by Lacey Thorn
They crossed the road without incidence. She paused by the tree where she’d wrecked, where Derrick and Cody had rescued her and changed her life forever. She’d always be grateful for that moment. For catching sight of Derrick at the exact moment he shifted. Had she not, would they have walked away? Left her for someone else to find? She liked to think not. She wanted to believe they’d have come for her regardless, being drawn to her by the same thing that had led all four of them to mate her. She held on to the concept of fate bringing them together at the right moment, just as Michael had told her.
She and her father circled around, staying deeper in the woods as he led them toward the back of the property, so they’d approach the cabin from behind. The stench that reached her nose was foul but not overwhelming. Whatever the cause of it, it was dissipating. As they drew closer to the cabin, she took her father’s arm and stepped around him, taking the lead as something tickled her senses.
“What is it?” Her dad had paused beside one of the numerous trees around them, breathing the question as quietly as he could across the distance between them.
“Someone’s here.” A tingle of awareness tickled along her spine. Not just someone. Her voice rose with excitement. She heard her father moving behind her but ignored it as she locked all her senses on the scent tickling her nose. “Cody’s here. It’s Cody, Dad. My mate’s here.”
Before she could say more or even move forward to where her focus was now locked, she was caught from behind with a vicious tug on her hair. Her head snapped back, the power behind the grasp almost taking her feet out from under her.
“I knew you were his mate. Fucking bastard.” The words were hissed behind her. Female. Outraged. “Let’s see how much he cares when it’s his mate getting gutted and left to foul the air.
She lifted her hands, fighting the grip, while her gaze danced around for her father. He was crumpled on the ground. He couldn’t take another hit to his head so close to the first one. She screamed for her mates in her head as she saved her breath for the struggle she was engaged in. She wasn’t certain how the connection worked, but she’d felt them. Maybe, they could feel her, too.
She lost some hair but managed to break free. The gun she’d tucked at the small of her back had fallen free, and she didn’t have time to search for it. As soon as she turned, she knew who’d grabbed her.
“Alisha.”
“I see you’ve heard of me.” The woman shook out her hands, claws shooting from her fingertips. Sharp and deadly. It would be in Jess’ best interest to avoid those at all costs. They definitely explained the burn at her scalp.
“I’ve heard about you. They don’t speak highly of you. I believe Derrick referred to you as a traitor to your own kind.”
That got the other woman’s attention, and she took a step forward as Jess took one back, drawing them both into the opening where they’d be easily seen.
“Derrick is mine. Always has been. Once the rest of them are out of the way, he’ll come around. We’ll be mated as we’re meant to be.”
“And what? Do you seriously believe you’ll have a happily ever after?”
“We’ll be together. I’ll be his priority. He’ll listen to me and do as I want. Pleasing me will be his purpose for existing.”
“Is that how this mating thing is supposed to work? Because I’m telling you, other than the sex, which is mind blowing, they usually manage to piss me off several times a day.”
Jess caught her breath. She had no uncertainty now. They were all there. Cody, Michael, Derrick, and Adrian. She felt them and in doing so, breathed a little easier.
“You mated the wrong one,” Alisha sneered.
“Which one’s the wrong one?” Jess asked, moving another step back, another step away from her father. Another step closer to her mates.
“Your mate. Cody. A white wolf. I’ll take great pleasure is seeing every single one of them wiped out.”
“Why do you hate Cody so much?” Jess wondered aloud. “Because he’s Derrick’s best friend? Because it’s easier to blame Cody for Derrick’s rejection of you than to admit he just doesn’t want you. That there’s something so repulsive about you my mate would rather gnaw off his own arm then wrap it around you?”
“I don’t want your mate,” Alisha screamed.
Jess stepped fully into the clearing and held her arms wide. She still had her knife in the ankle holster, but she thought she was better off following her dad’s plan. She’d rely on her wits for now. Keep Alisha off balance. Keep her talking. While her guys got into place. They were alive. All of them.
“Which mate?” Jess asked again.
Alisha yelled. “Leave it to Cody to mate with a crazy woman. Probably the only woman who’d have him.”
“What about Derrick?”
“Derrick’s mine.”
Jess shook her head, waved her hands. “Take a deeper inhale then. I know you can smell his mark on me.”
“What? What the hell are you talking about?” Alisha demanded.
“I keep asking you which of my mates is the wrong one. Derrick mated me first. Couldn’t keep his hands off me. Still can’t.”
“You’re a lying bitch,” Alisha snarled.
“He’s a powerful lover. And an attentive one. The things he does to me. Well, it’d make me blush to tell you.”
The other woman was more than pissed now. Rage rolled off her.
“Or do you mean Michael? He mated me second. He’s insatiable.”
“You mated two of them?”
“Or Cody. He was third to mate me, and the only one who tried to fight the need for me. Funny that he’d be the one you hated most. But I understand now. He wanted to protect me from hunters and wolves like you.”
Alisha growled, dropping her weight into her thighs and Jess knew she was going to pounce soon.
“Or maybe Adrian. He was the last to take me as a mate. Loving me so thoroughly I passed out for hours afterward.”
“All of them!” The words shrieked from Alisha’s mouth. Horror evident in her gaze.
“Imagine that. Me with four alphas as mates when you can’t even get one to want you. That must really make you question your appeal.”
“I’m going to enjoy ripping your fucking throat out and watching you bleed.”
Alisha flew at her. Jess dropped, reaching for her knife and working to tug it free. A shot rang out. Followed closely by another and another. Alisha’s body hit her hard, taking them both to the ground. Jess shoved and fought to get free. One moment, she was smothered. The next, Alisha was gone, and Michael was there, lifting her to her feet and wrapping around her.
“Michael.”
Cody pulled her away, his gaze and hands moving over her. “Did she get you? Where are you hurt? Are you shot?”
“Alisha’s the one who’s shot.” Adrian squatted by where the other woman lay sprawled, eyes open but sightless.
Jess glanced down at herself. She was covered in blood. “It’s hers. It’s…it’s not mine. I don’t think.” She added the last knowing her rush of adrenaline could be hiding something at present.
Derrick tugged her against him. “You scared ten years off my life.”
“Then you’re still ahead of me,” she told him, told all of them. “Each of you scared that many and more off mine.” She turned, looking at Derrick, seeing the cuts and scrapes that were still visible. “Whose clothes are these?” Because they weren’t his. In fact, Adrian was in different clothes, as well.
“Not so fast,” Michael interrupted. “What the hell are you doing out here when I know Cody and I left you safe and secure at the den with your father?”
“My father!” Shit! How could she have forgotten? She pushed away from Derrick and turned back toward the trees. Her father stood there, propped up by a tree, spent gun dangling at his side.
“I’m all right.” He motioned toward the gun. “Might have use for one of these after all.”
Cody moved toward him. “You’re not look
ing so hot, Professor Mueller.”
“I told you to call me David.” Her dad closed his eyes briefly and blew out a slow, steady breath. “Remember earlier when you asked me about a concussion?”
“Dad?” Jess asked, moving hurriedly toward him.
“That second blow did the job.” With that he bent forward and lost the contents of his stomach. Cody put his arm around him, bracing him so he wouldn’t fall.
“We should take him to a hospital,” she began, but her father cut her off immediately.
“No.”
“We have what we’ll need at the den. He’ll be fine, Jess. I promise,” Cody assured her.
“Let’s go home,” she whispered. Her father needed proper medical care, and she needed to touch her mates, to assure herself they were truly okay. And she needed to know what had caused the extensive bruising and cuts on both Derrick and Adrian.
She found herself flanked by both of them while Michael and Cody followed with her father held between them. She was surrounded by the men she loved. All of them. A little bruised. Hurt but unbroken.
“Wild and free,” she murmured, remembering her dad’s description of how all wolves should be.
“Wild and free,” Adrian repeated. “What’s that mean?”
“It’s how all wolves should be. Wild and free.”
“Sounds nice,” Derrick agreed as he tugged her against him. “Come on, wild one. Let’s go home.”
Epilogue
Colorado, USA
“Quite the cabin your dad had built here,” Derrick murmured at Jess’ ear as he joined her outside. There was something about the evening sky in Colorado that soothed the soul. Especially with nothing but nature around them.
She laughed as she took in the large home she’d brought them to. Her father had made sure it blended with the woods he’d had it constructed in. It had been important to enhance the surroundings and not overwhelm them. It was definitely more than a cabin, though. It was a fortress in the woods. Built with the hope she’d find her dream. And she had. She glanced at one of her mates. Only reality was so much more than she’d ever expected.
“Cody still inside?” she asked.
“Mm-hmm,” Derrick replied. “Going over the supplies in the lab. Making sure we have anything and everything we might need for your friend and her mate.”
“We don’t know that they’ve mated,” Jess reminded him, but he merely grinned.
“My bet’s on the lion man.”
She blew out a breath as she took it all in. Some days, it felt as if it was only yesterday her path had crossed with Derrick and Cody’s. Some days, it felt as if they’d always been in her life. Either way, she counted her blessings. She’d been gifted with four amazing mates, who loved and cherished her. Who protected her every day of their lives. She was a lucky woman. Now, if the fates allowed, her best friend, Abby, would have the same thing.
“She found her dream.”
“She did,” Derrick agreed. His phone rang before they could say more. He answered and put it on speaker so she could hear, as well.
“Michael,” she breathed.
“Everything’s taken care of. We’ll be there in a few days.”
“Thank god,” Jess breathed, releasing tension she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “Adrian?”
“I’m here, baby. We’re good. No one’s hurt, and we’ll be back with you in a few days.”
“I love you,” she whispered as Derrick’s arm went around her.
“Love you, baby,” Adrian replied.
“Love you,” Michael assured her.
She hated being apart from any of her mates, but she’d come to understand brief separations were sometimes required. She was always with two of them. They’d been adamant about that since Alisha’s attack. She’d worried she might feel overwhelmed or smothered, but she felt anything but that. They loved her and it showed in everything they did.
She listened as Derrick went over the travel plans with Michael and Adrian. They were still fighting for survival. Not just from hunters, which she’d learned more about, but from the wolf purists who bred discord among the packs. She and her mates had a long battle before them with no immediate end in sight. But they were together and as prepared as they could be for what lay ahead of them.
“Come on, wild one,” Derrick urged, turning her and heading back toward the house. “Let’s go find Cody and get something to eat. Your friend should be here tomorrow. We need to go over everything in the kitchen, too. Make sure we didn’t forget anything we might need.”
Jess nodded, leaning into him.
“They’ll be fine, Jess. I swear.”
“She worrying again?” Cody asked as he stepped out on the porch.
She laughed. Her mates knew her well. Then her gaze caught on his movements as he shed clothes.
“What are you doing?” she asked then laughed again when Derrick stepped aside and followed suit. “What are you two doing?”
“You know what sounds fun?” Cody questioned as he strode toward her naked. The moon caressed his skin as she planned to let her hands do soon.
“Sex?” she offered.
Derrick laughed at that. “I like the way you think, but I suspect Cody has something else in mind first.”
Cody caught her around the waist and pulled her close while Derrick stepped up behind her. They were both naked now, and she felt completely overdressed between them.
“For just a little bit, let’s be the way natured intended,” Cody urged.
“Wild and free,” Derrick whispered at her ear before tugging her earlobe with his teeth. “Let’s be wild and free.”
Moving away, they shifted before her eyes. Skin replaced fur. They were still incredibly sexy. They raced each other around the open yard, tumbling together and obviously having fun. These were the moments that reminded her what they were fighting for. On a more personal level. It wasn’t only about them, but sometimes, it had to be.
Throwing caution to the wind, she stripped to her skin and ran around the yard with them, howling at the moon. For just a little bit, she’d be as wild as her mates. Or as they were found of saying, she’d be their wild one.
Want to know what happens with Abby Lane and her lion? You can find more of the Awakening Pride at laceythorn.com
Thank You!
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About the Author
Lacey is a hyper blonde, bouncing through life with her magical bracelets of positivity. A die-hard gamer (she refuses to call it an addiction), she resides in Oklahoma, mom to three awesome children, one mini goldendoodle, and a black cat. She has a passion for life and romance. She writes possessive, alpha heroes who demand everything from the women they love. Her stories reflect her strong family ties, friendships that showcase how some family consists of those we choose, and a goofy sense of humor that helps keep her laughing through all life’s ups and downs.
She loves to chat with anyone and often does to the annoyance of her children who are always in a hurry. If you want to talk books, television, movies, actors, World of Warcraft, prepping for the zombie apocalypse, or music (she loves music!), drop her a line at [email protected].
Lacey’s Booklist
Awakening Pride Series
Their Wild One (Prequel)
Waking the Beast
Tempting the Tiger
Freeing the Feline
&
nbsp; Saving the Beast
A Jaguar's Touch
The Liger's Mark
Unleashing the Beast
Eyes on the Pride
Cry of the Pride
Awakening Pride: The Holloways
His to Bear (comes between The Liger's Mark and Unleashing the Beast)
Claimed by the Grizzly
Rumble and Growl
Kodiak’s Heart
James Pack Series
Alpha's Unwilling Mate
Beta's Virgin Bride
Wolf’s Wild Woman
Pleasures Series
The Greyson Sisters Trilogy:
Cuffed for Pleasure
Heated for Pleasure
SEALed for Pleasure
Pleasures Anthology: The Greyson Sisters
The Angel Investigations Trilogy
Guarded for Pleasure
Roped for Pleasure
Arranged for Pleasure
Pleasures Anthology: Angel Investigations
The Foster Sisters Trilogy
Cured by Pleasure
Faithful in Pleasure
Agents of Pleasure
Pleasures Anthology: The Foster Sisters (coming soon)
Stand Alone Pleasures Stories
Bewitched for Pleasure (coming 10/19)
Hammered with Pleasure (coming 11/19)
Knight's Watch Series
Prequel: Beautiful Dreamer
Jagged Hearts
Craving Sin
The Billionaire’s Knight
Something More Series (Previously Girls Night Out Series)
More Than One Night (Previously Jack's Dee-Light)
More Than Friends (Previously What Friends Are For)
More Than I Do (Previously Marital Bliss)
Bare Love Series
His Bare Obsession
Bare Confessions
Bare Seduction
Stand Alone Books
Chaps and Lace
Finding Home
Grave Magic
Santa Maybe
One Good Man
