CARMEN POV I pull at the dry piece of skin next to my fingernail nervously as we all wait for the trio to pull into the driveway. It took a little longer than Mariah predicted to find her assassin friend and the whole pack has been worried. If it weren't for Lewis keeping everyone posted on what was happening I think Daniel would have sent everyone on a search. "Stop that," Mike whispers and I look up to find his brown eyes watching me. I bite my lip and still my fingers instantly which makes him smile. "They are okay. The plan worked. Our assassin has been hired and he is hunting Nick this very second," Mike whispers and I nod even though I haven't been able to shake the nagging feeling of being a burden. Mike slowly takes my hand in his and my heart flutters a little before he looks away again. Benji's silver car rounds the last bend and we all sigh in relief at the same time. When they get stopped and Mariah steps out Samantha basically tackles her. "I
MIKE POV "It's been two days. Shouldn't we have heard something," I ask and Mariah shakes her head. She kisses Trevor's cheek and hands him to Lewis before walking toward me. She grabs my arm and drags me to a corner. Irritation is rolling off of her in waves, but I don't care. This is about Carmen's safety. "I've told you. The first day or two you learn about your target. You trace their whereabouts. Garrett likes to plan things out completely before making a move. That's why his kills are clean. He stays off the map and he doesn't associate with anyone he deems unworthy. He will get the job done. If Nick has hired someone I am assuming it will be someone cheap. Someone that will have to search for a few weeks using the back channels. Carmen only having cash was a good thing. She had a prepaid phone and no social media accounts. I have searched for her using my ways just to check and I couldn't find a photo of her anywhere near Wyoming," Mariah says and I nod. "Fine, bu
Two days before Mike and Carmen's lunch date. "What would you like to drink today," the middle-aged waitress asks as she beams down at the young man eyeing the menu. She hasn't seen him before, but from the looks of it, he needs a good meal. His cheekbones are too sharp for his young face and his willowy frame is lost in his baggy clothes. "Just water, please... I am... I was actually wondering if you could help me with something," he says as he looks up and sets the menu aside. He pulls out a small photograph of a smiling young girl and holds it up. "My kid sister ran off after getting into a fight with our parents. The bus ticket she purchased was for this town. I was wondering if you might have seen her around recently. We need to find her before she gets herself hurt," the young man says and the waitress looks closely at the image for a second before nodding. "I sure have. She came in about a month ago asking if we were hiring. Quite a few of my regulars were wor
STANLEY POV I smile as I watch Mike and Carmen send each other glances while Mike drives. The romance between them is blossoming and I think Mike is going about it the right way. He isn't rushing her and he is letting her control all contact. Anytime she gets excited or laughs she touches him and I can see how happy that makes him. She is completely comfort around us now. She is a part of our family. Mike pulls into the parking lot and I unclip my seatbelt. "It won't take long. I just need to speak with him and see his resume," I say, and Tabitha folds her arms. "And why can't I know what he is being hired for again," She says with one of her elegant eyebrows raised. I grin and kiss her cheek. "Sometimes a man needs to hire a random guy to do something nice for a special lady," I reply, and Carmen giggles as Tabitha gives me a fake pout. "Fine. And this guy isn't a shifter? Nothing fishy about him," Tabitha asks and I shake my head as I open my door. "Tiny human
THIRD POV As Mike bends down to confirm what his ears already know a blood-curdling scream vibrates the room around him. He turns around quickly and manages to grab Tabitha before she can touch her dead mate. The blood is still oozing from Stanley's chest, but his heart is no longer beating. As Tabitha screams and sobs in Mike's arms Mike looks back at the knife buried in his friend's chest. It's clear the metal is pure silver and long enough to pierce through someone's heart. A weapon that normally belongs to hunters. "Tabitha, I have to call Dan. Just close your eyes and hang onto me okay," Mike whispers as he tries to reposition. Tabitha doesn't even hear the request. Her pain is drowning her. She feels as if her soul is being torn into two pieces. The smell of blood is so thick in the air she can taste the iron on her tongue. "Dan... Dan get everyone and get them up to the office... Stan... Stan's gone. The guy... The human he had coming in to talk to him killed him. C
TABITHA POV My shock is the only thing keeping me from crumbling at this point. I still can't believe that my mate is dead. Gone from this world before we even celebrated an anniversary.I keep waiting for our alarm to go off signaling all of this was just a horrible nightmare, but my child's heartbeat is drumming away, and everyone around me is going through different stages of grief. "Drink this," Sam whispers as she presses a glass into my hands. She wraps my fingers around it and guides the cup to my lips as she realizes I can't even focus on the simple task. Benji and Lewis eye me cautiously before doing a lap around the room again. "We will survive this," Mariah whispers as she watches Sam and me with a sad look. I want to scream at her, but instead, I work the water down my throat as if it is made of fiberglass. The tears I shed at the firm have long since dried on my face and my skin feels almost sticky. "I pray the guys find her before Nick can kill her," Sam
MIKE POV As I push my legs faster and force my nose past its limits I feel a tiny bit of shame prick its way into my mind. Finley and Daniel are grieving the loss of their brother. Tabitha is now a widow. Stanley will never meet his pup... And I don't care. I know that makes me an awful friend. I know that makes me a bad pack mate. But I still don't care. My mind is on one person. A person that is still alive and still needs me. Carmen is all that matters and she has been taken! Kidnapped and probably dragged back to the man she escaped. The man who left inch-wide claw marks down her back. The shifter who can kill her with one simple punch, but prefers to torture and abuse her. Daniel barks and I slow down to allow him to catch up with me. He gets to my side and shifts which makes the entire search party come to a halt. "We need to search abandoned places. The council will have all the commercial forms of transportation covered. He won't be able to move her by plane or bus.
CARMEN POV Nick's heavy breathes are the only sounds in the room as he finishes whatever it is he is doing to the dead man. I still haven't opened my eyes, but I know my time is coming. Nick loses focus quickly when his target goes limp. "You think you are the first whore to hate me? You think I was born this way? I wanted love once. I was just like everyone else when I was born," Nick suddenly growls and my eyes snap open to find him staring down at his dead brother. I didn't even hear him cross the room. I don't reply to his questions or his statement. He doesn't really want me to. He just wants to talk. He likes prolonging things with speeches, but he seems different this time. Almost as if losing Nate truly hurt him. "Nathanial loved me... or maybe he always pitied me. It doesn't matter. He always tried to love me. Even when I hurt him... He defended me once... and fed me when I needed nourishment to be able to heal on several occasions...," he whispers before paus
TABITHA POV I take a few more deep breaths before leaning forward to apply my mascara. I have been feeling anxious since Hurst did the ultrasound to measure our baby. He said everything looked good and sealed the gender in a small envelope before passing it to Stanley. Waiting three days to know what was written on that tiny piece of paper has been torturous. I finish my makeup and head out of the bathroom to find Stanley wearing a shirt that has one side pink and the other one blue. I instantly smile and cross my arms. Compared to my simple white dress he looks extremely colorful. "You look adorable," I say with a grin, and he does a twirl with his arms held out wide. "I am so excited to know," Stan says and I nod while biting my lip so I don't laugh. He sees the humor on my face though and walks towards me smirking. "Am I amusing you, Tabitha," he asks while pulling me to him and I can't help but giggle a little. "A little," I admit and he kisses my lips. "G
MIKE POV "I don't regret having sex with you. This has been the best day of my life! I messed it up by taking it too far. I can't even properly explain what I did wrong," I say and her tear-streaked face looks puzzled for a brief second. I know she is thinking back to what happened and what she felt when I marked her. I can't believe I lost control of myself. I took away her choice, plus I hurt her. I vowed to never do either of those things and I failed her. Suddenly Carmen begins to laugh while tears continue to cascade from her eyes. I instantly get even more worried. I can't believe I have broken her this completely. "You chose me as your life partner. You marked me," she says happily after a few tense moments and I stare at her utterly bewildered. She wipes her face completely disregarding her makeup. She ends up looking like she has bruised eyes, but I don't care. "Yes. I... Aren't you upset," I ask cautiously and she shakes her head? "Of course not. T
CARMEN POV rated R The grip Mike's hands have on my hips feels so good. It's like he is anchoring me to the floor because he knows I might float away. I am so blown away by the fact Mike hasn't been with anyone. It makes me feel less anxious about what we are about to share. Mike's hands leave my hips and slide up my stomach to my breasts. When his hand squeezes my B-cup breasts my loins begin to blaze with desire.I moan into his mouth when he squeezes my breast a second time and he takes that as a sign because, in the next second, he scoops me up. He walks to his bed and lays me down so gently my heart melts. I keep my eyes on him as he steps back from me and I giggle when I see him removing his clothes as if he is in a race. But my giggle doesn't last for long as his thick muscular body comes into view. I know my mouth is hanging open as I look him over but I don't care. He is practically scrumptious. His creamy skin is flawless and the V-line above his impressive package i
MIKE POV pg13 Another loud thud rips through the air from the tack room and Boyd growls under his breath. "I fucking hate him. He is throwing a fit and making the horses skittish," Boyd grumbles extremely low and I nod before leaning my fork against the wall and removing my gloves. I nod toward the stall door and Boyd copies me by taking off his gloves."Now," he asks and I nod. I am tired of the tension this wolf brings to the pack. We are slowly letting our raised fur go down and this guy is ruining our progress. He hates ranch life, but we didn't ask for the council to send him. We step out of the stall and spot a broken shovel in the middle of the walkway. "Killian," I snap, and the asshole comes stomping out of the tackle room. "What," he barks back and Boyd steps to my side. He runs his eyes over our united front for a second before losing the tension in his shoulders."What the hell are you doing," I ask looking toward the broken equipment and back to him. He
CARMEN POV "You look so mature now," Tabitha whispers as Sam continues to line my lips with a steady hand. They haven't let me peek in the mirror at their work yet but the way Sam keeps pausing to stare at me has me guessing I look good. When they pulled me into Sam's bathroom I didn't really know what the plan was, but they got to work like they rehearsed this plan daily.Tabitha grabbed manicure items and got to work on my fingernails. Sam began exfoliating my face. Mariah was put in charge of my hair and I have been pleasantly surprised at how gentle her hands can be. Forty-five minutes later and my hands look elegant, my face has makeup on it, and Mariah has started to put the hot tools away. "You are going to knock his socks off, Carmen," Sam says with a mischievous smirk that makes me feel a little shy. "Your hair is so thick! I am jealous," Mariah says from behind me and I giggle a little. "Don't be jealous of me. I am a broken, weak human girl. You three are gorge
RATED R TABITHA POV "There you are," Stan says as he opens our bathroom door to find me washing my face. I give him a smile and try to hide my pity for his new state. My poor mate can't find me by smell any longer and that hurts. He has to strain his weak ears or spot me with dull eyes to know where I am. While I can still pinpoint him by sniffing the air. I know if I were unable to smell his alluring scent I would be devastated. "Sorry, I figured you knew," I reply and he brushes it off with a wave of his hand while continuing toward me. "As long as I found you I don't care," he whispers before pulling me toward him by my hips. I smile and drape my arms around his neck. "Oh really," I whisper back playfully, and he smirks before kissing my jaw. "Yes really," he mumbles before continuing down my neck. My lady regions flare to life as his tongue and warm breath dance along my flesh. Every night, since he gave me the okay has been like this for us. Constant touching and sex t
CARMEN POV I gasp as Mike's hot breath fans my neck and his hands grab my waist from behind. Tingles erupt in places I thought were dead and he chuckles before pecking my cheek. "Morning, cutie," he says cheerfully and I manage to swallow down the extra saliva in my mouth so I can answer him. "Morning," I reply and he shoots me a wink before taking his coat off. The slightly warmer weather has been keeping Mike in his long sleeve shirts rather than his coat and my feminine needs have definitely noticed how tight the fabric wraps around his biceps. As Mike walks away from the coat rack to begin shoveling out the stalls my eyes zero in on his thick thighs and cute butt. My heart rate increases and my ears begin to get hot. How can that man be into me? He belongs in calendars hanging able high school girls' beds. "Better wipe that drool from your chin," Finley whispers as he walks past me, and I jump before doing just that. My face burns scarlet red and I disappear
STANLEY POV I breathe deeply so the faint scent of roses can waft up my new human nose and I smile. Her warm body feels so good pressed into my cold one. I missed her and I know she missed me. I wish I could still hear our pup inside her, but I will take what I can get. I kiss the top of her head and she shifts a little in her sleep. It feels strange to be so calm, but I have nothing to stress about now. I only want to think about my mate and our family. I am done worrying and working in town. Every minute of the rest of my life will be spent on this land with my mate. I don't want to waste a moment on anything that isn't truly important ever again. And the only important things are my loved ones. I smile again as I give Tabitha a weak squeeze. Before the Mother Luna left she made a promise to our pack. A promise of protection from any more outside forces. She said the shifter world owes us a great debt due to how many threats we have eliminated, starting with Graham Layne.
As the pack sat and waited anxiously for The Luna to arrive, Daniel and Forest continued to act strange. They seemed to be as excited as children the night before Christmas. Tabitha and Sam weren't at all pleased with their behavior. The pack was still in mourning and would be for a while, but they seemed overjoyed to have a visitor dropping in during this difficult time. Mike and Carmen didn't seem to mind the lighter mood. It seems they were experiencing their first few moments as a couple since Mike had yet to release Carmen's hand. Carmen didn't mind the contact with the muscular cowboy. In fact, she was loving it. Darcy and Killian didn't sit on the couches with the pack which really rubbed Finley the wrong way. His eyebrows were pulled down over his warm chocolate eyes making them look dark and gloomy. His hands were curled into tight fists and his clenched jaw was making the young shifter look more severe. After an hour of uncomfortable silence and scattered conver