Un.Bridled (Claimed Series #2) (27 page)

“You’re so young. Really, still just a pup. Based off your reputation I gathered from your pack members, I was imagining someone older.” Her words could have been cruel, but her tone was warm and humorous.

Most female werewolves stopped aging at their prime, commonly around their mid-twenties or earlier thirties. Hayden knew how to spot fully-grown females based on their womanly curves and their fully developed features. Compared to Addie and the other women, Hayden felt as if her youthfulness stood out like a sore thumb.

She’d never felt insecure about her age before, as it had never seemed to be an issue for the werewolves in Albertville. But Hayden couldn’t help but to wonder why she felt her age was significant in front of Celeste.

“Hayden is an exceptional Alpha for her age.” A warm hand curled around her shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. “I have never seen such potential in one so young.”

Like a giddy schoolgirl, Hayden’s pulse skipped a beat at Cole’s firm protection. She leaned into him, thanking him silently, but wondering when she had ever relied on Cole to fight her battles.

“You are nothing but a pup yourself, Cole.” Though Celeste addressed Cole, she didn’t look away from Hayden. “I must reiterate myself. I did not mean it as an insult. I am only impressed with your resilience for someone so young. It took me many decades to establish myself. And you were
Sired by a rogue—”

Cole was already steering Hayden away from Celeste and deeper into the cabin. “As much as we’d like to stay and catch up, I’m afraid
Hayden and I need to eat and get some rest,” he said from over his shoulder. “We will finish this conversation tomorrow.”

The rest of the pack quickly shuffled after them, evidently eager to retreat just as much as Cole. Hayden frowned at his insistence,
their
insistence. Though she was just as tired as Cole, she didn’t share his resolution of leaving Celeste and her pack without properly introducing themselves.

Personally, she thought Celeste was a pleasant surprise. And Hayden was determined to get to know the woman without the pack’s opinion clouding her judgment. Hayden had already learned her lesson once when it came to quick opinions.

“I made some pot pies.” Addie scurried ahead of Cole and led the way towards the kitchen. She ushered Hayden to the distressed oak kitchen bar. “I’m afraid we only have one room vacated. We can rearrange bedrooms so—”

“Hayden and I will share a room,” Cole interrupted coolly. 

Addie stilled and gave a disapproving look at Cole, the rest of the pack either amused or equally scandalized. “Cole—”

“Keep in mind we’ve been alone in the woods for quite some time.” Cole sat down next to a motionless Hayden. “We are both consenting adults.”

Hayden was truly speechless at his boldness. She hadn’t expected him to defend his decision in front of the others. It seemed, now that Cole made his intentions known to Hayden, he wasn’t going to sugarcoat it in front of the others either.

To her dismay, Fergus and Blake were whispering to each other near the other end of the kitchen, trying to muffle their snickers. Nathan looked on contemptuously, either unimpressed with his brother’s actions or repulsed with Cole’s insinuating.

Conflicted, Hayden simply cleared her throat. “Is that chicken or beef pot pie?”

Blake and Fergus erupted in another fit of chuckles, clearly having expected her to argue with Cole about the sleeping arrangements. Hayden tried to ignore them, but the tips of her ears warmed. Not only was she standing by and letting Cole fight her battles for her, but she was also letting him make decisions for her.

She knew getting involved with Cole would result in something like this.

When she hadn’t known they were life mates, she had accepted and even enjoyed their mutual attraction. What had made the situation even more enjoyable was Cole’s reluctance to return her advances. She’d felt in control, content.

Now that she knew the circumstances surrounding their relationship, and now that Cole was actively pursuing it, Hayden felt vulnerable. She didn’t like that feeling, especially considering her strong will was something she respected about herself.

From the way she looked at it, Hayden was faced with two choices. She could continue keeping Cole at arm’s length and reject their bond. It would certainly give her an unlimited amount of control, but it would also be the easy way out and probably the least satisfying.

Her second option was more of a challenge. She would have to learn to live with the intensity of their bond, and above all else, she would need to learn how to keep her footing in the face of Cole’s oppressing aura.

Glancing at the Alpha from the corner of her eye, Hayden contemplated that she always preferred a challenge. But then again, she had never accepted a challenge with such permanent consequences.

One of the benefits to sharing a room with Cole was that he knew why she had dreams and he did not coddle her for it. If she found herself trapped in a nightmare’s crushing hold, Cole would always rouse her with a firm shake. 

Though he was firm with her, he was never cruel. His touch lingered with enough compassion to calm Hayden’s racing pulse. She would lay awake for a while after, always comforted with Cole’s unmoving presence at her back.

He had to have his own nightmares, especially after the massacre they encountered on their way to the cabin. He would understand more than anyone that company, not words, was the only way to soothe away the haunting memories.

But there were just as many drawbacks to sharing a room with
Cole as there were benefits. Hayden discovered those drawbacks as soon as Cole’s wandering fingers roused her from her sleep.

She hadn’t thought sharing a bed with him would be any different from sharing the same nesting area during the full moons. But she had greatly overestimated Cole’s self-control and she had underestimated her own willingness when it came to physical touch.

With ridiculous confidence, his hand ventured over her hip and around the front of her stomach. Fingers teased the hem of her shirt before they slipped assertively underneath. Hayden’s body jerked as his fingers roamed across a particularly ticklish area across her abdomen and near her hipbone.

Despite her best efforts to muffle it, a laugh slipped past her defenses.

With his hand hovering over her ribcage, Cole shifted and pressed more firmly against her backside. “I didn’t know you were so ticklish,” he whispered across her turned cheek.

Hayden smiled as he nuzzled her cheek, his stubble always sending shock-like jolts down her spine. His hand continued to trace lightly over her curves, and if the caress didn’t make her wolf stretch in pleasure, she would have pulled back long ago, knowing this could only lead to trouble.

Immediately after drawing Hayden into his chest, his hand began to grow bolder. Just as his fingers skimmed the underside of her breast, his lips descended to the column of her neck and began raining fervent kisses down her jugular vein.

Hayden could feel her pulse accelerate at his obsessive attention. Her hold on reality began slipping, but she held on to it with fierce determination. Distinctively, she remembered the vow she made to herself last night.

She needed to keep her footing, especially when Cole grew too overbearing.

Curling her hands around his wrists, she forcibly put a stop to his mischief. As she turned around to face him, she was surprised to see Cole already watching her, a roguish grin in place. His eyes were half-lidded with arousal and challenge, as if he knew her intentions not to fall submissive to his touch.

In his gaze, he dared her to rise up to the challenge, and Hayden intended to meet that challenge head on.

Gathering her control, she closed the distance between them and pressed her lips against his. Her hands boldly roamed his face and down his thick neck. His body was coiled, tense, and nothing seemed soft about him. As her fingertips traced over his chest and abdomen, she marveled at the indentations and thick ropes of muscle.

He cupped her face and deepened the kiss, moaning appreciatively into her mouth as her fingers pressed and splayed across his body. 

When Hayden’s exploration brought her to the waistline of his shorts, she tugged playfully at them, slipping a fingernail past the waistband and scratching against his hipbone.

It
was
a lot more fun when she had a semblance of control.

Cole pulled back, his pupils dilated. Flashing a canine-filled grin, he tightened his hold on her face, keeping her captive. “Are you sure you really want to do that?” His husky tone carried a promise. There would be consequences if she chose to continue.

A part of her wanted to see what he would do…

“
Good morning!
”

Hayden’s eyes widened as the door slammed opened. She shot away from Cole and rolled to the opposite edge of the bed, feigning sleep. With one eye squinted open, she watched as Blake strolled inside and plopped on the bed between her and Cole.

“I hope we’re not interrupting anything…” Blake used his heels to push himself further up the bed, resembling a caterpillar as his body inched to a stop against the pillows.

His timing was always impeccable.

The beta threw his arms around both Cole and Hayden, looking first to his Alpha. When a deep, threatening growl rumbled in Cole’s chest, Blake abruptly removed his arm and curled closer to Hayden.

“Was he taking advantage of your innocence, Hayden?” Blake whispered mockingly against the cocoon of sheets Hayden had wrapped around herself.

She closed her eyes and smiled against her pillow. Before she could formulate a proper response, her bed dipped again, this time on her other side. Her blankets were tugged down and a yellow, toothy grin flashed before her eyes.

“You have a big bed,” Fergus exclaimed, adjusting his position until he was comfortable. “The bed I share with Blake is too small.”

“It’s the same size, you idiot. You just take up all the room!” Blake threw a pillow in Fergus’ direction, the lanky twin clumsily trying to dodge it. “Your cold, clammy feet constantly grope me at night.”

“I doubt you would notice my feet when you’re snoring so much. You could be imagining things.” Fergus tugged sullenly at the blankets.

“Yeah, well, at least I brush my teeth at night. I don’t wake up with breath as foul as yours.”

Hayden looked between the two, amused despite
herself. There may be benefits to sharing a room with Cole, but something told Hayden a roommate like Blake or Fergus wouldn’t be a bad alternative.

“Everyone has bad breath in the morning. You aren’t a special exception.”

“Is there a reason behind this visit?” Cole interrupted before Blake could make another retort. He sounded weary and short-tempered.

Considering what activities Blake interrupted this morning, Hayden couldn’t blame him.

“A pack meeting,” Blake responded, as if it were common knowledge. “Addie and Nathan are bringing in the breakfast.
I
personally wanted to start the meeting earlier, but Addie insisted we let you two sleep-in after your ordeal. But clearly, you weren’t doing much sleeping.”

“What were they doing?” Fergus inquired, truly curious.

Addie’s sudden appearance was god sent. And even Nathan, who trailed behind her with a stack of plates, was a welcoming sight. Hayden sat up between Blake and Fergus, grateful they had interrupted a potentially mortifying conversation.

Against her better judgment, she met Cole’s eyes over Blake’s shoulder. He was watching her, his expression unhappy, yet bitter acceptance eventually took its place.  

“Waffles.” Addie smiled at Cole and Hayden, knowing exactly what she interrupted and pleased with her timing. “Homemade. I hope you don’t mind if we eat in here, Cole. It will give us more privacy.”

Without waiting for further initiative, Addie plopped down the tray of towering waffles. They were piled at least two feet high and several were toppling dangerously off the top. A plate of sausage links were stacked just as high, their spicy aroma making Hayden’s stomach churn hungrily.

“I say we get the hell out of here,” Blake voiced his opinion first, somehow managing to speak clearly despite the sausage lodged in his mouth. “This is what Nicolas wanted, for the packs to be separated and vulnerable.”

Nathan sat stiffly on the armchair across the room, choosing not to partake in the breakfast-in-bed festivity. “Even if that was true, even if they somehow managed to manipulate the Hunters to chase us out of town, we
aren’t
alone.” He looked at Cole, bypassing everyone as if they were of little significance. “Celeste has numbers and she has numbers who can fight, even if they are female.”

Hayden’s eye twitched at his comment, but she bit off a piece of sausage to muffle her retort. She’d let that slide.
Just this once.

“What are you saying?” Blake folded a waffle and dunked it into the mug of hot syrup. “We should stay here
?!” He scoffed and shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Keep your voices down.” Cole had the ability to silence a room on instant, though he never raised his voice to do so.

Hayden watched him from the corner of her eye, noticing his unique stance in the conversation. He was the mediator, not the one contributing. Although he was the deciding vote, he was allowing the pack to offer their input first.

With Cole’s decision to listen to both sides, Hayden finally realized that Nathan wasn’t simply a damper on the pack. He was a unique and opposing voice to Blake. And considering Cole believed Nathan had the potential to be an Alpha, Hayden figured she could
try
to give more consideration to what Nathan had to say.

At Blake’s challenge, Nathan inflated physically. His shoulders rolled and his forearms crossed defiantly over his chest. “Out of the entire pack, I would have thought
you’d
be ecstatic to be surrounded by so many females.”

Blake paused abruptly. “They aren’t females, they’re
Amazon
beasts.”

“Hey,” Hayden interrupted, no longer able to sit aside and listen as they criticized Celeste’s pack. “Are you saying that a woman who knows how to fight is no longer a female?”

Blake blanched at the scowl Hayden sent him and raised his hands in defense. Next to him, Fergus snickered. “I’m saying a woman who knows how to fight is dead sexy,” Blake corrected. “
You’re
sexy—”

He sent a frantic look at Cole, who stared back at him with a predator’s lazy intensity. Any further over the line and Blake would receive the other end of Cole’s fist.

“What I’m trying to say is that you still possess female qualities.” Blake sat rigidly, busying himself with double-dipping his waffle in the syrup. “These women
hate
men.”

“I couldn’t imagine why,” Hayden muttered dryly.

“I have to agree with Blake.” Surprisingly, it was Addie who spoke in Blake’s defense. She was perched at the edge of the bed, the only one in the pack willing to sit so close to Cole after this morning’s interruption. “I wouldn’t go so far as to call them Amazon beasts, but Celeste has little respect for men. She installs that same contempt into the females that follow her.”

A sharp
snap
suddenly resonated across the room and small drops of sausage juice spit across Hayden’s face. She blinked in disbelief and turned to see Fergus leaning close to her, the sausage in question now a pulverized mess in his mouth.

“You wouldn’t leave the pack to join Celeste. Would you, Hayden?”

Blake reached over and slapped Fergus’ head. “Way to be subtle, idiot.”

If it were just Fergus who voiced the ridiculous notion, Hayden would have dismissed it. But as she looked around the pack, she saw Fergus’ doubts mirrored back at her on the others’ expressions. Addie’s odd comment last night, about Hayden liking Celeste
too
much, suddenly made sense.

She exhaled once in disbelief. “I don’t know whether to feel as if I should reassure all of you or be angry that you’d even think I’d leave you guys.” Hayden looked at Cole especially, unable to believe he would think so lowly of her.

Last night, when Blake and Nathan informed Cole of Celeste’s presence, she remembered him looking at her with uncertainty. Even then, even after just learning about Celeste, he immediately drew the conclusion that Hayden might abandon the pack.

It was insulting.

“How could you think I would leave after everything we’ve gone through?” Cole received the brunt of her anger, but he only stared back indolently, not saying anything to interrupt her tirade. “Do you think I despise men enough to leave the pack?”

“You
have
shown a particular resentment toward the males in your life…” Nathan suggested mildly. “I would think you would be a very good fit for Celeste’s pack.”

Cole raised a hand to halt Nathan, yet he kept his eyes on Hayden. “You are a very independent and strong female, Hayden. Celeste would be interested in having you in her pack.” He paused, but before Hayden could interrupt, he continued. “I am not so much worried about your loyalty as I am about Celeste’s ability to manipulate and seduce you to her pack.”

Hayden shook her head, not at all reassured and only incensed further. “You may not worry about my loyalty, but you sure as hell underestimate my own willpower.”

She channeled her anger through her gaze. Only when he comprehended the extent of her fury did she turn her cheek, not looking away in submission, but dismissing him coldly. 

The pack was silent for quite some time after. Even Fergus and Blake lost their appetite, their carefully prepared waffles left abandoned in their sticky hands. Nathan was the one to break the silence, choosing business as opposed to personal matters.

“The reason I believe we should stay here is because we don’t know what waits for us out there.” He glanced pointedly out the window. “The rogues could have surrounded us by now. If we leave to group back with the other Alphas, they could attack us when we’re most vulnerable.”