Things That Go Hump In The Night (46 page)

Lily Marie – see all my books here:
http://amazon.com/author/lilymarie

Forbidden Love
, The Forbidden Series Book 2:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UR6VGAU

Who is Lily Marie?

I love to tell stories – everything from shifters and love in space to pure fantasy.

Add some strong but tender heroines, throw them together with tortured or bad boy heroes, and heat is bound to happen.

I write romance – one steamy scene at a time.

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I look forward to meeting you.

Striped and Bear

By Artemis Wolffe

Matthew

A wolf howled in the distance as the sun sank down below the mountain ridge, the crisp surge of dusk sending a shiver down my spine. I sat atop the cliff, my body fully in tune with the roaring waterfall by my side and the countless trees swaying with the steady wind. I breathed in deeply, taking in the immensity of the moment, the purity of the experience. Closing my eyes, I crossed my legs and began to meditate. My broad, naked chest slighted with each breath and the sudden chill of the darkening night brought goosebumps to my flesh. Still, I sat there, silent and entranced with my own thoughts.

Thoughts of my future. Thoughts of my past. Thoughts of who I had been, and who I was being forced to become.

I thought of the Calling, of the prearranged mating ceremony that I would be taking part in before the week was done. I thought of my family’s burden, its legacy, and of the responsibility that had been passed on to me, simply because of the order of my birth.

With a sigh, I released my meditation. Opening my eyes, I gazed over the waterfall, feeling the surge of the river against the lone rock upon which I was seated. I stood, easing myself up slowly and doing my best to maintain my balance. Then, without so much as a word, I leapt over the side of the cliff, diving headfirst toward the water dozens of feet below.

For a moment, I felt free. Free from expectations, free from gravity, free from
life
. And then my massive form pierced the water, arms stretched out before me, and I sank into the depths of the pool, letting the water caress my flesh, before floating to the surface. I floated on my back for a while, letting the river guide me downstream and toward my family’s ancestral home.

***

I dragged myself out of the river, dripping water onto the cold cobblestones beneath my feet and did my best to pat out the water that filled my tattered cargo shorts. Making my way down the small, winding road, I directed myself toward my home. Rows of large, almost unreal looking houses lined each side of the street, each one belonging to one bear clan or another. Bears, despite their seclusion, were typically wealthy. We were hard workers, driven not by pack necessity, but by the urge to be the biggest and best providers that we could be. We’d long since given up our need to store food and fat for winter hibernation, instead replacing those urges with amassing entire fortunes that would never be spent so long as we remained firmly rooted in our middle-of-nowhere mountain home.

My house was the last one on the left, standing tall and unruly with an entrance sandwiched between two massive Corinthian columns. My clan - my family - was the wealthiest and most powerful among the bear clans, a fact that I would be remiss to forget. Being the firstborn cub to my parents meant that I would one day take over running the clan and, with it, the large corporations that my sires before me had long ago established. I was supposed to be proud of my family’s accomplishments. I was supposed to be grateful for the opportunity that Fate had gifted me. I was supposed to be ready and willing to take a mate, take control of the clan, and sire cub of my own.

The thing is, I wasn’t. In fact, it was the last thing that I wanted.

Unlike the alphas before me, I lacked the superiority complex that seemed so prevalent in my family. I’d never once had the urge to assert my dominance through force or manipulation, instead opting to take the more civil, passive approach. If anything, rather than take part in arguments or debates, I quelled them. I was, for lack of a better word, an oddity to my family. My late grandmother, in fact, had once stated that I had the body and making of an alpha, but the determination and personality of an omega. That was, of course, something that my father had furiously denied. He’d sired an alpha bear, just as every firstborn before him had.

I shook my head as I entered the house, doing my best to dismiss the thoughts. It didn’t matter what anyone thought, or even what I thought. What was done was done, and the mating arrangement had been literally set in stone for over half a decade now. Ever since I’d come of age, I’d been preparing for this moment.

“Matthew?” a voice called out as I shut the door behind me, finally freeing me of my thoughts. “Matthew, is that you?”

I turned in time to see my mother stroll into the foyer, preparing to greet me with a hug. She recoiled, though, upon noting the water still dripping from my hair and shorts. “Mercy, Matthew. You’re soaking my floor. Let’s go get you dried up, your father has been waiting on you!”

Arching an eyebrow at her, I obliged, following my mother to a nearby closet and retrieving a towel. “What does he need me for?” I asked, once dried off.

“He didn’t say, but he’s been waiting for close to an hour now. You’ll find him in his office.” My mother, the blessed soul that she was, reached up and put a hand on my shoulder, offering me some semblance of comfort, before trotting off down the hall and out of sight.

I let out an audible sigh, throwing the spent towel over my shoulder, and made toward my father’s office. The last thing I wanted to do was speak with him right now, but no one denied the alpha. Not even his firstborn son and heir.

I strolled down the hall, navigating my way through the mansion and toward my father’s office, doing my best to ignore the extensive collection of art and fineries posted around the house. Like all bears in Black Canyon, my family hoarded wealth in much the same way as a dragon. Masterpieces from artists long forgotten hung on every wall, proudly displaying a collection of art that no museum save the Louvre could rival. And even then, it was only because my family had donated some of our collection to the Louvre for safe keeping.

Finally, I reached the large, oak door that signaled the entrance to my father’s cavernous office. With yet another sigh, I grabbed the door’s gold-embroidered handle and pulled it open.

“Mother said that you needed me, sir?” I said as I stepped in the room, not taking a moment to survey the familiar stuffy atmosphere of the office space. What my father considered an office, most men would have considered a library. Each wall was lined with massive red oak bookshelves from floor to ceiling, large volume and tomes filling every space. There were no windows in the office and it was lit with only a massive crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling high above. A large desk sat at the center of the room with, I knew, stacks of papers and work utensils cluttering every inch of the space. My father, as massive and brooding as ever, sat behind the desk, his graying hair tousled after a long day of work, and a pair of bifocals signaling his failing eyesight. Something that, most likely, was linked to spending so much time pouring over document after document in an illy-lit room.

What I did not expect to see in the room, however, were the other two guests who stood across from my father. One, an older looking gentleman with broad, but aging shoulders, stood with an air of defiance about him. My bear perked up as his unfamiliar scent, doing its best to prepare me for an attack should one come. In an instant, though, I knew that I would be fine. The man stood with the superiority of an alpha, yes, but it was clear that he was far outmatched by both my father and myself.

The other guest was a young woman, tall and voluptuous, with a curvy figure that immediately made me think of Kate Hudson, dressed in a small black dress that fell to mid-thigh. Her hair, a deep and curly brown, fell to her shoulders. She stood with a hand on her hips, the clear presence of an alpha female expressed in the slight smirk she offered upon noticing my entrance. To most, the woman would be beautiful. In fact, I imagined that a lot of men would find her sexually appealing. I, however, was not just any man.

All three figures - my father and the two strangers - immediately turned their eyes to me. For a moment, I felt as though I had walked into a trap. I stood in the presence of three alpha bears, each of whom did their best to assert dominance in the room, dressed in only a pair of still-damp cargo shorts. Embarrassment fought to claim my consciousness, but I willed it down. I was an alpha too, and I needed to show it. If only to prove it to myself.

“Matthew,” my father grunted in acknowledgment of my presence, disappointment laced in his voice.

“I apologize,” I said, throwing my hands up in front of me. “I didn’t realize you had guests.” I started to backpedal out the door.

“No,” my father said, his voice booming. “Stay. This is actually why I was wanting to see you.”

I nodded and took a few more steps into the room, still maintaining my distance from the strangers.

“Allow me to introduce Donald Trounce and his daughter Malia,” my father gestured to each of the strangers in turn. “They are to be your father-in-law and mate, respectively.”

I felt the color in my face drain at that. I knew that I’d be mated, I knew that the mating had been arranged for several years now. And yet, I’d never met my mate. In fact, I’d never so much as
heard
of the Trounce clan.

“Mr. Trounce and his daughter have traveled quite a distance, son,” my father continued. “They hail from Grizzly Hills, out west in the Rockies and are here to prepare for the mating ceremony.”

I nodded, offering my acknowledgment. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said, extending my hand toward Mr. Trounce. He took it, gripped it firmly, and shook it. His eyes never faltered from my own, forcing a slight stare-down. Out of respect, I relinquished first and released his hand. The man scoffed.

“This is exactly what I’m talking about, Xavier,” Mr. Trout spat, turning back to my father. “The
boy
didn’t even attempt to assert himself. If the rumors I’ve heard are true…”

“They’re not,” my father growled, rising to his feet for the first time since I’d entered the room. “And my
son
doesn’t need to assert himself. His dominance is made obvious by the sheer fact of his birthright. Is that understood?”

Mr. Trounce, clearly outmatched by my father, dipped his head in apology.

“What rumors are those?” I questioned, more than a little curious.

Both my father and Mr. Trounce turned to me, but it was Malia who responded, her voice thick and velvety. “Rumor has it, that you’re not ready for a mate. In fact,” she smirked, “Rumor has it that you can’t even take one.” She glanced over me, letting her eyes linger on the bulge beneath my shorts. “I, for one, would like to test that theory.”

Internally, I laughed. To some, I imagined that Malia’s come on was sensual and inviting. To me, however, it was more than a little repulsing. Externally, I felt my shoulders slump a bit. While I’d never gone out of my way to express a taste for women, I thought I had covered my tracks a little better than that. I’d done my best to keep a tight lid on my true preferences, even going so far as to avoid showering at the local gym to avoid the other males there from seeing my bulging erection.

“Enough,” my father growled, waving his hand dismissively. “As you can see, my son incredibly fit and a fine bear. He’ll make Malia a perfect mate and then sire a cub of his own in short order.”

I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding as the tension in the room started to fade.

“We’ll see, Xavier,” Mr. Trounce spat at my father before grabbing his daughter by the hand and shoving past me to leave the room.

After they were gone, I turned to my father and cocked my head to one side, “Well, he’s awful pleasant.”

My father grunted a slight laughter, the most I’d ever get out of him. “You need to squash these rumors, Matthew. They’re abhorrent and they’re vile. I don’t know what you’ve been up to, but it needs to stop. You have a duty to your bloodline and a promise to keep.”

The sudden shift from laughter to a darker tone sent a dagger through my heart. My father had been well aware of the rumors, it seemed, and he was less than pleased with them. In fact, it seemed like he’d read into the rumors enough to make a pretty accurate stab at the reality of the matter. And he was far from pleased.

“How am I abhorrent?” I asked, defending myself through sheer reflex.

My father’s eyes grew large and his usually-tan face reddened a bit. He turned to me, piercing my eyes with his own and snarled. “Look,
son.
Whatever the hell it is that you’re going through, get it the
fuck
out of your system. Enough is enough. You. Have. Duties.”

I stared at him for a long moment, refusing to relent in our stare-down. I wasn’t one to assert my dominance over others, but my bear refused to back down in this case. It was as if the bear felt utterly and truly
threatened
. And why shouldn’t it? My father was damning the very nature of both my bear and myself.

“You need to leave,
son
.” My father spat, a vein starting to bulge in his neck. “Before you regret this, preferably.”

I kept my eyes locked then, with ice in my voice hissed, “
Fine
. Consider me gone.”

Then, for the first time in my life, I turned my back on my father, defiance and dominance both pushing adrenaline into my veins and stormed out of the office.