Hook, Line, and Mated (3 page)

He’d fucked up by walking away in that diner, and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to just ignore the fact he would never be alone again. Giving her time and walking away for good were two totally different things, and Easton wasn’t going to let his mate go.

Chapter Five

The next day

It had been a whole day, twenty-four hours … long hours, since Jessie had realized she was mated. Not only did that moose shifter admit he’d seen her but walked away, he’d told her all of that butt fucking naked. Even the next day she was still thinking about the sight of him naked, all that hard muscle, that sinew, power, strength. He’d been well over six and a half feet tall, his arms thicker than her thighs, and that was saying something since she wasn’t the smallest female.

Having a size sixteen frame meant she had a butt that popped out, a belly that wasn’t sucked in, and breasts that were big and right up in people’s faces. She’d always hated the fact she was on the thicker side, hated that her thighs rubbed together when she walked, no matter how many times Brenna had said she was gorgeous.

She closed her eyes and rested back on the couch, forgetting the pile of paperwork she was currently looking through concerning finances. Staring at the ceiling, seeing that moose shifter as clearly as if he were standing right in front of her, Jessie couldn’t help but feel her throat tighten and her pulse race as the image of that monstrous cock between his legs slammed into her mind.

God, he’d been huge … so big that calling him huge felt like an understatement. Maybe the dicks she’d see had just been small in comparison?

No, that shifter had a big cock, and it was hard because of you.

She’d smelled his desire for her, his animal’s need to mate with her. Her serval had risen up, too, but when she’d seen him in the woods and realized what he was to her, survival kicked in. She’d felt like she was being trapped, like her life wouldn’t be her own anymore. The pull was huge, undeniable, and she’d wanted to go to him. It was the natural reaction. But with all the things going on with Brenna, and her shitty past concerning her parents, all Jessie could have done was run.

It had been childish, and she’d felt stupid as she stood there getting dressed, but she’d felt too weak to do anything else.

But as she sat here thinking about how she’d reacted yesterday, and the very real situation she was in, she couldn’t even feel happy for herself that she’d found her mate. Finding that one person that was meant to be a shifter’s alone, that was their soul, their heart … their everything, was supposed to be the happiest day of a shifter’s life. It didn’t happen to everyone, and there were shifters out there that have never and would never get to find their mate. But despite knowing all of that, she was still in the dark about losing Brenna, and she couldn’t find that sliver of joy in being mated by a moose shifter.

A very big and right in your face moose shifter.

Pushing anything that had to do with the male out of her mind, she leaned forward again and finished going over Brenna’s paperwork. The attorney that she’d spoken with this morning had given her the file, and had wanted to go over it all with her right then, but Jessie knew if she let him talk about it and go over the details, she’d have lost it. So she’d taken the file and had been spending the last few hours reading about Brenna’s financial history.

Brenna hadn’t been a wealthy woman, but she had saved a little bit over the years, and in her will she’d left everything to Jessie: the money, the house, all of it. It had Jessie crying, had the love for Brenna growing so much inside of her that all she wanted to give her a hug right now, tell her she loved her, and ask her why she left.

Jessie had no one of importance in her life now.

But you have this house, have Brenna’s memories. You could stay in Sweet Water, have her around all the time because you’d be with her things, and have the scent of her in your head when you woke up.

But staying in Sweet Water meant she wouldn’t be able to ignore the moose shifter, wouldn’t be able to deny the mating. As it was, and after only seeing him for a short time yesterday, he was all she could think about when she wasn’t thinking of Brenna. She didn’t know his name, didn’t know anything about him, but he was such a strong presence in her life now that she knew there would be no going back, no matter how far she ran.

And even if she did run she knew in her heart he’d chase her. There had been this wild look in his dark eyes, in the proprietary way he stared at her. He might have admitted to walking away the first time he saw her and realized what she was to him, but just seeing his expression, staring into his eyes, told her the male wouldn’t give in.

God, am I actually considering staying in Sweet Water?

It wasn’t like she couldn’t find work, or she was leaving anything important behind if she uprooted herself. But staying here would bring her life a whole slew of new situations, and Jessie didn’t know if she was ready for all of that.

****

Easton had been sitting behind his desk and staring at the same white wall for the last hour. It had taken everything in him not to scent down his female, try to find out where she was. But as much as he wanted to claim the little serval cat, he knew that with her he’d have to tread lightly.

The aroma of her was sweet and citrusy, but he’d smelled her emotions just as strongly. She’d been upset, and not just because her mate had been thrown in her face, so to speak. She’d had fear, worry, and an abundance of sadness coming from her. Those emotions had been so strong they consumed him, made the mate side of him want to find whoever made her feel like that and teach them a lesson, make them realize no one had the right to treat his female like that.

Exhaling and resting his head back on his chair, he closed his eyes and tried to come up with a plan on how in the fuck he was going to go about this. She was skittish, and being an overbearing alpha would probably have a bad effect on her.

“Boss, Jason’s here for the backordered part.”

“Send him in,” Easton replied, his eyes still closed, his focus and thoughts still on the serval female.

A minute later the scent of the clouded leopard filled Easton’s nose, and he lifted his head and looked at the male who stood right inside the doorway. Easton saw the way Jason inhaled and knew he probably wasn’t hiding his emotions well enough if the leopard could pick up on them. But Jason wouldn’t bring it up, even if he knew there was shit going on with Easton. The male had his own mate problems to deal with.

“Have a seat, Jason.” Easton gestured for the male to sit in the chair across from him. Easton had never done anything like what he was about to do. He’d always kept his distance, and kept his business his own. He was good at making sure that wall around him was in place, not letting anyone in.

Once Jason was sitting down the two males looked at each other in the eyes, the air thick. “How are you getting through with not being able to claim your mate?” Easton just came right out and said it, and when Jason lifted a brow, the surprise clear on his face for a second that he’d had balls big enough to just blurt it out, Easton felt like a bastard.

“Excuse me?” Jason asked, his eyebrow cocked, and the scent of defense coming on strong.

Easton breathed out, ran a hand over the back of his head, and leaned forward. He rested his forearms on the worn wood, hating that he was prying, but willing to do whatever it took to make this work with his female. And since she didn’t want a mate right now, or maybe she couldn’t emotionally handle it given the scents she threw off, he would go right to the source and ask Jason since the male hadn’t claimed his mate either.

For several long seconds all Jason did was stare at Easton. The silence was thick, the wall the other male put up strong.

“Listen,” Easton said and sighed. “I wouldn’t be asking you unless I didn’t know what the fuck to do.” Easton never admitted to being weak, certainly wasn’t physically, but he never showed a chink in the shield he had around him.

It was safer to make sure people stayed back and kept their distance. It wasn’t as if he’d had a bad childhood, wasn’t as if he’d been beaten or neglected. None of those things had happened. He was just the way he was, and that’s all he would ever be. But after seeing his mate, knowing she was hurting for some reason, he wanted to be there for her, not just claim her, but really be there for her. It was hard to want something so much, to desire someone so much, and not even know her name. But that’s how fate and finding one’s mate worked, and there was no going back.

“I don’t know how much help I can be, Easton,” Jason said after he inhaled deeply. He knew the clouded leopard was taking in the scents Easton threw off, scents that he didn’t bother hiding.

“I don’t know what I could tell you to help you out. It’s no secret I’ve found my mate but haven’t claimed her.”

Easton nodded after Jason spoke. “Yeah, and that’s my problem. My mate basically said she doesn’t want the mating, at least right now. I don’t know why, but she was upset, and not just because of how we met.”

Jason lifted a brow, but didn’t ask Easton to elaborate.

“The only advice I can offer is if she needs space give it to her, no matter how painful it is to stay away. If you push it you’ll ruin what you could have with her.”

“Damn, it’s hard,” Easton said in reply.

Jason nodded and looked down at the ground. “Yeah, Easton, believe me, I know.” When the clouded leopard lifted his head there was a lot of raw emotion on his face. “But I have to deal with my own shit. Does my animal want my mate? Of course. But will I push her, especially after everything she’s gone through?” He shook his head, and the self-anger came through like a battering ram. “I’d spend my whole fucking life just spending time with her, not even have claimed her, if that’s what she wants. It’s all we can do.”

Easton knew Jason was right, knew that he couldn’t push his mate, no matter how much he wanted her. He didn’t know if the serval cat shifter had been hurt like Annabelle, Jason’s mate, but it didn’t matter. Pushing her could mean she closed off from him altogether. She may always have the need to be with him, the desire to mate and be claimed, but she was strong enough to say “fuck him” and what he wanted with her.

“Shit.” He breathed out and leaned back in his chair. “I am on unfamiliar ground here.”

Jason gave him a sympathetic smile. “Well, get used to it, ‘cause having a mate will change your entire life whether you want that or not.”

Easton knew that, had known that from the moment he saw his female.

He nodded at Jason once more, and watched as the other male stood and left the office. Easton would probably do a lot that that would piss his mate off, but he wasn’t going to let her run. If she needed space, fine, but he wasn’t walking away.

He picked up his office phone and called the one male he knew could help him with what he needed. It only rang twice.

“Maverick here,” the lion shifter, who used to be a hit man for one of the biggest shifter mafia families in the country, said in his deep, serrated voice.

Maverick was the best of the best when it came to finding out information, and with the help of Declan, a former Shifter Intelligence League bear shifter, the two were able to find out just about anything, even if it wasn’t legal.

“I need to find out where my mate is,” was all Easton said, but that’s all he’d need to say. He might have been able to find her on his own because Sweet Water was a smaller town, but he still wanted to have some information on her so he wasn’t a dog sniffing out a bone, so to speak. Easton wanted to find her now, and the fastest way to do that was to contact Maverick.

Chapter Six

A few days later

Jessie packed up the last box of Brenna’s things, the items that would be getting donated to a battered women and children’s shelter. Although Jessie didn’t want to give up anything that had been Brenna’s, her late aunt had made a will and had specified she wanted certain things donate to people who didn’t have anything. Old toys that she’d kept when Jessie had been younger were going to a children’s home. Women’s clothing, books, even some kitchen items were going to a battered women’s shelter, and a few other things were getting donated to a general shelter that helped families that were having a hard time getting back on their feet.

She carried the box to the front door and set it on another box. They were all getting picked up today and transported to their future homes.

Jessie wiped away the sweat that had formed on her forehead from going into the attic and collecting everything. But she didn’t care that she was filthy, sweaty, and that she probably looked a wreck. This kept her mind off her sadness, and she’d even felt closer to Brenna after going through her things and making sure her last wishes were carried out.

Going into the kitchen for a glass of water, Jessie stared out the window at the front yard. She was transfixed as a robin pecked at the ground for its meal, but that focus was pulled by the sound of someone pulling into her driveway. The big truck that came to a stop was dark with tinted windows. Although she couldn’t see who the driver was, she had a very good feeling she knew who it was. There was a tightening in the back of her neck. Her pulse started racing, and her cat rose up.

She watched as he climbed out of the truck, his dark boots hitting the ground, his muscular legs coming into view. She’d be outright lying if she said she hadn’t thought about him constantly since that time in the woods. She’d be a fool if she didn’t admit, if only to herself, that she couldn’t stop visualizing his naked body and all that power he exuded.

He shut the door and looked at the house, but as he swept his gaze over the outside of it, stopping on the kitchen window, she darted to the side and away from his view. She was nervous, didn’t know if she should act like she wasn’t here, because honestly she had no clue how to proceed with this.

Jessie hadn’t been lying or playing hard to get when she said she wasn’t mentally ready for a mate, that she had too much shit going on with her life. She’d barely gotten Brenna’s ashes back, the cremation in Brenna’s will, and wasn’t even finished going through all of her stuff yet.

And then she heard three hard, masculine knocks on her front door. Yeah, they’d sounded masculine, as if his very essence had come through the old, scarred wood.

Pushing herself away from the counter and out of the kitchen, she knew she looked like shit, with her hair a wild mess around her head, dirt and dust on her shirt, and sweat stains soaking the material of her shirt between her breasts and down the length of her spine. But she didn’t care, because this was who she was, filth and all, and he’d have to come to accept that.

She reached out, wrapped her hand around the brass, and for a second just held it, let the chill dissipate as her body heat warmed it. Taking one more deep breath she turned the handle and opened the door.

He stood there in a pair of worn jeans that fit his muscular, tree trunk sized thighs like they were made just for that purpose. The shirt he wore was plain and white, but the sheer size of him, the sight of his muscles clearly visible beneath the material, the definition and bumps of his six-pack clearly on display, had her clenching her thighs together. She didn’t want to seem needy, didn’t want him to think that what she wanted was to be fucked … to be claimed.

Yes, it was primal, instinctive, and deep down that
was
what she wanted, because once a shifter found their mate the need to claim them and be claimed rode them hard. But Jessie didn’t have to resort to letting her basic urges control her.

She didn’t move away from the door to let him in, and he didn’t say anything. They just stood there and watched each other, the electricity bouncing between them clear, connected, and real. She felt that zing down to her toes and the tips of her fingers, and as much as she had elation and happiness moving through her at this moment, guilt was also there.

“How did you find out where I lived?” Jessie tried to sound upset, and there was a part of her that was offended he’d obviously looked her up. But the other part, the mated, animal part, liked that he’d gone to these lengths to find her, to not let her escape. She’d heard enough about what being mated was like, even if it wasn’t from someone she knew directly.

His short dark hair was stylishly disheveled, and the way he watched her with this unfazed dark eyes had her entire body tightening.

“I memorized your license plate when you left me standing there with my dick hard.”

She felt her cheeks get hot as she blushed. His matter-of-fact and to the point attitude was refreshing, but she also wasn’t used to someone being so blunt. “You don’t think it’s crossing the line to find out personal information on someone that clearly didn’t want to be bothered?” Curling her hand around the edge of the door, she tried to appear calm, but she knew she failed. She knew this moose shifter could sense her, tell how off balance she was.

He lifted one massively broad shoulder in a shrug. “If it concerns my mate who wouldn’t even tell me her name before she left?” He shook his head. “No, I don’t think it was crossing a line to make sure my mate knew I wasn’t going anywhere.”

“I said I wasn’t ready for … this.” She gestured about them with her hand between them. “I have a lot going on in my life right now.”

“I can see that, and I’m not pushing. I just want you to know I’m not going anywhere, and that when you’re ready I’m here.”

That had her stunned, not because she knew anything about him and was surprised he was being so understanding, but because he knew when a male was mated they were overly alpha, territorial, and possessive. Staying away from one’s mate was painful, literally, and with each passing day that need grew until it was so intense there was no denying it. Several days had already passed, and Jessie found her need for this male stronger than when she first saw him.

“I’m Easton, by the way. Figured we should know each other’s names since, you know, we’re mated and all.” He didn’t sound like he was teasing, and his expression was stoic.

She swallowed, knowing that if this male was willing to give her the time she needed to sort through her emotions and the death of Brenna, she had no right to push him aside. Besides, she knew she couldn’t just ignore this between them, couldn’t just stop the fact she was mated. It was a forever kind of thing, and if they could start out being friends, even if only until she was ready to take it to that next level, then she was willing to give this a shot.

“I’m Jessie.” Stepping aside, she dropped her hand to her side and allowed him entrance. “If you’d like to come in, please do. It’s messy though. I’m going through … things.” She knew if they were going to take this whole mated and claimed thing to the next level they’d have to be honest with each other.

He smiled, and it was genuine, sincere. The act changed the entire way he looked, made that hardness in him change into something softer. Jessie knew, for some reason, that the smile really had just been for her, and that he wasn’t the type of male to show a whole lot of emotion.

Easton stepped inside, his arm brushing along hers, and this shiver worked its way through her entire body. Her serval had been at the surface of her body since the moment she’d seen him stepping out of that huge vehicle, but having him so close now, scenting him, feeling the pull of being his mate, was enough to have her nails lengthening, her teeth elongating into fangs, and her animal taking control.

No. I can’t do this now, no matter how much you want to be claimed.

She was talking to herself and her cat, because even if she did want this, her life was chaotic right now.

Shutting the door and turning around, Jessie took in the sight of him for a suspended second. He had his back to her, his massively huge body taking up the small entryway. He was a big male, his moose genetics making him one of the biggest shifters she’d ever seen. He was looking at the pictures on the wall, the ones of her and Brenna when Jessie was younger. She was sure he had questions, probably smelled the despair and sadness in the air, but he didn’t say anything, and she was thankful for that.

Right now Jessie just wanted to focus on this situation. After he was gone she could go back to sorting through Brenna’s things, letting her emotions control her, and then figuring out what in the hell she was going to do with her life, mated or not.