IceAgeLover (4 page)

“I bet you would be,” Eryn replied. “But you’ve ended up
with a better man. Kajakti would never do anything like that to you. In fact, I
think you might be stuck with him. He probably won’t want to let you go.”

Wachei’s mate winked at Kajakti as he brought Jaren a plate
with two pieces of buttered toast. “Now don’t be saying that, Eryn,” he said.
“We don’t want to scare Jaren away.” He smiled at Jaren and put the food in
front of her.

She looked up at him. “You don’t have to worry about that.
You’re my knight in shining armor. I’m more than happy to be where I am.”

Kajakti would have liked to scoop Jaren up in his arms and
lock her inside his bedroom for half the day while he made love to her, but he
didn’t think she was ready for that yet. She was no longer drunk and free of
her inhibitions. From her scent, he could sense she felt a little nervous
around him since she’d woken up. He’d let her get to know him a bit better
during the day, then he’d whisk her away to his room. The more they made love,
the closer their mating bond would become.

Carson walked through the entrance to the kitchen. He seemed
to take in everyone who was in the room before his gaze settled on Kajakti,
then Jaren, then back to Kajakti again. “Man you worked fast,” Carson said with
a smile. “I guess getting her drunk paid off. I’ll have to remember that when
my turn comes.”

Eryn gave her sibling a meaningful glare. “Carson, sit your
ass down and be quiet.” She turned to look at Jaren. “Never mind my brother. He
tends to shoot his mouth off without thinking.”

“I remember you,” Jaren said. “You were the one who picked
Kajakti and me up last evening.”

Carson sat at the table beside his sister. “That’s right.
Since you’re staying here, you’ll be seeing a lot of me. I consider this my
second home.”

“Sometimes I wish you didn’t,” Eryn said in a dry tone.

Her brother leaned in and gave her a loud, smacking kiss on
the cheek. “No, you don’t. You’d miss me. Your life would be boring if I wasn’t
around to drive you nuts.”

“I don’t know about that. I had enough of you and Noah bugging
the crap out of me while we were growing up.”

“But you love us anyway. And speaking of Noah, he and I are
going hunting in a couple of hours. Do you and Wachei want to come with us?”

Eryn nodded. “Sure. I need some more practice with my bow
and arrows.”

“Great. I’ll text Noah and let him know.” Carson stood. “I
guess I’ll go out back and say hello to the others.”

Kajakti watched his wolf brother walk out of the kitchen. At
least Carson hadn’t insinuated anything more about Kajakti having already claimed
Jaren as his mate. He was going to have to tell her soon, though. Here in their
home, everyone didn’t have to hide their true natures. It would be quite easy
for any one of them to forget and shift to their dire wolf form or do something
else to have the truth come out before Kajakti talked to Jaren.

He noticed Jaren hadn’t touched her toast and pushed the
plate closer to her, then sat in the chair next to her. “You really need to eat
something. Your stomach will feel better after you do.”

She picked up a piece of toast, took a bite, chewed and then
swallowed. “Never again will I drink on an empty stomach.”

Cassidy chuckled. “I think we’ve all done that at one time
in our lives.”

A loud howl could be heard from the direction of the
backyard. Jaren jumped. “Was that a wolf? It sounded as if it’s close to the
house.”

Eryn answered. “That was probably Carson being an idiot
again.” She stood, then looked at Cassidy and Haven. “Shall we go outside and
see what the guys are up to now?”

After the three women left, Kajakti focused his attention
back on Jaren. She munched on her toast. Her color looked a little better. “Is
it helping?” he asked.

“Yes, a bit. I hope I’m not holding you back from any plans
you had for today.”

“You’re not.”

They sat in silence for a few seconds before Jaren asked,
“Does Eryn really hunt with a bow and arrows?”

“Sometimes. She’s much better at it with a rifle. She
learned how to hunt when she was a young teen. It wasn’t until after she met
Wachei did she learn how to use a bow. He taught her.”

“What about you? Do you hunt with one?”

“Yes. It’s one of my preferred weapons. I could teach you.
We could tag along with Eryn and Wachei if you’d like.”

Jaren grinned and shook her head. “No, that’s all right. I’m
not a big fan of hunting. I don’t even like to go fishing. I’m not much of an
outdoors girl.”

As she spoke, Durlach walked into the room. With dread,
Kajakti followed his wolf brother with his gaze as Durlach went to the cupboard
and pulled out a frying pan. This did not bode well. Durlach loved to cook, but
the only problem was he was about the only one who could stomach his food.
Except for Carson, who seemed to be immune to it.

Kajakti looked back at Jaren. “If you want you can finish
your toast upstairs in my room.”

“No, that’s okay.” Jaren picked up her second piece of toast
and took a bite.

He racked his brain to think of a good excuse to get him and
Jaren the hell out of the kitchen before the disgusting smell of Durlach’s food
took over. If his mate’s stomach was still upset, his wolf brother would do her
in.

Lost in his thoughts, trying to come up with anything,
Kajakti was brought back to the present as Jaren stood, and said, “I can’t sit
here and watch this.”

Much to his surprise, she walked over to Durlach and stopped
him from cutting the vegetables he’d taken out of the fridge. Kajakti stood,
then headed over to his mate.

“Here, like this,” Jaren said and took the knife from
Durlach. She then proceeded to cut the red pepper on the cutting board into
tiny, even pieces. “See how I’m doing it? Your way would have eventually ended
up with you cutting yourself. Do you want the rest of the vegetables cut like
this?” At Durlach’s nod, Jaren diced the rest of the vegetables as she’d done
the pepper.

Durlach shook his head. “You make it look easy, but I know
it isn’t.”

Jaren grinned. “I should. I work as a chef for a living.”

Kajakti bit back a laugh as Durlach stared at Jaren as if
she’d said she was the newest movie star.

“You’re a chef?” Durlach asked with awe. At Jaren’s nod, he
added, “You have to teach me how to cook. Cassidy has been trying but it hasn’t
worked out so well.”

“Sure, I’d love to while I’m here.”

Jaren had no idea how long that would end up being. Durlach
did, and he looked as if someone had given him the thing he wanted most.
Kajakti had a feeling his wolf brother would try to get Jaren into the kitchen
to teach him how to cook whenever he could manage it.

“Can we start now?” Durlach asked. “I was going to make an
omelet, but mine never turn out properly.”

Kajakti could attest to that. Running and burned eggs with
ketchup thrown in did not make an appetizing omelet.

“Okay,” Jaren said with a nod. “Why not?” She looked at the
ingredients Durlach had taken out of the fridge. “You can get rid of the
ketchup. We definitely won’t need that. You can also get another frying pan
out. You’re going to copy everything I do.”

Kajakti grabbed a cup of coffee and sipped on it as he
watched his mate work at the stove. Everything she did was efficient, and she
turned out to be a pretty good teacher. For once, Durlach actually made
something that didn’t look like throw up on a plate.

Soon the kitchen was filled with the delicious smell of
cooking food. Kajakti’s stomach growled in anticipation of tasting Jaren’s
omelet. He wasn’t surprised when the other occupants of the house came into the
room. With their sensitive werewolf sense of smell, it wouldn’t have taken much
to have them checking out the wonderful aroma coming from the stove. He watched
the looks of shock cross his pack’s faces as each one realized Durlach was
cooking alongside Jaren.

Eryn was the first to speak. “God, that smells fantastic.”

Kajakti nodded. “I know.” He looked at the others. “It turns
out Jaren is a trained chef. She said she’d teach Durlach how to cook.”

Ketah pulled Jaren away from the stove and wrapped her in a
bear hug as he said, “Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have no idea how
truly rotten Durlach’s cooking is, and he refuses to give up on it. All our
noses, and stomachs, thank you.”

Jaren chuckled and patted Ketah’s back. “You’re welcome.”

Haven pulled at her mate’s shoulder. “Let the poor girl go
so she can finish what she’s doing.”

Ketah released Jaren and put his arm around Haven and tucked
her against his side. “Sorry. I got a little carried away there.” He looked at
Kajakti and said in Tlingit, “Your mate is a great addition to our pack.”

Kajakti smiled, feeling the same way about Jaren. He watched
her turn back to the stove and help Durlach with something on his omelet. His
wolf brother’s eyes shone as he nodded, following every move Jaren made with
his gaze. He’d have to watch Durlach or he’d be monopolizing so much of Jaren’s
time Kajakti would have to fight to be alone with his mate.

Chapter Four

Tanner stood a short distance away as his maker, Andre,
launched himself at the newest lone wolf who wanted to join their pack of dark
wolves. Andre shifted to his wolf form as a black, smoke-like mass surrounded
him. He sank his sharp teeth into the side of the other man’s neck, giving him
a bit of his dark magic to turn him into a new kind of werewolf. The lone wolf
screamed in pain and dropped to the floor of the once-abandoned cabin the pack
called home as the turning took hold of him. Tanner smiled, relishing the pain
of another.

Andre shifted back to his human form and came to stand in
front of Tanner. “Our numbers are still minimal. We need more lone wolves to
join our pack, especially if we are ever to take on the sentinels and hope to
defeat them.”

Tanner drew in a breath. His maker would not be pleased with
what he had to say. “It seems word has spread to the majority of the lone
wolves about us trying to recruit them for our pack. Any that I’ve tried to
contact have refused to speak with me.”

“And how did this information first reach them?” Andre asked
the question in a tone that conveyed he already knew the answer but wanted
Tanner to tell him anyway.

“The lone wolf who turned down my offer must have passed it
along.”

“Of course. And this same lone wolf allowed the six
sentinels to follow him to your meeting place where they then in turn followed
you to the old warehouse where we’d held Ketah’s mate.”

Tanner nodded. That run-in with the wolf brothers had led to
Tanner being defeated by the first werewolves and Andre having to trade Ketah’s
mate for his return. It had surprised him that his maker would have done it
since the woman had given Andre the upper hand. He still had no idea why Andre
had felt Tanner was so special to have willingly given in to the sentinels.

“Yes, it was my mistake,” Tanner said. “I should have been
more careful. I should have realized I was being followed.”

“Now we have to look elsewhere to increase our pack’s
numbers. I hadn’t wanted to use them but I really don’t have much choice. We’ll
start turning mortals.”

Tanner scowled. “You want to give prey the gift of your dark
magic?”

“Yes, but not just any mortals. I’m sure you can find ones
who will be perfect dark wolves. I want all the undesirables, those who thumb
their noses at the law. The meaner they are the better.”

The lone wolf’s screams finally died away as he slipped into
unconsciousness. “Will they even be able to survive the turn? They are so much
weaker than regular werewolves.”

“True, the strong ones will make it through it. It will weed
out the mortals who wouldn’t be right for our pack. They might act tough, but
going through the turn will be the first big test they’ll have to pass.”

“But mortals are beneath us. Why don’t we start taking
werewolves from the local pack? Your bite will make them dark wolves whether
they chose to join us or not.”

Andre curled his upper lip and growled as he grabbed Tanner
by the throat. His maker slammed him up against the wall, his grip cutting off
most of his airway. “It was because of your stupidity we lost our means of
recruiting lone wolves. Don’t question me again. You will do as I order and
nothing more. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes,” Tanner croaked.

His maker abruptly released him, and Tanner dragged in a
deep breath. “Don’t disappoint me,” Andre said. “We’ve suffered too many
setbacks.”

Tanner didn’t want to do that. He’d already seen what
happened when a member of their pack failed at a task Andre had set to him. As
punishment, and deeming them no longer worthy, his maker pulled the gift of his
dark magic from the werewolf and he died, turning to dust. Tanner wanted to
keep living the immortal life he now had.

He left the cabin and headed for his car. He wouldn’t return
until he had at least two mortals with him. He still didn’t like the idea of
their kind being given the gift of Andre’s bite, but Tanner wouldn’t go against
his maker’s order.

* * * * *

After giving Durlach his lesson on omelet making, Jaren
focused on getting to know Kajakti better. She still thought of him as the
knight who had come to her rescue when she’d needed him the most. It scared her
to think of where she would have ended up if Kajakti hadn’t come along.

Jaren found she liked all his friends too. Instead of
seeming to be only roommates, they came across as a close-knit family. She’d
also gotten a few laughs out of watching Eryn put her brother in his place when
Carson did his best to rile her up.

Now she and Kajakti sat out on the back deck, drinking
coffee. She gazed at the section of trees that lined the edge of the grass of
the property, stretching farther than she could see. “You guys have a great
place,” she said.

“Thanks. We’ve only lived here for over a year.”

“Where did you live before?”

Kajakti hesitated for a few seconds, as if he had to think
about it. “Cassidy was in a one-bedroom apartment when she and Edensaw first
met. He, Wachei, Ketah, Capac, Durlach and I ended up staying with her, which
was a little crowded. We were lucky this place had been on the market for a
while and sat empty. The owner had no problem with a fast closing date.”

Jaren had thought Kajakti would go into a little more detail
as to why he and his friends had moved in with Cassidy, but he didn’t seem
inclined to elaborate. “You have a lot of treed land. Do you have to worry
about wild animals coming onto your property? Like bears and such?”

“No, but we do get wolves from time to time.”

“Really? I’ve always wanted to see one out in the wild. We
really don’t have a wolf population in Kelowna.”

“Maybe you’ll get to see one soon.”

“I hope so. We could always go for a walk through the trees.
That might increase my chances of coming across one.”

Kajakti smiled. “You never know.” He then changed the
subject. “Are you sure you’re still okay with cooking dinner for everyone
today? You are on vacation.”

“I don’t mind. I actually missed not being able to get into
a kitchen. At home, I cook every day. And I enjoy it more when I’m making food
for a group of people than just myself.”

“You do realize Durlach will be right in there with you. I
think you have made a new best friend.”

Jaren chuckled. “I figured that would happen. It’s okay. I
like seeing someone who is as enthusiastic about cooking as I am. By the time I
leave he should have improved a lot.”

Kajakti reached over to Jaren where she sat next to him in a
patio chair. He took her hand in his and twined their fingers together. “What
will you do when you reach the end of your vacation and you decide you want to
stay here, with me?”

She met Kajakti’s gaze and saw in his eyes he was quite
serious. She didn’t know how to answer him. The thought of keeping him sent a
shiver of delight through her, but Jaren couldn’t deny she’d be hurrying into
another relationship when the other had barely ended. She didn’t want to make
another mistake.

“I still have to go home,” Jaren said. “I can’t just decide
to stay here and never go back.”

“Is it because you have family there?”

She couldn’t hold back a snort. “I do, but they wouldn’t be
the reason why I wouldn’t do it. My parents aren’t exactly there at the best of
times. They were both seventeen when my mom got pregnant with me. They’d only
been dating a month, but decided to get married anyway. It didn’t work out.
They divorced when I was five. I lived with my mother until I was eight, then
moved in with my dad. Mom didn’t have much of a mothering instinct and had no
problem giving me up when her new husband didn’t want me around because he
wanted to start a new family. Dad did his best, but was busy trying to reclaim
the teenage years he’d lost. I spent a lot of weekends with my grandparents,
his folks.”

“Are you close to them?”

“Not really. My grandmother resented the fact she had to
babysit me so much. Dad remarried ten years ago once he finally settled down,
and now has an eight-year-old boy along with a six-year-old girl with his
second wife. I think everyone was happy once I grew up and set out on my own.”
Actually, her life sounded pretty pathetic from the way she told it.

“So it isn’t family that would hold you back,” Kajakti said,
drawing her thoughts back to him. “Then what is?”

“I have an apartment. All my belongings are still there. I’m
out of work now, but there was a position for a head chef job possibly opening
up at a really good restaurant. Or I’ve thought of starting my own catering
business.”

Kajakti shifted his chair closer to hers and leaned in, his
lips hovering over hers. “You could always open one here. And as for finding a
place to live, you could share my room.”

A sigh escaped Jaren as Kajakti’s mouth settled over hers.
His kiss started off slow and gentle, but it quickly heated up as she kissed
him back. Passion flared hotly between them, making her wish they were in a
more private place. He pushed his tongue inside and stroked hers with it. Her
pussy clenched, feeling achy and needing to be filled. Her nipples pebbled
beneath her shirt, begging for some attention. Getting lost in the desire that
surged through her, she would have had no problem climbing onto his lap and
straddling him, riding his cock through their clothes.

Kajakti let out a groan that sounded very much as if he was
in pain instead of pleasure as something cold and wet pressed against Jaren’s
cheek before something even wetter ran across it. She opened her eyes and let
out a yelp when she registered the black-furred animal that had its front paws
on Kajakti’s lap.

Jaren pulled away and yelled, “Holy crap. There’s a wolf on
your lap.”

Kajakti was a little busy breathing through the pain of
having a hundred-and-fifty pound dire wolf jump on his balls. And said dire
wolf was Wachei, obviously thinking to get payback for Kajakti going wolf
around Eryn when she had no clue as to what they were.

Wachei looked right at Kajakti and said telepathically,
If
you call me Dog, I’ll make myself comfortable on your lap
.

Kajakti shoved him off, then cupped himself. “Keep your paws
to yourself.”

“Are you okay?” Jaren asked. “And is he really a wolf?”

“Yeah. He took me more by surprise. He’s the neighbor’s wolf
hybrid. He has a nasty habit of escaping and making a pain of himself over
here.” And that helped Kajakti get even with Wachei for saying he was part dog
to Eryn, thus earning his nickname.

Jaren eyed Wachei. “He doesn’t bite, does he? I’ve heard
wolf hybrids can turn on people.”

“You don’t have to worry about him. He’d never bite you.”
The only werewolf who would do that was Kajakti when he turned her.

“Can I pet him? He’s beautiful.”

Before Kajakti could answer, Wachei put his lupine head on
Jaren’s lap. She stroked her fingers along the top of it. Kajakti wished it
were him she touched like that. He wanted to go wolf and have his mate run her
hands through his fur.

Eryn came out onto the deck. “There you are. I was looking
for you.” Wachei left Jaren and went to stand at his mate’s side. She petted
his head as she looked down at him. “I think you can call it even now.”

You knew he had it coming
, Wachei projected to both
Eryn and Kajakti.

A smile tugged at Eryn’s lips. “He didn’t cause any
trouble?” she asked as she lifted her gaze to Kajakti.

He shook his head. “Not really, unless you count his trying
to stomp on my balls.”

Eryn chuckled. “I guess it was either that or kisses.”

“Now that you’re here, you can take care of him,” Kajakti
said as he stood. He took Jaren’s empty coffee cup, then held out his hand to
help her to her feet. “Let’s go back inside.”

Leaving Wachei and Eryn out on the deck, Kajakti guided
Jaren through the glass sliding doors and into the house. He stopped at the
kitchen only long enough to put their mugs into the sink before he took her
upstairs to his bedroom.

He closed the door and locked it, then came to stand in
front of Jaren. “Now where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?”

She smiled and put her arms around his neck. “I think you
were kissing me.”

“Hmm, I mustn’t have done a very good job of it if you only
think I was. I’d better try harder.”

Kajakti put his hands on Jaren’s hips and tugged her so she
stood flush to him, lowered his head and claimed her lips. He thrust his
renewed erection against her to let her know how she affected him. She moaned
and threaded her fingers in his hair at the back of his head.

He deepened their kiss as he slowly walked backward toward
the bed, taking Jaren with him. She sucked his tongue into her mouth, and
Kajakti growled low in his throat. Her scent, taste and the feel of her against
him made his cock throb. He wanted to be buried deep inside his mate, taking
her in hard thrusts as he pushed her to her climax more than once.

Kajakti lifted Jaren off her feet. She wrapped her legs
around his waist, bringing her pussy in direct contact with his cock. She locked
her ankles at the small of his back and rubbed herself against the hard bulge
in his pants. His need to have her ramped up even higher. He held on to her
bottom and arched his hips into her, increasing the pleasure that surged
through him.

Turning, he climbed up onto the bed, placed Jaren on the
center of it and followed her down, settling on top of her. Her grip on his
hair tightened, and her legs squeezed his waist harder as he braced himself on
one bent arm while he shoved a hand up her shirt to palm her breast. He pinched
her taut nipple through her bra.

Jaren tugged at his t-shirt before she pulled her lips away
from his. “I want to be skin-to-skin with you.”