main ranch road, heading for the guest cabins. He drove past the thick rows of pines and spruce, imagining how she’d smile at him and tell him how nice he was. How he was the reason she’d decided to take this job and move out here. But as he drove closer, he saw a large black pickup parked in front of her cabin. He backed up his car and parked behind the very first cabin in the row. Being careful not to slam the door when he got out, he snuck along the row of cabins, keeping to the shadows, until he was in his hiding spot in the bushes underneath Serena’s living room window.

  He peered in.

  There she was, looking sweet and innocent in a sleeveless dress, her long black hair shimmering in the light. She laughed up at one of the Wulfric twins—Gabe or Sam. Vince could never tell which one was which, and he didn’t care. Serena pointed to a sweater lying on the kitchen table right next to his vase of flowers. The man handed it to her, smiled, and said something that made her throw her head back and laugh. She picked up her purse, and they left out the front door.

  Hot anger boiled up inside him. His wolf howled and fought to get out.

  Fucking shifter was taking her out, and all he could do was...nothing. He could do nothing.

  He turned his back to the cabin wall and sank to the ground, squeezing his eyes shut against the pain of seeing Serena, sweet Serena, with another man.

  His wolf wanted to tear Wulfric apart, but the beast couldn’t manifest on this plane. He’d have to wait until tonight, when he’d run like a real shifter over the dreamscape, and see if he could find out which twin was poaching his girl.

  Chapter Eleven

  Serena followed Gabe and the hostess through the half-empty Italian restaurant to a quiet, candlelit booth at the back. She tried not to watch the way his powerful legs ate up the distance, as if he was just barely holding back from running.

  “Is this alright, sir?” Their hostess indicated the table.

  “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

  The girl put the menus on the table and walked away.

  Gabe turned to Serena and swept his hand toward the booth. “After you.” A devilish grin spread across his handsome face, and he winked. “I’d pull out your chair, but I think that would cause some issues.”

  She slipped into her side of the red padded booth and smiled up at him, wishing he wasn’t so damn good-looking and charming, and that she hadn’t already decided to break everything off with him. “Given that it’s a booth, I’d say it’s a good idea to use some restraint.”

  Except for an attempt to kiss her when he’d picked her up, he’d been nothing but polite, sweet, and funny. But his hungry expression as he’d taken in the low, sweetheart neckline of her maybe too-short sundress made her breath quicken.

  And the way he’d refused to let her back out of dinner, insisting that she’d promised him equal time, made her hands go damp.

  The entire long drive through the Fated Mountain compound, and all the way to the next town and into the restaurant, she’d been able to feel the intensity of his desire as she sat next to him in the front seat of his pickup. Her breathing was shallow, and it wasn’t due to the altitude. It was due to the heat she’d felt from his thighs being so close, and the arousal that sang through her watching his hand on the leather pommel of the gearshift. She was sure if she’d been a full shifter her wolf would have smelled his desire. As it was, her beast prowled just under the surface.

  Every move he made, everything he did, spoke of need held back by thin restraint. Even now, as she sat across from that relaxed, easy smile, she knew—he was ready to pounce.

  It should have made her nervous. It should have made her angry. It should have strengthened her vow to shake herself free of both Wulfric brothers and focus on her job. Instead, it pulled her into the game of being friendly, then realizing she’d crossed the line into flirting, and having to back off. She wanted to flirt with him. It was fun and exhilarating, and it lifted her out of the funk she’d been in since breakfast with Sam. But while he laughed and chatted with her across the table, she was well aware that she still had to say goodbye to him at the end of the evening—for everyone’s sake.

  They ordered wine, which arrived with the bread. She found herself drinking too much too fast, the heated flush of alcohol rising to the top of her skin.

  “So, tell me about yourself, Miss Serena Lowell. What’s it like to live in Maine?”


  “Surprisingly, it’s a lot like Colorado. Except I can breathe there.” She laughed. “And it’s a lot noisier where I live at home. I’ve felt a little isolated the last few days. There’s no one in the other guest cabins and I’m used to being surrounded by pack.”

  “You’re only there temporarily, right? I’m sure you’ll find a roommate, either down in the main ranch area or in town. Wolves don’t live by themselves very well. I’m surprised they put you there. Those cabins aren’t used very often, usually only when we have a large number of visitors from other packs.”

  “I don’t know. Vince arranged it. He seems to run everything down at the shamans’ offices.”

  “Vince Ethelwulf, right?”

  “Right.” She took a piece of bread and buttered it with shaking hands.

  What was wrong with her? She’d decided before he’d even arrived at the cabin that she had to stop seeing him, but sitting across from him now, she knew that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to get to know him better, wanted to touch him, run her hands along his jean-covered thighs. See what it was like to let him do to her what she knew he wanted to do—make love to her.

  She took a bite of the delicious chewy bread. Maybe, just for tonight, she could see how this went. After all, she’d promised him a chance. Remembering his mouth on hers in the meadow, and the feel of his skin under her palms, she shuddered and reached for her wine to wash the bread down past the sudden tightness in her throat. Okay, he wanted another chance. She’d give him one.

  “So, why did you decide to come out here? Most wolves stay within fifty miles of where they’re born.”

  “Don’t forget, I’m not exactly a wolf.”

  “You have a wolf inside you. I know how that feels. They pace and push. They’re the best part of you, the most basic part of you.” His eyes got bright, burning with the wolf inside.

  “Yes, and sometimes the most frustrating part of you. My wolf is only on the dreamscape, and under my skin. She knows the smells and tastes of the night realms, where dreamers walk. She’s not so attached to places and smells here in the real world and that can cause issues.” She took another sip of wine and realized she’d drunk the entire glass. Uh-oh. Better slow down.

  “So, tell me about home. What’s your family like?”

  “I have a big family. One sister. Three brothers. And they’re all full shifters like my parents.” She toyed with the stem of her wineglass. “When I was little and no one had taken the Bite, we had no idea that one of us wouldn’t become a full wolf. They treated me exactly like my sister.”

  “But not now?” He picked up the bottle and filled her glass.

  “Now? I’m the only one who doesn’t have a physical wolf, which means I’m the only one without the extra physical powers. And it makes a difference. They’re overprotective of me.” She made a face at him. “Even my sister, sometimes. My mom is on the council and has been forever. You can’t imagine what being in the center of pack politics your entire life is like.” She rolled her eyes, and he laughed. “I wanted to go somewhere I could just be a regular person.”

  “None of us are regular people, Serena.” He reached out and took her hand across the table. A bolt of electricity shot through her, sending tingles through her body, straight to her core. His voice dropped lower. “Especially not you.”

  Heat, arousal, and sex pulsed under her skin. She opened her mouth to tell him they should skip dinner and go straight to bed instead, but she was interrupted by a nasal voice behind her.

  “It must be nice being the new girl. Breakfast out this morning with one Wulfric twin and now dinner with a second.”

  Serena yanked her hand away from Gabe’s and turned in her seat to face her new boss. “Hello, Nancy. How are you?”

  “Not as good as you, apparently.” Nancy sniffed. “Some of us stick to one man at a time, Serena Lowell. I wonder what this says about your abilities as a social worker and a therapist. I guess we’ll find out on Monday.” And before Serena could respond she walked away, her sensible shoes tapping out her disapproval.

  Serena was suddenly sober. What the hell was she doing? She’d come out here for a fresh start, and before she’d even had her first day on the job she’d blown it with her boss. Nancy already hated her, and now she had another complaint. All because of this thing between her and Sam and Gabe. What had she been thinking?

  Gabe saw his hopes for the evening walk away with Serena’s boss. “Hey,” he said, trying to make her feel better and get his date’s attention back on the two of them. “She’s just jealous.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve had to deal with her a time or two on enforcer business. She’s always been petty, creating paperwork where we could have just skipped it. But last year she applied for a promotion and they gave it to someone younger and she’s been much worse since then.” He reached for her hand. “They gave it to someone prettier and likely smarter, just like you.” He reached across the table for her hand.

  But she pulled back into her side of the booth, her face stark white against the backdrop of her hair. “What are we doing here, Gabe? I’m already having trouble with Nancy, and then there’s Sam. You and me?” Serena pressed her lips together. “We’re just a recipe for disaster.”

  The waitress approached with her pad out to take their order. She glanced back and forth between them and wisely retreated.

  “Take me back to the compound, Gabe. I can’t do this. It’s a mistake.”

  A surge of anger at the damage Nancy had done to their dinner had his hands shaking. He put them down at his sides and dug his fingers into the hard vinyl of the booth.

  “Serena, we deserve to find out if there’s more to this than you mistaking me for Sam. Let’s at least have dinner.”

  “Common sense says we should back away now.”

  “Common sense be damned. This is about the heat between you and me.”

  “But it shouldn’t be.” She shook her head. “If you and I and Sam were in counseling, I’d advise a cooling-off period, not more attempts to get to know one another.”

  “Counseling? Seriously?” He’d tried it after his dad had died, and it had only made things worse, made him wallow in his own misery. Getting back to work, getting outside—those had been the things that had worked. Nothing the counselor had said had made him feel any better. “No offense, but I’ve never found counseling to be worth a damn.”

  Serena stiffened. She’d run into this macho attitude before about her work but it was disappointing to hear it coming from Gabe. “Like I said, this is a mistake.” She slid out of her side of the booth, scooping up her purse and sweater, the last of her positive expectations for the night draining away. “I’m going to the restroom and I’ll meet you at the car.”

  He slumped against the back of the booth, his anger turning to frustration. How could he argue with her solid defenses? How could he convince her that this thing he felt for her was something he’d never felt for anyone before—and he desperately wanted to explore it? How could he argue with what must be years of books that said they should be apart, when he knew they should be together?

  He couldn’t. Words wouldn’t do it. But he’d have another chance to show her once they got back to Fated Mountain. He stood up and pulled his wallet out, throwing more than enough money down on the table to cover the half-drunk bottle of wine. He strode to the front of the restaurant. He wasn’t giving up—not yet. Inside his wolf howled his enthusiasm for the hunt as he plotted how he would bring down his quarry.

  Chapter Twelve

  Gabe walked Serena from the car to the isolated cabin. The night would have been dark if it weren’t for the amazing blanket of stars overhead, but he couldn’t appreciate them. All he could think about was this woman and how he didn’t want her to walk through that door and out of his life.

  In the dim pool of light from the single overhanging porch bulb, she stopped. She held her purse and sweater in front of her like a shield, and her
face was tight. “Thank you for taking me out.”

  “Fuck this.” He pulled her into his arms and moved his mouth over hers. She stiffened, her whole body resisting in his arms. Despair washed through him. She’d walk into that cabin and he’d turn around and get into his car and nothing in his life would be the way he knew it could be. Instead of a life filled with love and light, it would be years of loss. He couldn’t let that happen. All the need, frustration, and want that even one day without seeing her had bottled up inside of him and poured into the kiss.

  She made a sound, and it all teetered on a moment.

  It was as if a dam had burst. She opened her mouth wide and kissed him back. Her lips, taking and giving just as fast and as hard as his, and the rush had his knees going weak.

  He used his body and backed her up, until her back touched the cabin wall. He leaned his arms on the sides of the wall, caging her with his body. Chest to chest, the mounds of her breasts crushed against him. Groin to groin, his cock aching in the cradle of her abdomen. And mouth to mouth, the kiss going wild.

  She finally ripped her mouth away, turning her head to the side and gasping, “I can’t breathe.”

  They stood pressed together, her heart pounding so loud in her chest that he thought maybe it was his own.

  “Tell me this isn’t worth chasing.” His own breathing was ragged in the night.

  “I don’t know. I can’t think.” She pushed on him.

  He didn’t want to move. His wolf howled success inside—they had her, now they should make sure she stayed theirs. He lowered his head and dragged his face over her neck, sniffing, inhaling the sweet scent of her skin.

  Then he forced himself to give her the space she needed and moved away. Letting her go and taking those two steps away was one of the hardest things he’d ever done in his life. It left a hollow ache in his chest.