Lunar Mates Volume Two: Books 4-6

by Loribelle Hunt

  He didn’t offer to call the cops and she hadn’t expected him to. He was some kind of feline shifter, though they’d never discussed that, and they tended to be loners. She’d been given David’s name in the anonymous warning she’d received about Society hunters and made a point of befriending him. She wasn’t sure what he knew about her and didn’t ask now.

  They were friends—as much as two loners could be—and she didn’t break their unspoken rule. No deep, dark personal secrets or questions. She felt bad, wrong, for leaving her werewolf stalker for David to deal with, but one look at his eyes, dark and angry, and she bit her tongue. He could take care of himself and would be offended if she didn’t let him. She jumped when the bells over the door jingled. Fuck. She was more rattled than she’d thought.

  “Go. I’ll be by later.”

  She left a little reluctantly. The dogs pressed close to her as she went through the backdoor and to David’s SUV. It was a newish popular model, but nothing that stood out. Rocky hopped into the passenger seat and made room for Lucy. Delilah didn’t dally and fifteen minutes later pulled into her complex. She parked and was reaching for the door handle when Rocky’s lips pulled back and he snarled. Jerking her hand back, she restarted the car and looked around. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, except the dogs. Both were focused out the windshield on her front door, hackles raised and growling deep in their throats.

  She didn’t ignore their instincts and as she backed out of the space her front door flew open. She didn’t get a good look at the guy who ran out until she was racing away and saw him in her rearview mirror. For a second she couldn’t believe her eyes. There was no way the Gage imposter could have got to her condo before her. No fucking way. Then the subtle differences registered. He was a little taller. His shoulders not quite as broad. The hair a shade lighter and longer. Siblings. Twins maybe? Wasn’t that just her fucking luck? Thank god David was dealing with the other one, but now she was really paranoid. Who the hell were these guys? She hopped on the interstate, watching her rearview mirror the whole time, and picked a random exit when she was sure no one had followed. She pulled into a fast food parking lot and called David.

  “Delilah,” he answered on the first ring. “Are you okay?”

  He didn’t sound right. Breathing hard, voice soft and pain filled. Shit. “I’m fine. What about you?”

  “I’ll be fine, but I think it would be a good idea if we both disappeared for awhile.” He paused a long beat. “I have pack members I can go to. So do you.”

  Well. That answered one mystery, didn’t it? He knew she was connected to the shifter world.

  “Can you meet me at a car rental agency? The airport would be good. I’ll get a vehicle and you can get your dogs back,” she said, trying to sound joking.

  “Sure. Now?”

  “The sooner the better, I think.”

  He met her in the parking lot. Neither acknowledged any new revelations about the other and she hugged him gently. He looked like hell, bruised and scratched.

  “I’ll be okay. You know where you’re going?” he asked gently.

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  When she came back outside after renting a car, he was still there. He followed her out of the airport and for almost an hour, heading north on the highway, waved when he finally exited. A few hours later she pulled into the lot of a bar and grill, parked, and stared at the sign. She’d known about this place for years, had had the names of several werewolves in the local pack. It made her nervous as hell to walk into the place, but she took a deep breath and went inside. It was brightly lit and not very crowded, being between lunch and dinner. She approached a table with two men sitting at it and they fell silent when she stopped. She focused on the one she knew.

  “Hello, Gage,” she said softly. “I have a little bit of a problem.”

  It took him a second but he broke into a grin, stood. “Delilah?”

  She hugged him quick and hard. “In the flesh.”

  “It’s been a long time. Sit down. Tell me what you need.”

  Two

  Two Weeks Later

  “Right now, I think it’s our best choice, Jackson.”

  “Yeah, maybe. But I hate bringing in an outsider. It would be different if this woman was from our world.”

  Crossing his arms over his chest, Aaron Williamson leaned against the wall and watched the verbal volleying between his alpha and beta. They’d been at it all morning, and he resisted the urge to grin. As the pack’s new enforcer, witnessing the spectacle was becoming a regular occurrence. If he’d had any doubt about the outcome of the current conversation, he wouldn’t be nearly so amused.

  The matter on the table was whether to hire an accountant for the pack or not. No doubt, they needed one. The real dilemma was where to get one. Such a sensitive position would normally be filled by a werewolf or a werewolf’s mate. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anyone qualified for the job in their pack. So the search had been extended, a few interviews conducted.

  He was in charge of security, and his backgrounds checks had ruled out all the candidates. Save one. Delilah Anderson. He’d met her a few days ago when they’d gone into the city for several interviews. He hadn’t even been introduced to her, had stayed in the background, but he’d seen enough to realize she was his and his twin’s mate. If he was neutral, he’d bring up her unusual past. She’d been raised by her grandfather, travelling the country by RV, and homeschooled. The longest she’d spent in any place had been her last two years of college, but somehow she’d become friends with Gage Rylon, the alpha of the Panhandle pack. It was definitely odd, but he hadn’t found anything suspicious and they knew everything he did.

  “What do you think, Aaron?”

  About damned time they asked him. He met his alpha’s gaze and nodded his head. “She’ll do.”

  Oh yeah, she’d do all right. Probably would work out just fine as the new accountant, too. That was the least of his immediate concerns though. Both men’s gazes sharpened on him. Damn. Something in his tone or his eyes or his bearing must have given away his intent. Maybe he should have stuck with hunting, but he couldn’t imagine undoing his decision to leave the hunters. There was a damned good chance he wouldn’t have met Delilah if he’d done things differently.

  Jackson grinned and leaned back in his chair. “It’s like that, is it?”

  Aaron shrugged. What could he say?

  “What does Cooper think?” Billy asked.

  “He hasn’t met her, remember?”

  How could he? His twin was still a hunter, but in the end it didn’t matter what his brother thought. You didn’t pick your mate, fate did that for you. And they were twins. Two brothers, one mate.

  Jackson sighed. “This complicates things. First, she knows nothing about werewolves, and there’s no way to bring her here without her discovering us. Then when she gets here, it’ll be to not one but two mates. You’ll have to tread very carefully there.”

  He wasn’t so sure. She didn’t strike him as the kind who spooked easily and hell, Gage had recommended her for the job. She probably knew all about them. But he’d been wrong before and had the scars to prove it. Time would tell.

  “Summer liked her, and Chloe knew her in college,” Billy said. “I’d trust their instincts any day, and they both think she’ll be a good addition to the pack.”

  Jackson nodded again, and Aaron recognized the look on his face—a cross between defiance and acceptance. He spoke to Billy. “Make the arrangements. She can have the old Wilkes cabin.” He cast an amused look at Aaron. “Until the other arrangements are made.”

  Aaron squashed his sense of triumph, his hunter training still ingrained enough that he loathed to reveal his thoughts, his emotions. The conversation continued, changed and went on to other business. He forced himself to stay still when his body wanted to fidget. To concentrate when his mind wanted to wander. Finally, it was over, and he was free to leave.

  Striding out of the house, he walk
ed around back to the path that led to the old Wilkes’ cabin. Billy had given him the key, and he shoved it in the rusty lock, twisting it till the door gave way, and stepped inside. The rush of air disturbed what looked like a century’s worth of dust, and he sneezed through the swirling dervishes. This wouldn’t do at all. As he walked through the small house, a plan formed in his mind, and by the time he left he was smiling.

  It would take a cleaning crew weeks to make the place habitable, and the furniture all had to be replaced. It probably needed plumbing and wiring upgrades too. Other sleeping arrangements would have to be made, and he just happened to have a five-bedroom house right down the path. He pulled his phone out as he walked in that direction, calling up the number from his recent history.

  “Yeah,” came the clipped response on the other end.

  He grinned. Sounded like he’d disturbed Cooper’s beauty sleep. “Late night?”

  A snort. A laugh cut off so quick it was more a bark. “A completed mission at least.”

  “Good. You can head home then.”

  There was a long pause. Aaron had retired a few months ago. Cooper had insisted he wasn’t ready, yet. Things were different now.

  “Did you get that picture I emailed you?” He walked into the house, down the hall to his office, and opened the folder sitting on his desk. Staring down at her photo, he waited for his brother to answer.

  “A picture doesn’t tell me anything. You could be wrong.”

  This time he snorted. “I’m not.”

  Another long pause. Cooper was thinking; Aaron felt it despite the distance between them.

  “What if she can’t accept two men? If I come home…you know there’s no going back from that.”

  Aaron trailed one finger over the photo, down her cheek to the elegant line of her throat, then traced the long, curly black hair that blew free in the wind. Determination rose in him. She had to accept them.

  “We’ll convince her,” he answered softly, feeling conviction and strength of purpose sweep through him. She was theirs. It might take seduction and planning, but they’d have her. What alternative was there in the end?

  There was a long, soft exhalation on the other end. Cooper hadn’t met her, but he felt how powerfully Aaron wanted her. The bond between them had always been strong, and distance didn’t temper it much, if at all.

  “I’ve already accepted another assignment. It’ll probably be a couple of weeks before I can get there.”

  Just in time for Christmas, and it was a Christmas moon year—a full moon on Christmas night. It was considered a good omen, and an excellent time to take a new mate.

  “Good. I’m not sure when she’ll start the job. Probably no sooner than that.”

  Cooper growled. “What job? No mate of ours needs a job. What kind of exposure does it have.”

  Aaron grinned. He had a feeling this mate of theirs would push every single one of Cooper’s buttons. It should be interesting to watch.

  “We’re offering her the accountant job.” He paused, letting it sink in. He’d kept his brother informed of pack happenings.

  Cooper didn’t disappoint. He growled again. “There’s too many people in and out of there, Aaron. Tell Jackson no.”

  He laughed. “How do you propose I get her here then? She doesn’t know anything about us.”

  Except she might. She had werewolf connections after all, but surely Jackson or Billy would have asked what she knew. He’d find out soon enough.

  The wind howled, and he looked out the window to see snow flurries. The promised first snow of the season had arrived, early just like last year.

  “Shit,” Cooper muttered.

  Yeah. He considered the differences between him and his twin. Deep down they weren’t very dissimilar. They were hard men. Well-trained fighters who were fiercely loyal to each other, their family, and their pack, but superficially they were night and day. Where Aaron was outgoing, Cooper was more of a loner. Aaron was open, and Cooper was reserved. That could turn out to be a serious problem.

  “You might need to work on that temperament of yours some. She’s a mate, not a subordinate. I didn’t get the impression she’ll take to orders well.”

  “She’ll get over it. Talk to Jackson about that damned job.”

  He snorted. Changing Jackson’s or Delilah’s mind about her working wasn’t likely to happen, but before he could reply, Cooper hung up. Aaron just shook his head. He’d deal with his brother later.

  Three

  Delilah opened the SUV door and shivered against the cold. She should have checked the damned weather before leaving Florida. Panama City was a hell of a lot warmer than the Smokey Mountains and her thin sweater did nothing to protect her against the cold night air. At least she’d experience her first white Christmas.

  She and Pop had always headed as far south as they could for winter. He’d said cold and snow were overrated. He might be right. She’d been surprised when the pack insisted she make the move so close to the holidays instead of waiting until after the New Year, but she figured what the hell. She’d spent the last few on her own, despite offers from friends of Pop’s to join them.

  When Gage had told her about this opportunity, she hadn’t exactly leapt at it. She didn’t need the job. Being an accountant, it was easy for her to work from wherever her home office happened to be, and she was so used to moving around it had never occurred to her to settle in one place. She had plenty of clients and none of them cared that they usually saw her no more than once a year or so. She was always available by phone or email.

  David had been the one who convinced her it might be the safest place for her. Since Gage had reluctantly agreed to keep her identity to himself, though he was emphatic she could trust the alpha and beta of this pack, she’d accepted. Of course, Gage didn’t know all the secrets she was keeping. Who to trust with that information—if she did—was a judgment she’d make on her own.

  Billy rushed around the Tahoe to give her a hand, and she smiled her thanks. Words wouldn’t have been heard over the howling wind, and she was distracted anyway. The door to the house had been thrown open, and a dark figure rushed down. Who was this? Where was this? They’d promised her a house as part of the job, but Billy said it was still being cleaned and upgraded. She’d expected to be taken to a hotel. Instead, they’d left the small airport and driven up the mountain to this house, barely ahead of the storm.

  The stranger reached them as they rounded the front of the car. It was dark, and she was hunched over against the cold so she didn’t get a good look at him except to note he was huge and somehow familiar. He seemed broad as a wall towering over her. Pulling off his coat, he draped it and his arm around her, effectively taking her from Billy’s care into his own.

  She was bemused when he pulled her forward, which was really not like her. He placed himself between her and the worst of the wind. Inside, he left her on a couch before a roaring fire and disappeared. When he returned, he handed her a cup of hot tea and she smiled her thanks. She wrapped her hands around the cup, letting its heat sink into her.

  She should have planned this better, arrived during the day at least to do a little exploring. She’d always liked these mountains, though they’d never spent much time on the east coast. She’d understood. Too many bad memories for Pop, but it was different for her. They’d seemed to call to her and maybe that made sense too. She’d spent most of her life in mountains. And there were werewolves here. She needed to remember that.

  Feeling started to return to her fingers, and she wiggled them, shrugging off the heavy coat a few seconds later. Warmth and comfort seeped into her bones.

  “Feel better?”

  Blinking, she looked up. Damn it. She’d forgotten she wasn’t alone. There was no sign of Billy, only the stranger. She should be alarmed, but there was something reassuring about him. God, he was gorgeous, and she studied him as blatantly as he studied her. Nothing subtle in that look. He was tall and broad shouldered, but her first im
pression was a little off. He was well muscled, but more lean than bulky. His eyes glowed bluish grey. It took her a minute to figure out why he looked so familiar. There had been a man around for her interview that looked just like him. Aaron. Except where he’d had a tight, military haircut, this stranger’s light blond hair brushed his collar. She had an urge to run her fingers through it. To see if it was as silky smooth as it looked. It was beautiful, and a striking contrast to her own black curls.

  The other man came in then, arms loaded with wood. He piled it next to the fireplace and took up position next to the stranger. She looked back and forth between the two of them. Brothers. Twins, unless she missed her guess. And they were hers. Oh, fuck, where had that come from? She tried to remember everything her grandfather had told her about twins. And mates. Before she could recall long forgotten memories, Aaron spoke. His voice was deep, his tone disapproving.

  “You cut your hair.”

  Feeling a pang of loss, she lifted her hand to finger the ends that fell just past her shoulders. She didn’t know what had possessed her. Last week she’d walked past a hair salon, spun around, gone back, and when she came out her hip length hair was gone, replaced by this shorter cut that left her feeling naked. Some women didn’t care about their hair. Some didn’t care for long hair. She’d always envied the ones who rocked super short and sexy, but she wasn’t one of them. She’d wondered what the hell had come over her for days but finally decided it would grow back. No point in continuing to stay upset over something that was done.

  She felt their gazes on her and jerked her attention back to the present. They stood next to each other, stances a perfect mimicry of each other. Feet planted hip width apart, arms crossed over their impressive chests. She wondered if they liked sex the way she did. On the rough side. Intense and carnal. Lust spiked as she considered it, and she hoped no one noticed how her nipples had hardened. Thank God they wouldn’t realize her panties were damp. Idiot. Of course they would scent her arousal as intensely as she scented theirs.