by E A Price
“What?”
“I was just wondering about your scars,” she admitted.
His face went blank, but she didn’t think she was being unreasonable. He’d pursued her into mating with him; surely he realized that meant he needed to share his life with her – all of his life.
“How did you get them?”
“What does it matter?”
Lauren put her cup down and sighed. “Carrick, we’re mated now. We’re going to be spending our lives together. I want to know who my mate is.”
Carrick finished another couple of waffles, eating more than even all her brothers put together would have. Finally pushing his plate away, he regarded her uncertainly. “I don’t like talking about my past.”
“Try, please?” She picked up her chocolate and warmed her hands around it. “You know everything about me, not that there’s much to know, but I don’t feel like I know you at all.”
He groaned and grunted a few times before finally sighing. “Fine,” he grouched. “Before I came here I was part of a shifter fight club. I fought a lot of shifters and got a lot of scars. There’s not much to say.”
Lauren and her tiger gaped at him. “Fight club?! Why would you want to…”
“I didn’t have a choice!” he snarled.
Lauren almost dropped her chocolate in surprise at his outburst, but Carrick was around the table and collecting the mug before she could.
“You were forced to fight?” she whimpered.
His stormy eyes darkened even more, and he nodded. “I was kept in a cage. I don’t remember anything from before then.”
“Oh, Carrick! I…”
“That’s enough sharing for now,” he murmured in a softer tone. He reached out and ran a finger down her cheek. “Why don’t you go take a hot bath? The water will soothe you.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll build us a fire, then I’ll come join you.” The anger she’d seen in his eyes quickly turned to lust.
“Will the tub be big enough?” she blurted, and Carrick actually barked a laugh.
“It’s just that we’re both kind of larger than average,” she stammered.
“It’ll be fine,” he crooned. “I need to get more wood. Go get started.”
He left the hut, and Lauren stared at the closed door. She thought of Carrick as a prisoner, being forced to fight and she shivered. She’d never imagined anything like that. But then, she’d never taken the time to ask him before.
The tiger whined for their mate. She wanted to cuddle him, and soothe him, lick him all over and then cuddle him again.
Carrick was… not entirely what she expected.
Seventeen
Lauren scowled at him again, and he let out a small, dry chuckle. How long had it been since he laughed? Yet he couldn’t seem to stop the involuntary smiles and laughter around his mate. It wasn’t that she was comical, she just… made him happy. Almost an alien concept for him, but it was true. His tiger seconded that.
“Stop pouting,” he rumbled, though he kind of thought it was a good look on her.
“I’m not pouting, I’m annoyed. You burned my clothes!”
“I thought they were rags.”
“It was my best dress and underwear!”
“You can buy more.” Carrick shrugged. “It was just a dress and who needs underwear?”
Plus, she looked a hell of a lot sexier without any clothes. It was true, he did think it was a rag, but he was also hoping to get her a little more accustomed to going al fresco. Not outside objected his beast, where other males could see her. But inside the house and around him, she shouldn’t feel the need to cover herself.
Lauren pulled her legs under her body and wrinkled her nose. He had given in and allowed her to wear his shirt, and he had to admit, she looked damn good it in. Not naked good, but still good. Having her surrounded by his scent made him happy.
Technically, the tigers were supposed to bring their clothes with them. The hut was stocked with incidentals like food, toothpaste, and spare toothbrushes, but clothes were down to the tigers. But Carrick hadn’t bothered to bring any, and clearly Lauren forgot. Her loss - his gain.
They were sitting on the couch, sipping hot chocolate. It was a little sweet for his taste, but he could learn to like it. He thought about their conversation earlier. No, he didn’t really have any favorite foods. It had never really occurred to him to like anything. He ate to stay alive, end of story. His tiger enjoyed hunting rabbits, ripping them apart and eating them – but that was more about the chase than the actual taste of rabbit. He quite liked beer, but he wouldn’t be sad if he could never drink any again.
He liked the way Lauren tasted… His beast grinned. Yes, she was damn sweet. After their joint bath, which ended with more water on the bathroom floor than in the bath, he carried her to the bed and leisurely took her with his mouth until she screamed that she could no longer stand it. Then he placed her on all fours and showed her just how enjoyable that position could actually be. An exhausted Lauren then collapsed into his arms for a nap; he watched her and held her the entire time. She’s an angel crooned his soppy beast.
Now, after a late dinner of spaghetti, which Lauren insisted on making, they were relaxing in front of the fire.
Carrick stilled as Lauren placed a hand on his bicep. Her fingers traced one of his more alarming looking scars. It had been a bite from a polar bear shifter. It would have healed, but the fat man wanted to make him suffer and had one of his lackeys press silver filings into the wound - punishment for ending the fight too soon, for showing mercy and killing the already half-dead polar bear shifter too quickly.
He wasn’t sure whether he should have told her about his life before the pride, but it didn’t seem to make a difference to her. Well, maybe there was a little more curiosity and sympathy in her face when she looked at him, and that wasn’t altogether a bad thing.
“Did somebody bite you?” she asked.
“A polar bear.”
“When you were fighting?”
“Well, he didn’t just walk up to me in the grocery store and start chowing down.”
Her fingers tickled his skin and his arousal, which never seemed to go down much around her, shot through the roof.
“You’ve been through so much…”
“It’s in the past.”
“But…”
He placed a hand on her thigh and kneaded her pink flesh. It was so smooth and supple beneath his rough hand. “Doesn’t matter now.”
He was about to suggest they move over to the bed – meaning he was going to pull her into his arms and run over to the bed – when the door to the hut burst open. A frantic Simone ran in, completely ruining the mood.
Lauren squeaked in surprise, jumping up from the couch and hopelessly trying to cover her legs with a throw pillow. Carrick snarled at the tigress, and his beast pushed forward. He didn’t care who Simone was; she had no right to burst in and upset his mate.
He placed himself protectively in front of Lauren, towering over Simone, not trying to hide the fury in his eyes. She shrunk away from him slightly before Lauren tried to push him aside.
“Simone! You’re bleeding!” exclaimed Lauren.
In spite of his simmering irritation, he allowed Lauren to move him and get to the tigress
“What happened?” She took Simone’s hand and gently tried to lead her to a chair.
Simone yanked her hand away and ran over to Carrick. “The alpha, he’s trying to kill Acksel.”
“Who’s Acksel?” asked Lauren in confusion.
“The wolf?” rumbled Carrick in disapproval, wondering how he could get Simone out of the hut and away from his mate as quickly as possible.
Lauren looked between the two of them. “What wolf?”
Simone tried to appeal to him. “Acksel came to town and the alpha’s trying to kill him. Please, you have to stop him. All the males are out there doing god only knows what to him.”
Damn Simone. The
female had met a wolf shifter, had sex with him and now they were in trouble. No small wonder. She was mated to the alpha’s second son, and the alpha wasn’t known to be forgiving. Carrick wasn’t shocked at Simone’s transgression – her mate was clearly gay and their mating a sham, but she damn well should have been more discreet. Why should he give a fuck? Simone and the wolf got themselves into this mess; they could sort it out themselves.
Simone could see she wasn’t making any headway and she was almost frantic. “Please, he’s… he’s important to me. Look at me.” She thrust her wrists at Carrick, showing him her bruised and bleeding skin. “The alpha tied me up with silver, and he’s going to allow Patrick to hurt my mother. He threatened to rape me.”
Lauren looked horrified. “Oh my god!”
“Carrick, you know this isn’t right.”
“Carrick?” Lauren placed a hand on his arm. He inhaled and looked down at her, his eyes filtering to yellow. “I don’t know what’s happening, but Simone needs your help.”
Shit. She was looking up at him with such a hopeful, pleading look. His tiger damn near melted. How the hell was he supposed to say no to that freaking look?
“You’re going against the alpha,” he grumbled.
“I got Acksel into this mess; I won’t let him pay for it. The alpha can’t kill him; he just can’t.”
Carrick looked back at his mate again, and she looked so pretty, her eyes were so damn big and begging that there was no question of him saying no. No matter how much his tiger wanted him to stay out of it, and wanted him to stay in the mating hut and continue caressing his mate all night long.
He closed his eyes for a few moments and then sighed. “Lauren, lock the door after I leave, don’t answer it to anyone but me.” He nodded at Simone. “You should stay here, too.”
“No way, I’m coming with you!”
“So am I,” piped up Lauren sounding far braver than she looked.
Carrick’s enormous chest heaved, and fury stole through his beast. Like hell was she going anywhere. If all the males were out there hunting the wolf, it was dangerous, and his mate was not getting in the thick of that. He shook his head. “No, unless you stay I won’t go.”
“But…”
He snarled at her before softening as her bottom lip trembled. “Just… please.”
“He’s right,” said Simone, quickly. “We don’t know how the rest of the males will react – you should stay here.”
Lauren frowned but nodded. She hesitated slightly before leaning on her tip-toes and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Stay safe,” she whispered.
Carrick blinked at her in surprise and his beast let out a drunken roar. That was unexpected but definitely welcome. He wanted to say something to her, but no words came to him. Instead, he followed Simone out the door, stumbling slightly.
*
A few hours later
Lauren paced up and down, her inner beast meowing pathetically. What was she doing? She should be out there with Carrick.
What use would we be? asked her tiger.
True, they weren’t very strong or fast or brave but… Yes, she wouldn’t be much use at all. But Carrick was her mate of one day – it was far too early for her to become a widow! If she could be any help at all, she should be out there.
With a swell of courage, she strode to the door, reaching for the handle just as it opened. Carrick stopped, looking at her in suspicion.
“Where are you going?”
“To find you!” she exclaimed, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside.
Carrick started scowling. “I told you not to…”
“Yes, yes, yes, what happened? Are you okay? Where’s Simone? Who is this wolf she was talking about? Was the alpha really trying to kill him?”
He had lost his trousers, and there were a few scratches on his torso, not to mention the splatters of mud and blood. Not his blood thought her tiger reassuringly.
Carrick placed his hands on her hips and drew her nearer, rubbing his chin over her neck and shoulder - scent marking her. Again!
Lauren groaned, and her arms dropped to her sides. “Seriously? Now? You don’t think we have more important things to do?”
“No.” His voice vibrated against her body.
Making impatient little mewls, she waited for him to finish and lift his head. “Okay, what were the questions?”
“Carrick!”
He rolled his eyes slightly before explaining. Simone got into a car accident while driving back from dropping her mother at the hospital. She was found by wolf shifters and spent the night with one called Acksel. The wolf then followed her here, the alpha found him and decided he had acted outside of pride rules and made him do the run – a punishment where the male in question was dumped in the middle of pride land and then hunted by the rest of the pride. If he made it to the edge of pride land, he was allowed to leave. No one ever made it.
But the wolf was smart, and he managed to get past some of the tigers, and he actually killed the alpha. Locke was now dead.
“I can’t believe it,” she murmured. She thought she might have felt a little sad about it – she wasn’t. Good riddance thought her tiger. “So what happens now? Does this mean Patrick’s in charge?” Scary thought.
“No one can find him,” sneered Carrick. “Technically, Acksel killed the alpha – he’s the new alpha now.”
“You’re kidding? A wolf? Dang, that’s weird.”
“Mmm, weird.” He pressed his face to her hair and inhaled deeply. “Let’s go to bed.”
“What, now?”
“Yes.”
“You want to go to bed with everything that’s happening?”
“Yes.”
“Despite the fact that the pride no longer has a real alpha?”
“Yes! Damnit, Lauren!” He moved his hands round to her ass and started massaging her cheeks making her giggle lightly. “It’s been a long night. I’m tired. I need…” Carrick let out a long, throaty growl. “I want you.”
“Oh… Oh! You mean,” Lauren blushed and mouthed the word ‘sex’. “I thought you were tired.”
“Not too tired.”
She probably should have realized that. The long, hard object digging into her stomach wasn’t a flashlight!
“Okay,” she breathed, warmth already pooling in her sex and her tiger twittering at the thought of them being together again.
He took her wrist and started walking to the bed, but she dragged her feet a little. He turned to look at her questioningly.
“Maybe a shower first?” she suggested, grimacing at the streaks of dirt and blood on his body.
He looked down thoughtfully and nodded. “Join me?”
“What, in the shower?”
“Yes.”
“With you?”
“Yes.”
“Right now?”
“Yes!” Carrick looked like he was about to blow.
Lauren rolled her shoulders. “Okay.”
He frowned at her before a low chuckle escaped him and she squealed as he pulled her into his arms and strode to the bathroom.
Eighteen
When Lauren entered her new home, the first thing she noticed was one of her parents’ battered suitcases in the hall. She looked at it inquisitively.
“Your parents sent over your things,” explained Carrick.
She truly had left her childhood home – this was it, there was no going back now. The last few days had been strange and almost surreal, but the battered suitcase sitting forlornly in the center of the hallway hit home that this was it for her – forever. She couldn’t deny a little sadness at leaving home, but it wasn’t something she was going to dwell on. Being Carrick’s mate was a lot better than where she was a week ago.
The alpha was definitely dead, and Lauren couldn’t help her relief that he was gone. The beta was nowhere to be found, and currently, the SEA was kind of in charge. Carrick wasn’t sure who called the SEA, but they arrived, and were trying to sort out the m
ess left after the alpha’s death. Apparently, there were a lot of irregularities with the taxes over the pride earnings, not to mention the alpha and beta had been involved with a lot of shady business and were possibly linked to dealing drugs in their small town. The future of the pride was a little shaky at that moment, and Lauren couldn’t deny that having Carrick to lean on made her feel a little more stable.
“I’ll collect the rest of your things later.”
“This is probably it.”
Carrick frowned. “Everything you own is in there?”
“I imagine so.” She didn’t have much.
“It’s not much.” He voiced her thoughts.
Lauren shrugged. She wasn’t going to complain, mostly because when she used to complain, she got rapped on the knuckles.
Carrick picked up the suitcase and slowly climbed the stairs with Lauren following. “If you want more clothes or… whatever, you can buy them. I got you a credit card for anything you need.”
“Thank you,” she said dumbly, wondering what anything might entail.
He walked into a large bedroom. It was fairly sparse but pleasant enough in dusky pink tones. The furniture was big and sturdy looking, and she could see it had its own bathroom.
Carrick placed the suitcase on the bed. “You can do whatever you want with the room. The whole house, even.”
Lauren nodded and opened the massive closet. It was empty. “Where are your clothes?”
“In my room.”
“We aren’t sharing a room?” Isn’t that what mated couples did? Even her parents who damn near hated each other shared a bed and a room.
“No. I’ll come to you when I want… when we…” Carrick seemed to struggle for the words.
“When you want sex?” Yep, over the past few days, she’d managed to make herself start saying it out loud. Given how much experience she now had, it felt right to say it.
His jaw tensed. “Yes. But…” He let out a breath. “If you don’t want to, just say the word.”
