by P. Jameson
Just as she was about to give into her animal, a vicious roar split the air. It was like lightning, freezing everyone to their positions. Hands locked on her arms, her bra strap hanging loose but still intact.
Seleka opened her eyes, desperate to find some way to escape.
But what she saw filled her with so many emotions she could hardly breathe. Shock and awe and curiosity and relief all pushed her fear and panic to the back. They weren’t gone. Just… covered up by all the other feelings.
A familiar black wolf twice the size of her own stalked toward the three of them. He was just as imposing as the first time she’d seen him. Just as terrifying. Just as powerful.
Raden.
The last time she saw him his face had been torn to shreds, pieces of his hide hanging in scraps from his jowls. He was battle bloody. A broken beast who’d laid his paw in her palm as a final goodbye. Now, he was healed but disfigured, white scars streaking over half of his head, leaving patches of furless tissue.
“The fuck?” Frank breathed, tucking his wilted mini-frank back in his pants.
Raden growled a warning, but Seleka couldn’t look away from his wolf eyes. Calculating. Waiting. Feral. All instinct. He wasn’t warning them away. That single snarl was telling them as soon as they let her go, they were going to die.
A shiver rolled over her skin, even more tears coming just from seeing the wolf she’d been searching the forest for.
Home.
Finally, she was where she belonged. She hated him for fighting her sister, for leaving when it was over, for all the bad things between them. But he was hers and finally after so many years of feeling out of place, right here was… her place.
“Shit.” The mean hunter peeled his fingers away from her arm and eased to the ground for his weapon while Frank slipped and skidded down from the rock.
Raden’s snarl grew louder, rumbling the air all around them. Seleka felt it in her bones. Deep in her chest.
Mine.
“Nice and easy,” the mean hunter murmured. He was almost to his gun. But Seleka knew he’d never make it.
With a snap of his scarred up jaw, Raden bounded forward, a murderous gleam in his eyes, and the two men ran for the cover of the nearby trees. He rushed by her, chasing after them with a roar. His power prickled her skin and when they were gone she collapsed on the rock in a heap of relief.
Tears came but only because it had been such a close call.
Deep breaths. She hadn’t saved herself, but she was saved. And it was enough. She’d figure out how to be a badass later.
Time passed, but she only knew it because of the way the sun sank in the sky, and eventually, Raden’s wolf returned. He skulked quietly up the bank of the river, his head lowered and eyes on her. Seleka didn’t say a word. Didn’t move a muscle. She waited for him to approach, holding her breath to see what he’d do.
He wouldn’t hurt her. She knew that much. But would he be happy to see her?
Probably not.
He didn’t want her.
The wolf never took his eyes from her as he came closer, stopping just a breath away. A soft rumble rolled from his chest and Seleka had to fight the urge to touch him. Mine, her animal whimpered inside.
He should be hers. It was how things were supposed to go. He should want her enough to seek her out. She shouldn’t have had to search for him. But she did, and now he was here. All he had to do was claim her.
Raden eased forward, lowering his nose to her jaw. She felt his intake of breath as he scented her, wringing shivers from her skin.
Yes. Yes, please.
Relief pounded through her like a raging river. It was going to be all right. She’d only needed to find him and now they could be together—
Raden pulled away, quickly turning to leap across the rocks that cradled the river.
“Wait.” Seleka rushed to gather her things. She would go with him. Anywhere with him. She belonged by his side.
But a fierce growled stopped her.
When she met his wolf eyes again, he tipped his jaw forward, motioning for her to stay.
He wanted her to stay but he was leaving. That meant…
Seleka frowned. “No.”
Raden snarled a wordless demand, pushing her back to the rock she’d sat upon with just his glare and growl. He was an alpha. She was a submissive. She was helpless to deny him.
Seleka watched her mate cross over the river and crest the boulders before disappearing on the other side, taking her tattered heart with him.
Chapter Four
Raden busted through his cabin door, naked and desperate for the whiskey he kept in a cabinet above his refrigerator. He’d waited, watching to make sure Seleka made it to safety before he headed home. It had taken every ounce of strength he could muster to wrangle his animal away from her. Every stride closer to his tucked-away cabin, the wolf had fought him. When he dragged himself onto the porch he shifted. Otherwise the beast might have forced him back to Bear Rock.
Mate. Find her.
But he didn’t need to. Because she’d found him.
He uncapped the whiskey and fumbled for a shot glass. “Fuck it.” He changed his mind and tipped the bottle directly to his lips, swigging until his throat burned raw before he had to come up for air.
Seeing her after so long was like staring directly at the sun. Except she burned him up inside. The sun wasn’t so cruel.
Burn. He needed to burn.
Again, he upended the bottle of Jack, letting the liquid slide down his throat and land in his gut.
He didn’t drown his sorrows in whiskey much anymore. In the beginning he’d stayed mostly drunk as much as possible. As much as his animal would allow. Which was never enough. That had been a time of just surviving. Getting through each day to see the next. So he’d allowed himself some leeway. Gradually, the days became easier and he discovered new ways to pass his time. New ways to mourn his mate. New ways to exist.
All that shit didn’t matter now.
Now he was back to surviving.
Fuck. No. Now he was one level lower than surviving. He was in a fucking panic.
Seleka was so close. Seleka, his sweet, disastrous mate. He’d scented her. Drawn her essence deep into his lungs and held it, not wanting to exhale. Not wanting to lose any part of her again.
Goddamn it.
Raden downed the last of the Jack and scoured the cabinet for more. He was clean out of whiskey, but tequila worked wonders too. He let the bottle hang from his fingertips as he paced the small cabin. He’d rather be outside, running, but he couldn’t trust his wolf right now. Even though he’d watched her head safely in the opposite direction of his place, he knew the animal would want to track her down. It would succeed.
And he’d never be able to walk away from her a third damn time.
Tequila.
He swallowed it down as he continued pacing, remembering the vision of Seleka sitting on the bank of the river. His mate looked different than when he last saw her. Still demure as the day was long. Still submissive too, if her reaction to his growl was any indication. But she seemed… older. Tougher somehow. Or maybe just more broken.
Shit. If someone had hurt her in his absence, he’d kill them just like he did those assholes by the river—
“No,” he snarled out loud. No, he wouldn’t. Because he would never know whether anyone had harmed her. He’d sent her on her way. “Fuck.”
Was it a mistake? Should he have kept her long enough to learn if she was well?
Tequila.
Several circuits around the cabin later, and he was beginning to feel the buzz. His limbs loosened and his mind got fuzzy, but the despair in his heart didn’t lessen.
Tequila. He needed more.
Seleka. She was so damn beautiful. With her rose gold hair and bright blue eyes. Had anyone told her? Wait… if they did, he would kill them too.
“No, idiottt…” he slurred, dragging the bottle to his lips again. “You’ll neveh know.
She’ss gone.”
The thought made him sadder, which shouldn’t have been possible. But even with all the alcohol in his system, he knew this was what he wanted deep down. He wanted her as far away from him and his shit as possible. Facing her as the man he was now, would ruin him. His scars… inside and out… were too many.
And his pride was irreparable.
Not worthy of a mate.
His wolf agreed. In his current state, he wasn’t worthy of the breath that might ease from her mouth when she talked. And not for the millionth time, he longed to be the strapping male of worth that he was when he met her.
Gradually, his steps became slower, his pace, lazier, but he continued to drink. He had to get himself good and smashed so he could stop thinking about her, wondering about her, for a few damn minutes.
Raden froze when he heard a knock on the door of his cabin. It was soft. Almost tentative. And it sent a ridiculous chill of fear up his spine.
Tequila.
Maybe he’d imagined it.
He stayed very still, listening for any sign that the alcohol wasn’t playing tricks on him.
And again, the knock came, a little firmer this time.
Somehow, he found himself standing in front of the door, tequila in one hand, the knob in the other… and his dick still on full display from his shift.
Don’t open it. Not like this. He told himself this was a mistake, but his wolf urged him onward.
Suddenly, his hand was twisting the handle, and pulling the door open…
And there she was. His pretty mate. His untouchable mate. His… absolutely horrified looking mate…
“What’re ya doin’ here?” he bellowed.
His vision went black before he heard her answer. And the last thing he felt was the slap of the hardwood floor against his bare back as he passed the fuck out.
***
Seleka stared in horror. Whatever she’d expected to find behind this door, a naked and snarling Raden was not it.
What are you doing here?
She opened her mouth to answer his question, but before she got a word out, he crumpled to the ground like a collapsing building. The sound of him hitting the floor echoed in the silence of the night and pulled a worried squeal from her throat.
Crouching beside his limp body, she tested his pulse. It was strong and she could feel the power of his animal pulsing beneath the surface. She noticed the dark line of scar tissue that ran vertical down his cheek. The last time she saw that, he was a wolf. It hadn’t healed properly.
Her eyes landed on the mostly empty bottle that was still tangled in his fingers. Was he… was he drunk?
Frowning, she plucked it from his hand and held it up to the light. Jose Cuervo. Relief hit her hard. Her mate was just drunk. Not dying or anything.
She looked him over. He was completely naked, as if he’d just shifted. But that couldn’t be true because he’d had time to drink himself into a stupor. Her eyes lingered on his… his… manhood. She didn’t have a dirty mouth like her sister, and the way other unmated females spoke of the male member made it seem… well, silly.
Raden’s was anything but silly. Even flaccid, it was bigger than she’d ever suspected. It lay against his thigh, thick and solid and kind of beautiful.
She shouldn’t be staring at him like this. Not when it was clear he didn’t want her here.
Keeping her gaze averted, she placed her palm on his shoulder and shook him gently. He felt warm. Hot to the touch even. She shivered, wishing she was free to snuggle up to him and soak up just a little of his heat. The cool mountain air had chilled her to the bone.
She shook him again. “Raden. Wake up.” When he didn’t move, she tried once more, this time, louder and harder. The way he’d fallen, he was laying right in the doorway. She couldn’t close the door with him like this. “Raden, please.”
Nothing.
Seleka sighed.
He might not want her here, but he needed her. No matter what he thought of her, she wouldn’t leave him like this. Vulnerable.
She took in her surroundings. Raden’s cabin was sparse, with just an old leather couch to sit on, a tall bookshelf by the window, and a boxy television set in the corner. She spotted a rug in front of the fireplace and got an idea.
Leaving him where he was, she went to grab the rug and hauled it back to the doorway. If she could somehow roll him onto it, she might be able to move him enough to close the door. She would figure out what to do about his naked exterior—and the way her eyes kept drifting to it—later.
It took some grunting and muscle, which she had way too little of, to get him onto the rug, but when most of his weight rested on the cloth, she was able to tug his body backwards out of the doorway.
A gust of wind whipped through the cabin, and she quickly closed the door to it. Glancing at the fireplace, she realized the wind had killed the flame. Luckily, she knew how to get a good blaze going. Being Ozarka had taught her something useful after all.
But first, she needed to see to her mate.
Using the rug to slide him along the hardwood, she managed to get him to the bedroom. Like the rest of the place, it was sparsely decorated, with only an enormous bed, a small dresser and a coat rack that stood sentry in the corner.
Seleka stared at the bed where her mate usually slept. This was his. She walked over to it, brushing her fingers lightly over the dark blue sheets and the plaid flannel quilt that lay rumpled at the foot. She straightened the quilt, tucking the edges under the mattress, and fluffed his pillows.
Then she realized it was all in vain. There was no way she could get his massive body up on the bed.
She sighed, staring down at him, and her eyes drifted to his waist once more.
She gasped when she noticed his body was stiffening. Not his entire body—he was still out cold—but his manhood. It grew thicker and harder even as she stared at it.
Turning, she ripped the quilt off the bed and threw it over her mate before it could get any worse. Except the blanket didn’t keep the thing from growing. Instead, it turned it into a tent around his waist.
Great. What was she supposed to do now?
Raden still slept like the dead. Only his thing seemed to be alive, but he could wake at any moment, and what would he think if he found her here, staring at him?
She looked from the floor to the bed, and back. The rug was going to have to be bed enough for him. Grabbing the pillows and studiously ignoring the tent, she tucked them around his sleeping body in case he needed them. Then she turned off the light, closed the door, and went to restart the fire.
She would keep watch tonight.
Chapter Five
Raden awoke to the smell of bacon cooking and a headache pounding his temples. He groaned, not remembering why he was in pain, but then he recalled finding his mate at Bear Rock. It all came rushing back like floodwaters, overtaking him again.
The men who were trying to hurt her.
The taste of their blood on his fangs.
Wrestling himself away and watching while she moved to safety.
The run back to the cabin. The whiskey. The tequila. The knock on the door—
His eyes flew open when he remembered Seleka being on the other side of the door. He couldn’t recall anything that happened after that.
Fuck.
Turning his head, he realized he was on the floor of his bedroom, but he couldn’t feel the cool hardwood beneath his back. He was… lying on a rug. A rug from the living room. And someone had tucked him in? The quilt from his bed was draped across his hips and all the pillows he owned in the world were propped all around him.
A quick check under the quilt confirmed that he was indeed buck ass naked. Shit.
He looked around, not finding anything else out of place. Through the closed door he could barely make out the noise of someone moving around the kitchen. That explained the smell of bacon.
With that thought, his stomach lurched, and he ran for the bathroom, barely m
aking it to the bowl in time.
“Come on, wolf,” he growled when he was finished. The animal was supposed to keep him from getting sick. Or at least, help him get better. But the damn thing didn’t seem to be doing anything to ease the throbbing behind his eyes.
Pulling himself up, he reached into the shower and twisted the water to hot. He stepped under the spray before it had warmed, but he couldn’t care. He needed to get clean and go face the female in his kitchen. He needed to send her on her way before things got any worse.
Shit. He was so fucking fucked.
The heat from the shower helped his headache some. Either that, or his wolf woke up and decided to do its job. “Thank you,” Raden murmured. It probably wanted something in return. When he stepped from the stall, he could open his eyes without his head spinning, and the urge to vomit had mellowed.
Find mate.
Yeah, the animal wanted something all right.
In the bedroom, he pulled on some jeans, not bothering to mess with the button—too difficult in his current state—and skipped a shirt altogether. Then he inched the door open, drawing in a long breath to confirm his suspicions.
Bacon and mate.
Any other day, it might be a winning combination. Today, it just reminded him what a fuck-up he was.
Padding into the main area of the cabin, he took stock of the situation. The fireplace was blazing and it looked like the whole place had been tidied. The only thing out of sorts was the rug that used to sit in front of the couch.
He eased closer to the kitchen. She hadn’t noticed him yet, so he took a moment to observe her. She wore a baggy gray sweatshirt that concealed most of her curves except for where her jeans hugged her perfect ass. Her feet were covered in thick wool socks and her strawberry blonde hair was piled on top of her head in a messy knot. She stood with her back to him, her pretty neck bent in focus, spatula in hand as she tended the crackling frypan.
Raden drew in a shaking breath. She looked so perfect here in his home. Pain ricocheted in his chest, mixing with longing that had never faded over time. From first glance he’d known she was his. He’d never doubted it for a second. Never could he have imagined they would end up like this.
