Undesirable Mate

by Oliver, Lisa

  “That would work, Devin, but it wouldn’t stop any future attacks,” Pearson said thoughtfully. “However, this time we have the advantage in that we know there’s a threat. We might not be so lucky next time. I’d rather deal with Malcom in the here and now; if possible, so we can all go back to peaceful lives.”

  “I don’t see how we’re going to get Malcom to come here,” Teric said. “He’s a blustery old fool, but he’s not going to leave his plush offices in New York without a damn good reason. He might send in his enforcers, like Kellen said, but even then he’s not likely to come himself and that bugs me. It’s Malcom that’s the threat, not the Council. I’m not keen on killing innocent troubleshooters who are simply acting under orders.”

  “Maybe we should go and get him?” Kellen said warming to the idea as it developed in his mind. “You and me, Teric. Trained by the best, we both know the Council buildings inside and out. We know their weaknesses, their strong points. What would be the chances of the two of us getting in there, and getting him out? We could bring him here, and get a confession out of him and then turn him over to the Council for punishment.”

  Teric seemed to be considering it, but Kyle didn’t look impressed. Neither did Pearson, and Kellen felt Phillip stiffen beside him as soon as the words left his mouth. It was Pearson that spoke.

  “We’d be charged with kidnapping if either one of you are caught; Teric you’re a full pack member, even if Kellen isn’t yet. This could bring down the whole pack if the Council caught wind of it. I’m responsible for all of my pack members.”

  Shit. The Alpha was right. “I could go alone then,” Kellen said. “I’d have Cain and Prism with me as backup, and we could take Malcom to a neutral location to get the confession. That way none of your pack would be implicated.”

  Phillip growled and without a word, stood up and stormed out of the office. Kellen watched him go with shock, wincing as the office door slammed. Pearson looked almost amused.

  “Er, I think that’ll be a no, Kellen, although thank you for the offer. Look, we all need a break, some food and some time to think and Kellen needs to do some damage control with his mate. Before you go though,” he added, as the men in the room stood, “think of a reason to invite Malcom to visit us – if he came willingly and I don’t know, lost his temper because Devin was here or something like that – then he’d be doing it in front of witnesses and we’d have a solid case against him.”

  “I’m not sure that’d work, Alpha. Malcom can be a cold fish at the best of times, and always seems in perfect control to me. Although wait.” Kellen was anxious to find Phillip, but he’d just had a bright idea. “What if we tell him we have Tristan locked up and that the man was making accusations against him? Surely he’d come alone then, because he wouldn’t want anyone else to hear what Tristan had to say? If we tell him that there is no threat to the pack, and the omega is safe; it might reduce the number of enforcers he could bring with him. In fact, if he’s worried about how much Tristan has said he may just come by himself.”

  “That’s something we can work on,” Pearson said. “Now you’d better go after Phillip. Your mating’s too new to be having hassles right now. Remember his position – it might help.”

  “Yes, Alpha.” Kellen nodded at the Alpha pair, gave a semi-wave to everyone else and hurried out of the room. He didn’t have a clue what Pearson was talking about. His position? Phillip was an enforcer; an enforcer pissed off enough to storm out of an important meeting. Kellen knew he’d have to get to the bottom of whatever was stoking Phillip’s temper; if he could just find where the fuck his angry mate went.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Phillip muttered under his breath as he tore through the club, heading for the large gym Pearson kept for the enforcers. Most of the men he worked with never bothered using the equipment, preferring to rely on genetics, pack runs and frequent bouts of sweaty sex to keep their bodies fit and trim. In contrast, Phillip used the facilities often. He was smaller and he had to keep his skills topnotch to retain his position. Today the weight machines, the treadmill, or no, the punching bag would serve as a perfect outlet for his frustrations. Fortunately, as he expected, the room was empty. All the enforcers were probably still at the meeting, a meeting he’d stormed out of. Fuck, he hoped Pearson wasn’t going to be too angry.

  Typical fucking male, he thought, his mind still full of Kellen, as he headed straight for the heavy bag. Stripping off his shirt, Phillip let loose with a punch, then another, finding his rhythm. His anger was there, it needed an outlet.

  “Aaaaargh!” Phillip pushed all of his strength into his punches, letting off a couple of roundhouse kicks to help break up the pace. His whole body throbbed with tension and he knew he had to get some of it released, or he was going to go ballistic when he saw Kellen again.

  Stupid macho Alpha idiot. Reckless, irresponsible, no fucking thought for anyone else, IDIOT.

  His rhythm settled him and as he felt the sweat start to trickle down his back he moved faster. All he could hear was Kellen putting himself in the firing line. Hell, he should feel pride that the man wanted to help his pack, but all Phillip felt was a deep seething ball of fury that overruled anything else.

  How could Kellen willingly put himself in danger, and not even consider taking me?

  There! That was the problem. Phillip’s stance faltered as the realization struck him. He adjusted his feet and resumed his assault on the heavy bag. Kellen was an assassin, being in danger was a fact of life. But while he’d tried to rope Teric into his hair-brained scheme, Phillip’s name hadn’t come up and Phillip vented his frustration on the bag as he thought about it.

  I should never be overlooked by a mate.

  For the most part, he wasn’t overlooked, not by the pack. Any hassle he’d had from pack members due to his size had stopped when he wiped the floor with both Sebastian and Farren and then given Kyle a run for his money during the enforcer challenge. Things had been good until he’d…

  Nope. Not going there. Not now.

  Kellen overlooked him; perfect, alpha-born, muscle-bound Kellen, who clearly didn’t have two brain cells to rub together. No. The idiot could happily suggest he run off into danger, but he gave no fucking consideration to the fact that Phillip would worry himself sick about it, not to mention the whole protective aspect of his wolf. Kellen hadn’t even considered that. No, because he was an insensitive idiot with more brawn than brain.

  “Phillip, there you are. I was worried about you.”

  Speak of the Devil. Just what he didn’t need. His wretched mate with his sensitive nose found him and for a moment Phillip seriously thought about ignoring his mate. But he couldn’t do it. No matter how Kellen might act, ignoring him wasn’t on any list of ways to make a mate feel good. He finished his work-out with a few well-placed kicks to the side of the bag; and then turned, his fists still clenched, his chest heaving, his body dripping with sweat.

  /~/~/~/~/

  Kellen’s instinct was to go to Phillip, but the scowl on his face stopped him cold. My Gods, my mate looks amazing when he’s angry. His eyes took in the tight pants highlighting strong legs, the lean but well-defined chest and the strength of the man’s arms, veins etched across bulging biceps. Phillip’s previously tousled hair looked doubly decadent now it was tinted with sweat, and the flush on his cheeks would’ve looked pretty on any girl, not that Kellen was silly enough to mention something like that.

  “Why did you leave the meeting? Did I say something wrong?” Kellen honestly didn’t know, and figured it was in his best interests to ask outright. His cock was playing havoc in his pants, and he watched a bead of sweat wend its way down Phillip’s chest, wishing he could catch it with his tongue.

  “You don’t know?” If anything Phillip looked even angrier and Kellen was starting to feel uncomfortable. He had a cramping in his stomach that had nothing to do with a lack of food, and that confused him, because he’d never felt it before. He had a sneaking suspicion it had s
omething to do with the mating bond.

  “You really don’t know.” Phillip took one step closer, but then stopped. He seemed poised on the brink of saying something, but then suddenly turned and swung his fist hard, hitting the bag with precision and a loud thwack.

  “You don’t know!” This time Phillip yelled and Kellen’s wolf started to get agitated. He always met aggression with aggression but this was his mate. Neither he nor his wolf could harm the man in front of them but his wolf was happy to kill somebody if it would make his mate feel better.

  “You toss out ideas, merrily offering yourself up for a dangerous assignment. I can understand that. You’re a wolf, just like me. Protecting the pack’s in your blood.” Phillip was pacing now. That had to be a good thing. He looked like he needed to get rid of some tension before they could act on Kellen’s ideas on sharing sweat.

  “But, in all of these plans, you never once mentioned taking me along on what could’ve been a fucking suicide trip.”

  Oh, that’s what’s bothering him. His mate needed some reassurance. “Well, of course not,” Kellen said quickly. “You’re my mate. You need to stay here where you’ll be protected.”

  Shit. If the look on Phillip’s face was an indicator of mood, Kellen had just put his size fifteen boots squarely in his mouth.

  “You think I need protecting?” Phillip roared. “I spent five years overseas defending my country as a Navy SEAL. I’ve toured in some of the roughest, most dangerous spots in the world. I’ve been shot at, bombed, and damn near drowned more than once and you think I need protecting?”

  “I didn’t mean…”

  “You fucking alpha-types are all the same. You equate size with strength. I fought my way into my enforcer position – I took down Sebastian and Farren and almost put Kyle on the floor – he’s our head enforcer. They’re bigger than me, they’re stronger than me but in human form they can’t fucking touch me.”

  “That’s impressive.” Kellen was being honest. He hadn’t given a lot of thought as to why Phillip was an enforcer, when there were clearly bigger men in the pack. He’d got a hint of Phillip’s military background just from the way the man carried himself, but he hadn’t realized his mate had so many skills; skills that would be really useful as a troubleshooter for the Council.

  “You tell me,” Phillip said, his voice lowered as he took a step in Kellen’s direction. “You tell me, why it’s okay for you to volunteer for a fool’s mission, that could land you in jail or worse; and yet the only thing you think I’m fit for is to wait at home in bed for you?”

  “Pearson vetoed the plan,” Kellen said hurriedly, his mind riveted on the picture of Phillip in bed. All he wanted to do was get this argument sorted, and his man in a more approachable mood. “I think he’s going to use the ferret’s information to con Malcom into visiting the pack, hopefully with minimal reinforcements. There’s talk of…Gods, I’m not sure what they’re doing exactly, and the meeting’s broken up for now, but none of the plans involve me going anywhere without you, you have my word.”

  “Have you considered it? Me working with you?” Phillip’s chest was so close now, Kellen could feel the man’s heat, smell the musk of his sweat, and damn, it was intoxicating. “We don’t have to belong to this pack if you don’t want to give up your job. I haven’t got a problem tracking down bad guys for the Council, especially if I’m with you. But I won’t ever be happy left at home simply because you think I need protecting. I won’t tolerate that type of behavior from anyone, especially my mate. Got it?”

  “Got it.” Kellen held his breath as Phillip leaned forward. The smell of fresh sweat, combined with Phillip’s natural scent was driving his body crazy. So sure he was going to get a kiss, Kellen yelped when Phillip tilted his face and Kellen felt a sharp nip on his ear lobe. He resisted the urge to rub it and his balls, which surprisingly ached in response.

  “Now,” Phillip purred in his ear. “I’m going to our room. I’m going to shower and I’m going to order food. You can come with me, or not, it’s up to you. But know this. If you come with me then as soon as I’m clean, and I know you’ve been fed, I’m taking your ass. I’m going to claim you. All you have to decide is if you’re up for it.”

  Like there was any fucking doubt. With his cock so hard it hurt to walk, Kellen knew he’d follow his mate anywhere.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Phillip kept his smile to himself as he grabbed his shirt, and stalked out of the gym, his mate hot on his heels. From the scent of arousal coming from Kellen, Phillip knew he could’ve bent his mate over the nearest weight bench and had his way with him. Fortunately for Kellen, Phillip had more consideration than that, although he was rethinking the order of things to do once they got to their room. Grabbing his cock, that was seriously threatening the seams of his pants, he pushed at it, trying to get it to settle down.

  Didn’t work. If anything, that simple touch, even through cloth, combined with the smell of his mate, enveloping him like a cloud, was fogging up his thinking mechanism. He barely made it through the door, before he used Kellen’s bulk to slam it shut. The anger he’d felt earlier had morphed into something far more dangerous, at least where Kellen’s virginity was concerned. Phillip could feel his wolf flash in his eyes, Kellen’s tanned features turning monochrome for a split second. He grabbed hold of Kellen’s square jaw in both hands, pulling the man down so he could taste those tempting lips.

  Gods, Phillip had kissed heaps of men before. He loved the intimacy of such a simple act – the meshing of lips, the taste of another person. Sharing breath and spit was almost as good as pushing his cock into another person. Kissing his mate took the act to another level. Kellen’s lips were hard, despite their soft look, and the way he moved indicated he wanted control. But Phillip wasn’t about to be thwarted. He kissed, and nipped, and when Kellen’s mouth opened for him, he plunged his tongue deep inside; teasing and coaxing the other man to play – a call that Kellen seemed happy to answer.

  When his cock throbbed so bad, he had to release his zipper or suffer serious injury, Phillip pulled away.

  “I said I’d shower,” he said, nipping Kellen’s collar bone.

  “You smell perfect to me.” Kellen followed up his words, with a swipe of his broad tongue along the divot in Phillip’s neck.

  “Then we need a bed.” Phillip half-turned, planning to head to his room when Kellen pulled at him. His back slapped against Kellen’s chest and the evidence of Kellen’s arousal was solid against his ass.

  “Aren’t you going to feed me first?” Kellen whispered in his ear.

  Fuck. He’d said he would and now Phillip was bound to it. Kellen ground against his ass, and he pushed back, hoping….

  “Nah, I’m teasing. Show me the bed, mate.”

  That was an order Phillip was happy to follow. His room was just four strides away, and Kellen was right behind him. All enforcers had a suite in the club, and most of them personalized them, but Phillip wasn’t the type. His bed was big, functional and comfortable enough. He’d never needed soft furnishings, or pictures on his walls. He gave a quick thought to how drab his room might look to his mate, but Kellen’s ass in those tight jeans was a distraction. Kellen seemed pretty focused on what was to follow, and Phillip wasn’t going to let him down.

  The two men fell on the bed in a flurry of abandoned clothes, the odd button pinging as it hit the floor. The temptation of Kellen's naked flesh was too intense to ignore, and Phillip feasted on the miles of skin laid out before him. Kellen's tattoos were worshipped with his tongue, every muscle group loving attended to with licks, sucks and nibbles.

  Kellen lay like a banquet on the sheets, his tanned skin glistened with sweat, his limbs heavy, but as Phillip moved over the skin under his command, muscles twitched and groans emanated from the man's throat as Phillip slowly and methodically found his hot spots. The underarms, the taut skin over the collarbone, that delicious dip in the base of Kellen's throat that now wore a purple mark. When Philli
p finally dropped his mouth over the head of Kellen's cock, the guttural groan he got in response had him fishing under the mattress for lube. Fuck he hoped it was still there. His roar of triumph when his fingers settled over it, was silenced by a thrust of Kellen's hips, but Phillip mentally smirked.

  Keeping his mouth moving, Phillip fiddled with the lube cap, it's click drowned out by another long moan from Kellen. He quickly coated three fingers of one hand, and then dropped the tube on the floor. With one last suck, Phillip let Kellen's cock slip from his mouth and slid up Kellen's body. His clean hand gently brushed the hair from Kellen's face while the other gently stroked the skin behind Kellen's balls.

  “I won’t hurt you,” he said. Kellen’s green eyes shone – the lust, the uncertainty all there for Phillip to see. That vulnerability, from such a strong Alpha, humbled Phillip and he was determined that his mate would be roaring in pleasure before he was finished. He brushed his lips against those of his mate, loving the well-trimmed stubble that surrounded that plush softness. He kept his kisses light, gentle, almost teasing, and when his lubed fingers finally found their destination, he ensured his touches were the same.

  The urgency from before had lessened, and slowly Kellen relaxed under Phillip's touch. One finger became two, and when Phillip inserted the third, Kellen's arm wrapped around his torso, holding him tight.

  "I need," Kellen growled.

  Phillip could work with that. He rolled, his legs slipping between the V Kellen's made on the bed, his cock bouncing with his mate's for a few moments as Phillip found his knees. Leaning up, Phillip lined up, casting a glance at his mate. Kellen's skin was flushed, his fists were tangled in the sheets, and his knees were spread wide. Without saying a word, Phillip thrust forward, his cock immediately encased in a tight heat. He tensed, unwilling to push any harder than Kellen could handle, but the tension in his mate's jaw lessened as the muscles holding him tight relaxed.