Their Runaway Mate Read online

  Alyssa chuckled as she agreed with Anna, but then she became serious, “Anna, I know that Drew betrayed your trust by not trusting you, but do you think he may have figured out your sister was lying by now and regrets what he said to you?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Anna replied, not liking where this conversation was going. “I told you, Alyssa, all I was to them, anyway, was a brood mare and I refuse to go back to that.”

  “I find that hard to believe, considering you haven’t even slept with them yet. You said yourself that Carter told you he loved you and just wanted to make you happy,” Alyssa argued back.

  “They were just lines to get what they wanted. Drew made that point pretty clear when he called me worthless and said he was glad he never claimed me,” Anna’s head was suddenly beginning to hurt.

  “He was just angry and confused. I’m sure he didn’t mean it. I said a lot of nasty, vile things when I ran off on Jessie and Peter, but they knew I didn’t mean them.”

  “Whose side are you on now?” Anna retorted.

  “Yours, Anna, always yours; I just don’t want to see you throw away a good thing because of some stupid words,” Alyssa insisted.

  “A good thing,” Anna scoffed. “The only reason they even wanted me was because of some weird chemical scent thing that tells you guys who you will be able to have babies with.”

  “They’re pheromones Anna, and humans have the same reaction we do to them, we are just more sensitive and aware than you are. You still feel the pull toward Drew and Carter as they feel toward you. You are just able to ignore it better,” Alyssa’s voice rose as she spoke.

  Anna just stared at Alyssa, knowing what she said was true, but not wanting to admit it quite yet.

  “It still doesn’t matter, anyway,” Anna finally replied. “Whether or not they were just words, he didn’t trust me and I can’t just let that go.”

  Anna stood up and walked out of the restaurant quietly, not caring whether Alyssa followed or not. As far as she was concerned she had enough money to stay somewhere else if Alyssa didn’t want her to stay there anymore, and now she had enough clothing too.

  Anna had made it half way down the sidewalk, having broken into sobs, because the pain in her chest was unbearable, when she felt arms wrap around her shoulders and fell into Alyssa’s embrace.

  “Shh, Anna, I’m so sorry, doll,” Alyssa cooed as she held Anna, brushing her hair out her face and just letting her cry. “I know it hurts and I’m here.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Carter was at a loss. It had been two weeks since Anna ran away from home and they still hadn’t heard any news from the Vegas Pack whether they had found her. He was terrified that something may have happened to her now and didn’t know what to do.

  He was also frustrated with the way things were going with Drew. Ever since he had run Anna off, he had refused to return to their bed, either sleeping in a spare bedroom, or just not sleeping at all. A few times, Carter had found him crashed out on the office sofa, after he had gone days with no sleep. It was like he camped out in the home office all the time, waiting to hear anything he could.

  Things had settled around the compound since they killed Robert‘s group, but Carter’s life was still in disrepair without his little human. He had never in his life thought he could love a human as much as he loved Anna and the fact that he had lost her killed him inside. If anything had happened to her, he was sure that Drew, and he would probably perish for real.

  Right now he was sitting in the home office, reading over papers that would have been Anna’s job to go over, and waiting for the phone to ring, even though it never did.

  Frustrated, he decided he had had enough of Drew punishing himself and got up to go hunt for him. He was going to have to take the man over his knee and spank him, and then fuck him until he stopped shutting him out.

  Just as Carter walked out the door, the phone rang, and Carter decided to leave it, figuring it wasn’t anything to do with Anna. He got part way into the hall when the answering machine picked up and a woman’s voice he didn’t recognize spoke.

  “Hi, this is Alyssa Clarington and I’m a friend of Anna’s,” as soon as he heard Anna’s name, he raced back in and picked up the phone.

  “Hello, who is this?” Carter barked.

  “Hello?” said the woman on the other line. “Who’s this?”

  “This is Carter Moorehouse. Alpha of the Washington Pack and I demand you tell me who you are and where you’re keeping my mate,” Carter snapped.

  The woman just laughed, “Oh that’s rich, you demand, now I know what Anna meant by overbearing oaf.”

  “What?” Carter spluttered. “She called me what?”

  “I believe I said overbearing oaf. Of course, she said cute overbearing oaf, but same difference,” the woman kept chuckling.

  “Who is this?” Carter was flustered.

  “I told you. My name is Alyssa and I’m friends with Anna,” she replied.

  “Do you know where Anna is?” Carter asked, trying to calm his speeding heart.

  “Yes, as a matter of fact I do,” Alyssa replied. “She’s at my house, moping around like someone just shot her puppy.”

  “And what is she doing at your house?” He tried to contain his anger, but he felt it slipping.

  “Hiding from you,” she retorted.

  “What?” Carter flopped down into the seat he had just vacated and stared at the phone.

  “I said she is...”

  “Yes, yes, I heard what you said,” Carter bit out. “Why is she hiding from me?”

  “Oh, come now big guy, I bet you can answer that one for yourself,” the woman had the nerve to laugh again.

  “Listen, lady, you better bring my mate back to me, as soon as possible, or I will…”

  “Now, now, enough with the threats mister, I called to do you a favor, not be threatened,” she chastised.

  Carter blew out a frustrated breath, “What kind of favor?”

  “Well, really it’s not a favor for you, but for Anna. I promised her that I wouldn’t rat her out and blow her cover, but I’m getting sick of her sad eyes and weeping at night about her pigheaded mates,” Alyssa went on. “So, I’m going to tell you where she is, but you have to come and get her.”

  “Okay fine,” Carter insisted. “Just tell me then.”

  “Nuh uh uh, not so fast. I want it made clear, if you or Drew ever hurt her again, my mates and I will come up there and slaughter you in your beds,” Carter almost laughed, but then something told him not to test this woman.

  “We never intended to hurt her in the first place. It was a misunderstanding and we just want her back,” Carter replied.

  “Well, from what I hear, your guy Drew said some pretty harsh things for no reason and didn’t trust her. I would say that’s more than just a misunderstanding,” Alyssa retorted.

  “Listen, he’s been punishing himself enough about it, okay. He refuses to even sleep and just sits by the phone hoping that she’ll call or we’ll hear something to tell us she’s okay,” Carter defended.

  “Why haven’t you come looking for her yourself?” she asked.

  “We had a problem with some Rogue wolves attacking our Pack compound around the time Anna left and after she left, they escaped our prison and harmed three of our guards. We have been struggling with getting everything in order ever since. But I have the Vegas Pack searching for her as we speak,” Carter explained.

  “I know,” Alyssa stated. “I ran into a few of them when I was in town the other day and they told me to keep an eye out for your girl.”

  “Then why didn’t you tell them where she was?” Carter barked.

  “Hey now, chill out, or I’ll hang up,” Alyssa barked back.

  Carter took a deep breath and grumbled, “Sorry.”

  “That’s better. I didn’t tell them because Anna would freak out if she went into their custody. Besides, I wasn’t certain I wanted to betray her trust by telling you where she wa
s,” Alyssa answered. “But I hate seeing my friend in so much pain, so I’m calling you so you can come down here to kiss and make up.”

  “Like it would be that simple,” he snorted.

  “No, it won’t, but I don’t think you deserve simple for the way you two hurt her,” she replied.

  “I’m not the one who said all those things to her, Drew was,” Carter snapped back.

  “No, but you had said some pretty harsh things to her when you first met, and have you really resolved your issue with her being human?” Alyssa asked.

  “Yes, I have, and I know what I said to her when we first met. I regret it every day,” He sighed, weariness finally setting. “I love her and I’m lost without her.”

  The line went quiet for a moment and Carter feared she had hung up until she spoke, “Now see, that was the first smart thing you’ve said this entire conversation.”

  Carter just sighed because he knew she was right, and then asked, “Will you please tell me where she is?”

  “Yes, yes I will,” she answered, and Carter could hear the smile in her voice.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Anna felt sick to her stomach. She’d spent the last two weeks barely eating or sleeping and now she was ready to just fall apart.

  Another ding went off, signaling someone had entered the diner, so she left the kitchen and walked out into the dining area, just to stop abruptly and gape at the man standing in front of her. It looked like Carter, but he wasn’t the same pristine, pressed jeans and ironed Egyptian cotton t-shirt wearing Carter she was used to. Sure he was wearing those clothes, but the jeans looked dirty and worn, and the t-shirt was wrinkled around his waist, instead of tucked in. His hair was disheveled and he had at least a weeks’ worth of beard growth on his face.

  What the hell had happened to him? He looked as weary as she felt, and his eyes made him look like a lost puppy.

  He gave her a small smile and nodded, then spoke, “Hi, Anna.”

  “What are you doing here?” popped out of her mouth before she could stop it and she noticed how he winced a little as if she had literally slapped him.

  “I came here for you,” he replied, inching closer to her. “I miss you and want you to come home.”

  “This is my home,” Anna snapped, trying to grow a backbone, even if she wasn’t feeling it.

  He stopped in his tracks and sighed heavily, he looked even sadder suddenly and she wished she wouldn’t have been so hard on him. He wasn’t the one who ran her off, after all.

  “Where’s Drew?” she asked.

  “He’s back at the hotel. He is still punishing himself for the way he treated you and doesn’t think he deserves your forgiveness,” Carter explained.

  “He doesn’t,” Anna was on a roll with her mean streak and she wondered where it was coming from because she was never usually mean to anyone. “He pushed and pushed for me to trust you two, and at the first test of his trust for me, he threatens to throw me in prison for things I didn’t do.”

  Somehow, Carter had gotten closer without her seeing him move, but then she realized it was she that had taken the steps toward him, as if an invisible magnet was pulling them together.

  “Listen, Anna,” Carter started, as he placed his hand on her shoulder. The touch was like a zap of electricity through her body, but she didn’t want to pull away, it was the first real comfort she had felt in weeks. “Drew has been extremely torn up about running you off. He has been punishing himself the entire time you’ve been gone, barely eating and only sleeping when his body couldn’t take anymore. I knew about your sister’s plots and how she was using your love for her to fool you and sneak into our house. I had overheard her on the phone, talking to her accomplices and went to collect them before I confronted her. By the time I had gotten back to the house after doing that, it was too late, Drew had captured Cheryl and run you off in the process.”

  Anna just stood in silence, except for the pounding of her overactive heart, and tried to look into his eyes to see if he were sincere or not.

  She saw no lies in Carter’s eyes, so she said, “Thank you for trusting that I would never do anything like that to hurt you.”

  Carter smiled, “Anna, ever since the first time I met you I have been crazy about you. I know I said some pretty harsh things in the beginning, but there isn’t an untrustworthy bone in your body. You are the best person I have ever met.”

  He ran the back of his knuckles across her cheek, while he smiled down at her, and Anna could see the complete love he had for her.

  “Come home with me, Anna,” Carter whispered, his lips getting closer to hers.

  She felt her eyes starting to flutter shut and her head tilt back to accept his kiss, but then she remembered Drew and how he’d been the one to hurt her. She backed away from Carter and he looked at her, shocked, for a moment, and then dropped his hand.

  “I can’t come home with you, Carter. I may be able to forgive the nasty things he said, but I will never really know if he truly trusts me or if he’s just acting like he does,” she stated. “He said I wasn’t worthy of your claim, and it ripped out my heart. I can’t just forget that.”

  Carter looked to the floor then looked behind her. She turned to see Jessie and Peter standing there, watching what happened, as if they were ready to fight to the death for her. She appreciated their loyalty and protectiveness, but she’d never want anyone to harm a hair on Carter’s head, even if he could probably take them both out with just a swipe of his claws.

  “I think you should probably go, Carter,” Anna stated, even though her heart twisted, painfully, at the thought of him leaving. “It didn’t work between us and it’s over.”

  Anna didn’t wait for his reply. She turned and ran past Peter and Jessie to the back of the kitchen and out the back door. She wasn’t going to stay there anymore. Alyssa had betrayed her trust by telling them where she was and now she had to leave. She should have realized the only person she could trust was herself.

  She ran into their small farmhouse and toward her borrowed bedroom, right past Alyssa, who jumped up and followed her.

  “What happened? What’s going on?” Alyssa asked as she followed Anna into her bedroom.

  “You know damn well what’s going on, Alyssa,” Anna shot back. “You told them where I was and they came for me.”

  Anna grabbed all the clothes that were in her closet and threw them on the bed. She would have to go to the kitchen to get a garbage bag for them since she didn’t have suitcases, but Alyssa stood in the door, blocking her way.

  “They’re here, in the diner?” Alyssa asked. “Damn, they move quickly. I just called them last night.”

  Anna stopped to glare at the woman she thought was her friend, “So you did call them. Why would you do that? I trusted you.”

  Alyssa crossed the room to grab her by the shoulders and stop her from continuing to gather clothes, “Anna, I did it because I care, doll. You’ve been moping around this place like a listless zombie for weeks and I know it’s because you miss your mates.”

  Anna pulled out of her grasp and yelled, “Did you miss the part where they are the ones who pushed me away?”

  Alyssa just sat on her bed, frowning as if she were afraid to speak, “No, I didn’t miss it, but I know how it feels to be without the ones you love and I don’t want you to go through that.”

  “But they pushed me away,” tears streaked down Anna’s face as the energy left her body and she sat down next to Alyssa.

  “Anna, there was something I never told you about the reason I ran away from the guys when we found out I couldn’t carry our pups,” Alyssa turned to her, and Anna could see that whatever she had to say was hard to get out. “After my last miscarriage, the guys stopped making love to me. They would still kiss me and hold me at night when we went to bed, but they would never seduce me or attempt to make love to me. One day, I had been working at the diner, I came home to find them making love, and I became jealous and enraged. They would lo
ve each other, but they would have nothing to do with me, as if I were a broken piece of furniture they had no use for anymore, but kept around for sentimental reasons. I screamed at them, telling them I was leaving, and they tried to get me to stay, but in the end I ran away.

  “I was gone for a month by the time they found me. I had spent a month crying myself to sleep and barely eating, because my heart was broken and I knew it would never be mended again. Peter and Jessie found me in some dive motel outside of Miami and tried to drag me back home, but I refused, saying it wasn’t my home anymore. I didn’t want to have them keep me around out of obligation, because I was useless to have their babies, so they didn’t really want me anymore.

  “That’s when they explained why they did what they did. Peter told me they were afraid to get me pregnant again because they didn’t want to see me hurt when I lost the baby. Jessie practically ranted about how it drove him nuts not to be with me, but he was just so afraid to hurt me. They’d been there to witness me break down each time I lost a baby and their heart’s had broken each time, just as much as mine had.

  “They told me how hard it was to just look at me and not want to take me in their arms and make love to me. The day I had found them together had apparently been the first time they’d even touched each other, because they couldn’t bring themselves to even want to be together without me there.

  “I didn’t believe them and forced them to leave. They left my hotel that night, and I cried myself to sleep, like I had done most nights. However, they didn’t leave Florida; they got a hotel room at the same place and would come to my room on a daily basis to beg me to come home with them.

  “Finally, after a week of them bugging me and begging me, I broke down and we made love for the first time in months. It wasn’t hard or crazy, but it was still passionate and filled with every emotion from heartache to joy. It hurt emotionally, but also healed us.

  “We came home and the men decided to get vasectomies so they wouldn’t have to worry about getting me pregnant anymore. Ever since then, we have been going at it like bunnies and it’s the best sex we’ve ever had,” Alyssa said this last part with a big sheepish grin on her face, and Anna couldn’t help but giggle.