Mastering His Mate Page 9

  “It amazes me that our kind have survived given the stupidity that you men believe.”

  “Hush, Rozalyn. You’re only going to upset yourself.”

  * * *

  The remainder of the boat ride was done in silence. Upon arrival at Calon Gwyllt, Dylan dispersed the women of Bae Diogel. Oliver accompanied Roz up to her room, which was adjacent to his.

  She walked over to the window. “Interesting, my room doesn’t seem to have a balcony.”

  “At my request,” Oliver said. “I thought it best not to give you too much temptation.”

  “I take it your room has one?”

  “Yes, it’s quite nice. Once I’ve claimed you, you will join me there.”

  “I won’t agree to be claimed.”

  “You won’t have a choice. You will either agree that I am your mate and alpha or I will force you to run. You do know what happens if your mate catches you in wolf form.”

  “Yes, the bastard mates with her, forcing that damn knot into her. I understand only you alphas can do that in human form and thus many who aren’t alphas prefer to force their women to submit in that primitive manner.”

  Oliver smiled. “It’s true that some women find the act of coupling with their mate in our wolf form humbling, but I assure you it can be just as satisfying. For most, it is the only way they can experience the intimacy of the tie. I am alpha and therefore will be able to knot and tie you in either form. The act of knotting and tying one’s mate in human form is exquisite and you will come to enjoy the act as much as I.”

  “Fair warning. Like my alpha, I am a blooded warrior. Given the opportunity, I will send you to hell.”

  “Noted. In the interest of sharing, let me share a few warnings with you. One, you come at me or any member of our pack with any kind of weapon or intent to harm and you’ll earn yourself a good welting with my belt. Two, you need to change that attitude or I will change it for you. If a good hand spanking doesn’t accomplish that, I assure you a taste of my belt should do the trick. Three, you try to run again and I will chase you down and I will not be as gentle when I catch you. Four, I will claim you, my Rozalyn; I will mark you and I will make you happy.”

  “Bastard,” she whispered. She hated that as he had talked she could feel her nipples tightening in response to him. She had felt the pool of her desire starting to swirl.

  He crossed the room and pulled her into his embrace. His mouth descended and captured hers in a passionate kiss. She struggled at first and then felt herself softening and responding to him, molding her mouth and her body to his.

  When he’d finished, he smiled at her. “There’s a good mate. Why don’t you rest for a bit? I’ll come get you and we can go down to dinner together.”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “I didn’t ask if you were. I told you to rest and then get ready for dinner.”

  “I’m as ready as I’m going to get.” Oliver eyed her yoga pants, slouchy sweater, and no shoes.

  “That’s enough, Roz. You will put on something from the things they brought up for you.”

  “No, I won’t. I’m not hungry and I’m not going to be paraded around as some kind of trophy prize.”

  Oliver looked at her and cocked his head. “It occurs to me that you’ve never been held accountable by anyone, have you?”

  “I’m accountable to myself and myself alone.”

  “No, sweetheart. You are accountable to your mate, which is me. In case you missed it, your ability to thumb your nose at authority has come to an end.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “Rozalyn, that is enough,” Oliver said in an exasperated tone. “I’m trying to make allowances for the grief you must feel at having your home destroyed and your pack disbanded. And for the fact that you have never been subject to anyone’s authority. But all of those things have happened and you behaving in the manner you have been is not going to change that.”

  He lifted his hand to tuck her hair behind her ear and she batted his hand away.

  “Don’t touch me.”

  “I will touch you whenever I choose to. You will not bat my hand away and I warned you about anything more serious than that. I think, little girl, its high time you learned what being disrespectful will earn you.”

  He tried to grasp both of her hands and was unsuccessful. Roz made a fist and as she threw the punch, Oliver caught it in one hand and with the other grabbed a fistful of her silky hair. He walked over to the bed, taking her along with him. He sat down, secured both of her hands in one of his, and pulled down her yoga pants, revealing nothing but skin.

  “You are truly beautiful, my Rozalyn. It’s a shame that pretty backside is going to be wearing the imprint of my hand.”

  Without any ceremony or further warning, Oliver drew Roz across his knee, secured her hands behind her back with one of his, and trapped her legs between his own. This put her in the perfect position, he thought, to receive her first spanking.

  “Don’t you dare,” she growled at him.

  His hand crashed down on her backside. “And I warned you about growling at me, little girl. That is unacceptable. It is high time you learned to mind your manners, but more important learned to mind me.”

  Roz couldn’t believe he actually meant to spank her. But he did. Time and again he brought his hand down—first on one cheek, then on the other, and then between the two. Roz kicked and pitched a fit at his treatment. But nothing fazed him. The spanking was as methodical as it was painful.

  Roz could feel her bottom begin to heat from his discipline. She wondered if he could see it. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw Oliver try hard to suppress a smile. Roz was wild and defiant and determined not to yield to him. What she didn’t know was that while he would encourage her untamed grit and strength, he would make her temper her defiance even if he could never truly eradicate it.

  The swats he delivered were to her cheeks only. If this was what it was like to receive a taste of what discipline from her mate’s hands would feel like, she wanted none of it. She fussed and swore at him. It did nothing to stop the onslaught of swats that were landing across her backside.

  Roz continued to curse and fight. That did nothing to deter his assault to her derriere. The feeling had gone from a pleasant sting, to something less pleasant with more heat to it, to where it was now—just painful. Each time his hand connected with her ass it seemed to hurt exponentially more than the last.

  Oliver paused. “You had enough, little girl?”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  “Do you understand that you will not continue to behave as you have all afternoon? And that if you do, that you, my Rozalyn, will be subject to punishment from me? Do you understand that you are no longer the little lone wolf, but a member of one of the oldest and greatest packs in the Americas?”

  Nothing but silence answered his questions. Oliver shook his head and went back to spanking her. There was no way for Roz to know that her punishment would only end when she capitulated—at least to the point of behaving when she was face down over his knee.

  “Oliver, please stop. Please?” she said quietly.

  The spanking stopped and Roz breathed a sigh of relief. “Do you understand me, Roz?” She nodded her head. He spanked her two more times. “When I ask you a question, little girl, you answer me in a civil tone of voice. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes,” she whispered again, holding back her tears.

  Oliver held her in place and rubbed her well-reddened backside. He slid his hands between her legs, not to provide her with any kind of sexual relief or release but to check the state of her arousal. He smiled as his touch found her extremely wet. He released her and helped her to her feet.

  He knew that she needed to cry but knew she would not in his presence… at least not yet. He kissed her forehead. “Now, be a good girl and do as you’re told. Rest a bit and then get ready for dinner.”

  Oliver left her standing by the bed, crossed the room, and closed the d
oor as he left her. Dylan had stationed one of his men immediately outside her door and had men patrolling the grounds. The women from Bae Diogel may have yet to admit they had been bested, but the fact was, they had.

  Chapter Ten

  Oliver had collected Roz without incident and had escorted her to dinner. Dylan’s chef was excellent and the dinner was sumptuous. Roz had misbehaved throughout dinner. Not bad enough to be sent to her room but vacillated between sullen and snarky.

  At one point, Oliver leaned over to her and whispered, “Unless you would like to be challenged to run and have me claim you once and for all as a wolf, behave yourself. You are very, very close, little girl to earning yourself another trip over my knee. Had I already claimed you, I’d have taken you upstairs and blistered your bottom for you.”

  After dinner, Nick, Dylan’s beta, approached Oliver saying Dylan wished to see him in his study and that he would personally take over keeping an eye on Roz.

  Oliver once again entered Dylan’s elegantly appointed study.

  Dylan thanked Oliver for his help earlier in the day and confirmed that Oliver was desirous of making Roz his mate. Oliver had smiled and added that he had known Roz was his fated mate from the moment her picture had reached him.

  Dylan had pointed out that although not an alpha, Roz certainly had a lot of alpha tendencies and that Oliver would have his hands full.

  Oliver laughed. “She’s a wild hellcat who’s been allowed far too much freedom for far too long. But I look forward to teaching her to behave.”

  Dylan shook his head. “What is it about the hellions that calls to us to master them? Mine wanted to gut me with a knife earlier today. And all I could think about was warming her pretty backside with my hand before putting her on her back and burying my knot in her.”

  Oliver had laughed and agreed. The two alphas had agreed that the sooner Oliver claimed and marked Roz as his mate, the easier it would be for her to begin to accept her new position in life. Both men felt that if their mates could remain in contact that it might go a long way toward healing the grief they must be feeling at their pack’s forced disbanding.

  * * *

  Oliver went upstairs and checked on Roz. She was sleeping peacefully. The knot that had formed that afternoon throbbed painfully. He closed the door and went into his own room. He had only been asleep for a short while when he was awakened by a knock on the door and was asked to join the pack in the main sitting room.

  Two of the women, Anna and Darby, who had been housed in one of the other residences, had managed to escape. Dylan had discovered that they were missing and been able to organize a group of his men to round them up and bring them back up to the main house.

  Oliver entered Roz’s room and awakened her with a kiss. She had smiled in her sleep and responded to his physical contact. Then as she came awake, her nasty attitude reasserted itself. Oliver had chuckled; Roz snarled in return.

  “Careful, sweetheart; that was awfully close to a growl. You growl at me, and formal declarations aside, I’ll spank you again… and this time it will be worse.”

  He stayed with her while she got dressed and then led her downstairs. Roz was still angry and wanted to fight when they entered the room. Oliver had a death grip on her to keep her from bolting or causing trouble.

  Dylan addressed the group. “As some or most of you know, two of the ladies formerly of the Bae Diogel pack made a bid for their freedom this evening. They failed. Neither of them ever made it off the estate. While I’m sympathetic to the feeling these ladies may have about how their pack was disbanded, I also have a responsibility to them to bring them back into the fold, so to speak.”

  Dylan gave his blessing to one of his men who had chased down the mastermind behind the failed bid for freedom and claimed her. After giving orders that both women were to be punished, one by her new mate and the other by Nick, he turned to Skylar.

  “Which leads me to my next point. I, Dylan Grainger, of the Calon Gwyllt pack claim you, Skylar Owen of Bae Diogel as my one true mate. Do you accept my claim?”

  “Let my women go in peace and agree not to pursue them and I will,” she said in a calm, cool voice.

  Roz smiled, reminded of why it was that she admired her alpha so much. There was a startled gasp among the group gathered with several of her women objecting.

  Dylan smiled. “You, my mate, are an alpha of rare beauty and courage. I admire the way you would sacrifice yourself for your pack, but tis a hollow sacrifice. No harm will come to your ladies. Yes, they will be mated but to men of my choosing who will cherish their spirits and keep them safe and happy. So you are refusing to acknowledge my claim?”

  “Unless you will relinquish your so-called claim to my women, I will never acknowledge you as my mate.”

  Dylan pulled her unrelenting body into his. “Never is about to become a very short and finite period for you.”

  He kissed her soundly as she struggled against him.

  “Before I define the parameters of never for my own mate, one amongst you has asked to lay claim to Roz. Oliver, my friend, you’re up.”

  Oliver smiled. “Rozalyn Kincanon, formerly of the Bae Diogel pack, I claim you as my one and true mate. Do you accept my claim?”

  “I’d rather die first.”

  Oliver grinned at Dylan, who nodded his head. “I think that’s a bit of an overreaction. Nonetheless, I challenge you to run, Roz. I will catch you and claim you as my own.”

  Roz looked at Skylar, who was seeing the way they’d been trapped. They had both been formally claimed by an alpha male. Both had rejected those claims.

  Dylan smiled slowly. “Run, Skylar. And when I catch you, I will claim you as my own. The only real contest involved is whether Oliver will catch and claim Roz before I catch and claim you. Or, you can choose to be my sweet, reasonable mate and…” He stopped as both she and Roz shifted and bolted through the doors.

  “What do you think is sporting, Dylan? A sixty-second head start?” asked Oliver, who was in a very good humor for a man who had just been rejected by his fated mate.

  “Oh, come now, Oliver, we can do better than that. Three minutes?” He gave further instructions to his beta and admonished the rest of the women from Bae Diogel that his understanding had come to an end and anyone thwarting his authority would find herself face down over either his or his beta’s knee.

  “Dylan,” interrupted Oliver. “I think we ought to get after them.”

  “You’re probably right.”

  Both Dylan and Oliver shifted to their wolf selves. The two males raced into the night after their mates. They stopped at the edge of the patio, each scenting the wind for his mate. Each found the one he was seeking and without a backward glance raced to find her.

  * * *

  Skylar and Roz parted ways as they left the patio. Skylar headed toward the sea. Roz skirted the drive way heading for the main gate. She felt her heart pumping in her chest and sending the oxygenated blood through her system. She reached the relative safety of the woods. At least he wouldn’t be able to see her clearly. Stealth was a consideration, but speed more so. Oliver had already proven he could run her down if he could get close enough.

  Roz reminded herself to try to steel herself against an alpha energy wave. Part of the problem was she had no idea what kind of range he had with that particular weapon. That was a nasty little trick she had heard about but never experienced until earlier in the day when Oliver had used it against her.

  Catching her breath and finding a rhythm to her run, Roz was surprised when she heard one howl followed by another. The first she could only hear but surmised was Dylan calling to Skylar. It was said that when a male called for his true mate, not only could she hear the sound, but that it reverberated through her very bones. If he was in pursuit of her, that call compelled her to heed its siren song and join him. It was also said to penetrate every fiber of the female’s being and could cause disorientation… all of which made it easier for her mate to run dow
n.

  Roz was unprepared when a second, distinctive howl could be heard. It reached her ears first, but then hit her body with the same strength as the energy wave had earlier in the day. She desperately wanted to stop and return his call and then to run back to him. She asserted enough of her human consciousness to remind her wolf self to run and that escape was paramount.

  She bounded through the woods, headed hopefully in the right direction. By forcing them to run before they had the lay of the land, both Oliver and Dylan had hoped to lessen Roz and Skylar’s bid for their freedom. Roz extended the length of her stride. She felt as though she was picking up speed and putting more distance between them when she heard Oliver howl for the second time. The sound caused her to stop in her tracks and shake her head first and then her body in an attempt to ward off the effects of his call.

  Roz bounded through a hole in an eight-foot hedge, hoping she had made the boundaries of Dylan’s estate. Instead she found herself in a maze. Roz shifted back to her human form. She tried to orient herself and figure a way out of the maze. She stood and began to run in one direction, only to find she had run down a blind alley. She went back to where she thought was the starting place and realized she didn’t recognize it and the hole through which she had come was not there. She felt very much in that moment as if she were Alice having gone down the proverbial rabbit hole.

  She heard Oliver’s howl again. There was a difference in its tone, more coaxing than demanding. She felt it run along her skin and cause her to shudder. She had not expected it to have the power it had over her as a wolf when she was in human form.

  “No,” she whispered to the wind.

  She could have sworn she heard an answering, “Yes.”

  “Fuck,” she said.

  “Yes,” came the answer again. Only this time she could swear she heard the echoes of a laugh along with it.