His to Seduce (13 page)
Authors: Elena Aitken
No Chloe.
She was in trouble. He knew it with every fiber in his body, just the way he knew that if that mangy wolf had anything to do with it, he’d rip it apart. Luke focused and sniffed the air. She was close.
He followed the scent of his mate around the side of the building and immediately his vision clouded over with rage at what he found. Ackerman, or the wolf he assumed to be Ackerman, stood over his mate. She was knocked unconscious, but Luke knew she was breathing. As for Ackerman, his breath was going to be limited.
Very
limited.
Without bothering to remove his clothes, Luke shifted at the same moment he lunged toward the wolf. The dog turned and looked at him, his lips pulling back over yellow canines in a snarl before he, too, charged.
The two animals met in a flurry of fur, teeth, and claws.
A sharp pain burned Luke’s back leg, but he barely registered the wound as he dove again for Ackerman. Normally an alpha bear and wolf might be an even match, but there was no way Darryl was remotely close to alpha of his pack, never mind the fury of an alpha bear whose mate had been threatened. It didn’t take long for Luke to gain the upper hand in the fight.
With a swipe of his paw, he sent the dog flying into the wall, where he landed with a hard crack, but Luke was out for blood. And he wasn’t going to be satisfied until he had it. He stalked over to his prey and pulled him out into the open.
“Luke!”
Somewhere through his rage, he heard his brother’s voice behind him but he was focused. He stood on his hind legs and let out a roar that shook the ground around him. No one hurt his mate and Luke was going to make damn sure he made that clear. He bared his teeth and eyed the dirty fur that covered the wolf’s neck.
“Stop!”
Luke froze.
Chloe.
He turned his heavy head and looked into Chloe’s eyes. Brian and Kade helped her stand and she leaned on Kade for support. “Don’t, Luke. Don’t hurt him.”
He growled.
“He’s not worth it.”
Luke looked back to Darryl, who’d shifted back into his human form. He looked even more pathetic lying naked on the ground, fear blazing in his eyes, blood dripping from his shoulder and face. Luke growled again and turned, his eyes locked on his mate.
“He admitted everything,” she said.
“You can’t prove anything, bitch.”
Without looking, Luke swiped a paw in Darryl’s direction and tossed him like a rag doll a few feet away, where he landed with a thud.
“You deserved that, asshole,” Kade said.
Luke stalked over to his prey, still not convinced he should spare the idiot.
“I recorded it on my phone,” Chloe said. “It’s all here.” She held up her phone.
“Is it true?” Blackwood walked over to where his cousin lay and looked down at him. “Did you do it? Did you betray our friends?”
“Friends?” Darryl spat and sat up. “They’re bears. And they’re taking your business. I did what I had to.”
“You’re an idiot,” Brian said. “I should let you end him right now.” He looked at Luke, who was still ready to finish the job.
He wanted to. He wanted nothing more than to raise his paw and wipe the lowlife right out of existence. He looked over at his mate. She waited. He knew she wouldn’t try to stop him. She knew him too well. Even though they hadn’t even known each other a month, she knew him. More than anyone ever had, Chloe knew him. The very heart of him. And although she knew him well enough to know that if he needed to take care of Ackerman in order to feel as though he’d handled the situation, that’s what he needed to do. But judging by the look in her eyes, she also knew that he wouldn’t do it.
He couldn’t. Not for this. But if he ever laid a hand on his mate again, the situation might be different.
With one more look in Chloe’s direction, Luke turned back to his victim lying beneath him. He raised a heavy paw and with tempered force, swung at Darryl, who went skittering across the pavement and into a pile of garbage bags. Satisfied with the noise the wolf made, Luke made his way around the corner and to his truck, where he’d left a spare set of clothes.
D
ecember
W
hen Chloe decided
to surprise Luke by catching an earlier flight so she would be home two days earlier, she hadn’t factored in what the weather in Montana in December could be like. She was thankful that she decided to rent a Jeep at the airport to make the drive. The four-wheel drive was definitely coming in handy as she navigated the treacherous mountain roads on the way to Grizzly Ridge. But despite the danger the snow brought, it sure was gorgeous. And nothing was more Christmasy than a snowy mountain lodge.
It was certainly different from the last holiday season she’d spent holed up in a hotel room in Florida. She could have gone home, but it seemed easier to stay and work instead of dealing with the questions from her family about why she was still single and working all the time. This Christmas would be different. Very different. In only a few weeks, Chloe would be spending her very first Christmas as a mated woman.
It still sounded so strange to her, but it definitely didn’t feel strange. In the few months that she and Luke had mated and made the decision for her to stay at the Ridge with him, everything felt right. Really right. Especially now as she pulled the Jeep into the snow-filled driveway in front of the Den.
The lights were already on even though it was still early, but with the snow landing on the peaks of the log building, covering the lights, the glow was magical. She could picture the oversized tree they’d put up the week before she’d left. They’d all gone out in the woods to cut it down together and spent the rest of the day decorating. Chloe had never felt such a sense of family as she had with the Jackson clan. She could picture them now, probably spending the afternoon all enjoying an afternoon of no guests, sitting by the fireplace in the main room.
And that’s just where she was headed.
She left her bags in the Jeep and picked her way through the building snow to the main door of the Den. Just as she’d expected, the fire was going when she opened the door.
“Hello?”
Chloe had barely gotten in the front door when Harper jumped up from the couch and ran to her, pulling her into a huge hug.
“You’re back! And early, too.” She squeezed Chloe tighter than she would have thought possible. “You’re so sneaky.”
Chloe wiggled her way out of Harper’s embrace. “I don’t know about sneaky. But I did want to try to surprise Luke. Where is he?” She tried to sneak a glance over the other woman’s shoulder.
Harper waved her arm in the air. “He’s in the kitchen. They’re having a brother meeting. Something about Kade needing help and not wanting it. Axel got sick of him complaining so he put an ad out for a cook.”
“No way.” For all the complaining Kade did about his time in the kitchen, everyone knew he also took a great deal of pride in his work there, too. Chloe couldn’t imagine that he’d be very excited about having someone else come in and take over. “How’d he take that?”
“About as well as you’d expect.” Harper laughed and yanked Chloe’s hand. “Now come sit and tell me about your trip. We’ll only have a few minutes before Luke realizes you’re here and drags you off to your cabin to have his way with you, and I’ll lose all chance for girl talk.”
Chloe laughed because it was both true and an exaggeration. Luke would most definitely drag her off—at least, if she had her way—but she also did plan to have a lot of time for girl talk. At least until after Christmas, when she’d be traveling again. But she let Harper pull her to the couch anyway. They’d become even closer once Chloe moved to the Ridge and once they got over their initial rocky start when Chloe had been less than friendly with her. As it turned out, Harper was more than willing to overlook it, especially considering she also hadn’t been herself.
Harper rubbed her stomach and sat on the couch next to Chloe.
“How are you feeling?” It turned out that when everyone else was busy taking down Ackerman, Harper was bedridden with the worst morning sickness anyone had ever seen. Of course, they didn’t know that until afterward and she took a pregnancy test. The whole thing had come as a surprise, for no one more than Harper herself. “You look so much better.” Chloe slapped a hand to her mouth. “Not that you didn’t look amazing before, but—”
“I know what you mean. And I did look terrible.” Harper laughed. “Let me tell you, this little cub is certainly putting the love of a mother to the test long before he makes his appearance.”
“It’s a—”
“We don’t actually know yet. It’s too early. But I have a feeling he’ll be just like his father.” Tears sprang to Harper’s eyes and she didn’t bother to wipe them away.
“Harper.” Chloe jumped up and handed her friend a tissue. “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”
Her friend waved her hand, dismissing her tears, and she blew loudly into the tissue. “I’m fine. It’s just…well, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to have a cub, you know? I mean, I’m only half-blooded and Axel’s just so happy. A doting dad already. It’s all so overwhelming. Especially because pregnancy hormones are nothing to be messed with, especially when you’re pregnant with a bear.”
Chloe laughed. “I can’t even imagine.”
“But you will, right?” Harper’s hand clamped down on Chloe’s arm. “I mean, you guys will have cubs, won’t you?”
She couldn’t answer her friend, because the truth was, she hadn’t thought of it. At least not in any real sense. She’d been so busy just spending time with Luke and finding the balance between work life and home life that she hadn’t considered adding anything else into the mix. The idea wasn’t totally off-putting, however; not the way it would have been six months ago. But a lot had changed, and judging by the warm feeling growing in the pit of her stomach at the idea of having a cub of her own, obviously her opinion on children had changed as well.
“Harper, Axel wants to—”
The women swung their heads around at the sound of Luke’s voice. The words died on his lips when he saw Chloe and a smile split across his face. She jumped up and ran to him, happy to be back in his arms.
He held her tight and kissed her hard as if he hadn’t set eyes on her in months instead of only a week. “What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t coming back for two more days?”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“Well, you did.” He kissed her nose and let his hands slide down to her backside and his mark the way they always did. “And I couldn’t be happier about it.”
He kissed her again and Chloe let her hands slide up into his hair to hold him even closer. She never failed to heat up immediately for him. He sparked something in her that had never before been lit and she was definitely not in a hurry to douse that flame.
“Get a room, you two.”
She’d totally forgotten about Harper. Chloe pulled away, but didn’t let go of her man. “Happily.”
Harper laughed. “Go for it. But first, what were you going to tell me, Luke?”
Luke’s eyes clouded with confusion for a moment before they cleared as he remembered his purpose of coming to talk to her. “Right. I was going to tell you that Axel wanted you to help him in the kitchen. Kade got mad and stormed out, so it’s just going to be us for dinner, and…” He drifted off, looking into Chloe’s eyes. “Correction,” he said. “It will only be you two for dinner. I think Chloe and I can cook something up ourselves.”
“I’m sure you can.” Harper shook her head and pushed up from the couch. “You guys shouldn’t have let Kade out there on his own, though. The storm’s getting worse.”
“I’m afraid that whatever’s going on outside doesn’t come close to the storm waging inside him.” The concern for his little brother weighed heavily on Luke. It did on both of the Jackson brothers. But Kade was the only one who’d be able to help himself. And that was only if he decided he wanted help. Until then, there was nothing anyone could do.
“Well, I’ll leave you two alone and go get my mate to cook something up for me and his cub.” Harper rubbed her tummy again and gave Chloe’s arm a quick squeeze as she passed. “I’m glad you’re home.”
When Harper was gone, Luke pulled Chloe back into his arms. “I’m glad you’re home, too. I missed you.” Their kiss was slow and sweet. “I always miss you.”
“I always come home,” she said. “And I always will.”
“It makes me so happy to know the Ridge has become home for you.”
“Of course. I love it here and more importantly, I love you and your brothers and Harper. And I’m going to love all the little cubs running around, too.”
“Cubs?” He raised an eyebrow at her.
The little warm glow in her tummy lit up again and before she could stop herself, she said, “Well, maybe one day we could…”
Luke laughed. “Cubs?”
She nodded. “Think you could handle it?”
“Little versions of you and me running around?” He shook his head, but the grin on his face gave him away. “I think I could handle it.” He squeezed her bottom again, his thumb tracing the lines of his mark through the fabric of her pants. “One day, yes. But right now I definitely have my hands full, don’t you think?”
Chloe reached up and kissed him full on the mouth. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
THE END
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If you enjoyed His to Seduce, you’ll probably like the next in the series, His to Claim coming Spring 2016. Read a raw unedited sneak peek at the end of this book! While you are waiting check out Elena’s series, The Springs by starting with
Summer of Change
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B
ears of Grizzly Ridge
His to Seduce
His to Claim (Spring 2016)
C
astle Mountain Lodge
Unexpected Endings - Short Story
Holiday Gifts
A Castle Lodge Collection (Books 1-5)
T
he Springs Series
T
he Springs
—Stone Summit