Promised to the Pride: A Shifter Romance Page 5

  She didn’t struggle below me, didn’t try to squirm out of my grip. Finally, Holly knew enough to not meet my eyes. Submission. Her full lips parted, and she managed to whisper, “I wasn’t running.”

  I wasn’t squeezing her hard before, but her denial made me start to. I would not have a mate that lied to me, nor would I have a mate that thought she could make it better by running away. All last night, I worked to keep the beast inside, and yet in ten minutes, she had him coiled and ready to strike.

  “Believe what you want,” she whispered, wincing a little at the hand around her throat, “but I wasn’t.”

  “If you weren’t running,” I growled out, my teeth still half-shifted and sharp, “what were you doing?” I could taste the bear’s blood in my mouth; the metallic twang was not my favorite. I probably looked like a monster to her, a vicious beast that she had to obey. If she was afraid of me, it would make things easier.

  “Walking” was her answer, and I glared at her, not sure if she was lying or not.

  Walking? It was close to what I was up for, but still. Didn’t people her age like to sleep in until noon? Seemed an odd time to be taking a leisurely stroll. Plus, with the wildlife out here, and the fact that she hadn’t shifted yet…

  “You will never walk alone again,” I ordered her, my hand loosening but still keeping its hold. “Do you understand me?”

  Holly nodded as much as she could, not saying a word. And then I noticed something else, something I’d been too riled up to notice before: she was shivering. Shivering uncontrollably. My mate was cold, probably because she wasn’t a leopard yet.

  I let out a grunt, getting off her. Before I thought better about it, I heaved her into my arms and picked her up, cradling her against my bare chest. I wasn’t cold, even though I was naked. The wind was a little nippy, but the temperature didn’t bother me. It would be the same to her, once she shifted and became one of us.

  Shivering up a storm in my arms, Holly said softly, “I can walk by myself—” I shot her a glare, and she stopped herself from saying anything more. If I wanted to take care of my mate—even if she was trouble on two legs—I would. It was my right.

  As I carried her back to my cabin, I thought: maybe this could work. Maybe this wasn’t going to be as hard as I thought. If she learned her lesson here, she wouldn’t try to run again. Of course, a certain part of me liked having her under me, my hand holding her down. Being dominant was in my nature, I guess, and this little cub would have to grow into her teeth and handle it.

  Perhaps she could. Perhaps the beast inside wouldn’t break her. It was impossible to say, but I knew we’d find out once I had her naked in front of me. That would come soon enough.

  Feeling her body curl into mine despite her attempts to say she was fine to walk by herself made me…a strange kind of content. Not happy, but…appeased. Satisfied. This might be new to my mate, but she’d get the hang of it.

  And if she didn’t, I was more than inclined to teach her.

  Chapter Eight – Holly

  I could tell why everyone steered clear of Jonas. He was a brute, an animal, even when in his human form. He was absolutely terrifying, especially with that blood staining his mouth and his chin. I bet he smeared some of it on my face when he’d pressed his mouth to it, both in his leopard form and his human one.

  Jonas carried me all the way back to the cabin—his cabin—and he did it while stark naked. Every time the wind blew, I found myself shivering and curling against his bare chest in spite of myself.

  He was…very different from Nikolas and Aster. He was taller, bigger, wider, and even in his snow leopard form, he was the most intimidating thing I’d ever seen. He looked like a monster, and it was when he had his hand around my throat that I realized he didn’t just look like one—he was one. My third mate was a mean beast who only cared about my compliance.

  But if that was true, why was he bringing me to his cabin? I didn’t know what to think, or even how to act. None of this came naturally to me, because I wasn’t a full shifter yet. I didn’t have that animal inside, telling me what to do, guiding my actions. At this point, all I had were human instincts, and things between human pairs and shifter mates were vastly different.

  Jonas carried me right into his living room, and he set me on the floor, near the empty fireplace. Within a few minutes, he had a fire going, and he did it all while naked, too. He kept throwing looks at me, long, hard looks that I pretended not to see. He probably thought I was a liar, telling him I was just going for a walk. It was probably easier for him to believe the lie that his mind had come up with rather than the truth.

  I shrugged off my coat, needing to get it off. After being laid in the snow, it was a little wet. So were my pants, but I sure wasn’t going to take those off, lest Jonas lose control completely.

  It was strange. He seemed mean and rude, rough around the edges, something dark and authoritative lingering in his jade stare, and yet he was working to make sure I wasn’t cold. I mean, he could’ve dumped me in my own cabin and left me to my own devices, right? Then again, maybe he didn’t trust me now. Maybe he thought I was going to run again, even though I never ran in the first place.

  I tried not to ogle his body as he moved around, not even as he draped a blanket around me. I would not give him any reason to stop being civil right now. When he disappeared down the hall, presumably to put on clothes, I glanced around me. His living room was basically bigger than all of the space in my cabin. It had comfy-looking furniture, not to mention animal-skin rugs and blankets and pillows. He was a hunter, and he kept some of his game, apparently.

  My hand moved to my neck, and for a moment, it was like I was back there, in the snow, beneath his large frame. A part of me could still feel his hand on my neck, and I shivered—not because I was cold, but because I didn’t want to start to like that roughness.

  If I did…what did that make me? A happy submissive? A bottom to his top? I didn’t want to lose myself in any of my mates. I wanted to retain my personality, my thoughts. My freewill, well, that one was pretty much gone at this point. I had to work with what I had.

  Jonas returned wearing dark jeans and a black sweater, its sleeves rolled up. He went into the kitchen, not even tossing a look at me to see if I was still here. He didn’t need to, I knew. He could smell me, and he would’ve heard the door open and close if I left.

  I wasn’t going to run. No matter how bad things got, I couldn’t. They’d stop the payments for Lumi, and I couldn’t let that happen.

  Within a few minutes, Jonas knelt beside me, offering me a steaming cup. His green eyes were intense, the gruff expression on his face heavy. His hair was a dirty blonde, stubble lining his face. His face, I saw, held no scars, but the rest of his body did. I’d seen them earlier.

  When he hunted, did he always hunt while shifted? I didn’t see any guns around, though I knew they were supposed to be locked up. At least in my old state, they were. Maybe things were different here, or maybe Jonas didn’t need a gun. I witnessed him tackling a bear without hesitation; he was obviously a badass.

  A badass who now, pretty much, owned me completely.

  I was slow to take the cup, and as I did, the blanket draped around my shoulders fell to the floor behind me. I peered inside the cup. Was it…hot chocolate? Did Jonas, the absolutely terrifying man, make me hot chocolate?

  He reached for the blanket, helping it back up on my shoulders. His jaw was tense, and I made the mistake of meeting his gaze. Once I looked at him, I found I couldn’t look away. “You should not have gone out on your own, whether you were running away or just…” He practically bared his teeth, which were thankfully no longer partially-shifted. “…walking.”

  “I know,” I said, moving to take a tiny sip of the drink. Once the milky, chocolatey substance hit my tongue, I knew for a fact the big, gruff man had made me some hot cocoa. Not at all what I was expecting, but I’d take it.

  “You understand you could’ve died?” Jonas
muttered angrily, his face stern. “Mauled by a bear, hunted by wolves, or gotten lost and froze to death?” Each option sounded worse and worse, and the more he spoke, the more terrible I felt about it.

  I ran a finger around the mug’s top, having been already sufficiently warmed-up. And under Jonas’s stare, I felt warm on the inside, too. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, “I didn’t know that—”

  “That it’s dangerous out there?” Jonas’s hands clenched into fists, and I couldn’t help but lean a few inches away from him. Would he hit me? Would he beat me? Truly, at this point I didn’t know what he was capable of, hot chocolate or not. “If you would’ve died, I…” He trailed off, his voice low and rough and scratchy, just like his personality.

  It wasn’t a bad voice. It was the kind of voice you could close your eyes and remember.

  I set the mug down near my feet, the fire’s heat dancing across my bare arms. I didn’t look at him, knowing if I met his stare it would only further aggravate him. I’d riled him up, and whatever he was going to do or say, I wished he would get it over with. Don’t leave me hanging in limbo.

  Jonas sat beside me, and he lifted a hand, moving to tangle his fingers in my hair, forcing me to look at him with a harsh jerk of that same hand. “You’re mine, Mate. Remember that. If you put yourself in danger again, I won’t be so nice about it next time.” With a grunt, he released my hair and got up.

  His touches were hard and unyielding, and they made my heart practically stop in my chest. I didn’t know what to make of him, but I knew I shouldn’t test him. He meant every word he said, and it would do me well to listen to him.

  I heard him talking on the phone, but my hearing wasn’t too acute, since I wasn’t a full shifter. If I’d been in Nikolas and Aster’s house, I would’ve felt comfortable asking, but here in Jonas’s house, I felt small and hesitant.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that he’d returned to the living room, sitting down on the large couch directly behind me. It was killing me to not ask him what was going on, or how long he was going to keep me here.

  Would he…would he try to mate with me right now?

  Jonas’s domineering voice broke through my thoughts, “Are you warm yet, Mate?”

  Mate. Was that what he was going to call me? I had a name, and I knew he knew it, but still. I couldn’t correct him, lest I upset him again. On his tongue, I would always be mate and not Holly.

  Staring at the fire, I nodded to myself to answer his question. Hmm. Perhaps I should’ve said no, but I had the feeling that he would’ve called me a liar anyways. There was no winning here. I was out of luck either way.

  “Come here,” Jonas ordered, and I heaved a quiet sigh as I slowly stood up. I left both the hot chocolate and the blanket near the fire as I turned to face him, moving onto the rug before standing in front of him. He sat in the middle of the couch, his knees spread, and I felt like a child before him.

  He was the strongest, most muscled man I’d ever seen, and I belonged to him.

  Still felt strange, thinking that.

  He wasn’t as outright handsome as Nikolas and Aster, but that was because he was a different sort of man. Gruff, constantly frowning. He’d washed the blood off his face, which helped me to see just how wide his jaw was, how intimidating his mere profile was. His nose was a bit crooked, as if he’d broken it in the past. Jonas was a beast made into a man, and as I stood before him, I couldn’t stop my fingers from fiddling.

  I felt…awkward. Awkward and uneasy and, yeah, frightened. The man sitting in front of me could break me with his pinky finger on accident, for goodness sakes. I was a dwarf and he was a giant, and even though I stood taller than his sitting form, I still felt so immeasurably tiny.

  His chest rumbled, and before I knew what was happening, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me down to his lap. His other arm snaked around my back, keeping me firmly in place, while the one that had grabbed me went to lift my legs, placing them to his side.

  “You,” he said, his voice low, “are not what I expected.”

  I stared at his jaw, wondering if he could crack chestnuts with that jawline. So sharp and angular. Maybe it was because he wasn’t holding onto me roughly, but I had the courage to ask, “What did you expect?”

  Jonas’s lips quirked, though he didn’t smile. I had the suspicion this man never smiled. Ever. “Something else.” His green eyes studied me, falling to my lips before dipping lower, taking in the way my body curled against his on his lap. “You are…” The hand that had moved my legs went to trace my jaw, running down the side of my face with no hurry in the world. “Innocent, naive, the opposite of me.”

  The way he said it made me shiver. Or maybe it was due to the way his finger had moved away from my jaw and onto my collarbone, almost teasing me with the light, feathery touch.

  Was I uncomfortable where I was, with my position and him touching me like this? I honestly didn’t know. I couldn’t say. Today had been a doozy of a day, and it had only just begun.

  I mustered up enough courage to say, “I might be innocent, but I don’t think I’m naive.”

  He cocked a dark blonde brow. “Really?” The arm around my back moved lower, and I felt his bare hand on the small of my back, skin touching skin, that sensitive, soft place. The finger running along my collarbone dipped even lower, trailing between my breasts and down my stomach. “So you know what I’m going to do to you?”

  “I…” I stopped myself from saying anything more, figuring nothing was good to say in this particular moment.

  A small smirk graced his face—not a full smile, but a smirk that read both devious and sinful. “That’s what I thought, Mate. Don’t worry though, you won’t be naive for long. If I was your only mate, I would’ve already taken you, but in respect to Nikolas and Aster—” He practically spit out their names. “—I’ve held back.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek, not knowing if he wanted me to respond or not. This man…this shifter, I didn’t know how to deal with him yet. When to be submissive and when to question him; I didn’t know the ins and outs of this situation yet. This was still new to me.

  The hand trailing along my body went to my neck, curling around it again—but not in anger this time. This time his touch was soft with an underlying firmness that told me if I tried to move away, I’d fail. He brought me closer to his lips, his stubble scratching my cheek and his breath hot on my ear.

  If I was a full shifter right now, I knew I’d be mewling in need. The more time I spent leaning against Jonas’s rock-hard body, the more I knew that my inner leopard would bend to any demand he had of me. More than willing. Eager.

  “When I have you, you’re going to be begging for me to fill you up,” Jonas whispered, voice husky. My eyelids fluttered shut, and I temporarily lost myself in him. It was remarkably easy to do, even if he was a beast of a man. “On your hands and knees for me, whenever I look at you. I’m going to fill that pretty mouth and that special cunt of yours. Every hole on you is mine, Mate. Do you understand?”

  I nodded against his face, my breathing growing shorter by the second. It was at that moment that I knew I was in some deep trouble. Some deep, deep trouble.

  The worst part? I think I was going to enjoy it.

  Turned out little miss innocent and naive wasn’t so innocent after all.

  Chapter Nine – Nikolas

  Getting a call from Jonas was the last thing I was expecting, especially considering how early it was. Aster and I both had off today, and I knew we’d be spending some time with Holly, maybe taking her shopping and getting her some clothes that would keep her warm until her shifter side kicked in, but when the phone rang and it turned out to be Jonas, I knew whatever plans I’d had for the day were as good as shit.

  Jonas had her. Said he needed us at his house, with an emphasis on the now part.

  I had no idea what was wrong, if Holly had done something she shouldn’t have or if Jonas had already lost control, and I prayed that I was overreact
ing, that nothing was wrong. If he hurt Holly, not even a full day after her arrival, I was going to lose it. I didn’t care if he was bigger and stronger than me. I would not let him hurt Holly and get away with it.

  Aster agreed with me. We would double team him if we had to. Holly wasn’t only Jonas’s mate; she was ours too. She was our responsibility, our future. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I was head over heels for her—which Aster clearly seemed to be—but love would come. I knew it would. It was impossible to stare at Holly and not feel something new and warm growing inside.

  And, no. I didn’t mean an erection.

  Although that, too.

  We showered, dressed, and headed right over. During the drive, I practically white-knuckled it. The tension was thick in the air, and Aster looked like he was going to be sick again, his skin even paler than normal. He ran a hand through his brown hair, tossing me a worried look. All I could do was shake my head. I didn’t know what we were about to walk into. It could be nothing, or it could be awful. With Jonas, you never knew.

  Fuck. All because Jonas had the land and the space for future cubs. I was only thinking of the future—plus, the Pride was always more willing to approve a match when more than one male agreed to share a single female.

  “What if he…” Aster stopped himself from voicing what would only make him even more nauseous.

  “I’m sure it’s fine,” I said, not really sure of anything at this point. Frankly, the only thing I was sure about was that one of us should’ve stayed with her last night. Leaving her alone on her first night here? How cold of us, how unthoughtful, how rude. We should’ve at least volunteered to stay with her, if she’d wanted us to.

  But, no, we had to leave her to fend for herself. With Jonas.

  I pulled up to Jonas’s garage in twenty minutes, hopping out of the car the moment I turned it off. The sun was out today, which I found very odd. Though the weather now said nothing about how it would be later today. It was still early.