If she did manage to take the human for her mate, Acksel would be forced to mark her as a rogue, slashing his claws across her arm as a warning to other packs that she couldn’t be trusted. He and his dad would lose her. It would be as if she were dead, but she would be very much alive. He couldn’t do that to his dad, and he couldn’t do it to himself.
In spite of promising his father that he would let her go through the heat on her own, he had his own plans. He was sure that she was already in the throes of the heat and she would thank him later for sending a male to relieve her. He just had to choose the right male.
He rapped his knuckles on the worn tabletop and the wolves quieted. “Auro, let’s hear the minutes of the last meeting.”
Auro was his beta, the wolf who had fought to become second-in-command. He was just a few years older and mated to a she-wolf pregnant with their first child. Her father had taken ill after getting injured during a full moon hunt, and they were leaving the Wilde Creek pack and heading to her home pack so she could care for him. The September full moon would be his last as beta and then Acksel would have to hold rank fights to determine who would take over. He wasn’t looking forward to it. He liked the pack the way it was now. He was a very status quo sort of guy. If it’s not broken, don’t fucking touch it.
Auro opened the notes program on his phone and read off the minutes from last week’s meeting, and then Acksel discussed the few issues that were still outstanding, ending with the prep for the rank fights.
“Preliminary fights will begin at three p.m. on the twenty-third, two days after the full moon. Only males and mated females can attend. The location is to be determined at a later point, but will most likely be behind my home. Questions?”
Dean, a wolf a few years younger than him, said, “We want to talk about your sister.” A chorus of agreement drifted from the group.
His hackles rose immediately and he let his wolf loose enough to allow his eyes to change color and his fangs to elongate. Rising from his seat, he snarled loudly and everyone went quiet. “My sister is my responsibility and is off-limits. Am I clear?”
He glared at the members of his pack and growled for effect. All eyes dropped to the floor. If anyone had met his eyes, he would have taken it as a challenge to his authority and kicked their ass. Being alpha meant he had to constantly prove that he was worthy of the position.
After a few more moments of silence, he sat back and willed his beast to settle. He knew that if anyone had the stones to come after him, they’d do it in public so they could be assured of becoming the next alpha. If that male could beat him, which was doubtful. Acksel hadn’t become alpha because he had a winning personality.
Returning to the original topic, he informed the males that any who wished to challenge for beta had to fight in the preliminaries or they would be disqualified. He opened the floor to issues, and when there were none, he dismissed the wolves. Most stayed put, drinking their beers and talking, but some headed off.
Leaning back, he looked around at the males and ticked off their attributes in his mind. Too old. Too young. Raging jackass. He reminded himself that although the intention was to choose a male for Eveny to go through the heat with only, he was well aware that things happened. Condoms broke. Or were not used at all. Deep down, his wolf lamented what he was planning to do to Eveny, but judging from a few secretive looks from several males that he’d beaten out for the position for alpha, he knew that if Eveny didn’t take a mate this heat, she could be used against him to get him to step down.
I’m protecting her, he argued with his wolf. It’s for her own damn good.
Bullshit.
Shaking his head, he cleared his thoughts and shoved the guilt way down in his gut. He’d make it up to her somehow. And she’d eventually forgive him once she understood that he’d done it for her own good.
An hour later, most of the males were calling it a night. “Vince.” Acksel called the male who was third-ranked in the pack. As theto, he had a lot of responsibility, and he was well known in the pack for being a no-nonsense male. At almost thirty-three, he was older than Eveny by eight years, but he was foreman at the construction company and owned his own home. Vince had supported Acksel in his desire to become Alpha. He was loyal and dedicated to the pack, voicing his concerns about making changes to long-held traditions. And no one would mess with Eveny with Vince by her side.
Does she even like him?
“I need to speak to you privately. Outside.” Acksel stood and moved out of the booth and Vince followed him through the back and out into the parking lot.
Vince Corelli leaned against the steel door and hooked his thumbs in his pockets. “Something up, Acksel?”
For a heartbeat, Acksel almost kept his mouth shut and dismissed Vince, but he forged ahead.
Keeping his voice low, Acksel said, “I want you to do me a favor, Vince.”
“Name it,” Vince said.
Exhaling quickly, Acksel said, “Eveny has chosen to go through her heat alone. I don’t think she understands what she’s going to go through, and she’s alone with no way to contact anyone for help.”
Vince’s brows rose in surprise. “You’re asking me to take Eveny through her heat?”
Acksel nodded. “Use condoms unless she says otherwise.”
His eyes narrowed but he didn’t say anything.
Acksel gritted his teeth until his jaw ached. “Eveny needs help, Vince. You’re one of the front-runners for beta, and I know that you’ll treat my sister with respect in all ways.”
Vince nodded and extended his hand. Acksel gripped it. “Thank you for trusting me, Acksel.”
A lump formed in Acksel’s throat as he told Vince how to find the cabin where Eveny was staying. As he walked back into the bar to say goodnight to Teddy, he nearly told Vince not to go, but he reminded himself that he was doing it for Eveny’s protection. She might not want to be mated right now, but Vince would take good care of her and eventually she’d forgive Acksel and love Vince.
Doubt and worry settled over him, but he shuttered the feelings away and headed home. It was done now. He’d sealed Eveny’s fate. Unless Vince refrained from coming inside her, Eveny would have a mate in a week or less, and possibly be pregnant.
Forgive me, sis.
* * * * *
Fury stole through Luke as he listened to Acksel give Eveny away as if she were a piece of furniture and not a person. He pulled his cell from his back pocket and dialed Eveny’s number once Acksel had gone back into the bar. He had to warn her.
The phone went directly to voicemail. He didn’t know if that meant she had it turned off or if she didn’t have service. “Ev,” he whispered, “Acksel is sending Vince Corelli up to the cabin to take you through your heat. Get out of there and call me.”
He heard the beeping of cell phone buttons being pressed and he froze, listening.
“Hey, you busy?” Vince asked to whoever he had called. “You know the alpha’s little she-bitch sister? Guess what our king just asked me to do?”
Rage blinded him, turning his vision red and making his blood boil, as he listened to Vince repeat Acksel’s request as he walked towards his vehicle in the back parking lot. Luke had to strain to hear the rest of the conversation, but one sentence told him everything he needed to know. “Grab Rufus and Barry and meet me at my place in five.”
Luke knew from the tone in Vince’s voice that he didn’t have any good intentions when it came to Eveny. She was unprotected and virtually helpless right now, by her own brother’s hand. Eveny was stronger than a human thanks to her werewolf strength, but she couldn’t hope to go up against four horny males intent on raping her.
He snapped into action and packed a bag with clothes and toiletries quickly, just in case he survived, and grabbed a second bag, leaving it empty. He boxed in his spare time and lifted weights. He could take on one wolf. Maybe two. But not four. And Vince was a vicious fighter in his human form. If the males shifted into their wolf form
s then Luke was as good as dead. But he didn’t care about that. The only thing that mattered was giving Eveny enough time to escape. If he died in the process, at least he would know that she was safe.
He left his apartment and opened the back door to the bar. He could hear some sounds from inside the bar, which told him that some of the wolves were still there. For a moment he considered finding Acksel and telling him what was going on, but he knew that Acksel would never believe him. Acksel detested humans, and he’d always hated Luke’s friendship with Eveny. If he tried to tell Acksel that one of his wolves was arranging a gang-rape of Eveny, Acksel would most likely not believe him and then beat him all to hell. And that would leave Eveny defenseless.
He walked past the office and into one of the storage rooms where Teddy kept some items that most people in the bar didn’t know about. Sometimes, wolves caused trouble, and if Acksel wasn’t in the bar to keep a lid on things, then it was only Teddy and Luke. Opening a storage locker, Luke filled up the bag with two stun batons, two canisters of pepper spray, and an aluminum baseball bat. After some consideration, he shoved some flares into the bag, too.
He had seen Teddy use the stun baton on a rowdy wolf when Luke first started tending bar. Even with the wolf’s enhanced strength, he still hit the ground when Teddy zapped him and made him think twice about acting up in the bar again.
The best option would be for Luke to get to Eveny first and get her out of the cabin, into his truck, and safely on the way home before Vince and his buddies showed up. He didn’t believe in luck, but Luke sure hoped to fuck that luck was on his side as he raced out of the bar and jumped into his truck, slamming his foot onto the gas and roaring out of the parking lot like the devil was on his tail.
But it wasn’t his tail that he was worried about it. It was Ev’s. If anyone laid a hand on her, he’d never forgive himself.
Chapter 5
When Eveny saw Luke’s truck turn off towards the bar, she almost turned around and followed him. Doing that, though, would mean seeing him again, and she wasn’t sure she could keep her hands off him if she did. The heat was almost upon her, and the desire to touch and hold someone was already creeping into her subconscious. But more than that, she was feeling unsure of her decision to go things alone and she knew that Luke would help her in a heartbeat. With one word, he’d take her to the cabin and do whatever she needed. Then she’d be making love to her best friend and they’d end up mated and she’d be pregnant within a week. Which was all fine and good for her, but she couldn’t saddle Luke with that without a thorough discussion.
Which was why leaving and being alone was best. When the heat was over, she’d tell him everything about what being a human mated to a werewolf meant, not only for her, but for him.
Not for the first time in her life, she cursed being a wolf shifter. Although she loved prowling and hunting in her wolf form, she hated the shifting process, which cracked and shifted bones around in her body and hurt more often than not. She hated the hierarchy bullshit that meant that, as alpha, Acksel was in control of her destiny and would kick her out of the pack - and her family - for being with the man that she loved.
By the time she got to the cabin and parked around back, she knew that waiting out the heat and then talking to Luke about mating with her was the right thing to do. She would even make a list of the pros and cons for him so that he could see what they both had the potential to gain and lose with the mating. She never wanted him to say that she hadn’t told him everything. If he walked away because it was too much for him, she still wouldn’t want to mate with a wolf, but she had a feeling that Acksel would push her during next year’s heat-cycle and she’d end up mated. But that would be a mate only in title. Luke was the mate of her heart. Her perfect match.
After filling up the generator with gasoline that she had brought along in two ten-gallon containers, she turned it on and then unlocked the back door. There was no central air conditioning in the cabin, but it was cool enough in the evenings to not need it, and there were several ceiling fans, plus rectangular fans to be placed in the windows. And if she needed it, there was a small window air conditioner that she could use.
It was lunchtime, and her stomach rumbled, but she wanted to get settled first before she ate. The cabin was one large room; a small bathroom and closet lined the back wall, next to a door which led out onto a small back porch. The generator ran the water heater, and the running water in the cabin was collected with a cistern, so she would have fresh drinking water and hot water for her baths. The main room of the cabin was separated into three areas: eating, sleeping, and sitting. A worn-out couch faced a picture window that overlooked one section of the woods. Her father always said that nature was the best television show ever invented. When they’d come to stay when she was younger, he would drink his coffee on the couch and watch out the window for hours. A wood-burning stove sat in the corner, and she had many fond memories of watching her dad fill up the stove and warm up the house when they came during the winter holidays.
The kitchen was compact and efficient, furnished with a butcher block table and three chairs, a long counter with a sink, a small refrigerator, and a two-burner stove. There was a charcoal grill in the small storage shed out back, but she didn’t plan to go to that much trouble to cook.
The sleeping area held an unmade king-sized bed with a frame made of twisted branches that had been stripped and sanded smooth so that the white of the trunk showed through in places where the bark had been scratched away. A matching table stood next to the bed and held a battery-operated alarm clock which appeared to be dead. She didn’t need the clock. Her body would tell her when the heat was over and the time of day didn’t really matter when she could look outside and judge whether it was morning or afternoon or evening. Turning in a slow circle, she looked at the four walls that were going to be her home for the duration of her heat, and took in a deep breath. This was part of her family’s heritage, a place of safety where she’d made many wonderful memories with her family.
She remembered her mother standing in the kitchen in one of her father’s oversized shirts, making eggs and bacon. Eveny and Acksel had slept on air mattresses on the floor and she always fell asleep to the sound of her parents’ muffled conversations. She realized she didn’t talk about her mom with anyone but Luke. He’d understood the devastation of losing a parent, because he’d lost both. He had been there for her, let her cry, and listened to anything she wanted to say while she’d grieved. He’d been her rock. And he still was.
Pressing her hand to her abdomen, she decided that when she and Luke had a girl, she’d like to name her after her mother - Miriam. She knew that Luke would like that. And she’d want to name two more of their kids after his parents, Rebecca and Paul. And his grandma, Louise. And her dad, Dade. Chuckling to herself, she wondered if Luke would mind having that many kids.
Thinking about her dad made her heart ache in a bad way. She didn’t want to lose him. But she wouldn’t lose him yet. Until she and Luke mated officially, she would still be able to spend time with him, and she’d just make the most of it.
If Luke wanted to be her mate.
She smiled. She couldn’t think of a scenario in which Luke would say no to her.
After checking out the small bathroom, with its tub, sink, and toilet, she returned to the car and brought in the cooler and the box. Leaving a steak out on the counter to thaw, she closed the lid on the cooler and opened the box. They didn’t keep linens in the cabin, so she had brought a set of sheets and towels. She made the bed, laying her pillow against the headboard and smoothing her hands down the sheets. When she’d known she was coming up to the cabin, she’d foregone using the inexpensive sheets that her dad kept to bring up here, choosing instead to invest in a set of high thread-count sheets in a butter-yellow color. The sheets were smooth under her fingers, almost like silk but heavier.
She bustled around, cleaning the bathroom so it was free of dust and spider webs, removing t
he dust cover on the couch, and opening the windows and setting the fans inside to air out the musty smell. The day passed quickly as she prepared to settle in for the next week. She decided to turn in early that night. Although she was feeling perfectly normal, she expected the heat to come upon her at some point during the next day, and she knew that sleep would be hard to come by.
Changing into a pair of pajama shorts and a cami, she turned off the overhead light and climbed into bed. The cabin was dark, and she closed her eyes and settled under the sheet. Her hand brushed over the empty space next to her and she wished that Luke was there with her. As she drifted off to sleep, he was the last thing on her mind.
* * * * *
Eveny woke up at dawn, drenched in sweat with her stomach cramping. The sheet was twisted around her body and at some point she’d pulled off her pajamas and tossed them on the floor. Her hands trembled as she untangled herself from the sheet. She rolled onto her side with a groan, pressing her hand into her stomach. She was burning up. In pain. And the only thing she could think of was that she should have asked Luke to come with her. It was bad already, and she’d only been awake for a few minutes. She had seven days of this.
Slipping from the bed, she went into the bathroom and wet a washcloth, pressing it onto her face and neck to try to cool down. She drank several glasses of cold water and then stumbled back to the bed and lifted the box from the floor.
When she’d been shopping online for sex toys, she’d only bought them because one of the pack females told her that she wouldn’t last for seven days without using some kind of pleasure toy to help take the edge off the need that would be coursing through her. She was now very grateful that she’d taken that advice.
Mate of Her Heart Page 4
