Never His Mate: a Rejected Mates Shifter Romance (Claws and Fangs Book 1)
Chapter 5

Thank the Luna for Aleks’s chamomile tea. Without it, I don’t think I would’ve been able to sleep a wink.

All I keep thinking about is the sensation I was being followed, the scent of an unknown wolf on the breeze, and the wolf tracks leading out of Accalia and into my new city. The Mountainside Pack is the local shifter power, but they’re not the only shifters nearby. It’s possible that the wolf tracks belong to some other shifter, but then Aleks explained that they led straight from the mountain.

Between the Mountainside wolves guarding their territory and the vamps’ paranoid patrol, odds aren’t so great that a third supe decided to test the Cadre. It has to be one of my former packmates. Makes sense that I wouldn’t recognize their scent, too, since I only spent a month living among them a year ago. Packs change, and as the Alpha’s intended—plus an omega—I’d been coddled. Out of a pack of more than fifty members, I maybe met half that before I left.

What’s an unknown wolf doing in a Fang City? The thought keeps me up until Aleks’s tea finally kicks in. I’ve spent a year hiding out, covering both my scent and my tracks. The only way I could be followed now would be through my whisper-thin bond with the pack’s Alpha, and since there’s never been any kind of tug from Ryker in the time after I ran out on him, I can’t imagine why he’d come looking for me now.

He’s probably perfectly happy with his chosen mate, I figure. He wouldn’t leave the mountain after so long just because of me. I mean, maybe I spent the first couple of weeks in Muncie looking over my shoulder, but when one full moon passed, then another, I had to accept that Ryker’s rejection was final.

Still, just because he doesn’t want me, that doesn’t change what I am. I’m an unmated alpha female who would be a prize to any shifter with ambitions of his own. It doesn’t really matter if it’s a Mountainside packmate or any other shifter. They can’t find out I’m a lone wolf, not if I don’t want to lose the life I’ve spent the last year putting together.

After a lifetime of pretending to be someone I’m not, I’ve gotten pretty good at bluffing. So when Aleks asks if I’m all right, I act like I could care less that there might be a shifter in town. I even tell him, in as casual a voice as I can manage, that I thought I might’ve picked up on a shifter’s scent on my way back home from Charlie’s.

That… was probably a mistake. I should’ve known better. Not only is Aleks a savior, but he can be pretty overprotective. As soon as I tell him, he has to hear all the details. Where was I? Did I see anyone? Did I recognize the scent? Did the necklace break before or after I caught it?

It’s that last question that makes me realize that Aleks isn’t thinking of himself as a protector of Muncie. He’s worried about me, and he proves it by offering to stay home.

As if I need a babysitter.

No, thanks.

I point out that the Cadre comes first. That Roman won’t be happy if he ignores a summons just because he’s concerned about me. Even if the wolf is here because they’re looking for me, I can deal with it. What about the unsuspecting humans who might run across a shifter who, for all we know, could be feral?

It’s a possibility. I mean, no shifter would choose to leave pack territory and head into a city full of our enemies unless they lost their mind. I certainly hadn’t been thinking clearly when I sped off the mountain. I expected any vamp who caught up with me might bite first, ask questions later, and I thank the Luna every damn day that I met Aleks that night. Not just because I ran into the Nightmare Trio first, but because—the mood I was in—I think I would’ve slaughtered them if I had to and, yeah. I was pretty feral myself.

A feral shifter is the most dangerous creature in our world. The second you pair a beast’s strength with a lack of any human empathy, it’s a disaster in the making. If I gave in to my wolf’s single-minded desire to survive and my human side’s bloodthirsty nature, I would’ve been unstoppable. They’d have no choice but to put me down if I actually let go.

A pack stabilizes a shifter. Like the Cadre has created tight-knit vamp communities in their Fang Cities, living among their own kind keeps a balance between both halves of a shifter’s soul. It’s why Roman thinks of me like a ticking time bomb.

Technically, I am.

But I’ve put down roots. I’ve made friends. Unless someone pushes me—and, thanks to Aleks’s fang, no one’s tried since Gretchen wanted to drain me—I’m not a danger to anyone in Muncie.

Until now. Until there’s another wolf skulking around, threatening me and my new life here.

I’m not afraid of the unknown wolf coming at me, though. As an alpha, I don’t get afraid. But… maybe I’m a little concerned that the wolf will reignite the war between vamps and shifters. The truce between our kinds is shaky at best. If a wolf goes feral in Muncie, I’m screwed.

I need Aleks to do his job. And, if I have to, I’ll do mine.

After all, I am an alpha.

Though I can tell he’s only reluctantly going, Aleks leaves the apartment around eleven, an hour before his shift should’ve begun. As one of Roman’s most trusted guards, he patrols a full eight hours every night no matter what; it’s the price of being part of the Cadre, and if I don’t understand it, I figure it’s a vamp thing and I’m not meant to. Since vamps usually sleep through the day—turns out pop culture got some things right—and they only need a couple of hours to recharge, the eight hours isn’t really a sacrifice for such a long-lived vamp like Aleks.

At his urging, I drink a second cup of tea with him before he goes. I’m still obsessing over what the sudden appearance of a second shifter could mean when I finally feel drowsy. I let it take me under, hoping that Aleks will be back when I wake up again in the morning.

His scent is renewed when I shuffle into the living room, but a second sniff confirms that it’s old. He must have stopped by earlier, but then left again.

A quick glimpse at my phone confirms it. Though Aleks rarely uses his—that one’s a two-century-old vamp thing—he’ll sometimes send me a message when he’s on patrol. The Cadre forbids their guards from talking while they’re on duty, but he can spare a few seconds to shoot off a text.

No sign of the shifter, he confirms, and Kellan discovered another set of tracks leading out of Muncie. The consensus is that the wolf high-tailed it out of the Fang City as soon as they could, heading back up the mountain.

Just in case, Roman has called for all of his full-turn patrollers to meet at his penthouse office in the middle of the city. Until they can figure out whether it was a one-off or not, they’re increasing the perimeter checks, but they also need to be careful not to draw the attention of the humans who have no clue that they live under the protection of a group of powerful vampires.

They did the same thing last year when I drove into Muncie. I didn’t realize it at the time, but Aleks filled me in later. It’s how I know that none of my former packmates ever came after me. If they had? The Cadre would’ve known.

Honestly, a supe can’t take a dump in Muncie without Roman Zakharov knowing about it.

You’d think I’d feel a little relief that the shifter had bolted. And I do… kind of. Call it alpha intuition or what, but I can’t shake the feeling that there was a reason why they risked death by fang by coming into Muncie on their own.

And, Luna, I really, really hope it’s not because of me.

I wait to see if Aleks is going to stop in again before I have to head out for my next shift at Charlie’s. Even though he assured me that the shifter threat is gone, I can’t help but wonder if maybe the vamps are underestimating my kind.

If I can hide out in Muncie without being sniffed out, why can’t this new wolf? Backtracking, leaving a false trail… even a pup could do it with the right training and instincts. I hope they’re going on more than that, and I make a point to remember to ask Aleks when he comes home again.

At around two, I get a text from Carmen, the morning/afternoon bartender; when you cater to a supe clientele, the bar’s open all hours since one chick’s noon is another’s midnight. She needs to cut out a little early, something to do with her kid, and she wants to know if I can cover for her.

I jump at the offer. Waiting for Aleks to get back has me pacing around the apartment. I even shifted to my fur, doing laps around the living room, anything to burn off the looming sense of anticipation that I just can’t get rid of.

After leaving a note for Aleks that I headed into work early, I leave the apartment. My wolf is completely alert as I purposely take the walk to Charlie’s. Not that I don’t trust Aleks, but I’ve learned a long time ago to trust my own senses.

Luckily, there’s no sign of any other shifter. Even the scent from last night is nothing but a memory. If they’re still in town, they’re hiding even better than I am, and I decide that so long as they leave me alone, I’m not going to think about it.

Saturdays at the bar are even more hectic than Friday nights. So even though I arrive a little before three, there’s a pretty sizable crowd already. I relieve Carmen, and jump into bartender mode.

An hour or two later, I’m taking advantage of our dinnertime lull to do a quick inventory. Between keeping the booze stocked up, the blood casks full, and the garnishes for some of our cocktails prepped, I’ve got to stay on top of it before the nighttime crowd comes filing in.

All of my customers are taken care of, but my head shoots up when the bar door opens. Not just because it’s any other patron, either. As soon as Aleks’s scent hits me, I’m already putting my clipboard down and heading for the end of the bar.

I’m not the only one watching him glide toward me. He has the attention of nearly everyone else in Charlie’s. Every vamp—and most humans—know exactly who he is, and if they don’t? He’s so effortlessly attractive that he catches their attention anyway.

He gets the stares while I get the jealous looks when they realize that he’s here for me. I don’t know which is worse, and I try to follow his lead in ignoring them.

“Hey. What’s up? I thought you were still with Roman.”

“I was, but he finished the meeting. Since I have a couple of hours until he wants me back on patrol, I thought I’d stop by.” Aleks holds out his hand. It’s my necklace with a brand new chain. “I have something for you.”

I take it. “You didn’t have to bring it down here.”

“After last night, I felt that I had to. I didn’t like the idea of you walking around without it on.”

I don’t have the heart to tell Aleks that, while his fang might protect me from other vampires, the sight of it won’t do a damn thing against a shifter. Actually, if one of my former packmates saw me wearing a fang, they’d probably think it was a memento from a vamp I killed or something.

But he came all this way to bring it down to me after he got it repaired. I know it’s important to him, too. The least I can do is wear the necklace.

“Thanks, Aleks. I appreciate it.”

“Here.” He leans over the bar, gesturing for me to move closer. “Let me help.”

“Uh. Sure.”

I scoop up the length of my hair, giving him access to my throat as I turn around. It’s an intimate position, one that leaves me more defenseless than I like considering he’s an apex predator and I’m baring my throat to him, but it’s Aleks. I’d be more in danger of him kissing my skin than biting it.

He doesn’t do either.

As if he wasn’t seemingly perfect enough, he really does respect the fact that I want to keep our relationship platonic. He doesn’t even linger or accidentally brush up against me. He just loops the necklace around my neck and clasps it together.

“There.” I turn again just in time to see a look of satisfaction cross his beautiful features. “Perfect.”

I pat the fang. When he heads on out again, I’ll stick it under my shirt so it’s not so obvious that I’ve got it on, but for now I leave it. “Want a drink? I’ve got some Earl Grey I can brew for you in the back real quick.”

“That would be lovely.”

“Hang tight.”

Before I head toward the back, I glance around the bar. Hailey’s due in later tonight. Right now, there are a couple of waitresses working the tables, and Tony, the busboy.

I call for him. “Hey, Tony.”

“Yeah, Gem?”

“Keep an eye on the bar for me? I’ll be right back.”

He flashes me a thumb’s up, and I head into the storage room. It’s where we keep all of the stock that doesn’t fit out behind the bar, plus the massive fridge where Charlie stores all of the chilled blood for his vamp regulars. I also have a small electric stovetop, a kettle, and a microwave.

What can I say? Ever since I met Aleks, I’ve developed a taste for tea.

A couple of minutes later, I’ve got the tea steeping. I grab the steaming mug in two hands and use my ass to swing the door open again. Aleks swears that his Earl Grey is perfectly steeped in three minutes and anything over that is undrinkable which is why I’m so surprised to find that he’s not sitting where I left him.

I set down his mug, frowning. Not only is he gone, but there’s no sign of him in the whole bar.

“Hey, Gem. Looking for Filan?”

I know that voice. That’s the flirtatious vampire Vincent. He must’ve sat down at the counter while I was in the back.

I nod over at him. “Yeah, Vin. You see him?”

The vampire nods. “He got a call. Said to tell you he’d be right back.”

Huh. That’s interesting. Like a shifter, a vampire’s hearing is extremely keen. Even with the bar’s normal noise level, he’d have no problem having a conversation inside—unless he needed privacy.

Like, oh, I don’t know. Maybe it was Roman calling him?

Great. Just great.

Well, if he comes back and his tea is over-steeped, I can always make him another cup if he wants. Until then, I reach for a blacked-out shot glass and get ready to pour out Vincent’s regular order—but not before I take the opportunity to tuck my fang beneath my shirt.

Just as I’m sliding his drink over to him, the door opens again. Immediately, my wolf lets out a warning yip that has my head jerking toward the entrance. A familiar scent rises up over the alcohol, the fried appetizers, the stink of the rest of the clientele. It’s musky, it’s spicy, and there’s a hint of pine that has my heart starting to pound.

I was expecting it to be Aleks, but despite his natural icy scent, every vamp carries the scent of blood and death with them.

And that scent?

It smells like life.

It smells like hope.

It smells like mate.

Holy shit.

Ryker. That’s Ryker standing in the open doorway.

And from the way that his dark gold eyes find me from across the bar, I know that it’s way too late for me to duck and hide.

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