The Tiger's Mate: (Book 12, Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas)
Read The Tiger's Mate: (Book 12, Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas) Online
Authors: E A Price
The Tiger’s Mate
(Book 12, Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas)
By E A Price
Copyright ©2015 by Elizabeth Ann Price
All rights reserved. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.
Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Front cover
Both images used to create the front cover have been deemed to be in the public domain, and available for reuse. No offense is meant in the use of them.
The wolf picture ‘lonely wolf’ is by Gethu Daniel, found on Flickr at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ghetzu/3535994578/
The embracing couple was found at the following website
http://rizluv6.tumblr.com/post/28884011273
Contents
“Mommmmmm, can’t you get him to shut up!” howled Gwen Lucas.
Acksel Lucas rolled his eyes to the ceiling as another fight broke out between his older brother, Hans and one of their three younger sisters. It was standard procedure for one of their Sunday family meals. He had four siblings, three younger sisters and one brother, and two of them would invariably be fighting. Either it was Hans and Gwen screaming. Or Hans and Britt yelling. Or Hans and Noa screeching. Or, for a bit of variety, Gwen and Britt howling.
He smirked at his sister-in-law, Melanie who gave him a patient, little smile and he focused on his meal. He didn’t tend to fight with his siblings. He was a doting older brother to his sisters, often acting as a buffer between them and their high-strung older brother, Hans. And to Hans, Acksel was a patient friend. Hans tried to start fights with his brother, but it was like he was beating against an immovable rock. Acksel wouldn’t allow the fight to start. His brother was overly aggressive and bad-tempered, and Acksel was stoic. They got along fine.
The only rub that almost brought them to blows was Melanie. When she first arrived in town, Acksel had been interested in dating her. But, she was Hans’ mate, and she made it clear, in the nicest possible way, that Acksel didn’t have a chance. No, all her sweet, sassy love was reserved for the biggest asshole in town – his brother. Hey, it was his brother; it was okay for
him
to call his brother an asshole. He’d been there for ‘Hans: The Teen Years’ – a more horrifying experience than every scary movie, haunted house and puppet show ever conceived combined. Acksel deserved a little leeway.
Acksel and all his siblings were wolf shifters, part of the Grey pack in Rose, Virginia. His mom was human, and his late dad had been a wolf shifter. Melanie was a witch. Acksel was the chief enforcer of the pack. It was his job to lead the other enforcers and to ensure the safety and security of his pack.
Technically he was third in his pack, after the Alpha and the Beta, but Adam, the Alpha, didn’t care much for rankings. Some packs had every member ranked in order of their physical ability and aggressiveness of their wolf, and it had been like with their old Alpha, Adam’s father. But Adam was a little more progressive. For one thing, he valued all of his wolves. His was the most dominant and the best able to lead, but unlike a lot of Alphas, he knew that things other than physical strength were important, too. Plus, a lot of pack members were no longer just wolves. There were bears, humans, witches and a few cat shifters in there now. It would hardly be fair to have a rank fight between a wolf and a human.
Acksel snatched a bread roll out the air, surely meant for Hans’ head.
Gwen scowled at him. “You’re on his side!”
“Now, now, children,” said their mother with a faint smile. His mother was always good-natured, and sometimes people mistook that for being weak. But, they forgot that Ilse Lucas had raised five wolf shifters – she had a backbone of steel.
“See - Mom’s on my side,” sneered Hans. He was thirty-two, but he didn’t let this slow him down when arguing with teenagers. “You need to dump that moron – now!”
“You have no right to tell me who I can and can’t date!” Gwen snarled and threw another roll at her brother.
It was a popular argument in the family. While Hans could, as he put it, ‘take or leave, or kill or strangle’ all his younger sisters, he didn’t like the idea of any of them dating. In his view, any male interested in any of his sisters was automatically a horny little shit, and he had to tell his sisters this over and over and try his best to scare the ‘shits’ away. Acksel would never say anything like that. No, he would just think it very loudly. He was protective of his sisters, too, but he knew that teenage she-wolves were too headstrong to listen to obnoxious brothers. He just allowed his sisters to get on with it, and then quietly threatened any male that the girls took an interest in that Acksel would rip their hearts out if his precious baby sisters were hurt. His way made for a much more harmonious way of life.
“Darryl's a fucking dickhead!” roared Hans.
Melanie stopped sipping her soup to murmur, “Language!”
“Hans!” hissed their mother, reprovingly.
“He makes a good point,” added Britt, Gwen’s twin, who up until that point had been worryingly quiet. Neither of the twins was ever quiet for long. Except for that time when they had actually managed to contract mumps. If they were quiet, it meant they were sick.
Gwen was dating a wolf in their pack. A huge young shifter called Darryl Tanner who, while not particularly malicious, was one of the most badly behaved wolves in the pack. The same could be said for all his brothers. The males carrying the infamous Tanner gene were all, to put it mildly, handfuls. Darryl’s love of practical jokes was rubbing off on Gwen and one of the reasons Hans wanted the wolf away from his sister.
“You’re one to talk!” cried Gwen, glowering at her twin before it morphed into a look of haughtiness. “At least I’m not robbing the cradle.”
“Neither am I,” denied Britt, hotly. Her cheeks flamed bright red. The youngest of the Tanner boys, Craig, recently turned fourteen, had a huge crush on Britt. Gwen teased her twin about it mercilessly. “But at least Craig can dress by himself, which is more than I can say for Darryl.”
“That was one time!”
“You dressed that fucking pup? What the hell were the two of you doing?” howled Hans.
“He just had trouble with his tie – he’d never worn one before. Mommmmmmm!” appealed Gwen in a whine.
“Why don’t we talk about something else?” suggested Ilse in soothing tones. She turned to Acksel, “No Rachel tonight, honey?”
Acksel paused in the process of stuffing half a roll into his mouth. He tried not to wince as he thought of his latest ‘girlfriend’. His mom didn’t say it, but she wanted him to settle down and give her grandbabies. Given that even a creature like Hans had managed to attract a mate, it seemed inexcusable that such a reasonable wolf like him was still alone. But, he just couldn’t seem to manage the whole dating thing. Rachel was a prime example. Maybe he was too picky, but there was something off about a woman who crept up on you at breakfast, put her hands over your eyes and cooed ‘guess who’. Besides, he figured that if he was going to spend the rest of his life with a woman, he needed his wolf to be on board with her. So far the beast hadn’t cared for any of the women he tried to date.
He cleared his throat. “Naw, Mom, we broke up.”
Hans let out a snort. He had the smug look that only people already in relationships could pull off. Acksel’s wolf stirred within him. He had an unusual urge to punch his brother right in his idiotic face. Thankfully, his mom didn’t press the matter, and Melanie tactfully changed the subject. The rest of the dinner passed peacefully enough with just a silent three-way glaring contest between Britt, Gwen and Hans marring the harmony.
After dinner, Acksel finished washing the dishes – they took it in turns, which meant he usually ended up doing it for Hans and Gwen because they were too busy fighting. He walked out into the hallway to find Hans and Melanie sharing a tender moment. He ducked back into the kitchen and waited, patiently for them to finish. Hell knows what possessed him, curiosity maybe, but he sneaked a look at them.
His wolf growled, throatily as he watched the surprisingly loving way his brother stroked a thumb over his mate’s cheek. A slow smile bloomed over Melanie’s pretty face and her face lit up like a thousand Christmas trees.
His stomach clenched. A selfish, petty part of him asked why. Why did Hans get someone like her? Why did Hans get her when Acksel was alone? Hadn’t Acksel always been the good one? The dutiful wolf, the loyal pack member, and son, yet Hans was rewarded with a mate like Melanie. Acksel tried to ignore those feelings; thankfully, they didn’t rear their ugly head very often.
Hans was a lucky wolf. He’d met his true mate, and they were happy. Not every male did. Acksel wasn’t sure he would meet his true mate, but he knew she wouldn’t be in his pack. Wolves were lusty creatures, and his was no exception. He’d been with every eligible female in his pack and half the humans in the small town. His true mate wasn’t here. He considered settling down and just taking any female as a mate. He knew of more than one she-wolf who would jump at the chance to mate the chief enforcer, even if it meant an undesirable brother-in-law. She-wolves weren’t necessarily the most romantic shifters, and a lot of females would be satisfied with a male who would offer stability, pups and a respectable place in the pack. But he just wasn’t sure if his wolf would be satisfied. Unlike Hans, Acksel didn’t have trouble controlling his beast, but the creature wasn’t exactly docile about things that made him unhappy. If the wolf didn’t like the mate Acksel chose, there would be no living with the beast. And the only woman who had even remotely appealed to his wolf in recent months was his brother’s mate.
He rubbed his forehead as his wolf prowled, unhappily. He scented his mom before he felt her gentle hand on his back. “You’ll find your mate, too, sweet pea.”
Acksel turned and smiled. “How about some dessert?” he asked, patting his stomach. “I reckon I’ve still got some room left for pie.”
She raised an eyebrow at his subject change but knew better than to say anything. In general, Acksel was a steady wolf, warm and filled with laughter, but he was made of steel when it came to some things. And talking about his love life with his mother was one of those things. His reticence probably started around the time that she gave him the facts of life speech. Some things should just be left to the imagination.
Some things should really be left to the imagination, thought Simone, glumly. She wasn’t a prude, well, at least she’d never considered herself to be a prude before now. But listening to an eighty-seven-year-old pride mate discuss the advantages of a water-based lube was just a bit too much for her. She wasn’t innocent when it came to sex. She was just more innocent than she should have been considering her situation.
Simone’s sister-in-law tossed a strange, plastic device at her. Simone caught it and tried to hide her frown. What in the world was it?
Nita smirked. “Bet your mate would love that!” The rest of the mated female tigers burst into cackles of obsequious and obedient laughter. The bride-to-be, Lauren and every other unmated female frowned and blushed in equal measure.
Simone flashed her automatic and practised smile. “Yep, I’ll bet.” She wondered if she could pop into the bathroom, and do a quick internet search to find out what it was. But judging by the malicious smile on Nita’s face, she already knew of Simone’s ignorance.
She pushed the device down the side of the couch and excused herself to get more cupcakes from the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of water, enjoying the brief reprieve from her pride mates.
This whole bachelorette party was a dumb idea. But of course, it had been Nita’s idea, and since she was the apple of the Alpha’s eye, it had been allowed. In fact, it had become mandatory and no female was safe.
Lauren was in hell. All the unmated females were. This party was in such bad taste. Sure, they’d heard of what bachelorette parties were supposed to be like. They’d watched TV; they’d had friends outside of the pride – only briefly though, usually they were scared away. But the unmated females were still pretty innocent when it came to sex. The male pride mates made sure of that. And to have Nita throwing around sex toys like they were candy was just embarrassing.
Males outnumbered females two to one in the pride. So competition for the females was fierce. Females were carefully guarded to ensure that they remained virgins for their matings. The Alpha didn’t want to risk the females getting pregnant by non-tigers, or have them realizing that they might have a better life than the one on offer with the chauvinistic tiger shifters.
The pride was old fashioned. No, the Alpha of the pride was old-fashioned, and since his opinions favoured males, most were content with the way things were. Females were supposed to be innocent virgins. Males were supposed to be alley cats. Females were supposed to stay at home, cooking, cleaning and popping out cubs for their males. Males were supposed to… well, males could pretty much do whatever they wanted. They were expected to father a few cubs, but that was about it.
Ugh, it all made her sick
.
“Hey.”
Simone jumped, and so did her tiger. She made a terrible predator. “Oh, hey, Lauren.”
Lauren gave her a watery smile. “Hiding in the kitchen?” she joked, softly.
Simone laughed. “You got me. Nita’s a bit too much for any protracted length of time.”
Lauren’s eyes widened, and she flicked her head in the direction of the door. “You shouldn’t say that,” she whispered. “She’ll hear you. You know what she’s like.”
Yes, she knew what Nita was like. Daughter-in-law to the Alpha and mated to the Alpha’s oldest son, technically she was the highest ranking female in the pride since the Alpha’s mate died a few years ago. Nita had bullying tendencies that would put the Alpha to shame. Unlike the Alpha, she wasn’t physically rough. Nita was actually petite and on the small side compared to other females; she just made up for it in personality. Simone was tall, and willowy like a lot of tigers. Lauren was perhaps an inch shorter than Simone but she was a lot curvier, and sometimes ungenerously called chubby.
Lucky for Nita that females weren’t allowed to fight for rank. Females were too rare to risk getting mortally injured in fights. Females automatically gained the rank of their father or mate. Nita was all about passive-aggressive put-downs and vicious insults. Nita also excelled at goading females into saying something they wouldn’t normally dare and then tattling on them to the Alpha. Every female in the pride had learned to watch what they say around her.
Simone smiled encouragingly at Lauren. “Nita can’t actually hurt you.”
“No but she can make my life a living hell,” muttered Lauren.
Time to change the subject. “Looking forward to the mating ceremony?”
“Of course,” blurted Lauren, just a little too quickly. Her reaction was just a bit too automatic to be genuine. She blushed profusely and sat down opposite Simone. She picked up a cupcake and licked the icing. “I am looking forward to being a mated female,” she admitted.
Simone tightened her lips. No small wonder. Unmated females were the drudges of the pride and were expected to wait hand and foot on unmated males and do the bidding of any mated females. That was how Nita could punish Lauren if she wanted. Females were supposed to look after their males, but that didn't mean they couldn't offload some of their chores onto the unmated. Being unmated was not a happy life in the pride. Although, depending on the mate, being mated could be worse.
Lauren opened her mouth as if she was going to say something and then snapped it shut again. Talk was dangerous in their pride. “Carrick is looking forward to it,” she said, finally. Misery oozed out of every word. “He tells me every time he sees me.”
Simone suppressed a shudder. Carrick wasn’t what she’d call attractive. He was big and brutal, and the blank, dangerous look he gave everyone was downright terrifying. For the most part he was quiet and brooding, but he could snap at the drop of… well, absolutely anything. Given that he was the largest and strongest male in the pride, everyone tended to stay out of his way.
Nothing on earth, or any other damn planet, would have made Simone mate with Carrick, but perhaps Lauren didn’t think she had a choice. Her family was pretty low down in the rankings, and it was a large family. The higher up in the rankings you were, the bigger the piece of pride owned business pie you got. Mating Carrick would be a boost for her family both in the rankings and financially. But for Lauren… being mated to someone two times her age was hardly enticing. However, he had pursued her until she had given in to his entreaties. Not to mention the pressure put on her by the Alpha and her family.
“You know you can still change your mind,” murmured Simone. “You’re not mated yet.” Technically females could say no to any offer of mating. The big no-no was mating outside the pride. Trying to do that would get you banished and never allowed to see your family again. It was something a lot of pride members were unhappy about – particularly the large number of unmated males. But then a lot of pride mates were also fine with it. There was a lot of controversy about the way the Alpha led the pride, but no one ever worked up enough courage or support to confront him on it.
Lauren licked her finger and dabbed at the crumbs from her cupcake, and then picked up another. “I don’t think the Alpha would be happy about that. Or Carrick,” sighed Lauren.
Simone’s tiger chuffed in agreement.
No, he wouldn’t
. Carrick was one of the Alpha’s closest friends. Or at least, Carrick was the largest male in the pride and the Alpha liked to keep him close. It wasn’t a surprise that the Alpha had pressured Lauren into mating Carrick. Carrick decided he wanted Lauren, and the Alpha wanted to keep Carrick happy.
“They’d get over it,” suggested Simone, although she wasn’t overly convinced by that. “You don’t have to get mated.”
“You did,” said Lauren with a hint of defiance.
Yes, yes she had, out of desperation. “Parker’s a good man.” And he was. They pretended to be mated so that Parker wouldn’t have to deal with his father’s outrage at his son’s disinterest in females and so that Simone could afford her mother’s medical bills. Simone considered that she was a lot luckier than most of her fellow pride mates.
“Lucky you.”
Simone tried not to smile. At least Lauren wasn’t quite as docile as everyone thought. Maybe Carrick’s little mate wouldn’t be quite as eager to lie down like a tiger skin rug as he hoped.
“What are you two whispering about?” demanded Nita, stepping into the room and rubbing her swollen, pregnant stomach. She was carrying her fourth child, and the Alpha’s fourth grandchild. One of many reasons why she was the Alpha’s favourite.
“Nothing,” said Lauren, quickly. Nita eyeballed her and then smirked when she spotted the empty cupcake wrappers. “Good to see you’re not worried about fitting into that mating dress. I did hear your mother already had to let it out for you, I’ll talk to her in the morning about adding a few more inches.”
Lauren turned a shade of red that a tomato would envy. It wasn’t the first time she had been teased about this.
Simone smiled at Lauren and pushed a triple chocolate cupcake at Lauren. “I’ll bet Carrick likes curves.”
Nita’s smile didn’t fall but it seemed to congeal on her face. Simone didn’t enjoy irritating Nita, but she had to admit her tiger took a little bit of satisfaction from it. Before Nita mated with Asher, the Alpha’s son, she had been chasing Carrick. He was nonplussed by her attentions and so Nita instead turned her wretched attentions to Asher. She managed to persuade him that she would make the perfect mate – even though he had disliked her all his life - within the space of a month. However, clearly Nita wasn’t thrilled at being rejected. When Carrick started pursuing Lauren, Nita started tormenting Lauren every chance she got.
Lauren gave Simone a small smile before picking up the tray of cupcakes and disappearing back into the throng of tigers.
Nita recovered well and beamed at Simone. “Enjoying the party?”
Simone’s tiger huffed. If the object of the party was to upset half the females of the pride, then it was a huge success. “It’s fine.”
Her tiger growled as Nita patted her stomach. “Won’t be long until a little Parker Jr. comes along I’ll bet. How long have you been mated now? Two or is it three years?”
“Four,” said Simone, boldly. Nita was a bully, and she liked nothing more than to see someone muttering and cowering. Simone may not have a dominant beast, but she wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.
Nita was about to say something else when Lauren reappeared, her eyes were downcast so she didn’t see the look of irritation on Nita’s face. “I’m about to open my presents if you guys are coming.”
“Absolutely,” said Simone, plastering a fake smile on her face.
*
Simone suppressed her yawn. She was twenty-three, and she couldn’t wait to get home and go to bed, and yikes, it was only nine-thirty. Damn, she was an old woman already. But hell, she’d happily be prematurely old to get away from Nita.
She slipped on her coat and smiled at Lauren who followed her out the door.
Simone saw the hulking mass of Carrick leaning against the porch steps, waiting to escort Lauren home. She bit her lip and gave Lauren a look.
Lauren grasped her hand. “Don’t pity me,” she hissed. “You mated to make sure your family was taken care of, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
Carrick stood up straight as Lauren approached. He placed a hand on her shoulder and led her away. Simone’s tiger bristled. It wasn’t a tender action; it was proprietary. At least Parker wasn’t like that. Parker left her to fend for herself.
“Simone,” purred a deep voice from the darkness.
She flinched and instinctively, her tiger cowered. Just his voice was enough to turn her into a silly, little girl. The Alpha stepped onto the dim porch; he was watching Carrick and Lauren with a vague smile on his face.
“They will make a fine pair, don’t you think?”
Simone stared at him, not bothering to answer that. After all, lying to your Alpha should generally be avoided.
Locke turned the smile on her. He wasn’t intimidating or brutal looking, in the same way that Carrick was. No, it was worse than that. He was handsome. He was nearing middle age, but he was still the best-looking male in the whole pride, he lulled you into a false sense of security with his disarming smile. But that was countered by the fact that he was the most vicious. It was worse because he looked kind on the outside. He hid all the darkness inside him, and it lashed out when anyone least suspected.
“Fun party?” he asked, mildly.
“Yes, thank you, Alpha.”
He spread out his hands. “Simmy, call me Locke. We are family after all. You’re like a daughter to me.”
Simone ignored the snort of her animal. Yes, she was the daughter-in-law of the Alpha, mated to his youngest son. But unlike Nita she didn’t use her position to torment the rest of the females. Nor did she relish how close she was to the Alpha. She preferred distance in that respect, because, in her experience, fathers didn’t look at their daughters in the way he was looking at her.
“I told my son I would escort Nita home.”
More like insisted, thought her tiger. Nita spent more time with the Alpha than her actual mate. Simone assumed that Nita’s mate wasn’t altogether unhappy about that. “How kind.”
“It’s important for the future of the pride that we care for our young ones. I’m very proud of Nita and Asher. Did she tell you? She’s carrying another boy. My fourth grandson.” He looked as proud as if he had fathered the cubs himself.