Pumping his human legs, he took off running. His pack had made it here in a couple hours in wolf form. It would take twice as long in his human, but he didn’t care. Her safety was a priority. So he sprinted for all he was worth.
Chapter Two
Daybreak began to streak across the horizon by the time Gannon made it back to his lair. He howled for his pack healer to come to the entrance of his cave as he carried the female human inside. She hadn’t woken once during the night, but her body was still warm and her life force thumped a steady rhythm through her chest. He didn’t like how motionless she was, though.
“Gannon?” the old healer called from the opening of his den.
“Stop there!” he growled. “Do not come in.”
Remembering he was naked, he snatched up a bit of cloth and yanked it around his waist. Those in the pack who wore garments stole clothes from humans quite frequently, but Gannon had never been able to stand the confinement of cloth. He wore as little as possible, only girding his loins to keep the female shifters from attacking him for a fuck every five seconds. The she-wolves in his pack were a particularly horny bunch, which he had never minded before. But now that he had his mate here, he needed to avoid such attention.
Even though Paulette, the healer, was an old she-wolf, she had still been known to demand fucking rites quite regularly. And when a single female wanted a single male in the Mahlikari Pack, he was therefore obliged to pleasure her. Gannon didn’t want anyone to know he could no longer abide by fucking rite law. If possible, he didn’t want anyone to even know his mate was here. Bringing her had put her life in danger, but he’d done it to save her.
As soon as he reached the opening of his cave, however, a naked Paulette had her nose to the air as she sniffed with a confused look on her wrinkled sagging face.
“You brought a human back with you,” she noted. “A half-breed cat mix. Strange. I didn’t know you were the type to collect.”
Many Mahlikari liked to capture humans and half-breeds and keep them as pets in cages in their dens. It was a growing craze in this pack specifically. Gannon had never been interested in the hassle before. The pets never lived long, they were too bothersome to feed and clean up after, plus he’d never seen the appeal. But with Paulette’s words, an idea struck him.
“You know nothing of my interests, old one. Now see to my needs and be gone.”
At his authoritative tone, the minor wolf bowed her back down and hung her head, her sagging breasts nearly touching her wrinkled belly bottom. “Yes, my prince,” she murmured obediently. “How may I serve you?”
“I’ll need that mix you make to pack wounds, and a cage, the largest there is.”
Paulette glanced up, her brow crinkling with confusion. He knew she couldn’t smell a wound on him, especially one large enough to require her medical herbs. Most members of his pack never needed the paste, since their injuries healed within minutes. Only life-threatening wounds needed such care. But his mate wasn’t healing as quickly as he would like. He wanted her mended. Now.
It was unheard of to tend to a pet’s injuries, though. And Paulette knew it.
“For your human?” she gasped.
Gannon glowered at her. “Do you question me?”
“No.” She quickly backed away. “No, my prince. Of course not. I’ll get your needs met. Right away.”
“Good. Go then.”
She scampered off, and he spun around to hurry back to his mate.
He had laid her gently on his bed, a stack of fur pelts from a sloth of bears he’d killed a couple winters back. Even though she was still unconscious, she looked lovely. He had to admit her human figure was flawless. His loins grew heavy and his shaft began to harden. As he slowly approached her, his human skin tingled, feeling uncomfortable all over again, but in an entirely pleasing way this time.
He’d never mated in his human form before. But the urge to do so filled him to an aching point. He throbbed with each pump of his heartbeat.
Lying on her back, his mate had her legs splayed slightly open. A tiny patch of dark hair concealed her pussy from him. He stared at the tightly coiled strands as he settled onto his knees between her spread thighs. Cock pulsing with need, he scooted further up, until he had to curl his hands around her thighs and pick them up, urging her legs to bend more and to make room for him. He was so close to her now, the smell of her nectar made his mouth water. He wanted to lick the juices from her sex before he pushed inside her. He wanted to rub his body alongside hers, gathering up her scent while leaving behind his own. He wanted to bite her and bond their life forces together.
Her legs were soft and smooth under his hands. She had so much less hair than all the she-wolves he’d taken before; he had to wonder if that was a human trait or a feline one.
He should probably be mortified and disgusted. He’d never before been inside a female that wasn’t a Mahlikari she-wolf. It was treason to mate with another race or even another pack of wolves. Fucking a pet against its will was perfectly acceptable, but mating with another species who willingly participated was quite another matter. Sliding inside her to claim her would sign his own death sentence. His father, the alpha leader, would probably be the first person in line to kill him too.
But even as he stared down at their bodies, his cock only inches from impaling her, he didn’t care. She was his, and he would do anything and everything in his power to keep her safe and alive.
Leaning over her, he settled his hands in the bear fur on either side of her face as he leaned in close to study her closed eyelashes and slightly parted lips. She was such a lovely little thing. Despite the fact that his bonding with her was going to make the rest of their lives together incredibly endangered, he was pleased by the mate fate had given him. And he wanted to show her his pleasure.
He touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers, barely making contact as his digits skidded over her. She felt soft, delicate, smooth.
Gannon groaned low in his throat. He’d seen a pair of human lovers touching their mouths together once before—seconds before he’d broken both of their necks—and he’d wondered all these years later what it had felt like to—what had they called it—kiss?
Holding his breath, he bent down to press his mouth lightly against hers. A heavy yearning filled his chest as her slow breath gently fanned his lips. His cock grew longer and pre-cum dripped from the slit in the top. He lowered his hips on top of hers so his loins could lie in the cradle between her legs. Her pussy was warm.
With another tortured moan, he ground against her, barely applying pressure, envisioning what it would feel like to plunge into her moist haven. The image in his head was so intense, he began to throb, and his hips pumped a little more urgently. When the wet tip grazed her female opening, he paused and closed his eyes as he once again set his mouth to hers.
Her breasts brushed across his chest, and he broke the kiss to glance down and study the rosy tips, which had beaded up and were pointing at him as if demanding his attention. Mouth watering, he leaned down and licked them, one at a time. A puff of air exited her lungs, and he zipped his attention to her face to see if she was okay. She let out a small groan and arched up her breasts, seeking his suckling mouth again. When he smelled the barest beginning of her arousal, he froze.
Damn it. He wanted to fuck her so bad. His cock was already there, and oh God, she was growing wet. Her readiness smelled like the sweetest sap. All he’d have to do was cant his hips and thrust deep. And they would become one.
Mates.
He knew he shouldn’t. If she were anyone else, he’d have taken her a few times over by now, sure. But not his mate. His mate, his partner, deserved respect. He would not enter her without her consent.
But her body was prepared, aroused, ready for his administrations. What if she considered that consent? He knew feline-human half-breeds had different customs. What if she was in fact furious with him when she woke because he hadn’t fucked her while her body had been beggi
ng him to?
He’d just convinced himself she wanted this, and was wedging the head of his dick into her slick path when the old she-wolf healer called from the opening of the cave.
“My prince?”
Guiltily, Gannon jerked his hips back and scrambled off his mate. When he looked down at her and took in the injury on her ribcage still full of dried blood, shame consumed him. He couldn’t believe he’d almost dishonored the one person he was bound to protect no matter what.
Backing away cautiously, he took another moment to study her. The dried blood on her wound had crusted over, but the skin refused to knit back together. Hoping Paulette’s mixture worked, he hurried out of the den and down a gaping tunnel to the impatiently waiting silhouette of his healer, who stood next to a domed cage that rose a good two and half meters tall.
“Did you bring the healing mix?”
Paulette nodded. “I did.” She passed it over when he held out his hand, but instead of letting go when he tried to retract his fingers, she tightened her grip.
“I’ve decided on a fair payment.” When she glanced down at his loincloth and lustily licked her lips, he growled.
“Payment? How about I let you live for questioning my actions earlier?”
Shying away from his tone, Paulette nodded. “Fair enough, my prince. Fair enough. The cage is free to you as well. It’s a pleasure to finally see you taking on a pet. They’re really quite refreshing to torture when something irritates you and you need to vent your frustrations.”
Gannon curled his lip into a snarl, letting her know she was irritating him.
As she scurried backward, he said, “That will be all,” before she could try to press the fucking rites she obviously wanted from him.
Knowing better than to question him again, she nodded and hurried away.
The cage was heavy and made of sturdy steal. It almost didn’t fit into the opening of his den, but he managed to squeeze it through the short tunnel and drag it into the main cavern.
Consorting with humans, and especially half-breeds, might be forbidden, but collecting them and their things was expected. They were like the spoils of all their victories. Gannon had never taken another living being before, but he had many large human devices he’d stolen throughout the years from the victims he’d killed and he’d crowded them into his home.
He didn’t know what most of the stuff was, but every little knickknack and doohickey intrigued him. So he’d taken more on the next raid and the next until he could barely fit everything into his lair. With so many collectables, he wasn’t sure where to put the cage. Scanning the cluttered space, he spotted a ship anchor he had hanging from the ceiling. Using a metal chain he dug up from a pile of scraps, he rigged the cage to hang above a large metal box of drawers.
Once he had that secured, he stepped back and gulped nervously. Could he really put his mate in there?
One thing was certain, he couldn’t leave her free. If someone approached unannounced, he’d never be able to explain why she wasn’t somehow bound. Her very life depended on this.
Turning away from the disturbing task of having to confine his other half, he picked up the healing mix and approached her. He didn’t know what Paulette had put in it, but it smelled like herbal leaves and grit along with some berries and an oily substance he couldn’t name. Maybe cod.
After dipping his fingers into the vat, he scooped out three digits full and smeared it over the wound. The unconscious woman whimpered, the first sound she’d made since he’d found her at the half-breed community. His wolf howled inside him, hating to watch her suffer.
Gritting his teeth, he wiped away sweat on his temple with the back of his hand and then packed more of the paste into her cut. It opened and began to bleed again, flushing the toxins from her body. He winced but kept working, worried this wouldn’t work and it’d make her worse. Half-breeds were so different, much more fragile. He really didn’t know how to fix them. But he kept on, not sure what else to try and knowing he couldn’t ask anyone. They’d kill her or tell his father about her if they knew he wanted his “pet” healed.
When he’d used all the poultice Paulette had given him to dress the wound, he leaned down and kissed the area. She sighed as if relieved, and his heart leapt with pleasure. Scooping her into his arms, he cradled her a moment, cherishing the way her head rested so trustingly against his shoulder.
“I’m here now, my love,” he whispered into her ear, burying his nose into her sweet, silky dark hair. “And I’ll never let you come to harm again. I swear it.”
Her bare flesh felt nice against his. So warm and soft. His mate pleased him more than he ever imagined she would. After letting his lips trail to hers and pressing their mouths together once more, he carried her to the cage, loath to release their lip lock. But her safety came first. He nudged the metal bars of the door open with his shoulder and ducked his head before placing her gently on the floor inside. Except she looked cold and lonely lying there with no clothes or covering.
No one in the pack gave their pets amenities. But Gannon couldn’t handle watching her like this. He turned away to fetch a pelt from his bed and the cage door fell shut, latching locked. Scowling, he whirled back around and studied the intricate locking mechanism, wondering how he was supposed to get it open again. When a call startled him from his ponderings, he jumped and spun toward the opening of his den. Shit, why hadn’t he noticed an approaching visitor?
Chapter Three
“Gannon?” the voice of his beta called seconds before Haze appeared in the opening of his den.
“Don’t—” Gannon started, warning him not to enter, but Haze was already crossing the threshold.
The beta must’ve been so distracted with news about the battle that he hadn’t scented the jaguar. Finally spotting her cage and then the naked woman herself, he skidded to a halt and gaped, his mouth falling open. “What the fuck is that?”
Perfecting a nonchalant shrug, Gannon tossed his mate a quick look to make sure she was okay and at least half-way concealed. If his beta knew he’d just tended to her, he’d grow suspicious. But he was relieved that her wound wasn’t showing.
Gannon turned back and immediately narrowed his eyes, hating the way Haze stared at her. Nudity was very open in his pack. He was currently more dressed than half the wolves who walked around in their human form. Even Haze himself was completely naked.
He would have thought he’d be proud to show off his mate’s naked beauty and display how stunning she was. But the spark of lust in Haze’s stare made Gannon want to gouge out his beta’s eyes and then snap his neck for even daring to look upon her. He’d never experienced this emotion before, this...jealousy.
It took everything he had not to react in any way.
“You have a jaguar,” Haze blurted the obvious. His nose twitched. “A half-breed.” Curious gaze shifting to Gannon, he blinked rapidly. “Why?”
Gannon shrugged again. “I was beginning to wonder what this collecting-pets frenzy was all about. I’ve been contemplating getting one for myself for a while now,” he lied. “So when I saw her tonight, I decided what the hell. She’s nice to look at. I’ll keep her for a while and see what happens.”
“But you hate humans.” Haze shook his head, still appearing confounded. “You said they stink.”
Drawing in a lungful, and nearly shuddering from the desire that filled him, Gannon answered, “This one doesn’t smell so bad.”
Haze sniffed the air as well, and Gannon was once again filled with the urge to kill, which shocked him. He was closer to his beta than he’d ever been to anyone. He’d die for Haze. But he just wanted the idiot to leave so he could be alone with her, or before he killed him for looking upon her and sniffing at her.
“She does have a certain pleasing fragrance to her.” At Gannon’s growl, Haze’s eyes bugged. Clearing his throat, he tried, “F-for a half-breed, that is.”
No one in the Mahlikari pack wanted to admit that anything about a half
-breed was pleasing. Gannon had been stretching it enough to say she hadn’t smelled bad.
Needing to divert attention and questions away from her, Gannon demanded, “How did the battle go?”
Shoulders immediately slumping, Haze glanced away. “Not as well as expected. Hunters showed up.”
Gannon sneered at the word. Half-breeds might have been the most loathed species among his pack, but personally, he hated hunters much more than the half-breeds. “What the hell were they doing there?”
Flushed from humiliation, Haze hung his head. “I don’t know. But we had to retreat.”
“Retreat?” Gannon boomed. The hell if they had to retreat. How had a couple of hunters caused them to retreat?
“We took out nearly a dozen half-breeds, but I don’t know. The favor shifted, and most of them got away. Then the hunters seemed to know every step we were going to take. It’s as if they knew our agenda. We lost eight of our own.”
Gannon gave a heavy gulp, remembering the one pack mate—Berick—that he’d had to eliminate to save his mate’s life. He glanced away guiltily, and his gaze landed on her. If he hadn’t deserted his team tonight, would they have lost so many? Would they have caught all the half-breeds and neutralized them, then taken out the hunter faction for good?
He couldn’t know. His presence might have made a difference, but he couldn’t regret what he’d done. She was here and safe, and that’s all that mattered. Besides, it was best that he hadn’t killed anymore half-breeds tonight than he had. What if he had harmed someone close to her? Knowing what his mate was, he didn’t think he could stomach the idea of killing another half-breed again. He’d mainly done it to impress his father and show his pack he was worthy enough to lead them someday.
But now that he belonged to one, he could no longer see any member of her species as an object. If he was to bond with her and become her life mate, that meant she was just like him. An equal. That idea bothered him. He’d never known a Mahlikari to mate with a half-breed before. But if fate deemed them partners, they must be the same, and therefore his pack’s code was...wrong.
Body to Barter (Half-breed Shifter Series) Page 2
