Claimed by the Mate, Volume 3

by Kate Douglas

  Times like this, he was really glad the pack’s cabins weren’t close together.

  After a moment Nell slumped against him. Her ragged breaths and sweat-slick body told him everything. Told him there was no going back. She was his. Forever his, but damn it all, he couldn’t tell her that. Not yet.

  There was something he could tell her, though. Holding her tightly against his chest, he kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her lips. “I love you, Nellie. I love you more than life itself. I don’t want you to leave. Stay here with me, please? I really want you to stay.”

  Chapter 11

  Brad was the only one in the lodge dining room when Darnell and Evan finally made it down for breakfast. He was adding fresh bacon to the buffet, keeping food available at the lodge while Meg and Zach were here. The pack wasn’t about to ignore Brad’s cooking, either.

  Evan reached over Brad for a plate and handed it to Darnell before grabbing one for himself. “You must have known we were coming. Thanks, Bradley.”

  Brad just shook his head. “I swear you guys can all smell bacon from a mile away. G’morning, Darnell. Has he driven you batshit crazy yet?”

  Darnell kissed Brad’s cheek. “No, but he’s trying his best. You’ve got to give the guy credit.” She glanced around the empty space. Where is everyone? I’m not used to seeing this place without a crowd.”

  “Most of them came through early. Let’s see. Trak and Chelo went into town to open up the shop, and Manny went with them. I think Trak wants the extra insurance until the ex-boyfriend is out of the picture. Cherry’s in the office; Cain’s still working on the entry, making sure it looks good for Sunday; everyone’s essentially doing what they do. It’s just that you and Evan are about two hours later than usual.”

  Darnell rolled her eyes. “Don’t ever keep auto-filling my glass when you’re making margaritas.”

  “You looked like you were stone-cold sober. I would never keep pouring for someone who’s had too much to drink.” He glanced at Evan. “She hides it well.”

  “That she does. Until she doesn’t. I think we’ll need to ration her from now on.”

  Darnell filled her plate and walked away while the guys were still talking about her as if she weren’t in the room, but she had to bite her lip to keep from grinning. Brad was every bit as gorgeous as Evan, and so frickin’ nice. What was it with this place? She found a small table off in a corner and parked her butt with a view of the room. Evan was right behind her. He took the chair next to her so they both could look across the big dining hall.

  About that time, Zach and Meg came wandering in, looking half-asleep and very much in love. Darnell wondered if she had that same look on her face—it was pretty obvious how Evan felt when he looked at her. Darnell’s heart felt like it was going to burst when she turned and caught him smiling at her. Just staring and smiling. She wondered what he was thinking, if he was on the same wavelength as she was, if his mind was also filled with thoughts of last night.

  She hadn’t expected his declaration of love. She’d hoped he felt that way but never imagined what it would be like to actually hear the words. Hear them and know she felt exactly the same way.

  Which had made it so much easier to tell Evan she loved him, too.

  Meg and Zach greeted them, then left their jackets at another of the small tables. They filled their plates at the buffet and then pulled their chairs close together and held hands. Meg leaned against Zach with a soft smile that spoke volumes.

  There was obviously something special about Feral Passions.

  About three cups of coffee later, Meg and Zach finished their breakfast and walked over to join Evan and Darnell.

  “Mind if we join you?”

  Evan stood and pulled a chair out for Meg. “I was wondering when you’d finally get enough caffeine in your systems,” he said. “We’re moving pretty slow, too.”

  Darnell laughed and saluted Meg with her coffee cup. “I’m having a margarita morning. It’s going to take more than coffee. I probably need a major cleansing. Tell me, what do you want to do for your party tonight? Do you have any plans?”

  Meg shrugged. “Not really. I just want to spend time with my besties. Jules, Darian, Elle, and me—we go back to grade school. And Cherry, Steph, and Christa are amazing. I already feel like they’re family, too. And it’s weird because I hardly know you, but you’re like one of the group already.” She leaned against Zach. “I mean, I love my man, but there are times when girls just wanna be girls, ya know?”

  “Exactly.” She glanced at Evan and winked. “But it also gives the guys time to get together where they can drink and cuss and scratch their balls without anyone complaining.”

  Meg turned to Zach, wide-eyed. “I know you occasionally utter an expletive and you do enjoy a good cognac come evening, but you don’t really scratch your balls, do you, Zachary?”

  Looking every bit the executive, he turned to Meg and said, “No, sweetheart. Of course not. I have people who do that for me.”

  Things sort of went downhill from there. By the time they cleared their plates and headed their separate ways, Darnell actually hurt from laughing and Evan wasn’t in much better shape. Tonight was going to be an absolute hoot.

  * * *

  Evan was going through his collection of old movies. Somewhere in this stack he had some really old, classic black-and-white porn, so bad it was hysterical. There! He knew he’d find them. He grabbed the three DVDs and set them aside.

  Trak had seen some of it, but not all the guys had been so blessed. Evan figured it would make for some good laughs, especially when all of them had such gorgeous women of their own. He glanced at Nellie. She looked utterly beautiful in a pair of red leggings and a soft, cream-colored top that was all gauzy and soft and hung off one shoulder. She was so serious, packing a small overnight bag with all sorts of bottles and tubes, brushes and lotions. Pulling stuff out of two large suitcases, choosing and checking before moving things into the smaller bag.

  He sat back on his heels. “So. What are you ladies planning to do tonight?”

  “I’m going to try makeup on the bride and bridesmaids so I can get an idea of what they want for Sunday. Their coloring is all so different, so I’ll get to play with all my paint.”

  “Sounds like work, considering what you do for a living.”

  She turned a bright grin his way. “I love what I do for a living. I can’t wait to get back into playtime with my war paint.” Then she went back to packing.

  He thought about that for a moment, watching her, the way she concentrated on every item she took from one large bag and moved into the smaller one. This was what Darnell did. She was a makeup artist in Hollywood. What was she going to do here? Would she expect to go back to her job once they mated? He didn’t think he could live in LA, that far from the pack, and if she was his he wanted to be with her. What if she couldn’t live here? They hadn’t discussed any of the practicalities, and he couldn’t change her without telling her everything.

  He’d been living in a goddamned fantasy world all week long.

  Trak was just going to have to understand. Their alpha really didn’t want them to tell anyone what they were, but Evan had to agree with Cain, who’d insisted that the women had a right to know before their lives, not to mention their bodies, were forever changed.

  Evan loved her so fucking much, and Nellie’d said she loved him, too, but would she be able to move up here to the middle of nowhere? Damn. Why did he have to think about this shit now? He really needed to get down to Growl and hang out with the guys. Maybe then he’d get his head on straight, figure out how to broach the subject with Nell.

  “Okay. I’m ready. What time are you guys getting together?”

  “I’m just waiting on you. C’mon. I’ll walk you down.”

  She grabbed her little suitcase, the kind you normally hauled through an airport with tiny little wheels, but it rolled along the hard-packed trail through the forest as if it were designed for this territ
ory. Evan held her hand as they walked to the main road that wound through the preserve.

  “Oh! Look how pretty that is.” Nell tugged him to a stop.

  They’d stepped out onto the edge of the road and Evan stood there holding her hand, enjoying the view. Of course, he was looking at Nell. When she caught him, she poked him in the ribs. “The lodge, Evan. Look at the lodge.”

  He glanced up. The lodge was all lit up with blue and white strings of LED lights across the deck and more lights blazing inside. It really did look beautiful, especially with all the little twinkling lights glowing in the forest. That had been Manny’s idea, to light the trails to the individual guest cabins with tiny white Christmas lights. The road to Growl was down a dark stretch and Evan didn’t have a flashlight, but he had excellent night vision. He turned toward the lodge, but Nell stopped him

  “You go ahead,” she said. “I can see just fine and you’re going to be stumbling along in the dark.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “It’s right there, Evan. Go. Have fun. Watch your dirty movies and then come back to the cabin and teach me everything you learn.”

  “I like that idea.” He wrapped his arm around her waist, leaned over, and kissed her. He loved the way she melted against him, the way her lips went all soft and sexy beneath his. He really hoped this party didn’t go too late. He was already counting time until he could get her alone.

  “Have fun, Evan.”

  She kissed him again, and then she turned and headed toward the lodge. He watched her until she reached the deck and started up the steps. Then he turned and jogged along the road. He could already hear laughter down at Growl. He couldn’t wait to pull out his old movies. The guys were gonna love them.

  * * *

  Darnell walked into the lodge and bowed to applause. Everyone was already here; there was a table filled with food and a big bowl of what looked and smelled like a rum punch. There were bottles lined up along the counter and she went over and took a look. “Yum. Smells really good. What’s in the punch?”

  Meg laughed. “This one’s in your honor, Darnell. It’s Long Island Iced Tea. Cherry says you’re fond of it.”

  “You, Ms. DuBois, are going to die.”

  “Aw, c’mon. You don’t have to drink a gallon of it, and it’s just so good! I told your story to Meg and it was her idea. Blame the bride-to-be.”

  Sighing dramatically, Darnell walked over and stared into the depths of the huge bowl. “There’s enough in here to kill us all.”

  “Not quite, but it’s why I wanted the party tonight and not the night before the wedding.” Meg took a sip and sighed. “Time to recover.”

  “Good point.” Christa and Steph raised their glasses. “To the bride!”

  “Hear, hear!” Jules, Darian, and Elle surrounded Meg. “It took you two long enough.”

  “I know. I’m picky.”

  While the old friends were laughing and drinking, Darnell took her case over to a table in the corner and set up her wares. She reached for the large bottle of makeup remover, and there was nothing in the pouch. She went through every pocket and pouch in the case. Nothing. There was no way she was putting industrial-strength makeup on any of these women without a way to get it off.

  “Anyone got a flashlight? I left some stuff at the cabin. It’ll just take me a minute to get it.”

  Jules walked over to a cabinet near the door to the kitchen and pulled out a small halogen light. “I just used this last night. Manny put fresh batteries in it.”

  “Thanks.”

  She went down the stairs and cut off into the woods. It was so pretty here during the day, a little spooky when she was all alone at night, but Evan’s cabin wasn’t all that far and she was there in a couple of minutes. Once inside, she went straight to the mess she’d left in the corner by the fireplace. The bottle was sitting right where she’d left it.

  She grabbed it and headed back to the lodge. There was no moon, but enough light filtered through the trees from the lights on the deck that she turned off the flashlight, just to experience the forest alone. It was absolutely beautiful, and so peaceful. She paused at the edge of the trees, mere steps from the parking lot, and watched her new friends inside the lodge.

  Living here would be an amazing experience. She thought about leaving her work and the people she knew in the business, but none of them were what she could call close friends. They were fellow employees in what was essentially a transient business. Each job meant a new crew. Sometimes she knew everyone on the set; other times she didn’t know a soul.

  Some jobs were fun and filled with laughter, but not all. Not even that many. It was stressful work and there were no guarantees. She could make a fortune one year yet have to live off her savings the next. Thank goodness she had savings. She didn’t imagine that Evan made all that much money, not after she’d heard what kinds of jobs he did, but it was good, honest work.

  And she loved him. They’d make do.

  Something caught her attention. Voices? More like whispers. Were the guys coming down to tease the girls? She wouldn’t put it past them. Even big boys could be pretty juvenile at times, especially when booze and women were involved. Moving quietly, she kept to the woods and worked her way toward the lodge, following the shadows. Voices again, but they weren’t familiar. They were definitely whispering. Luckily, the sound carried on the still night air.

  Shivering from nerves, not the warm air of this balmy night, Darnell crouched down behind a couple of large rocks bordering the parking lot. That’s when she saw them. Four men, moving through the shadows on the far side of the lot, crouched low and definitely trying to hide.

  It had to be Rube and his cronies. Chelo was in danger, but the guys were at Growl and she hadn’t even thought to bring her damned phone. The four were too close to the lodge for Darnell to slip in the back way to warn the women. She needed to tell the guys. She tucked the jar she’d carried against the base of the rock.

  Moving quickly but quietly, she went back into the woods and headed toward the bar. As soon as she was out of sight of the lodge, she put it in gear and booked it down the road. The bar was just around the first bend and she got to the front door faster than she’d ever run in her life.

  Grabbing the door, she ran inside and flipped on the light. The guys turned as one, and Evan was there, holding her. “Nell! What’s going on? What’s wrong?”

  “Four guys sneaking through the woods. They were almost to the lodge when I saw them. Hurry! The girls don’t know. I went back to the cabin to get some stuff and saw them when I was going back to the lodge.” But she was talking to an empty cabin. Evan was already running outside. Trak yelled, “Zach! Stay with Darnell. We’ll take care of this. If it gets bad, there’s a cellar behind the bar. Lift the mat.”

  But why was he tearing his clothes off? Stunned, Darnell stood in the doorway and watched as all of them—Manny and Drew, Brad, Wils, Ronan, Lawz, Tuck, Cain, and Brad, all of them—stripped out of their clothing. Trak went first and by the time his hands hit the ground he’d . . . “Holy shit.” She turned and Zach was behind her, holding her arms, watching them as if he’d seen this before.

  “What are they?”

  “This isn’t how Evan wanted you to find out.”

  No shit. She couldn’t take her eyes off of them. Trak had already raced ahead, and now Manny and Tuck followed; at least she thought that’s who they were. And where Evan had been, a huge dark wolf paused only a moment and turned to look at her.

  It was him. The wolf she’d petted. The one who’d fallen asleep with his head in her lap. “Evan?” He turned away and raced into the darkness. And that’s when she heard the screams. “Ohmygod!” She twisted out of Zach’s grasp. “We have to go. They’re after the women. They’re going to take Chelo.”

  “I promised Trak I’d let them handle it, if those men showed up.”

  “That’s not an old boyfriend stalking Chelo, is it?”

  “No.”

  Za
ch held her arms tightly. He wasn’t hurting her, but he wasn’t letting go, either. Holding her here?

  Another scream cut the night air. Zach tensed behind her. “Meg! Shit. That was Meg.”

  “We might be able to help.”

  Zach grabbed her hand. “I can’t stay here, either. But we’re only human.”

  “And they are?”

  “Werewolves, Darnell. They’re a pack of fucking werewolves, and some of the best friends I’ve ever had in my life. C’mon.”

  “Wait a minute.” She went behind the counter and reached under the bar. It took just a little bit of a search before she came up with a handgun, a small but deadly .38 Special. “I’ve never seen a bar without a handgun somewhere under the counter.” She checked to see if it was loaded—it was, and it was a small enough revolver to fit in her hand.

  “Do you know how to shoot that thing?” Zach was already in motion. “Because I’ve never fired a gun in my life.”

  “I grew up in a really poor part of LA, so yes.” And her childhood had been a rather eclectic experience. She might want to discuss that with Evan, too. Once he explained the werewolf thing.

  She really couldn’t let herself go there. Not until everyone was safe.

  * * *

  They’d reached the lodge in record time. Evan circled around the entire building but didn’t see any sign of the rogue wolves on the deck. The women were all inside, sitting on the floor against the north wall of the dining room, and he saw at least three men inside with them. They hadn’t shifted, and Nellie had seen four men. Where the hell was the fourth?

  If he were a wolf, Evan was certain he would have picked up the scent, but there were so many scents here that he was having trouble separating all of them out.