Beaufort Creek Shifters (10 book series)
The Wolf’s Bullied Mate Chapter 9

Isaiah

Three days used to be a rule. Now with Jada attached to my hip and my arm firmly wrapped around he from a thorny bush, sweeping her hair behind her ear-and sped up for everything else.

, it was a thing of the past, an ancient behavior that held no sway over me anymore. Time slowed for small moments-holding her hand, handing her a rose

It was hard to believe I had ever functioned as anything else. When I was a proud, sober member of the Bratecrest pack, I'd been a ladies' man. I went wherever I could find willing and enthusiastic participants, drowning myself in enough p***y to outlive an emperor. Naturally being so attractive put me at the head of most lines.

Not like I needed to wait for attention, but that was beside the point.

Jada gave her attention freely. She was fiercely loyal, compassionate, and sweet. She didn't hide her fe personality.

Where I stood wasn't in question for a second for she informed me every waking moment of the day. Locking my fingers in hers sated me. I guided her through the farmers market with a huge bag of corn -the sky was the limit. Blake trusted us to decide on our own.

Since my alpha encouraged my participation, I found myself salivating over every inch of Jada. Her ski sidelines-and only from the sidelines with the glare that Jada shot them. It was cute to watch. And arousing. And enlightening. Mating had never appealed to me. S*x had been my primary function laughed myself into an early grave.

There was just no way this was real.

She didn't front for a second about anything. Whatever dwelled in her heart also sat on her lips and I deeply appreciated the transparent nature of her

over my shoulder. We traded with the other vendors for vegetables and fruits that we didn't grow, as well as jarred items. Honey, pickled goods, jams, jellies sweeter than any fruit imaginable and her kiss was lifesaving. The way she publicly claimed me made my heart soar. Women checked me out from the

rs. Nobody could have changed my mind. If someone had told me about Jada and how I would feel about her in just a week's worth of time, I would have

"Look alive, handsome," Jada teased while tapping my chin. "Harold is flagging us down with a whole barrel of honey. You know our shifters are going to go haywire over that stuff." "Don't forget the seeds," I reminded her.

We had plenty of bird shifters who were just dying to have some good sunflower seeds. Blake's orders pot mine. "Jermaine is going to die over the honey," she said. "What about you? What do you like?"

"Melons."

She laughed until she saw my devious smirk. Then she blushed. "Handsome, we don't have time for that." "I beg to differ."

"Alright, keep begging."

I hugged her tighter to my side while marching proudly toward Harold. "Never in a million years, sugar tits."

***

I wasn't a fan of kids.

It wasn't that I disliked kids actively or anything stupid like that. It was just that the tiny drunk fuckers had a habit of thinking I was some kind of IRL jungle gym that they could climb at will. Elias was lucky that I cared about him and his extracurricular activities. He wanted to make a good impression on the alpha. Blake, not Troy. Troy was his cousin. He didn't need to impress Troy.

My pride and preferences weren't going to get in the way of helping one of my original pack members. So, when Elias proposed that I volunteer as a carpenter for one of the school plays, I agreed. Jada accompanied me to the makeshift stage, holding tools and grabbing waters and adding humor to the situation.

Loud curses erupted from the other side of the stage followed by a crash. I could only imagine that Elias had royally fucked something up. While Jada laughed to her heart's content, I marched to other end, grumbling the whole way and fuming like a volcano getting ready to erupt.

"What did you do now?" I snapped. But when I caught Elias shaking his hand and holding back tears, I didn't need him to respond. "Did you get distracted again?"

"I didn't get distracted by shit, you giant troll."

I growled at him. "Yes, you did. I saw that teacher walk through here. I have to say you have awful taste in women."

Elias sneered. "She's a bitch. I hate her."

"Right. That's why you stare at her ass. Floral fabrics really bring out the curves, don't they?"

"Shut up, Izzy."

I guffawed while lifting the hammer he had been using poorly to reinforce the stage. After a few corrective slams, I had the stage standing properly. As it should. Since my friend was too preoccupied with the opinion of some shifter schoolteacher. "Is she even a wolf?" I inquired. "Like why does she matter so much to you that you have to hate her?"

"I said-"

"I know what you said, Eli," I shot back. "I just want to know why you care enough to hate her."

He shook his head while turning away. "I don't know."

That was the gist of everything with Elias. He didn't know this, or he didn't know that. He hadn't been sure of anything since we broke out of that medical prison. Now that we had something resembling a decent life, we weren't sure what to do with it. I sensed that hesitation in him as much as I perceived Jada's affection for me.

It made me want to wrap him in a hard hug.

Instead, I patted his shoulder, knowing more about him than he knew about himself. Purely because our alpha was the same alpha. "I get it."

"No, I don't think you do."

Venom dripped from those words. I ignored the intentional bite. "I lost people too. Don't let your haze of grief forget that."

The hammer weighed heavy in my hand. I set it down gently, trying not to set him off. He needed some space to manage his shit. Troy said it frequently enough that it was just a given at this point. His poor cousin was probably the one who suffered more than any of us. Losing a friend is hard. But losing a child? Shit, I couldn't even imagine.

I walked slowly back to Jada. She cocked her head to the left, to the right, then to the left again, inquiring without saying a word. That was our secret language now. Head movement, hand gestures, squinting-it all worked to get our points across.

It was weird. "He's having a moment."

She nodded slowly, eyelids drooping with an understanding that I could feel. I rubbed the spot in my chest where I sensed her the most-my heart-and tried not to think too hard about what it would feel like to lose her. Well, now that it was in my brain...

"You know, if he needs space, I have to go check on the horses for Skye. You can come with me."

"You just want me to carry you because your legs are tired."

A defeated grin crossed her lips. Playfully defeated rather than serious. Anything serious between us happened in the bedroom. Or the backyard. Or the toolshed. Wherever we happened to get the urge to f**k.

She tangled her fingers up in mine and nodded toward the other side of the small auditorium. Hammering echoed behind me. It sounded like Elias had gotten a hold of himself enough to handle his tools. The smashing was louder than necessary, which meant we had about thirty seconds to leave before he started yelling about it.

Outside the schoolhouse, the sun was setting. Tonight would mark the second week of Jada and I spending time together as announced mates. My heart felt certain of her presence, but my brain had yet to catch up.

She wasn't my mate. Not quite. Not yet. There were still things we had to do about that.

"Come on," she urged while yanking on my hand. "Get out of your head, bully." "Hey, that's rude."

She laughed while jogging ahead. "I'll race you."

"What do I get if I win?"

Her response was more laughter, a quicker pace. Watching her jog off inspired me to follow. Something inside me encouraged my pursuit of her. Nobody else could have convinced me to do it. The effect between us was like night and day. And the fucking was literally incredible.

Jada had delicious thighs that capped my hips perfectly. I loved having her on top of me. I loved the feeling of her skin conforming to mine with every thrust. Seeing her look up at me from her knees absolutely drove me wild and couldn't have compared to any good porno I'd seen in the past.

Every woman I had slept with was gone in my mind. Jada was the only woman I dared to recall at any given moment-and that was a scary thought.

So, I shoved it down with everything else. I boxed it away, tucking it into the basement and pouring concrete over it. Shifters like me were strange creatures of habit. We picked a habit and we stuck with it for a long time until something changed our minds. Right now, Jada changing my mind meant that she had gotten under my skin in ways that weren't typical for a mate.

I slowed my pace. Is this what mates do?

Laughter rose from the other side of the cornfield. Stalks grew in healthy and tall lines next to me as I raced around the field to get to the barn where the two horses were kept. The doors came into view. One of them was slid open. I barreled right into the barn and smiled when I caught Jada at the other end, feeding the horses.

She beamed at me. "You're getting slower."

"I just let you win."

"Is that what you're calling it?" She grinned mischievously. "I guess you're not a sore loser anymore."

I shook my head and chortled. "Careful. I might change my mind."

"I hope not. We have a rematch in about five minutes."

I studied her carefully, admiring the way her toes pointed when she reached up for something above her head. The white crop top tank she wore revealed plenty of her appealing skin and the multicolored cotton pants she wore hung low on her hips. Bare feet with gold rings around her toes. I didn't understand why she walked around without shoes half the time now, but I didn't complain either.

She knew I liked it when she decorated her body.

I sauntered up to her and rested my hand on the small of her back. She glanced up at me behind lidded eyes, a lazy smile appearing next. "Race you to the beach?"

"We haven't done that yet."

"Exactly."

I smirked. "You're on."

She stepped back to finish her chores. When she was finished, she stripped her clothes and pointed to the door behind me. "Wolf form. First one back gets to be on top."

Oh, she knew exactly what I liked. My clothes were on the ground in an instant and I was in my wolf form before she could even get fur to sprout on her shoulders. The two of us skittered off once we had shifted and sprinted for the trees. Inside my belly swelled a satisfaction I didn't think was possible.

Excited contentment, if that could even be a thing. I felt like I could just do this forever. Jada darted ahead and skipped between the trees, turning about every so often to nip at my ear or my leg. She dashed forward, slowed, and then dashed again in quick succession like we were old friends in a casual race.

We must have been at some point. It felt like it was true. Ancient history never revealed those souls that got reincarnated, yet I had a feeling because I believed such a thing that our energy must have tousled before in another life. Maybe not on this dimensional plane, but somewhere.

Stardust always recognizes stardust.

Snickers echoed in my mind. I heard her as much as I felt her, noting the joy she expressed freely and drinking it up like it was liquid gold meant to sustain me.

Hurry up, old man, she joked. You're going to lose.

I huffed while pumping my legs harder. Not today, sugar tits.

Our competition took a turn once we darted over the dunes. Sand kicked up behind us in ragged waves much like the ocean. Whoever hit the water first would surely make the loudest splash. Yet all I heard around me was a crashing. Waves, earth, wind, fiery desire- it coalesced until there was nothing else left.

At that point, my heart was battering the inside of my rib cage like an angry bird trapped in a cage. I didn't feel trapped. Yet I didn't feel free. I felt like I was tethered to her in ways I couldn't control. She imbued me with strength unfelt in past years while also scaring the little boy who hid away his fears.

The little boy was me. He and I were one and the same. As much as I didn't want to admit it, she was the driving force behind my fear of the dark. Shadows crawled in the back of my mind, having been unearthed from the very place I buried them. Anxiety. Concern. Terror.

It wasn't the darkness that frightened me. It was her absence. For surely without her light, I would be left in the dark, an empty void that meant nothing more to me than anything else. Nothing could have gotten me out of bed in the morning like her. She was the very air I breathed, even though I didn't want her to be that important to me.

Too late. She was under my skin. She had burrowed like a squirrel into my heart. She was there whether I liked it or not-and apparently, she had been there for a while. Whatever feelings arose from our pairing were but a symptom of the true sickness. We swam and danced in the ocean. We yapped and howled and darted along the beach. We never ran back to the barn. There was no winner. Our races didn't need a winner anymore. They just needed an answer to a question that I didn't dare ask. When was the other shoe going to drop?