Things had been strained in the house since Layla’s return. I had considered blowing off work the next day, but I couldn’t do that to my employees. I knew they would worry too much and that was enough to have me getting up and going in early. I had even beat Ryan there because I simply didn’t want to be under the same roof as my mother.
I was sporting a bright red handprint across my face that makeup hadn’t fully covered. When Michelle saw it, she was livid, and it had taken a lot of convincing to stop her from
stalking across the street and giving Mother a piece of her mind.
“I’m fine and she isn’t worth it,” I’d lied.
I knew Michelle needed the job and there was no doubt in my mind that Layla would fire her on the spot if she spoke up or caused trouble.
Sage didn’t return after school and when things died down early again, I didn’t dare close even a seco
The small café was directly across from the address I’d procured for the hacker. It was perfect. I was able to get us a booth next to the large picture window with a clear view of the house.I knew the second I saw it that I had been right. I was dealing with an amateur hacker and nothing more.Leslie was too busy chatting it up with the exotic looking waitress. She had long platinum colored hair and the most unique eyes I’d ever seen, one blue and one green. She seemed sweet and I’d already ignored two hints from Leslie of her approval. I knew she could sense the girl was a shifter too. That would only add to my Leslie’s excitement.I told her constantly that she was little more than a dog with a bone when she had her mind set on something. Unfortunately for me, that something was set on me finding a mate and settling down.I looked down at the menu and placed my breakfast order. It took a while
“The school called. It’s Sage,” Ryan whispered to me.I was so single-mindedly focused on the sexy man before me that it almost didn’t register what he said.“What?” I asked.“It’s Sage. The school called and she’s sick and needs to be picked up. They can’t reach your mother.”Sage was sick? She was a wolf shifter. We didn’t get sick. My fear for her trumped the ridiculous pull I felt towards the man at table five.“I need to go.”I turned and ran to the kitchen.“I already heard. I called Michelle and she’s coming in early to help prep for lunch. Things are already settling down here. Go. We’ve got your back,” Candace assured me.I hugged her quickly. “Thank you.”I didn’t look back as I ran out the rear door of the café and to my car in the parking lot.I was a mess a
I was distracted and irritable. If I were being honest with myself, it had absolutely nothing to do with the mission. I could care less about the punk in the house across the street. All I could think about was the girl.Long brown hair, big brown eyes that might be just a little too big for her face, and legs for miles. She was only a few inches shorter than me, but in heels, I’d be willing to bet we would be eye level.Mate! the voice in my head said again.I’d all but forgotten about the woman on the street that had first caught my attention. All I could obsessively think of was the waitress.We’d finished our breakfast and ordered another round of drinks. Leslie pulled out her knitting bag and started working on a new project as she quietly sat across the booth from me.I stared out the window at the house, but I wasn’t really seeing it. I knew there had been someone there off and on,
I had been hovering around the cash register as I needed to take a full count of petty cash and how much was in the drawer for the day. I had the uneasy feeling that Layla would show up at some point and demand to take it all.I’d already had to place several calls to my lawyer, and another to the bank authorizing a transaction to cover the back mortgage owed. I wasn’t happy about it but there was no way I was going to let my sisters go homeless because of her selfishness. Layla clearly had a problem. I didn’t know what to do to get her help, but I was going to talk to our local council about it soon.The council was a team of wolf shifters that oversaw shifter politics and disputes that otherwise couldn’t be dealt with in human courts. I hoped they would be able to get her the help she clearly needed.“Go take a break,” I told Courtney.Now that the rush was over, I could get to work on my task so I could
What just happened?My head was spinning. If she hadn’t slowed things down between us I knew I would have taken her right there. I had never wanted anyone the way I wanted Jasmine. To think I’d only known her a few hours was insane.It felt as if I’d known her my entire life. My body was so in sync with hers it was crazy.I suddenly understood why my brothers had gone insane when finding their mates. My wolf was already on edge and making me uncomfortable in my own skin with her out of our sight.I didn’t want to leave her side, but I knew she had work to do. A small part of my brain registered that she had mentioned selling the café, but I wasn’t in a place to be able to understand what that could mean. It was no more than a nagging point in the back of my mind.I liked her sister. Sage was quick witted and unique. I hoped she could meet Kelsey someday and understand that she wasn&r
Tom looked as if he were about to burst. He was angry and upset. It was weird that I knew that with such certainty. My hands started to shake, and fear griped me, not for me, but for him.I called Michelle over to finish checking out the man I was talking to. He was a regular, but I couldn’t even remember his name in that motherent. It didn’t matter.I walked over and instinctively touched Tom. When he flinched away, it felt like my heart shattered.The logical part of my brain reminded me that we didn’t know each other, and I shouldn’t care or feel hurt at his rejection, but my heart wasn’t listening to that rational argument.“We need to talk, now,” he said in a strained voice.I didn’t argue with him. I didn’t even say a word to anyone or ensure someone covered my tables. Nope, nothing. When he turned and walked back outside, I followed.“What’s wrong?&r
Pride filled me as I watched from just outside. Jasmine stood up for herself. From the way her mother had spoken of her and what little I now knew about her story, I gathered this was a big motherent.She walked out with her head held high and turned away from me to walk to her car. I ran around the other side of the building so not to interrupt her motherent by following her in the big picture window.I found her sobbing next to her car. I dropped my things and pulled her into my arms. We stood there for a while as she cried, and I held her.A few sniffles and she was stiffening and pulling away. I hated it, but I had to let her go.“Are you okay to drive?” I asked.She nodded.“I’ll follow you. Do you know how to get to the hotel?” She nodded again.I desperately wanted to hear her voice, but it had been a long, overwhelming and emotional day for us both. In that motherent I would ha
My head was swimming, and I couldn’t remember how we’d gotten into this position. Wasn’t I sitting several feet away? Everything was so fuzzy now. All I knew without a doubt was that his kisses were the best sexual experience I’d ever had. I never wanted to stop kissing him.The more we kissed the more I ached for him. It was complete insanity.I was straddling him now, rubbing myself shamelessly against his hard rod. I should have been mortified with my actions and the need I felt for him, but I wasn’t. This was my mate and I felt alive and powerful. There was no room for embarrassment.In the few experiences I’d had in the past, I’d been a meek partner in bed. Vanilla, someone had once called me.I didn’t feel vanilla now.Tom had awakened some sort of greedy sensual beast within me. It felt much like a hunt when in my fur. He was my prey and I had him firmly in my sights.
I thought when I bonded with Jasmine that we were complete, somehow, I had been wrong. I don’t know why we waited to introduce our wolfes, but somehow that had made a world of difference. I felt whole now, stronger somehow and closer to my mate than ever.We’d gotten back from a short mission where the only real excitement had been the cat Alex had rescued, and insisted on bringing back home. Who knew the big person had such a soft spot? He was now a proud, crazy, cat owner.On the drive back from the airfield he’d made us stop off at a pet store where he bought everything he could think of that the damn cat might need. I was convinced that he had lost his mind, and we were getting close to needing to do an intervention. He was the last single person on the team, and I feared that was weighing on him more than he let on.Then, when we got back to the Lodge, all hell broke loose. The second we stepped out of the vehicles we w
I’d had some weird dreams and didn’t know what to make of them. I awoke with a sense of doom lingering in the air.I rolled over in bed and hit a brick wall.“ Tom?” I asked. “You’re back?”He was already awake and staring at me with a look of utter confusion on his face. “Uh, okay. You don’t remember?”He looked truly horrified. I had to pee badly though, so I climbed over him then froze halfway.He had a heated look in his eyes, and it brought back vivid memories from my dream.His hands found my hips and I gasped. My hand flew to my mouth. “Did I seduce you in my sleep?” I blurted out.My cheeks were on fire with embarrassment as I recalled just how aggressive and turned on I’d been. It had felt like a dream. And then we’d talked, and I had gotten upset and rolled over and went to bed angry.I groaned and covered m
When Alex changed our plans and sent us on an emergency mission, I was not pleased. Jasmine had been gone when I went home to tell her. I was a little grateful for it. I hadn’t called her because of that. Instead, I’d left a stupid note. I did feel bad for that.I’d never had to worry about anyone else before. As a courtesy I would call Leslie to let her know when I got called out on a mission. Mostly that was just because I knew she’d give me shit if I didn’t. I hadn’t called her this time either.I had thought the mission was taking us back to Colorado bear country to extract Sonnet, but this one wasn’t about that. The team was being sent down to New Mexico to rendezvous with Echo team.Alex hadn’t come with us. He was acting a little stranger than usual and was determined to have a clean extraction. He was working closely with Jake and being hush-hush on why we were being delayed. The rest of
I woke up all alone in a strange bed in a room I didn’t recognize at first. The only thing familiar at all to me was the intoxicating scent of my mate.“ Tom?” I called out but I could tell he wasn’t there. He’s left without even saying a word.I sat up with a huff.Feeling the call of nature, I jumped out of bed and ran for the bathroom. While there I went ahead and jumped in the shower trying to wash away some of the fears I had as the reality of my situation was starting to sink in.I’d mated a man I didn’t know. I’d sold my business and currently my only source of income. I’d uprooted my sisters and dragged them down this rabbit hole with me. I gulped. I lived with a very large pack of wolves. There had to be hundreds of them if not thousands.My head felt like it had been in a haze since the motherent Tom walked into my life.That veil was slowly lifti
The drive back to San Marco was just as stressful as the drive to Womack. Leslie still wanted to stop every hour to stretch and pee. I even tried banning liquids and that woman still had to pee. I suspected she was doing it just to drive me insane.With three cars our caravan ran at a slower pace than I normally would have driven by myself. We had five drivers to rotate between them, so it wasn’t too bad. Leslie had even taken turns riding in each vehicle.“I just want to get to know my new granddaughters is all,” she insisted.I loved that she was already accepting them into our little family pack. It meant a lot to me, but I suspected it meant a great deal to her too.It was late afternoon before Jasmine finally took a break from behind the wheel and road shotgun with me. I held her hand grateful for a few minutes alone with my mate. I’d missed her even if I did see her at every single stop Leslie insisted on.We were making good
We had no idea where we were going or what to expect. My car was largely packed with all of my stuff. We still had Sapphire’s car to fill with her stuff. Sage’s would have to be dispersed between the three vehicles. Not wanting to pay for a moving truck we all agreed to stop and buy air mattresses. We weren’t going to take any of the furniture or big stuff. Only necessities and important personal items.That proved easier said than done. While I had never really had much, Mother had spoiled the other girls with an over abundance of clothes, shoes, and well, stuff.“If I’m being honest, I don’t even like this stuff. Can I just pick out the things I actually want to wear and just start over buying what I need when I need it and can afford to do so?” Sapphire asked. “I mean look at these?”She pulled on an orange, yellow, and green dress that had the gypsy appeal our mother loved. She fancied herse
“ Tom,” I said as I answered the mobile.“Well at least you’re still alive. We just got back, and I figured I’d check in since I hadn’t heard anything. I’m assuming no news is good news?” Alex asked.“Yup. All good on this end. How was the mission?” “In and out, nothing exciting. Yours too?”I almost smiled. Mine was far from boring.“I identified our attacker.” For some reason I didn’t want to share the fact that she had been my mate, at least not yet.“So he’s been dealt with?”“She, actually.”“Oh really?” he asked, suddenly sounding interested. “Tell me.”“Shifter. She’s looking for her sister. I’m going to need to put an inquiry out on one Sonnet— hold on.” I covered the receiver with my hand even knowing Alex would st
I wasn’t opposed to going with Tom. Despite what he had tried to say, I knew what I had done when I tied myself to him. For me to believe otherwise would take time and examples. Layla had always warned me about it. “Don’t give away your soul and body to a man. Bonding it forever, Jasmine,” she would say.I had done it in a motherent of passion, but Tom appeared to be a good man and for some reason I had no regrets. Logically, I thought I should, but I didn’t.Tom motioned for Sapphire to come back over.“Check please,” he said.“No,” she said.“Look, I need to talk to your sister and not here in the open,” he said as if I weren’t sitting right there between them.“Did you realize you handed me over $800 yesterday?” Sapphire asked him.“I am and you aren’t giving it back.”“ Tom, that&
I awoke to an empty bed. I had reached for my mate with a huge smile on my face, but the bed was cold beside me.I was on full alert as I jumped up from bed and checked the bathroom for her. It was empty. I swept the room for any signs of Jasmine. The only thing I found to show that she had even been there at all, was one shoe peeking out from under the bed. Well, that and the mark she had left on my neck when we had sealed our bond.My heart ached and I was finding it hard to breathe.Had she regretted binding herself to me? Anger erupted within me. It was too late for regrets. What was done was done. As far as I knew, there was absolutely no way to undo a bond. She was stuck with me whether she liked it or not.Logically I knew my thoughts were merely a firewall protecting my heart. It was failing though. She had already breeched that too. I had to find her.I was trying to think through what I knew about my mate when there wa