Taking His Mate Read online

  She searched his face and found only the love and desire she had come to know. She heard him make his low, quiet growl and felt herself respond as she always did. She nuzzled his neck and placed his hand on the inside of her thigh.

  He chuckled. “Ah, so now you admit that you liked my stroking.”

  “Yes,” she said quietly. “I often feel unsettled or unfinished when we part… like there is more.”

  He rumbled a noise deep in his chest. “There is my beloved, so much more. Will you trust me to always do what is best for you?”

  She nodded.

  “There’s my good girl,” he crooned as he nuzzled her and reached up to cup her mons in his strong hand. He chuckled as her legs parted to allow him to more freely touch her. “I promise, my beloved, we will have a wonderful life and you will know far more pleasure from my touch than pain… unless of course you revert to being the spoiled brat your father allowed you to be. Then, my beautiful mate, I promise to make the spanking you received just now nothing more than a fond memory of the first time I had my hands on your bare bottom.”

  “But you love me?”

  “With every fiber of my being. No woman will ever know a love such as ours. So, will you behave with the priest and promise to sail away with me?”

  She nodded. “I will. I’m sorry I behaved so badly. You will still treat me gently this night when I become yours in all ways?”

  He rubbed her clit in a slow circular motion, making her inhale sharply and sigh his name. “Yes, come the dawn you will have left both your home and your childhood behind. You will be my wife, my mate, my woman, and my beloved until we are parted by death.”

  All was as Rhiryd had promised Cristen. They made their way to a new world. Part of the company that sailed with them stayed behind with Rhiryd and Cristen on what would centuries later be called the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The other part, including Madoc, sailed south. It would be more than three hundred years before Christopher Columbus would find his way to the new world and try to claim it for Spain.

  Rhiryd marked his mate soon after they made landfall and she became a shifter as well. She bore him seven children, some of whom married among the indigenous people and others explored to the west where they found rich lands for farming. Rhiryd and Cristen stayed on the island and often shifted and ran in wolf form, enjoying the freedom it gave them.

  Rhiryd and Cristen lived a long and happy life together until Rhiryd was killed in battle. Cristen was inconsolable without her mate. Men—shifters and human alike—who had lost their own mates, many to childbirth, made offers for her hand. She had never lost her willful nature and her grown sons feared that their mother needed the steadying hand of a mate to keep her safe and happy. They had thought that like their father they would bend her to their will. They were wrong.

  One night, Cristen shifted to her wolf form—a smaller more delicate version of her mate and their offspring. Her coloring too was unique. Instead of a coat of white or gray mixed with black, she had a tawny undercoat with coppery red fur and black points. As Cristen shifted for the last time, she escaped through the window of the home she had shared with her beloved Rhiryd and ran off into the night. As she crested the top of the dune to the north of their home, she stopped, looked to the full moon and howled to acknowledge her loss.

  They say she never reverted back to her human form. Although they tried to capture her, the only time anyone ever saw her was at each full moon. The sound of a lone she-wolf singing her mournful song could be heard. And if one scanned the horizon, you could see her shadow as she called for her dead mate. Legend says that several years later, her family found a red wolf prostrate on the grave of Rhiryd. Cristen had returned to die at the side of the only man she ever loved. Secretly they opened his grave on the night of a full moon and laid her to rest beside him for all eternity… or until they would find each other again in a new lifetime.

  Chapter Two

  Welsh Coast—Home of the Calon Onest pack

  Present day

  Ioan Smith-Davies poured himself a shot and tipped his glass toward the west and the Americas. He’d just gotten off the phone with Dylan Grainger, the alpha of Calon Gwyllt—one of the more powerful packs in the United States. Dylan was among a handful of progressive pack leaders in the United States. Ioan had known of Grainger’s reputation before receiving a phone call from him. It was a call that Ioan felt held far more significance than the alpha of Calon Gwyllt even knew.

  Walking across to his safe, Ioan removed the mysterious letter left to him by his brother-in-law, Micah Owen, the former alpha of his own pack, Calon Onest. Some believed that Micah had foreseen his own death. He had been mated to Skylar, a strong and beautiful woman and an alpha in her own right. Micah had believed that should he pass before growing old with her that Skylar would most likely find another life mate. He had left behind the letter to be hand-delivered to that new mate.

  Many a time had Ioan contemplated what might be contained therein. He was certain that Micah had tried to find a way to help whomever that new fated mate might be. Micah had always called Skylar a ‘terrible bit of beauty.’ She hadn’t come quietly when Micah had called for her as his mate. Ioan was quite certain that she would come even less willingly a second time.

  Ioan had always admired Skylar. When hunters had murdered Micah, she had gone after them with a vengeance. In the end all of those who had a hand in his death had died at her hands. Ioan had been too late to try to stop her and had failed to convince her to come home. All that was left to be done was to clean up the grisly scene she left behind before going straight to the airport at Cardiff and flying across the Atlantic to build a new life for herself. When the rumors of an all-female pack had begun to surface, Ioan was quite certain that Skylar was the redheaded beauty said to be its alpha.

  Ioan’s Calon Onest pack had thrived in its home on the Welsh coastline for hundreds of years—partly because the alphas had always understood the importance of a smooth transition between one alpha and the next. Micah had prepared a succession plan in the event of his death—no doubt one he could have revised as the years went by. He had been the oldest of his parents’ offspring. Next had been his sister, Elizabeth, and almost a decade later, Griffin.

  When Micah was killed, Griffin was too young to take on the mantle of alpha, so Micah had asked that Ioan, who was married to Elizabeth or Bethan as she was called, to do so. At first Ioan had eschewed the idea and then had agreed only to be a placeholder until Griffin came of age. But when Griffin returned from his time in the Special Forces, he wanted no part of having to shoulder the responsibility of alpha of the pack. He and Ioan had agreed that Ioan would continue on as alpha.

  Griffin had assured his sister that he needed time and space to heal from the things he had seen and done. Bethan had hoped that Griffin would stay on at Calon Onest or at the very least some place close, but Griffin had needed the solace of the open road and the path less traveled.

  Ioan felt Bethan close by in advance of her knock on the door of his study. Ioan turned his chair around as she entered and caught his breath. She still did that to him… twenty years later. Bethan was beautiful. She had dark mahogany hair, dark brown eyes, and a figure that still called to him after having borne him two children, a boy and a girl.

  “What keeps you, my love?” she asked softly. “It’s late and I worried that perhaps you were not feeling well.”

  Ioan chuckled. “Don’t you lie to me, my darling girl. What worried you was that there was something going on with Dylan Grainger of Calon Gwyllt and Skylar.”

  Bethan grinned. “I wouldn’t say I lied to you…”

  “Of course, you wouldn’t as that would get your mouth washed out with soap and earn you a trip over my knee.” He reached out his hand to her. “Come sit with me and tell me what’s really troubling you.”

  She took it and allowed him to draw her onto his lap. “It’s true then? Grainger called here about Skylar?”

  “Yes.
The all-female pack is to be disbanded. Dylan’s been tasked with getting the deed done. And while doing a bit of reconnaissance, he realized Skylar was his fated mate.”

  Bethan laughed. She had been close to her older brother and to his mate and knew the formidable force that Skylar could be. “I take it Skylar is not enamored of the idea of being mated again.”

  “No more so than she was the first time.”

  “So, what did you tell Grainger?”

  “That Micah had always had his hands full with her, but had always said she was worth it. I also let him know that if I heard she was mistreated I would bring the full force of our pack against those who harmed her.”

  “Don’t you think you should reach out to her?”

  “No. I believe she, and her women, are safest integrated into a traditional pack. I didn’t tell you, but the phone conference with the British Ruling Council last week dealt with this very issue and the fact that Skylar’s pack was attacked by a rogue band of wolves from Serbia. They fought them off, but I doubt if they are allowed to continue to live as they are, that it won’t be the last.”

  “You’re thinking this is part of something bigger, aren’t you?” she asked quietly.

  “There are disturbing rumors coming out of some of the eastern and southern countries on the continent. Born females shifters are becoming so rare that humans are being turned against their will. Some packs are taking the few females they can find and forcing them to become breeders for an entire pack or small groups within a pack.”

  “That’s why you asked Griffin to check on our holdings in that area, isn’t it?”

  Ioan nodded.

  “Why didn’t you tell me the truth?” Bethan accused.

  “Because you would have been overly concerned.”

  “Overly? He’s my little brother, Ioan…”

  Ioan smiled. “And a highly decorated Special Forces operative.” He pulled her head down for a kiss. “Before you get yourself worked up, you should know, your baby brother will be here at the end of the week, Monday at the latest. I want to hear what he has to say and then will decide what’s to be done next.”

  * * *

  Griffin stealthily made his way behind the old manor house. He used the darkness and natural ground cover to conceal his presence. Ioan had asked that he check on Calon Onest’s business dealings in Europe in what had once been east of the iron curtain. That was part of it, but what Ioan really wanted to know was the veracity of some of the stories filtering out to Western Europe and across the Channel to Britain and further west to the Americas. What he’d found was disturbing,

  Human women were being turned without their consent and kept against their will. Female wolves—both born and turned—were being mated to two or more males. In the best of scenarios, the bonds seemed to be strong and the women well cared for. More often than not, the women were being held as prisoners either to assuage the lust of the men involved, as a breeder to produce offspring or both. Griffin had managed to spirit away a few of the women he’d found in the most dire straits and get them to packs he knew would not abuse them.

  One of the women he had helped to get away had given him a lead on the whereabouts of the Serbian pack that had attacked Skylar’s pack. Griffin smiled. When the rumors of an all-female pack had first emerged, Griffin would have bet his last dime that it was his sister-in-law who was their leader. Skylar had never been overly fond of the male-dominated hierarchy of their wolfen society. And while she had submitted to her mate, she had made it abundantly clear that he was the only one to whom she would submit.

  Griffin peered into what appeared to be the main gathering place for the men of this pack. They were a rough lot. Many appeared to be nursing serious long-term injuries and Griffin felt sure they were the ones from the raiding pack that had survived. The rumors were that some of those who had gone to America had not returned. Knowing Skylar, Griffin had not been surprised.

  Although he knew that had he inquired, Skylar would have told him he need not involve himself, Griffin couldn’t help but feel that this pack needed to be taught a lesson… one that the Ruling Council in Europe seemed unwilling or unable to teach. Griffin couldn’t suppress his grim smile. He meant to reserve that pleasure for himself.

  Griffin made his way toward the back of the house. He was surprised that the fools did not have guards posted. Latching on to the corner pieces of the old, rundown mansion, Griffin climbed up the side of the house until he could step across to a balcony. He’d chosen this balcony as earlier he had seen a light. He peered in the window and found what he had been seeking—three women shackled to three beds.

  Quietly he jimmied the lock on the French doors and let himself in. He approached the woman closest to him and placed his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming.

  “I’m here to help. Are there any more women in the house?”

  She shook her head. Griffin picked the lock and set her free. She quickly woke the other girls and then used the key hanging just inside the door to set them free as well.

  Griffin had secured a rope around his midsection before beginning his climb. Now, he unwound it from his body. Quickly but quietly, he lowered each of the women to the ground, instructing them to be as quiet as possible and run to an outcropping of trees not too far from the house. After the last one had made it to the safety of the trees, Griffin lowered himself off the balcony.

  Before joining the women at the group of trees, he set several incendiary devices along the base of the house and then moved to join them. Once he had ensured they couldn’t be seen, Griffin enabled the remote detonator and watched the small explosions start a fire that quickly began to consume the house.

  He allowed himself a moment to enjoy watching relief and a spark of hope ignite in the eyes of the women he had rescued. He shepherded them to his car and sped off into the night.

  “Well, ladies. That went better than I had hoped. Are any of you injured and in need of a physician’s help?”

  “What do you plan to do with us?” asked one, her voice filled with fear.

  “Are you Stephanie?”

  “How do you know my name?”

  “It’s your sister, Ashley who sent me. I got her away from her captors a week or so ago. The only way I got her to promise to stay safe was to swear I would find you.” He handed his cell phone back to her. “Push M for Ashley. Call her.”

  Stephanie did so. A man with a heavy Italian accent answered. She asked for Ashley and was overwhelmed when she heard her sister’s voice.

  “Yes,” Stephanie said, “we’re safe. Griffin came for us. He got us all out and set fire to those monsters’ home. I’m not sure…” She looked at Griffin. “Ashley wants to know if you’re taking us to her?”

  “Tell her that’s the plan. I left her and another girl with a large pack at the foot of the Alps. They have room for all of you. You won’t be held against your will. They just want to see you safe and healthy and then you can decide what you want to do.”

  Stephanie relayed the plan to Ashley, exchanged a few more words and then hung up, handing the phone back to Griffin.

  The woman sitting in the passenger seat asked, “Do you know what they did?”

  “I have a good idea,” he said grimly. “I know they sent some of their men to attack a pack in America…”

  “We heard about that. Not all of them came back. Is it true there’s an all-female pack there?”

  “There was. It’s in the process of being disbanded. I don’t have to take all of you to join Stephanie’s sister. I can get you to other packs, but I would caution you to at least accept the hospitality of a pack until you can figure out what you want. It’s not very safe right now being an unprotected female shifter.”

  “So, do you just go about saving people?”

  “Hardly,” said Griffin. “My family’s pack is led by a good, honorable man who is mated to my sister. There are rumors about what’s going on and the tale of that bunch of mutts attacking
Skylar’s pack is making the rounds.”

  “Do you know her?” asked Stephanie.

  Griffin smiled. “Yes, she was mated to my older brother. Ioan, my sister’s mate, wanted to know the truth about what was going on and so asked me to do a little fact-finding for him. He won’t be happy with what I have to report.”

  “If we don’t want to go with Stephanie, can we go with you?”

  “Only as far as Calon Onest—my sister’s pack. I have other things I’m going to need to be doing and will travel best alone. We’re headed for the people with whom Ashley is staying. But if you have other packs or places you’d rather be, I’ll see you to the safety of a pack in that area. But let me stress, you would be a guest, not a captive.”

  His last assurances seem to settle the matter for all three women. Griffin found out more about the two women with whom Stephanie had been held captive. One had been born a shifter and had been traded to the Serbian pack for a different woman. The other, like Stephanie, had been a tourist and turned without her knowledge or consent. The women had been happy to talk about what they had overheard while being held as prisoners. He let them rest and then questioned them sparingly when they were awake.

  Griffin drove through the night and most of the next morning, arriving at the large estate to be greeted by a beaming Ashley and the pack that had taken her in. Griffin was pleased to see Stephanie and Ashley drawing in the two women who had been held captive with Stephanie and ushering them inside.

  Marco DeMedici, the alpha of the DeMedici pack, shook Griffin’s hand. “Well done. Bad as we’ve heard?”

  “I’m afraid so. Those Serbs no longer have a home but it’s not good. Everything I’ve seen since I left Ashley with you and your pack has confirmed our worst fears. They’re going to need time, Marco.”

  Marco chuckled. “We’re vintners, Griff. We know all about time and nurturing something until it has become all it, or as in this case, she, can be. They’ll be safe here for as long as they want. And no one will ever harm them again. Unless you are prepared to do so, I will let the Ruling Council know that they are under my protection and anyone trying to make a claim will deal with me.”