Licking the bite mark on her shoulder, I kiss it and pull her back toward me as we lay in the tub. I stay inside her, not wanting to let her go. I nuzzle her neck, she smells so good that I start to get hard again. I know I need to take care of her so I slip out of her core and rinse her off as we stand together.
As she turns to me, she looks me in the eyes. “I love you. I know it's sudden and we are just getting to know each other but the feelings are there. I don't understand it all but I know that’s what I feel.” She stumbles over her words.
I grab a towel and take her into my arms as I wrap it around her. “Shh... it's okay. I love you too. As shifters, we feel deeply more quickly. We know what we want. It’s instinctual.”
She shuffles a yawn. “Sorry,” she says as she lays her head against my chest.
“No, it's okay. You’ve had a long day.” I swoop her up into my arms and carry her to the bedroom.
Setting her on the bed, I grab her food and hand her the plate piled with sandwiches. She looks at the plate with big eyes and then at me. “What? Is this okay? You like sandwiches, right?”
She gives me a look and giggles. “Yes, I like sandwiches. This is a bit much.”
“You’re a shifter now, your metabolism will be through the roof. It looks like a lot but your bear will need the energy from the food. Especially since you changed recently. That alone uses a great deal of energy that will need to be replenished.” I grab my plate and sit next to her before I dig in. We sit in silence as we eat our lunch. She gets through half of the sandwiches before she starts to lag. Her eyes are glazed with sleep and she looks like she is about to fall face first into her plate. As her head nods, I take her plate and set it to the side table. She willingly releases it as I tuck her in. She’s asleep before I make it out of the room. I rinse and put the plates in the dishwasher before returning back to her. I text Lucas and let him know that we would need a rain check on dinner tonight. The later afternoon sunlight drifts into the bedroom painting my mate in a soft glow. Laying down beside her, I pull her close to me and she snuggles up to my chest. My chest swells with the feeling of great love as I drift off to sleep.
Chapter Thirteen
Layla
Soft morning light filters into the room as I slowly stretch and wake. Bones pop and muscles stretch in a feel-good way that you can only get after a good night’s rest. I sense my mate in the other room. Wow! Wait a minute, I can feel him close. I hear a soft comforting rumble and realize it's coming from me, deep in my chest. I feel more than hear the sarcastic, duh. Sitting up swiftly, I recognize that it's my bear trying to communicate with me. “Hello,” speaking softly to the empty room. I feel stupid that I’m talking to myself, but I guess in reality I’m not. My bear huffs a laugh, as my head tries to get around the concept of another being sharing my headspace. She can’t speak or that I can’t understand her yet but I can sense her moods and what she wants me to know. Wicked! This could be a cool thing, maybe.
Evan’s voice carries over from the other room. “Yup. I’ll talk to her and let her know. I’m not going to push her if she wants to, we will. Just let me talk to her first. She hasn't even had breakfast. Okay, okay, I’ll let her know Allie cooked for her too.” He growls with frustration.
I roll out of bed and head to the bathroom. After cleaning up and changing into some comfy jeans and a t-shirt, I step into the bedroom to find Evan propped up on the bed. Crawling on the bed, he pulls me to his side and wraps his arms around me. “So...” I start.
“So, I guess I need to give you some information on your new status.” he looks like he’s struggling to come up with the right words to explain the phone conversation or something.
“Just lay it out there, big guy.” Smiling at him, I try to make him feel at ease.
“Okay. Now that you’re a shifter and I created that. You are part of our Clan. Our clan dynamics are a little bit different than most other clans. I explained to you how we got here. Right now, we are kind of two clans or packs living in one territory. The bears look to Lucas as our Alpha. He is in charge of all of us here on the sanctuary. We also have wolves. You’ll meet them later. They’re part of the pack but they don’t like it. We, kind of, are all displaced from our original packs and clans. There is some tension between us but that is normal for different shifters trying to come together as one clan.”
“So, Lucas is my Alpha now because I have a polar bear inside of me?”
“Not exactly. He is your Alpha because I put one in you, and since I’m in his clan, that makes it your clan.”
Shelving that tidbit for later, I wait for him to speak again because I want more information. “Okay,”
“So, like I said Lucas is our Alpha and I’m his second.” He looks down at me.
“Wait, like second in command, like in the military.” I sit up and look at him. I'm not sure I want to be involved in any militia type of situation.
“Not exactly, we have ranking in the clan, but because we are a fucked up clan with mismatched shifters, those dynamics have been thrown off some.” He looks like he’s really trying to explain without saying anything that would upset me. It's cute but frustrating because I want to know all the dirt.
“So, what was the call about?”
He looks surprised. “You heard that?”
“Only your side of the conversation.” I soothe him by laying back near his side. He wraps his arms around me again and I lay my head on his chest as I rub my hand over him. “My shifter senses were in full force when I woke up this morning. I think I didn't notice them as much yesterday due to the adrenaline rush from the accident.”
Sighing, he says, “Lucas wants to officially introduce you to the clan. I think your friend Allie has something to do with the timing, though. About your friend.” He starts. “She is going to smell off.”
“What do you mean? Like she won’t smell good, like B.O.?” I make a face.
Shaking with laughter, Evan squeezes me in a quick hug. “No, nothing like that. I’m not sure if she knows but I’ll wait to talk to you about it when Lucas lets everyone know.”
Looking shocked and hurt, I give him a small pinch. “You can't say something like that and not tell me.”
“Nope,” shaking his head, “I’m not going to steal anyone’s thunder.” And he leaves it at that. “They want to know if you want to come over this morning for breakfast.”
Knowing that I won’t get whatever secret he has out of him, I huff. “Fine, keep your little secret.” Which makes him laugh out loud. I give him a curious look. “I’m fine with going over.” Maybe I can get it out of Allie.
* * *
The drive over to the clan house is quiet and peaceful, if not a little bumpy. I’m going to have to talk to Evan about the state of the roads. The area is beautifully wooded with great big western larch and different types of fir trees. The small clearings will be gorgeous when it snows here. I wonder if I’ll be here to see it. I mean, I’ve told him how I feel and he says he feels the same, but we really haven’t talked about what the future holds. Frowning, I take a quick peek at Evan. Clearing my throat, “So, um, where do we go from here. We’ve talked very little about our future.”
Evan pulls the truck to a stop and turns to me, “Layla, I love you. I want to be with you for the rest of our lives. I would move you in today if you’re willing.” He lays his hands on each of my cheeks and looks me in the eyes. I can sense that he’s telling the truth. His love is radiating through our bond. I lean in and press my lips against his.
He takes control and deepens the kiss. I moan and wrap my arms around his neck. Sliding closer, I try to climb into his lap, but my seat belt stops me. Growling, I struggle to get next to him. He pulls back and pecks my lips, once, twice and then looks at me. He chuckles, “We are expected. We can finish this later, I promise.”
“Fine,” I say in a huff, horny as hell. When will this need for him slow down? I’m all about having fun but damn, I can’t control myself when I’
m around him. Evan continues down the dirt road. We pull up to the main house and get out to meet at the front of the truck with a smile. I’m on cloud nine, I’m so happy. Holding hands, we climb the porch where Evan opens the door. The smell of bacon and eggs hit my senses and I realize how hungry I am. My stomach growls and I giggle. With a quick kiss, Evan heads to the living room toward the guys, I wave at them and head to the kitchen. I see Allie at the stove pulling biscuits out of the oven. There are several serving platters on the island counter piled high with breakfast food. “Need any help?” I wander over to the counter.
“Nope, just finished up. You can help take the plates to the table in the dining room.” She stacks the biscuits on a large serving platter. Grabbing a couple of the serving platters, I head in the general direction that Allie points me in.
The dining room if you can call it that has a table so long it can fit up to twenty people easily. Wow, it is huge. It’s more like a banquet hall than a dining room. The guys show up and start setting the table. They bring in the rest of the food and pitchers of orange juice and gallons of milk you would think they are feeding a group bigger than eight guys and two women, I recognize Lucas, Jasper, and Drake but there are four other men there that I have never met. They are all massive, and they make me feel really small.
Evan, sensing my distress, moves to my side and looks like he’s ready to kick anyone’s ass who even looks at me the wrong way. He wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me in to kiss me on the side of the head.
“Knock it off, Evan. Nobody is going to mess with your mate.” Lucas demands. I didn't even realize that Evan was gowling. It was so soft but menacing.
I place my hand on his chest and caress him. “It's okay. I'm just not used to being around so many big guys.” I lay my head against his chest to listen to his heart rate, it has a calming effect for both of us.
“Sorry,” he mumbles as we go to the side of the table and sit as everyone else joins us. He immediately starts piling mine and his plate full of food.
“Whoa, slow down, big guy.” I still his hand as he goes to put the third scoop of eggs on my plate to join a big helping of bacon, fried potatoes, and two biscuits. “I get that I have shift metabolism but I am still a small person and I don't think I’ll be able to finish all of this,” I say with an indulging smile.
“It's fine. I’ll finish what you don't eat.” He says with a grin. Man, that one sexy grin. I’m wishing we stayed home. Oh, I get that I need to meet my new clan but I really would like to take him home and lick him all over.
Evan chuffs, his eyes full of desire and he looks ready to hit the door. “Down boy!” Allie intervenes, “Jeeze, Layla, you would think you'd calm down long enough to hang out for a few minutes without getting hot and bothered.” She waves her hand in front of her nose. All the guys look anywhere but at me except for a tall smaller built man that I recognize as Drake, who has a shit eatin’ grin on his face.
Awkward. Realizing that everyone in the room knows that I’m more than ready for some alone time with my mate, I turn a healthy pink in the cheeks. “Damn, Allie! Why don’t you just call me out on it?” I try to laugh it off.
“Oops... sorry. I’m not used to being able to scent stuff that I usually can’t.” She shrugs.
I whip my head up to look at her, and then I look questioningly at Evan. He nods his head, yes to confirm that Allie is mated to Lucas. Looking back to her, “Looks like you and I need a girl’s night to catch up. A lot more has happened than I knew.” She gives me a small smile and agrees.
With that awkward moment over, Lucas clears his throat and speaks up. “So I assume you remember Jasper,” He points to a tall man that is almost built as my Evan but with a darker blonde hair not quite light brown. He gives a small two finger wave. “Drake,” he points to the guy who can't stop grinning. He is smaller built than the rest but still huge. His hair is almost white it is so blonde. He gives a wink and a thumbs up as I give a nod in his direction. I’ve met these guys at the waterfall when Evan and I went for a date. “And there is Sean, Eion, Naill, and Ronan. They are part of the clan as well.” The guys are slender compared to the first group. They have different shades of brown hair and are all about the same enormous height. They individually give a nod or wave when their name is spoken. They are sitting together at the table but I get a sense that they are keeping themselves apart.
“Hi,” I say tentatively and continue to eat. Yeah, a little too much testosterone for my liking. Evan senses my unease and wraps his arm around my shoulder while giving another small kiss on the side of my head before relaxing in his chair.
Lucas settles back in his chair after cleaning his plate. Boy, can these shifters eat. I look around and see that all the men have almost cleaned their plates as well. The serving platters in the center of the table are pretty much empty. “So now that I’m a shifter and part of this clan, does that mean I have to do a blood oath or something?”
Lucas raises his eyebrows at Evan questionly. “Um, well, we kind of got sidetracked and I haven’t got to explain everything to her yet.” He says clearing his throat.
Rolling his eyes at Evan, Lucas says, “Okay, so here are the basics. We meet once a month to shift and run together. This place is a work in progress, everyone pitches in. I’m the Alpha,” one of the four wolf shifters huffs. Lucas growls at him. I can tell that there is more to that story, and I’ll have to ask Evan later what the deal is. “Which means I’m in charge of this clan. Everything that deals with the clan and our home gets run through me first. Evan is the Beta, which means he’s my second in command. The more you shift, the more control you will have over your animal. Evan can fill you in on the rest. If you have any questions, you can ask Evan or me.” Lucas gives Evan a hard look, “He should have already explained the rules and any details pertaining to being a shifter and our clan to you by now. I can understand with all the issues that you’ve had lately, so moving forward he will help your transition.”
Lifting his hands up in surrender, Evan shrugs, “I told you, we didn’t have much time this morning before you were calling us to come over and last night we got distracted and she needed time to recuperate. We’ll talk when we get back to our cabin.” I love the way he said our cabin. Yup, I’m in deep. Way over the head in love with this man.
Lucas nods, “Good. We don’t need a new shifter out there not being able to control her shift.” Well, I guess that settles that. Evan is to tutor me on how to be a shifter. I give a small giggle, thinking about Evan standing in front of me with nothing on but a ruler in his hand. Mmm… that makes me think about some super fun times and what he could do with that ruler.
“Really, Layla, can you not go five minutes without thinking about you know what?” Allie looks at me with mischievous in her eyes.
“Like you aren’t any better.” Drake grins while Lucas growls.
“I know you’re dying to talk, so why don’t we let the men clean up while we go into the living room.” Allie stands up and looks at me.
Yay, girl-time! Just sometimes you need your bestie to talk to. Ya know, get an outside perspective on shit that's happening. She leans over Lucas for a brief kiss that turns into a long intimate affair. I turn to Evan and give him a kiss just as scorching.
“Dudes, seriously! Get a Room! People are trying to eat here.” Drake chokes out with laughter.
Both Evan and Lucas gives him a death stare and growl.
“It’s okay, we’re going.” Allie walks toward the living room as I follow.
Chapter Fourteen
Layla
“Okay, spill it!” I give Allie a knowing look. With a scorching kiss like that, there is a story behind it.
“Well, now that you know, we can talk,” She begins, “Lucas recognized me as his mate when I made it to the rescue tower with that jerk-off, Tom. I swear that Lucas was going to kill him.” Allie shakes her head at that memory.
“You seem to take to it very quickly. It took me getting in t
he car accident to realize what Evan means to me. You’ve always were a hopeless romantic.” I wait for her to continue.
“I guess you’re right. I fell for him hard. He was nice to me in a grumpy sort of way, and he helped me find you.” She has a dreamy glazed look to her eyes. I silently shake my head. I can’t say anything, I fell for Evan in less than a week. It helps now that I am a shifter and have the instincts to understand that he is my mate. But I knew before he marked me that I was his, I just was fighting the swiftness of it all.
I’m dying to know, “So... did he mark you? You know, umm, bite you?”
With a pretty pink blush, Allie ducks her head, “Yes, but I haven’t fully changed or anything. I mean I got some insane enhanced senses, and I have this feeling that I’m not alone. But I haven’t changed into a bear. I’m a little disappointed. I’m not sure why I haven’t gone full on furry. I think Lucas has an idea why but hasn’t told me yet.”
I take a delicate sniff and realize that she doesn’t smell quite like a human, but not quite like a shifter as well. I can sense an animal in her but it's like it's on the edge of existence. There is another scent there but I can’t place it. “So we’re mated? It’s insane. Have you decided what you are doing after graduation?”
She looks up, I can tell she is thankful for the subject change, “I know right! I believe I’m planning, or I should say Lucas is planning for me to move in with him like by next weekend. I’m okay with it. I can get a job at the local hospital. I’ve already put in my application and sent my resume. With me having volunteered there, it will give me an in. What about you?”
Evan’s Rescued Mate Page 10
