Dire Wolf Mates - Chapter 9: Chapter 9
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Lucy inhaled the fresh evening air outside her new job at Serious Moonlight, grateful to finally be outside.
Yes, the night before, she’d slept like the dead. Her inner feline had felt safe and secure for the first time in a long while. What that said about her circumstances, she did not want to look too deeply into.
The room she’d slept in was just fine. Clean and spacious. Okay, she’d been given the best damn room in the house, a fact that made her wary. It took her all of a minute once she’d stepped inside to recognize it was his room.
Fury had filled her, and she’d wanted to hunt him down and castrate the heavy handed bastard, but her inner kitty would have none of that. The dumb feline thought it was sexy and romantic. The big bad Wolf wanted her—a cat—in his Den, surrounded by his scent, where he could protect and watch over her.
Prrrr.
She’d readied herself to be strong against the wooing she’d felt coming, but to her surprise, he’d stayed away. Confusing man. He’d insisted they were mates, set her up in his bedroom, with his things, but that was it. With a hurriedly whispered goodnight, Derrick had left her alone in his space. He didn’t even ask her to come in.
Not that she needed him inside to know what he was doing. His heady musk covered every damn surface, driving her she-Cat wild with need. Screw him and his restraint. She was feeling unfulfilled and angsty after her restless night.
Fine. She was horny. Really fucking horny.
Lucy had thought he would have tried knocking on her door in the wee hours of the morning, playing on her weakness for him, but nope. He’d given her the space she’d asked for.
Stupid overbearing, Alpha.
She replayed the events of the night before in her mind, trying to find fault with him, but couldn’t.
“This is your room, isn’t it? No, I can’t stay here—”
“Look, if putting me out of my room bothers you so much, I could stay,” he’d murmured and stalked her until she’d backed against the wall. “I want to stay, Lucy, but I think you need some space to wrap your head around this thing between us.”
“There is nothing between us,” she’d argued.
“So, you don’t need space, then?” he’d teased, cocky bastard that he was.
Lucy had wanted his hands on her, and as if he could read her mind, he’d smoothed one long-fingered hand down her arm, skimming over the skin, conjuring goosebumps across her flesh, but barely touching her at all.
That whisper-light touch had almost been her undoing. She’d wanted to press against him. Something of a feat for a woman who prided herself on control. Truth was, she had little real sexual experience. Her mother had flocked from man to man and Lucy refused to get caught up in that cycle of use and abuse.
Still, her she-Cat urged her to rub her skin all over his mountain of a body and mark him with her scent. She resisted. Barely.
“You wish,” had been her reply before stomping out to the delicious sound of his laughter.
Of course, she’d left his room with yet another pair of wet panties on the pretense of using the bathroom. Thank goodness they had a washer and dryer in the house. She had one backpack that held her clothes, and laundry day was every day for Lucy. But her meager eight pairs of panties were going to be threadbare if this kept up.
If this kept up, she was gonna buy stock in Victoria’s Secret, for fuck’s sake. She’d managed to avoid him for two days. Only saw him at mealtimes, which was uncomfortable, but doable since she was often hungry enough to focus solely on her food.
The blond Beta of the Pack was a real chef. His Texas chili with juicy, thick chunks of beef, and homemade jalapeno cornbread, were outstanding. She’d expected Derrick to make a stink of her, refusing his invitations to join her for walks and evening runs in the woods behind the house, but he didn’t. Took her refusals in stride and never stopped watching her.
Was he waiting for her to cave? Maybe. Lord knew she wanted to. Hell, her she-Cat wanted her to. But each time he asked, she turned him down flat. Lucy couldn’t explain it.
Her body said go get him girl, but her mind said be cautious. She could not believe he had anything other than a quick roll in the sack in mind, and the thought terrified her. If ever a man was made who could wreck her body and heart, it was Derrick Rand. Maybe he was counting on wearing her down, but she was no easy mark. No matter how worked up he made her, or how desperate for his touch she became, Lucy needed to keep strong.
I will not end up like Mom. No fucking way.
Being afraid sucked, but there it was. Lucy was no match for a big, strong Alpha. She was a scaredy cat. No pun intended.
She’d do anything and everything to avoid the inevitable heartbreak fucking around with Derrick Rand would bring. She did not know how to separate love and sex. Had tried it once in her teens. She’d given her virginity to her high school boyfriend, but idiot that she was, she’d fallen for the guy. They grew apart and went their separate ways, and fuck, it had hurt.
Lucy was in no rush to experience that pain again. Only this time, she knew it would be a hundred times worse. She was not a kid anymore, and her loyal heart would be well and truly damaged if she gave it to him. She could not afford it. Staying away from Derrick was her only option.
Good thing work kept her busy. Tonight was opening night, and Lucy had spent the afternoon cleaning and making sure the bars and kitchen were fully stocked along with the rest of the Pack. She’d been introduced to them all over the last forty-eight hours and was amazed at their very existence.
Dire Wolf Shifters. Who knew?
At least she was not the only female, even if Sheila wasn’t exactly warm and friendly. At least, the female wasn’t a bitch either.
Another dog joke, she mused. They’d been trading cat and dog jokes almost nonstop with Sheila calling her Mr. Whiskers, and Lucy leaving an old tennis ball she found in the parking lot by Sheila’s door. No matter how far the female tossed it, Lucy always found it and brought it back.
Snort.
The men were pretty distant with her, but that probably had more to do with Derrick introducing her as his mate than for any personal reasons. Lucy gritted her teeth just thinking about his unwarranted proclamations.
“You aren’t going to bully me into accepting your claim, Derrick,” she’d told him, but the big, sexy male just grinned.
“I’m no bully, darlin’. I’m an Alpha willing to do anything to keep you happy, safe, and secure. You’ll see. I won’t stop until you do,” he told her, and that had been the first time he kissed her.
A quick press of his lips against hers. She’d been so shocked Lucy hadn’t moved a muscle. No response, no rebuttal, she just stood there stone still. The touch was gentler than she’d expected, and brief. Too brief.
Want. Need. More.
Dammit. He wasn’t going to seduce her. Not for a quickie and certainly not into accepting his claim either, for fuck’s sake. Lucy was her own person. Once upon a time, she’d once dreamed of having a mate to love, who loved her. Someone to build a home with, complete with white picket fence, cubs—the whole nine yards. But that was a child’s dream.
Lucy was a woman now. After her mother’s last lover had cleaned out her bank account, even the coffee can that held a few random twenty-dollar bills, the female had simply wasted away. She’d died on a Wednesday, leaving Lucy with a week left till graduation, and nothing but the clothes on her back.
Lucy had stayed to get her high school diploma, then she’d taken off. Her mother was buried in a pauper’s grave, and it shamed Lucy still to know she could not have given her any better. She’d had to skip out on the landlord, not having the money to pay the rent.
All alone to fend for herself in the big, bad world at just eighteen. It took her a year to save the two hundred bucks and mail it to that old man, but she did. She had her pride, after all.
Her father had never really been in the picture. She didn’t know how to contact him and wasn’t sure if she would have, even if she did know. Some Shifters just didn’t stick around. She’d had years to get over her abandonment issues, but repressed feelings had a nasty way of resurfacing now and again. Pushing back the hurt, Lucy took a deep breath and went over what she knew.
Derrick Rand was the Dire Wolf Alpha, head of their MC, and he’d announced to all and sundry that she, Lucy Corwyn, hybrid feline Shifter, belonged to him. His mate.
Crap.
What did she know about how Wolves mated anyway? And really, what the hell was a Dire Wolf? Some kind of mutant gene had led this subspecies of Shifter to maintain their prehistoric animal, long since extinct in the natural world. She was curious, but she wouldn’t ask questions. She didn’t want to get involved. No matter how much her she-Cat yowled and hissed at her. Lucy was simply not going to budge on this.
I don’t want a mate.
She kept on repeating the mantra inside her brain, telling herself she believed it. But if that were true, she had to ask herself why she couldn’t stand to be in the same room with Derrick for more than ten minutes at a time.
Yes, the night before, she’d slept like the dead. Her inner feline had felt safe and secure for the first time in a long while. What that said about her circumstances, she did not want to look too deeply into.
The room she’d slept in was just fine. Clean and spacious. Okay, she’d been given the best damn room in the house, a fact that made her wary. It took her all of a minute once she’d stepped inside to recognize it was his room.
Fury had filled her, and she’d wanted to hunt him down and castrate the heavy handed bastard, but her inner kitty would have none of that. The dumb feline thought it was sexy and romantic. The big bad Wolf wanted her—a cat—in his Den, surrounded by his scent, where he could protect and watch over her.
Prrrr.
She’d readied herself to be strong against the wooing she’d felt coming, but to her surprise, he’d stayed away. Confusing man. He’d insisted they were mates, set her up in his bedroom, with his things, but that was it. With a hurriedly whispered goodnight, Derrick had left her alone in his space. He didn’t even ask her to come in.
Not that she needed him inside to know what he was doing. His heady musk covered every damn surface, driving her she-Cat wild with need. Screw him and his restraint. She was feeling unfulfilled and angsty after her restless night.
Fine. She was horny. Really fucking horny.
Lucy had thought he would have tried knocking on her door in the wee hours of the morning, playing on her weakness for him, but nope. He’d given her the space she’d asked for.
Stupid overbearing, Alpha.
She replayed the events of the night before in her mind, trying to find fault with him, but couldn’t.
“This is your room, isn’t it? No, I can’t stay here—”
“Look, if putting me out of my room bothers you so much, I could stay,” he’d murmured and stalked her until she’d backed against the wall. “I want to stay, Lucy, but I think you need some space to wrap your head around this thing between us.”
“There is nothing between us,” she’d argued.
“So, you don’t need space, then?” he’d teased, cocky bastard that he was.
Lucy had wanted his hands on her, and as if he could read her mind, he’d smoothed one long-fingered hand down her arm, skimming over the skin, conjuring goosebumps across her flesh, but barely touching her at all.
That whisper-light touch had almost been her undoing. She’d wanted to press against him. Something of a feat for a woman who prided herself on control. Truth was, she had little real sexual experience. Her mother had flocked from man to man and Lucy refused to get caught up in that cycle of use and abuse.
Still, her she-Cat urged her to rub her skin all over his mountain of a body and mark him with her scent. She resisted. Barely.
“You wish,” had been her reply before stomping out to the delicious sound of his laughter.
Of course, she’d left his room with yet another pair of wet panties on the pretense of using the bathroom. Thank goodness they had a washer and dryer in the house. She had one backpack that held her clothes, and laundry day was every day for Lucy. But her meager eight pairs of panties were going to be threadbare if this kept up.
If this kept up, she was gonna buy stock in Victoria’s Secret, for fuck’s sake. She’d managed to avoid him for two days. Only saw him at mealtimes, which was uncomfortable, but doable since she was often hungry enough to focus solely on her food.
The blond Beta of the Pack was a real chef. His Texas chili with juicy, thick chunks of beef, and homemade jalapeno cornbread, were outstanding. She’d expected Derrick to make a stink of her, refusing his invitations to join her for walks and evening runs in the woods behind the house, but he didn’t. Took her refusals in stride and never stopped watching her.
Was he waiting for her to cave? Maybe. Lord knew she wanted to. Hell, her she-Cat wanted her to. But each time he asked, she turned him down flat. Lucy couldn’t explain it.
Her body said go get him girl, but her mind said be cautious. She could not believe he had anything other than a quick roll in the sack in mind, and the thought terrified her. If ever a man was made who could wreck her body and heart, it was Derrick Rand. Maybe he was counting on wearing her down, but she was no easy mark. No matter how worked up he made her, or how desperate for his touch she became, Lucy needed to keep strong.
I will not end up like Mom. No fucking way.
Being afraid sucked, but there it was. Lucy was no match for a big, strong Alpha. She was a scaredy cat. No pun intended.
She’d do anything and everything to avoid the inevitable heartbreak fucking around with Derrick Rand would bring. She did not know how to separate love and sex. Had tried it once in her teens. She’d given her virginity to her high school boyfriend, but idiot that she was, she’d fallen for the guy. They grew apart and went their separate ways, and fuck, it had hurt.
Lucy was in no rush to experience that pain again. Only this time, she knew it would be a hundred times worse. She was not a kid anymore, and her loyal heart would be well and truly damaged if she gave it to him. She could not afford it. Staying away from Derrick was her only option.
Good thing work kept her busy. Tonight was opening night, and Lucy had spent the afternoon cleaning and making sure the bars and kitchen were fully stocked along with the rest of the Pack. She’d been introduced to them all over the last forty-eight hours and was amazed at their very existence.
Dire Wolf Shifters. Who knew?
At least she was not the only female, even if Sheila wasn’t exactly warm and friendly. At least, the female wasn’t a bitch either.
Another dog joke, she mused. They’d been trading cat and dog jokes almost nonstop with Sheila calling her Mr. Whiskers, and Lucy leaving an old tennis ball she found in the parking lot by Sheila’s door. No matter how far the female tossed it, Lucy always found it and brought it back.
Snort.
The men were pretty distant with her, but that probably had more to do with Derrick introducing her as his mate than for any personal reasons. Lucy gritted her teeth just thinking about his unwarranted proclamations.
“You aren’t going to bully me into accepting your claim, Derrick,” she’d told him, but the big, sexy male just grinned.
“I’m no bully, darlin’. I’m an Alpha willing to do anything to keep you happy, safe, and secure. You’ll see. I won’t stop until you do,” he told her, and that had been the first time he kissed her.
A quick press of his lips against hers. She’d been so shocked Lucy hadn’t moved a muscle. No response, no rebuttal, she just stood there stone still. The touch was gentler than she’d expected, and brief. Too brief.
Want. Need. More.
Dammit. He wasn’t going to seduce her. Not for a quickie and certainly not into accepting his claim either, for fuck’s sake. Lucy was her own person. Once upon a time, she’d once dreamed of having a mate to love, who loved her. Someone to build a home with, complete with white picket fence, cubs—the whole nine yards. But that was a child’s dream.
Lucy was a woman now. After her mother’s last lover had cleaned out her bank account, even the coffee can that held a few random twenty-dollar bills, the female had simply wasted away. She’d died on a Wednesday, leaving Lucy with a week left till graduation, and nothing but the clothes on her back.
Lucy had stayed to get her high school diploma, then she’d taken off. Her mother was buried in a pauper’s grave, and it shamed Lucy still to know she could not have given her any better. She’d had to skip out on the landlord, not having the money to pay the rent.
All alone to fend for herself in the big, bad world at just eighteen. It took her a year to save the two hundred bucks and mail it to that old man, but she did. She had her pride, after all.
Her father had never really been in the picture. She didn’t know how to contact him and wasn’t sure if she would have, even if she did know. Some Shifters just didn’t stick around. She’d had years to get over her abandonment issues, but repressed feelings had a nasty way of resurfacing now and again. Pushing back the hurt, Lucy took a deep breath and went over what she knew.
Derrick Rand was the Dire Wolf Alpha, head of their MC, and he’d announced to all and sundry that she, Lucy Corwyn, hybrid feline Shifter, belonged to him. His mate.
Crap.
What did she know about how Wolves mated anyway? And really, what the hell was a Dire Wolf? Some kind of mutant gene had led this subspecies of Shifter to maintain their prehistoric animal, long since extinct in the natural world. She was curious, but she wouldn’t ask questions. She didn’t want to get involved. No matter how much her she-Cat yowled and hissed at her. Lucy was simply not going to budge on this.
I don’t want a mate.
She kept on repeating the mantra inside her brain, telling herself she believed it. But if that were true, she had to ask herself why she couldn’t stand to be in the same room with Derrick for more than ten minutes at a time.
End of Dire Wolf Mates Chapter 9. Continue reading Chapter 10 or return to Dire Wolf Mates book page.