Shifters of Shadow Falls Collection (Books 1-3) (7 page)

Part IV

Their Mates

Chapter 15: Dom

              “What the fuck, Dom?”  Caleb looks back at me with a neutral expression even though he’s screaming in my head.

              “She’s scared.  I’m gonna fix it.”

“By tying her up?” his shocked tone is laced with disapproval.  “She’s scared out of her mind, you sick fuck!”

“Knock it the fuck off; you know I’m not gonna cross the line.”  He presses his lips into a thin line and looks back at our mate.  She’s still huddled in a ball shaking uncontrollably, intently focused on ignoring us.  As though we can’t exist if she can’t see us.  She’s got the blanket cocooned around her like it’s going to protect her.  I shake my head at the sight of her. 
Nothing’s coming in between us, little one. 

“Tying her up is crossing the line.”  His low growl is fortified with an unspoken threat.

“Bring it on mother fucker.  I’m doing this for her.”  I leave him with anger pouring off of him in waves.  I take long, determined strides to the other side of the estate.  I need to gather rope from the dungeon.  I don’t give a fuck if Caleb doesn’t like it.  She may be both of ours, but that isn’t going to stop me from doing right by her on my own.  She needs to be subdued and reprogrammed.  Now that I know what she’s been through, all bets are off.  Our mate isn’t a scared little human afraid of the big, bad werewolves.  No, she’s an abused, latent wolf in desperate need of being given a kind, devoted touch.  Only she won’t let that happen.  She’ll keep us away because she’s petrified.  All of her past experiences have her on edge and frightened. 

I scowl thinking of what she’s been through.  My chest tightens and my throat constricts.  My poor mate.  Fate’s one cruel bitch.  She’s scared of me, and all of us by extension, because I look just like my father.  Just like the man who abducted and tortured her.  She’s been conditioned to fear the very sight of me.  I’ve seen what he’s done and how his victims look at him with sheer terror in their eyes.  That’s how she looks at me.  I clench my fists and grip onto the rage and resentment; better that than the sadness threatening to destroy the last bit of hope I have of claiming my mate. 

She may’ve learned to fear my presence, but I can retrain her.  I’ll have to tie her down at first so she can’t hide from me; she won’t be able to ignore me or run from me anymore.  I nod my head as I collect what I’ll need.  I’ll be able to hold her small frame against mine and force her to feel the electric pull between us.  I’ll soothe her and relieve her of her agony.  I’ll condition her body to want me and her mind to crave my touch.  She just needs to let go of the past so she can see her future with me.

Then there’s the issue of her latency.  Her wolf was there.  I heard the poor, broken creature whimper in pain; she reached out to our wolves. But somehow Lizie held her back and hid her.  She fucking vanished.  There for one split second and then gone.  We can’t hear her or feel her or even scent her.  It doesn’t make any sense.  I should know since latent shifters were my father’s main perversion.  You can’t hide your wolf.  They’re always able to be heard, felt and eventually seen, even if you’re latent and can’t shift, there’s always something that will bring your animal to the surface.  Lizie, my sweet, haunted mate is not
latent
.  She’s something else and I have no fucking clue what.  But her wolf is in there somewhere and my own wolf is chomping at the bit to get to her.  He knows she’s hurting and he’s clawing at me to protect her. 

My strides pick up as I get closer to my mate.  I’ve only been gone a few minutes, but I don’t want to miss a thing.  If her wolf comes back, I want to be there for her.  I want to be there for Lizie every step of the way.

First thing we have to do is tell her we’re her mates.  I don’t know if she’ll know what that means or what all she remembers from her pack, but I’ll figure it all out in time.  I’ve got forever with my mate and today is just the first day.  There’s no way I’m going to let her deny me.  I’m not going to let her, or her wolf, hide from us anymore.

“You tell her yet?”  I silently question Caleb as I push the door open.  The room looks just like a typical twenty-something-year old room.  Caleb made sure to get everything how it was for them back at their apartment.  These girls really love the color pink.  It’s fucking everywhere.  Lizie is still huddled in the cream, damask comforter from the guest room.  She’s right in the middle of her bed.  Her head is nuzzled into the blanket resting on her knees.  She’s got her arms wrapped around her legs and she’s holding onto them like they’re her anchor.  When she hears my boots thud against the wooden floors, she lifts her head slightly and her red-rimmed, blue eyes peek through her dark, thick lashes at me.  The soft movement of her shoulders becomes rigid with fear. 

Her eyes dart to the rope in my hands and terror flashes over her face.  Her kissable, pouty lips release a small gasp and she quickly backs away from me, crawling on her hands and knees to the headboard and pushing her side up against it.  She wraps her arms around her bent legs and hastily rocks her body, resting her cheek on her knee so she can keep her eyes on me.  Her big doe eyes are drenched in panic and tears fall carelessly down her reddened cheek.  She sniffles before swallowing and pleading with me in a small voice, “please don’t.”

Caleb is standing with his arms crossed in the corner on my right; the muscles in his neck and arms are corded making him look like a rock-solid beast.  At least he has a tight smile on his face.  Although that’s obviously not doing anything to calm her.

“Nah, I figured you’d wanna be here.”  I glance at him and then start walking slowly to the edge of the bed.  I sit my massive form down and feel the soft bed dip.  Our little mate lets out a squeak.  Caleb follows me, but doesn’t sit.

“I tried to sit when you left and she freaked the fuck out.”

“This’ll help her.”  I see him slightly shake his head in my periphery.  “Just don’t get in my way then.”

“Don’t fucking make me.”  I clench my teeth and ignore him.  Our mate hasn’t heard a word of our silent dialogue and I don’t want her to think I’m pissed at her. 

“Little one, I want you to come to me.”  It’s a simple request.  My words come out as soft as they possibly can.  She stops rocking and stares at me.  She buries her head between her knees and shakes her head in denial.  I resist the urge to growl.  Instead, I pat the bed next to me and calmly repeat myself, “I want you to come sit by me.”  I look at Caleb and then back to our scared little mouse.  “We have something very important to tell you and I want to be able to hold you when you hear it.”  Caleb’s lip turns up at the corner.  I don’t know if he’s trying to force a smile onto his pretty-boy face or whether he’s trying to hold it in. 

Caleb stalks closer to her and slowly drops to his knees at the end of the bed.  His tall frame hovers over the bed as he bends to offer his upturned hand to Lizie.  “Come on baby girl, I want to hold you too.  Let’s go sit with Dominick.”  She doesn’t even lift her head to meet his eyes.  Her blonde hair shifts across her back as she shakes her head adamantly refusing our requests. 

“Let’s just tell her.”  I hear Caleb’s words in my head, but instead of responding silently I continue to speak out loud so our mate can hear. 

“I don’t want to tell her until I can hold her.” 

“Stop being so fucking stubborn.”  He continues his silent conversation. 

“I’m not being stubborn; when I tell her that she’s my mate, she needs to be listening.  She’s not fucking listening to anything we say.”

“She is listening; she doesn’t want to obey.  There’s a difference, Dom.”

“I know there’s a fucking difference.  She’s hearing us, but she’s not
really
listening.”  I glance back at our terrified mate before looking Caleb in the eyes.  “You want to claim her on the full moon?”  He shifts uncomfortably. 

“You know I do.  But I don’t wanna scare her.”

“Too fucking late.”

His shoulders slump in defeat.  “I don’t want to give her a reason to fear us.”

“She already has one.”  I’m getting frustrated with all this pussy footing around.  “Are you gonna help me?”  He grits his teeth and clenches his fists, but gives a reluctant and slight nod.  I take a deep breath and crack my knuckles before turning to fully face Lizie.

“Hey little one.”  I stare at the back of her head.  She stops moving, but doesn’t turn to me and she doesn’t respond.  I know she’s terrified so it doesn’t make me angry, in fact it’s exactly what I expect.  And that’s the kind of behavior I’m going to have to nip in the bud.

I sigh and say as casually as I can, “If you won’t listen, I’m gonna have to tie you up little one.”  Her breath hitches, but other than that I get nothing.  I’ll give her one last chance.  “Come here little one.  Come sit next to me so I’ll know you’ll hear me.”  I pat the bed and continue to stare at the back of her head. 

“How are we doing this?”  Her lack of a response gets Caleb to finally relent.

“Well do you want to get your eyes clawed out or have your nose kicked in?”  A small grin plays at his lips. 

Chapter 16: Devin

              I place feather light kisses along Ariana’s bare neck as she sits perched on the granite, island counter top in the center of the kitchen.  I don’t want to let go of her, but I know she’s dying to get back to Liz.  I breathe out deep and resign myself to feed her and then take her to her room.  I’m vaguely aware of Dom and Caleb’s anxiety.  They must be going to Liz which means our mates’ room is set up.  Dom’s feelings are more of a painful anxiousness; whereas Caleb’s are hopeful, but with apprehension.  I block them out.  They don’t need me interfering.  They better tell her soon though, that she’s their mate.  I’m sick of waiting to tell Ariana.  Keeping this from her is tearing me up inside.  I know the moment I explain it to her, everything will shift into place for her.  Our bond is strong now, but she’s still holding back and I don’t fucking like it.

She pulls my shirt farther down her thighs, covering herself from me, and glances around the large kitchen.  I could tell she was shocked by how modern her new home is.  She probably expected to live in some shack in the woods. I reach for the cheese and butter in the fridge.  After spending a year watching her, I know she makes grilled cheese whenever she’s stressed.  I made sure to stock up before we went to the offering.  I want her to indulge in any and everything that will offer her comfort. 

I set them down by the stove and glance back at her as I reach for a pan.  She avoids my gaze and bites her lip, nervously looking around the room again.  Her eyes linger on the doorway to the hall.  My heart drops in my chest.  I swear to God if she runs from me again, I’m going to lose my shit.  As long as I’m touching her she seems fine, but the moment I step away, it’s like our bond doesn’t exist.  It hurts like a bitch. 

“What are you looking for sweetheart?”  I keep my voice even.  Like I don’t know she’s thinking about bolting.  She peeks up at me through her lashes and meets my gaze head on.  Well that’s a good sign at least.  I see her noticeably swallow.

“I was keeping an eye out for the… others.” 
What the fuck?
  I feel my nostrils flare and my breathing picks up in anger.  Why the hell is she thinking about anyone other than me?  I can’t school my expression fast enough.  Her eyes dart to the floor and she hunches her shoulders.  She doesn’t realize it, but she’s trying to shield her neck from me.  Yet another thing I don’t like.  I close my eyes and try to even my breathing.

“Why?”  I can’t say any other words without showing my emotion and pissed off aggression is not what she needs right now.  I turn my back to her and put the fucking pan for her God damned grilled cheese on the stove to get it hot.  I have to work hard not to slam the drawer after I grab the butter knife. 

“I... I” Her stuttering isn’t doing any good to calm me down.  “I don’t wanna see them.”  My shoulders relax at her admission.  Well that’s a hell of a lot better than what I was thinking, but why doesn’t she want to see her pack?

I turn back around to face her before I ask, “are you afraid of them?”  She shakes her head no while her beautiful hazel eyes meet my gaze.  I didn’t think she would be, but I had to make sure.  She’s so fucking gorgeous covered in just my white tee shirt.  I have a perfect view of her tiny pink nipples through the thin fabric and I’m not sure if they’re hard because she’s aroused or cold.  Her bare feet dangle from the counter and her ankles are crossed.  She looks so sweet and innocent.  The blush on her chest that rises to her cheeks proves she’s not so innocent as her gaze lingers on my chest, and then lower.  I watch her lick her lips before her eyes meet mine again.  I give her a sexy, knowing smirk which makes her roll her eyes.  Damn, I love her confidence. 

Her eyes dart to the far edge of the counter as the small smile on her lips fades.  I follow her sight and pinch my brows together.  I’m not sure if it’s my MacBook or Dom’s; we have the same one.  I flip her grilled cheese before striding across the room and sliding the MacBook towards her.  Dom won’t care if she uses it and I want her to know I trust her.

“Go ahead and order those jeans sweetheart.”  I smirk at her shocked expression and then give her a stern look so she knows I’m serious.  “No social media though.  Not yet.”  I turn my back to her, but I see her nod before she leaves my view. 

Her buttered bread is perfectly golden and crispy with the melted cheese dripping down the sides.  I smile to myself.  It’s just the way she likes it.  I’ll never fucking admit to her that I practiced making them as soon as I noticed her obsession.  I burned them all the first week.  After that I had to actually study her while she cooked and realized she kept adding butter.  No wonder her ass is so curvy.  My dick hardens at the thought of her plump ass jiggling as I pounded into her against the wall.  I stifle my groan.  Fuck, I love that ass. 

“What’s my budget?”  Her sweet voice grounds me back to reality.  I put her grilled cheese on a plate and walk back over to the counter.  Her eyes light up as she smiles, exposing her perfect, white teeth and she immediately picks up her comfort food.  “I love grilled cheese.”  She practically moans the words through a mouthful of sandwich before she realizes she’s talking with her mouth full.  She blushes and puts a hand up to her mouth.  “Sorry.”  She chokes out once she swallows. 

I shake my head, “I don’t mind.”  I glance at the screen and see she’s picked out her jeans from Amazon.  They’re only fifty bucks and I’m honestly shocked.  I thought women’s clothing was always more expensive.  “These are what you want?”

She hesitantly nods her head.  “I know Lizie wants a pair too.”  Although it’s a statement, her meek voice makes it a question.

“Go ahead and order them.  Get as many as you’d like.”  I turn back to the stove and take a look at my own grilled cheese.  I burned it.  Motherfucker.  Whatever, I don’t really care about the damn thing anyway. 

“I didn’t know you guys ate real food.”  I chuckle at her and take a bite with my back leaning against the sink so I can face my mate.

“What did you think we ate?”

She shrugs noncommittedly, licking butter off her fingertips.  “No clue.  I just figured since vampires drink blood, and witches eat organs and nasty shit that you guys would eat…”  she scrunches up her nose, “I don’t know, raw meat or something.” 

From the corner of my eye I watch Lev pause at the doorway when he catches sight of Ariana perched on the counter.  I nod at him, acknowledging his presence and giving him permission to enter.  He walks into the kitchen and yawns, “you two are up early.”  He eyes Ariana on his way to the fridge, no doubt wondering what kind of a mood she’s in.  “Good morning Ari.”  He turns his attention to me, “Alpha.” 

The entire pack knows that she hit me and tried to get away from me.  Part of me is delighted because I can feel their admiration for her strength and courage; the other part of me wants to sulk at the fact that she denied me; it’s fucking embarrassing.  Lev got to see it first hand and I still feel ashamed for making her want to run from me.  His presence reminds me that I need to talk to her about why she bolted the moment I left her.   

“You consider this morning?”  She asks Lev like he can’t be serious.  My chest puffs out with pride at her response.  She’s confident and relaxed.  She fits right in as the alpha mate.  When I found out my mate was human, at first I was shocked.  We’re the strongest pack on this side of the country.  I thought having a human mate would make me weak, but I can already feel the power she’s giving me through our bond.  I’m honored to be her mate.  I hope one day she’ll feel the same way.

Lev smiles at her after taking a swig from the jug of orange juice.  “Well it’s the morning shift.”  He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.  “Gotta go do my laps and get shit in order before Jude checks out.” 

She tilts her head in confusion.  My pack’s on high alert now that the old alpha is making threats.  I should’ve killed him rather than show mercy.  I shake my head and silently tell Lev to shut the fuck up.  She doesn’t need to know about all that shit. 

She yawns and cracks her back, “well I call this bedtime.”  Her shirt rises up as she stretches her arms above her head.  The hem tickles her upper thighs causing her eyes to pop open.  She grabs the shirt and pulls it down as a blush of embarrassment brightens her cheeks.  I let a chuckle rumble through my chest.  We’re shifters so we don’t give a fuck about nudity.  I want her to feel comfortable though.

Lev smirks at her response so I have to silently scold the little shit.  “Have some respect for her modesty Lev.” 

“Sorry Dev.”  I hear his humorous remark in my head.  He turns on his heels leaving the juice on the counter and heads towards the hall while calling out, “good night Ariana; See you guys later.”

Ariana calls out in a strained voice, “see you Lev,” while pushing her knees and thighs together and staring at the floor.  She whispers, “I’m sorry.  I forgot I was only wearing a tee shirt.”  Her eyes peek up at me, searching for something, and I reach out to cup her chin and run my thumb along her bottom lip. 

“It’s alright sweetheart.  You don’t have to worry about that.  Lev doesn’t mind.”  My words don’t have the effect I thought they would.  She pulls away from my grasp and I let my hand fall to my side.  She noticeably swallows as her eyes water. 
What the hell?
 

“I wanna go to bed.”  She speaks quietly to the floor.  I can tell she’s trying hard not to cry and I have no fucking clue why. 

“Sweetheart what’s wrong.”  She shakes her head, still not making eye contact and I’m not going to fucking stand for that.  I grab her chin in my hand again and force her to look at me.  My gaze bores into her hazel eyes willing her to answer.  She wipes the stray tears away from her eyes and squares her shoulders before shrugging.

“I’m fine.  Really.  It’s just been a long day.”  I stare at her lying ass for a few seconds before dropping my hold on her.  I grit my teeth debating on whether or not I should drop this.  She’s keeping shit from me, but I’m keeping shit from her too.  Her hands cover her face for a moment before she lifts her hair off of her shoulders, breathes in deep and exhales slow and steady.  She twists the hair at the nape of her neck and pulls her brunette locks over her shoulder.

My eyes focus on sight of her exposed neck; it’s a welcomed distraction.  She has a few tiny scrapes on her delicate flesh from my fangs and it makes my dick hard remembering how I fucked her against the wall, and in the chair, and on the desk.  The marks call to me to bite her.  Hard.  To claim her by sinking my fangs deep into her tender, pale flesh.  I lean down and lick over a mark I left earlier, torturing my wolf.  She leans into me and hums in approval.  I grin into her neck.  I may not be able to justify scolding her for doing something to me that I’m doing to her, but I can give her a hard, punishing fuck.  I nuzzle under her ear before nipping her lobe.  I see her clench her thighs together as I smell her arousal. 
Fuck yes.
 

My intentions were to feed her and then take her to bed, but I can’t let her go without satisfying all of her hunger, and mine.  I run my fingers down her neck to her collar bone and back up as I plant small kisses on the other side, up to that tender spot behind her ear.  She shivers at my delicate touch. 

“I know you’re tired sweetheart, but I’m not going to leave you while you’re in need.”  I take her bottom lip in between my teeth and bite down hard enough that it’ll bruise.  She yelps and her little whimper makes my dick swell with need.  I swiftly pick her ass up off the counter and put her stomach-down on the barstool so she’s at the perfect height for me to fuck into her greedy cunt with long hard strokes.

I move her hair over her shoulder so I can grip the nape of her neck.  I whisper, letting my lips tickle the shell of her ear, “hold on sweetheart.”  Her little hands instantly grab the legs of the barstool while I slam my dick into her raw, tight pussy. Fuck she’s even tighter than she was earlier.  She’s got to be sore to be that swollen, but I know that the pain will only heighten her pleasure.  The barstool wobbles on the ground, struggling to stay balanced as I hammer my dick into her, pulling almost all the way out and then slamming back in to the hilt, over and over.  I groan as the feeling of her tight walls stroking my length sends a heated rush through my body, starting at my toes and working it’s way up in long pulses.  Fuck, she feels too fucking good.  I keep my pace slow and steady, knowing how intense it is for her.  Hard and fast is right around the corner, but she needs to cum first.

It only takes a few strokes for me to get her to the edge of her release.  Her body starts trembling and I feel her cunt lock down on my dick while she bites into her arm to quiet her moans.  I slam my hips against her ass, pushing my dick all the way to the hilt and hold it there while she screams out my name and arches her back as her orgasm rips through her body.  Her cunt spasms around me and drips her honey down my thighs. 
Fucking perfect.

I ride recklessly through her orgasm as her pussy attempts to milk my cock.  My fingers dig into the tender flesh at the front of her throat as I grip her harder.  Her cum makes pumping into her easier and I pick up my pace, brutally pounding into her welcoming heat.  The sound of my dick slamming into her wet pussy, with her sweet low moans muffled in the background, fuels my need to cum.  With my left hand gripping her nape to steady her body as I rut into her aching cunt, I use my right hand to roughly rub her throbbing clit.  She struggles beneath me to get away from the intense pressure building in her so soon after her first release.