Better Mate Than Never (New Adult Werewolf Romance) (2 page)

“How do you
do
that?” She captured his hand in hers and propped it up on her knee before
he could go any further.

Caleb chuckled.
“Chemistry.” He stood up, stopping behind her chair so he could settle his
hands on her shoulders. “And you have the same effect on me,” he murmured in
her ear as he kneaded her shoulders with his strong, masculine hands.

“Don’t you
know what you do to me, with those sexy green eyes of yours and that luscious,
curvy body? I’m going to spend all night wringing every single drop of pleasure
I can from you. You’ll say my name so many times you’ll forget your own.”

“You’re a
cocky bastard,” she said breathlessly, tilting her head back for a kiss as his
hand trailed downward. “Are you so certain I’m going to give you what you
want?”

“Yes,” he replied
without hesitation, his voice a deep growl, “and you’re going to love it.”

Chapter Three

 “I’ve
found his weakness,” the man murmured into the phone as he watched the shifter
and his woman from the rooftop. “A human woman.”

“Really?” His
master laughed. “What a complete and utter fool. He should know better than
that.”

“Do you want
me move forward?”

“No, not just
yet. He’s too strong. Wait until the woman is alone, or at the very least away
from him.”

The man
swallowed back a retort—he’d taken on shifters before, and won. But he
was a soldier at heart, and he followed orders. “Yes sir. I’ll keep watch.”

“Take the
night off,” his master suggested. “Just be back by seven a.m. sharp.”

“Are you
sure?”

His master
chuckled. “Yes. Caleb will not be leaving that woman’s house tonight.” His
voice darkened. “But if you don’t have that woman delivered to me, alive, by
nightfall tomorrow, I will personally make sure that you are punished.”

There was a
click, followed by a dial tone, and the man stared at his phone for a moment
before flipping it closed and shoving it into his pocket. He would do the job.
After all, it was what he did best.

*

When Paige
woke at 6 am sharp, Caleb was already gone. She tried her best to swallow back
her disappointment as she struggled out of bed and into the shower. After all,
it wasn’t as if they were a couple. They’d simply had a wonderful, long,
uninterrupted night of mind-blowing sex. No big deal. Right?

Please,
girl. You know you were having happily ever after visions in your head when it
finally hit the pillow last night.

Sighing, Paige
leaned her head against the wet tile of the shower and closed her eyes. It was
true. And maybe she was getting ahead of herself by allowing her imagination to
run wild like that. But really, was it too much to ask for a little more
courtesy? He could have left a note, at least. What kind of guy leaves in the
middle of the night like that, unless he’s sending a message that he’s done
with her?

Maybe he
is. Maybe to him, this was just a one-time deal.

She certainly
wouldn’t put it past him. After all, he’d made a career out of keeping the
distance between them since their freshman year in high school. The first time
she’d seen him standing in front of his locker and struggling with the
combination, something had drawn her to him. They’d shared homeroom and several
other classes together, and somehow always ended up seated next to each other.
And to her delight, they’d hit it off instantly. He’d been charming and
attentive, and she’d felt instantly comfortable with him. Not to mention the
other girls had been insanely jealous of her for attracting one of the most
eligible boys in the school to her.

But one
afternoon, when they’d been hanging out in the park after school, he’d come
perilously close to kissing her. She remembered the day clearly—they’d
been sitting under a tree, engaged in a light-hearted debate about Plato, and
all of a sudden it had turned into a giggling, rolling-in-the-grass tickling
match.

The sunlight
had been shining down through the leaves as he’d rolled her onto her back. His
face had been inches from hers, his breath softly fanning her face, and her own
breathing had hitched. Her heart had pounded wildly as they’d stared at one
another, the tension between them palpable. His gold-flecked brown eyes had
flashed, then darkened, his hard, muscular body pressing her into the dirt and
no doubt ruining her jeans. She’d seen it happen in so many movies just like
this, and she’d been
so
sure he was going to kiss her.

Instead, he’d
rolled away and helped her to her feet, then pretended as though it had never
happened. She’d figured maybe he just hadn’t been ready, but after that day
he’d grown more distant, becoming scrupulously polite. It had hurt
unbelievably, the way he’d erected a wall between them so quickly just when she
thought they were actually getting somewhere. But she’d refused to mope around
about it; her mother had told her never to let herself get hung up about a man.
She’d held her head high and two weeks later had another popular heartthrob on
her arm.

Yet here she
was, nearly a decade later, still hung up on Caleb.

“I should
have never let him into my bed,” she snarled as she towel-dried her hair
vigorously. When she looked up into the mirror, her mane of curls sprang wildly
around her head like a lion’s mane, her eyes sparking with fury and pain. How
could she let him do this to her?

But then, how
could she have resisted? Her mind spun as she rushed through her morning
rituals and drove down to her office, angry with both herself and with him. The
bastard had walked into her house like he’d owned the place, and liquefied her
bones with a single glance. He hadn’t asked, hadn’t even bothered to seduce. He
had simply taken from her what he wanted…
all
that he wanted. But then,
it had been as if he’d known exactly what she wanted, needed, craved, and he’d
done an excellent job delivering. Those orgasms had been mind-bending.

But it was
more than sex, far more than the usual one night stand. She felt a connection
when she was in his arms that nearly took over all conscious thought. It was as
though she belonged to him, his possession to do with as he pleased. She
couldn’t refuse him, not because she was vulnerable, she wasn’t – but
because she simply didn’t want to. The idea of not letting him have his way
with her, of not allowing him to kiss her, to hold her, to push himself deep
inside of her as if he were marking her as his own…she couldn’t bear it. Not
when he had her pinned against the wall, not when he had her kneeling on the
floor in front of him, and certainly not when he had made soft, gentle love to
her while cradling her against his broad, strong chest.

What was it
about Caleb? How did this man have such incredible power over her, and what
exactly was she looking for?  Did she even want a long-term relationship?

Two meetings
later (and several hours of wading through paperwork with her assistant) she
was off to the courthouse again for yet another meeting. The work hadn’t
improved her mood much, but she did get a lot done, which was a sign of how
pissed-off she was. The more revved she got; the more intensely she tended to
tackle her work. She’d probably scared her assistant half to death with the way
she’d whirled through the office, determined, insistent and driven to do the
best with what she could control.

If they
only knew just how little control I had otherwise…

Grumbling
under her breath, she hunted for a parking spot, but to her dismay couldn’t
find anything close to the building. She ended up parking nearly three blocks
away, which only soured her mood further because she’d chosen stiletto heels
instead of the sensible pumps sitting on her closet rack. Taking a deep breath
and one last swig of coffee, she forced herself to calm down as she trotted up
the steps to the courthouse. If she walked into that courtroom looking even a
tiny bit frazzled, the defense would tear her apart and she’d be nothing more
than a vile of blood in piranha infested waters.

She would
drive Caleb from her mind one way or another.
No man should have this much
control over a woman. 
She was determined to make sure he never did
again.

Chapter Four

When she
walked out of the courtroom several hours later, her stride was more confident,
and there was a smile on her face—a grim one, but a smile nonetheless.
She had the defense on the run, and there was no doubt in her mind that the
jury would rip him to shreds by the time this trial was finished.

Checking her
watch, she decided to stop for food along the way back to her office. Normally
she would have gone home by now, but there were a few things that still needed
taking care of. They could have waited until tomorrow, but she had the time
now, so why not?

Plus, if she
kept herself busy with work she wouldn’t have time to think of Caleb.

“Miss
Martin!” A man in a leather jacket, tight black t-shirt and faded old jeans
hurried up to her. His blonde hair was windswept back from a strong face with
sharp blue –grey eyes that were fixated on her with an unsettling
intensity. “Just the woman I’ve been looking for.”

“Excuse me?”

“Please, come
with me.” He hooked her arm through his. “I have something important to discuss
with you.”

“I’m not
going anywhere—” she stopped at the icy feel of a metal gun barrel
pressing against her rib.

“Just keep
walking,” he advised, “if you don’t want your blood staining the sidewalk.

Paige
mightily resisted the urge to scream for help, not knowing what would happen if
she did. Even if he didn’t decide to shoot her, there was no guarantee he
wouldn’t shoot someone else. Her mind whirled as she tried to figure out what
was going on. Who was this man? What did he want with her? What had she done to
attract this kind of attention? Had she pissed off a client, or someone she’d
gone head-to-head with in the courtroom before? It wasn’t as if she’d never
gotten threatening letters or emails before… but she never thought she was in
enough danger to end up in this position.

Panic began
to well up in her throat when he steered her into an alleyway. The sun had just
disappeared over the horizon, and not a lot of people were walking these
streets right now. Hyperventilating, she began to struggle. “Who are you? What
do you want? Let me g—”

The man
clamped a hand across her face, and holstered his gun so that he could reach into
his pocket. “Quiet, woman. Listen, this isn’t personal… but it is necessary,
and you don’t have a choice but to cooperate with me, you understand? If you
don’t it’s going to get real messy.”

“Is this
her?” Another man stepped out from the shadows of the alley, dressed in jeans
and a collared shirt. He was beefier than the man who’d taken her, and a lot
more rough looking, with a shaven head and a scruffy face. A scar slashed over
his left eye, giving him a frightening appearance.

“Sure is.
You’ve got the car?”

The second
man jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Just on the other side. Let’s wrap her
up and go.” He tossed a black bag and a length of rope over, and Paige began
struggling all over again. She couldn’t let them take her away. She just
couldn’t.

“If that bag
touches her face, I’ll rip yours off,” a familiar voice growled, and Paige
whipped her head around to see Caleb standing there, his expression cold as the
wind that was starting to pick up. Relief flooded through her, especially when
she saw the pistols in his hands, one trained on each of her kidnappers. “After
I blow a hold through your skull, that is.”

To her
surprise, the men laughed. “Come on now. You know that your bullets can’t kill
us. And it’s two against one.”

Caleb showed
his teeth. “I don’t need the numbers to be on my side.”

What came
next happened so fast that Paige never quite figured out the order of events
afterward. One moment the men were standing there, and the next they were
springing for each other in a whirlwind of… claws and fur? Snarls and howls
filled the alleyway, and Paige gaped as she realized all three of them had
turned into what appeared to be wolves. Strong, powerful earthly beasts with
thick coats of fur, teeth bared, eyes on fire in a swirl of golden ash. 
Growls echoed through the air, paws tipped in razor sharp claws.

The one
closest to her was a dark shade of brown, with a small splotch of white on his
tail and golden eyes that glowed a bright gold. The other two were a
greyish-white with icy blue eyes. All three of them were ferocious and terrifying,
and Paige instinctively backed up against the wall, blinded with fear of what
would happen if she got too close, her mind unable to comprehend the scene that
was unfolding in front of her eyes.

Am I
hallucinating?
She wondered in a panic.
If I close my eyes, will it all
go away?
She squeezed them shut, but when she opened them they were still there
right in front of her…growling, and battling each other in a fury of teeth and
claws. Caleb seemed to be holding his own, but there was a trace of blood on
his muzzle, and she didn’t know if it was his or one of the other wolves. And
regardless of what he said, he was still outnumbered. She needed to do
something. But what help could she possibly be?

Frantically,
she looked around for something, anything. Her eyes alighted on two pistols on
the ground—the ones Caleb had been holding. Before she could talk herself
out of it, she darted over and snatched one up, then took aim… or tried to.

“Goddammit,”
she cursed under her breath, trying to get a clear shot. It had been a long
time since she’d last held a gun, and they were moving so fast it was hard to
get a lock on one of them. “You bastards, stop!”

That got
their attention. One of them looked up, and she squeezed off a shot, aiming for
the head. It caught him in the side of the neck, and the wolf collapsed, then
changed back into a human. It was the blonde who had bullied her into the
alley. He didn’t look so threatening, with his eyes closed and his face covered
in blood. The other wolf shifted back into a human and tossed his friend over
his shoulder. His ear was bloody and there were scratches on his arms, but he
didn’t seem to notice, passing a look of hatred over both of them.

“I’ll be
back, Caleb. You can count on that.”

Caleb lunged
for him, but the man flexed his powerful thighs and jumped straight to the top
of the building. Paige gaped after him, and then looked back to see that Caleb
had shifted back into human form as well. He had a gash on his forehead and
blood was soaking through the shoulder of his dress shirt as he fixed his eyes
on Paige. Eyes, she noticed, that were still golden.

“Are you
alright?”

“I…” She
wanted to yell at him, to ask a thousand questions, demand that he give her
answers, but her vision narrowed, and dizziness washed over her. “You have a
lot of explaining to do.” She could barely hear the sound of her own voice over
the roaring in her ears.

Her vision
grew black, and she pitched forward.

*

 “Are
you sure?” Adam demanded after Caleb had finished explaining all that had
happened. “Absolutely sure?”

“Well, I
can’t be completely certain,” Caleb snapped, “but I know they don’t belong to
any of the clans we’re familiar with.”

Adam sat back
in his chair and pressed his fingers to his temples. “I’ll have to check with
the Network, see if they show up anywhere.”

The Network
was a database of shifter clans, headed up by each of the clan leaders known as
Alphas. Every member of a clan was registered, so if these two were or had ever
been members of a clan it would be easy enough for Adam to find.

“You have no
idea why they were after her, though? How does she fit into this?”

Caleb glanced
down the hallway from his seat on the living room sofa. Paige was behind one of
those bedroom doors, still passed out from anxiety. He’d brought her straight
to Adam, not just because he was the clan leader, but because Adam’s gated
mansion was one of the safest places in the city. As an ex-special forces
commander, he’d outfitted it with enough security and weapons to last through
World War III. The human friends he had mostly thought he was just a paranoid
bastard, but Caleb knew from experience that Adam had more than enough reason
to take those kinds of precautions.

“I can only
imagine they were trying to get to me.”

Adam narrowed
his eyes. “You have a cousin and a mother they could have gone after. Why would
they choose her? Someone who isn’t connected to you?”

Caleb
swallowed hard. He couldn’t lie to Adam; his clan leader could scent a lie, and
he’d be skinned alive for it. Then again, he’d be skinned alive for telling the
truth anyway, so what was the difference? Thankfully, the sound of footsteps
padding down the hall saved him from having to answer. Paige entered the room,
her face pale, her fiery curls in disarray, and Caleb’s blood fired instantly.
She looked so deliciously beautiful, standing there with bed head and bare feet
and a wrinkled suit, that it was all he could do not to scoop her up in his
arms and carry her down the hallway into bed.

Adam’s
nostril’s flared as he caught the scent of Caleb’s lust, and he gave him a
dangerous snarl that clearly said
we’ll discuss this later.
Then he slid
a mask of calm over his face as he rose to greet Paige.

“I’m glad to
see you’re awake. How are you feeling?”

“Like I was
nearly kidnapped by people who can turn into wolves,” she snapped. “Who are
you? And what the hell happened back there?” She turned her fiery green eyes in
Caleb’s direction.

“You’re
welcome for saving you,” he said dryly.

“Don’t, Caleb.
It’s obvious that all this has something to do with you, since you can turn
into… into…” She looked pale and confused, as though she had aged in just a few
short hours. Adam took her gently by the elbow and guided her to a chair, which
she sank into gratefully. Caleb held back a snarl—he didn’t like the idea
of Adam touching her in any way, even if it was casual, but he was in no
position to speak up. Not just yet.

“Here, have
some water.” Adam pressed a glass into her hand. “I know this must all be very
shocking for you, so please, just try to relax.”

“You could
say that.” Paige sipped her water slowly, and Caleb was pleased to see some of
the color return to her cheeks. She looked up at him, her eyes mistrusting,
skeptical but ever the emerald-isle that he found himself lost in.

“So, who are
you people, exactly? Are you… werewolves?”

“We’re
Lycans,
”
Adam replied quietly. “Werewolves are a completely different type of animal.”

“What he
means to say,” Caleb continued before Paige could respond, “is that we don’t
have the same handicaps as werewolves. We aren’t limited to changing only under
a full moon, nor do we become mindless monsters that destroy everything around us.
We also don’t have a weakness to silver. We just change from wolf to man,
whenever we need to.”

“And we have
super-regenerative healing abilities, of course.” Adam added.

Paige just
stared at them. “And this is supposed to be better than being a werewolf? It
sounds like you’re a lot harder to kill.”

Adam growled.
“I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Paige…” Caleb
replied, his voice low and calm. “We are no different from you, from any human.
We are just stronger…and more capable.”

“I see.” Paige
whispered in response, shaking her head in confusion. Finally, she glanced up
at Adam. “What’s your name?”

“Adam… Adam
Drake.” His eyes were still narrowed, but he took a seat next to her. “I’m the
clan leader. They call me their Alpha.”

She was
silent for a moment. “Are… are there a lot of…
lycans
?”

“A fair
number.” Adam cleared his throat. “Now I have a question for you.” His eyes
narrowed. “How is it that you know Caleb?”

“Caleb?” She
glanced over at him. “We went to high school together. And we see each other at
the courthouse every once in a while. Just yesterday we were even working
together on the same trial.”

“I see.” Adam
replied, his face set in concern. “Do you have a… relationship that I should be
aware of?”

Before Caleb
could reply, Paige’s tone turned frosty. “No.” She sent Caleb a venomous glare.
“But I don’t see how that’s really any of your business, Adam.”

“Those wolves
attacked you because of your connection to Caleb,” Adam explained with as much
patience as he could muster. “There has to be more between you than either of
you are claiming, otherwise they’d have no interest in you.”

“What?” Paige
replied, suddenly once again afraid. “So, what happens now?”

“Now?” Adam
shrugged. “I will be looking into the origin of these wolves. Where they come
from, what clan they are a part of and what they want with you. But as far as
I’m concerned, you’re a human with no affiliation to the clan, and I have no
personal obligation toward you… or to offer our protection in any way.”

Paige shot to
her feet. “What about the wolves who attacked me? How is that not your concern?”

“If they were
members of my clan, I would discipline them. But they’re not, and so the best I
can do is track them down to determine whether they are a risk to the clan or
not.” He looked pointedly at Caleb. “You’ve involved her in this; therefore if
you want to ensure she stays safe, you had better take care of her protection.”

“Yes, sir.” Caleb
tried to keep the anger out of his voice—his pack leader was doing this
as a kind of punishment. How the fuck was he supposed to stay out of Paige’s bed
if he was supposed to be guarding her? But then how could he leave her
unprotected?

“Good. Now both
of you… go home and get some sleep.”