Mate Bond(12)

She and Ryan went out into the backyard, where Kenzie dragged in a long  breath. Ryan carefully let go of her hand, watching her as though to see  whether she'd stay here, calming herself, or run back inside and rip  out the vet's throat.

"You all right, Mom?" he asked.

"Yes." She took another breath, letting the serenity of the tall trees  soothe her. "I'll be fine." Far down the row of widely spaced houses,  other cubs were playing. One waved to Ryan, then stood up and waited to  see if he'd come over.

Ryan acknowledged his friend and shot a question at his mother.

"Go," she said, putting amusement in her voice. "I promise I won't kill anyone."

"It's not like that, Mom," Ryan said. "I was watching."

No doubt he had been, and no doubt he was right. Not much got past Ryan.  "Thank you," Kenzie said sincerely. "Go. Be back for supper."

Relieved of the duty of guarding his parents, Ryan ran off toward his  friend's yard. He ran fast, the strength in his legs, which she swore  grew longer every day, apparent.

They were the luckiest Shifters, Kenzie thought as she watched Ryan.  Unlike other Shifters around the country, who'd been stuck into the slum  ends of cities, their Shiftertown had been built in deep woods, in an  abandoned housing project from early in the last century.

The houses were surrounded by old-growth forests, with trees that  reached several hundred feet, branches reaching out well above the floor  of the woods to provide a roof of green. Pine needles carpeted the  ground, inches thick. The air always smelled slightly damp but cool, and  wind perpetually creaked in the trees high above.

Clean air, far from giant industrial cities, and mountains rising to  surround them in beauty at all times. The small houses had been  originally built with a woodsy theme, their walls fabricated to look  like split logs rather than actually being split logs from any trees  around here. In summer, this area could be hot, the air turning dank and  humid. Winters, on the other hand, could be fairly mild, with dustings  of snow to keep everything moist.

Shiftertowns were places of confinement, but this Shiftertown had always  felt welcoming to Kenzie. She'd been to others that made her  uncomfortable, but here she'd found home. Didn't matter that she wore a  Collar and couldn't run free-yet, Bowman would always add-she'd  discovered a sort of peace here.

Her clan had come from Romania, in the wilds of the mountains there,  which was perhaps why she liked this Shiftertown in the middle of  nowhere. But here, Kenzie was no longer alone. In Romania, she'd been  part of the clan run by her formidable uncle Cristian and dominated by  her grandmother, Afina. Kenzie's immediate family, however, had all  passed when she'd been a tiny cub. Lonely and withdrawn, she'd known no  one but her cousins, and since Shifters couldn't mate within the clan,  and Uncle Cristian wasn't letting her out of his sight, she thought  she'd never find a mate of her own.                       
       
           



       

Then Shifters had been outed, the clan had been rounded up, and Uncle  Cristian's Shifters had been herded to the States and this Shiftertown.

And Kenzie had seen Bowman. She'd first caught sight of him across the  gym of the closed school they'd been taken to. She'd seen a tall,  tight-muscled Shifter in jeans and a sweatshirt, with tousled, short  hair and movements that said he was more comfortable in his wolf form  than his human one.

He'd turned his head, as though he'd felt her gaze, and looked at her. A  long look that burned the air-it didn't matter how many Shifters or  human soldiers moved between them. His eyes were light gray, she  remembered; Bowman on the edge of shifting.

He'd stood very still, looking at her, Kenzie gazing right back at him.  She'd stared at him, and he at her, until one of Kenzie's younger  cousins had called to her, needing her.

Bowman had let her go, but the slight nod of his head acknowledged her  and the spark that had danced between them. His nod was also a  dismissal, an indication that he considered her submissive to him, no  matter that he'd never seen her before in his life.

Arrogant, insufferable . . . Kenzie had muttered to herself, but for the  rest of the time they'd spent in those temporary quarters, she hadn't  been able to keep her eyes off him.

Bowman had been chosen as Shiftertown leader by the human government's  Shifter Bureau. Kenzie's uncle Cristian hadn't liked that one bit,  because he'd thought that, being older and from a bigger clan, he should  be leader of all Shiftertown. But the two other Lupine clans, smaller  and less dominant, had conceded to Bowman's authority. The Felines and  bears had wanted to challenge Bowman to put one of their own in the top  position, but the Shifter Bureau had decreed Bowman leader. In the human  government's view, that was good enough.

Uneasy peace had ensued for a couple of years, but Uncle Cristian  couldn't leave well enough alone. Cristian was a dominant wolf, and he  chafed under Bowman's leadership. He was also a crafty devil, good at  stirring up trouble. Kenzie had always been grateful to Uncle Cristian  for taking her in, but she wasn't blind to his personality. He could be a  total bastard.

It was too easy to return to wild ways out here, and Shifters over the  next years had started reverting to clan loyalty above all else. Uncle  Cristian had started turning the Lupines from the lesser clans against  Bowman, even joining with Felines who wanted Bowman out. Bears always  did their own thing, but after a while even they'd stopped agreeing to  obey Bowman, even though Cade was already his second.

Bowman kept everything together by his strength and his smarts, and all  would have been right after a while, but the humans got wind of the  problems. Kenzie had no doubt at all that Uncle Cristian and his most  loyal trackers had made sure the humans had heard about the unrest in  their Shiftertown.

The humans had come to Bowman and given him an ultimatum. He either  calmed things down, or they'd close this Shiftertown. They'd split up  the clans, packs, and prides in order to fit them into other  Shiftertowns, deciding that the dominant families would cause less  trouble if they were scattered.

When they'd gone, Bowman had walked over to Kenzie's grandmother's,  where Kenzie had been living, strode straight into the kitchen, ignoring  that it was the territory of a rival clan, and told Kenzie that he was  taking her as mate.

Kenzie had gotten in his face, saying she didn't simply roll over and obey when an alpha wolf walked in the door.

Never mind that her heart had been hammering like crazy, her breath  gone, every need she possessed screaming at her to leap on him. She'd  yelled at him-like hell she'd jump to obey him when he'd been fighting  her uncle and every other Shifter in Shiftertown.

His eyes had been white gray with rage, his hard face, with its brush of  dark whiskers, speaking of years of kicking the asses of every Shifter  who confronted him. But Kenzie wasn't afraid of Bowman.

And yet, she was. But her fear was more of herself, of something primal in her that responded to him.

Female Shifters wanted him-human groupies did too. Bowman hadn't been  celibate-he'd satisfied his powerful libido plenty since they'd moved to  this Shiftertown, and Kenzie had known it. But never with Kenzie.

Bowman had stood his ground in that kitchen while Kenzie shouted at him.  He simply watched her, just as he'd gazed at her that first night in  the gym, as he'd looked at her every time they'd crossed paths in the  five years since.

Not until Kenzie ran out of words had she realized her grandmother and  cousins had quietly departed. They'd left the house empty, and Bowman  and Kenzie were alone.                       
       
           



       

Bowman had waited until she'd finished, then he'd caught her around the waist and crushed a kiss to her mouth.

She didn't honestly remember how they'd gotten into the living room, but  there she'd been with Bowman on the floor, her mating frenzy kicking  into high gear. They'd torn off each other's clothes, barely able to  stay in human shape. Kenzie's back hit the carpet, Bowman's strong arms  cushioning her fall, and then everything became a blur. She'd heard  herself crying out, heard Bowman's voice joining hers, as her body  awakened into unbelievable pleasure.

Her hands had gone down Bowman's bare back, raking his flesh. His mouth  bruised hers, his eyes, darkening as he'd taken her, not looking away,  not letting her look away.

They'd grappled on the carpet until Kenzie's back was raw. Bowman  spilled his seed into her with a groan, but he was hard again at once,  and began thrusting again without withdrawing.

All afternoon and well into the night they'd made love in that living  room, sometimes rolling over so that Kenzie rode Bowman, his callused  hands on her arms or cupping her breasts. They'd taken it to a chair  when the floor got too hard, Kenzie just fitting into it with him.