“Even though we’re mates, we barely know each other. I’ll forgive you for jumping to conclusions at this point.”
“Did you find the source?” he asked.
She shook her head. “While I have the power to do this, I’m having trouble figuring out how to control it. I need more time in contact with the earth. I need to be away from the cabins.”
“How about a walk?” he suggested. “We’ll need to stay well within the boundaries of the cougar land, but it will get you away from the cabins and the noise of my clan.”
“That would be nice,” she replied. “Although, I suspect you’ll be an even bigger distraction.”
Cord chuckled and tugged her along beside him. “Are you saying you’ll be tempted to seduce me while we walk?”
“I’ve been tempted since you got here,” she admitted.
A low, rumbling growl came from the back of Cord’s throat. “I really want to lay you down on the ground and fuck you until you scream my name. I am trying hard to fight that urge, and you aren’t making it easy.”
“Why are you fighting it?” she asked, and he knew it was curiosity, not a challenge.
“You’re right about us not knowing each other very well,” he replied. “I want to spend some time rectifying that situation, and I think our conversation will be much more productive if I’m not buried in your body.”
“You are making it very hard for me to remember why we need to talk,” Winn accused.
“You’re just making it very hard,” he shot back, looking down at the evidence of his arousal.
Winn laughed. “That was a terrible line.”
“That is the truth,” he assured her. “Let’s go for a walk and see if you sense anything. I also might smell something off.”
“I wish I understood more about what I’m sensing,” she mused as they walked. “What I sensed was dark and evil, but I get the impression I feel that way about anything threatening the balance of nature.”
“I can certainly understand that,” he told her.
“Tell me something about us,” Winn coaxed. “What were you doing the day we met?”
“When we first met, I was surrounded by humans, most of them I despised.”
“Then why were you with them?” she asked.
“Back then, there were humans everywhere, and the only chance I had to protect the land we’re now standing on was to play their game. I pretended to be human and acted as an environmental advocate. There were some humans who genuinely cared, but there were more who were just trying to look good. It was frustrating but necessary.”
“You’re a good leader,” she told him.
“You got all that from what I just said?” he asked, amused by her statement.
She nodded. “You could have sent one of your followers to deal with the humans and fight to protect your land.”
“I did part of the time,” he admitted.
“Only when you had to, if I had to guess,” she insisted. “I’ll bet you dealt with the humans most of the time.”
“So, I’m a control freak,” he responded.
“I have no doubt that’s the truth,” she said. “Still, I think you did it because you feel responsible for protecting your clan.”
He shrugged. “Do you sense the darkness?”
Winn stopped. Her eyes drifted shut, and she breathed in deeply, as if allowing all her senses to become more connected with the elements. “I feel something off, but I’m not sure what it is.” Her eyes opened, and she looked at him. “Do you think I may have overreacted to what I felt earlier?”
He honestly wasn’t sure how to respond. “My knee jerk reaction is to tell you you’re not the type to overreact, but I honestly don’t know you that well.”
“I’m glad you’re being honest,” she told him with a smile. “It would have annoyed me if you’d insisted I’m not prone to overreact.”
“I really don’t think you are,” he pointed out.
“Neither do I,” she agreed. “Of course, I’m getting to know me as well. You probably know me better than I do.”
“We’ll both learn about you together,” he stated.
“I’m torn on my reaction to getting to know you after you’ve marked me,” she stated. “It was my idea for you to mark me, and I don’t regret it in any way. It just feels strange and yet completely natural.”
“Humans and vampires do things differently,” he told her. “Maybe you spent enough time around them to want a courtship before mating.”
She laughed at his suggestion. “A courtship? Since the word sounds ridiculous to me, I’m sure that can’t be it.”
“You told me before that you couldn’t be my mate because it would interfere with what you do to protect the land. You said emotions couldn’t be part of your life,” he explained. Those words, spoken more than a century ago, still stung.
“I wasn’t a very nice person,” she said with a frown.
“If you’re thinking you were cruel and hurtful, you’re wrong,” he told her. “The argument you made was good, and I let you go without a fight, so it wasn’t completely your fault. Do you believe in fate?”
“I suppose,” she replied hesitantly.
He chuckled at her reply. “You aren’t convinced there’s a divine plan for us all, but I am. I think we both needed time apart. Things weren’t right for us yet.”
“There’s also the fact that I obviously wasn’t willing to give us a chance,” she added.
“That definitely played a role in the timing,” he agreed. “Fate brought us together, and now we have a chance to do this right.” When Cord realized what he’d just said, he gave Winn a sheepish smile. “Can we pretend I didn’t sound so sappy just now?”
“It’s probably best if we do that,” Winn agreed. “I don’t sense the darkness anymore. Do you think I’m crazy and just imagined it?”
Cord stopped and squeezed her hand. “I don’t think you’re crazy. Whatever you sensed could have moved on, or you could have been misreading something. Without fully understanding your powers, it’s hard to say.”
“Can we walk a little more?” she asked.
“I would like nothing more than to enjoy this beautiful day with you,” he replied with complete sincerity.
“Beautiful day?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “Most would say it’s too cold.”
“Believe me when I tell you I don’t think I could ever be cold with you by my side,” he said, pulling her into his arms for a slow, lingering kiss that left him so hot he thought his blood might ignite. “We’d better start walking before I need a dip in the creek to get my body under control.”
His mate had the nerve to laugh at his condition. “Poor cougar,” she crooned. “Do you have a problem?”
He laughed at her teasing tone. “If you don’t want me to fuck you against that tree over there, I suggest you stop teasing me, female.”
As Winn considered his words, Cord groaned. “I suppose we’d better start walking,” she said with a sweet smile.
“I am going to have to teach you a lesson about teasing your mate,” he warned.
“And here I thought I was doing a good job teasing my mate,” she shot back.
“Let’s see how funny you think you are later when you’re begging me to let you come,” he warned playfully, loving the shudder than ran through Winn’s body. His balls might ache by the end of their walk, but he was enjoying their playful banter.
“You are something else,” he remarked. “I really like spending time with you, Winn.”
She gave him a sweet smile. “I really like spending time with you, too. I’m glad you’re here with me.”
Cord only hoped she still felt that way when she remembered all the reasons she’d once said they couldn’t be together.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Connor had been trying to decide on whether to involve Abram in the search for Richard and his people for the last few days. While he knew whatever Richard had planned affected Abram
and his followers, he didn’t trust Abram.
“Why are you awake and brooding?” Raven asked sleepily as she came up behind him in the kitchen. He’d heard her moving around and known she’d come down to check on him. What surprised him was that Fang hadn’t joined him. Fang was a wolf he’d saved from turned vampires. The wolf was Raven’s spirit animal, and thanks to Fang, the wolf was also Connor’s spirit animal. Fang was much more than just an animal Connor had a tie to. Fang was his friend, his family, and he usually came to Connor when he sensed his unease.
“If you’re wondering where Fang is, I told him to stay upstairs with Luna,” she explained.
He smiled when he saw her irritation. “I assume it took you this long to check on me because Fang wasn’t agreeable to staying upstairs?”
“He was my spirit animal first,” she grumbled.
Connor wrapped his arms around her. Raven was frequently annoyed with the fact that Fang listened to him more than her. “I’m the alpha male, little nymph,” he reminded her and laughed at her snort. “Fine. I’m alpha to everyone except you, but Fang doesn’t agree with me on that.”
“Annoying males,” she grumbled. “You think you have to be brooding and dominant.”
“Brooding is an important life skill for a man,” he teased.
“So is avoidance, apparently,” she added. “Care to tell me why you’re up in the middle of the night when I know you have patrol in the morning?”
“I’m thinking about Abram,” he admitted.
“I’m not sure how I feel about Abram being what keeps you up at night,” she said thoughtfully. “While you thinking about other men is kind of hot, I think you should avoid fantasizing about psychos.”
“Brat,” he accused. “I need to make a decision on how much I plan to involve him in the situation with Richard and the jaguar shapeshifters.” That was one bit of information he’d been able to get from the local shifters. While they didn’t know why the jaguars were looking for Winter, they’d been able to at least tell him what type of shifter they were looking for.
“I’m not sure what to tell you,” she responded. “There’s this part of me that still feels like Abram is our enemy. He took Treasure Island by force, helped kidnap Danny and turn him against his will, and he tried to kill Claire.”
“He also helped us when we needed him recently,” Connor added. “I need to warn him of the danger, if nothing else because his followers aren’t all evil bastards. I’m just not sure I should ask for his help in looking for Richard and the jaguars. There’s a good chance Richard will approach Abram.”
“There’s also a chance Abram will align himself with Richard,” Raven added, proving she understood his concerns.
“Exactly,” he agreed. “That means I still need to be careful how much I trust Abram because any information I give him could benefit Richard.”
“Do you want to know what I think?” she asked.
“Of course,” he replied, pulling her onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her. “You know I value your opinion.”
“Yet, you didn’t ask for it,” she groused. “Instead, you came down here and moped around.”
“I was not moping,” he argued. “I never mope. It’s just that I hate making you stay up late with me.”
“We’ll discuss how asinine that logic is later,” she told him. “For now, I’ll just tell you what I think. You’re right about needing to warn Abram about Richard and the jaguars. By shutting him out, you make it more likely he’ll side with Richard because he’ll believe you don’t care about the safety of his followers. You’d do the same in his position.”
“You’re right,” he agreed. “At the same time, I can’t trust him to have our backs.”
“But you need to tell him he can count on you to defend his people,” Raven added.
Connor hesitated, not sure he wanted to risk the safety of his followers for anyone on Treasure Island. While he was sure there were innocent people there, many had fought against his people in the past.
“I realize you don’t trust them,” Raven began. “They can either be a weapon used against you, or you can offer them your protection and be perceived as an ally.”
He nodded. “I know I need to warn them. I’ll send him a message now.” Part of him thought he should personally deliver the message, but he and Abram weren’t on great terms.
After sending the message, he stood, lifting Raven in his arms. “Let’s go back to bed, little nymph.”
“But I’m not tired,” she said with a sassy smile.
“I’m definitely glad to hear that,” he murmured. “I wasn’t planning to sleep when we get up to bed.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jase was more than a little annoyed about being sent out to look for the jaguar shifters. Being sent out to hunt wasn’t what annoyed him. In his current frame of mind, that suited his needs just fine. What bothered him was who his father had sent him out with.
His father had ordered him to go out with his brother, Zane, probably to keep Zane out of trouble. Keeping Zane out of trouble was much easier now that he’d found his mate, but it was still a challenge most days. In general, Jase didn’t mind because, pain in the ass or not, Zane was his brother and he loved him. He also felt more than a little overprotective when it came to Zane.
Jase’s mind kept drifting to the female he’d run into two days earlier. Thoughts of her had been keeping him up at night. He hated not having control over himself, and he was certain it was only a matter of time before Zane commented on his lack of focus.
“When are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?” Zane finally asked. He’d been suspicions when Jase had insisted they search in human form rather than shifting, knowing it was easier to track as a lynx. Instead, they were walking around in pants, mostly because Jase didn’t want anyone to see his reaction if they ran into his little cougar, a ridiculous worry since his brother would realize he was aroused anyway. Shifters had a strong sense of smell, so there would be no hiding his reaction. He definitely hadn’t been thinking straight recently.
“I should pretend not to know what you’re talking about,” Jase muttered.
Zane laughed. “But you won’t because I’ll just keep asking.”
“That is true. You excel at being a pain in the ass,” Jase remarked.
Zane didn’t take offense. In fact, Zane never took offense at anything people said to him. Jase had only seen him in a funk once, when Zane’s mate, Lexi, had been taken from him. That had been a rough time in Zane’s life, and after seeing his brother nearly fade away, Jase was even more willing to put up with his brother’s issues—most days. “Is it your mate? Did you see her when you went to visit the cougars?”
“I saw her,” Jase replied. “I even talked to her this time.”
“What’s her name?” Zane asked, not giving him a chance to reply before he continued. “You’ve never even told me what she looks like. I always pictured you with a mate who’s sweet-tempered and good at following the rules. Although, I think you need someone to challenge you. You act way too uptight most of the time.”
Jase let out a startled bark of laughter. “I think I’ve had to follow the rules more to make up for all the shit you’ve gotten into.”
“I’m not getting into nearly as much trouble now,” Zane argued.
“Yeah, Lexi is good at keeping you in line,” Jase agreed.
“What’s her name?” Zane asked again.
Jase waited to see if his brother was going to give him a chance to respond before speaking. “Her name is Vee.”
“Unusual name,” Zane remarked. “Tell me all about her.”
Jase shrugged. “She’s young, and she seemed really reluctant to talk to me. She practically ran when she saw me. I should have just let her go, but I wanted to talk to her, see if we could get to know each other. I got the impression she’d have preferred to continue avoiding me.”
“Do you think she recognized you’re her mate?” Zane
asked.
“She did,” Jase replied.
“Are you sure she’s that young?” Zane asked. “Maybe she’s close to her first change and you were just mistaken.”
“She can’t be older than fifteen,” Jase insisted. “When I asked her about her age, she didn’t correct me when I said fifteen.”
“Doesn’t it seem strange that she’d recognize you as her mate if she’s that young?” Zane asked.
“I always figured a female could recognize her mate after she started having sexual urges. We both know that doesn’t usually happen in shifter females until closer to twenty,” Jase told him. “Vee’s scent told me she wasn’t aroused. Actually, it was like she had no scent.”
Zane’s brow furrowed. “Maybe it just seemed that way because you were surrounded by strange shifters. She must have a scent.”
“You’re right,” Jase agreed. “There’s no way she could have no scent. Several things bother me about Vee, but I don’t know how much of it is just me being edgy about having to wait to claim her.”
“What’s bothering you?” Zane asked.
“Her knowing I’m her mate so young seems strange, even though I have no reason to feel that way. Just because I’ve never heard of it happening doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen,” he told his brother. “Our father even said it could be possible.”
“It could be,” Zane said thoughtfully.
“There are also her eyes,” Jase continued.
“Her eyes?” Zane asked in confusion.
“They’re brown,” Jase explained, not sure how to explain why that bothered him.
“Most are,” Zane pointed out.
“I feel like they shouldn’t be,” Jase explained.
Zane considered what he’d said for a moment. “Layla’s eyes change colors when she shifts. Maybe your mate’s eyes will, too.”
“It seems unlikely I’d recognize that,” he argued. “It also seems unlikely she’d have eyes that change when she shifts. Layla’s the only one I’ve ever seen do that, and she’s only half-shifter.”
Zane shrugged. “Your mate might be only half-shifter.”
Untamed Winter Page 11
