The Mating Rules

Hadley’s POV

My eyes snap open and the first thing that hits me is pain, mother fucker that bullet hurt! I don’t have time to dwell on the hole in my body as Hunter is growling loudly in my head.

‘Mates! Help mates! Skarla in danger!’ my wolf snarls.

Looking over at Jamie-Lee I find Caden leaning over her, tears pouring down his face as he squeezes her neck between his fingers. My mate’s face is red, her eyes glassy as she struggles to draw in breath.

‘this is not your fault, do not blame yourself for this, promise me’ I hear her choke out with difficulty.

‘I love you’ Caden replies, unbearable grief in his voice whilst he stares at our mate as her eyes roll back and her eyelids shut.

Growling angrily, I yank my arms upwards, Hunter giving me his strength, the cuffs giving way easily for some reason. I jump up and barrel toward the Alpha, dragging him off Jamie-Lee and slamming him to the floor, hard.

Caden’s eyes widen as he focuses on me, ‘Hadley?’ he mutters in shock, ‘you’re alive?’

‘Later’ I snap back, glancing around until my gaze falls on the Warlock who is scrambling away from me, his mouth open in surprise.

‘The remote’ Caden croaks, ‘it controls me, he’s making me strangle Leeway, get the remote.’

I nod, jumping off the Alpha who immediately starts to sit up, crawling back toward Jamie-Lee’s barely stirring body.

‘Hurry! I can’t stop myself’ Caden yells, gripping her legs to pull himself up.

‘Fight it Sar’ I roar back furiously as I lunge for the Warlock who snaps his fingers and disappears from in front of me. Spinning around, I find him now by the fireplace, messing with the small box in his hand.

Snarling loudly, I lunge for the man who abandons what he’s doing and dodges away from me just barely missing the claws that have slipped from my fingers. In my mind, Hunter is growling loudly, wanting a piece of this a*****e who hurt our mate, but I don’t dare shift in such a small space. I could unintentionally hurt Jamie-Lee and I need the dexterity of my human form to be able to get close enough to snatch that damn remote away from the guy.

‘Carrington, you need to hurry the hell up!’ Caden yells from behind me as I try to pin the warlock down, ‘I’m losing here.’

I risk a glance over my head to see him on his feet, fingers around Jamie-Lee’s throat again as sweat drips from his face from fighting against whatever it is that’s controlling him.

‘Try F*cking harder!’ I order loudly, ‘you’re a damn Alpha, if she means as much to you as I know she does, you won’t allow yourself to do this.’

The Warlock evades me as I’m distracted, and I growl in frustration as he ducks under my outstretched hand for the fourth time. He pivots around so he’s facing away from me, running toward Caden and Jamie-Lee, grabbing the Alpha and yanking him from our Mate before smoke envelopes them both and they disappear.

I skid to a halt, eyes wide and my gaze darts around the room looking for them both but come up empty.

Shoulders dropping, my gaze falls to Jamie-Lee who has a deep purple bruise around her neck, a low g***n leaving her lips as she tries to open her eyes.

‘Sweetheart’ I call out softly, grabbing the cuffs around her wrists and yanking them off her, freeing her arms and then her legs before scooping her up into my arms and cradling her to my body. I breathe in her scent, Hunter purring happily in my mind as I finally allow myself to release my feelings. Goddess I’ve missed her so much, it physically hurts to have her with me again, my emotions raw.

The she wolf stirs slowly in my arms, her eyelids flickering before reluctantly opening revealing those deep brown eyes that I’ve dreamed about every night since I last saw her.

‘Hadley?’ she croaks out, her voice ragged from being crushed. I nod quickly, not trusting my voice as her eyes widen and her arms wrap around my neck, hauling me down toward her. ‘Hadley!’ she whisper yells hoarsely, ‘you are OK.’

My mate shifts her position, turning her body so that her legs are wrapped around my waist, her hands linked behind my head as her lips crash to mine desperately.

I can’t stop the g***n of longing that rumbles from my chest as her intoxicating scent surrounds me, the taste of her lips against my own making me drunk.

‘I missed you so much’ she whispers sadly, as she covers every inch of my face with k****s, ‘I thought I’d never see you again, Caden said . . ‘ her words trail off as she pulls back, her gaze darting around us worriedly.

‘He took Caden’ I reply to her unasked question as her gaze finally returns to me. ‘He had something on his wrists? They controlled him, he . . tried to strangle you’ I finish reluctantly.

Jamie-Lee’s eyes cloud for a second before she shakes her head defiantly, ‘no he didn’t’ she replies firmly, ‘Avrilak did, Caden would never intentionally try to hurt me.’

I nod in agreement, I saw how hard that man fought against what he was being forced to do, I know with every part of my being that Caden loves Jamie-Lee and to be forced to do what he did would have killed him inside.’

I gently place my Mate’s feet onto the ground, secretly relieved that she refuses to let me go, though she does concede to release my neck so she can wrap her arms around my waist instead, squeezing me tightly against her body. I need to feel her next to me so I know that I’m back with her and she’s safe even if it is just for a moment. She brushes her hand over my abdomen and I flinch instinctively as she catches the bullet wound with the fabric of my shirt.

‘Oh my Goddess, You were shot!’ Jamie-Lee gasps, releasing me quickly and pulling at my shirt to see the wound.

‘I’m fine, Hunter is dealing with it’ I reply, trying to fend her off but my Mate isn’t having any of it, swatting at my hands until I relent and just let her look for herself.

There is still b***d seeping from the hole but it’s slowed considerably and the skin is healing. Glancing around my side, I can see a larger more torn up exit wound but that too is mending, though I will most likely have an epic scar on my back.

‘You’re bleeding’ Jamie-Lee mutters worriedly, her fingers running over the wound as I shiver under her touch.

‘It doesn’t hurt’ I grunt pulling my t-shirt back into place, ‘Hunter will get me fixed up before you know it.’

The she wolf nods reluctantly, biting down on her l*p anxiously, ‘you have Hunter?’ she suddenly asks in surprise, catching what I said.

I nod, a grin splitting my face, and I allow my wolf to push forward, his voice coming out gravelly as he checks over our mate for himself.

‘Mate is OK?’ he rumbles, reaching out to push her hair behind her ear as she nods, a tear running down her cheek that he catches with our forefinger.

‘How are you here?’ she asks in awe, ‘I thought Avrilak dosed you with wolfsbane.’

Hunter snorts loudly, ‘that stupid Warlock, doesn’t know who he is messing with, thinks we are all as weak as him, I shall show him how badly he underestimated me.’ My wolf gazes down at Jamie-Lee, his features softening slightly as he presses our lips to hers, kissing her hungrily before reluctantly stepping back and letting me take control once again.

‘I . . . can’t believe it’ my mate murmurs, ‘I can’t believe he’s here, I was sure that they would have continuously dosed you with wolfsbane to keep you weak, I’ve not been able to feel you since you were taken away from me.’

Her stricken face tells me just how much it must have hurt her to lose our connection to each other, and I wrap my arms around her protectively, cradling her head to my chest as I place a k**s on top of her hair. ‘They dosed me’ I admitted, ‘but it seems that being your mate has a convenient side effect’ I add teasingly. Seeing her tilt her head up curiously, I lean closer, moving my mouth to her ear as I whisper, ‘I’m immune to Silver and Wolfsbane hardly affects me.’

Jamie-Lee stumbles back and would have fallen on her butt if I hadn’t had hold of her, ‘but . . I couldn’t feel you, our connection . . ‘

I nod, ‘yeah’ I agree sadly, ‘from what I understand, that was down to me.’ I take a breath, sitting in the chair that she was strapped too only minutes ago, taking her hand in mine. ‘I blocked Hunter’ I admit roughly, ‘because I expected the wolfsbane to work, it did. I never once thought to try to fight against it, I essentially locked Hunter out.’

‘Yeah, i***t’ my wolf grumbles in annoyance, ‘could have been out of that pit weeks ago.’

I wince because I know he’s right but it never occurred to me that I could fight against the poison they were injecting me with. I suppose a part of me thought I must be stronger than other wolves, as I’ve always been one of the best fighters so it took more than normal to subdue me, but I always assumed that I had a limit.

‘Tried to reach out’ Hunter mutters with a huff, ‘tried to contact Skarla but you pushed me down again, stupid human.’

Jamie-Lee shakes her head as she tries to process what I’m saying, ‘but how did you figure out you could fight it?’ she queries quietly.

My smile widens as I squeeze her fingers, ‘because the Goddess told me’ I reply simply. ‘She told me that she needed me to cover the weaknesses that Caden possesses, that’s why Silver doesn’t kill me. Hurts like a b***h to be shot’ I add with a grimace, ‘but not fatal, doesn’t affect Hunter at all. She also told me that we need to become one to defeat this lunatic, and that Caden and I took some of her essence when we marked you . . . I don’t know what that means though.’

I frown in confusion, how do we become one?

Jamie-lee studies me for a moment, her head tilted to the side, ‘if you took some of the Goddess’ essence from me when you marked me, did I take some of your ability to fight wolfsbane?’ she asks.

My eyes widen as I nod quickly, ‘maybe’ I say excitedly, ‘try and call to Skarla!’

I watch as my mate closes her eyes, her brow furrowed in concentration, her hands clenching at her sides as she tries to fight through the block to her wolf.

‘I’m the worst Spirit Wolf ever’ Jamie-Lee mutters, her frustration rolling through our bond which I can now feel as clear as day again. ‘Why can’t I connect to her? I thought I was supposed to be powerful and a leader, I can’t even lead myself out of a mind block!’

I Squeeze her fingers encouragingly, ‘try again’ I order gently, ‘Hunter will call out too.’

She meets my gaze for a moment before nodding, her eyes closing again as I close my own and allow Hunter to take control.

‘Mate’ Hunter growls out dominantly, ‘come to me.’

I can feel Jamie-Lee’s grip tightening as she tries to push away the wall between herself and her wolf. ‘Skarla!’ my wolf growls louder, the order rolling through us, ‘I said COME!’

Silence surrounds us for an eternity before a sassy voice replies, ‘I don’t take orders from you Mate, I’M the Spirit Wolf!’

I want to cry with relief as Skarla scolds my wolf for trying to order her around and open my eyes, to find Jamie-Lee staring at me with so much love it’s hard to look at her.

‘What now?’ she asks quietly once Skarla is happy to recede and let her take over.

‘Now we find Caden and put and end to this once and for all’ I reply firmly.

Jamie-Lee nods, ‘how do we find him?’ she questions.

As though a light bulb flashes in my mind, the answer comes to me, ‘we find him through you’ I say with conviction, ‘I think you can find both of us if you just take the time to look.’

My mate shakes her head, ‘no, I tried to find you, I did, I couldn’t connect to you.’

I grin, ‘you also couldn’t connect to your wolf with wolfsbane in your system,’ I reply gently. ‘The Goddess said something that I didn’t really think about till now, she said that there is a reason that Avrilak attacks the mates of a Spirit Wolf. He can’t defeat her physically until he breaks her emotionally, I think you are connected to us on a level deeper than the mate bond.’

Jamie-Lee stares at me, ‘once . . ‘ she starts uncertainly, ‘once, I thought I could feel you . . I tried to follow the tether but Caden came in and distracted me . . ‘

I perk up, ‘I had that too!’ I say excitedly, ‘I thought I was going made from no food but I felt you, our bond, just for a few minutes and then it was gone.’

Jamie-Lee’s face crumples as she looks at me in horror, ‘I could have found you’ she whispers, ‘I could have saved you weeks ago if I had just followed my instincts.’

I stand up and wrap her in my arms, holding her close, ‘this isn’t your fault sweetheart’ I murmur firmly, ‘none of this is your fault and I believe that we were reunited at the exact moment we were meant to be, so do not put this on yourself.

I feel her nod against my chest before disentangling from me and straightening up, ‘OK’ she states with determination, ‘lets find Caden and get rid of this a*****e.’

‘Yes Ma-am’ I reply, saluting her, making her giggle before she closes her eyes and concetrates.