The Tiger's Mate: (Book 12, Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas) Read online

  The Tiger’s Mate

  (Book 12, Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas)

  By E A Price

  Copyright ©2015 by Elizabeth Ann Price

  All rights reserved. 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.

  Disclaimer

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Front cover

  Both images used to create the front cover have been deemed to be in the public domain, and available for reuse. No offense is meant in the use of them.

  The wolf picture ‘lonely wolf’ is by Gethu Daniel, found on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/ghetzu/3535994578/

  The embracing couple was found at the following website http://rizluv6.tumblr.com/post/28884011273

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter One

  “Mommmmmm, can’t you get him to shut up!” howled Gwen Lucas.

  Acksel Lucas rolled his eyes to the ceiling as another fight broke out between his older brother, Hans and one of their three younger sisters. It was standard procedure for one of their Sunday family meals. He had four siblings, three younger sisters and one brother, and two of them would invariably be fighting. Either it was Hans and Gwen screaming. Or Hans and Britt yelling. Or Hans and Noa screeching. Or, for a bit of variety, Gwen and Britt howling.

  He smirked at his sister-in-law, Melanie who gave him a patient, little smile and he focused on his meal. He didn’t tend to fight with his siblings. He was a doting older brother to his sisters, often acting as a buffer between them and their high-strung older brother, Hans. And to Hans, Acksel was a patient friend. Hans tried to start fights with his brother, but it was like he was beating against an immovable rock. Acksel wouldn’t allow the fight to start. His brother was overly aggressive and bad-tempered, and Acksel was stoic. They got along fine.

  The only rub that almost brought them to blows was Melanie. When she first arrived in town, Acksel had been interested in dating her. But, she was Hans’ mate, and she made it clear, in the nicest possible way, that Acksel didn’t have a chance. No, all her sweet, sassy love was reserved for the biggest asshole in town – his brother. Hey, it was his brother; it was okay for him to call his brother an asshole. He’d been there for ‘Hans: The Teen Years’ – a more horrifying experience than every scary movie, haunted house and puppet show ever conceived combined. Acksel deserved a little leeway.

  Acksel and all his siblings were wolf shifters, part of the Grey pack in Rose, Virginia. His mom was human, and his late dad had been a wolf shifter. Melanie was a witch. Acksel was the chief enforcer of the pack. It was his job to lead the other enforcers and to ensure the safety and security of his pack.

  Technically he was third in his pack, after the Alpha and the Beta, but Adam, the Alpha, didn’t care much for rankings. Some packs had every member ranked in order of their physical ability and aggressiveness of their wolf, and it had been like with their old Alpha, Adam’s father. But Adam was a little more progressive. For one thing, he valued all of his wolves. His was the most dominant and the best able to lead, but unlike a lot of Alphas, he knew that things other than physical strength were important, too. Plus, a lot of pack members were no longer just wolves. There were bears, humans, witches and a few cat shifters in there now. It would hardly be fair to have a rank fight between a wolf and a human.

  Acksel snatched a bread roll out the air, surely meant for Hans’ head.

  Gwen scowled at him. “You’re on his side!”

  “Now, now, children,” said their mother with a faint smile. His mother was always good-natured, and sometimes people mistook that for being weak. But, they forgot that Ilse Lucas had raised five wolf shifters – she had a backbone of steel.

  “See - Mom’s on my side,” sneered Hans. He was thirty-two, but he didn’t let this slow him down when arguing with teenagers. “You need to dump that moron – now!”

  “You have no right to tell me who I can and can’t date!” Gwen snarled and threw another roll at her brother.

  It was a popular argument in the family. While Hans could, as he put it, ‘take or leave, or kill or strangle’ all his younger sisters, he didn’t like the idea of any of them dating. In his view, any male interested in any of his sisters was automatically a horny little shit, and he had to tell his sisters this over and over and try his best to scare the ‘shits’ away. Acksel would never say anything like that. No, he would just think it very loudly. He was protective of his sisters, too, but he knew that teenage she-wolves were too headstrong to listen to obnoxious brothers. He just allowed his sisters to get on with it, and then quietly threatened any male that the girls took an interest in that Acksel would rip their hearts out if his precious baby sisters were hurt. His way made for a much more harmonious way of life.

  “Darryl's a fucking dickhead!” roared Hans.

  Melanie stopped sipping her soup to murmur, “Language!”

  “Hans!” hissed their mother, reprovingly.

  “He makes a good point,” added Britt, Gwen’s twin, who up until that point had been worryingly quiet. Neither of the twins was ever quiet for long. Except for that time when they had actually managed to contract mumps. If they were quiet, it meant they were sick.

  Gwen was dating a wolf in their pack. A huge young shifter called Darryl Tanner who, while not particularly malicious, was one of the most badly behaved wolves in the pack. The same could be said for all his brothers. The males carrying the infamous Tanner gene were all, to put it mildly, handfuls. Darryl’s love of practical jokes was rubbing off on Gwen and one of the reasons Hans wanted the wolf away from his sister.

  “You’re one to talk!” cried Gwen, glowering at her twin before it morphed into a look of haughtiness. “At least I’m not robbing the cradle.”

  “Neither am I,” denied Britt, hotly. Her cheeks flamed bright red. The youngest of the Tanner boys, Craig, recently turned fourteen, had a huge crush on Britt. Gwen teased her twin about it mercilessly. “But at least Craig can dress by himself, which is more than I can say for Darryl.”

  “That was one time!”

  “You dressed that fucking pup? What the hell were the two of you doing?” howled Hans.

  “He just had trouble with his tie – he’d never worn one before. Mommmmmmm!” appealed Gwen in a whine.

  “Why don’t we talk about something else?” suggested Ilse in soothing tones. She turned to Acksel, “No Rachel tonight, honey?”

  Acksel paused in the process of stuffing half a roll into his mouth. He tried not to wince as he thought of his latest ‘girlfriend’. His mom didn’t say it, but she wanted him to settle down and give her grandb
abies. Given that even a creature like Hans had managed to attract a mate, it seemed inexcusable that such a reasonable wolf like him was still alone. But, he just couldn’t seem to manage the whole dating thing. Rachel was a prime example. Maybe he was too picky, but there was something off about a woman who crept up on you at breakfast, put her hands over your eyes and cooed ‘guess who’. Besides, he figured that if he was going to spend the rest of his life with a woman, he needed his wolf to be on board with her. So far the beast hadn’t cared for any of the women he tried to date.

  He cleared his throat. “Naw, Mom, we broke up.”

  Hans let out a snort. He had the smug look that only people already in relationships could pull off. Acksel’s wolf stirred within him. He had an unusual urge to punch his brother right in his idiotic face. Thankfully, his mom didn’t press the matter, and Melanie tactfully changed the subject. The rest of the dinner passed peacefully enough with just a silent three-way glaring contest between Britt, Gwen and Hans marring the harmony.

  After dinner, Acksel finished washing the dishes – they took it in turns, which meant he usually ended up doing it for Hans and Gwen because they were too busy fighting. He walked out into the hallway to find Hans and Melanie sharing a tender moment. He ducked back into the kitchen and waited, patiently for them to finish. Hell knows what possessed him, curiosity maybe, but he sneaked a look at them.

  His wolf growled, throatily as he watched the surprisingly loving way his brother stroked a thumb over his mate’s cheek. A slow smile bloomed over Melanie’s pretty face and her face lit up like a thousand Christmas trees.

  His stomach clenched. A selfish, petty part of him asked why. Why did Hans get someone like her? Why did Hans get her when Acksel was alone? Hadn’t Acksel always been the good one? The dutiful wolf, the loyal pack member, and son, yet Hans was rewarded with a mate like Melanie. Acksel tried to ignore those feelings; thankfully, they didn’t rear their ugly head very often.

  Hans was a lucky wolf. He’d met his true mate, and they were happy. Not every male did. Acksel wasn’t sure he would meet his true mate, but he knew she wouldn’t be in his pack. Wolves were lusty creatures, and his was no exception. He’d been with every eligible female in his pack and half the humans in the small town. His true mate wasn’t here. He considered settling down and just taking any female as a mate. He knew of more than one she-wolf who would jump at the chance to mate the chief enforcer, even if it meant an undesirable brother-in-law. She-wolves weren’t necessarily the most romantic shifters, and a lot of females would be satisfied with a male who would offer stability, pups and a respectable place in the pack. But he just wasn’t sure if his wolf would be satisfied. Unlike Hans, Acksel didn’t have trouble controlling his beast, but the creature wasn’t exactly docile about things that made him unhappy. If the wolf didn’t like the mate Acksel chose, there would be no living with the beast. And the only woman who had even remotely appealed to his wolf in recent months was his brother’s mate.

  He rubbed his forehead as his wolf prowled, unhappily. He scented his mom before he felt her gentle hand on his back. “You’ll find your mate, too, sweet pea.”

  Acksel turned and smiled. “How about some dessert?” he asked, patting his stomach. “I reckon I’ve still got some room left for pie.”

  She raised an eyebrow at his subject change but knew better than to say anything. In general, Acksel was a steady wolf, warm and filled with laughter, but he was made of steel when it came to some things. And talking about his love life with his mother was one of those things. His reticence probably started around the time that she gave him the facts of life speech. Some things should just be left to the imagination.

  Chapter Two

  Some things should really be left to the imagination, thought Simone, glumly. She wasn’t a prude, well, at least she’d never considered herself to be a prude before now. But listening to an eighty-seven-year-old pride mate discuss the advantages of a water-based lube was just a bit too much for her. She wasn’t innocent when it came to sex. She was just more innocent than she should have been considering her situation.

  Simone’s sister-in-law tossed a strange, plastic device at her. Simone caught it and tried to hide her frown. What in the world was it?

  Nita smirked. “Bet your mate would love that!” The rest of the mated female tigers burst into cackles of obsequious and obedient laughter. The bride-to-be, Lauren and every other unmated female frowned and blushed in equal measure.

  Simone flashed her automatic and practised smile. “Yep, I’ll bet.” She wondered if she could pop into the bathroom, and do a quick internet search to find out what it was. But judging by the malicious smile on Nita’s face, she already knew of Simone’s ignorance.

  She pushed the device down the side of the couch and excused herself to get more cupcakes from the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of water, enjoying the brief reprieve from her pride mates.

  This whole bachelorette party was a dumb idea. But of course, it had been Nita’s idea, and since she was the apple of the Alpha’s eye, it had been allowed. In fact, it had become mandatory and no female was safe.

  Lauren was in hell. All the unmated females were. This party was in such bad taste. Sure, they’d heard of what bachelorette parties were supposed to be like. They’d watched TV; they’d had friends outside of the pride – only briefly though, usually they were scared away. But the unmated females were still pretty innocent when it came to sex. The male pride mates made sure of that. And to have Nita throwing around sex toys like they were candy was just embarrassing.

  Males outnumbered females two to one in the pride. So competition for the females was fierce. Females were carefully guarded to ensure that they remained virgins for their matings. The Alpha didn’t want to risk the females getting pregnant by non-tigers, or have them realizing that they might have a better life than the one on offer with the chauvinistic tiger shifters.

  The pride was old fashioned. No, the Alpha of the pride was old-fashioned, and since his opinions favoured males, most were content with the way things were. Females were supposed to be innocent virgins. Males were supposed to be alley cats. Females were supposed to stay at home, cooking, cleaning and popping out cubs for their males. Males were supposed to… well, males could pretty much do whatever they wanted. They were expected to father a few cubs, but that was about it. Ugh, it all made her sick.

  “Hey.”

  Simone jumped, and so did her tiger. She made a terrible predator. “Oh, hey, Lauren.”

  Lauren gave her a watery smile. “Hiding in the kitchen?” she joked, softly.

  Simone laughed. “You got me. Nita’s a bit too much for any protracted length of time.”

  Lauren’s eyes widened, and she flicked her head in the direction of the door. “You shouldn’t say that,” she whispered. “She’ll hear you. You know what she’s like.”

  Yes, she knew what Nita was like. Daughter-in-law to the Alpha and mated to the Alpha’s oldest son, technically she was the highest ranking female in the pride since the Alpha’s mate died a few years ago. Nita had bullying tendencies that would put the Alpha to shame. Unlike the Alpha, she wasn’t physically rough. Nita was actually petite and on the small side compared to other females; she just made up for it in personality. Simone was tall, and willowy like a lot of tigers. Lauren was perhaps an inch shorter than Simone but she was a lot curvier, and sometimes ungenerously called chubby.

  Lucky for Nita that females weren’t allowed to fight for rank. Females were too rare to risk getting mortally injured in fights. Females automatically gained the rank of their father or mate. Nita was all about passive-aggressive put-downs and vicious insults. Nita also excelled at goading females into saying something they wouldn’t normally dare and then tattling on them to the Alpha. Every female in the pride had learned to watch what they say around her.

  Simone smiled encouragingly at Lauren. “Nita can’t actually hurt you.”

  “No but she can make my life a livin
g hell,” muttered Lauren.

  Time to change the subject. “Looking forward to the mating ceremony?”

  “Of course,” blurted Lauren, just a little too quickly. Her reaction was just a bit too automatic to be genuine. She blushed profusely and sat down opposite Simone. She picked up a cupcake and licked the icing. “I am looking forward to being a mated female,” she admitted.

  Simone tightened her lips. No small wonder. Unmated females were the drudges of the pride and were expected to wait hand and foot on unmated males and do the bidding of any mated females. That was how Nita could punish Lauren if she wanted. Females were supposed to look after their males, but that didn't mean they couldn't offload some of their chores onto the unmated. Being unmated was not a happy life in the pride. Although, depending on the mate, being mated could be worse.

  Lauren opened her mouth as if she was going to say something and then snapped it shut again. Talk was dangerous in their pride. “Carrick is looking forward to it,” she said, finally. Misery oozed out of every word. “He tells me every time he sees me.”

  Simone suppressed a shudder. Carrick wasn’t what she’d call attractive. He was big and brutal, and the blank, dangerous look he gave everyone was downright terrifying. For the most part he was quiet and brooding, but he could snap at the drop of… well, absolutely anything. Given that he was the largest and strongest male in the pride, everyone tended to stay out of his way.

  Nothing on earth, or any other damn planet, would have made Simone mate with Carrick, but perhaps Lauren didn’t think she had a choice. Her family was pretty low down in the rankings, and it was a large family. The higher up in the rankings you were, the bigger the piece of pride owned business pie you got. Mating Carrick would be a boost for her family both in the rankings and financially. But for Lauren… being mated to someone two times her age was hardly enticing. However, he had pursued her until she had given in to his entreaties. Not to mention the pressure put on her by the Alpha and her family.