The Wolf's Mate Book 2: Linus & The Angel

by R. E. Butler

  Looking at him as the intern went to get a nurse, the doctor said, “That happens sometimes. She’s going to be fine.” The nurse came in with a sling and Linus hovered while she put the gown on right and then they attached the sling across her neck and positioned her arm in it and then went about putting an IV in the top of her free hand.

  “We’re going to get some fluids into her. She’s a little dehydrated, but we’re also going to feed in some low dose pain medication and let her rest for the night. The ankle is bruised badly but not sprained or broken. They’ll keep ice on her shoulder and ankle and we’ll give her a check in the morning and you should be able to take her home before lunch.

  “She’ll need to wear the sling for a while and do stretching exercises and we’ll keep her on anti-inflammatory and pain meds for a week or so. She may be back to normal in three or four weeks, but it could take up to three months before she’s okay. I don’t foresee any permanent damage or need for surgery, but she’ll have a few follow up appointments with whoever her regular doctor is.”

  “Thanks.” Linus extended his hand and the doctor shook it. They moved her to a smaller room that had four beds in it, all of them blissfully empty. He took the current quiet to let his emotions go free and he wept quietly by his mate’s still form. He took little comfort in knowing she was safe forever now. The fact that she’d been so clearly traumatized and that he’d failed to keep her safe in the first place ate at him. After scrubbing his face with cold water in the small bathroom and getting his rolling emotions under control, he went to find his family.

  His mother, grandmother, Tina, and Cadence cried when they saw her and hovered around her bed like the protective she-wolves they were. That Cadence had shown up surprised him in some ways but also spoke to the strength of her character and how much Karly had touched all of them in such a short amount of time. Cadence considered her a friend and wolves looked out for their friends. Peter pulled them away from the women to the other side of the room and looked solemn.

  He explained that Brenda was going to be staying overnight and that her friend had called her parents and they were flying in to take care of her. The friend, Greta, had been fired as soon as Trick confirmed on the computer what files she had accessed. Brenda had been brutally raped for two days. Although her job had left messages at her house, no one had realized she had been kidnapped. Brenda told them that he was going to kill her by morning and that Karly had managed to get free of her bonds and escaped and that she hadn’t blamed her for leaving her behind, since it was her fault in the first place.

  She apparently asked to see Karly and Linus to apologize in person but Peter and Tina told her that they would extend her apologies for her and that they were certain that neither would want to see her. And they were right. Linus would have a hard time controlling his beast in the presence of the woman who had nearly cost him everything he loved.

  The local police tried to contact the owner of the cabin and discovered he had passed away several years earlier and had no next of kin. They searched the cabin and found evidence of the kidnapping which corroborated the story that Brenda told and what he had said. Brenda had not been witness to the natural wolves or what Linus had done and believed the story they had made up. They searched the immediate area but couldn’t find a body. When they brought in dogs to try to find Phoenix, they had balked at the scent of the wolves and wouldn’t search. Trick called Peter just minutes earlier to say the police in Newport were ruling him suspected of being dead by wolf attack and were closing the case.

  Linus thanked Peter for his help, and the pack that was there, and joined his mother, grandmother, grandfather, Tina, and Cadence at Karly's bedside. “Do you think, uh, was she hurt very badly?” His mother asked him, looking about as small and unsure as he’d ever seen her. She clearly already thought of Karly as her daughter and seeing her unconscious in a hospital bed was hard for her, too.

  “The nurse said that the only question she answered in x-ray was that she hadn’t been touched.” It wouldn’t change the way he felt about her even if something had happened while she was gone, but he was infinitely glad that she wouldn’t have memories of that nature.

  His mother hugged her own mother and breathed out a thankful prayer. All night his family kept vigil with him, and so did Jason, Cadence, Peter and Tina. Michael showed up in the morning with breakfast for everyone, and brought in one of his and Karly's suitcases.

  As his sweetheart started to wake up from the influence of the drugs, she blinked sleepy, drug hazed eyes at him and reached for him with her free hand. “Oh, you look tired, Linus.” She slurred.

  “I’m good baby,” he kissed her fingers and blinked against the happy tears that threatened. “How do you feel?”

  “Very nice.” She smiled and wrinkled her nose.

  Everyone laughed quietly and she said on a loud whisper, “Why are they here?”

  “Because they love you, too, baby.”

  Her brow arched in confusion. “Okay. I thought I was hurt or something.” She drifted off to sleep again and he let out a relieved breath as his family and friends chuckled over her drug-speak.

  A few hours later, he was alone in the room with her, and she woke up for real, aware of her surroundings and in mild pain. After a meeting with the doctor and discharge instructions, he helped her dress in loose clothes and walked next to her as they wheeled her out of the hospital to his waiting truck. She was speaking, not as much as he would have liked, but at least she was talking. When she was safely buckled in and they started on the long drive home to Allen, he picked up her free hand and kissed it.

  “Baby, I just wanted you to know that I’m so sorry I let you down. I’m sorry you were hurt because I failed. I keep misjudging my instincts and-“

  “Just stop, okay? You already apologized like a hundred times.” She was looking at him and he met her eyes for a moment before having to watch the road again. “If there was anything to forgive, I would have forgiven you already. You couldn’t watch me every second for the rest of our lives; it would have made us both insane. And if you’d tried to go into the bathroom with me I would have thought you were off your rocker.”

  “I know, Karly, I just-“

  “Stop, please. He didn’t rape me. He didn’t do anything except tie me to the headboard and feed me a peanut butter sandwich. I mean he scared me shitless, but, Brenda is the one that got hurt. He was going to use a, uh, plain circular brand to melt off my tattoo and the mating marks. Then he was going to rape Brenda and kill her before he started our ‘honeymoon’. The only thing I thought of when I tripped on that root and fell into the tree was that I wasn’t going to get to say goodbye to you, and tell you how much I loved you. I do love you. You came for me.”

  “I will always come for you, Karly. I love you more than anything in my life. It would have destroyed me if I’d lost you.”

  “But you didn’t. So don’t apologize anymore. You found me. You made things safe for us in the future. Phoenix is gone, and-” she broke off and started to cry. He pulled over as soon as he could and undid both their seatbelts and gingerly held her while she wept.

  “Thank you for saving my life, Linus.” She whispered with a raw voice.

  “You knew I would come for you, didn’t you?” He pulled away and cupped her face with his hands, swiping his thumbs across her cheeks to catch the tears.

  “I knew you wouldn’t give up on me. How did you know where I was?”

  “It was my wolf. I couldn’t smell you, but I could feel you. I could sense your fear and it was like a beacon for my beast and I let him loose enough to find you.”

  “Why did those real wolves protect me like that?”

  “I’m not sure. When I talked to your mom this morning after you fell asleep again, she said that maybe because you’re a supernatural creature linked to wolves that they felt the need to protect you. Whatever the reason, I’m glad they did. Their intervention gave me the time to get to you.”

 
; “Is Brenda going to be okay?”

  He pressed a gentle kiss to her mouth. She was so tenderhearted and caring. “Physically she’ll be okay. Dehydrated, malnourished, and of course the physical abuse. Mentally, once she told everyone what had happened she seemed to withdraw. Her family is coming for her and they’re going to take her back to Texas where she’s originally from. I can’t tell you how much it hurts me that my past almost took you from me.”

  “If you’re not holding me responsible for Phoenix’s behavior then I can’t hold you responsible for Brenda’s. Our pasts almost destroyed us, but we survived. I just want to put this behind us and move forward.”

  “Me, too, love.” He kissed her again, as softly as he could.

  He felt her smile against his mouth and when he opened his eyes she said, “You get to play nurse to me for a few weeks, right?”

  Little minx. “I’m at your service, baby.”

  She grinned devilishly and he gave her a stern look and tried to tamp down the arousal that just seeing her feeling feisty again brought out. “You’ll have to behave, young lady. That shoulder of yours is going to need lots of care. And I’m just the wolf to do it.”

  “Can I get you into a nurse’s uniform maybe?”

  He barked out a laugh, “Baby, I would wear anything to make you happy, but I draw the line at stockings and miniskirts.” He momentarily flashed to seeing Michael in a French maid's uniform, complete with stockings and heels. It had taken him a long time before he could even look Michael in the eye after that.

  “Aw, spoilsport.”

  Thinking it wise to get back on the road, they began their journey again and after some careful adjustment and wincing, she settled against his shoulder and drifted off to sleep. Now that she was back with him, he felt like all was right with the world again. Those tense hours when he hadn’t been able to find her had been a torturous hell he didn’t wish to ever repeat.

  He could let go of this time and love her the way she deserved. She was his sweet angel mate and he would spend the rest of his life loving her to the best of his ability.

  Chapter 15

  After a week of Linus hovering over her and not letting her lift a finger for herself, she was more than ready to play. He took on the role of nurse very seriously, and although his mom and grandma both brought meals over for them, and members of the pack stopped by daily, Linus was very strict about her being bothered. He was like a big muscular mother hen. And she told him as much, when he was showering with her last night so she “didn’t strain herself” but refused to actually touch anything fun for more than a few swipes of the washcloth. “If you touch it more than three times, you’re playing not cleaning,” he told her in all seriousness and she just stared up at him in shock.

  She rolled her shoulder tentatively as she stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She had two appointments that morning, one to a new OB for a checkup and to get her birth control shot, and one to the only doctor in town who also happened to be a werewolf, to check out her shoulder. She really wanted him to tell Linus that she was cleared for sex. She didn’t think she could handle being in bed with him one more night and not doing anything. She’d gone months before without having sex, but since she met Linus, she didn’t want to play sex camel any longer than necessary.

  After getting her birth control shot and being declared perfectly healthy from the waist down, they sat in the empty doctor’s office and waited for her appointment. Tickling her fingers up the inside of his jean covered thigh, he let her get about two inches away from his cock before he grabbed her hand and kept it still. “It doesn’t matter what he says, baby, the doctor at the hospital said at least three weeks.”

  “Three weeks for strenuous shoulder related activity, Linus.” She felt like whining. “I’ll go totally crazy if we don’t make love soon, I mean it.”

  His blue eyes darkened slightly, and the muscle under one ticked. And that was it. “You’ll live. I wouldn’t risk hurting you if I got lost in the moment and grabbed you wrong. If you want me to take care of you when we get home, I will, but we won’t be making love for at least two more weeks.”

  She swallowed the smart retort on her tongue and pulled her hand from his leg. Damn him and his sensible willpower!

  As she expected, but Linus didn’t seem to care, the doctor – a very charming older man named Vincent Mirelli – said that she was cleared to resume some of her normal activities, but nothing strenuous until after she came back in two more weeks for another check up. Her smug smirk was lost on Linus, so she decided to take matters into her own hands. Literally.

  When they got home that Friday afternoon, Linus offered to make them an early dinner and she just gave him a small, half smile and said, “I’ll think about. I’ve got other things on my mind right now.”

  He smiled immediately but then scowled as if he remembered what he’d said. “I haven’t changed my mind, love.”

  “I didn’t ask you to. In fact, I don’t think I remember inviting you anyway.” She tapped her finger to her chin thoughtfully and then walked away to the bedroom. She was not a girl without options. If he wasn’t going to give her what she wanted, or do it only half way, then she was going to take care of herself. Period.

  She wasn’t ashamed of her vibrator, but hadn’t had an occasion to bring it out and Linus never asked if she had one. She opened her seldom used second travel bag and pulled out the velvet drawstring pouch that contained her toy.

  She tossed it to the bed and began to strip. “Just what the hell are you doing?” He demanded, looking between her and the black bag.

  “I’m taking care of myself.”

  “I said I’d help you, Karly.” He frowned.

  She shook her head, determination giving her a little courage. “No thanks.”

  He looked completely stunned. “You don’t want me to touch you?”

  “No, I don’t want you to touch me halfway. I need to feel you inside me, Linus, and just your fingers or just your mouth…it’s not enough. I’d rather play alone and try to take the edge off this uncontrollable lust I’m feeling right now than not really be satisfied.”

  When she climbed on the bed and pulled the toy from the bag he growled and snatched it from her hand. “Hey!” She yelled.

  “You are out of your mind if you think I’m going to compete with an electronic toy. Nobody brings you pleasure but me. You’re mine, Karly.” His eyes were dark and feral, just the edge of his control coming loose like a flag in the wind.

  “Either fuck me yourself or get out and leave the toy.”

  “I think…you’re not in control here, Karly.” His mouth quirked up in the corner and her breath caught. “Now, prop yourself up on pillows so your shoulder doesn’t have any pressure on it, and spread your legs.”

  Adjusting the pillows against the headboard, she settled up into a nearly upright position and spread her legs, bending her knees slightly and planting her heels.

  “Naughty girl,” he narrowed his eyes, putting her toy down and pulling his shirt off. “Look at how wet you are already.”

  Her toes curled into the comforter and her temperature went up about twenty degrees. He dropped his pants to the floor and her mouth watered at the sight of him, hard and ready. It felt like a hundred years since she’d seen him naked with a look of want and hunger in his eyes.

  He climbed up between her legs and sat back on his heels, looking at her vibrator and then at her. He clicked the button on the bottom after inspecting it and began to draw slow, swirling lines up the inside of her leg, starting at the top of her foot. On low, it tickled and felt good. When he reached her knee, he pushed the button again and it clicked up to medium speed. Rounding the top of her thigh, he switched legs, drawing lazy patterns all around her calf and the inside of her knee, switching to the highest setting.

  Now this was torture. Hot, sexy, lovely torture with the man that was going to be her husband. He drew closer and closer with each pass to her tingling core bu
t never stopped until he’d covered everything with little patterns but the one place she wanted him to touch.

  Gritting her teeth with another unsuccessful pass by her pussy, he chuckled. “Aw, am I doing this wrong, baby?”

  “You know exactly what you’re doing.” She bit out.

  “True. I just wondered how long it would take you to actually say something.” He leaned up and kissed her, slanting his mouth to hers and pushing his tongue to slide against hers. Tangling her fingers in his hair, she kissed him back and forgot he had a humming little pleasure toy in his hands until he pushed it inside her suddenly and she came to blistering awareness on the crest of a powerful climax. She twisted her fingers in his hair as she cried out in pleasure. He pressed his forehead to hers while the pleasure danced freely up and down her body.

  He experimented with the vibrator, pulsing it inside her weeping body in varying speeds and angles until her thighs trembled with tension and her heart attempted to pound out of her chest.

  “Time for the real thing, baby,” he kissed her once and moved away, stretching out on his back across the bed. She practically launched herself at him and he chuckled while she adjusted herself to straddle him and take him inside. Wasting no time at all, she threw her body down onto his until they were as close as possible and she cried out with the fullness of him. She could have cried real tears of joy for making love again, but something wet and vibrating on high speed pressed into her clit and she nearly rocketed off him.

  One hand gripped her thigh and the other held the vibrator against her swollen nub. With growled words, he encouraged her to ride him as hard as she wanted, to take what belonged to her. She could not have stopped if the world was crashing down around them. She found a rhythm that called to a deep part of her, closing her eyes to everything except the feelings and sounds between them. So deep together, it was as if they were one person now, her body humming with the vibrations against her clit and his cock filling her so perfectly. When a second orgasm from the toy on her clit pounded down on her, he tossed the vibrator aside and grasped her hips, pushing her down onto his body while his hips thrust up in wild rhythm.