Hunted And Claimed (Wayward Mates Series Book 7)

by Delta James

  “Aidan, Liam has already been shown to my study. He awaits you, Cameron, and Riley to witness her acceptance of Cameron as her fated mate and to hear her take her vows.”

  “Or Liam could join us out here if Riley would prefer to acknowledge the obvious and take her vows publicly,” offered Cameron, bringing her fingers up to his mouth so he could caress and kiss them.

  “Or you could honor another of our vaunted traditions and allow me to run,” Riley challenged.

  Catherine brightened. “Yes, you’re all such great believers in tradition, why not choose to honor that one as well. If Riley prefers a chance to run, I say she should have it.”

  The women began voicing their approval. Each alpha quietly took hold of his mate and hushed her.

  “Catherine,” said Marco with exasperation, “you are to go to our room. I will not have you inciting some kind of self-righteous uprising of the women who are our guests or those of our pack.”

  Catherine growled. The members of the DeMedici pack tried to hide their smiles. It would seem that the members of the Coalition were about to witness one of the celebrated arguments between their alpha and his beloved Madonna.

  “Gentlemen, I suggest you see to your mates as it would appear mine needs seeing to now.”

  Marco wasted no time in hoisting Catherine over his shoulder. When she started to pummel his back, he landed a hard blow to her backside, making her shriek in equal parts of pain and outrage.

  “Marco, hold up,” said Cameron, trying to think how best to defuse the situation. He turned to Riley. “Would it be easier for you to accept if I allowed you to run?”

  “That’s not a good idea, Cameron. She’s already managed to slip from your grasp more than once,” said Aidan.

  “And she may well do so again. But I would see this made as easy for her as possible. If allowing her to run will do that, then I will let her.”

  Marco set Catherine on her feet.

  Before Riley could speak, Cameron continued looking deeply into her eyes. “But know this, mate, should you choose to run, I will not stop until I have you caught and I will mark and claim you that night as mine. Do you still want to run?”

  “Yes, Alpha,” she hissed at him.

  “Then run, Riley. As is our tradition, you have until you exit this building before I give chase and bring you to heel.”

  “Riley, this way, I’ll take you out through the kitchen, it’s the longest route out,” said Gia, who managed to evade Aidan grasping at her.

  Gia sprinted from the grand foyer with Riley hot on her heels.

  * * *

  They had just entered the butler’s pantry when Gia skidded to a halt.

  “He will expect you to go out the kitchen door in the back toward the garage. You’ll never make it.” Gia popped a panel in the hallway that opened to reveal a hidden passage. “Follow this until it dead-ends so that you have to choose left or right. To the left will take you out beyond the boundaries of the vineyard. Marco knows where that exit is. He’ll help Cameron set a trap for you.”

  “Aren’t the rules that he’s on his own?” asked Riley.

  “Sort of. They tend to think the female running is on her own, but helping one another is perfectly legit. In any event, to the right is a steep slope down, but it leads to the river that will take you to the ocean. Catherine and Darby both thought you’d either try to get him to let you run or afterwards, you’d be able to escape. There’s a small speedboat that has comfortable quarters below. We were able to stock it with fresh water, fruit, vegetables, and other staples. We thought you could catch fish. But you’ve got to run for your life. When Marco realizes you didn’t head to the left, he’ll send them down to the shore... you have to be gone. You must get to the sea before they can get to you.”

  “Aidan is going to be furious with you.”

  Gia beamed. “It isn’t the first time; it won’t be the last. You’re my sister now too. And you’re helping those girls. Now run, Riley. I’m going to head out the back and try to see if I can steal one of the cars and make them think it’s you.”

  Riley hugged her with genuine affection. “I’m proud to call you sister. Take care of my nephews and that jackass you call your mate.”

  Gia grinned. “I will. Be safe, Riley. I want your nephews to get to meet their courageous zia.”

  Gia exited back into the hallway and closed the panel. Riley ran down the long tunnel. When it dead-ended, she headed to the right. Gia was right, the path was steep and often slippery but she knew it was her only means of escape.

  * * *

  One of the men on the kitchen staff called to Marco as he saw a woman bolt through the back door. Several of the alphas of the Coalition had gathered to discuss their next move against the rogue packs. They tried to help Cameron get after her, but found their mates were just as determined to help Riley escape.

  Standing side by side along with their mates, Roz and Skylar grinned at each other and each delivered a staggering blow to the other’s mate. Maddie tripped Griffin as Catherine smashed a priceless urn over Marco’s head. Marco seemed unfazed by the blow and brushed the shards of pottery from his hair. Declan had a death grip on Ava, who managed to stomp on his foot and bite him anyway.

  Darby broke free from Jean-Michel and launched herself at Cameron, knocking him to the floor. As Jean-Michel fisted her hair to pull her off of him, she grabbed a small chair, turned within his grasp, and broke it over his head. He shook his head, grinned at her but didn’t loosen his grip and growled at his mate in a menacingly affectionate tone.

  Cameron got to his feet and was out the front door just in time to see an SUV speeding up the driveway toward the main road.

  “Giovanni!” hollered Marco, who now had Catherine by a fistful of her hair. “Get Cameron a car and call the main gate, tell them to shut it and stop that SUV.”

  “Yes, Alpha,” was Giovanni’s quick reply.

  Aidan grinned and said, “And Giovanni, when you see my mate, your alpha’s sister, kindly send her to me and if she refuses, just bring her to me.”

  “As you wish, Alpha,” said Giovanni with a grin.

  Cameron very quickly had a car and was in pursuit of Riley. Giovanni ran into the main house.

  “Alpha, I have told Cameron and left one of the walkie/talkies with him. I don’t think that was Riley. I think Gia is in the SUV.”

  “So, she’s still in the house?” asked Catherine.

  “No, my Catherine. Gia has used one of our escape tunnels to give Riley a better head start.”

  Aidan growled. “If so, I swear my mate will have a welted backside by morning.”

  * * *

  Cameron sped up the drive. If Riley thought she could out run him in a car she was dead wrong. He meant to catch her and drag her back to Marco’s where he would take her to their bed and end this chaotic game she seemed intent on playing. Come morning, the only thing she’d be concerned about was just how soon her mate meant to knot her again. He was quite certain that as responsive as Riley was, she would find great pleasure in taking his knot and being tied to him.

  As he drove, he chuckled to himself. Even as naughty as she had been, he meant to show her how much he cared for her. He would not discipline her for this latest misadventure before marking and claiming her. He would solidify his claim tonight and then take her home to Wolf Meadow to go into seclusion there. Once he had her settled, he would give her the welting she deserved for all she had put both of them and their pack through.

  The walkie/talkie spit and hissed at him.

  “Cameron, it’s Marco. It seems you are chasing my little sister. I have one of the men from the gate headed to you, he will lead you to the exit of a tunnel she is most likely using to evade your capture. I will also send men into the tunnel to make sure she keeps moving or to bring her back to your brother and me.”

  “Thank you, Marco, and again my apologies for the massive inconvenience she has caused.”

  Marco chuckled. “She
is a spirited thing, your Riley. Much like my Catherine, who will feel my strap across her beautiful backside again within short order. We may have to order more pillows for a group of such naughty mates.”

  Cameron laughed. “I’m hopeful you won’t mind if I forego any activities this evening and see to my mate. I can meet with the rest of you tomorrow after I ensure she won’t get away again. But after that I need to take Riley home and get her settled. I’ve had enough of her bullshit.”

  “I would think less of you if you did anything different. Good hunting, my friend.”

  Cameron put the walkie/talkie down and grinned. He rather imagined there wasn’t a one of those girls who didn’t have an uncomfortable few days ahead of her.

  He looked up to see another SUV pointed down a different drive and fell in behind him. They were shortly at the end of Marco’s vast holdings.

  The young man got out of the vehicle.

  “I don’t think she’s had time to get out and away,” he said to Cameron.

  “Thank you. I can take it from here.”

  The alpha of Galveston leaned against the SUV. He looked around. It was truly beautiful here, but he longed to be home in Texas. No, he longed to be back inside Riley. He meant to give her a lesson in running off and creating havoc. He gave himself over to the luxury of allowing his knot to form as he meant to breach her with it the first time he mounted her as his claimed mate.

  His plan was to subdue her as she came out. As much as he knew she deserved to be spanked—hell, she deserved to be welted—he didn’t want her first time being knotted and tied to be on a blistered backside. He wanted her first time to be as sensual and satisfying as he could make it. He needed her to learn that being an alpha’s fated mate had definite advantages. He planned to mark her as she climaxed and he released his seed, flooding her pussy with his essence.

  Cameron had realized in the two times he had mounted and ridden her that she was wildly responsive, multi-orgasmic, and not truly satisfied until she felt him pumping his cum into her.

  And while he didn’t want to take her into seclusion on a welted bottom, he planned to initiate her into a more carnal form of punishment that wouldn’t hurt, but would negate a bit of her arrogance. His headstrong alpha mate was going to have another taste of having her sweet bottom hole used for pleasure and discipline.

  He’d begun to wonder if there was a turnoff or hiding place in the tunnel when he heard movement. He stood to the side so that he could easily see her exit but by the time she saw him it would be too late. He was getting ready to pounce when two of Marco’s men came out.

  “Damn it, Riley.” Cameron ran to the vehicle and radioed back to the house. “Marco, your men just came through. Is there a turnoff or someplace she could hide?”

  Cameron heard Marco swear.

  “No, it would seem she took the more dangerous route down to the river that will take her to the ocean. I am assuming this group of hooligan females had a boat waiting for her.”

  “Riley...” Cameron keened.

  “Come to the villa, Cameron.”

  Cameron rejoined his fellow Coalition members.

  “Let us see what we can find out from our mates. I detect Catherine’s hand in this and she will pay for her part in your pain.”

  “While I understand your need and desire to deal with your mates, I do not believe they will tell us anything useful. Riley is too smart to stay in any vehicle they gave her for long. If we could meet and discuss our next move against these bastards that are holding the missing women, then I can get back to trying to catch up with my very naughty mate.”

  “I will send men in the helicopter to track her progress down river. That way when we conclude our business, we can get you to her quickly.” Marco put his hand on Cameron’s shoulder. “I admire your strength and commitment to our cause... and to your mate.”

  Cameron smiled grimly as they gathered with the rest of the men in Marco’s study.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The wind created from the boat speeding away felt good on her face. It allowed her to tell herself that the dampness on her cheeks was from it and not the loss of Cameron. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was her fated mate. She also knew to accept and acknowledge that meant that those women still waiting for an end to their degradation and torture would have to wait longer.

  Riley felt that the distance on the river from the DeMedici villa to the ocean was too far. Cameron would react quickly. He had proven himself adept at thinking on his feet and taking action. Instead she had turned the other way. She meant to make her way up river and find a place to ditch the boat and find another means of transport. If nothing else, she would try to find a place to lay low until she could find a means of getting away from Cameron.

  She pushed the boat for as much speed as she could get. Finally, she spotted a thick stand of low overhanging trees. She thought she could find a way to hide the boat underneath the branches so that she couldn’t be spotted by air. She also hoped it would provide enough cover that anyone searching for her on the river wouldn’t see her. If she could just hide until dark, her odds of getting away increased.

  Riley managed to maneuver the boat into the small space hidden by the trees. It was tight and she would need to tie the boat off to the base of two trees in order to keep it securely out of sight. If Cameron spotted her, she would have no way to evade him. Once the boat was tethered, she went below. Riley was pleased. This was a smuggler’s boat of the first order—fast and what you saw above the waterline made it look like any powerboat, but beneath there was a comfortable bunk and small galley-like area; no way to cook anything, but a counter for preparation and eating as well as a mini-fridge. She couldn’t stand up straight, but it would have done nicely if she could have made it to the open ocean.

  Opening the fridge, she grinned. Catherine had left her a bottle of good DeMedici wine. On the bunk, she discovered another go bag to replace the one she’d lost. In it was more cash as well as two well-done false passports. She had no idea how they’d pulled it off, but she truly believed that if the men would just leave it to them, the women would put an end to this evil. Then, maybe she could... no, thinking of someday being with Cameron would do her no good. She needed to school herself not to think of him.

  But the way he’d held her... the way he’d made love to her at Margaret’s... the fact that he remembered and seemed to regret the first time they were together... Catherine was right. He was a good man. Maybe in another life or in another time things could have been different.

  Riley sat down on the bunk and leaned back against the bulkhead. She closed her eyes. Exhaustion seemed to be her closest companion these days. She would wait until nightfall.

  * * *

  As they entered Marco’s study, the other alphas greeted him with great compassion. Each of them could put themselves in Cameron’s place and knew the pain he was in.

  “For the record, brother,” said Aidan. “I can only say you have my utmost respect and any resources you need that I have are at your disposal.”

  “So say we all,” the others chorused.

  “Thank you, gentlemen, but let’s see if we can’t figure out a way to break up this gang of wayward mates and then put an end to the bastards that are the root cause of all of this.”

  “I think I can help with that,” said Declan.

  Until recently, Declan had been a human who knew nothing of their kind or the conspiracy that had arisen to kidnap and force women and wolves into a nightmare.

  He continued, “I know that Griffin thinks it’s Anna of his pack that’s behind it. She may well be the hardware guru, but it’s my Ava doing the programming. Ava has her tentacles all over the dark web. She is a black-hat hacker of the first order and I guarantee you she is the driving force behind the dissemination of information.”

  “I do not think that your Ava is the only one involved,” said Oliver Halsey of the Hamptons pack. “Dylan and I have been talking over the past
few months; we both believe that in addition to trying to go after the kidnapped women, that there may be a kind of underground operating at least in America and Canada.”

  “Oliver is right. He and I are pretty damn sure that Skylar and Roz have been helping women not necessarily turned or kidnapped but perhaps forced into pairings they didn’t choose for themselves,” said Dylan Grainger of Calon Gwyllt.

  Jean-Michel nodded. “That would make sense. The women of Bae Diogel have remained close. And the women of their respective packs, while happily mated themselves, have no love for the highhanded ways of the Ruling Council. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I wouldn’t trust Darby not to exact her own kind of retribution from them.”

  He grinned at his comrades, who all chuckled.

  “I know Maddie had a difficult time accepting our male-dominated society,” said Griffin. “Much as I love her fire and spirit, I wish sometimes she was a bit more like my sister.”

  Oliver laughed out loud. “Griffin, I don’t think you know the first damn thing about your big sister. Declan and I can tell you, she is no quiet, demure she-wolf. I’d bet a hell of a lot of money that her deft hand is involved and my guess is Ioan wouldn’t dispute that.”

  Declan grinned. “I did get the distinct impression that the alpha of Calon Onest has no illusions about his mate.”

  Griffin looked at both of them. “You don’t say... who’d have thunk it... my big sister a member of this pack of hooligans.”

  Marco said thoughtfully, “But remember, my friends, they have only the highest and best intentions. They do not do this for themselves, but rather to protect those who should need no protection from our kind. And in some ways, they are doing their own part to protect our kind and our way of life.”

  The men solemnly nodded in agreement.

  Dylan walked to Marco’s desk, which had been cleared except for a large map of Europe.