The Lost Slipper (Fairytale Shifter Book 3) (3 page)

“
W
hat
?” I look down into Winnie’s tear-filled eyes in confusion. The way she says it, it makes me know she doesn't mean the bite. I’d never hurt her. Everything I’ve done when it came to her was for her own protection. To keep from hurting her.

I’d followed Winnie to Gwen and Xavier’s house today. I always watch her, so this wasn’t anything new. It’s a habit I haven't been able to drop over the years, no matter how many times I tried. No matter where she is or what she’s doing, I’ve always got my eyes on her. I get restless whenever I lose sight of her. But today, I knew where she was going, so I waited before I trailed them.

When I got closer to the house and caught her scent, something inside me was set on fire. It was different. My wolf went crazy, and I needed to get to her as soon as possible. I tore through the woods, getting to her as fast as I could. My animal knew she was mine, and I needed to claim her. It took everything in me not to shift.

After all this time and these years of longing, I understand what the pull was and why I always had a need for her. A need like no other.

When I first burst into the room and had her in my arms, I felt whole and complete for the first time in my life. All the fear and frustrations of being alpha melted away, and the only concern was my Winnie.

The taste of her skin on my teeth and biting down to mark her as mine was the single greatest moment of my life. Feeling her pleasure rock through her body and into mine made me want to take her to the floor and breed her right then and there. I wanted to mate her body at that very moment and bind her to me for all eternity.

I feel my brow furrow in anger. I never should have made her feel hurt. I’m mad at myself for keeping my distance, but it was the right decision. I knew she had a crush on me, and I thought it was best not to play into it. She was too young. Too sweet. I’ll make this up to her. I’ll fix this.

“You’re my mate.” I start to pull on her arm, but she doesn’t move. She pulls back against me, and I look at her big brown eyes in shock.

No mate has ever refused before, and I don’t know why it’s happening now. How she is doing it. She should feel the pull like I do. Have the need to be close to me. I’m the alpha. Is she not proud to be mated to me?

“Winnie. Come. Now.” I feel my wolf growl at being denied what we want. She’s ours, and no one will take her from us. Even if she doesn’t want us, we will convince her.

“Let go of me, Stone.” Her words are firm, and like always she makes direct eye contact with me.

The growl rips from my throat, and I look down at her neck to see where I’ve marked her. She’s mine. There’s no stopping this.

“Stone, back away from her and give her some space. We’ll figure this out.”

I hear Dominic behind us, and I let out another growl. I won’t be taken from her. I don’t care who I have to go through. Gripping her arm tighter, I try again to pull her to me.

“I’m not going with you, Stone. Let me go.” Winnie says the words, something flashing in her eyes, but I don’t believe them. We are meant for one another. It’s destiny. We are fated mates.

“Stone, don’t make me do it.” I hear the click of Dom’s tranquilizer gun and turn around fast, pushing Winnie behind me.

I’m beyond the power of speech right now, so I show him my teeth, and snarl. I can feel my eyes changing and the hair on the back of my neck growing. My fingernails ache, and I’m slowly shifting in anger.

“Fuck. Do it, Dom. He’s losing his skin,” Gwen says, and I look back to Dominic in time to see him pull the trigger.

I manage to turn back around to grip Winnie by her arms. But when her hands go to my chest, it’s not to pull me closer, but to push me off her.

“Winnie,” I whine, but the word sounds like it comes from a distance. It’s as if my own voice is in a tunnel, and then it all goes black.

I
wake
up on the cold cement and look around groggily. Xavier is on the other side of the bars, and I can’t help but let out a short laugh. We were in the opposite position not so long ago, with him in the cell and me on the other side.

I push myself up on my hands and knees and then slowly get off the floor. I walk over to the bars of the cell and grip them to steady myself. I take a deep breath to try and tell if Winnie is close, but all I can smell is the lingering drugs.

The drugs are in my system, but I’m a shifter, and I know they’ll fade fast. In a few minutes they’ll be completely gone, and there isn’t a cell on this earth that will keep me from my mate.

“Where is she?” My voice is deep and gravely, as if I haven’t used it in a while. I feel my wolf pacing inside me, not liking the feeling of being caged. I take a deep breath and try to gain some control. Losing it won’t get me anywhere, and as an alpha, I need to show that I can control my own wolf.

“She’s upstairs talking to Gwen. She wants to talk to you, but she wants to do it while you’re behind bars. She’s not ready to be your mate, and she wanted you to listen to her,” X says. He always gets straight to the point.

“I’m no danger to her. I’m her mate. I will always protect her. Now let me out of here.” I grip the bars tighter, needing to get out. This is insanity. Why doesn’t she want me? Doesn’t she feel the pull like I do?

“I think bears are different than us. Gwen is explaining to her what she should be feeling, and that’s not what’s happening to Winnie. She’s mad you pushed her away for so long. You were not a worthy friend, so she thinks you won’t be a worthy mate.”

His words hit me like a boulder to the chest, the pain bleeding down to my heart. I need to make this right. I will beg her to forgive me. I will crawl through broken glass if that’s what she asks. She is mine, and I will prove to her that I never meant to hurt her.

“Please.” It’s a word I never have to use as alpha, but it comes so easily when it comes to her. I lean my forehead against the bars. “Please, Xavier. I need to speak to her. It hurts.” I know he recognizes the pain I’m feeling because I once caused him to feel it.

The ache in my chest is growing and spreading through my body. Being separated from your mate is painful in the beginning, especially if the mating heat starts. I just had no idea how bad it could be. I’ve heard people explain it before, but this…I never thought it could hurt this deep. Down to the marrow of my bones.

“I know all about that pain you speak of, Stone. You remember when you locked me away in this cage? I will be better to you than you were to me. But you will hear Winnie out first.”

I look up into his eyes, and I see that I was wrong in how I treated him. I nod slowly, recognizing that I didn’t do right by him and Gwen when they were going through their mating heat. It seems everything I think is for the best keeps blowing up in my face. What kind of alpha does that make me?

X turns, walking away and going up the stairs. After what feels like hours, but is probably only minutes, he comes back downstairs, followed by Winnie.

“I will be over here if you need me. I’ll try not to listen, but I probably will because my hearing is better than yours,” X tells Winnie, before walking over to the corner of the room and sitting down.

I look to Winnie, and after she takes a deep breath, she looks up, her big brown eyes locking with mine.

“I’m sorry—” I start to apologize, but she holds her hand up to stop me.

“Stone. All I ever wanted was your attention. You were my first memory, my first piece of anything that was good, and you pushed me away. Over the years, I tried to be your friend, and even that was difficult for you. And now you show up, saying I’m your mate and we’re going to be together, but I don’t feel that.” She looks away and whispers, “I don’t know what I feel.”

“Please, Winnie. Let me fix this.”

Her eyes shoot up, locking with mine again. “You can’t just fix this, Stone. You have to prove it to me. If you want me, you’ll wait for me. You’ll give me time—”

“Anything,” I cut her off, but she shakes her head.

“You’ll give me time and space, Stone. I need to figure out what this is,” she says, gesturing between the two of us. “X is going to let you out, but I’m not going with you. If you can’t handle that, then Dominic has offered to keep you drugged until the needing passes.”

She looks away as if the thought hurts her, and the idea of not needing her tears me apart inside.

“Please.” I get down on my knees in the cell, not caring if X watches. “Winnie. Don’t leave me in here. I’ll give you time.” I take a deep breath, closing my eyes and opening them again. “And space, if that’s what you need.”

After a moment, she nods, coming to a decision. “Okay. I’m leaving. X will let you out when I’m gone.”

Her words are like an arrow to my heart, and I don’t think I’ll be able to function. But I can do this. I can stay strong and show her that I’m good enough for her.

I watch as she climbs the stairs and leaves the room, taking my heart with her. I will give her what she wants, but I won’t stop making her want me.

L
ying back on my bed
, I stare at the wooden ceiling of the attic. How many nights have I lain here, wanting Stone to notice me? Every single one of them. It’s stupid. I should embrace this. It’s what I’ve always wanted, but now it just feels tarnished.

My memory floods with all the times he’s pushed me away over the years. Like I was unwanted. Like I was a
stray
, as my stepsisters like to call me. It didn’t help that I wasn’t subtle with my crush for the first few years. Anyone with eyes in their head could see I followed him around like a lovesick puppy. If only I
was
a puppy. Then maybe things would’ve been different.

He only wants me because nature made it so. I wasn’t so much as a blip on his radar before today. I was just someone who got bossed around and was made to follow orders, no matter what I wanted. Stone, my stepsisters, and my stepmother. They were the worst. I thought it was bad when my stepfather was here. But when he died two years ago, things only got worse. I hate it here.

The bitter reality of it all is that if I did become Stone’s mate, I’d be stuck in a pack that never truly wanted me. I’d only be accepted because my pack-mates were made to. My stepsisters have made my life hell. It didn’t help that they got their friends to join in on their little taunts as they picked on me in school.

It seemed like each day that ticked by, my bear retreated more and more inside me. Now I don’t even feel her. At first she clawed at me to have a family, to try to fit in, and to be a part of a den. I craved it, just like I’d craved Stone.

For the past four years I’ve been here, all I’ve ever felt was that I was being tolerated. The only true friend I had at any point was Gwen, and sometimes I wondered if she just pitied me. Maybe she felt I needed a friend more than she wanted to be my friend. Not that Gwen isn’t good to me. She is. She’s been there for me when I’ve had no one else, but I still question it. I can’t stop myself.

I roll over and punch the pillow next to me. Pity party for one, anyone?

When I hear the door to my room open, I inwardly cringe, knowing who’s coming up the stairs. Now I really wish it was just a pity party for one.

“Look who it is,” Trish snaps as she stomps up the stairs. I don’t even wonder why she’s in a bad mood. She always seems to have a reason to direct some kind of hostility at me. Over the years I’ve learned to let it roll off me. There wasn’t a hateful thing they hadn’t hurled at me before.

And there’s nothing I can do about it. Stone’s the alpha, and he put me here. I had nowhere else to go, and no one ever came to claim me. Four years and nothing. Rare my ass. The irony is, now that I’m being claimed, I want to run. The thought makes me want to laugh, but I don’t because I know it will turn into a sob, and the last thing I need right now is to cry in front to Trish.

She stops at the end of the bed and places her hands on her trim, lean hips. I wonder where her other half, Tamara, is. She’s the better half, but that’s not saying much. They are twins but though don’t look exactly alike, it’s pretty darn close.

I wish I could say they were ugly with warts and terrible style with frizzy hair. I wish they looked like what you picture when you think of an evil stepsister, but they’re not. Far from it. They both are well over six feet tall and all legs. Thin waists and blonde hair that falls in silky waves. Trish has big blue eyes framed by long lashes, as does Tamara, but hers are a deep green. They both look flawless and are always dressed like they’re ready to walk in a fashion show. If only some of their beauty would rub off on me. Even just a little something would make a difference. Stone always noticed them and never pushed them away or avoided them. He seemed to be that way with most of the pack. Always listening when people had concerns and trying to do what was best for everyone. Not me. I could barely get a word out sometimes, and I was pretty much told to move along or go talk to Gwen if I needed something.

I have no idea what makes my stepsisters so bitter, but they’re great at hiding it in public. They still come off bratty, but not like the total bitches they are when we’re at home and no one is looking. Not that anyone notices when it comes to me. The twins seem to have it all, but looking at Trish staring down at me now, you’d think I kicked her puppy.

“You’re opening that store tomorrow. You didn’t even work today,” she continues, like I skipped out or played hooky. It was my day off from the bakery. Not only that, I’d gotten all my chores plus a few extra finished before I left for Gwen’s today. I’ve been working at the bakery with my two stepsisters for a few weeks now, and she acts as if I was being lazy.

Ruby owned the place and Gwen helped her run it, but since both are knocked up with mates shoved up their asses, they needed some help. I’d volunteered, wanting to make some money in hopes of moving out of here. Then my sisters did, too, when Gwen happened to mention the alpha would be ever so grateful.

I wish I could eye roll their eagerness, but I was just as eager. How quickly things change.

“I’m not scheduled tomorrow,” I remind her, sitting up. I have two days off in a row.

“I don’t give a fuck. I have a date tonight, and I still need to get ready. And you’ll need to go in early because I didn’t have time to do the prep work for tomorrow. Did you wash my red sweater? I put it on top of the dryer. You better have washed it separately. The color runs and needs to be dried on tumble or it can shrink. If it shrinks, you’re buying me a new one. I swear.”

“It’s hanging up in your closet and is perfectly fine,” I say, cutting off her barrage of questions, which was making my head pound. I don’t care, I’ll take it.

I’m dreading when they find out about Stone wanting me to be his mate. The twins were devastated when they came of age a month back and nothing happened. They had both been sure one of them would be the alpha’s mate. I felt such utter relief when they both came back in floods of tears after seeing him.

I thought one of them might be his mate. Many were shocked Stone hadn’t found his mate already, and I’d been dreading the day. Wait until everyone finds out it’s the bear. I so don’t want to go into town tomorrow.

“Don’t forget you’re working for us in the morning. Wouldn’t want to let the human down, would you?” Trish scrunches her face like the word
human
has a bad taste. No, I wouldn’t want to let a very pregnant Ruby down and stress her out when I could just go in.

“I’ll go in,” I say, just wanting her to get out of my room. I doubt prep work was the only thing she skipped. I bet the place is a freaking mess. I’ll have to wake up super early. It’s not like I had plans tonight anyway, besides maybe crying myself to sleep.

“Don’t forget the trash,” Trish throws over her shoulder as she leaves my room.

I stand up and make my way over to the small circular window that overlooks the backyard. I stand there for a few moments, just looking out beyond the trees and clearing my mind. After a short time passes, I get a funny feeling, like someone is watching me.

Something moves inside me, like fur rubbing up against me from the inside. I close my eyes to see if I can feel it again, hoping that something is there. Maybe she’s finally waking up, but it’s gone just as fast as it came.