Page 68 of Jace's Mate
Anikkawantedto be angry with them—but they were just too nice.Too kind, too warm, and something about them called to her.Not in a romantic way.Not the way Jace pulled at her.But shelikedthem.And since she’d been alone for so long, without a single female friend, she didn’t want to mess this up.
“So why didn’t I know I was a shifter?”
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Sarah said.“The other big question is—why are thereotherunknown wolves in our territory?”
Anikka paused, a bite of bread halfway to her mouth.“Territory?”
“Yes.The entire East Coast is ours.We’ve scented it.Claimed it.”
“Jace is a powerful Alpha,” Averil added.“One of the most powerful in North America.Most of the other Alphas fear him.They know he’ll defend this pack—allof us—against any threat.”
“How does he fight them?Does he have an army or something?”
“Yes,” Mary said simply.She gestured to the table.“Us.”
Anikka blinked.“We’d fight if someone tried to enter the territory?”
“Absolutely,” Mary said with a nod.“How wouldyoufeel if someone made a move on Jace?”
Instantly, a surge of heat and warning prickled down Anikka’s spine.She didn’t even realize she’d growled until the others grinned knowingly.
“We’re fiercely protective of our mates and our territory,” Sarah said.
Anikka didn’t understand why, but she felt it—that growing connection to these women.Sitting with them, she felt a strange comfort.A sense of belonging she’d never had.Something she’d wanted from her uncle but never received.
“With my uncle, I always felt like I was one wrong move away from punishment.He barely let me leave the house.Grocery store trips were rare and always supervised.”She clasped her hands under the table to hide their trembling.
“And now?”Averil asked gently.“Do you feel safe here—with us?”
Anikka didn’t want to admit it.But the truth was already rising in her chest, impossible to suppress.She couldn’t lie to these women, even to protect herself.
“What’s happening to me?”she whispered, panic skimming the edges of her voice.
“You’re a wolf, Anikka,” Mary said kindly.“We’re pack animals.Our instincts are wired for connection—for protection.Weneedone another.That’s how we survive and thrive.”
“Did you feel that way in your uncle’s house?”
She snorted.“My uncle didn’t have a pack.”
“Maybe it was small,” Averil said, “but I bet the idea of leaving him, of being totally on your own, terrified you.Am I wrong?”
Anikka hesitated, then nodded her head slowly.“You’re right.”
“And this morning,” Sarah said softly, “after your run with Jace—how did you feel?”
There was a pause.Anikka looked down at her plate, then up at them.“Exhilarated,” she admitted quietly.
A low, rumbling growl sounded behind her, and she whirled around.
Jace stood in the doorway, radiating power.He looked every bit as terrifying as before—but something inside herknewhe’d never hurt her.The nips from the night before and earlier this morning hadn’t been threats.They’d been encouragement.Urging her to keep going.
“Out,” Jace growled, his voice low and commanding.
Without a word, the three women rose and filed out, leaving Anikka alone with him.
His scent hit her instantly—earth and pine, spice and warmth—and the throbbing need ignited again, roaring through her like fire.
“We can’t do this,” she whispered, stepping back.She didn’t want to be owned, didn’t want her freedom stripped away.
