Slate's Mistake (14 page)

Slate slid his hand down to her stomach and slid his
middle finger between her warm, moist folds. The feeling of her slickness
wrapping around his finger caused his dick to twitch and begin to fill. Katie
sighed in her sleep. He slid his finger up and down the slick crease,
then
rolled it across the sensitive nub. Katie mumbled a
moan and rolled her hips just slightly, but still, his mate didn’t wake.

Slate moved down the bed and parted her legs. He took
in a deep breath of her sweet aroma.
Fuck,
nothing has ever smelt better
. Positioning himself, he wrapped his hands
around her butt cheeks and buried his face between the folds of her pussy. He
latched onto her nub and rolled it around with his tongue. He released her with
one hand, bringing it around and sticking two fingers into her channel. Once
they were buried deep in her tight heat, he hooked them and rubbed against her
special spot.

A pleasured shout had him glancing up to see his
mate’s back arched and her fingers tweaking her nipples. The sight brought a
rumble from his chest, which vibrated against her clit. Her legs tightened
around him, and her moans were loud and frequent. Her body kept arching up and
down, her hips rolling, and he watched her fingers pull and twist her pink peaks.

Not being able to take it any longer, Slate drew out
his fingers. Katie whimpered, but he wasn’t going to leave her wanting. His
injuries weren’t going to stop him from fucking his mate’s pussy into the
mattress. His dick was hard and leaking, and his balls were already tight
against his body. He was ready to blow, and he wanted to be inside her when he
did.

Placing his hands on either side of her head, he
looked down at the love of his life. “Good morning, mate.” Slate leaned down
and mashed his lips against hers, smearing her face with her own juices. The
knowledge of this turned him on even more. He lined up his dick then drove in
to the hilt. He swallowed her shout of pleasure in his rapt kiss. Not wasting
any time, he began plunging into her. He had to adjust his speed because of his
injuries, but he reached down and wrapped his hands around her ass, and bounced
his body in and out of her.

Katie threw her hands around his shoulders, digging
her nails into his back.

“Fuck yes!” he growled against her lips. He felt his
orgasm begin. His balls rolled in their sack and pulled hard against his body,
his body stiffening, and he roared out his release. His canines plunged through
his gums, and he didn’t hesitate to sink them into her neck. He cried out as tight
muscles clamped down around his dick when Katie’s orgasm rolled through her.

Slate could feel beads of sweat gather and roll down
his face. His lungs deeply expanded trying to draw in enough air. He studied
her face. Her short, light brown hair clung to her forehead, and her lips were
red and plump.

“Good morning, Baby-Kate. I’m sorry I had to wake you,
but I needed your help.”

Her smile warmed his entire chest. “After that wake
up, you can ask me to do anything you want and I don’t think I could deny you.”

Chuckling, he leaned down and placed small kiss on her
soft lips before rolling off. “You made me promise not to get up and move
around without your say-so.”

Her face took on a serious look. “Let me take a look.”
Slate slowly pulled out of her and rolled over onto his side. She leaned over
and examined his injuries, taking more time at his hip, which was the worst injury.
Almost all of his other injuries were superficial, and some were already gone.
Slate kept in his grimace as she pushed on the skin around the area.

“Still not enough to go without supervision.
Come on, let’s go.”

Slate inwardly groaned. He hated being so weak,
especially in front of his mate. After he was done in the bathroom, Katie
wouldn’t let him even go down for breakfast. Instead, she propped him up in bed
and brought up a tray loaded with pancakes, sausages, scrambled eggs, a bowl of
fruit and a glass of orange juice. He would have complained about not being
able to go downstairs, but his mate stayed and ate her meal with him, which he
liked even better.

“After we’re done eating, I want to go downstairs and
help Betty with the dishes. Is that all right?” she asked.

“Like I could deny you anything.”
He leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek. “I
think while you are doing that, I’ll do something I haven’t done since just
after I left home.”

“And what is that?”

“Call my mother.” He tried to hide the hurt in his
voice, but from Katie’s expression, he didn’t think he succeeded.

“You haven’t called your mother since you left home?
Why?”

Slate hadn’t admitted it to many people, and only
Alphy knew the reason why. But Slate didn’t want to hide anything from his
mate, no matter how much shame it gave him. He let out a sigh before he began
his tale. “Years ago, my father wanted to force a mating on me with a lioness.
He didn’t believe in mixed breeding, and not only was she a lioness, she came
from money. I knew it was wrong and I also wanted a true mate mating, so I
refused. He gave me an ultimatum: mate her or leave and never come back. When I
chose to leave, I thought my father was being somewhat kind by driving me to
town, but instead, he had pulled to the side of the road, sucker-punched me,
and beat me until I couldn’t stand.” The admission brought him the heavy
feeling of shame and embarrassment.

“Oh Slate, I’m so sorry.” Katie’s hands found both of
his, and she held them as she listened.

Slate looked at their joined hands, unable to look her
in the eyes just yet. “He had threatened to hurt my mother and sisters if I
ever contacted them, but I was very close with them, so once I had a place, I
risked calling her one more time and gave her my contact information. I kept in
contact with them in secret ever since. I sent letters and gifts to a secret
P.O. Box that I paid for. I still have it for gift purposes, but we use email
now.”

“If calling them puts them in danger, why would you do
it?”

Slate looked into her eyes, pouring as much sincerity
as he could through his eyes. “Because I promised her if I should ever find my
mate, that I would call her. There is so much to tell her now, and I can’t hold
it in. I love you so much, and I want to tell her about it. My father should be
at work right now, so it should be fine.”

Katie sighed and looked at him thoughtfully. “Okay. Do
you want me with you for the call?”

Slate gave her a small smile.
“No,
but thank you, Baby-Kate.
I want to talk to her first before I introduce
you.”

Nodding her head, she leaned over and let her heated
lips caress his before gathering the dishes and heading downstairs.
 

Slate closed his eyes and sent up a silent prayer that
his father wasn’t home,
then
took out his phone. He
had kept the number of his mother’s cell in case of emergencies. This was the
first time using it. The beeps of his phone toned through the room as he
pressed the numbers. Holding the phone to his ear, he focused on his breathing
to keep his rapid heart under control. He listened to the ring tones until the
voice he hadn’t heard in decades came through the line.

“Hello?”

Slate suddenly felt choked up as tears quickly welled
up in his eyes. He coughed a couple of times to loosen it up then spoke.
“Hi, Mom?”

A notable gasp could be heard through the connection.
“Slate?
Is that you?”

“Yeah, Mom, it’s me. Is it safe to talk?” Slate almost
rolled his eyes. She probably wouldn’t have said his name if his father was
around.

He heard a sob on the other end. “Yes.” He could hear
her calling out elsewhere in the house, “Elise, come quick.” Then she spoke to
him again, “You father is at work, so we should be fine for several hours.”

In the background, he heard his youngest sister
approach.
“Yeah, Mom?”

He listened to his mother talk to his sister. “It’s
Slate.”

Slate fought tears as he heard his sister’s excited
glee. She was still living at home while she attended college, studying
biochemistry. He hadn’t seen her since she was six years old. He’d used to be
very close with his sisters. They were both younger, and he was very protective
of them. His other sister, Layla, was in the military.

“Slate?
Oh my
eff-ing
goodness, how are you doing? What are
you doing? Where are you? Why are you calling?”

He laughed as his sister threw questions out at him
almost without taking a breath.

His mother’s worried voice carried back over the line.
He guessed they each had an ear up to the phone with it between them. “Yes, why
are you calling? Are you all right?”

“I’m doing more than all right. I want to tell you
some big things that’ve happened. . I’ll start at the beginning. A few weeks
ago, Alphy was injured in a mission. Less than a week later he lost both his
parents and had to take custody of his younger brother and sister.”

“Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that.” His mother was
always polite and caring. Boy, did he miss her.

“Well, you know how alpha he can be. I’ve written to
you about him enough.” He heard his mother and sister agree. “He didn’t have
any place to go, but had a relative he never met offer for him to stay with
her. When he got there, he felt at home. The territory didn’t have an alpha,
and in fact, Betty—that’s her name, Betty—was the only one here, She had kept
the territory rights, so he was given the position of alpha, which turned out
perfect timing because the very next morning he found his mate.”

“Oh good for him,” his mother said.

His sister interjected, “Wow, that’s a lot to go
through in that short of time.”

“Well, it gets crazier. His mate is human. Her mother was
married and had her and her brother. Then their father died, and she found her
mate in an elk shifter—Tom is his name. They had two more kids. I have a lot of
respect for Tom. His alpha told him to send the human son away because he was
gay, but instead, he took the whole family and fled. Only, the alpha’s
enforcers beat the human boy to near death first.”

He could hear their surprised gasps over the line.

“When Alphy found them, he brought them to the house
and called us all in. Once we got here, we were all given a place in the pack.
I’ve got a rank, Mom. I’m an enforcer.”

Both women gasped again. He could hear the excitement
in their voices as they expressed their pride in him. His heart beat warmly in
his chest being able to make his mother and sister proud, so it made him super
excited to tell them the next part.

“After Alphy defeated the other alpha and his thugs,
Matteo and I were pitted against each other in an enforcer challenge to decide
who got to be head enforcer. I won it.”

He held the phone away from his ear as his mother and
sister cheered. After a few moments, when they calmed down somewhat, he finally
told them what he had been so excited to say from the start. “That isn’t all.”

“More?”

“Yeah, more?
What the heck, bro, you’ve been busy.”

“Heh, well, when we went to take over the herd of the
defeated alpha, I found my mate.” Again, he had to let them quiet down before
he could continue and answer their questions. “She’s human, but she’s the most
amazing woman I have ever met in my life, and I already can’t live without her.
I claimed her yesterday, and get this, she claimed me back.”

“A human?
How does a human claim you?” His sister was curious.

Slate’s mother sounded concerned. “Did she know what
she was doing?”

“She was adopted by a shifter because her half-sister
is one, so she knows all about shifters.” Before Slate could go any further,
Slate heard yelling. The voice he heard sent a chill down his spine. His heart-rate
sped up, and a sick knot formed in his stomach. At that same time, his mate
entered the room. She must have seen something on his face or perhaps it was
how he was sitting forward with the bedding wrapped into a white-knuckled fist
and his claws extended.

On the other side of the phone, the yelling persisted.

“Who are you talking to?” His father’s voice thundered
through the connection. He must have known who, which meant he must have
arrived home while they were too distracted with cheering to hear him coming in
and thus overheard who exactly was on the phone with them.

His mother tried to placate him. “Carl, you’re home
early. Is there something you want me to get you? Elise, why don’t you take the
phone up to your room?” It wasn’t a question. Slate could tell it was more of a
plea.

“No!” Carl yelled. “You will answer me now!
Who the
fuck
is on the
phone?”

Slate knew they couldn’t lie. His father would be able
to scent it. Slate wanted to hang up so she couldn’t get in further trouble,
but something about Carl’s tone caused him to stay. He had a bad feeling about
this. Katie was on the bed beside him, giving him silent support.