Their Runaway Mate (4 page)

*****

Anna lay in her bed listening to the sounds of the lovers in the other room. It was apparent that Drew wasn’t too distraught about the way Carter had treated her, but she didn’t know why she’d expect him to be. Tears rolled down her cheeks as they screamed their love for each other, as if they were rubbing it in her face that she was trapped here and would never know love. Why had life dealt her this awful hand? In Anna’s eyes, there was no God of any sort because if there were a God, then whoever that was wouldn’t have taken her parents from her so young, made her sister hate her for no reason, or trapped her in this prison, forced to breed with monsters.

No, there was no God. There was no one there for Anna at all, not Drew, not her sister, and not God. She was all she had in this world. She was all alone.

Chapter
Three

Drew was worried about Anna. He’d sent a tray to her room for lunch the day before, after the big fiasco, but when the maid came back down, she was still carrying the tray saying Anna had refused it and said she just wanted to sleep. Then that night, when he sent a tray up there again, he was met with the same response. Now it was the next morning and Drew sat in the kitchen, eating breakfast with Carter and the maid had just entered the room with the tray he’d sent up for Anna again.

“I’m sorry Master Drew, but she doesn’t wish to eat. She says she doesn’t want to be disturbed and she looks ill,” Ella, their maid said in almost a whisper, as if she were afraid of Carter or that he’d snap at her.

Drew’s stomach rolled with worry and he sighed, “Thank you, Ella.”

Ella put the tray down on the counter and began picking up the breakfast items from the kitchen table. Drew watched her in silence as his mind screamed for him to run up and check on Anna, but he ignored it because he didn’t want to appear as if he were coddling her.

Drew heard the sound of Carter’s chair scraping against the kitchen floor and looked up at his mate. He was surprised to find that Carter’s expression was crestfallen and he looked distressed as well. The only problem was Drew didn’t know if it was for Anna, or about some of the other things going on, like the impending battle they were planning with the Rogues.

Carter had spoken with Drew about it and Drew had said he’d do whatever he could to support him, but Drew’s mind had been on Anna mostly, and he couldn’t find concern for anything else. Guilt swept through Drew as he looked at his mate, who was just standing there staring off into nowhere as if he were thinking something through. He shouldn’t be so concerned with Anna; right now there were more pressing matters. He just couldn’t keep himself from constantly thinking about his, hopefully, soon-to-be mate.

Drew opened his mouth to tell Carter he was sorry and he’d start to take the other matter seriously, when Carter held up his hand to stop him from speaking.

“Don’t, okay Drew,” Carter stated, confusing him for a moment. “I know this is my fault and I intend to fix it. I will go and take her breakfast to her and try to talk to her. Just give me some time alone with her.”

Wow, Drew hadn’t expected that at all. Carter walked over to the counter and picked up the tray then walked out of the kitchen. Drew didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t about to follow him, even though he wanted too, even if it were just to make sure Anna was safe. However, Carter needed to work this out with Anna if they were going to have any hopes of becoming a family. So Drew just picked up his coffee cup and took a sip, then looked at Ella, who was smiling at the door.

“That girl will be good for the both of you, you know,” she suddenly turned her attention to Drew. “I can already see how happy she makes you. If only Master Carter would give her a chance, she would do wonders for him as well.”

Drew just nodded because he couldn’t agree more.

*****

Carter felt like shit, he’d really messed things up with his prejudices this time. He’d lain in bed the night before, staring at the ceiling, while Drew slept peacefully beside him. He kept rerunning what had happened with Anna, all the things he said and thought about her, how he’d accused her of just taking from them and wanting more. Then, how Drew had dropped the bomb that he’d bought all those things as gifts and she hadn’t accepted any of them.

Then why did she say they weren’t paying her enough and she wanted to quit? Unless that was just a ploy to get them to let her go, he knew he was missing an important piece to this puzzle, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. Women certainly were frustrating and puzzling creatures, no matter what species they were.

He stood in front of Anna’s door and knocked lightly. He was sure she could probably hear his heart pounding over the knock, he was really nervous about seeing her after last night, which was strange because he rarely got nervous. There was no answer to his knock, but he didn’t want to go away without sorting this mess out, so he tested the knob and found it unlocked.

He opened the door slowly and automatically wished he’d just walked away after not getting an answer. Her smell assailed him and made his cock hard and his mouth water, but that wasn’t unusual and he was prepared for it. What made him want to turn away and leave was the fact that she lay in the middle of her bed, still completely dressed in the same clothes from the day before, curled in the fetal position, and crying softly to herself.

Why hadn’t Ella said that she was like this? He’d have come up the night before to sort this out, had he known. He walked into the room and set the tray down on the nightstand next to the bed. He looked down at her and felt tightness in his chest. He’d done this to her, he’d taken away her hope, and desire to even live.

He didn’t know what to do, as it was, he was sure he wouldn’t even be able to speak without choking on the giant knot in his throat. He sat down gingerly on the edge of the bed and fought the desire to touch her, to take her into his arms, and comfort her. He’d really messed up.

He cleared his throat, “Anna?”

She made no move to show she even acknowledged he’d spoken. She just lay there weeping. What was he going to do to fix this? He had to fix it, for Drew, for himself, and for any hope, they may have of having a complete family.

*****

Anna wondered how long it would take her to ignore his presence before he left her alone. She didn’t want either of them there; she just wanted to be left alone to wallow in her own self-pity. It angered Anna how pitiful she was at that moment, considering she’d never been one to wallow about anything. When her parents were still alive and drinking all the time, she was the one who’d be strong and protect her sister from her parents drunken rages. When they died in the car accident from drunk driving, she was the one who picked up the pieces and put everything on the back burner to care for her sister. When her sister ran off and forgot she even existed, she went back to school, while working, and graduated with honors and a Bachelor’s degree in accounting.

She never just wallowed and threw herself pity parties, so why was she doing it now? Maybe it was because it had all finally come to a head and she’d finally just let it all break her down. These tears weren’t just because of how Drew and Carter had treated her; they were also for how her parents had treated her, how her sister had treated her, and how life had treated her.

She could feel the tension resonating off Carter and part of her wanted to answer him, but just a small part. The rest of her just wanted him to leave her alone and go away. Then she felt the harsh warmth of his touch as he placed his hand on her hip.

“Anna?” he choked out again.

She couldn’t ignore him anymore with his hand there because even though she didn’t want to admit it, even that simple touch had somehow seeped into the rest of her body and comforted her, and even in this state she began to feel aroused by it. She hated her body. Why did she have to feel anything for this horrible monster?

“Yes, Carter?” her whisper was barely audible, but she knew he could hear her.

“Anna, could you please turn around? I need to talk to you and I don’t really want to talk to your back.” Carter stated.

This just made Anna even more angry, the nerve of that man to think he could treat her like he had then tell her what to do. Anna deserved better. She deserved respect.

“I guess we all have to do things we don’t want to then, huh Carter?” she snapped back at him.

Carter sighed heavily and his hand slipped from her hip, which Anna quickly regretted the loss of, “I’m sorry, Anna. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I have some prejudices against humans that I shouldn’t have taken out on you. I knew even when I said all the stuff I said that you were a good person, but I just couldn’t let go and now it has put a wedge between us.”

Anna swallowed past the lump in her throat. Of all the things she expected him to say, this was not one of them. She couldn’t really believe what she was hearing.

She turned around and lay on her back to face him. As soon as she looked at him, he seemed to pale considerably and looked like he was about to cry also. However, Anna knew that couldn’t be the case, Carter would never cry over her pain.

“Oh Anna,” he croaked out. “Look at what I’ve done to you.”

His hand suddenly went to her cheek, which made Anna flinch because she thought he would slap her. That was what her father had done when Anna was younger and cried over something they’d said or done. It was the reason Anna had stopped crying about things and started hardening herself to the pain others could inflict.

Carter gasped when he saw her flinch and withdrew his hand quickly before it even made contact with her face, “I’m not going to hurt you, Anna. I’d never lift a hand to you.”

Anna found herself snorting at his declaration and lifted her arm to pull up her sleeve and show him the bruises he left when he’d dragged her upstairs the day before. His eyes widened and then he looked away, but Anna had seen the flicker of shame that had come into his eyes before he turned, which made her wish she hadn’t shown him. She didn’t know why she still cared about his and Drew’s feelings, but she did nonetheless.

His head dropped to his hands as he leaned on his knees, “God, I’m so sorry, Anna. You must think I’m nothing but a monster.”

A big part of her urged her to say no, but she held back because that is exactly what she thought about him, and it didn’t matter whether he was a werewolf or human.

He looked up and she was surprised to find his eyes were lined with tears. Something inside her chest tightened and she really wanted to just reach over and hold him, but again she refrained. It would be too easy to just give him what he wanted from her and once he got it, he would just throw her away like everyone else had.

He reached for her face again, but she didn’t flinch this time. He placed his hand on her cheek and wiped away a tear that had fallen.

“Anna, I wish I could go back and change what I did to you yesterday, I really do. I didn’t mean to hurt you like I did and would never intentionally do so, you have to believe me.”

She didn’t really have to believe anything he said, but for some reason a part of her did.

“Please, I’m begging you, if you just give me a chance to make it up to you, I will prove that I’d never do anything to cause you pain and I really only want you to be happy here.”

Anna finally found her voice after moments of silence, “If you want me to be happy then let me go.”

Carter’s face-hardened a bit when she said it, “I can’t do that. Drew and I’ve been searching for our mate for a long time and, now that we’ve found you we can’t just let you walk away.”

“But, I’m human. How can I be your mate?” argued Anna.

“It’s rare, but werewolves and humans can be mates. I don’t know of an Alpha being mated to a human because yours is a weaker species, and Alpha’s must have strong mates to stand next to them. However, Drew is my Beta and strongest over everyone in my Pack save me, that could make up for it.”

Anna sat up, pushing her hair out of her face, “See, I’m too weak. I’d just hold you two back, you should let me go.”

Carter just chuckled at her effort, which really pissed her off.

“I don’t want to be a brood mare to a couple of gay werewolves,” Anna finally snapped.

Carter’s face went serious and he looked as if she’d slapped him again. She held her breath wondering if he’d keep his promise about not hurting her. After tense seconds, he sighed and looked away.

“Drew and I are mates, yes, but we are not gay. We don’t define our sexuality by the same terms you humans do. We mate with who we’re meant to be with, whether man or woman. If it’s two men as mates, then usually there is a third for them, who are female, so we can carry on our line, and vice versa. If they’re male and female, then sometimes they stay as a couple, but that isn’t guaranteed, there may be someone else that comes along and increases the size of the family. Sometimes there are as many as four or five males to one female.”

Anna felt the heat creeping up her face at the last part. She could hardly imagine giving herself to one or two men, let alone four or five. Carter turned back around to look at her and a lopsided smile appeared on his face when he saw her blush.

“Don’t worry, little one. I don’t think there will be more than Drew and me as your mates.” He teased.

Anna coughed and then it was her turn to look away, “So have you and Drew ever been with another woman?”

“Before I met Drew, we’d both been with plenty of women, yes,” he answered, knowing well that is not what she meant.

She turned to face him again, “I meant since you’ve been together.”

A flicker of a smile went across his face, but he quickly schooled his features, “Yes, of course. Drew and I’ve shared some of the available females within our Pack over the years. We do still take pleasure in sinking into a nice warm pussy every once in a while.”