Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Mia
I was late. I was tired. But I couldn’t leave until I finished the paperwork for the new materials that were set to be delivered to the community later this week. It was for the final items we’d need to wrap up the production of the longhouse, but I was pretty sure there were already more projects in the works. It seemed the males in Black Wolf could never just… relax.
I knew the pack wanted a bigger kitchen, something more industrial than what we currently had, which was crazy, since the one we had was massive. I also knew they wanted to expand the square market and stalls and build more cabins on the property, even though everyone had their own places already—including myself, even if I was only nineteen. I was pretty sure they were just optimistic and hopeful of more matings happening.
Exciting things were happening in our pack community, but with that excitement came more work, longer hours, and the sheer exhaustion of always being busy.
The phone rang, and I jumped, startled out of my thoughts. I knew who it was before I even answered. So when I picked up the receiver, I said, “Hey, Dad.”
His deep chuckle came through. “Of course you knew it was me.”
I rolled my eyes but smiled. “You’re the only one who calls me when I’m working, and at this hour. And yes, I’m wrapping up and heading to my cabin shortly. And also yes, I’ll be careful.” Although the pack community was safer than anywhere else, with guards who patrolled the perimeter of our village due to wild animals and anyone who was stupid enough to trespass.
He laughed again. “I made steaks. If you're hungry, I’ll leave them in the fridge. Grab some to heat up at your place.”
“Thanks, Dad, but I think I’m just going to crash. There was a lot to do today.”
“You work too hard, and you have to eat.”
“I do have food at my place, you know.”
“I know, sweetheart, but I always make extra just in case.”
I smiled. “I know. I’ll get it tomorrow, okay?” He exhaled as if he wanted to insist, but before he could, I said, “Listen, I’m gonna wrap up now and head home. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
He exhaled again, yet I knew he was giving up on trying to “father” me. Normally I let him be the overprotective guy he was, because I knew he’d helped ease his worry. But I was starting to want to branch off and live my own life. I didn’t want to be the little girl he’d always see. I didn't want to just submit, because I knew it’s what he needed to feel like the providing, protective dad.
I was an adult. I felt something in me change. And I wanted to explore that on my own.
No, not on my own. With Tucker.
After getting off the phone and shutting things down in the office, I grabbed my jacket and slipped it on. Despite it being warm this time of year, being this high up in the mountains made the night air crisp and chilly.
I turned off the lights and shut the door, not bothering to lock it. Hell, there weren’t any locks on any of the buildings in Black Wolf territory. We were all family and knew each other. We trusted one another above all else. You had to in order to have a successful pack.
I descended the three steps on the office deck and buttoned up my coat as I made my way down the lighted path. The square of the village was quiet and deserted this time of night, with the cabins in the town square close enough that I could see most lights were off as people were in bed for the evening.
Over the hundreds of acres of property that was pack territory, only the oldest members lived close to the village square. It was easier for them to travel if they needed medical attention or if they wanted to shop. It was also easier for us to take care of them if need be. But younger members, and ones with mates and families, chose to stay farther in the woods, sometimes miles from the square.
Although I couldn’t see the wolves patrolling pack territory, I felt them, sensed them. They were good at their job, blending in with the shadows so much you wouldn’t know they were there unless they wanted you to.
The Alpha’s cabin was closer to the village than most, simply because he was the “head of the family.” But he had enough privacy that even if he stepped outside, he wouldn’t be able to see anything but the thick woods that surrounded us all. And although my father wanted my cabin built close enough to him to where he could protect me, I’d insisted on having my own piece of land on the opposite end of the square.
It was a small step in exerting my independence, and he needed to know that even though I wasn’t right beside him at all times, I was still here. I was still a part of his life. But I knew he was afraid I’d leave like my mother had, that I’d be ripped from him and he’d truly be left alone.
I exhaled, because I hated that my thoughts always went down a darker path, one that was inevitable and occurred more often than not. I knew he wouldn’t want me to dwell on any of this, but when I felt his despair, it naturally affected me as well.
I stuck to the path that led to my cabin, the stone pathway wide enough that a pickup truck could drive down it if need be. There were dozens of these types of paths, each one leading to a different part of the community, to all the cabins, really anywhere on the hundreds of acres of pack property.
The wired electricity was relatively new, as was indoor plumbing for all cabins. Wells were created, septic tanks put in. It was a long, drawn-out process, but our village had started off more primitive than not, and at this stage, we were damn near modernized in all ways.
Before that, we used generators and battery-operated equipment, but it had been quite a fight to get electricity this far up the mountain. Lots of paperwork and red tape, but finally we’d gotten it situated, and to say everyone was pleased was an understatement.
My thoughts were currently on things like that as I continued walking down the path. I heard a wolf howl in the distance, would pick up on someone from the pack doing a late-night run, even caught the lonely sounds of an unmated male who was feeling lost and empty without his other half.
I could hear muted music coming from one of the cabins up ahead, and a few lights coming from cabins tucked into the woods. But as I let my thoughts clear and focused on my surroundings, I instantly felt this prickling on the back of my neck. And although I couldn’t shift into a wolf like the males of the pack did, I did have keen and attuned shifter senses.
And those senses told me that I wasn’t alone.
And although technically I wasn’t alone, not with the cabins spread out all around me and guards patrolling the area, this felt wholly different. I felt like I wasn’t alone, because I was being watched… intently.
I stopped in the middle of the path between two cabins, about an acre of land between each one. I focused on my senses. Hearing. Smell. Sight.
I didn’t actually see anything, didn’t smell anything that wasn’t pine and fresh air, and didn’t hear anything but the small, scurrying nocturnal wildlife all around me.
But as I listened harder, sifting through the sounds all around me, it was then I picked up on what it was, on what was making me feel uneasy.
Breathing.
Even. Deep. Close.
I turned around in a slow circle, trying to see through the darkness, trying to see who was here. “If it’s one of you little shits trying to scare me, go home, or I’ll have your parents whip your asses.” There were a few adolescent wolves who thought it was hilarious to stalk—in “good fun,” as they said—others in the pack. All it accomplished was annoying the hell out of people.
Then again, I could see why they did what they did. It wasn’t like there was a lot to do here. It was either being little shits in the village, or if you were of drinking age, go into town and raise hell.
And they were too young to toss drinks back, so here they were.
When they didn’t come out from wherever they were hiding, I rolled my eyes and muttered a curse under my breath. “Little assholes.” I kept walking, ignoring the sensation of being watched. But as the minutes ticked by, that feeling grew stronger, harder, and I was starting to sense that this wasn’t some innocent game. I was beginning to think this wasn’t the young wolves having a bit of fun.
I picked up my pace, hating that I felt this weirdness, especially in town. But it was only ten minutes later when I finally saw the porch light of my cabin that I breathed a sigh of relief. I made a mental note to talk to the Alpha and pack council about this, because if it was the young wolves, they wouldn’t have stayed hidden, not after I called them out. And the sentries would have made themselves known to put my worry at ease.
I didn’t stand around, just quickened my pace once more and headed toward my front door, taking the steps of the deck two at a time, and then reaching out to grab the handle of the door. Before I pulled it open, I heard the snap of twigs behind me and looked over my shoulder.
“Mia.”
My reaction to that deep voice saying my name was instant. I felt heated. Combustible. Instantly, my nipples hardened, my skin tightening, tingling. I clenched my thighs together as a gush of wetness settled between them. I felt achy, almost full with this arousal that claimed me forcefully. I actually had to reach out and grip the frame of the front door to steady myself, but even though I felt desire, I felt a strange fear over my body’s unusual reaction. I’d never so much as felt lust, not even the twinge of sexual need.
But it was as if my nineteenth birthday had turned a light switch on inside me. It was almost as if the very thought of Tucker made my body burn alive.
I turned fully around just in time to see Tucker step through the thick darkness of the forest. He prowled forward, stalking toward me. There was no other word to describe his movements, which were slow and precise, steady and sure. His focus was trained on me, and despite the shadows that still cloaked him—the porch light from my cabin unable to fully reach him—I could practically feel the electricity between us.
And as I stared into his eyes, a shocked gasp left me, because I could nearly hear two words repeating in his head over and over again.
Mine. Mate.
He stopped a few feet from the steps to the deck, and for long seconds, I was frozen in place, just staring at him, trying to get my body under control so he wouldn’t sense anything coming from me. But I knew he could read me as clearly as if I were shouting out everything I was feeling. I knew he could see all of that just from my body language.
“Tucker?” Was that my voice, sounding so husky and sexual?
I cleared my throat and ran my hands up and down my legs, that nervous habit getting on my nerves because it gave my emotions away.
“W-What are you doing here?”
He said nothing, just watched me with this wild energy swirling around him, as if it was taking everything in him to stay in control, to not shift into his massive wolf.
I shivered from that realization, and although I’d seen many pack members change into their animals, had seen them fight in aggression and for supremacy with each other, this felt… different at every turn.
He still didn’t answer, and I took that moment to just examine him, to see if I could tell just by looking at Tucker how to gauge the situation.
Although he looked as normal as the other males in the pack on any given day, with his massively tall body, his broad shoulders, and his muscular arms and chest, there was still something off about him.
All the males in the Black Wolf Pack were built almost the same in height and weight, with subtle variations between them. All over six and a half feet tall, heavy, defined muscles, and testosterone that went on for days to the point they acted more like cavemen than civilized shifters.
But I noticed subtle things—changes—with Tucker. He kept clenching and relaxing his hands that hung at his sides. His head was downcast slightly, his eyes trained right on me. I could see his elongated canines, as if his wolf was right there at the surface.
I could tell he was breathing harder by the movement of his chest rising and falling. Instinctively, I took a step back, something telling me this was not the Tucker I’d become accustomed to within the pack. The male I knew was easygoing when need be, and stoic on most other occasions.
This Tucker was slightly unhinged.
But even thinking this, feeling and knowing it, I wasn’t afraid of him but of the situation and how the emotions suddenly slammed around in my body. I felt like I was burning up, and beads of sweat dotted my brow. My hands shook, this heat filling my veins at such a monumental pace I was sucking in gasps of air to try to combat the dizzying feeling moving through my head.
And then Tucker took another step closer, and one more. I was rooted to the spot, wanting him to come even closer. Needing him to take me in his arms and do whatever he wanted to me.
God... whatever he wanted.
“Tucker?” I whispered again, but it was husky in tone, needy, and very clearly arousal-laced.
There was this low rumble that surrounded me, and the longer I stood there, the louder it became. It was then I realized it was coming from him , the male now standing right in front of me.
His eyes positively glowed, and I exhaled slowly, realizing I’d been holding my breath this entire time.
That monumental shift grew, the same sensation I’d felt the moment I turned nineteen. It was that connection in my brain and body that told me exactly why I seemed to light up whenever I even thought about Tucker.
My body was waking up, because it knew who and what this male was to me.
“My mate,” Tucker growled, and then he curled his hand around my nape, jerked me forward, and slammed his mouth down on mine.