Page 44 of Stolen Mate

Of all the people he might have imagined would be standing on his porch, his sire wasn’t one of them. Henry tried to push past him and found the son he’d bullied in the past was now a fully grown, fully mature polar bear-shifter, just entering his prime. The days of Henry pushing past him were over.

Henry’s eyes looked down at Derek’s engorged cock. “Can’t you put that thing away?”

“I was planning on it, only you and your goons came down here to ruin my morning. I asked you what you’re doing here? And unless you have a real good reason for putting a damper on my plans, I suggest you get the fuck out of here,” snarled Derek.

“You watch your tone, boy. I am still your alpha.”

Okay, now that was downright funny. Derek laughed. “You haven’t been my alpha since you goaded my oldest brother into a fight with Jax and provoked him to the point he wouldn’t back down, forcing Jax to kill him. You haven’t been my alpha since you encouraged me to try and poach one of Jax’s she-bears, and he beat the crap out of me. And you haven’t been a whole lot of other people’s alpha since Zak came home and set up the lighthouse compound. Now state your business, you pathetic old man, or I’ll kick your ass all the way to my property line. You are trespassing, and I’m giving you thirty seconds to get moving or I will put you in handcuffs, take you into town and book your sorry ass.”

The look on Henry’s face told Derek every barb had hit their mark. It was in that instance that he realized how old Henry had become—not so much in years, but in the way the years had played out. The two goons Henry had brought with him stepped forward.

“You two are trespassing, too. I don’t have any problem with the three of you spending the next several nights in a cell. The judge is out fishing and can’t be reached. Well, he probably could be, but neither Jax nor I would be inclined to bother him.”

“You’re outnumbered, boy,” sneered his father. “You might be able to take me down on your own, but I doubt you can take two trained warriors down.”

The distinctive sound of a pump action shotgun came from the side of the cabin. Four sets of eyes focused on the gorgeous woman, dressed only in his sweater, with the shotgun leveled at their intruders.

“I’m not sure I believe that, but I guarantee, old man, that he can take you down. As for these two thugs, my trusty shotgun will make short work of them.”

“You won’t pull the trigger,” growled one of Henry’s men as he turned toward Tess.

“Triggers, asshole. This shotgun has two triggers, one for each barrel, and I can assure you if you so much as breathe wrong, I’ll drop you, force you to shift, and skin you to use as a rug in front of our fire.”

Damn, she was mean first thing in the morning if she wasn’t being loved on. The bear who had thought to intimidate her froze in place.

“That girl belongs up at Akiak. One of my men gave his life to bring her back—” snarled Henry.

“Almost thirty years ago—” started Derek.

“Hey, I won’t turn thirty for two more years. Let’s not rush this.”

Derek chuckled. “I stand corrected. My point being, that one of your clan snatched a human off the streets of Anchorage, turned her without her consent, and got her pregnant. When she ran because the thought of dying was better than staying at Akiak, you had him track her down—whether to kill her and take the baby or take them both is irrelevant. Tess has never—let me repeat that—never belonged to you.”

“I will tell the Ruling Council; they’ll agree with me.”

“Who the fuck cares? They want to try and take my mate; they’re welcome to try. Like you; they will fail. Both my mate and I are members of Zak’s clan, and our alpha will raise his warriors to fight you or anyone else he has to.”

Henry seemed flustered for a moment until he concocted another argument. “That girl…”

“That girl is my fated mate. Watch how you speak about her.”

That seemed to stop Henry. Derek was pretty sure he hadn’t expected Derek to claim her as his fated mate. “That girl has broken one of the most serious laws known to shifters. She told a non-shifter of our existence. Even brought her up here…”

“How the hell does he know that?” asked Tess, concern in her voice.

“It doesn’t matter. She’s with Zak, so she’s safe.”

“The other girl isn’t the one who broke the law, but if the Council rules against your mate, the law states that they both be banished or executed.” Henry turned to Tess. “I’ll bet you didn’t know that, now did you, missy? Your mother was as unprepared for the reality of being a shifter as you are. You were stolen from me; my clan and I will have you back.”

Tess furrowed her brow. “Seriously? Do you hear yourself? I can almost hear you cackling and picture you in green skin. Tell me, are you planning to disappear in a cloud of smoke because if you are, could you take your goons with you and do it now? I’m hungry. Your son kept me up most of the night and we worked up quite the appetite, didn’t we sweetheart?”

“Yes, we did. You heard her, Henry. Go away and leave us alone. Keep your mouth shut, too. I promise you any trouble you visit on me and mine will be returned to you tenfold.”

Henry seemed to be casting around to find something to say. Finding nothing he stormed back to his car with his thugs in tow. As she moved slowly up towards him on the porch, Tess never let the shotgun drop, she had it fixed on them even as the car headed up the drive.

Taking the shotgun from her, Derek wrapped his arm around her waist. “I’m sorry you had to be witness to that. But you’re okay, right?”

She looked up at him, blinking. “Not exactly the way I wanted to meet Henry or people up at Akiak, but I guess he saved me a trip. I don’t want to know him. Teresa must have been out of her mind. I can’t even imagine how she coped.”

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