by R. E. Butler
As she flew swiftly, she could see the lights of Belle Terra in the distance. The small city was brightly lit at night. Beyond the city lay the stadium. Why did she feel such a deep need to go there right now? As her mind spun with possibilities, she knew she would find the answer on the sand.
Her wings were aching by the time she flew over Belle Terra and toward the stadium. As in the dream, the stadium was bright with floodlights and she could hear the crowd cheering. Her heart pounded as she drew close. Below in the center of the arena, she saw two men grappling. Even from high above the stadium, she smelled blood and sweat. Everything inside her clenched hard, and she gasped, her wings faltering as the image of a tiger with long, curving canines filled her mind.
Her vision dimmed, and she opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out as darkness swarmed over her and she plummeted, her last thought a single, whispered word: mate.
Chapter 4
Galen shook his head as the bear’s fist glanced across his cheek. Stars exploded in his vision, and he leapt back to avoid a second punch. Galen snarled. He kept getting distracted. He couldn’t find the source of the distraction, but something inside him continuously urged him to cast his gaze skyward, which was giving his opponent a hell of an advantage.
His cat was prowling, clawing at him to do something. If only the beast could actually talk to him and tell him what the fuck was up. Galen had been dealing with the pissy creature all week while the strange mating dreams had been invading his sleep. And now, when he needed to be concentrating on kicking ass, the beast was all about distractions.
Galen leapt at the bear, ramming his head into his stomach and sending the male to the sand. With a practiced move, he spun and pinned the male, bending his arm at an unnatural angle. The male growled in anger but couldn’t get free without breaking his own arm. Triumph speared through Galen. This was the last fight of the night. Ten thousand dollars was riding on it. He’d fought his way through to the final round. His body ached and exhaustion rode him hard. The bear howled in anger under him.
“Give up, asshole,” Galen said, snarling.
The bear bucked under him, but Galen only tightened his hold, twisting the arm a little harder until the bear went still.
Galen’s beast roared in panic, and he looked up to see something falling swiftly to the ground. It was a woman. As she came into view under the lights of the stadium, he could see pink and gold translucent wings fluttering uselessly as she fell. He released the bear and raced toward her, touching his beast to give him strength and speed to catch her before she hit the ground.
He leapt, grabbing her out of the air, and covered her with his body as he hit the ground and rolled. The moment their bodies touched and she rested on top of him, unconscious but seemingly unharmed, Galen knew exactly who she was – his truemate.
The bear rose to his feet. “I’m the champion! You released me!”
Galen glared at the male as he rolled to his knees with his mate cradled in his arms. “As if I fucking care.”
The crowd booed as Galen strode swiftly from the sand to the staging area where he could tend to his mate in privacy. As he moved toward the steel double doors of a private room, he heard the rush of footsteps down the stairs from the private box, and his family raced to him.
Alaric said, “Holy hell, she’s pink and gold.”
“That’s Serena,” Gretchen said.
Galen shouldered open the door and laid her on her side on a massage table so her wings weren’t crushed beneath her. He brushed her light-brown hair from her face and pressed his fingertips to her throat, finding her pulse beating steadily.
“What happened to you, love?” he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. It had only been a week since the dreams started, but he already knew she was buried deep in his heart.
He gently stroked her cheek. She smelled like wildflowers. He’d never been particularly affected by them before, but right now he wanted to go running through a field of them. “Her name is Serena?” he said, glancing over his shoulder to where his family stood.
Gretchen nodded. “Serena Fontaine. She’s a fairy and can control plants.”
“I thought fairies lived with their own kind,” Slade said.
“She was kicked out of her family because she wouldn’t marry a guy her king told her to,” Gretchen said.
“Can someone go get the fight doctor?” Galen said, turning his attention back to his mate.
“I’ll go,” Alaric said. “I’ll talk to Jonathon, too, and then one of us will drive you both back to the hotel.”
Serena’s eyes opened. She blinked a few times and then sat up with a gasp. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, and he felt something hum under her skin as a rumbling sound filled the room and the floor shook.
He heard his family’s surprised gasps, and he glanced over his shoulder to see a thick wall of vines rising from a hole in the concrete floor. It quickly obscured his family.
Turning his attention back to his mate, he said, “That’s interesting.”
She panted for breath, her chest heaving and pressing her breasts against his bare chest. Her eyes were bright blue. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life. The fact that she was his made him want to fall to his knees and thank whoever was in charge of saber-tooth tiger matings.
“You’re hurt!” Her eyes flashed to bright green, and the walls trembled.
He cupped her face, and doing the only thing he could think to calm her before she brought the arena down on top of them, he kissed her. Slipping his tongue past her parted lips, he slid his arms around her body and pulled her a little closer. The walls stopped shuddering, and her wings fluttered against his arms. Her legs tightened around his waist, and she tilted her hips, making him want to lay her down on the table and find out what she looked like under her clothes.
A throat cleared and Slade spoke. “I’m sure you don’t want to get naked right now, but even if you do, I’ll remind you that the arena is full of unmated males, and I’m certain you don’t want anyone to see your truemate naked except you.”
Her hands dug into his back, and she groaned in frustration. Easing away, from their kiss, he said, “Serena, I’m Galen.”
She leaned around him, and he glanced over his shoulder at the impressive vine wall. Dark green leaves grew on thick twisted vines, spanning from floor to ceiling and across the entire room.
“I think I broke the room, Galen,” she said.
“Damn, you’re lovely,” he said, stroking her cheek.
Her eyes, back to bright blue, met his. “What happened? Why are you injured?”
“We’re at the National Were-Fighting Association fights outside of Belle Terra. I’ve been fighting tonight. I’d like to know,” he said, twisting a lock of silky hair around his finger, “why you fell from the sky.”
“I fell asleep and had a dream about an arena filled with sand and blood. When I woke up, I was panicked and knew I had to get here. As I flew over the arena, I had a vision of a…tiger with big teeth, and I guess I passed out.”
“I’m the tiger with big teeth. My family and I are the last saber-tooth tigers in existence.”
Her head tilted slightly. “Why did I dream about you?”
He gripped her firmly and pulled her against his groin, his erection pressing into the vee of her thighs. Her eyes widened, and the scent of her arousal filled the air between them. “You know why, my lovely little fairy.”
“Mate?”
“Truemate.”
Her eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them away rapidly. “Really? I’m not alone anymore?”
He gave her a sly smile. “As if I’d ever let you go.”
She kissed him with a laugh and then buried her face in his throat. Her skin hummed and as he looked over his shoulder, the vine wall disappeared into the ground. The dirt visible through the break in the floor was smooth as though it had never been disturbed.
“You’re fucking awesome,�
� he said, chuckling.
The door opened, and Alaric returned with the fight doctor. The doctor was a wolf shifter. He said, “If you’d like to slide over just slightly, I can examine your mate.”
“I really don’t need a doctor.”
“Humor me, love,” Galen said as he moved from between her thighs and stood next to her. He linked their fingers and stayed as close as he could without getting in the doctor’s way.
He gave her a cursory once-over, asked her a few questions, and said, “I’m not a fairy expert, but I do know they heal as fast, if not faster, than shifters. If she was injured in the fall from the sky, or when you grabbed her before she hit the ground, she’s clearly feeling fine now. Can you put your wings away?”
Her wings disappeared from view, sliding into her back swiftly. Galen peeked over her shoulder at the two openings in her top that allowed her wings to be out while she was still wearing a shirt.
“I’m feeling really good, doctor, thanks,” she said, leaning against Galen.
He nodded and said, “Congratulations on your mating. Word is getting out that Belle Terra is the place to be for those who want to find their truemates.”
Alaric said, “I’m sure shifters found their truemates in the area before we came along.”
He shrugged. “Occasionally, but your entire family found truemates within a week. That’s unheard of.”
The doctor left, and Alaric looked at Galen. “Jonathon said he’s taking the floor repair out of your winnings.”
“Whatever,” Galen said. He inhaled his mate’s sweet scent.
“I should pay for the damage I caused,” Serena said.
“I don’t think so. I’ll handle it.”
She relaxed even further against him. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me. It’s what mates do for each other.”
“He also said if you’d like a rematch against the bear that the crowd would enjoy that.”
Galen lifted Serena into his arms. “I’m going to be busy taking care of my mate for the next eighty years or so.”
He introduced his mate to his family and then followed them out of the room. Jonathon’s assistant Krel waited just outside. “I took the liberty of deducting two thousand dollars from your winnings for the damage.”
Slade took the envelope from him. “How do you know how much it will be without seeing the room?”
“You forget what I am, Slade. I felt her power when she reacted to finding her truemate. I know what fairies who control plants are capable of doing and coupled with the near-earthquake, I’m guessing the floor needs to be repaired.”
Galen had known that Krel was a fairy, but he didn’t know what kind or what his powers were. Serena spoke something to Krel in a strange language, and Krel said something back and then bowed slightly. He walked swiftly away from them, heading into the room they’d just left.
“What did you say to each other?” Galen asked.
“I thanked him for his help and wished him well in his life, and he congratulated me on finding such a fierce truemate.”
Galen carried Serena out into the crisp night, stopping at the SUV as Slade held open the passenger door for him. “Where do you live?” Galen asked as he sat in the middle of the row and she wiggled against him, settling comfortably in his lap. Her curves were a tantalizing tease under his hands, and he ached to strip her and discover all her secrets.
“I live at the supernatural hotel, on the same floor as Gretchen.”
Gretchen turned around from the front seat as Slade turned the SUV on and pulled out of the parking lot. “I live on fourteen now.”
“Those are nice suites,” Serena said. “Congratulations on your mating.”
“Thanks, same to you. How was your flight?”
Serena lifted her head from Galen’s shoulder and stared at him. “Apparently, I took too long to think.”
“What are you talking about?” Galen asked.
“I live here. If I hadn’t been away when you showed up, we would have met earlier. I feel like I wasted a week.”
“Why were you gone?”
She frowned. “My sister, Alanah, is being forced to mate with a fairy chosen by our king. I rejected him a year ago, and now she’s in the same boat.”
“Why can’t she just say no?”
“Because saying no means expulsion from the commune where our family lives with other fairies. I never get to see my family because I was exiled. If she doesn’t marry the male, then my parents will also be exiled and my dad really, really loves being on the fae council.”
“If you can’t talk to your family, how do you know what’s going on with her?” Gretchen asked.
“My sister’s powers are with woodland creatures. She can communicate with them, and she and my mom send notes to me with them. A week ago, a mouse delivered the news. I was distraught, so I went for a fly. I was toying with the idea of going back to the commune and begging for forgiveness from my king and taking her place.”
Galen’s cat howled in rage, and his fangs punched from his gums. “No.”
She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Obviously things have changed, Galen. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.”
Slade and Gretchen both chuckled, and Galen snarled. He gripped the waistband of her jeans and tugged her closer. “You’re mine. You’re not begging anyone for anything.”
She sank her fingers into his hair and pressed a kiss to his ear. “Not even you? Not to beg you to make me come while you’re deep inside me? Not to beg you to mark me and make me yours forever?”
He let loose a low growl, sliding his hand under her shirt and feeling the heat of her skin. “You don’t need to beg. Anything you want from me is yours.”
She bit his earlobe and then licked the small mark. His fingertips tingled as his cat tried to extend his claws and rip off her clothes. He fought the cat, reminding the beast that they were in a vehicle with his family and no one was going to see his truemate naked but him.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, the teasing gone from her voice as she whispered, “My sister has to make her own choices the same way I did. I have zero regrets except wasting a week away from Belle Terra when I could have been in your arms.”
He was thankful she didn’t regret anything. She told him how she’d had a bad dream about her sister and left, the same night that he and his family had come to the hotel. Hours had separated them, and he was disappointed that he’d missed her, but thankful she was in his arms now.
“If we’d met that night, would you have known I was your truemate?” she asked after he explained the mating dreams and how they had appeared to them in age-order, except for Lia, who was the youngest and had leap-frogged over Galen when she scented her truemate in the master vampire of the city of Belle Terra.
“I don’t know, love,” he said, a purr rumbling in his chest. “We’re together now. We can stop wondering what could have been.”
“And concentrate on what’s coming next.”
He definitely liked that idea.
When they reached the hotel, she said, “I need to stop into the flower shop for a little while.”
“Why?”
“Because I know that by this point, all the bouquets I made before I left have been sold or are wilted, and I have a feeling that when we get up to my room, that we aren’t going to come out for…a day?”
“Two days,” he said with a growl.
She mock pouted. “Just two?”
He grabbed her close and kissed her neck. “As many days as you can handle, but I’ll never, ever be done.”
She sighed, and it sounded like a purr, which made his dick even harder. He could probably punch a hole in concrete with it at this point. His truemate, the one causing the pink and gold dreams, was his now.
She unlocked the metal security screen covering the storefront, and they said goodbye to Slade and Gretchen, stepping into the shop. He pulled the screen back down, and she locked it fro
m inside so they weren’t disturbed.
“This won’t take too long. I just have to coax the flowers I need and arrange them.”
“I’m curious about your powers,” he said, following her into a back room. The front of the store contained shelves and refrigerated cases with a small counter and cash register. Baskets, wreaths, and stuffed animals were tucked into every available space.
She flicked on the overhead lights, which illuminated her workspace – three long, sturdy wooden tables, glass vases and containers, and tools.
“I can manipulate plant life. My powers come from the earth, so anything growing is mine to control. I can make fruit grow on trees out of season, cause plants to grow at will like I did with the vine wall, and even change the coloring of plants. It’s perfect for me to own a flower shop, because all I need are seeds and plants, and I can make anything. I order seeds from all over the world, and when hotel guests come in and ask for custom bouquets or arrangements, I can make them very quickly.”
“Does the hotel do a lot of weddings?” He sat down on a stool and watched her arrange a dozen different glass vases on a table and drop seeds into each one.
“Yes, we have at least two weddings a month. In the summer, it’s busier. This past June we had six weddings in one day. It was crazy.”
“Does it hurt you to make things grow? Does it sap your power?”
“If I tried to do too much at one time, yes. The vine wall made me a little tired, but I was panicked and still a little dizzy. Just making bouquets grow like this doesn’t bother me at all, but if I tried to make an entire orchard bloom out of season – I’d probably pass out for a few hours.”
She sighed softly and her wings extended. The beautiful gold and pink wings fluttered. They extended past her ears and reached her waist and were three feet wide on either side of her. “Can you carry another person with your wings or just yourself?”
