Claimed Mate Read online

  “The fact that you can’t think should be telling you something—this is important.” He couldn’t stay this close to her and not touch her. He reached up and gently stroked her cheek, when what he wanted to do was take her over to the clearing past his car and lay down with her in the grass. Repeat what they’d had in the meadow—God, had it only been Friday? It felt like he’d known her forever.

  She jerked her head away. “Don’t.”

  “Please, Serena.”

  She went to the door, digging through her purse and pulling out a key. “I’m sorry. None of this is your fault, but there’s so much going on. I need some space to think.” Sadness glinted in her eyes making them look as precious and rare as black diamonds. “Can you give me that?”

  No. He couldn’t. He wanted her. His cock was rock hard, and he wanted to push into her softness and claim her for his own. But he rolled his neck, hearing the bones pop, and took three steps away from her. “How long?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  A growl rose up in his throat, and her eyes widened. She gripped her keys tight in her fist and glared at him. “Gabe Wulfric, don’t give me that alpha crap. I need time and you are going to give me time. Or so help me I’ll make my decision right now.” She turned her back on him without even waiting for his response and unlocked the door.

  “Wait.” He moved, but it was too late. She was inside. The door slammed, nearly taking off his fingers as he reached to grab it.

  A long howl ripped out of him and the shift rolled under his skin. He tore off his clothes, leaving them in a pile on her front porch. His bones contorted, pushing out as the change violently ripped through him. Then he let the pain and anger drive him down the road and into the deep woods, heading for the meadow that still smelled of sex. And Serena.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Monday morning, Serena woke up with her head aching from a night spent tossing and turning thinking about Gabe. And sex. Especially the sex. Every time she’d get focused on something else and her body began to relax into sleep, her thoughts turned to the heat of the meadow and the smell of crushed grass as they kissed. Or the taste of wine on his mouth as he’d turned her world upside down underneath the stars, making her doubt every sane thing she’d decided during the day.

  She liked spending time with him. He was funny and smart, and she had the idea that there was so much more behind those blue, blue eyes. But there were so many issues between them. And every time she turned around, she faced another one.

  But it was Monday and she had to put it all out of her head and focus. She had her first day at the job and she wanted to be there early to face her dragon of a boss. So, she was showered and dressed and at the building reserved for the dreamwalker headquarters well ahead of her 8:30 start time. Vince had been right, it should have taken thirty minutes for a native, but her lungs still hadn’t adjusted to the altitude, and walking took her closer to forty at her low-lander’s pace. Good thing it was all downhill.

  “You’re here.” Vince gave her a big smile from his position behind the receptionist’s desk, but there was something dark in his eyes, and she wondered what he’d gotten up to this weekend.

  “Good thing I started early.” She sank into a chair to catch her breath. “I hope my lungs catch up to me as fast as the time change has.”

  Vince opened his mouth to reply, but Nancy came out into the room from her office, her customary scowl on her face. “Good, you’re here. About time. It’s already been a hell of a morning, one of our kids at the school OD’d on Narcolite. Can’t imagine where he got it from.” Her lips pursed together. “Probably someone who wasn’t doing her job right.” She gave Serena a hard stare. “Come on, we have a lot to do.” Nancy turned and walked back into her office.

  Serena rolled her eyes at Vince, who gave her a sympathetic look. Thank goodness for Vince. He’d been nothing but nice to her since the day she’d met him, always there with exactly what she’d needed—water, a pen, directions to the elevator. And now she thought he’d be a terrific ally at work.

  She got up and followed Nancy into the office. “So what happened to the kid? Is he okay?” Narcolite was tightly controlled. It helped patients sleep and enabled a dreamwalker to enter their dreams. It was only used under severe circumstances. A child getting a hold of it was serious business. Not only was it a narcotic—and could be addictive—no one untrained should be walking into someone else’s head uninvited.

  “He’s going to be okay, not that it’s any of your business.”

  Serena frowned. Sure, you didn’t normally discuss cases, but she assumed everyone must know since Nancy had been the one to bring the case up. Apparently not.

  “You won’t be doing any dream work right away, or working with clients until I see what you’re capable of.” Nancy took a seat behind her desk and put on her reading glasses. She picked up a folder and leafed through it.

  “But I thought that had all been taken care of at the interview. We did extensive dream scenarios there with the head of the shamans’ circle.”

  “Hmph.” Nancy glared at her over the top of her glasses. “Like I said on Friday, I didn’t hire you. And since I’m responsible for your performance here, I want to make sure you’re going to hit the mark.” She gave Serena’s casual work attire of slacks, scoop neck top, and turquoise necklace a critical once over. “So far, I don’t see any reason why the council hired you.”

  Serena’s temper flared, but thankfully she’d had a lot of practice controlling it in a pack where the dreamwalkers and the shamans’ circle were the peacekeepers of the society. “I have my degree and certification. And I’ve been a practicing pack therapist for two years now. I’m sure you won’t have any complaints.”

  “We’ll see about that. In the meantime, I can’t have you messing around with my pack. Just imagine what would happen if you had to administer Narcolite and something happened. Or if you let it get in the wrong hands, like this morning’s episode. I’d be responsible.”

  “I had nothing to do with this morning’s episode. I haven’t even started yet.”

  Nancy tapped her pen on her desk.

  Serena leaned forward. “Nancy, I would never administer Narcolite without a prescription and permission from a superior. It’s too dangerous.”

  “It is dangerous, and so is walking into another’s dreams without proper training. Until I can send you out with confidence, you stay put.” Nancy stood up and pointed at the door. “The working desks are in the room down the hall. Vince can help you with the computers. You have a lot of paperwork to fill out, both for us and for the state.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I guess you’d better get to it.”

  Fuming from the totally unfair supposition that she couldn’t do her job, Serena headed out the door. She passed a new co-worker in the hallway. She gave her a quick hello and a tight smile. As she entered her new office she found her shoulders relaxing. She might not be a shifter, but she was a damn good dreamwalker and she knew it. This was her shot at a new life away from her family and her pack, and she wasn’t going to let Nancy get under her skin.

  The day was full of paperwork and getting to know the staff. Dreamwalkers usually did their therapy at night, but they and the rest of the shamans’ circle were the pack liaisons to the mundane world of social work. One of the reasons she was so valuable to this job was that she’d earned her degree in social work and had been certified in Maine. Getting certification in Colorado would take time, but since she also had her pack certification from the National Shaman’s Circle, it had been decided she could start here in an unofficial pack-only capacity. That is, it had been decided by everyone but Nancy.

  At noon, Vince knocked on the door. “Lunch? A few of us are heading to the canteen at the ranch.”

  Serena breathed a sigh of relief. “Absolutely.” She stood up and stretched, reaching high for the ceiling to get the aches out of her spine. He stared at her sweater moving over her breasts, a feral expre
ssion on his face. She dropped her arms, suddenly uncomfortable. He flushed and turned away, leading the way out of the shared workspace. She hesitated a moment before following him outside, then she brushed her reaction away, her logical, social working side taking over. He was a single guy, and she was the new girl at work. It was perfectly normal for him to check her out. It was just her nerves from working with Nancy that had her looking at everyone twice.

  Vince was waiting for her out on the deck that surrounded the front of the dream center.

  “Do you mind waiting for a second?” she asked. “I have a phone call I have to make.”

  He nodded and joined a small group of their fellow dreamwalkers.

  She pulled out her cell and walked to the other side of the parking lot. She had to call Sam and thank him for the flowers. She should have done it the day before, but after their breakfast she’d wanted to wait. And it wasn’t until she saw Gabe’s reaction to the roses that she was sure which brother had sent them anyway.

  The day had gotten warm while she’d been inside working away, and she put her face up to the hot Colorado sun while waiting for Sam to answer. It was summer now, but fall was just around the corner. She’d better appreciate the warmth while she could.

  The phone rang only once before she heard Sam on the other end. “Serena, is that you?”

  “It’s me.”

  “Great.” He sounded relieved. “I thought you weren’t going to call me.”

  She swallowed. She hadn’t wanted to call him. She felt guilty at her dinner with Gabe, and the smoking-hot kiss that had had her considering inviting him inside to finish what they’d started in the meadow.

  “I wanted to call and thank you for the flowers.”

  “The what? Sorry, it’s noisy in here.” There was the clatter of plates and chatter in the background.

  “I’m sorry. You’re busy. I didn’t think about it being the lunch rush. I just wanted to call and say thank you for the roses. They’re beautiful. And I accept your apology.”

  Even over the phone she heard his growl. “Roses? I didn’t send you roses. They must be from Gabe.”

  “No, he said they weren’t. I figured they were from you.”

  “Why in hell would I send roses? You told me to leave you alone.”

  “To apologize?”

  “Apologize?” His voice dropped low, his growl almost vibrating the phone in her hands. “For what? You’re the one who blew my brother.”

  The urge to hang up had her hand clamping down on the phone, but even over the line she could feel his effort to pull himself together. He was trying, she had to give him credit for that.

  “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”

  “It’s okay.” It wasn’t, but it wasn’t his fault either. And he had apologized. This situation wasn’t easy on any of them. She pulled on the patience she’d developed through her years of training. “Don’t worry about it, Sam. I’ll figure it out.”

  “Maybe you’re seeing someone else you forgot to tell me about?” Sam’s voice had dropped even lower than before, his anger almost crackling out of the phone. She could see the group of her new coworkers starting to work their way toward the main part of the ranch and Vince was coming toward her, his face crinkled with anxiety. It was time to get off the phone.

  “I have to go. Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure it out.” She hung up and forced a smile.

  Vince frowned, looking from her to the rest of the group disappearing around a corner. “Everything okay?”

  “It’s fine. I just thought someone had sent me some flowers, but I guess I was mistaken.” She was sure they’d been from Sam. She didn’t know anyone else here who would do something like that. “Maybe they were a welcome gift from the council.” She gave him a bright smile and headed off toward where the rest of the group had disappeared. “Come on, the others left. We’ll walk fast and catch up.”

  Vince opened his mouth, as if he were going to say something else, but he clamped his lips shut. “Yeah, we only have an hour and the canteen gets busy at this time of day. You have to stake out a claim on a table, or the damn shifters take the best spots.”

  As she headed toward the group she barely listened to Vince chattering away about shifters, enforcers, and the people they were about to have lunch with. Her mind was spinning with possibilities. Who could possibly have sent the flowers? It had to be Sam. But if it were Sam, why had he lied?

  The words and figures on the computer screen blurred again and Gabe slammed his fist down onto his desk. “Damn it!” He rubbed the side of it, looking at the mistakes he’d made in the accounting. Again.

  He’d spent the entire morning at the desk of his one-room apartment, trying to get the books done. But what should have been a two-hour job had turned into four, and it still wasn’t done. And it was all the fault of the bewitching Serena.

  All he could think about was the way she smelled, the way she tasted. The way he wanted—no, needed—to immerse himself in her.

  And how she’d shut him down, all because it was easier.

  Well, it wasn’t fucking easier for him. Inside his wolf paced, wanting to go to her, wanting to get out of the four apartment walls pressing ever closer in. His phone chirped with an incoming text. We need paper towels and napkins. A wash of pain went through him. Damn his brother too.

  He tossed the phone down on the desk and stood up, running his hands through his hair and pacing the small space between his bed and his desk. He had to move, to go. To outrun his desire for a woman and his anger at himself.

  But he had to finish the books. It was almost the end of the month and it was summer, the busy season. The receipts were piling up. His wolf throbbed. Out, out, out.

  Suddenly, he couldn’t do it anymore. He shoved his bare feet into socks and sneakers, grabbed his keys, and left, checking the back door of the restaurant for Sam as he jogged down the apartment stairs. He didn’t want to run into his twin right now, not when he was itching for a distraction from his need for Serena. They were on the edge of a real physical fight, and the way he felt now, he wouldn’t be pulling his punches.

  He started running as soon as he hit the sidewalk, heading for the foot of Wolf’s Peak and the trail that went straight up the mountain. It was a workout. By the last bit of the steep trail, he was huffing and puffing with every step, but he made it, breaking from the trees to the summit, where it was mostly rocks and a few stunted pines.

  For once there was no one up here, and he had the incredible view all to himself. He stared down into the small town below, picking out familiar buildings and landmarks in the distance. He couldn’t see the deli from here, but he knew it was hidden behind the tall brick facade of Wyatt’s Bar and Saloon. His wolf was finally calm, and without the constant push of sex and need from the beast, maybe he could finally sort out the mess his life had become.

  Serena was wrong. They should be spending more time together, not less. This wasn’t going to go away for him, and he bet by her response to him that it wasn’t going to go away for her either. Yes, he wanted her with a fierce aching desire that, even after the draining run up the mountain, still stirred his groin. But it was more than that. Last night, sitting across from her in the restaurant, hearing her stories about home and her family, he’d figured it out.

  She had a great sense of humor. She obviously loved her family. And he could tell she really wanted to succeed out here in Fated Mountain. Spending time with her last night had been the right thing to do. Without that, he’d think it was all just their beasts pushing them to mate, but now he could see—his wolf wanted her, yes, but it was more than just a physical thing for him—he liked her. And he wanted to get to know her better.

  And he wanted to kiss her again.

  The memory of the hot, sweet taste of her mouth had lingered with him all night and into the morning. Keeping him up, and keeping him from working.

  He gave the view one last look, then began a slow jog down the steep, rocky path. T
here was no way Sam was going to be Serena’s mate. He knew in his soul that Serena was the right one for him, so that meant she wasn’t Sam’s. Fate wouldn’t be that cruel to him to hand him the most amazing gift in the world and then let his brother steal it away.

  He knew what he had to do next. He picked up his pace, almost running from rock to rock, the exhilaration of finally having a plan singing through his veins with the adrenaline from his runner’s high.

  The first time he’d tasted her, in the meadow, he’d known they were sexually compatible. But last night he’d realized they were a perfect fit. There was no question about it. She was his. He just had to convince her of it. And Sam. Because he sure as hell wasn’t losing either one of them. Not if he could help it.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Serena collapsed onto the couch and put her feet up on to the coffee table. “What a truly horrible day,” she said to the empty room. Her hopes of showing up here and getting to work right away with clients had gone down the tubes. Nancy had seen to that.

  After the reams of paperwork had been filled out, Nancy had sent her to do a series of tests on the computer. Tests, Vince assured her, no one else in the office had ever had to take.

  After that, there had been a two-hour session with Nancy to go over the results, her boss nitpicking each and every one of her answers in such detail that she knew it was going to take well into the next day to finish the job. Because, of course, while there were no wrong answers, none of her answers fit Nancy’s definition of what was right.

  A loud knock at the door made her cringe. She was tired and depressed, and she couldn’t think of anyone here that she wanted to see. Okay, she did want to see Gabe. But if it was him, she had promised herself she wasn’t going to open the door.

  But then Gabe’s voice came through the solid wood of the door. “I know you’re in there. Your car is still warm and your scent is strong on the door handle.” And her breathing sped up.