Claiming His Mate (6 page)

“We have to get you out of here, Jace. Can you walk at all? I can’t carry you on my own.”

The strange source of light radiated from his chest, and shudders racked his frame. As quick as before, he shifted back to a human under her hand. He lay on his side, panting, with a gaping wound through his shoulder.

“Can you make it?” She caressed his pale cheek as tears continued to run down her face.

He rolled onto his back with a grunt. “Don’t worry.” His voice was gruff and laced with pain. “I’ll be all right. But there’s a hunter out there. We need to move.”

Michelle helped him sit up and eased his good arm around her neck. She used every ounce of her strength to help him rise to his feet. He leaned his full weight against her for a moment before he gained enough balance to stand. The blood oozing from his wound had slowed to a trickle.

They’d made it twenty yards when a lean, middle-aged man in hunting gear stepped onto the path in front of them, holding a scoped, high-powered rifle. Jace’s body stiffened beside her, and she squeezed as close to his side as humanly possible.

The hunter smiled a toothsome grin at Jace. “Well, you are certainly not what I was expecting.”

Michelle’s mind spun. “Who are you?”

He tipped the brim of his cap. “Carl Marston. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Sanders. Though I hadn’t anticipated meeting you in person. The idiot I sent over last night never showed up for work or returned my calls this morning. I could only presume he hadn’t succeeded with the task I sent him to complete. And so here I am, ready to finish the job.”

Jace’s fury mounted, quashing the pain from his shoulder, and spread to his limbs, infusing him with a resurgence of strength. Michelle trembled like a leaf beside him which only served to increase his burning hatred of the man blocking the trail. Jace lifted his arm from Michelle’s neck and tugged her behind him.

“What do you want?” Michelle squeaked out from around his shoulder.

Marston laughed. “The land, of course. But you had to be a bitch about it.”

Jace’s hands curved into fists at his sides. He needed an opening. Any opening, so he could take the fucker out. His gaze flickered to the left of Marston.

“Don’t try a damned thing, or I won’t miss this time. Nor will I hesitate to put a bullet in Ms. Sanders’s head.”

Michelle’s nails dug into his lower back. “Why the hell’s so special about the land? And how the crap do you plan to get it if I’m dead?”

“Trust me, my partner and I have our ways. Had you just sold Cecelia’s land as planned, we wouldn’t be in this predicament now, would we? But, no. You had to up and decide to move here.” He aimed a pointed glare at Michelle. “Your aunt was just as hard-headed as you are, and you see what that got her.”

Michelle gasped. “You killed Cecelia? For a piece of land?”

Marston chuckled. “Not just any land. It’s prime hunting ground, of course. Now I see why the citizens of Los Lobos were never inclined to sell.” He narrowed his eyes at Jace. “What the hell are you?”

“Fuck you.” The wolf inside Jace snarled, anxious to tear into its prey. “You’ll never step foot on our lands.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Seems there’s little to stand in my way once I take care of you two.” A sinister grin spread across Marston’s face. “Wait till I tell Roberts and the others about you and your friends.”

“You’re a fucking asshole that deserves a slow, painful death.”

Marston snorted. “You’re probably right.” Then he lifted his shoulder in an indifferent shrug. “Doesn’t change the fact you and Ms. Sanders will die today.”

A lone howl sliced through the air. Then a second bay carried from the west. Jace had never been more thankful to hear those sounds in his life. Thank Christ, Stephen had arranged a patrol detail to remain in the area. His friend had told him the pack had his back and now they were on the way. Just when he needed them most. He couldn’t do this alone. There was no way to make it to Marston before the fucker shot him, but damn it, he would die trying, if that would save his mate and his pack.

“You know what that means, right?” Jace asked as a flash of fur darted through the trees past Marston. “You’re not leaving these woods today.”

“We’ll see about that.” Marston swung his rifle up and pointed it at Jace’s head. At that moment, a large gray wolf lunged from outside the trail, latching onto Marston’s forearm and throwing off his aim. The shot grazed an aging evergreen and echoed in the surrounding forest.

Several members of his pack emerged from the woods and charged Marston, sinking their teeth into any available strip of flesh. His screams drowned out their snarls. As the only member of his pack in human form, Jace strode ahead, snatched the gun from Marston’s grasp, and turned the barrel at the man’s head. One by one, his packmates released their holds and eased back from Jace’s prey. Wide-eyed with blood splotching his neck, Marston held his shaky hands up in surrender.

At once, everything fell away as Jace’s gaze narrowed on the trembling coward below him. This pathetic excuse of a human had been nothing but a threat to his pack, him, and
his mate
. For his mate alone, the bastard would die. The wolf inside clawed and slashed, demanding the man’s blood for his offenses. With his finger heavy on the trigger, all it would take was a small amount of force, a light squeeze that would cost Jace nothing, to end Marston’s life for good.

“Jace!” Michelle’s shout barely broke his focus. She wrapped her arms around his waist. “Please, Jace. Don’t do this. Let the authorities take care of him.” Her quiet sobs unmanned him. His need for vengeance deflated with each tear that dropped on his bare skin, scalding him, reminding him she was the most important thing in his life. “Please, Jace. Stay with me.” Her whispered plea carved the malice from his heart, replacing it with love. Love for her, his mate.

The breath hissed out of him, and he dropped the rifle, pointing it at the ground. Around them, the stifling tension broke. The gray wolf that had first attacked shifted beside him into his best friend. Stephen didn’t hesitate to take the weapon from Jace’s grasp. He barely registered handing it over. He was focused solely on his mate.

He wrapped his uninjured arm around Michelle and buried his head in the curve of her neck. “I’ll never leave you, Michelle. For as long as you want me.” He snorted lightly, blowing strands of her hair. “Or even if you don’t.”

Stepping out of his arms, she frowned at him and pointed one small finger at his nose. “Don’t you dare scare me like that again, Jace Matthews.”

“Which time?”

She smacked his chest near his wounded shoulder and he grunted. Her eyes flew wide open, and she reached for him. “Oh shit, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I heal pretty fast. Thank God for that.” He glanced to his right where Marston sprawled in the forest floor. Four of the pack stood over him with bared teeth.

“Do you want me to take him to Andrew?” Stephen asked.

Jace nodded. “I’m sure our alpha will have something rather interesting planned for this dickhead.”

Stephen leaned forward to look at Michelle. He smiled and extended his hand across Jace’s torso. “Welcome to the pack.”

Many of the wolves yipped in approval.

Michelle blushed a pretty shade of pink and accepted Stephen’s offered hand. “Thanks.”

Jace didn’t wait for the two to carry on their conversation. He looped his good arm around his mate and led her back to the house. “Come on, sweetheart. I think I need some medical attention and a long-ass nap.”

Michelle’s head rested on Jace’s chest, his heart beat steady and strong beneath her ear. The sky lightened to a soft shade of pink outside her bedroom window. Her fingers rubbed light circles on his stomach. She laid her hand flat against his warm skin and tried to relax. Despite her best efforts, it still terrified her to realize how close she’d come to losing him the day before.

The pack’s healer had come to check on them shortly after they’d returned to her house. Jace’s wound hadn’t alarmed the older, gray-haired man in the least. He’d cuffed Jace’s shoulder and ordered him to eat a hearty meal, soak in the tub, and get a decent night’s rest. Michelle had gaped at the man’s treatment until both they rushed to explain the mechanics of shifter healing to her.

The high-calorie meal Jace consumed would fuel his body while it worked at an accelerated rate to repair the damage as he slept. They assured her the wound would be nearly healed by the time he woke. Not that their simple explanation comforted her. She’d lain awake most of the night.

She propped her chin on his chest and stared at the raised, pink scar on his shoulder, astonished to see it had almost completely healed in a little over twelve hours. She shifted her gaze to his sleeping face. Raising her hand to his jaw, she caressed the dark stubble along the surface. She wasn’t sure how Jace had become such an integral part of her life so soon, but he had.

Michelle had no clue where they were headed, but what she did know was she didn’t want what was between them to end. In fact, she was downright petrified of his response to her shameful reaction. He hadn’t spoken a word about it last night, but he’d been sore and needed the rest.

Fear churned in her gut, terrified he would reject her just as she’d nearly done to him. And it served her right if he did. How could she have acted so horribly when he’d been nothing but open and up front with her?

He stirred beneath her and her unease shot through the roof. She sat up and slid over to her side of the bed before he woke. As soon as her foot hit the floor, he wrapped his hand around her wrist.

“Where are you going, sweetheart?” His husky voice sent a shiver racing down her back. “Come lie with me.”

How could she resist when it was exactly what she wanted more than anything? She eased back down on her side next to him and tried to ignore his nudity. He rolled toward her and they lay facing each other, their gazes locked, neither saying a word for long minutes.

His intense stare ate at her conscience. The burn of tears built behind her eyes. “Jace, please forgive me for yesterday. I can’t tell you how much I regret my reaction when you shared something so private with me. Instead of accepting you like I should’ve, I panicked and ran away.”

He frowned and lifted his hand to frame her face. “There’s no need to be sorry, Michelle. It was a shocking situation. Any normal person would’ve reacted that way. Hell, if you had clapped your hands in glee, I might’ve thought you a bit strange then.”

Grateful for his kind understanding, she laughed at the idea. “How do you feel?”

“Not too bad, considering.” He slid his hand from her cheek, running it down her neck to her shoulder. “What else is bothering you, baby?”

She could barely speak past the lump in her throat. “Where do we go from here?”

Shifting onto his elbow, he pushed her onto her back and loomed over her. “What do you want, Michelle?”

“I….” She frowned, unsure how to say it without sounding like a fool.

He leaned forward and fused their mouths together, teasing her lips apart with his tongue. Before she could lose herself in the ecstasy of his mouth, he pulled back. Shifting his frame, he settled his lower body between her thighs and propped himself up on his elbows.

“You feel this connection between us as much as I do. I know it.” His hand drifted under the shirt she’d worn to bed, skimming over her belly. “I’ll tell you what I know. Then I’ll tell you what I want.”

Lifting her into a seated position, he divested her of her nightshirt, then gently eased her down onto the mattress once more. He worked her shorts down her body and pulled them off. When he had her completely bare, he sat on his heels between her parted legs, his gaze raking over every exposed inch of her. His hands slid up her thighs, and he kneaded the soft flesh.

“What I know is few shifters are lucky enough to find their true mates in their lifetimes. When a shifter meets his mate, it’s instant, the attraction strong. The animal inside is desperate to seal the bond, to claim what’s theirs.” His dark brown gaze riveted her attention. “You’re my true mate, Michelle. I knew it the moment I met you. As for what I want, that depends on you.”

She bit her bottom lip. “You want me?”

Jace gripped her ass and tugged her higher on his lap, the back of her thighs resting against the top of his. A sinfully sexy grin formed on his lips. “I’ll always want you.”

Michelle’s heart pounded in her chest as she processed the meaning of his words. “What if….” Damn it, he’d left her breathless. “What if you change your mind?”

He wrapped a hand around his cock and teased her clit with the thick head. “It doesn’t work like that, baby. The mate bond is for life. There’s no one else for me. Just you.” His other hand ran up her body to her chest, resting his palm over her heart. “Only you. I love you, Michelle. You don’t have to love me yet, and we can wait until you’re ready, but please say you’ll be mine? I want forever with you.”

Oh God. Jace was offering the one thing she’d never imagined she would have.

Love.

A lifetime of his love.

Her heart flooded with emotion. This strong, caring, sexy man had offered her his friendship without restrictions, possessed her body and driven her to new heights, and made her feel things she’d never experienced since he’d walked into her life wielding his gorgeous smile and a cherry Danish two months ago.

As she stared into his eyes, the decision didn’t seem complicated. Suddenly, the thought of her life without him in it was unbearable.

“Yes. Yes, I’ll be your mate.”

His face blossomed with the brightest smile she’d ever seen, and he moved to lie between her thighs. Her body easily accepted his weight, welcoming the shelter his embrace provided. “You’re sure?”

Michelle smiled at the shakiness in his voice. She raised her head and kissed him with all the love flowing through her. “Yes, Jace. I’m sure.” She bit his bottom lip to accentuate her point. “Now, make me yours. I need you inside of me.”