Xan's Feisty Mate (2 page)

“I ain’t got a death wish tonight.” Brown eyes flashed at him as the bell rang signaling the end of the current fight. They didn’t allow a fight to the death, but pretty damn close.

Tonight Xan had on a pair of worn denim jeans, and his customary black leather vest with the club insignia on the back. His black shitkickers were thick leather, but would come off before he entered the cage. He crossed to stand outside, watching as they carried out the unconscious man.

What a pussy, getting knocked out in the first five minutes.

He cracked his neck and waited to see if the winner planned to stay or leave. It wouldn’t do to enter until the crowd was all riled up. With his arms crossed he stood, staring at the large male. Another shifter who was known for his bad attitude and even worse temper. Xan undid his boots, leaving them next to where he stood. His scent would deter anyone from taking them. The little wolf standing next to the door saw his approach, her eyes going wide. Xan couldn’t remember her name, but when she held her hand out for his vest, he handed it over with a wink. “Take care, I’ll be back for that shortly.”

She blinked up at him, and at any other time he might have bent and stole a kiss for luck. Instead he stood, gripped the cage door and swung up into the large square enclosure. There weren’t too many rules when it came to fighting inside, except not to kill. Xan was down with that, everything else was open season.

He gestured to the other man, watching as Rocky, his name finally coming to Xan, danced around. The crowd noticed who’d entered, a hush fell over them.

“You ready for a beat down Club VP?” Rocky asked, hitting his chest.

Xan balanced on the balls of his feet. He wasn’t going to waste his breath on the fuck. Again, he motioned Rocky forward, letting his lips kick up in a grin. His mama always said it was his shit-eating one that would piss off even the town priests. With a roar, Rocky lunged across the feet separating them. Xan side stepped, throwing his elbow out and hitting the back of the shifter’s head, making him fall into the cage’s steel links.

He ignored the crowd as they cheered. Rocky bounced back. They were both dirty fighters, and Xan prepared for the attack. Shifting to their wolves wasn’t sanctioned since they allowed humans into the club, but speed and heightened strength was something they had in spades.

Again, Rocky charged him, going in low, his shoulder hit Xan in the mid-section while the man’s fist pummeled at his kidney.

He tried to shake him off, but they fell to the ground, the feel of wolven claws digging into his side had Xan’s wolf trying to surface. He growled. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Rocky’s claws raked up his side. The thought the humans would see them, had his wolf snapping to be let out.

Xan rolled them, coming up on top, seeing hatred burning in Rocky’s eyes, He rained blow after blow on the man, then when he realized Rocky wasn’t fighting anymore he pulled back. His breathing hard, the sound of the cage door opening had him looking to see Kellen entering.

“You calm, bro?” Kellen nodded at the bloody beast beneath him.

The four long gashes down his side looked like Freddy Kruger had gotten a hold of him, ruining his favorite pair of jeans. “I’m level. This jackhole tried to shift in the middle of our fight. What the hell?” He kept his voice too low for anyone other than him and Kellen to hear.

Kellen came over and inspected Rocky, felt the flutter of the man’s heart and sat back on his heels. “At least he’s still alive. I’d have killed the bastard.”

A mirthless laugh escaped Xan. “I almost did. What brought you down to the cage?”

Kellen looked to the door of the club. “A swell in power and your girl is here. Thought you might want to come and see how she was doing for yourself. Of course, now it looks like she might need to patch you up.”

In the doorway he saw a gorgeous vision of blonde hair with pink and purple streaks standing in a pair of jeans, looking like she’d painted them on, and a tank top that was snug enough he could make out the lace indents of her bra. For fucksake he felt his cock swell, and he was literally kneeling over a bleeding wolf. “Shit, she’s not my woman, and I don’t need her to patch me up.”

His alpha snorted. “Right.” The one word was drawled out.

Kellen snapped his fingers and a couple of the lower ranking wolves climbed into the cage. He listened with half an ear as they were instructed to take Rocky out, get him medical care and then he was to be placed in the detention center. Shite, Xan knew Kellen was pissed, but even he didn’t think about the repercussions of the fight. Ever since the attack on Lyric and Taya, Kellen was tightening security and had become one hard-ass alpha. Not that he hadn’t been before, but now you did not want to cross the man.

He thought back to the night his sister Lyric had been attacked outside a human bar. If it hadn’t been for Rowan, an ex-special forces, he was sure she’d have been taken and possibly killed. Another member of the pack, Taya, had been taken and suffered much at the rogue pack’s hands. Lyric had to turn the human Rowan in order to save him, and for that he was grateful since they were now happily mated. That didn’t mean he believed in happily ever afters, it just meant Rowan got a reprieve from the beat down, until he fucked up and made his baby sister cry.

“Come on, I think the crowd has seen enough blood for the night.” Kellen stood, his voice boomed out making the noise die down. “All right you dirty bastards, and sexy bitches. Next round is on the house, but don’t get greedy. My staff knows what you normally drink, so don’t piss me off.” Warning given, he sauntered out.

The little wolf he’d given his vest to stood with an expectant look on her face.

“Thanks, sweets.” He kissed her on the forehead, inhaling the smell of her shampoo and the scents of perfume and hair spray. He preferred the fresh smell of...he cut off the line of thought before it went any further, ignoring her practiced pout. His boots were where he’d left them. Not taking the time to shove his feet back into them, he made a beeline for the place he’d seen Breezy last. He promised himself he wouldn’t threaten to rip off Coti’s arms if he found them together. It would be better for all of them if the two would mate up. His wolf growled, the canines he’d restrained in the cage punched through his gums. “Fuck!”

Leaving the crowded club behind, his blood boiling at the thoughts running through his mind, and not the least calmed from his fight, damn it.

In that moment he could have turned and walked away, forgot everything except getting drunk and patching up his side. Except, he got a glimpse of Breezy’s face. Her bruised and swollen face.

He found himself in front of her, forcing Coti back several feet. “Bella, who did this?” He looked at his own bloody hands as he reached up to touch her, hesitating for only a second.

“I don’t know,” she whispered.

Xan didn’t scent a lie, but the smell that he inhaled was of an unknown male. He memorized it, locked it inside himself and knew he and his wolf would hunt the man down.

“You’re scary when you look like that.”

For her he pushed the feral beast back. “Let me wash up and I’ll be right back. You,” he stabbed a finger at Coti. “See if there were cameras in the parking garage.”

Coti nodded. “On it.”

“I thought I was the boss.” Kellen drawled.

Xan flipped Kellen off as he entered the large bathroom, shutting the door in order to give himself and his wolf a moment to collect themselves.

Mate.
He’d fought the knowledge, thinking he could fuck his way through a dozen or more women and his wolf would forget the one meant to be his. The pain he’d caused her tasted like ash in his mouth. Honesty made him acknowledge he’d known for over a year.

Funny how almost having her taken from him brought clarity, and it didn’t seem like a fate worse than death to have her for a mate.

He shucked his clothes and took a quick shower, washing the sweat and blood off. As he got out he looked at the bloody jeans, and decided he’d grab a pair of leathers out of the closet, but first he’d check on Breezy.

With a towel around his hips, he stepped out of the bathroom, glad to see Coti was nowhere to be found. Which meant his friend could breathe another day.

“What the hell, Xan. You forget to put some clothes on or what?” Kellen asked from his spot on the large leather sofa.

Xan smiled. “No, and no you can’t see my junk. You’ll get all jealous and need someone to feed your ego and tell you yours is big, too.” He noticed Breezy had a glass of something cold in her hand.

He grabbed a tumbler and filled it, then held it up to see if Kellen wanted one. A shake of the head and he pushed away from the bar, needing to get close to his woman. Understanding how the mated males were overly possessive of their females, when even the image of another putting their hands on Breezy caused a red hot rage in him.

His words made the people in the room laugh. He, who was not one to make jokes. Beat the shit out of others, and even kill, but joking was not what he was known for.

Her face was already starting to heal thanks to their shifter genetics, but as he stared, she winced when she yawned. As an RN she was on duty for twelve hour shifts and more than likely was ready to fall asleep where she sat.

“I’ll take you home, just give me a moment to get dressed.” He ran a hand over her soft curls.

“That won’t be necessary.” Her head swiveled around, following him.

Nudity wasn’t a big deal with shifters. He let the towel drop as he opened the closet, selecting a pair of leather pants and pulling them on. He felt her eyes on his ass. No blushing for his woman.

Once he had the pants buttoned, he returned to where she sat sipping her glass of water. “You ready?”

She put the glass down with a clink. “I can’t leave my car here. What about when I need to leave?”

Xander was truly beginning to believe he was falling head over ass for her. “When you’re ready, I’ll take you. Until this bastard is caught, consider me your chauffeur.”

Chapter Two

––––––––

B
reezy blinked at Xan’s crazy words. No way on God’s green earth could she imagine him being at her beck and call. She possessed more brains than they gave her credit for. Maybe presenting the dumb blonde routine was working against her, but it had seemed that was what he looked for in a woman. If he’d taken the time to truly have known her, Xan would’ve realized she graduated at the top of her class in high school, and went to university on academic scholarships. However, she made her bed and now she was having to deal with it. She’d tried dressing the way he seemed to like his women, but it only made him turn away.

Standing, she brushed her hands down her thighs. “Thanks for the offer, but I just want to go home and sleep for a few hours after I take a warm bath, or probably a quick shower. I don’t think I’ll stay awake long enough to do much of anything else.” She yawned again.

“Which is why I’m taking you home.”

“I’ll fall off the back of your bike.” No way could she handle sitting behind him, her thighs straddling his, her breasts pressed to his. A shiver stole over her.

He inhaled and smiled. “I’ll keep you safe.”

No, oh hell no. “I can take care of myself.”

Xan’s dark eyes flashed to blue, looking her up and down. “Baby girl. Don’t tug the tail, unless you want to get bitten by the big bad wolf. I promise you’ll like it,” he paused. “After I turned that heart shaped ass of yours a nice shade of red that is.”

“Don’t even think about it. I’ll come at you sideways, and then whatcha gonna do?” She smirked.

He crowded her. The feel of his hand brushing against her face had her quivering but she locked her knees in place. “You’ll like whatever I do to you, and you know it. Imagine me stripping you out of those jeans you’ve painted on.” He ran his palm down the front of her tank top. “Then I’d bend you over my knee and skim my fingers between the cheeks of your luscious ass. I’d test the firmness first. Once I had you nice and relaxed, I’d give you five swats for each time I deemed you deserved it.”

She snorted. “Well fuck, we’d be there for the next year or two. Your hand would get sore, and my ass would surely be bruised.” His words had caused equal parts fear and erotic sensation through her.

“I can smell your desire and hesitation. What’s wrong? Haven’t any of your many other lovers ever played with you before?”

His words jerked her out of the fantasy that he’d wanted her for anything more than a fuck buddy. “My sex life is none of your business, Xander. If I get an itch, or a need for a spanking, and you are the only man or wolf available, I’ll give you a holler. As it is, I’m exhausted and I just want to go home.” She tried to inflict just enough boredom and could
care less
in her tone, hoping her body wouldn’t betray her. His words had been like a cold shower to her nonexistent libido. Fucking porchdick. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him to eat a bag of dicks, but knew he’d make her eat her words.

Xan inhaled, his eyes narrowing, but he didn’t agree with her. “Not gonna happen. The buddy system is in place and as of now, I am your buddy.”

Buddy her ass. No way in hell was she going to survive being stuck with him. She looked around, praying Kellen would help her out, but found they’d been left alone.

“Come on. I’ll drive you home in your car.” He put his arm around her waist, giving her no choice but to walk with him, or be lifted off her feet.

“What about your bike?”

His eyes smiled down at her. “No worries. I’ll handle it.”

She threw her hands up in the air. “You are so damn bossy.”

As they walked out of the office, she spied Lyric and Rowan at the bar. They waved but one look at Xan and his sister slid off her stool.

“Now, Xan, I really think you should let me and Rowan take Breezy home with us.”

The growl he emitted had everyone turning to look at him, but the little spitfire that was his sister placed her hands on her hips. Her new mate came up behind, his bulky presence an inch or so taller than Xan, but not quite as intimidating. Breezy had a feeling nothing would sway the big bad alpha from his current plans.