“That’s one reason,” he agreed. “The other reason is because these females have worked so hard, as have you, over the years to train. They didn’t do it as a rebellious act. They did it because they wanted to do something for themselves as well as the pride.”
“And the mated males are okay with this?”
“They are,” he answered with another nod. He finally relaxed his arms, planting his hands on the edge of his desk. The alpha was a fair man, and she respected that. “They are my protectors, my female guard. I respect the hell out of those females and know they would do anything to protect my mate and cubs in my absence just as my male Guardians would.”
“Then why don’t you give these females a title like the male Guardians have?” she wondered aloud, but widened her eyes when she realized she might have stepped over some boundary. “I’m sorry, alpha. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s disrespectful to question your alpha.”
“What you said wasn’t disrespectful,” he promised, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “I may be an alpha, but I am not perfect, Jade. I’ve always tried to make the right decisions after weighting the information given to me. You’ve come in here and made me question everything I’ve ever known.”
“Do you still think I have an alpha gene?” she asked, feeling ridiculous.
“You’ve calmed down since you started training with Booth,” he observed. “Have you noticed that?”
“No,” she replied, blushing a little and shaking her head. Remembering her training with the male sent heat to her core, and she didn’t need to be thinking of Booth Woods while she was in this meeting with her alpha. “Well, maybe. Yeah. I don’t feel so standoffish.”
“Because you’ve proved yourself to the pride?” he asked.
“I don’t know if I’ve done that, sir,” she objected.
“You have, you really have,” he told her. “Jade, you are worthy of being a Guardian. Your skill is astounding.”
“Then let me prove myself to you by fighting alongside the other females,” she suggested. “Give your females a warrior’s name like the males have. Show your appreciation to them by appointing an actual position within your ranks.”
“Are you sure you’re not an alpha?” he chuckled.
“Positive,” she replied, smiling for the first time since she didn’t know when.
“I’ll consider your request,” he offered. “Now, I need you to continue to train with the females. Booth has taken some time off, and he will be back when he’s calmed down.”
Jade was dismissed, and even though Talon didn’t agree to give the female warriors a name, she felt good about voicing her thoughts on the matter. It was a different time, and women weren’t the same as they were many years ago. Jade was happy with her new life at the Shaw pride, and if she could protect the alpha’s home and family in his absence, she’d be honored for the opportunity.
Chapter Ten
Talon rubbed his hand over his face as he entered his bedroom. His mate was running water in the tub, and all he wanted to do was sink into the water with her. The day had been one for the record books.
“You okay?” Liberty fretted as he made his way into the bathroom. She was naked, sitting on the side of the tub, running her fingers through the water as she checked the temperature.
“I’m conflicted,” he admitted, removing his shirt. “But first, I just want to sit in that water with you and help you bathe.”
“Then you’ll tell me?” she pushed, cranking the knobs to stop the flow of water.
Talon stripped down, ignoring his hard cock from seeing his mate with nothing on but a smile for him. She was his everything, his world. If she were ever to fight in combat against their enemies, he would be feral just like any other male. Knowing she could hold her own with human weapons made it a little easier to accept her independence when she was away from him.
He took her hand and stepped in first, helping her as she stepped over the edge. They both sighed heavily as they sank into the water, and Liberty nestled between his legs. His panther was quiet for once, recessing into his mind. He kissed her shoulder and brought the cloth up to run it over her silky skin.
“You know I love you, and I’d move the heavens to keep you safe, right?” he asked, closing his eyes and inhaling her scent.
“Is something coming for us?” she gasped, wrapping her fingers around the top of his leg.
“No, love,” he promised. “The new female has made me question everything we’ve been doing in regards to letting the females train.”
“Jade is a strong woman,” Liberty agreed. “She is an older version of Evie.”
“That she is,” Talon agreed.
“So, tell me what happened today,” she asked, rubbing circles over the inside of his knee with her thumb.
Talon informed her about the meetings with Booth and Jade. He made sure to mention Booth’s unwillingness to touch Jade and complete a mating they knew would happen. “He’s raging too much.”
“I thought he had control over his temper,” she mentioned.
“Booth was a wild one when he came of age,” Talon chuckled. “I remember fighting with him, and boy did he fight dirty. My father worked with him personally, molding him into the perfect Guardian. It took several years, but he finally calmed.”
“I’ve never seen him like this,” she admitted.
“I thought he was better since he’s gotten older,” Talon swore. “Damn, Liberty, he’s acting like an out of control male who just reached maturity.”
“I know it sounds odd, but if he would just touch her, he would get past this mating rage he’s in,” Liberty sighed. Talon heard the frustration in her voice.
“We can’t force them,” he reminded her. She leaned her head back on his chest and looked up at him. He saw a sparkle in her eye, and he immediately started shaking his head. “Don’t you get any ideas about getting them together.”
“Who me?” She played coy, and he tightened his legs around her body.
“Yes, you,” he growled, but his alpha’s voice didn’t faze his beautiful mate. “I know what you and your sister can get yourselves into, and this one you will need to stay out of. Let those two find their own way.”
“Well, I don’t see the problem with a tiny plan to get them alone together,” Liberty pouted.
Booth opened his eyes as the morning light penetrated his sleep. It’d been three days since he’d seen Jade, and he was going crazier than he thought. Keeping away from her was a bad idea. His beast had prowled in his mind the last few days, demanding he find her.
He had three hours before he was to be on shift at the main gate. His beast was adamant he find her. The push against his human skin confirmed his panther’s need.
“She needs a worthy male,” Booth mumbled as he stepped into the shower. He washed quickly, trying his best not to bring up the mental picture of her bare human body, but it didn’t work. The female was strong, and her body proved that. She had abs and thick muscles in her legs from her training with the humans. Her breasts were large, and he tried so hard to not stare at them every time she was around, but it was impossible. He wanted nothing more than to bury his face between them as he thrust into her welcoming body.
Booth’s hand wrapped around his length, squeezing his cock as he imagined what her face would look like as she fell apart underneath him. Would it be the same look she had when she was exhausted from training, lying flat on the mat while she panted heavily for much needed air? Or would she close her eyes and absorb the release he was coaxing from her body? He pumped his erection as he let his mind wander as he sought out his own relief. Jade was quickly weaving herself into his soul whether he wanted her to or not.
Water cascaded over the back of his neck as he rested his forehead against the cool tile. Jade, why are you doing this to me? He couldn’t shake her. The need for the female was more than the mating scent, and Booth knew it. Hell, Jade knew it, and they’d run from each other.
&nbs
p; If he was any other male, he would’ve touched her that day in the woods. He would’ve mounted her there in the grass and marked her with his teeth and seed. He would’ve claimed her, not giving a fuck if the other pride members came upon them on their run.
Fuck! The shout of his release sounded a lot like her name, and he sagged when the pulses from his body subsided. He didn’t move his head from the tile for the longest time, letting the water turn cold before he turned it off.
He brushed his teeth and threw on some clothes before he left his home, heading to the alpha’s house. There would be food there for anyone who was up. He was hoping Jade was there grabbing something from the kitchen. His three-day penalty was done and he wanted to see the female. They had some unfinished business.
“Morning, Booth.” Harold, the pride’s healer, met him at the door. “How are you feeling?”
“If you’re wondering if I’m going to go feral today, I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” Booth smirked. “But the day is still young.”
“That’s good to know,” Harold huffed and pushed through the back door. Obviously, he caught the sarcasm. It was more of an irritation the pride was looking at him like he’d grown fucking horns.
He wasn’t going to lose his shit today unless he was told he couldn’t see the female.
“Booth,” her voice rang in his ears. When he spun around, Jade was standing by the kitchen counter, her hip leaning against the cabinet.
“Hey,” he breathed. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. She was wearing her black workout shorts and a loose-fitting tank top. The matching black sports bra peeked out from the low-cut top.
“Can we talk before my shift?” he asked.
“Why?” she asked, stepping away when he approached. He didn’t want her to keep her distance anymore.
“Don’t move away from me again,” he begged.
“Is that so?” she asked, her eyes flashing amber. A soft rumble sounded from her throat. Her panther was purring.
“Somewhere private?” he added, grabbing a plate from the stack at the end of the countertop.
Once his plate was full, they made their way out to the porch. Jade took a seat in a rocking chair, but he leaned against the porch railing, taking a bite of eggs.
“What did you want to talk about?” she asked.
“I think we should go on a date.” God, he felt stupid. Asking a female to go out wasn’t what shifters did. They touched the female they felt the pull to, and if they were mates, they consummated immediately.
“A…date,” she choked out, a bubble of laughter followed her coughing spell. See, he felt like a dumbass.
“Yes, a date,” he scowled.
Jade stared at him in shock for the longest time. The silence stretched on, and he felt the back of his neck prickle with a foreign feeling. Her eyes sparked amber, like her panther approved, but the frozen look on her face told him she wasn’t interested.
“You know what? Never mind. This was a bad idea.”
“No!” she jerked, waving her hand out to stop him from walking away. “No, don’t say that. It’s sweet.”
“I am not sweet,” he snarled.
“No, it’s sweet,” she teased, biting into a strip of bacon. He loved how she wasn’t worried about eating in front of a male. Other females he’d been interested in always ordered a salad and barely touched it, pushing it around on their plates because that was what they’d seen humans do in their movies. Jade didn’t give any fucks.
“So?” he pressed.
“When and where?”
“Tonight,” he replied. “I’ll pick you up at the dorm around seven. We will go into town and grab something to eat.”
“What about a movie?” she snickered. “The humans do things like that.”
“If you’d like to go see a movie, I will take you,” he offered, finishing off his meal. When Jade leaned back in her seat, he held out his hand and took her empty plate, careful of not touching her skin, and took them to the kitchen.
“So, how about that movie?” she asked, her icy blue eyes staring up at him from her seat, and it was the most beautiful thing he’d seen in a long time.
“Want to walk with me back to my place for a cup of coffee?” he asked, hoping she said yes.
Noah blinked several times as he lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling fan spin slowly. The cool air hit his naked torso, and his beast was quiet for once. His mind was on a million things. He didn’t have his mother here to talk to, and he didn’t know how to handle these feelings toward the human male.
God, he missed her. She understood him, and she was the only one that knew he was never going to be like the other males. It was a secret she took to her grave. Knowing Dane had found a male mate made things easier.
As he lifted the bottle to his lips, he tried to tell himself to just tell his brother…and tell Landon how he felt. He was beyond worried for the male, and he was tired of not being there for him while he dealt with the trauma he’d been through.
It broke Noah’s heart to see him in so much pain. His physical pain was gone, or at least he hoped it was. Landon didn’t share much with anyone except Olivia and Cole. She wouldn’t tell anyone what they talked about on those long walks.
Noah had taken to shifting and pretending to run in the woods while they were out just so he could catch a glimpse of the male, but Olivia had caught him a few times as his panther rested just off the trails leading through the woods. Her stern look told him to leave, so he did. The last thing he wanted to do was betray the male’s trust, but it killed him to be on the outside.
The tequila burned going down, and he clenched his fist around the bottle, hoping by the time he reached the end of it, his metabolism would let him have the buzz for longer than thirty minutes. It sucked being a shifter sometimes. If he was human, he could use the alcohol to numb the pain he carried for his lost mother and the male he wanted to have.
Chapter Eleven
Jade didn’t have anything to wear. Her worldly possessions consisted of four pairs of workout shorts, a pair of jeans, and six tank tops. Oh, and five pairs of panties with matching sports bras.
The door to the dorm opened and she peeked her head out the bedroom door. Evie and Calla came in with bags in hand. “What are you doing here?”
“We heard you had a date tonight,” Calla said, wagging her eyebrows. “Thought you could use some help getting ready.”
“Well, unless he’s taking me for fast food, I’m out of luck on anything nice to wear,” she scowled.
“Good thing you and I are almost the same size,” Calla said, holding up the bag. “Strip down and let’s try on some clothes.”
The females came to the rescue, or so Jade thought when the clothes were revealed. Inside there were two sundresses, a leather mini skirt, and a red top. At the bottom were sandals and heels. “No! No to all of these.”
“Aww, come one,” Calla urged. “You can’t wear workout clothes to the movies.”
“I sure as shit am not wearing a dress,” she sneered.
“Calla, where did you get the mini skirt?” Evie’s eye were as wide as Jade’s. “Your brother would kill you if he saw you in this.”
“What my brother doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” She shrugged and grabbed a flowered sundress. “What about this one?”
“No,” Jade huffed and crossed her arms over her bare chest. “My tits won’t fit, and it has flowers on it.”
“Okay, okay,” Calla said, grabbing the other dress. “It’s green, not leather, and it will cover your…tits.”
They weren’t going to let her go out in anything but what they had brought for her, and if she was being honest with herself, wearing her workout clothes wasn’t going to cut it. “The thought of wearing a dress gives me hives.”
“You can’t get hives,” Calla said, rolling her eyes. “You’re a panther.”
“Just try it on,” Evie urged, nudging Calla out of the way.
Jad
e pulled the dress over her head and was a little relieved it fit, covering her body as it should. She didn’t have a bra, but she didn’t need one in the dress. The material was dark enough to keep them from showing through. She pulled on a white thong and walked into the common bathroom, closing the door in the females’ faces so she could look in the long mirror that hung on the back of the door.
Her hair needed work, and maybe she could use some makeup, but not too much. She hadn’t worn a dress since she was a little girl, opting for clothes that moved well with her body while she trained. The closest thing she had to dress clothes were the uniforms she wore for work, but even those were beige jeans and a black Polo. This was uncharted territory for her, and she wasn’t talking about the clothes.
“I don’t even know how to date a male,” she said after opening the door.
“We can school you while we do your hair,” Calla promised, pushing Jade so she would sit on the toilet.
The next half hour was spent curling and pinning her hair. The females told her what they knew about human etiquette when it came to dating, but even they admitted they only knew about it from watching stupid television shows. “The last show I watched where the guy asked out a girl was a few months ago, but he was a vampire and she had no clue. He couldn’t eat the human food. So, he just watched her like a creep.”
“Great,” Jade sighed. “I don’t know if I want to do this.” She was nervous. In fact, she was so nervous, her hands were sweating. This wasn’t easy. Easy for Jade was beating the crap out of some willing partner.
“There, you look amazing,” Evie said from her spot on the floor. Since she was given sandals, Evie decided Jade needed her toes painted. When she looked down, she wiggled her toes and thought they actually looked…cute.
“All right, what do you usually do for makeup?” Calla asked as she placed a few more pins in Jade’s hair.
“Um, nothing,” she admitted. “I’ve never really worn any.”
Booth (Rise of the Pride, Book 9) Page 8
