Their Runaway Mate (5 page)

*****

Carter enjoyed her gasp when he spoke about enjoying pussy, as well as the dark blush that rose to her cheeks. She looked down at her hands that she was fidgeting with, pulling on the comforter, and tried to hide her face with her hair. When she’d sat up earlier her hair had been all mussed and curly, and Carter had a hard time not wanting to run his hands through the silky locks. Now he wanted to push those locks out of his way so he could see her face again.

He reached for her chin and tilted her face up to look at him, while his other hand pushed the hair out of her face. She was biting on her bottom lip and had her eyes squeezed tightly shut. He wanted to laugh at her attempt to block him out, but then he smelled her arousal. He breathed in deeply and his mouth began to water as his wolf begged him to jump between her legs for just one taste. His cock was rock hard as desire coursed through his veins to fuck her silly.

He’d been truthful about sometimes wanting the feel of a warm pussy, but he hadn’t mentioned that it was never as satisfying as being with his mate. Drew and he always took the women together when they’d decide to take a woman to bed because neither of them would be able to reach release without the other. Now with Anna, the release would be able to be met with either and it would always be satisfying. When they’d share her together, it would be intense.

Carter couldn’t wait for that intensity, unfortunately since she was human, it would have to wait until she changed. Otherwise they’d risk hurting her.

After long, agonizing moments of him trying to control his wolf, Anna opened her eyes. She pulled away abruptly at the look of hunger he knew she saw and climbed to the other side of the bed to create space. With the minimal distance, Carter was able to reign in the raging fire a little bit, and let go of the breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“What happened? Why do your eyes look like you want to eat me for dinner?” She questioned, panic in her voice.

Carter couldn’t help the wicked smile that formed on his face, even though he’d try to fight it at first. “Because I do.”

Anna squeaked and made a dash for her bathroom, but Carter was faster and blocked her off before she even reached the door.

He wrapped his arms around her waist as he tried calming her down, “Calm down Anna, I was just joking.”

“No you weren’t, I saw the look in your eyes. It was like your wolf was about to jump out and get me.”

She tried to wiggle out of his arms, but he just tightened his grip, which didn’t help him much because it put her soft curves more flush against him and her wiggling made his cock painfully harder. He didn’t want to let her go for fear that she’d flee, but he also didn’t want to cum in his pants like a teenage boy.

“Okay, I wasn’t joking, I do want to eat you, but not the way you think,” he pushed his erection into her wiggling butt and she immediately halted all movement.

“I’m still a virgin,” her announcement came way out of left field and forced him to let go of her completely.

He’d accidentally let go too fast because she fell back onto the bed, where she proceeded to right herself before sitting down with her legs crossed and closed tight.

“Y-you what? Say that again.” Carter stumbled after the air started filling his lungs again from where it had been knocked out by her statement.

She bit her lip again, which only made him want to groan because it brought his attention to her delectable mouth. Then she fidgeted with her shirt hem a bit before turning her eyes back to him.

“I’m a virgin,” she said in a calm manner, as if it was nothing big.

“How?” was all he could blurt out.

“How, what? How does one remain a virgin? Simple, you just don’t have sex, or any relationship at all for that manner.” She looked sad for a moment with this remark and Carter automatically wanted to comfort her, but he still didn’t understand.

“But that doesn’t make sense, you’re twenty-five. How have you remained a virgin this long?” he winced at his harsh way of saying it, but saw no other way to put it delicately.

“My parents died before I graduated high school and I had to work to raise my little sister because we had no other family. I guess I just never had the time or desire to be with anybody else,” she was embarrassed for her admission and Carter knew he was making it worse by just gawking at her, but he just couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“So you’ve never even kissed a man before?”

Her blush came back. “Once in high school, but his braces cut my lip and I haven’t wished to relive the experience since.”

A part of him wanted to chuckle at the scene that painted, but he knew better.

He was completely floored, here he was relaying all his sexual escapades to her as if they were nothing and she was a complete and utter virgin. He felt like a heel. For the second time since he’d met her, she’d managed to make him look like an outrageous ass and all she’d to do was be her innocent little self.

Then an idea popped into his head, he and Drew would be her first for everything. With that prospect, his cock perked back up and seemed to come back to life again. It wasn’t very often that a man found his mate and she’d be completely free from ever being touched by another man, especially within Packs. All the males in the Pack shared unmated females regularly during their heating season, so most males were just glad they’d found their mate and didn’t worry about how many others she’d been with before.

He uprooted himself from where he stood and took a seat next to her on the bed. He could see how nervous she was and now that he’d gotten over the initial shock, wanted to reassure her a bit.

Taking one of her hands in his, he laced their fingers together. “Anna, I know all of this is a bit frightening for you, and up until just a few moments ago I didn’t realize how frightening it really was. I know I haven’t made the greatest impression on you and I understand you not trusting me, but I’ll never harm you in any way.” Carter took a large breath because he knew the next thing he said was going to be hard, “I’m willing to wait for you to grow to trust me before we do anything. The last thing I want to do is push this mating on you.”

“But aren’t you already?” she whispered, probably hoping he wouldn’t hear it.

“In a way, yes, I guess I am, but Drew and I’ve been waiting for you for a very long time and we don’t want to give up our chance of having a family.” She opened her mouth to say something, but Carter cut her off, “I’m not talking about having pups. I’m talking about us all just being mates. If you don’t want to give us pups right away and want to wait a while, we would be fine with that as long as we had each other, you, Drew, and me.

“Just give me two months to prove myself to you, Anna. Two months, and if you still don’t want to be with us, we’ll let you go.”

Minutes ticked by and Carter thought he was going to explode from the anxiety. Why had he said he’d let her leave them after two months? Why did he feel the need to have her trust him?

Finally, she broke the tense silence, “Okay, I will try.”

A sense of relief and of dread filled him at the same time. What if he screwed up again within the two months? What if, at the end, she decided to leave anyway?

Resigning himself to accept the terms that he already laid out, he kissed her hand before he let it go and stood up. He had to convince her that she could come to care for Drew and him. He couldn’t lose her.

“I’m going to give you some privacy so you can freshen up or whatever. Drew and I have an important meeting today and probably won’t be home until dinner.” As he reached her door, he pulled it open then turned to look at her and said, “I’d really like to see you for dinner, if it’s okay.”

She nodded, but bit her lip again. Carter barely held back a groan as he stepped out and closed her door quietly. It was going to be a long two months.

*****

Drew just sat in the office of their Pack’s compound gaping at his mate. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“You told her she could leave in two months if she wasn’t happy?” he asked, hoping he hadn’t heard him right.

Carter just nodded solemnly, and then put his head in his hands as he leaned against his desk. “I didn’t know what else to do, Drew. I didn’t want to say it, but it just popped out and then I couldn’t take it back after I had.”

Drew was tense all over. He couldn’t lose Anna after all the time it took to find her, especially since once he’d found her, he’d fallen in love with her, instantly. He just sat there, watching his mate as the man tore at his hair. He saw how much Carter was beating himself up over this and couldn’t help but want to comfort him.

He stood up and rounded the desk to stand beside him. Then he slipped his hand into one of the hands in Carter’s hair and pulled it away in order to get his attention. Carter looked up at him and Drew’s chest tightened at the lost look in his eyes.

“Don’t worry, Carter. We will just have to work extra hard to convince Anna that she needs to stay with us. It will work out, you’ll see,” Drew tried to smile, even though now, he didn’t really know whether he was lying to himself and Carter, or not.

“God, I hope so, Drew. I don’t want to lose her.” Drew’s breath hitched at his confession. Just the day before Carter was ranting about how she was nothing but a selfish human, not worthy of their mating. Now here he sat looking completely helpless and afraid that he was going to lose her.

Anna had a way of wiggling in under your skin quickly, once you gave her a chance. She’d done it to him almost instantly and it seemed, once he let his guard down and his prejudices go, she was doing it to Carter too.

Drew knelt down a bit until his lips brushed against Carter’s.

“We won’t let that happen, Carter,” he said before he kissed Carter fully.

Carter opened for him instantly and he plunged into his mouth. Tasting the tangy delicious taste of his mate, he wondered what it would taste like when he kissed Anna. Would she be sweet and decadent, with a hint of innocence, or would she be spicy and filled with fire?

Gods, Drew couldn’t wait to find out. He only hoped that he’d find out and it wouldn’t take as long as two months.

All he knew is that Carter and he had to work extremely hard to keep their mate from running away because neither of them would be able to survive without her now. Damn, it was going to be a long two months.

Chapter
Four

A month had gone by since Carter had made his declaration to let Anna leave after two months if she wasn’t happy. Drew now stood in the middle of his Pack’s training field conditioning the male members of his Pack into soldiers, and all he could think about was whether, or not Carter and he were convincing her to stay.

After she and Carter had spoken, she made an appearance for dinner. Everything was tense and no one seemed to eat much that night. Anna had hidden inside her shell and Drew wondered if anything he or Carter did would even matter. He worried that she’d just avoid them at all costs for the entire two months and then disappear from of their lives, forever.

However, the next day, when they’d come down to breakfast, she was already in the kitchen, sitting at the table, talking to Ella while she made breakfast. She’d smiled at them when they came in, Drew had come accustomed to seeing the same sunshine smile every morning, but it wasn’t the same. She answered them when they told her good morning and spoke cordially toward them about mundane things like the weather, but she still held herself back and acted as if she were waiting for Carter or him to snap at her for no reason.

What Drew hated the most out of all of it was how she’d become uncomfortable with him. He used to be able to laugh with her and joke around, but after she and Carter had fought, she seemed to lose trust in him too. Things that used to make her laugh hysterically barely got a smile out of her. He hated how she wouldn’t open up to him about how she felt, as if he’d use it against her. He had liked being able to be there for her when she needed him to make her feel better about something that was bothering her. Now it was apparently him bothering her, and she’d shut up tighter than a drum.

Then the next day passed and the next, and with each day it seemed like she was beginning to come into her old self again. The three of them started a routine of meeting for breakfast, where they’d tell each other their plans and hopes for the day, and then at dinner where they’d let each other know how everything went. They even started having a movie night, where they’d all take turns picking a couple of different movies, then sitting around the family room after dinner watching the movies over a giant bowl of popcorn and some wine. When they’d first started doing it, Drew and Carter felt uncomfortable because Anna would curl up on the love seat, alone, while they sat on opposite sides of the couch.

Anna had insisted the next night he and Carter should sit together without feeling uncomfortable about her being in the room, but even that felt wrong. They wanted her to be there with them, not sitting on a different piece of furniture, by herself. So the next night, Drew deviously turned up the air conditioning in the house, while Carter popped a big bowl of popcorn smothered in melted butter. Part way into the first movie Anna was shivering and they could practically see her salivating for the popcorn.

At first, she sat on the same couch, but on the other end with a blanket wrapped around her legs, so Drew hid all the throw blankets in the family room so she couldn’t use them. When she’d finally sat next to Drew he immediately pulled her in for a cuddle, which made her stiffen up, especially when Carter decided to change where he sat too, on the other side of her. Half way through the movie though, she became so engrossed in what she was watching and munching on popcorn, she relaxed completely and allowed them to put their arms around her shoulders, where they linked their hands together, while cuddling her.

By the fourth movie night she was there, in the middle of the couch with the bowl of popcorn before Drew and Carter had even entered the room. It was perfect, well, almost perfect.

When the day would end and they’d go to bed, she’d always just say good night and go to her room, where she locked the door. Drew and Carter had all but given up on having sex for a bit because it just didn’t seem as satisfying as it once had. They knew what was missing, a curvy, little brunette who tried to play oblivious to what was going on between them. Their cocks were almost constantly rock hard to the point of pain, and every time they walked into the house after a long day and smelled her scent, their mouths would start to water and their wolves would start to howl. They tried to give each other relief, but each day they were finding it harder and harder to even find release. Their wolves wanted their mate and would settle for nothing less than the three of them together.

Drew found himself out in the training field with his men more than anywhere else, mainly because he wanted to let off all the excess energy. Carter was becoming a bear to be around and snapped at everyone in sight it seemed, except for Anna, who he would become as gentle as a kitten with, making Drew want to laugh out loud.

Carter went from saying Anna expected too much, to trying to buy her the moon itself, which she’d just refuse, as she did almost everything. She’d take some things when she thought that she’d really begun to hurt their feelings with the refusals, and she always showed her appreciation with any of the gifts they offered. She did start driving the car Drew gave her, right to the local soup kitchen where she’d volunteer her time cooking for homeless people, which only made Drew and Carter think she was even more of an angel.

She also started coming to the compound with them, where she’d talk to other Pack members and play with the children. Everyone on the compound was in love with her, including her mates.

However, she always held back, she’d let Drew and Carter cuddle with her on movie nights, she’d help at the compound, and she’d even hug them good night. However, she’d still go to bed alone, locking the door behind her and she’d still hold herself back from any other type of affection. A couple of times Drew tried hugging her when he walked into a room and caught her off guard, she’d stiffen up like a board and hold her breath until he let go. She still didn’t trust them, she still thought they’d hurt her some way and Drew was at a loss to figure out how to change it.

A tap on Drew’s shoulder pulled him out of his thoughts, and he turned to Aryk, one of his Pack members, who bowed his head in respect and kept his eyes to the ground. Aryk was still a young pup, only fifteen, but he’d always been anxious to go out and become a soldier for his Alpha, so Drew and Carter had decided to let him start out by running errands and relaying messages for them. He was always very diligent in his work and they both thought he’d make a great Beta someday.

“Alpha has requested to see you, sir,” Aryk stated.

Drew looked at his training field to see the other members all standing at attention, awaiting his orders.

“You’ve done well for today, go home and rest.” Drew dismissed them then turned to Aryk, “Thank you, Aryk, you may leave as well.”

Drew strolled up to the compound’s main building and went inside the office to find Carter sitting at his desk arguing with someone on the other line. He sat down and grabbed some papers from the desk, which he skimmed through while he waited for Carter to finish. The papers were nothing special really, just reports on the status of their Pack and the surrounding area. They ran things in the state, being the largest Pack in Washington. Other, smaller Packs would come to them for advice or support in things happening within their own Packs, as well as permission to do certain things, like appoint a new Alpha.

Carter loved to be in control of everything, so being Alpha over such a large Pack and ultimately, many smaller Packs, fit him well. Drew was more laid back and liked to just go with the flow, but he could take control of a situation when it warranted, which is why he liked being Beta. It gave him the ability to control some things, but not the responsibility to keep everything under control. He hated it when Carter went away for any kind of meeting or conference. He always had to take on more responsibility and ended up wanting to tear his hair out toward the end. However, it did make him admire his mate for what he did.

Carter hung up the phone and Drew plopped the papers back on his desk.

“So, there’s going to be another trip,” Carter stated, straight to the point.

Drew groaned, “Seriously? As if I don’t already have enough on my plate training the men and now you are leaving again. What about Anna? What am I supposed to do with her until you get back?”

“More like, what am I supposed to do with her until you get back?” Carter just smirked, “This trip isn’t for me, my friend, it’s for you. Oregon is gathering some Packs together and wanting to hold a big training session to get them prepared for when any Rogues may attack. They want you to go down with a few of our men and train them.”

“When do I leave? Do I have enough time to say goodbye to Anna?” Drew asked.

“Of course you have enough time to say goodbye, to both of us. You don’t leave until the morning, which is just enough time to spend some time with us and say goodbye.”

“It’s too bad we haven’t worked anything out with Anna yet, I would have liked to say goodbye properly.” Drew wiggled his eyebrows up and down, while he smiled wickedly at Carter.

Carter just returned the smile. “You could always say goodbye properly to me and it’s not like it’s a permanent goodbye. I’m sure I will have her nice and ready to welcome you home properly when you get back.”

Drew groaned again, but out of desire and not annoyance, “Please do, otherwise I think I will probably go insane.”

Carter just chuckled, “Don’t worry mate. She is starting to come around and it’s only been a month. By the time you get back she will be putty in our hands.”

“Don’t get too cocky, she might surprise you.” Drew said, chuckling to himself.