Mate of Her Heart (9 page)

“You were going to leave, Dad?”

“Yes.  You didn’t really leave me any choice.”

Acksel’s gray eyes darkened and he frowned and then he shook his head.  “I know I’ve disappointed you, Dad, and I’m sorry.  I’ve made a lot of mistakes over the last week and I owe all of you an apology.”

Eveny wiped tears from her cheeks.  “You broke my heart, Acksel, and you destroyed the trust between us.”

Acksel looked like he might be sick.

Eveny paused for just a moment and then said, “But we’re family, and although it’s going to take me a long time to trust you again, you’re my brother and I love you.”

She left Luke’s side to go to Acksel and hug him.

“I love you, too,” Acksel hugged her and then looked at Luke.  “I’m sorry.  I wanted to keep you two apart because I didn’t want to admit that the traditions of the pack were no longer valid.  If I chose to ignore one tradition, then I needed to take a hard look at all of them.”

Luke maybe didn’t hate Acksel so much right now.  “What’s going to happen to the pack?”

Eveny moved away from Acksel and back into Luke’s arms.

“I’m not sure.  We’ll lose some members, those that are truly against humans and wolves mating.  Most of the pack are ambivalent.  As long as I’m not going to allow humans to actually join the pack, then they won’t really care what others do.”  He moved to the refrigerator and took out three beers and a bottle of apple juice, distributing them.  “I want you to go ahead and buy the bar, Luke, if that’s what you want.  I promise that I’ll continue to hold business meetings there and that nothing will change as far as the pack using it for a hang out.  I would ask that you find a place to live away from the bar so you’re not raising my niece or nephew in that kind of environment, if you don’t mind.”

Eveny grinned and took a drink of apple juice.  “I think we can manage that.”

“Good.”  Acksel drained the beer, crushing the can and tossing it into the trash.  “If you want to stay in Wilde Creek with the pack, then I’m willing to accept Luke as your mate, Ev.  As long as Luke understands that I’m your alpha and that you have responsibilities to the pack, then you’re welcome to stay.  I can’t promise that I won’t be a dick, but I promise to try not to be such a hard ass.”

Eveny looked up at Luke.  “It’s up to you.  I want to be wherever you are, because that’s home for me.”

Luke’s heart melted just a little bit.  “Then let’s stay.”

Even though he didn’t believe that things would be easy if they stayed in Wilde Creek, he believed that Acksel had found a way to protect Eveny and their child, and to allow the pack to change with the times.  If Acksel was willing to put his position of alpha on the line to let them stay in Wilde Creek, then Luke could be a big enough person to forgive what had happened and let it go.

“I think we have some unpacking to do,” Luke leaned down and kissed Eveny’s cheek.

“And house hunting,” she smiled.

“You can stay at the garage apartment until you find a permanent place,” Dade said.  “Dinner’s at five every night.”

Luke, Eveny, and Dade left and headed back to Dade’s home.  As she and Luke walked up the stairs to her apartment, she said, “What should we do first?  Unpack your stuff or mine?”

He opened the door for her and kicked it shut.  “You’ve got ten seconds to get naked or I’m going to tear your clothes off.”

Her mouth dropped open.  “What?”

He gave her his most wicked grin.  “One.”

She shrieked in laughter and pulled her top off, racing towards the bedroom as Luke continued to count, leaving a trail of clothes behind him.

Chapter 12

Acksel, sitting at his regular booth at Poke’s, was halfway through a bottle of whiskey when Auro sat down.  He was two years older than Acksel and had been a good friend.  But seeing as how he had misjudged his other so-called friends and nearly gotten his sister killed, he wasn’t putting too much faith in his ability to choose friends wisely.

“Are you looking for some company, or would you rather be alone?”  Auro asked.

Acksel looked up.  “Three families have already given notice that they won’t be staying in the pack.”

Auro raised a brow.  “You’re not surprised, are you?  Some of the members are very pro-wolf and anti-human.”

He swirled the whiskey in the glass and exhaled.  “No, I guess I’m not.”

“For what it’s worth, Acksel, I would be sticking by you if I weren’t leaving because of Melanie.  I don’t have a problem with humans.  In fact, Mel’s got a cousin that’s mated to a human and they’re accepted by their pack.  I say to each their own, you know?  Humans don’t float my boat, but that doesn’t mean I hate anyone that digs them.”

“It’s not that easy when you’re alpha and you’re responsible for upholding the traditions that have been in existence since our people were created.”

Auro leaned his elbows on the table.  “It’s only difficult if you make it that way, Acksel.  You’re the alpha and you make the laws. If you say that humans can be mates to wolves and they’re to be accepted, then that’s what the law is.”

“Someone could fight me.”  He pointed out.

Auro chuckled.  “And you’ll put them down.  I don’t think you’re afraid of that. I think you’re concerned about opening a floodgate.  As if Eveny mating a human is going to make all the single wolves take human mates.”

The thought had crossed Acksel’s mind.  “Humans and wolves only have a 50/50 chance of having a child that shifts.  With each generation introducing humans into the equation, the odds go down that much further.  In a few generations, there won’t be any wolves born at all.”

“We’ll be dead and partying in the afterlife, man.  If that’s the natural order of things, then it is.  You’re worrying about something that you can’t control.  And although you’re one fucking powerful alpha, even you can’t control someone’s destiny.”

Acksel hummed in his throat and swallowed the rest of the whiskey.  Reaching for the bottle, he filled up his glass and listened to Auro tell him about getting ready to leave with his mate.

With each glass of whiskey, his mood darkened and his chest tightened with grief.  He couldn’t stop reliving the moment when Eveny called him out on his behavior, asking if he was going to take her mate away.  He’d seen it so clearly in her eyes — at that moment, she was choosing Luke.  Acksel had never been in love.  He’d been fucking random she-wolves who wanted to become his mate solely because he was alpha, but they didn’t know anything about him.  They didn’t really care about him.  Before this mess with Eveny, he hadn’t cared about that.  But now…it mattered.  He wanted to be a male who mattered to a female.  Someone who would worry if he was late getting home.  Someone who wouldn’t want anything from him but his love.

Tipping the bottle over, he watched a few drops splash into the glass and realized he had finished the whole bottle by himself.  It took a lot to get him drunk, but a whole bottle of whiskey was making him very fuzzy around the edges.  Auro had left…at some point, but he didn’t remember when.  The bar was still open, but the crowd had thinned out, which told him it was probably close to closing time.

Making his way out of the bar, he knew he was too toasted to drive, so he decided to walk instead of sleeping it off in his truck.  Blinking a few times to clear his vision, he started off down the street towards his home.

Several streets later, a scent caught his nose and woke his whole body and mind up instantly.  He paused on the sidewalk and inhaled slowly and deeply.  He smelled a scent that was so familiar and made his body warm and his cock harden.  He followed the scent, wondering what it was that smelled so good and made his wolf pant and growl in his mind.

Turning up a stone walkway, he paused and inhaled again.  Cinnamon.

He stumbled up the stone front steps and smashed into the front door.  Leaning his cheek against the cool wood, he began to knock.

A voice that he recognized but couldn’t place came through the door.  “Who is it?”

“Open up.  I want to see you,” he growled, his wolf whining plaintively in his mind.

He had to know who belonged to the intoxicating scent.

“Acksel?”  A bright light over the door blinded him momentarily and he shielded his eyes and leaned back as the door opened.

He leaned heavily on the door jam and stared at the woman who had opened the door.  She was beautiful.  And she smelled like cinnamon, and something else.

He inhaled deeply and growled.  Oh yes, she smelled like she belonged to him.

Darkness edged his vision and the woman gasped and reached for him.  “Acksel?  Are you okay?”

“I just want someone to care,” he mumbled as he went to his knees and then slumped to the ground.

Soft, warm fingers touched his forehead and the scent of cinnamon filled his nose.  “I always cared, Acksel,” the woman whispered and he slipped off into darkness, praying he wasn’t dreaming.

Chapter 13

Eveny unpacked the last box of kitchen items in their new home and stretched the kink out of her back.  She’d been on her feet all evening, trying to unpack as much as she could while Luke was at the bar.  He’d made her swear not to be on her feet too much, but she didn’t want to sit on her butt while he did everything.

Every day after work for the last week, she came home and Luke was waiting with dinner for her.  They ate together and talked, and then he left for his shift.  She didn’t like working opposite shifts, but she was glad that she could spend some time with him.

It had been almost two weeks since Acksel had declared that they could stay in town.  The full moon was tomorrow night, and she was anxious to see her brother.  He’d been acting strange lately, and she didn’t think it was just that he was concerned about how many people were going to leave before the full moon, or that someone would challenge his position as alpha.

Her phone rang and she answered it.

“You’re not unpacking, are you, Ev?”  Luke asked.

“What are you, psychic?”  She laughed.

“No,” he chuckled, “I just know my mate.  You promised you wouldn’t work too hard and I have a feeling that you started unpacking as soon as I left.”

Maybe he really was psychic.  “I’ll stop.  I finished the kitchen, and that was what I really wanted to do, anyway.  We ate soup out of coffee mugs tonight because we couldn’t find the bowls.”

“It’s rustic.”

“It’s lazy.”  She leaned against the counter.  “I think I’m going to unpack one more box, though.”

“You should be relaxing, baby.”

“Oh, I will.  After.”

“After what?”

“After I find the box of my sex toys.”

There was a long pause and then he said in a low voice, “Why the hell would you need to find those?”

She grinned to herself.  Teasing him was so much fun.  “Because I’m horny and alone.  Too bad my mate isn’t home right now to help me out.”

She heard hurried movements on his end and she stifled a laugh.  He covered the receiver but she still heard him say, “I’m cutting out early, Eveny needs me at home.”

“I don’t need you,” she said with a laugh.  “I have toys.”

“Don’t fucking start without me, Ev,” he said roughly, and she heard his truck door open and close forcefully.

“Better be quick, Luke,” she whispered and ended the call, grinning when he called her right back.  She ignored it, knowing it would drive him nuts.  She only had a few minutes before he got home, so she put the empty box outside on the back porch for the trash and hurried to the bedroom, stripping her clothes off.

The home they were renting was close to the bar in a quiet neighborhood on a tree-lined street.  The yard butted up against a stretch of pine trees and she loved to sit out on the back patio at night and watch the stars and listen to the birds and animals settle down for bed.  The small ranch home was perfect for them, with three bedrooms, a quaint kitchen, and a stone fireplace that conjured images of cold winter nights in front of it with Luke’s arms around her.

She brushed her teeth and checked out her reflection in the mirror, pressing her hand to her stomach lightly.  She was a few weeks along and wasn’t showing, but she couldn’t help but feel like everyone could tell she was pregnant because she was smiling so much.  She never expected the idea of motherhood and being mated to fill her with such joy.

Their mating night — the night that created this child — had been filled with so many emotions, chief of which had been her fear that Luke might die trying to keep her safe.  But he hadn’t died, and they were a family now and she was still part of the pack.  Luke’s potential sacrifice had done much more than save her from being raped…it had changed one of the core beliefs of her pack and allowed her to stay with him without losing her pack, dad, and brother.

She heard the sound of Luke’s truck as it pulled quickly into the driveway, and she smiled at her reflection in the mirror before turning off the light and walking to the bed.

Easing herself up onto the mattress, she leaned back on her elbows and crossed her legs, dangling her feet off the end.  Luke stomped through the house, making a growling sound that she found so sexy.  She wasn’t sure he was even aware that he made that sound when he was turned on, but the rumbling sound from his throat made her whole body light up.

He entered the bedroom and exhaled loudly as he tore his plain white tee off.  “No toys?”

She smiled.  “Why would I use toys when your fingers and tongue set my world on fire?”

“If I hadn’t come home?”  He moved in front of her and undid the button of his jeans.

“I would have been thinking of you,” she promised, laughing when he bared his teeth in displeasure.  “You’ve been hanging around wolves too much, Luke.  You’re picking up all our bad habits.”

He shoved his jeans down his legs and divested himself of the rest of his clothes.  Gripping his thick cock, he stroked it from base to tip and grinned wickedly.  “You want this, baby?”

She parted her legs and stretched out on her back, gripping the blanket above her head.  “You know I do.”

His eyes darkened.  He gripped her knees with his hands and pulled her closer to the end of the bed, his cock just inches away from her pussy.  With one smooth thrust, he entered her, burying himself deeply inside her.  Her toes curled at the heat that filled her as he pressed as closely to her as he could, his hands tightening on her knees.  His hips shifted and he eased out of her, holding her gaze as he pushed back inside faster.

She hooked her ankles around his back and he released her knees, leaning over her and planting his hands on the bed as he began to thrust into her in a fast rhythm.  His hands gripped the blanket covering the bed and his knuckles turned white with the strain as he drove into her again and again.

His hands slipped underneath her body and he gripped her shoulders, pulling her down to meet his thrusts.  Their bodies slammed together, driving the breath from her lungs, as the angle of his body rubbed her clit just right.  Her belly tightened and she released her hold on the blanket and dug her nails into his shoulders, moaning his name as her climax reached a pinnacle and she fell off the edge into white-hot pleasure.

She cried out as she came, her body writhing under his as her nerve endings went haywire and her pussy clutched his cock.  He let out a gusty breath as he came, burying his face in her neck as he shuddered.

Tracing the line of his spine, she kissed his cheek and sighed in bliss.   “You’re so much better than a toy, Luke.”

He chuckled and nipped at her neck with his teeth.  “I’m glad you think so, baby, but let’s keep the toy-to-man comparisons to ourselves, okay?  I don’t need anyone in your pack knowing that there’s a box full of my competition in this house.”

She crossed her heart with her fingers.  “Promise.”

He angled off her with a grunt and patted her thigh.  “Up on your hands and knees, Ev.”

She blinked in surprise and he wiggled his brows.  “I’ve got the night off work and you said you were horny, which makes me horny just thinking about it.  So yeah, sweetness, we’re not done yet.  Not by a long shot.”

She couldn’t stop from smiling.  “Promise?”

“Promise.”  He eased away from her and watched as she wiggled around on the bed until she was on her hands and knees.  He joined her, sliding his hands up the backs of her thighs and teasing the seam of her sex.  “Love you, Ev.”

“I love you, too,” she said, her voice trailing off in a moan as they made love once more.  And then once more after that.

And then another time before the morning light bathed the bedroom in peach and gold.

As she drifted off to sleep in Luke’s arms, she thanked her lucky stars that she’d been fortunate enough to have her best friend as her mate.  She knew that no matter what happened to them in the future, Luke would stand beside her.  No matter the danger or the odds against him.  There was no one else more perfect for her than Luke, the mate of her heart.

The End

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Contact the Author

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Also from R. E. Butler

Wiccan-Were-Bear Novella Series

A Curve of Claw

A Flash of Fang

A Price for a Princess

A Bond of Brothers

A Bead of Blood

A Twitch of Tail

The Wolf’s Mate Series

The Wolf’s Mate Book 1:  Jason & Cadence

The Wolf’s Mate Book 2:  Linus & The Angel

The Wolf’s Mate Book 3:  Callie & The Cats

The Wolf’s Mate Book 4:  Michael & Shyne

The Wolf’s Mate Book 5:  Bo & Reika

The Wolf’s Mate Book 6:  Logan & Jenna

The Necklace Chronicles

The Tribe’s Bride

The Gigolo’s Bride

Ashland Pride Series

Seducing Samantha (Ashland Pride One)

Loving Lachlyn (Ashland Pride Two)

Hyena Heat Series

Every Night Forever (Hyena Heat One)

Every Dawn Forever (Hyena Heat Two)

Wilde Creek

Mate of Her Heart

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Coming Soon…The Alpha’s Heart (Wilde Creek Book Two)

Alpha wolf Acksel wakes up one morning in the bed of a woman he’s had a crush on since high school.  Brynn Mara was the one human who had been friendly to him in school and now, ten years later, she is snuggled up at his side, smelling like passion and sweet dreams.  Even though Acksel has declared that his pack members can mate with humans from now on, he knows that any woman he takes as his mate will have a target on her back.  Especially if she’s a fragile human.  Deciding it’s better to cut things off than string her along when there is no hope for a relationship, he leaves without a word and ignores her.

But it doesn’t matter if Acksel acknowledges her or not, because their one night of passion has left a permanent reminder of what happens when one drunk wolf forgets protection.  Angry, banished wolves from his pack discover Brynn’s secret and decide to use her against Acksel.  His worst fears have come true and the only woman that ever touched his heart is now suffering because of his mistake.  Can he save her in time?

This book contains one pissed-off, emotionally damaged alpha, the human woman who can tame him, and a sweet little surprise that no one expected.

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