Scent of a Wolf's Mate (8 page)

“I thought you knew why I came for a visit,”
Anne said, sitting in one of the vacant chairs. At sixty-four she
was a slender, attractive woman of medium height. Giving birth to
four boys hadn’t filled her figure out. She kept her short hair
colored a light natural brown that complimented the darker brown of
her eyes.

Connor shrugged. “Humor me, maybe I’m
wrong.”

She released a heavy sigh. “I doubt it.” She
cast a glance at Serena.

“Would you like me to leave?” Serena asked,
looking back and forth between Anne and Connor.

“Stay,” was all Connor said, his tone
firm.

Anne glanced at her son and then back at
Serena. “He’s right, dear. You might as well hear what I have to
say. After all, you’re family now, and–”

“Mother,” Connor drew her attention away from
Serena.

“Why are you so brash today?”

Connor could hear the trembling of her voice
but didn’t let it sway him. “Maybe because I know you’re here on
Clive’s behalf, as usual. I’m getting damned tired of being in the
middle. He’s a grown man, and you should let him stand on his own
two feet. It’s time he faced the consequences of his actions, or
he’ll never learn from them.”

“But banishing him from Savage Hills?” Her
bottom lip quivered and Connor could see that she was trying to
keep it together. “He’s the youngest,” Anne continued with a look
in her eyes that pleaded for his understanding. “And your brother.
I didn’t challenge you at the meeting today, but you have to know
how I feel.”

“And you know how I feel. Do you think I made
that decision lightly?” Connor asked, his brows drawn together in a
frown. “How many times have the elders and I given Clive another
chance? His attacking Serena proves to me that he’s unstable,
Mother, and you know I will do anything to protect what’s
mine.”

His mother’s gaze moved over Serena, as
though looking for proof that she’d been attacked. “Did he hurt
you, dear?”

“I–”

“You know damn well I intercepted him before
he could get his hands on her,” Connor barked, cutting Serena off.
He got to his feet. “He has two days to leave Savage Hills, or
suffer the consequences.” He walked away, opened the door, and went
inside the house.

His mother would never accept that Clive was
a bad apple. He couldn’t be trusted, and the trouble he’d gotten
into last year had gradually escalated until they could no longer
ignore it or make excuses for him. Clive’s jealousy of Connor’s
position as alpha was the driving force behind his actions and
enough was enough.

Connor grabbed a beer out of the fridge,
hearing the muted voices of his mother and Serena through the
screen door. He didn’t intend to go back outside, so he headed to
the living room instead. Shit, he needed to run off some steam, but
until Serena turned and could join him and the others, he knew he
wouldn’t leave her alone.

He popped the top and took a long swig, then
went to the hearth to start a fire. There was nothing hotter than
fucking a beautiful woman before a blazing fire. He could visualize
Serena now, naked, her body glistening with tiny beads of moisture,
twisting beneath him.

God, how did I get so lucky?
Wolves
chose their mates by scent, it didn’t matter what they looked like.
The fact that Serena was a natural beauty was an added plus, and he
could hardly wait to have another taste of her. He was just about
to strike the match, to set the scene, when his phone began to
ring. Standing up, he dug his cell out of his back pocket. Max’s
number flashed back at him.

“Yeah?”

“Uh oh, someone’s in a bad mood.”

It wasn’t Max on the phone, but his wife,
Rose. Connor took a calming breath and apologized. “Sorry about
that, Rose, Mother’s here.”

“Say no more,” she laughed. “I heard about
Clive, sorry it had to come to that.”

“It was a long time coming,” Connor said,
meaning it.

“Well, the reason that I’m calling is because
we’d like to invite you and Serena for dinner tonight, figured you
might like to go on a run with the others while we girls become
acquainted.”

It was Connor’s turn to laugh. “You don’t
know how tempting that is.”

“Yes, well, I know how unmanageable and
grumpy Max is when he can’t go running. I figured I’d spare Serena
that.”

He could hear the amusement in her tone. Rose
and Max had only been together a couple of years. In the beginning
it hadn’t looked like it was going to happen, they had fought like
cats and dogs. Max’s life-mate had been killed in a tragic accident
early on in their marriage, leaving Max with the rare opportunity
of choosing any woman he wanted for his mate. Rose didn’t come from
their world, but had discovered Max’s secret. As their laws went,
he had the choice of killing her or turning her.

“Well?” Rose asked impatiently.

“What time?”

“See you both at seven.”

Connor was slipping his phone back into his
pocket when the door opened and Serena walked in. Meeting his eyes,
she offered him a smile. He had to wonder what she and his mother
had talked about.

“Your mother, Anne, is a nice lady,” she
said, walking further into the room. Connor nodded but remained
silent. “So, you have three brothers?”

He nodded again. “Julian, Dominic, and Clive.
I’m the oldest.”

“I understand about alphas, but why does
Clive want to hurt me?”

He held his hand out, beckoning Serena over
to him. She slipped her hand into his, letting him lead her to the
leather love seat that matched the sofa. As he sank down onto the
plush cushion, he pulled her down onto his lap. He liked keeping
her close, liked her slight weight against him, liked taking in her
scent with every breath he took.

“He wants to hurt me,” Connor admitted
reluctantly, realizing that Serena deserved to know the truth. “I
don’t think he would have killed you the other night, but he would
have hurt you in the most savage and degrading way.” He wrapped his
arms tighter around her when she shivered. “Clive has always had
jealousy issues, and it seems the older he gets, the worse he gets.
Mother refuses to acknowledge it.”

“He wants to be the alpha?” Connor felt her
warm breath against his neck where she rested her head.

“Yes, but that will never happen. As the
youngest, he has to get through my brothers and me before he can
reach that rank. So realizing he can’t hurt us, he’s decided to
hurt the ones we care for.”

Serena lifted her head and pulled back to
meet his gaze. “How can you care for someone you don’t know?”

Connor chuckled. “It’s different for us, and
I do know you. I know where you’ve spent the first twenty-four
years of your life, I know what schools you went to, the college
you attended, and I know who you went to the high school prom with.
As your mate, and alpha, the elders are required by our laws to
keep me informed.”

“So what happens now?”

“Right this minute?” He put his hand beneath
her chin and tilted her face so he could look into her eyes. “I
believe we have some unfinished business,” he grinned, lowering his
face and covering her mouth with his.

Connor had only meant to kiss her briefly,
but as soon as their mouths meshed, it turned into something long
and needy. She was so damned sweet and responsive. She opened her
mouth willingly, letting his tongue slip inside to graze over hers.
Lost in the moment, he buried his hands in her soft hair, and held
her to him tightly.

In no time, their earlier desire returned.
Sounds of mutual hunger surrounded them as they tasted and explored
each other’s mouths. Serena arched into Connor, as if willing his
body to absorb hers. When she began squirming on his lap he lay
back, arranging her on top.

“Maybe this time we won’t be interrupted,”
she said between kisses, covering his face and neck with tender
pecks.

God, I hope not.
He thrust his hips
against her, seeking relief for his aching cock. Serena was working
her way down his chest, unbuttoning his shirt as she went until she
was able to open his shirt all the way. He sucked in his breath
when her open mouth traveled back up his abs and chest, bathing his
flesh with damp heat, before latching on to a nipple.

Sweet Jesus!
A sharp feeling of
pleasure traveled straight to his cock. It wouldn’t take much to
send him over the edge. He let Serena nip and tongue his nipples
until he couldn’t take it anymore. Then, grasping her by the upper
arms, he hauled her up his body so he could place his mouth at the
base of her throat. Tugging her blouse open, he lifted her higher
until her breasts were level with his mouth.

Connor didn’t hesitate in taking her breast
into his mouth. Her little cry of pleasure fueled his hunger and he
suckled her flesh hard, feeling it swell inside his mouth, aware at
the same time that she was moving her lower body against his as if
they were already fucking.

Suddenly Serena pulled away from him and
their gazes met. Connor watched her eyes turn gold with arousal,
knowing his were probably the same color. As they stared at one
another, their heavy breaths mingling, Connor wondered what her
hesitation was.

“What, baby?” He brushed the hair out of her
face, sensing her unease.

“Something wild flows through my blood,” she
whispered, almost in awe. “It makes me want to do things.”

Connor tried not to smile, but he was elated
inside. Serena’s wolf was getting closer to the surface, making
itself known in a rollercoaster ride of confusion and emotions that
kept her on the edge of knowledge. Once she stopped fighting her
new condition, the rest would be explained.

“What things?” he asked.

Her pupils flared. “Things to you,” she said
softly. “I have an urge to do something to you that I’ve never done
to anyone before.”

“Then do it. You can’t hurt me.”

Connor barely got the words out when Serena
continued making love to him with her mouth. He closed his eyes, a
deep groan rumbling through his chest when she made her way down to
his jeans with her tongue. He waited, holding his breath at what
she would do next. Small hands tugged at the snap to his jeans,
causing Connor to lift his head and glance down at her.

Their gazes met and held, as Serena carefully
lowered the zipper over his bowed cock. She parted the material and
it sprang free, right into her waiting mouth. Connor fell back with
a weak moan as a feeling of deep pleasure overtook him. His fangs
dropped, and he began to tremble, trying to concentrate on what her
mouth was doing to him, while keeping his wolf at bay.

She seemed to know instinctively what to do,
going down on him as far as she could and using her hands on the
lower half of his shaft. Sweet Jesus, she used her tongue to taste
and explore every inch of him, urging him to pick up speed as he
thrust in and out of her mouth. It didn’t take Connor long to slip
over the edge. There was no stopping the rolling orgasm rushing
through his body like a locomotive out of control, blasting from
his cock against the back of Serena’s throat.

“Aaaaaaaaaaggghh!” he swore, shuddering
beneath Serena. He’d told her she couldn’t hurt him, but her sweet
mouth was going to be the death of him.

Serena remained quiet as they made the ride
to Max and Rose’s place, contemplating the changes that had taken
place in her life in such a short span of time. She’d left her
normal world and beliefs behind, entering a world of dark fantasy
and darker desires. Something told her she would have to embrace
everything about Connor and Savage Hills, and that going home was
impossible. From what she’d heard so far, outsiders that knew about
them didn’t leave, at least not alive.

She still had questions, but right now Serena
was trying to come to terms with her insatiable lust for Connor.
What else could it be? The image of the sex act she’d preformed on
him earlier wouldn’t leave her head. Serena had been innocent when
they met, but something she couldn’t explain took over when they
were together, causing her to act like a woman with sexual
experience.

Casting a sideways glance at Connor, she
wondered what he was thinking. He seemed on edge, and deep in
thought.
Is he wondering what his mother and I talked about
after he left the porch?
Serena had been waiting for him to ask
ever since Anne had gone home and she’d gone inside. How would he
react if he knew that Anne had asked her to talk to him about
Clive? She’d insisted her youngest son was just misguided and
needed a male influence in his life.

Clive had gone into a deep depression after
losing his father, and Anne’s solution had been to over indulge him
in everything. She admitted to Serena that she knew it was wrong,
but by the time she realized it the damage had been done. He’d been
a spoiled, unmanageable teenager who thought he should get whatever
he wanted and he didn’t care how.

“You’re quiet.”

“So are you,” Serena responded.

Connor glanced her way. “I guess we both have
a lot on our minds.” He slowed his vehicle down to take a sharp
turn to the left.

Serena sighed. “I came here for a job.”

He laughed softly. “There is a job for you
here, at the Savage Hills Wolf Sanctuary.”

Serena looked at Connor with surprise. “For
some reason I thought that was all made up just to get me
here.”

“Not at all, the sanctuary is located on my
property, about half a mile behind my cabin. We’re basically a
medical clinic but we do offer rehabilitation services to injured
wildlife.” He glanced Serena’s way. “Mostly wolves, and just so you
know, there are some of us who prefer to stay and live in wolf
form.”

“I’m so glad to hear that,” Serena said,
smiling. She was going to get to work at her dream job after all.
“I’m anxious to get started. Tell me more.”