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Matt leaned back in his chair by the front window of his cabin, staring outside at the fire pit. Erena was out there. She'd successfully avoided him for three whole days. He was fine waiting—he was in no rush, although every second he spent watching her was exquisite torture. It killed him that she hadn’t answered his question the other night. She had to feel the same, didn't she? There was only one reason he'd have such strong feelings for her this quickly, and that was because she was his mate.
Wasn't she?
Well, it was the only explanation he could come up with. His inner mountain lion was scrambling within him, wanting to be near her, wanting to help her with her troubles and make her happy. She looked sad all the time. Sure, she tried to hide that sorrow in anger and in being stiff and unapproachable, but he saw through that. He liked her not only in spite of it, but because of it. His mate was tough. She was strong. She wouldn’t take shit from anyone.
The kiss—the kiss they'd shared had been incredible. She'd tasted sweet, like her vanilla scent, like her low, smooth voice.
Yes, they were mates. He'd finally found the one. Inconvenient timing, but he honestly didn't give a fuck about timing. All he knew was that he wanted her and somehow he had to convince her to give him a chance.
At the moment, she was sipping coffee and staring at the empty fire pit. She had to be freezing out there, even in her thick coat. This Idaho January was one of the coldest ever.
Matt's phone rang. He glanced down at the caller ID, which read Larry. That meant it was Bronson, who had told Matt to change the contact info in case someone from the RCC happened to see his calls or texts come in.
Matt nudged his phone farther across the table and went back to looking at Erena. Her hair looked soft, and he knew she'd smell like clean sawdust and vanilla.
Although there hadn't been anything overtly sexual in their kiss after that run the other night, he couldn't get the image of her body out of his dreams and fantasies. He felt like a horny teenager, sporting a boner at random moments, jerking off twice a day to thoughts of her, unable to keep the lurid imaginings out of his mind. He thought of going back to the cairn with her, leaning her over it, and sucking and biting those glorious tits while she squirmed and begged him for more.
In fact, he'd gone out to the Circle to investigate the cairn for Bronson, and seeing the place where they'd been naked together the other night had made him so hard that, after making sure he was completely alone, he'd pulled out his dick and stroked himself to an orgasm right there in the early morning. Then he'd reluctantly pulled stones off the cairn to make sure nothing was hidden inside. It was empty, like he'd suspected, but now he had something else he could share with Bronson. Empty cairn, check.
He thought he was doing a good job of not staring at her constantly, but it seemed the entire clan was aware of how he wanted her. He'd heard Nolan humming "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones the other morning and Matt had looked up sharply. Nolan wasn't even glancing in Matt's direction, but from his evil smirk, Matt knew the song was meant for him.
Asshole polar bear.
Kayla and Parker had laughed. Which made them assholes as well.
His phone vibrated with the notification that he had a voicemail, but he ignored that, too.
Nina came out of her and Jameson's cabin and went straight for Erena. Matt, hidden behind his curtain, stifled a laugh as he watched Erena look left and right, as if searching for an escape. But Nina was already talking to her and brandishing two mugs, and Erena was obviously stuck.
Matt watched as Nina handed one of the mugs to Erena.
"I made too much hot cocoa." Nina's voice carried through the crisp morning.
"Uh, thanks," Erena said. "Maybe you should give it to someone else—"
Nina looked around. "Nope, you're the only one around. Margot didn't need you at the bakery this morning?"
Erena shook her head.
Matt willed Nina to keep the conversation going so he could learn more about Erena, but unfortunately Nina ran out of things to say and retreated across the ring and over to her writing cabin. Erena held the steaming mug and stared after her, a puzzled look on her face.
Now was a good time for Matt to head over and talk to Jameson. He'd been subtly questioning the other clan members over the past couple of days, trying to get a feel for whether anything weird had been happening in the territory. Nobody had picked up on any strange occurrences.
No information yet. An empty cairn wasn’t intel. Bronson was going to be pissed.
It would help if Matt knew what he was asking about, but either Bronson didn't know or didn't trust Matt enough to tell him. All Matt knew was that they were looking for anything out of the ordinary, possibly magical, in the area—that was all Matt had to go on.
The only clan members he hadn't spoken to were Rex and Jameson. Rex had flat out refused to talk to him, and Matt had been putting off the conversation with Jameson. Lying to his former alpha made him feel sick inside.
They weren’t the only clan members he hadn’t talked to, but they were the only two he was even willing to question. Erena was the only one left after them. But the thought of using her for information made him feel even worse than talking to Jameson. He hadn't asked her any questions about the clan or territory, and he wasn't going to. Ever.
Time to talk to Jameson.
There was the danger of spooking Erena when he went outside. He didn't have much of a choice, and besides, he lived here, too. He stood up and shoved on his boots, then stepped outside.
She turned sharply at the sound of his door opening, but he held up his hands and said, "Good morning," and went straight to Jameson's cabin. Erena settled back into her folding lawn chair.
Matt knocked swiftly on the door.
"Come in," Jameson said.
Matt entered and saw Jameson sitting at the dining table, his laptop open.
"Grading papers already?" Matt asked.
"No, just finalizing the syllabus. Courses start next week."
"That late in the month, huh?"
Jameson closed his laptop and looked at him. "Why are you here, Matt? I get that Kayla and Sloan had a bad break-up. But it doesn't have anything to do with you. Why'd you come with her?"
"No reason, really. Just ready for a change." He was careful to keep his heartbeat steady, his voice even. This was the truth, as far as anyone would ever know. But it was one thing lying to other members of the clan, and a whole different thing lying to an alpha as powerful as Jameson. Keeping his voice light, Matt continued, "Bitterroot was getting crowded, and rumor had it that Jake left the RCC, so I thought I'd stop here first."
"I could've used you when Jake was here, and again right after he left."
"Nolan said you had a battle with vampires."
Jameson nodded, studying him. "We did."
"Anything else weird going on?" Matt asked.
"What do you mean?" Jameson drummed his fingers on his laptop, looking impatient.
Matt shrugged. "I don't know. I just get the sense sometimes that there's more happening. I'm here now, and I can help if you need it."
Standing up, Jameson walked over to the coffee pot on the counter.
"Well, as far as I know, this is business as usual." He gestured out the window to where Erena still sat by the dead fire. "But I have to tell you—if you hurt that woman, you're out."
"Hurt her?" Matt asked. Then he shook his head. He wouldn't play dumb with Jameson. Better to tell the truth here, when he could. "Hurting her or toying with her is the last thing on my mind."
Jameson nodded. "Is there anything else?"
Matt didn't like the hint of suspicion he heard in Jameson's tone. "Nah."
Jameson poured a cup of coffee. “Want some?”
“No, but thanks.” Matt turned to go and caught another glimpse of Erena. "Actually, I do have another question."
"Sure, what is it?"
"How did you know Nina was your mate?"
Jameson huffed a laugh and leaned against the kitchen counter, mug raised to his mouth. "So that's what it's like for you with her?"
He didn’t even want to pretend otherwise. There was no shame here. He’d claim that woman in a hot second if she would have anything to do with him. "I think so."
With another evaluating look at Matt, Jameson said, "Looking back, I think I knew almost as soon as I met her. But I was an idiot and I tried to ignore it. I ended up hurting us both, more than we needed or deserved. If I'd just admitted it right off, it would have saved us a lot of grief." He took a sip of his coffee, his blue eyes soft with the memory. "Then again, I don't think I'd do much differently if I had another chance. Our story is special, and in the end, it worked out perfectly."
Matt was ready to admit that he and Erena were mates, but he could tell she was nowhere near ready.
He nodded. "Thanks, man."
Jameson gave him what was probably supposed to be a smile but looked more like a grimace. "Good luck. You'll need it."
Matt started to leave. Standing in the doorway, he said, "Other than the cairn, what other sites of interest are there around here?"
"You looking to take our angry woman on a date?" Jameson asked.
"Yeah," Matt said, surprised at the suggestion and how quickly he latched onto it. A date hadn't been his intention at all. He was just trying to find some kind of information that he might pass back to Bronson.
"There's the waterfall, although it's a little cold for a picnic. Why not go out for dinner and drinks? Nolan likes that Cattywompus place in downtown Helene."
Matt raised a hand in farewell. "Thanks, Jameson. I'll give it a shot."
As soon as he stepped out of Jameson's cabin, Erena stood and walked into her own. The "fuck off" vibes were strong with that one.
Matt shrugged. As well as being an accomplished liar, he could be persuasive. He just had to figure out the best way to approach her.