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Copyright© 2021 Jade Marshall
ISBN: 978-0-3695-0345-9
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: Jessica Ruth
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WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
For Mianke Fourie
Thank you for pushing me, giving me hell for not writing, and for always answering your phone. Thank you for celebrating the highs with me, for comforting me through the lows, and having random, useless conversations. You are my support, my friend, and my confidant.
You are my weirdo with the colorful hair.
Love you always.
HIS REFUSED MATE
Katu Wolves, 1
Jade Marshall
Copyright © 2021
A wolf shifter wants nothing more than to find his mate, protect his family, and serve his pack. Nothing is more important. Not all are able to fulfill their dreams. But for those who are lucky enough, there is nothing they wouldn’t do to keep it.
After all, a wolf shifter is still half wolf. And a wolf is a wild animal.
Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to screw around with wild animals?
Chapter One
Peyton
Sitting on the edge of my bed, I watch the sunrise over the trees surrounding the compound I call home. Mother nature takes her brush and paints the sky in wide strokes of color.
Drawing my gaze from the sight before me, I breathe deeply before looking around my small room. Beige walls are devoid of any art or photos. A single cot occupies the corner beside a rickety side table. My bedding is faded to the point that I can no longer remember the color it used to be, but I do recall I hated it. The carpet is threadbare and fraying in spots. A sadness settles deep in my heart.
I miss my parents. Even after eight years, there isn’t a day that goes by without me thinking about them. Longing for the normality we had before fills me. My eyes burn with tears before I can force them down. I won’t cry, not today.
The door to my small room swings open, knocking the knob into the already dented plaster behind it. In the doorway stands Ebeth, wife to our current Beta.
“What the hell are you doing?” She eyes me up and down in disgust. “Everyone will be up soon, and breakfast hasn’t even been started yet.”
This is another part of my existence. Due to the loyalty the pack had to my father, when he didn’t come back, they took me in (in a manner of speaking). I am now the property of the pack. Meaning I am at their beck and call.
Need a babysitter? Get Peyton to do it.
Does the main house need cleaning? Get Peyton to do it.
Food for the Alpha and his lieutenants? Peyton can do it.
But today of all days, my eighteenth birthday, I thought that someone else would do something. I have been serving the pack since I can remember, without complaint, without asking to be helped. I don’t know why I thought today would be any different.
“I’m sorry, Ebeth. I was on my way down.” I defer to her, keeping my eyes downcast as I apologize.
“Well, get your fat ass moving,” she snarls in my direction before moving out of my room and down the hallway.
Slowly, I rise from my bed. I check the plait in my blonde hair and run my hands down the front of my dress, making sure I am presentable, and head downstairs to fix breakfast for no less than fifteen people. As I move through the halls, I take in the opulence of the rest of the main house. This is the Alpha’s residence, after all, and nothing but the best will do. It is the complete opposite of my room.
Embroidered wallpaper the color of wheat in a field, gilded frames flanking both sides, deep red, thick carpeting. Everything around me speaks of wealth and decadence. The kitchen is every woman’s dream. I take in the marble countertops, stainless steel appliances, and dark cherry cupboards. It is a beautiful house, but it isn’t home. There is no warmth here. No laughter. No love.
I slip an apron over my lavender, knee-length dress and start to prepare the meal. Bacon, eggs, the bread I baked yesterday afternoon, a freshly brewed pot of coffee, and several other things. When everything is ready I finish plating for the Alpha and move to take it into the dining room, where everyone is seated. The Alpha is always served first.
Entering the room, I feel a tingle start in my toes, rushing through my system, running up my spine until suddenly the breath is stolen from my lungs for a moment. My heightened senses kick in and a smell assaults me. Dark, rich, like the earth has just been tilled before planting starts. I inspect the room, trying to find the source of the smell, but find no new face.
Seated at the head of the table is the Alpha with his Beta to his right. There are at least six other high-ranking pack members in attendance this morning with their mates if they have any. There isn’t a stranger in sight, but the scent that assaults me is something I have never smelled before. The Alpha clears his throat, causing me to move toward him. I set his breakfast down in front of him, and as I turn to move away he grabs my wrist.
A spark shoots from him to me. I close my eyes, feeling it travel through my entire body. The Alpha hasn’t spoken to me in the last six months and hasn’t touched me in years. I find this moment both terrifying and exhilarating. What the hell is going on?
“Peyton,” he rumbles, commanding my attention.
I lift my gaze from the ground to meet his. He is certainly what would be considered a handsome man, but I have always found him to be intimidating. Broad shoulders and a great physique. Dark, almost black hair with eyes the same color. His face is stoic and never gives away any of his thoughts.
Leisurely he runs his finger over the pulse point in my wrist, causing my heart to skip a beat. I stare at his hand for a long second before he removes it.
“Today is your eighteenth birthday?” he questions.
“Yes,” I say softly.
He already knew before he asked me. As the Alpha, he knows everything, about every member of the pack. It is his job, after all.
“Do you smell it?” he asks.
I nod, grateful that someone knows what is going on.
“It’s the mating scent. The same one that sent your father out into the woods to find your mother. It’s a scent that will drive lesser men to the brink and cause them to do stupid things. I am not one of those men.”
He rises from his seat, and the room goes quiet around us. Everyone has their attention fixed on our Alpha, not wanting to miss a single word he says.
“As Alpha of Hatcher pack, I Slade Porter renounce any claim to Peyton Black as my one true mate. I refuse her, severing any bond between us.”
As he speaks, a coldness flows over me. My breath freezes in my lungs. Refusing a mate is unheard of, not just because most shifters search for their mate wholeheartedly, but because the refusal of a mate could kill a shifter. I shiver even as the summer day is warm outside. And with his last words, a tearing sensation rips through me, causing me to scream out in agony and collapse beside the table. It feels like my spine is being twisted inside my body, like all my organs are being rearranged in alphabetical order. And as tears stream down my face, sobs shaking my entire body, Slade peers down at me with disdain before sitting down to eat his breakfast. Like
I’m nothing.
Ebeth stares down at me, too, and for the first time in my life she looks at me with something that doesn’t resemble hate. The emotion shining in her eyes is pity. She mouths the word sorry, tears shimmering in her eyes.
After moments of breathing through the pain, I slowly lift myself from the floor and move toward the kitchen. And although I know I shouldn’t, I walk past the food I just prepared and out the door into the sunlight. I don’t think as I strip out of my dress, throwing it to the floor, before allowing my wolf to take over. The transformation comes easily after the last two years of doing it regularly.
My last thought before I give over to my wolf entirely is understanding. I finally understand why my father chose to stay in his wolf form.
Chapter Two
Caine
I love my pack, don’t get me wrong, but they are driving me up the fucking wall. All day, every day, all I hear is pack this, pack that. I need a break. A vacation. But that isn’t how it works. As Alpha, I am responsible for each and every member of my pack, and I take my job seriously. The problem is, while I’m being responsible for the pack, who is taking care of me?
For the past eighteen months, I have lived with an emptiness in my heart, an aching in my very soul. I have watched my friends, brothers, and pack members find their mates, but still, I am left standing in the cold.
The twins, Cole and Chris, have both found their mates and moved on. I get it. You don’t want to live under your oldest brother’s reign for the rest of your life. Add to the fact that we are four men, born from a strong Alpha, and we all feel the need to lead. To have a pack of our own that we can care for.
There are no females in our pack that are of age or available, meaning that I will be alone for so much longer. The next female in our pack that will be able to mate still has three years left to go before she turns eighteen. But that is a lie. There is one female that is of age, nineteen to be exact. Sara. But the idea of settling down with her, even just mating for the sake of it, makes my skin crawl. She was a loner that our pack took in out of pity. She was adopted as a baby by humans, and when her first change came they kicked her out. Sadly, it happens more often than you would think.
We have always had a sort of open door policy here, our pack growing from inside our ranks as well as the lost souls joining.
From the moment she joined us she has been actively chasing me. It’s clear that she is power hungry, wanting to mate the Alpha, which I am sure stems from her lack of control over her own life when she was younger. But I don’t want to be a crutch or a power piece for someone else. I want the mate the goddess selected for me. The overwhelming need. I crave that.
I stare out the window of my modest log cabin, looking over our gathering table where all the women are setting down the dishes they prepared for tonight’s festivities. It’s not so much a table as it is a couple of them shoved together to create a huge buffet for all of us to share.
We are a small pack with only twenty-two members, so it isn’t that hard to set up. But once a month we all gather for a family-style meal. Each female of the pack prepares a dish to share with the other families as we gather around to celebrate nothing in particular. It is our way of staying connected with each other.
I move away from the window as I hear my Beta come up the stairs.
“Morning,” I call before he steps into my office.
“Morning, Alpha.” He grins.
He knows I hate it when he calls me that. I may be the Alpha of the pack, but I am still just Caine. And as my younger brother, he is the person that knows this best.
“What do you want, Calum?” I turn away from him to take a seat behind my desk.
“Well, aren’t you just a ray of sunshine this morning.” The grin never leaves his face. “Don’t worry. I have enough sparkling personality to make up for your lack…”
A hardcover novel I was reading sails through the air, aimed directly at his head, which he deftly dodges, laughing brightly. I love my brother and his laugh is infectious, but with the way my mood has been these last months, he should know better than to poke at me.
I have been in charge of our pack for almost two years. My father was the Alpha before me. A proud and just Alpha who taught me everything I need to know. After years of my father leading us, keeping us safe, and ensuring peace for us, it was time for me to lead. Our mother passed in her sleep, peacefully, our father following soon after. Calum and the twins are all the family I have left in the world, and although Calum drives me nuts on the best of days, I love him.
“Spit it out. Or, even better, just get out. I don’t have the time or the patience for your bullshit today.”
Calum stares at me before taking on what I refer to as his Beta stance, letting me know he’s in my office for more than just a casual chat. I wait, although not patiently, for him to speak.
“On the west side of our land,” he pauses, taking a breath, “there is a scent we can’t identify.”
“When?” We have been expanding our borders gradually through the last six months, getting closer to the falls. My stomach sinks, and I know his answer isn’t going to be something I like.
He cringes before lowering his gaze to the ground.
“Every day for the last month,” he replies softly.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” I roar.
Pushing my chair away from my desk, I move toward him, watching him shrink into himself with every step I take closer. It is his instinct to shrink away from the command in my tone, but I hate it all the same. At this moment, though, he isn’t my little brother. He is my Beta. My second in command. And he has been hiding things from me.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m sorry. I thought I had it handled. I put extra wolves on the perimeter, but whoever it is keeps dodging them. They don’t come any closer than the lake. Well, at least until last night.”
“Goddammit, Calum. I can’t solve problems that I’m not aware of. You can’t keep things from me and try to solve problems by yourself. I am the Alpha of this pack, and as such, it is my responsibility to take care of my people.”
Running my hands through my hair, I turn away from him, going to stare out the window again. Calum isn’t dumb, which only serves to irritate me further. He knew what he doing was stupid and yet still did it.
“Show me.”
Exiting my home and heading to my vehicle, I get stopped in my tracks when Sara pops up in front of me.
“Morning, Caine,” she purrs, placing her hand on my chest.
“Sara.” I step back, causing her hand to fall from my chest. She looks unhappy about the move.
“I was wondering if you had a moment to talk.” She leans forward, her breasts almost spilling from her top.
“What is this about, Sara?” I don’t have time for this shit today. We could have a serious threat on our hands, and I need to find out what is going on.
“About us, silly.” She laughs, running a long, painted nail along my forearm.
“No.” I step around her. “There is no us. I need you to make peace with that. There will never be an us.”
Anger crosses her face before she replaces it with a fake look of sadness. I am not about to fall for her shit. I leave her standing there and get back to business.
****
Reaching the border of our land, I survey the area, trying to see anything out of the ordinary. Anything that should concern me, or tell me who might be hanging around. I don’t want to be a doomsday prophet and always only expect the worst, but I don’t trust what I don’t know. Calum walks beside me without saying a word. He knows better.
Tension rolls off me in waves, causing all the other members of my pack to keep a wide berth. They can sense my anger and don’t want to be on the receiving end. I am by no means a cruel Alpha, but I am hard on them. The survival of our pack depends on everyone knowing their place and working together. My brother, my Beta, and all the men working under him have gone against
the most basic of my rules.
Closing my eyes, I open my senses to the world around me. The breeze rustles through the trees, cooling my heated skin. Birds chirp in the trees nearby, and somewhere in the underbrush, a small rodent scurries away. But it’s the smell. The smell has my hackles rising as my gaze drifts from man to man, looking to see who would be able to stop me. The moment the smell assaults my senses, all rational thought leaves my mind as my wolf starts to emerge. I don’t fight him, just let him consume me as he pushes out.
Calum stares at me with terrified eyes, not understanding what could trigger me to shift so violently. I don’t even bother to undress, letting the shift take me, my wolf bursting out in full force. A howl rips from my throat, sending the birds flying from their perches and my pack members skittering back from me. My teeth are bared. To them, I must appear close to feral at this moment, but I don’t give a fuck.
I have only one thought going through my mind, one purpose.
My mate.
Chapter Three
Peyton
Doing a once-over of my small one-bedroom apartment, I smile to myself. It isn’t much, but it’s mine and I love it. The threadbare red couch I got from Goodwill, the grey curtains flapping in the breeze, and the movie poster against the wall. Every little thing has been my choice.
Since I ran from my pack, a peace has settled over me. The first month I didn’t shift back once, staying in my wolf form. I just relinquished all control. But after that month I knew that even if my life was simpler, I couldn’t give over to my animal completely or I would never be able to change back, so I shifted. I ended up in a small town called Katu Falls, miles away from my pack. Going into the local diner after stealing some clothes from a washing line in someone’s backyard, I was lucky enough to meet Ingrid. She saw me for what I was, a down-on-my-luck runaway. She gave me a job and the tiny apartment above the diner, and I have been here ever since. I work full days at the diner as the head cook, from five AM until eight at night, and although I am tired I have never been happier.
His Refused Mate (Katu Wolves Book 1) Page 1
