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Chapter 53: Mate's Touch
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2022-10-20 14:07:23Related chapters
Destined Mates Series Chapter 54: My Lover's Mate
Noel Hastings loved the feel of the breeze on her cheeks whenever she walked through the woods, enjoying the unbeaten paths of Bull Creek as they explored their surroundings. The wind tugged at her skirt, caressing other parts of her body she left exposed to the elements, like her legs and the upper roundness of her breasts as they pushed out of her low-cut top. She relished in the crunch of the fallen leaves under her feet as she walked, the snap of tiny branches along the trail. Birds flittered from tree to tree, following them on their journey as squirrels chittered away, playing a game of tag among the oaks and pines that stood like sentinels guarding the quiet sanctuary. Noel even spotted a small otter scurrying across the dirt road and back into the brush that covered the landscape. Noel loved Tuesdays, the one day a week Wes Stapleton made sure he avoided Everglades, turning it over to Brianna Hughes to run for the day so he and Noel could have a day to themselves. Noel reached
Last Updated : 2022-10-20Destined Mates Series Chapter 55: My Lover's Mate
Wes sat behind the bar stacking clean highball glasses on top of each other as Toby Keith blared from the jukebox in a thin, metallic whine. Wes sighed. He really needed to get that contraption fixed one of these days. Heaven help him if Toby Keith ever heard how the jukebox made him sound. Wes knew he needed to get a lot of things fixed one day. Unfortunately, one day was too far away and funds were always too low. Everglades had a faithful clientele, being a shifter bar and all, but it wasn't busting at the seams with patrons. Enough people came to keep the doors open, but never enough to fix the place up. Still, Everglades couldn't be that much of a dump if the people kept coming in to booze it up. Unless, of course, the booze is just that good, Wes chuckled to himself.Some may consider Everglades to be a dive bar, but to Wes the place meant everything. His life began when he found this structure for the first time. When he first entered Everglades, it was love at first sight. Like
Last Updated : 2022-10-20Destined Mates Series Chapter 56: My Lover's Mate
"He really thought he could just buy the bar and run you off?" Noel asked as she piled empty glasses into a rubber tub. "That takes a lot of balls." She usually stopped by near closing time on her nights off to help Wes close up the place. He always told her she didn't have to come back, that she worked enough, but to her, being with him at work was better than waiting at home alone.Wes picked up another chair, flipped it so the seat set on the top of the table, and reached for the next. "From everything I've heard about this Order of Wardens, they have plenty of balls. And power to boot." He reached for another chair, glad the drama of the day was over, and he could bask in the quietness of the empty bar even if he knew there would be more trouble in the days ahead. Groups, such as the Order of Wardens, didn't go away quietly.As much as Wes loved owning Everglades, closing time remained one of his favorite times of the day. The rustic bar hopped during business hours, and the sharp
Last Updated : 2022-10-20Destined Mates Series Chapter 57: My Lover's Mate
Noel just stared at Jake, unsure of what to say or do. His presence explained the black bear in the woods yesterday, she realized. She knew this day would come eventually, no matter how hard she tried to shove it out of her mind and avoid it. She only hoped that it would be further down the road and not now, that this encounter would come under her control and not as a surprise."Your fiancé?" Wes looked at her, his face a mask of confusion and hurt, which twisted her heart. "You never said… Why didn't you… What the hell, Noel? Now I know why you never wanted to be marked.""Marked?" Jake repeated. "You would really mate with another? You know what the mating call means. I explained the importance to you."With wide eyes, Wes turned his attention to Jake, and Noel wished she had told Wes more. "Mate? You're a shifter?" Wes asked Jake, taking a couple of steps toward him.Jake nodded, his eyes still focused on Noel. "A bear, and Noel grew scared of what might happen when I marked her, s
Last Updated : 2022-10-20Destined Mates Series Chapter 58: My Lover's Mate
Wes' head pounded as if he had spent the night in the bottom of a bottle of his best scotch, and as he stretched, the bottle he forgot he drank fell from the bed, landing on the floor with a loud crack. He rolled over, his body groaning as he did, and stared down at the dark brown bottle. Or rather, at the pile of dark brown bottles. It took a lot of alcohol to get a shifter drunk, and from what he saw on the floor, he drank a lot of alcohol last night. He moaned as he rolled back over, allowing his head to fall into his pillow. His eyes closed as the reasoning behind his night making love to the bottle—bottles—came flooding back to him. Noel.He blew out a breath, trying to release his frustration and pain, but all that just aggravated his head. How could she not have told him she was already destined for another? How could he not have sensed that? Wes felt so stupid. For months, she lived in Bull Creek, even worked at Everglades, and not once had she even hinted that she had ran fr
Last Updated : 2022-10-20Destined Mates Series Chapter 59: My Lover's Mate
Never had the distance between her car and the front door of Everglades felt so far apart. However, the weight of her emotions combined with the idea of facing Wes made every step Noel took seem as if she trudged through quicksand. She didn't know what she would say to him, not after the way he looked at her last night. She spent the entire night, after that, trying to get that image out of her mind, but unable to shake how hurt he appeared. The thought brought her up short as she felt a tight constriction pressing in on her heart, Wes' face once again filling her mind. She didn't blame him for the way he left her last night. He had to feel betrayed, lied to and deceived by the woman who claimed to love him over the past few months. They were lovers, sharing everything except the truth of her past. Bull Creek was good for that. People moved there to keep their secrets and avoid their pasts, to make a fresh start without having to deal with things they weren't ready to handle. That is,
Last Updated : 2022-10-20Destined Mates Series Chapter 60: My Lover's Mate
Thursdays dragged at Everglades, and this one dragged more than any other Wes had endured. While he was used to there being fewer customers on these days, he usually didn't mind as much because it gave him plenty of time to play grab ass with Noel. Any other Thursday, Wes would have been praying for an empty bar, but today, he desperately prayed for Everglades to be full of patrons. The quietness would only make things more awkward with Noel. He had agreed to talk to Jake, but he had no idea what he would say to the man. The entire situation seemed stranger than fiction and Wes didn't do fiction."You look pretty glum." Glancing up, Wes saw Dimitri Everest standing there leaning on the bar. "Aren't bartenders supposed to be chipper?" the alpha of Bull Creek asked.Wes tried to force a smile, but doubted he pulled it off. "Kind of early for you to be here, isn't it? You never struck me as a day drinker.""True, true," Dimitri said, and by the look on his face, Wes could tell the man had
Last Updated : 2022-10-20Destined Mates Series Chapter 61: My Lover's Mate
Noel pulled into a parking spot in downtown Melbourne, roughly thirty miles east of Bull Creek. Jake refused to go inside Everglades again after what he had witnessed the last time he passed through the doors, so Noel thought taking him to another bar, another town even, might make talking to him go a little smoother. She also thought alcohol would help and not just for Jake. She needed a good, stiff drink to see this through, whatever this turned out to be. She still wasn't sure. She didn't even know what Wes truly thought about it or where he expected it to go. "Talk to Jake," Wes had said. "He'll need some reassurances as well, some idea of what we're trying to figure out." However, what exactly were they trying to figure out? Two men loved her, and, for better or worse, she loved two men. Did any of them have a chance? How would she ever choose? Could she choose? The truth was, she didn't want to choose. She wanted them both, loved them both. What have I gotten myself into? She kne
Last Updated : 2022-10-20
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"Sure you three can't stay longer?" Dimitri asked as Fitz tossed another suitcase in the trunk of his car. "I mean, now that the excitement is over, we can spend time catching up."Fitz slammed the trunk closed and turned to lean back on it, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Trust me, I'd love doing just that, but I need to figure out what Dad was doing back at home with the Order of Wardens. Dad had to be into some shady dealings, and I need to know what the company is facing."Dimitri nodded. "I get it. Just don't try to do it all on your own.""Like he'd have a choice," Mandy said as she and Kinsey left the cabin to join them, Adira and Lainie beside them. Mandy's arm was in a sling to help protect her wound. Thanks to her shifter blood, she would heal quicker than a human, but she still had to be careful and not overdo it. Their mother stayed at Dimitri's cabin, deciding to visit her younger children since she was there and saw no need to rush home. Lainie had reached out to her
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Fitz stood there, hissing at his father. Mandy had Jeremiah pinned down, and Enoch stood still with magic fire sparkling around his fingertips. Kinsey stood, legs spread, braced for a confrontation with Daniel who stood there beating his chest like a crazed lunatic, never taking his eyes off Kinsey. "Don't just stand there, you idiot!" Jeremiah screamed. "Use your damn magic and blast them.""Yes, please," Adira snarled from the open doorway. "Try it." She raised her hands, her own blue magic's fire dancing around her fingertips. Dimitri's panther padded into the warehouse, moving over to where Mandy stood over Jeremiah. I've got him, he assured his sister-in-law. He's not going anywhere.Out of the corner of his eye, Fitz watched Mandy slide off Jeremiah, nipping at his face without actually biting him. The man shrieked as he tried to shove himself into the concrete.Lainie walked in, but she wasn't alone. "Johnson and the others are rounding up the men outside. The plane took off,
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Fitz stared at the shattered glass scattered on the ground, several shards covered in blood, Kinsey's blood. He never should have left his mates alone. Now, one was in the hands of his enemies, and the other on her way to join the first. How could his father always be one step ahead of him?Fitz remained there, squatting, staring at the ruins of Kinsey's window. He couldn't blame Mandy for racing off after Kinsey. His panther urged him to do the same, and it took everything he had not to give in to those urges. He couldn't respond with rash behavior, however, as much as he wanted nothing more than to race off and devour those who hurt his family. He needed to think this through, needed to figure out the best way to save his mates. He needed… Fitz sighed. He needed to get off his ass and take his father out."The magic twists Kinsey's trail," Adira said to those gathered around. "But it doesn't twist Eve or Mandy's. Follow their scents, and you'll make better time than trying to follow
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Mandy slid her phone back into her back pocket. Fitz actually thought she could sit still and just wait while the Order held Kinsey in their clutches? No way. Daniel put a hit out on Kinsey's life. Who knew how much time they had in order to save her. No. Mandy had every intention of starting the search for her mate.She quickly stripped off her clothes, piling them on the wooden porch in the front of the cabin. Fitz would see the clothes and know what she did. He'd be quick to follow her. Daniel underestimated his son; at least, this version of Fitz. He wouldn't sacrifice Kinsey for his father's goals, not with everything the three of them planned, not now that they discovered the way to be together, that they needed to be together.Mandy braced, shifting, her bones popping, body stretching as the tawny fur of her panther slid from under her flesh. She fell to all fours, her feet and hands turning to massive paws before she even touched the ground. She gave a quick shake of her head,
Destined Mates Series Chapter 90: My Mate's Wife
Her head pounded, her stomach churning with nausea. Kinsey wasn't sure what they gave her, but she knew it screwed with her senses. She remained in her panther form, huddled on the cold floor of… She panicked. Where the hell had they taken her? She tried to inhale some scent to give her an idea, but all she could smell was the sweat of humans, the fringes of Enoch's magic, and what seemed to be iron. Memories of what happened to her flooded her mind as she tried to move. Opening her gold eyes, she noticed the iron bars around her. A cage! They stuffed me into a damn cage.She forced herself up onto her paws, pain screaming from her right leg when she put her weight on it. Her body was sluggish, her mind still a little groggy. The floor of her cage was solid wood, while the walls and ceiling were inch-thick iron bars. She seemed to be in some sort of warehouse. By the scents that reached her, the place hadn't been used in a long time, dust and decay filling her nostrils. Windows set hig
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"I'm surprised you actually came up for air," Dimitri said with a chuckle. "Hell, when I first marked Adira we stayed locked in the cabin for days. We didn't even realize we ran out of food until we finally wore ourselves out, and that was just the two of us. I can't imagine how much energy three of you would have."Fitz sat across from Dimitri at Gracie's Diner, sipping his third cup of coffee. "It's kind of hard to stay naked when you're afraid the Order will bust down your door and kill your mate." The smell of greasy burgers filled the air as plates and glasses clinked against each other. The diner was filled almost to capacity as nearby residents of Bull Creek and Holopaw filled their bellies with lunch. The bell dinged by the pickup window as plates of steaming food passed through the window, waiting for the servers to swoop by and deliver it to hungry customers. Another bell dinged over the glass door as people walked in and out, either starving or satisfied. "Trust me," Fitz sa
Destined Mates Series Chapter 88: My Mate's Wife
Kinsey watched as Mandy left through the front door. She didn't really blame Mandy for needing some time away. The three of them had been glued to each other since they entered the cabin on Sunday. While it would have been nice spending this hump day doing exactly that, Kinsey knew they all needed a break to sort through the sudden waterfall of emotions their animals forced upon them. Life just took a dramatic turn for them all.Kinsey poured herself a fresh cup of coffee and headed to her bedroom. They had been so busy exploring each other's bodies, they never took a moment to unpack Mandy and Fitz's clothes completely. Not that it mattered much. With as much sex as the three of them had over the past couple of days, they hadn't really needed clothes. Of course, even with as much as they may have wanted to remain that way, eventually they would need to mingle again with the rest of the world, and for the most part, that would require clothing. If only the rest of the world were as com
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For the next two days, the three of them never left the cabin, even choosing to order in their food, instead of venturing out to stock the shelves. They spent their time exploring each other's bodies in the bedroom and sitting around the cabin exploring the possibilities of the future. Their panthers were calmer; at least, in the manner of the mating call, they were. In terms of the lust that filled the room, they were as insatiable as their human counterparts. The three of them had a difficult time keeping their hands and mouths off each other, and Mandy found herself buried between Kinsey's legs several more times since Sunday.They agreed there would be no sleeping in separate beds. They would live together, love together, sleep together, and every other together that existed. They weren't separate relationships trying to coexist; they were one relationship with three parts. Unorthodox, perhaps, but for them it would be how they lived. Mandy bore Fitz's mate mark, as did Kinsey, and
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Fitz remained quiet after his statement about a new alpha, leaving the packing of their motel room to Mandy. Guilt filled him because he hadn't even considered how Kinsey would feel about returning to Draven Falls once he told her about his father's plans. Of course, he hadn't really thought beyond protecting her, so it wasn't like he made future plans. Hell, he wasn't even sure what the future held. He moved moment-by-moment right now, reacting more than planning his next step. That had to change.Mandy finished packing, and the three of them loaded the trunk of the car before heading back to Bull Creek. Mandy attempted to get him to talk more, but after a few short replies, gave up and talked with Kinsey, instead. By the time Fitz pulled into Kinsey's driveway, he couldn't even remember the drive there, his mind churning over how he would take over the family from his father, and whether that was even possible. Taking over the family was never something Fitz thought about, believing
