A deep growl rumbled up Kace’s chest, and he yanked on my hand until I fell forward and sprawled on his lap. I let out a startled yelp, barely holding onto my phone. “Larissa? What happened? Please tell me you didn’t get into a fender bender, too. That would be bad...unless you also get rescued by a hot cop. Then it would be awesome. Especially if he has a partner for me.”
Out of the three of us, Calliope had always been the one who’d dreamed of finding the perfect boyfriend. Plenty of boys had asked her out in high school, but she’d turned them all down because no one lived up to her expectations. If she’d been the one who’d stumbled on a guy who could shift into a wolf and swore they were fated mates, she'd probably jump right in without any questions if she thought he was the one for her. Meanwhile, I still had plenty, but I couldn’t ask them while she was on the phone. “I wasn’t in an accident and didn’t get rescued by a hot cop. But I did kinda sorta meet Zeke’s”—I paused, scrambling to come up with a better term than alpha to describe Kace—“best friend, and we’re hanging out. So I won’t be back until later.”
“Dude. Seriously?” she shrieked. “Ugh, I really wish I didn’t have my drawing and digital imaging class right now. It’s my favorite, and I hate to miss it except for an emergency. Coming to rescue you and Allegra counts. Running off to Timber Ridge in the hopes that I’ll meet a hot guy too, not so much. But I want all the deets when I see you tonight. Or tomorrow morning if things go really well, if you know what I mean.”
I didn’t get the chance to respond before she hung up, probably in a rush to get across campus. Kace’s shoulders shook with his laughter as he took the phone out of my hand and set it on the coffee table. “She can meet every unmated male in my pack if it’ll make you happy.”
“I’m sure she’ll take you up on that offer.” I laughed and shook my head. “And you’ll probably come to regret it at some point.”
He wrapped his arms around my back and settled me more comfortably on his lap. “Now that your friend isn’t worried about you, how about I answer the rest of your questions?”
“That’s probably a good idea,” I agreed, though I still hadn’t fully wrapped my head around the fact he could change into a wolf.
“As the alpha, I’m the highest-ranking member of our pack and its leader. I have a telepathic link with all of the shifters in my pack,” he explained. “Zeke is my second in command, or my beta. He’s also a wolf, but we have other kinds of shifters in Timber Ridge. Tane, my third, is a tiger.”
I hadn’t been scared when Kace shifted into a wolf, but I couldn’t imagine how I would’ve reacted if I’d found a freaking tiger standing in front of me when I’d opened my eyes. “There are tigers?”
“Bears, lions, and dragons, too.” He flashed me a sexy grin, his dark eyes twinkling with humor. “But no bunnies or honey badgers.”
“Forget bunnies and honey badgers! There are people who can shift into dragons?” I cried, jumping off his lap. “Are they teeny-tiny ones about the size of your wolf? Or actually dragon-sized?”
A low growl rumbled up Kace’s chest as he stood. “There isn’t anything remotely small about my wolf. He’s a fucking beast of an animal.”
“I worded that badly. I’m sorry.” I patted his chest. “Your wolf is freaking awesome.”
“Damn straight he is,” Kace grumbled. “Even if the only dragon I know is about twice his size.”
My eyes widened as I tried to picture someone turning into something two times bigger than Kace’s wolf. “Are they rare?”
He nodded and explained, “There aren’t many dragon shifters, and he can’t just bite someone to make more. We’re born this way, and everyone in Timber Ridge is a shifter except for you, Allegra, and one other fated mate. It helps that we don’t need to hide who we are in town since shifters age more slowly than humans, heal more quickly, and are physically stronger.”
“Wait.” I held up my palm. “You’re talking as though I live here, too.”
He gently wrapped his fingers around my wrist and tugged my hand to his lips. Then he pressed a kiss to my knuckles. “Of course, I am. Your place is with me.”
He acted like my staying was a foregone conclusion. Considering how quickly Zeke was talking about Allegra moving in with him, it was probably the way relationships went for shifters. But I wasn’t sure how I felt about the whole fated mate thing yet. I needed a little bit of time to think about it all. “That’s all fine and dandy except I need to go back to my dorm. Like right now.”
5
Kace
I’d found Larissa less than an hour ago, and she already wanted to leave. This wasn’t how I expected my mating to go, and my wolf was demanding to be let out to mark her as ours before she got away. I ground my teeth together and clenched my jaw. Fur rippled against my skin, and I took a few deep breaths to get myself under control. I got where he was coming from, but I wasn’t about to let him do something she wasn’t ready for. He only backed down when I promised I wouldn't let her out of our sight. “Do you have a class or something?”
“No, I had my last one for the day before I tracked Allegra down. I just”—she paused and twisted her hands together—“need to be in my own space.”
My compulsion to be with Larissa warred with my desire to give her whatever she needed. I understood her wanting to be surrounded by the familiar while she came to terms with how meeting me was going to change her world, but that didn’t mean she had to be alone while doing it. “No problem.” I shoved my feet into my boots. “I'll take you back.”
I felt a burst of satisfaction at her reaction to my quick agreement as her plump lips curved down at the edges and she mumbled, “Okay.”
Stalking toward her, I pressed a finger under her chin and tilted her head back until my gaze met hers. “Give me a minute while I grab some stuff so I can spend the night with you.”
“What? No way.” Her blue eyes went wide, and she shook her head. “I live in an all-girls dorm. Any male visitors have to check in at the front desk, and there are rules about how long they can be there. It's the only dorm on campus that's super strict, but Allegra's parents insisted we pick that one because it meant her mom wouldn’t worry quite as much.”
I was relieved to hear no males were allowed in her building—not that I planned on her being there without me—but I wasn’t about to let the rules apply to me. I wasn’t accustomed to taking orders from anyone else since I was the one who gave them in Timber Ridge. And I wasn’t just some guy. I was Larissa’s mate, even if she didn’t fully grasp what that meant yet. “You might not be feeling the pull at the same level as me because you're human, but the early days in a mating are the most intense. Having you near without claiming you is already pushing my wolf to his limits, and leaving you alone on campus will send him over the edge.”
“Oh.” Her plump lips formed a perfect circle, making my dick push against the zipper of my jeans as I pictured them wrapped around me. “Look, I’m no good at this relationship stuff. I don't really know how it works with regular couples, let alone shifters with fated mates. I've never had a boyfriend, and the only happy marriage I saw growing up was between Allegra's parents. My mom walked out right after I was born. She didn’t want kids, and I haven’t had contact with her since she left.”
I was happy as fuck to know there hadn’t been any men in her life before me, but I hated seeing the faint sheen of tears in her eyes. Knowing the woman who’d given birth to her—I refused to call her Larissa’s mom because she sure as hell hadn’t earned the privilege—had hurt her so badly had my wolf ready to hunt her down. “I’m sorry you went through all that.”
“It’s okay.” She shrugged and sniffled. “My dad is beyond awesome, so I didn’t really feel like I was missing out on anything while growing up. And Hannah, Allegra’s mom, was always there if I had questions about girl stuff.”
“My mom will be happy as fuck to help you with women shit.” I had no doubt she was going to be on my dad’s ass to come b
ack earlier than planned. “She and my dad left for a two-month long road trip a few weeks ago, but it was mostly an excuse to visit my brother at college. My dad is going to razz her so hard for not being here when I met you. She’s been dying for one of us to finally find our mates and give her grandbabies.”
“Grandbabies?” she echoed, eyes going wide. “I feel like I should remind you—again—that we met maybe an hour ago.”
“I know down to the minute when I first laid eyes on you, baby.” I grinned at the dreamy sigh that nickname puffed from her lips. “I wish like fuck that there were a lot more of them, but I can’t change that. All I can do is make the most of the time we have now, while keeping in mind that this is all new to you. We’ll move at whatever pace works for you”—even if it fucking killed me—“and I’ll warn my mom to lay off on talking about babies until you’re ready for it.”
“I—What—Ugh!” She let out a growl that was worthy of any she-wolf and whirled away from me. “Are matings always like this?”
I wasn’t sure what about my promise had set her off when I’d thought it was going to help. “Like what?”
She threw her hands up in the air. “I was freaking out about you mentioning babies so soon. Then you offered to let our relationship go at my speed and have your mom back off, and I felt the strangest sense of disappointment. As though going slow was somehow...wrong.”
I prowled over to her and slid a palm down her back, pressing her chest against mine. “What you’re feeling is the power of fated mates. There’s bound to be some inner conflict when your soul knows you were born to be mine, and your mind is trying to catch up because it's outside your realm of experience.”
“I guess that makes sense.” She wrapped her arms around my body and dropped her head against my chest. “Maybe it’ll help if I knew more about what usually happens with fated mates.”
“Sure, baby. Whatever you need.” I led her back over to the couch and got us comfortable again with her on my lap. “Shifters can recognize their mate at first sight or smell.”
She turned her head to sniff her shoulder. “Is that your subtle way of trying to tell me I smell?”
“Only like the best thing I’ve ever smelled.” I buried my nose in her neck and inhaled deeply, her delicious scent filling my lungs and giving my wolf the first sense of peace he’d had since she talked about going back to her campus. “It’s the biggest fucking turn-on for me.”
Larissa wiggled on my lap, gasping when my cock pressed against her ass. A pretty pink blush filled her cheeks. “Yeah, I kind of noticed.”
“Only kind of?” I growled, shifting my hips up.
“Definitely more than kind of,” she confirmed with a giggle. “Since that would be difficult to miss.”
I maneuvered her to the left when she started to wiggle again. When my cock nestled between her thighs, she went still, and her scent deepened and turned sweeter. “Fated mates feel a fierce desire for each other. The need is more intense when they first meet, but it never wavers over the years. I’ll always want you. That will never change.”
She tilted her head to the side and smiled shyly at me. “I like the sound of that.”
“I’m glad, baby.” I brushed my lips across her cheek. “Because there are other aspects of mating that are probably going to be more difficult for you to accept.”
Her eyes went wide again. “Like what?”
“A part of the process involves me marking you.” I brushed my fingers down her neck to her shoulder. “While we’re still connected after sex, I’ll bite you here, and it will solidify our connection, making you mine forever.”
“It won’t turn me into a shifter, right?” she asked.
“No, you’ll still be human,” I assured her, “but you’ll age slower and heal faster.”
Her eyes narrowed, but they gleamed with humor. “No super strength, huh?”
“Nope.” I grinned. “But you’ll have me around to kick ass if you ever need it.”
“That works for me.” She winked, and she was so fucking adorable, I almost spread her out on the couch so I could taste every inch of her body. But then she turned serious again. “Will it hurt?”
I shook my head. “I’ve been told it enhances the sexual experience, taking our pleasure to another level.”
“Wow,” she breathed, the scent of her desire filling the room again.
I lowered my head, intending to claim her sweet lips in our first kiss, and wanted to howl in frustration when there was a knock on my door. I wanted nothing more than to ignore the world outside of this room, but my responsibilities as alpha made that impossible. “Sorry, baby,” I whispered before stalking over to the door to flip the lock. I waited until I returned to Larissa before I called out, “Come in!”
The door opened, and two members of my pack walked in. Luke had been working his way up the ranks of the pack ever since he turned eighteen, but his sister was a different story. Her parents had given her pretty much anything she wanted, and she’d grown to expect everyone else to treat her the same. Neither my wolf nor I respected her much, but it wasn’t her presence that bothered me at the moment.
It was a damn good thing my wolf had rubbed up against Larissa and I’d held her on my lap while we talked. Having my scent all over my mate was the only thing stopping me from attacking the unattached male who was too damn close to her even though he’d quickly taken in the situation and remained by the door.
6
Larissa
Twisting on Kace’s lap, I glared at the two people who had interrupted what I had no doubt would’ve been my first kiss if they hadn’t knocked on the darn door. The guy flashed me a welcoming grin, but the girl returned my dirty look with a scowl of her own. A deep growl rumbled up Kace’s chest, and her gaze softened when she focused her attention on him. He stood, taking me with him and setting me on my feet. The quick change in position left me unsteady, and I gripped his arm to regain my balance. When my hand grazed his chest along the way, I realized he was still shirtless, and the girl’s reaction to him took on a whole new meaning. One that had an unexpected surge of jealousy racing through my system.
“Put your shirt on,” I muttered, earning me a chuckle from the guy and another glare from the girl.
Her gaze stayed on Kace as he bent over to grab his shirt off the floor. I stepped in front of him and earned myself another dirty look from her.
“Cut it out,” the guy grunted, elbowing her in the side.
“Shut up, Luke.” She widened her eyes, and she pasted an innocent expression on her face that I didn’t buy. Not even a little bit. “As usual, you don’t know what you’re talking about because I wasn’t doing anything.”
Kace moved to my side after tugging his shirt in place, his arm going around my back. “Don’t try to pull any shit, Heather. I didn’t put up with it before, and I’m not going to start now.”
“And he sure as fuck isn’t going to let you do anything to upset his mate,” Luke added.
“Mate!” Heather shrieked, her gaze raking me up and down before her lips curled up in a snarl. “Wow, the strongest alpha in the region ended up with a human. Fate really fucked you over.”
Kace was across the room with his hand around her neck before I could blink. “I get that you’re still young and trying to figure out your place in my pack, but don’t think for even a second that I’ll hesitate to punish you for the slightest infraction against my mate.”
“I apologize for my sister’s offense.” Luke lowered his chin to his left shoulder, baring his neck to Kace as he stared at the floor. “Too often, Heather speaks before she thinks.”
“It’s a habit she needs to break before it gets her into the kind of trouble she can’t handle,” Kace warned as he released her.
Heather’s hands went to her throat, and she mumbled, “Sorry.”
Kace prowled across the room and wrapped his arm around me again. “Get out of my sight and don’t return to my home until I’ve given you permiss
ion.”
Luke yanked on Heather’s arm and pulled open the door to shove her outside. After he slammed it shut, he turned to face us again. “I’m sorry as well, Alpha. I should’ve known better than to bring her with me when I needed to speak with you about pack business.”
Kace nodded to acknowledge the apology. “What did you need?”
“Tane got a call from his mom. There was a family emergency, and he had to head to New York,” Luke explained. “Before he left, he asked me to complete a task you assigned to him.”
I felt some of the tension leave Kace’s body, and his hold on me eased a little. “He sent you to Stewart?”
“Stewart?” I tilted my head back to look up at Kace’s face.
“Yeah, we’re having some issues with the liquor distributor there. I was pissed as hell at how badly they fucked up our last order, so I sent Zeke over to fix it last night.” He grinned and winked at me. “If it didn’t set the wrong precedent, I’d let them get away with it since the whole mess ended up with Zeke and I finding our mates.”
Luke’s eyes widened. “Damn, it’s too bad your good luck didn’t rub off on me. My trip to Stewart this afternoon was a pain in the ass because Heather wanted to come with me. Finding my mate would’ve made it worth all the trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?” Kace asked.
“The guy at the liquor place wanted to stare at her tits instead of listening to what I had to say, and I couldn’t let him insult my sister like that. So I had to get a little physical with him.”
Kace barely reacted to Luke’s announcement. He just asked, “Will Zeke need to intercede with the Stewart PD on your behalf?”
“Nope, it didn’t go that far,” Luke assured with a shake of his head. “The guy backed down the second I yanked on the collar of his shirt. He sputtered an apology and promised to fix things for the bar.”
Shifted Love: Volume 1 Page 9
