Healed: True Mates Book 3 (Wolf Shifter) (A Craggstone Paranormal Romance) (15 page)

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Authors: Olivia Arran

BOOK: Healed: True Mates Book 3 (Wolf Shifter) (A Craggstone Paranormal Romance)

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He reached for my top as I tugged at his jeans.

A loud banging vibrated on the door.

Our hands froze. I held my breath, hoping whoever it was would go away, come back later.

The knocking sounded again, this time a little harder.

“I know you’re both in there. Open up or we’re coming in anyway.”

I would recognize that voice anywhere. “Come in, Cole—” The door was thrust open, and a tall man strode into the room, his eyes quickly taking in Tarq’s half nakedness and my dominant position.

“So, that’s how it is?” He smirked at Tarq, his eyebrows raised in question, green eyes glinting with amusement.

“Leave them alone, butthead,” Macey quipped, strolling into the room, a pink bubble popping at her lips. Following close at her heels stalked an incredibly well-built man with striking looks—his cheekbones speaking of Scandinavian heritage.

His scent hit me. Coyote! Immediately, my shackles rose, Tarq tensing beneath me, in tune through the bond.

Rolling me over, he put himself between me and the coyote, and I knew his eyes were flashing silver, his wolf snarling, just like mine was. “What the fuck did you bring to our home?”

“Easy, Tarq, Amanda. This is Jason, the coyote we were sent to look for. He’s one of the good guys.” Cole’s voice was calm, his tone reasonable, but I didn’t like it. Didn’t like the cold look in the coyote’s eyes.

“Well, I’d appreciate it if you’d get him out of here. The pack have enough to deal with right now without dredging up old memories.” Some of them remembered the coyotes, were starting to open up enough to talk about the past. I didn’t want them clamming up again, not when we were finally making progress.

“We just dropped by to let you know that Oliver is making progress with Gary,” Macey informed us, wincing, and I couldn’t help but wince, too. Whatever Oliver was doing to Gary, I could bet it wasn’t pretty. Or humane. “And we might have a lead on Sean’s dad, Bert. If what Jason says pans out, that is.”

“It will.” Whoa! Jason’s voice was low, slightly accented and sent a shiver skating down my spine. He was nothing like the young kid Claire had described.

Tarq smoothed a hand down my back, following the shiver and soothing my nerves. “You’ve told us, now get him out of here. No offense, Cole, Macey.”

The coyote’s eyes flashed a deep violet, but he didn’t flinch. Just turned to Macey, as though waiting for her command.

Our friends nodded and hustled their guest out, closing the door behind them.

“He was just plain
weird
,” Tarq marveled, pulling me back to him.

“Weird, chilling, freaky—yeah, all that. Did you see his eyes? Beautiful
and
scary,” I agreed, running my hands over his chest. I stopped at his shoulders, the edges of black ink catching my eye, reminding me. “What
does
this mean?”

“Huh? Oh, the tattoo. It says ‘sacrifice is never forgotten’. I got it to remember my mom. She sacrificed her life for me. If she’d gotten rid of me, she probably could have forgotten her past. But she chose to keep me, and every day I reminded her of what had been done to her. She had to live with that. Never forgetting—so neither will I.”

It was perfect. Just like him. I was quickly finding out that getting to know Tarq was like peeling an onion, and there were so many layers, I doubted I would ever reach the core. But I didn’t need to. I knew what lay at Tarq’s core—a huge heart.

“I love it, just like I love you, my big oaf.” I tickled his ribs, screaming as he retaliated, resulting in us tumbling off the couch in a pile of arms and legs.

“Now, where were we?” he growled, pulling me back on top of him, his hands tugging at my top insistently.

I raised my arms, more than happy to comply.

For my mate, anytime and always, forever.

***

Redeemed: True Mates Book 4
is out now! Get it
HERE