by Milly Taiden
She smiled and slid over next to Bastien on the trucks bench seat. She linked her hand with his free one and laid her head on his shoulder. “Thank you. Hearing you say that means the world to me. I don’t normally need reassurance about my body, but knowing how you feel makes me happy. You are my knight in shining armor, the one I didn’t know I was looking for.”
Twenty minutes later they were pulling up in front of her house where a waiting Luna was pacing. Carly climbed out of the truck and smiled sheepishly at the scared woman.
“Baby, I have been so worried about you. Where is Toni? I am going to hug the shit out of you two and then give you an earful for being so stupid.” Luna pulled her into a tight hug and squeezed. “Please stop scaring me like that.”
Carly couldn’t say much as she nodded in agreement. This must be what it felt like to have a mother. Carly heard a car door slam and then she was released.
“Young lady, what do you have to say for yourself? Don’t scare me like that ever again. You know what is going on and you left the safety of the office.” The rest of Luna’s words were cut mumbled as she pulled Toni into a similar hug. Carly smiled at Toni and nodded. Sometimes you just needed to be held like that to feel all was okay.
“Let’s go inside, but first boys unload my car. I picked up take out for us all. Figured no one was going to be in the mood for cooking after this. I know it’s a tad early but it will hold if we want to wait a bit to eat,” Luna rambled as she led the way back to the front door of the house.
Carly opened the front door and waited for everyone to enter. She had to smile; it seemed to her she had a much larger family then she had realized. Carly walked into the living room where everyone was seated, but Bastien was gone. She looked around in puzzlement.
“He stepped out to take a call. He said he would be right back, that it was an important call he had been waiting for,” Garrett supplied when he saw her confusion.
The group sat and talked and filled Luna in on all that had transpired through the day. The front door rang and Carly looked around in confusion. Everyone she was close to was pretty much here in the room with her.
“I’m gonna go check on little bear, I will be right back,” Luna called out as she left the room.
Carly stood and made her way to the front door and looked out the peep hole. She let out a gasp of surprise and pulled the door open. “Papá, what are you doing here?”
She stepped back and let him enter. He surprised her by pulling her into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault. Please tell me you are okay? I couldn’t handle it if something happened to you because of me.”
THIRTY-FOUR
“Papá, de que háblas? What are you talking about?”
“Babe, can you come here,” Bastien called from the living room.
“Coming, my father is here too,” she called back as she pulled away and led him down the hallway, stealing curious glances at him as she went.
“Bastien this is my father, Juan Toblan, Papá this is my…” Carly’s word were cut short when Luna walked back in the room and dropped the glass she had been carrying.
“What are you doing here?” Luna and Juan echoed at the same time.
Carly froze and looked back and forth between the two stuttering people. “Do you guys know each other?”
Juan recovered himself and turned to Carly. “I must speak to you at once. It’s very important. It’s about your safety.”
“No offense, sir, but you can speak here in front of us. I also just received some news I want to share in regards to her safety as well.” Bastien stepped forward and offered his hand.
Carly froze as she saw the distaste cross her father’s face. “Papá, don’t.”
“Papá?” Luna whispered, clearly in shock.
“Luna, are you okay?” Carly reached forward to grab her as she wobbled on her feet, but was pulled back to stand next to her enraged father.
“Let’s go, you are leaving this place right now. I can see he was right, if not a bit misguided in his actions.” Juan grabbed Carly’s arm and tugged her towards the front door.
“Papá, no, I’m not leaving. This is my home, and these are my friends,” Carly demanded, pulling uselessly at her father’s tightening grip.
“Let go of her this instant,” Bastien roared, his features ready to shift.
“You better let go, Papá. He’s my mate.” Carly pleaded with her father. “For your safety, let me go.” He let go so quickly, she stumbled backwards into Bastien’s waiting arms.
“You’re mated to that thing? You are just like your mother. I did everything I could to raise you right, but her blood must be too strong.” He glared at Luna as he ranted at Carly.
“Juan, I don’t understand what is going on here? Carly is your daughter?” Luna asked with a bewildered expression.
“Luna, I think you’re in shock. Come sit with me on the couch.” Toni tried to pull her away from the confrontation.
“No!” she growled fiercely. “Juan, tell me now. What is going on?”
Carly’s eyes widened at the anger in Luna’s features. She’d never seen her so worked up.
“Luna how do you know my father?” Carly asked with a hesitant step towards her.
“That man,” she met Carly’s gaze with fire in her own. “He was my husband.”
Everyone went silent.
Carly’s jaw dropped. No words came out of her mouth.
Luna continued with enough fury in her words to make everyone move back a step. She jerked her gaze back to Carly’s dad. “That is, until I got tired of his domineering, controlling ways and his asinine ideas that shifters were inferior to humans.
“I was a teacher and he made my life hell because I taught shifter children and befriended their parents.” Luna looked to Carly. “He hasn’t changed has he? In all these years.”
“Papá, you said you were only married once. That you married my mother and she died. When were you with Luna?” Carly had a sinking suspicion she knew the answer, but she needed to hear it from his mouth. “Answer me, Papá!”
“I was only married once and she is dead to me. I didn’t lie about that.” Juan turned to Luna, “You left me and met that shifter and made a life. How could you do that to me? You left me for an animal. Do you know what people said, how they treated me. I was a laughing stock, a joke.”
“My baby died. You said she died.” Luna screamed in rage as she advanced on Juan. Garrett wrapped his arms around her and held her back.
“She was dead. To you. I had full custody. It was easy to fake her death and make you believe it. You didn’t deserve to pollute her mind with your warped opinions.” Juan spat out in anger and disgust as he looked at Luna. “You would have taught her that they are equal to us, or heaven forbid, superior to us. I couldn’t allow that. After all that, it didn’t matter. She mated one of them.”
Bastien and Garrett growled at his words, but didn’t approach to tear him apart like their eyes were promising. Carly placed a hand on Bastien’s arm trying to soothe his bear. Her own mind trying to make sense of what was being said.
She cleared her throat and glanced back and forth between her father and Luna…no, between her father and mother. God. This was surreal.
“This is a lot to take in. This morning I was sitting at my desk working and thinking of Bastien.” She frowned at her mate. “Then I was harassed by Ralph at work, almost kidnapped and now learn my mother is alive and someone I have come to care about.”
“Carly, let me explain,” her father said.
“No,” she shook her head. “You’ve done enough damage. I don’t care what reasons you had anymore.” Carly smiled at Luna, “I knew I had a connection with you, I just didn’t know why. I can see the resemblance now that I am looking. I have your eyes and mouth, don’t I?”
Luna stumbled forward and pulled Carly into a tight hug, “Yes, baby you do. My baby. I can’t believe I have you back after all these years. You are even more beautiful
that I imagined you would be.” The two women pulled apart and stared into one another’s eyes. Tears pouring down their smiling faces.
“Your father is trying to make a move for the door,” Bastien interrupted. “Is it okay if I make him stick around? I have a few things I would like to say to him.”
Carly smiled at her mate’s words, “Don’t hurt him, he came here for a reason and I need to know what it was.”
She turned and glared at her father, while clutching Luna’s hand for dear life. “You weren’t ever going to tell me, were you? You were going to let me live my life believing she was dead? How could you do that? Did you ever love me? Even a little?”
Juan rolled his eyes, and sighed. “Of course, I wasn’t going to tell you. Hija, you are better off without her in your life. I did everything I could to keep you away from their kind. You had enough going on in your life with your weight, you didn’t need to be a shifter sympathizer too. Your chances of getting married were going to dry up and blow away. I did what I had to do.”
“You sent Ralph here to watch me in the hopes I would marry him and live under your thumb, didn’t you. That pompous prick who did nothing but insult me was sent by you, my own father.”
“Yes, I sent him. But I had no idea the lengths he would go to get you. I don’t know what you did to that poor boy, but he is unglued. He called me ranting and raving about how he had to have you, and if you wouldn’t come willingly then he was going to make sure the shifter couldn’t have you either.”
THIRTY-FIVE
Juan’s words settled heavy on his shoulders as he slumped into a chair. “I never meant for this to happen. I wanted you to fall in love with him and come home to live close to me. I told him to do whatever was necessary to make sure it happened and you came home.” Juan looked up at his daughter with misery and pain clearly etched in his eyes. “I swear I didn’t know what he was doing. I wouldn’t have allowed it. I don’t want you with their kind, but I would never condone what he did.”
Carly looked at the others to see if they understood what he was saying. Bastien wrapped his arms around her. “That phone call I received earlier. It was an acquaintance that was helping Garrett and me find out who was behind the kidnapping attempts. He is part of the cartel. They are very upset someone is using their name and they have been searching for the person responsible.
“That’s how I knew you were almost abducted today and that two guys stepped in to help. The cartel had someone watching you.” Bastien turned her to face him. “They caught the guy from this afternoon; he spilled his guts. Ralph has been hiring these guys to kidnap you.”
“This isn’t making sense. You went to the cartel?” Carly shrieked and dug her nails as she gripped his arms. “That wasn’t safe, you idiot. What if they had done something to you?”
“I love you. I had to find out some answers. I couldn’t handle you being in danger all the time. Garrett was with me, two shifters against humans. We were fine, I promise. Stop scowling at me, baby. It worked out for the best. They have Ralph in their care. He won’t be bothering us again.”
“What are they going to do to him?” Toni whispered in a horrified voice.
“If what Juan says is true, and he is insane, then I don’t assume they will do much. Rough him up a bit maybe, but I did warn them the FBI was looking into the kidnappings. If they are smart, they will leave him tied up for the feds to pick up with a full confession on tape. They don’t need to give them any leverage to come after them,” Bastien explained with a smile at Toni’s relieved expression.
“I’m safe then?”
“Yes, baby, you are. No one will ever hurt you again. I promise.” Bastien turned to glare at Juan. “As to you. You have two options. You can leave this house now and that’s the end of it or you can figure out a way to learn to live with your daughter’s choice.
“She is my mate and we won’t be separated. You destroyed two people’s lives with your lies. If it wouldn’t hurt two woman I love most in the world, I would skin you alive and then stake your ass to the ground so the buzzards can eat their fill.”
Carly watched as her father stood and took in the faces around him. He winced when he met her eyes. “I love you, baby doll, but I’m sorry. I can’t do this.”
No one said a word as he walked out of the room and out of their lives. Carly knew it was for the best. Maybe one day he would realize the mistake he made, but until then, she had her mother, and her mate.
Bastien winced. “I’m sorry, beautiful.”
Carly smiled. “I’m not. I have my family right here. I love you, Bastien.”
She glanced at a still weeping Luna and curled a hand over her mother’s. “Mamá.” Luna nodded. Carly’s heart filled with joy and wonder. She had a wonderful family now. “I know it hasn’t been easy getting to this point, but I am so happy we did. I have a mother and will have children at some point with my mate.”
“Hopefully your husband,” he winked, “if you want that.”
She grinned and pressed her lips to his. “I want that. I want that very much.”
“Good, because I think the children will be coming a lot sooner than you realize.” He laughed and pulled her into a tight hug. The feeling of coming home had never been this wonderful.
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Sassy Mates Book 1
SCENT OF A MATE
SASSY MATES SERIES BOOK 1
NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
MILLY TAIDEN
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Published By
Latin Goddess Press
New York, NY 10456
http://millytaiden.com
Scent of a Mate
Copyright © 2013 by Milly Taiden
Edited by Rachel Firasek
Cover by Mina Carter
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Property of Milly Taiden September 2013
ONE
“Please?” Jordan leaned forward on the sofa and gave her best imitation of what Ellie called “puppy eyes.” A soft squeaking protested Jordan’s wiggling on the leather. She knew her enthusiasm probably rivaled that of a four-year-old at Christmas, but she was so close to cracking Ellie, she didn’t care.
“No.” Ellie’s voice didn’t sound as sure as it had the first five times Jordan had asked the same question.
“I thought you wanted me to write this book on shifter mating rituals? Don’t you think I need to watch it? I mean, I can’t just write a book on your history, for your family’s records, based solely on what you tell me. I have to see it.” Not really, but she was not telling Ellie that and messing up her chance of watching something so cool.
