Deadly Mates (Deadly Trilogy) (9 page)

“I thought you left,” I said, hating the tremor in my voice.  “I thought you just up and left.”

He frowned.  “I told you I’m not going to give up on you.”

“But your stuff?”  I flailed a frantic hand toward the dresser and then to his missing bed.  Right in that moment I realized something.  Jared wasn’t just the leader of my team.  He wasn’t just my pretend mate.  At some point in the last few days he
had become a friend.  A person that I could count on.

He smirked and chuckled, clearly enjoying my panic, and knowing him, reading something into it that wasn’t there.  “Put it away.  You’re always bitching at me to pick up after myself.”

He was looking down at me in a way that was far too personal.  His hands fell from my face, dipping to my shoulders.  A whole new panic bloomed within my belly.  I took a step back, wanting to put some much needed space in between us.  Jared’s presence in my life might have started to feel comfortable, but he wasn’t home — he never would be.  “Nothing’s changed, Jared,” I said evenly.  “I’m going to tell him today.”

He opened his mouth and he looked as if he were about to protest when I heard someone clear their throat and a familiar gruff voice said, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

I’m not ready for this,
a voice in my head shrieked.  The temperature in the room dropped to freezing.  My stomach twisted, my throat closed up.  Jared turned and backed up a few steps, and I swivelled and blinked.

“Daddy?”  I said.  He looked furious.  I took a step back, right into Jared.  His face was streaked red, his hands balled.  His large frame filled the doorway and his jaw started twitching.  I’d never see
n him like this before.  Never.

His clothes were rumpled, his jeans filled with dirt stains.  Tired lines littered his eyes.  Dad’s lips thinned.  “Get some damn clothes on boy!” he shouted, his fists clenching tighter.

A rock hard lump formed in my throat and the door across the hallway swung open.  “Mr. Shaw, what’s going on?” Marcy asked.  I couldn’t see her past the wall that was my dad.  Dad didn’t turn around, didn’t give any indication that he had heard her.  His face reddened further and his gaze was fixed on Jared.

“Jeff,” Jared said, coolly.  He slipped a possessive hand on my hip.  “Nice of you to finally come home.”

Dad took a step into the room.  He was a big man, burly and thick, but he had never looked so much like a bear before, snarly, angry.  “Don’t test my patience, Jared.”

I brushed Jared’s hand off me and took a step away, my cheeks burning with a flush.  “Daddy, we were just ...”

“In the middle of something,” Jared said, cutting me off.  He snaked an arm around my waist, and pulled me back against him.

“Let go,” I said, tugging at his hand.  His arm was like a vice grip.  Maybe it was the decision I’d made last night, but Jared’s hands on me felt more wrong than they ever had before.  Even my inner-wolf squirmed and
shrunk, wanting away from him.

Act the part!
a voice screamed through my head.  I stiffened, fighting back the growl that worked its way through my chest, and I softened my smile and batted my eyes.  “Daddy, you knew he was living here.  I told you.  I thought you were happy about it.”

His eyes landed on me then, burning like fire.  “And you also told me you were mated, but you’re not.”

Crap! Crap! Crap!
  This was so not the plan.  I sucked in a breath.  He wasn’t supposed to know.  We needed him to believe I was mated. 
Crap! 
I didn’t know what to say.  I sucked in another breath and blurted, “What?  He is my mate.”

He stepped closer.  “Don’t lie to me, Jade.  By now, I’m sure you’ve been told what I am.  I can smell it.  You haven’t mated.  And you’re not going to.  Not with him.”  His blazing gaze rose, looking over my head.  “Now you listen to me closely.  Take your hands off my daughter and call the alpha.  I want him here, now.”  His tone was nothing short of a challenge.

Jared bristled and he growled, long and low, tightening his grip on me.  His muscles started to shudder, rippling beneath his skin.

“Mac,” I shouted.  “Mac, get back in your room and call Aidan!”

~ AIDAN ~

Wind cut through my fur as I broke into a full run.  Her scent was thick in the air, teasing my senses, making my heart race.  She yipped, a playful sound, and I set chase.  I needed to find her.

From the corner of my eye I saw her dash out of the trees.  She skidded to a stop in front of me.  I slowed.  Stopped.  Sunlight streamed through the branches overhead, winking off her midnight black coat.  She licked my nose, and rubbed along my side, before sitting on her haunches in front of me.  Her body trembled.  Her fur receded.  My heart stopped.  Anticipation clawed through me.  If I were human, my palms would have been sweating.  Her face started to shift.  Her smile, shy, but bright, like the sun and the moon basking me in light.

And then my phone rang.

I groaned, sitting straight up.  The phone rang again.  I groped at the nightstand, snagging it up.  I thumbed the screen, brought the phone to my ear, and said, “Aidan.”

“You need to get to Jade’s, like now.”  Marcy’s voice screeched through my groggy brain, and I jerked the phone away, waited for the ringing in my ears to stop before pressing it back in place.

I groaned again.  “Breathe, Mac,” I said, scrubbing at my face.  “What’s going on?”  My voice was thick and heavy with sleep.  I blinked a few times, clearing my fuzzy eyes.

“I can’t breathe.  Mr. Shaw is about to take off Jared’s head.”  She sucked in a loud, shaky breath.  “The team’s not here yet.  Jade’s starting to freak out.  Jared looks like he’s about to shift.  He’s holding onto her, Aidan.  He won’t let her go.”

Shit!
  I was out of bed and yanking on my jeans before she’d finished her tirade. 
This isn’t the plan!
  I launched out of my room, taking the stairs at a run.  “Mac, go to your room, okay?  Lock your door.”  I grabbed my keys off the table and bolted out the door.  “Don’t come out until I get there, no matter what.  Call Dom.  Call the team.  Get them there.  And call your mate.”

“Aidan, she needs ...”

“No,” I snapped, cutting her off.  My chest squeezed tight. 
Shit!  Shit!  Shit!
  I got in my car, and started it up as I sucked in a steadying breath.  “Jade can take care of herself.  Stay in your room.”  I thumbed my phone, and tossed it on the front seat, praying I was right.

~ JADE ~

Dad’s nostrils flared.  He stood deathly still, his blazing gaze fixed on Jared.  Where the heck was Aidan?  It had to have been five minutes since Marcy had retreated, locking her door.  I really didn’t know how much longer I could keep this up.

Dad’s lips thinned.  He waved a hand, beckoning me to him, and I shook my head.  He didn’t try to come closer.  I figured he could see how close Jared was to losing control. 
As it was, he was just barely holding onto his human form.  The tension in the room was suffocating, pressing against me from all sides.  Right then I knew I couldn’t wait any longer.  I needed to calm Jared down.  I needed to act like an alpha.

I turned in Jared’s arms, reaching up, resting a hand on his cheek.  I smirked and said, “No dogs allowed in the house.”

He growled.  His eyes were completely gold, not a speck of the typical black-brown left.  They were fixed on the doorway, on my dad.  His claws dug into my back, sharp enough that I gasped as they shredded through my shirt.  Any harder and he’d break the skin, too.

My imprint heated.  I needed to get his attention, to calm him.  My scent gathered, and I sent out a small short burst.  Jared snapped his gaze to mine.  He growled again.  His muscles rippled.  I grinned, rolled up on my toes, and pressed my lips to his.  His claws dug deeper, and I bit back a screech as a sharp pain shot through my back.  I looked up, my lips still against his, and whispered, “I said no dogs allowed in the house.”

Another growl sounded from behind me.  Lower.  Deeper.  I stiffened.  So did Jared.  A familiar scent filled the air.  My nostrils flared.  Raw power trembled around me.  Jared’s knees buckled.  Another spasm raked through him, rippling against me.  He stiffened and then gave his head a good, thorough shake, and he let his arm fall from me.  His breathing evened out, and darn it, mine quickened.

A short burst of adrenaline rushed through me.  “Aidan, stop!”  The challenge was there, the command clear in my voice.  He was going to ruin everything.  My inner-wolf clawed through me, trying to rip free.  His scent worked through me, stronger, pushing on my nerves, speaking to my inner-wolf in a way only he could.  I spun around as another growl ripped through my room, and my gaze met his.

The alpha.
  I couldn’t breathe. 
The alpha. 
I’d never seen him like this before. 
My alpha.
  His presence filled the room.  His broad shoulders rolled back, his chest puffed out.  Corded muscles lined his neck, shoulders, arms.  I licked my lips, and pulled in a breath. 
Home.

Aidan studied me for a few seconds, and the power and hunger and strength in that stare left me feeling dizzy.
“Jade,” he whispered on a breath.  He held out a hand and I reached for it.  I saw my hand moving, my inner-wolf forcing me forward, and I couldn’t stop it.

Dad barked out a laugh.  It slid through me like ice in my veins, and I stopped mid-step.  He stepped toward me, grabbed my shirt, tugging the neckline down just enough to reveal the burning imprint on my chest.  “So my daughter won the games.”

~ AIDAN ~

Rage pounded through me like a series of waves crashing against my skull.  I couldn’t think.  A growl worked its way out from my chest.  There was another
man, basically naked, pressed against my mate.  Her lips on his.  His claws raking along her back.  The rational part of my brain told me this was okay.  She was playing a part.  She’d confirmed that last night, even if she didn’t know I knew it yet.  The guy holding onto her wasn’t a real threat, but my inner-wolf growled anyway,
I’ll kill him.

Jeff’s voice barely registered in my ears.  I heard nothing but the rage.  Saw nothing but her.  I reached for her, whispered her name.  She froze.  A hand tugged at her shirt.  A thin shine of sweat covered her forehead as she stared down at her imprint, flickering with a soft white glow.

And then a fist swung at me, it connected.  My nose snapped and crunched, and blood rushed down my face.

“Dad!” Jade shouted.  Her voice was panicked, scared.

The rage pounded again.  Harder.  Faster.  Her fear fed it.  I could taste my own blood seeping into my mouth.  My scent thickened.  I had to protect my mate.  Nothing else mattered.  My chest heaved with each breath.  Right then, I was more animal than human.  I grabbed Jeff, tossing him against the wall, the meaty palm of my hand pressed against his throat.

“Aidan, stop it!” Jade commanded.  I felt her voice in my bones, vibrating through me.  She growled.  Her hand wrapped around my wrist, tugging, as she tried to dislodge my
palm from her father’s neck.  “Think!” she screamed.  “You need to think!”

“Take her and get out,” I growled, shifting my gaze to the useless enforcer, standing off to the side of the room with his gaze cast to the floor.  “You touch her, though, and I’ll kill you.”  It was more than a threat; it was a promise.

“Screw off, Aidan,” Jared snarled.  He lifted his head slightly and his face contorted with fury.

I got in his face, tight and fast, dropping my hand from Jeff’s neck.  “You’ll do what I say.”

~ AIDAN ~

My nose throbbed.  Blood still flowed freely down my face.  Jared squared his shoulders, dipped his chin, and let
out a low growl.  The look he gave me was pure challenge.

Every muscle in my body stiffened.  I rolled my shoulders back,
and puffed out my chest only an inch from his.  A growl built in my throat, and in that moment, all I saw was red.

“Jared, you need to go,” Jade said, her tone a sweet melody of power and authority.  She turned to me, jutting her arm between us, and placed a hand firmly on my
heaving chest.  She shoved, trying to push me back a step, and I let her.  “Aidan, you need to calm down.”

My nostrils flared and my throat tightened.  I wanted to rip him apart from limb to limb. 
No one touches my mate.  No one.
Not now.  Not after hearing the truth of how she felt last night.

Jade shoved at me again.  My nerves were on fire, searing within me.  I fixed my gaze on her.  Shivers chased down her shoulders and back.  She was breathing hard and fast, in ragged bursts.  The sight of her shivers broke through the murderous haze that was clouding my brain a little, and instead of launching at Jared and ending him, which yeah, was exactly what I wanted to do, I growled, “Get him out of here.”  My scent ramped up and I hated to admit it, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching Jared shudder under its weight.