Deadly Mates (Deadly Trilogy)
Read Deadly Mates (Deadly Trilogy) Online
Authors: Ashley Stoyanoff
Deadly Trilogy Book
2
Ashley Stoyanoff
Mates
By Ashley Stoyanoff
Published by Ashley Stoyanoff Books
www.ashleystoyanoff.com
Copyright 2014 Ashley Stoyanoff
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.
Edited by Kathryn Calvert
Cover design by
Liudmyla Supynska
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
For my husband, Jordan, because you have always believed in me.
An enormous thank you goes to my family and friends. When I think of your unwavering support, words fail to capture how truly grateful I am. I love you all.
T
o my husband, Jordan, thank you for talking to me about the characters as if they were real people. You make me laugh, you keep me challenged, and I love you for it.
And to
my editor, Kathryn, your enthusiasm and insight makes me glad you are on my team.
Last, but not least, a big, huge thank you to all of my fabulous readers. You guys are the best and I couldn’t have done it without you
all!
Th
e Soul’s Mark Series
The Soul’s Mark: FOUND
Waking Dreams, A Soul’s Mark Novella
The Soul’s Mark: HUNTED
The Soul’s Mark: BROKEN
The Soul’s Mark: CHANGED
Deadly Trilogy
Deadly Crush
Deadly Mates
~ JADE ~
I shuddered as flares of hot adrenaline shot through my limbs. My legs crunched and snapped, a hollow, echoing sound, as they twisted and reformed. It was weird shifting; I could feel each bone in my body bend and break, but it was also a rush — electric. My face was numb and tingly as my snout became a nose. I still expected it to hurt. It sure sounded painful. But it wasn’t. The adrenaline that came with the shift was
invigorating, coursing through my blood and sending each nerve ending into a breathtaking current of delirious heat.
God, how I love this feeling.
The cool fall breeze prickled along my bare skin, littering it with goose bumps, but I hardly noticed. My heart was thrumming against my ribs, and my breath, short and fast. I lay on my back, the cold grass tickling my sensitive skin, as I gazed up at the canopy of trees overhead, catching my breath. The leaves danced in the
wind, a mixture of pumpkin and cherry and lemon. A few fell from the branches, floating to the ground around me.
The sound of a wolf’s whimper and grunt flitted through the air, and with a groan, I pushed myself up to my feet, feeling each achy muscle in my body as I rose. I pivoted in place, scanning the small clearing for the wolves I knew were close by, keeping my muscles tight and ready.
A rumbling growl filled the air, and I swiveled to the right. There wasn’t much light in the small clearing. The sun was just starting to rise; the sky, peeking through the trees, was a deep denim blue with soft veins of gold. I strained my eyes and senses, keeping my stance ready. It took me a moment to find the wolves, but when my eyes landed on them, I couldn’t stop the burst of laughter that erupted from me.
Jared and Beck were heaped together in a tangled mess of paws and legs, nestled at the base of a thick oak tree in a pile of leaves. I may not have been physically stronger than they were, but I was by far faster. I laughed again. I just couldn’t help it. I’d only been a werewolf for a week and already, I’d managed to outsmart and outmaneuver the big, bad enforcers.
Beck poked his gray snout out from underneath one of Jared’s paws. His eyes shimmered with flecks of gold, and he gave me a big doggy smile and let out a playful yip, before squirming out from underneath Jared. They both managed to get back on their feet, and as soon as they did, Jared’s deep brown coat started to ripple as he began to shift.
I shook my head and smirked, swallowing the giggle that bubbled up in my throat, and darted into the trees to fetch my clothes before Jared could finish his shift. It was one thing to stand stark naked in front of them as wolves, but I still wasn’t all that comfortable doing it while they were human. Well, okay, to be honest, it was more that I wasn’t comfortable standing in front of Jared naked. I didn’t trust my inner-wolf to behave. She was pulled to Jared, enthralled by his dominant scent more than I liked or cared to admit.
I had just made it behind the broad pine where my clothes were stashed when Jared called, “Where are you running off to, kitten?” The huskiness of his voice made my inner-wolf squirm and my spine straighten. I sucked in a breath, trying to calm the beast within me.
Darn it!
I loathed the effect he had on her. Even the sound of his voice made her perk up, sending excited shivers along my skin.
“To get clothes on,” I called, snagging my underwear and bra from the pile and yanking them on hastily.
“We’ve seen you naked before,” Jared said, chuckling.
I bristled, seriously not needing the reminder of Jared seeing me naked. It had happened yesterday after seeing Aidan for the first time in two days. My inner-wolf had been crazy worked up. She’d been furious at me for walking away from him — her mate — and when training started, Beck and Jared had gotten the brunt of her fury. I’d had them both cowering at my feet within five minutes. When I’d shifted, my stomach was growling. I couldn’t get the food-like clouds that Aidan had pointed out, out of my mind. And my inner-wolf couldn’t let go of the way rubbing against his hand made her feel. The contentment, the tingling skin, the frantic need to get closer to him, to have him.
After we’d shifted, Jared had tried to use his scent to soothe her. It didn’t work. She’d gone wild, taking me over. If it weren’t for Beck, I would probably be mated right now, and it wouldn’t be with the wolf that I knew, without a doubt, was mine. No matter how pissed I was at Aidan, my inner-wolf and I both knew that he was my mate. It was a feeling, something deep within my bones. My inner-wolf recognized him as hers — as mine — even if I wasn’t ready (didn’t want) to claim him.
Jared’s chuckles echoed in my ears, and I felt my heart beat a bit faster.
I huffed and shouted, “Doesn’t mean I have to stand there and let you gawk.” I didn’t mean to shout it, he probably would have heard me at even a whisper, but right then I couldn’t control my tone. A blush flared along my skin; it started at my toes and spread all the way to my cheeks.
“I don’t gawk, little girl,” Jared growled. He was trying to sound fierce, but I caught the humor and something that sounded a whole lot like longing in his tone.
I rolled my eyes. Jared didn’t exactly gawk, but he also didn’t hide the fact that he looked. And that appraising gaze he gave me after I shifted yesterday, well, it made my inner-wolf shudder. But the thing was, Jared was a dick, plain and simple. Other than his enthralling scent and the undeniable strength he had within the pack, there was nothing about him that I really liked, well, at least nothing that would make me want to take the mating jump with him. He was friend material, loyal beyond sanity, but nothing more, and each moment that passed, I regretted it a little bit more that I hadn’t asked Beck to pretend to be my mate. Beck was hot, but nothing about him made me, or my inner-wolf, sing. It would have been a safer choice.
“Uh, yeah, you kind of do,” Beck said, laughing. “Why’d you shift, Jade? It was just getting fun.”
I grabbed my jeans, tugging them on, and grinned.
Fun.
I had to admit, learning to use my scent and manipulate them with it was kind of fun, but no matter how much fun it was, I was exhausted and achy and I’d had enough for the day. “Because I’m freakin’ tired, is why,” I said, as I buttoned up my jeans. “We’ve been at it for hours already and besides, I have school.”
And you guys haven’t let me get a full night of sleep since I became alpha female,
I thought, not bothering to remind them. Each time I did, they only insisted that it was all part of my training.
“Your dad’s coming home tomorrow and you’re going to school?” Beck asked, amusement clear in his timbre.
I cringed a little at the mention of my dad. I wasn’t ready to see him or talk to him. I sucked at lying to him, and I had no clue how I was going to act as if nothing was wrong. I still didn’t want to believe the video Erika showed me. I had watched it at least fifty times since the first time I saw it, and each time I watched it, I wanted to throw up. How didn’t I know he was a shifter? How didn’t I notice that he was like an evil spawn of Satan? I sighed and said, “Yep, Aidan said …”
“When were you talking to Aidan?”
Jared’s breath was hot against my neck and his voice, a low growl. I stiffened and my breath caught in my throat. He pressed against me, his skin warm against my bare back, and I cursed myself. I needed to pay more attention. I couldn’t let them sneak up on me like this. I couldn’t let down my guard.
“He sent me a text message last night when you were in the shower,” I said, hating how raw my voice sounded, and how crazy guilty I felt all of a sudden. I cleared my throat. “We are the alpha pair. It’s not like I can ignore him forever.” Except, I had kind of planned on doing just that. Well, at least until the whole werecougar mess was dealt with. He didn’t need the complication, and honestly, I already had enough to deal with. The last thing I wanted to think about was whether or not I could get over all of his lies. He may feel like home to both me and my inner-wolf, but I just wasn’t ready to forgive and forget.
Jared placed a hand on my bare shoulder, letting his fingers trail down my arm. My inner-wolf stirred restlessly as his heady scent engulfed me. “Stay home with me. I promise it’ll be a hell of a lot more fun.”
“Why in the world would I want to do that?” I asked sweetly, stepping away from him, and yanking my T-shirt over my head. I didn’t give him time to snap out a response before I started to walk away. The hot, salty scent of sweat and anger spiked in the air, and my inner-wolf fought me with each step I took away from him, trying to force me to stay. I didn’t think I
would ever understand that part of me. Why my inner-wolf reacted to him so strongly, I still didn’t know. Sure, Erika had said it was because she recognized a dominant male — a potential mate — but as far as I was concerned, Jared had no potential, not as my mate at least. And my inner-wolf had already picked her mate; we just hadn’t claimed him yet. Shouldn’t knowing that her mate was close by change her reaction to other males?