Chapter 11

Walker

The next morning, I was still feeling overly heated and uncomfortable. I"d had to go back to my room, take a very cold shower, and still handle things myself after that kiss. It had barely taken the edge off my need for my mate.

That kiss.

I closed my eyes, allowing myself to relive the moment once more. I didn"t know why I was torturing myself like that.

Groaning, I knew I was going to have to take care of the raging boner that didn"t seem to want to go away before I went down and faced Lindsey and the kids.

Hot damn, my woman could kiss.

Never in my life had I had such a sensual moment with a woman before and all we"d done was kiss. What was it going to be like to make love to her?

My dick jumped at the thought.

I groaned and fisted myself, allowing the thoughts to run though my head. I"d already seen her naked from shifting, and now I could vividly imagine what it would be like to have her tiny body wrapped around me, bringing us both so much pleasure.

It didn"t take long for me to hit my climax. Her name echoed off the walls around me as I came hard.

She was certainly going to be the death of me.

I cleaned myself up some and then headed for the bathroom with another cold shower, hoping the water would shock her the rest of the way out of my system.

Half an hour later, I was only at half-wood and able to at least think straight again as I took the back stairs to the kitchen.

Lindsey and the kids were there eating cereal for breakfast.

I didn"t care much for a sugary start to my day, but when she poured me a bowl and slid it my way without complaining or reminding me that I was supposed to stay upstairs in my prison, I didn"t argue it and ate every bite.

"What"s wrong, Lindsey?" Maya asked when she yawned for at least the third time since I arrived.

"Nothing," she said a little too quickly. "I just didn"t sleep well last night."

I grinned from ear to ear, making my dimples genuinely pop without trying.

She punched me in the arm and scowled before stomping over to the sink to rinse and dry her bowl.

I took a bit of sick pleasure knowing she had been every bit as affected by the kiss we"d shared as I had been. It was definitely a step in the right direction.

"So, what"s on the agenda today?" I asked, taking a bit of the heat off of her.

"I"d like to show you guys the library and maybe dust it in there," she surprised me by saying. "It"s my favorite room in the house," she confessed.

"Okay. We can do that. You said the panthers lived nearby. Do you think you could point me in the right direction?"

"What? Why?" she snapped.

"I lost my cell phone somewhere along the way and I need to reach out to my team. Kian will know how to contact them."

"No," she said.

"Linds . . ."

"No!" she yelled. "We don't talk to anyone outside the four of us. Am I clear?"

I understood she wasn"t very trusting of people, but I had to make her understand.

"I understand you don"t trust them, but I do. They"ll help us."

She scoffed and made a crazed laughing sound.

"Sure, they"ll help us," she mocked me.

"Babe, my team will be looking for me."

"Don"t you babe me."

"Lindsey," I said with just a hint of the exasperation I felt. "I have a tracker on me. It"s only a matter of time before they find me. And we aren"t the bad guys. They"ll help us."

"You"re so na?ve. They will never help someone like me. If you want to leave, then go. But don"t you dare put the kids and I at risk by bringing them here."

"But Lindsey, they"re coming for him. I told you. I"ve seen it," Dante said. "And no good will come from it."

He looked so sad and beat down as he said it.

"Hey, it"s okay. Everything"s going to be okay."

"No, it won"t," he said softly. "I think we should do all of your favorite things today, Lindsey. We can start in the library."

He jumped down and took her hand in his as he led her from the room.

Maya sobbed softly.

I pulled her into my arms. "Hey now, it"s okay."

She shook her head. "He won"t tell me, but whatever he saw, it"s bad. Really, really bad. He always tells me, but not this time."

I had an eerie feeling she was right.

I had to get to the panthers and find Kian.

If it was Westin Force that he"d seen coming, then whatever was going to happen could be stopped if I could just let them know I was okay.

Lindsey seemed pretty against the idea, and I was sure she had her reasons, but she didn"t know the team the way I did. She didn"t understand the lengths they would go to get me back.

Dante"s vision had me a little concerned that if I didn"t do something, then someone was going to overreact and kill us all trying to rescue me. I knew that was being overly paranoid and maybe even a little dramatic, but preparing for the worst case scenario was how we ran all missions. I needed to think of this as a mission and keep my emotions as segregated as possible.

Maya was still nestled in my arms sniffling.

"It"s all going to be okay," I assured her. "Let"s go find Lindsey and see her library."

"Okay," she said, trying to dry her eyes.

I used the sleeve of my shirt to help her. "There's my pretty girl."

She giggled and surprised me with a hug.

I set her down and took her hand as we went off on a hunt for the rest of our little family.

For the moment, I wasn"t going to do anything drastic, but at first opportunity I would try to find the panthers and get word back to Westin Force.

We caught up with Dante and Lindsey in the foyer. He was just standing there staring somewhere to the left of the grand staircase.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, walking over and putting a protective arm around my mate.

I knew then that she must be very worried about him because she didn"t flinch away from my touch. Being this close to her helped me relax some though, especially when she leaned toward me for comfort before she realized what she was doing.

"He had another vision," she whispered.

"It changed a little," he said. "I don"t know why."

"For the better?" Maya asked hopefully.

He looked a little haunted when he turned to face us. And then he looked up at me.

"Can we be your godkids too?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? I asked.

"If anything happens to Lindsey, will you promise to take care of me and Maya? Like you promised to do for Zachary, Nathan, and Mary Alice."

Lindsey and I both growled.

"Nothing is going to happen to me," she said at the same time I said, "Nothing is going to happen to Lindsey. Not on my watch."

He sighed. "We"ll see. But will you?"

"Of course I will," I said, sensing his need for verification or maybe even acceptance.

I knew in that moment that I"d just handed a piece of my heart over to these kids. Lindsey came as a package deal, and I was totally fine with that. Really, I"d known it since the first time I met the three of them, but this solidified it for me. I wasn"t just getting a mate, if she"d ever stop being stubborn and let me, I was getting a whole family, and I knew that I would give my life for any of them. They didn"t need to worry about Lindsey getting hurt because I would throw myself in front of a bullet first.

"How about that tour of the library now?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

When Lindsey still didn"t make a move to brush off my arm, I left it around her as I swooped Maya up with my free arm and Dante took Lindsey by the hand.

The sudden calm that washed over me was overwhelming.

My family, I proudly thought.

Lindsey took us all to the library. It was a magnificent room. When I told her as much, she lit up like a Christmas tree. And I discovered that I loved the feeling it gave me knowing I"d just made my mate happy.

The four of us got right to work dusting and wiping down the wood. The kids especially enjoyed cleaning the large wolf statue in the center of the room.

Every now and then, I"d catch Lindsey watching me. And when I"d look up and notice, she would blush and look away, but there was a beautiful smile her face the entire time.

She was more at peace here in this room, and I noticed there was a lack of destruction and marred wood. Her beast had clearly left this one room alone.

I caught her staring again, and this time she gave a soft feminine giggle when she turned away.

Was my mate flirting with me or just embarrassed about being caught?

I wonder if she had any idea just how appealing and sexy this innocent game of hers was becoming. If it weren"t for the kids in the room, I would have closed the gap between us and kissed her again. Maybe even tried for more.

I had learned enough about her past to suspect she hadn't had much experience with men. That excited me more than anything. The way my wolf seemed to want to protect her, I imagined she was still a virgin, and I had no doubt I had her beast to thank for that. I very much liked the idea of being the only man to ever touch her.

Either way, I could get used to this sexy playful side of her. And I realized I genuinely wanted to know everything I could about the woman before me. She was so enchanting, and I knew there was more to her than the beast inside.

As we finished up and the kids started checking out some of the books on the shelves, I sat down on the large cushioned window seat. Much to my surprise, Lindsey joined me. She sat close enough that I could feel the heat of her body radiating against my side.

Without really planning it, I held out my hand, palm up, and allowed her to slip her small hand into my much larger one before lacing our fingers together.

A surge of awareness shot up my arm, and I didn"t miss the slight tremor that ran through her.

Mine, my wolf growled.

"Mine," I whispered in agreement.

She sighed contentedly and scooted a fraction closer to me.

I was as much aware of her as I was myself. Every word, every smile, every laugh captivated me.

Desperate to learn more, I started peppering her with questions. Nothing too deep or serious, just the sort of things one should know about his mate. I was happy to see her join in and ask me things too.

We spent much of the day right there on that window seat just holding hands and talking. The kids had long since abandoned us to run off and play in other parts of the house, the threat of Dante"s visions temporarily forgotten.

At some point it hit me like a slap in the face, I was falling in love with this woman. And I didn"t think it was just the bond making me feel that way. I didn"t want to risk scaring her by saying it or ruin the wonderful day we were having in any way.

"Lindsey, can I see your beast?" I surprised us both by asking.

"What? You"ve already seen her."

I could feel her apprehension building and hated to be the cause of it, but this was important. To love Lindsey meant learning to truly love her beast too. They were one in the same, and I was embarrassed to admit that I hadn"t really looked at her when in that form. And I was surprised to realize that I not only needed to that for us, but I wanted to.

The kids had told me a bit about the genetic mix used to create her—bat, eagle, cheetah, perhaps some other sort of bird, and who knew what else.

"You"re serious?"

"Very."

She licked her lips nervously, drawing my attention to them and momentarily making me forget what we were even talking about. All I thought about in that moment was kissing her soft lips once more.

"Okay, but not in here. I could never live with myself if I accidentally destroyed this room. The library is no place for my beast."

It took me a second to even realize what we were still talking about.

She got up and tugged me along with her, still holding her hand tightly in mine. I let her drag me from the room and out into the large foyer.

When she started to remove her clothes, I did too. Lust consuming my actions.

Mine, my wolf howled victoriously.

"What are you doing?" she screeched.

I looked down as my pants dropped to the floor with a thump that seemed to echo through the supercharged air around us.

"Getting naked," I said.

"You said you wanted to meet my beast."

I could feel her nerves rolling off her in waves. I smirked, needing to compose myself and stay focused.

"And my wolf wants to meet her too," I blurted out to explain why I was half naked standing before her if not to seduce her. "Didn"t want to rip my clothes," I muttered.

She laughed and seemed to calm down a bit. "Of course."

Needing to redeem myself, I dropped my underwear and fully committed to the little white lie. Because for a second there, I was absolutely ready to get to know her in a whole new way.

She stood there openly checking me out. I"d never felt so exposed before, but my wolf practically purred like a damn cat at her open interest. It was clear she liked what she saw. But when she licked her lips once more, it took every ounce of willpower I had not to lunge for her as we both stood there naked, taking in the sight of one another.

Lindsey shifted first.

For a moment, I just stood there stunned. Her beast wasn"t aggressive toward me. She actually sort of cowered away from me.

I shook off the surprise of it all, wondering if I"d ever truly get used to this.

No. I had to get used to this.

This was my mate, for better or worse.

When I stepped towards her, she took a step back.

"I"m not going to hurt you," I assured her.

Who would have thought a beast would be so vulnerable. We both knew she could rip me in half before I even knew what was happening. Yet she was intimated by me, anxious even.

I was surprised to learn that I could still feel my mate"s emotions clearly even while she was in her fur and I in my skin.

At first I just stood there looking at her. Her lower half wasn"t so different from mine, just covered in the spotted fur of a cheetah. Chase Westin was mated to a black panther. No one seemed to think the cat and dog pairing was all that weird anymore, and they certainly loved each other and made it work.

The extra set of arms with claws like an eagle were a bit strange, but they were strong and had carried me across the Gulf of Mexico safely and without harming me in any way. Sure, my shoulders had been a bit sore from the journey, but it wasn"t even bad enough that I had to shift to heal from it.

The wings were badass. I had to admit, that was the coolest part of all. I smiled as I looked up at the soft black feathers covering them. Her wing span had to be at least ten feet or more.

"Amazing," I said reverently, reaching up to see if they were as soft as they looked.

And then I moved to her head. She still had the face of a wolf. I could imagine from her coloring just how beautiful she"d once been.

When I reached my hand up to touch her, she hesitated and then slowly lowered it to me. Her fur was still soft, and when I leaned in to sniff her, she smelled like Lindsey.

"Mate," I said reverently. "My magnificent mate. You are like no other, and you are mine. I promise to protect and cherish you. Things are going to change. You"ll see."