Chapter 12
He watched as his mate sauntered down to her clinic. She hadn’t been here long, but long enough that he wanted her more settled than she was. He didn’t believe that she had accepted her life was here with him. She swore to both him and Zaiden that she would never practice medicine in the clinic he had built for her, but he knew it wasn’t true. She had already seen a few patients and had ordered enough supplies to see them through any war they might get into with the Shadow League.
At times she seemed to be settling in well, but at others she snarled and snapped at everyone, leaving their people to tiptoe around her. At first, he had tried to smooth the way; then he had reprimanded her. Finally, he just let it go and figured she could make her own apologies.
Each night she pointedly locked the door between them, and he laughed at her from the other side. And each morning she woke to find him in her bedroom, leaning against the dresser with a mug of coffee in his hand and another one sitting on the night table beside her. She had thrown the mug full of coffee at him the first day.
The second day, she’d picked the mug up and practically inhaled the steaming brew. When he’d quirked a brow in question, she had explained it was a waste of good coffee and a nice mug, and he wasn’t worth it.
Progress was progress.
He and Zaiden had decided to go for a run to the northernmost end of their territory and had clothes taken up there to change into as there were some things they’d want to look at as humans. As usual, he was waiting for Zenya when she woke.
“Do you have any idea how adorable you are when you’re asleep?” he asked as he sensed her rousing.
“Do you have any idea how annoying you are and how much I despise you?” she countered, taking a sip from her coffee. She rolled off the bed and took herself and her coffee into her private bath.
“Zaiden and I are going for a run.”
“What does he want to talk to you about that he’s worried that I’ll overhear?”
Lucian had wondered the same thing but ignored her question. “Would you like to join us?”
She came back to stand in the door frame with the door hiding everything but her head. “I think I’d rather have a root canal. Hopefully, you two will get injured or assassinated, and then I can do the new alpha a favor and leave here forever.”
He chuckled. “You don’t know much about clan politics do you, sweetheart? Any alpha wanting to take over this clan, especially if he killed Zaiden and me, would want to claim you as the daughter of the alpha before me and as my fated mate. You wouldn’t be his fated mate, and I very much doubt he’d treat you kindly, but trust me, you would be bonded and claimed before Zaiden and I had a chance to get cold. So be careful what you wish for.”
He was torn between wanting to laugh at the way all the blood drained from her face and wanting to go and comfort her. But maybe it was a good thing that she actually thought about what her life might be if something happened to both him and Zaiden. Lucian hadn’t been lying, but he already had plans in place so that if something happened to him and Zaiden, Zenya would be safe. Colby Reynolds had laughed himself sick when Lucian had approached him but had agreed for an exorbitant sum of money that he would see that she, and any children they might have, would be safe.
Lucian retreated to his room, opened the door out to his deck, removed his clothes, shifted, and rushed out the door and off the deck, landing on all fours and roaring so that everyone and everything in his territory would know the alpha was on the prowl. Zaiden dashed out of the home he would one day share with a mate and children of his own.
They charged out through the main gates, leaping up from the driveway and charging up the hill toward the tree line. Once in the forest, they navigated the rough terrain of grass, rock, underbrush, and fallen trees to make their way to the river, which was running fast and cold. Lucian found it invigorating. He turned back, sweeping his paw in the river to catch some of the water and splash Zaiden, who returned the gesture, both of them growling in a playful way as they drenched one another.
Bounding up the other side of the riverbank, they made short work of the climb to the top of their territory. Once they crested the hill, they moved under the shelter, shifted, and pulled on their clothes.
“I really need to get up here more often,” said Zaiden as they stood, looking down at the expansive estate laid out before them.
“I know. I feel the same way, and I probably get up here more often than you do.” Lucian turned to his beta. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”
“I’m not very subtle, am I?”
“Not at all, would be more like it. You’re so bad, your sister asked what it was you didn’t want her to hear.”
Zaiden laughed. “How are you two getting along?”
“I’m getting along fine as long as I take two cold showers a day and work out for a couple of hours.”
“Yeah, several people have mentioned you hitting the gym on a far more regular basis.”
“My mate,” he tried to avoid referring to Zenya as Zaiden’s sister, especially when they were talking about sex, “is a beautiful and alluring woman, and I’ve waited a long time for her.”
“You have. I know few men, much less alphas, that would have shown your patience and restraint.”
“She is my fated mate. I want her to be happy. We have coffee every morning in her room.”
“Do I, as her brother, want or need to hear this?”
Lucian chuckled. “I wish you didn’t, but I have taken to getting two mugs of coffee. I put one by her bed and then lounge against the dresser with mine. The first morning, she threw the coffee and mug at me, but it was only the one time.”
“My sister does love her coffee.”
“Yes, she told me I wasn’t worth losing it or a mug.”
Zaiden laughed. “She’s lucky you are the man you are. I hate to think what would have happened had it been another alpha who was her fated mate. In fact, with things heating up with the Shadow League and our joining the Resistance…”
“I have made a deal with Colby Reynolds. If something happens to me and you are here, I trust you to safeguard your sister and any children we have. But if something happens to both of us, or if you feel she isn’t safe here, Reynolds will ensure her safety, as well as that of our offspring.”
“Thank you. That means a lot to me. If something happens to you, I will take your family to Windsong. I will ensure that they are safe.”
“You know I have a stash of assets and money that are earmarked for my family if anything happens.”
“I can’t see myself staying at Ice Storm without her. Was she happy on the Outer Banks?”
Lucian nodded. “She was, and I’ve paid off the cottage there. It’s small, only two bedrooms, so I have someone looking into something bigger. That way you would have a place to go. I also struck a deal with the vet she was in partnership with. So that will be an option, as well.”
“And her bright turquoise Jeep?”
“Left with a car storage place that runs the engine and maintains it.”
“What if nothing happens and when it’s all over, everything is fine?”
“Then the clan has vacation options for the Outer Banks,” laughed Lucian.
Zaiden clasped his friend’s shoulder. “You really do care for her.”
“You know I’ve been thinking about that.”
“About what?”
“How we all say is I care for her. It isn’t true…”
“It is. Everything you do tells the clan how much you care…”
“Not care, Zaiden. Love. I love your sister.”
“Whoa. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you say that. I would caution you never to tell her you told me first.”
Lucian laughed. “I won’t, but I plan to do that a lot more now that she’s home.”
“Once you are bonded, you’ll be positively giddy.”
Both large, dominant, males looked at each other and started laughing.
“Okay, so now that you’ve warmed me up, reminded me you are my beloved’s brother, what is it you want to tell me?”
“The day after you returned, I had a chance to talk to her. She tried to guilt me into helping her. We had words—which we both meant, but for which we will forgive one another—and we made a deal, a bet if you will.”
“Do I even want to hear this?”
“I think so. I don’t think you are unaware that you have a rather profound effect on my sister.”
“I am aware. So?”
“I told her if she could manage to keep her hands off you—which if the glances she sends your way when you aren’t looking are any indication will be more difficult than she’d like me to believe—and convince me she doesn’t believe you are fated mates, which she won’t be able to do, that I will help her get to Windsong.”
“You what?” growled Lucian.
“And that reaction was why I wanted you where no one can hear you. Do you think that she believes you’re fated mates?”
“Yes, and your point is?”
“You are, when you are so inclined, a very charming and seductive bastard. Besides, you haven’t asked me what happens when she fails.”
“Enlighten me,” Lucian ordered.
“God, you really do love her. You’re the surliest sonofabitch when anyone even hints you might have to live your life without her.”
“Zaiden,” he snarled.
“Right. Surly and impatient. When she succumbs to your obvious charms, she will agree to marry you and submit to your claiming.”
“She agreed to that?” Lucian said, a primal smile lifting the corners of his mouth.
“She did. She didn’t seem to think it would be an issue. As I said, given the way she responds to you and your ability to entice her, I think you’re home free. Basically, if you can finagle Zenya into some kind of compromising position where I or someone else can see you, she’ll be honor bound to her promise to become your mate.”
“And you call me deceitful and conniving?”
“Only imitating the master.”
“By the way, whatever I pay you, it isn’t enough.”
“I need you to remember that. When she finds out, she will be none too pleased with either of us, and you need to promise to protect me from her. The men that we had watching her all said she earned a black belt in krav maga and given that if I laid a hand on her, you’d kill me, I’m going to need all the protection I can get.”
“I promise this will never come back on you. Besides, once the bonding link is formed, she will have no choice but to admit she loves me, too, and she won’t care how we got there. Plus, it will be a great story to tell our children and our grandchildren.”
Zaiden looked at Lucian, a man he had known all his life—a man he would lay down his life for—the toughest, most ruthless man he’d ever known—and he laughed. Lucian arched his eyebrow at his beta.
“Who’d have thought the tough Navy SEAL, the man who challenged an alpha still in his prime and ended his life to claim one of the great white tiger clans, would be waxing rhapsodic about a future with children and grandchildren.”
“I’m expecting you to provide cousins for those kids.”
“Let’s get you bonded, then we’ll worry about me. But trust me, it’ll be a race to see who becomes a father first. First one buys the other one a really expensive bottle of scotch.”
Zaiden stuck his hand out to his alpha. Lucian took it, grinning at him and saying “Done.”
They began to walk back down to the house. Zaiden elbowed Lucian. “So, what are you planning?”
“Nothing too elaborate. I’ll just stalk her relentlessly and seize the opportunity to seduce her and get her into our bed. By the time anyone knows anything compromising happened, I’ll have her marked and claimed. She’ll be putty in my hands and purring at me like an alley cat in heat.”
“Okay, how about you never say those words to me in that tone again. I have to say, I almost feel sorry for her.”
“Don’t. Remember, your sister is my fated mate, and I love her. I will take care of her, and she will be fine.”
Later that evening, dinner was served. Lucian had asked the cook to prepare something special—something he knew Zenya would enjoy. She was especially fond of Copper River salmon, and they were running. He’d sent several men to wait for the boats that would be bringing them in. There was also a choice of a parmesan risotto or scalloped potatoes, and a variety of vegetables with hummingbird cake or key lime pie for dessert.
Figuring there was no time like the present, Lucian began to implement his planned seduction. Zaiden should feel sorry for his sister. Her chances at resisting Lucian were slim to none. He laid his hand on her thigh, squeezing it lightly until he felt her shiver, arousal rolling down the link to him, the scent of it sweeter than any food they were enjoying.
They had eaten dinner and with each course he had stepped up his seduction—touches, alternating soothing purrs and deeper, more sensual rumbles down the link, whispering in her ear, nuzzling her neck. Each time, he could detect an uptick in her arousal with each gesture, word or sound. Time to up the ante.
Zenya had chosen the hummingbird cake—a dreadful name for a delicious treat. Lucian knew that she adored key lime pie. It had always been a favorite of hers. He used his fork to cut a piece of the back from the pie. Zenya’s favorite bite was the one with the most crust and whipped cream along with the key lime curd. He picked it up with one hand as the other slid from the top of her thigh to the inside, trailing up towards her sex.
Leaning in, he poked the bite of key lime pie between her lips as he whispered in a voice so low only she could hear: “I can’t wait until I can watch my cock slip between those luscious lips… both those on your face and those that even now are swelling and softening for me.”
It did not have the effect he had hoped for. Zenya bit down hard and he jerked his hand back. She pushed back from the table, standing up and toppling the chair. She took the pie plate containing the rest of the pie and turned it over his head.
“I’d rather suck the dick of a dragon than get anywhere near yours. I hate you.” She turned and addressed the room. “I hate you all and someday I will be able to turn my back on this place and on this clan and walk away—never, ever to return.”
She spun away from him and rushed out of the room.
“Well, that didn’t go as planned,” quipped Zaiden.
“I don’t know,” said Lucian, removing the pie plate from his head and wiping up the mess with his napkin, “it was going fairly well until that last part.”
Seeing that their alpha was nonplussed by his mate’s outrageous behavior, the shocked silence gave way to laughter as he stood and then turned to follow her.