Claiming Her Mate
Authors: Jess Buffett
| Claiming Her Mate |
| New Hope Valley [1] |
| Jess Buffett |
Warning: For Mature Adult Audiences.
Contains wording and actions some may deem
offensive.
Sexually explicit
content.
MF
seven years, Summer Ashcroft has had to watch the man she knows is her mate, go
about his life, ambivalent and distant toward her.
As one of only a few tiger shifters left, the
pressure on her to mate threatens to suffocate her, leaving her to wonder if is
she strong enough to risk it all to be with him.
Evan MacKenzie has known Summer all of his life,
and has forcefully maintained his distance from the gorgeous woman.
Staying away seems to be his only recourse
since he is unwilling to risk losing the one person that still makes him feel as
if he has a heart.
When it's realized he
is the key to things left out of their control, he finds himself at a
crossroads.
Mistakes are made by both, but when the truth is
discovered, the pair is thrust together in unimaginable circumstances.
They must work as one to search out answers
for Evan, and secure a future for Summer's species, but are they strong enough?
Or will forces set into motion thousands
of years before, keep them apart?
Claiming Her Mate
New Hope Valley
Book One
by Jess Buffett
© Copyright November 2013 JK Publishing, Inc.
ISBN#9781310294082
All cover art and logo © Copyright November 2013 by JK Publishing, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Edited by ML Hill
Artwork by JK Publishing, Inc.
Published by JK Publishing, Inc.
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Jana—For taking a chance on me.
Michelle—For not only helping me find the right words, but the right ending.
2000 years ago…
As the hooded figure approached the altar, the room came to a standstill. All eyes glued to the woman in the burgundy cloak as she took her place beside their Alpha. The White Tiger Alpha stood tall and proud, his formidable presence almost overwhelming. He studied the crowd that had gathered, his features grave as he met every gaze. Soft whispers heard from those desperate to know why the impromptu meeting was called. What could have caused their usually stoic leader to appear concerned?
When the silence grew too much for one Pride member, he yelled out, “Why have we been called, Alpha?”
“There are matters that need attending, and a future that we need to prepare for,” he answered cryptically.
“What does that mean?” shouted another disembodied voice.
“Silence. You must listen now. There will be time for questions later,” the Alpha commanded, his fierce presence dominating the room. “The Seer has had a vision, one of an unrecognizable future.”
Hushed voices murmured, everyone curious as to what that meant. Normally the Seer only saw glimpses of the near future, only days or months before the event. Why was this one so different?
The Alpha gestured to the Seer, encouraging the woman to speak. Stepping forward, she allowed her hood to fall back, the room again growing silent as the woman’s flawless features left them stunned. It was impossible for anyone to ignore the beauty of the Seer.
“I have seen a time and place I do not know,” her voice echoed through the now silent room. “There will come a time when our races are divided. When humans no longer know others walk beside them. They will lose their way...as will we. In that time when hope is lost and our kind hide from the world, whether we be shifter or magick user, children will be born. These children will be half-breeds.”
The room broke out in chaos, shouts from those unwilling to believe what they were hearing. Species did not mix, it was unheard of. Fate had never chosen a mate for anyone that was not their own kind.
“Fates’ rules have changed,” she shouted over the tops of the loud voices. “No longer can we live side by side, yet apart. There will come a time when we must all join together, when there is a threat far greater than any one of us. To keep them at bay, we must be stronger than we are now.”
“When? You say this is so far in the future, but can’t you tell us when?”
“No.” The sadness in her eyes almost palpable. “I do not know the time, but I can tell you that it will be when the White Tiger nears extinction. When the last family line is left in the shifter world, the children born of their matings will bring about a change. They will be a formidable power, bringing the species back together again, making the Earth whole once more. These children will have strength and abilities, the likes of which none have ever seen. However...a great evil will stop at nothing to prevent their births, and if unsuccessful, will be willing to do the unimaginable to ensure they do not survive long enough to fulfil their destinies. Because without these children, that evil will run free, spreading chaos and pain in its very wake.”
The heavy weight of what had been revealed settled on the room. If what the Seer said was truth, then their species would eventually die out, and the last of their kind hunted.
“So what do we do?” someone shouted from the crowd.
The Alpha was the one who stepped forward and answered, “We accept our fate, we open our minds, and we pray that good prevails evil when destiny becomes reality.”
Present Day...
“Reality sucks. What the hell was I thinking?” Summer mumbled, already wishing she had just stayed home to watch TV.
Summer Ashcroft knew the moment she stepped through the door that she had made a stupid mistake. She had spontaneously agreed to attend the annual gala party at Ashcroft and MacKenzie with one of his father’s employees, Brad Nichols. Her father, Richard Ashcroft, started and ran the business with her brother, Chase, and their original partner, Ethan MacKenzie, who had passed away several years ago, leaving his son to take over his part of the partnership. And every year at this time, they held the biggest celebration the town had ever seen. It was the event of the year and everyone turned up.
Summer still couldn’t believe she had agreed to go with Brad. While she had been deflecting his advances for a while now, the last time he had asked her out, Summer had given in and said yes. She had made a point of telling him about her feelings for someone else and there wouldn’t be anything but friendship between them. The man had surprised her by not only accepting her terms, but also admitting that he knew who Summer had feelings for and he would keep her secret. He knew the man she pined for was her mate, and the human had no idea.
Human
. She still couldn’t believe her mate was human, even after all these years. Summer would be lying if she said she wasn’t a little concerned what everyone in the Pride would think. While mixed matings weren’t unheard of, they were rare. Summer was the last female White Tiger. Would they expect her to mate with another tiger in the hopes the gene, which made them faster and stronger, continued? A tiger shifter like Brad?
When she had agreed to go with Brad, Summer thought perhaps if she was seen with him, she could make the object of her affections take notice and realize she was now a woman. Not a child who hung around her daddy’s office, desperate to catch a glimpse of her crush.
For as long as she could remember, Summer had been in love with Evan, but it had only been on her eighteenth birthday when she had realized what that meant. And when her very human mate had wished her good luck with her studies abroad without the slightest hesitation, she had been crushed.
Glancing around, desperate for a peek at the man in question, she noted things were similar to last year. The room in Town Hall was a fairly large space that catered for most of the towns events. New Hope Valley was a quaint small town in the snowy mountain region of New South Wales in Australia, about five hours south of Sydney, and there wasn’t much need for multiple event venues.
Multi-colored decorations were strewn throughout, with little icicle lights hanging from the ceiling. It was as if a bomb had detonated inside a party supply box. Summer had to resist the urge to laugh when she saw the huge ice sculpture of the Coat Of Arms, complete with kangaroo and emu, dominating the centre of the room.
Oh
Lord
.
It was all extremely...well, she didn’t really know what to call what she was seeing, but there was a lot of it. Summer couldn’t have cared less anyway. All she wanted was to find Evan.
“Do you want to go dance?” Brad whispered into her ear. “I bet you could shake it better than a salt shaker.”
Oh, no he didn’t!
Summer gave him, what she hoped was a pleasant smile. “Maybe later.”
All this just to prove something to Evan. Was it really worth it? Oh, who was she kidding, of course it was.
For years now, she had been desperately trying to gain the attention of her father’s partner, Evan MacKenzie. Evan had taken over his family's percentage of the firm after his father had passed away ten years ago. Summer remembered the first time she had met him. She could easily recall the smile on his handsome face, the way his eyes had lit up when he spoke, as if he knew a secret and if someone were lucky enough, he may just share it.
She had been trapped by that look.
She had thought when she came back home from college things would be different. That maybe the man fated to be hers would finally see
her
.
No such luck
. At twenty-five, Summer was a teacher at the local high school, and she was still pining away for someone who didn’t even notice her except for the times he felt the need to point out there was a twelve-year age difference. Her only solace was she had never had to endure seeing him with another woman.
So here she was making an idiot out of herself, with Brad. Summer swore that if he made a grab for her arse one more time, she would be introducing her heel to his. “Brad. We’ve already discussed this. I told you that we were here as friends—only. You know Evan is my mate, so please, stop.”
“Just thought I’d make things interesting. Think of how he’ll react if he sees me making a move on you. And besides, you never know, you might change your mind.” Brad waggled his eyebrows suggestively. The move was probably supposed to be funny, but merely creeped her out.
“I won’t change my mind. I won’t give up on my mate. I’d understand if you wanted to go find fun elsewhere, there will be no hard feelings,” Summer offered, desperately hoping he would take her up on it.
She could smell his lust pouring off him in waves, he was not attempting to mask it, and it made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
Something passed through Brad’s hazel eyes, but it was gone before she could decipher what it was. “No. It’ll be fine.” His tone was a little off as he suggested, “How about I go get us a drink…hmm?”
“Sounds great,” Summer replied, eager for some distance.
When Brad left, Summer took the opportunity to sweep the room again. Her gaze finally zeroed in on Evan, who stood next to her father. At six foot four and roughly two hundred and twenty pounds, the lawyer made quite an imposing figure. The fact that all of that two hundred plus pounds was mainly muscle made him all the more appealing. With dark-brown wavy hair that he kept short and piercing grey eyes that were almost silver, Summer couldn’t help but drool a little. Well, okay a lot. As if he felt her gaze on him, Evan’s head turned in her direction and their eyes met. It seemed like hours passed as they stood there, neither one of them breaking the contact. Summer began to tremble and her breath came quicker as her heartbeat raced frantically. Abruptly, his eyes widened at something behind her, before narrowing when an arm slipped around her waist.
Shocked, Summer yanked herself out of the unwelcome embrace and glared at Brad. He was standing there with a sly look on his face, and as she followed his line of sight she realized Brad was staring directly at Evan. “What the hell was that?”
Brad shrugged. “Just bringing you a drink. Not my fault lover boy wasn’t making a move.”
Her honey-gold eyes narrowed on him. “Bull. You did that on purpose and I just can’t work out why.”
Before Summer got anything further out, she felt a presence at her back, followed by a scent she knew so well. “Bradley. Good to see you, I hope you’re enjoying yourself. Sorry to do this, but I’m going to have to steal Summer for a second.” Brad didn’t look too happy, and turning around, Summer could see the smirk playing at the edges of Evan’s mouth. “Her father’s orders. You understand, right?”
“Sure. I’ll come find
my
date
in a little while.” Brad’s smile appeared forced as he turned and left.
Flicking her long, dark chocolate hair out of her eyes, she gazed up at Evan from her five foot seven height. “What is it tha—”
“You shouldn’t be here with him?” Evan cut her off, his brows furrowed.
Stunned, it took her a moment to respond, “Excuse me?”
Placing his hand on her lower back, Evan nudged her to a more private area behind the partition. She went obediently, reveling in the touch of her mate. “Bradley isn’t the type of guy you should be spending time with, Summer.”
She halted, bristling at his tone. “Really? And pray tell, who should I be spending time with, Evan?”
He frowned, his eyes narrowing. “Not him. It doesn’t look right.”
She couldn’t believe this. Here she was, Evan right up close, and he was still treating her like a child. He obviously wasn’t interested in her but was concerned for what, the image of the company? Like by dating publicly she was giving herself and the firm a bad name. What was this, the friggin' dark ages?
“Now you listen to me, you pompous, self-righteous prick,” she snapped. “I will date who I want, whenever I want. It will not reflect on the firm in anyway, and therefore it is none of your damn business.”
Gearing up for a fight, Summer was taken off guard when Evan suddenly crushed his mouth down onto hers in a searing kiss. Evan claimed her with his lips fiercely, tongues duelling as he wrapped his arm around her waist, dragging her to him. Her cat whimpered at the force behind the man’s kiss, happily submitting to their mate.
God, he tasted good
. Summer’s hands clung to his wide shoulders, digging in as she held on for the ride. A moan escaped her when she tried to draw in breath. She was dizzy with need and want, her pussy clenching at the desire flooding her system.
All too soon, Evan pulled away. Dazed and confused, she tried to regain her bearings. “What was that?” she asked, panting.
“Well, if you have to ask, I must be more out of practice than I thought,” Evan smirked.
Summer let out an exasperated sigh. “I meant the kiss. You’ve never kissed me before.”
Not that I’m complaining.
Hope was rising in her with that kiss. It had been amazing, mind-blowing. Summer couldn’t help but think that perhaps Evan was finally taking notice. Maybe her little plan had worked after all and she could finally claim her mate.
Until his next words shattered that hope. “I was merely showing you there was more out there than whatever Bradley has to offer. Summer, don’t date men like him. You just make yourself seem cheap.” Evan’s concerned expression humiliated her almost as much as his words.
She paled, drawing in a sharp breath. “Cheap,” she whispered.
Summer staggered a little, the word echoing around inside her head. The humiliation was like a cold slap to the face. Unable to even stand the sight of him, she spun on her heels, running for the door. She could hear both Evan and her brother’s calls as she raced past, but ignored them.
Slamming the doors open, she came to a stop at the entrance of the building. She had no idea how she was getting home, but she knew she couldn’t go back in there. Summer couldn’t be anywhere near that ass right now. And to add insult to injury, she had forgotten her jacket, so now she was freezing, which was saying something about the weather given a shifter’s body temperature was naturally higher than most.
“Is everything okay, Summer?” Brad approached her, offering her a drink. Normally she wouldn’t accept, but under the circumstances, she felt it was needed. Chugging the beverage down in one go, Brad eyed her. “Impressive. Either that or well needed.”
“Both,” she laughed, though it sounded hollow to her ears. Her heart had just been broken and stepped on. All she wanted to do was go home and wallow.
“Do you need a ride? I am your date, so I really should see you home,” Brad asked.
Did she really want to get a lift home with him? Right now, she would take any chance to get away from the party.
“Thank you, Brad. That would be great. I’m sorry I wasn’t a good date. Maybe next time we can grab a drink together, as friends?” Summer felt like she owed him something. He had come with her knowing full well that nothing would happen and that she only had eyes for Evan, but she could have tried a little harder for him.
He shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.” His eyes darted to the front door then back to her. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”