by Laina Kenney
She had told John she wasn’t in pain but that was just because his worried looks and quiet fussing drove her crazy. She had wanted him gone so that she could try to relax, but she couldn’t seem to settle.
Her emotions were all over the map, and not just because of the abuse she had gone through tonight, kidnapped and dragged to her friend’s house by a human fanatic. There was a new awareness in her, unexpected and almost unbelievable. Fragile and indefinable, but it occupied her thoughts.
She couldn’t keep the white wolf out of her mind. Earlier, she had sensed him before she could see him, a feeling of menace in the shadows. But a part of her had recognized something in him and her heart had fluttered in joy and fear.
In the hierarchy of all the predatory shifters, the vulfen warriors were at the very top. Even if the tiny glow in her heart was right, no vulfen warrior would stoop so low as to court a part-blood fox female who couldn’t even shift. She had come to terms with her inability to shift forms long ago, but now the sadness struck her all over again.
She could tell from the strength of the life-force coming off the white-haired man that he was of high rank. He didn’t seem to be the Alpha, but he easily could have been, for who could challenge that kind of raw power and leave still breathing. The man’s ice cold eyes had rested on the doctor’s face and Grace had thought she was going to witness a bloody execution.
She shuddered and her fox side wanted her to hide. Nature was playing another joke on Gracie.
She shook her head and tried to quash the stubborn tendril of hope in her soul. As a match it was laughable.
She put the kettle on to boil and made a cup of tea. When she looked down and realized she had no idea how many spoonfuls of sugar she had put into the tea, she gave up on pretending that she was okay. She tasted the tea and found it far too sweet. With a shake of her head she poured it down the drain and headed for the front door.
She dragged a thick woven blanket off the back of a chair on her way by and wrapped it around her shoulders before walking out to sit on the top step.
Grace lived in a tiny square house in a quiet neighborhood and the sight of all the other well-kept little houses was strangely soothing for her. Sometimes when she couldn’t sleep, she would wrap up in a blanket and come out to sit on her porch and marvel at how far she had come from the tiny girl her mother had never cared about.
Thank heaven for John and Grandma Commander. Her grandmother and older brother had rescued her from their mother as soon as they had discovered she existed. She hadn’t known it at the time, all her memories of John were of his gentleness to her, but he had frightened their drunken mother with his anger when he had first seen the tiny sickly infant that was his baby sister. At eleven years old, tall and skinny John had taken the baby in his arms and told his mother not to come looking for her children until she was sober.
Their mother had never bothered to come.
After one look, Grandma Commander and John had taken her in and loved her. She looked nothing like her Native American grandmother and half-brother, but she had been the centre of their world. She had always known that she was loved, and she cherished that caring even when it chafed as it did tonight. Her life could have been so different.
The wind blew through her hair and a shiver chased down her spine. She wanted to run in the night but she sensed…something. She drank in the scents of the wind and her heart began to pound with a deep fast beat.
She felt the irresistible pull from the shadows and stood. She came down the steps slowly and looked toward the low hedge. She could feel the predator out there even though she couldn’t see him clearly. He was gifted beyond anything she had imagined.
The shadows rippled and a large white wolf emerged. He was magnificent, his white fur tipped in a translucent silver that glinted in the low light. Mother Nature had been good to him. Gracie could have gladly admired him all night.
He approached her with caution. He stopped a few feet away and the tip of his bushy tail wagged the tiniest bit.
“I know you,” Gracie said slowly and his ears pricked forward. “I saw you at Angel’s place. You captured the doctor. I felt you watching me.”
The wolf sat and gazed at her.
Gracie clutched the blanket tighter.
“Why are you here?” she whispered, although she had a feeling she might know why.
In a shimmer of darkness, a man was standing before her. Just looking at him, her stomach muscles jumped, but it wasn’t fear that made her react. His strong features had emotion welling up inside her and her pulse was pounding out of control, but she didn’t feel even a hint of fear.
Her night vision was excellent. He was wearing black jeans and a tight black t-shirt over slabs of sculpted muscle. His white hair streamed down to his wide shoulders, shining in the darkness. He was built strong with a wide chest and heavy roped muscles, so magnificently male that she couldn’t look away.
“You are still in danger,” he said, and his deep voice sent a thrill through her that she couldn’t hide. “You should not be out here alone.”
“I guess you followed us from Angel’s house. Is that the only reason you came, just because I might be in danger?”
She tried to fight down her strange disappointment and listen to his response.
“Members of the hunting society are still at large. No one knows at this time what the doctor may have told them. Your name may be familiar to them by now. Your brother should never have left you alone tonight of all nights.”
Gracie stuck her chin out. “You leave my brother out of this. I had to argue and argue to get him to leave just so that I could have some peace.”
His eyes gleamed in the reflected light from the window.
“And did you find that peace?”
She sniffed. “No. I was wasting my time wondering about you.”
She turned and marched to the house and up the porch steps.
“Well, are you coming in?” she asked.
His lips quirked. “Thank you for the gracious invitation. I would be honored to come into your home.”
They stood, with Gracie on the top step and the white wolf man on the walkway and watched each other.
“Please come in,” she said.
A slow smile brightened his face and her heart thumped. He was so hot when he smiled. Not like a perfect male model on a screen, but like a real man, handsome and so strong he wouldn’t back away from her sharp tongue.
Her pussy throbbed with want and she wanted to tell it to settle down. She wasn’t sure about his motives yet. He hadn’t indicated that he was interested in anything beyond fulfilling his duty, but her body had already decided in his favor.
“With pleasure.”
Pleasure. That word on his lips derailed her thought process. It made her imagine all of the things she would like to experience with him, things that had never crossed her mind before. Her skin prickled with a rising heat.
She was torn between wanting to pull the blanket tighter around her and throw it off to display her body. She was mostly human, but Grandma had warned her about the fever that came over fox females in the presence of a powerful male and the potent effect it could have on a woman. Gracie was overheating and she was pretty sure that the man standing so patiently before her was the cause of it.
She opened the door and waited until he walked into her home. She took off the blanket and folded it over the chair where it stayed. She smoothed the fringes until they were perfectly even but eventually she had to look at him.
His eyes were on her face.
In the dim glow of light, he was even better looking, with his broad shoulders, tanned skin and bright black eyes glowing faintly. Everything female in her approved. Her body wanted to preen under his admiring gaze, and she wanted to tell it to behave. She didn’t know anything important about him except that he was a vulfen male and he smelled better than any man she had ever met. Her inner hussy would just have to tone it down until she was sure.
“Why are you here?” she whispered, afraid to hope.
“I am Matsij Gabrov. You are my mate.” The words caused her body to sway toward him and suddenly he was there with an arm around her waist to steady her.
“Grace,” he said, and the sound of her name in that dark accented voice made her melt.
“My brother will freak when he finds out I’m dating a vulfen warrior. I’m just a small part Fox, you know. I can’t shift or anything. We mostly can’t anymore, even though John can. He’s always been exceptional,” she babbled.
“We are not dating. You are my mate.”
Grace felt an inexplicable hurt and pulled away from him to stand on her own. She didn’t know why it should matter that he didn’t want to date her, but it did. The unwanted child in her felt it keenly. She squared her shoulders and settled for sarcasm over hurt.
“Drag yourself into this century, Mr. Big Bad Wolf. I’m not just going to walk off with someone I don’t know. No dating, no mating.” Her hand cut through the air with finality. “That’s just how it should be.”
His immediate frown turned into an intense look that set her heart pounding.
“I see.” His dark eyes roamed over her face. They came to rest on her throat until she thought he must be able to see her pulse throbbing with every frantic beat of her heart. When he spoke again, she almost jumped.
“I am unfamiliar with the concept of mates dating. I admit I have not paid very much attention to what other males do with their new mates. Perhaps you could explain to me how it should be.”
His face was set in hard lines, unreadable, but Grace could feel the heavy weight of his predatory focus. Every bit of his attention was on her and it made her nerves riot until it was all she could do to stand and not run. Foxes were predators, yes, but they always backed down in front of the larger predators. Her instincts felt his eyes on her and wanted her to make a speedy getaway.
Grace knew what she wanted, what she fantasized about in the dark hours when she was alone imagining the day when her mate would come, but she hesitated. She was fighting herself every step of the way just to keep standing there.
She wasn’t sure what to do about him yet, but at least he was asking the right question. And if he was willing to try something that was new to him just to make her happy, she would give him the blueprint he seemed to need.
“Okay, yes, I can explain. First, you don’t assume anything just because of being mates. It’s not written in stone. You should ask the woman if she would like to join you for a special dinner—”
“You. I would only ask you.”
His voice was a dark velvet undertow pulling her toward dangerous waters. Gracie forged ahead in spite of the shiver his deep tone caused.
“—and then you treat her like a princess and take her fun places and bring flowers sometimes to show that you’ve been thinking about her when she wasn’t with you. And you hold her hand on walks and help her with her coat and cuddle with her. Dating can last a long time.”
His eyes moved over her face and body and she could almost see the images in his head. Her body went up in flames. She could never deny the strength of the feelings he inspired. The man was lighting up her nerve endings and he had barely touched her.
Matsij nodded decisively. “I like these ideas. Holding hands and cuddling with you for a long time sounds perfect.”
Gracie tried not to laugh. Apparently he was a bottom-line kind of guy. She wagged her finger at him.
“The dinner date comes first before the cuddling. And cuddling comes before anything else.”
Matsij bowed. “Of course. It shall be just as you say.”
He shimmered and reappeared wearing a perfect tux. The stark black and white mirrored his natural coloring. It was stunning on him.
Grace goggled. How did he do that? Could every vulfen warrior do that? No wonder they were spoken of in awed whispers in the rest of the shifter community if they not only had fangs and claws but produced tuxedos on demand.
“Will you need a few minutes to change for our date?” he asked politely. “I have an in with the chef at Sidarova if you would care to have dinner with me tonight?”
Gracie didn’t know whether to laugh or scream with excitement. The most gorgeous man she had ever seen was standing in her living room in a tuxedo and asking her to dinner because she had told him it was the traditional first step. And Sidarova was one of the best restaurants in Boston. People waited on lists to get in. She had never even been in the door.
He arched one brow and her knees wobbled under her.
She gave in. He was so perfect and he was waiting to take her to dinner at a restaurant she was dying to try. And he looked amazing in a tux.
She was very much afraid that if she didn’t find something to distract herself, she would be in his arms in two minutes flat. The intensity of his gaze and his dark male beauty pulled her in like a powerful magnet. Part of her just wanted to walk into his arms, but then there would be no dating before the mating.
Gracie couldn’t find any words to answer his question. She just laughed and ran up the stairs with excitement fizzing in her blood like so much champagne. She spun in a circle at the top of the stairs with her arms in the air and whispered, “I have a mate.”
She would have continued spinning, but it made her headache worse and added a whirling dizziness to the mix. She stumbled into the bedroom and halted in front of the big mirror. She stopped laughing.
What was he thinking? She couldn’t go out for dinner like that. She had a big white bandage on her forehead.
It looked awful, and looking at it seemed to make it hurt more, if that was possible.
Frowning, she fingered the torn sleeve of her blouse. She looked a fright. Maybe they could order in.
She changed quickly into her favorite red floaty skirt and pretty white blouse. She grabbed a white sweater and slipped her bare feet into her little red sandals. She still smelled a bit like fear and a bit like the clinic that she hated, but it would have to do. She plugged in her curling iron and grabbed for her hair brush.
“Hurry, Gracie,” she chanted under her breath.
A gorgeous man in a tux was waiting for her.
Chapter 3
While Matsij waited for Grace to change, he checked all her windows and doors. He had patrolled the neighborhood earlier, but there was nothing unusual going on. Small human families lived in most of the small homes, and it was significantly after bedtime for the young ones. The neighborhood was quiet.
He watched out the front window as a police car drove past again. Grace defended her brother well, but Matsij saw the increased police presence. It was obvious that Grace’s brother had spoken of tonight’s events and the police were taking the threat seriously.
Matsij was pleased to see it, but it would do no real good if the hunting society targeted Grace. With the covert training and the new weapons the hunting society possessed, the police would be outgunned. His eyes narrowed and he swept the neighborhood once more. It was that simple and that terrifying.
He looked up the stairs and wondered if suggesting dinner out was really the best idea for a woman who had already been kidnapped and possibly concussed. But the sparkle in her eyes did away with his good sense. He had often wondered why his Alpha indulged his new young mate so much, but he wouldn’t have been able to understand the feelings running through him now, even if the Alpha had explained moment by moment. The lust he understood well enough, but the feelings swamping him were a mystery beyond his scope of knowledge.
Matsij was a hardened warrior, but he was forced to acknowledge that he had no experience to help him navigate through his current
situation. He had never dared to imagine that he would have a mate someday, so he didn’t have a plan. All he really knew was that his focus had shifted and he would do just about anything to see his pretty mate smiling and happy.
He heard a sound and turned. The sight of Grace standing at the top of the stairs trapped his breath in his chest. It swelled until it exploded out of him in a sort of a gusty sigh.
His mate was beautiful.
And she had done something to her hair. It was curled and pretty and it fell over one eye in such an artful series of curls and sparkling clips that no one would ever suspect it covered a bandage.
He narrowed his eyes as she came down the stairs one slow step at a time. Surely she hadn’t removed her bandage.
She stopped bare inches in front of him and he could see that the edge of the bandage was still there under the fall of shining hair. She had cut the bandage smaller, and covered it with some kind of makeup. Clever wonderful woman.
He took her hand and brought it to his lips for a sensual kiss.
Grace’s glistening lips turned up in a soft smile. He wanted to forget about dinner, stay home, and nibble on Grace.
“You are very beautiful,” Matsij said, and the huskiness of his voice surprised him. “I am not certain I wish to share you with the world yet. I am discovering that I am a possessive man.”
She glanced up at him from under her eyelashes and his heart skipped a beat.
“I felt you before, at Angel’s house. And I wondered. I thought maybe you wouldn’t come tonight. You know, because I’m not a wolf. I thought maybe you would and maybe you wouldn’t. I didn’t know.” Her words were rushed, but she couldn’t hide the tremor in her voice.
He stroked her soft cheek.
Did his new mate think he held a prejudice against her for the circumstances of her birth? She could have no idea of how grateful he was that she existed at all. She could have been a full human and he would have embraced that as well. Some of his kind held with those old beliefs about the vulfen superiority as a race, but he never had. He had killed so many times that he could never think himself superior to Grace’s beautiful innocence.
