Rane's Mate (2 page)

Kirby noticed that Faith frowned and shook her head and then
looked at Kirby. “You ready to go inside now? Because my brother Bengie can
only entertain Remy and Sara for so long.”

Kirby nodded. “Yes, I’m fine now. Can Blake come inside? He’ll
keep me calm.”

A wicked smile spread across Faith’s face. “Don’t worry,
Kirby. Blake would love to play doggy, wouldn’t you, Blake?”

Kirby kept her fingers in Blake’s fur as they walked toward
the house. Blake whined slightly, but followed her. The growling behind her
continued, and curiosity got the better of her and she looked over her shoulder
to see where it was coming from. The first man’s lips were pulled back and canine-like
teeth were showing.

Kirby turned back to Faith. “You sure it’s okay for me to stay
this weekend? Because he doesn’t look or sound very happy about it.”

Faith waved him away. “Don’t worry about Rane. He’s always
got a stick up his butt. Actually, he’s going to go get your stuff out of your
car. Aren’t you, Rane?”

Rane looked at Kirby intently for a moment. His electric
blue eyes sparkled and his growling stopped, then his mouth formed into a grin
as he nodded, holding out his hand.

She dropped the keys in his hand, careful not to touch him,
but before she could move away he grabbed her hand and held it, just looking at
her. Eventually he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it, his eyes never
leaving hers. He sighed, dropped her hand, and turned, walking away.

“Holy shit,” Faith said as they turned and entered the large
house overlooking the water.

* * * *

Rane couldn’t believe it. He’d found his mate, and it was
Kirby. As soon as he’d opened the door, the smell hit and almost brought him to
his knees. She smelled of apple and cinnamon, his favorite.

She was magnificent. When he saw her face, he fell instantly
in lust. She had fire engine red hair, curling just past her shoulders, and big
brown eyes with a light dusting of freckles on her pert little nose. When she
got out of the car, his dick instantly got hard. Kirby was short, about the
same size or maybe even a little smaller than Faith’s five feet three. She had
full, plump breasts, definitely bigger than any woman he knew. He loved that
she was fuller around the waist, just the way he liked it. He always thought
Faith and his sisters were too skinny, he liked women with some meat on their
bones.

Kirby wore shorts to her knees and a t-shirt that revealed a
bit too much breast for his liking. Her voice was like music to him. Rane
fought his wolf the whole time, especially when she touched Blake. Thank God
for Kane holding him back, as he had almost cracked, changing into wolf form.

As he grabbed the two small suitcases from the car, he
smiled at the thought that she’d be there all weekend. Rane knew he must look
like a fool, because he couldn’t keep the huge smile off his face as he walked
into the house.

Kirby felt great…fantastic. For once in her life she wasn’t
the oddball, the weird kid that loved animals and had too many of them. Her
mother had always said that all the Burns girls loved animals and she was just
more sensitive. Even her father’s family, the Browns, were sensitive to
animals. Kirby had moved a two-and-a-half-hour drive away from her parents and
brothers, to start anew. She wanted to make some friends her own age, or as her
brothers said, the same species. Now that she had accomplished the friends part
she was going to try dating a guy without one of her brothers scaring him away.
She laughed. If her brothers could see her now...

“What’s funny?” asked Remy as they came in from outside.

“Ha! My brothers always said I was boring and too shy to do
anything but sit at home with all of my animals. I don’t know if they would believe
everything I’ve done since meeting you all.” They all laughed. Kirby smiled as
she added, “Don’t worry, I’m going to send them pictures on my phone, that will
shut them up.”
Or
, she thought,
send them here to check on me
.
Feeling more relaxed now, she let go of Blake’s fur.

“So, I see you’ve met one of Faith’s dogs,” said Remy as
Blake wandered off. “I haven’t seen this one before. He’s beautiful.” A huge
grin came over Remy’s face. “The one Faith seems to like the most is this huge,
horse looking wolf with dirty blond colored hair and bright blue eyes. Argh.”
Remy shivered. “Gives me the heebie-jeebies every time I see him. Now that I
think about it, he kind of reminds me of Kane. That’s probably why I react to
him like that, because they’re both big arse nasty dogs.”

Faith shot a glare at Remy, and they seemed to have a silent
talk for a moment before Faith looked at Kane. Then Remy doubled over laughing.
Kirby looked up behind Faith to see Kane giving Remy a deadly stare.

“Oh, be nice, Remy, it’s my birthday. How about we decide
which bands are priority to see?”

Faith grabbed Kirby and Remy’s hands as they walked into a
large lounge room with a huge plasma hanging on the wall, surround sound stereo
system, PlayStation, Xbox, Wii, and heaps of games—you name it, it was there. The
room was any male’s paradise.

“Wow,” Kirby mumbled. She took a seat in the middle of the
sofa with Faith and Sara on either side, discussing when they would leave and
what bands were priorities.

Kirby couldn’t keep the smile off her face. She had never
had this before…friends that she could laugh and argue with, and now Faith even
knew her secret ability. She finally felt like she belonged.

* * * *

Rane came into the house to laughing, screaming, and
squealing. He waited in the entry hall, watching and listening.

“Oh my God, they didn’t. What did you two do?”

He heard the musical voice of Kirby answer, “Well, Faith
must be used to it because she handled it like a pro. I tell you what though,
damn! That is not what fifteen to sixteen year olds look like where I’m from. If
they did, I wouldn’t still be a virgin at twenty-two years old.” All four girls
squealed with laughter.

Rane would swear his wolf did a happy dance that she was
untouched and only they would have her.

Sara giggled. “Faith, you have to tell, give it up.”

“Okay, but I laughed my arse off when it happened. I don’t
know if I can tell it. You know how I told you that after school care is in the
converted gym? Well, it was myself and Kirby’s turn to set up, which involves a
lot of moving around and lifting. I noticed we had a crowd of boys about the
age of fifteen-sixteen. They were finishing up playing basketball. The coach
usually always tries to stay back if he knows Kirby is going to be there.”

Kirby chimed in, “He does not.”

Rane bit his tongue so he wouldn’t growl. He didn’t want
them to notice him and stop talking. Rane stepped toward the doorway and peeked
into the lounge room, watching as they threw food at each other.

“Hey, don’t waste the M&Ms,” Remy said, which for some
reason made them fall to the floor in giggling fits.

“Don’t listen to Kirby, he does stay back for her, and if
the PE teachers or coaches at the school I went to looked like him, I would
probably be a soccer or basketball star,” commented Faith. All the girls
squealed in laughter.

Kane came up beside Rane with his work bag in hand. “I know
I’ve retired from the military, but someone has to keep an eye on things, so while
you’re gone, I’ll check on your recruits. Do you still think you can do this? I
know what she is to you.”

“Hell yes, I’m going. I’m not an idiot. I am not going to
run from my mate. I’m going to embrace this with open arms. You’re running
right now, aren’t you, Kane?”

“God yes! You do hear them, don’t you? I love that woman in
there, but when she’s with those friends…” He shivered. “Good luck with them
today. Watch those women like a hawk.”

Kane left and deliberately slammed the door. Faith turned
toward it and said, “Oh, there’s Rane. Let’s go. I don’t want to get there too
late.”

He smiled and nodded at them, then turned around and headed
out the door, knowing that they were following him.

* * * *

By late afternoon, Rane had figured out that he was in hell.
A straight guy never goes out with women on a girls’ day out, no matter what
they’re doing or where they’re going. He should have taken Kane up on the offer
to bail out. It was worse still, because if one more person accidently touched
Kirby’s butt, boobs, waist, or any other body part, he was going to rip them
apart. Not to mention the men who asked for her number…they were going to die.
The worst thing of all was that she ignored him, wouldn’t even look at him,
avoided being close to him. By the time night fell, his wolf was so on edge
that he did something he never did, he retreated and called Kane.

“Okay, who do I have to get to replace me? I can’t watch
without touching her or breaking some bones in these guys that she’s
attracting.”

Kane chuckled. “Not to worry. I’m coming, I’ll be there in a
couple of minutes, and then we can endure together.”

He shut his phone as Jamie, Devlin, Owen, Cullen, Dominic,
and Tray came up next to him. “We heard the good news, bro. Good luck with that
one, she is hot.”

Rane whacked Jamie upside the head. “Does anything but shit
come from your mouth?” He turned to Tray. “How the fuck did Kane get you to do
this, Tray?”

Tray frowned. “He didn’t, I’m in the same boat as you.”

Rane raised his eyebrow.

“Sara,” Tray explained.

Rane laughed. “When?”

“Kane’s thirty-fifth birthday party, but she was still seeing
that dick then. They broke up a week and a half ago, so I’ve been biding my
time. I knew she’d be staying with Faith this weekend. Don’t worry, Rane, I
know how you feel. The guys have been holding me back. That last guy that came
up to her nearly didn’t leave here alive.”

Rane nodded, glancing over at Faith only to notice that she
had gone still. Fuck, she was going into one of her trance visions. She was
pushed from behind and started falling. All seven werewolves ran straight to
Faith, but Remy, Sara, and Kirby caught her right before she hit the ground.

Rane picked Faith up, and even he could feel that this was
going to be a big vision. He yelled over the noise to call Kane and see how
close he was. The six werewolves surrounded the women, protecting them from any
danger or prying eyes.

Rane was surprised when Sara spoke up. “This is not the
place for her to be having one of these.” All the wolves turned to stare at
her. Sara rolled her eyes. “She’s been one of my best friends for sixteen
years. My God, I’m a water element myself. I know you guys are something
paranormal, but she would never tell us what.”

All the werewolves turned to Remy and waited for her to tell
what element she was. Groaning, she reluctantly told them. “Okay, fine, I’m a
fire element. You can all stop looking at us now. You expected Faith to keep
your secret, so she also kept ours.”

Faith was snatched out of Rane’s arms and the wolves stood
to attention as Kane took over. “How long has she been out? Who was around? Did
she touch anyone?”

“Five minutes tops,” Rane said. “I didn’t notice anything
suspicious, and no, she wasn’t touching anyone.” He turned to the women. “Did
any of you see her touch anyone? Did you notice anything suspicious?”

Kirby moved forward, speaking up. “No. I only felt you seven
wolves, though there is a cat shifter somewhere out there, but I don’t know if
it’s male or female.”

Remy and Sara looked at her in surprise. “You’re a what?”
Sara asked.

Kane interrupted, “Not here. Not now. We need a safe place.”

Taking out his phone, Kane made a call and five minutes
later they were all backstage in a medical tent. Once everyone else was cleared
out, the twelve of them sat quietly, too scared to say anything. They all
waited for Faith to come out of her vision. Kane held her tight on his lap.

Faith came out of the vision, panic stricken. “You need to
call more wolves.” She rubbed her forehead. “Honey, massage my head, I saw too
much in such a short period of time. Fuck, Remy, Sara, and Kirby…where are
they?” The three women came into her line of vision. “I’m sorry, but I’m going
to say a lot of weird stuff and I’ll have to explain it later.” She turned to
the werewolves. “I’m so sorry if I say something I shouldn’t.” Everyone nodded.
“Here it goes—psychics, elements, and sensors must be drawn to each other. We
must all love music because there are a lot of us here today. So what do you
think is going to happen tonight? Demons, minions, and zombies are coming.”

Kirby and Sara laughed. “Um, very funny. They’re all make
believe,” Sara commented.

Faith smiled sadly at Sara and Kirby. “I’m so sorry to drag
you into this, but they are real. The military knows all about them, and they
make sure it stays hush-hush.” Faith turned back to the werewolves. “Tonight is
going to be major. The demons are working together in large groups, they’re
desperate for these people.”

She turned and focused on Rane. “You’re going to have to get
military help, as I don’t know how we’re going to contain this. I saw four
groups of people the demons want.” She pushed off Kane and started to pace. “In
the first group I saw two women. They are both some kind of element. I think
they’re in their late twenties-early thirties. They were both blondes, one with
blue eyes, the other green. They both had jeans on. One had a black lace top,
the other had brown sequins, and they were coming out of the techno beat shed.
One of the side doors was near gates and I saw three demons, and I did a quick
count and I think there were eight minions and two zombies. That was all I got
because it flashed to the next one really quickly. The only definite I got was
the demons.

“The second group is the one we need to focus on as they
want them bad. I’ve never seen this many demons work together. Eight demons.”
Faith shook her head. “They want the people… They’re just teenagers. There are
five of them, all are something paranormal. I only got a definite of two
though, the important ones. One boy is like me and the other boy is similar to
Kirby. Minions were everywhere, I couldn’t get a sure count, there were four
zombies maybe.”