by Anne Conley
“Chase, stop, please …”
He stilled his fingers and looked at her, removing his mouth from her nipple. She wanted to cry at the cessation of sensation.
And that’s when a knock at her bedroom door, while it simultaneously opened, brought them face-to-face with Dan.
“Kelli?” Dan looked at the scene on the bed, and Kelli knew the tableau of debauchery he saw—a man between the legs of the woman he wanted, who was undoubtedly flushed with desire, her tits hanging out and his hand between her legs. There was no telling what look she had on her face. Guilt racked Kelli. She’d never intended him to see her this way. It wasn’t fair to Dan.
Chase looked back at her, then at Dan, who stood there, his face in a state of shock. Mortification flowed through her as she tried to catch her breath and her thoughts all in the same basket.
“Um, I’ll be downstairs, Kelli,” Dan said. “I think we really need to talk.” He nodded to Chase before leaving the door open and walking away.
Kelli forced her hands to push Chase away. “I was trying to tell you, not now.” Taking a deep breath, she straightened her top while Chase absentmindedly sucked his fingers dry and re-arranged her bottoms. The motion sent a thrill up her spine. She tried not to remember how many times she’d seen him do that. He’d always talked about the taste of her. A renewed gush of wetness and desire filled her as he straightened her panties.
“Jesus, Kels …” Chase groaned as his nostrils flared. She stood to get away from him. He’d always been able to smell her, damn shifter. She could never hide her desire from him, and right now it was pissing her off.
“Are you serious?” She waved her arms around in an effort to deflect attention from her horniness. “That’s my ex-fiancé down there, probably with his parents. I tried to tell you, but you were all hot and bothered and weren’t listening to me.”
Chase’s face blanched, and Kelli found her resolutions again in the lusty fog he’d put her under.
“I won’t be the other woman. So whatever you’re here for, you’re not getting it.” She was proud of herself for finding the courage to tell him what she’d been thinking for what seemed like forever. “That’s what I was trying to tell you, while you were being all … mouthy and handsy. So take your mouth and hands back to your mate, and get the hell out of my life.” So I can just die a lonely spinster pining after the shifter I can never fucking have.
He straightened himself up and walked to the window, the desire in his eyes not lessening. Quietly, he spoke, his eyes so intense, she shivered.
“You’re not the other woman. I’m divorced. I told you that yesterday, I think. And I can turn you, Kelli. That’s why I came here tonight. We can be together. But you have to choose.” Chase’s eyes pierced her, and something inside her shifted as she processed his words. A new paradigm was forming inside her. She had to think.
“You need to leave,” Kelli whispered.
“I’ll leave, and let you think, but I don’t share, either.” He turned and crawled out the window, his long frame effortlessly folding through the panes. “I’ll always love you, Kel,” he said as he looked back in at her. “Take care of things and come find me, if you choose. I’ll take care of you forever.” And then he shifted and was gone with a scream that sent a cold chill down her spine.
It was a heartbreaking sound, as if he didn’t know she’d always been his. As if there had ever been a choice.
**
When Kelli came downstairs, she found Dan standing in front of the fireplace in the living room, gazing into it with a desperately lost look on his face. His mom and dad stood behind him, looking misplaced in her family’s living room, with their designer clothes and perfect hair. Nobody spoke until Dan turned to face her.
“Was that the man I’ve been competing with all this time?” His voice was sorrowful, and a pang of guilt shot through Kelli. She sat on the sofa and looked at him, ignoring the gasp from his mother. The least he deserved was her honesty.
“That was Chase, yes.”
“You never told me he was a shifter.” He wasn’t angry; that defeated tone of voice was still there.
She didn’t see that it mattered, but she nodded anyway, wondering how he knew.
“I still love him. That’s why we can’t get married. I’m so sorry. I feel like I’ve led you on, used you to get over him, even though it was futile. I’m an awful person, Dan, and I’m sorry.” The words tumbled out. “I never meant for you to see that.”
Dan turned toward her, his face a mixture of anger and hurt, and she deserved it all.
“What, exactly, did he see?” Dan’s father was looking at her, disappointment etched on his face. Up until now, she’d had a decent relationship with his parents, but now all she saw was hurt directed at her.
She couldn’t tell Dan’s parents she’d just been upstairs making out with an ex. Kelli shrugged instead. “I never wanted anything to be this way. You have to understand.”
Dan took a step toward her, breaking away from his parents. “So you invited him over today, knowing we were coming? Was that your way of breaking things off for good?” His mouth twisted into something fierce, and a niggling of fear crept up her spine. She’d never seen Dan so angry. “How could you be so cruel? I heard you last night. I didn’t need to see the proof, Kelli.”
“God, no. I never intended to do that, Dan. I didn’t know he was coming over.” She dropped her eyes, feeling weak. Standing, she had to make him understand. “But you are a good man. You are kind, intelligent, and great-looking. It’s not anything you could have done. My heart just belongs to Chase.” Her voice left her, but she managed to choke out the rest. “It always has.”
“I see,” he said, even though it was clear he didn’t. Not at all. What she had with Chase was something undeniable, something she couldn’t turn off—even when she’d tried. With a sob, she watched Dan and his parents walk out of her life, his shoulders hunched in defeat. A long sigh escaped her.
She was free. Like a weight had lifted, Kelli felt lighter as they started their car and drove out of the driveway. Kelli turned to look around her, Chase’s words echoing in her head.
Alone in her childhood home, Kelli took a bath, hoping to wash some clarity into her mind, but it wasn’t working. She had done what she’d set out to do—break up with Dan and end the charade that was their relationship. But now she was more confused than when she’d started.
Chase had told her they could be together now. And she wanted that more than anything, always had, but at what cost?
He’d said he could turn her, which would make her a shifter, like him. She’d grown up, like Chase, knowing exactly what his family’s expectations of him were. They’d been best friends. She knew he would eventually be the mayor of this town, married to a shifter mate. He would bond with the mate, and they’d be together forever. At one point in her life, she’d dreamt of being that person for him. But when had it all fallen apart? When had her fantasies been crushed?
She couldn’t remember exactly, but at some point in their relationship, they’d both known it was futile. The sex had turned from juvenile exploration of the senses to a reckless abandon. Each explosive orgasm being treated as their last.
Until it was.
She had moved away with her interior design degree, hoping to make it in a city where her profession wouldn’t put her in the direct path of Chase and his family’s daily activities with their home construction business. Her plan had been moderately successful, even if she’d realized somewhere along the line that her dream of being an interior designer always involved working in some capacity with Chase.
Kelli sighed, wondering if he was right. Was there a way around the biology of the situation? Could she really be turned? Or was this just more heartbreak in the making?
With a new sense of resolution, she changed into a pair of skinny jeans and a low-cut top, wanting to look nice. She wanted to see if this would work. He’d been
so hopeful, and even after ten years, she’d do anything for him.
She knew this. Above all things, she would do anything for the man she loved more than anything else. Even now.
If it didn’t work, she wouldn’t be any worse off that she was now, would she?
Chapter seven
Kelli parked in the driveway of Chase’s Gramma’s house, hoping to see his truck there but not surprised it wasn’t. He didn’t live with her, so there wasn’t a reason for him to be here. But she hoped her past friendship with the woman would help her today. Taking a deep breath, she fortified herself for what was to come and knocked on the door.
To her surprise, a petite lady with a silver bob and a twinkle in her eyes opened the door. It was Gerri Wilder, the matchmaker from the grocery store.
“Gloria’s not here, but I suppose you can come in and wait for her.” The woman opened the door wider to allow Kelli in. “I’ve got cookies.”
“Thank you. I was just wondering if she could tell me where Chase was.”
A mischievous glint lit up the old woman’s face, making her appear younger. “I couldn’t have made a better match. But when will you guys learn to listen to me? I told you to let him in that first night, didn’t I?”
“Excuse me?” The woman waved off Kelli’s confusion, leading her into the living room where several plates of cookies sat on the coffee table.
“Would you like some tea, dear?”
“Um, no, thank you.” Kelli did reach for a cookie, though. The smell of vanilla, cinnamon, and chocolate overpowered all willpower she had.
“You’re looking for Chase? Nice-looking shifter, that one. Of course, they’re all gorgeous, but there’s something about him that just tugs at the heartstrings.” She picked up a cookie and absentmindedly took a bit out of it. “This community is so damn backwards it almost hurts my head. But we’re getting things on the right track. It’s just taking some time.”
Confused, and feeling like she had walked into the middle of something she didn’t understand, Kelli had to ask, “What do you mean?”
“This whole shifter being only with shifter thing. That’s what I mean. No wonder the shifter population is dwindling. That wolf pack in the city sees the weakness in Allen’s archaic views and is going to make a play. Mark my words.”
Kelli didn’t know there was a wolf pack in the city. But then again, in the city, all she did was work and up until recently, go out with Dan. She pretty much kept her nose to the grindstone and didn’t pay much attention to anything else.
At any rate, she didn’t see how this was helping her. “Do you happen to know where Chase is? I haven’t been here in so long, I don’t know where he’s living now, and I really need to see him.”
“Yes, you do. Y’all have some kinky making up to do.” Kelli felt the heat rise to her face and wondered if she’d been that transparent. Good thing Chase’s Gramma wasn’t here. She ducked her head to hide her embarrassment, focusing on the chocolate chips in the cookie she was eating. “Anyway, I’m not sure, but I think Gloria said something about him having a house on all that land his family has near some park? But it would be deep in the park. Cougars don’t really like people. Another thing I don’t really understand about this setup they have here, but whatever. Alphas are supposed to be Alphas. Not mayors.”
“It’s just the way things have always been,” Kelli muttered, knowing exactly how petulant she sounded. Those exact words had been thrown at her for as long as she could remember.
“They’ve been feeding you that line a while, huh?”
“Yeah.” Kelli sounded dejected, even to her own ears.
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing I had a little chat with Allen the other night, then, isn’t it? I told him he was going to lose his position if he didn’t open his eyes and see the way the rest of the world works. His boys aren’t happy, and they’re the future leaders of this pack, pride, community, whatever he wants to call it. And if he doesn’t let them choose their own mate from a wider pool of prospects, he’s going to lose it all.”
Kelli remembered Chase’s dad as being a closed-minded fuddy-duddy who didn’t listen to much of others’ opinions. It was pretty much his way or nobody’s. She could only imagine how well that conversation had gone over. It brought a smile to her lips.
She stood. “It was nice to talk to you, but I really need to go try to find Chase.”
“Yes, you do, dear. Have fun! Would you like to take a cake with you? He missed out on it the other night. Now, how do we get you to his house?”
**
Chase stalked around his property that bordered the park in his cat form, letting his animal loose in its grief. The predator prowled around, hunting something it couldn’t find, its senses on high alert looking for what it couldn’t have.
And Chase didn’t try to stop it, feeling the futility of the situation deep in his bones. Kelli was taken. He’d waited too long to claim her. He never should have let her go. He should have followed her to the city. He’d given her a choice, but was afraid too much time had passed for her to choose him. He’d wasted so much time trying to do what he thought was right, when everything he needed was right in front of him.
He’d made the worst possible mistakes. He’d turned his back on his mate to do what his father wanted. His mate.
Anger at his family overrode everything, though. If his Gramma had spoken sooner, he wouldn’t have wasted years with Angelica, who was only after him for the title and power of being the leader’s mate. If his mother had only said something about the Olde Story, then he would have had hope sooner, instead of letting Kelli go so he could be with someone else—someone his father approved of. If only the crazy friend of Gramma’s had come to visit sooner, he’d have known he could mate with a human.
If only …
His father had eventually realized exactly how wrong Angelica was for him, but what choice had they had? But if his father knew about this Olde Story thing, why did he let Chase make the biggest mistake of his life?
He’d missed his chance with Kelli. That much was obvious. She’d found someone to marry, a shifter who obviously knew they could mate with humans and was taking advantage. What if he were wrong? What if the other shifter was her mate?
His panther raged his disbelief.
Mine.
That was the truth. She was his. No others. Then why did that other shifter want her?
Unless the shifter had a more nefarious reason to be with Kelli.
The tawny cougar stopped its pacing. What if Kelli was in danger with that wolf? He’d seemed like a defeated animal, but something in his eyes that night he’d seen Chase outside the window bothered him.
It probably wouldn’t matter if Kelli ended up choosing the bastard. He’d get what he wanted, leaving Chase out in the cold.
That was the whole point behind the choice he’d given her. If she was happy with the other shifter, so be it. He’d forsaken her for Angelica, even if Kelli had left him first. Chase understood her motivations, though they’d physically hurt him when she left.
He wanted her with everything he had, but he would let her choose. If she by chance chose him, then he would love her forever and never let her go again. If not, he had choices of his own to make.
He would be back to square one, only the idea of traveling through the country to find a mate he could bond with held absolutely no appeal. But he knew things didn’t work that way. He only had one mate—Kelli. Without her, he’d rather just live his life alone, even if it killed him.
That was unheard of; a leader needed a mate. But he’d rather do that than try to bond with another shifter who wasn’t his.
Kelli was his. That was all there was to it.
He let out a primal scream, the panther trademark, something he’d done more tonight than he ever had in his life. His frustration mounted the further he stalked.
Chase was no longer in control.
And then he s
melled her. Sniffing the air to make sure, he smelled the night scents of cedar trees and pine needles with the distinctive underscent of Kelli. She always used a magnolia-scented body lotion, but underneath that, her light feminine musk called to him. As he opened his senses up, he smelled something else. Something dangerous.
He was here, too.
His cat couldn’t put the unknown danger into words because his cat had been too lust addled when they’d seen each other, but it knew the scent was dangerous to him.
And Kelli.
With another primal scream, the feline was on the chase. He had to get to his woman.
Chapter eight
Armed with a cake dish and Gerri’s confidence in her plan to find Chase, Kelli counted on her internal compass to help her. She’d parked her car in the parking area and now she was speed walking down the path that led to the northwest quadrant, where she thought Chase might have his cabin. Every time they’d been in close proximity to each other, some polarization had brought them together, like magnets, and she was counting on that unknown to do it again.
Kelli’s feet covered the same ground they’d pounded the last time she’d found him out here. Her thighs burned with exertion, but she didn’t care. She’d already come this far. There wasn’t anything standing in her way.
Some part of Kelli told her to drop the cake and get to Chase, but she knew the urgency was in her head. He was either out here or he wasn’t, and her running wasn’t going to change that. Talking to Gerri had convinced her this was right; she wasn’t doing him any favors by leaving to let him find his mate. According to Ms. Wilder, she was it. They’d all been mistaken before, or Chase’s dad had allowed them to be mistaken. She’d never really thought he’d liked her anyway but chalked it up to antiquated views bordering on racism. But then again, she’d never been raised another species, either, so how would she understand.
