~

 

“I’m not stopping you…” Lily shrugged back to the vampire.

She wasn’t in the mood to share. Heck, she wasn’t in the mood for anything more than to be on her way.

Rightly or wrongly, she’d been healed by the vampire’s blood and she was ready to continue with her escape plan from Zane.

“But, in truth, you are…” Connor was on a long stroll back towards her.

He’d done with Jacob, and he doubted that the man would be blindsided so easily again, but he wanted this woman to say her piece and give him everything that he needed to know without the added hassle of her mate growling every few seconds…

“Give me the keys to the truck and I’ll be gone. No harm – no foul…” Lily said…

“Except to him…” Connor motioned back over his shoulder to the slumbering wolf.

He noted the way that Lily grimaced, and was glad of it. It meant that she had some feeling for the man and his predicament…

“He’ll be…”

“A crazy rogue wolf before you cross the county line…” Connor shot back. “You’ve also got the little matter of the bear that tried to kill you…” He was testing the waters to see just how deep they were.

Lily said nothing, but she was thinking hard – he could see it in her eyes. He knew women, and this one was having a serious crisis of conscience.

“I can’t stay…” Lily said; determined that she couldn’t put her own needs or even that of her mate ahead of everyone else – not where Zane was concerned.

The man was one crazy bear.

“And as has been said, you can’t leave – so where does that leave us?” Connor offered back. He withdrew his mobile from his back pocket and bit down on the lack of signal. “Isobel’s going inside to call Chelsea…”

“No. I should…”

“Stay and find out if you have a future here,” Dexter said as his mate went inside the cabin to make that phone call.

Lily’s eyes flicked towards Jacob’s wolf. The beast was still down, but it was stirring a little as one paw twitched…

A mate … of all the things to find when I’m on the run from a psycho bear…

And Lulu – I can’t leave her out there alone. If she’s still alive then I need to find her…

I can’t do any of that with a damn mate and in the middle of nowhere…

“There’s nothing to consider, witch,” Connor wasn’t giving her a choice in the matter anymore. He’d lay it on the line for her. “You’re staying because you’re a mate, and Chelsea will try to kick my backside up and down the mountain if I let you leave.”

He held out his hand to her and her eyes dropped downwards. She stared at it for a long moment, and then she heard the vampire give one, long dramatic sigh.

“Please don’t make me have to go to all the trouble of carrying you into the cabin, or hunting you down on the mountain and bringing you back home…”

“Home?”

“That’s what this is now – you’re home.”

“I’m not home,” Lily said with a small shake of her head.

“That’s your mate,” Connor nodded to the sleeping it off wolf, “this is your pack.” He circled his hand before holding it out to her again. “You’re home.”

Lily took one long moment to consider what he was telling her. Then she reached out her hand and was about to place her palm against his – when out of nowhere the stealthy wolf leapt through the air and took the vampire sideways with him – right down to the ground as the wolf stood with his front paws on Connor’s chest.

Jacob’s wolf pulled back its lips and snarled long and hard as the vampire groaned…

“Stealthy … and stinky breath…” Connor grumbled to another snarl.

Then he booted the wolf off of him. Jacob’s beast landed with a thud on the ground twenty or so feet away…

Connor bounded up to his feet, brushed his hands down, and offered one towards Lily. His eyes took in Jacob’s beast as it slowly drew itself up to all four paws…

“Are you mate enough to shift back to human and take care of your woman?” Connor challenged the beast…

“That’s not a…” Lily gave a small shake of her head, but Jacob had already shook off his beast, and as his human side pushed up to his full height – lily took in the tall, muscled, hard body of the very naked man… “Naked…” she breathed out, devouring every inch of him that she could see with a gaze that just wouldn’t look anywhere else…

“Get away from my mate!” Jacob growled out.

The shifter stalked towards Connor. His chin was dipped down towards his chest and his large hands were fisted at his sides as his black eyes glared at the vampire.

He was ready and willing to do Connor some damage if the vampire didn’t back off. Connor grinned as he held his hands up to his chest, palms out, in a show of surrender…

“Well, look who is back to being nearly normal…” Connor crowed.

“That’s not normal…” Lily said absently as she tipped her head to the side and regarded his long, thick length that stood proud and jutted out from his body as if it was pointing at her.

“Shifters are a little blessed with overstuffing…” Vicky chuckled.

“I’m jealous…” Connor shot his mate a look.

“Hey, he’s all yours if you want him,” Lily bit out.

“I’ll … pass, but thanks for the offer.” Connor chuckled. “He’s most definitely all yours.”

“But there’s just so much of him…” Lily shook her head again, this time in wonder.

The closer that the shifter got to her; the bigger the man looked … everywhere.

Jacob lifted his arm and held his hand out towards her, and even that looked too big…

Mine… his beast was adamant.

Lily bit the bullet. Nobody was going to give her the keys to the truck and they certainly weren’t going to let her just walk away. She really didn’t see how she had a choice in the matter just then.

She reached out her hand and with the first brush of skin against skin; she felt the rush of tingles that chased over her hand and up her arm, spreading out over her body, and confirming that he truly was her mate.

 

~

~

~

 

“So, Lulu just left you with the collateral damage…?” Chelsea felt the need to hit someone – hard, probably a lot more than once, and right in the damn face.

She’d never really liked Lulu that much. Not as much as she liked Lily, and she liked that witch even less now that she’d just dumped her sister into her mess and taken off.

“Man, stop growling…” Tyler, Chelsea’s bear shifter mate, stood by the front door to Dexter’s cabin, arms folded across the wide expanse of his chest, and gave Jacob a curious look…

“Bear…” Jacob turned his nose up at the man.

“A mated bear,” Tyler offered back. “Do you really think I’m going to attack your mate?”

Jacob knew that he was being irrational. He also knew that the bear shifters on the mountain hadn’t attacked his mate, and yet, just having one in the same room as Lily was making his wolf nervous, protective to the point of distraction.

His fangs kept trying to push down and his wolf wanted out so that it could protect their mate from anyone and everything. He couldn’t help it, but he was trying to control his urges.

“Not if you value your life…” Jacob growled back the warning and Tyler rolled his head on his neck.