The Tiger's Mate: (Book 12, Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas) (5 page)

Chapter Eight

Simone woke early to an alien feeling of… what?  Happiness?  Her tiger certainly felt happy.  The beast was as frisky as a kitten.  Had it really been so long since she felt joy like this?

She warmed as she stared down at the slumbering form of the wolf shifter.  His pink lips were slightly parted, and his eyelashes fluttered as he dreamed.  She wondered if he was dreaming of her, then she told herself to stop being such a simpering little girl.  Although, last night had been wonderful – why shouldn’t he dream of her?  The look of pure ecstasy on his face as he came, the possessiveness in his eyes as he watched her reach her own release was unbelievable.  No one had ever looked at her that way.  It was... enchanting.

His huge chest rose as he breathed.  Carefully, not wanting to wake him, she trailed her fingers through the dusting of chest hair.  She almost felt shy at seeing his naked body – which was crazy.  She’d seen naked bodies.  She grew up in a pride who thought nothing of pulling their clothes off and shifting into tigers.  But that wasn’t sexual – in any way as far as she was concerned.  She’d never felt desire for any of her pride mates.  She didn’t think she’d even felt desire for the idiot who took her virginity.  She hadn’t even seen him naked; it had been a case of pulling his jeans down and pulling them up again after a few minutes.

Her fingers danced over Acksel’s chin, enjoying the roughness of his unshaved face.  She ran the pad of her thumb over his lips – lips that had done outstanding things to her just a few hours ago.

The tiger swished her tail in encouragement, but Simone pulled her fingers away.  It probably wasn’t a good idea for Acksel to wake and find her fingers in his mouth.  People tended to think that kind of thing was weird.

Silently, she slipped out of bed and pulled the shirt back on.  The coolness of the garment felt delicious against her heated skin.  She smiled at his sleeping form and made her way downstairs.  She made herself some coffee and decided to drink it on the porch.  The house was secluded enough that she didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing her.  Acksel told her all the pack houses were spread out through the woods, isolated enough so that all pack members had their privacy, but not so much that help was too far away.

The pride had a similar set up to this, but it somehow didn’t feel quite as relaxing.  Corny, but maybe people made homes what they were.  She probably had to go home today she thought glumly.  If her night time activities were anything to go by, she couldn’t pretend to be injured any longer. 

Her animal chuffed at her.  Why can’t they stay?

The animal couldn’t understand why she ever needed to go back, but Simone knew… well… she had to… why did she have to go back?  There was her mother to think about, the fact that she had no job, no financial means of supporting them, no actual skills to get a job.  Her tiger – who had no shame – told her she could ask Acksel for help.  Would that be fair to him?  Hey, we just met and had sex now I expect you to support both my mother and me, oh and by the way, here are her exorbitant medical bills?  No, that seemed a bit much.  Besides, did she really believe that her Alpha would just let her leave?  Other tigers had left the pride before – she was sure of it.  But there had been rumors about what happened to them after they did.

The tiger snarled, and Simone stiffened as she heard soft footfalls coming towards her.  She set the coffee down and hunched her shoulders preparing to spring and shift.  She wasn’t a strong tiger, but then she didn’t necessarily have to be.  Even the toughest rabbit shifter couldn’t take her down.

She turned icy cold as Carrick appeared and walked towards her, slowly.  He moved with the stealth of a practiced predator and didn’t take his eyes off her even to blink.  He was quieter than any man his size had a right to be.

“What are you doing here?” she hissed, half-fearful and half in anger.

Carrick stopped a few feet away from the steps to the house.  He gazed at her evenly.  “The Alpha sent me to find you.”

“How did you…?”  Even a tracker as good as him surely couldn’t have found her this quickly.  The anger bloomed into red-hot fury.  “Does he have me chipped or something?”

His expression didn’t change.  “He didn’t tell me specifically.”

She noted that Carrick didn’t seem surprised by the question, nor did he deny it as a possibility.

“I…”

“We should go,” he said, patiently.   “I waited as long as I could.” 

His eyes flickered to the window upstairs, and she realized that he knew what she had been doing.  Pushing through the embarrassment that wanted to pull her down, she said, “I can’t just leave, I have to…”

Carrick took a step forward.  “It’d be better if we did.”  Simone scowled at him, but he was unconcerned.  “The Alpha sent me to find you eight hours ago.  He’s called me fifteen times.  I can’t stall him any longer.”

Her tiger whined pathetically.  “But…”

A flicker of unease passed over his face.  “Whatever was going on in that house, it’s not something you can take home with you.”

No, not yet.  It was too soon; she just wanted a little more time.  “But…”

“For the wolf's sake, you should leave,” rumbled Carrick with a finality that brooked no argument.

How could she argue with that?  She knew of the harm Locke was prepared to dole out to his own pride mates when he considered they deserved it.  What would he do to Acksel?  “I’ll… grab my purse.”

Carrick grunted.  “Be quick.”

She nodded and ran into the house.  She found some fresh clothes neatly folded in the laundry room, and hoped that his sisters wouldn’t mind her taking them.  She didn’t bother with shoes; she just grabbed her purse.

Simone scribbled a quick note and left it on the kitchen table.  As she heard Acksel stirring she left, trying to comfort a distraught tiger and hold back the tears threatening to roll down her cheeks.

*

Acksel stretched an arm out over the bed.  His wolf huffed as he found it disappointingly empty.  Damn, he’d been hoping for a repeat of last night.  He smiled as he smugly recalled what happened.

He hadn’t intended for it to happen.  He’d hoped, of course he had.  He’d pretty much thought of nothing else than burying his body in hers from the moment he first scented her, but he hadn’t wanted to rush her.

When he heard her whimpers of pain, he had only planned on comforting her and making sure she was okay.  But when she had kissed him, he couldn’t hold back.  She was his mate; she had to be.  His wolf howled in agreement.  Why else would he react this way to her scent?  Why else would the thought of her leaving drive him so crazy?

His wolf roared in happiness.  Just a few days ago, he’d been griping about life not being fair and whining like a little girl about not having a mate of his own.  Well, now he did.  And she was… lovely.  She was funny and interesting and ate food like there was no tomorrow.  And of course, looks didn’t matter, but he naturally hadn’t failed to notice that she was absolutely the most gorgeous woman in the world.  Long legs, perky breasts, beautiful dark brown skin, and silky black hair that trailed right down to her perfectly rounded derriere.  She looked like she ought to be sauntering up and down a catwalk.  Particularly as she was a cat.  Yes, he couldn’t wait to meet her feline side.  He got the impression she wasn’t an overly dominant tiger, but, well, just being a tiger was enough to scare away even the boldest of furry critters.  He couldn’t wait for her to meet the rest of the pack.  To think, his pack mate, Jake, was so proud of his leopard shifter mate.  Wait until he sees Acksel’s tiger.

Worry niggled him.  She had said she needed to go home.  His wolf snarled at the thought.  No, surely not after last night.  Surely they could talk about the future and decide where to go from there.  He needed to know more about her; he needed to know about her own home situation.  Acksel didn’t really want to leave his pack, and was hoping that Simone would want to join him in Rose.  Maybe he was getting ahead of himself.  They needed to spend more time together, and then, hopefully, she’ll be ready to talk about mating.  What, give her a few hours and then spring it on her?  Yes, the wolf was all for that.

“Simone?” he called out, his voice booming through the house.

No answer.  The house was deathly still.  His beast growled, lowly.

He jumped out of bed and started looking for her.  Her scent was still in the air, combined with the scent of their glorious lovemaking, but it was starting to fade.  He checked every room, even the twins’ room.  She wasn’t there.

Maybe she’d gone for a morning run.  Something he liked to do, too.

He was about to go out and find her when he noticed the note on the kitchen table.  And both her purse and the check Felicity had brought over were nowhere to be seen.

He read the note. 
Thank you, Acksel, for everything.  I really enjoyed our time together.  Yours, Simone.
  Then he read it again, and again, and again.  What the hell was it?  A polite thank you for fucking her?!  Claws shot out of his fingers, puncturing the paper.  He let it float to the ground.

Both he and his wolf paced and howled.  How could she do this?  How could she just leave like this without even saying goodbye?

Part of him, the logical part that he fucking hated at that moment in time, raised the point that he had done this to women, too.  He was no angel; he’d been with countless women over the years, and many of them had been a one-night stand.  Why was he so shocked that a woman had done it to him?

At least he didn’t leave a polite ‘thank you for the fuck’ note.  At least he faced the women in the morning.

Besides, it was different with Simone.  She was more to him.  At least, he thought she was more.  Didn’t Simone feel it, too?  Didn’t she feel the connection between them?

His animal whined.  Guess she didn’t.

The beast pushed to the fore and Acksel didn’t even try to stop him.  They shot out of the house half changed and ran, and ran, and ran until they almost couldn’t feel anything anymore.  Feelings, who wanted fucking feelings.

Chapter Nine

Carrick didn’t say a single word on the way home, and Simone preferred it that way.  Even her lively tiger was thankfully quiet.  It was hard to sulk in moody silence with someone yammering in your ear.  Carrick was the perfect companion for silence, his own mood never seemed to elevate above dour.

“I’m surprised Parker or the Alpha didn’t come after me,” she commented as they pulled onto pride property.

The huge tiger shifter grunted.  The noise a grunt made seemed to be his favourite word.  “I persuaded the Alpha that I should do it; he was pretty steamed.  Parker never offered.”

“That probably seems odd to you.  Him being my mate and all.”  The word mate had never tasted so foul as it did at that moment.

“Each to their own.”

“If it had been Lauren, you would have gone.  Can’t have your property getting away from you,” she said, nastily.  Even as she said it, she was surprised the words had come out of her mouth.

Carrick stopped the car and looked at her.  Dark, almost black eyes surveyed her from a scarred, weary face.  If Simone hadn’t been in such a mood, she might have looked away in submission, but she didn’t, she just glared right on back.

Finally, he grunted and said, “I’ll treat Lauren right.”

“I didn’t…”

“No, but you were thinking it.”

“What do you care what I think?”

Carrick shrugged and started the car.  “I don’t, but Lauren does.  I may not be every nineteen-year old's dream come true,” he grimaced, and the scars on his face crinkled, “but I won’t hurt her.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“I hope you’ve got a good excuse for the Alpha.”

Simone sighed.  “The truth – I’ll tell him I was in a car crash.  I’ll say I was injured and… a wolf took pity on me.  About…”

“The male wolf?” he guessed, correctly.

Acksel, she added silently, allowing her tiger to feel a flicker of pity.  She looked at Carrick uneasily.  Carrick wasn’t actually someone she knew well.  In fact, all she knew was that he was big, brooding, strong and that the Alpha liked him.  It was impossible to tell how he felt about the Alpha, or about anything really.  “Yeah, look…”

“I didn’t see anything.”

Simone watched him for a few moments, holding her breath, hoping there wasn’t a ‘but’ coming.  He didn’t say anything.  “Thank you, you’re… not so bad.”  She blushed as she said it.

Carrick’s lips twitched, almost as if he were about to smile.  “Thanks.”  He paused.  “I wouldn’t mind if you told Lauren that.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

*

“Hey!”

“Britt,” said Acksel, tightly.  He was sitting on the porch, wearing nothing but his jeans.  He watched as his sister bounded towards him, oblivious to his fury.  He stilled his wolf, who was snarling and prowling, looking for any excuse to lash out.  He wanted to punch something.  No, he wanted to punch somebody.  He wanted to hurt whoever had taken Simone away.  He could smell the faint scent of male tiger.  His wolf wanted to tear the other male apart.  But he’d settle for anyone right now, and he didn’t want his sister getting in the way.  Where was his brother right now?  Hans knew how to take a punch.

“Where’s Simone?”  Britt looked around expectantly.  “I baked her an apology pie.”

“Apology pie?” he grunted and then groaned.  “No, don’t start crying,” he snapped, harshly.

“I’m sorry!”

He groaned.  He wasn’t sure he ever wanted to hear the word sorry ever again.  “She’s gone.”

Britt blinked at him.  “Gone?  Is she coming…”

“I doubt it.”  People who snuck out in the early morning generally didn’t plan on coming back.  And that ‘thank you’ note didn’t intimate that she was interested in anything more than a night with him.

His sister sat down next to him.  In spite of his rolling anger, she did soothe him slightly.  As much as Hans complained about them, having three golden haired baby sisters growing up had tempered the moods of two teenage wolf shifters somewhat.  Yep, it was hard to believe, but Hans could have been worse.

“I’m sorry, Acksel.”

His wolf growled.  “We all know you’re sorry.”

“No, not for that, I mean for you.”  He looked at her through hooded eyes and she frowned.  “Don’t give me that look.  I saw the way you looked at her.  It’s the way Hans looks at Melanie.  It’s the way Mal Tanner looks at his mate.  It’s the way…”

“I get it!”

Britt rested her head on his shoulder, and he exhaled deeply.  “Love’s hard,” she said, with the weight of someone who’d had their heart broken dozens of times.  She was actually a seventeen-year-old wolf shifter who, to Acksel’s knowledge, had never even kissed a boy, never mind had her heart broken.  His wolf was rather hoping it was a state she’d remain in until she was at least twenty-five, or possibly thirty.

“You’re seventeen,” he grumbled, dismissively, although not cruelly.  “What do you know?”

“Craig told me he loved me yesterday,” she said, shyly.

Acksel slapped a hand over his face and groaned.  On the one hand, this was a distraction from Simone, but on the other, his wolf wanted to hunt the boy down and rip him to pieces.  Given his mood, Acksel needed to be careful he didn’t lose control, shift and do just that.  “He’s only fourteen.”

“I know.  He said it because I was upset, but I’m just worried that he means it.”

“Want me to beat him up?”  It was a serious offer.

“No, but thank you for asking, instead of just yelling at me for allowing an idiot to tell me he loves me.”

Yeah, that was the outlook Hans would have on it.  “Hans is going to be an interesting parent one day.”

“Nah, if he does have a kid, I think he’ll worship him or her the way he does Melanie.”

Acksel smiled at his sister.  “Huh, I thought I was the only one who understood Hans.”

Britt snorted.  “There’s not much to understand.”

“You should probably get going to the Beta for your punishment.”

“I know,” she muttered.

He remembered Simone’s fear for Britt’s safety.  His wolf rumbled, unhappily as he worried about just what Simone’s life was like.  “It won’t be that bad.”

Britt gave him a pious, suffering look.  “Well, it’ll be less than I deserve I know that.”

“You’re a good pup, Britt.”

“So are you.  A good brother, I mean  Do you think Simone will ever come back?”

Part of him was angry at her for leaving, for not saying goodbye, for their time together not meaning more to her.  But he was cursing himself for letting her go.  His wolf was all for going after her, but where had she gone?  Jeez, he didn’t even get her last name.  He didn’t find out what pride she belonged to or if she even did belong to a pride.  She could be anyone and anywhere at that moment.  Was Simone even her real name?  To think he could have looked in her purse, he could have seen her name on her driver’s license – he could have found out who she was if he’d snooped.  Why the fuck did he have to be so fucking respectful?  What the fuck was wrong with him?

“I don’t know.”