5
Carter
I fanned myself in the kitchen and paced back and forth in front of the empty sink. Sweat beads had popped out all over my body, even on my lightly floured face. I was freaking out and, oh lord, I was going to bake bread on my forehead.
Muddy watched me with a scowl until she finally held up her hands. “What is the matter, Carter? Jesus, you’re scaring me.”
Not thinking clearly, I grabbed a tart and stuffed it into my mouth before trying to talk. I choked on a bit of crust, and was caught up in a hysterical fit of coughing. When it finally stopped, I finished chewing and swallowing before trying again. I took in a huge breath. “I can’t go back out there.”
She put her hands on her hips and frowned at me. “Why? What’s happening out there?”
I flung my arm out in the direction of the dining room and pointed. “I can’t go back! He’s out there. He’s… Shit. Shit!”
“What? Is he someone dangerous? Do you recognize him from a wanted poster, or something? He broke a chunk of my table off like it was Styrofoam, the bastard. I’ll call the cops. The FBI.”
“He broke the table? In anger?” Was my mate violent? Was I destined to repeat my past? The universe hated me.
“I—I don’t think so. He didn’t seem angry. He seemed out of it. He wasn’t so strange when he checked in yesterday. Come to think of it, though, he did crush the luggage handles. But, he was uptight, not in a violent way, he asked about a place to work.”
I wanted so badly to steal a glance at him but I was terrified he might see me. What the hell was I going to do? My bear was practically roaring her fool head off to get me to run out to him and throw myself into his arms. Wouldn’t that be lovely? Right in front of the woman he was here with. Gawd, I needed to get out of there before I humiliated myself. Further humiliated myself.
“I have to go home. Is that okay?”
“I’ve been telling you to go home all morning. What do you mean, is that okay?” She rolled her eyes and shooed me with a rag. “Take this food out to them on your way out, though, okay?”
I didn’t realize she was teasing until she snorted a little as she laughed through her nose at my incredulous face. I pouted and fanned myself again. “Not funny. I’m going through something here.”
“I see that! The guy is certainly having an effect on you. I wish you’d tell me what the deal is. It’s going to drive me crazy. Al least tell me how you two know each other?”
I couldn’t say it out loud. I couldn’t even form the words. It’d be too real if I did, so instead, I just made a series of hand gestures and groans. “I don’t know know him. I mean, I don’t know him. At all.”
“You’re not making sense.”
That was an understatement. “I’ve got to go. I’ll see you tonight.”
I dusted off more of the flour that coated me and pushed my hair back from my face. I straightened my shirt and then took a deep breath of only partially mate scented air before pushing the door open. I kept my head down, despite everything in me aching to look up at him. I was halfway across the dining room when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and darn if I didn’t look, despite myself.
The attractive brunette sitting with the man who the universe was trying to pawn off on me as my mate, snaked her way around the table and planted herself into his lap. With a quick but meaningful glance at me and a hair toss, she leaned in and captured his mouth in a hard kiss.
The sting was instant and harsh. I was going to rip that bitch’s lips right off her smug, puckered face. What? No I wasn’t. No. No, I wasn’t. I jerked my head away from them and hustled out of the converted old house with my heart pounding in my ears and my bear clawing and chewing my insides.
This was crazy. I didn’t know the man. Up until an hour ago, I hadn’t known he existed. Seeing him kiss another woman, his girlfriend apparently, should not affect me in the least. But, as it was with mates, I had no control or power over my own emotions. And, seeing that kiss hurt.
The farther I got from him, the easier it became to breathe. My heart still ached, but I couldn’t smell him anymore and that was a blessing. I wanted to forget he existed. Fortunately, he was a tourist and would soon leave. When he did, I could put this whole unfortunate mate thing behind me and get on with my life in Helen’s Corner. Without a mate.
It wasn’t the first time I’d been swept into a whirlwind of emotion. Back then, though, when I’d met Jellybean’s father, I had no one depending on me. Now, I had my daughter. She needed a steady mother, not someone who introduced a revolving door of men into her life. It was my job to protect her from such things. Despite what her little girl mind thought when she drew pictures of dads who resembled swirly rainbows, I knew we were better off alone.
The air in my house was stuffy, so I opened a few windows as I headed to my bedroom, completely avoiding the kitchen. I wanted nothing more than to go straight to my baking and explore that intoxicating scent, the mixture of spices that had filled my head with visions of cakes, cupcakes, cookies and sex. Sex? Aaaah! Where had that come from?
I had to stop thinking of that man and his scent. I made myself go up to my bedroom to start unpacking. How was it that I’d settled in the one town on the entire face of planet Earth that my mate chose to visit. With his girlfriend. Or wife! Holy shitballs, was she his wife? No, I hadn’t seen a wedding ring. Not that it mattered, because I didn’t want him anyway.
I spent the rest of the daylight hours unpacking, only breaking once or twice to catch myself standing in my kitchen, staring at my spice rack. By the time night had fallen, I’d powered through half the rooms in my house. Anything to avoid thinking about you-know-who.
It wasn’t until I plopped down into my favorite chair and kicked my feet up on the ottoman that I noticed I had missed a call from my brother, Cannon, about an hour before. With the same sense of urgency that every mother feels when her child is away from home and she notices a missed call, I dialed Cannon and impatiently waited for him to answer.
“Hey, little sis.”
“Is everything okay?”
He laughed, his deep voice soothing me. “Yeah, everything’s fine. We called to say goodnight, but you were too busy partying and having a good time, I take it?”
I let my shoulders relax and blew out a breath. “I was unpacking. I just finished Jellybean’s room. Don’t buy her anymore toys, Cannon.”
“Yeah, that’s going to be a problem. Matt seems to have some issues revolving around shopping for kids.” He hesitated for a moment and then started whispering. “He’s going to be the best dad, Carter. Seriously, you’re going to have so many nieces and nephews.”
“Good. I can’t wait. You’re going to be a great dad, too.”
“Anything else going on there?”
I knew Cannon. I knew he was asking if I was okay. He’d been my hero more than once with my ex and I was grateful to have him on my side. “Nope. Everything is good here.”
“Carter. Why does it sound like you’re lying to me?”
“Because you’re hearing things? I’m not lying. Everything is good here. I miss Jellybean. I hate unpacking. I burned a recipe today. And, there it is, folks, all the news and sordid gossip straight from the small enclave of Helen’s Corner.”
He didn’t laugh. “You’d tell me if you needed me, right?”
“Yes. You know I would. Relax, big bro. All’s well.” I put a smile in my voice and straightened my back. “You go and have a good night with your mate. I’m going to a town meeting.”
“Sounds boring.”
I chuckled. He had no idea.
“I love you, Carter. Call me if you need anything.” He sighed. “Even if it’s something silly, okay? We’ll call you in the morning so you can talk to Jellybean.”
“I love you, too. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
When I hung up, I had tears in my eyes. Cannon was the best brother. Knowing he was always there for me had gotten me through a lot of
hard years. I needed to stand on my own two feet, though.
6
Carter
A unique thing about Helen’s Corner was that sometimes it really was a little bit more “Hell’s Crazy Corner.” Some traditions, I’d learned, were a part of what had earned the tiny town its alter ego reputation. That wasn’t to say that I didn’t love them.
As the story went, sometime in the late eighteen-hundreds, a woman named Helen Cartwright, recently widowed under mysterious circumstances, moved to a plot of land left to her by her late husband. It was there that she founded Helen’s Corner. Just self-absorbed enough to name the town after herself, she was a shifter who believed strongly in feminine power—the power of women banding together. She wanted a place where women like herself, those who’d been dealt the short end of the stick by the men in their lives, could find safety and happiness.
Helen knew there was a magic in the bond of female friendships and camaraderie, so she started a tradition whereby the women in town got together once a week to… talk. It was rumored that at certain times, the women had done more than talk. There’d been hints that incantations and enchantments had been performed, but others scoffed at that and insisted that it’d only ever been like it was currently, women talking and having fun together.
Somewhere along the way, the gatherings had been dubbed St. Anon meetings. Shit talkers anonymous. St. Anon had been alarmingly strange to me when I’d first arrived in Helen’s Corner, but it wasn’t long before I was just as comfortable there as I was in my own home.
On Tuesdays, St. Anon got together down at Helen Cartwright’s old homestead. The house was little more than shards of dry-rotted wood on a crumbled stone foundation, but the large, flat rock formation where Helen herself had perched during the very first gathering of women still proudly rested in the middle of the property. The swaying branches of a massive weeping willow hung over and encircled the rocks, providing the perfect cloak under which to convene.
I usually had Meghan Fenney, a local teen, over to watch Jellybean while I attended, but that night, I just slipped out and headed towards Helen’s property.
The night was clear and the almost full moon illuminated the sky. Moonbeams followed as I walked, like an old friend keeping me company. Before moving to Helen’s Corner, I’d been afraid of being outside alone in the dark. No more. Something about the town helped soothe old wounds.
When Muddy stepped out of the woods beside me and stretched, I didn’t even startle. We were all just a part of the night during St. Anon, as though the special magic that enveloped the town called all women of Helen’s Corner to gather.
“Still feeling weird?” Muddy grinned at me and wagged her eyebrows. “See Mr. Hot Stuff again?”
“Aren’t you just full of questions?” I climbed over the fence that surrounded the land and waded through tall grass and weeds before parting the curtain of hanging willow to get to the rocks.
Muddy had remained quiet during the trek, respectful of the space like we all were. Once we were seated on the large rocks, however, she looked back at me and grinned. “Yes, I am full of questions. I hope you’re full of answers.”
I shook my head. “I’m not.”
She groaned and gave up, already knowing me well enough to know that I wouldn’t be pressured into answering anything. When Denny tumbled in with a rush of limbs, hers and the tree’s, Muddy turned her attention away from me.
As the other townswomen slowly filled the spaces around us, I felt the same sense of peace I always felt during the meetings. My bear still grumbled in my head, frustrated at me for ignoring our mate, but I shut her down.
Grace Ellen ducked through the branches and looked around. “Where’s Charlie?”
As if on cue, Charlie parted the willow fronds and entered the enclosure. “I’ve had a day from hell. I’ll gladly open the meeting.”
And, as always, the meeting started with a flourish. The contents of the meetings were secret and never left the sanctity of the rock and the willow. The thing that wasn’t held to secrecy was that afterwards, we all stripped down and shifted. Those of us who were shifters, anyway. That part had been too hard to hide from boyfriends and husbands to remain secret, apparently. The coming home naked.
At first, I’d refused to participate. I not only had curves and stretchmarks, but also, thanks to my ex, scars that I wasn’t comfortable with anyone seeing. But, after a few weeks of sitting with the human women and watching my other friends shift and run off together, I’d put those fears aside.
The women here weren’t judging each other by their bodies. They weren’t looking, either. They were more concerned with shifting the fastest so they could start their fun-run under the moonlight.
That night, my bear took over in every way. I should have known better, but in my own defense, she had never been out of control before. We’d never had a mate before, either. And, she wanted her mate. She was tired of being ignored. As soon as I shifted, her will overpowered mine and I found myself being dragged along for the ride as I darted out of Helen’s old homestead and through town.
With no concern about scaring anyone or being spotted, I charged down the main strip of Helen’s Corner like a bat out of hell, blowing past the intersection that boasted the one and only stop light in town. I knew what my bear had in mind as soon as I caught a whiff of my mate’s delicious scent and found myself sitting under one of the bedroom windows at Muddy’s B&B.
I felt him. His wolf sensed me. I pawed at the ground and took off for the woods behind the house, somehow knowing he would follow. My bear was calling the shots and she was practically shivering with excitement knowing that she’d summoned her mate.
Meanwhile, I was having a mental breakdown. I didn’t know the man that I was coaxing out to chase me through the woods. I didn’t know anything about him. For all I knew, he could be a dangerous psychopath.
My bear had zero reservations. She knew. She knew and she wasn’t backing down until she saw him.
7
Alec
A jolt of awareness shot through me like a lightning bolt. My mate was near. I never realized it could happen that way. Nothing I’d ever heard about mates, none of the stories, had gone into much detail. I was shocked at the overpowering awakening of some new freakish sixth sense. I stood up and walked over to the window just in time to catch the tail end of a small brown bear disappearing into the woods.
My wolf went wild seeing her run. He wanted to chase her down. The need was so strong that I found myself taking three long strides to the door. I could have tried to stop, tried to overtake my wolf’s will. I didn’t. It wasn’t just my wolf who wanted to go.
“Where are you going?” Chelsie looked up from her phone and frowned. “It’s late, Alec. Are you really about to go back down to work more?”
Chelsie’s anger was justified. I’d worked in the dining room all day, praying for another glimpse of my mate. I knew nothing about her. I’d gotten little actual work done, which was a first for me. Never before had a woman invaded my thoughts and pushed aside my obsessive focus on business. But, my mate wasn’t just any woman.
I still hadn’t figured out how to handle the delicate situation with Chelsie. It wasn’t like me to be indecisive. I was known for my cut throat business dealings, it’s how I got where I was. But, the predicament I was in was precarious, to say the least.
It was more complicated than just breaking off an engagement.
I was being an asshole, but that didn’t stop me from grabbing the doorknob and turning it. “I need to get out for a bit. I’m feeling restless. I saw a park earlier that I think I’ll head down to.”
She frowned harder. “It’s late.”
Knowing she wouldn’t come because she’d already taken her makeup off and gotten into bed, I extended an offer. “Do you want to go with me?”
“Of course not. And don’t wake me when you come back in.” She scowled and brought her phone back up to her face, then put it back down. “Dadd
y called me earlier. He wanted to make sure I was having a good time.”
And, there it was. A not so well-veiled threat. The complication. “Oh, yeah?”
“Don’t screw yourself over, Alec.”
I left with her warning ringing in my ears. It concerned me. Until I got downstairs and opened the side door of the house. As soon as I detected my mate’s scent, I was lost in her. My wolf fought to be released and after ignoring him for so long, I couldn’t deny him any longer.
I jogged to the tree line behind the house and stripped. It’d been so long since I’d been naked outdoors under the moonlight that I stopped for a second before shifting to stretch and enjoy the feel of the night air on my skin. I closed my eyes and released myself to my wolf.
He surged forward, shifting my body until I was on four paws and racing through the woods. Pure adrenaline rushed through my veins. I put my nose to the ground and followed my mate’s scent trail.
Instead of racing headfirst into her, my wolf wanted to play. I quietly circled around where she was hiding and waited behind a tree for her to come out.
It’d been so long since I shifted that my wolf should’ve been angry at me. Instead, he was solely focused on getting to his mate.
I held perfectly still until I saw a furry brown head poke out from around a bush. Our eyes met and hers widened before she jerked back. On the other side of the bush, it sounded like a tornado ripping through a town as she clumsily hurled through the large clump of underbrush and out the other side.
I howled, my head straight up in air, and then gave chase. My blood rushed through my veins in a heated dance, thrill of the chase urging me forward. I wanted my mate.
Her furry butt disappeared behind a tree and skidded to make a sharp turn heading towards what smelled like water. I closed the gap between us and nipped her ass just hard enough for her to feel it. She growled and stumbled, rolling through a puddle and skidding to a stop on the other side.
Wolf Boss (She-Shifters of Hell's Corner Book 1) Page 3
