Mabel Ann exhaled a puff of air and shook her long hair back. She hardly ever wore it down, but something about the last few days had made it impossible for her to keep up.
Like her inner Wolf could not stand it being restrained in any way and trying to keep it in a braid was proving maddening. She looked in the mirror at the peasant style dress she wore with its ruffled off the shoulder top and sighed.
Not ideal for someone with her full figure, but it was comfortable and easy to get off and on which was imperative when the Pack had these little shindigs. They always ended with a run, and her Wolf was anxious to spend time in the woods with her Pack.
Of course, she could pretend the fact foreign dignitaries from Packs around the world were going to be there did not play a part in her excitement. But then she’d be lying.
Mabel Ann loathed liars. Though, to be honest, she doubted that made her unique. Who in the world woke up every day and said, gee, I love me a good liar? Probably not many people. And certainly no one she wanted to know.
It might be scandalous for normals to go out without underthings, but what was the point, really? The last time she tried to undress to shift during these things, her panties had gotten stuck on her Wolf’s tail, and Georgie hadn’t let her hear the end of it for weeks.
Mabel was not taking any chances and that meant she was going commando beneath the colorful dress. Sans bra, her ta-tas would normally be on display, but the large ruffle on the top of her dress hid her assets rather well.
“You ready yet, Mabel Ann?” her father queried from the hallway.
“Yes, Daddy,” she said, grinning when she opened the door.
“Well there, honey pie, you look good enough to eat,” her father said, taking her hand and pulling her closer for a peck on the cheek.
Eyes like hers twinkled playfully, and she giggled like she used to when she was just a girl. The father daughter moment was shattered by his not so eloquent new wife, as she placed a possessive hand on his arm and looked Mabel Ann over with critical eyes.
“You mean she looks like she ate too many honey pies,” Bonny commented.
“Bonny!” Freddy scolded.
“What? I just mean she needs to try if she wants to find a mate. We don’t want our little honey pie to end up alone, do we?” the she-Wolf asked, and blinked up at him.
Mabel Ann did not even answer, disgusted already by the way Freddy Williams simply sighed, already softening towards his new mate. The old man was a good father, always had been, but she was getting damn tired of his wife.
Maybe she should really consider moving out. It was not something unmated Wolves in the Zapata Pack usually did, but she needed space. Clearly, Bonny saw her as some kind of threat to her position.
The Pack’s Beta couple were held in high esteem by all, and as the daughter of Freddy Williams, Mabel Ann had to admit she’d gotten away with far more than other members had. She couldn’t help it.
Seeing the world through Wolf colored lenses meant seeing things as they were. So why couldn’t people, Shifters, and Werewolves especially, simply act as honestly as their alternate natures?
She was tired of the come ons by horny males, and the put downs by mated females. Having a man and losing twenty pounds would not complete her life, for shit’s sake.
Mabel Ann was already a complete, happy, and healthy she-Wolf. If she found a man worthy enough of her love, she would give it to him. But it was all too clear the Fates had not kept Mabel Ann in mind when they were creating true mates. She’d finally come to accept that one hard fact.
Just as she’d grown to accept her Pack nickname. What the others failed to comprehend was ice queen or not depended on the Wolf asking. So far, she hadn’t met a single male who could turn her head.
And right then, as she watched Bonny making stupid noises at her father, she knew she would have to accept that it might not ever happen.
It’s okay, she told her Wolf after the beast whined mournfully inside her.
We will be fine on our own
* * *
The Zapata Pack House was decorated with thousands of twinkle lights and a huge tent, the wedding kind, not the circus kind, was set up on the south side of the property. Country music performed by a local band played softly in the background as the place runneth over with Wolves from all over the world.
Mabel Ann sucked in a breath, for some reason her nerves were buzzing all around. She walked past folks she knew, and others she didn’t offering a smile and nod in greeting. Tonight was not for formalities. Tonight was for their Wolves.
Crystal, the Alpha fem, might be a griping she-Wolf who did not appreciate their small town, but Mabel Ann had to hand it to her. This was a clever idea. She saw Werewolves from all walks of life and corners of the earth chatting and mingling. There was a huge buffet and several carving stations with real Texas barbecue being served.
It was amazing, and as she watched Georgie dancing a two-step with some strange Wolf, she started to smile. The song ended and they clapped, but Mabel Ann still could not see who it was her bestie was dancing with.
Georgie was still catching her breath clearly having a ball, but she called Mabel over just the same. So, she strode forward, a cold beer in hand and had an easy smile on her face.
That smile turned brittle as she neared the pair of them. Something was happening to her, Mabel Ann thought with growing wonder. Her Wolf was all but howling inside her mind’s eye.
It was all she could do to hold onto her skin, and not let the change wash over her. She sniffed and almost went cross-eyed at the delicious fragrance dancing across her senses.
He smelled dark and woodsy, like crushed pine needles and musk. It was so enticing, she licked her lips and maybe even growled a little. Oh no. She definitely growled a little, and aloud too. The broad-shouldered man tensed, every muscle going perfectly still. He sniffed deeply, and her heart started pounding inside her like thunder.
Could it be? Is he our one?
Her Wolf growled louder, and Mabel Ann could not slow her pace, rushing towards where Georgie was standing way too close to the male Mabel Ann was pretty fucking sure belonged to her.
Mine, snarled her she-Wolf, and Mabel Ann froze just inches from touching him.
The man finally whipped around, and she could have swallowed her tongue. He was no man. This Wolf was Apollo, or Adonis, with the body of Hercules if the size of the pecs visible through his t-shirt was anything to go by.
His blue-green eyes narrowed as they seemed to devour her face. Shock, and wait, was that reticence as he looked over her curvy body in the flowy dress she wore?
“You? You are my mate?” he asked, sounding both confused and shocked.
“It must be a mistake,” she replied, embarrassed by his reaction.
The jerk!
Fuck this, she thought and backed away, shaking her head.
“Mabel Ann?” Georgie questioned.
It was obvious Mabel Ann’s best friend was confused as to the undertones of what had just happened. The blond god gritted his teeth. That sharp jaw unbreakable as he tilted his head, his expression unreadable.
But he made no move to stop her retreat, and that just said it all. He just stood there, being gorgeous, letting Georgie continue to touch him. Pain unlike any she’d ever felt hit Mabel Ann right smack in the chest, and before she could stop herself, she gasped.
More than one Wolf turned to look at her, and she felt their eyes like so many hands tearing at her, witnesses to her humiliation. Mabel Ann growled louder, retreating till she was free from the confines of the tent.
“Wait!” she heard a voice yell after her, but it was too late.
Heading for the woods, she tore the dress over her head and kicked off her shoes, stuffing both on the tiny back porch of one of the unused cabins behind the Pack House. Then she called on her Wolf.
Her shift was slow at first, though it had grown faster now that the curse of Natalis was over, broken by a spunky little Wolf from Northern, New Jersey named Grazi Kelly. Of all the people Mabel Ann had hoped would be there tonight, she was sorta hoping she would be there. Having wanted to meet the young she-Wolf for years now, but for whatever reason Grazi Kelly had not been invited.
It was because she was not an Alpha of a Pack, her father had explained, but whatever. Mabel Ann could not think about that right then. She was still reeling from the initial rejection of the Wolf the Fates had mistakenly thought to mark out as her mate.
When she was finally in her fur, she took off. Sprinting for the thick woods full of pines, oaks, and mesquite trees. The grasses and shrubs were sparser, but still lush and she’d never felt more in tune with her beast than she did right in that moment.
Her heart was breaking, but Mabel Ann refused to give in to the foolish organ. After all, there was no love lost here. It was just a sniff and mate test that happened upon her by chance, and she was just unlucky. That was all.
Throwing her lupine head back, she howled long and loud at the nearly full moon that was bright and low in the sky. She must have been gone longer than she’d thought, and the sounds of others who’d shifted echoed her call. One in particular was very close by.
She turned, snarling as the stranger entered her space. He was enormous, this Wolf, his fur white as snow and his eyes a more intense blue-green than when he wore his skin. Still, she recognized him.
Though they’d only faced each other for a moment, Mabel Ann knew his scent already. Her blood warmed and the feelings kindling in her belly had her growling even louder.
She was not about to do this. She would not run with a Wolf who clearly had issues with her body. Hell no. The Wolf yipped, but she continued to growl. He moved closer, and she snapped her jaws in warning.
The air around him hummed and vibrated with a familiar sort of magic, and the white fur on the Wolf’s back began to recede. Mabel Ann was stunned.
In the blink of an eye, he was in his skin, and seemed no worse for wear. Even the Zapata Pack Alpha took longer to change than that. Curiosity had her wanting to ask him questions, but she really didn’t like the idea of being nude with him.
As a rule, Shifters weren’t shy. But she had reasons for her reticence to change back to human. Mainly, his negative reaction upon seeing her.
“Easy, little Wolf. I just want to talk,” the male began.
“Won’t you change for me?” he asked, but Mabel Ann was not feeling inclined.
She growled her reply, long and hard.
“Fine, I guess we start the hard way then,” he said and sighed, exasperation in his tone.
The tall blond Wolf looked down for a few moments and placed his hands on his hips, and she was able to steal a long look across his body. Damn, he was beautiful. The perfect male specimen. Of all the books she’d read, the romances and fantasies, Mabel Ann had always held a certain ideal male when she imagined the heroes of all those tales. He was it.
Male beauty personified. His hair was like a halo of golden curls and waves, the chiseled jaw and straight nose that bore evidence of being broken once was just enough to stop him from being pretty.
Continuing her perusal she wanted to moan at the rippling muscles and bronzed skin glittering in the pale moonlight. He was tall with thick thighs and powerful legs. Mabel Ann raked her Wolf eyes over him curious to see more, particularly that long bit that even while flaccid was girthy and way above average in size. Nestled on a bed of dark gold curls, his man parts must have felt her interest because it started to fill and grow before her eyes.
Holy cow.
Virgin or not, she’d seen naked men aplenty. Pretty hard not to when you were raised in a Wolf Pack. But none of the men she’d ever seen had stolen her breath away like this stranger had. Too bad, she thought sadly before the sound of him clearing his throat interrupted her.
“Eyes up here, pupcake. That’s it. Now, my name is Liam McAllister,” he said, his voice a deep satisfying rumble. “I’m a Wolf Guard with the Macconwood Pack. I am twenty-seven years old, and my net worth is somewhere in the seven figures, I haven’t really cared all that much to check, but if you want to know the exact figures, I’ll have someone send them to me. The Pack takes care of its own. And since I believe you are my fated mate, I intend on taking care of you, little Wolf. Now change back and greet your mate properly.”
For some reason, I felt my body hum and buzz with electricity and magic. The bastard had ordered me to shift. And without even thinking about it, my dick-struck Wolf obeyed.
What the actual hell was going on? Furious, Mabel Ann worked through the pain of her forced shift and lay gasping a few moments after she was finally free of her fur. It had taken approximately three minutes, and she was surprised to see concern etched on Liam McAllister’s handsome face.
He reached out to her, and her pulse raced like mad, but no way was she going to allow him to touch her. Backing away, she got to her feet with speed and grace that surprised even him.
“I might be chubby, but I am still Wolf,” she growled at him.
“Now what the hell do you want?”
“What do I want? We’re mates. If I wasn’t sure before I sure as fuck am sure now. Can’t you feel that?” he asked, moving right into her personal space.
Liam dipped his head down to the place where her neck met her shoulder and breathed in deeply. Fuck, his tongue snaked out and licked her, and Mabel felt her sex grow warm and wet and ready for her mate.
“No!”
The strangled sound tore from her throat as she backed up. She shook her head, ignoring his hurt expression.
“I saw your face when you saw me. I am not your type. You belong with someone like Georgie—”
“Who the fuck is Georgie? And why do you think you’re not my type?” he asked.
“Georgie is the name of the skinny blonde you were all but drooling over on the dance floor. I saw your eyes when you looked at me and you frowned, shocked even by what your senses were telling you when you got a whiff of my scent. I don’t want a mate who is resigned to being with me.”
“Please,” he begged. “Just give us a chance. I was shocked, yes, but not because of how you look—”
“Don’t lie to me,” Mabel growled, and she felt her Wolf push against her.
The beast was torn between wanting to run into his arms and wanting to bite his balls off. She did not like it when her human side was hurt or upset, and Mabel Ann was both those things. His gaze remained respectfully on her face, and that was how she knew this wasn’t real. Fated Wolves would tear down heaven and earth, even walk through the fires of hell to get through their mates.
He couldn’t even summon the interest to look at her naked body. More pain and hurt flowed into her. Like lemon juice on an open wound, it stung and burned.
“What’s your name?” he asked, and for some reason, she answered.
“Mabel Ann,” she whispered, tears swimming in her gaze. “But you can forget that name. Forget me.”
“Never,” he growled, anger real and evident in his tone. “You are mine, Mabel Ann.”
“No. I am mine, Liam McAllister. And I will never give myself to any male unless he is worthy. That ain’t you, so you can just go home.”