Never in my childhood dreams did I imagine the day I was matched with a mate would go like this.
Julian was strong as hell, and he had me pinned. I still had a little gas in the tank, but I was familiar enough with my own body to know that I was close to complete exhaustion. If I kept fighting him with everything in me, he'd have me unconscious in no time, and that was way more dangerous than being awake but in his grasp.
"I don't have anything to say to you," I spit at him, not wanting him to think that we were anything more than enemies. "Let me go."
He smiled down at me, a slow grin that I hated because it made him even more handsome. "Don't be like that, Whitney. You're my mate. You can't deny it."
I wanted to fight him on that, but I knew he was right. That didn't mean anything was going to change, though. He was still the man who poisoned Naomi and abandoned his pack. He was still the enemy. "I don't give a fuck what two flower petals say. I'll never be your mate, Julian Payne. Now let me go."
He laughed, clearly enjoying having me under him. My cheeks heated at the position, and I hated that he could see my embarrassment. "Not so fast, beautiful," he said, using a pet name that only made me hate him more. "We have things to discuss."
My heart was pounding hard. I hated the man above me. Hated him so strongly that I could taste it on my tongue like bitter iron.
I couldn't take him on my own, not in this condition, but I didn't need to kill him myself. I just needed to call for my allies. My pack would end this power fantasy that he was indulging in fast.
One more burst of energy to get him off me long enough to get my phone and call Laura or anyone else in the pack, and I'd be free of Julian in no time. I was so damned tired, but it had to be done. I thought about how Danny had taken Naomi and it made my mouth go dry. Danny turned out to be a good guy, but Julian had already shown us his true colors.
He tried to kill Naomi. Well, he'd be more likely to kill me than get me to accept him as my mate—because it wasn't happening.
He was talking, rambling about mating rituals and alliances, but I had tuned him out to plan my escape from his grasp. The last thing I wanted to do was hear his voice or look into those gorgeous eyes. It wasn't fair that he was so damned attractive and awful at the same time.
Tall and packed with muscle, Julian was one hell of a male specimen, evil or not. His hair was midnight black, and his eyes were an odd hazel color that had gold, green, and brown mixed into them. When the sun hit them, like it was now, green was dominant. He had a strong nose, almost too big but somehow perfect on his face, and a smile that pulled up farther on the left than the right. Dark hair dusted his chest, and while there was the temptation to look lower, I held back. His scent of black pepper and leather made it hard to concentrate, but I was a professional. A warrior at heart. And I just needed to wait until his guard was down once more.
Then it came. He dipped his head, running his nose up my neck and drinking in my scent, his hold on my wrists letting up just the slightest bit.
That's all I needed.
I used every last ounce of strength and wiggled out from under him, rolling away and getting to my feet as quickly as possible. I didn't need to see where he was—I could feel him. The mate bond was thin and new, but still present enough that I knew exactly where Julian was.
It was unsettling, to say the least.
When he whipped around to grab me again, I kicked out, my boot meeting his jaw with a sickening crack. I winced internally—it was a pretty jaw, and that sounded painful as hell—but he was a wolf. We heal fast. And Julian would have plenty of time to heal after I escaped.
I turned, ready to run, but he was on his feet in a flash, growling and stalking toward me. I swallowed hard at his expression—he was pissed. But so was I.
And my phone was already in my hand.
I pressed the button for the last person I'd texted, Laura, and ran like hell.
Julian was behind me in a flash, and I could feel him closing in on me. I didn't know where I was going or what I was doing, but I knew that I couldn't let him catch me. Not now. Not ever.
I was breathing hard, my body exhausted, but I didn't dare slow down. Julian had already shown himself to be cunning and vicious, and I had to stay one step ahead of him if I wanted to get out of this alive.
Laura was a demon slayer, and she was only about 10 minutes away from me. I knew that she would bring help and that we could defeat Julian together. I just needed to stay alive until then.
It was getting harder and harder to breathe. My lungs were burning, my throat dry, and my legs felt like they were going to give out at any moment. Julian was behind me, a constant shadow that never stopped chasing. I had to fight the urge to glance back and see how close he was.
The trail was starting to slope up, the incline growing steeper with every step. But I had hope, my phone still in my hand. I barely had any breath to speak, but I figured Laura must have picked up by now, and I raised the device to my ear—
Call failed, it read. No reception.
"FUCK!" I screamed, my voice echoing through the trees.
I heard Julian snarling behind me, and I knew that the end was near.
I couldn't get away from him. I was going to die here, all alone on this god-forsaken hiking trail, killed by the man who had tried to poison my friend and then kidnapped me. Because he'd have to kill me. I wasn't going with him. Not now. Not ever.
With my senses heightened, I knew he was about to be on me, and I tucked my hands, my phone still clutched in one of them, to my chest to make sure I didn't lose the device when he hit me from behind. I tried to brace myself, but it didn't help much.
Julian slammed into me, his arms wrapping around my waist as he tackled me to the ground. We rolled a few times, and then he was on top of me again. I let out a scream as my head cracked against a large rock on the ground, pain blossoming across the back of my skull.
He growled in my ear, "Shut up, or I'll make you."
I whimpered, wanting to fight him, but there was no way that I could. He was too strong, and I was already injured. My vision was swimming, and I could feel blood trickling down the back of my neck from the blow to my head.
His nostrils flared as he scented the blood, and Julian's expression changed in an instant. The anger on his face was replaced by concern, and he reached up to gently brush the hair away from my face. I flinched at his touch, but he ignored me, turning my head slightly so he could see the wound.
"Oh fuck," he murmured. “You're bleeding."
I glared at him, "No shit, Sherlock."
"Don't be like that," he said, a hint of anger creeping back into his voice. He pressed around the wound, and while it hurt, it was surface level. "A bad cut, but your skull seems intact."
"I don't give a fuck about my head, I want you off me," I growled at him, still angry as hell. "And I have nothing to say to you. Let me go."
I was blindly jamming my thumb against my phone screen, trying to hit the 'retry' button to try and call Laura again. I'd never wished for an old-style button phone more in my life. My head was pounding, and despite how furious I was, I knew there was no way out of this without help.
Julian opened his mouth to say something, but then a sound emanated from near my chest, and I almost laughed from relief. The sound of a phone line ringing.
His expression hardened, and he snatched the phone out of my hands before I could stop him, but it didn't matter. My location was on, and they'd be worried enough by the halted call to come to my rescue I was sure of it.
Julian looked at the phone screen and growled in frustration. "I'm going to give you this back, and you're going to call them off."
I had sat up and scooted away from him but refused to take the offered phone. "No, I don't think so."
Julian closed his eyes, and I could see him processing his sudden loss of control of the situation. I expected him to rage, maybe even attack me, wishing true harm this time, but I was surprised when he raked a hand through his hair and sighed. "Then let me offer you a proposition."
Thrown off, I stopped prodding at the cut on my head and looked at him. "What in the hell could you possibly offer me?"
"Protection." I started to laugh, but he held up a hand to stop me. "Not for you. For your pack. I wouldn't even be in this territory, except I came here to offer Hector my wolves to guard the perimeter of Silverfang Creek territory in return for a simple favor. Our mate match changed everything, but I can still offer that. Call your wolves, tell them nothing is wrong, and you’ll gain the strength of my pack in your fight against the demons.”
My eyes widened in surprise. “How did you know…”
He raised an eyebrow, looking smug. “It was clear as day that you’d been fighting demons. You’ve got their blood on your boots, for one. Secondly, your reputation precedes you, demon hunter Whitney. Everyone in the shifter world knows who you are, and how good you are at what you do.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “But you tried to kill Naomi.”
His face shuttered, but then he shrugged. “Think what you want. That’s what the demons want, right? To turn us against each other until we’re all easy pickings?”
“How did you…”
“I’ve been fighting them for years,” he interrupted. “I was Danny’s right hand, his best fighter. Plus, I know you need help, whether you want to admit it or not.”
“I have a team.” I countered.
“I know you do. With one other unmated female wolf…and two recently mated males. How long until their mates call them home to stay, and want them out of danger?”
His words hit me hard. “But…I mean…the pack…”
Julian snorted. “Yeah, most of that pack isn’t going to fight demons. They’ve all got husbands, or wives, and pups. Demons? Not happening.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. He wasn’t totally wrong.
Julian held out my phone again, and I was annoyed with how tempting the offer was. “I’ve got ten unmated, well-seasoned wolves that have all fought demons before. Call off your friends, Whitney, and I’ll triple your manpower in a snap.”
“This isn’t something you can just snap your fingers and make it so,” I said, getting irritated. “This is a big deal, and I don’t know you. Why should I trust you?”
He took a step closer to me, and I wanted to scoot away but held my ground. “You don’t have to trust me. But I have more information about the demon attacks than you know, and if you have me dragged off by your hunters, then you’ll never get to know. You might hate me, Whitney, but we’ve got a common enemy, and that goes a hell of a long way.”
“You tried to kill Naomi,” I repeated. “Why in the hell would I trust you with anything?”
His jaw ticked, but he didn’t back down. “Naomi’s alive, isn’t she? Come on, Whitney. Ten wolves. Ten unmated, battle-ready wolves.”
I swallowed hard, looking at this man who had kidnapped me and tried to force me into mating with him. I hated him, but he was right.
Dammit, he really was right.
I snatched the phone out of his hand and called Laura, explaining that I had called and then lost service as soon as the call connected and that nothing was wrong. I told her I just needed some time alone, and she was sympathetic, agreeing easily.
Then I hung up and looked at Julian. “You’re going to swear an oath to me right here, right now, or I’m calling her back and you’re done. If you betray me, if you break your oath, if you try to harm my packmates in any way, I will kill you. I swear it.”
He nodded. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Despite my better judgment, I let Julian shift back to wolf form, and then return fully dressed in human form to discuss the deal we had just made. It was maybe one of the stupidest things I’d ever done, but I needed food and rest before I was going to be able to fight my way out of his grasp again.
It could go two ways. Either he was being honest and the Reckless Stalkers would guard the Silverfang Creek perimeter, sparing our wolves from harm while we investigated the demon issue or he lied, and by the time his lies came to light, I’d be far away from him and back in the fold of my pack, safe.
No matter how it shook out, it was the best chance I had to live another day.
Julian told me about his tenuous new territory and how they had found multiple demon hotspots while scoping it out. When I tried to turn the conversation back to Danny and Naomi he refused, but I managed to suss out that his original plan had been to have Faye find a witch for his sad little ‘pack’ in exchange for protection.
Now, he just wanted me as his ally. He was smart enough to know that the Silverfangs weren’t going to offer him and his ragtag bunch of wolves an alliance, but me alone? I could sacrifice for my pack. I’d never be his mate, but if he was willing to help me hunt so Keifer and Bruce could have some time with their family after months on the road, it would be worth it. Especially if it meant we killed some demons and got some information about why the attacks were increasing so suddenly.
So I agreed to go with him and his little pack, and he agreed to swear an oath.
We were going to work together, and there would be no funny business. Julian laughed at that part.
“You can’t deny me forever. I’m your mate. I don’t intend to forget that, just because we have some little oath. I won’t interfere with your work, but when we’re not hunting… all bets are off, Whitney.”
“Go fuck yourself.”
“I just might. You provide plenty of inspiration.”
I wanted to rip his head off his shoulders and kick it down the hiking trail like a soccer ball, but I restrained myself. Julian really was one of the best fighters around, and he’d be one hell of an asset, if only he would drop the mate shit.
We agreed to meet up later tonight at a riverside restaurant called Taurus and hammer out the details of how all of this would work. Julian insisted that there was increased activity near his new pack’s territory and that I needed to come and see it in person. I was skeptical, thinking he just wanted to isolate me, and insisted that I be able to bring an ally of my own. The idea made Julian growl, but he agreed when I pushed.
We walked back down the trail in awkward silence, unwanted attraction, at least on my end, and the threat of violence coursing between us. We parted ways at the trailhead, him disappearing into the trees and me heading for my car, but he called after me, “Whitney…don’t think we’re done with this conversation.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said without looking back. “We have to hash out the details, but trust me. We’re done talking about the mating stuff.”
He didn’t reply, so I just kept walking to my car. I didn’t feel any better when I got in and shut the door behind me. My mate was a fucking lunatic. A gorgeous, powerful, determined lunatic that I couldn’t stand, and had to work with. I had no idea how I was going to make this work.