Mate Set (5 page)

21

Laurann Dohner

“Human?” One of the men almost spat the word. “I thought you said she was your

niece.”

“She is.” Omar growled. “She’s not blood though. She’s my sister’s adopted child.

My sister was unable to birth children so they adopted Mika when she was four weeks

old. She knows she was adopted so it’s no secret. We are blessed to have her in our

family and I consider her to be my daughter. She’s off limits. Is that understood? If one

of you touches my girl, I’ll castrate you myself. There’s no rock in this world that you

can hide under that I won’t find you if you lay a finger on my Mika. Now, I’m going to

call her in here. She’s known about us since she was five years old so you can be

yourselves.”

“Great,” one of the men snarled. “This should be fun. Does she decide who guards

her or do you?”

“I do,” Omar growled back softly. “Be polite.” He took a deep breath. “Mika! Come

in here now,” he bellowed.

Mika grinned. She waited a few seconds and then pushed away from the wall. She

walked into the room and kept her gaze locked with her uncle’s. She ignored the men.

“Whoa, it’s hot in that kitchen.” She waved her hands at her chest. “You should

turn on the air conditioner.”

Mika fought a laugh as she watched her uncle take in her clothes. His jaw dropped,

his eyes widened as he paled and sucked in air sharply.

“Mika, we have company. Fix your clothing, damn it.”

Mika ignored his demand and turned. She let her gaze go over Minnie, who was

grinning widely and obviously fighting a laugh. Mika studied the first man, a blond,

about six feet tall, who stared at her chest so hard she could almost feel it. She turned to

look at the man about three feet to his left. He was shorter, stocky, with a crew cut of

dark brown hair. He was gaping at her legs. The man next to him, openly leering at her

breasts, had blond hair and wore a suit. The last man was over by the door so Mika had

to turn her head to get a good view of him.

Oh shit
, she thought. She stared into a pair of dark, familiar eyes that were staring

right back into hers. He broke eye contact to glance up and down her body and then his

gaze locked on her face again. For a few seconds there he paled just a little. She saw

Grady’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard and his hands at his side flexed into

fists and then opened. Mika spun away from him quickly.

“You bellowed?” She was proud that her voice didn’t shake as she faced her uncle.

She was in shock.
He’s one of my uncle’s men. Shit, this is bad
, she thought
.
Her uncle

had just warned his men that he’d castrate any of them if they touched her so if he

found out about last night he’d have a damn fit over what Grady had done to her. She

bet her last dollar that right now Grady was silently freaking out too. Her heart

pounded but she took deep breaths to calm herself as she met her uncle’s furious look.

“Fix your clothes,” he growled.

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Mate Set

Mika tugged down her skirt to a modest length and buttoned up her shirt. “Better?”

“Much.” Uncle Omar was still angry. “Let me introduce you to my most trusted

males.”

Inclining her head, she turned to the first one again. The man had stopped staring at

her chest as he moved forward. “I’m Riley Forest.” He held out his hand to her.

“Mika Richards.” She lifted her hand to shake his.

“Don’t touch her,” Omar growled.

The man jerked back a few steps, letting his hand drop. Mika sighed and dropped

her hand. She shot her uncle a frown as he shook his head at her.

“They aren’t allowed to touch you at all.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little overboard?”

“I think you’re still not too old to get a good swat on your ass if you keep arguing

with me.”

Mika darted a glance Minnie’s way. Minnie rolled her eyes then lowered her gaze

to the floor. Mika sighed and put her hands behind her back to lock her fingers

together. If it happened to push out her breasts, so be it. She smiled in amusement and

nodded at the man. The second man nodded at her when her attention turned to him.

“Gregor Marlin,” he said softly.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

The third man had crossed his arms over his chest and he looked pissed off. He met

her gaze and jerked his head in a nod. “Rick Voll.”

“Hello.”

Grady was careful to show no emotion on his face. “Grady Harris.”

Their eyes locked. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She smiled at him.

She saw his eyes narrow but his expression didn’t alter one bit. She had to bite back

a laugh. She hadn’t meant to say that. It had just popped out of her mouth. She turned

back to her uncle to stare at him silently.

“One of them has volunteered to guard you during your stay after I explained

about the danger you could face. You’re an attractive girl and I think it would be best if

you had a guard with you.” Uncle Omar paused. “I know you are independent and you

think it’s not necessary but I don’t want someone to go after you. You have no idea

what a male is capable of when it’s mating season.”

She sighed. “I think I have a pretty good idea, Uncle Omar. I promise you that I

won’t go out after dark.”

He snorted. “We’re not like your human men, honey. You don’t know how

persistent we can be. Just because the sun is up doesn’t make a man less stupid when it

comes to an attractive woman. They aren’t just going to be looking for an attractive

woman after dark. Minnie was right. It’s a dangerous time for you to be visiting. I insist

on the guard and that’s final.”

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Laurann Dohner

“I’m sure your men have better things to do than babysit a twenty-eight-year-old

woman.”

“No, they don’t.” Uncle Omar frowned. “You have a guestroom. One of them will

be at your house within an hour with a bag. He’ll be staying with you while you visit or

until mating season ends. Sorry, baby, but that’s how it is. You may go straight home

now. That’s an order.”

She clenched her teeth. “Fine.”

“I know you aren’t happy about this.” Uncle Omar sighed. “I’ll worry about you.

You can’t defend yourself against a wolf, Mika. If you were a bitch, you’d have claws

and teeth to fight off an unwanted male but you don’t. I’d rather be overprotective than

the alternative.”

She saw the worry in his eyes and her shoulders slumped. “I know you worry

about me.”

“I do. You’re the only family I have and you’re a daughter to me. I love your visits

but I’d never forgive myself if you were hurt or killed while you were here. Please let

me protect you, baby. I can smell that you’re very angry but this is what needs to be

done. I have a pack meeting tonight so I don’t want you coming here because it’s going

to be wall-to-wall males.”

Mika nodded. “All right.”

“Go straight home. Your guard will arrive soon.”

Mika nodded. “Fine, Uncle Omar.”

He smiled. “Don’t think I don’t appreciate you not arguing about this.”

“Would it change your mind?”

“Not a chance in hell.” He chuckled.

She grudgingly smiled back. “You taught me better than to fight with a wolf.” She

winked at him. “I’ll see you soon.” She turned toward the kitchen, where she’d left her

purse.

“Mika?”

She turned back to her uncle. “Yes?”

“Your guard will be in charge. If he says no to something, you listen to him. Do you

understand me?”

She stared into his eyes. “No.”

He frowned. “You can’t go to the bars this visit. That can’t happen again.”

Mika paled a little.
Shit. He knew about that? Damn
. Her gaze flew to Minnie, who

shook her head. Minnie hadn’t ratted her out.

“Two of my men were there,” Uncle Omar said softly. “I try to always keep tabs on

you when you come home.” He paused. “No more bar fights. Are we clear?”

She flushed. “It wasn’t my fault.”

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Mate Set

“And that’s why I didn’t put you over my damn knee. Now go so I can talk to

them.”

Mika turned and fled. She didn’t dare even glance at Grady, too afraid her uncle

would notice. She was also embarrassed about the bar comment her uncle had made.

Grady probably thought the worst of her.

25

Laurann Dohner

Chapter Three

Mika paced and glanced at her watch for the fiftieth time, at least. She heard a

vehicle stop in front of the house and she walked for the front window. She gripped the

curtain, pulled it back and watched a man climb out of a black Jeep. Her eyes closed

and the air left her lungs in a whoosh.
No way in hell could I be that unlucky.
She opened

her eyes.
Yes, I am that damn unlucky.
The sexy proof was coming her way.

“Son of a bitch,” she cursed. She dropped the curtain, marched across the room,

turned the deadbolt, and yanked open her front door. Her gaze locked on the man

walking up the sidewalk carrying a duffle bag. “You volunteered?”

Grady Harris’ dark gaze bore into her as he walked up the three steps to her front

door. He did not look happy. “No. I got drafted because I didn’t stare at your tits like

the other three did.”

She moved out of the way, instantly noticing that he looked even taller in the

daylight. He looked bigger too as he eased in her front door. She hesitated and then

closed and locked the door to face the man who’d marked her the night before in his ohso-unusual way. He stood in the middle of her living room, giving it a once-over. He

was breathing hard and his lips were twisted into a snarl.

“If you tell him what happened last night he’s going to blow a damn fuse.”

“No shit.”

“Did you tell him anything?”

Mika shook her head. “Do I look stupid to you?”

“You knew the danger and you went out anyway. If I hadn’t heard you scream and

saved your ass from those four pups, you wouldn’t be breathing today. With that in

mind, do you really want to ask me if you look stupid?”

“No one told me it was mating season. How freaky is that? It was the first I ever

heard of it. I usually go out at night when I’m here and have never run into trouble

before.”

Grady arched a black eyebrow. “What was that about a bar fight I heard

mentioned?”

“That wasn’t my fault.”

“What happened?” He loudly dropped his bag on her wood floor.

Mika frowned as she crossed her arms over her breasts. “Last year I went to a bar

and some asshole decided to get a little too friendly. I took offense and I told him off.

He pulled back a fist to hit me and another man decided to stop him. They both came

with friends so it turned into a brawl.”

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Mate Set

“Were you dressed the way you were today?”

“Damn it. Minnie warned me what he was up to. She told me if all the men looked

at my body he wouldn’t assign me a guard. I just made sure everyone looked.”

“I probably would have looked too, except I was so shocked when I realized who

you were that I couldn’t tear my eyes away from your face until the shock wore off.”

His voice lowered. “If he finds out what happened between us I might as well hand him

my balls on a silver platter. You should have told me who the hell you were last night.

I’m furious.”

“I told those four men and they didn’t know who the hell my uncle was when I

mentioned I was protected by him. It didn’t work with them so I figured it wouldn’t

work with you. Excuse the hell out of me.”

“You could have said no.”

She had to shut her mouth, which had dropped open. “You didn’t have to come

after me.”

They glared at each other. “All you had to do was say no.”

“I believe I did and you told me to shut up.”

“I didn’t say shut up exactly.”

“Close enough. It’s done. It’s a good thing I showered when I got home, huh? I

washed my clothes too so nothing is marked anymore. No one but you and I know

what happened.”

His shoulders relaxed. “You aren’t going to tell Omar?”

“Do I look…? Never mind. You think I’m stupid. I got that. Hell no, I’m not going

to tell him anything about last night. That wasn’t just a threat when he said he’d put me

over his damn knee. The last time he spanked me I was twenty-five years old. I couldn’t

believe he almost blistered my ass.”

A smile tugged at the man’s mouth. “What did you do to deserve that?”

“Deserve this.” She flipped him off. “I am not telling you. We’re stuck together until

your replacement comes. The guestroom is the first door down the hall to the right so

we’ll just avoid each other. I’m going grocery shopping.”

“Not without me.” He sighed. “I’m under orders to keep you in my sight at all

times and that means you don’t go anywhere without me.” He paused. “And there is no

replacement. I’m it, babe. Your uncle didn’t enjoy the way the guys eyed your body so

I’m on duty until you leave town. When will that be? I had to put my life on hold.”

“Unbelievable,” she muttered. “I just arrived yesterday and I’m going to be here for

two more weeks. I’m stuck with you for that long? The entire time?”

He nodded. His dark eyes looked cold and angry. “That’s the plan.”

“Great. Well, you can’t keep me in your sight at all times.”

“Those are my orders and I follow them.”