Mating Kendra Read online

  Galen surged into her repeatedly. He groaned, his thrusts growing erratic. His already massive erection impossibly grew longer, thicker as he surged into her over and over. His cock repeatedly dragged over her already sensitive nerve endings. When he leaned down and reached around her waist, his teeth bit into her shoulder as his fingers unerringly found and stroked her clit. Kendra screamed as the world exploded around her. Galen growled into her ear as he held her pinned with his teeth in a show of wolf dominance.

  Normally, she would have hated such a show of domination, but not this time. It was different with Galen. Everything was different. Even she wasn’t the same.

  A long low moan escaped her as another climax surged over her with the force of a hurricane. Everything in the room lit up as though someone had turned on a bright light inside each object and she came yet again before the power of the white light overwhelmed her and the world went dark.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  “Thank you for dinner,” Kendra said as she helped Marietta clean up after their meal. “It was delicious.” She hoped that Galen didn’t expect her to cook so well. She was doing good to microwave a hotdog and macaroni and cheese.

  Kendra tried not to look at anyone. She could see everyone glowing. She could also sort of see inside them. If she had to describe it, she would say that she could see shadows of their organs and their bones.

  It was like a form of x-ray vision, she supposed, though she was glad she didn’t see anyone naked. Seeing strangers in that state of undress would have scarred her for life. Instead, she tried to keep her attention on the dishes, but that wasn’t much better. Everything glowed with some inner light. It was weird.

  She needed to talk to Galen about it before she said or did something to get herself committed to the shifter version of a mental hospital.

  “You’re welcome.” The other woman smiled. “Though you don’t have to help me.” She winked as they carried the dishes into the kitchen. “That’s what I have children for.”

  “You hear that, you guys? They only had us so they could have free help. They bred so they could have slaves, I tell ya,” one of the youngest boys said as he placed a clean dish in the cabinet.

  “Shut it, Reed, or I’ll tell your father about what I found in the barn the other day.”

  The color immediately drained from the boy’s face. “You wouldn’t.”

  “Wouldn’t I?” Marietta asked in a singsong voice and raised a brow. She tilted her head and tapped her chin. “I am your mother, you know. I’m not sure I should keep those kinds of secrets from your father.”

  The boy’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he stood staring at his mother with wide eyes. “I’m sorry.” He glanced at Kendra. “We all have our chores. We aren’t treated like slaves. I was just joking.” His face had turned bright red as he looked away and took a wet plate from Elizabeth.

  Kendra wondered exactly what his mother had found in their barn that would put such fear in the boy that he’d shut up and gone back to work without any more complaints. Whatever it was, she surmised it wasn’t supposed to be in the barn. A nudie magazine, perhaps?

  Though both sets of triplets and the twins were identical, she didn’t have a difficult time telling the girls apart the way she did the boys.

  For one thing, there were only two of them. However, Elizabeth wore a red blouse and Victoria a green one. She had the feeling that the girls, though identical, didn’t much care to dress alike, where the boys probably did it all the time to play pranks on people. Humans, mostly, she supposed.

  It didn’t appear as though their parents or even Galen had any difficulty telling them apart. She wasn’t sure, but she suspected it had something to do with their scent. However, she hadn’t figured out how to use that particular new talent yet.

  “Shall we go for a walk while the kids finish up?” Marietta asked as she took Kendra’s arm and pulled her to a set of French doors. “It’s a beautiful afternoon and you look like you could use some girl time.” She waggled her brows. “The guys will follow at a discreet distance to give us privacy to talk while they watch over us. Galen thought you might have some questions.”

  “Questions?” Kendra was lost. What questions could she possibly ask this woman? She’d most likely been born a shifter. Unless... “Did that crazy doctor change you into a shifter, too?”

  “No.” Marietta chuckled. “I was born a shifter, but I know what it’s like to be a mate.” She took Kendra’s hand. “You mustn’t be frightened. I know this is all new to you, but you have no idea what it’s like to be a shifter and unmated for years and years until you finally give up hope.” She stared into Kendra’s eyes, her expression earnest. “You can’t blame him for claiming you. It’s something he doesn’t really have any control over. Just the fact that he waited until you got here, where you’re safe, proves his control is stronger than that of most.”

  Kendra’s face burned. They knew! How could they know that Galen had mated her the night before? She gritted her teeth and pressed her lips together. Closing her eyes, she tried to keep her heart from breaking. The pain of knowing he could share something that should be so special between them with someone she didn’t know was too much to bear.

  “It’s not what you think, Kendra.” Marietta stopped walking, her expressive eyes filled with uncertainty, her expression troubled.

  “What do you mean it’s not what I think? I think he’s been talking about what happened between us as though I’m some conquest for him to mark on his bedpost.” Jerking her arm from Marietta’s grasp, Kendra ran into the woods with a sob.

  She didn’t give a damn that it was dangerous. Now, all she cared about was getting away from these people. “How could he? How could he?”

  GALEN DIDN’T SEE KENDRA run off. He’d glanced at Bear, laughing at one of his trademark stupid dad jokes, when he heard Marietta call after her.

  “It’s not what you think, Kendra. Really it’s not.”

  “What happened? Why did she run?” His first instinct had been to follow his mate, but he thought it prudent to find out why she’d taken off in the first place before he tried to lure her back.

  “She misunderstood. When I told her that we had something in common because we were both female mates, she went ballistic.” She stared up at him, her huge brown eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

  “You didn’t mean for what to happen?” Galen held Marietta by the shoulders, tempted to shake the information out of her, though he would never do such a thing to any female.

  “Remember you’re talking to my mate, Galen,” Bear said with a growl.

  That was only one of the reasons why he didn’t shake her. Another reason was that she was female and Galen would never willingly hurt any woman.

  “She thought she was your conquest. That you had told us you’d mated her last night. She didn’t give me the chance to tell her that I can feel your mate connection and others can smell it.” She wrung her hands. “I’m sorry, Galen. She took me by surprise. I never thought she would run. Go after her. You have to go after her. She could get lost on this mountain.”

  “Thank you, Marietta.” Galen released her. “I’m sorry if I frightened you. I hope you know I would never even think about harming you.” He turned to give Bear a wry smile. “Even if your husband wasn’t here to rip my head off if I tried.”

  “Go get your mate, Galen.” Bear started to smile, but then narrowed his eyes and stiffened, his smile fading. “Find her quickly. We aren’t alone on the mountain.”

  Galen knew better than to question how Bear knew. When it came to his mountain, Bear knew everything that went on in his territory. If he said they weren’t alone, it meant there were other shifters around, and they weren’t necessarily going to be nice.

  “Are they here for you, or do you think they’re here for Kendra?”

  “They’re here for your mate.” Bear glanced around as though trying to get a fix on the intruders. “Our cl
an wars have been over for almost fifty years. It’s not a rival for my territory, but for yours. They’re after your mate. I can feel it.”

  Every shifter had their own unique ability once they mated. With Bear and Marietta, it was something akin to empathy. Bear felt malevolence, while Marietta could feel love and affection between others.

  Kendra hadn’t said anything about their mating the night before and, so far, Galen hadn’t noticed a change. He frowned. Mates always had a similar gift. Had he been too quick to mate her? Was she not the one for him then?

  Galen searched his feelings, unsure for only a fraction of a second. No. She was his mate. The bond between them grew stronger with every passing moment. He loved her. He needed her. More importantly, he would never be whole without her.

  Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, trying to get a bearing on where she could have gone. Now that their bond was complete, he would always be able to find her as long as she was near.

  Where are you going, sweetheart? he asked through their mental link.

  Leave me alone, you asshole. I don’t want to talk to you right now.

  Turning west, he headed toward her on a run. Finding her would be much easier if he kept her talking. Don’t be like that, Kendra. You misunderstood.

  Ha! I understood enough to know that it didn’t even take a day for you to go bragging to your friends.

  I don’t brag, mate. I have no need to brag to others of our kind for them to know we have mated.

  I don’t know what you’re talking about. She sounded less sure of herself. Stop trying to scare me. I know that’s you shaking the bushes.

  That’s not me, Kendra. Run! It’s most likely Doctor Thornton’s men. Bear thinks there are intruders on the mountain. Turn and head east. I’m coming up behind you.

  East? Which way is east? I have no idea which way is which. Did I look like I have a compass strapped to my forehead?

  Why did he keep forgetting she didn’t even have the most basic of shifter abilities? I’m sorry, hon. I keep forgetting you’re a new shifter. He shouldn’t. After all, how many years had he waited for a mate?

  I don’t know why. It’s not like I’ve kept it a secret from you. Like the secrets you’ve kept from me.

  I’ve kept no secrets, my love.

  Stop calling me that! She was so angry, Galen actually felt it through their link.

  Your anger is causing you to travel unsafely. I am not the one in the bushes. I swear. Run from there as fast as you can. Dig deep, feel your wolf and let her lend you speed.

  Galen paused, awaiting another snarky reply. When one wasn’t forthcoming, he ripped off his clothing and changed into his wolf on the fly.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Cam groaned as he regained consciousness. He tried to sit up but banged his head on the top of a cage. That was when he noticed they were bouncing down a road that was about as smooth as a washboard.

  He glanced around the truck bed. Most of the other cages were empty, except one. It held a small white rabbit. It, too, must have been drugged, either that, or it was dead. It lay still as death in the bottom of the large cage.

  Either it was a shifter as well, or Dr. Thornton was even crazier than they all thought. Was he trying to turn rabbits into shape shifters now, or was it to be someone’s dinner?

  Turning his attention to the door of the cage, he fiddled with the latch until he felt the small padlock keeping it shut. He could break that lock in a second if he could get more than the tip of one finger on the damned thing.

  He sighed and hoped Randy had figured out that tracker app he’d downloaded to his phone. If he didn’t, he was screwed. At least until someone else found him.

  The truck slowed and turned left onto a smoother road, or perhaps it was a driveway, because the truck slowed down even more until it finally came to a stop.

  The doors opened and the truck lurched as the men slid out and shut the doors.

  “That was a hell of a ride. Do you think he’s still chasing the tracking device down that river?”

  Cam could tell it was Martin who spoke because that crazy doctor had an English accent.

  “We can only hope, Martin,” Thornton replied as the sound of his voice moved closer to the side of the truck bed. “If he is, he will soon be our guest as well. I’ve sent men out to find that device and bring anyone in who is following it. Now, let’s get our newest test subjects out of the truck, shall we?”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll just go get a few of the men.”

  Cam frowned when Martin spoke again. Why did that voice sound so familiar? It must have been because the man had spoken to him as he was going under from the sedative they’d given to him. He feigned unconsciousness.

  He heard another vehicle door slam before new voices approached the truck and the tailgate was dropped.

  Four men stood staring at him and the little white rabbit. Their expressions stayed blank as three of them dragged his cage out and carried him through the door of a metal shed. The fourth carried the rabbit that was still unconscious, if the way it hung so limply in the man’s arms was any indication.

  Cam knew where he was. The men hadn’t carried him into a shed. It was the nondescript entrance to another of Dr. Thornton’s labs and if he could believe what he’d heard, they’d found his tracking device and thrown it in a river and Randy was chasing a ghost.

  He surreptitiously reached into his pocket and depressed the switch on another of the devices he carried. He could only hope someone would think to look for another signal—providing, of course, that the signal would penetrate the outer walls of the structure.

  He dropped the device on the floor in the dark shed just before they carried him into an elevator. With luck, no one would notice it on the dirt floor just inside the door.

  RANDY FOLLOWED THE signal down the river as best as he could. The road wasn’t exactly running parallel along the river’s edge.

  Had their enemies discovered the tracking device and thrown it in the river, or did they have a boat? He hadn’t seen a place where anyone could launch any small craft, but there could have been something he hadn’t seen on the opposite bank.

  According to the piece of shit GPS, the river dumped into a lake, but he wasn’t sure of its accuracy as their other GPS equipment had already proved unreliable.

  “I’ll bring my own equipment next time, damn it.” He slapped the steering wheel and followed the signal as it moved closer and closer to the lake. He could see the larger body of water now through the trees. The surface of the lake glistened in the moonlight and the blinking light on the app finally came to a stop.

  The headlights behind him had better be Jace or he was in trouble. Reaching over to his glove box, he pulled out his .45, slid a full clip into place and chambered a round. He wasn’t fucking walking into a trap like his brother had.

  Stopping the Hummer, he slid from behind the wheel and started walking toward the place where the blinking light had stopped.

  When the headlights drew closer, he slipped into the woods and tried to see if it was friend or foe.

  It was Jace’s ratty, old, rusted-out shit box. Randy slid out from the brush, approached the driver’s door from behind and knocked on the window. He wasn’t stupid. Jace had been driving alone and now there had been two silhouettes in that cab.

  Two shots rang out, busting the glass. It wasn’t Jace. He took a second to peer over the side of the bed. There he was, laying in a pool of blood. Either the boy was out cold or he was dead. Randy hoped it was the former. He’d rather liked the boy.

  Whoever was in the driver’s seat must have thought they’d hit him because the stupid bastard opened the door and stepped out.

  It was a big, dark-haired son-of-a-bitch and Randy had no use for him. He was still pissed off about the big bastard who had forced himself on Cassie. Any big and tall Thornton henchman with dark hair was fair game as far as he was concerned.

  Reaching out, Randy grabbed the man’s wrist and twist
ed his arm behind his back. He smiled with satisfaction as he heard the man’s bones snap. He was so much stronger than he’d been as a human and he still needed to get to know his own strength.

  “Looking for me, asshole?”

  A movement to his right caught his eye and quick as a blink, he pulled his gun and shot the bastard that had slid out of the passenger seat and tried to get the drop on him.

  “Now,” he said as he pressed the barrel of his weapon to the man’s side. “Where are they holding my brother.”

  “I don’t know.” Thornton’s thug cried like a fucking baby over his broken arm.

  “I thought you guys were supposed to be SFs, not infants for fuck’s sake.”

  “I’ve never been in the military, so fuck you.”

  “No.” Randy chuckled and slammed the butt of his pistol into the man’s head. “Fuck you.”

  Randy tied the big bastard up with his own shoelaces and belt, then checked on Jace before he pulled his phone from his pocket.

  “I lost them,” he said to Jake when the Alpha answered the phone. “I have Jace, and a prisoner. I don’t want to leave either one of them alone, but the kid probably needs medical care. He’s unconscious and laying in a puddle of blood that might be his.”

  He waited for the Alpha to bitch at him for disobeying orders.

  “Fine. I’ll get some men out there to help you asap. I think I have a few about an hour away. It’s the best I can do. At least they’re in a helicopter so they’ll be able to travel faster than by car.”

  Fine. I’ll wait here. I don’t mind giving my prisoner a few more love taps to keep him out of it while we wait. There’s a dead body here, too. You might want to tell them they’ll have clean up detail while they’re here as well.”

  “I will.” The Alpha paused for a moment and Randy waited. He knew he was in for an ass chewing. “I realize you’re a new shifter, MacDonald. I also realize that it’s your twin we’re talking about. But if you ever disobey my orders again, I’m going to consider it a challenge.”