Fated Mates: The Alpha Shifter Boxed Set (12 Book Bundle) (Insatiable Reads)

by Hunter, Adriana

  As I washed my hands, Tonya, one of the barmaids came in. We’d worked together once, before I quit in anticipation of leaving town. The owner had offered me my old dishwashing job back, but I declined. Alpha’s mates had jobs; they worked on behalf of the pack. Soon, I would be way too busy to chase a paycheck.

  When our eyes met, she worried her bottom lip for a moment and thrust her hands in her apron’s pockets. Finally, she took in a deep breath and said, “Hey, Chloe. How are you?”

  I shrugged. “Okay.”

  “Sounds like you’re planning a wedding.” She smiled at me and I returned the smile. Tonya was a sweet girl with blond hair and light blue eyes. She always had a kind word for everyone and was the closest I came to a friend during my time as a null.

  “Yeah, it does, doesn’t it?” My words came out a little less ebullient than I’d intended and Tonya didn’t miss the nuance.

  “Everything okay? Jackson seems like a great guy.”

  “Yeah.” I ran my hand through my hair. Maybe I wasn’t as skinny or fashionable as Kelsey, but I was at least having a great hair day. My sable brown hair still had blonde highlights from the summer sun, along with the bounce and body of a Pantene shampoo commercial. “It’s just been a stressful day.”

  Tonya stepped closer to me and patted my shoulder. “I heard about Vicki. Don’t worry about her. Even if she gets Cal to make you prove your blood, you’ll be fine.”

  “You think so?”

  She nodded. “You’re not an Omega, Chloe. Vicki’s just mad that Jackson mated with you and not her.”

  “I noticed,” I said dryly. “I’m surprised she’s been the only one to bother me.”

  Tonya shrugged. “Eh, you know wolves. We’re practical. We want to mate with our mate, not worry about a wolf who’s already claimed his. People are upset, but we’ll get over it.”

  “We’ll?” I looked at her, eyebrows raised.

  Tonya gave an uncomfortable laugh. “Yeah, well, I...you see, this one night--”

  I raised a hand and cut her off. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.” I was surrounded, I decided. Simply surrounded by dozens of women who’d lusted after my mate. Now they were even coming in from out of town. If this kept up, I would soon be drowning in angry female wolves. Forget ‘Call of the Wild’ this was ‘Call of the Women Scorned.’ I just hoped Jackson and I survived it intact. Maybe a wedding wasn’t such a good idea. Maybe we should elope and not rub everyone’s noses in our mating.

  “Hey,” Tonya said, interrupting my thoughts. “I wanted to ask you something.”

  “Okay, shoot.” I watched her, wary.

  “Since your momma’s gone and all--” She looked at the floor and rocked back and forth on her heels. “I wondered if you’d want to go to Nashville together to shop for wedding dresses? I thought you might like some company.”

  Her invitation touched me. Tonya was a little older than me, but she’d also lost her mother at a young age in a car accident down in Hudson. Wolves can survive a lot, but not a head on collision with a fully loaded semi. Sometimes I wondered if that was why she was nicer to me than most of the other wolves in Huntsville. Out of everyone, she knew what I’d been through.

  “I would love some company, Tonya. Thanks.” I rolled my paper towel into a ball and tossed it in the garbage. “I was supposed to go down to Nashville today, but my plans went sideways on me.”

  “Well, I’m off tomorrow, if you want to go then.”

  “That would be great. Pick you up around nine?”

  “Sounds good.”

  I left the bathroom feeling oddly buoyant. Yeah, Vicki hated me and Kelsey was a problem with a capitol P, but maybe Tonya’s offer meant there was hope. Maybe someday not every female in town would hate my guts with such fierce passion.

  Then I saw Kelsey and Jackson, and my bubble burst. She’d moved to sit next to him during my absence. Jackson had an arm draped over her shoulder and she leaned into him shamelessly. I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed. Everyone in the bar was watching her, and, now that I’d appeared, their attention transferred to me as if to ask, ‘what are you going to do about this?’

  I knew this was bad. The wolves watching me, waiting for my next move knew it was bad, but somehow Jackson and Kelsey remained oblivious to their transgression. I stalked across the bar, my gaze drilling into Jackson, willing him to look at me, to read my mind. Anger burned so hot in me, I couldn’t even see straight as I made my way back to our booth. Inside my head, my wolf growled, loud as a lawnmower.

  “Jacks,” I said, my voice deadly soft.

  He looked up at me and his eyes widened as he saw I was unhappy. Kelsey pretended not to notice and deliberately snuggled in closer to him. Once again she didn’t look at me, not out of submissiveness, but to show me how insignificant I was. I held my hands behind my back to keep myself from clawing her throat out. Briefly, I wondered if other wolves fought their violent urges as much as I did, or if my itch for violence was a side effect of being a new wolf not fully in control of herself yet.

  “Hey babe.” He shifted slightly away from Kelsey as if signaling her to leave and go back to her side of our booth.

  She didn’t move.

  Afraid I would snap, I did the only thing I could to avoid a confrontation. “I’m leaving. I’ll see you back at the house.”

  Jackson reached for me, trying to grab my arm.

  I twisted away from his grip. “No, I really have to go. Why don’t you two catch up and we’ll talk later?” My gaze drilled into Jackson’s with an unspoken demand: Get rid of her before I do it for you.

  “Clo,” Jackson started. From the way his eyebrows had shot up, I could tell he was surprised at my reaction. He had no idea I was upset or that his childhood ‘friend’ was being rude. How could a man with the heightened senses of a werewolf be so dense?

  I cut him off. “I have stuff to do.” Not waiting to hear what else he said, I spun on my heel and walked out. As I went, her high-pitched laugh followed me. I resisted the urge to plug my ears. Once inside my truck, I rolled down the windows and blasted rock music all the way home to clear my head.

  As I drove, I saw Huntsville through her eyes. The pockmarked paved roads, the shabby city square and mud splattered pick-up trucks. We weren’t glamorous people. Fancy meant washing the truck and putting on fresh jeans. We were simple because we knew better than to compete with nature. Just a few miles up the mountain we lived on, there was a view that even chrome couldn’t outshine.

  Kelsey had obviously spent too much time in the city to understand this.

  Chapter Four

  The second guessing started when I pulled into Jackson’s long winding driveway. After we mated, I’d moved in with him. He owned the bigger house and it would’ve been a hassle to buy mine back. I’d sold it to Cal back when we all thought I was a null. He would probably let me have it at cost, but I liked the fresh start.

  My house had held my old life, the one where my parents were dead and I was alone, living on the edges of a pack that couldn’t accept me. Letting go of my house meant leaving the loneliness behind too.

  I wanted to move forward, to jump toward the future I’d always dreamed of except...I’d just left Jackson behind. Now I thought maybe it was a mistake. I didn’t like Kelsey. It was an instinctive dislike cemented by her behavior at the bar, but I shouldn’t have left him alone with her. My wolf stared me down in my mind’s eye, her disapproval almost palpable.

  You don’t leave your mate, she seemed to say.

  Well maybe if he acted like my mate, I wouldn’t, I snarled at her.

  She turned her back on me.

  “Damn it.” I hit the steering wheel. Pulling out my phone, I navigated to Jackson’s number, finger hovering over the call button. What to do? Call him and say what? No words came to me so I put the phone in sleep mode and tossed it into my purse.

  I wasn’t going back. No way. It would make me look weak and that was the last thing I needed to be in fron
t of Kelsey or the gossip hounds at the bar. Not that running away helped things either, but the damage was done. There was no use in compounding it with more bad behavior. Heaving a sigh, I went into the house, shivering as a cold wind slapped my skin.

  The temperature had dropped below freezing and the house was just a hair warmer than a walk-in freezer. The big ranch house usually retained heat better, allowing us to save money on the gas bill, but the sun had hidden behind clouds most of the day, refusing to share its warmth. As late afternoon turned to dusk, the heat fled at a rapid pace.

  Feeling the chill, I bumped up the thermostat and shrugged on a cardigan. Then I slumped on the couch and stared at the ceiling. At times like this, I missed my mom. Some motherly advice would’ve come in handy, but I didn’t have a mother anymore and Vicki exemplified the kind of relationship I had with other females in the pack. That’s why Tonya’s offer had been so precious; it marked a change.

  So now what?

  When I moved in with Jackson I’d worried it would be awkward. We didn’t know each other that well, but it had been almost seamless. He’d let me decorate the half empty ranch as I saw fit. Being a typical bachelor, he’d done nothing but buy a bed and a flimsy card table set for eating. I’d purchased the leather couch I sat on and kept myself busy with the fun of playing house with my mate.

  I’d brought in my dining set as well as other furniture and selected a color scheme. We didn’t argue once over paint colors, although he’d raised an eyebrow at the peach accent I’d selected to contrast with the deep forest green in the master bath. No, we fit together just fine and things only got better in bed.

  No, not just better, make that fantastic.

  Our problems came from the pack and stray wolves like Kelsey who introduced doubt and conflict. The stares and the gossip got to me. Maybe I would be a shitty alpha wife. As wolves went, I was a newborn and what would a baby like me know about leading a pack even in a supporting role? Nothing. That’s what. Add in a layer of extra judgment courtesy of Kelsey and I felt about as big as a bug that probably deserved to be squashed.

  Should I even be his mate?

  My wolf gave a soft, mournful howl at that thought. She seemed distressed by my feelings. Well, join the club, I didn’t like them either.

  The spit of gravel announced Jackson’s arrival. I peeked out the living room window to see Jackson’s black pick-up. Relief washed over me. What would I have done if he’d stayed out with her for hours? Lost my mind, that’s what. Enough to go back to the bar and humiliate myself with a very public display of jealousy.

  My relief was short lived though, as Jackson stormed into the house with an angry scowl. Throwing his keys on the foyer table, he marched over to me, a dangerous glitter in his eyes. I shrank back into the couch and gave a weak smile.

  “Hey, Jacks.”

  “Chloe,” he growled. He settled into the armchair across from me and leaned forward, elbows on knees, fingers threaded together. His expression guarded as if he didn’t want me to see his emotions, he asked, “Want to tell me what that was all about?”

  I looked away, refusing to meet his gaze. “She was--”

  He cut me off. “Stronger than pepper up your nose?”

  I nodded. I’d planned to say she’d been snuggling up against him as if she hoped she would stick, but the pepper analogy worked, too.

  “But also a member of my home pack.”

  I flushed at his reproving tone.

  He continued, “Who I owe hospitality to. Who is like a sister to me. What does it say when my mate won’t even sit with her?”

  I shrugged. “I did sit with her.”

  “You ran away,” he said, the words harsh, but the tone soft. “Why?”

  I looked at him. Jackson didn’t appear to be as mad now. Or, rather, he held his anger in check to give me a chance to make things right.

  “Because,” I paused scared of the words that were about to come out of my mouth. “She made me feel like nothing.” I said it all in a rush.

  He spread his hands out and then brought them together again with a quiet clap. “You’re not nothing, Clo. You’re my mate. You’re the alpha’s mate. That’s about as close as you can get to being a queen without a crown.”

  That made me laugh, a sarcastic bark. Me? A queen. Come on! I couldn’t even get the mail without being heckled. My subjects were in revolt before I’d even ascended the throne. “You make it sound so simple.”

  He shrugged. “It is, babe.”

  I shook my head. “No, it’s not. Before Kelsey roared into town, I had a run-in with Vicki.”

  His expression soured at the mention of her name. “She giving you trouble?”

  “She says I’m an Omega wolf.” The words hung in the air and our eyes met; his concerned, mine running scared.

  Jackson frowned. “That’s bullshit.”

  I put a hand to my head, pressing against the dull headache that started to pound there. “I don’t know. Maybe that’s why I didn’t change for so long.” What if I couldn’t blame my wolf’s delay on my parents? What if I was just a big, fat weakling? My wolf growled in my head, causing me to wince as the sound intensified my headache.

  “We wouldn’t have mated then. An Omega can’t mate.”

  “Can’t or isn’t allowed?” I asked softly. “There’s a difference.”

  “I...” He trailed off, unable to say. With a sigh, he leaned back in his chair. “She’s just giving you shit, Clo. Don’t listen to her. Omegas are something like zero zero zero one percent of the wolf population. It’s as rare as a perfect diamond.”

  My ring finger twitched at the mention of diamonds, but I opted not to bring it up. “I think it’s more serious than that. She’s going to Cal with this. Going to call me before the pack to prove my blood, whatever that means.”

  He went absolutely still the way a wolf froze right before ripping out its prey’s throat. “Cal won’t listen to her. He won’t let you fight to the death just because she’s jealous.”

  My stomach sank. “Is that what proving my blood is?” On the one hand, I welcomed the idea of ripping out that bitch’s throat. On the other, what if I was the one who went down?

  He nodded. “You fight your way through three wolves to earn your place in the pack. It’s an old practice. Most packs don’t use it anymore. We’re too scarce these days to throw away lives like that.”

  “Well, if enough of the pack complains, Cal will have to do something. She’s got a few wolves backing her now.”

  His eyes gleamed yellow. “Who?”

  “All the girls from what she says. Mostly the ones you’ve dated.”

  He relaxed a bit. “That’s just sour grapes. Everyone knows that.”

  I grimaced. He still didn’t understand. “Well, did you sleep with Tony, Alan and John too? What about teen girls who’ve just shifted for the first time?”

  He startled, surprised at the idea. “Hell no.”

  “They seem to have a problem with me, too. It’s gone beyond sour grapes.”

  Jackson fell silent for a long moment, his expression unhappy. “I’ll talk to Cal. We’ll make it right.”

  I frowned at him. “I have a feeling I’m the one who has to handle this or it’ll never stop.”

  “Then I’ll have your back.” His mouth split into a thousand-watt smile meant to reassure me. “I’d also like to have other parts, if you don’t mind.” Yellow heat flashed in his eyes, radiating across the room to brush my skin.

  I crossed my arms. “Jackson, stop looking at me like that. This is serious.”

  In response, he stood up and moved to sit on the coffee table in front of the couch. Taking my hands in his, he said, “I’m not going to let Vicki ruin anything for you, for me or the pack. She’s small potatoes and, whether you believe it or not, Cal’s got her number. She can pout all she wants, but she won’t get anywhere. Now let it go.”

  “But,” I started, but he cut me off with a low growl.

  “Let. It
. Go.” His fingers caressed my wrists. “Let’s talk about more pleasant things, like you naked in bed.” The yellow faded from his eyes, giving way to pools dark as fine chocolate and full of sin.

  Normally I would be a puddle of wet heat in response, but not tonight. Someone needed to show some common sense. Irritated, I pulled my hands from his and buttoned up my sweater, deciding I wanted more layers between my skin and that smoldering gaze of Jackson’s.

  Wolves hunt three things; gossip, food and sex. Just then, Jackson had shifted into sex mode. His eyes tracked every movement I made no matter how minute and lingered on my most intimate places. I fumbled with the buttons, feeling on edge.

  “What are you doing?” Jackson reached for me again and our fingers tangled, me fighting to button, him trying to hold me back.

  “I’m cold.” I glared at him.

  “Don’t hide from me, babe,” he said softly. “I’ll keep you warm.”

  Somehow his hands slipped past all my defenses to cup my breasts. On cue, my nipples hardened, eager for his touch. My wolf practically swooned, but I held out.

  “What about Kelsey and Vicki?” I said.

  “What about them?” He squeezed my breasts, thumbs toying with their tips. “This is what fills my thoughts, Clo. You and your luscious body. I think about you all the time. Naked and hot beneath me.” He shook me slightly. “You are mine.”

  “But who do you belong to?” I twisted out of his grasp and resumed buttoning my sweater. “You’ve got a lot of women who think you belong to them.” Kelsey’s self-satisfied smirk filled my mind until I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise.

  Jackson sighed in disappointment, but let me go. “Let me guess, since we’ve already talked about Vicki, you must mean the mate business with Kelsey?”

  I nodded.

  “She didn’t mean it.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Look, I admit she didn’t put her best foot forward today, but she wasn’t serious.”