Chapter Four
The remainder of the week was quiet as the pack of Calon Gwyllt prepared for their guests. Darby was moved up to the main house and remained polite but aloof. Her feelings of anger and resentment grew daily, but she kept them smoldering in private.
* * *
On Friday morning, Roz and Oliver finally took their leave. Roz had asked her new mate if she could say goodbye to the women of Bae Diogel and he had given his permission. Roz had assured each of them that she was incredibly happy, was looking forward to her new life in the Hamptons, and that Oliver was the best lover she’d ever had. She also went out of her way to make sure all of her former pack mates knew that when done correctly, being knotted and tied to your mate was the best feeling in the world.
* * *
Jean-Michel was happy to have arrived at Calon Gwyllt. While he and Dylan had never been close friends, the two alphas certainly knew each other by reputation, respected each other, and had been on the same side of the Council’s vote in the matter of how to deal with the women of Bae Diogel.
Dylan’s new mate, Skylar, had arranged for an informal BBQ for all of the arriving guests for the weekend house party. Jean-Michel smiled to himself. It was a good strategy to set things up so that both invited guests and the women of Bae Diogel could mingle and get to know one another. Certainly it should make the women feel less like they were being offered up for sale. Jean-Michel was impressed as it seemed the other women of Calon Gwyllt were trying to be supportive and understanding.
Things seemed to be going smoothly until Jean-Michel saw one of Dylan’s men rush out of the house, clearly distressed while trying to hide that fact. He watched as Dylan quickly directed his men in an effort to resolve whatever had gone awry.
Jean-Michel suspected it had to do with the women from Bae Diogel as he watched a quiet but heated exchange between Dylan and Skylar. Whatever the cause, Dylan seemed to resolve the matter by giving his mate a brief, discreet spanking and then sending her on her way with his beta, Nick.
Jean-Michel turned to JD, his lifelong friend and the beta of the New Orleans pack. He told him to gather the other two members of the New Orleans pack and join him. Jean-Michel headed off to intercept their host.
Jean-Michel watched as Dylan stepped away from his omega, Matthew.
“Jean-Michel,” Dylan said in a falsely hearty voice, “welcome. I hope your accommodations are acceptable?”
“Other than being away from all those beautiful women—both from Bae Diogel and from your own pack—they are lovely.”
Dylan smiled. “Yes, I am surrounded by beauty in all its forms. I’m sorry that my mate is indisposed.”
Jean-Michael laughed. “From what I saw, you seem to be the cause of your mate’s indisposition.”
“Saw that, did you?”
“I see and know most things, my friend. I take it there’s trouble? Uninvited guests or naughty girls?”
Dylan chuckled. “The latter. Three of them decided to absent themselves from the party.”
“As you know, several of my unmated pack members insisted on joining me. We can be discreet and are happy to be of help.”
“That would be most appreciated. Some of my men have already shifted and will pick up their trail. Perhaps you and one of your men could join one group and I could take the other two members of your pack and join the other?”
“Sounds like an excellent division of labor. Lead on,” said Jean-Michel as he motioned to his men.
Jean-Michel watched as Dylan’s men shifted and picked up the girls’ scent. He had brought three of his unmated pack members with him. It was his hope that he would be allowed to take at least two of the girls back with them to New Orleans. His pack was heavily weighted with unattached males. They needed to start bringing females into the pack if they were to remain strong and healthy.
He wasn’t opposed to human females being turned, but not unless and until they had given their informed consent. He’d had to oust one pack member for turning a girl without her consent. They had seen her through the change. She had been furious about what had been done to her. She’d left the safety of the pack for a brief interlude but had then returned asking to become one with them. She was now happily mated to another male from the pack and was expecting their first offspring in the next few weeks.
Jean-Michel was jogging after the shifted wolves as they tracked their quarry. There on the wind he thought he got the whiff of something for which he’d been searching for many years. He stopped and scented the wind. Yes, she was here. The faint smell of crepe jasmine mixed with her unique aroma. He smiled. He removed his clothes and smoothly shifted to more readily run down his prey. Jean-Michel began to howl what he hoped would be his last mournful song in search of his mate.
* * *
Darby heard members of Dylan’s pack closing in. The women who had run had separated, hoping at least one of them would be able to get away. Darby stopped and listened intently. She heard the group of wolves trailing them separate into two smaller groups. Darby shifted and headed toward the beach. They had chosen low tide as a time and means to escape from the Calon Gwyllt’s estate.
She heard a lone howl and felt it reverberate through her bones. No. This cannot happen to me. I will not be mated again. I want to be free. The howl sounded again, changing to a baying sound toward the end. Whoever he is, he’s got my scent. Damn. She heard the two smaller groups go after Summer and Gina but felt the lone wolf behind her in hot pursuit.
Darby ran, willing herself to find more speed. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She heard the mournful song again; it caused her to stagger. The pull to return his call, reverse her course, and find her mate was strong. She shook her head; she refused to heed his siren song. She ran down the incline from the bluff above the beach and down to the dunes.
She had just reached the sand when once again she heard him call. Only this time, she felt the tail end of an alpha roll reaching out to her. He knew she was close and knew she was resisting him. If he got any closer, the alpha roll combined with his song would literally knock her off her feet and he would be on her before she had a chance to recover.
Her paws had barely touched sand when his alpha wave hit her at full force. Combined with the song he continued to howl, Darby had her feet swept out from underneath her. The air was expelled from her lungs and she rolled onto the beach in a heap. Before she could regain her bearing or shift back to human form, the large, powerful wolf was upon her.
* * *
Jean-Michel felt triumphant. He had her! To feel her so near was sweet… He accelerated and saw the force of his alpha wave hit her, knocking her to the ground. Jean-Michel closed the distance between them and pounced. He grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, pinning her to the ground. Jean-Michel had no desire to mark and knot his mate in her wolf form. He shook her by the scruff as she fought to free herself from his possession. He pressed her into the ground so that she could feel his need. Jean-Michel wanted her to understand that if he chose to, he could mark her and make her his and no one would challenge him. The bitter taste of another alpha’s mark filled his mouth. His need to remove it from her body was almost overwhelming.
He shook her again. He felt her yield and shift back to her human form. She was beautiful. Of medium height, she had beautiful pale blonde hair, blue eyes, and a decidedly feminine figure. Her breasts were a bit larger than average with enticing areolas and nipples. She had a lovely, rounded, firm bottom, a small waist, and long, lean legs. Jean-Michel shifted back as well, ensuring that she was still pinned beneath him. He desperately wanted to mark and mate with her, but he could feel both fear and anger emanating from her being. Jean-Michel nuzzled her, inhaling her scent deeply.
He chuckled. “What a naughty mate you are. You heard me calling you, but resisted my call,” he said in a pleasant and soothing voice. Darby would later tell him that she thought his voice sounded like molasses.
“I am not your mate,” said Darby, shaking from both anger and fear.
He chuckled and nuzzled her again, happy to have finally found her. “Be still, mate. I won’t hurt you. Well, I suppose that’s not really true, is it? After all I will have to discipline you for both disobeying Dylan and then for not coming to me when I called you. Then there’s the matter of ridding you of another’s mark and giving you my own. But then, sweet, I will take you to my bed to knot and tie you. I will make you forget how I had to punish you.”
He ran his hands down her flanks as he whispered kisses along the back of her neck and her shoulders. How he would have preferred not to have to spank her before they mated for the first time. She, however, had left him little choice in the matter. He would need to see to her punishment for this mischievous little run. She would be mate to the alpha of New Orleans and would come to love her life and him… of that he had no doubt.
His cock was hard and a knot was already forming in anticipation of the night ahead. She struggled against him as it made contact with her naked buttocks.
“Get off me, you bastard.” She bucked and struggled, which did nothing to improve her position but did bring her in closer contact with his groin.
He wrapped his arm around her middle and pulled her tighter against his body, while his other hand went up to fondle her breast. He cupped it and squeezed it gently and then rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. His possessive handling of her infuriated her. He rained more kisses along the tops of her shoulders. She continued to struggle and tried to get away from him. He pinned her more closely, rubbing his engorged cock along her buttocks. Jean-Michel knew it was best for her to become comfortable being in close proximity to his cock and the feel of it inside her body. Both her wolf and human form were very appealing to him. He anticipated many hours spent within her warm embrace proving that she was his and his alone.
“Get off and get that thing away from me.”
He chuckled. “Before long, you will be well pleased to have my thing as you so charmingly named it nestled in your wet, silky warmth, stroking you to ecstasy before I force my knot and then tie you to me.”
Jean-Michel looked back over his shoulder and saw Dylan, JD, and the other men approaching. Jean-Michel growled a warning to keep clear. His mate was naked—from this point forward he would be the only one to see her in that state. Between Dylan and the other men, the naughty girls who had thought to escape them had been retaken.
“So that’s the way it is,” said Dylan, grinning.
Dylan had originally earmarked Bae Diogel’s omega, Lacey, for the alpha from New Orleans. When they had spoken before Jean-Michel accepted Dylan’s invitation, Jean-Michel had confided that he believed that his mate was among the women that had once been the Bae Diogel pack. Dylan had suggested that Lacey, as a proven omega, might be someone he should strongly consider.
Jean-Michel laughed. “I’m afraid the fair Lacey is meant for another,” he said to Dylan. Turning to JD, he said, “Did you happen to find my clothes?”
“I did, my friend.”
“If you would toss them to me and then all of you turn your backs so my mate may have a little privacy…”
Jean-Michel reached out and grabbed the long-tailed button-down shirt he’d had on. He wrapped Darby’s hair around his fist to keep her from running. He handed her his shirt as he helped her to her feet. She struggled but he used her hair to give her a gentle shake as he had when he’d had her by the scruff of the neck. “Put this on, sweet. I’d prefer it if the first time you met some of your new pack mates you weren’t unclothed.”
“They are not my pack mates and you sure as hell aren’t my alpha or my mate.” She made sure to say the last part loud enough where all could hear.
“Do not try my patience, mate. I am both; you will submit to me and call me such. If you continue to misbehave in a manner unworthy of your position, you will find yourself over my knee having your first taste of my displeasure with an audience. Now cover yourself.”
Darby took the offered shirt and put it on. Once she was sufficiently covered, Jean-Michel pulled her into his embrace, kissing her soundly and holding her close by slipping the hand not tangled in her hair under the shirt and cupping her buttocks. She struggled against him. He rubbed her backside, enjoying both the feel of her bottom and her passion. He patted her lovingly and in order to cup her cheeks more firmly. Jean-Michel smiled as he realized that he would need to accustom her to having his hands on her derriere—for pleasure, discipline, or both.
“Dylan, might I ask you to hold onto my mate while I get at least part of my nakedness covered?”
JD looked at his friend and his engorged cock with the rapidly growing and hardening knot and grinned. “That thing going to fit back in your jeans?”
Jean-Michel looked down. His knot was continuing to swell and becoming decidedly uncomfortable. He longed to have Darby on her back as he mounted her and claimed her fully.
Jean-Michel watched Darby’s expression as she got her first glimpse of him. Jean-Michel wasn’t as tall as Dylan, but he was well muscled and strong. He knew that his cock was large and well made. He watched as her eyes betrayed her panic upon spying the size of his knot. Jean-Michel knew she had been ill-used by her formed mate and concluded that the man had caused her considerable pain.
“Why do you think I brought my loose-fitting ones?” There was laughter from the men and renewed struggles from the girls. Jean-Michel handed Darby over to Dylan. He quickly pulled on his jeans and boots and took possession of Darby again. He kissed her and said, “I missed you, mate. You were gone too long from my arms.”
Dylan smiled. “I take it you are declaring your intention to take Darby as your mate?”
“I am. Apparently it was my Darby’s presence and then her intoxicating scent that called to me.” He turned back to Darby, smiling at her. “We have yet to make introductions. I, my beloved, am Jean-Michel Gautier… your mate.”
“I will not be mated.”
“You will, and we shall be very happily so for the rest of our lives.”
“I will shorten your life the first chance I get,” Darby growled.
Jean-Michel gave her bottom a hard swat. “Naughty mate. You do not growl at me. We will discuss that further tonight when I am punishing you for your foolishness this afternoon.”
“So, you mean to discipline her yourself?” asked Dylan cordially, knowing full well what the answer would be.
“No one but me will ever touch my mate again,” said Jean-Michel with a threatening note in his voice.
They turned back toward the house. Dylan and Jean-Michel were in the lead. After Darby rejected taking his hand, Jean-Michel had once again grabbed a fistful of her hair by the nape of her neck to keep her close to him. Dylan found it intriguing that he didn’t really seem to mind her trying to dislodge his hand or force him to release her.
“Tell me, Dylan, is my mate always this naughty?”
Dylan laughed. “She’s been the most misbehaved of the lot. She also has a nasty habit of encouraging others to join her in her misbehavior. This is the second time she’s tried to run.”
“I can tell she’s a spirited thing, but that isn’t a bad trait in an alpha’s mate, n’est pas?”
“I agree. As you know I took the alpha of Bae Diogel as my mate just recently.”
“And yet, it is my mate who causes trouble.” He laughed. “Apparently, you’ve marked and bedded yours to great success.”
Dylan laughed with him.
“So, who is the alpha who marked my mate and do I need to deal with him?”
Darby pulled at the hand holding her by the hair. “Let me go. And anything you want to know about me you can ask me, you arrogant sonofabitch.”
Jean-Michel stopped and faced his mate. The other men, especially those of his pack, held their breath. Jean-Michel did not release her. He smiled, but some of the amusement had left his eyes. He gently shook her.
“You, my beautiful mate, and I are going to need to come to an understanding about the manner in which you speak to me. Up until this moment you have been disinclined to say anything other than telling me what you will and will not do and calling me names. If you wish to tell me about this man who put his mark on you, you may do so once we’re adjourned to our room. I will be happy to listen to anything you have to say to me once we have addressed your misbehavior and nasty attitude… both of which I will curb you of.”
“Let go of my hair. You’re pulling and it hurts.”
“I offered you my hand earlier and you slapped it away. If you would prefer now to walk with me hand in hand, I would be happy to do so. However, you will need to ask me nicely to release my hold of you and walk with me like a good girl with your hand in mine.”
“Fuck you!” she spat at him.
He laughed and kissed her. “That too will come after you have spent what I fear will be a considerable amount of time over my knee getting your bottom spanked. As you once again seem disinclined to take my hand, we will continue on as we did before.” He turned back toward the house.
Dylan smiled. “She was mated to an abusive bastard. She ran from him—that seems to be her MO when dealing with unpleasant things. He tried to get her back from Bae Diogel and failed miserably. They sent him home nursing his wounds,” he said, laughing.
Jean-Michel laughed with him. “They are a spirited group of women. And they wonder why they are so highly coveted as mates?”
“I too find it interesting that they fail to see their desirability. In any event, she lived at Bae Diogel until we had to disband them. He came here to claim her but she declared me her alpha and asked for my protection at my Skylar’s suggestion. She has repeatedly told anyone willing to listen that she will not be mated again.”
“She has no choice.” Dylan nodded in agreement with him. “How did he abuse her?”
“He used to beat her.”
Jean-Michel stopped in his tracks and turned to Darby. “Do you wish me to kill him for you and bring you his head on a platter, my beloved?”
Darby searched his face and realized he was deadly serious. “No, that won’t be necessary,” she said in a meek voice.
“Are you sure? No man worthy of that designation mistreats any woman, but most especially his own. Any man, mated or not, in my pack who does not treat the women of our pack with respect and kindness answers to me.”
“And to whom do you answer when you beat me tonight?” she challenged.
Jean-Michel laughed and kissed her. “Naughty mate. I will not beat you tonight. I will turn that pretty bottom of yours a deep shade of red for your naughtiness this day, but never will you suffer abuse at my hands. Would you care to walk hand in hand the rest of the way with me?”
“I suppose it’s better than having you drag me by the roots of my hair.”
He laughed again. “Then ask me nicely to walk to the house with me and put your hand in mine.”
He waited. Darby stood rooted to the spot and once again tried to free his hand from her hair. Jean-Michel did nothing but wait. Finally, she let go of him.
“Would you please release my hair and hold my hand while we return to the house?” she said as she offered him her hand.
Jean-Michel took her offered hand, brought it to his lips to kiss, and then released her hair and put her hand in his. “See, that wasn’t so difficult, was it?”
Darby jammed her fist forward, punching him in the mouth. She hadn’t had much space and so the blow was ineffectual. Jean-Michel kissed her hand again before tucking it into his arm. She tried to jerk away from him but he held her fast.
He bid a good evening to their host and led Darby up the stairs and into their room.