Page 5 of Ruthlessly Mated
Conroy runs his hand through his hair in frustration while I stay quiet, like usual. Things got complicated quickly. She’s not a human, for starters. We thought she was just a spoiled brat girl looking to try her luck in the port. The place does attract quite a few people who think nerve is all it takes.
But she is not a human.
She’s a wolf. Like us.
They’re rare out this way. They’re rare out every way. Wolf shifters have historically been hunted viciously by humans who were convinced that they ate babies. Legends about wolves who walk go back hundreds of years. As a result, we have been persecuted and hunted to near extinction. The exception is Eclipse City, where wolves have set themselves up as the royal family and wield true power.
“Are we going to talk about the fact she came into heat the second you touched her?” Tailor keeps talking even as he rises to give chase.
The plan was to whip her ass in front of everyone, give the tavern a damn good show and make an example of her that would not soon be forgotten. Sometimes, legendary punishments can be told of for generations. That was our plan. Might still be.
“We don’t need to talk about that.”
“Don’t we? It means she’s your mate.”
Conroy throws a look at him. “You meanourmate. We all felt it. I saw the way you two reacted to her. And that scent is not for one man. It’s enough to draw in every alpha with a dick in a ten-mile radius. She’s ripe for claiming. Overdue. Now let’s go get her.”
“She’s already got out the door,” Tailor says.
“We’ve got her cargo. She’s not going anywhere. We’ll hunt her down, and we’ll show her what pack discipline really means,” Conroy growls.
We start moving. The crowd parts for us far too late to make any real difference, but that does not bother us. We’ll catch her. We know it.
While we search, I play my memories of her over and over in my mind.
My mate is beautiful. Truly stunning. She has big brown eyes and dark brown hair. She is thick and curvy and the expression on her pretty round face can best be described as troubled.
I have not spoken in over ten years, but she had my lips parting the moment I laid eyes on her. Conroy led, of course. He cannot help but rush in first. He grabbed her and she practically exploded pheromonally.
Her scent is still somewhat in the air, clinging to my lips, I think. I can taste her. Her essence. Her arousal. Her need. A wolf meets their mate once in a lifetime, bonds intensely and immediately, and then just has to make it work. Nature knows best when it comes to wolf mating, unlike humans who try to make decisions by getting to know one another. Their process has always seemed wildly random and mostly ill-fated. This is different. This is fated.
“We just met the female we’re supposed to claim. Isn’t that a little more important than some cargo getting through without the toll being paid?” Tailor starts arguing.
“Doesn’t matter,” Conroy says, shaking his head emphatically. “She broke our rules, she pays. Same as anyone.”
“We’re going to publicly humiliate the first mate we’ve encountered in years? The girl who is supposed to bear our babies?” Tailor argues. “We should go and find her and soothe her. She’s our mate, she won’t have broken any rules once we claim her.”
“The vampire knew, which means others knew. This entire bar just saw her run from us. She cannot be allowed to get away with it. We bring her back here, we deal with her, and we decide whether she’s our mate or not.”
“What do you mean if she is our mate or not, you felt that connection. Or was it just me? Is she my mate? If she is, you won’t be putting a finger on her,” Tailor says.
“I feel the bond, I just don’t intend to let it interfere with necessary discipline. If she’s ours, she’s got to learn how to behave.”
He sounds so excited. He’s trying to sound furious, stern, like he’s going to really whip her for this behavior, but I can tell he’s thrilled. The three of us run this port as equal partners. None holds more authority than the other, though Conroy likes to assume the role of leader because he enjoys bossing people around more than he’d ever admit. Tailor is bossy, but in a different way. His means of control usually involves a ledger of some kind. If I am controlling, it is by stealth.
This is truly exciting. Nature has delivered a mate. A mate not just for one of us, but for all of us.
My desire is throbbing. I am fucking hard. I have never wanted anybody as much as I want her. She is gorgeous. Dark hair. Dark eyes. Tattoos running down her forearms. She looked like trouble, and she smelled like it too.
While they argue, I start the hunt in earnest.
Kita
I need to get the hell out of here.
But I can’t go anywhere until I get my cargo unloaded, and they know it. I’m trapped in a pretty small place with only a few areas to hide. It’s so weird how lawless places always seem to have more rules than lawful ones. If I didn’t pay a toll in a regular port, I’d probably have some kind of extra fine to pay. They’d send a letter to my house. They might repossess something I like. I don’t think those three wolves are hunting me down to give me a sternly worded letter. In places like these, the penalty for not paying the fine is literally written everywhere: Death (Or Worse).
If I don’t lose those three, very bad and very intense things are going to happen to me. I can feel it deep down between my legs. I didn’t come here for this. I have plans. Big plans.
