The Omega's Heart (Wilde Creek Four) Read online

  “Who hurt you? I’ll slaughter them!”

  She wiggled, trying to get off his lap and find some semblance of modesty, but he wouldn’t release her.

  “Who are you? Let me go right now!” She put her hands on his muscular chest and pushed, but his arms were like bands of steel around her.

  “I’m Row, and you’re mine.”

  He stood swiftly and tossed her gently over his shoulder. Her head spun at the sudden change in direction and she blushed sharply as her hands landed on his butt. “Put me down, you loon!”

  One of his hands gripped the inside of her thigh to hold her against his shoulder, and he began to walk. “Not now, Adara.”

  “My name is Kammie.”

  “Kammie,” he said, rubbing her inner thigh. “Adara — my mate.”

  As her wolf shouted in happiness, Kammie exhaled sharply. She couldn’t be his mate; she wasn’t anyone’s mate. When he saw the damage to her body, he wouldn’t want anything to do with her. Her wolf whined pitifully, and Kammie closed her eyes as she bumped uncomfortably over his shoulder. Row might think they were mates, but the evidence of her abuse would change his mind fast. She was damaged goods inside and out, scarred beyond repair or hope.

  Tears welled behind her closed eyes and she let them fall as he carried her deeper into the woods.

  * * * * *

  Jeremiah knew that Honey wasn’t running as fast as she would normally. He was just too bulky to be swift. But he was having the time of his life stalking prey with his mate. His senses were heightened in his partial shift, so he could sense prey the same way that she could, but she was just smaller and faster and could catch what they hunted. She had purposely missed the last two rabbits that they’d been chasing, but he hadn’t been able to catch the furry buggers either. He saw something dart to the right and he lurched that way, slamming his muzzle into a tree trunk.

  The pain made his eyes water and he sat down hard and rubbed at the mark. At least it wasn’t bleeding.

  Honey hopped over looking like a puppy, shaking her hindquarters in the air as she ducked her head to her paws.

  He scratched her head. “Ouch.”

  She crawled forward on her belly and rolled onto her back next to him. She was beautiful in her shift. Her belly was snow-white, the fur thick and soft, and the rest of her coat was a pale gray sprinkled with black and white. Her amber eyes were shining with happiness as he scratched her gently with his claws.

  “Pretty,” he said, finding it hard to talk in his shifted form.

  Her jaws snapped together and she looked like she was smiling. Picking her up, he nuzzled her neck and inhaled her sweet scent. Putting her down, he said, “Hunt more?”

  She shook her head and motioned in the direction where their clothes lay. They could probably have hunted for a few more hours, but he didn’t want to tire her out. She trotted next to him as he walked, and he found himself enjoying the solitude of the woods. His wolf was happy that he could hunt, and for the first time, he really felt like he was a true pack member.

  Honey shifted into her human form and straightened, stretching tall. “Did you have fun, Jer?”

  He pulled her clothes from the tree branch and handed them to her, allowing himself to shift back into his fully human form. “I did. Thanks for sticking with me.”

  She shivered as she pulled her cold jeans and top on. “I’m just sorry I’m not a very good teacher.”

  He pulled his shirt on. “You’re a great teacher.”

  “You didn’t catch anything.”

  She looked disappointed, but he didn’t think she was disappointed in him. Pressing his lips to hers, he smiled when she made a soft, pleased sound in her throat. “It’s just our first time. I need more practice.”

  “I’m sure there are males who would go out with you and teach you better than me.”

  He snarled at the idea. “You and me, Honey. Hell or high water. Good hunts and bad. I don’t want to hunt with anyone but you.”

  She slipped her arms around him and hugged herself close. “I don’t want to hunt with anyone else either.”

  Kissing the top of her head, he wrapped his arms around her. “I’ll get the hang of hunting. September isn’t too far away, you know. If I’m going to provide my mate with plenty of venison and rabbit meat while she’s carrying my pup, I’ve got to get good fast.”

  “You’re already a great provider.”

  He swung her up into his arms and she rested her head on his shoulder. He carried her through the woods and back to the alphas’ home. The lights were still on inside, which told him that the higher-ranked males hadn’t gotten back yet.

  After settling Honey into the passenger seat, he climbed in behind the wheel and started the engine. She leaned against him and said, “This has been a great day. I think it’s a tie for the best full moon I’ve ever had with the January moon, when I followed your scent and found you in your backyard.”

  “It is for me too, sweetheart.”

  She fell asleep before they got home, and he carried her into their house and back to their bed. After undressing her and tossing both their clothes in the hamper, he slid under the covers next to his mate and hugged her close. He’d learned something about himself that night as he’d traipsed through the woods with his mate — he was right where he needed to be. It didn’t matter what he could or couldn’t shift into. It didn’t matter what her life had been like before she came to Wilde Creek. The only thing that mattered was that they were together. All his insecurities about himself — as a man, as a wolf — couldn’t stand against the simple truth that he loved his mate with every fiber of his being, and she loved him, too.

  Someday they’d have pups. Maybe they would shift, and maybe they wouldn’t, but in the end it wouldn’t matter because he and Honey would love them. They’d never abandon them or make them wonder if they’d ever been wanted or loved.

  He smiled in the darkness and listened to the soft sound of Honey breathing deeply in sleep. In his wildest fantasies he’d never imagined that his mate would search him out in the woods, or that their mating would change both of their lives forever. He wouldn’t trade a second of their time together for anything in the world. He’d found his heart in the snow-covered woods, the piece of himself that had been missing for so long. Honey was his heart, and that was all that mattered.

  The End

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  Contact the Author

  Website: http://www.rebutlerauthor.com

  Email: [email protected]

  Twitter: @rebutlerauthor

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/R.E.ButlerAuthorPage

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  Also from R. E. Butler

  Wiccan-Were-Bear Novella Series

  A Curve of Claw

  A Flash of Fang

  A Price for a Princess

  A Bond of Brothers

  A Bead of Blood

  A Twitch of Tail

  A Promise on White Wings

  A Slash of Savagery

  The Wolf’s Mate Series

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 1: Jason & Cadence

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 2: Linus & The Angel

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 3: Callie & The Cats

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 4: Michael & Shyne

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 5: Bo & Reika

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 6: Logan & Jenna

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 7: Lindy & The Wulfen

  The Necklace Chronicles

  The Tribe’s Bride

  The Gigolo’s Bride

  Ashland Pride Series

  Seducing Samantha (Ashland Pride One)

  Loving Lachlyn (Ashland Pride Two)

  Marking Melody (Ashland Pride Three)

  Redeeming Rue (Ashland Pride Four)

  Hyena Heat Series

  Every Night Forever (Hyena Heat One)

  Every Dawn Forever (Hyena Heat Two)

  Every Sunset Forever (Hyena Heat Three)

  Wilde Creek Series

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sp; Mate of Her Heart (Book One)

  The Alpha’s Heart (Book Two)

  The Protector’s Heart (Book Three)

  The Omega’s Heart (Book Four)

  The Scarred Heart (Book Five)

  Coming Soon… The Scarred Heart (Wilde Creek Five)

  Kammie Townsend has always kept to herself. She doesn’t want anyone to see the scars of her childhood, left behind by her abusive uncle. Everything changes on the night of the full moon, when she follows a reindeer and gets tackled by a bear shifter. He says they’re mates, but Kammie knows that once he sees the evidence of her painful history, the sexiest male she’s ever met won’t want anything to do with her.

  Row Grayson has lived a hard life, forced to fight in tournaments for the amusement of the kings of neighboring bear sleuths. The bright spot in his life is his mother and his adopted sister, who is a reindeer shifter. When Row’s king announces that all eligible males and females will be participating in the ancient mating challenge, Row knows it’s time for his sister to find her own people so she doesn’t wind up the mate of a male she doesn’t love.

  On the way to take Dani to her people, she takes off and leaves Row behind. As he attempts to keep up with her, he senses his own mate in the snow-covered woods of a town called Wilde Creek. His mate is anything but receptive to his touch. Her skin is as scarred as his heart is from years of brutal fighting, but he knows he can convince her he finds her beautiful inside and out. When he takes Kammie back to his people to make her his mate, things go sideways fast. His king orders Kammie added to the single females to be chosen by winners during an ancient mating battle. Row has to fight better than he ever has in his entire life to save her.

  When a determined bear tangles with an equally determined she-wolf, things will heat up fast. Expect torn clothes, naked conversations, and a bear who will kill to keep his mate by his side forever.

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