by Reina Torres
“But you have to!” Ellen stood, but a look from Xavier sat her back down again.
Until that moment, he’d sat in the corner watching everything quietly, unmoving. Locke was grateful to have him there. Xavier could be counted on to keep watch when Locke himself was struggling to remain focused.
“I don’t have to do anything where you’re concerned. You lost the ability to order me around when you told me to leave home. To leave Sylvan City. You said I wasn’t any of your concern anymore. You weren’t my family anymore.”
Katherine stiffened beside him. He wished that he’d explained things to her before all of this happened but talking about his lack of family wasn’t a conversation he was eager to have. She turned slightly in his one-armed embrace and set her hand on his chest. He leaned into her touch, grateful for her support.
“I made a mistake.” She all but spat the words at him. Try as he might, he couldn’t see any remorse in her at all. He’d heard more than enough empty words from her for a lifetime, and shifters lived long, long lives. “I should never have sent you away.”
“Still, that doesn’t tell me why you’re here or how you even knew where to find me.”
Shifting on the wooden stool she glared back at him. “The Pride has some ingenious members. Adept at all kinds of things that we need.”
We. Locke heard the word and felt anger sweep over him again.
His lion rose up and added his support, but it wasn’t doing much to ease the building rage inside of him.
“We needed to find you, Lochlan. You have a duty to come back.”
He shook his head. “I don’t owe you anything!”
Ellen recoiled slightly, but it didn’t faze him in the least.
And when she spoke, it was simply said and straight forward, something he didn’t usually associate with… her.
“Maybe you’re right,” she began, “you don’t owe me a thing.”
He narrowed his gaze at her waiting for the other shoe to fall.
“But your niece is another matter.”
Niece.
Locke felt like someone had just sucker punched him.
Niece.
So, his brother Vance had a child. A girl.
But what did that mean for him?
“What does she need?” He heard the way his own voice shook. There were oceans of bad blood between Locke and his so-called family, but a child? She shouldn’t suffer because of what the others had done.
“She needs you, Lochlan.” He didn’t miss Ellen’s smug look as she crossed her legs and leaned back against the wall. “Vance and his mate are dead. You need to come home and raise your niece.”
Locke shook his head. So much information in just a few seconds, he wasn’t even sure what to think. Was it real?
“What happened to Vance? What happened to Alina? Was this a challenge?”
Rather than grief stricken, Ellen looked… frustrated. Put out. “What does it matter, Lochlan! Allison is family!”
There was a part of him that wanted to remind her that he wasn’t family.
And he would have if it was just about them. He would let Ellen hang off a cliff if it was just about ‘family.’ She couldn’t care less after all.
About him.
And now, his brother Vance.
He was gone.
Locke just couldn’t believe it. “What can I do about it?” He narrowed his eyes at Ellen. “Alina was the Alpha of the Pride. Allison would be her heir.”
“You’re her uncle.”
He shook his head. “You said he cut ties with me. You were the one who told me I had to leave before I caused any problems for him. I doubt any of the Pride members want me there. I’d just be an interloper. And Alina has family. I doubt they’d want me there either.”
He started to walk away and then turned around, moving closer to Ellen.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Ellen’s color paled for a moment, the blood draining out from behind her cosmetically painted cheeks. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Locke saw the color rush back in, but he also saw the angry challenge in her eyes.
There was something going on in her calculating mind and he doubted it had anything to do with tender feelings for Allison.
“If it was just family,” he hedged, “you could raise Allison. Or maybe Alina’s Pride has figured out that the last thing you are is a mother.”
If they had been the only two in the room, Locke knew that his mother would have attacked him. She wasn’t a good mother or a good person, but what got her pissed off faster than anything else was an open challenge.
He used to watch his tongue around her.
Not anymore.
“It’s not up to me, Lochlan.” She could still cut him too. “It seems that Alina had more control over your brother than I did. They left instructions that you and her brother are to work out the details, together. I came here to bring you home.”
“If you wanted me to go back,” he felt his lion prowling around inside of him, “then you should have thought better than to attack my mate.”
“Mate?” Ellen drew back as if he’d hit her. “She’s barely human.”
It took Locke and Aaron to keep him from skinning Ellen alive.
Katherine woke up in the dead of night and reached for Locke, only to find that he wasn’t in bed. She stood and picked up flat sheet from the bed and wrapped it around herself as she went in search of her mate.
They were going to stay in his house until the glass from the front window of her shop was fixed along with the fixtures. And honestly, she was in no rush to go back to the store. Just the thought of it set her heart racing painfully in her chest.
She found Locke sitting on the steps of his porch, looking up into the starry night above their heads. The moonlight lit up his skin and made it several shades lighter than its natural tan, but it did nothing to disguise the naked perfection laid out before her.
Katherine stepped down and sat on the same step beside him, only she had the sheet wrapped around her body and tied into a knot just above her breasts. “Do you mind some company?”
He didn’t answer her in words at first. He set his hand down on her bare shoulder, but that was all that she needed to feel his pain.
Their connection was stronger now.
Deeper.
“I woke up and you were gone. I wanted to make sure that you were okay. That you didn’t need me.”
His hand gripped her shoulder tighter. “I’ll always need you, Kitten. That’s never going to change.”
She reached her arm across her body and covered his hand with hers. “That’s good, Locke, because I feel the same way. I reached for you and found the bed cold. I missed your heat and I missed you.”
They fell into a companionable silence. His eyes were still on the heavens and her eyes? They watched him.
The moonlight gave his face an almost ethereal glow.
It had been a day for revelations. And for pain. She still sported bruises on her neck from Locke’s mother.
No, she couldn’t seem to believe that. She had to think of her as Ellen Asher. Someone who just happened to share the same last name.
Someday, she would ask Georgia how she had healed her, but in the rush of things, they hadn’t had much time to talk.
Until then, she would just be thankful that Locke had arrived in time to help her and that he knew where to take her for her injuries.
She’d told Locke earlier when they came home, that she was so thankful to be in his life and while she’d seen a certain light in his gaze, she’d also seen guilt.
It was that guilt she needed him to forget.
“I’m sorry about your brother and his mate.”
“Thank you,” his words were soft, almost a whisper. “I met her once. I’m not sure what I did at that meeting to upset Vance, but the next thing I knew, my mother insisted that I leave Sylvan City.”
He said the words evenly eno
ugh, but Katherine could feel the waves of pain rolling off of him.
Reaching out, she set her hand on his knee.
“As long as I can remember,” he explained, “she pitted us against each other. All that mattered to her was which one of us came out on top.”
He shook his head and sighed, and she was fascinated by the way the light played off of his Adam’s apple until he continued with his memories.
“After years of competing I knew that I didn’t want to do it anymore. Any victory was an empty one, because for my mother it was just another point of contention between us. And that’s what it was, Katherine. The real competition was between our mother and us. She could keep driving us further and faster but there was no end in sight.
“When Vance met Alina, I was relieved. Alina was everything I thought my mother wanted as a mate for one of us. Alina was the leader of her pride. My brother had, for all intents and purposes, achieved my mother’s lofty goal of power. That was when I became a problem.”
She gripped his knee, trying to send him a silent gesture of support. “I can’t believe she thought you’d be a danger to your brother or his mate.”
“You don’t have to believe or understand it for it to be true. At least in her eyes. She’d spent all of our lives making us compete for everything, why wouldn’t I try to take what Vance had?”
“That’s a horrible way to think.” She leaned her cheek on her hand and looked up at him. He met her questioning gaze with a pained look.
“Horrible, but that explains Ellen Asher.”
“And you left so that your brother wouldn’t worry that you would… take his mate?”
Sighing, he laid back on the stairs, his head cradled on his hands. “I don’t know what he did or didn’t worry about. I was ready to leave and put all of that ridiculous competition behind me. I wandered around until I ended up here. I didn’t have to compete with anyone to prove my worth. I just had to be me.”
She heard him groan and felt her heart clench in her chest.
“And now I have to go back.”
“Locke, I-”
“Xavier told me I don’t have to go. In fact, he pretty much yelled it at me. I’m hoping you’ll see that I have to go back. Not for any other reason than to see my niece and make sure she has what she needs. No one should lose their parents when they’re a child.”
He turned and looked at her and she could see the hesitation in his eyes. He hoped that she would understand. She did. She really did.
But now she hoped that he would understand what she was about to say.
“I’m going with you.”
He tensed under her hand. “Kitten…”
“Don’t,” she shook her head. “Don’t say what I think you’re going to say.”
“It’s an uncertain situation.”
“Oh,” she rolled her eyes, “let me guess. It’s dangerous. Well, I think we know how dangerous being in Mystic has been for me.”
“And that’s because of me, too.”
“No.” Her voice was sure. Her voice was set. “No, you’re not going to do this, Locke. Earlier today you called me family. Did you mean it?”
“Of course, I did!” His lion’s roar was just under his voice. “But this is something else, Katherine. It’s one thing to have your emotional support, your presence. Knowing there might be danger? I would never forgive myself.”
She pushed her hand against his knee and sat back, folding her arms across her chest. “And you think I’d be okay if something happened to you when we were apart? It’s not something I want to think about, but I know that we should be together.”
He reached out to her and she didn’t pull away when his fingers slipped through her wavy hair. “I know you’re right, Kitten, but I can’t help how much I want you safe.”
“And I know,” she uncrossed her arms and turned on the step to face him, “that if you don’t take me with you, I’m going to go there on my own.”
She shook her head when he tried to get up. Instead, she stood and set a hand on each of his knees.
“Locke, I need you to know that I love you. That I’m yours. Your mate. And I’m not just here for the easy things. If you’re facing this situation, then we’re doing it together.”
“My Kitten has claws.”
“Don’t start with me, Locke.”
He smiled. “Bossy too.”
“You’re really trying to make me lose my temper.”
Locke shook his head. “Not me.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Then what are you doing?”
His gaze lowered to her chest and Locke drew in a deep, shuddering breath. “When you get a little riled, you flush.” He lifted his chin and met her gaze with his own. “Your breasts, they’re so beautiful, pink and plump. Delicious against my tongue.”
That did it.
She wasn’t riled anymore.
No, she was hot. Hungry.
And she had the upper hand.
Her hand released the knot holding the sheet to her body. And it fell like water, skimming over her flesh. Bared to his gaze, she let go of her inhibitions and knelt between his legs. She didn’t wait for him to react. She knew what she wanted.
She knew who she wanted.
Taking him in her hand, she gently worked her hand along the length of his cock, enjoying the warmth of his skin against hers and yes, she loved the feeling inside of her when he got harder and harder in her curious grasp.
Katherine heard the soft moans that escaped his lips, and she felt the rise and fall of his hips as he sought more of her touch.
Well, she was perfectly willing to give him more, and take some in return.
With her eyes on his and the hard length of him in her hand, she leaned closer and took him into her mouth.
The sound that came from his throat was somewhere between a moan and a shout. She felt him tense up beneath her and then relax as she took him deeper.
Later, when they fell into bed beside each other, they slept soundly, wrapped up in each other’s embrace.
Nine
It didn’t take long to get to Sylvan City, but it felt like an eternity. They stopped just shy of the bridge from the mainland and waited at a rest stop with a diner attached to it. Sitting beside him, Katherine was trying her best to be calm and relaxed but the hand that was on his thigh was threatening to cut off his circulation.
Leaning closer to her, he pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. “Calm, Kitten. Be calm.”
“Right,” she all but snarled at him, “like it ever works to tell someone to ‘be calm.’”
He dragged his chair closer to her, not caring that the metal legs on the chair squeaked out a loud protest against the aging linoleum. “I love you, woman.”
“Yeah, well, I hope you still love me when I pass out from the stress.”
Locke knew she was trying her best to make light of her own worry. Katherine was an incredible woman and he respected her as much as he desired her and that was an endless well.
The door across the room opened up and a man in a dark suit walked in. Locke watched him with interest as he moved through the crowd without incident. Hardly anyone even looked up as he walked past. If he hadn’t known that the man was a shifter, he might not have seen the signs.
At least not until he came close enough to touch Katherine. That’s when his lion let loose a low-pitched growl of warning.
The man in the suit took off his sunglasses and gave them both a strange smile. “Lochlan Asher?”
“Locke.”
Nodding the tall man in the suit gestured at the empty chair beside Locke instead of the empty seat closer to Katherine. “May I?”
“Of course.” That from Katherine who was apparently playing peacekeeper without realizing it. Locke felt her lean into him, and he wasn’t sure what she was doing, until she rubbed her palm against his thigh. “Calm down.”
Locke and their guest both wore a look of confusion. Then a moment later, they both laughed.
/>
The man in the suit held up his hands in surrender. “Formidable woman you have there, Asher.”
Locke narrowed his eyes at the other man. “She’s my mate.”
The statement didn’t ask for an argument, but apparently their guest didn’t understand that. “You brought a woman to an island filled with shifters and she’s not marked? You must have a huge set to pull that off.”
Katherine squirmed against him and he realized that he was holding her a little too tight.
“We didn’t actually plan to come here. It’s my… it’s Ellen’s fault.”
The man nodded. “I know Ellen. I get what you’re saying.” He held out a hand to Locke. “Devlin Kerr.”
Locke accepted the handshake and gestured to Katherine. “Katherine Lincoln.”
She looked between the two before she reached out to take Devlin’s hand and shake it. “Thank you for meeting us.”
Setting his sunglasses on the table, he nodded. “Happy to. When I got the call from Aaron, I admit I was a little surprised. It’s my job to keep track of the internal and external issues for the different packs and yes, the pride that your sister-in-law ran.” He lowered his voice a little and Locke could see the dark of Devlin’s tiger in his eyes. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
It shouldn’t have surprised him, but Locke felt more than just a pang of pain at the mention of his brother. “We’ve never been close but thank you.”
“Actually, we were wondering where Ellen ran off to. For years everyone assumed that you were- The way that Ellen acted…”
“She told people I was dead.” Locke shook his head. “That’s my mother for you.”
“That’s part of the reason I was confused when Aaron said you were coming to take care of Alison.”
“Because I was dead?” Locke knew his tone was a little curt and somewhat uncalled for. “Sorry.”
Devlin waved it off. “Partly, but also because Allie already has someone taking care of her.”
His lion growled at the thought. Vance hadn’t been close to them, but Allie was still blood and as much as his blood family had hurt them. Locke and his lion both wanted to make sure the little girl was safe. Locke had lost his entire family at one time too.
