The Omega's Mate: (6 page)

Everybody in the station had been listening to the exchange between Carly and Cain. 
And soon everyone in Rose would know of it too.

Grudgingly, Alec had released Cain.  The disgruntled Beta had been all for kicking Cain out of town, and the Alpha was swaying that way too.  Cain told them that Hans and Don could vouch for him.

So Hans and Don, much to their displeasure, were charged with making sure that Cain behaved himself while he was in town.  Cain was allowed to walk out of the Sheriff’s station, but not before the Alpha warned him about not hurting their Omega.

Dejected, Cain returned to his room and warned the bobcat owner that he might actually need to stay a few more nights.  He was now lying on his creaking bed, staring at the ceiling, whilst Hans wore a hole in the carpet.  Melanie sat at the window looking out at the street, and Kayleigh sat on Don’s lap in the armchair.

“I… I’m not sure…”

Kayleigh snorted.  “Don’t tell me she caught you having sex with two women in your cell?  Or do you only do that in bars?”

Cain snapped his fangs at the witch, whilst Don clamped his arms around his mate protectively. 

Hans stopped and looked at the bear.  “Is that why she ran off crying last night?”

Cain’s jaw twitched.  “She didn’t catch us having sex; we were just…”

“About to?” supplied Kayleigh.

Cain ignored her, and instead went over what he said in the cell over and over.  “She thinks I rejected her at the station.”

“Why would she think that?” asked Melanie softly.

“I just told her I didn’t want an Omega for a mate.”

All four members of the pack sucked in sharp breaths.  He looked at them all in turn.  Evidently he had made a mistake.

“So basically yeah, you rejected her.”  Melanie lost all sympathy for the bear.

“No!  I meant I wanted her to stop being an Omega; I didn’t say I didn’t want her.”

Don sighed.  “Carly was born an Omega; it’s not what she chooses to be.  She can never stop bein’ an Omega, any more than Adam could stop bein’ an Alpha.  It’s in their natures.”   

Cain propped himself up on his elbows.  “I didn’t realize.”

“Thank god!” exclaimed Kayleigh.  “I’m glad you’re an ignorant idiot, rather than a heartless bastard.  Especially after her last boyfriend…”

Melanie leaned over and pinched her friend.  “Shut up loudmouth!”

Cain’s bear stirred.  “Why?  What happened?  Is he an asshole?  Do I have to hunt him down, and kill him?”

Hans clucked his tongue.  “Take it easy.  He just left town a couple of hours ago, for a vacation with his new girlfriend.  He’s not an issue.”   

Cain grunted, appeased… a little.  The bear was still unsure. 
If he found out the bastard hurt Carly, he would still hunt him down
.  “What should I do?”

Melanie snorted.  “Well, an apology wouldn’t hurt…”

Cain felt a twinge of hope.  “You’re going to tell me where she lives?”  Yes, if he could go to her house, and if he could get his hands on her…

Don chuckled.  “Yeah, that’s not happenin.'”

“You’re trying to keep me from my mate,” grumbled the bear.

Hans groaned.  “No, we’re trying to keep you from doing something fucking stupid.  If you rushed over there you’d upset her, and she’d tell the Alpha, the Alpha would kill me and Don, and then sic the rest of the pack on you.”

Cain’s eyes flashed to black.  “So how the fuck can I apologize if I can’t even see her?”

Kayleigh tutted.  “Take it easy not-so-gentle Ben.  She’s opening a cake shop next to Pizza Moon; that’s where she’ll be tomorrow.  You could go and see her, when she’s had time to calm down a little.”

Melanie bobbed her head.  “And Hans and I will be right next door in case… well just in case.”

Cain frowned.  “In case what?”

“In case you fuck up dude.”  Hans growled.

Cain curled his upper lip at the wolf, but Hans paid no attention.  “I suggest you think about what you’re going to say tomorrow.”

With that, Hans looped an arm around his mate and left with Don and Kayleigh close behind.

Cain lay back on the lumpy, too-small bed.  He scrubbed his hands down his face. 
Why couldn’t things just go smoothly?
  Twice now, he’d managed to wound his mate without even trying.

He felt his phone buzzing in his pocket.  It had been constantly ringing earlier.  It was distracting, so he had put it on silent. 
He found fifty-two missed calls, all from Bailey.

Sighing, Cain answered.  “Yeah?”

The jackal screamed irately.  “Where the fuck are you?  Why the fuck haven’t you been answering your phone?  What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Cain really wasn’t in the mood.
  “Look something came up okay.  I’m out of town.”

“Out of town?  Out of fucking town?  Where are you?  Are you at least keeping up with your training?”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll have any time for training, I have something I need to do.”  He needed to be with his mate, at that moment it felt even more vital than oxygen.

“You fucking idiot, your fight with the polar bear is now less than two weeks away!  You need to train, or he will fucking destroy you.  You are… you are going to fight aren’t you?”  Doubt assailed the jackal.  Cain wasn’t exactly reliable or easy to control, but he had never been so blasé about training and fighting. 
He lived for those things!

“Yeah, I’m not sure, there’s this woman…” 

Right then, Cain had no idea about what the immediate future held for him.  He wanted to be with his mate, and nothing else registered as important,
his bear agreed with that wholeheartedly
.  But he wasn’t sure how long it would take to win her, or even if his little she-wolf would want him to continue to fight.  The women he usually picked up were fight groupies, who thought he was sexy because of what he did.  Carly wasn’t like that.  She wasn’t the type to be swayed by violent displays of dominance.  Carly was an altogether gentler creature.

“Not sure?  Not sure?!”  Cain could imagine the veins popping out on Bailey’s forehead.  “I’ve sunk a lot of money into this damn fight, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to take a loss, just because you’ve gone balls out for a piece of tail!”

“Do not speak about Carly that way,” ground out Cain.

“Oh?  Carly is it?  Well, when you’ve finished getting your end away with Carly, you better fucking remember who it was that saved you from living on the streets.  You owe me bear!  Without me, you’d either be rotting in jail or scraping a living fighting bums!  Do you know how much cash I’ve spent on you?  On staging your fights?  On bribing the cops, every time you land yourself in jail?  Or airfare, when you end up drunk and in another state?  Do you know how much you’ve cost me?”

Cain was silent for a couple of beats.  “Not nearly as much as I’ve earned for you. Over the past three years, I’ve fought for you, and I’ve always won.  I never asked for money.  I was happy for the bit you gave me.”

The jackal breathed heavily.  “Is this you holding out for a raise?”

Cain snorted.  “No, I don’t want the money.  I don’t care about money.  But I don’t owe you anything; I’ve more than paid you back.  If I decide to fight, I’ll let you know.”

Cain clicked the phone off, amid irate shouts from the jackal.  He wrapped it in a pair of socks and pushed it to the back of a draw.

He pulled his clothes off, frowning at the rips and tears.  Probably wasn’t a good idea to challenge those three wolves to fight.  His bear harrumphed at the memory.  He surveyed himself in the mirror, gingerly fingering a pair of burn marks. 
Particularly as one of them had a taser
.  Hopefully, that would heal by tomorrow.

Cain picked up his bag of groceries.  On his way home, he’d stopped by the market and picked up some food.  For now, he just wanted to hide in his room.  He sat nakedly on his bed as he demolished a pack of beef jerky, before moving onto a king size bag of chips.

Today hadn’t been great, but at least he had spoken to his mate.  He had enjoyed watching her small, yet curvy body undulate as she walked.  He loved the way her cute mouth pouted, and her eyes shimmered between green and brown as her mood changed. 

Since meeting his mate, he had been in a constant state of arousal, but seeing her up close almost made him howl with desire. 
Desire that wouldn’t be sated until he had her beneath him, writhing in a tender embrace
.  His bear was wilder than ever.  He probably wouldn’t relax until he had her bonded to him, marking her as his forever.  And even then he’d doubtless be jealous, and edgy of any male that even looked at her.

Cain leaned back on his bed and closed his eyes.  His huge erection pointed to the ceiling. 
Ready, raring and nowhere to go.

“Housekeeping!”  A young, female coyote shifter bustled into his room, yelping when she saw him naked.

“Shit!”  Cain threw himself off the bed and held a pillow over his groin.  The girl smirked at him; her shoulders shaking.

Cain cleared his throat.  “Uhhh, it’s fine.  I don’t need anything right now thanks…”

“Sure, I’ll come back tomorrow.  I’ll umm, I’ll knock first.” 

The girl gave him an admiring look before sauntering out, and closing the door.  Cain heard her burst into laughter.

Well, at least he made a good impression on her.  Perhaps he should flash Carly too...  If she were impressed by his body, maybe, she would forget about his foot-in-mouth syndrome.

Would it be considered too strong if he just rocked up to her cake shop, and stripped for her?  Hmmmm…      

Chapter Seven

20
th
January

Carly stared at the paint samples.  Perhaps the citron shade, or maybe lemon chiffon.  The shop was pretty much ready; she just had to paint it.  After that, a little practice in the kitchen and she would be raring to go.

She eyed the sheet covering Rosalee’s mural.  She was tempted to sneak a peek, but Rosalee insisted she wait until it was finished.

Carly yawned. 
Ugh another sleepless night spent fretting over her mate. 
It’s possible she might have overreacted… again.  Lying in bed all night, when she wasn’t sweating from desire, she went over what happened in her head.

At the time, she thought he was telling her he didn’t want her for a mate.  But the more she thought about it, the more she realized he was just jealous; her role in the pack meant that she had to be a bit touchy feely.  The fact that he didn’t want her near any other males was sort of endearing, in a crazy kind of way.  Damnit now she had to apologize to him again! 
Not to mention, she had said a few things less than complimentary about him…

Why couldn’t she act normal?  Why did she have to be so melodramatic?  She wasn’t really proving to Cain that she was a mate worth having.  So far all she done was demonstrate
d how big of a temperamental drama queen she was. 
Something her ex-boyfriends had all disliked about her.

Carly had three ex-boyfriends altogether.

The first had been a wolf called Will, a member of the pack who had since moved away and joined a new pack in Montana.  He had heard that sex with Omegas could be intense, due to their ability to share emotions.  He had pursued Carly with aggressive flattery until she submitted and gave him her virginity.  It hadn’t gone well.  He hadn’t been gentle enough with her; in the moment she had lost control of her powers, and flooded him with all her emotions.  It was too much for the young wolf, and afterwards, he spent an hour locked in Carly’s bathroom, whining about how fat his thighs were, and how the other girls picked on him.  Yeah, he couldn’t handle a woman’s emotions.  Unsurprisingly, he dumped Carly after that.

Her second relationship had been a little better.  He was a bobcat shifter called Dane.  He had been a lot gentler than her previous boyfriend, but he disliked her attachment to the pack.  He resented pack members calling her up in the middle of the night, when they needed help.  He wanted Carly to leave the pack and be with him.  She refused, and he dumped her.

Most recently she had taken up with another pack member called Bryce.  After Will, male pack members treated her like she had the plague.  Bryce was the only pack member willing to give her the time of day.  Sexually anyway.  Thinking back, she was only with Bryce because no one else wanted her.  At times, he scared her.  Bryce didn’t want an emotional girlfriend.  He didn’t want to be tender and caring.  He wanted a partner willing to lie back and spread her legs for him, whenever he was in the mood. 
And to hell with whether she reached her pleasure or not.

Carly was disconcerted when she discovered Bryce cheated on her with Carrie, but it was actually something of a relief.  She doubted he would have reacted well if she had been the one to dump him.

Now there was Cain…  Her very own giant, lusty bear.  Would she really be able to handle him? 
And would he be able to handle her?

The bell over the door tinkled.  “Sorry, we’re closed.”

“Shall I come back later?”

Carly shivered in awareness as the deep, rumbling voice swept over her.  She rushed out of the kitchen to find her mate filling the door.  Her wolf yapped like a pup.  There was a half-smile on his rugged face that made her legs tremble.  In spite of herself, seeing his tight jeans and stretched shirt struggling to contain his ropey muscles, her arousal quickened.  She felt her panties moisten.

She blushed as Cain sniffed the air.  He grinned widely as he scented her heightened desire.  If he had any doubts about his mate wanting him, they were soon dispelled. 
On a primal level, she longed for him. 
His beast was ecstatic.

“No, it’s fine.  I actually… umm, I actually wanted to see you.”

Cain felt the wave of happiness.  With breathtaking speed, he moved to stand in front of her.  He sure could move quickly for such a big guy.  She craned her neck to see his smiling face.  His eyes flickered from black to brown, as he wavered between controlling and giving into his desires.

Carly gulped.  “I wanted to apologize…”

Shock adorned his face as he spoke slowly.  “You wanted to apologize to me?”

“I overreacted… again, and I’m sorry.”

Cain looked at his mate in awe, drinking in every beautiful detail.  From her bewitching eyes to her plump round breasts, he could stare at her all day long, and it still wouldn’t be long enough. 

“You have nothing to be sorry about.  Seems I keep doing stupid things, and then you apologize.”

“That’s not true.  I mean, I’m not saying you haven’t been stupid.  The home invasion yesterday could hardly be considered a smart move, but I blew what you said way out of proportion.  You weren’t saying you didn’t want me, right?”  Carly held her breath in response.

Cain saw the fear in her eyes; he felt a twinge in his heart as his bear growled sadly.  He cursed the men she had been with before him.  They’d left her apprehensive and unsure of herself.  “Carly, I want you more than anything else in the world.  You’re my mate.  You’re mine.”

Achingly slowly Carly reached her hand towards his face.  He groaned as her small fingers stroked his hard, stubbly jaw.  The briefest of touches sent electric shots through her body.  Their animals roared in contentment.

Cain’s desire rose to dizzying heights. 
He couldn’t hold back a moment longer.
  He had to have her, right then, right there, no more waiting.  He had to drag her down to the ground, and plunge inside her wet heat.  His bear mercilessly goaded him to take her.  He shook as he tensed, forcing himself not to give into his urges. 

Carly’s eyes widened in nervous excitement.  His lust was both terrifying and thrilling to her in equal measure.  He made a move to kiss her, when the bell on the door clattered.

“Oh, I’m sorry, am I interrupting?”  Rosalee’s amused voice floated toward them.

The she-wolf tried to calm her thunderous heartbeat, before sneaking a peek round Cain’s massive frame.  He remained still, his dark eyes trained on her.

“No, it’s fine,” squeaked Carly.  “Cain this is Rosalee, my Alpha’s mate.  Rosalee, this is Cain… my mate.”

Cain buzzed at her acknowledgment of him before turning, and nodding at the female Alpha.  She had a friendly smile, and Cain conceded she was attractive enough, but she was plain next to his Carly. 
God he had it bad.

Rosalee winked and held out her hand.  “Nice to meet you, mate of Carly.”

“And you, mate of the Alpha.”  He wrapped his paw round her delicate hand. 

Rosalee gripped him as tightly as possible, which to the bear wasn’t very.  “To be clear, if you hurt her, there isn’t a member of the pack who wouldn’t want to string you up by your testicles.”

“She’s kidding.”  Carly looked between the two of them nervously.

“Course I am,” said Rosalee brightly, before mouthing that she wasn’t.

Cain nodded shortly, before dropping her hand.  Surprisingly, his bear hadn’t even reacted to her threat.  Normally the volatile beast would have been howling.  Maybe because the slender female posed such little danger,
or perhaps because if he truly hurt his mate, he’d be the first to punish himself.

Rosalee set down her bag.  “I came to work on the mural, but I can leave if you want?”

Cain looked at her sourly.  He wanted to yell at her to get lost so that he could get his hands on his little mate. 
But that might be rude.

Carly shook her head.  “No it’s fine, I was actually about to start painting the kitchen.”

Rosalee ignored the death glares from Cain and set to work, unveiling a small part of the mural.  Carly would have to wait until it was complete to see it all; besides she had to make a little adjustment,
in light of recent developments.

Carly turned to her mate.  “I should really get on…”

“Let me help,” Cain offered quickly.  He placed a hand on her shoulder, and they each moaned imperceptibly.

“Oh umm, that would be lovely.”  Carly smiled shyly.

“Then let’s get started.”

*

Carly was surprised at Cain’s tolerance and interest in what they were doing.  For the first hour, she wavered between choosing the shade of yellow she wanted for the kitchen.  He never once became impatient or shouted at her, as she ummed and aahed her way to a decision.  He was sweet and supportive.

He listened courteously as she spoke about her plans for the shop.  He even paid attention when she waffled about the different flavors of cupcake she was planning on selling. 
She was amazed at how willing he was to put up with her.
  Her wolf was wagging her tail for their wonderful mate.

Cain couldn’t get enough of listening to his little mate.  His bear stretched out and let her words wash over him as he growled with satisfaction.  He loved the way she twitched her nose as she became animated about a subject.  He could listen to the soothing lilt of her voice all day. 
God he’d even sit and listen to her read the freaking dictionary.

He’d never been one for relationships.  When he first started fighting, a fancy red wolf lawyer from Alexandria had been enamored with him.  For a few months, she’d drive down every weekend to see him, and they’d spend the whole time in bed.  Naively he’d considered her to be his girlfriend, but when he tried to ask questions of her life in Alexandria, she clammed up.  When Cain drove to the city to see her as a surprise, he found she was married with two kids.  Apparently she loved her husband, but he didn’t fulfill her sexual needs.  So, she had taken up with Cain.

It soon became clear to him that the type of women who approached him, the type who came to his fights, were hero-worshippers.  If he didn’t win the fights, they wouldn’t be interested.  He wasn’t foolish enough to think he was a handsome man.  Women wanted him for his body, and the power he exuded in the fights. 
Until meeting his mate, that had been enough.

But now he wanted so much more.  He wanted to hear her sweet chatter and to share in every aspect of her life.  He wanted to wake up every day with her beside him, and go to sleep with her curled into his arms.  He wanted her stomach thickened with his young.

When Carly did make up her mind on the color, lemon chiffon, they made short work of the first coat of paint.  Well, mostly Cain did, Carly was a little slow in comparison to the big bear.

Taking a break, they went to Pizza Moon for a late lunch.  They sat and ate under the scrutinizing glares of Hans and Melanie; not to mention the curious looks of anyone else who wandered into the pizzeria.

Carly blocked them out and focused on enjoying her mate’s company.  When they returned to her shop, it was to find a note from Rosalee telling them she had to leave and would be back in a few hours.  She signed it off by telling them not to do anything she wouldn’t do. 

At Cain’s insistence, Carly sat and watched while he painted the ceiling.  He didn’t even need a stepladder.  Carly admired the hard lines of his body, as his shirt crept up the waist of his low slung jeans.  She was teased with inviting glimpses of his yummy, hard stomach.

After they had started applying another coat of paint to the walls, Cain told her about growing up with his father.  His mother left them when he was a baby, after finding her true mate; he had no idea where she was.  His father worked for a logging company.  Like most Kodiak bears, he did manual labor.  It was unusual to find Kodiaks in office jobs.

His father died when Cain was 19; from then on, Cain had taken various menial jobs, usually resorting in him being fired for his temper.  He shook away his discomfiture, and admitted that three years ago, and after a string of bad jobs, he found himself homeless.  Carly sent him a wave of encouragement.  He told her how there had been an open audition for cage fighters.  With nothing to lose, Cain decided to try.  He grew up fighting and had a few moves.

At the audition he destroyed his opponent, a wolf funnily enough. 
On seeing Carly’s look of displeasure, Cain skipped through that part of the story.
  It ended with him being given regular fights and a steady paycheck.  Soon, he was a popular fighter, and people travelled from all over to watch his matches.

Carly wasn’t sure how she felt about him fighting, so she kept her mouth shut.

Carly spoke of her own life, not that there was much to tell.  She grew up in the pack; her mom was an Omega, her dad was a Beta, and they abandoned her when she was a teenager, then she lived with Hans’ family…  Cain growled intermittently as she glossed over the details.

Talking about his childhood, he admitted his father had tried, but he never really got over the loss of his mother and had taken to drinking.  Cain didn’t admit it in as many words, but Carly understood his father hadn’t been kind.  The she-wolf pressed her hand against her mate’s heart, and he allowed the rage and shame he had for his father to ebb.