A Mate's Denial: (10 page)

“Don’t talk to her like that.”

“Oh, you’re not in the position to tell me what to do, now are you, straggler?” He stepped closer to Kerrigan. Tilted his head to the side, measuring her up. His scrutiny made her feel exposed. Bile rose in her throat.

“
I could show you what a real wolf can do, little kitten.” His words were deep and velvety. “Mmm. A body like yours? We’d go all night. Make you come so hard.”

Ew
. Was he for real? What, did he think she was going to swoon with a little dirty talk, and then run into the woods with him to boink?

She looked at
Trager. He was seething. Beads of sweat rolled down his temple, and his face was the color of the sky before sunset. She’d only seen him like this when Farrow the wolf was in his cabin. Except this was worse. Was he about to turn?

She had to do something, fast.
Think like an animal. Follow his lead
. Seemed like the wolves were all about claiming what was theirs. Their land, their lovers. And they talked dirty, fought dirty.

“Nice offer, really.” She infused her voice with as much sarcasm as she could muster. Stepping into
Trager’s arms, she plastered her body to his. Hands on his neck, she kissed him hard on the lips. His tongue dove in, tangling with hers for a second, before she pulled away enough to look over her shoulder. “But I’ve already got my wolf, and he’s already made me come. Hard.”

God, she couldn’t believe she’d just said that out loud to three perfect strangers.
To cover her blush, she turned her face into Trager’s neck. His arms tightened around her waist. His breath was ragged, but he managed to speak.

“She isn’t marked yet, because we’re waiting until after the human ceremony.” The words came through clenched teeth.
“She’s…”—he swallowed, twice— “… claimed me, publicly. That should be enough to gain an audience with the alpha.”

There was a long silence.

“Alpha will want to see this, Vesh.” The voice was low and sultry. And female.

More silence.
Trager ran his hand over her back, as if to soothe her. Or perhaps to soothe himself.

“Very well,”
Vesh said, his voice absent of its seductive ring. “Let’s go.”

Trager
held Kerrigan’s hand in an iron grip. He kept reminding himself to loosen it, but it didn’t stay that way. He took a deep, steadying breath. She’d claimed him. Damn it, she’d done that. In front of his enemies. She probably didn’t know what she’d done, and probably didn’t mean it anyway. But in the eyes of the shifters, there was no going back.

She’d accepted him.

He was the only one who knew it wasn’t true. Not in her heart, where it mattered.

The
Ozarka camp had grown exponentially since Trager last saw it. Twelve years away, and it was almost unrecognizable. Cabins had become lodges. And there were so many of them. The pack must be twice what it was when he was a wolfling.

As they walked through the camp,
Trager saw people he recognized. People he’d been friends with long ago. He’d thought maybe they would treat him with indifference if he ever came back. Instead, everyone they passed glared at him. Accusing, as if he’d brought some harm upon the pack by being tossed out. It was unfair, but ultimately, he didn’t care. He wasn’t planning on staying.

He glanced at his mate. She had her eye on a group of kids, chasing fireflies. Her eyes were bright, like she’d forgotten where they were.

Farrow, Avan, and Vesh lead them to a secluded area of camp, where the trees came together forming a cover. Behind them was a lodge, bigger than the others Trager had seen. Farrow climbed the wrap-around porch and knocked on the door.

A female, dressed in all black answered the
door.

“Lady
Besh,” Farrow greeted. “We need to speak with Alpha.”

Her expression was empty
as she glanced at Trager. “He’s having dinner. I’ll tell him you’ll wait in the hall.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

On the way back to the main part of camp, Kerrigan leaned close and whispered, “Do you think the alpha will come quickly? Maybe we can say our piece and go home tonight.”

“No one leaves after dark,”
Vesh barked. “No one except hunters. You’re stuck here tonight, little kitten.”

Little kitten.
Trager swore. If he called her that one more time…

Kerrigan
tucked her arm through his, and his wolf calmed. But not enough. He needed to get his mate alone. Needed to touch her, breathe her in, feed her, and sleep with her. And it didn’t need to be in that order.

Much of the pack had already gathered at the hall by the time they arrived. Apparently this meeting was going to be public.
Trager blew out a breath. He could only hope the humiliation wasn’t as bad as he suspected it would be.

He recognized many faces, but there were three specific ones missing from the crowd. He went from wolf to wolf, from glower to glower, but there was no sign of his family.
His mother and father and Gabby.

Kerrigan tugged on his arm. “I need to uh, use the bathroom.”

“I’ll take her,” Avan said.

“No, I will.” No way in hell was he losing sight of Kerrigan. Not here.

“It’s okay,” she said. “Just show me where. I can take myself.”

Under the guards’ watchful eye, he led her to the bathroom. Resisting the urge to follow her in was no easy task. He cringed when
Avan flashed him a cruel smile and slid past him into the room.

Fuck. This wouldn’t be good.

Trager ran his hands through his hair, counting off the minutes his mate was away from him. If she wasn’t out in five, he was going in after her.

***

Kerrigan washed her hands, studiously ignoring the gorgeous wolf-girl as she opened a cabinet, removed a tee shirt, and pulled it over her head. It was long, but it barely covered her butt.

“Something tells me that little stunt you pulled with
Vesh was fake,” she mused. “How much did Trager pay you?”

Say
what
? “Pay me?”

Her eyes leveled on Kerrigan.
“Yeah. How much?”

“He hasn’t paid me. Are you crazy?”

“No.” She shrugged. “I just don’t believe you’ve mated with him. Or that you plan to. I think he talked you into coming here, for whatever reason. Most likely to start a war, because he’s nothing but trouble. And when this whole meet-and-greet with the alpha is over, you’ll be on your merry way.”

Kerrigan shook her head. “You’re wrong.
About everything.”

She thought of her half-pack
ed apartment and felt sick. What
was
she doing here? Trying to help Trager save the people he cared about. But when it was over? What then?

Wolf-girl
laughed, sounding like an evil cartoon. “No way. I can’t be wrong. It’s all in the prophecy.”

“What prophecy?
”

“Of course you don’t know about the prophecy. It’
s the whole reason Alpha forced Trager to leave the pack.” She slinked over to Kerrigan so that her face was inches away. “You’re going to deny him. Reject him. Refuse to be his mate. A wolf who can’t secure a mate is useless.”

This made no sense. They threw
Trager out of camp for this? She forced herself to remain calm. She needed more information.

“There are worse things than being rejected.”

Wolf-girl shook her head. “Not to a wolf. And especially not by a mate.”

“
Let me get this straight, he was thrown out of the pack at the mere possibility that I might reject him? That’s insane.”

“No. You got it all wrong. He got thrown out of the pack because without a mate, he can’
t have young. He becomes a useless member.”

Useless
. Kerrigan went numb. It was a word Ethan had thrown around a lot. Usually referring to her. These people were heartless. Or was it just wolf-girl?

“His worth isn’t dependent upon whether or not he has children. Do
you
have children?”

“Not yet. I’m unmated.”

“And you obviously aren’t useless to the pack.”

“It would be a different story if my mate rejected me. Clearly, you have a lot to learn about pack dynamics.”

Kerrigan glared. “Clearly, I do.”

“You can start with this: I’m going to make sure I fuck your mate before you leave here.” With that, wolf-girl breezed out of the bathroom.

Kerrigan braced her hands on the sink, breathing deep. She wanted to go after the bitch, but Trager’s warning came to mind.
They’ll challenge you
. That’s what this was. A test.

She pulled the door open, and
Trager almost fell in. The wolf-bitch was inches away from him, one foot planted against the wall, putting her in quite a… a… position. She was spread wide, all her lower goods on display.

He righted himself
, a sick look on his face.

“What the
fuck
?” Kerrigan had never used that word before.

“In the bathroom,” he said.

Wolf-bitch chuckled, slowly bring her foot down. Heads were turning in their direction. People were watching, and still the bitch wouldn’t stop. “He was hard for it,” she mock-whispered. “See for yourself.”

“I’m going to
kill
her!”

“Bathroom,
now
.”

Kerrigan gave him a murderous look… and then lunged for the wolf-bitch’s throat. But she didn’t make it.
Trager’s arm banded around her waist, lifting her off the ground and shoving her into the bathroom. The wolf-bitch was right; Trager’s erection pressed into her backside. She kicked and punched.

“Let me go.”

“Never.”

“You wanted her. I can feel it.” She kicked again. If she could just get loose, she’d show that girl what happened when someone messed with her man.

“Oh, baby, this isn’t for her.”

Kerrigan stopped kicking, but he didn’t let go. Her chest pumped from the exertion.

“I was about to come through that door when you opened it. I didn’t look anywhere but her eyes. You saw more than I did, I’m sure.”

“I hate her.”

He ground his hard
ness against her. “This is because of you,” he whispered in her ear. “Because you would’ve fought for me. You have no idea what that means to a wolf like me.”

Kerrigan relaxed a touch. “I’ll kill her.”

“Shh.” His hand moved up her stomach to gently squeeze her breast. “I don’t want to talk about her anymore.” He pressed a kiss behind her ear, and another, until she tilted her head.

Suddenly, she found herself flipped around and pushed against the wall. He yanked her shirt up, his eyes going wide at the sight of her wearing the red bra he’d packed. He jerked the cups down, exposing both breasts for his attention.

And did he ever give them attention. Tugging and pulling and licking and sucking.

Kerrigan panted at the sensations. The things he could do to her body were nothing short of miraculous.
Like she was an instrument only he knew how to play.

He broke away to undo the zipper of his pants
, his erection springing free. She reached for it like a life preserver. It was steely and smooth as she ran her hand up and down the shaft. “I want you bad, Kerrigan,” he heaved. “After what you did, I want you real bad.”

God, she wanted him to
o. Couldn’t even care that there were wolves outside. Hopefully wolf-bitch was listening.

“Please.”

He flicked the button of her jeans and had them around her ankles in two seconds flat. One hand in her hair, forearm braced on the wall, he slipped is fingers past her panties.

“You’re ready.
So ready for me.”

“
Trager… need you…” He rubbed her sex faster and faster.

“
Baby… Fuck. I don’t want to take you in a bathroom. I want you in my bed.” He leaned his head against the wall over her shoulder.

Kerrigan didn’t care where they were. She wanted him now.
Now
. It felt crucial. Maybe it was just being in the vicinity of so many wear-shifters, but she wanted to claim
him
, mark
him
. If sex was the name of the game then… what a wonderful game.

There was a thunderous bang on the door. “Alpha’s here.” It was wolf-bitch. Her voice made Kerrigan homicidal.

Trager nuzzled her neck, licking. The action was very… wolfy, but it had a calming effect. She breathed deep, letting him soothe her.

“We finish this later, mate.” He stepped back, readjusting her bra. His eyes held a wild edge
, and made her stomach clench with longing.

Hissing, he tucked his erection into his waistband and pulled his shirt down to cover it.
Kerrigan buttoned her jeans, took a deep breath, and went for the door. But Trager grabbed her hair, stopping her.

Slowly, he came up behind her, his mouth dropping to her ear. “Did you know, once a wolf finds his mate, he wants no other? Only his mate’s scent can excite him, only her touch can calm him, heal him. That’s why they’re testing us, to see if this is real.” He nipped the shell of her ear with his teeth. “You’re it for me, Kerri. Whatever happens, don’t forget that.
”

Kerrigan followed him out into the
great hall where many people were gathered. There was no sign of wolf-bitch. In the center of the room, a huge shirtless man stood. His head was shaved, except for one long strip down the middle of his scalp. His nose was pierced, and on his right pectoral, an odd-shaped scar stood out from otherwise smooth skin. The wolf, Vesh, stood at his left, and the woman from the lodge, on his right.

Kerrigan swallowed her anxiety.

Trager took her hand and approached the man she could only assume was the alpha.

“You return to the pack that doesn’t want you.” His voice held zero emotion, but his gaze was cold and calculating. “Why?”

“I have news that could be important to the pack.” Kerrigan’s eyes went to Trager. His tone of voice was nothing she recognized. It was hard and razor sharp.

The alpha cocked his head to the side. “Is that right?”

Trager gave a single nod.

Taking in a deep inhale of breath, the alpha stepped forward. His power was like a physical force. Kerrigan could feel it slamming against her chest. She had the oddest urge to duck her head, to look away.
To crawl under a rock.

“She is extremely aroused, but how do I know she’s your mate?”

Oh, god. Of course they could smell that. She glanced around the room. Several men looked to be in a daze. Holy shit.
They’re animalistic
.
Don’t expect them to act like humans
.

“
Vesh tells me she’s not marked. Only one reason I can think of for that.”

“She’s human,”
Trager spat. “We’re waiting until after the wedding.”