by R. E. Butler
“Do you suppose Alaric will want to live here at the hotel?” Lia asked.
Galen opened the front door. “Probably. Aubrey lives and works here.”
“I’ll be sad if we have to move.”
“Why would we move?” Slade asked.
“You’re going to start getting mating dreams, and we’ll have to leave to find your mate, and then we’ll have to leave to find Galen’s mate, and then mine. I mean…I don’t want our family to be broken up.”
Slade hadn’t really given it much thought. He’d kind of expected Alaric to stay with the NWFA and their family and for them to continue to travel. But it was unfair of them to expect his brother to keep fighting when he had a new mate, and living on the road was no place to raise a family.
“Maybe we’ll be lucky and our mates will all be here in Belle Terra,” Slade said.
Galen, ever the pessimist, said, “Yeah right. As if we’d be that lucky.”
Slade held open the door for Lia and then entered the posh lobby. The floors were marble tile, white streaked with gold, and the dark furniture and crimson rugs added just the right bit of warmth to what could have been a sterile feeling area.
Slade’s cat perked up and began to prowl in his mind. Figuring it was because he was hungry and sore from the fights, he ignored the cat and turned in a slow circle to take in the hotel. And then he saw her. Curves for days. Long, red hair with golden highlights. Bright green eyes.
Pain filled his head, and his cat roared in anguish as his vision dimmed and he hit the floor, slipping into unconsciousness. His last thought was a single, snarled word: mate.
* * * * *
Rousing from his…whatever the hell that was, Slade found himself staring at the ceiling of the hotel. Then his bones began to crack as his shift took over.
“Damn it, don’t shift!” Galen yelled.
Slade was too far gone to stop; the cat was taking over because he was determined to find his mate and take care of her. Rolling to his stomach, he rose onto his paws and roared.
“Are you nuts? Don’t go over there,” a male voice Slade didn’t recognize cautioned.
“Tell that to my wolf. She won’t stop growling at me,” a female voice said.
Slade looked toward the voice and found his redheaded angel standing behind two males. Snarling, he bared his teeth, and Lia stepped in front of him.
“You’re freaking the wolves out, knock it off.”
He huffed but sat on his haunches and tried to explain to his sister, mentally, that he was about to go batshit crazy if he didn’t get his mate away from the males and somewhere safe.
Lia blinked at him, and he wasn’t sure if she really could hear his thoughts or not, although he hoped like hell she could. It would be handy if he could speak in his shifted form. Lia planted her hands firmly on her hips. “I think he’s calm.”
“He doesn’t look that way to me,” one of the males sniffed.
“Don’t be an asshole,” Galen said. “You can come out from behind the wall of wolf. You know he won’t hurt you.”
The redhead slipped quickly away from the wolves. “I know.”
Galen said, “Slade, this is Gretchen Havers. She’s Aubrey’s best friend.”
“How’s that for a weird coincidence?” Lia asked.
One of the males said, “He needs to get out of the lobby. It’s against regulations for weres to be in their shifts down here.”
“Give us a fucking second,” Galen groused. Looking at Slade, he said, “We have rooms on the eighth floor.”
“He can come to my room. It’s on the twelfth floor,” Gretchen said. “Give me your cell, and I’ll text you my number so you can get in touch.”
“We told our brother and Aubrey that we’d meet them for dinner tomorrow night. You and Slade can join us.”
Hell the fuck no. Slade was stuck in his shift for three hours. He wasn’t going to give up a second of his time with his mate.
Yowling, Slade shook his head.
Gretchen smiled. “I think he doesn’t want to. How about breakfast on Sunday in the hotel’s restaurant?”
“Sounds good to me,” Galen said.
Gretchen closed the distance between them and knelt in front of him. She was even more beautiful up close. Her eyes were green like spring grass, flecked with gold. Her hair was like melted rubies and sunshine. She smelled sweet like butterscotch, and he wanted to find out if she tasted just as sweet. He purred and she smiled, her eyes darkening.
“Wow, that’s sexy. I wish I could purr.” She stroked his ears and rubbed his nose. “Those are some wicked looking canines. I bet you’re an amazing hunter.”
His cat was so pleased that their mate was happy that his cat was trying to get Slade to roll over so she could scratch their belly. Which he was not fucking doing with other males in the lobby. Ducking his head, he bumped her knee and then gestured toward the elevators.
“Oh, right. Let’s go, sexy.”
She straightened, and he moved to walk between her and the males. “Don’t you have responsibilities, Gretchen?” one of the wolves said.
“I’m almost done with the alpha’s work, Farley. I’ll call my cousin and have her finish up.”
The male didn’t seem to like her answer, but she ignored him, walking swiftly to the elevators where Slade’s family waited. “Are you going to be in trouble?” Lia asked as the elevator doors opened and they moved inside.
“No. A pack is visiting, and we’re putting them up in the hotel. I had to move some reservations and upgrade some people to free up a whole floor, but it’s no big deal. I’m guessing I’ll be a little busy with Slade. Chloe can finish up my to-do list. I just need to give her a call.”
“I can help, too. I don’t think I’ll be busy since I’ll still be waiting for Galen to find his mate.”
“What? Why would you have to wait for your brother?”
“It’s how it works for our kind. Mates are found in age order. We’re actually supposed to have mate dreams that lead us to our mates, but I guess since Alaric found Aubrey, when Slade saw you, his cat just reacted and he didn’t get the dreams,” Aubrey said.
“That’s…weird. I suppose, though, that there are people who think there are weird things about wolves. Offhandedly, though, mating dreams and passing out when you meet your mate tops the list for me,” Gretchen said.
“To be fair, Alaric didn’t pass out when he met Aubrey. That’s all Slade,” Galen said.
Slade growled darkly, and Galen made a face at him. “As if you’d kill me in front of your new mate.”
The door opened and Gretchen said, “I guess I’ll see you Sunday morning?”
Lia held up her cell. “I’ve got your number. Welcome to the family, by the way.”
“Thanks,” Gretchen said.
When the door shut, Slade rose on his hind legs and braced his paws on either side of his mate’s head against the shiny, wood interior. He nuzzled her neck, careful not to scratch her with his canines. A purr rumbled from his chest, and she giggled and rubbed her palms over his fur.
“Me with a big cat,” she said softly, tilting her head to give him better access. “Now that’s not something I ever expected.”
He licked her throat, and she shivered, the scent of her arousal spiking in the air. There was a soft tone before the door slid open on their floor. Slade lowered himself and followed her out. She was wearing tight jeans and a long-sleeved top with some kind of swirly design on it. He watched her butt as they walked. Man he was one lucky cat. His mate was too sexy for words.
Using the thumb pad, she unlocked her door and let him in. He bumped against the doorjamb, leaving his scent. The room was small but tastefully decorated. As he walked into the family room, he bumped against the furniture. He wanted to make sure that anyone who came into her home knew she belonged to him.
“Are you really putting your scent on my stuff? That’s such an alpha-male thing to do,” she said from the kitchenette before she bent
over and looked in the mini fridge. Slade padded over and bumped the back of her knee. She squealed and then laughed, pushing away his head. “I’m going to order some stuff from room service. I already ate my leftovers, and I had them send up some things to your other room.”
He followed her to the couch and, after she made him swear not to claw up her furniture, they sat down and she ordered raw steaks and a chocolate milk shake. Settling back against the couch, he put his head in her lap and purred.
“We’ve got about twenty minutes until the food arrives. How about I give you the skinny on me and then when you shift back, you can tell me about yourself?”
As if he’d waste time talking once he returned to his human form. Not hardly. The cat and the man were in firm agreement – as soon as possible, he was going to mate Gretchen.
* * * * *
Gretchen felt like an idiot, but she kept talking about herself to the saber-tooth tiger on her couch. He was a beautiful cat. He had a white underbelly, and his thick, coarse fur was golden with dark brown marks. His tail reminded her of a lion, but he was definitely not like any lion she’d ever seen, especially with those two huge canines that curved out of his mouth.
“My parents live on pack lands, which are the wooded areas in town. My pack has the territory on the north side of Belle Terra. There’s another alpha named Sky, who has the south side territory. Alpha Johner and his mate live in the main house. When the hotel was built and Aubrey was made the manager, I was really excited to come live here. I think the wolves, at least my parents’ generation, are happy to live and work with the pack their whole lives, but I wanted something more exciting. The hotel is so much fun. I get to meet all sorts of interesting visitors, and on this floor are supes who either don’t have any living family, like Dredge, a warlock, or Serena the fairy who was exiled from her home because she wouldn’t marry who her king chose for her. I guess I have it easy considering how bad some others have it. Still…my alpha told me tonight that he wanted me to meet this visiting pack, and although he didn’t come right out and say it, I think he wanted me to find a mate whether I felt a truemate connection or not.”
Slade growled and his upper lip curled. She stroked the short, soft fur of his ears and shushed him.
“Obviously, it’s a moot point now anyway, but I think it’s strange and kind of sucky that my alpha didn’t encourage me to find my truemate. As if it would be perfectly fine for me to just pick a wolf randomly and mate him. I wanted more for my life than that.”
He lifted his head and blinked beautiful golden eyes at her. She cupped his head and kissed his nose.
“It’s the strangest thing, Slade. I didn’t know what would happen when I met my truemate, but I feel so amazingly connected to you that I feel as if we’ve known each other for years. It’s not scary. It’s comforting. We’re truemates. I’m yours and you’re mine.”
His tongue snaked out, and he licked her lips with a gruff purr.
“Okay, but save that for when you’ve got a human tongue, okay, lover boy?”
There was a knock on the door and Slade growled, hopping off the couch and stalking to the door.
“It’s just room service,” she said, laughing. “You do want to eat, right?”
The look he gave her could have melted her clothes right from her body. He wasn’t thinking about eating food at all; he was thinking about eating her. And, oh boy, did she really, really want him to!
* * * * *
Slade enjoyed listening to his mate talk. Her voice was soothing, or maybe it was just being near her that made his cat settle. She talked about everything – her family, her pack, working for the hotel – while they waited for his shift to be over. He didn’t know much about wolves outside of what he’d learned fighting against them in the NWFA. He knew they ran in packs with one leader, but he didn’t realize that many large packs, like Gretchen’s, all lived together in one place.
He wondered if he’d be allowed to join her pack, or if she’d leave and join their saber pride. Not that they had an official pride since it was just the four of them, but as he and his family found their mates and began to have cubs, then, in essence they’d be a pride. Glancing around her place, he knew they’d need to have a larger place eventually. He didn’t care where they lived as long as they were together.
As the pull of his shift faded, he nuzzled her arm and slipped from the couch. Unlike the painful fast shift from earlier, this time he was able to shift pain-free as his cat stepped back and the human part of him came forward. Gretchen watched him intently as he transformed. He was glad she wasn’t human so she would understand about his shifted form. He couldn’t wait to see what she looked like in her shift and to go hunting with her.
He stood slowly, and her gaze rose from his legs, landing on his hips where his erection jutted from his body – thick and hard – up the flat planes of his stomach to his chest and then, finally, she met his gaze. Her cheeks pinked in blush, and he thought it was a beautiful color on her.
“I’m Slade,” he said.
“I know,” she said, chewing on her bottom lip. “Ask me. Now that you can talk, ask me what you would have if your cat hadn’t gone nuts in the lobby when we met.”
“Be my mate, Gretchen.”
“I said ask,” she said, rolling her eyes.
His mate was feisty. He liked that a lot.
“Please, Gretchen.”
“Since you asked so sweetly.” She stood and closed the distance between them. She was shorter than him by about a foot, lushly curved and scenting of a heady mix of woman and a sweet, candy-like scent he found alluring.
“You have way too many clothes on,” he said, tracing the column of her throat with his fingertips.
She shivered. “You can fix that, Slade. I have a theory I’d like to test, anyway.”
“Oh?” he asked, gripping the hem of her top and lifting it slowly over her head. Her large breasts were covered in white lace.
“Yeah, about cats and cream.”
He stopped looking at her breasts so he could meet her gaze. “I love cream.” Slipping an arm around her waist, he drew her close. “Especially butterscotch-flavored cream. That’s what you smell like to me. Sweet, decadent butterscotch.”
Her eyes darkened, and her sweet scent filled the air. “Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, I’ll be your mate. Pending a freaking ton of orgasms and you bringing me breakfast in bed.”
He chuckled. “How many is a freaking ton?”
“I’ll let you know when I’ve had enough,” she said, giving him a mischievous smile.
He lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. “It’ll never be enough, my mate. Never.” The last word was a growled promise.
“Kiss me, Slade. Then make me yours forever.”
“Gladly.”
Chapter 3
Gretchen thought she was going to melt from the inside out. Slade’s hot flesh was pressed to hers as he carried her to her bedroom. Their bedroom now. She was amazed at how easily she’d accepted Slade and their mating, but she did. Her wolf was so content she was doing the wolfy version of a purr in her mind, which sounded kind of like a broken lawnmower.
She pressed her lips to his as he carried her. He purred, which made his chest vibrate. His lips were soft but firm, and he parted them immediately and stroked her lips with his tongue. She chased his tongue with hers, wrapping her arms around his neck more tightly and digging her fingers into his thick, short hair. He tasted wild and the scent of him, like sunshine and deep woods, made her pussy clench in anticipation.
Their tongues tangled and danced. He lowered her to the bed and straightened, pulling off her bra. She’d been so involved in their first kiss she hadn’t realized he undid the clasp.
“Good one.”
His brow cocked and he grinned. “I haven’t gotten started yet, baby.”
She settled back on her bed and cupped her breasts. She was feeling very primal. Maybe i
t was because she felt comfortable with her mate, or maybe it was because her wolf was panting for them to mate, but either way, she was as turned on as she’d ever been and feeling very…feisty.
Slade leaned over her, bracing himself on one arm. He looked down at her in silence. His eyes were flashing between blue and gold, and she knew his beast was riding close to the surface, the same way her wolf was. He traced her jaw with his fingertip, moving it slowly down her neck to the place where it met her shoulder.
“Tell me I can mark you, make you mine forever,” Slade said roughly, rubbing that spot over and over.
She shivered and her nipples beaded. “Yes. I want to mark you, too.”
He purred. Was there anything sexier than having a mate who purred when he was happy and turned on?
“You can do anything you want to me, baby. I’m yours.”
She ran her fingers up his straightened arm. His muscles were tense, and she traced them. “I’m yours, too.”
His brow quirked mischievously. “All of you?”
“Every inch, Slade.” Letting her nails lengthen slightly, she softly dug the tips into his bicep. “I’m so hot for you, Slade. Make me come. Make me scream your name.”
The purr turned into a growl that made her pussy clench. The man was going to make her come without putting a hand on her.
He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her. Softly. Sweetly. His hand caressed her breast as if it were made of glass, gently thumbing her nipple and making little jolts of pleasure shoot down her spine. The kiss deepened, passion flaring between them. She reached for his cock, anxious to feel the hard length, to know what he tasted like and felt like.
He snarled and grabbed her hand, pressing it to the bed. He nibbled her lower lip and stroked it with his tongue. “If you touch me, I’m going to come all over you, baby. I want to come inside you.”
“How about you do both? And why am I still wearing pants?”
