On the way back to the compound, I passed by Royal Lush. On instinct, I jerked the wheel at the last minute and pulled into the parking lot. In a sense, I was saying goodbye to my old life. Even though I would never forget her, I knew I needed to say goodbye to Susie. Since the bar was the last place I’d seen her and also one of our favorite hangouts, I decided to go in and have a drink in her honor. It didn’t matter that it was a little early in the day. Royal Lush had a steady clientele, and it technically operated as a bar and grill so it opened at lunch time. Besides, this was important.
As I sat on the stool sipping my beer, I wished the circumstances had occurred differently. If the attacker had not killed Susie, she could have been sitting right here beside me. We would be quietly talking about the strange turn our lives had taken, or maybe we would be talking about Gabe. I finished my beer and threw some cash on the bar to cover my tab. I realized that not only was I saying goodbye to Susie, but I was also saying goodbye to Royal Lush. My nights of trolling for one time sex partners were over.
As I stuck my key in the lock on the car door, I heard a crunch of gravel behind me. Spinning around, I spied Mitch stalking toward me. My heart slammed against my rib cage.
“You disappointed me, Chloe.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Gabe! I had no idea if he could hear me. I didn’t know how far his range was, or if it even worked in human form. I backed up against the car.
“Don’t play coy with me. Instead of turning to me, your sire, you ran off to join Denton’s pack. You don’t belong there, Chloe. You belong to me.”
I thought if I could keep him talking, it might give Gabe time to get to the bar…if he even heard me. “You’re my sire?”
“Of course I am! None of the nitwits in Denton’s pack would ever think of turning someone against your will.”
“Did you kill Susie?”
Mitch nodded. “Yes.”
I wanted to rage at him. I wanted to find something large and beat him to a bloody pulp. I thought, for a moment, that I felt my wolf rising within me, but even though I concentrated, I couldn’t shift. “Why? Why would you do such a thing?”
“She was in the way. If she lived, you would never sever your ties with her. You needed to be completely alone. She wouldn’t have understood what you’ve become.”
“Yes, she would have. I’ve known her since I was a kid. She stood by me through everything.”
“It doesn’t matter. I had my orders.”
What did he mean orders? “Orders?”
“You were promised to me, Chloe. In exchange for turning you, I would be given you as a mate.”
“But it doesn’t work that way!”
“It works any way I want it to. I can promise you will never have the chance to blood bond with your true mate. Besides, I’m certain it’s me anyway.”
“You’re crazy! I’m not your mate. And you never answered me! Who ordered you to turn me and kill Susie? Who thought they had the right to give me to you?”
“Your father.”
“I don’t even know my father. And he’s human anyway!”
“It doesn’t matter if you know him. And I can assure you, he isn’t human.”
My mind couldn’t wrap itself around the idea that my father was alive, and that he was a werewolf. “If my father is a werewolf, then why did you have to turn me? Why didn’t I shift on my own?”
“It had something to do with your mother. He didn’t explain it. As Alpha, he doesn’t explain much of anything. You are his blood, and I am your sire. You belong to our pack.”
“No! I will not go with you.” I heard the rumble of a bike and saw Gabe’s Harley pull into the lot. Mitch was so occupied with his obsession of me that he either didn’t hear the motorcycle or didn’t realize who it belonged to.
“I’ve had enough of this!” Mitch took a step toward me, and as he moved, his clothes began to rip, and his body transformed into a brown wolf. He leaped toward me, and I threw my arms in front of me. Pain ripped through my arms as he slashed them.
“Hey dogface!” Gabe yelled as he ran toward us. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size!”
Mitch roared and spun toward Gabe.
“Watch out!” I sucked in a breath as Mitch bounded toward him. Gabe side stepped him, and as he twisted so that he faced Mitch, I saw the seams of his clothing come apart. By the time Mitch skidded to a stop and spun to face Gabe, he had shifted. The two wolves clashed together with snarls and slashing claws. They tumbled to the edge of the parking lot. Gabe swiped at Mitch with a huge paw, and Mitch flew backwards. He growled and then turned tail and ran into the trees.
Gabe leaped and flew after him. “Gabe!” I ran after them, cradling my injured arms to my chest. In human form, I couldn’t keep up, but the broken branches and scuff marks on the ground led the way. I caught snatches of growls and howls as I followed them. A few moments later, I realized I hadn’t heard any more sounds. Only the wind whistling through the trees reached my ears.
“Gabe!” I kept running toward the last sounds and suddenly stumbled into a clearing. Two naked, bloodied men lay in the dirt. “No!” I ran to Gabe, and knelt by him. “Gabe! Oh please open your eyes.” Tears ran in rivulets down my dirt streaked cheeks. “You have to open your eyes. I haven’t told you yet.”
His eyes opened with a flash of blue. “Haven’t told me what?”
I breathed a huge sigh of relief. “That I love you.” I smoothed a lock of hair from his battered face. “We have to get you to Doc.”
“I’m okay, Chloe.”
“No, you’re not! You’re bleeding!”
“So are you.” Gabe sat up and pulled me against his chest. I winced as the embrace pressed my injured arms against his chest. Suddenly, I felt as though a thousand bolts of electricity were shooting through me. My body stiffened, my muscles tensing against the alien sensation. As quickly as it came on, it disappeared, and I slumped against Gabe.
“What the hell was that? Did you feel it?” Gabe’s body started shaking, and I looked up in fear. When I saw he was laughing, I wanted to smack him. “What’s so funny?”
“I told you we were mates.”
My mouth dropped open. “That’s what that was?”
Gabe grinned. “Yep.” He grabbed my upper arms and pushed me away from his chest. “Let me see those arms.” He frowned. “You need to shift, Chloe.”
“I can’t. I tried when Mitch snuck up on me.” I had been so worried about Gabe, I had forgotten about Mitch.
Gabe saw the fear flash across my face. “It’s okay, Chloe. He’s dead. I broke his neck.”
“Good riddance.”
“We both need to shift, Chloe. That’s how werewolves heal. If you don’t shift, it’s going to take longer.” He groaned and moved away from me. “I have an idea.” He grimaced and then his skin rippled. It took longer than the other times I had seen him change, but Gabe shifted, and his wolf stood before me.
He howled loudly, and I shivered. Come to me, mate. You are mine, and I am yours. Come run with me.
I felt my wolf leap up inside me in response to Gabe’s words, and I let go. The pain in my arms disappeared when I shifted. Gabe nuzzled against me, and I leaned into him.
We can run home from here. The twins can bring me back to pick up the bike, and one of them can drive your car.
What about Mitch?
We will leave him here. The authorities will think it’s another animal attack. The only weird thing will be that he’s naked. They will just think he was some naturalist out for a hike in the woods, probably.
Okay. Let’s go home.
Chapter Twenty
While Gabe was gone with the twins, I used his shower to clean up. By the time I finished, he was back and waiting on the bed. His hair glistened, and there were no traces of the blood and dirt that had covered him earlier. Apparently, he’d taken a quick shower in another bathroom. My heart did a little flip at seeing him sitting there in nothing but a pair of
jeans.
“Damn, you make my shirt look good.” I had just grabbed the t-shirt I had worn the night before as a sleep shirt before getting in the shower. I thought I’d have time to actually dress in my own clothes before he made it back.
“We have some unfinished business,” he said as I padded over to the bed.
I sighed. “Yes, I know.”
“You’re not going to weasel out of it this time by sneaking away.”
I sat down on the bed beside him. “I’m not going to try.”
“Good.” He ran his fingers across my cheek. I shivered at the jolt of his touch. “You scared the shit out of me today.”
“How did you know where I was?”
“I heard you. I didn’t know that was possible. Usually at least one of the two communicating in that way has to be in wolf form.”
“Not even mates can do that?”
“Not that I’m aware of. I’m at the shop working on a bike when suddenly you scream my name in my head. It took me a minute to realize you weren’t standing nearby. I don’t know how I found you. I just immediately knew. I don’t know if you sent it to me somehow or I just sensed you.”
“I went there to say goodbye to Susie.”
He nodded in understanding.
“I did a lot of thinking today, and I realized it was time to stop running.”
Gabe grinned. “I kind of figured that when you blurted out that you loved me. Did you mean it?”
“Of course I did! I know you might not have been expecting it considering how hard I’ve been trying to keep you at arm’s length. I’m sorry I fought it so hard. I’m not used to men who aren’t monsters on the inside.”
Gabe put his arm around me. He didn’t say enough, but that gesture was enough.
“When I was a little girl, my mother had numerous boyfriends. It was like our house had a revolving door. One in particular was a nasty piece of work. She dated him when I was ten years old, and it lasted for months. The second time he spent the night, he came into my room.” Gabe’s arm tensed around me. “He…hurt me. Every night that he stayed with my mother, he paid me a visit. After the third time, I tried to tell my mother what was happening, but she just laughed. It didn’t stop until their relationship was over.”
“I’m so sorry, baby. I was afraid it was something like that, but I hoped with all of my heart, it wasn’t.”
“Susie knew about it. She helped me work through it. Mostly, I was okay. Except for the whole, couldn’t be with a guy except for a one night stand problem.” I gazed up at Gabe. “That’s over now. I know you are not a monster, and I have nothing to fear from you. I already felt that before, but when our blood mingled, it snapped tight inside me. I belong here with you. I always have.”
Gabe bent down and gently pressed his lips against mine. I groaned at the buzzing sensation sparking through them. He pulled me closer to him, and the kiss intensified. It felt like nothing I had ever known. My heart soared as Gabe held me, and I knew that I was no longer broken.
“No fair,” I teased when he pulled his lips away from mine. “You can’t use a kiss to get out of telling me about your parents.”
“It was worth a try.” A grin split his handsome face. “I’m a bastard child. My father was Maxwell Carrington.”
I gasped. “The Maxwell Carrington?”
“The one and only.”
“Wow.” Several years back, Maxwell Carrington had been a high powered lawyer who had an office in the big city a few miles away. He had entered the politics game and entered the Governor’s race. Everybody loved him. Then two weeks before the election, he mysteriously disappeared.
“Yeah. He was the Alpha of this pack. My mother also belonged to it. He believed as Alpha, he had a right to bed any of the women he chose, no matter whether they were married or not. He took every advantage of that. I grew up in the pack, but my father didn’t acknowledge me. I spent years watching him run the pack based on his selfish and power lusting principles. He was cruel. Pack members defected to other groups. I took his punishment time and time again for imagined infractions.
“Pack rules dictate that any member can challenge the Alpha. A few of the others tried, but my father played dirty, and no one could ever beat him. Challenges didn’t have to be a fight to the death. When it was obvious one wolf could not go on, the winner could be called. My father never allowed that. He killed all of those who challenged him.
“I knew if he continued to run the pack, we would disintegrate and the pack would be no more. As he gained power in politics, he grew crueler in the pack. I couldn’t let him continue, so I challenged him. He laughed in my face when I did. Said I was still too wet behind the ears to even make the challenge, but I stood firm and insisted. Maybe his pompous arrogance caused him to underestimate me enough for me to beat him, or maybe I just knew all of his tricks. I beat him…and then I did what he had done to all of the others. I showed him no mercy.”
I squeezed Gabe’s leg. Gabe and I were more alike than we knew. I had a bitch of a mother, and he had a horrible father. It’s a small wonder we weren’t both scarred so badly that neither of us could survive.
“The cops eventually gave up on the search and declared him dead. I received a shock when his will was found. He’d left me everything. I own the compound and all of the land as well as the bike shop.” He turned and grinned at me. “So you don’t have to work at the restaurant anymore. You are my mate, and it’s my honor to take care of you. I understand if you want to work, but you don’t have to.”
My heart swelled in my chest. No one had ever really taken care of me before, except for Susie. This was going to take some getting used to. Gabe pulled me into his lap. He buried his face in my hair.
“I love you, Chloe Jackson.”
I leaned back into him. “I love you too, Gabriel Denton.”
“You know we’re going to have to get married.”
I groaned. I had never imagined myself in a white dress. “Do we have to?”
“Emily will make us. And you can’t go against Emily’s wishes. Trust me.”
I sighed. I guess I’d have to wear that dress after all. “Okay, we wouldn’t want to face the wrath of Emily.”
“And in the meantime,” Gabe grasped my chin and tilted my head upward. My pulse sped up in response to the jolt as his lips pressed against mine. His tongue swiped across them, and I opened to allow him inside. Heat spread through me as our tongues danced together. The kiss took my breath, but I whimpered when he moved away. He wasn’t stopping though. He planted a glistening trail of kisses down my neck, and I shivered.
His hand slid up my side and cupped my breast. I arched my back, encouraging him to continue upward. I needed him to touch me. I moaned when he grazed his fingers across my nipple. “Oh god, Gabe. That feels so good.”
He stopped nibbling on my neck long enough to say, “You like that, huh?”
“Oh yes.”
“How about this?”
He gently pinched my aching peak between his finger and thumb, and I groaned. “Yes.” Desire flowed through me. I wanted him to touch me skin to skin. I wanted to feel that shock of pleasure when his fingers touch my bare breast.
As if he read my mind, Gabe grabbed the hem of the shirt and yanked it over my head and tossed it to the floor. I reached back and ran my fingers through his hair as he kissed my shoulder. When he once again cupped my breast, this time with no clothing to get in the way, I gasped. Little shocks flickered through me. I felt warmth pool between my legs.
“You are so fucking beautiful,” Gabe growled. He played the fingers of his other hand along my thigh. Every touch of his skin to mine sent jolts scattering through me. My body had never felt so alive.
He pinched my nipple again, a little harder this time, and I cried out with pleasure. I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted a man in my life. And from what I felt pressing against my bottom as I sat on his lap, he wanted me just as much.
“Fuck, you’ve soaked your pa
nties,” he groaned when he dipped his hand between my legs to rub my mound.
I opened my legs wider to his touch. “That’s all your fault,” I gasped. “Your touch makes me so wet.” When he slid his hand beneath the leg band of my panties, I thought I would come undone. Tremors raced through me in response to his electric touch upon my nether lips. “Oh god, Gabe, I need you. Please.”
He scooted backwards and laid me on the bed. Grabbing the waistband of my panties, he yanked them down past my hips. I cried out and raised up to his touch when he slid a finger between my lips and into my wetness. “Gabe, please!”
He settled between my legs, and I reached between us, searching for the button on his jeans. When I found it, I quickly unfastened and unzipped them. He groaned when I shoved them down his hips and grasped his hardness in my hand. Considering how blissful it had felt when he touched me, I could only imagine the sensations running through him at my touch.
I guided him inside me. We both moaned as he pushed in deeper. My whole being lit up, and I felt as though I would explode from the sheer intensity of it. Every movement sparked a wave of pleasure. Every touch shoved me closer to the edge. We moved in tandem, and when release took me, I screamed from the strength of it.
“Oh fuck, Chloe,” Gabe gasped, and he collapsed on top of me. Electricity still sparked between us as we lay skin to skin. He was still inside me, and I felt as though I was burning up from the inside out.
He kissed me, his lips pressing against mine. “I can’t get enough of you,” he murmured. He spent the rest of the night proving it. We didn’t leave the room until morning…not even to eat.
* * *
“Good morning, beautiful.” I rolled over to see Gabe lying on his side with his head propped up on his hand and staring at me. It felt a little weird waking up with a guy still in the bed, but it also felt right. God, I love this man. The strength of the emotion overwhelmed me.
I reached out and stroked his face, his stubble feeling rough against my fingertips. “Good morning.”
Fated Mates: The Alpha Shifter Boxed Set (12 Book Bundle) (Insatiable Reads) Page 121
