Touch of Desire (6 page)

“Cora! Wake up.”

She flung her eyes open and stared into the most beautiful silver gaze. Scanning her surroundings, she sagged in relief at the sight of Torin’s bedroom.
A dream. It was only a dream.

“Hey.” He spoke in a hushed, cooing tone as he stroked her cheek with his knuckles. “I’m here. You’re safe.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Mutants….”

“They will never harm you, I’ll make sure of it.” Rolling to his side, he gathered her close, wrapping her in his arms.

Cora’s fear faded as she cuddled against Torin, absorbing his strength as her own. One day, she’d have to learn to chase her own nightmares away.

He pressed his lips against her temple, then her cheek, as he squeezed her tighter against him. “I will keep you safe, Cora. You must believe that. The Pack will keep you safe as it does all the submissives.”

She nodded, not trusting her voice to work with the onset of hiccupping sobs. “I’m so weak.”

He rose above her, forcing her to hold his gaze. “You are the strongest person I know. Strength comes from within, from the trials we lived through and the drive to become better. You have more passion and drive than anyone I know. That, my mate, is power.”

My mate
.

Those two words should spark delight in her heart, but the truth was she couldn’t feel him as a mate should. Even though she accepted him into her heart and they spoke the words, the mating bond never snapped into place. She didn’t understand why. Usually it was up to the female to make the choice, and, once she committed wholeheartedly, it was done.

She frowned and let out a soft sigh. Torin tightened his arms around her and kissed her temple. “Stop. It’s not your fault. There are mates inside the Pack who don’t have the mating bond, and they are as close and in love as much as those with the bond.”

“I don’t understand. We are mates; our wolves know each other. I’ve known since I first went through my heat cycle.” She clamped her mouth shut. Fear chilled her because she had shared too much.

After several moments of painful silence, he spoke. “You knew since you were eighteen?”

She nodded and studied her fingernails. “Are you angry? I didn’t know how to handle you or anyone outside of my family then.”

He took a breath, but kissed her forehead. “No. I’m not upset. I knew then as well, but you’d lost your parents. You needed room.”

“I never told Jason.”

“Me neither. He was so protective of you and trying to deal with his own grief. I’m not that big of a jerk. Believe it or not, I can be patient.” He lifted her chin with his index finger. “You are worth the wait. You know as well as I do, once the wolf finds his or her mate, there is no other.”

Her cheeks heated like they always did when he complimented her. “We finally accept it, and fate has other plans.”

He kissed her lips. “We’ll work it out.”

He was right. Besides, they had a lifetime together. “Tell me about your childhood.”

For a moment, she thought he would avoid the question, but he laced his fingers with hers and lifted them to his lips. “My parents were killed during the first attacks by Onyx. I was two months old.”

She gasped. “Oh no. You never knew them.”

“Luna took me in and raised me as her own. Royce and I never got along though, so, when I was sixteen, I joined the junior soldiers and stayed in the apartments designated for them. Back then, things were different. Royce believed the soldiers should be strong and therefore isolated them at a young age to strengthen their will and heightened their senses.” He made a growl-like noise in his throat.

Cora could imagine how frightened the kids had to have been. Left alone and conditioned into good soldiers or assassins. “Rumors drifted around that Royce was actually connected to Onyx and Luna killed him when she found out.”

“People need to mind their own business. It’s true, and I’m grateful for it. Royce would have turned the whole Pack over to Felix, and we’d been killed or turned into mutants.” Pausing, he took a breath. “Luna changed everything that day. The junior soldiers were returned to the families, and, with my and Hayden’s help, she put the Pack back on a healthy track. Yet we were still too weak and vulnerable to Onyx.”

“She merged her Pack with Keegan’s.”

“Yep. It was rough at first, but we learned to live together for the most part.”

She shrugged. “I think we do pretty well. We are a strong Pack.”

“Yep.”

They fell silent, and Cora traced circles on his upper thigh. “You were friends with Jason.”

He cupped her cheek, drawing her gaze to his. “We don’t have to talk about him if it pains you.”

“Yes, we do. You were his commander and friend. I’m not the only one hurting from his passing. He was my protector, my overbearing brother, and an ass, but I loved him. He was the last of my natural family.” She sniffed, and Torin wiped a tear from her cheek.

“You were the squirt and the bratty sister he brought everywhere with him.” Torin swallowed. A flicker of sadness flashed across his features. “Jason was a good male. He loved the Pack and his job as its protector. He died with honor.”

Smiling, she stared into his eyes and felt comfortable doing so. She didn’t know what had changed. Maybe her wolf recognized she wasn’t the only one who had lost Jason. The whole Pack lost him. It could also have had something to do with the relaxed way they sat and talked, getting to know more about each other.

She cupped his face in her hands. “I’m falling in love with you.”

His lips lifted in a sensual smile. “I fell in love with you years ago.”

She squeaked when he lifted her up and turned her so she straddled his lap, then all thoughts vanished as he kissed her. She could be with him like this for the rest of her days.

Cora hummed softly as she packed the backpack with the things she needed to begin the first stages of laying out the new security system. The system would be made up of wireless sensors, cameras, and magic, encircling both dens about five hundred feet from the property lines. And that was only the first layer.

Two more layers of security would be set behind the first, about one hundred and fifty feet from each other. Then wards would protect each individual den. Was it overkill? Maybe, but Alec and the Alphas loved the idea of the layers and how each one would differ slightly from the other.

Cora glanced up as Ana and Gina entered the command center—as Alec called it—and nodded. Frowning, she studied Gina as she came to stand next to her. The third layer of security had small bombs filled with tiny balls of silver, the one thing mutants had a weakness for.

Gina picked one of the round, palm-size bombs. Cora’s heart skipped a beat. “Please be careful with that.”

“I know, Miss.”

Drawing her brows together, Cora studied the female. Her brown hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, and Cora saw a little more confidence in her. She held her head a little higher and actually made eye contact with Cora.

“How are things going, Gina?”

Her face flushed, and she set the bomb on the table. “Good. Sven tried another treatment this morning. He thinks it didn’t work, but I can feel my wolf a little more.”

Without thinking, Cora drew the female into a hug. Gina stiffened, then relaxed and returned the embrace. “That’s a really good sign. Why did he say it didn’t work?”

“Because he’s trying to fix my human genes and not my animal’s.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess I can see where he believes it was a failed attempt.”

Gina possessed two different shifter genes in her DNA: wolf and tiger. As Cora understood it, Gina had an ancestor—no one was sure how far back—who mated with a shifter. Sven guessed the children of the couple were either latent or the shifter parent was and believed he or she was human. Therefore the shifter genes diluted over the years of mating with humans. The other shifter gene came from the mutant virus Felix injected her with when he abducted her.

Sven was trying to figure out which shifter gene she was born with in hopes of reversing the effects of the virus.

The door opened, drawing Cora’s attention. Jasmine entered, and Cora smiled. “What are you doing here?”

Jasmine nodded to Gina and the others before tugging Cora into a hug. “I’m meeting Graham to go over design ideas for the rebuild of the bar, so I thought I’d stop by and see how your date went.”

Cora averted her gaze, her cheeks warmed, and she tried to ignore the fact the room grew quiet. All of them were nosy as hell. “I shifted.”

Jasmine squeaked and hugged her again. “Wonderful!”

Cora laughed. “It felt wonderful.”

“I sense a ‘but’ in there.”

Cora glanced around the room. Instantly, everyone started working again. She leaned into Jasmine and spoke in a soft whisper. “I know in my heart Torin is my mate. You can stop pretending to not see his mark.” She giggled then continued. “We made promises and spoke the words, yet the bond never formed.”

Jasmine wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Oh, honey. Sometimes it takes a little while for the bond to form. It doesn’t mean you are not mated.”

“That’s what Tor said. I can’t shake the feeling there is something blocking it, though.”

Kissing her cheek, Jasmine released her and took her hand. “Give it time. You have been through a lot. It’ll happen.”

“Thanks. You always know how to make things right.”

Jasmine smiled and winked. “Just doing my job as you BFF. I’ll see you later.”

“Yep. Have fun with designing the bar.”

“I will.” Jasmine waved and left.

A moment later Torin entered the room with two cups of coffee and a brown paper bag. He had dropped her off, saying he had something to look into. Now she wondered where he’d gone.

The sweet scent of sugar and dough made her mouth water, even though she had eaten breakfast before leaving Torin’s place. “What do you have there?”

The silver in his eyes darkened, and one side of his mouth lifted. “A snack and coffee.”

She took the bag and opened it. Her mouth watered as she inhaled the sweet aroma of the large cinnamon roll with cream cheese icing. Lifting her gaze to him, she cupped his cheek and kissed him.

“Thank you.”

The room grew quiet again, and, when she looked around, everyone was watching them with smiles plastered to the faces. She rolled her eyes, tore off a piece of the roll, and fed it to Torin. “We can share the rest during my break.”

He snaked an arm around her. “I look forward to it.”

Laughing, she pushed out of his hold and turned to her team. Keegan, Ana, Robyn, and Gina had their backpacks on and were waiting on her. Butterflies fluttered in her belly. “I’m ready.”

Alec snorted from his spot in front of the computer station. “Cora, you’re supposed to say, ‘Let’s go people. Move your asses.’”

She shook her head, laughing. “No, that is something you would say.”

He nodded. “True. Then move your asses, and let’s get this party on the road.”

Keegan chuckled. “I have no clue where he gets his bossiness from.” He held out his hand. “After you, boss.”

Boss
. She wasn’t so sure, but, coming from Keegan, it was an honor. “Okay, let’s do this.”

****

“Cora seems happier today.”

“What do you mean?” Torin knew where Alec’s train of thought was headed. He’d noticed it this morning when she woke, in his arms.

Alec shrugged. “She seems more confident. Her wolf is no longer hiding.”

“We had a good run yesterday before the hunters showed.” He growled. Damned humans. He’d never understand their obsession to kill for sport.

“Yeah, Blaine mentioned it. Once the outer layer is in place, we don’t have to worry about nosy, gun-happy humans anymore. Robyn’s magic crystals will create a large, bubble-like ward which will keep humans away and confuse those who mean us harm.” Alec punched a couple keys on the keyboard, and an image popped up on the main screen.

“Is that Cora’s camera?”

Alec nodded. “Yeah, baby girl, can you hear me?”

Cora’s soft voice came through the speaker. “Yep, loud and clear. Travis is here now.”

“Good.”

Torin ground his teeth, not liking last minute changes in the process. “Why is Travis there?”

Alec glance at him, then shook his head. “Calm your wolf, man. Because the team has to split up, we needed two people to be able to activate the magic in the crystals. Shay is due to deliver any day, so Travis is the only other magic-born in the den.”

Oh. Made sense
. "Magic-born" was an old term the Elders used to call witches and shifters with witch parents. Travis’s mother, Robyn, was half-witch. As was Shay’s birth mother.

Cora’s voice brought Torin from his thoughts.

“This is the spot.” Her handheld GPS came in view on the screen. “Gina, start here and dig a new hole every yard. Ana and I will set up the sensors.”

“She’s a natural leader,” Alec said as he sat back in his chair.

Torin rolled over a chair so he could sit at the computer station beside Alec.. “Most submissives are. They’re just more polite about it than we are.”

Alec burst out laughing. “So true.”

About ten minutes later, Ana spoke into her mic. “I’m picking up on something. Dad, you feel that?”

Keegan’s voice came in from the other side of the property. “Not here.”

Cora spoke quietly. “Humans.”

Torin sat up in his chair. “How close?”

“Too fucking close,” Travis growled.

There was a rustling over the radio, then Cora asked, “Ana, where are you going? Shit. Alec, she shifted and is going after them.”

The next moment, a gunshot sounded off. Torin didn’t wait around for confirmation that anyone was all right. He jumped from his chair and rushed out the door. Once outside, he took off, running as fast as his legs would go. His only thought was for the safety of his mate.

“Ana!” Cora tore off her headset, dropped everything in her hands, and ran after the leopard. She didn’t get far before Travis grabbed her from behind.