Chapter 45 Maverick
Maverick
Being back with my mate eased the pain in my heart. Not fully, but holding her in my arms quietened my bear and reminded him we had a reason to live.
He and I were both struggling with the loss of my mother. She’d been the best mother a bear could hope for: strong, loving, and kind. The sort of mother who taught me how to be a good bear for my future mate.
She and my father had met and bonded as youngsters, and their love for each other was the happy backdrop to my peaceful childhood.
Now she was gone, and my father had retreated into himself and disappeared to fuck knows where. I’d searched high and low for two days, checking every cave and crevice in the mountain where an adult bear might hide, and found no trace of him. Not even a paw print.
In the end, Uncle Patrick had told me to go home. As much as it pained me to leave the mountain while Dad remained missing, I couldn’t leave Raven unprotected. If anything had happened to her while I was gone…
My bear had growled in fury when she told me what the wolf shifter stand-in instructor had done. How dare he put my mate in danger! The minute I tracked him down, I’d eviscerate the bastard.
At least the poisonous Thorn witch was no longer a problem. I’d have to thank the storm mage for that one, even though it pained me to thank the little shit for anything after the atrocious way he’d behaved.
But right now, I needed to feel my mate’s naked body against mine. Soak up her scent and taste her sweet slick. It had been too fucking long, and my bear was practically feral with the need to claim her all over again. I also wanted to erase the mage’s scent from her skin.
“Don’t you need to eat something?” My little mate squeaked in surprise when I tossed her over my shoulder and headed for the newly restored bathroom on the first floor. The crew had done a great job for me there.
My little mate deserved the best of everything, and I fully intended to make sure she had whatever she wanted for the rest of our goddess-blessed lives together.
I pushed open the bathroom door and placed her on the bench seat under the window. I’d heard thunder and lightning earlier, most likely the storm mage’s doing. I swear this area saw more storms per week than the rest of the world combined.
“Let me run you a bath, little mate.” My bear was riding me hard to take care of my mate.
I bet the other assholes hadn’t been feeding her properly while I was away, or making sure she got enough sleep.
The bastard vampire better not have fed from her more than we agreed to.
If I found her sweet body covered in bite marks, I’d fucking stake the blood-sucking asshole.
“It should be me looking after you!” She pouted.
“My taking care of you is what my bear needs, my sweet love.” As a witch, not a shifter, she struggled sometimes to understand my bear’s innate caring instincts, but thankfully for both of us, for once she chose not to argue.
The second the water was steaming hot, I pulled her to her feet. She still wore her academy uniform, but I spotted several missing buttons. In addition, her hair was all over the place, and there were burn marks on her shirt.
Fucking mage. The thought of him with his hands all over my mate riled my bear up, but as I reminded him, the mage was our witch’s mate too, and as much as we’d like to rip his head off, we couldn’t.
When I went to unbutton my mate’s shirt, she huffed. “I can undress myself, you know.”
My fingers paused as a huff of frustration escaped. “I know, but please…let me do this.”
Her eyes softened as she lowered her chin. Submissiveness didn’t come naturally to her, but seeing her so pliant, willing to do whatever I asked, made me hard as fuck.
“Good girl.” The delicious scent of her arousal filled the steamy room, and I groaned.
My fingers fumbled as I slid the last button free and removed her shirt. By the time she stood before me naked, her cheeks almost as pink as her lips, I could barely contain my need to sheath my aching cock inside her.
But first, I had to take care of my mate.
Check every inch of her for signs of injury.
I lifted her into the tub, and she sank down into the hot water with a happy sigh, her eyes closed.
After checking to make sure I’d locked the door to stop the damned incubus from bursting in, I shoved my pants and boxers off, climbed into the tub, and pulled her into my lap.
“I’m glad you’re home,” she said. “I’ve missed you so much.” Her voice hitched, and when I reached up and pushed her hair back, I realized she’d become tearful.
“Little mate, don’t cry!” My bear roared inside me, devastated to have upset our mate.
“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “Hormones!” Her lie tasted like ash, but I didn’t comment. My mate was upset I’d left her, even though she understood why.
“I won’t leave you again,” I vowed. “If I have to go back to the mountain, I’ll take you with me.” She sniffed.
“Really?”
“Yes, I’d love to show you where I grew up.” I knew she’d love the hot spring and the scenic trails as much as I did.
She lay back, resting her head on my chest as the water sloshed around us. I picked up a washcloth and lathered it up with soap, taking care to scrub every inch of her exposed skin.
“I’d like to show you where I spent my childhood too,” she said as I rinsed the soap from her breasts while trying to ignore my cock.
“The farm’s huge. We have horses, a few goats, and chickens.
” She chuckled. “The chickens were my favorites. I collected the eggs and cleaned the coop out every day.” The bitter scent of sadness seeped into the humid air.
“A coyote came one night and killed a bunch of them. I cried for days.” My poor, soft-hearted mate.
“We can raise chickens when you graduate,” I told her. “I’ll build you the best damn chicken coop in the realm. And if a coyote comes sniffing around, my bear will scare it away.”
Her delighted giggle warmed my heart, healing a few of the cracks left by my mother’s death.
“Can we have pigs too? Fig needs friends.”
I couldn’t help but wonder where the incubus had found the pig. The fucker better not have stolen the creature from some irate farmer. I made a mental note to ask him later.
“We’ll have pigs, goats, horses, and chickens.” I drew the line at sheep. Stupid creatures.
“I can’t wait. That sounds perfect.” Then she sighed. “I’m not sure if Kai would want to live on a farm. He needs the sea. Or Zane. Farm life would be too mundane for him. And Rasmus would probably hate it as well.”
“We will figure it out, little mate. Perhaps we can have a few different houses and move between them.”
“That sounds expensive, but I suppose Alaric is filthy rich.” She laughed under her breath.
“That reminds me, I’d like to know what happened between you and Alaric.”