The Alpha's Mate (8 Sexy, Powerful Shifters and Their Fated Mates) Read online

  "What does it look like?" Damien asked, as they walked slowly out towards the source of the coolness. "Tell me."

  "It's...it's a big lake. A mile across, maybe. It's too hot out today, so nobody else is here."

  "We're the only ones crazy enough to hike in this heat?"

  "I suppose so," Julia said. "There's a rock outcropping not too far away, with a pine tree that's growing sideways out of the rock. Step up, we're at the dock."

  Damien pressed her hand as they stepped onto the wood planks. He could hear the faint splashes of water underneath the dock.

  "And here we are," Julia said. Damien grinned and tore his shirt off. Immediately he sensed a sharp ache, and for an instant he was concerned. Then he realized that the ache coming from Julia was the ache of desire. She wanted him.

  How could he tell her that he was a shifter? There was no way she would believe him, no way she would want to stay with him once she realized the truth. He wanted her so badly, but...but how? The two worlds of humans and wolves were separate for a reason.

  "Ready to swim?" he asked.

  "Um...I need to change," Julia said. He could tell that she was blushing, the feeling of embarrassment radiating from her skin. Embarrassment and desire.

  "Are you worried about changing into your bathing suit?" Damien asked. "I won't look. Promise."

  "I'm shy in a bathing suit," Julia said. "You just stay right there, okay?"

  "Okay. How deep is this water?" he asked.

  "Right here? Ten, fifteen feet, maybe. It's all pebbles around here on the bottom, too. Like swimming in a pool."

  He could hear her clothes falling to the dock, sensed her anxious hurry as she stood naked on the dock, pulling on her suit.

  "What if I fell into the water right now? Would you jump in naked to save me?" Damien stood at the end of the dock. He could hear the water underneath.

  "Don't you dare."

  Damien grinned. He could sense the distance down to the water's edge as he leaned over. Her nervousness increased, and he knew it was because of him. He savored it, wanted her in his arms, wanted to make her happy. The pack would have to understand that she was his mate.

  "Be careful!" Julia said. "You're going to fall—"

  Damien jumped, his hand tossing his glasses down back to safety as he tumbled off of the edge of the dock and into the water.

  His feet hit first, and the cold water shocked his body as he submerged. The air in his lungs buoyed him up, but he did not want to rise. The water was an alien environment, one he indulged in rarely. When he did, it was a treat, and today he thought he might just burst with happiness. Sharing this experience with Julia—with his true mate—was incredible.

  He dove down with one hand outstretched and found the bottom after just a couple of kicks. Pebbles, as Julia had said. He opened his eyes underwater. The cool liquid was soothing, gentle. The pressure was greater the deeper he went, and for a moment he worried about getting disoriented. Underneath the water, he could not know which direction was up. Here, though, his feet found the lake floor, the pebbles round and cool.

  Would Julia ever jump in? He felt an anxiety radiating from above, but he waited at the bottom of the lake, his arms propelling him down, until he heard a splash from above. He smiled before pushing himself back up towards the surface.

  She had come to save him.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Julia

  Julia reached out as Damien fell, but she had been too far away, changing. Her suit was only halfway on, and she quickly pulled the straps up over her shoulders and stepped over to the edge of the dock.

  "Damien?"

  He had gone under the surface of the water, and Julia waited, but he did not come up. Worry arced through her nerves.

  "Damien?"

  She looked around, but there was nobody else at the lake. Taking a deep breath, she jumped into the water. She gasped in shock at the cold, sputtering as she spun around in the water, her hands reaching out to try to find him.

  Damien's head popped up from the lake surface behind her with a splash. She turned to see him, his dark hair dripping with water.

  "Are you naked?" he asked. His eyes were closed, and he was grinning.

  "Damien!" A rush of relief swept through her. She clung to one of the wooden dock pillars, her feet treading water. "No, I am not naked!"

  "Darn," he said, swimming over to her. His hand reached out and she took it, guiding him to the pillar. He grasped the wood and hung there next to her, both of them breathing hard.

  "That was a test," he said, as soon as he had caught his breath.

  "A test?"

  "To see how much you care about me dying."

  "A test? A test?!" She splashed his face. She was so happy about him being alive that she didn't care how much water he got in his nose.

  "Yes," he said, laughing and running his hand through his wet hair. He turned to her and she saw his eyes for the first time. She inhaled sharply. There were scars through his eyelids, the pink shiny skin running across his skin like claw marks. And his eyes—his eyes were golden and tawny, the light shining off of them like fire.

  "My eyes?" he asked softly. "That's why I normally wear glasses."

  "You weren't born blind?"

  "Nope. I had perfect vision until..." he trailed off, his tongue licking his bottom lip as though he was unsure of how to say something.

  "You were in an accident?"

  "Something like that," he said. "The doctors said I was lucky I even got to keep my eyeballs. Most people who lose their sight like that have to get fake eyes put in."

  "These are your real eyes?" Julia touched his cheek where the bottom of the scars faded out, and he flinched.

  "Sorry," she said, pulling her hand back.

  "No, not at all. It's just that most people are scared of them."

  "Your eyes are beautiful," she said. "They remind me of tiger-eye. You know, the gemstone? I used to collect gems when I was a kid. They do look just like that. Swirls of gold and brown."

  "That sounds beautiful," Damien said, a half smile curving his mouth. "I wish I could see your eyes. I bet they're lovely."

  Julia didn't say anything. She didn't know what she was supposed to say.

  "What do you look like?" Damien asked. "Green eyes, red hair, more beautiful than the sun?"

  "I don't—I'm...I'm not..." Julia struggled to get the words out. How could she tell him that she wasn't beautiful?

  "Hey, no worries," Damien said. "I'm the last person to judge you by your looks. Half of the time I leave the house wearing two different socks. I was just curious."

  "It's just... I don't think you would think I'm attractive," Julia said quietly. She didn't want to lie to him. He had the right to know.

  "Why would you say that?" Damien's voice was so kind it nearly broke her heart. She didn't want to lose him, but she couldn't help telling the truth.

  "Most guys don't think so," she said. In her mind, every guy who had ever rejected her flashed through her memory. Would Damien be the next? "I just don't know if you'd even want to see me."

  "May I?" he asked.

  Julia didn't know what he was asking until she saw his hand reaching out toward her face.

  "Yes," she whispered. Her breath grew quick and she kicked her feet to stay afloat.

  His fingers touched her cheek, his hand cupping her chin. His fingertips ran across her skin, exploring the curves and shallows. His hand ran down the side of her neck, trailing down to her shoulder, along her arm. The ache inside of her made her feel like she would burst. She wanted him so badly, and she worried that he would feel her body and not want her anymore. His hand ran down the length of her arm and held her hand, feeling each finger.

  Shivers ran through her body as he touched her, his hand possessing her as it moved back up, squeezing her elbow, his fingers circling her arm. She let herself drift away from him as his hand moved down to her side. He pulled her back toward him, and she gasped as his strong arm
circled her waist and brought her close. She didn't have to kick to stay afloat any longer—his arm held her up as he hugged her to his body. His lips grazed her forehead in the slightest kiss, so slight that she thought she might have imagined it. Her heart swelled.

  "You are lovely," he said.

  "Thank you," Julia said, her face turning hot.

  "Thank you for jumping in to save me."

  "So I passed the test?" she asked softly. Her heart was racing. What did he think about her? His body was pressed against hers, and it made her melt, but she knew that he could feel her now. She didn't know if he would like what he felt.

  "With flying colors," he said, smiling. "In fact, you might care about me too much."

  Her eyebrows knitted into a frown, and a sharp pain lanced her heart. Did he mean that he didn't care about her as much as she cared about him? Now that he had touched her, now that he knew what her body looked like, he was pulling away. It was the same as it had been with every guy she'd ever cared about. There was no way he would want her. How could she have been so daft? He was so handsome, tall and muscular. What would he want with a dumpy short girl with frizzed hair? She choked back tears.

  He shook his head, as though he could sense her worry.

  "I didn't mean—"

  "I know," she said. "I mean, I shouldn't... I'm not right for you..."

  "It's not that," he said. "Whatever you're thinking, it's not that." He bent his head so that his forehead was pressed against hers, their noses touching slightly at the tip. "God, Julia, you're the most amazing person I've ever met."

  Julia swallowed hard. His arm was still holding her tightly, and she couldn't get away. She placed a hand on his chest, her palm pressing his body back. She couldn't breathe. If only he would let her go.

  "You don't have to—it's okay if you don't want me anymore. I understand." She didn't want him to be kind to her out of guilt. If he didn't want her, he just had to say so. Rejection was something she understood how to deal with. She didn't need his pity; she could survive without it.

  "You don't understand."

  "If you don't want me—"

  "Julia, I don't just want you. I need you."

  Julia lifted her head up in shock. It was a good thing that Damien had a hold of her around the waist; she had forgotten how to swim, and as he pressed his lips against hers, she forgot how to breathe.

  The cold water swirled around them but all Julia knew was heat. Damien's touch was demanding, burning her through and through. His fingers gripped her hip and pulled her insistently toward him as he deepened the kiss. Fire licked through every nerve in her body so that not even the coolness of the lake could ease her wanting. The hard muscles of his chest were slick under her palms.

  Their limbs intertwined as the kiss went on, and Damien's fingers ran through her hair. Without thinking, her legs wrapped around his waist, and she could feel him hard against her. It was the first time she'd ever wanted something so fully, so completely. When Damien pulled away and broke the kiss, their air between them seemed to crackle with energy, as though their attraction had an electrical power to it.

  "Damien," she said. His eyes sparked with a fiery expression, and for a brief moment she thought that he was looking at her, could see her.

  "I have to tell you something," he said. "Something about me. It's important."

  "What?" She searched his eyes as though she would be able to find the answers there.

  "It's just that...I don't know if you'll be able to understand." His voice broke, and Julia's heart swelled with sympathy. Whatever it was, he seemed to truly be hurt by it.

  "Let's sit back up on the dock," she said, trying to lighten the mood. "I don't want to drown you before you can tell me whatever it is you have to tell me."

  "Sure," he said, and before she could start to swim to shore he had grasped the wooden pillar and swung himself up onto the planks of the dock. He sat on the edge of the dock and reached a hand down.

  "I'll swim around," Julia said, not wanting to pull him back in accidentally.

  "Take my hand," Damien said, extending his arm farther.

  Hesitantly, Julia reached up. His large hand grasped her around the wrist, and as he pulled her out of the water his other arm came down and scooped her up under the other arm. With an almost superhuman strength, he lifted her up as easily as if she weighed a hundred pounds and set her gently to sit on the dock next to him.

  They sat dripping on the wood planks, the sun warm overhead. Julia's nerves were as frazzled as her hair. What could he possibly have to say to her? Damien leaned his head back to sun his upturned face. His dark hair stuck to his cheeks and his eyes were closed, but the seams of his scars shone brightly in the sunlight, and he sat up, clasping his hands in front of him.

  "I haven't been honest with you," Damien said. Julia's heart sank.

  "What do you mean?" she asked. She tried but could not keep her voice from quaking. She pulled her knees up onto the dock and hugged them tightly.

  "There's something about me, a genetic condition," Damien said. He stammered as he spoke, a strange contrast to the easy confidence that he had shown all along. "Not many people have it, and it’s...it’s serious."

  "What is it?" Julia asked. She swallowed hard. Her grandfather had spent the last few years of his life fighting cancer, and the toll it had taken on Granny Dee was enormous. Julia didn't know if she could let herself fall in love with someone if she knew it would end like that. Fear chilled her heart, and she shivered even in the hot sun.

  "I'll show you," Damien said, "but the reason I'm telling you this is because I never thought I would find somebody like you. I've planned my life out according to what I thought was true, and now I don't know what I can do to change it."

  "What do you mean?" Julia asked. Goosebumps rose on her skin.

  "I'm engaged to someone who has the same condition," Damien said. "We're not in love, but—"

  Engaged. Damien kept talking, but Julia could not hear his words. The sound that came out of her was halfway between a cry and a whimper. She scrambled to her feet, trying not to slip on the wet planks of the dock. Engaged. She had to get away. Had to leave. She felt so embarrassed, so taken in.

  "Julia, wait, please—"

  "No!" No, no, no! The cry that echoed through her mind came out of her as sobs as she gathered her clothes up to her chest. He couldn’t be with her.

  "Julia, please let me explain!" Damien stood to face her.

  "No, you don't need to explain," Julia said. He was just the same, after all, just the same as all the other guys who thought she would be a quick, easy lay. The guys who just wanted to play with her for a while before going back to someone they could take seriously.

  "Julia, please—" he said, reaching out blindly.

  "Don't touch me!" she cried out, backing away from him. "Don't—don't ever touch me again!" She turned to flee, wild with the agony of this revelation. How could he have broken her heart so carelessly?

  "Don't leave," Damien said. He stumbled after her as she moved away from the lake, back to the trail, trying to put her shoes on without falling over. "Please, let’s talk about this.”

  “There’s nothing to talk about,” Julia said. “You came here and flirted with me, kissed me, all while you’re engaged to someone else?”

  “It’s just because of my condition—”

  “I don’t care about the reason! You’re engaged!” Julia thought of the other woman, the one Damien had probably lied to before coming to spend time at the lake. Her heart broke for both of them.

  "I'll call someone to come get you," Julia said, her voice cracking. He seemed so desperate. How could he be so cruel and seem so sincere? She felt as though her emotions, her judgment, had betrayed her just as surely as he had. "Just stay away from me!"

  Tears streaming down her face, she turned to the path and screamed.

  Standing directly in front of her on the trail, not twenty feet away, was a huge gray wolf.


  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Damien

  Damien felt Julia's heart wrench as much as if it had been his own, and it gutted him. He had to be honest with her; he couldn't sense her feelings without a sense of guilt coming over him every time he remembered Katherine. But it was too much. How could he explain that he was a shifter, that he wasn't supposed to mate with humans. Her pain ripped through him in a black and red agony as she screamed at him to stay away from her, and the air he breathed felt too hot for his lungs, poisonous. His hands shook as she backed away. He could not lose her. Could not lose his mate. She was the one, the true one—

  Upwind from the trail and so preoccupied with Julia, he did not smell the wolf until it was already in the open. He heard Julia's scream at the same time he smelled the wolf, and he ran forward without a thought, almost tripping over his own feet as he stepped between Julia and the wolf.

  It was a shifter. Even in his human form Damien could smell the distinctive scent, sense the intelligence radiating from the animal. Another pack in these woods? How? Jordan had scouted the entire territory. Then the wolf growled and stepped forward, the sand crunching under its feet.

  "Damien, no, get back," Julia whispered, tugging on his arm. He could feel her fear and he tried not to let the terror overwhelm him as he stood there. He could not fight the wolf in human form; it would be suicide.

  "Damien, please!" Julia said, and as she touched him he felt a stab of fright go through his heart. The shifter sensed it, too, and growled again.

  "Let go," Damien said, shaking her hand off. "Julia, you need to leave."

  "No—"

  "Leave!" The wolf snarled at the sound of Damien's voice, and he could hear the claws digging into the sand.

  "No, no!" Julia sobbed, and Damien turned toward her. He wished he could keep her from seeing, but he had no choice.