Hearts Unleashed: A Limited Edition Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Collection

by C. D. Gorri

  “We have a lot of space here at the house,” he promised after chewing his food. He had manners, and she wondered where his parents were. Were they deceased like hers? “However, I don’t mind if there are couples who would like to have their own place. We have five hundred acres here. There is room for the pride to build their own cabins. I don’t mind either way.”

  “Five hundred acres?” Sora asked with wide eyes. “That’s a lot of space to run.”

  “How large was your pride?” he asked, softening his voice. Maverick had been nothing but kind ever since she’d contacted him after the sickness destroyed her pride. Remembering Packwood brought a tear to her eye, but she remembered where she was and straightened her shoulders. “Sora?”

  “I’m fine…I’m sorry.” She cleared her throat. “We only had a hundred acres.”

  “And you still own that land?”

  “I do,” she nodded. “It was legally given to me after my father, the alpha, passed. I had to contact a human to help me get his death certificate and a lawyer who was a friend to our pride to have the estate moved into my name. Right now, it’s for sale.”

  “If you’re done with your meal, would you like to finish this discussion in my office?” Maverick saw the agony on her face, and Sora was thankful for his distraction.

  “I’d rather not relive that during evening meal,” she whispered.

  Maverick waited until she gathered her utensils and stood, handing her plate to Mabel. Sora thanked her again, and turned to check on Gran. She was deep in conversation with another female her age. She was waved off by her grandmother when asked if she was ready to return to her room.

  “I will be in my office if anyone needs me,” Maverick stated as he stood from the head of the table. Everyone said their goodbyes in their own ways; some with a wave, some with a round of promises to see him tomorrow. He nodded and turned toward her. “Sora?”

  “I’m ready,” she replied, following him out into the large living room with beautiful décor. She hadn’t really had much time to take in the beauty of the mansion, even though Maverick called it a house. It was much more than a house.

  Everything was decorated in whites and grays. Every so often, there would be a soft splash of maroons in a few paintings displayed on walls. She liked the modern look a lot more than she did her old home. They were an old, but small, pride. Her father…alpha’s home was large, but nothing in comparison.

  “Would you like something to drink?” he asked as they entered his office. It was three times the size of her cabin at her old pride, and the floor to ceiling windows opened it up for natural light. She loved it in there.

  “No, thank you,” she answered and took a seat in front of his desk.

  “I’m sorry for your loss, and I shouldn’t have asked you personal details in front of the others,” he apologized.

  “My old home is my old home, Maverick,” she stated as he leaned against the corner of his desk instead of taking a seat at it. “When I arrived with my Gran, I knew this was going to be my forever pride. I just didn’t know that I would find my mate in the alpha I’d spoken to for the past ten days.”

  “I had no idea you were my mate, either, Sora,” he reminded her. “You’ve thrown me out of whack.” He followed that up with a soft chuckle that went straight to her hormones. She’d really only seen him in his alpha nature. The side he just slipped was sexy, and she felt a little hot from it, too.

  “Your scent,” she pointed out. “It’s stronger in here.”

  “If you think it’s strong here, you should come to my quarters,” he replied, flashing a canine as he spoke. He was aroused, too. She saw the rather large bulge forming behind the button fly of his jeans.

  “Maverick,” she panicked and stood, scenting the air…no, her cougar was scenting the air, urging her toward him. “My animal…she wants you. I know you can scent me.”

  “Your arousal has already been programmed to my mind, Sora.”

  “Fuck,” she whispered. Knowing this wasn’t a great idea, she changed the subject. “I thought we were going to talk about my pride land in Washington?”

  “Right,” Maverick agreed after clearing his throat. He stood from where he was leaning against his desk and walked around it so he could take his seat. “Please, sit.”

  Sora didn’t know what was going to hurt worse; denying Maverick or remembering her past. Both were painful choices for different reasons, but she wanted to be open and honest with him before they made a decision to touch.

  Chapter Ten

  Maverick could feel her pain over the scent of her arousal. The scent he’d come to know better than his own was vanishing from the room as she thought about her old life and family.

  “I don’t want you to feel pressured into telling me anything,” he began. “Whatever you tell me in this office will stay in this office unless it is a threat to me, you, or our pride.”

  “There are no threats coming for you, I promise,” she answered with a heavy sigh.

  She looked different than she had when she arrived. Instead of hiding behind her hoodies, Sora had dressed in a casual cardigan over a very tight tank top. He had to keep his eyes on hers or they would’ve fallen to her large breasts. As hard as it was, he kept his manners.

  “The land is for sale,” she began. “I don’t want to be there, and I don’t want to go back until I have to close on the sale. I brought Gran here to live out the rest of her life with me and a new pride. I didn’t know how to run a pride, because I was never taught. My father made me suppress my powers, and I honestly don’t know how to make them work after all these years. Inside me, I know I’m an alpha, but my cougar and my mind just won’t accept it.”

  “I’m so sorry, Sora,” Maverick replied, feeling the urge to kill her father if he had still been alive. “There are still alphas who believe their pride should go to a male heir. I don’t agree. There are a few female led prides in the world, and they are growing as the times change. You should’ve been taught how to use your powers. I am sorry you lost your pride family, but there is a reason you found us and moved here at my urging. I believe in fate, Sora, and maybe the gods sent you here for a reason.”

  “You think they sent me here so we could find each other?” she pressed.

  “And so I could teach you how to use your alpha powers,” he added. She frowned for a moment, lost in her thoughts. He stayed quiet while he watched her process everything in her mind. The little “v” that formed between her eyes was endearing, and he wanted to rub it with his thumb, but he couldn’t.

  “I can’t even feel my alpha powers,” she huffed. “Are you sure you want to take on my past?”

  “No, I want to teach you your future, Sora,” he corrected.

  “I would like that, Maverick,” she agreed. He loved hearing his given name fall from her lips. She wasn’t afraid to use it, and that turned him on more than anything.

  “Are you up for a shift tonight?” he asked, knowing it was getting late.

  “You’ve had a long day,” she smirked. “Are you up for it?”

  “Sora, I’m up for anything as long as you are involved,” he flirted, standing from his seat. He enjoyed the slight blush to the tops of her cheeks and the flash of gold in her eyes from her cougar, but he needed to be serious for a moment. “Before we leave this office, I just want to remind you that you can talk to me if you have any questions during the sale of your old pride land. I’ll help you if you need it.”

  “That’s very kind of you,” she replied. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Shall we go outside?” he offered, holding out his hand toward the door. Sora walked ahead of him, and he followed her out the door.

  Once outside, they passed the pool where a few of the pride were swimming. It wouldn’t be long before it would be too cold out for that and the pool would need to be covered.

  “Follow me,” he said as he passed her, pulling his shirt off as he walked. “We have a place to put your clothes ove
r here.”

  He showed her the covered rows of lockers he’d had installed just on the other side of the wall after passing the pool and a play area for the children. He kept his eyes diverted from Sora as she stripped off her clothes. Usually, there was no problem with nudity in his pride, but because she was new, and his mate, he wanted to show her a bit of respect until she was more comfortable.

  “Stay with me,” he ordered over his shoulder. “We will probably run further than you and your Gran did on her shift. I want to show you some places on our land that I love.”

  Her reply was a snarl from her cougar, and he dropped his pants, shifting without putting his clothes away. The sight of her animal sent his into a frenzy. It wanted to play with his mate…it wanted to touch her, too. Maverick pushed at his cougar’s mind, and forced his power to remind it to behave. There would be time for touching later.

  His animal huffed and took off at a fast pace into the woods behind his home, listening for Sora’s cougar behind him. They ran for a while, stopping as the sun was casting the last of its rays on the horizon. The orange and red light filtered into a small clearing, pausing both of them. She sniffed the ground and Maverick saw her beautiful tan coloring and perfect markings of a female cougar shifter. He couldn’t decide which was more beautiful; her human body or her cougar’s.

  He waited until she was done and hurried off to the next spot. He often went to the waterfall when the moon was full to swim and have some time to himself. The other pride members played there as well, but they stayed away whenever he was out running his lands. He’d never told anyone to stay away. The pride knew he needed some time, and he was sure they had felt it during dinner. He’d wanted to be alone with Sora since he first laid eyes on her, and taking the female to his favorite place was top on the list of firsts he wanted to have with his future mate.

  As the moon crested the trees, it guided his cougar along the trail the pride had made to the small lake. The waterfall was full even though it hadn’t rained in a few days. The rush of water was only twenty feet above the tiny lake, but it was still calming.

  Maverick didn’t waste any time jumping right into the water, shifting back to his human side as he breached the surface. Sora was still in her animal form, her eyes watching the waterfall.

  “You should swim with me,” he called out, startling her cougar. “I promise to stay over here.”

  She didn’t hesitate, jumping into the water, but she didn’t shift just yet. He watched her cougar splash and swim around the edge of the water, taking a moment to duck under the waterfall. He was expecting Sora to stay in her animal form, but was surprised when she swam straight through it as her human self.

  “This is a beautiful spot,” she offered as she swam closer. “Is this where you go when you need some space?”

  “How did you know?” he laughed, tossing his head back. Gods, it felt good to let himself go free with her. He’d waited long enough to find his mate, and there she was across the small pond, naked and wet. She could read him like a book.

  “I could see the joy it brought you when you asked me to swim with you.” She shrugged and swam a little closer. “You need time for yourself, Mav.”

  She gave him a nickname, still refusing to call him by his title of alpha. He liked the nickname better.

  “I do take time for myself,” he replied. “It’s just not very often I have the chance to come out here.”

  “I like it here,” she hummed before swimming away. “It’s peaceful.”

  He watched as Sora ducked below the water, coming up in a different spot than before. Each time she resurfaced; he could see just the swells of her breasts. She kept her body hidden from him, and even though nudity was a normal thing in the pride, it meant something different when you were with your mate.

  Maverick couldn’t stand the pressure of her carefree attitude and dove in when he knew she was far enough away they wouldn’t accidentally touch. As with most males, when they found their mate, they were respectful enough to wait for them to agree to the touch. Sometimes, it didn’t work that way. His Guardian, Vance, had bumped into his mate and once their skin touched, it was an instant desire for the mating. They’d been deeply in love ever since.

  He wanted that type of connection.

  And he wanted it with Sora.

  Chapter Eleven

  Sora showered and took a seat on the edge of her bed, remembering the early evening run with Maverick. It was everything she wanted with a male, and seeing him laugh and play made it even more special.

  Her stomach tightened, thinking of him. Her arousal was a strong scent in the air, and she prayed it didn’t reach her Gran’s door across the hall. She would die of embarrassment if Gran thought her and the alpha were in her room, finally mating.

  The thought of his strong arms around her made it worse. Hell, she could still scent him. She had to admit to herself that his mating scent was stuck in her mind, too. All she wanted, and her cougar wanted, was to touch him…mate him.

  She grabbed a soft, cotton dress and pulled it over her still wet hair and opened her door. Padding softly down the stairs, she was relieved there were no pride members in the main living room when she passed it to head down the hallway toward his office. When she found the door open and the room empty, she continued down the hallway to a private flight of stairs leading to his quarters.

  Sora didn’t have to wonder if he would be mad she’d come to his private room, because as soon as her bare foot hit the first step, the door at the top of the landing opened and Maverick stood there, wearing a pair of basketball shorts and nothing else.

  “Sora,” he whispered.

  “Maverick,” she replied.

  “Come to me,” he ordered, holding out his hand. “I can’t be without you any longer, Sora.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that,” she sighed and took the steps at a steady pace. The closer she got to him, the stronger their mating scents became. He took a step back when she reached him.

  “Is that what you want?” he asked. Maverick’s body swelled, and she saw his cock straining the material of his shorts. He wanted her just as badly.

  “I want you,” she replied, and stepped into his space.

  She reached for him at the same time he raised his hands to cup her face. The moment they touched, their bodies jolted from the magical connection of a mating, and their cougars made themselves known. His eyes changed to the golden color of his animal, and she felt her canines thicken in her mouth.

  When his lips crashed down on hers, Sora licked across his rough tongue. She’d never been with a male, but her cougar knew exactly what to do, where to place her hands, and what needed to be done to make their mating complete.

  “I want to feel your bite,” she announced, nipping at his bottom lip.

  “Sora,” he breathed, grabbing her hips and hoisting her so she could wrap her legs around his body. The more their skin touched, the stronger the magic swirled around them. It was so intense, she wanted to cry, but she wouldn’t. “Your touch is strong, and magical. You are my true mate.”

  “And you are mine,” she said, taking his lips again.

  “I will mate you as our kind does, but I want to make love to you for the rest of eternity,” he vowed, turning for his quarters. She rested her forehead against his neck as he walked, carrying her to his bed. As he set her down, he lifted the dress and pulled it from her body, growling low in his throat when he saw she was naked underneath. “You are beautiful.”

  She leaned back as he climbed over her, pulling at his shorts as he came closer. The soft, plush covering of the bed enveloped her as he rubbed his cock against her core. “You’re soaking wet, my mate.”

  “For you,” she replied, reaching for his erection.

  He kissed her with deep need, cupping one of her breasts. He released her lips and used his partially shifted tongue to swipe across her nipple. The sensations were almost too much for her. There was a heaviness building between her legs,
and her animal wanted to demand he mount her.

  Her hand worked his cock, slowly but with a firm hand. He groaned in her ear, nipping the lobe with one of his canine teeth. “Mount me, please.”

  “Patience, my sweet mate,” he urged, pulling his cock free from her hand. “I’ve wanted to taste this sweet pussy since the first time I scented your arousal.”

  Her eyes widened as he moved between her legs, pushing them out as far as they’d go to fit his wide shoulders. The first time he lapped at her wetness, she bucked and thrashed, holding on to the covers with tightened fists. “Oh, Mav.”

  He didn’t answer her in the form of words, but he did in the way he pressed his face harder against her core. She made a strangled noise when he would pay extra attention to her clit, swirling his tongue around it…just teasing it enough to bring her closer to a climax she’d only known from her own hand.

  “Please, mount me,” she begged again.

  “On your hands and knees, Sora,” he demanded, kissing her pussy before backing away to push her over to her belly. She didn’t have to get into position, because he did it for her, grabbing her hips and pulling her up.

  She knew from years of being told about matings from other females in her pride, to allow her mate to take her from behind. He would lead their mating from there. It was a trust that only should be given to the true mate gifted to you by the gods.

  His cock touched her body, and she stiffened, but he ran his free hand slowly up her back, leaving a trail of warmth behind.

  “Do you accept me as your mate, Sora?” he asked…no, begged. His voice cracked as the words fell from his mouth. He wanted this as much as she did.

  After their evening together, she was certain, as was her animal, that Maverick Quinn was to be her mate…her everything. Being an alpha herself didn’t matter anymore. She wanted to make a union with him and live at the pride.

  “Yes, Maverick,” she replied.

  His hand pressed to the back of her head, holding her down as he breached her body. The yelp she produced from the pinch of pain was muffled by the covers on the bed. She turned her head to the side as he stilled. His body quivered, shaking from the need to complete their mating.