Chapter 15 Mates
Mates
Everything hurt when I woke up. I was sprawled in bed with a blanket tucked around me. Every breath felt like sandpaper, and I gingerly prodded my bruised throat.
“Hey, careful,” Elowen said. Her sweet voice was not what I expected, and I frowned at her, not understanding. I was back in my room in the pack house.
“It’s okay. You’re safe. Luca and Cade are throwing those two bitches out of the territory. Archer is outside guarding you. Here, let’s get some ice on that swelling.”
She handed over a towel wrapped around something cold. I winced as I laid it across my neck.
“What happened?” My memories were fuzzy at best. Waking up, walking in the woods alone.
Harper. Rae.
Elowen perched on the end of the bed, resting her chin on her fist. White-blonde hair fell around her like a curtain.
“Well, we all saw you and Cade.” Shame heated my cheeks. “That was something.” She blew out her breath with a puff of her cheeks. “And I guess Harper and Rae had a problem with it so they tried to hurt you.”
Tried to kill me.
I didn’t feel like correcting her. Softening the blow wasn’t the worst thing she could do.
“That’s the last thing I remember. How did I get here?”
“Cade and Luca found you and dealt with them. Luca carried you up here and then went with Cade to make sure they were gone. They’ll probably spend a few hours today making calls to be sure that none of the nearby packs accept them. We will make sure they’re far away.”
“Why would they be so mad at me?” My fingers ran along the cold pack on my neck.
Elowen sighed, her shoulders slumping. “Harper is, or was, the most powerful female in the pack. She expected Cade would eventually breed with her. Especially considering…” She trailed off.
“I don’t know if that would have happened.
Probably not. But from her perspective, you took her chance to have the Alpha’s pups. ”
Did Cade sleep with her before? The question sat heavy on my chest, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask it.
Tears burned in my eyes and I squeezed them shut, pressing my open hand against the bridge of my nose until it subsided.
“Things were hard enough. I don’t know what their problem was. It was obvious Cade doesn’t want me.”
Her brows pinched. “Why do you say that?”
“He hates me. Even this morning, I woke up and I could feel he wanted me but he rejected me. I could literally sense his disappointment through the stupid bond. That’s why I was walking back alone.”
Elowen rubbed her lips together, staring past me at the blank wall while she thought. “He won’t last long. There’s no fighting a fated bond. Try to not worry. I’m sure he will pull his head out of his ass, especially now that he can sense your emotions and knows you’re being honest.”
“I seriously doubt it.”
“Well, try to relax. You need rest to recover.” Nodding, she turned away.
“Hey, Elowen? There was something else.”
“Yeah?” She smiled sweetly.
“This is so embarrassing,” I said, burying my face in my hands. “Last night as wolves, I think Cade and I might have…” I couldn’t manage to finish the sentence.
“Fulfilled your bond?” Her smile widened. “Mated? Gone at it like bunnies?”
“Stop,” I said, my skin flushed so hot my cheeks stung.
She huffed a laugh. “Don’t worry. You can’t get pregnant outside of going into heat.”
“You mentioned something about heat, but I don’t really remember the details. I didn’t think it would apply to me. I’m sorry.”
“Well, I’ve got two pieces of good news for you and one - let’s call it neutral news.”
I closed my eyes, trying to calm my heart rate. Elowen was so cheery about this, and, to me, it felt like the world was falling apart.
“First of all, you can’t get pregnant from whatever you two got up to last night. Secondly, even if you were in heat and got busy in your shifted form, it would still be a normal pregnancy, so don’t worry about that.”
“Okay, and the neutral news?”
“Now that you’ve got a mate, you’ll go into heat at some point.
Probably about four to six months from now, but there’s no way to know for sure.
But that happens and you can get pregnant, so unless you want a little Cade running around, we need to get you on birth control at the first sign of your heat. ”
“Fantastic. How will I even know?”
“You’ll start to feel even more needy than right now and you’ll run a bit of a fever. You’ll feel heated, hence the term. Honestly, I don’t think that’s why it’s called that, but running hot is a sure sign it’s coming.”
I pressed the back of my head into the headboard, fighting the desire to bang it against the wood a few times. This entire situation was so frustrating. “This is not something I wanted to be dealing with right now.”
Elowen soothed me, her hand patting my shin under the blanket. “You don’t have to stress about it yet.” She cocked her head, watching me with eyes full of pity. “I promise it’ll be okay. And when the time comes, Cade will take care of you.”
“That’s the last thing he wants to do.”
“There’s no way that’s the case…” Elowen trailed off, her head swiveling to the door as it opened.
It wasn’t Luca in the doorway. My heart dropped just as my body responded and my pulse quickened.
Stupid mate bond.
Cade stepped in, bowing his head so his messy blond hair flopped over his brow. He was the last person I wanted to see.
“Can I talk to her, Elle?” he asked softly.
Elowen nodded, crossing the space and pausing only to give me an encouraging smile and pat Cade’s arm.
Just looking at the asshole had my heartbeat throbbing between my legs. At least I wasn’t the only one affected. His dick strained at his jeans, but he ignored it and strode in.
He sat in the chair on the other side of the nightstand and rested his elbows on his knees, hands clutched together like he was preparing for a fight.
I stared at him, one hand clutching the sheets over my breasts. My nipples pebbled under the fabric, and I hoped he didn’t notice.
“Summer,” he finally said, his voice scraping over my skin. I fought the urge to tip my head back and moan.
“Cade,” I answered, grinding my teeth together to keep from rubbing my thighs together.
He swallowed and I watched the bob of his throat like it was fine art. How was a throat that seductive? I imagined licking down the length and tearing at his shirt with my teeth.
Hell, if he felt half of this, how was he just sitting there? It was taking all of my self control to not launch myself at him.
Cade shifted in his seat, one hand adjusted his jeans. I hoped he was miserably uncomfortable. It was only fair. But through the bond, I sensed only a calm, resolute feeling.
“Look, I don’t want this.” He waved his hand between us. “Bond.” He paused. “But I don’t think we can get rid of it.”
Crossing my arms, I narrowed my eyes at him. “I think I should go then. Maybe distance would help. And you said I could leave after I shifted.”
“That was before.” Cade’s eyes closed for a second. “If you leave and the vamps get ahold of you and figure out who you are to me, they could use you against me. Besides, I’m responsible for you now.”
“Well, don’t look so fucking miserable about it,” I growled.
“Summer, I can’t let you go. Not until it’s safe.” His jaw ticked. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, an apology from the great and mighty Alpha? How did I get so lucky?” I scowled at him. “Look, I get it. I can’t leave until you get rid of the vamps here. Aren’t you handling that in a few days?”
“Yeah.”
“I hope that goes well,” I said, and I was being truthful. After a week with the pack and Luca doting on me, it was clearer than ever that Evrin had mistreated me. I had been lucky. Many others hadn’t survived from the records Finn showed me.
A knock echoed and I flinched.
Luca stepped into the room, which felt much smaller with both massive werewolves in the space.
“Hey,” he said, his gaze flicking between me and Cade. “How’s it going?”
“Fine,” I snapped.
Cade stood up and brushed himself off. “I was just leaving.” He paused, his hand resting on Luca’s bicep as he leaned their foreheads together. “Take care of her. I can’t…” He hesitated. “I just can’t handle this situation right now.”
“I got you,” Luca said without hesitation. He leaned forward and caught Cade’s lips with his own.
I stared with my mouth open as Cade’s hand came up and framed Luca’s face, angling it to kiss him deeper. It wasn’t a quick peck, and through my bond with Cade I felt comfort and understanding passing between them.
Luca straightened and smirked at me. “You’ve got a little drool there, wildcat.”
Glaring at him, I wiped at the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand. I wasn’t drooling, of course, but I could have been. Seeing the two of them was arousing in a whole new way with the bond between us.
“I’ve got her,” Luca murmured, and Cade nodded. “But you’ll have to face this eventually.”
The Alpha closed the door behind himself, leaving his chosen mate with his fated mate.
Luca’s icy blue eyes swept over me, lingering on my nipples practically stabbing through the sheets and the way I squirmed. His hand came up and he wiped his bottom lip with this thumb, rubbing over the silver ring.
“I seem to remember I made you a promise,” he said, stalking toward me.