The Wolf's Bandit: Paranormal Shifter Romance: A Howls Romance

by Milly Taiden

  She opened her eyes and locked gazes with him. Mine. That she was.

  Leaning in, he nipped at her lip. Her breath hitched, her eyes wide, then narrowed before a wicked smile curved her lips. Claiming her mouth again, he twisted his tongue around hers in an erotic dance. His body heated and tingled at the same time, raising the desire even higher than the first time they kissed.

  Raw hunger and a primal need swirled inside him. He wouldn’t be able to hold back much longer.

  Pulling his hips back so the head of his dick fell into line with her entrance, he thrust forward, filling her to the hilt. She gasped then moaned and began moving her hips in a circular motion. Her walls tightened around him, milking him with each in and out motion, each thrust in going deeper and deeper until she screamed out and orgasmed around his cock.

  He pumped into her hard, growling out his own release.

  15

  Aitan rolled down the rental SUV’s window and let the cool air whip against his face. He was such a fucking coward. His wolf agreed and wanted to go back. No. He couldn’t allow that, no matter how much he wanted to be with her. He was sure once she realized what a stranger had done to her that she’d never want to see him again.

  What he did was beyond reproach. Never had he lost control of himself like he had with Robyn. He was too well groomed, knew right and wrong, never pushed a woman past what she was comfortable with.

  That loss of command over himself scared the shit out of him. What if it happened again? Would he hurt someone? His animal told him he was being ridiculous. He was a shifter, not a werewolf with a drive to kill. His other half’s drive was to go back to Robyn and if he refused, the animal would make sure they did.

  His teeth clamped down. He’d be damned if he let the creature have control over him. They were never going to see her again. His theory that she was involved in the thefts was stupid. Whatever his gut was telling him was wrong. He should go home and return to the foundation and take care of his people.

  A growl echoed in his head. The animal was trying to take control. Fear rolled through him. This was yet another thing that had never happened to him. Both his halves had always gotten along. In fact, they operated as one with no animosity until now. Why now?

  His phone rang, and he pulled it from his pocket, glancing at the ID. Mom. The wolf grumbled and backed down.

  “Hi, Mother. Just getting up?” he asked. He mentally figured the time difference with the conclusion it was six a.m. at home.

  “Right, like we have the luxury to sleep this late. How was your flight?” she asked.

  “It was good. Uneventful.”

  “Good. Have you visited the local pack yet?” she asked.

  “No, I got really busy,” chasing tail, but not saying that to his mother.

  “Vytaut Aitanas Ojeras Hansen,” she scolded. Shit, he hated when she used his entire name. “Do that first thing tomorrow morning. It is your duty and responsibility to represent our heritage and pack while in other countries.”

  He rolled his eyes again. “Mother, I’ve barely been here fourteen hours. I will see them within twenty-four hours of arriving. That’s well within the unspoken time range.”

  “Make sure you do, Crown Prince. Besides, you met him before when you were young. He’ll remember your scent,” she said. He thought back to the time he and his parents visited the States. They met several alphas and packs over those weeks. So much had been crammed into that short time, he couldn’t remember it all.

  Trying to change the subject, he thought this would be a good time to talk with another man. “Is Father around?” He could get some answers to the million questions he had. Then he’d change his flight to leave tomorrow.

  “Your father is in committee already. Can I help you with something?”

  He really wanted to talk to another male, but his parents were true mates, so maybe Mom could help. He started, “I know we never talked about this much, but what does a wolf feel when meeting their true mate?” When his mother didn’t reply, he thought the line dropped. “Mom? You still there?”

  “I’m here, son. Just picking myself up off the floor. I thought I heard you asking about mates.”

  Aitan rolled his eyes. His mother had a weird sense of humor. “I did, Mom.”

  “Let me sit down.” He heard what could have been a chair drag across the floor. “Now, what was the question?”

  He sighed quietly and ignored her “I heard that.” Of course, she did. She was a wolf with wolfen ears. Maybe this wasn’t the best of ideas to ask a female.

  “I was curious to know what it felt like when you and Dad met.”

  “Your father said his balls nearly squeezed into one and he almost cam—”

  His SUV swerved into another lane, earning him an angry honk before he regained control. “Mom. Stop.” Shit. “You can’t say those things. I’m your son and driving.” She laughed and laughed. In a warped sense of fate, he probably deserved this for talking smack about women and their constant chitchat about mates and feelings.

  When her laughing stopped, she asked, “So, have your balls tightened lately?” He pulled the vehicle to a screeching halt on the side of the road and took a deep breath.

  “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” he replied. No. It was a hallucination. His mother would never ask him that.

  She snorted. “Aitan, please. Get over yourself. Do you think you’re the first wolf to talk to his mother about mating?”

  “I didn’t ask about mating,” he knew that part with the sex and biting, “I asked about meeting a mate.”

  “All right,” she replied. “Her physical reaction is similar. Her nipples will get hard—”

  He groaned and buried his face in his hand not holding the phone. He was surprised he hadn’t dropped it yet. “Mom.”

  She continued. “Her arousal will immediately be strong enough to knock you on your ass. She’ll be the best thing you’ve ever smelled and if you try to get very far from her, your wolf will fight you for control to stay close.”

  That fact rang true just before her call. His wolf was ready to bust through his skin to get back to Robyn. And he recalled his balls trying to become one when he smelled her the first time in the office building. Then in her office... Oh fuck, no. This couldn’t be. But the symptoms fit the illness. Robyn was his true mate.

  “Oh,” Mom said, “when you go down on her the first time—”

  “Mom, I gotta go.”

  Robyn threw her purse on the sofa in her office. Being so late at night, nobody was in the bullpen outside her door or the building for that matter. This was the time she needed to prepare for her jobs. But damn, if she didn’t feel discombobulated and fucked over.

  She didn’t give a fuck about anything else. The best foreplay she’d ever had, and then the best sex she’d ever had, and the asshole up and runs away. He’d given her so much. The most amazing orgasms and intimacy like she’d never known.

  Nobody gave her anything in life. Except the one family who changed her life forever. They took her off the street and gave her a chance at living. Gave her the opportunity to not repeat the life her mother lived—and the way she died.

  She got online and brought up the floor plan for the gallery they were delivering to tomorrow. All the details had been worked out with their logistics department for the shipment, setup, and take-away.

  Hopefully, this job would be easy because it was the last for a while. All the parentless children she could find had been put up at Holy Pereth until they were eighteen.

  This last money would take care of Eli and Ellie. Then maybe she’d take a vacation at one of those pleasure resorts that cater to women who have no sex life like her. If she got all that physical stuff satisfied, maybe she could get back to normal.

  That damn Aitan had awakened in her way too much. Needs and desires she’d been able to push down now floated on top, refusing to be drowned again. Shit. She was a little sore from the little they had done.

>   Looking at the online diagrams, all the sewer pipes and tunnels under the gallery had remained the same after their renovation. The changes were mainly in the room configuration and the security cameras and motion detectors. She’d have to see those onsite tomorrow.

  After closing down the webpages, she pulled a thick blue book off a bookshelf and pushed the recessed button in the wall. The shelving unit popped forward and she slid it to the side, revealing a walk-in room packed with equipment and gear she used on her heists.

  This job would be different from others in that the gallery would be open and filled with people while she grabbed the merch. Granted, they would be in a different part of the building, but who knew if someone would decide to wander around—like her.

  Into a black bag, she tossed a rope, carabiners, waist belt, utility knife and other things she’d need to get in and out. Of course, she’d have to enter and leave the party through the main entrance to keep her alibi tight. Shouldn’t be any problem.

  The only problem would be keeping her mind off the man who walked into her life this morning and crashed her world. What baffled her was how this all came about so quickly. He felt...familiar. Maybe that was what allowed her to lower her walls. Hell, she hadn’t lowered them, he bulldozed his way through.

  For a law enforcement agent from a foreign country, he seemed to get around New York just fine. But none of that mattered. He was gone and she could focus on her company and her kids.

  Tomorrow was it.

  16

  The morning sun felt good on his face. He hadn’t done much sleeping last night trying to piece together the draw between him and Robyn Loxley. The woman was stunning and intriguing. She was also his true mate, if what his mom, and his wolf, kept insisting were right. If that was the case, there was no way he could go home without her. It would kill him to leave her behind. His wolf would make sure he was dead.

  After this meeting with the local alpha, he’d call her at her office and apologize. Maybe he should take flowers. He read American women like that. What if he was in real trouble with her? Maybe he could take a tree.

  Closing the SUV’s door, he put her in the back of his mind. He needed to focus when meeting the alpha. Never knew if the natives were hostile. Looking around, he realized that what he remembered about this pack was either completely wrong, or something big had happened to the area.

  The alpha came out the lodge office and took a deep breath. When Aitan walked up to him, they shook hands. “Prince of Cloustien,” the alpha said. “You’ve grown up a bit.”

  Aitan gave him a nod. “Thank you for your welcome, Alpha. Please call me Aitan.”

  “I’m Dax,” the alpha replied. “What brings you back to our humble area?”

  “Investigating a couple thefts on behalf of the royal foundation in the city. Came out to let you know I’m in the area south of here.”

  Dax laughed. “You European royalty are something else. If every alpha in this country had the mores and respect for tradition as you do, shifter society would be in a much better place.”

  Aitan wasn’t sure what the alpha was talking about, but he understood change came to every species sooner or later. A lot of times, that change wasn’t good. He nodded politely and glanced down the main street.

  Dax sighed. “Doesn’t look the same, eh?”

  Aitan wasn’t going to say anything, but he wondered. “I thought it was different than what I remembered.”

  “Yeah,” the alpha replied, “Mother Nature hasn’t been kind to us this past year. A fire took out a chunk of the state park before they could get it out, then flooding wiped away all the ground. Took out a lot of the pack homes, too.”

  The older alpha nodded at the buildings along the main drive. “We’re using the brick structures as shelters for most of the pack. We bring in food from the human establishments.”

  “You aren’t able to rebuild?” Aitan asked.

  “You need supplies and hands for that. Both of which are scarce since most of our people work outside the pack to bring in badly needed money.”

  “What do you need?”

  Dax sighed. “A whole lot of things. This winter is going to be bad. We can already tell.”

  “A bit more detailed would be a help,” Aitan said.

  The old man narrowed an eye at him. “You want specifics, young Prince?”

  Aitan nodded. “I do.”

  The two men walked the village at the edge of the state park, examining the remaining buildings and meeting the few who worked on restoring what they could.

  Entire homes had been washed away, leaving behind concrete slabs with weeds growing around the perimeters. The insides of small shops were eaten away with black toxic mold covering everything, including chairs, shelves and merchandise.

  Huge piles of debris were stacked along the roadside. Broken and rotted wood, toys, cabinets, sofas, baby beds, clothes, mattresses—everything in a home laid to waste. Everything once treasured and loved, destroyed.

  Aitan realized if they didn’t have a big influx of help and money, the entire pack could die out over the winter.

  After several hours of heartbreaking tours through the village, Dax and Aitan sat in the main shelter where children on two and four feet played while pack elders watched over them. Anyone within working age range was gone, doing their best to bring in money for the pack.

  While he called home to talk with his mother, several women brought out meat for him and their alpha to eat for lunch. He felt bad eating their food, knowing what little they must’ve had on hand. But he was about to remedy that with help from his organization.

  “Dax,” Aitan said, “you’re aware of Cloustien’s Royal Foundation, right?”

  The alpha sat back in his chair. “I recall your father talking about a group that assisted other shifters. He mentioned how they had helped those persecuted from other countries needing shelter and food. Humans included.”

  “It’s grown quite a bit in the last twenty years with contributions from others and wise investments.” Aitan looked around and recalled what he’d discussed with his mother moments ago. “I will have everything you need and a hundred hands here in three days. Can you be ready for them?”

  The alpha’s slatted eyes made him smile. Aitan smelled the disbelief and hope the man had. “Young Prince, no one could or would be able to pull off something like that.”

  Aitan jotted down the phone number to the foundation’s accounting department. “Have your banking people call this number to transfer over several hundred thousand American dollars to pay for whatever you need to be ready for winter. Whatever you have left over, use that to help any others who the floods ruined.”

  With a frown, Dax leaned forward, joining his hands on the table. “We are a proud pack—"

  Aitan knew what was coming. He’d learned long ago how the American packs had become competition driven to the point of isolation from each other by hundreds of miles. Packs here didn’t share or communicate with each other, outside of traditional mass gatherings designed to bring new blood into packs to keep genetics from becoming too inbred.

  Thus pack pride was ridiculously high, keeping them from getting help outside the group when needed. Aitan saw this as a major flaw. The European packs operated differently. They had been around a thousand years longer and had learned the downfall of such pride. And Aitan wasn’t afraid to share that knowledge.

  “Alpha, no disrespect, but if you don’t accept help from someone now, there will be no one left come spring to ask.” He glanced at the children, happy and playful, but much thinner than what they should be. “Our foundation is for this exact reason. It is not charity. You will be expected to follow the rules established for grantees.”

  The scent of anger filled his nose, along with relief. Aitan hated to manipulate the alpha, but with excessive pride came a need to save face. He would offer that so there would be no reason for the alpha to reject the money.

  “The rules are simple, Alpha D
ax,” Aitan said. “After you and your pack are completely done rebuilding your lives, you will repay the debt by paying it forward to others, humans and shifters, who need assistance. No matter the distance or the species. If you know of someone needing help, you will do everything in your power to be the first on the scene and set the example for others to follow.”

  Of course, this “rule” was all hogwash. The foundation required no repayment. But maybe this would set a precedent other shifters would follow to bring about a change in culture for the American packs. Maybe someday the competitiveness would become compassion, uniting instead of dividing. The species mattered not. All that was important was that they all lived and shared the same planet responsibly.

  The alpha smiled. He saw the “rules” for what they were. “If that is the case, we will accept the offer and work to ‘repay’ it in full.” They shook hands and ate lunch.

  On his way back into the city, Aitan breathed out a deep sigh. He was glad his mother insisted on visiting the local pack. He’d heard about the ongoing snow storms the US East Coast suffered under the past few years and the devastating floods of hurricanes in the south and flash flooding everywhere else. It seemed like Mother Nature was taking her revenge on humanity.

  He wondered if there was a better way to help. Especially the children.

  17

  Ahead, Aitan recognized the turn off to Robyn’s grandmother’s home. He knew it was up here but didn’t realize it was that close. If Robyn was his mate, the woman he was to spend the rest of his life with, maybe he could get answers about her from the one woman in her life.

  He took the exit and recalled the directions the older woman had given him yesterday. The area was beautiful with the forests and acres of unspoiled land. He noted another sign for vacation cabin rentals. That appeared to be the popular thing to do around here. Small locations like this popped up all along the state highways.