Unwanted Mate (3 page)

“Zane, please….” She groaned as he began
moving into her, faster and faster. Zane leaned down and nuzzled
her breasts. She enjoyed the roughness of his stubble on her
breasts. The way he licked and sucked on them while moving slowly
in and out of her. Zane thrust into her deeply, then repositioned
both of her legs to rest on his chest and shoulders. He thrust
again, deeper this time, varying his angle, hitting just the right
spot. She clawed at the sheets as she orgasmed once, twice,
thrice…she lost count at twenty. He lowered her legs and leaned
over her, kissed her softly on the mouth, nuzzling her neck.

Jackie’s wolf receded and she suddenly came
to her senses. What was she
doing
? How could she have
allowed him to touch her
again
? She pushed at him and he
moved. Bracing his arms on either side of her, Zane raised up to
look at her. He saw the regret in her eyes and he withdrew from
her. He stood, pulled up his jeans, turned and left the cabin,
slamming the door behind him.

Chapter 5

Outside, Zane walked into the forest and
stripped. He changed into a sleek grey wolf and took off into the
forest. He ran as fast as he could, leaping over fallen limbs and
large rocks. He ran to escape the sadness caused by his mate’s
rejection. His heart ached and he pushed himself to near exhaustion
running blindly in an unfamiliar territory. Seeing an abrupt
opening ahead of him, his wolf instincts took over and he skidded,
stopping inches away from a deep ravine. His heart thudded in his
chest from coming so close to falling to his death.

Zane-wolf stood at the edge of the ravine,
contemplating his situation. Jackie didn’t want
or
need him.
He thought about what Jackie told him about her pack. She would
still be protected if he wasn’t around. He couldn’t use that as an
excuse to stay with her or as a reason to convince her to keep him.
She seemed to enjoy sex. Would
any
wolf satisfy her? He
growled at the thought of another wolf touching his mate. He
remembered how she had pushed him away after they had sex earlier.
The regret in her eyes wounded him. His anger gave way to sadness
and he howled in pain. The heartbreaking sound echoed through the
forest, all the way to the cabin.

Jackie showered and dressed after Zane left
and she felt guilty when she remembered the hurt look on his face
when she pushed him away after they had sex. Zane confused her. He
didn’t seem like a coldblooded killer. Was Lucien right?
Had
he only acted in self-defense? Zane was so much smaller than her
brother, how could he have killed Sean unless he cheated somehow?
Maybe he had help from his pack mates? Didn’t Lucien say Sean’s
friends backed up Zane’s story? That only Zane had fought Sean? She
reached for the satellite phone and called Sean’s friends. Neither
of them answered and she left a message saying she would try again
tomorrow.

Jackie decided to prepare something for
dinner. As she was gathering ingredients, she heard a heart
wrenching howl and just knew it was Zane. Her wolf surfaced and she
changed in an instant. She ran to the door and was forced to change
back to her human form since she couldn’t open it as a wolf. She
was shocked at her reaction. Never before had she changed so
quickly into her wolf. Only Alphas could change that quickly.
Usually it took her several minutes and she had to really
concentrate. She opened the door and walked outside, naked. She
shut the door and heard Zane’s howl. In an instant she was in her
wolf form and took off in the direction of his howl. She ran
quickly through the woods, desperately needing to find her mate, to
soothe his distress.

Jackie-wolf followed Zane’s unique scent,
leaping over trees and small boulders. His heartrending howls
sounded louder and she knew she was getting closer. She slowed to a
trot and stopped when she saw him at the edge of a ravine. He was
laying at the top, his snout resting on his front paws as he looked
down the ravine. Not wanting to startle him, she barked softly.
Zane-wolf slowly lifted his head and noticed Jackie-wolf. She was
grizzled, a beautiful combination of tan, brown and black. Even her
wolf form was beautiful, while his was plain gray. He turned away
and lowered his head, ignoring her.

Jackie-wolf was stunned at Zane-wolf’s
behavior. On some level, she really had expected him to be happy to
see her. Cautiously she walked closer to him. His head turned in
her direction, his ears flattened and he growled low, warning her
to stay away from him. Jackie-wolf froze. What was wrong with
Zane-wolf? Didn’t he want her? Why was he threatening her? She was
his mate
and she refused to be sent away. She walked closer
and suddenly Zane-wolf was on his feet and leaped toward her.
Before she knew it, Zane-wolf knocked her down, pinning her under
him.

Zane-wolf’s jaw was clamped securely around
her neck. She was vulnerable in this position. If he clamped his
jaw down further, he would sever her jugular and she would bleed to
death in minutes. Jackie-wolf froze and made a whimpering sound of
submission. He released her neck and backed away from her. He
growled again, a low sound and raised his tail in an intimidating
manner. Jackie-wolf rolled onto her stomach, keeping low to the
ground. Though her head was lowered, her eyes were not. He growled
again and this time she growled back. She would
not
be
intimidated by her mate. Slowly she rose to full height and he
growled, louder this time. Jackie-wolf refused to back down and he
turned and resumed his post at the edge of the ravine.

Jackie-wolf inched forward and plopped down
several feet away from him. He didn’t growl at her, nor did he cry
out more heart breaking howls. They stayed there for hours,
Zane-wolf ignoring her and Jackie-wolf unsure of how to reach her
mate. Her belly grumbled and she caught the scent of a rabbit.
Jackie-wolf chased after the rabbit and within minutes, caught and
killed the rabbit. She carried it back to Zane-wolf and dropped it
at his feet, a peace offering.

Zane-wolf, surprised at the offering,
transformed back into his human form and stood. He stared at
Jackie-wolf and after a minute, she transformed as well. She was
famished. Changing forms took a lot of energy and she had done so
many times in the last few hours.

“Why?” was all he asked Jackie.

“I thought you might be hungry.”

“That’s not what I meant. Why do you care if
my hunger is sated? Why are you even here?” Jackie was surprised at
the anger in his voice. Where was her meek Zane? And when did she
start thinking of him as
hers
?

“I…Zane, I heard you howling.” Zane clenched
his jaw and his fists. Would she mock him for being weak? For
allowing his wolf to grieve the rejection by its mate?

Jackie walked over, stood directly in front
of him. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Zane,” she said softly. “I’m
just so confused by everything. This whole situation
is…overwhelming.”

Zane wanted to reach out and hold Jackie, to
comfort her, but fearing her rejection, he stood still, arms
stiffly at his side. Jackie noted his reluctance to touch her and
she felt hurt that he didn’t try to soothe her. It suddenly dawned
on her that he wouldn’t touch her because of the way
she
treated
him
. She slept with him then pushed him away. She
used
him for her own selfish pleasure then kicked him out
when she was done with him. She felt awful for treating him that
way. Especially since in her mind, she had expected
him
to
treat her that way. It must be driving his wolf insane to stand by
idly and not comfort its mate. He certainly has a strong will, she
realized. What other hidden talents did her mate have?

“Zane?” He watched her expectantly. Taking a
deep breath for courage, Jackie continued, “I think…I think maybe
we should take things slowly. See where it goes?” His eyes widened.
He never expected her to agree to give their relationship a
chance.

“The whole sex thing is messing us up. I
think we should…um…refrain… from…you know…not have sex,” she
finished quickly. Jackie was naked and standing before her naked
mate. Suddenly she was embarrassed to find herself discussing what
they had both enjoyed only hours ago.

“You want us to see if we can have a
relationship without sex?” Zane asked quietly. Blushing, she
nodded.

“As long as you agree that no other male will
fuck you.” Surprised at his demand, Jackie nodded. The thought of
any other male touching her was suddenly repulsive.

Satisfied that only
he
would fuck his
mate, Zane suggested, “We should change and head back. Do you want
me to carry the rabbit back to the cabin? I can cook it for our
dinner.” Jackie agreed and smiled at him, relieved her old Zane was
back.

They changed into their wolves and ran back
to the cabin, Zane-wolf carrying the rabbit in his mouth. When they
returned to the cabin, they resumed their human forms, dressed and
Zane prepared their dinner. Once again, Jackie was amazed by Zane’s
cooking skills, the way he moved around the small kitchen.
Remembering how aroused she became the previous evening as she
watched him prepare dinner, she forced herself to take stock of
their pantry. She found some marshmallows, graham crackers and a
few Hershey bars, perfect for making S’mores. She discovered a
bottle of red wine in the fridge and decided it would go well with
their rabbit dinner. She set the table and filled two glasses,
setting the bottle down on the table. She walked over to the stove,
both glasses in her hand. She offered one to Zane and he rewarded
her with a smile.

Jackie felt breathless as Zane smiled at her.
Her heart sped up and she felt a sharp but pleasant spasm in her
belly. Zane’s wolf eyes flashed momentarily as he scented her
arousal. He had the sudden urge to lean over and kiss Jackie, but
he had agreed to her ‘no sex for now’ terms. He knew he wouldn’t be
able to stop at just a kiss. He took the glass from her and took a
sip, his eyes never leaving hers. Her wolf eyes flashed and he
forced himself to look away, back to the various pots on top of the
stove.

Soon after, Zane was finished and they dined
at the small table. Jackie enjoyed the savory meal and couldn’t
help exclaiming, “Mmmm.” Zane sucked in a breath and Jackie blushed
slightly when she noted Zane’s reaction. He was gazing at her
intently with his wolf eyes and his fists were curled on the table
top. It took everything in his power not to get up, carry her to
their bed and fuck her. He forced himself to close his eyes and
take deep breaths to calm down.

Feeling slightly guilty for unintentionally
arousing Zane, Jackie tried to think of something to distract them.
“Zane, what did you do in your pack?” Zane took a deep breath and
opened his eyes. She could see the pride in his eyes. “I’m a
tracker.” Jackie was impressed. Trackers were the highest ranking
pack member, other than the Alpha pair. He must have worked very
hard to achieve that status. Trackers had the difficult job of
tracking and killing rogue wolves. Sometimes the Rogues stayed in
the forest, but sometimes they hunted in the cities. That made
tracking them more difficult because of the multitude of other
scents that hid theirs. There was the added danger of being seen by
humans. Trackers had to tread very carefully when hunting a Rogue
in the city. Trackers were always alert, looking for any threat to
their pack and other werewolves. Unlike soldiers, Trackers had more
authority in the pack hierarchy. They answered only to the Alpha.
Because they were extremely loyal to their Alpha, always putting
him and the pack first, Trackers rarely had to obtain permission
from their Alpha. It was a powerful position, not given lightly to
any pack member. Trackers had to earn that position of power and
respect.

“What was the most dangerous thing you had to
do as a Tracker?”

Zane described how he had to hunt down two
rogues who had planned on killing Blake, the Alpha of the Faeger
pack. One of the rogue werewolves had been a former member of the
Lost Souls Pack and Murdock, his Alpha, had ordered him to kill the
rogue. Murdock feared that if Marcus successfully killed Blake, he
would use his wolves to attack Murdock. At the time, he didn’t know
that two wolves were involved in the plot to kill Blake. Jackie was
intrigued with Zane’s tale of betrayal and conspiracy between so
many wolves from dissimilar packs. Before either realized it,
dinner was over and they had passed the time amiably. Side by side,
they cleaned up the table and washed the plates, pots and pans.
Jackie dried the dishes as Zane handed them to her, noting Zane’s
light scent of happiness.

Zane started a small fire at Jackie’s
request. She went outside, found some long twigs and came back
inside. She gathered the S’mores ingredients and knelt beside Zane
in front of the fireplace. “What’s that?” he asked, indicating the
ingredients she carried. Jackie gave him a puzzled expression.
“Haven’t you ever made a S’more?” Zane shook his head.

Jackie put a marshmallow on each end of the
stick and showed him how to toast it over the fire. Zane spent too
much time gazing at her profile and his marshmallow caught on fire.
Jackie laughed as it went up in flames and grabbed the stick from
him. He smiled, enjoying her laughter. She scraped off the burned
marshmallow and replaced it with another. This time he paid
attention to the marshmallow and when it was toasted just right,
she showed him how to assemble a S’more.

Zane bit into the odd looking sandwich
carefully. The sugary sweetness of the warm marshmallow combined
with the bittersweet melting chocolate and crunchy graham crackers
was heavenly. Now he understood why Jackie grinned happily as she
consumed her S’more. Zane finished his S’more and Jackie noticed a
smidgeon of chocolate on the side of his mouth. She reached over
and wiped it off with her thumb. Zane caught her hand, brought her
thumb to his mouth and licked it. Jackie’s entire body came alive.
Sharp spears of desire laced through her abdomen as her womb
contracted and she felt a flood between her legs. Her breathing
became shallow and she leaned in with a sudden urge to kiss him.
“Jackie…don’t tease me, please,” Zane begged, his voice strained as
he tried to maintain control.