Redeemed: True Mates Book 4 (BBW Wolf Shifter Romance) (A Craggstone Paranormal Romance) (2 page)

My dad pulled out a chair and took a seat at the table, opposite Cole. He stared pointedly at the seat next to him.

Fine. I slumped into the chair, feeling like a teenager all over again.

Staying silent, I watched my dad take another sip of coffee, his brow creased in thought.

“You say he
was
a member of Sunclaw. You think that he isn’t anymore?” he said slowly.

It was almost as if I could see the cogs in his mind turning as he considered, then dismissed information.

“Was, is, I don’t know.”

“But, you said
was
.”

“Slip of the tongue?”

“There is no such thing. You know that, Macey. Instinct is guiding you. That, and the Mother of All.”

Jeez, now I definitely felt like a teenager. “Listen, I don’t have time for one of your lessons,
Dad
. I
need
to find the coyote.”

My dad closed his eyes briefly, then nodded. “There is a coyote shifter in the city. He’s a loner, been on his own for a long time. He might be the man you’re looking for since his name is Jason. Other than him, I know of no others.” He scribbled on a scrap of paper, then slid it over the table to me.

I froze, barely able to contain my shock. He had actually given us a location. Broken shifter law. I reached for the paper, cursing my hand for trembling.

He kept the paper pinned under a large finger. “I want to see you when you get back.”

“Why?” The word flew from my lips without thought.

“Because you’re my daughter, my only child. Because we are all we have in the world. Because I want to try and make amends.”

Man, I wished I could believe him. Just kiss and make up, have him back in my life, but this wasn’t the dad I remembered. The dad from my childhood had a stern face and a
do better
or
try harder next time, Macey
attitude. He made me feel inadequate, just because I’d been born a girl. He made me feel unwanted.

I snagged the scrap of paper off the table and lurched to my feet. “Let’s get going, Cole. It’s going to be a long day.”

Then, without looking back, I strode out of the door.

I didn’t care. Really. Those weren’t tears stinging my eyes, because I’d been taught—only the weak cried.

CHAPTER TWO

Jason

“Is that everything?” the young girl behind the cash register asked, blinking at me in that stunned fashion I had long since become accustomed to.

This was why I always patronized the same shops, ate in the same restaurants, and used the same laundromat. Nodding, I handed her a twenty and scooped the brown paper bag up off the counter.

Balancing it in the crook of my arm, I accepted the proffered change. “Thanks,” I mumbled, sighing inwardly as a shudder rippled down her spine. My voice had that effect on people. Especially humans. Though that was no more than a guess seeing as I hadn’t had contact with any other shifters for…I wracked my brain, shocked when I realized how much time had passed. Over twenty years!

Tugging my knit hat down over my ears, I shouldered the shop door open and stepped back out onto the street. I was only a couple of blocks from my apartment, but I was already cursing the fact that my usual shop had closed temporarily for refurbishments.

Taking a deep breath, I immediately regretted the compulsion as all I got was a noseful of exhaust fume laced smog, the sickly scent of rancid food in the nearby restaurant dumpster, and the tang of dried urine from the same alleyway. I noted the sign above the door—yet another restaurant I would not be frequenting.

Starting up the street, I let my mind wander, partially to avoid engaging with the startled stares and overloud whispers, but mainly because work, like always, needed my attention.

It was like they couldn’t function on their own for two days. Not that I ever managed to stay away that long, but still, they should be able to manage the weekend without me. It was the usual problems, client misbehaving, client being demanding, client deciding that whoring was a part of the contract. For fuck’s sake! I ran a clean business, the legitimate side anyway, providing bodyguards, or personal protection, as they liked to call it, to the elite. The famous, the nearly famous. Hell, anyone who could pay. But I liked to think I had a line I wouldn’t cross, and that included sex for money. Buying a person was as good as slavery in my book. Something I wouldn’t condone.

Otherwise, I would have stayed with the pack.

I glanced at my phone again, once again in its permanent position—glued to my hand. This particular client was new, and a bit of a troublemaker it seemed. They wanted
me
on the job, and were offering quite a bit extra. They always thought money was the deal-breaker, and while having it certainly made life pleasant, I wasn’t greedy. So the client was going to be disappointed.

These days, I only did the exclusive jobs, the covert under the table deals where my special skills were needed, and generally overseas, where I could blend in better. I couldn’t do inconspicuous, I couldn’t do low key—not looking like I did. At 6’7” with white-blond hair and obvious Scandinavian heritage, I stood out. No doubt about it.

I turned into my apartment building, tapping out a reply and hitting send as I started up the staircase, taking the steps two at a time.

Then, it hit me, the scent rolling down the stairwell. Wolves. In my building. One was male, his scent spicy and complex. The other… I took a deep breath, trying to taste her on my tongue. She smelled like winter. Pure and clean, like a fresh fall of snow.

My legs threatened to buckle beneath me as her scent swept through my body, thundering through my veins. Grabbing the handrail, I held on, fighting back the urge to react purely on instinct. To storm up there and sweep her off her feet. To grab her and taste her and
fuck
her until she moaned my name.

I hadn’t even met the woman. Didn’t know who she was. Only that she was a wolf.

I shook my head sharply, sucking in a breath through my mouth.

I hated wolves. Hated all shifters, even myself.

***

Macey

“He’s here,” I murmured, and Cole froze in his position by the door. We’d only gotten here five or so minutes ago, but it had quickly become clear that Jason wasn’t home.

“How do you know?” he hissed, crouching down to take another look at the lock.

He could have easily busted the door down in a split second, but humans tended to look down on little things like that. So, picking the lock it was.

Looks like we didn’t need to break in after all. Dammit, I wasn’t getting to have any fun.

“I can smell him. He’s coming up the stairs.” No sooner than the words had left my mouth, a tall man rounded the corner. Scratch that, an exceptionally tall man, and I wasn’t a shortie either.

I swallowed back a gasp as I took him in, my eyes traveling all the way from his white-blond hair to his black boots. Not only tall, the man was packed with muscle, his t-shirt hugging broad shoulders and stretching across a beautifully wide chest. The kind that made a girl want to weep in thanks. Or throw a party. Or maybe both.

His face was angular, with high cheekbones and wide lips. The kind of face that would look at home on a billboard or gracing a catwalk.

A tapered waist led to a pair of low slung jeans that snugly hugged thick, muscular thighs. My eyes wandered—I couldn’t help it. I was blaming it on the hormones that were, at this precise moment, standing up and shaking their ass. My eyes zeroed in on his crotch and what looked to be a thick, tasty looking—

“Can I help you?” a deep voice enquired, tinged with thinly veiled amusement.

Deep and rumbling, the sound flowed through me, plucking at already tightly strung nerves. What would it be like to have that voice dance over my skin, to hear it calling my name? A groan of surrender, whispering dirty secrets in my ear?

“Uh, yeah. Are you Jason?” Cole’s voice dragged me out of my fantasy and back to the present. He was eyeing me like I’d sprouted a second head, his emerald-green eyes both worried and confused.

“I might be. Who are you?” The man wasn’t talking to Cole, wasn’t even acknowledging him. All of his attention was focused on me.

I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. His scent filled my lungs again, smoky, like a candle that had just been blown out, and vanilla. And coyote. “You’re Jason, the coyote shifter,” I stated, daring him with my eyes to deny it. Pale blue eyes stared back at me.

“
The
coyote shifter? I’m not sure I understand what you mean. You make it sound like I am someone of importance?” His voice rose in question along with his eyebrows, his slight accent thickening.

He hadn’t denied it. That was progress. “We need to talk to you—”

“
You
can. He stays outside.” Jason strode to the door and, after inspecting the lock, turned the key. “I’m glad you didn’t break in. It would have been a shame to start our…relationship in such a way.”

Cole gave me a
what-the-fuck
look as Jason pushed the door open, motioning that I follow him.

“Wait a minute! She’s not going in there alone with you!” Cole spluttered, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at me.

Jason simply nodded and started to close the door, shutting us out.

I slammed my hand against the door, holding it open. “Wait! Cole, it’s fine. I can handle myself, and you’ll be just on the other side.” I pleaded silently with him. We needed Jason, whether we liked it or not.

And I was going to be professional and ignore the fact that my wolf wanted to claw her way out of my skin and jump him. Hell, she’d settle for me jumping him, so long as some skin on skin action happened.

Mine!

I shushed her inside my head. Now was not the time or the place, but she paced back and forth, her claws tapping inside my head.

What was up with her? We were normally in tune, wanting the same thing. The fact that she was going bat-shit-crazy over this coyote—?

Finally, Cole conceded, but he didn’t look happy about it. “If this asswipe tries anything, Macey, you holler, all right?”

Grateful that he was backing down, something that wasn’t easy for a male wolf, especially not one as dominant as Cole, I squeezed his arm. “Sure thing, butthead,” I said, following Jason through the door and letting it click shut behind me.

***

Jason

I watched as the tall blonde woman circled the room, her hands trailing over every available surface, her eyes taking in every detail.

My hands balled into fists as every surface she touched sparked a new fantasy of me bending her over and taking her, covering every square inch of my apartment. When she hovered by the windowsill, I had to stifle a groan, the image of her pressed up against the glass, naked and wet as I pounded into her from behind, riding me hard.

She’s a wolf, remember?

It worked, the lust subsiding to a more manageable level. All I needed to do now was keep her at arm’s length; then maybe I had a chance of keeping control. Of not letting the feral urges control me.

“Macey?” I even liked the sound of her name, my tongue caressing the syllables.

She turned, her blue eyes narrowing at me. A teal blue, I decided. Nothing washed out or weak about this woman.

Her lips had parted, drawing my attention to their fullness. Glossed a shimmery pink, I couldn’t help but think about how they would taste. How
she
would taste.

Given how she had blatantly perused my body on the landing, I felt it only fair to return the favor. After all, I was only looking. My eyes leisurely moved down her body, pausing to admire her full breasts, admirably showcased by a tight blue t-shirt, then danced over her lush, full curves and down her long, denim clad legs.

Now I desperately wanted her to turn around, just so I could convince myself that the perfectly round derriere that I had glimpsed earlier was a figment of my imagination. That no woman could be this perfect. As a large man, I needed a partner who didn’t disappear under my hands, who I wasn’t scared of breaking. This was a woman who fulfilled my fantasy. Every inch of her.

My cock reared to attention again, thickening and straining inside my jeans.

She dug a slender hand into the front pocket of her jeans, pulling out what looked to be a packet of gum. Popping a pink square into her mouth, she chewed thoughtfully, her eyes never leaving me.

“What is it you want from me?” I asked slowly, monitoring her reaction carefully.

Heat flared in her eyes, just a flicker before she got it under control, but I had seen it. Whatever the hell this lust was that was happening to me, it was happening to her, too.

“We need your help,” she said, then paused, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

“Do you need a drink?” I asked.

She shook her head, her blonde ponytail bouncing.