Forbidden Mate Read online

  “You think it’s me.”

  “I didn’t accuse you. But you’re a wolf, and I’ve never seen you around town before. I’ll bet you know a lot of other wolves, too.”

  Marco narrowed his eyes, his shoulders squared and muscles tense. Wesley hoped he wouldn’t have to take on the wolf in a fight, because he didn’t look like he’d go down easily.

  “I could say the same thing. Don’t you have wolves under the palace roof? From what I’ve heard, you’ve had at least one on board for the past five years. He wasn’t too happy about waiting for his princess.”

  “Well, he’s happy now, and he’s not a suspect.”

  Marco exhaled in irritation. “It’s been great catching up, really, but I’d rather get away from the town if it’s all good with you. It looks like humans are taking over one of our last shifter safe havens. But I’m sure the queen wouldn’t be able to do anything about that, either.”

  Talk of humans reminded Wesley of the girl from last night. The human girl.

  His sudden desire for the brunette made him feel tainted in some odd way. He’d come to expect shifters in town, only the rare human passing through. He was trained not to take a mate as part of his Royal Elite training. Claiming a human would be completely out of bounds.

  By the time he pushed away his sidetracked thoughts, the wolf had shifted and darted into the heavy underbrush. Fuck!

  Marco wasn’t off his list, but Wesley wasted no more time and headed straight for the bar. It was the last known location of the wolf he was looking for. He pushed open the heavy door, expecting to find the same raucous laughter and music as the night before. Instead, he only met silence. A woman was mopping the floors at the far end of the room, the chairs all stacked up on the tables. The bar lights were off, as was the music that usually pulsed through the sound system.

  He never considered the place would be so dead in the light of day. He’d have to return tonight before his perimeter shift at the castle. There was a long list of people he wanted to question, including the bartenders and waitresses. Cade and the other Elites wouldn’t understand his new obsession. They liked to handle each threat as it came. Wesley was searching for a needle in a haystack, some nameless wolf in territory ruled by shifters. It was better than obsessing over a woman he had to forget.

  ****

  The tour bus rumbled along the barren roadway, jostling every time they hit a pothole in the road. There were many. The driver was in his own little world, not offering to entertain the passengers or assist her in announcing the sites.

  “To your left, you’ll see Lake Demori. Some say it was named after an ancient queen or perhaps a ruler from a Native legend.” She scanned through the pages of notes she’d jotted down last night. At least the passengers hadn’t ousted her for her inexperience yet. They all gawked out the left side windows, oohing and awing after she spoke.

  It was hard not to get as caught up as the tourists. In only two days she was already falling in love with the country. A light mist lingered over the mix of ground cover and small blooms. The trees were massive and moss covered, things she’d envision in a fairy tale, not real life.

  She continued, “This is one of numerous Chupacabra sighting locations. They’ve been reported in the woods surrounding the town and have been caught drinking in this very lake.”

  The bus driver slowed his speed, giving everyone ample time to peer out the windows. If she remembered correctly, they were supposed to stop around the bend in the road to let the passengers out to look around. Many were hardcore monster-hunters, living off the thrill of finding Big Foot, the Loch Ness Monster, and other mysterious creatures of lore. It was her job to put a little fear into them, to make things more entertaining when they did their personal investigation on foot. Of course, they wouldn’t find anything besides the native wildlife.

  She noticed a small cabin along the far edge of the lake, mostly obscured by the dense forest climbing up the mountainside behind it. She grabbed a set of binoculars from her seat and looked off into the distance. For some reason she knew, and she’d just confirmed it with her own two eyes. It was mystery man number two.

  He was leaning over the rails of a wrap-around porch, watching the lake as if it held some great secret. She couldn’t look away, narrowing her binoculars in on his face, his eyes. The man mesmerized her.

  At least he wasn’t the town drunk as she’d first assumed, and he hadn’t taken off into the forest for no reason. The man actually lived out here. But it should have taken hours on foot. She only assumed he had an ATV or something hidden just inside the tree line near town. It would explain how he managed to navigate the forest unscathed, despite her potential wolf sighting.

  “How long do we have?”

  Helen was pulled from her thoughts and the face she couldn’t easily look away from. It was one of the passengers. She realized the bus had stopped, parked, and most of the passengers were already off and walking. She really was starting to lose it.

  “Sorry. We’ll all meet back at the bus in an hour.”

  Helen set her binoculars down, determined to put her little obsession to sleep. She had not one, but two men on her mind. The first one brought her to heights she’d never known. But just when she swore there was a soul-deep connection between them, he’d disappeared. So what if she grew old alone? And so what if the most satisfaction she’d ever get involved a battery-operated toy? Life had to go on.

  She stepped down from the bus and took a deep breath of fresh pine. The air was cooler under the shaded cover of the trees. With an hour to kill, she might as well take a look around herself, rather than sitting and thinking too much. She knew the Chupacabra sightings were a load of crap created to entertain the die-hard believers of paranormal activity. But they’d pay the bills for this week, so she didn’t complain.

  Laughter and muffled voices drifted away in numerous directions. The bus driver had already fallen asleep in his seat.

  She wandered off on her own. Once completely alone, she looked up at the forest canopy. It was so green, so beautifully perfect. And quiet. Her body and mind meshed for the first time in years. She took another deep breath and began to walk. The soft crunch of moss under her shoes muffled her steps. It didn’t take long for her to realize where her feet were taking her. She was heading in the direction of the lake—and that man.

  What else did she have to do for an hour? She was just innocently exploring, nothing more, or so she tried to convince herself.

  The lake came into view between the breaks in the trees—a crisp blue against the lush greenery. She was drawn to it, like a parched man in search of a drink. When she reached the rocky bank of the lake, she squatted down and cupped some water in her hands. It was cool and clear as it ran between her fingers. The cottage was far off, too hard to see without the powerful binoculars. She wondered if he was still standing on the balcony.

  Helen began her trek on foot. Even with the light of day, there was a foreboding shadow that seemed to hang over the forest. She worried about coming face to face with something dangerous or hungry. Even visions of the fictional Chupacabras came to mind.

  After half an hour she questioned turning around but kept trudging on. If she ran into the guy, she’d just explain that she was hiking with a group of tourists. It wasn’t completely a lie. People got lost in the woods all the time. She could ask if he got home okay or something similar to start small talk.

  Helen laughed at herself. She was thirty-five and acting like a teenager. She was single for a reason—she repelled the opposite sex, or at least the good ones.

  “Something funny?”

  She gasped and whipped her head around. It was a stranger, a man she’d never seen before. He was gorgeous, his features chiseled and strong. His cotton shirt clung to his muscles, most of the buttons undone.

  “I guess I’m a bit lost.” Helen had been peeking at the cabin from between two large oaks. She was so close to it now, trying to work up the courage to move in even c
loser. Now that she was caught, her cheeks felt like they were turning every shade of pink. She was surprised she hadn’t heard him approach.

  “Have you tried getting help at that cabin?” He nodded his head to the one right in front of her. The one she’d been secretly stalking.

  “That cabin? No, not yet. I hate to bug people.” She bit her lip.

  “Well, seeing as I live there, I promise you won’t bug me.”

  She furrowed her brow. She’d seen the guy from town on the porch. Did they both live there? Were they lovers? Her stomach began to sour.

  “I’m sure I can get back on my own.” She started to walk backwards the way she’d come. “Sorry for the trouble.” As she turned fully around, he was in front of her. Helen stopped dead in her tracks. How had he moved so fast? She even checked behind her for an identical twin and came up empty.

  He blocked her path, not allowing her to move further. She pressed her hand against his bicep to push him aside. Instead, she found her fingers lingering on the rock-hard muscles, even testing their strength.

  “You’re in heat,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “I’m a little chilly, actually. There’s too much shade in the forest.”

  “Shadows,” he corrected, lowering his head to her neck. She nearly toppled back as she attempted to put a safe distance between them. When she heard him breathing her in, his satisfied groan ignited something powerful inside her. He was as animalistic as Wesley had been. Those erotic memories assaulted her.

  “I–I should go…”

  Every warning she’d ever heard about strange men and strange places came rushing into the forefront of her mind. Then she recalled the attack she’d endured just the night before. Panic began to well up inside her as she thought of the terrifying possibilities.

  “You’re afraid,” he said, an evil glint in his eyes. “And human.”

  “I need to get back.”

  He took a section of her dark hair and felt it between his fingers. “I promise I won’t hurt you.”

  She swallowed hard, fighting an inner battle of lust and fear. The man was strongly built and should be intimidating, his dark eyes roving tauntingly over her curves. It was odd how her body felt safe with him, even though her mind screamed for her to get away.

  “What’s your name, pretty girl?”

  “Helen.”

  “Very nice.” Then he sounded out her name slowly, his deep voice giving it an erotic edge. “H-e-l-e-n.”

  When she dared to look him in the eyes rather than avoid them, she was lost.

  “My name’s Targus. I want you to have supper with me tonight. Will you do that?”

  “Okay.” After she spoke, she realized she’d just mindlessly agreed. Was she insane? What kind of woman accepted strange invitations to a man’s house? God knew what was in store for her.

  She tried not to think of the delectable X-rated images forcing their way into her mind. She didn’t need to know things like what he looked like without his shirt on or how his muscles would flex if he supported his weight over her body. Helen needed to think of things like axe murderers and heartless kidnappers for her own security. For once, she had to refuse.

  Chapter Four

  Humans had ventured into their neck of the woods. Targus was outside scouting their territory when he found her. His mood wasn’t the greatest. Marco had stayed out all night, but no matter how much he worried about his good friend, he refused to feed into his destructive cycle. Although Targus was relieved he’d come home in the morning, he couldn’t deal with him yet.

  When he saw the cute brunette he could have sworn she was a she-wolf. She had the curves, and she was alone in the forest. It was only after he took in her scent that he knew she was a human. Not just any human. His mate.

  Targus had resigned himself to never having a woman of his own. He’d worked too hard to be the perfect mate for one of the wolven princesses, jumping through hoops to be one of the chosen suitors. It wasn’t about love, but position, respect, and honor. His parents expected great things of him. When the princesses returned home with men they’d personally selected, he lost any chance of achieving his goal. Targus retreated from shifter society, keeping to the fringes. He felt cheated, angry, and no other female would ever compare to royalty.

  Until now.

  He tried to piece together what was happening to him. Targus had never experienced the mating call, so he wasn’t sure how to handle it. A she-wolf would have allowed him to fuck and claim her with no reservations. The mating call would be obvious to both of them, an unspoken bond drawing them to each other. But Helen was human, innocent to their ways. He wasn’t sure how to move forward and show her that they were meant to be together. So far, all he did was scare her.

  “Do you want me to pick you up?”

  “For what?”

  “Our dinner date,” he reminded. They all learned about human culture in school when they were pups. Apparently their mating rituals were long and drawn out, like some carefully choreographed dance. He didn’t want to fail.

  “About that…”

  He was losing the mating game before playing. What was he doing wrong? Did she think he was a beta male? He needed to prove himself before he lost his chance.

  “I hope you’re not changing your mind, Helen. I’ve been waiting a long time for you.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Targus forced her to walk backwards, hoping a dominant display would earn him her respect. She was small and soft with big brown eyes. He tilted her chin up so she’d stop looking to the ground when he spoke. “I guess you’d call it fate. Do you believe in fate?”

  “That’s the stuff in fairy tales, right? I think I stopped believing in those when I was a girl.”

  “Why? You should never stop believing. You’d be surprised how much remains hidden if you keep your eyes closed.”

  He snapped the end of a small branch off near her head. She gasped, and he swore he could hear the blood rushing through her veins.

  “What do you see?”

  Her brow furrowed. “A stick?”

  “For some it could signify a weapon or shelter. There’s more to everything. You just have to look with an open mind.”

  “Now, tell me what you see when you look at me?”

  “A stranger.”

  He cringed, knowing it would be a challenge to court her. “Go on…”

  “Muscles?”

  He couldn’t help but chuckle. “I was thinking more on the lines of protector or provider. I assure you I’m capable of both.”

  “I still think stranger’s more appropriate.”

  “That’s because we haven’t had dinner together yet. After that, I’m sure you’ll have a change of heart.” He winked, trying to put her nerves at ease.

  Helen looked conflicted, continually looking past him toward the forest path one minute and outlining his body with her eyes the next. Despite her fear and uncertainty, the faint scent of her desire wasn’t overlooked by him. His inner wolf howled in satisfaction knowing his mate wanted him in return. Now he just had to convince a human that life with a wolf was better than any she could have with a weak human male. Considering he’d focused his entire adult life on the wolven princesses, he had a lot of work on his hands.

  A bus horn broke the quiet hush of the forest, the irritating sound blaring on and on in the distance.

  “Oh my god, I have to go. I was supposed to be back on board in an hour.” She pushed past him, fears forgotten, and began running through the woods.

  “Be back here by eight, little human,” he called out. Targus didn’t expect her to return in the pitch black of night when even the sunlight terrified her. He’d have to think of another strategy to get on her good side. For the first time, he wanted a woman for love.

  ****

  Wesley and Cade followed the scent of the wolf through the forest once the sun went down. If Marco had such ill feelings for the queen, he’d be capable of anything. What
better way to get revenge for his mate’s death? He had to have something to do with the plot to infiltrate the palace. It only made sense that outcast shifters living on the fringe of society would have something to do with the threats to the palace.

  They reached the freshwater lake. He remembered swimming in it when he was a carefree, young boy. Before he gave up his life for the monarchy. That was a long time ago.

  “He has to be in there,” said Cade. They both stood on the bank looking over the darkened lake. The light coming from the cottage’s windows was warm and inviting, lighting up strips across the water’s still surface.

  “I guess so.”

  “From how you described him, I expected he’d be living in an abandoned bear cave. You sure you got the right guy?”

  Wesley’s jaw twitched. He wasn’t sure of anything anymore. “Let’s just check things out.”

  He knew the wolf hunt had become an obsession. It was the only way to get that female off his mind. She plagued his thoughts, forcing him to question his loyalty to the throne. He was beginning to understand Ulric’s choice to trade everything for his mate. The bond was so powerful it could drive a man to do anything—even kill.

  They continued to move in on the cottage, their wild cats navigating the forest with speed and stealth. After making it only halfway around the lake, Wesley stopped to test the air. That sweet scent was undeniably hers. Fuck. He didn’t need any more complications in his life, especially not a forbidden mating call. He was an Elite, a shifter married to the monarchy. Taking a mate of his own was completely out of the question. Taking a human would be the ultimate sin.

  “Why you stopping?”

  “I just smelled something out of the ordinary.”

  Cade’s cougar turned its head side to side, his nose high as he tried to capture whatever had caught Wesley’s attention. “It’s just a human. I told you there were a shitload of them here this week. They should be gone by Friday.”

  “You’re right. Let’s keep going.”

  Wesley could never let one of his fellow Royal Elite know he had some ridiculous weakness for the forbidden flesh. He was known as a human-hater. It was acceptable to indulge in a human female once in a while, but not to take one as a mate. Everything about her frustrated him. He didn’t even know the girl, so why couldn’t he wipe her from his mind?