Not My Wolf

Not My Wolf

Copyright © February 2011,
Eden
Cole

Cover art by Anastasia Rabiyah © February 2011

Amira Press

Charlotte
,
NC
28227

www.amirapress.com

ISBN:
978-1-936279-70-8

No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and e-mail, without prior written permission from Amira Press.

Chapter One

“You can’t put it off forever, you know,”
Blaine
reminded him. “Every day, more and more of the men are asking about when you’ll mate.”

“It’s not like my mate is sitting outside my door waiting for me to take her,” Corey complained. “You know that as well as every wolf out there. And the bigger issue here is not whether I have my mate. It’s whether we’re going to escalate this issue with the rival pack.”

Blaine
nodded. “Yeah, there’s that too.”

Corey growled at him, but his second in command was not fazed in the least.
Blaine
was a good man, a great fenrir shifter. He’d stayed beside Corey for many years and was comfortable not challenging him for leadership of the pack. The others might assume it was because
Blaine
was openly gay, but Corey knew better.
Blaine
was one of the strongest, most self-assured men he knew. He was comfortable in what and who he was, but he also felt his place was to support Corey. If today or tomorrow,
Blaine
changed that view, Corey knew he’d learn it from his Beta firsthand. That made
Blaine
his best friend aside from his duties.

“Anyway,” Corey began, breaking eye contact with the other man and staring down at his desk, “I might be meeting my mate a lot sooner than you or I thought.”

Blaine, who had been rearing back in his chair with his face hidden beneath his Stetson, shot forward. His chair slammed down on the floor. “What? Why didn’t you say anything, you ass? Where is she? How do you know?”

Corey winced at the explosion of sound. All of the fenrir shifters in his small
Rocky
Mountain
pack had sensitive hearing. “Watch it, would you?” he snapped. At
Blaine
’s apology, he continued. “I had a dream last night—”

“A dream?”
Blaine
whistled. “So you did get the gift from our ancestors. Shows up in the Alpha sooner or later.”

“Yeah,” Corey agreed, “and that’s another thing that others have questioned about my authority. Not those who want to challenge me of course, just troublemakers.”

“The dream?”
Blaine
led.

Corey hesitated again. The dream had been sensual, hot. He’d awakened that morning drenched with sweat, his cock rock solid. If the experience wasn’t a premonition of what was to come, it was at least enjoyable, until he woke up. “She was in it, my mate. I’m pretty sure it was her because I heard myself say ‘
you’re
my mate?’” He shrugged, all of a sudden feeling stupid.

Blaine
laughed. “You didn’t sound too sure.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” he insisted, becoming more so as he spoke. “The feeling was right.” He closed his eyes and leaned back remembering the scene with them together, both naked on a bearskin rug. The setting he recognized too, his cabin. The pack lived on a plot of land kept for their own kind, and the occasional stray from another type of shifter. Ownership had passed from one Alpha to the next over the last centuries. They worked the land to produce their livelihood, whether it was crops or cattle, all to allow them a sanctuary away from the big city.

Fenrir shifters were different from regular wolf shape-shifters. They were descendents of the Norse god Fenrir, and their fur when they changed to their animal form had an electric blue quality to it. They were bigger and stronger than regular wolf shifters. They were fewer in numbers than other groups. This was partially the reason his pack members kept pushing at him to find his mate, so that he could have children and keep the bloodline going. The more Corey looked out over his small pack and watched as they mated and started families, the lonelier he became from one year to the next. But the matter was more serious than him just picking out one of the unattached women and going for it.

“What did she look like? Maybe she’s one of us or someone from a neighboring pack.”

Corey shook his head. “I’m not sure. Actually the entire scene was hazy. All I could see very clearly was my cabin. She was there with me. We were having sex in front of the fireplace. She has long, black hair. And when she touched me…

“Touched you?”
Blaine
asked, doubt in his tone.

Corey frowned. “I know what you’re going to say. It seems more likely that when I touch my mate, I connect with her and feel that she’s the one. But well…honestly, it was her touch that got me. I can’t explain it.” He knew his face must be red. He sounded like a damn woman. “Look, don’t give me grief. All I’m saying is, I believe she’s it. So what I need to do is—”

“Is find a black-haired woman and have her touch you.”

“If you’re not going to take this seriously…”

Blaine
held up his hands. “Okay, okay, buddy. I get it. And you’re in luck.”

Corey narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “Why’s that?”

“Because, my friend, it so happens that I need a double.”

“No.”

“You haven’t heard me out yet.”

“I said no.” Corey stood up. “I’ve got rounds to make. I’m not going on a double date with you. I’m not gay, Blaine, and I’d appreciate it if you would remember that.” Corey reached for his hat and placed it on his head before continuing toward his office door.

Blaine
surged to his feet and followed. “Okay, but the double would be with my new friend’s
sister
,” he emphasized. “And she’s got long, black hair.”

Corey stopped with his hand on the doorknob and glanced over his shoulder. He should jerk the bastard up in the collar and plant him a facer just for playing with him, but he let it go. “Why didn’t you say that in the first place?”

Blaine
only grinned and stuck his hands in his pockets. “So that’s a yes?”

“Yes,” Corey spat. “But no kissy stuff in my presence. You know how that irritates me.”

Blaine
brushed by him and jogged down the three steps to the asphalt. “I wonder why.”

Corey didn’t bother arguing. They’d had the discussion many times before.
Blaine
seemed to think just because he enjoyed men, everyone should, including Corey. He had never, nor
would
he ever, take a man to his bed.

* * * *

“Why are you dating him, Devin? He’s not your mate,” his sister asked softly.

Devin growled and snapped, “Do not question me, Corrin.” When he saw the surprise and hurt in her eyes, he relented. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed. She’d know the truth soon enough, so why hide it from her? They were twins, and he shared everything with his sister. Not to get her to help him make decisions, but just because she was his companion on their trek up north to
Colorado
.

They had been born in
Texas
, and that’s where they spent most of their lives with a pack that they didn’t exactly fit in with. When Devin dreamed that he’d find his mate in
Colorado
, he headed out immediately. They had been here for months with no leads. He’d heard there were fenrir shifters in the area but had seen no evidence of them. Corrin and he weren’t full-blooded fenrir wolves. They had only a quarter of that special blood running through their veins. Apparently, that was more than enough to make them outcasts in their common wolf pack. That along with the fact that Devin was bigger and stronger than even his Alpha, a fact that no one took kindly to. Devin didn’t know how to keep his head low and his mouth shut. So when he had the dream, he left home, and Corrin had come with him.

“He’s a fenrir, full-blooded. Weren’t you able to tell that from his scent and his size?” he asked. “There’s no telling if his pack will accept us or if they will be the same as the others, thinking we’re beneath them and hardly worth notice. Either way, my mate is here in
Colorado
. I know he is.”

“And he’s a man?” she asked.

He grinned and nodded. “Darlin’ you know I’ve always preferred men. And yes, it was a man in my dream.” If he wasn’t driving at the moment, he would have closed his eyes and brought up the vision he knew by heart now. “He is perfect in every way, big, sexy, and most importantly—
mine
.”

Corrin chuckled. “I’ve never seen you so happy as when you’re talking about your mate. I shouldn’t be surprised it’s a man, but I am. Shifter mates have always been matched in order to procreate.”

Devin shook his head. “We gave it that emphasis. Our ancestors believed that they were not born complete. There was someone out there with a part of their heart and soul. When they found that person, then they were one. Having offspring was a gift that came from that union, but it wasn’t the focus.”

“If you say so, big brother.”

Devin glanced at his sister and wondered not for the first time if she was happy or content. She went wherever he did and didn’t complain a lot about her own situation. Corrin voiced her opinions more when she worried about what was happening with him. He was not some delicate flower who could not adapt to his surroundings. After all, he was doing fine in
Colorado
even though it was much cooler than
Texas
and very mountainous compared to the flat area they grew up in. Anyway, he would be thrilled when he could meet his mate. That’s all that mattered.

His cock tightened every time he thought of the man. Big, muscular, blond. Devin was going to bend him over and take him until they were both sore and exhausted. He had exchanged a few kisses with his new friend, but nothing more. Devin’s sex drive was high—all shifters were that way—but knowing he was close, he didn’t want to have sex with
Blaine
. Tonight, though, he intended to push to be taken around his pack. A man among them might be the one.

“I don’t see why I’m being dragged into this date,” Corrin said, cutting across his thoughts.

“You’re not being dragged.” He pulled his pickup to a stop at a red light and looked over at her. “
Blaine
says his buddy needs to get out more, and he thought the double date would be good for him. No big deal.”

She straightened her dress and brushed at it as if there was lint. Corrin was not good in social situations. She clammed up with people she didn’t know well. Shifters might be aggressive, but Corrin did not fit the mold.

“Is he ugly?”

“Have you met a shifter that is?”

“No.” She grinned. “But I’m not like everyone else, so you never know.”

The light changed, and he pulled off. “Don’t worry, darlin’, everything will be fine. You’re not being asked to marry him or even date him after this. I’ll size him up first to make sure he’s okay to even breathe your air. If he’s not, I will send him on his way.”

Corrin laughed. “My hero. Don’t start any fights.”

“Do I ever?”

She gave him a look that encompassed all his past run-ins with members of their previous pack.

“I don’t start them. I just finish it.” He gripped the steering wheel, turning his knuckles white. “We don’t have to apologize for what we are. We don’t have to bow to anyone. Period. If
Blaine
’s pack doesn’t accept us, and my mate’s not there, we’ll keep moving.”

Her eyes widened. “You mean leave
Colorado
?”

“No.” He sighed. “He’s here. Somewhere. And I intend to find him. I’ll lay my claim to him, and then things will get better. Wherever he is, that’s where we’ll belong until you find your mate.”