Bound by Fate (Moon Bound Series Book 1) (12 page)

He dropped her hair as if scalded and stepped back, his perfect eyebrows pulling together in confusion.  “You–”

“
That’s right, wolf.  You heard her.”  Donovan said in self-satisfied tones.  He stepped forward – she could hear his clipped steps approach on the wooden veranda surrounding the back of the Alphas’ Great House.

She could practically see the muscle ticking in his jaw, and prepared herself for the explosion she was sure would follow, when he unexpectedly grinned and let his gaze roam over her face.  He leaned forward, until their lips were almost touching, ignoring the warning growl from Donovan.  “That’s alright sweetheart,” he whispered.  She could feel the words he speared her with, his breath tickling her lips.  “My sense of smell is wonderful, Beth.  I know who you really want.”

“We’ll see,” announced Donovan, taking her by the arm and gently turning her away.  He offered her a smile, and it was so full of joy and life that she found herself smiling dazedly back.  “Let’s take a walk, Beth.”

“
Sure,” she replied.  And just for spite, she whispered just loud enough for Gareth to hear, “I know the perfect spot.”

That’d show him for being so damned confident.  It would serve him right if she fell head over heels for Donovan while they were out walking.  She wouldn’t bring him to her creek.  Of course she wouldn’t.  But Gareth didn’t know that.  She grinned, taking hold of Donovan’s proffered arm, noting the grim expression on Gareth’s face out of the corner of her eye.  It brought instant satisfaction.  And then, swift on the heels of that satisfaction, she frowned.  It wasn’t fair to use Donovan to make Gareth jealous.  She resolved to make a genuine effort with him on their walk. 

“
Did you enjoy that, Beth?” Donovan asked as they entered the cover of the forest.  His arm seemed stiff underneath her hand and she had the fleeting thought that he was very upset with her.

“
Enjoy what?” she asked, quietly.  All around her the foliage was just barely turning a kaleidoscope of browns and reds and golden wheat shades.  Summer was behind them and autumn was making its presence known.  She loved autumn.  The sheer amount of colors the world turned in autumn served to distract her from the over whelming psychic connection to the pack more often than not.  During the autumn she rarely needed to escape to her creek. 

“
Bating Gareth like that.  Did you enjoy making him jealous?”  He stopped suddenly, swiveling to face her, his golden eyes boring into hers.  “I’ll not be toyed with that way by my own mate.”  He seemed to lean in slightly, to do God knew what, and then seemed to think better of it.  “I deserve better than that.  And though it rankles to say so, Gareth deserves more than that, too.”  A tiny crease appeared between his brows as he frowned.  “I may be mated to you, Beth, but that doesn’t make me blind, deaf, or stupid.”

Beth was stunned silent.  The first thought to enter her mind was one of triumph that Gareth had indeed been jealous, and then she thought of how she’d achieved it.  Contrite, she ducked her head.  “I didn’t realize,” she whispered.

“You didn’t realize you were doing it at my expense, or you didn’t realize I had been aware?”  He let his arm drop, her hand falling from him to dangle uselessly by her side.

“
Both,” she admitted.  “I’m sorry.”  And she was.  She was sorry that she’d used him cruelly.  She was sorry that his feelings had been hurt and that he’d felt toyed with.  But, she privately admitted to herself, she was mostly sorry that he’d realized.  She felt guilty about that, and decided to do her damnedest to forget about Gareth today.  Today was for her and Donovan to get to know each other.

“
I accept your apology, my mate.”  He cupped her jaw and rubbed a thumb over her bottom lip.  It felt simultaneously too intimate, and comfortingly familiar.  “Give me a chance, Beth.  I’m a good guy.”

“
I will,” she promised.  To herself as well as Donovan.  She would give them both a chance.

He leaned in, and pressed his lips to hers too quickly for her to react in any way, then grinned at her and led them onward.  She held a finger to her tingling lips and wondered if it was because of his kiss, or because she’d been once again thinking of Gareth.

The first week was one of torture.  The second, more so.  Every day an obstacle course of male ego and feminine hormones.  Gradually, she got to know Donovan.  She knew his favorite color was purple, because growing up he had scampered in a field of lavender with his mother, the days seemingly endless.  She knew that he had a fear of heights – most wolves did – and she also knew that he was a superb kisser.

She knew that he had visions of not only a cease-fire between their packs, but a relationship of continued growth and friendship.  He wanted them to feel free to roam each other’s lands, safe in the knowledge that the old hurts had been healed.  He, like Beth, had not yet been privy to exactly what those old hurts were, but he was confident that through communication and friendship, anything could be healed.

He had a wicked sense of humor and an impish streak that meshed nicely with her fun-loving attitude.  She could feel their relationship growing into something more than a forced pairing.  If she gave him the word, she knew she could be content with him.  She would rear their cubs and keep their Den House, and slowly suffocate under his good-mannered charm.  There was no passion to their relationship.  She despaired of it.

Her relationship with Gareth on the other hand, had come to a steaming halt.  They barely spoke, and when they did, it was only to snipe or snap at each other.  Still, she wanted to climb inside him and curl up in his soul.  She wanted him.  Fiercely, and uncontrollably.  She avoided being alone with Gareth as much as she could for fear the spark of attraction would burn them both to cinders.  And he knew it, damn him.

He grinned at her now across the dinner table.  The Alphas had decided that while it wasn’t usual for her to live alone – as yet being unmated, while at the same time being mated twice – but living with her Den Parents, while trying to entertain both of her mates was even less practical.  So, she’d been assigned a cottage.  It was two rooms only, a kitchen cum living area, and a bedroom with en-suite bathroom.  It was hardly a mansion, but it would do.  She had her privacy from the prying eyes of the pack, who were – in her opinion – too interested in her dating and/or mating life.

The downside was sitting across from her as she picked at a veal casserole Bea had reluctantly delivered for her and Gareth this evening.  She felt like a child from the ordinary human society.  Her parents were divorced and she was near to torn down the middle as to who to see at any given time.  Tonight, Gareth had won the Beth-lottery, and Donovan had stayed behind in the Alphas’ house, brooding and wondering whether they were kissing each other or killing each other.  Either would be just as likely.

“
Good casserole,” he muttered. 

Oh goody, it seemed he was up for some discussion.  She lived for these moments.  Not.  “Yeah.  Bea’s specialty, not mine.  I don’t know how to boil eggs.”  She laughed good natured and returned to her meal.  The casserole really was good.  There was a new flavor in it this evening.  She couldn’t quite pinpoint the exact ingredient, but whatever it was, it was tasty.

“I couldn’t care less if you burned boiling water,” Gareth whispered, “so long as you just
look
at me, Beth.”

She swallowed.  “This isn’t working out, is it?”  It seemed they were closer than ever to killing each other, and she just had enough.  “Maybe it’s a good thing that the trial period is coming to an end in a few days’ time.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded, voice raising an octave in temper. 

Wonderful.  He was angry with her.  Again.  Just what she needed, another fight with Gareth.  It seemed a long time ago he was simply her Guardian, and she, simply a willful girl with a wild streak.  How she longed for her creek right now.  “Nothing, Gareth.  Just…nothing.”

“Everything you say means something.  I’ve learned that the hard way.”  His eyes pierced her.  She resolutely stared at her food and concentrated on shoveling it into her mouth.  It had lost its appeal.  All she wanted was to curl up in bed and sleep.  Maybe she’d let a couple of tears escape this time around.  It was just so hard, being with Gareth lately.  Her every word was guaranteed to raise his temper, and his every tantrum was guaranteed to drive her that bit further away.

She knew Donovan expected her to name him her true mate in three days’ time.  His confidence wasn’t false; she probably would.  He was less complicated.  “I think I’ll have an early night,” she replied, ignoring his statement.  If it wasn’t a question, it didn’t require an answer.  She’d learned that the hard way.

“Beth,” he whispered, reaching across the table.  He took her hand in his, and she could feel the calluses on his palm.  Donovan didn’t have calluses.  He had soft hands.  Hands that had never done real work.  He had been the pampered heir to the Alpha throne.  She wondered how he expected to keep the mantle of Alpha if he’d never done a hard day’s work in his life, and then she remembered the way he pinned Gareth during the mating ritual.  Easily, it seemed.

“
What, Gareth?” 

“
God, but I love the way you say my name.”  Her fingers disappeared inside his much larger palm, and she suppressed the urge to rise and go to him.  “Let’s take a walk.”

“
I don’t–”

“
I do.  In three days you’ll be free of me, Beth, and I’d like to make the most of it. Even if you don’t.”  He tugged her to her feet and she went willingly enough.  He only ever had to crook his damn finger and she was willing to crawl to him.  Not that she’d ever let him know.  Besides, lately being around him was just so damn exhausting.  All they ever did was fight, and all she wanted to do the whole time was kiss him until he was breathless.

“
Alright,” she replied, resigned to the fact that the night would end in tears, but she’d enjoy it until then.  “Where to?”

“
Let our feet decide,” he announced, smiling.  He pulled her out the door, almost running, and she scrambled to keep up.  A girlish giggle erupted from her lips and she stifled the impulse to out run him.  This time, she wouldn’t leave him in the dust.  This time, she’d stay with him to the very end.  After all, in three days she’d be leaving.  She hadn’t realized her decision had been made until that very moment.

It made her a little sad, and a little scared.  But most of all, it relieved her.  She had made her decision, and she would stick to it. 

“
Why here?” she demanded, anger rising now in spite of her earlier good mood.  “Why Gareth?”

“
I thought you loved this place?” he replied warily.  She knew she had no reason to be angry.  She did love the creek.  She just didn’t want to share it with him again.  Selfish, yes, but there it was.

Standing on the rocks she used as a sun lounger, she whirled to face the creek.  “I do,” she answered slowly.  “It’s just…it’s mine, that’s all.”

“Really?”  He sauntered around her, stood directly in front of her and smiled.  “I had begun thinking of it as ours.”

“
So arrogant, Guardian,” she whispered, a dreadful twinkle in her eye.  She strode toward him.  “Both times we came here, you caught an eyeful of me naked.  And you made me wear damp clothes the last time.”  She grinned, stretching her arms out and grabbing a fist full of his shirt.  He relaxed – big mistake – and she leaned in close.  “Payback’s a bitch,” she muttered, before giving an almighty heave.

Gareth came up spluttering and swearing, while Beth perched on the rocks and laughed so much she had a pain in her jaw.  Doubled over in hysterics, she missed the hand that snaked out of the water and only had time to pull in half a breath before she too, took a dip in the freezing creek. 

“Ayoooooo!  It’s damn cold!” she shrieked, still laughing. 

“
Cold?  Try sub-zero, you sneaky little wildcat!” Gareth roared, trying and failing to keep a straight face. 

“
Well, I was going to say we were even,” she grinned.  “But now that you’ve got me in here, I still owe you one.”  Throwing caution to the wind, she wrapped both arms around his neck, and smiled into his shining, chocolate eyes.  It was so dark she could barely see; the sliver of moon cast hardly any light through the thick canopy of trees, but managed to show her just enough in the creek.

“
What will you accept in payment, Little Wolf?”  His teeth chattered, and his lips were turning blue, but he still smiled back at her.  She’d tried her best, damn it, but she’d still fallen head over tail for him. 

“
A kiss,” she croaked, all signs of laughter now gone.  “I want you to kiss me breathless, Gareth.  I’m done denying this…attraction.  I’m done running away and I’m done trying to fight it.  Kiss me and to hell–”

His lips crushed down on hers, cold but hot at the same time.  She met him eagerly.  His tongue dipped into her mouth, slip-sliding around into a comfortable rhythm that heated her blood so much she forgot about the freezing water.