The Mating Rules

Jamie-Lee’s POV

‘Caden, you need to eat something’ I call out after my mate as he heads toward the door of our motel room yet again, heading out to try and get information about the whereabouts of Hadley.

‘I need to find him Leeway’ the Alpha growls back, raking his hand through his short hair, messing it up in that sexy way that always makes my knees weak.

Hadley has been with the Council for three days now, Alpha Scott has been on the phone each day trying to find out which of the supernatural prisons my mate has been taken too, but so far no one is giving us anything.

Caden is at the stage of refusing to pay his fine just so they arrest him and maybe take him to the same place so he can work on getting him out. I stamped down on that idea immediately, I’ve lost one mate, I’m not losing a second one. It took me reminding him that they would most likely send him to a different place specifically to keep them apart before he agreed the idea was not worth pursuing.

I know Caden feels impotent about the whole thing, he knows it hurts me to be away from the warrior and it’s killing both him and Cobalt to not be able to fix the problem and make Skarla and I whole again.

I rise from the chair I’m seated in, where I was eating another gas station breakfast burrito and make my way to my Alpha who leans his head against the door in defeat.

‘I can’t find him Leeway’ he murmurs, his voice tortured and filled with guilt, ‘they won’t give us anything, not even offering a bribe to the guy on the phone would get him to give us information.’

I wrap my arms around Caden’s waist, pressing my cheek into his back as I feel him take a deep breath, the tight muscles of his back loosening slightly under my touch.

‘You are doing everything you can’ I murmur into his t-shirt, ‘and I love you even more for trying to find him for me.’ I pull back and remove my arms, gripping his shoulders to turn him to face me, cupping his cheeks with my hands as he wraps his arms instinctively around me. ‘But you will be no help to Hadley, our warriors or me if you don’t eat’ I add firmly. ‘Cobalt needs fuel to shift and fight if he needs too, you need to eat so you can use that amazing mind and figure out how to find our mate.’

I feel Caden stiffen under my fingers before he raises his gaze to me slowly, ‘our mate?’ he questions in confusion.

I nod, more and more sure that I’m right, ‘you care about him’ I murmur softly, ‘it may not be a mate bond or even a s****l attraction, but you count him as part of our family.’

The Alpha sighs deeply, shutting his eyes as his head falls back onto the door behind him. ‘He makes you happy’ he murmurs. ‘I like it when you are happy, I . . I like that he makes you happy. I am happy because you are happy and it doesn’t make any sense to me because I should be ecstatic to have you to myself but . . .’ He looks up at me sadly, ‘everything feels wrong, is that crazy? I miss the a*****e and I don’t like us being a twosome.’

I smile up at him, going up on my tip toes so I can press my lips to his, ‘it makes perfect sense’ I reply. ‘I am bonded with him, you can feel my emotions so it makes sense that you can also feel my bond to him. Maybe all three of our bonds are entwined in some way and that’s why we work so well.’

I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him down toward me. ‘It makes me happy that you care about him’ I whisper, ‘and that he cares about you.’

The Alpha raises and eyebrow questioningly, ‘you think he cares about me?’ he asks skeptically.

I nod firmly, ‘I’m sure of it’ I reply, ‘you two are an odd pair, but the more I think about it, the more I realise that you act like an old married couple.’ I giggle, shaking my head in amusement, ‘maybe I should be jealous of your bond, I’m the third wheel in your relationship.’

That makes my mate smile, the first one I’ve seen in days, as he presses his lips to mine hungrily. ‘Trust me baby, you are far from a third wheel, this car wouldn’t work without you. You are more like the engine, the heart of everything, Hadley and I are just a couple of replaceable parts.’

I growl loudly, scowling at him, ‘you are not replaceable Alpha’ I fire up, ‘I need you and don’t you ever forget it.’

Caden’s smile widens as he pulls me tightly against his chest, ‘I love it when you get all possessive and angry’ he rumbles, his hands moving over my body as I shiver under his touch instinctively.

‘Good’ I growl back, ‘because it’s never going away, you are mine Alpha and no-one gets to take you away from me.’

My mate growls deep in his throat, his eyes darkening, flashing Gold as Cobalt pushes forward, dropping his hands to my a*s and hoisting me up to his waist. I wrap my legs around him as he turns us around, pushing me against the door, his lips locking with my own.

A m**n crawls up my throat as my hands find his hair, digging my fingers through the soft strands and pulling slightly, tilting Caden’s head so I can delve deeper with my tongue, exploring his mouth.

I feel the change as Cobalt is pushed back once again, Caden taking control as his muscular chest pins me to the door, his e******n pressing against me as I grind unashamedly over him.

My skin is on fire, my b***d boiling in my veins as I growl into the Alpha’s mouth, trying to devour him, unable to stop.

‘Baby’ Caden gasps, managing to pull his lips from mine as I whimper and chase him, the fire licking my skin intensifying.

‘Need you’ I m**n, my lips finding his marking spot and sucking hard as I lock my ankles together to stop him putting me down.

‘We can’t, Hadley’ the Alpha mutters, his eyes closed as he fights against the current that I know is running through him from my touch.

‘I can’t help it’ I whine against his skin, ‘I need you.’

I can’t explain, but my body has become an inferno and all it wants is to be close to my mate.

Caden shakes his head, gripping my thighs and pulling my legs until they fall to the ground, taking a step back as I whimper again. I’m so hot, and the further Caden steps from me the hotter I’m getting. What was, to begin with, a delicious burn on my body has now notched into something else and it’s no longer pleasurable.

I wail, gripping my stomach as a rip of pain cuts through me, Caden’s eyes widening as he steps closer again, grabbing me. The pain immediately lessens and I latch onto him again inn confusion.

‘Don’t let go of me’ I gasp, pressing up against him, tearing at his shirt, needing skin contact to make the heat in my body cool.

The Alpha sniffs me curiously before he stills, his eyes widening for a second before I’m thrown over his shoulder and the lock is clicked into place on the door to our room.

I m**n out encouragingly, grabbing a handful of his a*s as he strides through our room to the bathroom and turns on the shower that’s positioned over the bath, stepping inside with us both still clothed and standing under the stream as he lowers me to the ground in front of him.

I scream as ice cold water hits my back, my eyes snapping open as Caden lowers me down and holds me under the spray.

‘It’s c . .c. . cold’ I chatter, my skin erupting in goosebumps as I shiver.

‘I know, I’m so sorry baby’ Caden murmurs, holding me still as I try to step away from the freezing water, ‘you are going into heat, I can smell it. I need to cool you down, it’s the only way to slow it down.’

My eyes widen as I shake against the Alpha’s chest, the water no longer freezing and I am already starting to feel my skin warm once again. ‘I c . .c . .can’t b . .be . . in . . h . .h . . heat’ I stutter, shaking my head in denial.

Caden brushes my wet hair from my fac, ‘you are Leeway, Cobalt could sense it before me, that’s why he pushed forward. Soon your scent is going to be caught by every werewolf outside, the only way to dampen it is to cool you down.’

I gulp, nodding, I know that if the wolves outside scent me, any unmated one will be drawn to me without a care that I’m mated or that I’m their Luna. Older men can resist it, but younger men will be overtaken by their wolves who will try to get to me. Cobalt would kill them all without hesitating and we really need all of them to protect us right now. At the pack house, the older wolves would keep the younger ones in check when a she wolf is in heat, plus the woman’s mate would be with them to help them through it an protect them. The rooms also have heavily reinforced doors with double locks to stop any wolves gaining entrance. An Alpha or Beta, maybe even a Gamma could break the door down if necessary but lower ranking wolves would need to band together to try and break one.

I rub my hands up and down my arms shivering, silently berating myself that I’d not even thought about my heat. Every she wolf went into heat roughly a month after being marked, I should have known it was coming, but with the worry about the trial and Hadley being sentenced I just hadn’t given it any thought.

In my mind, Skarla was snarling, prowling around my mind as the heat washed through her. ‘Want mate’ he growled at me angrily, ‘need him.’

‘I know Skar, I do’ I replied desperately, ‘but only one of our mates is here. Hunter is still being held by the Council, we need to focus on him, ride through this.’

‘Want mate!’ my wolf snapped back viciously, waving her tail as I did everything in my power to stop her taking over.

‘Skarla is g . . g . .getting antsy’ I stammer out to Caden worriedly, ‘I d . . don’t k . know how long . . I can . . k . k .keep control.’

The Alpha nods, his eyes glazing over, I assume calling to the mated wolves we have with us, telling them what is going on. That stupid motel door would be like a matchstick to a feral wolf overtaken by heat l**t, I’m in a lot of danger right now. My human part can fight the heat and the desire to mate, but my wolf is dominated by it as is Cobalt. At some point the pain will weaken me enough that Skarla will over power me and take over, calling out her mate who will give her what she wants.

‘It’s OK baby’ Caden murmurs, placing his hands over mine and rubbing my arms, ‘I’m here, we’ll get through this, I promise, no one is getting in here.’

M . .mark?’ I ask through chattering teeth.

Caden nods, ‘outside the door with the three other mated wolves’ he replied tersely. ‘Melanie and one other are female, so will be unaffected by your heat and are on watch around the perimeter for any Rogues, but the last two are younger. Mark has already told them to sit in the car, move it to the back of the parking lot, away from the room. They can still see our door in case of trouble, but are far enough away that hopefully, they can control their wolves.’

‘OK’ I nod, turning toward the spray as my body heat rises again and I can barely feel the water hitting me anymore.

‘We need to get you out of the water baby’ Caden growls, his eyes darkening, ‘we need ice, lots of it, the water isn’t working anymore, I can smell you again.’

‘I nod quickly, stepping out as Caden wraps a towel around me, mind linking the warriors again, calling for as much ice as they can find.

A knock on the door moments later, and the Alpha hurried to the door, dripping wet, leaving me alone in the bathroom.

‘So hot’ Skarla whimpers in my mind, ‘hurts.’

I drop my towel, ripping at my clothes, trying to get them off, I’m too damn hot, I just need to feel a breeze on my skin!

‘I have ice baby’ Caden’s voice calls out as he hurries back to me just as I pull down my panties, leaving me naked.

He stumbles to a stop, the ice bags falling from his hands as his eyes turn bright gold and Cobalt races to the surface, shoving Caden to the back of his mind as he rumbles out, ‘MINE!’