The Maverick Pride Tales - Chapter 160: Chapter 160

Her heart pounded and her inner kitty roared, desperate to get close to the man who’d owned her, body heart and soul for the past two days.
He should be gone. On his way to the North American Tower meeting. The tailored jacket outlined his musculature to the point where Annabeth noted several interested eyes and whispers. She almost lost her shit. Wanted to bare her fangs and eat those bitches just for ogling her man.
Eeep!
Hank was not hers. She better remember that. But what was he doing here?
“Easy, kitty,” a familiar voice said, and she turned to see Uncle Uzzi smiling as Hank accepted the plaque and said a few words on behalf of the company.
“Hank is the owner of Falcon Limousine Services?” Toni asked, having joined them.
Her sister loosed a wolf whistle that made Annabeth’s Lioness rise angrily. Which, of course, only made Antonette smile wider. The heifer.
“I see. It’s like that, huh, sis?”
Toni laughed, cutting off the sound, as she watched Hank shake hands with the reps.
“So that’s him, huh? Want me to gut him? I have a tarp in the truck that will do nicely. We won’t even mess up the hotel room.”
Oh, how quickly her sister’s admiration of Hank’s assets turned bloodthirsty! Loyalty and sisterly love were two of Annabeth’s favorite things. She whimpered and nodded at her sister.
“Yes, that is him,” she said.
“Yes, but you might refrain a moment on the maiming, my dears,” Uncle Uzzi offered. He winked at Annabeth’s sister, then looked at her.
“Hank is my nephew, after all, and I prefer him in one piece. Even if he is a birdbrain sometimes.”
“The callous jerk hurt my sister. I think he deserves a good thrashing. AB? What do you say?”
“No!”
Annabeth shook her head, oblivious to the identical grins on their faces.
“I don’t want him hurt, Toni. I love him. Even if he is a jerk. You were right, Uncle Uzzi. You found my mate. But it was not meant to be,” she whispered her explanation, tears building in her eyes. “It’s not anyone’s fault. Look, no one, not even you, Uncle, Uzzi, could have guessed he wouldn’t want me back⁠—”
“You’re wrong,” a deep voice sounded from behind her, cutting her off, and Annabeth went still.
“He does want you back. More than he wants to breathe. I’m so sorry, Annabeth.”
She turned around rapidly, dropping the glass of champagne in her hand. Hank lunged and caught it before it could shatter, handing it off to Uncle Uzzi or Toni, she was not sure which. Her eyes were on his face, and what she saw there stunned her.
“Annabeth, please, I am so sorry for acting like a complete asshole. Please let me explain,” he began.
“You shouldn’t be here, Hank.”
“Where should I be?”
“I don’t know. On your way to the North American Tower I assume, to find your mate,” she growled between gritted teeth, turning her back on him despite her Lioness’ furious snarl that she remain to hear him out.
No. He doesn’t deserve us.
He is our mate. Stay. Listen.
“Give me another chance, please. I don’t deserve it, but I am begging you, Annabeth. Hear me out,” he said, his voice laced with a soul-deep desperation that tugged on all her heartstrings.
He reached out and grabbed her arm gently with one enormous hand.
Dammit.
He was the only man she knew who could make her feel small and cherished, protected, even, by his sheer bulk alone.
“Fine,” she said, ignoring Toni, who was standing behind him making throat-slicing gestures.
“Not here,” he said, one perfectly arched eyebrow rising as he took in her sister’s antics.
“Uh, will you come outside to speak to me? Please.”
“Toni,” she hissed at her sister, who wore an expression of feigned innocence when called out.
Annabeth exhaled and closed her eyes briefly. She wanted to go with him. Every instinct she had said to go listen to the man. She just wasn’t sure if she could trust herself around him.
The crisp, cool scent of spring breezes washed over her, and she felt warmth seep from his body through the suddenly too-tight dress she wore. Hell, her heat might be over, but she wanted him with a ferocity she’d never believed herself capable of. Her breasts swelled, and sex grew slick with desire as he guided her through the crowd by the elbow. She noted the flare of his nostrils, and the rumble in his chest.
Shit, he’d picked up on her arousal.
It was not something she could hide from him, stupid Falcon smelling senses. Her awareness of his enhanced olfactory abilities did nothing to hide her embarrassment.
She paused briefly in the lobby, looking for a chair, but Hank must have already had a destination in mind. He led her outside, to where his Rolls Royce sat waiting for them.
“After you,” he said and opened the door for her.
He held her hand while she scooched inside. Annabeth slid across the smooth, cool leather of the seats. The limo had recently been cleaned and vacuumed. There was a bouquet of pink roses on the seat opposite them, a box of expensive chocolates, and champagne on ice.
Someone sure was intent on making a good impression. But Annabeth felt too raw and bruised to be moved by such trinkets. Her stomach tensed, and it was difficult to breathe. Once so full of hope, but now her bruised heart was too afraid to believe.
Trusting—that’s what she’d been when she had run into Uncle Uzzi of the famous Uncle Uzzi’s Magical Matchmaking Service. Trusting, naïve, and plan old gullible.
“I thought it was kismet,” she whispered.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing,” she replied and shook her head.
Annabeth swallowed, inching closer to the other side of the seat, flinching when he moved his big body in next to her. She noted his gasp and hated that she’d hurt him. But what did he expect?
“Oh, Annabeth, I am so sorry. I don’t blame you for being wary of my motives,” he began with a shaky breath.
His big, luminous eyes met hers, and she sucked in a breath. There was so much feeling in those beautiful blue pools she could drown in them.
“What is this about, Hank? You don’t have to worry about anything. If my heat was successful, I will raise the cubs and let you know when they are born, but you don’t have to⁠—”
“Cubs? Oh, shit,” he hissed, and she realized he had never even considered the possibility.
Closing her eyes on how stupid she’d been, Annabeth tried for calm, but failed. Tears leaked down her face, ruining her makeup, but she didn’t care as she reached for the handle.
“Stop, please, baby. Don’t cry.” Hank took her hand and pulled her back so that his chest was pressed against hers, his lips nuzzling her neck.
“I just never thought⁠—”
“Well, what did you expect? It’s why we have a heat cycle,” she said, allowing herself to indulge in his embrace for a single moment before she struggled against him.
“Let me go, Hank.”
He shook his head, his arms wrapped around her like steel bands.
“I can’t.” he whispered, holding her tighter. “Stop, please, Annabeth. I don’t want you to go⁠—”
“Why? Because I might be pregnant?” Annabeth sobbed, the hurt only spreading now with his insufferable integrity.
“No. Yes. Yes and no,” he said, hissing when her elbow caught him in the gut, but he still refused to loosen his hold on her.
Annabeth stopped struggling. She fought for air, then decided to try to reason with him. Hard to do when all his deliciousness was pressed so intimately against her. The arms that had held her captive were softer now, gentler, hands stroking her sides, her back, the swells of her breasts.
“Please stop, Hank. I won’t run, but I need to talk to you face to face and I can’t think with you touching me,” she confessed. Might as well tell him everything.
Dangerous, sexy man held her heart in his talons. He could crush her at will. Never had another person held such power over Annabeth, but Hank Garret held it all. His hold tightened briefly before he did as she asked, letting her go so she could meet that glowing cobalt stare of his.
“I knew from the first moment I saw you, you were mine. My fated mate,” she said, stopping him with a raised hand when he moved as if to touch her again.
“But it wasn’t like that for you. You never wanted me. Not as a mate. Not as anything. Uncle Uzzi might have introduced us, but it was my heat that tempted you to my bed.”
“That’s not true⁠—”
“That is true, and it is okay. You’re not to blame here. You serviced a female Shifter in her heat, and now you feel responsible, but I am telling you it is unnecessary. You can still go to the Tower. Find your real mate. I will be fine, Hank. I am a survivor. All the Goldens are,” she said and tried to smile, but it felt wrong and she couldn’t see because her eyes were full of tears.
Fucking hell. This hurt. It was tearing her apart, but it needed to be done. Hank was good and had a ridiculous sense of honor. She had to let him go. It was the only way.
“You’re right. You will be fine no matter what, Annabeth because you are the most extraordinary woman I have ever met, but you forgot something,” he said.
“What?”
“ME! You forgot me! I won’t be fine, dammit. Not without you,” he cried out, voice hoarse with emotion.
“Hank?” she whispered, tears flowing, Annabeth covered her mouth with her hand and watched disbelieving as he cupped her face and bore his heart to her. Moisture dripped from his eyes, but he wouldn’t let go or look away, he just held her, and told her everything.
“I need you. I won’t make it. Not unless you are with me. You, Annabeth, it’s always been you.” Hank dropped his head to her forehead for one second before pulling back, making sure she could see the truth in his eyes as he finished it.
“I know I don’t deserve a second chance. I’ve been stupid and stubborn. But I swear to the gods I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you if you give me another chance.”
“How can I trust you?” she asked in a small voice she hardly recognized.
“Because I love you, Annabeth,” he said simply.
Annabeth shook her head. It was too much. She couldn’t take it.
“I’m sorry,” she said, and turned to leave.
But Hank was stubborn. She should have remembered that as she pulled away from him and exited his car. The sound of a Falcon screeching filled her ears, and Annabeth’s Lioness wanted to roar her response, but she locked the beast down.
Pulling off her heels, she ran back to the ballroom. Her heart somewhere on the floor as she joined Toni at the bar.
“Sis?”
“I need to leave,” Annabeth whispered.
“Okay,” Toni said and grabbed her hand, but as Annabeth turned, she collided with a familiar shape.
“Baby doll, you left me in the lurch there with that big pigeon of yours. Now, that he’s flown the coop, what say you and me, we do a little dancing of our own?” Luca Bianco said and waggled his eyebrows.
Annabeth was so addled she had to stop and think about his words. She hardly realized he put his hands on her, till her inner animal began to spit and hiss.
“You smell good, baby. You know I got plenty cows at home in my barn, but I could always use a little action after a hard day’s work.”
“Luca, get lost!” Toni snarled over her shoulder, but the Bull still didn’t take the hint.
Her sister took Annabeth’s hand, but Luca was stronger than she realized. With little effort, he tugged Annabeth out of Toni’s grip. The Lioness inside her snarled, but before she could react, Hank was there.
He knocked the Bull on the shoulder with an open palm causing the huge man to turn to face him. Oooh and the man was pissed. Power radiated from Hank in waves. Dominance, the likes of which rivaled that of the King of the Blue Valley Pride himself, pulsed from him, making it hard for even Annabeth to breathe.
Hank wasn’t just a Gyrfalcon and the owner of Falcon Limousine Service. He was a motherfucking Alpha.
“Thought I told you, hands off,” Hank snarled, and then the typically staid Falcon did something Annabeth never would have expected.
He started a bar brawl. His very first, she was sure. And all because of her.
Sexy possessive man. My man.
How lucky could one girl be? Annabeth practically swooned as the Bull Shifter went ass over teakettle when her mate punched him right in the face. Of course, the idiot flayed his arms like a schoolgirl and spilled his drink all over Annabeth’s new dress.
That in turn caused some beyotch from Chicken Little’s Chicken Farms to cackle uncontrollably at Annabeth’s soaked state. Which made Toni jump on the redhead, smacking the woman’s face with the peanut basket that had been sitting on the bar.
“Are you okay?” Hank asked, rushing to her side.
“I am, but I think you started a little something here,” she said and grinned as the attendees of the New Jersey Convention for Quality Food Products erupted into a full-blown barroom fight.
Even the band was in on it. The few members left standing started playing a terrible cover of Elton John’s Saturday Nights Alright for Fighting. Annabeth giggled and Hank looked around wide-eyed as bodies and drinks and a whole charcuterie board went flying past them.
“Shit. Come on,” he said, pulling her behind an upturned table for some cover.
“Hank, what was that about?” she asked.
“I guess my Falcon didn’t like his hands on you,” Hank said, all seriousness.
“Why?”
Annabeth knew it was dangerous, but she felt like pushing him just a little bit farther. She needed to know. There was no way she had the strength to run a second time.
“Because, kitten, you’re mine.”
“Am I?”
“Oh, yeah. All mine,” he said and grinned against her lips.
Hank kissed her for minutes or hours, she couldn’t tell, lost as she was in his arms.
“Annabeth,” he breathed her name, pressing his forehead to hers with one hand cupped firmly behind her neck and the other on her waist.
“Yeah?”
“I love you. You are my mate, and I want to claim you. I believe we are fated, my sweet Lioness. If you will have me?” he asked, and she knew he was sincere.
“Yes,” she replied, ducking when a pitcher went flying overhead.
“Watch out!”
“Come here,” she said, and tugged him into a crawl. He followed her behind the bar, and when she pushed him against the wall, it was with the intention of kissing him with all the feeling she’d been keeping locked up and buried.
This time, there was no heat to hide behind. This time, their passion was just for each other. It was all Annabeth and Hank. The two of them committing to each other in front of the gods and Fates combined.
But before their lips could meet and Annabeth and Hank could consummate their feelings, a familiar voice interrupted.
“Hello my dears! Now, I am happy to see you have made up, but I think you two should go claim each other somewhere a little safer,” Uncle Uzzi said and winked from his own position, crouched behind the bar sharing a bottle of tequila with Toni.
“Uncle Uzzi? Toni? What about you?”
“Don’t you worry about us,” Toni winked, claws bared.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been involved in a Shifter showdown.”
“Yes, and I have magic on our side. Now you two skedaddle, but I want pictures when those cubs are born.”
“Yes, Uncle Uzzi,” Annabeth replied, kissing the older man’s cheek.
“Thank you so much, Uncle Uzzi,” Hank said, following suit.
“No worries. Now get going before this gets too rough for your female,” Uncle Uzzi instructed.
He waved his hand and blue sparks shot into the air and caught a couple of bottles of booze that someone had lobbed at their heads.
“Will you two be okay?” Hank asked again.
“Hank, I will kick your ass if you ask me that again. Now shoo!” Toni yelled.
Annabeth grinned up at Hank, who was gazing down into her eyes like the sun rose and set on her.
“Hank?”
“Yeah?”
“Take me home. Make me yours.”
Mate. Finally.
She sighed as he tugged her to him. Lifting her in his arms, he sped out the door unscathed.