Mastering His Mate Read online

  “I was just asking. I’m new to all this. You can’t punish me for asking,” she said a bit too petulantly for his liking.

  He swatted her exposed backside and kept her from moving away from him. “I can if you do so disrespectfully or if I think you need to be spanked.”

  “That doesn’t seem fair.”

  “Why is it that naughty girls always complain about fair after they’ve been naughty? But in the future as you are now my mate, after I’ve seen to your punishment I’ll see to your pleasuring.”

  “Like you did this morning when you held me?”

  He chuckled. “No, sweetheart. It’s not that I won’t hold you when that’s what you need, but after a naughty girl gets bottom spanked by her mate, he generally uses the arousal they both experience to put their relationship back on track.”

  She rolled up so that she was lying halfway on top of his body. “Oh, that’s nice. You spank me and then fuck me because you made yourself horny. Typical male.”

  Bash flipped her onto her back and rolled back on top of her, spreading her legs with his knees and settling himself between her thighs. He kissed down her body, spending a considerable amount of time teasing and suckling her nipples with his mouth and tongue. Each time he went to change breasts he would briefly kiss her mark. He slid down her body licking, nibbling, and kissing.

  Liza could feel every nerve in her body come alive under his hands and mouth. He swirled his tongue in her belly button, causing her to giggle. Bash continued his downward trend. When he swirled his tongue around her clit, she moaned in pure desire. He pulled it into his mouth and began to suck as he reached up and applied the same rhythm and pressure to her nipples. Liza could feel her blood coursing through her veins. Everything seemed heightened; she felt as though before Bash she had only been half-alive and now she felt as though she was connected with everything around her.

  Bash watched and felt her come alive under his ministrations. He slipped his hands under her buttocks and felt her wince at the contact. He increased the drawing power of his mouth on her tongue and could feel her relax into him. She cried out and grasped his head, pulling him closer. He released her clit and moved down to his ultimate goal—her honey-soaked pussy. He thrust his tongue into her and she arched her back again, pushing more of her juices to his mouth. She tasted sweeter than anything he had ever had.

  As her pussy continued to pulse from the climax she had experienced from his tongue, Bash moved back up her body and held her close as he thrust home. Surprisingly without any further stimulation she arched up again in an orgasm that seemed to shatter any lingering doubts she had.

  “Good mate,” he crooned in her ear as he began to plunge in and out of her heated channel.

  Liza let go of her fears, her concerns, and her other cares as she gave herself over to Bash’s dominant lovemaking. She had never soared as high as she did with him or felt so safe. He brought her to climax several times before finding his final pleasure and once again emptied himself into her.

  “You are my mate, Liza Kincanon,” Bash whispered as he rolled off of her and settled her next to him.

  “As you are mine,” she whispered before snuggling into him and falling asleep.

  Chapter Four

  Roz hurt. She couldn’t remember a time she had ever been in more pain. Everything hurt… even her hair.

  “Roz, honey? It’s Liza. Can you hear me?” She felt someone, presumably Liza, press a cool cloth against her forehead. “Why can’t she open her eyes? Why doesn’t she answer me? Why is this taking so long?” Roz could hear the fear and concern in her sister’s voice.

  “The change affects everyone differently. Greg told you she’s past the dangerous stage. She’s going to survive. Her body is taking more time than yours to adjust because she was stronger to begin with and so her body resisted more.”

  Roz could tell it was the voice of a man. He had a nice voice. She could hear concern in his tone. She suspected the concern was more for Liza than for her. He seemed to want to soothe and support her little sister. That gave him points in her book.

  “Roz, please open your eyes or squeeze my hand. Just something, please? I’m right here. You’re going to make it. We’re going to be fine.”

  “Liza, I don’t want you fretting.”

  “She’s my sister, Bash. I’ll fret if I want to.” Roz grinned. It wasn’t like Liza to snap at anyone. She must have strong feelings for this guy. “Look! Bash! She’s grinning. Roz, can you hear me?”

  “Water. I’m so thirsty,” Roz managed to mutter. She started to open her eyes, but immediately shut them. It was far too bright in whatever room she was in. She could feel cool, filtered air surrounding her and her body registered it was on a soft, very comfortable bed.

  “Here, sweetie. Here’s some water. I put some lime in it just like you like. Take a sip.”

  Liza supported her sister’s head and helped her take a drink. It tasted marvelous. “More.”

  Liza giggled. “That’s my bossy big sister. See? I told you she’d be fine.”

  Roz heard a deep, masculine chuckle. “Yes, sweetheart. You told me and you’re right, Roz is going to be fine. Remember, Greg said she probably won’t remember anything and will wonder where you are and what happened.”

  Before Liza could respond, Roz took another sip, enjoying the cool water on her parched throat. She cleared her voice and said in a much stronger tone, “Who hit me? And when can I get even?” Liza hugged her. “Ouch, Liza. Not so hard. Everything hurts.”

  “Now that’s she’s waking up, can Greg get her something for the pain?”

  Roz could sense another person had entered the room and could hear that person walking across the floor.

  “First,” said the new person, “Greg would like to examine his patient and will then amend her treatment of care plan.”

  Roz recognized the voice from before the blackness that had enveloped her until now. It seemed like a long time. The man gently took hold of her wrist. She snatched it away.

  “It’s all right, Roz. No one here is going to hurt you. My name is Greg. We met the night those bastards attacked you and Liza. Do you remember anything? Can I take your pulse and blood pressure? I’m going to need to take your temperature too.”

  Roz struggled to get up, but was gently but firmly pushed back into the mattress.

  “I don’t want you to try to sit up. Let me raise the bed so you’re in more of a sitting position.” She heard the quiet whir of a motor and the bed began to lift her into a more upright position. “Bash, can you do me a favor and close the blinds and dim the light? I think her eyes are really sensitive right now. There, why don’t you try to open your eyes? The lights have been dimmed; it should be more comfortable now.”

  Roz opened one eye slowly. The room was very dark, but she could see her sister and two men as clearly as if they were standing in bright sunlight. Whatever had happened had given her incredible night vision. The man, Greg, was right; it didn’t hurt to open her eye.

  Roz could see that a tall, muscular man was preventing her sister from coming to her bedside. “Let her go,” she said with a snarly tone.

  Liza quickly looked up at him. “She didn’t mean it to come out that way.”

  The tall man laughed. “Yes, she did. But I won’t hold it against her… at least not for now. Her body has made all the changes it needs to, but I suspect it’s going to take more than antibiotics and painkillers to fix the attitude. But as you know, I have just the cure for little wolves who don’t behave.”

  Roz was surprised that she could see her sister blush in the darkened room. “Hey, tall, dark, and lethal-looking… I said let her go.” This time the tone was more growl than snarl.

  “Bash, please. Let me talk to her. She doesn’t understand.”

  “I know, sweetheart. But she’s going to need to get it figured out before Oliver gets home. I’m telling you that kind of attitude will get her the same kind of adjustment it took for you to decide
to behave.”

  Liza walked over to the bed and sat down on the other side from where the man, Greg, was standing. “Greg’s a doctor. He saved our lives. He just wants to check you out and then he can give you something for the pain. Please don’t fight him. I can tell you from experience the thermometer in your ear is better than the other place he’ll stick it.”

  Greg laughed. “Listen to your sister. She would know. Okay if I take your vitals?”

  “It doesn’t matter if she’s okay with it. If you need her vitals, she can either comply or I will force her compliance,” said the dark man Roz was beginning to dislike intently.

  “And this is my medical facility—not even Oliver challenges me here. You’re wolf born; you have no idea what it feels like to wake up and know there is something fundamentally different than what you remember.”

  “I get that, Greg. But how are you going to treat her if she won’t allow you to do the most basic of things?”

  “Anytime you two jerks want to stop talking about me like I’m not here, it would be just awesome,” Roz said sarcastically. She turned to Liza and reached up to touch the two marks in her neck area. One was more healed and faded than the other.

  Greg looked over at her sister. “Liza, why don’t you take the big bad wolf here and do something to make him lighten up? I can handle your sister. Frankly, she isn’t in any shape to take on anyone.”

  Liza giggled. “Hmm, now what could I do with Bash to put him in a good mood?” Liza kissed her sister’s forehead. “We are truly safe here and you’ll be fine. Be nice to Greg. I’ll be back in a little while.”

  Roz watched as her sister crossed back to Bash and rubbed her body along his. Roz wasn’t sure how long she’d been out of it, but it was obvious it was long enough for her sister to have formed an attachment and begun an intimate relationship with Bash.

  This time when Bash growled, there was a decidedly seductive undertone. Liza giggled again and took him by the hand, leading him out of the room. Greg watched them go with a very soft and fond expression. That changed immediately when he turned to find Roz had a scalpel in her hand. By the way she was holding it, he had no doubt she knew how to use it as a weapon.

  Roz smiled icily. “Now, who the fuck are you? What the fuck happened to me and my sister? And what the hell were those two marks on her neck?”

  “The simple answer is as follows. I’m Greg. I’m the doctor here at the compound. I serve our pack and then have a free clinic for those less affluent members of Long Island. What the fuck happened was that you and your sister got hunted and turned by some rogue members of a different pack. They turned you without your consent. That, by the way, is a big no-no in our society. And the two marks? One of them is very similar to a mark you carry, and that one is a bite mark from the shifter that turned both you and your sister. Both marks are healing up nicely and shouldn’t leave any kind of scar. The other mark on your sister is a claiming mark. Bash claimed her as soon as she was strong enough and knowledgeable enough to give informed consent.”

  “Shifter? Pack? Claiming mark? What the hell are you talking about?”

  “That’s where it gets a bit more complicated.” Greg gave her a brief explanation of the existence of shifters and their basic makeup. “Humans have a bad habit of wanting to exterminate those they don’t understand. Born female shifters are rare. More and more packs have been turning human females into shifters by means of a virus we carry in our systems. Turning anyone without their informed consent is forbidden. That’s what happened to you.”

  Greg sat back to give her a bit of space before continuing, “A group of shifters from another pack turned you and your sister. Unfortunately, we didn’t catch up with them before they were able to bite you. We brought you home to help you survive the change. Shifters, especially born shifters like Bash, have an innate sense of their fated mate. Bash knew who your sister was before we ever got you home.”

  He laughed. “Thank God she was weaker than you. I don’t know that I could have tolerated him being here any longer than he was. She didn’t know she had cancer, did she? You just told her it was a blood disorder.”

  “She didn’t need to know and cancer is a very scary word.”

  “It is. It is also unknown in shifters. I’m not sure why, but the change will cure cancer—even the most advanced stages of the disease. Your sister is truly healed. There is no more cancer in her blood.”

  “Truthfully?” Greg nodded. Roz lowered the scalpel, impressed that not once had the doctor tried to take it from her. “Then I am truly grateful.”

  “Grateful enough to let me take your vitals?”

  “Only if you agree to use the ear thermometer.”

  Greg laughed. “Agreed.”

  Roz allowed the doctor to take her vitals and answered his questions about where she hurt and her general health before they were turned. The very idea of someone biting her and her becoming some weird kind of werewolf—although Greg decried that label—was just a bit too much for her to give any kind of deep thought to. And yet, she knew she felt very different. She knew she could see extremely well in minimal light. She knew, instinctively, that what Greg was saying was the truth and not some fantasy.

  “So what’s with the whole claiming?” she asked.

  “Male wolves claim their mates. Most often it is with the female’s wholehearted consent. We have celebrations that would resemble human weddings. We don’t, however, get legally married due to the blood tests that were required in most places in the past and still are in some. We have developed our own ceremonies. Wolves mate for life. It is rare for a pairing to be undone. One of the few ways is if the woman is being treated badly by her mate. She can then go to an alpha ask that the pairing be set aside and ask for that alpha’s protection.”

  “What if she doesn’t need protection or want it?”

  “It’s not good for a female wolf to be living outside of a pack or without the protection of an alpha male. They are considered fair game for any male looking for a mate. Generally, women stay within a pack unless they decide to pair with a male from another pack. Then her current alpha would relinquish his protection of her and the alpha of her new pack would accept it.”

  “What if she has no desire to have a mate?”

  “That’s frowned upon. It is rare for a female not to be mated.”

  “Good. I like being different.”

  “Most alphas will not have unmated females in a pack for great lengths of time. It can be a real source of disharmony within the pack. Packs thrive on harmony and putting the good of the pack before their individual needs.”

  “And who decides who is alpha?”

  “The pack itself. In many packs, it is passed from generation to generation not only because it helps with continuity, but men who have the ability to be a good alpha are trained from the beginning to do so. A wolf can rise within the ranks of the pack but generally only to the level of beta. Although it isn’t unheard of. For instance, someone from Oliver’s family has been alpha of our pack for hundreds of years. Oliver grew up knowing he’d lead this pack. He’s an amazing alpha; he’d put his life on the line for any of us. There are families that have been in the area almost as long as his and know of our pack. Many have served the pack in one capacity or another for generations. They all respect and admire Oliver. He does a lot not only for his pack, but for the community as a whole.”

  “So who’s his mate?”

  “That is a point of contention within the pack. He doesn’t have one and we all feel he needs one.”

  “So why doesn’t he have one?”

  “He’s an alpha. They generally won’t mate until they have found their true fated mate. He has yet to find her, but he will. But that doesn’t stop any unattached female shifter from throwing herself at him. He generally sidesteps and lets them fly into the arms of the wolf with whom she is supposed to be mated… and oddly, they all love him for it.”

  “Well, that’s fine, but I’m not loo
king to settle down here in the Hamptons or with a pack of wolves. So if you could get me something for the pain, I’ll collect my sister and we’ll be on our way.”

  Greg shook his head. “Have you not heard a word I said? Your sister is mated to Bash. She isn’t going to want to leave him and he won’t let her even if you try to make her.”

  “I thought you said she could put the pairing aside if she wanted.”

  “Only if he’s abusive to her. Trust me, Bash is anything but abusive. In fact, he’s taking quite a bit of teasing from the rest of us about how he dotes on her and how she gets away with stuff that if any other female tried, she’d find herself face down over his knee getting her bottom spanked.”

  “What? This bastard gets his jollies from spanking women and everyone thinks that’s just dandy? No way my sister knows this and is okay with it. And if he lays his hands on her, I’ll carve him up with my trusty scalpel.”

  “You pull a scalpel on Bash, he’ll have it out of your hands and you over his knee so fast it’ll make your head spin. As for your sister, she understands she is mated to the beta of this pack. Part of his responsibilities includes keeping the unmated females, as well as his own, in line. Generally if one of our women needs to be disciplined, it’s done by her mate. If she isn’t mated, or her mate isn’t here, it falls to the alpha or beta to take her in hand. We only have two unmated females and you’re one of them.”

  “I’m not part of your pack, Doc. And nobody is going to spank me.”

  Greg laughed. “I very much doubt that. Female wolves tend to be a spirited lot, and I can’t see you being a shrinking violet. As for your sister, she’s had a couple of go-rounds with her mate and he’s disciplined her accordingly. Of course, the next morning she’s the sweetest, most sated thing on the planet. Obviously, he is even better at forgiving her naughty behavior than he is at taking her to task for it.”

  “I’m going to talk to my sister. And then I’m leaving. You mind getting her for me?”