by Elena Aitken
That was a ludicrous idea. She couldn’t even think about it. Besides, it wasn’t as if they’d even spent any time together. Quite the opposite, really. She’d done everything in her power to avoid Luke because her entire body lit up whenever he was in the room. All she wanted to do was to be in his arms again and have those lips on hers just one more time. But once more wouldn’t be enough. Not nearly enough. Her bear wanted more.
“Chloe?” She blinked hard and focused on Harper, who stared at her, obviously waiting for an answer.
“Sorry.” She smiled apologetically. “I was daydreaming about something.”
“I noticed.” Harper grinned knowingly. “I thought we could pop in here really quick,” she said. “If you’re not too busy daydreaming, that is.”
Chloe blushed. By the look on the other woman’s face, Harper knew exactly what—or in this case, who—she was daydreaming about.
“I’m good. Let’s go shopping.” She pushed past Harper into the little boutique store and immediately busied herself digging through the racks before Harper could question her further.
The store was small, but it turned out to be full of super cute things. The racks were stuffed with unique tops, skirts, and sweaters. Despite the fact that Chloe usually avoided shopping altogether, she found herself grabbing item after item until she was loaded down with a pile of things to try on.
“This store is unreal,” she said to Harper, who was collecting her own large pile of clothes.
“It’s great, right? Bree designs them all herself and since she’s a curvy girl like us...”
Chloe’s eyes drifted over to Bree, who besides greeting them when they walked in, had left them largely on their own to shop in peace. She was at a desk in the corner, madly sketching in a notepad. At the mention of her name, she put her pencil down and joined them.
“These are all so beautiful.” Chloe held up her arm and the stack of clothes she’d gathered.
“Thank you.” Bree blushed and took the clothes from Chloe. “I’ll put them in a room for you to try on. I hope you find something that fits.”
“I’m sure I will,” Chloe said. “They all look like they’re going to fit perfectly. I think my problem will be choosing which ones to buy. It’s so rare to find such nice things in my size.”
“Right?” Harper nodded her agreement. “Bree’s store has been a total blessing.”
“I don’t understand, though.” Chloe looked around the little store, whose name, the Bree Hive, made a lot more sense now that she’d met Bree. “I don’t mean this to sound rude,” she continued, “but how can you have a business like this in such a small town? I mean, it doesn’t seem like there are really enough people in Boulder Creek to support it.”
Bree laughed. “There’s not. But it also makes retail space super cheap. And to be honest, the retail portion of my business is really quite minor. I sell mostly online.”
“Online? That’s fantastic.” Chloe had moved into the change room that was made up of thick curtains breaking off some private areas. She was already accumulating a pile of items she had to have. “So I can order when I get home, too? I hate shopping, but your clothes fit me perfectly.” She turned and admired her reflection in the mirror. The royal-blue tunic she had on slid over her curves in a way that enhanced all the right places while at the same time minimizing the ones she wanted minimized.
“What do you mean when you go home?” Harper was in the next curtain, but a moment later, her face popped around the thick fabric. “You’re not really going to go home, are you?”
Chloe bit her tongue against a comment regarding boundaries, because something told her it would be ignored anyway. “I don’t understand,” she said. “Of course I’m going home. Why wouldn’t I?”
Even as she answered Harper, she knew what the other woman was going to say, and she didn’t want to hear it.
“Chloe.” Harper walked right into Chloe’s changing area. “You can’t leave,” she said slowly. “You’re Luke’s mate.”
All the air was sucked from her lungs, and her legs buckled beneath her. Yes, she knew on some level there was an attraction between them. On some, very obvious level. But mate? No. Chloe didn’t do mates. Not even when every cell in her body yearned to be with Luke. To be in his arms. In his bed. In his—
“I don’t mate.”
“You don’t mate?”
“No.”
“You mean you haven’t mated.”
“No,” Chloe said slowly. “I mean, I don’t mate. I won’t.”
“Because you hadn’t found him until now.”
“No.”
Chloe needed the conversation to be over. She gathered up a stack of clothes, including the ones she’d worn into the store, and hauled them out of the changing room and to the front desk. Harper was right behind her.
“You do know that Luke is your—”
“Client.” She said the word firmly and pointed with her eyes to Bree, who rang up her purchases and tried not to laugh. From what Chloe understood, Harper was only half bear and still fairly new to the whole idea of it. But surely she must know the rules. They couldn’t talk about mates or shifting or anything else in front of humans. It wasn’t done.
“Oh, Bree knows.” Harper waved her unspoken concerns away. “After all, she grew up here.”
Bree nodded. “It’s true.”
“I’m still not talking about it.” Chloe crossed her arms over her chest. “Besides, there’s nothing to talk about.”
“Like hell.” Harper touched her arm and something inside Chloe snapped.
“No!” She jerked away and grabbed up her bag of purchases that Bree handed her. “There’s nothing to talk about, Harper, because there’s nothing going on between me and Luke. Whatever you think about mating, or me, you’re wrong. You don’t know me. So back off.”
Without waiting for a response, Chloe stormed out of the store and let the glass door with the tinkly bells slam shut behind her.
Luke shook his brother’s hand off him and turned away to pull himself together. He’d done a good job hiding his feelings for Chloe from everyone. Or at least he thought he had. The last thing he needed was his brother’s opinions interfering in the middle of whatever the hell was going on with him.
“Don’t bother trying to deny it.” Luke could hear the laughter in Axel’s voice behind him. It sparked a fury deep in his gut. “I’ve been there, remember. There’s nothing you can do about it.”
“That’s bullshit.” He shook his head. He’d spent the last few days trying to figure out a way to have Chloe while at the very same time trying to figure out how to get her out of his head. More than that, he needed to figure out how to get her out of his entire system.
“It’s not bullshit,” Axel said, no longer trying to hide his laughter. “It’s fate.”
“Fuck off.”
Luke turned, and both he and Axel stared at Kade, who looked as though he was barely containing his anger. If Luke didn’t know better, he would think Kade was about to let his bear loose right there in the kitchen. The fact that he wasn’t was both impressive and more than a little frightening. Kade shook his head hard. “You think you found your mate, too?” He spat the question at Luke.
He couldn’t answer the question. There was no doubt that Chloe was his mate, but it was more complicated than simply feeling something. Besides, he knew exactly what Kade was thinking. It wasn’t long ago, when Axel found his mate in Harper, that Luke felt very similar things. “It doesn’t change anything here,” Luke said.
“To hell it doesn’t.” Kade spun on his heel and slammed his way through the kitchen and out the back door, picking up a coffee mug and throwing it at the wall on his way.
Luke waited a beat after he left before he exhaled.
“He’ll get over it.” Axel moved silently through the kitchen, the laughter gone, and cleaned up the broken pieces of mug. “He’s still sensitive about…well…”
“Mates?”
&nb
sp; Axel nodded.
Not only did Kade blame the idea of fated mates on losing his twin sister, but also for the loss of their parents. The twins had been too young to remember their parents when the brothers were returned to their grandfather and the Jackson clan. They’d given up their father’s name, as well as their parents. Their grandfather never spoke of it and now that they’d been cast out of their clan as well, there as a good chance they’d never know. Not that it mattered much to the older brothers. Only Kade seemed to hold onto the past that couldn’t be changed. He blamed all of his life’s problems on mates. Ironically, it was Kade who’d benefit the most from finding a female of his own, to calm his bear that was clearly on the verge of getting out of control.
“We need to do something about him,” Luke said. “He’s getting worse.”
Axel nodded and shrugged in the same move. “He’s grown. We can’t force him to let go of the past. We can’t force him to do anything. Besides, we’re not talking about Kade right now.”
“Yes we are.” Luke stalked over to the now unattended stove. Screw it. He was hungry. He took the lid off the pot of stew and grabbed a ladle.
“It’s pretty crazy, isn’t it?”
Luke didn’t pretend not to know what Axel was talking about. “I’m not talking about it.”
“But it is, right?”
Luke finished doling out his stew and returned to the counter. Instead of answering his brother, he shoved a spoonful in his mouth.
“Look, Luke. I’m not trying to be an asshole, but—”
“Then don’t be.”
He didn’t turn, but he could hear Axel sigh next to him. “A mate is a good thing, Luke.”
“She’s not my mate.” He dropped his spoon into the bowl with a clatter. “She won’t even talk to me. She’s been avoiding me for days. So even if she is my mate, I wouldn’t even know.” Except he did. “Isn’t it supposed to go both ways?”
Axel reclined against the wall and crossed his arms. “There aren’t any rules.”
Luke glared at him.
“There aren’t,” Axel said again. “And if there are, I don’t know them.”
“Then what is there?”
Axel laughed.
“What?”
“It’s instinct.”
Instinct?
The stew tasted like cardboard in his mouth. He couldn’t eat. He couldn’t sit. He couldn’t think. He pushed away from the counter and like his little brother had before him, Luke stormed out of the kitchen. Only, unlike his little brother, Luke was going to do something about the animal inside him that was practically ripping and clawing to be let out. If he didn’t do something about it soon, his bear would destroy him.
Chapter Four
She’d been a total bitch and she knew it. Harper had only been trying to be friendly. Chloe knew that. After they left Bree’s Knees, Harper had run into the drugstore to make a purchase and they’d headed back up the mountain. She’d wanted to stop in at the coffee shop and buy Harper a latte so she could apologize for her behavior, but something stopped her. Her pride, mostly.
And the fact that even though it pissed her off to admit it, Chloe was afraid Harper might be right about Luke. It wasn’t the first time she’d considered it. Not by a long shot. But she’d done a good job ignoring her feelings so far, and she couldn’t let a woman she barely knew send her off the rails now.
No. She’d stick to her resolve. She didn’t want a mate. She wouldn’t take a mate. Not now. Not ever.
Probably.
It was that probably that kept Chloe from asking Harper to stop for a coffee. It kept her from apologizing to the other woman, and it even kept her from making polite conversation, which led to a very quiet, very strained drive to Grizzly Ridge. Something else Chloe felt guilty about.
When they pulled up to the main building, Harper turned the key in the ignition and let out a deep breath. “Look, Chloe. I just—”
“You don’t need to apologize.”
“Apologize?”
“Yes. For being so rude in the store.” Even as the words came out of her mouth, Chloe knew she was being a class-A asshole. Harper had nothing to apologize for, and they both knew it.
Harper opened her mouth and shut it again before she pressed her lips into a thin line. Chloe could feel her heart break a little. This woman was the closest thing she’d had to a friend since she’d been a child. And she’d liked it. A lot. Which was why it hurt so bad when instead of saying anything else to her, Harper sighed and got out of the truck, leaving Chloe sitting alone.
She waited a few moments until Harper disappeared up the path toward the cabin she shared with Axel behind the main lodge. When the other woman was finally out of view, Chloe gathered up her bags and went inside. She was starving, and the smell of something delicious coming from the kitchen was almost enough to entice her to stay downstairs. Dinner would be served in a little over an hour, but there was no way she could sit at the table across from Harper after the way she’d treated her. She needed to apologize, Chloe knew that, but something stopped her. What was the point really? After all, she was just there to do a job. Then she’d leave, and the Jackson brothers and Harper and all her crazy talk about mates would be out of her life.
Or would it?
Harper’s words repeated in her head like a broken record, just the way they had the moment she’d spoken them. And it pissed her off because despite the fact that she didn’t want to believe there was any truth in what the other woman had said, Chloe knew there was.
Before she could sneak upstairs, the door to the kitchen swung open, startling her. She turned, half expecting to see Luke there. It was Kade. Disappointment washed through her.
“Hungry?” he asked her.
Chloe nodded. “I am, but I’m afraid I can’t join you for dinner. Is there any way I can grab a sandwich to take upstairs?”
“A sandwich?” He wrinkled his brow and his eyes narrowed as if she’d personally offended him, which she likely had. “There’s no way you’re eating a sandwich when I just spent all afternoon roasting chickens. I’ll fix you a plate and have it brought up later.”
“Thank you.” He really was a sweet guy under that rough exterior. She took a step up the stairs before she turned around again. “Could you please tell Axel that I’ve done all I can do in here? I’ll need to get outside and investigate the grounds tomorrow.”
Kade grunted. “I’ll tell Luke,” he said, with something like hesitation in his voice.
“No. You don’t have to tell Luke.”
“I do,” he said simply. “He’s the one who’ll have to take you around.”
“Oh, no, I don’t—”
“There’s no other choice.”
It didn’t take much to see that if there had been any other choice, Kade would have taken it, too. He clearly was just as thrilled about the idea of Luke and Chloe spending time together as she was. Which begged a completely different question. Why did it bother him so much?
Instinct? Ha.
The word had haunted Luke all afternoon. He’d gone for a run on the ridge, but even that hadn’t done much to quell the growing storm inside him. There was only one thing to do.
He needed Chloe. He needed to get her out of his system. It was the only way. If instinct truly was at play the way Axel said it was, surely he’d be able to satisfy whatever was going on if he could only get her in his bed. Just once.
It was a flawed strategy; he knew it. But he was out of options, which was why he found himself holding a tray with a plate of dinner Kade had prepared for her. He’d snuck it away before anyone could protest. That was one delivery he planned to make in person.
He rapped on the door, a sharp sound that filled the empty hallway. He waited for a moment, expecting her to open the door at once. But there was nothing. She hadn’t gone downstairs; he would have seen her. Plus, Kade said she was starving. Surely she should be waiting for her dinner?
Luke knocked again. This time
he listened closely, but still there was no noise from inside. Except…there it was. A faint, but distinct sound of the bathtub running.
Instantly, the thought of Chloe’s naked, wet body covered in foamy bubbles filled his head. The thought was too much. Luke swallowed hard, trying his best to push the image from his brain. He stood for a beat, trying to figure out what he should do. It only took a second to make his decision. If the door was unlocked, he’d simply put the tray down so it was waiting for her.
It was a flawed plan in so many ways, but at that moment it didn’t matter.
He tried the doorknob.
It turned.
He grinned at his luck, but at the same time a fierce protectiveness rose up in him. Chloe should know better than to keep the door unlocked. Anyone could just walk in and—
The irony wasn’t lost on him but he still didn’t like it.
As quietly as he could, Luke made his way into her room and set the tray on the desk. She’d been there three days but there was very little evidence of her things lying around. Luke fought the temptation to open a drawer. That was definitely crossing a line. Not that he hadn’t already done that by being in her room in the first place. Still. He wouldn’t violate her privacy any further.
Fighting the urge to go into the bathroom and deal with his craving for her once and for all, Luke turned to leave. He wasn’t completely without self-control.
His hand was on the doorknob, ready to leave, when her voice stopped him.
“Luke? What the…”
He waited a breath and swallowed a curse before he turned. “I didn’t mean to—” The words died on his lips when he saw Chloe, a white towel wrapped snug around her breasts; her luscious skin glistened with the water droplets that slipped down her body. Her mass of black hair was piled on her head, but a few tendrils escaped and danced around her face. Luke had to slide his hands into his back pockets to keep from reaching out and tucking the strands behind her ear.
