by Kimber White
“Well,” she said. “It’s about damn time you realized it, honey. We’ve all known for weeks.”
A sob choked out of me. “How can you smile at something like that? It’s tearing me up. I know how much easier it would be if I were Camilla. She does all the things a she-wolf is supposed to. She came to Jarred without question. She serves the whole pack. They love her. She makes them all stronger. I just make them crazy.”
Pat’s laughter rang through the kitchen. She leaned across the table and cupped my face in her hands. “You’re more like her than you think. Camilla just doesn’t fight her fate or her path. You do.”
I jerked away from her. “Are you honestly telling me I should mate with one of the Wild Lake Alphas? Why won’t anyone listening to me? It’s not what I want!”
“No,” she said, her features softening. “No, honey. I’m telling you to open your eyes and your heart. Your path and your fate are right in front of you. I can’t tell you what it is. But, your heart will, if you listen to it.”
She didn’t shout, but her words hit me like thunder. My fate. My path. It was there in front of me, warming my blood, calling to my wolf.
“I can’t...I have to…”
Pat settled back into her chair. “Go,” she said with soft resignation. “But honey, have a care with it.”
I don’t remember bolting out of my chair. I don’t even remember running out the back door. Before I knew it, I hit the woods and let the cool evening breeze pour over me.
Thirteen
The cabin seemed smaller to me for some reason. My heart racing, I burst through the clearing, nearly stumbling over a fallen log. I saw no movement in the window. The place was empty.
My stomach flipped as I scanned the trees. Everything around me had gone still and quiet. There was no trace of Clint anywhere. A thousand knives went through me at the thought of never seeing him again. Had Jarred lied to me? Had they run him off for good?
No. I would have heard something. I would have felt something. I took a cautious step toward the cabin and choked back those tiny spikes of fear. I opened the door and peered inside. He hadn’t come back here. I wanted to call out to him but worried Marcus might have gone to warn my brother despite his promise. Then, there was Peter or the other packs.
I walked up the hill, heading back toward the lake. With each step, my trepidation grew. I found myself on the stretch of beach near the rocky ledge. A few minutes to sunset, I was in that in-between space again. Both the sun and the moon were out.
I stepped out on the ledge, looking out at the water. I didn’t see even a single wood duck in the distance. Even the fish had gone into hiding. No ripples on the water, it was still as glass.
I knelt down and ran my fingers over the surface. I felt a beat, deep below the surface. The water turned to froth, bubbling up in front of me. It sprayed upward like a geyser. Startled, I fell back, landing on my palms. Clint’s tiger broke the surface and pounced onto the rock beside me in one graceful arc.
He shifted in an instant. Water sluiced down his chest as his tiger stripes went dim. His blazing green eyes locked with mine. My breath left me. My heartbeat thundered. I reached out with a tentative hand and curved my fingers around his arm, pulling him toward me.
“Don’t,” he said, half growling.
“Don’t? Don’t what? Don’t touch you? Don’t be here? I don’t know what you want from me.”
Clint’s jaw tightened. He was coiled, ready to shift again. My own wolf rumbled inside of me, pushing to get out.
“You know exactly what I want from you,” he said, his voice dropping so low I heard it with more than just my ears.
Time seemed to stop. The events of the last few days replayed in my mind. Peter’s challenge. Clint’s kiss. Sarah’s vision. Pat’s words. Stop fighting your path and your fate.
I rarely thought of her anymore, but at that moment, I wanted my mother. She too had left her home and everyone she knew to fulfill an arranged mating with my father. She knew her duty and her place and she’d honored both. Her path. Her fate.
I reached for Clint again. This time, he didn’t protest. His eyelids grew heavy and he let out rumbling purr as I slid my hands across his chest.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I whispered. “I don’t even know you.”
Clint’s eyes snapped wide. He caught my hand, circling his strong fingers around my wrist. “Yes, you do.”
The truth burned like liquid heat through my veins. It was all so impossible. Clint Yeager. Tiger shifter. As far as I knew, none of his kind had ever set foot in Michigan before. He knew that. Every shifter in the world knew Wild Lake was wolf country. And yet, he’d come here anyway. His fate. His path. As my heart beat wildly, I knew my own truth. He was right. I did know him. I’d known him my whole life. He’d been the thing that made me run, rebel, break free.
He stayed still as stone, waiting for me to accept the truth. I blinked back tears. “You asshole,” I finally said. Clint’s face broke into that infuriating smirk of his. “You’ve known this whole time? Why didn’t you tell me?”
The smile left his face. He took my other wrist in his hand, pulling me toward him. “This isn’t easy for me either,” he said. “You’re not the only one with everything to lose.”
My rebellious streak reared again. I tried to jerk away from him, but Clint held on. No matter what else happened on this rock, we would both face the truth.
“I want…”
I couldn’t finish the sentence. The answer was everything. I wanted everything. But, most of all, I wanted him.
A nuclear bomb could have gone off that night. The storm of the century could have raged all around. None of it would have mattered. At that moment, Clint became my universe.
I moved toward him. Primal instinct fueled me. The last orange ribbons of light gave way to the purple bands of evening. The moment before my lips touched Clint’s, he strengthened his grip on my wrists, holding me just away from him.
A gasp tore out of me. Feral need coursed through my veins. I felt it in him too. His breath came hot. Desire made him tremble.
“I can’t hold back,” he said, his words broken, rasping with lust.
One heartbeat. Two. The difference between day and night. Before and after.
“I know,” I said. Then, I was on him. Clint dropped my wrists and slid his hands around my waist. He pulled me down until I laid on the rock. His hands gently framed my face as he kissed me. Blistering heat pooled in my core. I ached. I moaned. I arched my back as he ran his tongue along my neck, snaking his way up until he nipped my ear.
He was naked already, having just shifted. I slid my hands down his back. The heat of him seared me. His muscles were carved marble, rippling beneath my touch. He threw one thigh over me and his rock hard cock brushed my leg. I gasped at the feel of it. Turgid. Pulsing with need.
I grew bolder, reaching for him. Clint growled when I closed my fingers gently around his shaft. Granite wrapped in velvet. I ran my thumb along the slit at its head. A tiny bead of moisture came to the surface. I had the deepest urge to bring him into my mouth. My heart raced and fresh desire raced through me. This was new to me. I’d dreamt of it my whole life. Imagined the feel of my mate’s hardness piercing my heated core.
Clint roared. The force of it sent rippling shockwaves over the lake’s surface. It was dangerous. Wild. I joined him with a howl of my own. It acted on Clint like flame to a fuse. His whole body went rigid. He tore at my shirt, ripping it off me in one swift movement. I worked on my pants; the rough denim chafed me. I wanted nothing more separating me from Clint. Not ever.
“Lucia.” He whispered my name, sending goosebumps over me.
“Yes,” I gasped. Oh, yes. This. Always this. I never set out to save myself. I was no prude. I just didn’t know I’d been waiting for him all along.
I was naked. My sex throbbed and new heat spiked there. Clint devoured me with hot kisses. He tasted like salt and sin. He trailed one finger
between my breasts. My nipples pebbled for him. He fastened his lips around one, drawing it out with his tongue.
Oh, God. His tongue. The pad of it was both soft and rough, almost like sandpaper. He had tiger in him after all. He curled it around my nipple, setting off a thousand points of pleasure through my whole body. Yes. Oh, yes.
He pressed his hand against my thigh, pushing my knee flat against the rock. He trailed that rough, skillful tongue between my breasts and all the way down the flat plane of my stomach, swirling it once around my belly button. I gasped again, rising up. Clint pressed my knees apart and centered himself between my legs.
He let out a groan that sent electric fire straight through me. He lingered for a moment, his eyes flashing dark as he took in the view between my legs. Oh, God. I was so ready. Hot. Wet. Dripping for him.
Clint’s tongue darted out, teasing me. Coaxing me. I rose to it, spreading my legs even wider for him. This. Always this. My mate. My fate. My path.
Then, Clint took me in his mouth. I cried out in ecstasy. He licked me. Drove me to the edge. Left me panting, wanton. His.
“Please,” I begged. Oh, yes, I’d do that too. “Please!”
But, Clint was in control. He raked that sinful tongue up and down, swirling it around my swollen clit, gently prying me open for him. He knew. He wanted me primed and ready.
Finally, Clint brought himself to the edge. He rose up, positioning himself between my legs. With one hand, he held my wrists above my head as I writhed beneath him, inviting him. With his other hand, he stroked his cock. It earned him another gasp from me and his eyes flashed brighter green. His tiger stripes shimmered across his skin.
He was so big. So thick. All mine.
“I can’t stop,” he said, locking eyes with me.
“I don’t want you to.” Another low growl ripped from his throat. I brought my knees up, then let them fall open. Clint tested me, dipping a finger inside me.
“Oh!”
He found me slick, ready, wanting. He couldn’t hold back another second either.
He locked eyes with me, then guided the head of his cock between my folds. I arched my back in invitation. If Clint meant to go slow, the beast inside him took over. My own spurred him on.
Then, he slid inside me all the way. A tiny flicker of pain blossomed as he hit a tight band. I let out a sigh, relaxing. Clint sank deeper, stretching me. Filling me. I cried out with pleasure. He let go of my wrists. I cupped his ass and drew him even farther in.
We fit. Made for each other. My wolf hovered just under the surface. The Rise.
Clint began his slow, steady thrusts. Desire built. Waves crashed inside of me. My pleasure became my center. It pulled me along like a current, building to something powerful.
Clint threw his head back and roared. Again, the vibration of it rippled along the water. A fierce wind rose, as if the world itself knew what we did.
“I want it,” I gasped. Oh, I did. Reckless maybe. But this had never felt more right. I dug my nails into Clint’s back. His eyes went even more feral as my touch set off a chain reaction in him. He doubled his rhythm. My teeth rattled with each powerful thrust. So good. I felt his pleasure peaking. Instinct drove me. I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him in even deeper.
“Lucia!” My name burst out of him in a ragged whisper. I felt a hitch in him and he twitched inside me. My own breath left me as I felt Clint pour himself into me. I locked my ankles and pulled him down to me, carving my fingers through his hair. Clint showered me with kisses as he spent himself inside me. When the last of the tremors left his body, he reared up. His eyes sparkled as he looked at me. My own burgeoning need took over.
Pressing my hands flat against his chest, I twisted my body, flipping us until I was on top, straddling him. I let out a cry as this position plunged him even deeper. I threw my head back and thrust up and down, setting my own wild pace.
“Baby,” he whispered. I was gone. Fueled by primal lust, I let it take me away. Clint kept steady hands on my hips as I took my pleasure.
It thundered through me, nearly unseating me. But, Clint’s grip was strong. He held me in place as I came around him. The half-moon bore witness to our coupling. Our shadows danced across the water.
Clint changed his grip, lacing his fingers through mine as I ground out the last of my orgasm. For the first time in my life, I felt truly sated. I knew where I belonged. As I crested down, Clint slid his hands around my waist. My bones turned to rubber. All my strength left me as I dropped my head. Clint was there to catch me.
He was still deeply in me as I leaned forward and found his lips with mine. My world became the two of us. This time. This place. Everything else melted away.
Until it didn’t.
As Clint held me close. Another shadow moved across the water. Still in the throes of physical bliss, I reacted too slowly. Clint didn’t.
He flipped, pushing me behind him. I saw the flash of silver before the shadow blocked out the moon.
My brother’s wolf landed on Clint’s chest, his fangs ripping straight through his flesh.
Fourteen
If Clint had been in his tiger, my brother would have died right then and there. He had the element of surprise and the strength of his wolf, but he was no match for Clint’s tiger. Clint’s blood poured down his chest. Fire lit in his tiger eyes as he threw my brother off.
I tumbled down the side of the ledge. My fangs dropped and I went down on all fours, my wolf raging to get out. I held her back.
“Clint, no!” I screamed. But, it was too late. As Jarred rounded for another strike, Clint’s feral nature won out. His bones crunched from the force of his shift. Then his massive, ferocious tiger turned on my brother. Blood stained the white fur of his chest. A deep gash cut through him. Had he been anyone but Clint, the wound would be mortal.
Clint towered over Jarred. His fangs dripped. Jarred’s eyes were lit like diamonds. The fur along his spine stood on end as he snapped his jaw.
Tiger versus wolf. One swipe of Clint’s paw could rip my brother in half. He knew it. The low staccato of Clint’s growl shivered through me. I scrambled to my feet and ran to them. In my head, I felt the thundering approach of the rest of Jarred’s pack.
“You called them!” I yelled. “Dammit. Jarred, stand down!”
I pushed out with my mind, calling to my brother in a language we’d learned in the womb. He pushed back. The force of it drove me to my knees. There were no words. Only the pull of his Alpha, pushing me away, commanding me to stay out of it.
Setting my jaw, I pushed back. No! Dammit, no!
“Clint!”
The pair of them stalked each other in a predatory circle. Clint held his tail high, whipping it back and forth. Jarred crouched low, his back end up in the air. They weren’t posturing. They were about to try and tear each other to pieces.
“Clint!” I ran around my brother, trying to get in Clint’s line of sight. If I had to, I’d throw myself between them. Anything to keep one of them from dying today. If the pack got here, it would be a toss-up. If they didn’t, Jarred could never survive a tiger attack one on one.
I called out to Camilla, but Jarred had thrown up a wall. I couldn’t sense the pack. He’d shut me out.
Jarred lashed out, lunging for Clint’s neck. His deadly fangs found purchase. I realized with a mixture of horror and relief that Clint was holding back. He just stood there, snarling as Jarred ripped a new wound through him. Then, Clint whipped his body around, flinging Jarred off him. He swiped downward, knocking my brother sideways. I heard a rib crack. But, Jarred sprang right back to his feet, rage and adrenaline fueling him.
The pack surrounded us, streaming through the trees. I turned to them. “No!” I shouted, but it was no use. They would only heed their Alpha’s command.
Jarred had shut me out, but I sensed the change in the pack. They moved as one, heading in for the kill.
I did the only thing I could. I threw myself in front of Jarre
d, putting my body in front of Clint’s. I felt his hot breath on my back. He growled a warning. I felt Clint’s command cutting through.
Stand aside!
But I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. Clint’s tiger was mighty. I wasn’t willing to test his strength against the full force of the McGraw pack.
“If you want Clint, you’ll have to go through me!” I shouted. More than anything, I wanted to shift. My wolf went mad with the urge to fight. But who? My pack? My mate? There could be no victory, only loss.
Jarred threw his head back and howled. The others joined him. The sound of it ripped through my soul, splitting me in two. I took a step backward toward Clint, spreading my hands wide. He snapped his jaw and roared. I found my shirt at my feet and quickly put it on.
This was horrible. The worst. I felt no shame, but part of me ached for my brother. I never meant for him to find out like this.
“Stand down!” I shouted again. “Clint’s not your enemy. Jarred, if you ever cared for me at all, you need to listen to what I have to say.”
Saliva dripped from Jarred’s fangs. His silver eyes burned like molten metal. But something moved through the pack. Their posture changed. Charlie sat back on his haunches and let out a keening whine. The others followed. The trees behind them rustled. Then, Camilla stepped out of the shadows. Standing tall and regal like the queen she was, she locked eyes with me and came to my brother’s side. She put a gentle hand on his back. Jarred shivered. His eyes darkened. Slowly, achingly, he shifted.
Camilla had a pair of Jarred’s jeans folded neatly in her arms. She never broke eye contact with me as she handed them to him and waited for Jarred to get dressed. Still snarling with rage, my brother complied.
Mirroring Camilla, I turned back to Clint. I put a hand on his back. A shiver went through me. Even now, I still ached for him. Clint sensed it. He took a step back, then disappeared behind the ledge. I waited. A moment later, he emerged. Finding his own jeans, he’d shifted back, though black stripes still rippled across his chest.
