Sassy Ever After: Mate of Honor (Kindle Worlds Novella) (6 page)

“Who am I?”

She twisted her shoulders and looked up at the gold rings around his pupils and the wild, animalistic expression on his face. The man in her dreams had asked that same question. Was this a dream? The dream? The one she’d been having since she was a teenager? Could she really be a home in bed? He wet his lips and growled as his intense gaze bore a whole right into her soul.

Again he asked, “Who am I?”

“Forrest!” she screamed as the floodgates opened, her body bucking and shaking through the orgasm as ripple after ripple of ecstasy surged through her.

Forrest’s pace quickened, his body rigidly moving against her, his grip tightening on the back of her neck and ass until…

“Ahh!” he cried out with one final thrust, holding himself tight against her until the last of his seed pumped into her.

He pulled out slowly as Bailey collapsed down, her forehead lying on a cool clump of moss. “Holy shit stick. Fu-uck me.”

Forrest wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. “Again?”

“You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”

“I can think of worse ways to die.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you come after me?” Bailey asked the question that had been on her mind since he chased the other wolf off. “What game are you playing?”

“In the library, what was that song you were singing?” he asked, deftly changing the subject.

Bailey sighed. “
Kalinka
. It’s an old song.”

“What does it mean?”

“Red berry. It’s about the little red berries that grow on the snowball tree.”

“You smell like berries to me,” he said.

“Really?” She never had anybody tell her that before. “I don’t know why.”

“Maybe because you’re sweet and ripe.” He smiled with an ease she hadn’t seen before in him. “What language is the song?”

“Russian. I was born in Siberia. My mother brought me over when I was five. After my father was killed.”

“By another Fox?”

Bailey shook her head. She was too young to remember much about her dad. But the one thing that always stuck was his kind eyes. “Hunters. Corsac fox fur is in demand in the cold Russian climate.”

“Wow, I’m sorry.”

Bailey shrugged. “My father had been on a run, and the men didn’t now he was a shifter. They thought he was a natural. They shot him. My mother said that when they got to his body, he had shifted back into his human form. They recognized my father. They would have killed my mother and myself as demons if she hadn’t escaped with me. The Russians aren’t as open minded about us as the Americans are.” She smiled and traced the line of his jaw with her fingertip. “I have never told a single soul this story. I don’t know why I’m telling you.” The story made her remember just how alone she was now with her mother gone too.

“Because I’m special.” He smiled.

“You think an awful lot of yourself, don’t you,” she teased.

“You know I’m the alpha, right?”

The reminder brought a sick feeling to the pit of her stomach. He was the alpha. And she was…no one. This was as far as things could go for her and Forrest. She’d heard her father say he had to choose a wolf mate, one that would add to his power base. She could never be that for him.

“You are the Alpha,” she said numbly.

“Yeah, I am.” Forrest, who hadn’t registered the shift in her mood, rolled Bailey onto her back and held her hands above her head. First, he kissed her stomach, then her breasts, one kiss on each, and lastly, he pressed his mouth gently against hers. “God, you’re soft.”

Bailey tucked her chin as a familiar sense of wariness fell over her. “What’s that supposed to mean?” All her anxieties about her weight and her station popped back up as if she were a teenager again, forced to follow the rules of a pack that would never be hers. In her heart, she knew her reactions wasn’t about anything Forrest had done. It was her desperate attempt to save herself from heartbreak.

The confused expression on his face made her want to kiss him. He frowned. “I love the way you feel in my hands, Bailey. Everything about you is perfect.”

“Perfectly chubby, you mean.” Damn it, she was being an asshole. But the only way to get out of this without her heart breaking completely in two was to not let it go any farther.

“There is nothing I would change about you,” Forrest said.

“You don’t even know me, Forrest. You don’t know anything about me.”

“I know I want you.” He’d never been good at reading people, but had he been so far off the mark with Bailey?

“And you had me. Congratulations. You’ve satisfied your libido.” She scooched out from under him. Her face held an expression of hurt and pain he hadn’t expected.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No, Forrest.” She shook her head sadly. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I did. I’m a fox. You’re a wolf and the new alpha of the Blackthorn Pack. You have responsibilities that don’t include taking an outsider, a loner, as a lover. You will have to take a mate, and I can’t stand by and watch. I can’t watch you mate with someone who isn’t me.” She stood up. “Fuck!”

“Wait, Bailey. You don’t--”

“You know what I’m saying is true.” Before she shifted into a fox, she gave him one last look. “Please don’t follow me this time.”

The situation was impossible. It not only wouldn’t work between them. It couldn’t. And the realization tore Bailey apart.

Forrest had been
summoned--
summoned!
--like a child to the family lounge. He was in no mood for whatever his parents had planned. The night before had been simultaneously the worst and best night of his life, and he needed time to formulate his next step.

When he walked into the room Evan and Lara sat on a crushed velvet loveseat, Luke and Blessing sat in chairs near the fireplace. Dorian perched himself near the bar--smart man. All his siblings and his sibling’s mate had the same look a rabbit gets right before they are caught by a predator. His parents, however, who stood near the piano, an instrument his mother played as well as any concert pianist, were covered in sheer disappointment.

Not one to pussy-foot around difficult topics, Forrest crossed his arms and said, “Get on with it.”

“You have put this entire family in jeopardy,” Burn said.

The room stilled, everyone hyper-focused on Forrest’s response. “Fuck that.”

Dorian dropped his glass of whiskey, the liquid splashed out, but the thick glass wobbled a bit then stopped moving.

“Dorian!” Lila Blackthorn admonished.

He was already bent over cleaning the hardwood floor with a bar rag. “Continue,” he muttered. “Bigger fish to fry than little old me.” He cast Forrest a wicked grin.

It wasn’t often Forrest’s brothers got to see him get dressed down by their parents. The last time was, oh, never.

Lila turned her ire toward her eldest son. “We’ve tried to make this transition to alpha as problem free for you as possible. All you had to do was choose one suitable mate.” She held up her index finger. “Just one. Do you want what happened to the Rahound Pack to happen to us?”

“I am not Rocco Rahound.”

“If you aren’t strong enough to hold the pack, someone like him might decide to take over,” Burn said.

“I’d like to see someone try.” Forrest’s wolf snarled inside him, ready for action. Evan, Luke, and Dorian nodded their agreement, and it bolstered Forrest’s spirit. He might feel like an outsider sometimes, but his brothers were there if he needed them.

Burn smacked the piano top. “That’s not the point, son.”

“The point is, Caleb’s choice of mate had nothing to do with the turmoil in the Rahound Pack.”

“You had almost forty females to scent, Forrest.” His mother threw up her arms. “You picked none.”

“I picked one.” Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Evan, Lara, Luke, and Blessing all scoot forward in their seats. Even Dorian was paying attention.

“She’s a lone vixen with no pack affiliation. She’s not strong enough to help you keep your position,” Burn said.

“Wait, vixen?” Evan asked. “Do you mean Bailey?”

Lara’s hand went to her lips as she stifled an astonished “Oh.”

Forrest’s blood boiled at his mother’s implication that Bailey wasn’t good enough. He got the feeling she’d been told that a lot in her life. He fought against his wolf who wanted to surface and defend her. “I’ve already marked her.”

“You what?” Lila sat down on the piano bench.

“I marked her. She is
mine
, damn it.” His words ended in a snarling growl.

“Bro, I’ve never seen you like this before,” Evan said.

Forrest shot his brother a look of warning. “Stay out of this.”

Evan put up his hands. “You got it.”

“Are you mated?” Lila asked.

“We will be.”

“So there’s still time to fix this.”

All he’d thought about since she’d ran away was how much he wanted her back, and his mother thought she could “fix this.” No. Fucking. Way. Bailey Corsac was his, even if he hadn’t permanently marked her yet. He’d made his intention clear with the bite on her shoulder. He didn’t want another woman, another mate. And the only thing that needed fixing was figuring out how to make Bailey want him as much as he wanted her.

“Father, if you want to run this pack then take it back. I’ll gladly step aside. But, if I am to be alpha,” Forrest said. “I will be alpha my way. If someone wants to challenge me, I will make them regret the day they were whelped. And that is all I will say on the subject. Good day.” And with that final declaration, Forrest stormed from the room and headed out back from some fresh air.

He’d never done well with being told what to do. In that way, he’d been born to lead. It infuriated him to have his parents treat him like a child. He’d negotiated contracts with some of the toughest, narcissist psychopaths in the business world. In other words, he could handle himself when it came to pack dynamics and rival pack politics. And if he couldn’t, then he didn’t deserve to hold the role in the first place.

“You look like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders,” a familiar voice said.

Forrest glanced over at Maxine Garson. She lounged on the porch swing, using her feet to gently rock herself back and forth. He tried to smile but feared it looked more like a grimace. “How are you, Max?”

“I asked first,” she said, a coy smile on her lips.

“Technically, you didn’t.”

“It was implied, Mr. Blackthorn.” She raised a brow. “But I guess an implied contract means nothing around here.”

The Silverbacks were property developers, and Maxine had been adept with acquisitions. He’d even hired her once or twice over the years to help find locations for Blackthorn Sporting Goods centers. And though she’d indicated her willingness, Forrest had never had sex with Maxine after his first scenting ceremony all those years ago.

The sex had been good, wild and adventurous, but when he’d tried intimacy with her outside of sex, Maxine lacked any real warmth or kindness. He knew she must have felt just as empty when it came to him. Forrest had no illusions about himself. He was cold, distant, and domineering--and that was on a good day.

Except when it came to Bailey. What was it about that little fox that chipped away at his icy heart? His wolf howled for her in a way that scared him. He was like a pup again whenever he saw her. She called to him, and his body begged to answer.

“It was nice to see you, Max.” He turned to go back inside.

Maxine jumped from the seat and went to him. She touched his arm. “We could be good together, Forrest. We could make Blackthorn so powerful no one would dare make a move against us. I can do that for you. Together we are strong.”

Forrest shook his head. “I don’t need another business partner. I need a mate.”

Her smile dimmed. “You need to grow up.”

“I’m not the one pissing on people.”

She gave him a sharp look. “You knew that was me last night?”

“I remember your wolf.”

Her eyes softened. “We could be powerful together, you and I.”

“Go home, Maxine. There’s nothing here for you.” He stared at where her hand rested on is bicep until she moved it.

Her expression hardened once again. “We’ll see about that, Forrest. I know how to get what I want, and I play for keeps.”

Forrest ignored the warning in her words. “Not this time. No hard feelings.”

Her mouth tightened, and her eyes held a sharpness, but like a smart businesswoman who’d been outmaneuvered, she held her tongue as he walked away.

****

Bailey sat at
an outdoor table at the Hound’s Tooth Restaurant. The location had been Lara’s choice, the seating, Bailey’s. She wore an oversized hat and a pair of sunglasses because it was as close to crawling into the deepest hole possible without actually shirking her responsibility as Lara’s maid of honor.

She’d arrived five minutes early but decided that if Lara were even one minute late, she would skedaddle.

With prejudice.

She’d cried herself to sleep the night before, and all she wanted to do was go back home and wash her damn pillowcases. Tory had gone into work at the office to take care of a legal motion that needed to be filed and woke her up with a call around eleven a.m. Unfortunately, there had been no hiding the red-rimmed eyes when she crawled out from under the covers to get ready for lunch, hence, the sunglasses.

Bailey checked her phone. Eleven-fifty-nine. She gathered her purse and readied herself to make a break for it. Too late. Lara arrived.

When she sat down across the table from Bailey, she skipped the platitudes and went right for, “Oh my God, Bailey, what the hell happened last night?”

“Do I look that bad?” She didn’t bother to remove her hat or glasses.

“No.” Lara shook her head. “Yes. But that’s not the point. The Blackthorn house was a minefield this morning. I’ve never had to tiptoe so much in my life!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Apparently, a certain new alpha defied the old alpha by choosing a fox over a wolf during the scenting ceremony.” She leaned forward and inhaled deeply. “Cripes, I can smell him all over you.”

“I showered a dozen times,” Bailey protested. “I just can’t seem to get him off me.” It was part of the reason she’d cried. It hurt knowing she’d never have Forrest again. That he would never truly be hers.

“It’s going to take more than soap and water to get rid of the scent of a mate.”

“You’re talking gibberish now.”

“I can’t believe you. And Forrest. Wowzers, how did you manage to pull the stick out of his ass?”

Bailey gnashed her teeth. “Don’t talk about him like that.”

“Whoa.” Lara put up her hands in an “I surrender” move. “I am just repeating your words back to you.”

“Well, stop it.” She felt another self-pity party coming on. “It doesn’t matter. It was a one and done. Forrest Blackthorn is ungettable.” And unforgettable. She’d never be able to look at another man without comparing him to Forrest. Hell, she was considering a nunnery at this point.

“Does this mean you’re over Evan?” she asked with an ease of friendship.

“What?” Bailey took off her sunglasses and blinked. “I don’t…You…You knew?”

“We knew.” She grasped Bailey’s hand. “But we loved you.”

“Wow, you all must have had a really big laugh at my expense. Look at love-sick Bailey pining for a man she couldn’t get in a thousand years.”

“Are you kidding me?” Lara smirked. “I can’t tell you how many times I was jealous of you and Evan. And believe me, when you started getting curves, he noticed. I can’t tell you how much I envied you.”

“But he fell in love with you.”

“And thank heavens, because I think the powers that be were saving you for something else.”

“I don’t believe in fate.”

“Call it what you want. Forrest Blackthorn stood in front of his family this morning and informally declared his intention to mate with you.”

“You’re high.”

As if on cue, a waitress brought out two mimosas and set them on the table. Lara held up her glass. “Not yet, but if I play my cards right...”

Bailey laughed, but it came out like a nervous hyena. “Did he really say he wanted me as his mate?”

“Uhm, let me see if I can get this right.” Lara straightened her shoulder, tucked her chin, and lowered her voice to mimic Forrest’s. “I marked her. She is mine, damn it.” She nodded at Bailey. “Exact words. Honest to goodness.” She traced an X on the left side of her chest. “Cross my heart.”

Mark her? She’d stared at herself in the mirror when she got home and other than a little redness on her shoulder, Forrest hadn’t left any mark on her. “He didn’t though. He didn’t mark me.”

“Come on, Bailey. Don’t be dense. He marked you with his scent. The first step in showing his intent to mate.”

“Ahhh. And that’s why I couldn’t wash him off.”

“Yes!” Lara snapped her fingers. “Now we’re cooking. And man, Forrest Blackthorn is pungent. Even more than when Evan marked me. He must have been really, really, reee-eally turned on.” She wiggled her brows. “You drive the boys wild.”

“Stop it,” Bailey said, but couldn’t stop the smile forming on her lips. “By the way, I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For cutting you out of my life after graduation. I didn’t understand how…strong the pull was when you found, er, the right person.”

“You can say it.” Lara giggled. “When you find your mate. And yes, it’s hell to resist.”

Bailey shook her head. “This is ridiculous. He’s the new alpha of the pack. I’m no one. I don’t have any affiliation. Is he nuts?”

“Those were all the points his parents touched on as well.” She took another sip of her drink. “Let me just say…Forrest did not give one shit about their fears. He’s certain he’s alpha enough to take on whatever happens, even without a marriage-alliance with another pack.”

“He’s got a big set of balls.”

Lara’s eyes widened, and she leaned forward. “Now we’re getting to the good stuff. Do tell me all about his balls.”

“Lara!” Bailey snorted her drink right out her nose. “Ow. And yuck.”

“Gosh, Bailey. I’ve missed you so much.”

Bailey smiled, feeling just a hint of bitter sadness. Her jealousy had driven her from the two people who’d always had her back. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I’m sorry I disappeared on you.”