Claiming His Mate(4)

Lauren blinked, beyond shocked by his crude words. Without thinking she blindly reached for the nearest object on the desk—a paperweight—and chucked it at his head.

With lightning quick reflexes Max caught the moon shaped globe with one hand, then set it on a bookshelf before stalking toward her with the slow, precise movements of a predator.

Out of the corner of her eye she measured the distance to the nearest window. She could jump through the glass and shift mid jump. It would hurt being sliced up by the fragments but she’d heal quickly.

As if he read her mind, he crossed the rest of the distance in the blink of an eye, caging her in with both arms. He placed his hands on the desk on either side of her, but didn’t actually touch her.

She swallowed and tried not to let him know how intimidated she was. “How did you know I was here?” she asked quietly, needing to break the silence. She wasn’t sure if she should be terrified or turned on and her emotions were all out of whack. His scent made her crazy and the hungry look in his eyes was doing strange things to her insides.

“I scented you on that rock you used to break the French doors. Had a good idea why you did it—good plan by the way. And I knew you’d be back.”

“Bullshit. You didn’t scent me.” But…she didn’t scent a lie. It seemed as if he was telling the truth.

His pale eyes narrowed. “Yes. I did. Just like I can scent you now. Like amber and vanilla.”

Lauren swallowed hard. There was no way he could be able to scent her. Not with her gift. Unless…she frowned at the thought. No, no, no. That just wasn’t possible. She refused to even acknowledge the possibility. Though her gift was rare she knew a few other jaguar shifters with the same ability. The only other shifters able to scent them were their mates.

But there was no way in hell this obnoxious, sexy wolf was her mate.





Chapter 2





Max stared into the big brown eyes of the petite jaguar shifter in front of him. He wanted to kick his own ass for the way he’d just spoken to Lauren. In his pack he was known for being laid back, the one who everyone could come to with their problems if Grant wasn’t around. Right now he felt edgy and raw in a way he’d only experienced once before.

The first time he’d met her.

This little minx just brought out something primal in him and he didn’t understand it. He did know that he hated the thread of fear in her dark gaze. “I’m not going to hurt you, but you will have to be punished.”

Lauren’s body tensed, as if she was preparing to fight him. “Punished?”

He leaned closer, still not quite touching her, but he couldn’t get enough of her scent. He hadn’t been lying when he’d told her he could smell her. It was odd that she was surprised by it. That amber and vanilla scent twined around him like a silk embrace. She smelled like sex and…his. She smelled like his. It was the only way to describe it. Six months ago when she’d showed up with her parents and pride members he’d been stunned by his raw reaction to her. He’d made a crude comment to her then too—which was why she’d told him to fuck off. She’d seemed so sweet and almost innocent. He’d been angry at himself for noticing her. For wanting her so badly he couldn’t see or think straight. Sure twenty-five wasn’t young by human standards but he was a hundred and fifty.

He’d fought his feelings for a month then had planned to go after her. But shit had happened that prevented him from chasing after her. He’d had to leave his pack’s territory to take care of it and when he’d gotten back he’d been in no condition to court Lauren.

Now she was back in his pack’s territory and he wasn’t letting her go. His wolf wouldn’t let him. In all his years he’d never fought his animal’s instinct and he wasn’t about to start now. “Yes, punished. You will remain in Kincaid territory for a week. You will stay with me, under my roof. At the end of the week—seven full days starting tomorrow—you can go home. With your brooch.” Liar, his inner wolf howled. Max didn’t want to her go home.

But he knew Grant would give her pride the jewels back. They’d talked about it last month. After some issues with rogue vampires a few months ago Grant had decided it wouldn’t hurt to be cordial to any packs or prides in the nearby area. Shifters had long lives and long memories and having a pride pissed at his pack for something that happened a century ago wasn’t smart. His alpha just hadn’t gotten around to contacting the Hayes pride because he’d been too wrapped up in his new mate.

Lauren shoved at his chest with surprising strength, the flash of anger and…hurt in her gaze cutting into him. “I’m not a whore.”