White Wolf Mate (Silverlake Shifters Book 2) Read online

  “Fine, then,” he said. “I’ll have to protect you here.”

  She gave herself a shake, as if he were water she wanted to get off her hide.

  “Oh, really?” he said. “I’ll have you know that I’m Jace’s Second, and I’ve been in plenty of fights. Won most of them, too. And I can shoot. And I can—”

  He took another step forward, and suddenly felt a tug at his feet. Before he could move, a loop of rope wrapped tight around his ankles. He heard a loud ‘snap’ and then he was dragged upwards, feet first, hanging upside down from a tree.

  You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

  He found himself twirling slowly, like a mobile over a kid’s crib. He kept trying to lift up his upper body so he could reach his ankles and free himself, but each movement sent him spinning dizzily. After a minute he realized he probably didn’t want to free his ankles, because it would mean falling headfirst about fifteen feet. Probably not fatal, unless he broke his neck. He swam his hands through the air, making himself rotate until he could see Terin.

  She was still in wolf form, sitting on her haunches. Her head was cocked and her tongue was hanging out the side of her mouth.

  Damn, she was laughing at him.

  “Okay,” he said. “Very funny. You can protect yourself. I take it all back. Just get me the hell down from here.”

  She sat for another minute, then slowly got up, stretched, and changed back to human.

  Rafe’s mouth went dry. Even hanging upside down, feeling like a complete and total ass, the sight of her naked made him crazy.

  She was so beautiful. Her lightly bronzed skin, with no tan lines, and that pale, pale hair sweeping down her back. He could close his eyes and remember the way it felt like silk running through his hands. He wanted to take her ripe breasts in his mouth, one at a time, and kiss and caress them until she was wet and moaning. And then he wanted to…

  Terin released some kind of catch on the back of the tree, and Rafe plummeted to the ground. He put his hands over his head to break his fall, so he didn’t in fact break his neck, but the landing gave him a serious jolt.

  She stood, arms across her chest, while he disentangled himself from the rope. “Now I’m going to have to reset this one,” she complained.

  Rafe rubbed his ankles to restore the circulation. “You have more than one of those?” he asked.

  “Did you think I was totally defenseless? Oh, wait, you did. That’s what that lecture was all about.”

  He rose to his feet, brushing himself off. “No offense, but you do look kind of defenseless. It’s deceiving.”

  She turned away, but not before he saw the hint of a smile on her face. “Well, I’m not.”

  He knew he should think of a clever reply, but he couldn’t seem to. He was looking at her perfect ass, and that was pulling all the blood from his brain and sending it straight to his cock. All he could think of was kneeling her down and burying himself inside her, taking her from behind and hearing her moan and growl like the gorgeous wolf she was.

  “Um…yeah,” he managed to say.

  She turned around, quick enough that he couldn’t avert his gaze. Hers shot to his cock, which was straining against his jeans.

  “I thought you came because you wanted to protect me.”

  “That too,” he said, before he thought. He sighed. This was not going well. “It would be a lot easier to focus on that if you had clothes on, though. Just sayin’.”

  She finished resetting the trap, laying out the rope loop and covering it with dirt and leaves, and resetting the trip wire. He examined it—it was pretty ingenious.

  “Did you think this up?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “No. Ben did. My husband.”

  “Holy hell,” Rafe said. “He really was paranoid, wasn’t he.”

  “I told you,” she said. “He thought government agents were going to come along and take everything away from us. He didn’t trust them.”

  “What about you?” Rafe said. “Do you not trust them either?”

  She gave him a sidelong glance. “I don’t trust anyone.”

  Rafe heaved another sigh. It figured.

  She began walking toward the house, and he followed her, appreciating the view. At least she hadn’t kicked him off her land yet. That was something.

  He circled around to catch up with her, and she said, “Watch out, there’s another trip wire.”

  He barely managed to avoid it.

  “Stick close to me,” she said. “If you’re good, I’ll show you where they all are later.”

  “I’m very good,” Rafe said. “Ask anyone I’ve ever—”

  She shot him a raised-eyebrow look.

  “—slept with,” he finished lamely, before he could turn his mouth off. Nice, Rafe. Very romantic. Tell her about all your happy booty babes.

  Shit.

  She walked into the house, not inviting him inside. On the other hand, she didn’t tell him not to come in, so he followed her. She reached over to a peg near the door, snagged a long cotton skirt, and stepped into it, shimmying it up over her hips in a way that made Rafe want to tear it right back off. Then she pulled on a tank top, covering those incredible tits.

  Rafe didn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved.

  She shook out her hair in a gorgeous shimmer, and then turned to face him. “So,” she said, “Why did you come back?”

  He looked at her, confused. “I said I would,” he told her. “I couldn’t just leave you here alone.”

  She looked directly at him. “Why not?”

  Rafe didn’t know what to say. Because you’re my mate, he wanted to say. Because I think I love you. But he couldn’t tell her that. He’d scare her off.

  “You didn’t leave me after I crashed my bike,” he said instead. “You carried me all the way to that cave. You healed me. You brought me food and clothes. You didn’t have to do all that. But you did. Why did you help me?”

  She looked back at him, her blue eyes fathomless. “I’m not a monster,” she said softly. “Anyone would have tried to help.”

  “So why can’t you believe that anyone would want to try to help you?”

  She looked away. “People say they want to help. And then…things happen.”

  Rafe stood there, trying to think of what else to say. She had so many secrets she didn’t want to share. How could he figure out what she needed if he didn’t know what was wrong?

  Finally he said, “Look, I don’t know what’s happened to you in your life. I know it’s been hard, and there haven’t been many people you can count on. Maybe one. Maybe none.”

  She looked away, biting her lip.

  “And sure, I’d like to tell you that you can always count on me. That I’m chock-full of responsibility. But that would be Jace, my alpha. Or that I’m the guy who always keeps a cool head, who’s steady and dependable and can defuse a potential war in ten minutes flat. But that’s my bro, Jesse. Or even that I always do the right thing, even if I have to shove a major stick up my ass to do it. But that would be Kane, our Enforcer.”

  She smiled at his description of Kane. Well, at least he could amuse her. That was a start.

  “And then there’s Israel, Kane’s shadow.” He considered. “You’d probably like him. He doesn’t talk either.”

  No, wait, he didn’t want that. “No, don’t like him,” Rafe said. “Forget I even told you about him. You should like me.”

  That got him another smile. Progress.

  “The truth is, I do two things well,” he said. “Fight, and make people laugh. So maybe that’s all I can offer you—a little entertainment until these guys come after you and I kick their asses.”

  He moved forward, slowly, not wanting to spook her.

  “I’m not saying I’m any prize,” he admitted. “I don’t think anyone in my pack would say I am. But I love the people I love, and I’d do anything for them. And I wish…” he broke off, and she tilted her head, watching him, waiting for him to
go on. “I just wish you’d let me stay here with you,” he said. “Even if you don’t need it. And maybe—maybe I can do this one thing right.”

  He looked away. He hadn’t meant to say that last part. But she closed the space between them, her hand on his arm light as a butterfly.

  “Don’t say that,” she said. “I think you’re better than that. I think you’re a good man.”

  He grinned at her. “I wouldn’t go that far. For instance, I can’t stop thinking about you naked.”

  That brought a smile that lit up her eyes and took his breath away.

  “I guess you can stay around if you want to. For a while,” she said. Her eyes glinted wickedly. “I’ll protect you.”

  She tilted her head up and gave him a light kiss. As soon as their lips met, a hunger flashed through both of them. In a moment they were in each other’s arms, their mouths grinding together, touching and tasting, tongues tangled, his hands buried in her hair, her arms circling his neck.

  After a few minutes, Rafe groaned and pulled himself away from her.

  “Sorry,” he said. “I just…wow.”

  She said, “You don’t have to apologize. I kissed you first.”

  He blinked. “Oh,” he said. “That’s right, you did.”

  She said, “If I’m going to protect you, I better show you where the rest of the traps are. Because it would be really embarrassing if you hurt yourself on one of them. How would I explain to your alpha?”

  Which was a reminder that he was going to have to convince her to talk to Jace. Because if he didn’t hear from Rafe, he would be coming over here whether either of them liked it or not. But he didn’t want to say anything right now. Things were going well. Sort of. Unless Terin shoved him into one of her traps.

  He followed her around the property. The thin cotton skirt billowed around her legs, showing tantalizing glimpses of them as it moved and clung. He was very aware of the fact that she hadn’t put on any underwear, and he couldn’t shake the fantasy of sliding his hands under the flowing cloth to stroke her silky core, or bunching the skirt around her waist and feeling her ride his erection.

  He almost slapped himself on the side of the head to stop the images from coming. He wanted her so fiercely—wanted to ride her hard, to hold her close and worship her body. He wanted to sit on the porch swing with her and hold hands and listen to her tell him everything she was thinking. And tell her everything he’d never told anyone else. And then he wanted to fuck her like she was a goddess.

  They did a tour of the traps, and Rafe made mental notes about where they all were. They covered the perimeter in such a way that they were pretty decent protection. But they weren’t an adequate defense against men with assault weapons.

  When he brought that up, Terin took him into the house. She lifted up a loose floorboard at the side of the living room, under a rug, and Rafe whistled.

  The space underneath was full of weapons. Rifles, handguns, a couple of assault rifles and a freakin’ machine gun. There was even… “Is that a grenade launcher?” he asked, stunned.

  “Yeah,” she said. “I told you Ben was paranoid.”

  And Ben had friends in military places, clearly. That made Rafe think.

  “Do you think these hunters could be friends of Ben’s?” he said. “They seemed like military or paramilitary types. Their weapons weren’t just hunting weapons.”

  Terin looked down, carefully moving a box of ammo into precise alignment with the others.

  “Maybe,” she said. “He didn’t really talk about his background. But he had to know people like that. I mean, he got these from somewhere, didn’t he? They don’t exactly sell them in Wal-Mart.”

  “Exactly,” Rafe said. “Kane and Israel are down in town now trying to find out more about these guys, where they come from, how long they’ve been around. They should have answers in a day or two.”

  She sat back on her heels. “Your pack is doing that? Why? These people are after me, not them.”

  Rafe hesitated before he answered, choosing his words, which was not usual for him. Usually he just blurted out whatever he was thinking, to the detriment of all concerned.

  “Two reasons,” he said finally. “One, is because they’re good people. They’re not going to let another shifter get hunted without trying to do something about it. And they know I’m worried about you, despite your obvious ability to take care of yourself.”

  She smiled her faint smile at that. Rafe was beginning to realize that was Terin’s version of an ear-to-ear grin.

  “And, to be honest, the other reason was more self-serving. We need to find out if these men are a threat to the pack as well. We’re pretty well protected on our territory; Jace, as a mated alpha, can draw on the land itself to shore up our defenses. But we can’t stay inside our territory all the time, and the boundary magic isn’t infallible. It helps, especially against humans accidentally wandering onto our land, but it won’t keep out a group of determined enemies who know what we are. These guys could attack us if they really wanted to.”

  She turned away from him, her hair falling over her face like a curtain.

  He wondered if she knew more about the men than she was telling.

  “Terin? Do you have any idea who these men might be, or why they’re here? Maybe something Ben said?”

  She shook her head. “Ben’s been gone now for…four years,” she said. “If they were friends of his, why would they only be coming now? It doesn’t make sense.”

  It didn’t. It would make more sense if they were Alexander Grant’s men, coming after Emma. But then why were they specifically looking for a white wolf? None of this fit together. Unless…

  “What about from before that?”

  She kept her head turned away. “What do you mean?”

  She knew what he meant, though. He could feel her body tense. He hated to bring this up, but he had to. “What if the ‘accident’ that took your memory wasn’t an accident? What if someone was trying to hurt you? What if they’re still trying?”

  “That’s crazy. It was ten years ago. How would they have found me after all this time, if they didn’t before?” She took a ragged breath. “And anyway, I can’t remember. I’ve tried and tried for years, and it’s like pounding on an invisible wall.” She knocked on her skull. “There’s nothing in here that can help you. Just let it go. I am.”

  But he could see her hand shaking. Shit. He was upsetting her.

  Rafe deliberately turned his attention back to the arsenal.

  “So, do you know how to use any of this?” Rafe had trained on a number of different weapons, but he had never fired half this stuff.

  She gave him a sideways look. “Of course. Ben taught me. In case the government ever—you know. Invaded.”

  He tried to imagine quiet Terin shooting an assault rifle, and his mind boggled. Although the idea seemed to be calming her down.

  “I’m glad you like me,” he said. “I have a feeling you’re lethal, if you don’t.”

  She said softly, almost too quietly for him to hear, “Sometimes I’m lethal even if I do like you.”

  Rafe didn’t know what to say to that.

  He spent the day with Terin, helping her restack the wood pile and bring in a block of ice from the ice house. He also managed to put away most of the blueberry pie she’d made that morning, which she would not admit she’d baked for him. He hoped she had, though. It would mean she had been hoping he’d come back.

  He thought of calling Jace a few times, but each time he put it off. Things were going so well, and he didn’t want to freak Terin out.

  When it started to get dark, he tried to help her make dinner, which was less of a disaster than it could have been. But not by much.

  “You really don’t have any useful skills, do you,” she teased, when he’d made a mess of the carrots she’d asked him to chop. “Besides fighting and entertainment, I mean.”

  “Yes I do,” he protested, laughing. “I can lumberjack the hell
out of a mountainside. And I can build a cabin and fix a truck, too.”

  “But I’m pretty sure you can’t cook.”

  “Nope,” he admitted. “That’s why I really came back,” he added. “So you’d make me food.”

  She turned away, but he could see her smiling to herself in the way he loved. Rafe knew at that moment he was a goner. He’d do anything to see that smile.

  After dinner, they sat outside on the porch swing, watching the sunset.

  “Have you done any other jobs?” she asked. “Besides the sexy lumberjack thing?”

  She thought he was sexy? Hell yeah.

  He tried to keep his excitement to himself. “Oh, yeah. I was a long-haul truck driver, for a while, and I worked on oil rigs in Alaska—anything that paid a lot and didn’t have to be done inside.” He hated being cooped up. “We all did it—me and Jace and Kane and Israel. We had to, so we could get money to buy the land for the pack. That was all we wanted, from the time that our other pack was scattered.”

  Terin took his hand. “How old were you?” she asked.

  Rafe said, “Fifteen.” The old sadness welled up in his chest, and Terin tightened her hand around his, as if she could feel it.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  Rafe usually didn’t talk about this. As in, he never talked about it. But she was going to be his mate. He hoped. He wanted her to know.

  “There was a rival pack who wanted our territory,” he said. “It was beautiful land, in the mountains of Montana. Our pack had been there for generations. Anyway, our pack alpha, Jace’s father, hadn’t taken a true mate.”

  At Terin’s questioning look, he said, “Some wolves—shifters—have a connection with a special person. You’re fated to be together. Soulmates. It’s a very intense bond, and not everybody finds it.” He stopped, thinking about it. “Probably not everybody even wants it, because it’s more than love. You’re bound together, forever.”

  “It sounds kind of nice,” Terin said.

  “Yeah,” Rafe said. That was an understatement, to judge from Jace and Emma. They were the sun in each other’s sky. And Rafe was beginning to understand how that felt—and how agonizing it was when you didn’t know if the other person wanted it.