A Mate for the Beta: (8 page)

Terri rolled her eyes.  “There’s a
camera blind spot on the second floor, next to palaeontology.  The kids use it to... you know... make out...”

“In a library?!”
 
Carly could be quite naive
.  “Is that legal?”

“Well as a lawyer” started Ed with mock pomposity, “I can promise you it definitely
isn’t, which is why it’s
fun
!”

Terri beamed. 
“Well I certainly found it funny, before that day nobody had ever tried to argue that reading books without your clothes on actually helped you absorb the information better.”

“Really?”
  Adam was liking the red wolf more and more.

“Yep, our boy here is a born lawyer.” 
Giggled Liv.

“No argument too dumb.” 
Muttered Terri quietly.

Adam excused himself to go to the bathroom. 
Ed called over to Kim to get him another beer giving her a devilish grin and a wink.  Handing it to him she winked in return, and he watched her retreat with interest focussing on her rear.  Liv elbowed him again and he yelped.

“Tiny knives remember?!”

“Oh wah wah wah crybaby!”

Ed
hooted with laughter and flinging an arm round her shoulders kissed her temple.

A huge roar resounded through the bar. 
That’s when it all went to hell.

*

A few minutes earlier
.

Alec wiped his hands on his jeans.  He was nervous and sweating.  Why was he nervous?  Just because he was about to see his mate and the mother of his future pups, the woman who his entire happiness rested upon, there was no reason to be nervous. 
Was there?

He sucked in a breath before pushing the door open.  He scanned the room, taking in the familiar sights, people and scents.  The worn bar stools, the shabby booths and dog-eared landscape pictures on the walls. 
The smell of alcohol, sweat, perfume and
arousal
?  It wasn’t such a surprise, people came here to hook up all the time.  But the smell had never been so strong before tonight.

He noted numerous people he knew before alighting on his mate.  His heart stopped.
She was wearing a tight low cut sundress and looked achingly beautiful.  She was surrounded by a few people who apparently were hilarious because she suddenly laughed.  Her shoulders shook making her breasts jiggle.  The smell of arousal increased.

Alec looked round the bar wildly.  Male after male was looking at his mate.  Ogling her bountiful breasts, lusting after what belonged to him.  His blood boiled. 
They had no right to look at her!

His claws had come out.  He balled up his fists, the claws jabbing into his palms.  The pain helped him, stopped him from ripping apart any man who had even looked at his mate.

She turned slightly and said something to the young red wolf shifter standing beside her.  Laughing he then put an arm round her shoulder and kissed her temple.

Alec
roared and was beside them in an instant.  His eyes had turned amber and he snarled, ripping the red wolf away from Liv.  She screamed as Alec wrapped his hand round his throat, lifting and pushing him against the wall.  Alec’s fingers were wrapped tightly around the other mans throat, the blood from his self inflicted wounds oozed through his fingers.

The red wolf clawed at Alec’s arms desperately trying to get them away from his throat.  Mac ran toward Alec and Andy leapt over the bar to intercept her.  The bear stoo
d in front of Mac protectively.  Terri tried to move to Ed but Mal held her tightly in his arms.  Carly froze.  Kim, ignoring warnings, rushed to Ed and started pulling at Alec’s arms.

Alec’s fangs elongated and he roared at the red wolf in front of him.  “You will not touch
Liv again!  She is my mate! 
She is mine!
”

The bar was deafeningly silent except for the grasping noises made by Ed.  Everyone who didn’t know Alec stared at him with interest.  Everyone who did know him, and knew of his former life as a rogue, looked at anything but him. 
They sure as hell did not want to catch his eye.

Red mist descended over Alec and nothing but the kill mattered.  Nothing except getting rid of this threat mattered.  He had to show his mate that he was dominant to this other man, that he was more powerful, that he was the better mate.

A melodious but sorrowful voice cut through him, dispelling his rage in a heartbeat.  “Stop, please stop, you’re hurting him.”

He turned to see his mate.  Tears rolled down her cheeks and the look of anguish on her face was a stab to his heart.

Alec dropped him instantly.  Kim got on her knees to check that Ed was okay.  Liv stood still.  Thank God she hadn’t moved to check that the red wolf was okay, it would have only made things worse.

Alec stared at his bloody hands and then at the man on the floor.  The wolf in him was thrilled with the outcome.
A warning to anyone who touches his mate. 
Alec however was instantly filled with self loathing.

Heavy boots sounded on the floor. 
The power of the Alpha flooded the bar.  “Alec!  Get out now!”  Adam snarled at him. 

Alec looked at
Liv mournfully before tramping toward the bathroom.  She was in shock.  She was shocked at what he had done, shocked at what he said. 
Shocked that she was burdened with a violent old wolf for a mate.

Chapter Eight

Alec sat on the steps to the back entrance to the bar.  It was a cool night and a slight breeze whipped through the alley, but he felt like his insides were on fire.  His wolf growled furiously and demanded to see its mate.

He leaned his elbows on his knees and rested his head in his hands willing his beast to calm the fuck down.  The wounds on his palms had healed and he had made sure he had washed off every last drop of blood.

He hadn’t lost control like that since he was nineteen, back in the bad days when he was a rogue.  When he had arrived in Rose a human had accidentally flicked a cigarette butt in his direction and Alec had lost his temper and tried to break the human’s arms.  Luckily Gideon had been there to stop him. 

He did not like to think about what he would have done to the red wolf if Liv had not asked him to stop.  A cigarette butt is nothing compared to another male touching his mate. 
His mate damnit!

He stiffened as he heard the door swing open behind.  The soft patter of feet and the sweet vanilla scent told him who it was.

He felt her soft small hand tentatively touch his shoulder.  All of the tension evaporated, and a soothing presence spread throughout his body.  He sighed as his wolf whined softly. 
He was like a fucking puppy in her presence.

His anger cooled but he felt his body warm for another reason –
lust
.  Thank god she was touching him through his shirt.  If it was skin on skin he might have lost it and taken her on the alley steps.  She deserved better than that. 
God he never wanted to be apart from her.

She waited to see if he would pull away from her and when he didn’t she sat down next to him on the step.  Her hand was still on his shoulder, she didn’t want to lose the contact between them.  She felt the same hum as when she had first laid eyes on him, except this was mingled with an achingly
wonderful warmth that only came with touching.

He had called her his mate.  He had felt threatened and jealous that another male was touching her.  She knew that wolf shifters, when they found their mates, were together forever.  The overwhelming happiness at hearing him call her his mate had nearly made her heart burst. 
He wanted her to be his mate forever. 

Their thighs touched and she felt a jolt of electricity that went straight to her mound.  Before she could stop herself she moaned happily.  She half hoped he hadn’t heard her.

He heard the satisfied sound escape her lips.  He tried not to smile at the obvious effect he was having on his mate.  Blood was rushing to his groin and he considered taking her hand off his shoulder and rubbing it against his shaft to show her how much she affected him too, but he worried he might scare her away.  He turned his head to other matters, namely the fact that he had tried to murder her friend a few minutes ago.

She started rubbing his shoulder in soothing circles.  “Are you okay”

“Never mind me, is the red wolf okay?”  He asked without looking at her, he was still too ashamed of his actions to look at her eyes.  He didn’t want to see the fear or horror that he worried would be present.

She
laughed, it was a sweet musical laugh that sent vibrations through his body.  “Ed?  He’s fine, he’s currently getting a little tlc from the bartender.”  She had made sure he was okay before coming out, Ed true to form was milking the incident for all it was worth and Kim was being extremely tender towards him.

“Who?
  Andy?”  He asked with a smirk thinking of the bear shifter.

She laughed again, more loudly than before.  It was the most pleasurable sound he could imagine, even better than that soft sigh.   His wolf wagged his tail in agreement.  “No silly, Kim.”  She looked away from him and swallowed, “you know Kim
quite well don’t you?”

He froze.  He had slept with Kim a few times during a full moon.  Neither of them had wanted anything serious but both had needed sexual release, a full moon amped up
a wolf’s sexual drive.  He and Kim had found each other
convenient
, he could say the same for numerous others too.  Now that he had found his mate that was over of course. 
But he knew Kim all right.
   He was distressed to learn that Liv knew that he
knew
Kim.

When he didn’t answer, her hand started to slip away from his shoulder.  He turned and quickly took
it in his, desperate not to lose the physical contact. 

Her head was turned away from him.  She knew he was no saint, she knew there had been other women and she sure didn’t begrudge him a life before he met her.  God knows he had been on this planet
fourteen more years than her.  She hadn’t really expected any male – never mind a virile wolf – to make it to his age and still be a virgin.  The rational part of her mind told her that.

She just wished that the thought of him being with anyone else didn’t hurt so much.  A small part of her, a silly
, romantic, foolish part of her, had wanted him to tell her that she was wrong.

He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed the palm.  He cupped her cheek with his other hand and slowly drew her face round so that she was looking at him.  Soft tears pooled in her big eyes threatening to spill down her rosy cheeks.  He felt his heart wrench at the pain he had unwittingly caused her.

Their eyes locked.  “Yes I know Kim.”

She blinked and the tears trailed over her soft skin.  He leaned forward and kissed them away, tasting the salty flavour on his lips. 
He would do his damndest to never make her cry again.

“It’s okay...
I’m okay, I’m just being silly,” she sniffed and tried to move but his hand was firm against her cheek.

“Everything that happened before I met you isn’t important; you are the only thing that matters to me.  Everything in my life has led me to this moment.  I’ve never been as happy or fulfilled as I am right now with you sitting here, and you couldn’t possibly make me any happier than you already have.  You are my mate, the other half of my heart.  I want to spend the rest of my life with you, showing you how much you mean to me.  Showing you how much I love you. 
You’re mine and I’m yours
.”

She stared at him, she had yearned to hear those words for almost a year and now that they had finally arrived her mind struggled to find a reply.  He held his breath waiting for her to say something.

Finally she did.  “Couldn’t be any happier?”  He looked at her quizzically.  “You said you couldn’t be any happier than you were right now, isn’t there anything else that we could do together that would make you happier than this?”  She smiled at him coyly. 
Seductive minx.

He grinned at her.  “Well I can think of a few things.”

He moved his hands to her waist and pulled her round on top of him so that she was straddling him.  Her dress hiked up her legs showing an expanse of creamy flesh.  She put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself.  He kissed her softly on her mouth.  A sweet chaste kiss.

“Do you accept me as your mate?”  He knew she felt the same way as him, he could scent her arousal, he could see the feelings she held for him in her eyes, but he still needed her reassurance.

She wanted to scream
yes, yes yes
.  But years of low self-esteem and insecurity could not be so easily allayed.  “Are you sure you want me as a mate?  There are so many other women who would make a better mate.  Don’t you want someone with more experience?  Someone sexier, less chunky...”

Before she could say anything else his lips were on hers and this time there was nothing chaste about it.  He nibbled her bottom lip and she gasped in surprise and opened her mouth.  He took advantage and invaded her mouth with his tongue.  Searching, teasing, tasting.  God but she tasted magnificent.  He couldn’t wait to taste her heat. 
That would be heaven.

He wrapped his arms around her waist tightly and she curled her fingers into his shirt.  Her breasts crushed against his chest.  Instinctively she rubbed her hard nipples against him and he groaned into her mouth, tightening his arms around her.

They pulled apart panting at the intensity of the kiss.  He leaned his forehead against hers, fighting for breath.  “I don’t want anyone else.  You are sexy and beautiful and perfect for me.  Don’t ever doubt that.  Don’t ever say those things again.  Nobody gets to talk about you that way – not even you!”

She murmured her assent, too languid to argue.  The kiss had been overwhelming. 
She had practically melted. 
She was grateful for the solid arms circling her, holding her steady.  She closed her eyes and revelled in the feel of his body against hers.
Her man.  Her mate.

He inhaled her blissful scent.  “I wanted you since the moment I saw you, you were
standing there in those tight little jeans all nervous.  For me it was like... like a bolt of lightning.  I can’t believe it was only yesterday, it feels like I’ve been waiting decades to get you in my arms.”  He paused and tentatively asked her, “did you... did you feel the same way yesterday?”  

She opened her eyes to look at him.  His eyes were
amber,
his wolf was present
, and filled with longing. 

“Umm, no”.  Sorrow flashed over his face, distorting his handsome features and she was quick to reassure him.  “I felt it the
first
time I saw you.  You were stood outside the station talking to Adam.  And it was more like a ray of sunshine, the whole world suddenly seemed... I don’t know... brighter and better.” 

“When was this?”  He asked slowly.

She closed her eyes again and breathed deeply. 
He smelled like honey – yum
.  “About a year ago.  I’ve been mooning over you ever since.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” 

“I saw you all over town with other women, I couldn’t imagine that you would ever be interested in me.”

He jaw ticked.  He wanted to be angry at her.  Wanted to berate and yell at her for all the time they had lost. 
All the missed opportunities.  But he couldn’t.  He couldn’t bear to hurt her feelings. 
His wolf would try to tear him apart.

“It was me all along?  He asked softly.

“Hmm?”

“
Terri said she thought you had a crush on someone, I was envisaging some young guy I would have to hunt down and gut.”

“Been doing your homework Sheriff?”  She playfully nipped his jaw and then placed a soft kiss on it.

God how he wished she had come to him a year ago. 
If only he had known.

He thought of all the women he’d been with, all those wasted nights, all the quick hollow releases that now seemed so unsexy compared to even a chaste kiss from his mate.  He regretted every single one of his past couplings.  He groaned.  “I wish we’d met years ago.”

She opened her eyes a fraction.  “If tonight’s anything to go by you probably would have been arrested if we had” she giggled.

Uncertainty stabbed at his heart. 
She was so young and innocent compared to him
.  He looked away from her, trying to focus on her shoulder, anything other than her beautiful eyes.  His arms loosened around her waist and fell, resting gently on her hips.  He was holding her up but not holding onto her like his life depended on it, as he had been when they kissed.

She put her hands on either side of his face and slowly moved him so that he was looking at her.  Desire still burned brightly in his eyes but there was also uncertainty.  “What is it?”

“You’re young and just starting your life, I’m too old for you, you deserve better than...”  It was her turn to stop him with a kiss. 

She was bolder this time, her tongue reaching towards him, reaching to explore the exquisite taste of his mouth.  Her hand moved up across his jaw, she raked her fingers through his hair and he moaned his appreciation. 

She gasped; she was sat directly over his cock separated only by a few wisps of clothing.  She could feel him getting bigger and harder, sending lovely warm tremors through her.  His hands gripped her hips more tightly and he rocked her slowly over his growing erection. 

Reluctantly she pulled away from his mouth. He buried his face into her shoulder, rubbing her with his unshaven chin, marking her with his scent.  He continued to move her hips in an agonisingly slow rhythm.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tried to catch her breath.  “Hush now, no one gets to talk about you that way – not even you”.  She echoed the words he had said to her a few moments ago.  Feeling brave she moved her lips to his ear and nibbled the lobe and said the words that she knew would allay any fears he had, “I need you.  I want you. You’re my mate. 
You’re mine
.”

He held still for a second.  His wolf howling in happiness demanding that they immediately take their mate.  He moved his hands down and started massaging the soft globes of her buttocks whilst pressing small butterfly kisses along her shoulder and up her neck and ear.  “You better have meant that
angel, because there’s really no going back now.”  His voice was hoarse with desire.