Riding Red (3 page)

Dominic just stares at me, not seeming to like my offer, but Xavier bows his head in acknowledgement. Ha! Now I got a local customer! He may not pay, but I’m counting it. After a second, I go inside, locking the door behind me and walk upstairs to my bedroom. Once I’m there, I gently pull back the curtains and look down to see that both men are gone. I step back and flop down on my bed. “What the fuck was that?” I whisper to the empty room.

I
watch
Ruby march her sexy ass inside as I try to get myself under control. The thick metal door slams behind her, hiding her perfect round ass from me. Seeing that she’s back safe in her home calms my nerves but not my wolf. He’s still on edge, wanting to break out and at least mark his mate.

My wolf wants to leave his scent on her so others will know she’s spoken for, but this is the exact reason I haven’t. My grip on him isn’t tight enough. If I could’ve just left my mark on her from the start, this wouldn’t have happened. Xavier would’ve smelled me all over her because no one mate-marks a female unless she’s going to be theirs on the next full moon. I’m sure Ruby saw the change in my eyes. She probably told herself she didn’t really see it or that it was a trick of the light.

I knew my wolf started to show the second he scented her fear from two blocks away. It took everything in me to hold my skin and not shift right in the center of Main Street. The sight of the local sheriff turning into a wolf would have sent any lingering tourists running and screaming down the street.

Taking a few deep breaths, I try to calm myself further. I want nothing more than to use the key I have in my pocket to the bakery. I kept a copy when we closed the sale; no way would my mate be living somewhere I couldn’t easily gain access to. I needed to protect her, something I’ve been doing every night since she moved in, quietly slipping in the backdoor of the bakery and sleeping at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to her room. It calms my wolf—and me—to at least be close to her scent. I’m sure Gwen smells me all over the place in here, but I don’t care; I have to be near her.

I’m running out of time, and I have no fucking clue what I’m going to do. I need to get close to her and get into her good graces because come Saturday night when the moon hits high in the sky, my wolf will take control.

But right at this second I have a more pressing issue. Looking out into the woods, I hope Xavier hasn’t gotten far. I let my wolf out a little, picking up his scent, and then I dart into the woods, hot on his trail. I’m not a half-mile in when I finally catch up to him, sitting next to a stream, his head buried in his hands. He doesn’t act like he hears me, but I know he does as I slowly walk up and sit beside him,

“I thought—” He lets his words hang in the air because they are hard to finish. I know just how hard it is.

“You thought you found her, I know.”

He turns his head and glares at me, his wolf always present in his eyes. That’s what happens when you let yourself stay in the wild too long. You become more beast than man. I’m surprised his wolf hasn’t taken him fully already, never letting the man in him break to the surface again.

“You have yours and you haven’t even marked her,” he snarls at me, clenching his jaw tightly. He’s clearly agitated that I haven’t claimed my own mate. That makes two of us.

“You know I can’t fully mate her until the full moon,” I respond in a level voice, not wanting to provoke him. It’s not fair to beat down on a broken man, even with all the aggression coursing through my body. My wolf wouldn’t even enjoy it.

“You haven’t even scented her. I smelled nothing of you on her. What if a human takes her from you?”

“They won’t. I stay close, and she’ll be mine.” I say the words through gritted teeth, thinking about some human coming and snatching her up. Another wolf wouldn’t. Wolves can only mate with fated mates; they’re the only mate a wolf wants.

His eyes narrow a little on me. “If she was mine, I would’ve taken her home, scented and marked her, and she wouldn’t be running around giving my cookies out to everyone.” I know he believes that’s true, that he could just stomp off with his mate. Maybe he could if she was a wolf like him. That would make things a whole lot easier. But what if his mate was human? Even if she wasn’t, wolves don’t like being picked up and carted away. Females hold a lot of the power when it comes to mating.

That’s all I need—Xavier actually scenting his mate and charging into town to steal her. With the way he was acting today, I guess Ruby’s scent must match the scent of his mate pretty closely to have drawn him out of the woods. Xavier never leaves the woods, not since he lost his sister and mother to hunters a few years back.

I know there’s no telling Xavier he can’t chase down his mate like a dog in heat; it would be lost on him. He’ll do what he wants to do. While I might be stronger than Xavier right now, I couldn’t take him if I really stood between him and his mate. Shifters lose all reason when it comes to mates.

Before Xavier lost his sister and mother, he could probably take our alpha on a good day if he wanted, but Xavier wasn’t an alpha nor did he want to be one. He had to have a desire to lead, and that often comes with backing down and doing what’s for the good of the pack. That wasn’t Xavier.

Now it looks like Xavier barely eats at all. As if he heard my thoughts, he reaches down and snatches up one of the cookies, chomping down on it. I go to reach for one, but he growls at me and snaps his teeth.

“Mine.”

Raising my hands in the air to show him I’m not going to eat one, I debate my next words, but he beats me to it.

“My mate. I taste it on my cookies, but it’s not the woman who gave them to me.” He picks up another cookie, eyeing it, clearly confused. I’m just as confused. How could he taste his mate?

Then it hits me like a fucking ton of bricks. It’s something I don’t even want to wrap my mind around, something that’s going to make the alpha lose his fucking shit.

He barely lets Xavier stay in the area as it is. The only reason he let him stay was because Xavier swore he’d stay away from humans, something he clearly didn’t do tonight with Ruby. He also okayed it because Xavier makes sure no wild animals get too close to town, and he’s also great at tracking. He might have one of the best noses in the pack because he’s more in touch with his wolf than any of us. That’s probably how he smelled his mate from so far out in the woods.

“You want your mate, Xavier?” I ask, already knowing the answer. Every male shifter wants their mate from the day they’re born. Some start to go crazy as they get older, some never find them.

“Don’t annoy me with your stupid questions,” he grunts, picking up another cock cookie. He doesn’t seem to care that he’s eating dick-shaped desserts.

“What would you do with your mate?”

“Mate her. If all you want to do is ask stupid questions, you can leave now. I’ll stay away from your mate, but if I were you, I’d bite her real good so everyone knows.”

My cock jerks at the idea, shooting pleasure up my spine. Getting hard-ons isn’t something I’m used to, and it doesn’t feel like I ever will get used to them.

“You’re telling me you’re just going to grab your mate and drag her here, out into the woods, and make her live like you do? Through the cold winter without shelter? A woman who probably has a family?” Which I know for a fact she does. “You’d drag her away from that and bring her to what? Some cave you got out here, Xavier? Would you have let some mate have done that to your sister?”

He freezes at my words, the point I’m trying to make hitting home.

“You aren’t even taking care of yourself, and you think you’re ready for a mate and pups?”

I hear him take a deep breath, and I wonder if I’ve gone too far. Kicking a man while he’s down isn’t my style, but it’s the truth, and being blunt with Xavier is always the best way to go.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to make my mate happy.” He stands up, and I follow suit. I can tell he’s still a little lost at the idea; he’s been out here alone for over five years.

“Xavier, your family’s house is still there, and I’ve been paying you your park ranger fees, just depositing it into your family's account. Get yourself together, and then get your mate.”

“I will prove myself to be the perfect mate.”

“I’m sure you will.”

With that, he leaves, walking deeper into the forest.

Looking down at my watch, I see it’s almost seven. The alpha should be back in town by now, and it looks like we need to have a little talk.

“
I
knew
this was going to fucking happen!” I hear Stone, the alpha, bellow from all the way out in the driveway in front of his home.

“I can do whatever I want. I’m twenty-one years old for Christ’s sake!” Gwen’s high-pitched scream makes my normally active wolf bury its head, her voice hurting our ears.

They continue to scream at each other as I make my way up the stairs and onto the porch. I land a hard knock on the door, even though I’m sure Stone already knows I’m here.

He wanted me to report in right when he got back, and I’m already a good fifteen minutes late after having to deal with Xavier. Now hearing Gwen and Stone fighting, I’m not sure I want to tell this over-protective brother that his little sister has a mate, and it’s none other than Xavier. Fur is really going fly then. It’s actually a miracle it took this long for either of them to catch wind of each other’s scent, but with the tight hold Stone has on Gwen, maybe it isn’t so shocking.

Sure, X and Gwen might have crossed paths a time or two, having grown up in the same town. But the mating bond doesn’t kick in until both mates are over the age of eighteen. Xavier would have been already in the wild for a few years before Gwen came of age.

When the door swings open, I see Gwen standing there with her hand on her hip. She’s been hanging out with my Ruby too much, because now she’s doing that hip thing, although my eyes don’t go to Gwen’s hips like they do to my Ruby’s. Every time Ruby grabs her hips, all I can think about is batting her hand away and grabbing them with mine. I see her curves there, and I wonder how they feel. When she’s wearing one of her little knitted dresses, hugging all her curves, I think about finally getting to feel her warm skin under my fingers. I’d be using her hips soon to—

“Are you just going to stand there or are you going to come in already?” Gwen asks with a bored look on her face. I don’t blame Stone for how protective he is of her. She might be twenty-one, but she barely looks a day over eighteen.

The freckles she got as a teenager still line the bridge of her nose, making her look so much younger than she is. I don’t have a sister, but if I did I’m sure I’d be the same way.

“How was your day at the bakery?” I ask, strolling in.

“It’d be a lot better if you stopped scaring everyone away. Never thought you’d be one to upset your mate, Dom.”

Her words make my heart clench and my wolf sit up.

“I don’t hurt her,” I protest, appalled at the very idea that I would even do such a thing.

She snorts, and it’s an unladylike sound. She rolls her eyes and turns to make her way up the stairs to get away from her brother and me. I reach out to stop her, wanting to know what she means by ‘hurting my mate’ but quickly pull my arm back. The idea of touching another woman, even someone who’s nearly a sister to me, makes my stomach cramp.

“Gwen, how am I hurting her? I’m trying everything I can
not
to hurt her.” My words make her stop her retreat, and she turns to look back at me.

“She’s new here and thinks the whole freaking town hates her, Dom. I mean, come on. She’s alone here, she’s just lost the only living relative she had, and now you won’t even let anyone near her. Yeah, you’re being a dick and hurting her.” With that, she turns, her blonde hair bouncing as she stomps up the stairs.

“Fuck.”

“Glad to see I’m not the only one she lays into,” Stone says from behind me, making me turn to look at him.

“You look like hell.” I take in his wrinkled flannel shirt, his overgrown beard, and the dark circles under his eyes.

“Yeah. Three weeks on the road from pack to pack will do that to you,” he says, dropping his big body down on the sofa and kicking his feet up on the coffee table. He takes a drink of his beer and then sighs. “Want one?”

I’d love one, but it’d take me twenty to get drunk, and either way I’d end up on Ruby’s stairs. At least if I’m sober I won’t knock down her door trying to get in and scare the shit out of her. After the verbal blow from Gwen, I’m really wishing I could pound back a few.

“Nope, I’m good.” I take the chair across from him, hoping this will be a quick chat. Not much has gone on around here. Well, not much I care to share about at the moment.

“How is everything? Besides you letting my sister take that job in town. Oh, and the fact that you found your mate, two things you seem to have left out of our weekly chats.” I can hear the slight irritation in his voice but no real anger. Either he’s as tired as he looks, or he isn’t as bothered about it as he lets on.

“I had to let my mate buy the bakery. I didn’t have a choice. She would have been gone, and I would have had to follow her. I couldn’t let her leave…unless you wanted to get a new beta.”

“I know, I know,” he says, polishing off his beer and getting another. The message is clear. Where my mate goes, I go. If that meant leaving my pack, then I’d be gone without a second thought.

“But did you have to let her hire my sister?”

“I can’t control your sister any more than you can, Stone.” I see the stress on his face. He worries about her more than he should, but with both their parents gone I can see why. They lost them at a young age, and I’m sure Gwen hardly remembers them. Stone is more like her father than her brother.

Losing parents is hard on shifters because they usually follow each other to the grave. When one goes, the other will soon go next. I used to think it was terrible that fate would do that to people, but having only known Ruby a short time, I don’t think I would want to live without her either. She’s already ingrained in me. But it looks like all I’ve done is hurt her, and here I was, not even hours ago, scolding Xavier on being a good mate.

Stone doesn’t respond to me, but there really isn’t much to say. He’s about to get a whole new reality check when Xavier comes knocking on his door. No, scratch that, I have a feeling Xavier isn’t gonna knock on a door to get to his mate. He’ll most likely tear it off the fucking hinges.