Heart of Stone - Book 1: Fighting Fate

Stone squinted at the cell phone buzzing on his desk in his office.

He had been writing up a report and was caught by surprise when the cell phone started ringing next to him.

They rarely ever got calls since they had no use for phones in the first place. They did have to occasionally interact with humans, particularly those in governmental roles, and that was the whole reason they got a cell phone.

He picked it up and looked at the screen, wondering who Aubree was. He pressed the green button on the screen and pressed it to his ear. “Stone.”

"Um, hi,” a hesitant woman’s voice said. ”Is Gwen there?”

Jumping up from his seat, he practically dropped the phone.

It’s her! Shit! [Gwen!] He mentally yelled, reaching out through space in search of her.

He looked at the phone in alarm. As her voice flitted up to him.

“Hello?”

Say something you imbecile!

Even though his hair was tied back in a ponytail, he ran his fingers through the loose strands that escaped.

Why was she calling?

His mouth turned dry as a desert and he licked his lips as he brought the phone back up to his ear. Why was he nervous all of a sudden?

“She’s not here at the moment.”

[What’s up, Papa Wolf?] Gwen’s chipper voice penetrated through his mind.

“Can I take a message?” he finished before he mind-linked back to Gwen.

[Are you insane? Why did you give her our number? And where are you?]

[It’s my turn to patrol. Don’t worry. Gavin’s watching over her. I like her. You should try and make it work.]

Stone gritted his teeth together. [You really have slipped into the abyss of insanity, haven’t you?]

Gwen’s laughter filled his head, and he ignored her. What Aubree said next caught him off guard.

“Well, um, it’s kind of urgent...”

Stone’s free hand clenched into a fist at her words, while the other gripped the phone tightly to his ear.

Was she in some kind of trouble? Why didn’t Gavin say anything? He reached out with his mind in search of Gwen’s twin brother, Gawain, or Gavin as he preferred to be called nowadays.

[Gawain. Update me immediately.]

Aubree’s words flitted through his mind, and Gwen gasped as she heard them. [What’s going on? I’m on my way. Be home in five. Keep me posted.]

He took a deep breath. “Is everything alright?”

“Um, I’d rather talk to Gwen, please.”

Gavin’s presence entered his head then. [Yes, Father?]

[Dammit, Gawain! What’s going on over there?]

Picking up on Stone’s tone, Gavin said, [Nothing to get worked up about. Why?]

[The girl, Aubree, she’s upset about something. Look into it.]

[...Seriously? Human females get upset about a lot of things.]

[Just do it!]

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “She should be back soon. Would you like me to have her call you back?”

“Yes, please.”

Gavin returned with his report. [I smell a bit of smoke, and a fire alarm went off a few minutes ago, but it’s nothing to be worried about.]

“Okay.”

He hung up before realizing what he’d just done and was immediately struck with guilt. While he’d never had great telephone etiquette, hanging up on Aubree in such a blunt manner felt malevolent and shameful. Mates didn’t do that.

She’s not your mate.

Gritting his teeth, he stared at the phone in his hands wondering what to do. Should he call her back and apologize for being uncivil?

He shook his head. No, that was absurd. She didn’t even know him. If she found out that he was the guy at the grocery store, she would probably have a conniption fit and hang up on him, and then what?

Scowling at the phone, he set it down on the desk.

Just because he felt the familiar pull of the matebond and Aubree smelled exactly like her, didn’t mean he could accept her.

She was human. Soulmates were never human. It was impossible. It went against the Lycan Code.

Stone and his pack came from an ancient breed of lycanthrope, whose numbers were dwindling thanks to numerous wars with vampires in an attempt to wipe their species out. They targeted the mates because a lycan could breed with only one partner in life, and that was the one whose soul was bound to them by the Goddess.

A soulmate was, thus, more valuable to both vampire and lycan alike, but in differing ways. Take out the mate and the rest will fall.

Carina had disappeared in the days to pass since he and the pack chased her and her Beloved, Adranus, out of the state, but he had a feeling the ancient bloodsuckers would be back, and he didn’t want to chance Aubree’s life then. She was safer in Chicago.

But was she? He could protect her here. He couldn’t protect her there. He could contact the lycan pack in Illinois, but what if they couldn’t protect her? He’d have to live with knowing that she died because of him.

“And she’ll die with or without you anyway.”

His head snapped to the doorway where Gwen was standing with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Stay out of my head,” he growled.

Shrugging, she stepped toward him as her eyes fell on the phone. “It’s kind of hard when I never left.”

He pushed her presence out and pulled up his mental barrier.

She sighed in relief. “About time. You worry too much about some female you care nothing about.”

He grabbed the phone and tossed it to her, refusing to respond to her statement.

“Gawain said there was smoke and a fire alarm, but nothing too concerning,” he told her.

“So I heard,” Gwen said as she unlocked the screen and brought up Aubree’s number. As she lifted the phone to her ear, she looked into his eyes and winked. “By the way, she’s really cute. You should totally tap that.”

Stone deadpanned in an effort to keep his face from flaring up, making Gwen laugh as the phone rang twice before Aubree picked up.

“Gwen?”

“Aubree! Hey girl, what’s up?” she smiled, flashing her father a devilish grin.

[Don’t say anything you’ll regret,] he warned her with a glare.

[Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you, Papa Wolf?]

Stone’s heightened sense of hearing enabled him to hear every word Aubree said, even from across the room.

“Um, are you busy tomorrow?”

Gwen glanced at her father, who held a smooth, nonchalant face. She raised her eyebrows at him.

“Not at all. Is everything okay? Stone said you sounded upset and that it was urgent.”

“Stone?”

[Keep me out of this, Guinevere.] Stone’s throat rumbled.

She smirked. [Not so fast, Papa Wolf.]

“Yeah, he may not show it, but he’s a big softy. He picked up on the tone of your voice and became concerned.”

[See? Was that so bad?] Gwen chided.

[Guinevere, she’s a human. You know I can’t.]

She noted the pleading look in his eyes and yielded by lowering her gaze.

“Oh, um, that’s nice. Is that your brother?”

Gwen looked up to see Stone nodding. [Yes, tell her yes.]

She hesitated, not wanting to lie to Aubree so early in their friendship. [Are you sure?]

He motioned with his hand to continue.

She raked her teeth over her bottom lip before responding and added an extra dose of enthusiasm to her voice. “Yup, that’s my big brother.”

“That’s kind of a weird name...”

Gwen chuckled lightly, but Stone didn’t miss the nervousness behind it. “Yeah, but he likes it better than the name he was given at birth.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, his real name is Sten, which means Stone in, like, Old Norse, but he dropped it years ago for Stone. That was right around the time Mom died.”

Stone glared at her. [You told her about that?]

She returned the look. [Yes, I told her about that. I also told her that I have a father and brother. Not a father and brothers.]

He groaned at the emphasis on the plural.

“Wow, that’s, uh, interesting.”

[Why did you tell her about us?] Stone demanded. [She didn’t need to know anything about us. For that matter, why did you even talk to her and give her our phone number?]

[You’re not the only one drawn to her, Papa. I feel it too!] Gwen fired back at him. [Besides, that’s what friends do! You should try it someday. You know, make a friend? Might make you less grouchy!]

[I am an alpha. I don’t have time for friends beyond our pack—especially with humans.]

[Yeah, yeah, yeah.] Gwen rolled her eyes at him. She turned her attention back to Aubree. “So, what’s this urgent message you needed to talk to me about?”

“Oh, just that, I... well... I destroyed my blazer and I need to go shopping for a new one before I start work on Monday.”

The corners of Gwen’s lips pulled back as she raised a hand to stifle a laugh, while Stone’s hand met with his forehead. “You destroyed your blazer? How did you do that?”

[See? The things human females get upset about! I don’t have time for this.] Stone went to the door as Aubree responded.

“I accidentally burned it with an iron...”

Gwen laughed as she pressed her hand to her face, unable to contain herself now. However, Stone was still standing in the doorway and listening intently. “Wow, okay. So, you want to go shopping tomorrow? Have you been to Mall of America yet?”

“No...”

Stone whirled around to face her. [Are you kidding me? That place is a fricken zoo on the weekend!]

Gwen grinned. “Then it’s settled. We’re going to Mall of America tomorrow.”

“I’m coming too,” Stone grunted. His hands curled into fists at his side and his nostrils began to flare.

Gwen’s grin widened and he realized that he’d fallen into her trap.

“Oh, and Stone’s going to accompany us as well. You’re going to love him. We’ll pick you up at eleven. Sound good?”

“Sure...”

“Yay! I’ll see you tomorrow!”

She hung up and grinned at Stone triumphantly. “There. Now’s your chance to woo her and sweep her off her feet.”

He looked unimpressed with his daughter’s declaration. “Wait here, while I go retrieve a bar of soap to scrub your filthy mouth clean.”