Taming His Mate (2 page)

His grip tightened, and he fought the urge to
shake her into submission. Christ, she infuriated the shit out of
him. “I don’t need you to be someone else. I just need you to be
you. The exact way you are. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

Kate slumped and dropped her hands to her
sides. “It won’t work, Stephen. You’re wasting your time with
me.”

Brushing off his hold, she faced the forest
once more and grasped the wood railing in front of her.

Still, she refused to give him a reason.

An unrelenting determination goaded him to
push for more. He crowded into her personal space, plastering his
bare chest to her stiff back. He dipped his head to the curve of
her neck, the same delectable neck he’d dreamt of marking for
years, and inhaled her scent. The sweet tinge of honeysuckle
wrapped around his senses, driving the Wolf inside him nuts. She
attempted to move away, but he slid an arm around her stomach,
holding her in place. He ran his lips along the column of her
throat while his body absorbed the tremble passing through her
frame.

“Why, Kate? Why do you keep denying me?”

For one flicker of a moment, he thought she
might give him a straight answer. Instead, she choked out, “It’s
not meant to be. Please, leave me alone. I’m begging you.”

Fuck, she always pushed him away. Always kept
to herself. Never trusted him enough to speak of her reservations.
No matter how hard he tried to convince her she could open up to
him, she ran.

Always
.

Did she have any clue how much her denials
affected him? His heart could only withstand so many jabs before it
shattered into pieces, and she didn’t seem to care one damn
bit.

“Fine. I’m going home.” Stephen heaved a
frustrated sigh and dropped his arm. For once, he was too tired to
chase her. He’d just tell her what he’d come to say and be on his
way.

He stalked to the edge of the porch and
paused on the last step. “Some hunters from Collins have been
snooping around after Marston. I found traces of a human trail near
the pack’s territory earlier tonight when I ran the borders. Be
sure to keep your doors locked and don’t venture into the woods
alone until this shit is sorted out.”

With his warning delivered, he stepped off
the porch onto the dewy grass, the dampness tickling between his
toes. Her faint sniffle reached his ears, and he forced himself not
to race back to comfort her. Instead, he worked on steadying his
thrumming pulse. Pushing past low-hanging branches, he slipped into
a dense copse of trees behind her house and halted long enough to
hear the slam of her screen door. Tilting his head to the side, he
waited for the flip of her backdoor lock. At the low click, he
continued on his way home to another morning spent in his lonely
bed without his mate.

Kate swallowed a mouthful of beer and
attempted to drown out the noise around her. As the only
hole-in-the-wall bar in the shifter town of Los Lobos, the Den was
packed to capacity tonight. And not a single person in the
overcrowded bar garnered a speck of her interest. That is, no one
except the man across the bar standing beside a pool table.

She peeked over her shoulder, and her grip
tightened on her beer bottle. She gritted her teeth as Tanya, the
perky, blonde skank of the pack, smiled and clung to Stephen’s arm
while he spoke to his friend, Wes. Apparently, it hadn’t taken
Stephen too long to move on to his next conquest. Not once had he
bothered to look in her direction since she’d entered the bar an
hour before.

What did she expect? She’d all but begged him
on bended knee to leave her alone.

Of course, she hadn’t anticipated he would
jump to the next piece of ass so soon, or that seeing him with
another woman would sting as much.

But it did, damn it.

Irritated with him, herself, and the whole
damn world, she rolled her eyes, faced the bar, and jumped when she
noticed Gee standing in front of her. For a big man, he damn sure
moved with stealth. He stared down at her, a frown tugging at his
mouth. His penetrating gaze speared her where she sat.

“When are you going to do yourself a favor
and just accept the man?”

Kate’s mouth dropped open. The large, Native
American Bear shifter was friendly enough, but he wasn’t one to
typically initiate conversation.

She picked at the label on her beer. “It
would never work, Gee.”

He threw his bar towel over his shoulder and
rested his tanned forearms against the edge of the bar. “Because
you’re too stubborn.”

“I have my reasons.”

“Your reasons are stupid.” He scowled.
“You’re not the first it’s happened to, you know.”

Her head snapped up, and she searched his
dark brown eyes. No one knew of her inability to shift. Not even
her brother, Jace. She’d gone out of her way to hide it from her
family and pack since puberty when she’d learned of her affliction.
For years, she’d used excuse after excuse to not shift in the
company of her pack. Most, her family included, chalked it up to
her being a bit out of the ordinary and desiring privacy.
Thankfully, they’d all let her be and never questioned her
weirdness. But it seemed Gee had guessed her secret.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She
shook her head. “How about another beer?”

“It’s not as uncommon as you think. Many
before you have suffered the same, and oftentimes there is a
solution.”

“And when there isn’t one?”

He grunted, straightened to his full height,
and snatched the towel from his shoulder. “Look, I understand your
reservations, but those days are long gone, little girl. Drew
wouldn’t allow that kind of intolerance in his pack. Besides, I
have a feeling you can. Have you spoken to Stephen about it?”

“Stephen? Why the crap would I tell him? It’s
not any of his business.” She would’ve snorted if she wasn’t in
such a foul mood.

“Don’t be such an ass. The man would do
anything to help you.” Gee plunked a fresh beer in front of her and
then lumbered off to serve other patrons crowded at the bar as if
the two of them hadn’t spoken at all.

The somber, loner bear might have been her
friend, but damn it if Kate didn’t want to punch him in the face
for the pep talk.

She’d tried any and everything under the sun
to shift, but nothing had worked. As far as she knew, her parents
and brother had never experienced any complications shifting. Hell,
if she and Jace didn’t look alike, she’d wonder if she hadn’t been
abandoned on their parents’ doorstep in a basket.

It had been a cold slap of reality the day
she’d accepted she would never shift. And it was definitely
something she didn’t plan on burdening Stephen with.

A bump to her shoulder pulled her from her
depressing thoughts, and she glanced to her right. Jace stood
beside her with a protective arm wrapped around his new human mate,
Michelle.

“Hey, sis.” He placed a kiss on the top of
Kate’s head then glanced around the bar. “Where’s Stephen?”

“What am I, his keeper?” She rolled her eyes.
He cut her a sharp look, and she jerked a thumb over her shoulder.
“He’s busy tonight.”

Jace scanned the bar and frowned when his
gaze landed on his friend. “Huh. I’m going to step over and say
hello.”

He helped seat his new mate on the barstool
next to Kate then pushed his way through the crowd.

“How are you, Kate?” Michelle spoke in a
warm, affable tone.

Jace’s mate was so sweet it made Kate’s teeth
hurt, but she could never purposely bring herself to be mean to the
woman. She didn’t deserve Kate’s anger. In all honesty, no one did.
Not even Stephen, though he often received the brunt of it.

“I’ve had better nights. But the real
question is, how are you and Jace? I haven’t seen much of you two
lately. Holing up in the bedroom, I take it?”

Michelle turned a bright shade of red and
ducked her head. “Something like that.”

Despite her crappy mood, Kate smiled.
“Nothing wrong with that. Not a thing at all.”

Though Michelle was almost six years older,
Kate still felt the urge to protect her. Perhaps it was the air of
innocence that surrounded the woman. “You’ve made my brother a
happy man. I’m proud to call you part of my family.”

The petite woman surprised her by springing
forward and hugging the breath out of Kate’s lungs. “Thank you.
That means so much to me.”

“Alright, enough of this. I’ll grab this
round.” Kate sat back. “And I promise not to let you drink too
much…this time.”

Michelle wrinkled her nose. “I’m sure Jace
won’t let that happen again. His idea of a fun night does not
include cleaning up vomit and force-feeding me aspirin.”

Kate laughed and grabbed her beer, which
nearly spilled when a bulky male shouldered his way between her and
Michelle.

“Well, what do we have here?” Damien glanced
at the two of them. “The two loveliest ladies in the bar.”

Kate snorted. The biggest flirt in town, he
could lay it on thick when he wanted, but he was a good, honest man
who loved to have fun. “Hey, Damien.”

He laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
“How you doing tonight, sugar?”

“Not too bad. Just having a couple drinks
before I head home.” She resisted the urge to peek at the pool
tables again.

“You sure everything’s good?” His furrowed
brow and the thin set of his lips told her he suspected more. He’d
most likely witnessed Tanya hanging on Stephen. No doubt the whole
bar noticed.

“I’m good. Why wouldn’t I be?” Damien’s green
eyes narrowed and his mouth opened as though he wanted to say more,
but Kate switched topics. “How about a dance before I leave?”

Damien studied her a moment longer before
shoving away from the bar and extending his hand. “It would be my
pleasure, sugar.”

She downed the rest of her beer. There wasn’t
enough liquor in the entire bar to drown her sorrows tonight. But
dancing with a hot, attractive male might make her feel somewhat
better and forget the sight of Tanya’s hand on Stephen’s ass.

Kate placed her hand in Damien’s and jumped
from her barstool. Ignoring the crowd’s stares, she didn’t dare
glance in Stephen’s direction. It wasn’t as if he would notice
anyway. He was too busy with Skankarella. And so what if he did see
her? She was a damn grown woman. Stephen had no claim on her, and
she definitely didn’t have one on him. She was tired of playing the
good girl and pining after a man she could never have.

Melding into the group of gyrating shifters
on the dance floor, she allowed everything else to fall away around
her. Her focus was on the strong male who moved in close behind her
and settled a firm hand on her hip.

Stephen managed to extricate his arm from
Tanya’s grasp. He ignored her ridiculous pout and cuffed Jace’s
shoulder.

“Man, it’s good to see you.”

Christ, he’d never been more thankful to see
his friend than he was at that moment. For at least an hour, he’d
tried to ditch the woman with the death grip on his arm who
squeezed his ass each time he attempted to take a shot.

Once he’d entered the Den without Kate, the
damn she-Wolf had taken it as an open invitation and latched on. Of
course, he hadn’t missed Kate’s glares from the bar. For her not
wanting him around, she damn sure hadn’t appreciated Tanya’s free
hands. Stephen silently pleaded with Jace to understand and spare
him from the damn nuisance of a woman who just wouldn’t take the
numerous hints he’d thrown at her.

Jace pasted on a charming smile. “If you
don’t mind, Tanya, I need a word in private with Stephen.”

Stephen heaved a sigh of relief and
sidestepped Tanya before she could plant a kiss on his cheek. Her
face contorted with annoyance, and she stormed off, her sights no
doubt locked on the next unsuspecting Wolf. He grabbed his beer
from the edge of the pool table and downed a healthy swig. When he
turned to face Jace, he fell under his friend’s scrutiny.

“You want to tell me what the hell’s going
on?”

“Not a damn thing. Trust me, I’m still
working on your stubborn-ass sister. That”—he nodded toward
Tanya—“was not my idea at all.”

Jace chuckled. “Yeah, Tanya’s determined to
snare herself a mate by any means necessary.”

“Ha, you think? I could’ve never told. She
wasn’t exactly subtle about it.” Stephen swallowed a mouthful of
beer. “Besides, I already have a mate.”

“Oh yeah? How’s that working out for
you?”

“Nothing a little more time and a smooth hand
won’t remedy.”

Jace roared with laughter and tipped his head
toward the dance floor. “You mean like the one Damien has?”

Stephen whipped around, and his jaw almost
hit the ground. At once, he zeroed in on Kate and Damien. Their
traitorous friend’s hand rested on Kate’s lower belly as he grinded
against her ass. And his mate just let the sly bastard practically
dry hump her.

Oh, hell no, this shit wasn’t happening.
There was a certain code in their pack. No one was allowed to touch
another Wolf’s mate in such a manner. And the entire pack knew Kate
was his by now. It wasn’t as though he’d kept it a secret.

A surge of anger pushed through Stephen. He
threw his arm out, slamming his bottle of beer against Jace’s
middle, and stalked onto the dance floor toward Kate. The sight of
her wiggling her firm ass against Damien’s crotch set Stephen’s
blood on fire. Inside, his Wolf urged him to make Damien pay for
the insult. Shoving down instinct, he focused his attention on his
mate.

Stephen strode up to the dancing couple
without a word. Instead, he snatched Kate away from Damien and
threw her over his shoulder. She cursed and jerked in his arms, but
he carried her into the ladies room, meeting the wide-eyed stares
of two of the pack’s females.