The Alpha’s Tempting Mate

Amber

Let the record reflect: I’m going to buy the biggest nutcracker in existence. I’ll see how Garrett McJerkwolf likes getting tied up when he has a silver ballbuster clamped to his nards.

First I have to get out of here.

I wrench at the tape for the thousandth time, but it won’t budge.

The front door bangs open. I sit up straighter, ready to go another round with a werewolf. But when Garrett walks in, his head down, shoulders slumped, worry lines creasing his forehead, all the fight drains out of me. I don’t need a vision to show me he found nothing.

He’s shirtless. His sculpted pecs, lightly dusted with brown curls, stand out in relief above the eight-pack abs and narrow waist. The moment he sees me, the bar of his enormous cock presses against the front his jeans. I noticed it when he tied me up, too. The fact it made me crazy horny only pisses me off even more.

I make a questioning sound, eyebrows raised.

“Nothing.” He shakes his head. “There’s no sign of her. All three of us shifted, but I couldn’t catch her scent. The ocean probably washed it away.”

I make another comforting noise. He looks so dejected.

He pulls the tape from my mouth, and the sting helps me remember my rage.

“Ow,” I snap.

“Sorry.” He breaks the tape from my chest and wrists with his bare hands, ripping it from me like it’s tissue paper.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

“I have some things to tell you, buddy.”

“I’m sure you do, Counselor.” Looking tired, but amused, he folds his arms across his chest, mirroring me. For some reason, this sends my temper into the red zone.

“That’s funny. You acting like you respect me. Because last time I checked, when you respect a woman, you don’t kidnap her and drive her across the border to Mexico.” I channel Lawyer Amber as hard as I can to keep from screaming like a crazy person. “You do realize this is the worst second date in the history of dating. And that’s saying something because the first one was epically, epically bad. And-why are you grinning at me like that?”

“My wolf thinks you’re adorable when you’re mad. But be careful, little lawyer. I’m real riled up right now. And I know just what would make me feel better.”

“What?”

“Tossing you over my shoulder, carrying you to the bed, and fucking you six ways to Sunday,”

“It is almost Sunday.” My voice sounds strangled. My lady bits are cheering.

“Nope.” Garrett’s grin is feral. “Not this Sunday. Next. It’ll take about a week.” He leans forward. “How’s that end to our second date?”

“This isn’t a date.”

“I know. You’re the one who called it that. You like spending time with me, Counselor?”

“What? No, I-” My cheeks flood. Damn my libido for picking this moment to go into overdrive.

Garrett steps close enough for me to feel his chuckle in my panties. “I promise our third date will be epically better.”

“Look.” I hold up a hand, trying to put space between us. It lands on his rock-hard chest, which doesn’t help my focus at all. “Your sister is missing. We need to find her.”

My reminder sucks the energy out of the room. Damn. So much for my reward. I should have let him keep me tied up a little longer.

“Yeah,” Garrett sighs, and slumps. He looks about a thousand years old. “You saw her surrounded by men, so she didn’t drown. Or get lost. She’s been gone for twelve hours now. No human could have taken her-she’d rip their throat out. So it has to be other shifters.”

“All right. You brought me here to help. How can I help?”

He stabs his fingers through his tousled blond hair. “Really?”

I nod. I hate being Crazy Amber, I’m afraid of becoming her, but I’ve never been the type of person to walk away from someone in need. If he thinks I can help, I have to help. Even if he did technically kidnap me and bind me with duct tape.

“Here’s the thing. We’re at the point I should call in my dad. But, if he comes down here, he’s going to bring a hundred armed wolves and tear this town apart before asking questions. If you could get any more information before I call him down, it might keep wolves-particularly Sedona-from getting hurt.”

“But I don’t know how to use the visions. They just come.”

He picks up my hand and rubs his thumb over the back of it. “Just try?”

“Okay,” I whisper.

Crap. I am so not ready to embrace this side of myself. Especially around these people-wolves-I hardly know.

Except Garrett doesn’t seem like a stranger. Not at all. And he doesn’t make me feel crazy, either. Maybe I can do this.

I can at least try.

Garrett

“So, who do you think took Sedona?” Jared asks as we sit around the table eating the fish tacos he and Trey bought. It’s late, but no one can sleep. “Did you see what they looked like in your, um, vision or whatever?”

Amber shakes her head. She leans against the kitchen counter, eating standing up. Still putting distance between us. It’s a good idea, but I want pull her into my lap and feed her with my fingers.

“Were they wolves?” Trey cranks his neck around to look at her.

Her brow wrinkles. “No, they were men-oh.” She pauses. “Well, how would I know? Is there a telltale sign or something?”

“Their eyes. Did they change color, or glow?”

Frowning, she shakes her head. “I don’t remember.”

“Can you have the vision again?”

“It’s not like a movie I rent. They just come to me.”

“You don’t control them at all?”

I frown at Trey to shut him up.

“No,” she snaps. “That’s not the way they work.”

“Well, that sucks,” Trey mumbles.

I growl, and he adjusts his expression to something friendlier.

“Look, I’m trying.” Amber sets down her food and turns to the sink. She spends about a minute washing her hands, then grabs a paper towel and starts wiping down the counters.

“Hey.” I push out of my chair, amble over to her. I don’t mean to crowd her, but she drops the paper towel and backs up anyway. “We’re all just trying to figure this psychic thing out.”

She flinches at the word psychic. “You don’t understand. I’ve spent my entire life suppressing these visions.”

“Is that why you get headaches?”

Her shoulders lift and fall.

“Have you ever tried just letting them happen?”

“I can’t.”

I tilt my head to the side.

“I’ve never tried,” she amends. “I’m afraid they’ll take over my life.”

“Okay. May I try something?”

“Like what?” She watches me warily. She used to trust me, against her better judgment. But I broke it. This distance between us? It’s my fault.

“I’m going to touch you,” I murmur.

Behind me, Jared clears his throat.

“Please,” I add.

A small hesitation, and she nods.

“Just breathe. Relax.”

I place a hand over her eyes. “Close your eyes.” Her lashes flutter against my palm. “Just feel into it. Humans or wolves?”

She stays quiet for so long, I give up on an answer. The heat of her body, so close to mine, makes my cock thicken. I breathe in her scent, knowing I should back away, keep my hands off her if I want to maintain control.

“Wolves,” she says at last.

I force myself to step back. “I knew it.”

“What do you think they want with her?” Jared asks. He and Trey come to their feet.

I run my fingers through my hair. “Probably breeding.”

Amber looks shocked, so I explain. “Many shifters consider our species endangered. Our DNA has been diluted too much with human genes. It’s considered a sin against our kind to mate with a human. But that means in smaller communities in-breeding is now the problem.”

“What happens when they mate with a human?” Amber asks.

“These days, they produce human babies.” I meet her intelligent gaze. Is she thinking about what might happen if we continue on the path we’re on, this doomed dance of attraction? “Offspring who never get sick and heal quickly, but human, not wolf.”

“They can’t shift?”

“Right. I mean, there are half-breeds who shift-it’s not unheard of. There’s a panther in Tucson who didn’t shift until she got pregnant with a wolf shifter’s pup. But it’s rare.”

“So you think they spot a female wolf who hasn’t been part of their pack, and just grab her for breeding?” Amber’s voice sharpens, and I get a hint of what she must be like on crusade.

I bet she’s fucking amazing in the courtroom. I get hard just picturing her in one of her fitted suits, pacing the room in high heels, dazzling every male in the building with those shapely calves, that sharp mind.