The Alpha's Taboo Mate (Blood Moon Lynx Book 1) (2 page)

“No. No you weren’t
mistaken
.” Canyon shook his head, as much to clear the confusing images as in protest of what he’d just heard. “Hawke said something to you, didn’t he? He
did
something to you!” A dark haze filled Canyon’s mind. “If he touched you, I’ll kill him.” Canyon pulled Fiera into a tight embrace with one arm, while he pushed her hair aside to look for a mark.

“Stop that! He didn’t mark me. Let me go.”

The softness of her skin, coupled with her scent, drove him to distraction. Her lush curves molded against him, fueling his desire. He’d waited so long for this girl, and now that she was this close, he could barely control his arousal. She was aroused, too. He could smell it on her. She wanted him as badly as he wanted her.

“Fiera…” Canyon brushed his lips along her hair, forcing a soft whimper from her. “Stop fighting this. I won’t hurt you. We’re meant to be together. We both know it.”

As he moved his mouth to her neck, she drew in a shaky breath. Canyon bit her skin gently, but not enough to break the skin.
Not yet
. Her soft moan sent a rush of heat to his entire groin, and Canyon knew he was nearing the point of no return.

When he pressed his lips to hers, fireworks exploded behind his closed eyelids. But as he pulled her closer to his body, she jerked her mouth away from his. Canyon nearly recoiled at the fear and resignation in her beautiful blue eyes.

“Stop!
Please!
You don’t understand.” Her voice came out in a breathy whisper, and it was filled with the same desperation he saw on her face.

“You’re right.” Canyon tightened his grip on her. “I don’t fucking understand any of this. Explain it to me.”

This girl had been his since the moment he’d met her, and up until recently, she had told him she felt the same way. If Hawke had done or said something to change her mind, he’d fucking kill him in the town square, with his bare hands. And damn the consequences. Without Fiera, Canyon had no reason to live.

“I’m the only heir to my family’s business. If I mate with you instead of with Hawke, they will have my father declared mentally incompetent and take what’s left of the business.”

What?

“My family will be ruined, and my father might as well be dead. You don’t completely understand their power. They will do this, Canyon. Of that I have no doubt. Things are already in motion. I can’t stop it unless I allow Hawke to make me his mate.”

As Canyon stared at her, his entire world tilted on its axis. He did not want to believe that the Medinas would stoop this low, but now he had no choice. Everything he and his father had suspected was true, only it was far worse than he’d imagined.

“They actually
told
you this?”

“Yes. That’s why I’ve been avoiding you this past week. When I’m near you…” The look on her face said it all. She
did
want him. He’d been right about that. His heart filled with joy until she sucked in a hard breath as if she was about to cry. “I only want to be with you, Canyon, but I can’t. I have to take Hawke as my mate instead.”

The knowledge she still believed he was her true mate meant nothing in light of this revelation. If he claimed Fiera as his own, she’d lose everything her family had worked generations for. But if he gave her up to Hawke, Canyon would lose his mate, and he and Fiera would both be miserable for the rest of their lives.

Chapter Two

Guilt consumed Fiera as she watched Canyon’s face. She didn’t know what else to say to make him understand. But at the same time, the magnitude of what she’d just revealed finally hit her.

This man was her mate. She’d known it for ten years, and so had he. But she’d just told him she had planned to mate with another male. Granted, she had good reasons for believing she had to do so, but this was the first time Canyon was hearing them.

“I’m afraid, Canyon. For my father, for his business, and for myself.”

“Tell me everything.
All
of it.” The coldness in his voice didn’t surprise her. She certainly owed him an explanation.

“Three months ago, the day before my eighteenth birthday, Hawke cornered me in the woods behind our home and laid it all out for me. He stopped short of forcing himself on me, and told me he would honor our laws because I wasn’t yet of age.”

The sound of disgust Canyon made was accompanied by him walking away from her. Fiera wasn’t sure she could continue, but she knew she had to tell him everything. He stopped next to the sofa and watched her carefully. “Keep going.”

“He warned me that one day he’d lose his control and take me as his mate, whether I wanted him to or not.”

Just thinking about that day was enough to make her stomach turn.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me about this before now?”

Canyon had never shouted at her, and Fiera recoiled as the sound filled the room. “I was afraid of him and his family. How many times have we all watched them bully others and nothing was done about it?”

She hadn’t gone into the woods alone since that day. The only reason she’d come with Canyon this morning was because she knew Hawke was in Port Angeles for the day with his family, and they weren’t expected back before dark.

“
This
is why you’ve been avoiding me?”

“Yes.”

“Is it the only reason, or is there more?”

Fiera swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. “Hawke came to my house eight days ago and told me I had two weeks to make up my mind willingly. After that, he was taking me. I reminded him that the Elders had already decided you were my mate, and that’s when he threatened to have my father declared mentally incompetent.”

Canyon stared at her like she’d just told him the sky wasn’t really blue. “I’m serious,” she said. “You have to believe me. They’ve already filed a complaint with the Elders.”

It broke her heart to realize her words were the cause of that look on his face—both angry and defeated at the same time. She had to say something to make this right.

“Canyon, I’ve loved you as far back as I can remember. At your coming of age party when you turned eighteen, I was only eight so I didn’t completely understand that look on your face, but I do now. I didn’t know what the odd stirrings in my body were at the time, but I remember you taking me aside and whispering in my ear.”

“I remember it, too, Fiera. Like it was yesterday. I told you we’d be together one day, after you were grown.” He rose and walked toward her.

“And I do believe you about what Hawke said. It all makes sense now.”

This man was her mate, and she knew it. She’d always known it. What the hell had she been thinking, believing she had to give herself to another? “Canyon, what should I do? How do I fight this? My mother is dead. I have no brothers. Most of my family is female. I don’t have enough blood relative males I can call on to help fight off the Medinas.”

“I know that.” He placed his hands on her shoulders, and the touch sent shivers down her spine.

“I’m my father’s only hope. His mental capacity has been diminishing. If he loses his business as well, I might as well put an arrow through his heart and end his life. I had convinced myself that my own desires no longer mattered. That I had a duty to save what was left of my family’s legacy.”

The lust in his beautiful dark eyes stirred her soul. She might still be a virgin, but her female cousins had told her often enough what it was like to have sex with the man you loved. She had no fear of having it the first time, at least not if the man was Canyon.

“Fiera, you aren’t alone in this fight. Not anymore.”

He was so strong and handsome. She’d always thought so.

Dark hair that hung down his back and eyes that normally flashed with humor and intensity. His clothes couldn’t hide the hard muscles, and she’d even glimpsed the tats on his chest and upper arms a few times when he hadn’t known she was watching. All the male lynxes sported them, but she had eyes only for Canyon.

The urge to give herself to him right now was stronger than it had ever been. He was the sexiest man she’d ever seen. Fiera understood the delicious tightness in her groin and the reason her pussy became wet whenever she so much as thought about Canyon. She’d brought herself to orgasm often enough to know how that felt, always while fantasizing about him. She wanted to experience it with Canyon’s cock inside her, not merely by rubbing herself.

He’d gone to all this trouble to bring her here, to a place where they’d have complete privacy. The gesture touched her very soul.

She glanced up into his face. “I should have told you. I realize that now.”

The hard stare he gave her nearly tore her heart in two. “Tell me everything he’s ever said to you, no matter how you think I’ll react. I need to know the entire story.”

Once he heard it, he might leave her here alone to go and find Hawke. He’d kill him. He had a right to do so, but that wouldn’t end her family’s danger. Hawke had a living father, two brothers, and plenty of male uncles and cousins who would not only avenge his death, but continue his quest.

“I’m not sure you can help me. Even if Hawke was out of the picture, what would stop one of his unmated cousins from deciding to take up the challenge and claim me? I will never be free of his family.”

“I do
not
accept that. Fiera, I am
not
letting this go. I will not simply give you to that swine of a family.”

Shivers ran down her spine again at the tone of his voice and at the way his eyes flashed with righteous indignation. This man would fight for her. She had no one else she could trust with this much information. Who else but her true mate should hear this anyway?

When Canyon took her hands, his features softened. She drew strength from their warmth as he led her back to the sofa, where they sat facing each other with their legs crossed.

“You really do love me.”

The expression of adoration in his eyes melted her heart. “Of course I do. You’re my mate. Fiera, please. Let me help you.”

“I love you, too, Canyon. I have all my life.” Fiera forced back her tears by taking a couple of deep breaths to calm her emotions. “Okay. You know my father hasn’t been the same since we lost my mother. And you know he’s left running the company to my uncles for the most part. We used to control the timber rights to eighty percent of this land. The land on which all the packs live. At one time, in my great-grandfather’s day, it was one hundred percent. As my father’s will to live has slipped away, so has his interest in running the company. My uncles want no part of it, so they’ve allowed companies to buy up shares of stock.”

“My father and I are aware of this, and we believe the Medinas are behind it.”

“I don’t know if they are, but I can tell you that about two years ago, we started noticing an influx of companies buying up shares. My uncles and my father all thought it was good for business, but I didn’t understand the sudden interest in it. I could not convince them to seek outside financial help.”

“Who else runs the business?”

“No one. My father has left it to me in his will, but I can’t run a business.”

“Of course you can, but you should have help doing so. Even my father seeks out others to guide him in certain areas. Who sits on the board besides your father and two uncles?”

“They
are
the board.”

“That’s not good.” Canyon frowned.

“I told you it was bad. My father has lost interest in everything. If it wasn’t for the money we have in stocks outside the industry, I’m not sure we’d be financially sound.”

“Do any of the Medinas have enough shares to be a controlling member?”

“I don’t know. We don’t know who is behind these companies buying up stock.”

“As I said, I believe the Medinas are.”

“How would we find out?”

“You leave that to my father. This is his area of expertise.” Canyon leaned forward. “Now I want to hear more about what Hawke has said to you directly about becoming his mate.”

“Your family is already in danger because of what I’ve told you. Hawke will fight you for me.”

“Fiera, we’re not leaving this cabin until I learn the truth, and until you’re mine.” A wicked gleam filled his eyes. “And I’m not afraid of having to fight Hawke for you. He will lose.”

Ever since Hawke had first approached her, she’d wished there was someone to confide in. Now, she realized she’d had someone all along. Canyon was her mate, and she should have gone straight to him, but fear had held her back.

The possessive determination she glimpsed in Canyon’s eyes gave her strength and helped calm the fear. She knew enough about alpha males to know that once they made up their mind about something, only death could make them waver. Hawke was an alpha male, too, but his intentions weren’t honorable. Canyon’s were. This was the right thing to do. Canyon was her mate, and he was right. He couldn’t help her if he didn’t know everything.

“The day Hawke and his father first came to our house was the day before my coming of age party. I went outside in the woods behind our home because I knew from the look on Hawke’s face what his father and mine were going to talk about. I felt it in my bones, and I didn’t want to listen to it.”

“You have powerful gifts for a female.”

“Can I trust you with a secret about my gifts?” She gave him a furtive glance. “I mean this is serious. I don’t want anyone else knowing this.”

“Fiera, when will you understand that you can trust me with your life?”

“I can shift. I’ve been able to since I was twelve. Not even my father knows. Patti told me that it’s very rare, even among lynx females.” Patti was her cousin, and older sister to Stone.

“It’s the sign of greatness in you. You know our history. The females who can shift have done so under duress, or during times of great need within the pack for warriors.”

“Well, I’m not sure I’m a warrior, but I also have visions.” She hugged her knees to her chest. “They come to me mostly in dreams, but sometimes when I’m awake. I see things in my mind before they happen. That’s why I knew what Hawke and his father had come to discuss.”

“Is that the day he followed you into the woods?”

“Yes.” Canyon’s tone had turned hard again, and his expression dangerous. “That’s the day he told me that he’d chosen me for his mate, and that I had no choice but to agree to it. He said my father would be declared incompetent by our Elders soon, and I’d need help running the business once my uncles died. He told me he was willing to step in and help, but I’d have to become his mate to get that help.”

“You mean he threatened you with your father’s affliction. How did he know about the business if he and his father aren’t behind buying up the stock?”

“He didn’t give specifics about the business. He only said I’d need help running it.”

“Sounds to me like they plan to take it over and you’re part of the prize.” Canyon ran his hand through his hair. “What else did he say that day?”

“He said he’d make sure the Elders didn’t do anything to my father if I agreed to be his mate. He told me if I didn’t, I’d lose my father
and
the business.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this after it happened?”

“I was afraid. Canyon, I’m so sorry. I have no excuse for not saying anything to you other than fear, not only for my father but for your family.”

“I’m not afraid of them, and neither is my father.”

He spoke softly, but there was fire in his words. Still, she would rather die than see Canyon or his family hurt.

“What else can I do, Canyon? Honestly. Tell me what my options are.”

“Do you want me or not?” His face filled with pain, and she hated that. “Deep down in your soul, Fiera. Am I the man of your dreams, or is that man Hawke?”

“I don’t dream about Hawke. At least not in the same way I dream about you.” Heat rose to her face as erotic images flashed through her mind. Her skin tingled, the way it did whenever she fantasized about her first time with Canyon. “I don’t want him at all. I would never willingly give myself to him.”

“Then tell me one more time.” Canyon gazed at her for a long time before he unfolded his legs and moved toward her, on his knees. “I need to hear your consent. Do you want me as your mate, Fiera?”

“You know I do.” This was torture. He was forcing her to choose between her heart and their families.

“There’s no question of you rejecting Hawke. I can’t live without having you. If you take him as your mate, you won’t only hurt me. You’ll hurt yourself. Your life won’t play out as it was meant to. Surely you can understand
that
.”