by Claire Ryann
His mate. Lowell trusted the guys to rescue the damsel in distress and rain hell on her captor but they'd be fine without him.
He pointed toward the SUV and started to say something when the kid snapped at him, the truck already in motion, "Yeah dude, that's what I'm saying! That chick was getting into her SUV when some dude just walked up to her and shoved in his car, you comin' or not?"
Comprehension dawned all too slowly, Lowell felt nauseous and everything around him moved in slow motion. Fortunately, his wolf's reflexes weren't dulled. The animal rallied to the calls of its team and compelled Lowell into the back of the truck as it spun out of the parking lot.
"You good on this ice?" Ken hollered into the cab from his crouching position just behind the driver’s side of the truck bed.
Lowell held tight and strained his eyes for signs of the car that had his Kara.
"Metal studs, bro," was the enthusiastic answer from the cab as the truck's tires dug into the asphalt and propelled them down the icy mountain pass road that Kara and Lowell had spent the morning on.
The truck was sporting some serious snow shoes and the kid at the wheel was able to put a couple hundred horses into chewing into the iced asphalt.
Lowell saw the flash of a black car against the white backdrop of the Cascade peaks as it rounded a bend up ahead and disappeared from sight.
"Kara!" He knew it useless but he felt like he had to do something.
"Kara?" Ken asked from the other side of the truck bed.
Lowell swung his head toward his friend, "Kara!" he yelled over the wind whipping around them. He pointed toward the car they were chasing, "My mate!"
It felt weird to say it out loud. It had been hard to have someone else realize he'd found her before he himself knew. He wanted to kick himself. Of course he knew. He just didn't trust his instincts without his damn sense of smell to back him up.
"My mate!" He shouted again. This time it didn't feel weird, it felt great. Kara was his mate and as soon as he disemboweled the jackass that was trying to take her from him, he was going make sure his scent never left her.
One thing he had to admit was that the kid was a great driver, fearless and skilled behind the wheel. The truck was making surprising time and gaining on the black sedan.
"Nothing beats metal!"
The kid's voice roared out of the open driver side window followed by a series of his usual whoops as he pushed the tuck up the steep grade.
Lowell had no idea what his plan was. Kenyon's wolf paced excitedly back and forth in the back of the truck and Mingan sat in the passenger seat in the cab with the cool demeanor that meant the man was in serious asskicking mode.
The blacked out German import ahead of them probably had twice as many horses as the pick-up, but it couldn't compete with the Kid's modifications when it came to torque and it was obvious that whatever it was wearing for snow tires didn't hold a candle to the kid's oversized all terrains with the metal studs.
It was also a good bet that the driver of the sedan had nothing on the young werewolf behind the wheel of the truck when it came to skill or sheer arrogance.
13
"You really thought you could get away from me?"
Anthony's fist punched at her again, this time bouncing off her elbow as she tried to defend herself. He'd been driving erratically since they'd hit the road, more intent on his anger than his driving.
"You really thought you could get away with faking your own death so you could run off with another man?"
Punctuated by another un-aimed strike.
Some of the punches landed on her, others struck her seat.
Anthony turned the wheel hard and Kara's body slammed against the passenger door.
"Who is he?" Anthony demanded with another abrupt turn of the wheel that threw her against his shoulder.
"What are you talking about?" Kara was terrified, what did he know? How could he possibly know about Lowell?
"Your boyfriend, Kara, the man you thought you were going to leave me for? Where is he?"
"I don't have a boyfriend," Kara clung to the dashboard to brace herself as he flew around the curves on the icy road. No doubt he had snow tires on the BMW but they weren't designed for this level of ice driving.
Kara didn't care what happened to her. It was already too late for her but she couldn't let this man know how to find Lowell. As she watched the road ahead of them she realized that wasn't going to be a problem. She honestly didn't know where Lowell was.
"Motherfucker," Anthony's eyes were glued to the rear view mirror.
Kara screamed as the car headed for the guard rail. Anthony twisted the wheel at the last minute and the car slid sideways before digging back into the road.
Kara twisted around to see what Anthony was so preoccupied with behind them.
She almost cheered.
Still back quite a bit but gaining was one filthy red truck. The truck disappeared as Anthony steered them around another curve and the next time she saw it it had closed a lot of distance. She could make out one very big dog in the back and Lowell.
Her heart sang. Lowell. He was coming after her.
"Is that him?" Anthony's voice was so cold it turned her blood to ice, "Is that the filthy sonuvabitch that's been fucking my wife?"
His hand fumbled at her until he had a hold of her by the wrist. He twisted as he yanked her across the cab so he could sneer at her while she fought to free herself from his unrelenting grasp, "didn't you tell him that I own you?"
Strength surged through her and she managed to pull her wrist free as she hurled a wad of spit in Anthony's face, "you don't own me, Anthony. You'll never own me!"
The truck was right behind them for a moment, giving her a clear look at the boy behind the wheel. His face stretched in a huge grin, his left fist pumping the air outside his open window. The man in the passenger seat was huge, he looked like he was built out of reinforced concrete and his face was set in a calm expression as if he was enjoying a leisurely drive through the mountains on a warm spring day.
There was a huge gray dog in the back of the truck that she didn't remember seeing when it was parked back at the bar. It had a wild look to it, like it might be one of those wolf hybrids that people sometimes bred or maybe even a real timber wolf that one of the guys kept as a pet.
But the person she was most interested in was Lowell. His brown hair whipping wildly around his face, his eyes narrowed to protect against the stinging cold wind, he was hunched in the back of the truck behind the passenger side of the cab. His eyes were locked on her inside the sedan, his gaze only wavering when one of the vehicles swerved or slid.
He looked as feral as the dog beside him. His expression was pure murderous rage as his eyes focused on Anthony.
"Which one is he?" Anthony demanded as he peeled his eyes off the rear view mirror long enough to put his foot down on the gas pedal and put some distance between them and the gaining truck.
He ignore her silence and gave the mirror another hard look, "never mind, I know which one he is."
Anthony shot a hate filled glare across the cab at her, "I can't believe you thought you could get away from me."
His voice had lost its hysteria. She gaped at Anthony with wide eyes, recognizing the ice cold tone he used when he had arrived at one of his cruelest decisions.
"So you'd rather die than be with me?" His smile was deceptively charming as he glanced casually in the rear view mirror again, "I wonder how Prince Charming will take it when you get...your...wish."
Kara had seconds to react.
Anthony had carefully made sure that he was ahead of the truck, but not so far that the passengers would miss his spectacular stunt as he disengaged the traction control on the luxury sedan and whipped the wheel around in one hand while pulling the hand brake in the other.
Kara watched the outside world spin lazily around the car as she felt the wheels lock. The cliff was headed toward them. It was 2 thousand feet straight down. She watch
ed Anthony's face, obviously pleased with himself as his hands left the wheel and he let the car skid toward the side of the road. There was no guard rail on this section of road, why would there be? It wasn't even a sharp turn.
Snow piled on the side of the road where a plow had come through after the last big storm. It wasn't very deep but she didn't have time to consider other options.
Kara pulled the door release. The centrifugal force of the spin immediately knocked her unseat-belted body out of the cab.
She heard the sound of something heavy slipping across ice and gravel as her body finally came to a halt in the snow.
The truck stopped beside her in the middle of the street.
That really hurt, she thought as she struggled to push herself up. It didn't work. She was dizzy and every part of her was sore and she couldn't remember which was up and which was down so she gave up and watched the men from the truck as they rushed toward her.
Lowell first, clearing the side of the pick-up bed in an easy leap. The dog jumped to the ground on Lowell's heels and easily melted into a man of similar build but with dusty blonde hair. The passenger from the cab shot a calm look at Lowell and the other man as they arrived beside her. She watched him take two steps toward the twin tracks running off the cliff and then suddenly the dog was back in view.
Kara squinted in confusion at the sight as Lowell and the blonde guy helped her sit up. That wasn't the same dog. The dog in the truck was gray, this one was tan with black markings. What happened to the big guy?
"Huh?" she could hear her own voice but it sounded far away. She'd gone to a concert once and stood close to the stage without any ear plugs and her hearing had felt like this for 2 days.
Lowell's lips were moving, his face filled with worry, she wasn't sure what he was saying so she looked back at the dog that was beginning to descend the edge of the cliff and pointed, "Is that guy going to be OK?"
Lowell's eye brow shot up and she watched him raise a questioning eye at the other dog man.
Lowell's lips were moving again but she could only tilt her head in confusion.
***
"....another fucking human?"
"Another injured mate."
"She's hot, dude, way to go."
"Sorry man, I didn't think she'd notice."
Snippets of conversation were fading in and out around her. She felt Lowell's body next to her, his arm pulling her into his chest a little more tightly than was comfortable. Then she remembered Anthony pushing her into his car, the wild car chase, the cliff approaching, her body hitting the ground.
Kara decided Lowell's grip was a little loose and she pushed herself closer to him.
"I didn't know, I can't smell a damn thing." That was Lowell's voice. Deep and warm and oh so sexy.
"So you think scent is the only way to tell?" She didn't know the other voices. This one came from somewhere behind her.
"No, no way," Lowell was answering, "I knew she was-- special-- but she's human. I just didn't expect it to be her." His lips pressed against the top of her head where it burrowed under his arm.
"I really wanted it to be you." That whisper was low and just for her.
"Fucking sap," the driver teased Lowell as if he could hear what he'd just whisper in her ear. The driver's voice sounded young. It must be that kid.
"You wait till it's you and see who's calling who sappy," another voice scolded. That voice was farther away and also behind her, a gruff voice. The same one that had apologized to Lowell earlier about being seen.
Kara's head pounded. Her hands stung. She moved her head to look up at Lowell and saw him smiling down at her.
"How you doin' Babe?" His voice was all love.
She pushed herself up and looked around. They were in the truck, she was wedged into the middle of the bench seat between Lowell and the young man driving. With a twist of her head, she saw the split back window was open and two men crouched behind the cab.
"Hey gorgeous." He had dirty blonde hair that flopped playfully over on eye. His eyes were a pale turquoise color that laughed when he smiled. He stuck his hand through the window for a shake.
The other man in the back of the truck yanked the blonde's arm back through the window, "Her hand's are all torn up man, let her get her bearings before you start harassing her."
That was the other dog. He had been in the passenger seat before. She had no idea how tall he was, but none of the men made Lowell look like a giant and Lowell was pretty tall. But where the other men all had the slender, athletic build of runners or swimmers, the man with the red beard looked like a tank.
Kara idly wondered where they were headed. The scenery around them was new to her as the truck navigated a narrow road that led up a canyon wall. It looked largely unused and she wasn't sure if it was a road or a driveway.
"Where are we going?" She quietly asked Lowell.
His smile wrapped around her like the most comfortable pajamas she'd ever imagined. "We're going home. I'm going to get you cleaned up and taken care of and then I'm going to marry you."
14
That had been over a year ago, Kara thought as she followed Haley down the aisle.
She'd been beat up when they got back to the den, but she was in a lot better shape than the Alpha's mate was at the time.
It had taken some time to fully wrap her brain around the whole werewolf thing but it hadn't been hard to believe. Maybe she'd just always been open to possibilities, she didn't know. She did know that hearing Lowell tell her he was going to marry her had been the happiest moment of her life.
Until this one, maybe, actually joining him at the altar in the main hall of the den's common house. Standing next to the love of her life-- no. That wasn't quite right. Her mate, that's what Lowell called her and no other word felt quite big enough to describe it-- in front of the whole pack while the Alpha prepared to perform the bonding ceremony.
Kara smiled at the way the Alpha, Daelan, stole glances at Haley. The woman who had remained in a coma for another 6 weeks after Kara arrived at the den.
Crazy, capable Haley who had become her best friend over time. The woman who set the whole pack on its ear when she turned out to be the Alpha's mate. The first human mate taken into the pack in over a thousand years. The woman who had been Turned by a wolf that wasn't her mate.
Kara felt sad for Haley on that note. Even though the Alpha mother seemed perfectly content with her wolf, with her place beside the Alpha, and with her role in the pack now, Kara couldn't help but feel that her friend had lost out on something very special between mates.
Kara herself had arrived at a very different pack than Haley had, even though only a few days separated their introductions. Kara had been hesitantly welcomed but never threatened. She'd been introduced to pack life slowly and given plenty of time to get adapt while her new family got to know her.
Lowell had offered his wolf to her on the night he'd proposed. He'd been clear that it was her decision to make and she'd accepted both the ring and the wolf without a second thought.
It had been Lowell who had suggested waiting till their wedding night. Saving something for their first night as husband and wife. They certainly hadn't saved much else.
So Kara walked down the aisle in her wedding dress on shaky legs, her hands trembling with anxious nerves in anticipation of both the "I dos" and the night they'd planned under tonight's full moon when Lowell would sink his canines into her flesh and give her his wolf.
Kara straightened her shoulders. She was scared, no lie. Haley's scars were a patchwork quilt across her right shoulder. It was hard not to notice them unless she was wearing a turtleneck.
***
"Haley was Turned under different circumstances," Lowell had explained, "It shouldn't be so violent."
"So more like a vampire bite?" Kara had wondered aloud.
Lowell had cocked his head to one side with an eyebrow quirked in amusement, "I've never seen a vampire bite in real life," he'd chided.
> "So you're telling me there's such a thing as werewolves, but not vampires?" Kara had retorted.
With a shrug of his shoulders, Lowell had told her, "Don't know, don't care, but based on what movies have me believing?" He'd paused to give her an apologetic frown, "It's going to be messier. You are, after all, essentially getting mauled by a wolf."
"But during sex, right?" She had grinned as she straddled his waist.
"It doesn't have to be during sex," he'd demurred as he accepted her obvious invitation to slide his hands up the roundness of her thighs.
"But it can be, right?" She pushed her sex down against the growing bulge between his legs and rocked lightly.
Lowell growled, openly now that his wolf was no longer a secret, and gripped her ass firmly in his hands. Pulling her down against his thickening cock, "I do hear it's the preferred way to Turn one's mate."
Kara groaned as he moved her body against his so that her clit rubbed against him. "I can definitely see how that would distract a person from getting bitten."
How he was able to maneuver her body with just a strong hold on her ass she didn't know, but she was his to do with as he pleased at that moment. As long as he pleased to slide that hard muscle into her and show her how he planned to distract her from his bite, that is.
Which he did. Lifting her with his strong arms and setting her back onto him, he moved against her opening till her wetness covered his wide cockhead and then released her body to gravity. She gave herself to the slow fall as he penetrated her fully.
Then his hands were firm on her ass again, lifting her so that she slid up his length before giving her a rough tug that brought her back down with a shout. Over and over till Kara had pushed him back on the bed they shared in Lowell's private quarters.
Lowell landed on his back, his teeth clenched in concentration as Kara took her pleasure from his body. Her hands grappling for traction against his hard abs, his skin slick with sweat from their bodies coming together, she felt the storm rising and with one hard thrust onto him, she rocked her clit against his pelvis and gave in.
