ROMANCE: BIKER ROMANCE: Valentine Biker (MC Alpha Male Pregnancy Romance) (New Adult Valentine Romance Short Stories) (17 page)

              "I guess camp out here while we take care of business. I'll send someone out to pick you up once the coast is clear. Feel free to use the house; it's ours."

              Ours. She wondered how he meant it — hers and his, or his and the packs? Stella was near positive he meant the latter.

              As he strode from the barn, Derek tucked a hand into the pocket of his coat and withdrew a cigarette from a carton kept within. The last thing Stella saw before he left was the flash of ignition from a lighter. The smell of tobacco wafted back to keep her company.

              What had felt so right and natural now felt wrong, and she twisted amongst the hay to try to chase the feeling from inside of her. Nothing quite seemed to work.

              It was a lonely night in the middle of nowhere, alone with her regrets. But eventually, Stella saw herself into one of the bedrooms in the farm house and chased sleep. It had been a hell of a day, and she was eager for a brighter tomorrow.

Chapter Four

              There was to be no more hiding. Engines revved and roared through the dead of night as they cut off the highway and back into the city. Nine wolves strong, now unified beneath an anointed alpha, they would fight until victory or lose their lives to defeat. There would be no other way.

              Derek led them on a circuit through the streets, one he was sure would draw the eyes of every unwelcome aggressor that had dared move in while their forces were weak. Will's death had been kept a secret for months and months, but no news stayed hidden forever. Just as the pack had found Stella at long last, so too had the other wolves discovered their dissolved ranks. Tonight, every wrong would be righted.

              Nine burly motorcycles ripped their way through the residential area and into the industrial sector. Factories, abandoned at this hour, were lit up by security lights along their exteriors. Vast parking lots and unloading areas offered flat terrain that would serve them well for battle away from prying eyes. Electronic scramblers would take care of any security cameras, and Tristen had already overseen to their activation. Maybe his kid brother wasn't as strong as he was, but he knew about the kind of smart shit Derek could never be bothered with. Tinkering with toys was meant for boys; Derek hadn't been a boy in a long time.

              Before they'd drawn to a stop, red eyes appeared in the distance, staring them down. The pack was smaller than their own — Derek could tell by scent alone — but it had likely been unified under a competent alpha for long enough to be dangerous. But Derek knew his men, and knew his own strength, and found himself unconcerned. They could do this,
would
do this, and nothing was going to hold them back.

              With grace only afforded by the wolf, one by one his pack jumped from their bikes to hit the ground on all fours. Fearsome, oversized grey wolves appeared one by one in the place of the men who'd once rode. Tristen was the last of his underlings to transform, and once he had, Derek swung his leg from over his bike and gazed unflinchingly at the red eyes in the distance. Now, the red eyes of their grey wolves gazed back in return.

              "If you leave now," Derek called, voice stern and unwavering, "if you willingly vacate the territory you have stolen from my pack, we will let you leave in one piece. This is your only warning."

              His words were punctuated by the snarls of eight other wolves, but the red eyes were not swayed by the display. Instead, one by one, they approached. If it was a fight they wanted, it was a fight they were going to get.

              "As you will," Derek called out. "We gave you fair warning, and we gave you a shot at keeping your lives. You have no one to blame for your death than yourself."

              Another volley of snarls, but these ones ripped from the maws of the approaching wolves. For as dire as the situation was, Derek grinned. After a fuck the likes of the one he'd just had, a fight was just what he needed. The taste of blood and the crunch of bone would stir the animal inside.

              The ninth grey wolf joined its companions, and the two packs sprung at each other through the darkness.

              The night bled, and one by one, sets of red eyes blinked out of existence.

Chapter Five

              Morning had begun to light the horizon when Stella was stirred from her sleep. Amber rays of light shot across the bedroom floor from between the gaps in the curtains, giving her just enough light to see the young man who stood at the foot of her bed.

              The light of the rising sun caught his eyes, and for a second they flashed red. A gasp caught in Stella's throat, but she did not vocalize it; recognition had struck her in the same moment. Tristen. The blonde stood at the foot of her bed, overlooking her. For a moment, nothing was said. Their eyes locked, and then his lips parted to speak.

              "Derek wants you back in the city. We won."

              There was a hollow quality to his voice and a haunted look in his eyes. The win had given him no joy.

              Beneath the thick quilt, Stella was undressed. Her clothes were folded next to the bed on the floor next to her shoes, and she was sure Tristen would have noticed her bare shoulders if not the clothes at her bedside.

              The physical contact they'd shared last night had acted as a contract, and now she was bound to Derek. Returning to him did not feel like a pleasure. Stella shifted beneath the blankets and drew them up further over her shoulders in an attempt to hide.

              "I don't want to go," she admitted. "I don't want anything to do with this. Not anymore."

              Last night's carefree behavior had left her emotionally raw. Was she really supposed to spend the rest of her life with a man that had made her beg for it, only to leave her when she needed more?

              "That's not going to happen," Tristen said reluctantly. It seemed her picked up on her discomfort easily, and sympathized with it. "You're with the pack, and you've been with the pack since you bonded with Will. Now that we've found you and you're back with us, we're not letting you go again."

              "Then don't make me go back with Derek," she said. "Let me go back to my apartment to be on my own. He isn't the one I want."

              Beautiful blonde hair, slender ethereal features, soulful eyes. Tristen wasn't as powerful or as strong willed as Derek was, but there was something charming and personable about him. Stella pursed her lips and observed his from where she lay.

              "You made your choice." Tristen settled on the edge of the bed, looking her over. Regret. Genuine regret pulled his features taut.

              "I want to change my choice," Stella said. "I didn't think on it long enough. I regret what I've done."

              The situation was less than ideal for any of them, she knew, but this was the rest of her life they were playing with.

              "What are you saying?" he asked. "Last night you chose Derek. All of us could... Smell it. You can't just go against that."

              "Why not? It's an easy mistake to fix. We could fix it right now."

              Maybe it was a desperate fix, but the bad boy she'd had fun with last night wasn't the right man to take care of her heart. Tristen, gorgeous and yet sensitive, was a far better fit for the long term.

              Tristen's eyes flicked down her covered body briefly, then up to her eyes. Hesitance.

              "Derek's the alpha now," he muttered, "you shouldn't try to go against him."

              "
We
shouldn't try to go against him," Stella said. She sat up, the blankets falling from her shoulders and down to her lap to expose her bare chest. Modest, supple breasts hung pert for Tristen to ogle.

              "We," he uttered, breathless. The idea had struck him hard and left him bothered, and Stella could almost smell the lust on the air. Tristen was interested in her, and she was interested in him. It wasn't just a tactic to break the bond she'd forged with Derek, but a sincere interest in the quiet, younger version of the alpha she'd christened.

              "We," Stella confirmed. She smoothed her hand over the quilt beside her, inviting him. "Come here. I changed my mind, and I can't bear the thought of giving myself to Derek forever."

              A canine whine hitched at the top of Tristen's throat, needy and yet reluctant. Breaking the alpha's trust went against the nature of the pack, but Tristen's desire fought his instinct and better judgment. He kicked off his shoes and turned to crawl across the bed, the movement languid but loaded with desire, until he'd straddled her legs and they were face to face. Tristen's face bore features similar to Derek's, and even without being told as much, Stella knew they had to be brothers. They were far too similar in looks for it to be a coincidence, although their personalities were as different as could be.

              "I shouldn't," Tristen whispered. The tips of their noses brushed, providing a soft intimacy that warmed her heart and filled the hole that Derek's cold treatment had torn through her soul. His words told her one thing, but his actions told another. Tristen did want it, but he didn't want to admit it.

              "The alpha female's word is absolute," Stella whispered back. With a slight turn of her head she let the tip of the nose trail down the length of his, allowing their lips to brush. Where Derek had smelled of smoke and tobacco, Tristen smelled of the woods and days spent beneath the sun. And he was gorgeous. "And I've changed my mind. You're the one I want to care for me."

              There were no more words. Their lips met, soft and hesitant at first, but then harder and needier. Stella's hand rose to the back of Tristen's neck to run up and tangle in his blonde hair as the passion mounted between them. One of his palms, once flat against the bed, rose to cup and caress her breast. Touching her was something Derek had never thought to do — he had been selfish in his desires.

              As they kissed, Tristen pulled the sheets back to expose the length of her body. The hand at her breast dipped down to run along the slender curve between her side and her hip, and traced over the small, soft curve of her stomach. His touch brought her alive as Will's touch always had, almost like magic. Stella could not resist a tiny moan.

              "Do you know," Tristen murmured as their lips parted, "about the bond shared between true mates?"

              Stella's mind felt clouded by fog. Tristen's touch left her wanting more, but also had her feeling wonderful. The way he touched her made her feel appreciated and cared for, and after the impersonal treatment Derek had given her the night before, it was a welcome relief.

              "No," she whispered, then caught his lips for another quick kiss. Will hadn't told her anything of werewolves, and what Derek had told her was the bare bones, barely enough for her to wet her toes in the knowledge of the supernatural. There was more to learn, and Stella felt like she'd be learning for a long time to come.

              "True mates," Tristen whispered, "happen to meet each other rarely, but when they touch, they know right away. Just a finger traced across the skin feels electric."

              To punctuate his sentence, Tristen ghosted his index finger across her naked thigh. The touch rode up like sparks across her skin and made her heart flutter with desire. Not since Will had she felt this way. Will had made her heart shudder with delight until the very end, and his touch had lit her soul on fire every time. True mates, a voice in the back of her mind whispered to her, speaking the truth. Will had been her true mate. But now Tristen's touch elicited the same sensations, and Stella felt her cheeks grow pink with flushed arousal.

              "And has anyone ever had two true mates before?" Stella murmured, butterflies rising from her stomach to lift her words and spirits.