Reclaiming Angelica

by

Zena Wynn

Prologue

A sound woke him. The door? Did someone leave?

Raul listened harder. A sob. Someone was crying.

He wasn’t supposed to get out of bed once Momma tucked him in, but who was crying? It didn’t sound like Momma.

Poppa?

He raised his hands and knuckled his eyes clear of the sleepiness. Grabbing his stuffed puppy—Momma said they couldn’t have a real dog, not in the apartment, and bought him Ruffy instead—he climbed out of bed and stepped lightly to the door. Maybe if he was really quiet, Momma wouldn’t catch him, and he could find out who was crying and hop back into bed before she noticed he’d gotten up.

Poppa told Momma to leave his door cracked so the light from the hall could shine inside because Raul didn’t like the dark. He was too old to be scared of the dark. Only babies were afraid of the dark, and he was a big boy. Momma said so because he was starting school next year.

Raul peeped through the door, but couldn’t see anything. It sounded like the noise was coming from the living room.

He eased down the carpeted hallway to the living room, his bare feet making no sound, dragging Ruffy by his tattered ears. Poppa knelt on the floor, his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking like they did when he laughed. This didn’t sound like laughter to him.

Raul glanced around but didn’t see Momma anywhere. Cautiously, he eased forward and laid a tentative hand on his poppa’s big shoulder. “Poppa?”

Poppa didn’t hear him.

Warily, he glanced around again. Where’s Momma? It wasn’t like Poppa to be alone.

Momma was always here, especially at night. She laughed and said Poppa didn’t like her going out after dark because he was scared something bad would happen to her. Raul didn’t think Poppa was scared of anything. He was so strong and so big, but Momma said there were different types of scared. That this scared was okay because it meant Poppa loved her and didn’t want anything bad happening to her.

Feeling a little scared, Raul patted Poppa’s shoulder, a bit insistently this time. “Poppa, where’s Momma?”

His father jerked and turned swiftly, startling Raul so bad he dropped Ruffy and staggered back before falling hard onto his bottom.

“Raul,” his Poppa said, not sounding like Poppa at all. His voice was jagged, his face wet with tears, and his skin red and blotchy.

Poppa reached out and grabbed him, pulling him into a hug. Poppa held him so tight it was hard to breathe. Not knowing what else to do, Raul patted Poppa on the head, the way Poppa sometimes did to him when he fell and hurt himself and cried.

Raul still wanted to know where Momma was, but Poppa’s big shoulders were shaking again, and the side of his neck where Poppa’s face was buried was wet.

After a long time, when it was all Raul could do not to wiggle his way free, Poppa’s shoulders finally stopped shaking. When Poppa finally lifted his head, he looked so sad, so unPoppa-like, that Raul’s chest hurt. “Poppa, where’s Momma?”

“She left.”

Raul’s forehead wrinkled. “She went to the store? But Momma said you don’t like for her to go out at night.”

A single tear leaked out of Poppa’s eye, trailed down his cheek to splash on Raul’s hand. “She’s not at the store, son. She’s gone.”

“Where did she go?” Raul asked curiously.

Poppa squeezed his eyes shut and breathed out so deeply his breath felt like a soft wind in Raul’s face.

Raul laid his hand on his Poppa’s bristly cheek. “Don’t be sad, Poppa. Momma will be home soon. Nothing bad happened to her.”

“Oh God! Oh God!” His Poppa hugged him tight again, rocking with him so that his feet left the carpet. Slowly Poppa lowered him to the floor and cupped both of Raul’s cheeks with his huge hands. “Raul, listen to me, son. Momma’s not coming back.”

Raul tried to understand. “Did Grammaw Pauline get sick again?”

Once when he was little, Momma went to stay with her momma because she was sick and didn’t have anyone to take care of her. Momma wouldn’t let Raul go with her because she said Grammaw Pauline needed lots and lots of attention. Raul was sad, but then Poppa took him to see his uncles, and he had lots of fun, running in the woods and playing with the dogs. That was the first time Raul had met Poppa’s brothers.

“No, son.” His Poppa swallowed hard, like he had something in his throat. “Your grandma’s not sick. Remember our secret?”

Raul thought. “The one when you became a big doggie?” he asked with wide eyes.

“Yes, that one. Momma found out and…” His Poppa’s voice made a squeaky sound, and he stopped, blinked a few times before continuing, “And—”

“Was she excited like me?” Raul interrupted. He’d been crying because Momma said he couldn’t have a dog, and he really, really, really wanted a puppy. They were so cute and fluffy, and they liked to lick your face. His friend Bobby had a puppy, and Raul wanted one too. Poppa had caught him crying and had shown him this really neat trick he could do, but he made him promise not to tell anyone, not even Momma. Which was really, really hard, but Poppa said it was important and that he was counting on him. That Momma wouldn’t love him anymore if she knew.

“No, son. She wasn’t excited. She was angry. Very, very angry. So angry she left us, and she’s not coming back.”

“But…” Raul didn’t understand. Mommas weren’t supposed to leave.

“She said she didn’t love me, didn’t love us anymore, because of our secret,” Poppa said.

“Not love us? Mommas always love their sons, and you, Poppa. No matter what. She said so,” Raul argued.

Poppa dropped his hands from Raul’s cheeks and closed his eyes again. “Dear God, how do I make him understand? He’s so young.” Poppa opened his eyes and laid a hand on Raul’s shoulder. “We’re special, Raul, you and I.”

“How Poppa?”

“You know how I can turn into a wolf?” his Poppa asked.

“The big doggie?” he asked, not sure what a wolf was.

His Poppa nodded. “My brothers, your uncles can too. And one day, when you’re older, you’ll be able to do it too.”

“Really?” Raul was awed, all thoughts of Momma temporarily forgotten.

“Yes. But Raul, some people, people like Momma, don’t like people who are special. They’re scared of them, of us, because we can do things they can’t,” his Poppa tried to explain.

Raul scrunched his face. “Momma’s not scared, Poppa.” Then his face brightened, and he smiled. “Maybe when Momma’s not mad anymore, she’ll come home.”

Poppa sometimes left when he got really angry. Momma always said Poppa was “cooling off.” Raul wasn’t sure what being hot had to do with anything, but maybe this time Momma was the one “cooling off.”

“Maybe, son.” Poppa didn’t sound like he believed it, but he’d see.

But Momma never did. Raul waited a long, long time. School started, and there was Halloween where he ate so much candy he got sick, and Thanksgiving where Poppa cooked a big turkey and his uncles came to visit.

When Christmas came, Poppa took Raul to his uncles’ home in the woods. Raul loved visiting his uncles, even though they didn’t look much like Poppa. His friend Bobby had a brother that was bigger than him, and they looked a lot a like.

Raul had asked Poppa how come. Poppa explained that his uncles were pack, not blood brothers like Bobby and his brother, but they loved each other like family and took care of each other. Poppa said he was the oldest, and biggest, but Uncle Max was big too, like the football players Poppa watched on TV. Uncle Max’s skin was dark, and he looked mean, but he made Raul laugh. Uncle Dillion had yellow hair and was really, really tall. Raul liked sitting up on his shoulders. It made him feel he was on top of the world. Uncle Joey, the youngest, was his favorite. His hair was black like Poppa’s, but his eyes were gray, not brown, and he could play a really long time.

They went walking in the woods and chopped down a big Christmas tree. It was bigger than Poppa, and Raul got to pick it out. Then they decorated it and filled the bottom with presents. So many presents all he could do was stare.

Christmas morning, Raul was up before the sun, opening his presents while Poppa, Uncle Joey, Uncle Dillion, and Uncle Max laughed. His uncles cooked a huge breakfast, and then they went out and played in the snow. His uncles turned into dogg—wolves, Poppa said they were wolves—played chase, and hide-and-seek, and had snowball fights until his nose was red and running and his hands burned. Then they ate a huge supper.

After Raul took his bath and dressed for bed, Poppa came into his room and talked for a long time. He spoke of wolves, and alphas, and mates, and responsibility to the pack.

“Do you understand what I’m saying, son?” Poppa asked.

Raul bit his lower lip and nodded slowly.

Poppa sighed. Then he brushed the hair back off Raul’s forehead and smiled. Not the big smiles he used to give before Momma left, but a small one that tilted his lips and crinkled his eyes.

“Listen closely, son. This is important. Pack is family. Some packs are small, like your uncles and I. Some packs are big, having lots of brothers and sisters. Packs live together, love each other, and take care of each other.”

“Like Uncle Max and Uncle Dillion and Uncle Joey?”

“Yes, exactly like your uncles do. Each pack, each family has a person that’s in charge. This person is usually the biggest, the strongest, and the smartest.”

“Like you, Poppa?”

Poppa’s face looked sad again. “Like me. That person is called the alpha. The alpha is like…” His father broke off, staring off into space.

He gazed curiously up into Poppa’s face, waiting for him to continue.

“…an alpha is like an older big brother. He protects his younger brothers and sisters, and tells them what to do. His job is to keep the family safe. Their needs come before his own.” Poppa stared down into his eyes, very serious. His father placed his meaty hands on Raul’s shoulders and said, “One day, Raul, you’ll be an alpha.”

Raul’s eyes grew big. “I will?”

“Yes, you won’t always be small like you are. You’re smart, and one day you’ll be big, like me. When you are, make sure you’re a good alpha. The best. Take care of your pack.”

“I will, Poppa,” Raul promised.

“One day you’ll want a mate. It’s lonely being alpha. You spend so much time taking care of everyone else, you’ll want someone to love only you and take care of you the way you take care of the pack. You’ll want a little boy or a little girl of your own to give you all the love in their heart. When that day comes, don’t do like I did. Pick someone like you, a shifter who understands your wolf. A woman who will help you with the pack, not pull you away from them.”

Raul wrinkled his nose, puzzled. “But you said pack is family. I wouldn’t leave my family, Poppa.”

Poppa closed his eyes and dropped his chin so Raul was no longer looking into his eyes. “Sometimes, son, love makes us do foolish things. Things you think you’d never do, so choose wisely who you love.”

Raul had a feeling this had something to do with Momma, but before he could ask, Poppa looked at him again and continued, “Remember what I told you about humans, Raul.”

“Like Momma?” Poppa had said a lot about humans since Momma left.

Poppa shook once, like he was cold, and his eyes got shiny. He blinked them a few times until they cleared. “Yes, like your momma. What did I say?”

Raul repeated the words that had been drilled into him. “Never tell a human what I am. They won’t understand, and they’ll be afraid of me because I’m special.”

“And?” his father asked.

“Never love a human.”

“That’s right, son. Pack comes first. Humans will take you away from the pack; take you away from everything that’s important. They are dangerous to your heart.” One thick digit tapped Raul on the chest. “Mate a human, and she’ll break your heart.”

Raul didn’t know what a broken heart was, but it didn’t sound like something he wanted.

“Remember my words, son. Be a better man, a better alpha than me,” Poppa told him. “Now, it’s very late and past time for you to go to bed. Pick out a book for me to read and then climb under the covers.”

Raul did as instructed, and Poppa read to Raul until he fell asleep. It was the best day ever, even if he did still miss Momma.

* * *

The next morning, Poppa was gone when he got up. Uncle Joey said Poppa went hunting. The day went on, and Poppa still didn’t come home. By dinnertime, Raul was watching at the window for Poppa. When Raul asked what was taking Poppa so long, Uncle Dillion said sometimes it took a long time to catch a deer because you had to sit real still and wait for the deer to come to you. That when it was really cold like now, sometimes the deer didn’t want to come out. Uncle Max said he’d go see if he could hurry Poppa along.

Uncle Dillion told Raul to come eat his supper, and then, when Poppa and Uncle Max still weren’t home, to go take his bath and get ready for bed. Raul played with his new toys in his room, continuing to wait. Finally, he heard the door open and voices talking.

“Poppa?” He came running out the room.

Uncle Max stood in the living room, looking sad.

“Where’s Poppa, Uncle Max? Did you find him?”

“Raul, son, there’s been an accident,” Uncle Joey said. “Your Poppa, he—”

“Don’t lie to the boy,” Uncle Max said in a hard voice. “He deserves the truth. Raul, come here, son.”

Raul came closer.

“You know how sad your Poppa was at your Momma leaving?” Uncle Max asked, his hands on Raul’s shoulders.

“Yes, sir.” Poppa didn’t like to talk about Momma, but sometimes Poppa got really quiet and looked sad. Raul had seen Poppa, late at night, holding Momma’s picture in his hand, and his eyes were wet like he’d been crying.

“When men like us love, we love with our whole heart. Your Momma leaving did something to your Poppa. He tried really hard to be strong for you, but without your Momma…” Uncle Dillion said.

Raul’s gaze bounced from one uncle to the next. “Where’s Poppa?”

It was Uncle Max who said, “Your Poppa’s dead. He killed himself with the gun. He left a note asking us to take care of you because he was too chickenshit to do it himself.”

“Max!” Uncle Joey shouted. “What the hell are you doing?”

“It’s the truth, isn’t it? He’s got this beautiful boy, and because his bitch of a wife left him, Paul went and offed himself. If that isn’t chickenshit, I don’t know what is,” Uncle Max shouted back.

“Guys, none of us have mated,” Uncle Dillion said in a calm voice. “We can’t understand how he felt. Most wolves die when they lose their mates. That’s a fact.”

“Bullshit!” Uncle Max said in a loud voice.

Raul eased away while his uncles argued, and went and curled up in bed. He cried as he hadn’t since he realized Momma really wasn’t coming back and just before falling asleep, whispered, “I’m sorry, Poppa, for telling Momma our secret.”

Chapter One

Raul Santiago pulled into the parking lot of Lobos Investigations, exhausted down to the bone. Lobos Investigations was the business he and his pack—Billy Ray, Mercer, Dominic, and Knox—had started after leaving the military. Their primary source of income was private investigations, but they specialized in skip tracing and fugitive recovery—bounty hunting.

Raul rubbed weary hands over his scrubby face and sighed. His prey had led him on a teeth-gritting, jaw-grinding chase, managing to stay one step ahead of both him and law enforcement officials until a stroke of luck dropped the perp right into his lap. The disgusting bag of puke now sat behind bars, denied bail, and facing two life sentences if convicted. Raul had received grudging acknowledgment of a job well done from the FBI, and a nice fat bonus on top of their hefty fee from the client. One that would have them sitting in the black for months to come.

In addition to his weariness, his wolf crawled beneath his skin like a rash, demanding to come out. It had been too long since he’d given way to his four-legged form, the chase having taken him to places where the sight of a massive timber wolf would have resulted in him being hunted down and captured by state wildlife enforcement, if not shot on sight by some spooked citizen. He’d go to a nearby nature park soon and satisfy his beast, but at this moment he needed to write his report and turn it in to his partners.

It was late. Well after business hours, but a light was on in the office. One of the other guys must be working late.

As he entered, Dominic looked up from the computer. His blue-eyed gaze seemed wary. “We expected you back hours ago.”

“Traffic was a bitch.” Raul held up a check. “Our grateful client threw in a little something extra for the fast results and minimal expenses charged to their account. Since you’re here, I take it your hunt was equally successful?”

“Yep, I caught her. Silly woman hadn’t run far. Took less than a day to find her. She’s cooling her heels in a cell, and their daughter is back with her grateful father.” Dominic leaned back in his swivel chair, his blond head shining in the dim lighting. “I take it you haven’t been home?”

Home was a dilapidated old apartment building in an older section of town his pack had purchased and remodeled. It contained four two-bedroom/one-bath units. He and Dom had the upstairs units while Billy Ray, Mercer, and Knox had the bottom.

Raul shook his head. “Negative. I wanted to stow my gear, drop off the check, and file my report first. Then I’m going for a long run. Once I get home, I don’t plan on surfacing for days.”

Two and a half weeks he’d been gone. He missed his place and his bed, but most of all, he missed his mate, Angelica Ruiz, his beautiful Angel. A sweet name for such a fiery-tempered woman. Long, curly brown hair, golden-brown eyes that sparkled with an inner light, pouty lips made for kissing, and skin that reminded him of honey in sunlight, she was his—every luscious, curvy inch of her. Four months ago he’d talked Angel into moving in with him when the lease was up on her apartment. When he finally made it home, he was crawling inside Angel and not coming out for a week. His cock throbbed at the thought.

“Uh, maybe you should, you know, go straight home. Skip the run and the rest of this.” Dom waved, indicating the office and paperwork. He sounded strange and smelled off too.

Raul’s beast, which had been driving him crazy, stilled, senses alert. The man was equally concerned. “Why?”

Dominic’s gaze slid away, his head tilted to the side in a subtle baring of his throat. His continued silence caused Raul’s heart to beat faster as a sudden thought crossed his mind.

He leaped the distance between them and cleared the desk in a single bound to grip Dom by the neck of his shirt. He dragged the other man—his partner, best friend, and beta—out of the chair and gave him a small shake. “What’s happened? Is it Angel? Is she all right?”

Raul hadn’t spoken to her since he left. This case had been more intense than most, with an element of danger normally not present. He’d needed to focus all his energy and attention on the hunt. As a professional bail bondsman, one who frequently used their services, Angel understood. Instead of complaining, she’d insisted he not worry about her but concentrate on finishing the job at hand so he could return home in one piece. He’d hated being out of touch for so long but knew his pack would look out for her and contact him if an emergency arose.

“She made us promise not to say anything,” Dominic choked out.

When Dom’s face began turning red, Raul let him go. He was tempted to beat the information out of him but knew it would do no good. Dom was loyal. He’d die before betraying his alpha. That loyalty extended to Raul’s mate as well. His fragile, human mate.

“Just tell me if she’s hurt,” he said finally.

“Not physically, no,” was the cryptic response.

“What the hell does that mean?” he bellowed.

Dom held up both hands, palms out. “I’ve said too much already. Go home, Raul. I’ll take care of your things. I’ll be home later if you need me.”

“Fine,” Raul snapped, temper straining at the leash. He handed Dom the paperwork and check, laid his gear and weapons on top of his desk, and then left, trusting Dom to do exactly as he said.

He hit Speed Dial as he crossed the parking lot before placing the cell phone to his ear. “Come on, come on. Pick up the phone, Angel.”

When the answering machine came on, he hit the Disconnect button and immediately redialed. Why the hell had he let Angel convince him not to keep checking in? He jumped into his SUV, cranked the ignition with a vicious twist of the key, shoved the vehicle in gear, and peeled out of the parking lot and onto the street.

It was after nine in the evening, and traffic was still a bit heavy. He weaved in and out, causing more than one motorist to honk at his aggressive driving. Raul didn’t care. He’d called three times—make that four—and Angel still hadn’t answered. Not the house, the cell, or office phones. All calls went straight to voice mail. As a bondsman, her job was rarely nine-to-five. She spent a lot of time on the phone with prospective clients and concerned family members. He’d never known her not to answer his or anyone else’s call.

On a good day, home was a thirty-minute ride from the office. He did it in fifteen. Gut clenching, he braked in front of the apartment complex with a squeal of tires, noticing his apartment was dark. Raul left the vehicle parked crookedly in the driveway, dived out the driver’s-side door, leaving it open, and sprinted for the entrance.

He dashed up the stairs and had his unit door opened and the alarm disabled in seconds.

“Angel! Where are you, baby?” he asked, trying to ignore what his senses were telling him.

He raced through the small apartment, checked every room, every corner, his heart unable to believe what his eyes and mind were telling him. Raul came to a halt in their bedroom, which he’d instinctively saved for last, fearing what he’d find. There the evidence was undeniable. His mate, the love of his life, was gone. The closet and drawers were empty of her clothing. The bathroom and dressers bereft of her possessions.

He threw back his head and let out an enraged howl.

* * *

Raul was due back today. Should have been home hours ago, according to his business partners. She’d spent the day in uneasy anticipation of his reaction to her moving out of his apartment.

Angelica nervously paced the floors of her new four-bedroom/two-and-a-half bath ranch-style home. The house had been foreclosed on by the bank and put up for auction where she’d bought it for a ridiculously low price. It was a home meant for the family she hoped to one day have with Raul.

She loved Raul with all her heart. Wanted to have children and grow old with him, but she could no longer live with secrets between them. She wanted all of him. Wanted to give him all of her. As long as they were both hiding who they were at the core, their relationship would never work.

Oh, she knew Raul loved her. It was there in everything he did, every gesture he made. Her happiness was his happiness. Yet she knew there was something he hid from her. Knew it and was sick of it. When was he going to trust her enough to tell her the truth? If they could just get past this one little thing…

Her cell phone rang again. She glanced at the screen. Not Raul this time, but Dominic. “Yes?”

“He’s home and headed your way. I hope like hell you know what you’re doing,” he said with a low growl. Dominic and Raul were like brothers. He’d only reluctantly agreed to help her once she’d convinced him and the others that her goal wasn’t to leave Raul, but to force him to take their relationship to the next level. Now that the moment was at hand, she wasn’t quite so sure she’d chosen the right course of action.

“I do.” Angelica endued her voice with confidence she didn’t feel. She swiped the touch screen to end the call and tossed the phone on the couch. Agitated, she gathered her long, curly hair and plaited it, then twisted it into a knot at her nape. Raul would be here soon. It wouldn’t take him long to find her since she’d made no effort to hide her whereabouts.

Angelica walked to the window and stared out over the backyard at the yellow-tinged moon. Not a full one, but a three-quarter. Raul’s wolf would still be strong in him but not in complete control.

“Oh God, what have I done?” She wiped sweaty palms on her skirt as she continued pacing. When she began panting on the verge of hyperventilating, Angelica stopped and closed her eyes, counted to ten, then twenty, then thirty while taking deep, slow breaths.

Please, God let this work. I don’t want to live without him.

It had to work. They were running out of time. If they didn’t settle this now, there wouldn’t be a later. Her blood ran cold as she considered the consequences if her plan failed.

As she stood there, eyes closed, praying and bargaining with her maker, Angelica felt a change in the atmosphere. Raul. He was here. A sudden calm descended over her. Raul—her lover, her life, her very soul—was here. Now everything would be okay. She would make it be okay. There was no other option.

Her locked door slowly swung open with an ominous creak worthy of any horror movie. Then Raul’s shadowed form stood framed in the doorway. Her lover was tall—a few inches over six feet. A big man with broad shoulders, a huge chest, meaty arms and legs. Right now his angular, ruggedly handsome face wore a forbidding scowl.

“You. Left. Me.” His voice was a deep, rumbling growl.

His rage blasted across her senses, muddied with the underlining tang of pain and…confusion? Angelica nodded her agreement and then voiced it. “I left you.”

“YOU. LEFT. ME.” His voice was louder, the tone sharper. Raul stepped inside, tucked his lock-picking tools into his back pocket, then slammed the door so hard it closed with a bang that had Angelica jumping.

Watching him warily, she took a single step backward. One should always be cautious with a wounded animal, especially one that was part human.

His golden-eyed gaze dropped to the offending foot before returning to her face. “Don’t. Run.”

Of course she was going to run, silly man. If she didn’t run, he wouldn’t chase her. Tonight was all about making Raul lose that ironclad control of his. Angelica eased her left foot back behind the right and shifted her weight onto it.

Raul went predator still.

She placed her right foot behind her.

His eyes narrowed, and a small snarl filled the air. “Don’t.” A plea. A command.

Because she loved him, Angelica did the only thing she could—turned and ran. Angelica was quick, but in her current form she was no match for a shifter. Unfortunately Raul was still pretending to be human.

She caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Raul vaulted smoothly over the couch and lunged out to grab her by the waist. He missed her by inches. She’d already dropped into the skid of a professional major league baseball player, bounced up before he realized she’d eluded him, and sprinted toward the dining room.

He was on her heels in moments, still using human speed, human moves.

Angelica opened her senses, all of them, and the game was on. Except she was the only one who knew the rules. For every move Raul made, she was seconds ahead of him. She could feel his frustration at being outmaneuvered growing. More, she could feel that primal part of him straining at the leash.

Come on, big boy. Show me what you’re made of. Show me what you’ve been hiding for the last eighteen months. Show me the real you, so I can finally let down my guard and show you me.

Time to up the ante.

Angelica sprinted for the stairs, shoving chairs, lamps, and any kind of obstacle she could put in his path to slow him down. There was a thud and a curse. Raul let out a bellow. She paused and chanced a quick glance over her shoulder. He’d tangled with the legs of a chair and gone down hard. A chair he’d have easily avoided had he let out the wolf.

On the floor, propped up by both hands, he slowly raised his head. The eyes that stared back at her were no longer human. She smiled and knew it was taunting.

Oh yeah, now we’re playing.

Chapter Two

Raul put up a ferocious fight, but strong emotion fueled the beast. His wolf found it ridiculously easy to blast through the rigid barriers Raul maintained to keep Angel from sensing its presence. Even his fear-tinged desperation was no match for the animal’s strength, the man being sabotaged as it was by his own anger.

Raul retained just enough control not to shift, but it was the animal that was clearly in charge. The wolf—its senses sharper, keener—knew something the man didn’t. Their mate wanted him, the animal. She was daring him to hunt her, mate her, claim her. The honeyed scent of her arousal lingered in the air—a siren call he was impatient to answer. For far too long he’d allowed the man to hold him away from their mate, and make no mistake, she was theirs.

He dropped to all fours—still in his man form—and bounded up the stairs in leaps, catching his prey as she cleared the landing. One pounce and he was on her, brought her down like a wounded antelope. As they fell, Raul wrestled control from his beast, twisted so he landed on bottom, taking the brunt of the impact.

Angel lashed out with her feet, struggling to gain leverage and get away.

“Baby, don’t fight me,” he desperately gritted out of a throat gone wolf.

This close to a full moon, his beast was strong, leaving him fighting on two fronts. All of Angel’s wriggling and squirming was bringing out the wolf in him whose sole purpose at that moment was to subdue and fuck. His human mate couldn’t handle its savage need of her, so Raul fought to control his animal and his mate—a battle he was rapidly losing.

Back off, he ordered his wolf.

Mate wants me, it argued, still trying to surge to the forefront.

She can’t handle you. You’ll hurt her, Raul said.

“Let go!” she demanded, slamming down an elbow. Only his heightened reflexes kept it from nailing him in the face.

Mate, no hurt, his wolf denied savagely.

“Quit. Fighting. Me.” A growl commanded, aimed at the wolf and his mate. Neither party listened.

Angel continued to twist and turn, worming in his embrace as he struggled not to hurt her by gripping her too tight. It was like wrestling an octopus. She was suddenly all arms, legs, and lush, womanly curves. His cock went from semihard to rock-hard so fast he saw spots.

“Omph!” Her knee found ground in his stomach, and taking advantage of his slack grip, she pushed off, launching herself forward so that her crotch landed in his face. Raul got a lungful of her enticing arousal before she vaulted forward another foot, scrambling on her hands and knees to flee.

His brain shifted into gear, coming out of the fog it had been in since he’d discovered her gone. He didn’t know what the hell was going on, but Angel wanted him as much as she always had. Now that he was thinking straight, he realized that though she struggled, she hadn’t really put up that much of a fight. His woman knew some lethal moves and had she really wanted free of him, he’d be bloody and bruised right now.

Weeks of abstinence reared up to kick him in the balls. It had been too long since he’d had his mate beneath him. The moment of mental clarity allowed him to gain control of his emotions. As the desire of man and wolf combined, the wolf faltered in its struggle, allowing Raul to temporarily subdue it and focus entirely on his mate.

Raul rolled over, lunged out, and caught Angel by the left foot, then reeled her in steadily until he could hook an arm around her waist. He shoved his pelvis into intimate contact with her still-wriggling ass, letting her feel his erection and understand what was coming.

A mini-shudder worked its way through her body, and the autumn-spice scent of her arousal magnified.

“You’re mine,” he told her, voice guttural. “This is mine.” Raul cupped her swollen sex through the damp satiny material of her panties, visible under the black miniskirt hiked high around her thighs.

“Raul!” Not a protest, but a demand for more.

He plunged two thick digits into her passage. Wet, but not wet enough. When aroused, even in human form, he was massive and didn’t want to hurt her. It had been almost three weeks since they’d last made love. Two weeks due to him being on the road and the week before because of the full moon when he hadn’t dared touch her lest his wolf take control.

But for now he, the man, was dominating. It was a tenuous restraint at best. He could feel his wolf, lurking under his skin, watching and waiting for any hint of distraction or weakness on the man’s part. It didn’t understand why Raul wouldn’t share with it the woman who was their life.

He stroked in and out—once, twice, three times. Angel mewled like a sexy kitten and rocked, forcing his fingers deeper. After the third thrust, Raul withdrew his hand and licked his fingers, ignoring Angel’s groaning protest. He ripped her panties off, startling a soft shriek out of her and then lifting her by the hips, buried his face between her legs. Using his teeth, tongue, and lips, he pleasured her into a screaming orgasm.

Only when his face was shiny with her juices did he relent, lowering her body until her knees once more touched the floor. His gaze flowed from the shiny pink folds of her sex, followed the elegant curve of her spine to her slender nape, and focused on the flushed features of her profile.

His cock throbbed in tune with the blood pounding through his veins. Raul wrestled with his belt and zipper, loosening both so he could shove his jeans down his thighs enough for his penis to spring free. How he wanted her. Both wolf and man wanted to mount Angel, cover her body with his as he hammered into her long and deep and sank his canines into the muscle between her shoulder and neck.

While he considered Angel his, he’d never fully mated with her in the shifter way by locking his teeth in her flesh and feeling her blood gush in his mouth. Instead he’d pacified his wolf by covering her with his scent and scraping his canines along the tender sweet spot where her shoulder met her neck. Next month on Angel’s birthday he planned to replace the engagement ring on her finger with a wedding ring—a tangible mark for humans to see exactly to whom she belonged.

The temptation to complete the bond by fully mating with her was so strong, once again Raul felt himself fighting with his beast. For whatever reason, she’d actually left them. A reckoning was coming, but not now. Allowing the wolf out would be detrimental to what he was trying to accomplish at the moment—reclaiming his mate. To avoid that particular temptation, he gently rolled her onto her back.

Angel lay arms spread, eyes closed, breathing hard. Raul lifted her left foot, brought it to his mouth and kissed the arch, then satisfied the urging of his wolf by biting down with his teeth, smiling when she gasped. He pressed his lips to her anklebone, and while scooting forward on his knees, worked his mouth down her calf in nibbling bites.

Moving slow to give her muscles plenty of time to stretch, he straddled her left leg while pressing back on her right until her legs formed an L.

She rose up on her elbows. “Raul, you have me pinned. I can’t move.”

“I don’t want you to. Let me love you, baby,” he cajoled.

“B-but…”

Raul stopped her complaining by stroking her clit with the pad of his thumb. Her eyes glazed, and her toes curled. He did it again, and she moaned. By the fourth stroke, she’d surrendered and once more lay flat on the carpet, fingers digging into the fibers.

In this position, neither one of them had a wide range of movement. Angel couldn’t use any of her Cosmo tricks to incite his lust, and he couldn’t rut on her the way his beast demanded. More importantly, with him on his knees with his thighs spread wide and Angel flat on her back, Raul couldn’t get at her throat, not without causing one or both of them serious discomfort.

He strummed her sensitive bundle of nerves, his gaze fixed on her passion-reddened face. Black eyes heavy-lidded, rosy mouth slightly gaped, she panted soft little breaths of air. He loved seeing her like this.

“Raul…”

“Yes?”

“Come to me,” she pleaded. She ran the tip of her tongue around her lips—those full, moist lips he wanted to feel wrapped around his cock. “Come into me. It’s been so long. I feel so empty.”

This time it was he who shuddered. “God, yes,” he agreed, his voice reverent.

He angled his cock toward her opening. When the head of his penis was lodged between her dewy nether lips, he slowly penetrated her sheath, inch by delectable inch until he was fully embedded.

“Ooooh, you feel so goooood,” she groaned.

Raul paused and took a deep, calming breath. Slow, he had to go slow, he reminded himself. Then he made the mistake of glancing down to where Angel surrounded him. His balls tightened dangerously, warning him this all might be over before it had a chance to fully begin.

He threw back his head and gritted his teeth, calling on every ounce of his flagging control. Angel’s cunt tightened around him, and his hips jerked. “Shit!”

“You like?” she asked in an angelic voice, but the expression on her face was pure demon—of the succubus variety. She did it again.

Why had he deluded himself into thinking he held the reins? His Angel was wild, untamable. One of the many things he loved about her. She was his match in every way.

Giving in to instinct, Raul punched his hips in short, sharp jabs, slicing through honeyed muscles with savage intent. This deep and close, he felt every ripple, every flutter, as she clenched and released around him.

“You keep that up and I’m not going to last long,” he warned.

She gave a siren’s smile. “You wouldn’t leave me hanging,” she countered and brought her hands up to play with her nipples, plucking, squeezing, and stroking the large brown nubs until he thought he’d go insane.

“Madre de Dios!” he bit out.

Laughing softly, she told him, “There’s nothing virginal about me.”

Their gazes locked in sensuous battle, Raul retaliated by slowly trailing his hand down the sensitive skin of her inner thigh. When he traced the delicate crease between her leg and mons, her breath hitched. Smiling, he upped the ante, using his knuckles to brush across her clit, then dance lightly away. Her hips jerked, and she cried out.

Another warning tingle. This one skittered down his spine to land in his balls. Raul’s smile faded as lust spiked. More blood rushed to his already engorged penis. He felt his eyes go wolf. Praying his mate wouldn’t notice, he increased the speed of his thrusts.

Angel garbled out something unintelligible. Reaching out, she grabbed him by the hips, nails digging into the flexing muscles. Her body tautened, her tempting neck straining toward him. In response, Raul shifted even closer so with each movement, his pubis bore down on hers.

When that wasn’t sufficient enough, he leaned forward and planted his palms on the floor, on either side of her torso. The move gave him the leverage he needed to thrust with the power his body demanded.

The change in angles caused Angel to cry out. “I need to… Let me…Raul!” She punched the thigh of his restraining leg. “Release me so I can…”

He was already lifting so that he no longer straddled her thigh. Angel wrapped both legs high around his waist.

“Oh baby, Angel,” he gritted out between clenched teeth as he hammered his hips into hers. A drop of sweat splashed into the valley between her breasts, and his black hair hung in a wavy curtain around his face.

Their gazes met, clung. As his orgasm approached, his nails sprouted into claws. He dug them into the plush carpet. Feeling his canines lengthen, he pressed his lips together and hung his head, breaking their gaze. Even now, he retained enough possession of his senses to hide what he was.

Angel’s nails scored his back, and the taint of iron scented the air, exciting his beast to epic proportions.

“Please, please… All of you. Give me all of you,” she begged right before her spine bowed and a scream ripped out of her mouth. Her cunt clamped down on his cock like a vise, then began to pulse.

Raul’s hair went flying as he jerked back his head to keep from marking her, an orgasm roaring through him. His muscles locked into place for one timeless moment, and then his hips began to shake as pulse after pulse of semen jetted from his cock. He poured into Angel everything he was—heart, mind, and soul.

Raul slumped on top of his mate, panting. When his breathing evened out, he nuzzled his nose in the responsive skin behind her ear and whispered, “I love you, baby. Whatever the problem is, we can work it out. Just don’t leave me again. I can’t take it.”

“This changes nothing,” Angel told him in an extremely even and controlled voice, but underneath, his wolf sensed hurt, anger, and…defeat?

Confused, he pushed to his elbows to see her face. “What…?”

She shoved at his shoulders, and when he refused to budge, said, “Please get off me.” Her voice was ultracontrolled and completely unemotional, but again Raul sensed an underlying pain.

“I think,” he answered slowly, “I’d better stay right where I am. What just happened here?”

Angel let her hands drop to the carpet and turned her face so he viewed her profile. “Sex. That’s what happened here.”

He nudged her chin so she faced him again. “Don’t, Angel. This was more than sex. I love you, and you love me. Don’t you?”

She didn’t answer. Simply stared at his nose like it had somehow become fascinating.

“Angel?” he questioned, but a hint of uncertainty crept in as his father’s warning about the consequences of loving humans rose again to torment him. Silently he cursed. If he’d marked her, she’d be bonded to him, and he’d know exactly what she was feeling. She had to love him. He refused to believe otherwise. He’d felt her love for him. That couldn’t have changed in the few short weeks he’d been gone. “Don’t you love me anymore, baby?”

Her sigh felt like it came up from her toes. Finally she met his gaze. “Yes, I love you.”

The relief he felt left him weak. “Then why did you leave me?”

Intimately connected as they were, Raul felt her stiffen. She seemed to search his eyes for something. Whatever it was she was hunting for, Angel didn’t find, because she turned away again.

“It doesn’t matter,” she stated softly. “I thought if I…” She sighed. “Never mind.”

“You thought what, baby?” he asked, determined to get to the bottom of this. He knew his woman and her varied, mercurial moods, but this was a strange one, even for her. She’d gone from passionate to despondent in a matter of minutes.

“I’d like to get up now,” she said, which wasn’t an answer, or at least, not the one he’d expected.

“And I’d like us to talk this thing through. If I move, you’ll leave, and nothing will get settled,” he countered.

Something, some unrecognizable emotion, flickered across her expression. In slow motion, Angel turned her head until her gaze once more met his. Her eyes held steely determination. “You want to talk?” she asked softly.

Raul felt a prickle of warning slither down his spine. “Yes, I do,” he answered, albeit a bit warily.

“Let’s talk about the secret you’re keeping from me,” she said, gaze drilling into him.

Chapter Three

“Secret?” Raul managed to choke out, stiffening in horror-tinged shock. Suddenly it was imperative that he move. He went to push off her, but Angel raised her legs and caught him in a vise about the hips.

“Yes, secret,” she confirmed.

With no choice but to tough it out, he stated as calmly as he could, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Besides, we’re talking about you. About why you left me.”

“And I want to talk about why you disappear once a month—”

“You know I travel a lot with my job. You said it didn’t bother you,” he interjected.

“And the reason you hold back when we make love…”

“I’m a big man. You’re tiny compared to me. I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, happy to provide a reasonable explanation. It was the truth, but not the whole truth.

“…and why your irises glow gold, and your facial features change when you’re in the grip of strong emotions,” she demanded.

Raul felt his heart stop. “That…that’s just crazy. You’re imagining things.” She couldn’t have noticed. He’d been so careful.

“Tell me!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he insisted, heart pounding in his chest so hard he thought he’d pass out.

His fear roused his beast, which only moments before had settled into a sated stupor. Not now. Please, God, don’t let it come out now.

“You’re lying,” she said flatly, tightening her thighs when he tried once more to get away, retreat to safety.

Panic lived inside him now. Don’t tell her! his inner child demanded. You know what happens when you tell!

Raul could see his mother’s face and his father’s despair when she’d left. Hear his father’s repeated warnings, “Never tell a human what you are.” The past superimposed over the present.

Tell her! his wolf demanded. It’s not natural to hide from a mate.

Raul agreed that having this secret between them was wrong but couldn’t unlock his throat to speak the truth.

“Raul, please. We can’t continue with this thing between us,” she pleaded, sounding almost desperate.

Her gaze locked on his. The hurt in her voice and the tinge of moisture in her eyes added unbearable pressure. Raul opened his mouth to tell her what she needed to know, but no sound emerged.

Nooooooo! his inner child screamed. You can’t tell her! She’ll leave, and then we’ll die!

Tell her, his wolf demanded. Tell mate what we are!

His breath escaped in pants. Oh God! He gasped, trying to get enough air.

“Raul?” Concern replaced the hurt in Angel’s tone. “Are you all right?”

Tell her!

No!

Tell her! his wolf roared.

NOOOOO! Mustn’t tell! the child screamed.

“Can’t…breathe!” His lips moved, but no sound emerged.

“Raul, your lips are turning blue. Breathe, baby!” Angel released her hold on him.

As the internal war continued to rage, Raul’s stomach churned and his chest hurt. His vision began to narrow, growing dark around the edges. He crawled off Angel and knelt on all fours with his head hanging down, gulping for air.

Raul couldn’t believe he was freaking out like a little kid. He was a grown man, a badass—an alpha, for crying out loud. Embarrassment collided with panic until the only thought in his mind was escape.

“Raul, baby, you have to breathe. If you don’t, you’ll pass out.” Angel hovered beside him, laid a hand on his back, and stroked soothingly.

She said more in soft tones meant to calm him. Unfortunately Raul couldn’t hear her through the roaring in his ears. He had to get out of here. He wheezed audibly now. He shook his head sharply, forcing himself to get a grip, and a portion of his hearing returned.

“Oh God, you’re hyperventilating,” she said in dawning realization. “Let me run to the kitchen and grab a bag. Breathing into one is supposed to help.”

As soon as Angel disappeared down the stairs, Raul shoved weakly to his feet, staggered dizzily against the wall, and pulled up his pants. Mustering all his strength, he managed to make it down the stairs and to the door.

“Raul?”

He glanced over his shoulder, hand on the doorknob. “I’m sorry,” he managed to choke out, then softly closed the door behind him.

Once away from Angel’s too-observant eyes, Raul tapped into the strength of his wolf. His breathing instantly evened out. The rest of the damn panic attack took longer to fade. With hands that visibly trembled, Raul managed to enter his vehicle and shove the keys in the ignition. As the motor purred to life, he speed dialed Mercer.

“Yo!” Mercer answered.

“I need you or one of the guys on babysitting detail,” he said, forcing himself to sound calm and in control.

“Boss, you all right? You don’t sound so good.”

“I will be. I gotta go for a run. Clear my head. I don’t want to leave Angel alone but I…we… Just watch her for me, will you?”

“Sure thing. I gotcha back.” There was a brief pause. “So, you two worked things out?” he asked, his concern coming through loud and clear. His men hadn’t agreed with his decision not to tell Angel what he—what they—were. She was his mate. As far as they were concerned, that settled any issues or concerns they might have had regarding Angel keeping their confidence. Raul could only imagine what they’d say if they knew the reason she’d left him. That is, if they didn’t already suspect.

“We will,” Raul assured him. “As soon as I get a handle on my wolf.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen,” Mercer promised and disconnected.

Raul left the driveway and parked farther down the block within sight of the house, remaining there until Mercer arrived to relieve him.

* * *

Angelica stood in the foyer, the bag dangling limply from her fingers, listening to Raul’s SUV back out of the driveway. When the roar of the engine faded, she crossed over to the couch, sat, and put her face in her hands.

“Way to go, Angelica. You pushed the man right into a panic attack.”

She sat like that for another few minutes. Then rubbing her face wearily, she rose to her feet and straightened the mess they’d made during the chase, before trudging upstairs. Needing to talk, she grabbed her cell and dialed the number of her cousin and best friend since grade school, Sophie.

Sophie answered on the second ring. “Hiya, chica! Thought you’d be busy having big monkey makeup sex. Wasn’t Raul due home today?”

“He’s home,” Angelica said flatly.

“Uh-oh. Someone doesn’t sound happy. Come, tell Momma Sophie all about it.”

Angelica flopped onto the California king-size four-poster bed she’d purchased specifically with Raul in mind, the thickly padded blue-and-gray geometric-patterned comforter cushioning her body. “I had everything planned. It should have worked perfectly.”

“I take it Wolf-boy didn’t share his deep, dark secret?”

“He showed up at the house in a rage because I’d left him.”

Sophie snorted. “Yeah, did you expect differently? He’s a wolf. He thinks you’re his mate. You knew he’d go bat-shit crazy when he got the news of your leaving.”

“I know, I know. That was part of the plan. I wanted to catch him off guard, make him lose control. I thought maybe, if he got angry enough, he wouldn’t be able to control his wolf. That he’d, you know, mate me or shift. Then he’d have to tell me what he is.”

Sophie made tsking noises. “Honey, your man’s an alpha. He wouldn’t be one if he didn’t possess absolute control over his beast. Stop playing head games and just tell the man you know already.”

“But—”

“But nothing. You’re playing human, trying to protect yourself. He’s doing the same for probably the same reason, and both of you are miserable because you can’t really lower your guard and just be real with each other like you want to be. What kind of love is that, when you have to hide who you are from each other?”

Angelica ran an agitated hand through her hair. “Sophie, I hear what you’re saying, but—”

“Angelica,” Sophie interrupted again. “Be honest with yourself. Do you love Raul? Really love him?”

“You know I do.”

“Yeah, hon, I do. Now answer me this. Do you believe Raul loves you?”

Earlier her answer would have been a definite yes. Now she hesitated, nibbling on her lower lip. “He acts like I’m his mate.”

“That’s not what I asked. Lord, woman, I’ve never known you to act so…so…human. Does the wolf love you or not?” she asked, exasperation in every word.

Angelica thought about it, hard, and realized she was letting her fear and insecurities cause her to project. She knew Raul. Knew his thoughts, his words, his very feelings. He loved her. It showed in everything he did. “Yes,” she answered finally. “Yes, he does.”

Sophie let the silence linger, probably sensing that Angelica was still working through everything in her head. Finally, Angelica said, “You’re right, you know.”

“Of course I am.” There was a pause. “What am I right about this time?”

Angelica heard the smile in Sophie’s voice, and it made her smile in return.

“Raul is scared. I never realized that before, probably because I was too focused on me. I was pushing him, all but telling the man I knew what his silly secret was, and instead of just confessing, he had a full-blown panic attack.”

“Did you ever consider that maybe there’s a deep, dark reason Raul hasn’t told you he’s a shifter? The man’s an alpha. They just don’t do panic attacks. Whatever’s going on with him, it’s got to be serious. How much do you know about his past?”

“Not much,” Angelica admitted slowly. “He doesn’t really talk about it. To be honest, neither of us talks about our families or our past. We’ve been focused on the here and now.” She knew why she hadn’t told Raul about her family, but for the first time she wondered at his reasons. Shifters were all about families, both the blood kind and pack. She knew his pack, but not once had he mentioned his parents or any siblings. Now that she was thinking about it, it was beyond strange.

“Honey, one of you has to break pattern. I suggest you call your wolf, cook him a prime steak—rare, of course—apologize for not being open with him, and then tell him what’s in your heart. Speaking of food, when’s the last time you fed?”

Angelica had to think. “I don’t know. The Thirst hasn’t really been on my mind.”

Sophie sighed. “Angelica, need I remind you you’re a vampire?”

“Only half,” Angel protested.

“Yeah, well, while the human half can get away with food consumption, you know your vamp nature needs blood. No wonder you aren’t thinking straight. Look, put on something sexy. It’s Friday. The Warehouse will be packed. Prime hunting ground. Have yourself a snack, and you’ll find you feel much better.”

Feed while Raul was in town and could possibly catch her in the act? “Oh no, I don’t think—”

“Half an hour. Don’t keep me waiting,” Sophie ordered before disconnecting the line.

Damn! Sophie was just ruthless enough to carry her out of the house kicking and screaming. Being a full vampire, Sophie was much stronger than she. Angelica forced herself up and into the shower. Minutes later she stood before the mirror with a towel wrapped around her, examining her bare shoulders and neck.

She’d feel a lot more confident in Raul’s undying commitment to her if she were wearing his mark. Shifters marked their mates. It was instinct, but Raul hadn’t marked her. Had he done so, he’d have known as soon as he got a taste of her blood exactly what she was. Damphyr—half vampire, half human.

Angelica wasn’t ashamed of her heritage—she loved her gypsy mother and vampire father dearly—but there was no denying a lot of shifters felt the only good vampire was a dead one which was okay, since vamps tended to feel the same about them. She had no idea how Raul would feel once he discovered he’d sort of mated one. Or maybe he knew, and that’s why he’d denied her his mark. Or maybe she really wasn’t his mate like she believed. He loved her. She knew he did, but maybe it was the man that wanted her, and his wolf only tolerated her.

She hissed, frustrated with herself. Sophie was right. She was acting human, or chickenshit, Angelica thought, borrowing one of Raul’s favorite terms.

Okay, Angelica, stick to the facts. Raul loves you and treats you like his mate. His pack gives you the loyalty and respect only an alpha’s mate should command. You love him and know, deep down inside where it counts, that he’s your mate. You want to bond with him. Need to bond with him to the point where it’s a physical ache. Stop letting fear guide your actions, she mentally lectured.

So what if a lot of the old ones in the paranormal community, like her father, were against cross-species mating. Never mind he’d done so himself by mating her mother. Hell, her father didn’t even want her mating with another vampiric line although he’d probably prefer it to her mating a human or an animal, as he thought of shifters. What he really wanted was for her to mate a vampire from their family line, his chosen successor since Angel, being half human, wasn’t strong enough to inherit his position on the senate.

With her mother’s help, she’d been able to put him off, but he was becoming more insistent as time passed, and it looked as though she’d remain unmated. She could hardly tell him about Raul. Nor could she tell Raul about her father and his machinations, as long as they both were pretending to be human. The only way her father would back off was if she found her mate, which she had, and mated him in the vampire way, making the mating binding, which she hadn’t.

Finding one’s mate was supposed to be part instinct and part fate, wasn’t it? Fate had done its job and brought the two of them together. Now she needed to have more faith in Raul and in herself and finish the mating process.

Outside a horn blew. Angelica glanced at the bedside clock and then cursed under her breath. She’d wasted too much time brooding. Picking up her phone, she texted Sophie that she’d be right down and then hurriedly dressed.

Chapter Four

Raul drove the twenty minutes or so it took to reach the old logging trail turned hunting grounds on the outskirts of town. There he pulled to the side of the road and into the brush. With the dark night and lack of streetlights, no one would see his vehicle unless they drove up on it.

Moving quickly, he kicked off his loafers and yanked free of his clothing. He’d barely gotten the door closed before his wolf burst free. The change was so violent Raul cried out in pain. His wolf was up and running before Raul’s senses fully returned.

He let his beast have its head, knowing it had been chained too long. After tonight’s emotional storm, it felt good to shed his human consciousness and allow his animal counterpart be in the driver’s seat. Hunting season hadn’t started so he didn’t have to worry about having his hide shot full of bullets. Besides, his wolf was a predator, more than capable of protecting itself from human and animal aggression.

He ran aimlessly for miles, enjoying the stretch and pull of muscles stiff from lack of use. He inhaled air free of the stench of human congestion and pollution. The night was quiet with only the sounds of his paws striking the earth, and the occasional cry of a night hunter to be heard. No horns, no loud music, no civilization. Just nature in all its glory.

Raul zoned out and let the peace sink soul-deep. When he finally roused himself to awareness again, he discovered he was in familiar territory. Seemed his beast’s run hadn’t been as aimless as he’d believed.

He broke through the trees and entered the clearing surrounding a home he knew as well as his own. He should. It was where he’d grown up after his father’s death. As he approached the door, it opened, and his Uncle Joey stepped out onto the porch.

Raul whined in happy greeting and sat on his haunches, his front paws dancing merrily while his tail wagged like a metronome.

“Well, don’t just sit there. Come in,” Uncle Joey invited. He held the door open in invitation.

Raul trotted past his uncle into the living room. Home. It had been too long since his last visit.

Uncle Joey closed the door behind him. “Go on into your room. You should find a pair of your old sweats that might still fit. Change and come out and talk. I’ll have a beer waiting for you.”

Raul padded down the hall to his room. Lots had changed in the pack over the years. Both Uncle Dillion and Uncle Max now had wives and families of their own. Only Uncle Joey still lived in the old pack house, though the others hadn’t settled too far away. Of his uncles, Uncle Joey was the one Raul was closest to and the one to which he instinctively turned whenever he needed guidance in life. It really wasn’t surprising that he found himself here tonight.

When he came out the room, Uncle Joey was seated in his favorite old recliner in front of the big-screen television, remote control in his hand. He gestured with it to the coffee table. “There’s your beer. Sit down and tell me what’s troubling you.”

Raul didn’t question how his uncle knew something was bothering him. He simply popped the top and took a long swig before saying, “I met a woman.”

“Ah, woman troubles.” Uncle Joey muted the television. “Tell me about her.”

He mentally flipped through all the things he could tell his uncle about Angelica. Finally he decided on the most important issue. “She’s my mate. She’s human and doesn’t know what I am, but I think she’s suspicious.”

When his uncle said nothing, Raul found himself continuing. “I met her through our business. She’s a bails bondsman and contacted us on a case. I took the call. Since then she’s referred a good bit of business our way. I was instantly attracted, just from hearing her voice, but tried to fight it. Then I met her in person and it got worse, but still I tried to deny what my senses were telling me. But my wolf…” Raul took another long drink of his beer, remembering. “It latched on to her scent and wouldn’t let go. I couldn’t stay away from her.”

“Do you love this woman?” Uncle Joey asked in his serious manner.

“Yes.”

‘Then tell her.”

Raul shakily set the bottle on the coffee table. Surely he’d misunderstood. “Tell her what?”

“Tell her what you are. Let her see the whole of who you are.”

“But…but…she’s human,” he repeated, thinking his uncle must not have heard him clearly the first time.

“I know.”

Raul could only stare at him. “But Poppa said—”

“Raul, I loved your father. He was more than my alpha. He was my brother, and I still miss him today, but your father was wrong. Do you know why your mother left?”

Because of me, he thought but couldn’t say. All these years later, and he still couldn’t admit to anyone other than himself that his mother’s leaving, his father’s death, all of it was his fault. Instead he gave his standard answer. “She found out what Poppa, what we both were, and she couldn’t handle…” Raul’s words trailed off as he noted his uncle repeatedly shaking his head from side to side.

“Your mother left your father because he didn’t trust her with who he was,” Uncle Joey said flatly.

“No! She left because Poppa wasn’t human.”

Joey pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered a few soft curses. His action made Raul feel four again, trying to understand as his father explained Momma wasn’t ever coming back. “What are you saying, Uncle Joey?”

“I’m saying that after your dad died, I tracked your mother down and had a long talk with her.”

Raul felt like he’d been poleaxed. His jaw gaped, but he couldn’t close it. Words tumbled around in his mind, disjointed, but he couldn’t pull enough of them together to speak with any type of coherency.

Uncle Joey took pity on him and kept talking. “You were almost six at the time. She wasn’t hard to trace. She hadn’t gone far, just the next town over to where her best friend lived. I told her Paul was dead and asked what she wanted to do about you.”

The dull ache in his heart lingering from his mother’s abandonment grew teeth and rent at his flesh. “Momma knew Poppa was dead, and she still didn’t want me?”

Raul vaulted to his feet to pace the room, no longer able to be still. His gaze bounced around the walls, taking in the various photos showing his stages of development. None of them showed a proud, glowing mother.

It shouldn’t matter that he now had confirmation his momma didn’t want him. Over the years he’d managed to convince himself that maybe his mother really hadn’t intended to leave him behind. That she’d given him to his father because she knew Poppa wouldn’t have let him go.

Joey sighed. “It’s not that cut-and-dried.”

Raul paced to the window and stood looking at the dark glass. “It’s okay. I knew that just like with Poppa, Momma couldn’t stand the thought of what I am. If she’d really loved me, loved us, she wouldn’t have left.” After all, she’d said so herself. “Mommas always love their sons, Raul, and their sons’ daddies. No matter what.” She’d left because she no longer loved them.

The admission hit his heart like a blow as he thought of Angel. If she really loved him, would she have left him? Depression settled on him like a cloud. His one hope had been that in spite of Angel’s incomprehensible actions, she really loved him. Now he no longer knew what to believe.

“Mate a human, and she’ll break your heart.” His father’s words echoed in his mind.

“Raul, sit down and listen to me, boy!”

Raul flinched at the rarely heard sharpness in his uncle’s tone and found himself scurrying over to the couch to sit as commanded. Inwardly he sighed. Some alpha he was proving to be.

“Now, as I stated, it wasn’t that cut-and-dried. Your momma wanted you. She did,” he added when he saw the skepticism Raul knew was visible on his face. “Your parents managed to do a number on each other. Laura confessed that she’d received a letter from Paul, apologizing for his lies and asking her to return to him. It wasn’t the first that she’d received from him. In this one he stated that he couldn’t live without her, the implication being that if she didn’t return to him, he’d end his life. She didn’t believe him. She said she thought it was another one of his lies. Being angry, hurt, and not a little prideful—both your parents had more than their fair share of that particular fault—she disregarded it and him, preferring instead to continue to nurse her wounds.

“When I told her Paul was dead from suicide…” Uncle Joey took a long, deep breath, his gaze faraway as though locked on to the past. “She lost it. The shock, the guilt…it did a number on her. She had to be hospitalized.”

Raul sat stunned, his thoughts chaotic, listening to his uncle’s recitation of past events.

“Paul said once that Laura was sweet and loving, but she had a fiery temper and once hurt, she was hard of heart. She had a tendency to hold grudges and not let a matter go until she’d extracted her pound of flesh in return. To my way of thinking those two temperaments don’t exactly mesh, but I wasn’t the one mated to her. I suppose Paul knew what he was talking about regarding her having a sweet nature.” Uncle Joey shook his head, his expression showing he didn’t quite believe what he was saying but was willing to let it go.

“Anyway, it took a long time for your momma to pull herself together, and once she did? Well, we felt it best you remain with us. She watched over you from a distance, but the sight of you looking so much like your poppa? She couldn’t handle it. She sent money when she could to help with your caretaking, came to all your important events, and in general, did as much as she could handle,” Uncle Joey finished.

Raul asked the only question prevalent on his mind. “Where is she? I want to see her.”

“I’m sorry, son. She died a few years back. Cancer. She didn’t do much to fight it, feeling it was God’s justice coming to visit for pushing your father to his death. I tried to get her to let you come see her, talk to her one last time, but she didn’t feel deserving of you or your love. Pushing the issue just made things worse, so I had to let it be.”

At the news, Raul’s wolf threw back its muzzle and howled, a long mournful note. The man lurched to his feet and stumbled toward the door. “I need some air.”

“Don’t leave,” his uncle commanded. “There’s more I haven’t told you.”

Raul gave an abrupt nod before heading out the door and into the night air.

* * *

Sophie stalked past the long line of waiting humans, ignoring their muttered curses and protests, Angelica trailing behind her like a little waif. When Sophie reached the door, she hugged one of the big bruisers stationed there and gave him a long, deep kiss that looked as though it had plenty of tongue. “Hey, baby. Missed me?”

“Always,” he answered, cupping her ass familiarly. He nodded in Angelica’s direction. “Bringing your food with you now?” he murmured so low a human wouldn’t have heard him.

Sophie glanced over her shoulder, and her eyes widened. “Her? No, she’s—”

Angelica cleared her throat loudly in warning, causing the bruiser to look suspiciously back and forth between the two of them. The last thing she wanted anyone here to know was who she was, or worse, who her father was.

“—a friend of the family,” Sophie corrected hurriedly. “Angelica, this is Stephen. Stephen, this is Angelica.”

Angelica nodded her head but ignored the hand offered. Some vampires could determine what type of being a person was through touch. She didn’t need Stephen knowing she was the only child of the head of the North American vampire council. She liked keeping a low profile, and it helped that she came across to most paranormal species’ senses as human.

As Stephen lowered his hand, he told Sophie, “Keep an eye on her in there if you don’t want her being munched on.”

Her cousin’s smile looked more like a smirk. “Don’t worry. She can handle herself, but I’ll stay close in case she needs me. How long you on duty tonight?” Sophie ran her hand down his shoulder and rested it briefly on Stephen’s chest.

The big vampire shuddered, and his eyelids lowered to half-mast. “To closing.”

“Aww, that’s too bad. Maybe you can get away for a few,” Sophie asked suggestively as that hand stroked lower until it cupped him between the legs.

Angelica was used to the lack of inhibitions and overt sexuality of vampires, but still found herself glancing around warily at the steady stream of customers entering the club. Fortunately they were focused on the goal of getting inside and seemed completely oblivious to the love play going on right in front of them.

“You got it, baby,” Stephen assured Sophie before snatching her up for another lingering kiss.

Angelica rolled her eyes. Her cousin’s family line fed on sex as well as blood. Sophie looked like sex on a stick, and her sensuous nature never left her lacking for lovers. For a moment, she almost pitied Stephen. Her cousin wasn’t equipped to settle down with a mate, not for a long time at least, and Stephen looked like he had it bad for her, if the glazed expression in his eyes when the kiss ended was anything to go by.

Sophie wiggled her fingers at him, grabbed Angelica by the arm, and said, “Later, lover,” as she towed Angelica through the black double door.

Sounds and scents crashed over them like a big Hawaiian wave. Heavy metal rock blasted her sensitive eardrums, and the scent of sex with a metallic undertone of blood assaulted her nostrils. It was the emotional backlash that rocked her and almost brought her to her knees. Angelica sent more power to her empathic shields until on the psychic plane they took on a diamond-like hardness. Sophie tugged on her arm and pointed up. Angelica allowed her gaze to travel in the direction of her cousin’s finger and noticed a set of stairs leading to an upper, glassed-in level. The bottom of the stairs was roped off, and the upper room seemed, from this angle, to have less people. She followed when Sophie turned and headed in that direction.

“Up here we can be ourselves,” her cousin shouted as she unlatched the cord, waved Angelica past, and secured the cord again once she was on the other side. As they walked up the stairs, Angelica could feel the anticipation radiating off Sophie in waves.

She’d never before been to the Warehouse, being instead inclined to shy away from places her kind haunted. Half-breeds like herself were rare. In fact, Angelica was the only one of her kind that she knew about in this generation, and on this continent. Therefore, it wouldn’t take long for others to put two and two together and realize she was the daughter of an extremely powerful vampire. Then any hint of anonymity and independence she’d gained over the years would be lost.

Her father would assign guards to protect his fragile half-human daughter from vampires willing to use her as a pawn against him. Not to mention power-hungry male vampires would be coming out of the woodwork, attempting to woo her with the idea of getting an in with her father. No thank you. She hadn’t traveled thousands of miles from home and set up housekeeping only to get dragged back into vampire politics and the power struggles that went hand in hand with them.

Angelica pushed all that out of her mind as they went through the double-wide opening at the top of the stairs. In here, the lighting and sound was much more vampire friendly. The glass walls must have had some type of soundproofing in them, because most of the noise from below was muted. A quick glance showed several vampires feeding, from arms, necks, and even a few inner thighs. The smell of sex was stronger up here than below. Sex did make a feeding so much better.

In her element, Angelica cautiously dropped her shields and let the emotions—lust, hunger, anticipation, greed, satiation—flow over her and fill her. None but other members of her family caste knew she could feed from emotions as well as from blood. She drew it in so deep her nipples puckered and her sex swelled and moistened. Oh yes, this was more like it.

Angelica followed Sophie onto the dance floor. Before she left tonight the Thirst would be well quenched. She thought back to earlier that evening when she’d been making love with Raul. Since the beginning she’d been aware of the physical signs of his wolf coming to the surface as his lust raged almost out of control, but Raul had been so busy hiding what he was, he’d never noticed her feeding off the sexual energy they’d created. Or the appearance of her fangs as she’d fought the battle to feed from more than his emotions.

She swayed her hips sensuously from side to side and let her body issue its invitation. Come to me. Feel me. Feed me.

Chapter Five

Fifteen minutes, an hour? Raul didn’t know how long he prowled around outside. He hurt. He’d always believed one day he’d find his mother and say…what? I thought you loved me? If so, how could you just walk away from me like old furniture that you no longer needed? Or maybe he’d beg her forgiveness for ruining his parents’ marriage? Whatever the case, it no longer mattered, because she was dead.

Dead.

In the grand scheme of things, did knowledge of his mother’s death change anything? No. That acknowledgment settled his queasy gut but did nothing for the hollow feeling in his chest. Slowly Raul made his way back inside to hear the rest of what his uncle wanted to say to him.

Uncle Joey waited until he was seated before continuing. “You know, son, I’ve never liked speaking ill of the dead, but it’s past time you knew all of it. When the situation with your parents first happened, you were too young for us to fully explain. And later…well, you seemed to have adjusted so completely to your parents’ abandonment that none of us wanted to bring up painful memories. I’d always intended to revisit the issue when you became older, but whenever I tried to ease into the subject, you blew me off. Max finally convinced me to leave it alone. However, I’m guessing by your reaction tonight that was a mistake. I should have pushed the issue, not let it go.”

Raul shrugged. “For the most part I had, adjusted, that is.”

“But you blame yourself for your parents’ breakup and your father’s death.”

“Because it’s my fault. Poppa told me not to tell Momma what he could do, that it was a secret. I told. You saw what happened as a result,” Raul stated.

Uncle Joey said some uncomplimentary things regarding his father’s ancestry under his breath that Raul pretended not to hear.

“You know, your father wasn’t the only male in this family to mate with a human.”

Shock replaced guilt as Raul jerked his head up from contemplating his feet and made his uncle the focus of his complete attention. He opened his mouth to pepper his uncle with questions, but Joey held up a hand, forestalling him.

“You just listen now. You can ask questions after,” Uncle Joey instructed.

Raul bit back his questions and waited.

“I know because of your father you’ve got the belief that mating between shifters and human are doomed to fail. Maybe even forbidden, but that’s simply not the case.”

He leaned forward, ready to dispute his uncle’s claim. Uncle Joey lifted one dark eyebrow, nailing him with a look that said clearly as words, “Hush.”

Raul subsided.

His uncle tapped a calloused forefinger on the family Bible lying on the table between them. “The good book says a mate is ‘bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh.’ That means she’s a part of me. Lying to her is like lying to myself. It will kill the love, destroy the relationship.”

“Where’s your mate?” The question burst out of Raul, unbidden.

Fortunately his uncle didn’t take offense. “My Lily died, victim of gang violence. She was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and a stray bullet took her life. Because of Lily’s death, I can better understand the pain your father felt at the loss of his mate. But the truth of the matter is that Paul brought it upon himself. In the ten years your parents were together, he had plenty of opportunity to tell your mother the truth. He chose, instead, to live a lie. That lie eventually lost him his mate.”

His steady gaze held Raul’s. “I know you believe it was your fault, but the truth would have come out eventually, even without your help. It’s impossible to live with someone and hide who you are. There will be tells. Son, you were only four. Your mother could have easily believed you saying Paul turned into a wolf was the result of a fanciful imagination, except your words, combined with all those tells your father couldn’t help giving, caused two and two to add up to four in your mother’s mind and she discerned the truth.”

Raul blinked, and for the first time in his life, a bit of doubt crept in. He’d always been so sure everything was his fault, but why had his mother believed him instead of laughing it off? He’d been four, and preschoolers were notorious for having vivid imaginations. Raul had been no exception.

His uncle was still speaking. “Even when confronted with the truth, Paul continued to lie, continued to hide.”

Raul flinched, reminded of Angel’s earlier accusations and his denials.

“No woman will accept being lied to her face, and so she left.”

“Why didn’t she take me if it was Poppa she was mad at?”

“I asked that same question. When she first left, she had no idea where she was going or how she would live. She left you with your father because at least with him you’d have a roof over your head and food on the table. Something she wasn’t sure she could provide. She was just getting on her feet when I brought her news of Paul’s death and well, you know the rest.”

“But you said Poppa wrote to her. That means she had a home.”

“No, son. When your momma first left, she spent some time at a women’s shelter before a good friend agreed to take her in. But that friend had children, a husband, and they were barely getting by. There wasn’t room for the both of you,” Uncle Joey explained.

For the first time, a hint of anger flickered to life inside Raul. “She should have just come on home and worked things out with Poppa like he asked.”

Uncle Joey sighed again. “Believe me, son, that she didn’t, that she chose instead to hold on to pride and anger, was a source of guilt and regret to her for the rest of her life. Between your father’s deception and your mother’s pride, they managed to mess up three lives.”

Raul pushed all that to the side to deal with later. “Your mate, did you reveal to her what we are?”

“Lily was as much a part of me as my wolf. Of course I told her the truth.”

In Raul’s mind, there was no of course about it. “How did she react?”

“With disbelief, initially. Then shock with a bit of fear once I proved it to her. I won’t say things didn’t get a little tense, but she loved me. In the end, that’s all that really mattered.

“This woman of yours, you say you love her and that she’s your mate. Is that the man or the wolf talking?” his uncle asked.

“Both.”

“Then you have to tell her. You won’t have peace unless you do. Mark my words, son. Don’t make the mistake your father did. Tell your woman the truth. Now go on, get outta here.” He made a shooing motion with his hands before rising to stand. “These bones aren’t as young as they used to be. I need my rest.”

Raul rose obediently and went to the door. His hand was on the doorknob when his uncle said, “Bring your woman around here to meet the family. Tell her we won’t bite.” He chuckled a little at his joke.

Solemnly, Raul asked, “Uncle Joey, why didn’t you tell me about your mate?”

Uncle Joey’s expression lost all humor. “How long you been with your woman, son?”

Raul felt the flush rise on his face and neck. His gaze dropped to the floor as he admitted, “Over a year.”

When he glanced up again, his uncle gave him a knowing smile. “I met her while you were in the service. She took me totally by surprise.” He shook his head. “Some things hit so deep there just aren’t words to describe.” In an abrupt change of subject, his uncle asked, “You two living together?”

“Yes, sir.” It wasn’t a lie. They had been and would be again if Raul had anything to say about it.

“Remember those tells, son. Your wolf, he won’t like being hidden away, not from his mate. Given a chance, he’ll force your hand. You tell her the truth and let the cards fall where they may. If she’s really your mate, she’ll accept you—fur and all. Now get on with you so this old man can get some rest.”

That got a smile out of Raul. “You’re not old, Uncle Joey. You’re barely fifty.”

“Well, I feel old dealing with you young pups. Bring your woman. Don’t make me come looking for you, and tell that pack of yours it’s been too long since their last visit.”

“Yes, sir. I will.” Raul shed the sweat pants and tossed them to his uncle before exiting the house.

Once on the porch, he breathed in deep, taking in the scents of the night air. This far out there was no traffic. Just the sounds of nature and all her creatures. When he was sure he was alone, he shifted to wolf and ran to where he’d left his car, stopping once to hunt down and eat a rabbit that had the misfortune to cross his hungry path.

As the wolf ran, the man pondered the advice—order, really—his uncle had given him. Tell Angel. A day ago, even an hour ago, the thought would have been inconceivable. But now…?

Raul could acknowledge, if only to himself, he’d spent most of his adult life afraid of loving and losing the way he’d lost his parents. It wasn’t just the words of warning spoken to him by his father about guarding their secret from humans. His mother may have stopped loving him because of what he was, but in the end it was his father’s desertion that hurt the most. Why hadn’t his poppa loved him enough to stay with him?

He’d never wanted to admit it, but deep in his heart Raul knew the truth. His poppa had been weak, just as Uncle Max had said. He loved Angel with everything that was within him, but when he’d found out she’d left, his first thought hadn’t been to sit and weep. It had been to hunt her down and drag her back where she belonged, by her hair if need be, like some damned caveman. Maybe if his poppa had grown a set of balls and done the same with his momma, none of the rest of this would ever have happened.

I don’t see you running to tell our mate about us!

His wolf spoke the truth. He had been a chickenshit, too afraid to tell his woman the truth about himself. Too scared to claim her the way he and his wolf demanded.

No more! It stopped tonight. Raul was going home to his mate, and before the night was over, she’d know exactly to what she was mated. No more hiding. No more lying, and by God, no more holding back.

* * *

Raul arrived back at his SUV, dressed, and cursed when he noted the time. Well after midnight. No wonder his uncle had shown him the door. He picked up his cell phone to call and check in when he noticed ten missed calls, all from Mercer. Not good.

He speed-dialed Mercer.

Mercer answered with a blast of music in the background. “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you for the last hour.”

“I’m sorry. I ended up at Uncle Joey’s,” Raul said loudly into the receiver.

“Well, get your ass down here quick. Your girl flew the coop about an hour after you left. We’re at the Warehouse.”

Raul’s claws sliced out. The Warehouse was a well-known vampire feeding ground. “You let her go in there? Alone?” he bellowed.

“Hell no, you know me better than that, but I couldn’t stop her from going inside, not without explaining why I’d been following her in the first place. I didn’t think you wanted her knowing you’d stuck a tail on her,” Mercer explained.

Raul let out a string of curses and ran an agitated hand through his hair. “Okay, let me think. Can you get inside?”

“Already am,” Mercer confirmed. “I latched on to a couple of beauties near the front of the line. They let me join their party. I ditched them once inside.”

“Did the guards give you any trouble?” he asked as he shoved the vehicle in gear, backed out of the brush, and eased onto the pavement.

“No, you know shifter blood is a delicacy. They watched me with hungry eyes, but no one made a move to stop me,” Mercer said.

“Nobody touches her. You hear me?”

“So far, it’s not the vampires you need to be concerned with. It’s the humans. I’ll drag her off the dance floor if I have to, but the way she’s dressed, it will start a riot.”

Raul growled, and his gums hurt. “I’ll be there in ten.”

“Make it five,” Mercer said and disconnected the line.

Six minutes later Raul strode to the double entrance doors of the Warehouse like he owned the place. He was tired, smelled of earth and sweat, and probably looked wild. The line of people he bypassed waiting to get in hissed and booed at him. Some hurled insults while others shouted out complaints.

He ignored them all, his attention on the two male vampires flanking the doors.

One held out a black-nailed hand, his long black hair pulled back in a queue, his body encased in head-to-toe black. “Get to the back of the line.”

Raul flashed canines and allowed his eyes to go wolf. “My mate’s inside.”

The younger-looking vamp, a blond appearing barely out of his teens, which meant he was probably old as fuck, nudged the larger one. “I didn’t see no bitch come through the line. Did you?”

Raul had the vamp dangling by the throat in an instant. “Watch how you speak about my woman,” he snarled.

The crowd, those close enough to see the confrontation, fell into an uneasy silence broken by a few muttered whispers. Some broke line and left, clearly not wanting to be involved in whatever trouble Raul was bringing.

The black-haired vampire made to move, and Raul’s head snapped around to pin him with a glare. “Don’t. I’ll rip his throat out before you can blink. I’m not here to cause a scene. I just want my woman, and then we’ll be leaving.”

The vampire met his gaze for a long moment, glanced at the claws currently embedded in his fellow security guard’s neck, then looked over his shoulder to the crowd that was growing more agitated by the moment. “Noel’s right. No she-wolf has come through the line.”

“You’ll forgive me if I want to see for myself.”

The vamp debated the wisdom of allowing Raul access.

“Oh look,” Raul taunted as more people broke away from the line and left, “more cattle are leaving. Make up your mind quickly before the rest of tonight’s dinner runs away.”

“Go, wolf,” the vampire snarled. “Find your bitch before someone makes a meal out of her.” The look in his eye said he hoped someone drained Angel dry. He pulled on the door and held it open.

Raul didn’t bother to correct his misconception by telling him Angel was human. He pulled a twenty out of his pocket and gave it to the larger vamp before turning his wolf gaze on the one still dangling by the neck. “Be careful who you taunt. It’s been a while since my pack had a good hunt.” With a casual flick of the wrist, Raul tossed him aside, wiped the blood on his jeans, then entered the club.

As soon as the door shut behind him, the noise and smell of the place overwhelmed him. Underneath the sweat, lust, and alcohol was the iron tinge of blood and the musty scent of sex. His nostrils twitched a protest. The booming bass and strident screech of electric guitars threatened to blow out his sensitive eardrums. He needed to find Angel and get the hell out of there as soon as possible.

He glanced around as he followed the direction most of the club’s patrons seemed to be headed. He didn’t see Angel or Mercer. There were too many people. This was the second time today Raul wished he’d completed the mating bond with Angel. Then he’d know exactly where she was at all times. After tonight the lack of a bond would no longer be an issue, he reminded himself.

He moved out of the flow of foot traffic, whipped out his cell phone, and sent Mercer a brief text. I’m here. Where is she?

Upstairs.

He automatically glanced up to the dark, glass-enclosed space above. Then he scrutinized the club until he noted the curving staircase leading to the upper level.

Upstairs was darker than the lower level. The smell of blood and sex intensified. Raul’s preternatural vision kicked in, turning the dark shapes into identifiable beings. This level was a mass of booths along the back wall, small round high tables that seated two intimately overlooking the dance floor below, another smaller bar doing brisk business, and dance floor filled but not overflowing with bodies like the ones below.

Raul glanced over the dance floor twice before he spotted Angel. She was dressed in a gold metallic halter dress that barely covered the essentials. Her breasts bounced and jiggled as she danced to the pounding beat. Angel’s long, curly dark brown hair swirled around her hips, drawing attention to her rounded ass. She was laughing at something the woman, obviously a vampire, dancing with her said. He started forward determinedly.

Two willowy arms wrapped around his neck as a skinny blonde stepped into his path. “Hey, handsome. Buy me a drink?” she slurred, pressing her body tightly to his.

Raul grasped her by the waist, lifted her bodily, and set her to the side. “No, thank you, and I believe you’ve had enough.” As he moved past her, he heard her wail, “Hey, where’d he go?”

He didn’t look back. His gaze was locked onto his target. A growl rumbled low in his chest when a male eased up behind his woman and ground his pelvis against her butt in a parody of sex, his hands placed possessively on her hips. He lowered his face to her neck and languidly drew his tongue from the base to just below her ear where the pulse beat steadily.

Hell no! No vamp was feeding from his woman. He’d rip the man from limb to limb. Wolf riding just below the surface of his skin, Raul shoved his way forward with no consideration for the dancers he dislodged to reach his goal.

In a quick move, Angel pivoted so that she was behind the male. To his immediate consternation, she didn’t shove Lover Boy away. Instead she draped one arm around his neck and wrapped the other his waist, her hand dangling perilously close to the male’s crotch. Then Angel tipped the male’s chin up and to the side, baring a long length of throat. Her mouth opened wide, revealing a dainty pair of fangs, right before she sank them into the male’s carotid artery.

Chapter Six

Raul halted so abruptly it felt like he’d run into an invisible wall. Even his wolf went preternaturally still inside, analyzing this new information about the woman they both claimed as mate. He stared fixedly while she fed, eyes closed, and a rapturous expression on her face. The same look, in fact, she had when she climaxed with him deep inside her.

The male donor in her arms stilled; then his hips began to buck and shake. A ragged groan escaped his mouth as a small, liquid stain became visible on the crotch of his jeans. The bastard had climaxed.

Rage surged through Raul. His claws extended, and his eyes went wolf. At that moment, he didn’t care what Angel was. The one thing he was absolutely certain of was from now on, he’d be the only man she fed from. She wouldn’t be dishing out any more orgasms unless it was to him.

Her eyes opened, and their gazes locked. Angel’s face drained of color. She released her hold on the male, absently licking a stray drop of blood from her bottom lip. Taking a step back, she glanced around wildly, prepared to run.

Raul smiled grimly. Uh-uh, baby! You’re mine, and you have some explaining to do.

OH GOD! RAUL! He’d seen her feed. What is he doing here? How did he find me?

The only thought in Angelica’s mind was escape. She’d wanted to tell him what she was, but not like this. Dear God, never like this.

She glanced around, her gaze bouncing wildly from corner to corner, looking for an avenue of flight. Her gaze flicked past an EMERGENCY EXIT sign and ricocheted back, focusing in on it like a laser. Angelica turned to run and just that quick, Raul was in front of her.

“Going somewhere, sweetheart?”

She blinked in astonishment. She knew wolves were fast, almost as fast as vamps, but how the hell had he gotten behind her that quickly?

“Uh,” she stuttered in response, her mind blank.

“Good idea. It’s a little too crowded in here for what I have in mind,” he said smoothly. His voice was calm, but his eyes glowed an eerie gold, telling her the true state of his emotions. Not that she needed it. She could feel his rage hammering at her.

Angelica had never been afraid of Raul or his beast, confident he’d never hurt her under any circumstance. However, fear, the unpredictable bastard, had a stranglehold on her throat. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her breath came in pants. This was her worst nightmare come to life.

“Raul, I—” She gasped as he bent down and tossed her over his shoulder. As Raul turned to head down the stairs, Angelica caught sight of her cousin, Sophie, who grinned at her and waggled her fingers in a good-bye wave. Obviously there’d be no help from that quarter, and none of the other vampires seemed to notice, being too intent on feeding.

Mercer—where the hell had he come from?—was by his side in an instant, clearing the way out of the club. Between the two massive bruisers, no one dared stop them. When they reached the front entrance, one of the bouncers shouted, “Hey, she ain’t no bitch,” and tried to block the path.

There was the sound of flesh hitting flesh as Mercer—she assumed it was him—moved the vamp out the way. Angelica smelled that Stephen was nearby, glanced up, and noticed him approaching from behind. Alarmed at being the possible cause of an interspecies war, she quickly called out, “It’s okay! He’s my mate! Ask Sophie. She’ll explain,” she told Stephen, not liking the look in his eye.

Stephen paused, his expression uncertain.

“Move!” Raul growled, and it sounded so vicious the hairs on Angelica’s nape came to attention.

He never paused or slowed his pace. People scrambled out of the way, including the vamps. Angelica heard murmurs and twitters of quickly muffled laughter from the crowd waiting to get inside and grasped hold of Raul’s belt, burying her flushed face in the small of his back. She would never live this down.

The local vamp community was a small one. Once Sophie explained to Stephen who Angelica was and that she really was mated to a wolf shifter, it would be all over town in a matter of hours and wouldn’t stop there. She could expect a call from her father, who sat on the vampire council, in the next few days. Angelica could hear the conversation now. By the way, Dad, did I tell you I mated a wolf? No? Well, I meant to. So…how’s Mom? Oh yeah, that would go over well.

In seconds they’d crossed the huge parking lot and were by Raul’s SUV. He flipped her down into his arms and tossed her into the truck. The door closed with a quiet, ominous snick. Before she could get her seat belt fastened, he was in the vehicle starting the engine.

“I was going to tell—” she began.

“Not one word until we get home,” he snarled.

“My house is closer.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Angelica winced. Way to go! Nice time to remind the man that you left him. “Shutting up now,” she quickly added.

She prayed as Raul zoomed through the sparse traffic on the road that some poor unsuspecting cop wouldn’t pull him over and attempt to give Raul a ticket. In less time than should have been possible, they were parking in front of the pack’s apartment complex and until two weeks ago, her home.

Mercer wasted no time exiting his vehicle. He tossed a casual, “Good night,” over his shoulder as he went inside.

Raul sat for a long, tense moment as the silence drew out between them. Finally he reached for the door handle. As Angelica made to do the same, he tersely commanded, “Don’t move.”

No fool, she sat still and waited for him.

He came around and opened her door. Before she could swing her legs out and stand, he once more had her tossed over his shoulder like a sack of grain. She grabbed for purchase as he bounded up the stairs and into the apartment, down the hall to their bedroom where he flipped her onto the bed. Angelica bounced twice before coming to a halt in a sprawl.

She rose warily to her elbows, waiting to see what he’d do next. Raul’s wolf was in his eyes, and she had a feeling if she’d made even the slightest attempt to get off the bed, he’d pounce. She didn’t mind playing tag with this wolf when she was the one in control, but not when he was being so utterly unpredictable.

Hands on his hips, his stance aggressive, he snarled, “You’re a vamp.” He emphasized the word vamp like it was a curse.

“Yeah, and you’re a wolf. You don’t see me getting all pissy about it,” she retorted. Okay, so maybe she simply wasn’t the cautious sort.

Raul went still in the way she’d seen really old vampires do. He didn’t even appear to be breathing. Then several emotions crossed his face too fast for her to read. She’d lowered her shields but couldn’t get a sense of them. They were strong but too fleeting for her to get a lock on.

He cocked his head to the side, and if he’d been in his four-legged furry form, she knew his ears would be tilted forward. “You know what I am.”

She swallowed, not sure where this was leading. “Yes.”

“For how long?”

Once again, the need to be cautious kicked her in the teeth. She cleared her throat before saying, “Since the first day we met in person?” Despite her intention to sound confident, her voice rose at the end, turning her statement into a question.

Angelica really didn’t like the way Raul was looking at her. She also didn’t like feeling like prey. The predator in him was out and in full effect.

Still watching her with those narrowed, wolfish eyes, he whipped his T-shirt over his head and dropped it onto the floor. Next he toed off his shoes, shoved down his jeans, and stepped out of them. He wasn’t wearing underwear.

“Strip!”

Angelica jerked her gaze from his fully engorged cock to his determined face, hers heating in embarrassment at being caught staring. “Um, don’t you think we need to talk?”

“After.” Raul’s hands hung loose but ready by his sides.

“After what?” she absently parroted, her gaze once more straying to his massive erection. Raul slowly stroked it from base to head. It wasn’t that she’d never seen him nude before. She had. She’d simply never noticed him being so…large. Raul wasn’t a small man, not one bit of him. But this was different, as if his cock had partially shifted and was now the size it would be in his half form.

“After I fuck you the way I’ve wanted to since the moment I first saw you.”

Her gaze snapped back to his. As far as intentions went, it didn’t get any clearer. Angelica felt her pussy cream, and she licked her lips in anticipation.

Raul was a wonderful, considerate lover. The best any woman could ask for. Any human woman, that is. But Angelica was also vampire, and there was a level of…roughness, she craved that he hadn’t provided—until now.

Angelica’s fangs dropped into position. “It’s about damn time, wolf. Do you know how long I’ve waited to get my…teeth”—she licked the tip of one point—“into you?”

Raul’s stance became rigid, like he was holding himself back with the thinnest of control. “You fed from that man tonight, and he came.”

Angelica gave a dainty little shrug. “My bite is orgasmic.”

“From now on, you feed only from me.”

She let her gaze trail slowly down his body, then lifted her knees and planted her feet on the bedspread. Arching her hips, she brought his attention to the minuscule bit of lace covering her sex by running the tip of her finger along the crotch. “Are you sure about that? You know we like to fuck while we feed,” she taunted. “I might get…carried away and”—she licked her lips—“devour you whole.”

His irises turn a brilliant gold, and his nostrils flared as his gaze narrowed on the damp lace. Angelica felt a cool breeze pebble her nipples and then glanced down in astonishment at her shredded dress. When she looked at Raul, he was idly flexing his claws.

“You’re moving too slow.”

His comment startled a laugh out of her. Angelica rose fluidly to her knees and removed the scraps of material. Then she placed her hands on her thigh and tilted her head, her gaze challenging.

“Now the panties,” he ordered.

“You want them off? Take ’em off yourself.”

He blinked, then languidly grinned. It was so wicked she felt another wave of arousal sweep through her body.

“If you insist,” he agreed amiably.

He lifted his hand, and Angelica braced for the slash of claws. Instead he sauntered forward until his knees bumped the mattress, his bobbing cock leading the way. Raul trailed the claw of his right forefinger down her sternum, between her breasts and beyond, circling her navel before dipping his finger lightly inside. “You are so sexy. I could eat you up.”

Reflexively, Angelica’s vaginal muscles clenched, and she thrust her hips forward, seeking his touch where she needed it most. “Touch me,” she half pleaded, half demanded.

“I am.”

“Lower.”

Back and forth, his finger faithfully followed the edge of her panties, never dipping lower. “Here?”

“Raul!”

There was a sharp sting as he ripped the panties right off her body.

“Ooo!” she cried out in surprise, then purred. Damn, that was hot! He’d never done anything like this before.

“I’m going to eat you alive,” he said, stroking his thumb along her slit. “But first, there’s the matter of your feeding to attend to.” Raul climbed up her body, pushing her down so he straddled her chest, knees spread wide. He stroked his erection base to head, then moved closer so that his penis was in sucking distance. “Feed.”

Angelica’s eyes bulged in shock. “From your cock?”

“Yes.” He brushed the moist tip against her slightly parted lips.

“You’re sure?” Angelica wasn’t sure why she hesitated. Her bite wasn’t painful, beyond the initial sting, but the thought of sinking her fangs into such a sensitive area gave her pause.

“Bite me!” He pressed insistently until the head butted her fangs.

Angelica flicked out her tongue and pulled in a drop of his spicy essence. He sucked in a sharp breath, and his thighs tensed beneath her hands. She smiled and did it again, lingering over the hole with tantalizing slowness.

Raul cursed and his canines lengthened.

Loving his primal response, Angelica twirled her tongue around the ridge that lined the head, paying particular attention to the sensitive underside.

He snarled. “Angelica, quit pla—Fuck!”

She sucked deeply, drawing strongly on the small pinpricks she’d made. When the coagulant in her saliva sealed the tiny holes, Angelica bit him again, repeating the process over and over until Raul positively vibrated over her.

He snarled out a litany of profanity as his clawed fingers held a vice grip in her hair, holding her head to him. Angelica could tell he was rigidly controlling himself even as his hips jerked. The strain on his face showed he was ruthlessly suppressing the need to thrust.

She bit him harder, sinking her fangs deep this time.

With a roar, Raul’s control snapped. He jerked her off him using her hair, had her up and over onto her belly in a blink. Before the world stopped spinning, he had her ass high and had mounted her. The first thrust sent her sliding forward. Raul clamped his hands on her hips and yanked her back. His second thrust made her gasp with a combination of pleasure and pain. The third one hit a spot that made her cry out and clench around him.

Raul slid one hand to her belly to hold her in position. The other landed on the mattress beside her hand as he hunched over her. “Brace yourself,” was all the warning Angelica received.

He locked his canines into the tender spot between her shoulder and neck and let loose, taking her like the animal he was. It was hard, fast, and brutal, and went on and on and on. Angelica screamed. She cried, but mostly she came, over and over again.

Raul’s cock swelled to even larger proportions, stretching her to the maximum, right before he stiffened in climax. His hips jerked with each pulse of release. He’d penetrated her to the hilt and must have hit a sweet spot because the reflexive movements of his cock against it set her off in another orgasm. This one the longest yet.

When Angelica came back to awareness, Raul had rolled them to the side. He lay curled around her, his penis still erect and deeply embedded. He stroked her breasts, hips, and thighs, petting her while he murmured, “Mine. Finally mine,” over and over like he couldn’t believe it.

Soothed and exhausted, Angelica drifted into a contented sleep.

Chapter Seven

The silky glide of Raul’s penis leaving her inner depths woke Angelica out of her light doze, and she rolled to face him. Raul caught her close, nuzzling his face in her neck. “I love you, baby. You have no idea how much. Please don’t ever leave me again.”

“I won’t,” she promised, cupping the back of his head. “I only did it to get your attention. I was tired of the secrets between us.”

He lifted his head to look at her. “Why can’t I sense that you’re a vampire? Normally I can smell them.”

“My mother is human. The vampire gene is recessive in me. I’m a little faster than the average human, a little stronger, and occasionally need blood, but mostly I read as human.”

He mulled that over. “That explains it, I guess. How often is occasionally? I never noticed you feeding.”

“Once or twice a week. Less if I feed really well. Besides, you’re gone a lot. It was easy to hide. All I had to do was wait for you to leave,” she admitted.

He winced. Yes, he had spent a lot of time away from her in an attempt to hide what he was, and all along she’d known. What a waste. That brought up another issue. “If you knew all along I wasn’t human, why didn’t you tell me you weren’t either?”

“Why did you freak out so bad earlier?”

Raul instinctively tensed at the reminder of his earlier behavior. No more secrets, he reminded himself. “I was afraid if you knew what I was, you’d leave me, and I couldn’t risk losing you. You’re my mate. I love you too much. It would destroy me to lose you.” He thought of his father’s suicide.

Your uncle lost his mate, and he’s still here, his wolf reminded him.

The thought made him pause. While Uncle Joey definitely mourned the loss of his mate, he didn’t seem suicidal. Maybe the loss of a mate didn’t automatically mean the death of the survivor. It took balls to deal with that sort of pain and still keep going. He was beginning to understand why Uncle Max had called Poppa a coward. Poppa hadn’t gone after Momma and brought her home where she belonged, even though he had obviously known where she was. And he hadn’t loved his son enough to stick around.

Angelica tapped him lightly on the jaw to get his attention. “I love you. Knowing the truth wouldn’t have changed that.”

“Yes it would.” He told her about his parents and what happened to his family when he was a child. As he finished, Raul shook his head. “Humans fear us. You can’t love what you fear.”

“I’m not human,” Angelica reminded him.

He narrowed his eyes. “But I didn’t know that, did I?”

Angelica dropped her gaze to his chest. “I was afraid to tell you. Vampires and shifters don’t have the best relationship under normal circumstances. I couldn’t be sure how you’d react.”

He lifted her chin with his forefinger. “As long as you love me, I don’t give a damn about you being half vamp.”

“I’m glad.” She smiled, and her eyes glimmered with the sheen of unshed tears.

“So you’re coming back home where you belong?”

Angelica bit her lower lip as her gaze slid sideways. “I was kinda hoping you’d move in with me. The house is so much nicer and larger than this place.”

He quelled the urge to instantly reject the idea. Raul could tell the house meant a lot to her. “What about the guys? I can’t leave the pack.”

She drew circles around his nipple. “The house really isn’t that far from here.”

He grabbed her hand and held it still. Her touch was destroying his ability to concentrate. “It’s in the middle of a human subdivision. How long do you think it will take for someone to notice that we’re not exactly human?” A thought struck him. “You didn’t buy that house, did you?”

Angelica squirmed. “The price was too good to pass on.”

He felt a sinking in his stomach. “Damn.”

“I want kids someday, with you. There’s no room for babies here.” Her eyes pleaded with him to understand.

The idea of children with Angel was a kick in the chest. Raul had known she was his mate from the moment he met her, but hadn’t thought beyond claiming her and hiding what he was. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, kids would be nice.”

Kids with Angel would be fucking fantastic.

“So we can live in the house?” she asked hopefully.

Inwardly he frowned. It was his job to provide their home, not the other way around. A man took care of and provided for his mate and pups and saw to their safety. Raul thought quickly.

The properties on either side of the apartment complex were up for sale. These buildings were built during a time when building zones weren’t as stringent, and it wasn’t strange to see duplexes, quads, and apartment complexes in the same neighborhood as houses. The property on the left was a two-story duplex. The one on the right was a ramshackle house with a huge yard. If they also purchased the empty lot in the back of the house, they’d own the whole block, and the pack would be near for extra security.

“What about this? We buy the house and lot next door, tear it down, and build to suit on the land. We can stay in your house while it’s being built, then rent it out for extra income. The guys will be happy to each have their own place. Eventually, they’ll find mates and the pack will grow. I’ll speak to them about purchasing the rest of the properties on the block. We can fix them up and rent them out as well. This way we control who our neighbors are, and it gives us room to grow should there be a need.”

Angel drummed her fingers on his chest while she thought. Finally she sighed. “I really love that house, but I understand your need to be with your pack. You are alpha, after all. Can we afford it?”

Raul smiled. “Yes, the business is doing well. Between the two of us, we’ll have no problem financing a loan. Property values are real low here. Overall, I’d wager it will be cheaper for us to build than to buy the house you’re in now.”

Angel rose gracefully to her knees and straddled him. “Speaking of families, I need to introduce you to mine and soon. After that stunt at the club tonight, the word will be out about our relationship. My father won’t be pleased to see I’ve bound myself to a wolf, but once the deed is done, he’ll have no choice but to accept it. My mother will bring him around.”

He stroked his finger over the mating mark on Angel’s shoulder. “This says you’re mine, and there’s not a damn thing he, or anyone else, can do about it.”

Angel shrugged. “That’s a shifter mark. We vamps have our own mating process.”

Raul scowled, not liking the sound of that. “What exactly does that mean?”

“It means in your world, this mark signifies me as belonging to you. In my world, I’m considered still available. Just as humans have their marriage ceremony to signify a mating, vamps have their process.”

He rose to his elbows. “You’re mine. Whatever we have to do that makes that apparent in both our worlds, we’ll do it. And speaking of marriage, we’re still getting married so find your engagement ring, wherever you stashed it, and put it back on,” he ordered.

She laughed. “The wolf’s out of his cage now, isn’t he?”

“Damn straight.”

Angel rocked her hips back and forth, her slick lips sliding up and down his shaft until it was a rigid pole between them. “Our mating process is rather simple. I think you’ll like it since it involves blood and sex.”

Raul smiled, already liking the sound of it. “Whatever you need to do to me, baby, I’m yours.”

“As I said, it involves sex.” She rose, angled his penis for penetration, then sank down, slowly engulfing the shaft.

“Yes, sex,” he hissed, loving the feel of her tight, slick cunt clenching around his aching arousal.

She rode him slow, eyes closed, back arched. He angled forward and sucked one pert nipple while pinching the other. Angel moaned.

Taking her moan as a sign of encouragement, he slid a hand between them and lightly rubbed circles around her clit, gradually drawing nearer to the bud until he stroked it directly.

Her breath caught. She began to pick up speed, rising and falling fluidly. He was her mechanical bull, and she rode him with exquisite grace. A flush rose from her chest to her face, a signal that she was getting close.

“Sit up so we’re chest to chest,” she instructed.

Hating to give up his prize, he licked her nipple one last time before complying.

“When I…come, I’m going…to bite…you. Don’t…come…until I do,” she gasped. “When I strike…lock your canines…into my shoulder…and drink. Don’t stop until I do,” she finished in a rush. “Oh God! So close.”

She rode him harder, faster. Raul grabbed her hips, pulling her down as he pumped up. He knew his woman and what it took to push her over. He used his knowledge ruthlessly. It didn’t take long for her pussy to clench tightly around his shaft even as she sank her fangs deep into his neck.

“Shit!” His wolf raced to the surface. Without a thought, Raul sank his canines into the mating mark he’d left, and drank. The orgasm that rocked through him tore the breath from his lungs and caused him to see stars. His muscles locked while his hips pumped furiously. He came so much his seed overflowed Angel’s vagina to soak his balls and inner thighs, and still he kept coming. Raul felt half-dead and completely drained by the time Angel lifted her head and ordered him to stop feeding.

She licked the blood lingering on his lips before thrusting her tongue in his mouth and tangling hers with his in a hungry kiss. When she trailed her mouth down his jaw to his neck, then nibbled on his ear, Raul caught her face in his hands. “I never thought I’d ever say this to a woman, but I need a moment, honey. You totally drained me.”

Angel laughed and hugged him tight. “It’s the blood loss. I took a lot. You’ll feel better in a moment.”

It was the year’s worth of cum he’d spurted into her, Raul thought ruefully.

She cupped his face and kissed him again. Amazingly, Raul felt his cock twitch. Dumb bastard didn’t have enough sense to stay down.

“You’re mine,” she said, grinning. Happiness caused her eyes to glow.

“Forever,” he agreed.

Raul had set out to reclaim his mate and instead found himself claimed. Funny how life worked.

Content

Reclaiming Angelica
by
Zena Wynn

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven