by Sadie Carter
“When was the last time you ate?” he asked, frowning darkly as she shrugged.
“Delaney,” he growled, dragging out the syllables in her name in warning.
“Cooper,” she growled back, but his expression didn’t change. “Honestly, Cooper, I really don’t know.”
“Not good enough.”
She sat, and he placed the heaped tray across her lap.
Laney grabbed a piece of toast, ashamed by the way her hand shook. It had been a long time since she’d eaten. She could barely feel her wolf. It was sluggish, tired. Trying to still the shaking, she ate her food slowly, aware from previous experience that eating too fast would just make her sick.
“You’ve done this before.” Accusation colored his voice.
“Done what?”
“Gone too long without eating. Don’t you know how dangerous that is, Laney? You need to eat regularly, or both you and your wolf will suffer. Hell, you were already underweight. You can’t afford to miss meals.”
“What makes you think I did it on purpose?” She felt angry, cornered, scolded like a child. But she regretted the outburst as his expression darkened.
Before he could reply, she quickly asked, “You’re really the new Alpha of the Shadowpeak pack?”
He nodded.
“How?”
“How do you think? I killed the old Alpha.” He spoke matter-of-factly, forking up some fluffy scrambled eggs to feed her. She ignored the food, her mouth dropping open as her breathing stopped. He was gone? Really gone?
“Laney? Laney, breathe, baby.” She heard his voice, but it was as if he were speaking from a long way away. Where she was, it was dark and still and no nightmares could intrude.
“Damn it, Laney!” She came back with a shock, looking up in surprise at the man shaking her, his face filled with worry. Worry? For her?
“Zachary is dead?” she asked quietly.
“Yes, he’s dead, and I am Alpha now. Your Alpha.” She looked up at him, shocked as he took her hands in his. What the hell was he doing? Oh, he was trying to warm her. She shivered suddenly as she realized how cold she was. Too bad he couldn’t do the same for the chill inside her.
“How?”
He shrugged. “I challenged him, and I won. I would have let him away with his life, but he kept coming at me until I had to kill him.”
“He’s really, really dead?”
“Really, really.” He smiled slightly as he fed her some eggs. But she waved away the next forkful.
“I’m full, thanks.”
He frowned but dropped the fork without argument.
“My brothers?” she asked fearfully. He said Reed found her, but where was he now?
“Are fine, here drink this.” He held up a glass of milk, but she shook her head.
“No thanks. My brothers are truly all right? Are they here? Where exactly am I?”
“Yes, your brothers are fine. They had a few jobs to do. They’ll probably be over later. This is my place. I moved into this cabin while my new house is being built.”
She frowned. “You didn’t move into the Alpha’s house?”
“I believe it’s better to start over, a clean slate. I didn’t want my mate being uncomfortable in her new house.”
It was a jab to her stomach. “You have a mate?” Only sheer determination kept her hurt cry from escaping. She could imagine his mate, strong, sleek, and beautiful—she’d be everything Laney was not.
“Yes, I do,” he answered calmly.
“Won’t she be angry that you’re here with me?” Memories of their earlier kiss raced through her brain. Frowning, she wondered what game he was playing. No mated werewolf would ever kiss her like he just had. Werewolves as a whole were a touchy-feely lot, but they knew what a precious gift a mate was, and cheating on one’s mate was basically unheard of. If they touched another, it would always be purely platonic.
“No, I don’t believe she’ll be angry at all.” A jolt hit her as he stared down at her intently.
“W-wait, y-you don’t think I’m your mate, do you?” she asked incredulously. It was ridiculous. His mate? What was he thinking? Men like Cooper simply weren’t interested in women like Laney. A misfit, she was always on the edge of the crowd looking in. She wasn’t mate material, and she certainly wasn’t Alpha mate material.
Cooper was the only male she’d ever been sexually attracted to, though. Evan didn’t count, she’d liked him but she hadn’t wanted to climb her way up him and lick every inch of his body. Did that mean something? And you were devastated when he left.
She’d told him to go. Had wanted him to leave. Only once he was gone, she’d been able to think of nothing but him. The wolf had pined for him, for his touch, his scent, his possession. The wolf hadn’t understood why he’d never come back for them, and if Laney was truthful, the woman was more than a little upset by that, too. If she was his mate, then why did he leave her?
“Who used to starve you?” he asked her.
“What?” How could he talk about that now?
“You answer my questions, I’ll answer yours.”
“That’s mature.” Laney folded her arms over her chest, hissing in frustration. But he continued to stare at her, his face stubborn, his stance inflexible. “My brothers didn’t tell you?”
He shook his head. “I only found out that you were living out in the human world three days ago. Everyone thought you’d moved to another pack and your brothers never said differently. When they weren’t able to get hold of you, Reed became worried. I managed to figure out that their sister was the same little wolf I’d spent the night with three months ago. I sent Reed to get you. When he arrived, you were so weak you were dying.”
“Dying? I-I don’t remember any of this.”
He nodded. “You were unconscious when he got there. We took you into the forest, and I forced your wolf on you.”
“What was wrong with me?”
He frowned. “I think your wolf was pining for mine.”
That was crazy. They weren’t mates. And he was fine. Wouldn’t his wolf pine for hers?
“I don’t remember any of that. I do remember feeling a bit off after you left. I was tired all the time. I slept a lot.” She frowned, but the memories were so blurry. “I never saw Dave again.”
Had Cooper done something to him?
“Good,” he said with satisfaction. “Don’t worry; I didn’t kill him. I just frightened him into leaving and never returning. Do you remember running with me? Hunting?” She shook her head even as memories surfaced of racing through the dark forest, the clean scent of dew and prey tantalizing her, a large, dark wolf racing beside her, protecting her, scaring out prey for her to chase, to eat.
“I never hunt. I’m too weak.”
“You are not weak. I will not allow such foolish talk.”
Laney looked up at him in amazement before a snort of laughter escaped her. Whoops, probably not a good idea to laugh at your Alpha when he’s trying to be all serious, but honestly!
“Oh, come on, Cooper. Look at me. I’m tiny. I’m the runt of the litter. All my life I’ve been weaker, slower, and smaller than everyone else.”
“Have you? Or was that what Zachary wanted you to think? I’m not going to let this go so you might as well tell me about it. Talk to me, Laney.” His command hit her, Alpha to packmate, dominant to submissive, only this time her own power rose up, meeting his, knocking it back. She stopped, shocked, waiting for his retaliation.
Instead, he just grinned at her. “And you call yourself weak.” She relaxed slightly, amazed by the pride in his voice, his eyes. His face hardened again. “Talk to me.”
She licked her lips nervously. “All right, it was Zachary. Sometimes he would lock me up for hours on end without food. My earliest memory is waking with a nightmare and searching for someone to soothe me. The only person home was him. He yelled at me for waking him, locked me in my room and left me there for what felt like forever.” She attempted a laugh to ligh
ten the mood. “It was probably only a few hours, just my imagination going into overtime.
His face was cold, hard. “That bastard. Did he abuse you?”
She shrugged. “Did he hit me? Sometimes, but not often. He was more neglectful. Uncaring. He wouldn’t wash my clothes, so I was forced to go to school in the same clothes for days on end. Needless to say, I didn’t have any friends. And I learned to use the washing machine at a young age. He wouldn’t buy food, so there were days when I only ate what my brothers could sneak me.
“When he was angry it was worse. He would come home in a rage. I learned to hide.”
“Were there times you didn’t manage to hide?”
Too many.
“Yes. The basement was his favorite place. He’d lock me in there.” She looked down at her hands, shaking in her lap. One of his large, dark hands covered hers, warming her, lending her the strength to continue.
“He had this special punishment container built down there. It was made of steel with strips of silver on the lid. Not enough to kill me, just keep me weak. It was small. I could barely lie flat in it. It…it felt like…like being in a coffin.”
“How long?” When she didn’t answer, his hand firmly tilted her face up, so she was looking into his gentle, unwavering gaze. “How long, sweet?”
She shrugged. “A few hours, sometimes a whole day.”
“A whole day?” he asked incredulously. “How old were you?”
“I think that time I was eight.” She jumped in fright as he abruptly stood and paced. Fury swirled around him, so intense it was almost tangible, and Laney held her breath, waiting for him to explode. But his voice was surprisingly calm when he spoke.
“Why did you live with him?”
“Reed didn’t tell you?” Fear hit her hard.
“No, but you’re going to tell me, aren’t you?” he whispered softly, coming to sit beside her again. But his soft voice didn’t fool her. His jaw was tense, the muscles in his neck straining as he tried to keep his anger under control.
“Delaney? Tell me.” His voice was pure Alpha. A command from someone who expected to be obeyed.
“I lived with him because he was my father. It was my father who locked me in that box. It was my father who starved me, who ridiculed me, who forced me to run because…” She paused and took a shuddering breath. “B-because I…because I was worried that if I stayed, he just might go too far one day.”
Laney closed her eyes against the old memories, the old pain. She barely felt Cooper pulling her into his arms to rock her tightly against his firm chest.
“Evan, the boy I lost my virginity too, he was a nice guy. Submissive and sweet. We spent one night together, but somehow Zachary found out. He was furious. He started yelling about how I’d ruined his plans for me. I don’t know exactly what he had planned. I was concentrating on trying to protect myself. When I finally recovered, Evan and his family had disappeared. I don’t know if he killed them or not. But I knew then that I had to leave.”
Cooper looked down at his mate shivering in his arms, her fear so ripe he could practically taste it. Anger rode him like a tidal wave until he couldn’t tell where her shivers of fear met his shudders of rage. His wolf snarled, a vicious sound of fury and rage. That someone had hurt their mate was bad enough. That it was her father, someone charged with her protection and care, sent them over the edge of rage into a blinding, white-hot fury.
Cooper now regretted that he’d killed Zachary so quickly. He should have tortured him slowly over years as he’d done his daughter, his precious, beautiful little girl. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he fought for control, fought to keep a leash on his fury. The last thing she needed was for him to lose it, and what she needed came first for him. He could release his own pain and fury later.
It was a wonder she wasn’t terrified of him. Of all men. She seemed to think she was weak, but all he saw was her strength.
“Did Dave’s attack bring up bad memories?” Guilt stirred inside him.
“No. Dave didn’t scare me. And you were there, chasing away any bad memories and leaving only good ones.”
“Zachary should have protected you, cherished you.”
“He was ashamed of me—not only was I a female, but I was weak and small an outcast. Imagine being the Alpha and having the weakest member of your pack as your daughter.”
“You listen to me, Delaney. I will love all my children, no matter how weak, strong, tall, short, fat or thin. Do you hear me? None of our children will ever be anything but loved and protected.”
Children? Holy hell. Panic filled her. Could she really do this? Come back here? Mate with him?
She rubbed her stomach, her mind whirling. Everything was happening too fast and she couldn’t catch her breath. “So what now?”
“We live happily ever after.”
She snorted. “Just like that, huh?” She stared around her. “Not sure how I feel about being back here.” She couldn’t wait to see her brothers and aunt again, but Shadowpeak held some bad memories for her, and she really hadn’t thought she’d ever return.
“Things have changed around here. I’m in charge, and anyone who looks at you wrong will feel my displeasure.”
“You can’t fight my battles for me.”
He cupped her cheek with his hand. “I know you’re having trouble believing we’re mates and all of this must have come as a shock, but just give it all a chance.” He moved her hand to his chest. “Do you feel it? Our connection? The way our wolves reach for each other? They know we’re supposed to be together.”
She did feel it. The way her wolf surged forward. The pull between them, tugging her towards him.
“Our wolves know what we need. I knew when I walked into that disgusting bar in Addison that my fate waited there. That my life was about to change. But I could never have guessed that fate was bringing me you. I cannot walk away. I know this might scare you. I know this is a lot for you to handle all at once and I’m probably asking too much. But I can’t do anything except ask you to give me a chance. I won’t let you down.”
She studied him, could tell he meant every word.
“All I ask is a chance.”
And she wanted to give him that chance. She never thought she’d return to Shadowpeak. Wasn’t at all sure she wanted to be here. But she wanted to be with Cooper and he was here.
“What about my stuff?”
Satisfaction filled his face. “I’ll send your brothers back for whatever you want.”
“And my car.”
“That heap of junk?”
“Yes.” She glared up at him.
“You’re staying?”
“For the moment, yes.”
He squeezed her hand where it still lay against his chest. “If you need to run, I want you to tell me first. Don’t just leave. Promise me. We’ll sort it out, but you need to tell me if it’s all too much.”
“I promise.” She couldn’t imagine leaving him, but she’d never thought she would be back here, either. “This feels so weird. A surreal dream.”
“Well, let’s see if I can’t make it more real.”
He leaned down and kissed her, a soft kiss, one that cajoled and cherished. Waiting patiently until she opened her lips, he slipped his way inside to soothe her hurt.
He’d meant it as comfort, but as he continued to kiss her, his arousal rose, reminding him of how good it felt to be inside her, loving her. He slid one hand down to a small breast as he directed his fingers toward a perfect red nipple. He teased, plucking, and rubbing in turns until she shifted restlessly on his lap, her ass rubbing sensually over his hard cock.
Cooper drew in a sharp breath as she mimicked his actions, one small hand moving to his chest, rubbing against him, swirling her thumb around his nipple as she whimpered softly. Cooper lifted his lips from hers, gazing down at her dazed face.
“Hush, sweet. Just relax for me. Relax and let me pleasure you.”
He moved her until she rested be
tween his spread legs, her back to his chest as he sat against the headboard. He laid her smooth, creamy legs over his before spreading them slowly.
Using both hands now, he cupped her small breasts, rubbing, and flicking the nipples simultaneously as she cried aloud.
“It’s too much,” she cried.
He chuckled. “No, it’s not, you can take it, sweet, ride through the sensitivity.” She moved restlessly.
“No!” she cried out, trying to turn around and reach him.
“Uh-uh. Stay still, sweet.” His hands went back to the small red berries, once again plucking the highly sensitive nubs. He bit down gently on her neck, sharp little nips that were a show of possession, letting her know exactly who she belonged to.
“But I want to touch you,” she sobbed, thrashing her head back and forth on his chest.
“If you touch me it will all be over. I’ll be inside you so fast the world will spin.”
“I want it to spin. I want you inside me.”
“And I will be after I touch you.” He widened her legs. His thumb hit her clit, tapping it softly as she cried aloud. Then he thrust two fingers inside her, easily entering her, her pussy so moist and warm his fingers slid inside her like a warm knife through butter.
“Please, Cooper, please, I need…I need…”
“What do you need, sweet?” he asked softly as she whimpered, shaking her head. “Tell me what you need. I can do this as long as I need to until you tell me.”
“Y-you pain in the ass!”
He chuckled as she growled.
“I can be a pain in your ass,” he murmured, pulling his hand back from her open pussy to massage the top of her mound while nibbling at her neck.
“No!” she squealed, trying to grab his hand, to force it back to her slick lips. “P-please,” she begged.
“Please what, sweet?” he asked between nibbles.
“Please make me come. I need to come so badly,” she cried out.
Jealousy suddenly rose like a black wave inside him, mixing with his arousal until he was practically drowning. “Has there been anyone else?”
