Mated (14 page)

Why weren’t they in their fur? They couldn’t be out like this on a full moon night in human form unless they’d fed first. He looked at them suspiciously, anger creasing his brow.

Mara put her hands up defensively, “I know we aren’t supposed to hunt in Cary Town, but we stayed away from everything and were quick. We needed to hunt before we came to find you.”

Cole let out a breath. “What’s wrong?”

“Jane. She needs you. She’s in pain.”

“What?”

“From leaving the mating incomplete,” Mara said.

“What?!?” What was she talking about? He’d never heard of such a thing, but Mara knew mating like the back of her hand. She’d studied it and had charts and pie graphs. Now he wished he’d listened to her blabbering.

His expression grew angry as she explained the situation. “And you left her alone in the den?”

Blake shifted on his feet a little, but Cole noticed and growled. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“I gave her the code,” he mumbled.

“You WHAT?”

“She was in distress. She begged. You know what a softie I am if a woman’s upset.”

Cole didn’t have time to listen to his beta’s excuses.

As he ran down the street through Cain’s territory, the demon poked his head out of a nearby tent. “Found the hunter yet?”

He rounded on the incubus and punched him in the nose, “NO! And if my mate dies because you wouldn’t tell me the name, I will find a way to make your life hell.”

He chuckled and wiped the blood off his face. “Too late. Demon, here. Good luck.” He disappeared back inside the tent, and Cole wished, not for the first time, that there was a way to kill a demon.

If Jane died, he’d find a spell to pay Cain back. He should have found a magic user who could torture the hell out of him until he talked, but he’d thought he could avoid that messiness. Cain was a necessary evil at the moment if the pack wanted to retain their autonomy.

He exited the portal on the other side and raced to the den. The scent of Jane’s blood hit him, and he felt a sickness sweep over him so strong he stumbled. He punched in the code, terrified of what he’d find.

He was relieved to find no body. Without the sound of her heartbeat, an empty den was the best-case scenario. The den was in disarray with end tables and books knocked over on the floor. He spotted the syringe in the trash can by the sofa and picked it up, inhaling the sickly sweet poison.

He recognized the scent immediately. It was a drug some werewolves and other therians used to resist the change. But it was dangerous. A wolf could become dependent and lose the ability to control the change, shifting without warning. It wasn’t worth the risk, and Cole had warned the pack when he’d heard the drug was being sold.

Someone hadn’t listened.

His eyes scanned the den, but he knew Jane wouldn’t be there. She’d been moved. And she was bleeding. He shifted back into his fur.

He’d gone three miles before the trail stopped on the edge of town at an old abandoned church. The windows were cracked and broken.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
He stared at the building, aware of the trap waiting inside and knowing he had no choice but to walk into it.

He pushed open the heavy rotting door with his nose and stepped just inside, working hard to change back to reclaim his human form. He had to maintain control. Whatever it took, he had to hold onto his humanity so the vision he’d painted wouldn’t come true.

The church pews had been cleared out. A dome window in the center of the ceiling caused moonlight to shine brightly into the circle creating a halo of light around his mate. The scent of Jane’s blood, fear, and pain almost knocked him over.

She was tied to a chair in the middle of the circle, bleeding heavily from multiple cuts criss-crossing her arms and legs. Rhonda stepped out from behind the shadows into the full moon light, smiling brightly.

“Ta da. No change.” She twirled in a slutty little red dress.

Cole growled. “I found the syringe.”

“You stopped to investigate the crime scene? Well, that’s a shame. Our sweet little Jane could have bled to death waiting for you. She still might.”

How can it be Rhonda?
Cole tried to wrap his mind around the fact that the pack member he’d always kept safely protected under his wing, had taken his mate and carved her up like a Christmas turkey.

He’d believed her experience as the omega, always picked on, always the weak one, needing his protection, would have made her at least sympathetic. He hadn’t realized how desperate she’d become where he was concerned, and the responsibility of his carelessness weighed down on him.

“Where’s the knife?”

“Come on, Cole. She’s just a human. Part of a complete and balanced breakfast.”

He was keenly aware of how much blood Jane was losing. “You’ve been hunting humans.” He was somewhat relieved there wasn’t a second wolf to worry about. He watched her hand move as the silver flickered in the moonlight.

“They’re very tasty. You should try one. Try Jane. I wrapped her up for you.”

“Never.”

“Oh admit it . . . when you found my present all laid out pretty for you in the woods, a part of you thought ‘dinner.’ ”

Cole dove for Rhonda, but she’d been waiting for it. She tossed the knife into the center of the circle. Jane stretched her arm as far as she could, straining against her bonds. Cole could see the ropes digging into her circulation as she struggled, but she was still too far from the blade that could set her free.

***

Jane had felt his presence before she saw his face. The pain from the incomplete mating vanished, and a wave of calm washed over her. It didn’t matter that they were in position to act out Cole’s painting. She didn’t believe it was true. Couldn’t believe it.

Whatever he’d seen, it was wrong. Cole wouldn’t hurt her. He was her mate. Or would be.

“Cole, help me!” she cried.

Rhonda moved behind him and stage-whispered in his ear loud enough for Jane to hear. “She’s just a human. Kill her, and let the blood lust take you. Then join with me.”

“You’re sick,” he said.

Rhonda’s laughter rang out like a peal of bells. “Perhaps, but she doesn’t have long.
Something
has to stop the bleeding. You going to stand there and watch her die?”

He backhanded the crazed wolf, sending her sailing across the floor. Rhonda struggled to her feet, wiping the blood off her face with the back of her hand.

“Foreplay, baby? You can watch her bleed out, or you can kill her yourself. Be merciful, and stop her pain. Either way, she’ll die tonight. If you do it, you’ll be so high from her blood, you’ll mark me in the frenzy.”

Cole let out a disgusted sound halfway between a snort and a growl. “You’d really want to be mated that way? You’d want me to hate you forever? You’re not my true mate, Rhonda.”

“I am,” Jane said, “Now get in here and help me. Ignore the psycho bitch.”

He turned back to Jane, a hundred emotions engaged in a battle across his features. “When the moonlight hits me, I
will
shift.”

“So?”

He paced like a caged beast in the shadows, carefully skirting the pool of moonlight. “You don’t understand. It’s me. The vision is me. I won’t be able to resist your blood.”

Jane’s eyes locked with his. “Cole, I am bleeding to death. Rhonda’s right. You’ve got to take the chance. I trust you. I’m not scared of you.”

“Awww. This is sweet,” the psycho bitch said.

Cole took a steadying breath and stepped into the circle. The shift came on the second the moonlight touched his skin. Jane watched, mesmerized, as his shape extended and shrank, changing until everything was fur and claws and teeth. His nostrils flared to scent the air. He growled at her, more wolf than man.

But Jane couldn’t call forth anxiety in her mate’s presence. Her body recognized him as hers, and she knew, somewhere beneath the animal, Cole recognized her in the same way.

He was much bigger than she’d expected him to be, larger than a normal wolf. Or maybe she’d just never been so close to one before. His fur stood on end as he continued to growl at her, crouched low, ready to pounce.

“Cole,” she said quietly.

He stopped growling and cocked his head to the side as if trying to determine how he knew that voice.

She crooked a finger at him. “I know you’re in there. You know I’m yours.”

He paced and whimpered as he scented the air.
That’s good. If he’s not rushing to tear me to pieces it means he’s at least a little aware of who I am.

“You have to take the risk or I’ll die. Remember what you said about finding, then losing your mate? That
will
happen if you don’t come over here and stop the bleeding.” Her voice weakened as she spoke.

His ears perked up at her warning, and he hesitantly crossed the floor to where she sat bound to the chair. Before he reached her, Rhonda spoke.

“Kill. Feed. That’s dinner, Cole.”

He growled at Jane and edged closer, his attention shifting to feeding and maiming.

“You fucking bitch,” Jane said. “Cole, ignore her. She’s trying to kill your mate.”

At the word,
mate
, he cocked his head to the side again as if he were trying hard to think things through and puzzle out what that word meant to him.

“Cole, if I die here, I won’t blame you. But I don’t want to leave you. So you have to pull it together.”

She stretched her hand out to him, and he closed the distance between them. His tongue flicked out experimentally to taste the blood dripping over her arm as if trying to decide what to do with her. He growled low in his throat as he continued lapping at her cuts.

Jane started to run her fingers through his fur. The action seemed to soothe him, and the growling subsided.

“What are you waiting for? Rip the little bitch apart,” Rhonda shouted.

The wolf’s head jerked up. His eyes narrowed on the omega, and he growled.

“I think you want to shut up now,” Jane said, her fingers still stroking through her mate’s fur. Cole let out a short grunt and went back to the business of sealing her wounds.

When he finished, he gnawed through the ropes that bound her hands and dragged her out of the circle of moonlight into the waiting safety of the shadows. Then he shifted back. His hand cupped Jane’s face, his thumb brushing a strand of hair away. Guilt shone out of his warm brown eyes.

“I’m so sorry. I should have marked you. You would never have been in danger from me if I had.”

Jane nodded. “It’s okay. I asked you not to.”

“I could have killed you. You’ll never know how close I was to ripping you apart. If I’d smelled any fear on you, I wouldn’t have been able to stop.” He dropped his head into his hands.

She pulled his hands away from his face and wrapped her arms around him. “You didn’t though. That’s the only thing that matters.”

He returned the embrace, then reluctantly pulled free of her. “Let me finish this, and then I’ll take care of you.”

He turned to face Rhonda who hadn’t had the good sense to flee when he’d been distracted. She stood at the front of the church, trembling, her hands outstretched in supplication.

“Cole . . . ” She knelt, offering her throat. Submitting to her alpha. Too late for that.

“There is no forgiveness for what you’ve just done. You’ve endangered my mate.”

“You hadn’t marked her. I didn’t know.” She was shaking.

“Jane, could you hand me the knife?”

She went quietly to the center of the circle and retrieved the knife, placing it in his outstretched hand.

“You can go outside if you don’t want to see this.”

She nodded and made a hasty exit.

***

He knew she’d take the opportunity to leave the church. For all Rhonda had done to her that night, Jane still couldn’t watch him kill someone shaped like a human. But it had to be done. He waited until he’d heard her footsteps recede and the door click quietly shut behind her.

He turned back to the wolf cowering before him.

“Cole, please don’t do this. I’m sorry. You can’t kill me. You know you can’t. I’m like a sister to you, remember?”

The wolf sighed. “Rhonda, you know I’ve always loved you. I’ve thought of you as family since we were pups. I’ve protected you. And this is how you repay me? By trying to destroy my life?”

“I love you,” she said.

“No. You love Rhonda. You knew how I felt about Jane, and you tried to make me kill her. How were you going to get me to start the mating process in all of that?”

He watched as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a bottle. He snatched it from her trembling hand and read the label. She’d pulled out all the stops. It was a love potion designed for therians to intensify the pheromones.