by Jenny May
Cooper had no idea what he was getting himself into. The pleasure Rogue could give him wasn’t a question. He’d experience ecstasy, but not before he earned it first.
His mate’s eyes raked over Rogue’s body and he had to clench his jaw. Damn this temptation. If he didn’t stop Cooper now, they were going to be over their heads, fast. That could be dangerous.
“Hey.” Rogue snapped his fingers. “All in due time, cowboy. We have to keep alert. Just because we’re hidden from the view of others doesn’t mean we drop our guard. Now get up and come here. I want to show you something.”
Cooper nodded and walked up, next to him.
“You see that?” Rogue pointed in the direction of the hills in the distance. “The spotters will be making their way to that location within a matter of minutes. We’re taking turns pulling shift. I want to know when they go, when they leave. What they’re doing. How good they actually watch the border. Everything.” He reached down and pulled out the high-surveillance binoculars from his bag. They were amazing. The lenses could reveal a person up to five miles away, and the hills weren’t even half of that. He’d be able to watch every move they made.
Like clockwork, the rumbling of a truck in the distance filled the air. Rogue looked over to Cooper and smiled. “You ready, Coop?”
The cowboy twisted his mouth. “Coop? No,” he said, shaking his head and dragging out the word. “I don’t like that at all.”
“No?” Rogue shrugged. “I do, Coop.”
“Ugh.” He groaned and laughed. “You can call me Coop, and I’ll call you…”
“You’ll call me Rogue,” he said, stern. “Or Sir. But that’ll come in due time.” He turned back to the window, not waiting for Cooper’s response. The sound of the truck grew louder and he froze as it pulled past the barn and in front of the house.
Two men with dark hair got out just as a woman came onto the porch. Rogue narrowed his eyes, and Cooper’s hand gripped his wrist tightly. “Rogue,” he whispered. “Who is that woman?”
Reddish-brown hair hung down to her hips. She was wearing a long, white skirt and a light blue tank top. The shirt showed off a slim waist, and went down to a pair of wide hips. Damn, girl had curves. The swell of her breast sucked Rogue in. Wow. Now those he could enjoy. He forced his eyes to move to her face and he felt like his throat was going to close.
“She belongs to us,” Cooper whispered. “Fuck. I want her.”
Rogue couldn’t have agreed more. “That makes both of us.” So that’s why he’d always had the pull to this place. It made sense.
One of the men’s voice rose. “Dammit, Zara. This has to stop. You’ve been shacked up in this house for a year. You hardly ever leave. Just come out with us. The fresh air will do you good.”
The woman hugged on to her waist. “I get out. I was just about to go for a ride. That should count for something.”
“That’s all you ever do.” The shorter one looked down. “I understand you’re hurting, sis. But enough is enough. You have to start living again. You were our number one, for Christ’s sake. Triple Z was your life. We’re all waiting for you. Please. If you have to bury yourself in something, let it be in work, and not in this hellhole you call home.”
The hit came out of nowhere. Rogue felt his jaw drop as the man who’d been talking to her flew back, off the porch. He landed, hard, on his back. Son of a bitch, that woman had a hell of a swing.
“Get the hell off my land. Right now!” She pushed the other man. “Go. Leave me be!”
“We’re your brothers, Zara. We can’t do that.” The taller man helped the other one on the ground up. “We’ll be back tomorrow.”
A scream so agonizing came from Zara’s mouth that Rogue grabbed at Cooper. Pain exploded into his chest. Once again, it wasn’t his own. He knew she’d done it out of frustration, but the pain was evident.
“You will not be back. I said leave me.” She reached for some rain boots on the porch and threw them at her brothers with outstanding force. The men climbed into their truck and headed for the border. Rogue watched as she collapsed to the porch. Sobs shook her body and he couldn’t stand seeing it. But should he go to console her, and blow their cover, or let her go through the pain she was experiencing? As he turned to his mate for his reaction, he wasn’t sure they really had much of a choice.
Chapter 2
The wolf inside of Zara retreated from the anger and went back into its usual place of mourning. If she had to close her eyes and imagine the creature, she’d say it was doing exactly what she was now. Lying, curled into a ball, just passing time. Yeah, she probably should have cared that she was on the porch of all places, but really, what difference did it make? Nothing mattered anymore. Hadn’t for a year.
A light breeze blew against her skin, and Zara sighed as she stared across the large expanse of land in front of the house. Why was she even here, anymore? Nothing made sense. When you lost a mate, you followed. Plain and simple. No wolf should have to live without their other half. So again, why was she here?
Zara pushed herself to a sitting position. She knew why. She was a coward. God, how had her life turned out this way? Everything had been amazing when she’d met George. True, her father had nearly had a heart attack with her mating a human, but she’d loved him with everything in her.
He’d been a cop. Sexy. Dominant, even though he hadn’t been a wolf. It’s not like she could have found her match, even if she wanted to. Not with her being the rightful heir to Triple Z. But damn, she missed him so much. Life was cruel, and she couldn’t bear to be in it for another minute. If she wasn’t afraid to die, then she’d have joined him the moment Chief had knocked on her door to give her the news of George’s accident.
Tears trailed down her cheek and she stood, wiping them furiously from her face. The wolf within growled angrily at the disturbance. Her beast wanted to sleep. Forever. Unfortunately, that couldn’t happen right now.
Zara walked toward the barn. Milly needed to eat and have her daily exercise. If it wasn’t for her horse, she wasn’t sure what she’d do. It was the only routine she had. And truthfully, the quarter horse was what was keeping Zara somewhat sane.
The door slid open and she froze. Goose bumps covered her flesh and she ran her palms over her arms. Slowly, she scanned the opening of the barn. Nothing looked out of sorts. Yet, she couldn’t get over the reaction, as if she was cold, when it was at least a hundred degrees.
Zara shook it off and scooped out Milly’s food. She couldn’t shake the feeling like she was being watched.
“How’s my girl, today?” She tried to smile at her horse. Milly’s dark mane flew from her neck as her head motioned in the air. It made her laugh. “Missed me, I see. I know, it was another rough one, Mills. I’m sorry I’m late.” She opened the stall and put the food in the bowl. As she closed it, she glanced around again. Zara froze and slowly brought her head up and looked at the loft area. No. She had to be imagining things.
Counters rested against the far wall and she made her way to the area. The little workshop still had all the tools George had last used lying across the top. Her eyes instinctively went to the pieces of the baby bed he’d been making. The sight made her stomach flip. She might not have been pregnant, but that still hadn’t stopped him from making the bed. He’d wanted her to have their baby. And they’d tried so hard. The miracle had just never happened. Now she was doomed to live the rest of her life alone. Without a piece of George to help her through the long, lonely days.
Zara forced herself to look away from the bed. It was probably best to put it somewhere where she couldn’t see it every day. But the thought was just too hard. Even though it hurt, it reminded her of him. It was a double-edged sword, slicing her both ways. No matter what she did, the bleeding within her soul would continue, regardless.
“Maybe Zain was right, Milly. Maybe I should have gone. Now that I think about it, I do kind of miss patrol. I used to be something else back in the day.” She walked bac
k over to the stall. Realization had her brow creasing. “Wow.” Zara pressed her hand against her chest, not sure how to process the new sensations. Although the need to actually do something for herself was there, so was guilt. She shouldn’t want to do anything but be with her mate. Didn’t her life die with his? That’s the way it had felt up until a few moments ago. “Come on, Milly. I think we need to go for a ride.”
It was time to go over her thoughts. Things felt differently all of a sudden, and she wasn’t so sure she liked it. The sensation that George was slipping right through her grasp was enough to make her feel panicked. As soon as she got the wind in her hair, things would go back to the way they should be. At least, she hoped.
* * * *
Cooper watched Zara get on the horse and ride toward Dark Days. He knew she was going to the border to be with her brothers. Had him and Rogue being so close affected her? The bond had sucked him in from the beginning. The quickness it worked was downright shocking. He had an idea that’s what was going on with her too.
“I think she might have lost her mate.”
Rogue nodded. “That was my guess, too. God, I can’t believe she’s even still alive. I’ve never known a person to surpass the death of an actual, bonded mate. Ever.”
“Me either,” Cooper whispered. “Her pain is like nothing I’ve ever felt before. It scares me.” He looked up into the eyes of his mate.
“Zara is very dark, inside,” Rogue agreed. “I can feel it. Her wolf has started to consume her. It happens, sometimes. We need to put a stop to it before it’s too late. She’ll go crazy if she lets it take her over. It happened to Georgina’s brother. It could happen to her, too. And trust me, we don’t want that.”
Cooper bit on his lip. “They said she’d been like this for a year. Wouldn’t the damage have already been done if that was the case?”
“Probably.”
The color of Zara’s hair looked even deeper red with the sun beating against it. It flowed out behind her as she raced toward the border. Rogue brought the binoculars to his eyes. Damn, he probably should have prepared better. Cooper knew last night, the moment Rogue didn’t answer him, that he was going to follow. Unfortunately, the excitement of finally seeing his mate overshadowed common sense. He’d waited forever for this moment, and it’d been well worth it.
He still couldn’t believe how far they’d come, even though it’d been over the phone. A smile came to his face. Cooper could still remember his phone ringing from the unfamiliar number. Before he’d even answered it, he knew it was Rogue. His heart had been ready to explode out of his chest. The deep voice had warmed his skin from the moment the tone had broken through. He’d felt flushed with need. Hell, even now as he stood right next to the man he was meant for, he still felt the same thing.
“She’s going to them, all right.” Rogue brought the binoculars down. “I think we have trouble.”
“What do you mean?” How would they have trouble? She was just going to her brothers.
A small laugh came from his mate. “Our mate is none other than Nikolas’s daughter. Her strength. Her name. The fact that she’s still alive and somewhat sane after losing her mate.” Rogue tossed the binoculars to the ground, next to his bag. “Her name is Zara. Her brothers are Zain and Zavier. They are the Triple Z, Coop. I can’t do this. I can’t take out her father. She’s already lost someone dear to her. I’m not about to be the cause of her losing another. We leave back to Dark Days, tonight.”
“Wait.” He shook his head. “We’re just going to leave her here? I mean…Rogue, we can’t leave our mate now that we found her. Together, you and I can bring her back to normal. We can help her heal. You said yourself we needed to put a stop to her wolf taking over. There’s no way we can leave.”
Rogue sighed. “Cooper, we do this the right way. The first thing we’ll have to do is petition to see her father. Then we’re going to have to explain how we even came across her, and how we know we’re meant to be mated. Then there’s the political bullshit side of it that Logan is going to have to go through. If she knows we’re here, and she doesn’t consent to this mating, we’re fucked. Dead, Cooper. The way her mind is right now, she might just let them kill us. She has nothing else to lose. Think about it.”
He did have a point. “Shit. But I don’t want to leave her. I’m tired of waiting for things to work in my favor, dammit. I’ve been bending to your rules, now the pack rules. Why can’t anything be easy?”
“Life is never easy.” Rogue picked up his binoculars and stuffed them in his bag. He reached in and grabbed a power bar, tossing one to Cooper. “Besides, it’s better this way. We’ll just say we were the spotters on Dark Days’s side and caught a whiff of her scent or something. It should move along fast. Nothing illegal, and no fighting. Works out like cake.”
“Cake, huh?” Cooper raised his eyebrow, sarcastically, at his mate and knew immediately it was a big-ass mistake. The raw power of Rogue’s wolf projected out like an atom bomb. Before Cooper could even realizing what he was doing, the connection of their eyes broke and he was lowering his head to look at the ground. The air around him felt electrifying.
“That’s right, my pet. You feel who your master is. Don’t mock me again, or else you’ll be punished. I assure you, although extremely satisfying to me, I don’t think you’ll enjoy it too much.”
Cooper glanced up. “What are you going to do, spank me?” He knew he was testing Rogue, but he couldn’t help it. If that’s what it took to peel back the layers of his mate, and have him become the man who he hid, inside, then so be it.
Again, the power sizzled from him. Cooper was jerked in his mate’s direction so fast that it was startling. A tug had his pants opening in front. Before he knew it, Rogue had him pushed against the wall and fire covered his ass.
“You.” He spanked him again. “Are really.” Heat covered the other cheek. “Pushing me.”
Cooper moaned against the sting. His cock was so hard, feeling his mate’s hand against him. Pressure over the flaming skin had him pushing his ass deeper into Rogue’s hand as he massaged it.
“Fuck, I can smell how much you want me.” Rogue spanned his other hand over Cooper’s lower stomach. He was so close to touching his length. “But the more you misbehave, the more I’m going to make you wait. Now pull up your pants and be a good boy.”
Instant cock kill. Cooper turned around and looked at him. “And if I don’t want to?”
The muscles in Rogue’s back flexed. He slowly turned around, narrowing his eyes. “Oh,” he drug out the word, shaking his head. “You, my pet, better be glad we’re not at my place. I’d pop a ball gag in your mouth, and put a butt plug in you so fast, your head would spin. Now, get on your knees.”
Cooper left his pants at his ankles and slowly turned around, lowering to all fours. Fingers gripped in his short hair. “One more word out of your mouth.” Rogue reach around his thickness and applied pressure. Almost too much. “And I’m going downstairs and grabbing that riding crop I saw.” Cooper clenched his jaw against the throbbing. The strength in Rogue’s hand loosened.
A moan left his mouth as Rogue began to stroke his length. When his fingers brushed against Cooper’s tip and collected the pre-cum, he thought he was going to die at seeing Rogue suck his fingertips into his mouth.
“Damn.” Rogue closed his eyes. “You’re going to taste so good coming in my mouth.”
A sound came out of Cooper before he could even think to control it. Fuck he wanted his mate more than ever. “Take me, Rogue. God, please. I’ve waited so long.”
“Have you ever been with a man before, Coop?”
“Once. But not on this end.”
Rogue’s eyes closed, and Cooper could feel the anger push against his skin. “Never again, though. You’ll never be with anyone else but me or Zara.” The darkness of his wolf clouded the colored part of his eyes when he flashed them back open. They weren’t just dark brown now, they were black. “Tell me right now that you wo
n’t.” Rogue’s hand cupped his face and he brought him up to his knees. “Tell me you belong to me, Cooper.”
The intensity and passion that poured from his mate was exactly what Cooper needed. The sense of pride he felt was consuming. “I’m only yours and Zara’s now. Never anyone else’s.”
Rogue breathed in deeply. “That’s right. You’re mine.” Something flashed over his face, but Cooper had no idea what it was. He started to move back, but stopped. It was as if Rogue was having some sort of internal battle within himself. “No, you have to promise me. A blood vow between both of us.”
“A what?” Cooper shook his head, confused.
“Just kiss me if you’re taking the oath to stay only mine.”
Cooper narrowed his eyes. “And Zara’s.”
“Yes, of course. But she’s not here yet.” Rogue’s other hand came up to his face, too. The length of his fingers pushed into his hair right behind his ears. “If you make this vow you can never break it. Ever, Cooper. Once we’re done with this I will never worry, or doubt you. But if you break it…”
“I would never.” Cooper stared into his eyes. “Rogue, mates could never be unfaithful to each other. What you feel for me is equivalent to what I feel for you. You have to know that.”
Rogue pressed his forehead against his. “I know, but I have to hear the words directly from your mouth. This is our beginning, Cooper. We’re going to start it out right. No rushing.” He pulled back his head. “I want our first time to be perfect for you. I—” He took a ragged breath. Cooper pressed his finger over his lip.
