The Fairy Tales Collection (34 page)

“Does she know you’re a wolf shifter?”

“I believe she does but not because Bennett
told her.  She knows what to look for now and that night in the bar, both she
and Ella would have recognized – “

“Ella?  Ella knows about shifters?”  Rowan
said.  “So Belle told her but not me?”

Rafe rubbed her back lightly.  “Ella knows
because Duncan is a shifter.”

Rowan’s mouth dropped open.  “Are you – are
you serious?”

“Yes.”

“What kind?”  Rowan asked.

“He’s a lion shifter.”

She sat back on the couch and stared
blankly at her lap as Rafe gave her an anxious look.  “Rowan?  Are you all
right?  I know this is a lot and I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you but I
couldn’t.”

“Why not?”  She asked.

“Well, because shifters don’t tell humans –
“

“That’s not true,” she interrupted.  “Maybe
shifters don’t tell the average human but if they’re dating them, having sex
with them, they seem to tell them.  Both Ella and Belle know their boyfriends
are shifters.  What’s the real reason you kept it a secret, Rafe?  You can’t be
worried that I would freak out, not when my two best friends are dating
shifters and I imagine would have been happy to help you explain it, so why not
tell me?”

He sighed deeply and set the empty glass on
the coffee table.  “Rowan, I didn’t think I needed to tell you.  I thought that
we would have sex a few times and get it out of our system and that would be
it.  The age difference – “

“Fuck the age difference,” she said
angrily.  “There’s obviously more between us than just sex and I won’t let you
pretend it isn’t.  You call me your mate – do you mean it?”

He nodded.  “Yes.”

“Then why keep your shifter side hidden
from me?”

“My mother left my father because he was a
shifter,” he said.

She blinked at him.  “What?  She had to
know he was a shifter before they married and had babies.”

“She did,” he said.  “My father told her very
early in their – their courtship, what he was.  It made my grandfather angry,
he didn’t want humans in the pack, but my father refused to stop seeing my
mother.  He married her and left the pack for nearly three years.  He and my
mother lived in the woods on their own.  When I was two, my grandfather died
and my father returned to the pack and became alpha.  They had my brothers and
we lived with the pack for many years.”

“Until your mother left,” Rowan said
softly, “and you went with her.”

Rafe nodded.  He was starting to pull away
from her and Rowan moved closer, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing
his shoulder and chest until he relaxed.

“What happened, honey?”  She asked softly.

He laughed bitterly.  “Nothing really happened. 
My mother just grew tired of being the only human in a pack of wolves, of
living in the middle of the woods away from civilization, of being my father’s
mate.”

She kissed his shoulder again.  “I’m
sorry.”

“My father tried to make her happy.  I
couldn’t see that when I was younger but I see it now.  He wouldn’t move into
town – wolf shifters, they need to be near the woods, they can’t live
surrounded by humans, it’s not in their nature.  Do you understand?”

She nodded and he studied her face before
continuing.  “He wouldn’t move to town but he tried to take her there as much
as possible, even encouraged her to get a job and make new friends.  She
refused.  I think even then she was preparing to leave.”

He paused and Rowan’s heart ached at the
look of pain on his face.  “I should never have left the pack but,” his voice
lowered to a low rasp, “she was my mother and I was worried for her.  She told
me that my father was emotionally cruel to her and had been for many years. 
She begged me to go with her and I – I could not say no.”

He gave her another heartbreaking look of
pain.  “I did not want to leave my pack but she was my mother.”

She hugged him tightly, pushing his head to
her chest and stroking his thick hair.  “I’m sorry, Rafe.”

When he raised his head, she stroked his
jaw lightly.  “Do you believe your father was cruel to your mother?”

He shook his head.  “No.  My mother, when
she was away from my father, became very different.  She wasn’t the person I
thought she was and I begged her many times to return to the pack.  She refused
and we moved from place to place while she dated a bunch of different men. 
Like I told you before, we fought when I asked her to settle in one place and
she kicked me out.  I returned to my father, to my pack, but he,” he stopped
and swallowed thickly as she rubbed his back soothingly, “he refused to allow
me to return.  Artemis and Tagon – they are my brothers – tried to get him to
change his mind but he was so angry and so bitter that we had left.”

“I’m sorry, Rafe,” Rowan said again.

“Once I realized that my father would never
allow me to return to my pack, I rented a place on the outskirts of town,
started my landscaping business and saved my money to buy this place out here
in the woods.”

“Why didn’t you marry?”  She asked.  “Why
didn’t you start your own pack?”

“My father wouldn’t allow the female
shifters in our pack to even speak with me,” he said.

“There have to be other wolf packs around,”
she said.

“There are,” he acknowledged, “but no
self-respecting female shifter would marry or even date a male without a pack.”

She made a snort of anger and he smiled at
her. “It’s fine, Rowan.  I’m used to being alone.”

“But do you like it?”  She asked.  “Are you
like my grandmother where she prefers solitude or are you alone because you
believe you have no other choice?”

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it does,” she said.  “Tell me
the truth, Rafe.”

He sighed before looking away from her. 
“I’m alone because I disobeyed my father’s rules and abandoned my pack.  Do I
want to be alone?  No, of course not.  Wolf shifters need a pack and it’s
been,” he paused, “difficult at times to be without one.”

She cupped his face and made him look at
her. “I’m your pack now, Rafe.  You and me – we’re a pack.  A small pack, but
still a pack.”

“Rowan,” he said gently, “we are not meant
to be.  Don’t pretend otherwise.  I should never have let it go this far and I
shouldn’t have called you my mate.”

He waited for her anger and stared in
surprise when she grinned at him.  “So, you have two reasons for why we can’t
be together – the age thing and the wolf thing, right?”

“A little simplistic, but yes,” he said.

“The good news,” she said cheerfully, “is
that we already know that people in this town don’t actually care if we’re
dating and,” she held up her hand before he could speak, “for those who do
think it’s inappropriate because of the age difference – we don’t care what
they think.  Do we?”

He paused before shaking his head slowly.
“No, we don’t.”

She smiled happily at him.  “No, we really
don’t.  And as far as you being a wolf shifter – I’m fine with it.  In fact, I
think it’s pretty cool.”

“My mother was fine with it as well,” he
said shortly.

She scowled at him.  “I am not your mother
and you are not your father.  Don’t compare me to her just because we’re both
humans.  That’s not fair.”

“Rowan, when a wolf takes a mate it is for
life,” he said.  “We don’t find other mates or have affairs or just walk away
when we’re unhappy.  Do you understand that?  We mate for life.  My father was
destroyed when my mother left him.  Even now, he has taken no other mate and he
never will.”

“Why don’t you believe I want to be with
you for life?”  Rowan said softly.  “I’ve been in love with you since I was
fourteen years old, Rafe Taggert.”

He blinked at her.  “You – you aren’t in
love with me.”

She laughed.  “You can’t tell another
person who they are and aren’t in love with.”

“You aren’t – I mean, you can’t be.”

“I am,” she said simply.  “And you love me
too.  You’ve already made me your mate, Rafe.”

“No,” he said slowly, “I haven’t.”

She frowned at him.  “You call me your mate
all the time.  You said you’ve never called another woman that before.”

“Wolf shifters bite their mates to claim
them.  I haven’t bitten you.”

“But you want to, don’t you?”  She said.

“No.”

“Liar, liar, pants on fire,” she said
softly before dropping the blanket and climbing into his lap.  She straddled
him and reached between them, rubbing his cock with her soft hand until he was
hard and throbbing.

“How many times have you thought about
biting me, Rafe?”  She whispered into his ear before rising up and pushing the
head of his cock against her narrow entrance.  He moaned and cupped her small
breast as she rubbed his cock back and forth over her clit.  When the head was
slick with her juices, she pushed herself down, taking him deep inside of her
as he made a low growl of need.

“How many times?”  She asked again.

“Many,” he snarled before kissing her hard
on the mouth.  Their tongues twisted and tangled together and she gasped when
he fisted his hands in her hair and pulled tightly.  She rode him slowly as his
eyes turned jade and his fangs descended with a quiet pop.

“Where would you bite me?”  She asked
breathlessly.

“The throat or the shoulder,” he muttered.

He made a hoarse groan when she shook free
of his grip and climbed off of him. 

“My mate,” he said in a low voice, “fuck
me, right now.”

“So impatient,” she said in a sweet little
voice before turning her back to him.  She straddled his legs again and he
couldn’t help but squeeze her firm ass as she lowered her pussy over his cock. 
She swept her long red hair out of the way and braced her hands on his knees,
lifting herself up and down nimbly.

“Make sure it’s my right shoulder,” she
said.  “I want to get a tattoo on the left.”

“Rowan,” he groaned, “I cannot bite you.”

“You can,” she said as she rode him harder,
“I want you to.”

He gripped the back of her neck, holding
her steady as he thrust back and forth.  “Please, Rowan.”

“I’m your mate, Rafe,” she whispered as he
reached around and rubbed at her swollen clit.  “You’re supposed to claim me,
remember?”

He made another hoarse groan before shaking
his head.  “I cannot, my mate.  I’m sorry.”

Disappointment flashed across her face
before she shrugged.  “All right.”

He felt his own brief flash of
disappointment that she didn’t force the issue.  If she demanded him to bite
her he would do it.  He couldn’t deny his mate anything. 

Bite her
,
his wolf snarled. 
She’s ours.  Bite her.

With an incredible amount of willpower, he
retracted his fangs before leaning forward and kissing Rowan’s shoulder.  “I’m
sorry.”

She squeezed his forearm before pressing
his fingers more firmly against her clit.  “It’s all right, honey.  I
understand.  Now, no more talking.  Let’s just make each other feel good,
okay?”

“Yes, my mate,” he whispered.

The loud knocking woke Rowan.  She squinted
in the bright light and fumbled for her cell phone.  She stared blearily at
it.  It was almost ten and as she crawled out of Rafe’s bed and stumbled naked
to where his shirt was draped across the chair, she vaguely remembered Rafe
whispering in her ear earlier that he was going for a run in the forest.

The knocking continued, loud and insistent,
and she dragged Rafe’s shirt over her head before staggering out of the
bedroom.  God, she hoped that Rafe wasn’t an actual morning person.  They
hadn’t gone to bed until almost six and she thought it might have been nine
when he had left for his run.

“Who only needs three hours of sleep?”  She
grumbled to herself.  “Fuck!  Son of a bitch!”

She glared at the footstool she had tripped
over and holding her aching foot, hopped the rest of the way to the front door
as the knocking began again.

“Jesus, what?”  She snapped as she yanked
open the door and glared at the dark-haired man standing in front of her.

He stared wide-eyed at her before taking a
step back and staring at the cabin.  “Is this – I’m looking for Rafe Taggert. 
This is his cabin, isn’t it?”

She nodded and rubbed her foot.  “Yes. 
He’s not here right now.”

The man leaned forward and inhaled deeply
and she raised her eyebrow at him.  “Stop sniffing me.”

He flushed and she smoothed her hair down
when his gaze drifted to it.  She could only imagine what it looked like.  She
and Rafe had fucked like bunnies for most of the night and a healthy portion of
it had been outside under the bright light of the moon.

“Can I take a message for him?”  She asked.

He frowned.  “I need to speak with him. 
When will he return?”

“I’m not sure,” she said.

“Are you sleeping with him?”  He asked
suddenly.

“That’s none of your business, sweetie,”
she said.

He frowned at her.  “Just tell Rafe that
his brother – “

“Brother!”  She gave him a look of
delight.  “Are you Artemis or Tagon?”

“Tagon,” he said slowly.

“It’s so nice to meet you!”  She smiled at
him.  “I should have known you were Rafe’s brother.  You look like him.”

“I’m sorry, but who are you?”

“I’m Rowan Jameson,” she said, “I’m Rafe’s
mate.”

His jaw dropped.  “You – you are my
brother’s mate?”

“I am,” she said. “Come inside.  Rafe went
for a run in the woods.  I’m sure he won’t be long.”

She took him by the arm and dragged him
into the cabin before shutting the door.  He stood awkwardly in the living room
and she urged him toward the kitchen.  “I’ll be right back.  Don’t leave,
okay?”

“Um, okay,” Tagon said.

She used the bathroom quickly before
rinsing her mouth with mouthwash and wrangling her tangled hair into a braid. 
She tossed her panties into the clothes basket at the end of the bed before
wiggling into the rest of her clothes.  Tagon was still waiting patiently in
the kitchen and he watched silently as she padded barefoot to the coffee
machine.

“Would you like a cup of coffee?” She
asked.

“No, thank you,” he said. 

She popped a pod into the machine and
smiled at Rafe’s brother as the coffee poured into the cup.  “Are you sure?”

He nodded and she carried the steaming mug
to the table before sitting down across from him.  She sipped at the coffee as
Tagon cocked his head and studied her face.

“How old are you?”  He asked suddenly.

“How old are you?”  She replied.

“Thirty.”

“Do you have a mate?”

He nodded.  “Yes.”

“What’s her name?”

“Sophina.”

“What a pretty name,” Rowan said.  “Is she
a wolf shifter?”

Tagon frowned at her.  “Of course she is. 
I would never marry a human.”

“Your mother was a human.”

Tagon’s eyes glowed a dark yellow and he
began to growl.

“Don’t growl at me just because you have
mommy issues,” Rowan said tartly.

His growling stopped abruptly and he
blinked at her as she stood and wandered to the counter.  “I’m hungry.  Are you
hungry?”

“When will my brother return?”  Tagon
asked.

She shrugged as she opened the pantry and
rummaged through it.  “Soon, I would imagine.  Ooh, bread – would you like some
toast?”

“No,” he snapped.

She rolled her eyes.  “Jesus, are you
always this testy in the morning?  Chill out.  It’s been years since you’ve
even spoken with your brother, I think you can wait another few minutes.”

“How much do you know about me?”  Tagon
asked.

“Enough,” Rowan said as she put the bread
into the toaster.  She pulled some jam from the fridge and opened drawers until
she found the cutlery.

“How long have you and my brother been
mates?”

“Not long.”

“Aren’t you a little young for him?”

Rowan grinned at him. “I’m very mature for
my age.”

“Why would my brother take a human for a
mate?”

“He likes my hair.”

Tagon studied her red hair before giving
her a confused look.  “My brother took you as his mate because of your hair?”

Rowan snickered as the toast popped up. 
She spread jam on it as she said, “Probably not just the hair.  But I’m kind of
pushy and know what I want, and I want your brother.  And just between you and
me - I always get what I want.”

He blinked at her as she licked the jam
from her fingers.  “Maybe the four of us could get together one night.  Have a
double date, maybe play cards and catch up on events of the last twenty years.”

“I do not associate with humans,” Tagon
said with a low growl of disgust.

“Watch it, buster,” she pointed the
jam-covered knife at him before winking playfully, “I don’t like being
discriminated against just because I can’t grow fur or fangs.”

She rinsed the knife and placed it in the
sink.  “You know, your brother – oh!”

Tagon, moving so silently she hadn’t heard
him, was standing behind her and she glared at him when he said, “Do you carry
his pup?  Is that why he is with you?”

“That’s a rude question.  Do you ask every
woman you just met if they’re knocked up?”  She said irritably as he stepped
closer.  “Move back, please.  You’re in my personal bubble.”

He sniffed at her.  “Your scent doesn’t
indicate you’re carrying a pup but maybe it’s different with humans?”

“Sweetie, you need to stop sniffing me and
take a step back,” she said.  “You’re in my personal space and I don’t
appreciate it.”

“Does Rafe still speak with our mother?” 
He asked abruptly.  “Do you know her?”

“You can talk to your brother about that,”
she said before pushing lightly on his chest.  “Step back.”

“Don’t touch me, human,” he said with a
growl.

She rolled her eyes.  “Then get out of my
space and stop growling at me.”

“I’m not going to listen to what a human
says,” Tagon said mulishly before grabbing her arm.  “You’re very small and not
even – “

Before he could finish his sentence, the
back door swung open and there was an angry howl.  Rafe, naked and moving so
quickly he was a blur, shot across the kitchen and tore Tagon away from her. 
She stumbled back against the counter as Rafe slammed his brother into the wall
and wrapped one large hand around his throat.  He howled again as he squeezed
tightly.

“You dare to touch my mate?”  He shouted as
his eyes turned green and his fangs popped out.  “I will kill you, you insolent
little pup.”

“Rafe!  Stop!”  Rowan grabbed his arm. 
“Stop it right now.  He’s your brother.”

Rafe stared at her before turning his gaze
to the man in his grip. 

“Tagon?”  He whispered.

He released him and took a step back as
Tagon, coughing and choking, rubbed at his throat.

Rowan poured a glass of water and handed it
to Tagon.  “Here, drink this.”

He took the glass but didn’t drink, staring
sullenly at Rafe as the shifter rubbed one shaking hand over his jaw. 

“Tagon?  What are you doing here?”  Rafe
asked hoarsely.

“Father sent me,” Tagon said.  “He wishes
to speak with you.”

“About what?”

Tagon glanced at Rowan, a look of disgust
crossing his face.  “I will not speak of it in front of the human.”

“The
human
is my mate,” Rafe
said angrily.  “And if you touch her or look at her in that manner again, I
will break your arm, baby brother.”

Tagon snarled at him and Rafe snarled back,
baring his fangs as Rowan rolled her eyes.  “Oh for God’s sake, you two haven’t
spoken in how many years and you’re really going to get into a fight just
because of a human?  Both of you grow up.”

Tagon gave her a startled look as Rowan put
her arm around Rafe’s waist.  “I’m going to go.”

“You don’t have to,” Rafe said heatedly. 
“My brother is – “

“I know I don’t,” Rowan said soothingly. 
“But I think it’s better if you speak with your brother alone.  Drop by my
place after you’re done with work today, okay?”

He nodded and she stood on her tiptoes and
pressed a kiss against his mouth.  “Bye, honey.  I love you.”

Rafe jerked against her and she laughed
before patting his naked ass and winking at Tagon.  “Bye, Tagon.  It was lovely
to meet you.”

She grabbed her purse and sauntered out of
the cabin as the wolf brothers stared silently at her.

* * *

Tagon was standing by the kitchen window
when Rafe returned from dressing.  He picked up Rowan’s coffee from the table
and sipped at it as Tagon continued to stare out the window. 

“You look good, brother,” Rafe said
quietly.

Tagon rubbed at the marks on his neck. 
“You look older.”

Are you mated?”  Rafe asked, ignoring the
insult.

“Yes.  Her name is Sophina.  She is Alden’s
youngest daughter.”

“I remember her,” Rafe said.  “Do you have
pups?”

“She carries a pup in her belly now,” Tagon
said with a tinge of pride.  “She is due in four months.”

“Congratulations.  How is Artemis?  Is he
mated as well?”  After years of no contact with his pack, he was eager for
whatever information he could get on his family.

“No, not yet,” Tagon said.  “Father has
been hounding him for years to find a mate but Artemis has shown no interest in
the females in our pack or other packs.”

His brother finally turned and faced him. 
“Have you gone insane without your pack, Rafe?  Is that what’s happening?”

“Of course not,” Rafe said with a frown. 
“I’m perfectly fine, Tagon.”

“Perfectly fine?”  His brother gave him a
look of disbelief.  “You are fucking a human, Rafe.  A human!  If father found
out, he would – “

“The human is my mate,” Rafe snapped, “and
I have long stopped caring what father thinks of me.”

“You haven’t bitten her,” Tagon said.  “You
call her your mate but I smell no claiming scent on her.  She is not your
mate.  You could still do the right thing and find a more,” he paused, “age
appropriate shifter to be your mate.”

Rafe flushed a dull red.  “No female
shifter will have anything to do with me. You know that, Tagon.”

“So you choose a human because you have no
choice?”

“No,” Rafe said immediately.  “Rowan is not
my mate because I can’t be with a shifter.  She is my mate because I love her.”

A little rush of excitement and pride went
through him.  It was the first time he had admitted out loud – hell, admitted
at all – that he loved Rowan and it made both him and his wolf stupidly happy.

“In love with a human?”  Tagon scoffed. 
“It is better for you to be alone forever then take a human as your mate. 
Consider it your punishment for abandoning your pack for our wretched excuse of
a mother.”

“Watch your tongue, Tagon,” Rafe snarled. 
“She is still your mother and you will speak respectfully about her or feel my
claws in your flesh.”

Tagon bared his fangs at him before taking
a step back.  “You still defend her.  Even after she revealed her true nature.”

Rafe didn’t reply and Tagon sighed loudly. 
“I am not here to speak about our mother, Rafe.  I’m here because father wishes
to speak with you.  Will you meet with him?”

“Of course,” Rafe said.  “What does he want
to talk about?”

“He can tell you himself,” Tagon said
bitterly.  “I’ll tell father you’ll come by at six tonight.  Unless, you would
rather be fucking your human?”