Beaufort Creek Shifters (10 book series)
The Wolf’s Auctioned Mate Chapter 9

Wendell

Bacon sizzled in a pan next to the cheesy eggs I was in the process of generously seasoning. Behind me, Laurencia snoozed peacefully, soft snores rising from the bed of pillows she had moved to the corner of the studio apartment since I moved in yesterday. The day had come and gone. Both of us had spent the time apart, choosing to go our own ways while trying to figure out how to share a living space that didn't give much space for...well, taking space.

Laurencia's impromptu naps had been a gift from the gods. Each time she curled up, she promptly fell asleep, much like the feline friends that used to hang around the Bravecrest compound. After cautiously removing the delicious cheesy eggs from the pan and finishing up the bacon, my heart cracked.

Thinking about the compound made me think about things I didn't want to consider. With Laurencia now attached to my hip, I had to be mindful of my emotions and thoughts. She was sensitive, and if I had a swing in my mood, she would try to take the blame for herself.

However true her influence, it wasn't a fair living environment if she constantly belittled herself due to my irritation. That wasn't healthy. For anyone. I had to be a noble protector no matter how much I didn't want this situation. It was just difficult to manage. How did my alpha expect me to live like this?

I stirred the eggs. Perhaps Troy thinks this will make me happy.

He'd set up one pair already. While that had been a huge success, I wasn't sure about me. According to Blake's explanation, this was entirely out of his usual practice. What did the change mean?

The little leopard woman stirred in her silk pile. One foot extended and then the other, both legs jutting out while she stretched her arms above her head. After loading up her plate with breakfast, I carried it over to her, setting it on a nearby tray with a glass of orange juice and a cup of tea.

Herbal tea wasn't my style, but I wouldn't knock her for her preference. It smelled much better than that crap she always burned around here.

"Easy," I warned when she stuck her hand out toward me. "You'll knock something over."

Her nose twitched. "Something smells...amazing."

She sat up with her hair a wild mess around her face and peeked out of one eye to check the contents of the plate. Satisfied with what she saw, she lifted a fork and dug in, humming contentedly as she chewed, slurping her little juice, and chomping on the bacon like it was the first time she'd ever tasted it in her life.

Was this the woman who was supposed to be my mate? My alpha had to be joking.

Shit, I had to be joking. I was the one who bid for her hand. And I won that bid. Now I had to build two new playgrounds, one new school, and two upgraded barns-for both packs.

All because I just had to win that bid.

Laurencia flopped back into the pillows and traced the bite on her neck.

Damn it, I shouldn't have done that either, I thought. I'm just full of doing things I shouldn't be doing. Why? Have I fallen ill?

I pressed the back of my hand to my forehead. I wasn't running a fever, though I did feel entirely delirious about the past four days. Last night had been a mistake and then some, yet it had pleased me in ways that nothing else had since Laurencia had left me. And that was the problem.

"I want to lay here all day," Laurencia sighed.

I chuckled while sliding one of her feet into my lap. My brain spun with a million protests as I ignored them all, choosing to knead my fingers into the heel of her foot and along her ankle. Regardless of how much she danced around barefoot, her feet were remarkably clean. Not a pinworm to be found.

While my thumb trailed over the ball of her foot, I stared at her half-closed eyes. "You already did, Rencie."

"Did I?" She hardly seemed fazed. "Ah, well, I could lay here all night."

"Is that what you want to do?"

She shrugged. "It's better than watching you bounce around the room like a ping pong ball."

"You don't watch TV or something?"

She gestured to the wall across from us decorated with portraits, paintings, and obscure shadow boxes. "Does that look like a TV to you?"

I gaped at her.

"What?" She laughed abruptly. "I just don't get into the shows like other people. Besides, if I want to watch something, I just go hang out with Jada or Skye. Francine, too."

"Watching TV is a social thing for you."

She nodded. "I guess that's one way to put it."

"How did I never know that?"

Blotches of red bloomed on her forehead and cheeks. "Well, we didn't do much talking back then, did we?"

“།

guess we had more important things to do."

I slid my hand up her ankle and caressed her calf.

She shivered. "We had silent chats all the time."

"With our hands."

"And mouths."

Her eyes were open now revealing pupils so wide that I thought they would take over her eyes entirely. Reminiscence glowed from the smile on her face. She was thinking about all the nights we had hooked up.

I cleared my throat. "Five years is a long time. Tell me again how many times we had sex?"

"Has it really been five years?"

Gods, she looked mournful about that realization. Didn't she think about this before we got matched? I'd thought about it a few times. I'd tried not thinking about it, but that became a monumental failure, so I allowed my mind to drift toward those memories at will to let them pass faster.

Massaging her other calf seemed to help. "Yes, it's been five years."

"Why did you leave me?"

What an awful question. What a daring question. Agitation quickly rose from the depths, sending me from the comfortable pillow bed to the kitchen in half a second. I set her empty plate in the sink-which I hadn't even realized I had grabbed-and started scrubbing away the bits of cheese stuck to the porcelain.

I pitched my voice low. "I don't know what you mean."

"You know what I mean, Wendy."

"Stop calling me that."

She huffed and rolled over, tucking herself into the silk like she was an offended cat. Perhaps that was fitting for her. And perhaps she would fall into another nap.

No such luck when she rolled back and pounced to her feet. For such an agile creature, she was surprisingly reckless and unbalanced. Most shifter cats I knew were artists of the air, usually getting into gymnastics or parkour. Yet Laurencia could barely manage to stand on her own feet let alone scale a fence.

After cleaning the dish and setting it in the drying rack, I wiped my hands on a kitchen towel and returned to the living area. I was close enough for her to observe, but not close enough for her to touch. Part of me felt irked by that.

This is ridiculous. Why did I make her breakfast and rub her feet? I thought. It's not like she deserves it. She barely deserves that bite on her neck.

"Something happened," she proceeded, "between us. You know it. I know it. What happened?"

"We weren't meant to be together."

She rolled her eyes. "And how do you figure that?"

"Wouldn't we have been together if it were meant to be?"

"Aren't we together now?"

I chuckled. "Only because of our alphas."

"Don't you think our alphas know best?"

Sometimes, I wonder. I rubbed my forehead. "I think they have a good idea, but I don't think they understand how we are together."

She stepped toward me. "And how are we together, Wendell?"

Sweet gods, the way she tried to square up to me was far too adorable. Her height and curvy hips rivaled the fraught look on her face. Annoyed as she was, there was something playful sparkling in her eyes, reminding me of the mischief we used to get us to back in the day. "We're opposites," I pointed out. "I'm a risk-taker and you're just-"

"Too safe?" She guffawed. "You're just an oaf who uses his hands a lot. What kind of danger could you possibly get into?"

Now, we both knew she was just pulling bullshit right out of her ass with that one. Though there weren't many things that came to mind other than her voluptuous tits and round ass from our time in that motel, I knew for a fact that I shared my love for adventure at some point.

I crossed my arms over my chest, letting my muscles bulge around my pecks and watching the way her expression shifted from displeasure to sheer thirst. Seeing that I wasn't the only one driven by visuals was assuring. It also made it easier to deal with her attitude. A quick flex here or a wink there would surely keep her under control.

I licked my lips. "Rencie, you're being rude."

"You say that like you're not being rude."

"I never claimed to not be rude."

She groaned with frustration. "Why are you like this?"

"Because you're like this."

Back and forth we went with irritated looks as we circled each other, sizing up the next layer of our bickering, trying to figure out the best way to inflict pain. Was that how it would be with each other? This wasn't the life I imagined with a woman. I always thought I'd get my space and she'd get hers, and we'd just live on visiting each other. Cohabitation wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Although perhaps that had to do more with the size of the space than us.

No matter the structure, it was clear to me that Laurencia would frequently choose to butt heads with my authority, and with reality as well. She was delusional. I remember clearly being left sitting at that bar, waiting for her for hours on end. She never showed up. Instead, I had gotten lured out in an alley while drunk and knocked over the head. If she had shown up, then maybe that wouldn't have happened. Maybe some of the horrors in my life would have been avoided if she had come along like we had agreed. She was troublesome. Mayhem accompanied her wherever she roamed. That was the klutzy part of her coming out, the side that was incompatible with my routine and orderliness. I didn't understand why she lived in such a pigsty when she could have cleaned a little each day.

Outside the nook's window, birds chirped on the thick branch reaching out for the pane. That thing was getting ready to come right into this apartment. Why hadn't anyone managed this place yet? If the backyard was that unruly, then nature would soon take over the place. It didn't make sense why Blake would even keep it here with only Laurencia as a tenant.

And soon, she wouldn't be a tenant. Did he have plans for it? I could help with that.

My ire went out the window as I rushed around the room to take measurements and study the walls. The doorframes needed repair, though they were sturdier than I had anticipated. The window too. New panes would make the room look marvelous with more light even as the sun faded into the distance.

Laurencia planted her hands on her hips-a typical stance for her now that she was constantly disappointed with what I did or didn't do-and waited in the center of the room for me to finish.

"And people say I'm weird," she remarked, some humor in her voice. "Are you planning on renovating this building as well?"

"Hush, woman."

Whimsical laughter filled the air. I would have thought of her as a pixie with how she sounded. So much for being a leopard. She hardly acted the part aside from her frequent naps.

She took my arm as I tried to slide past her to get to the kitchen. There were plenty of things in there that needed some TLC, and I had plenty of tools on me to start. "Wendell, please. I know you're trying to ignore what's happening here by getting lost in your work, but that won't work."

I stared at her.

"You think you're the only one who can pick up on energy?" She smiled sweetly. I should have gotten the impression that she was being condescending, but she wasn't. She was actually being sweet. "You've been avoiding me."

"You've been avoiding me too."

She huffed as though entertained by my response. "So, we're just parroting each other now? Is that it?"

"I'm not a bird. I'm a wolf."

"Sit, boy."

I growled. "You'll do well to change your tone, kitty cat."

Oh gods, she was purring. I could feel the vibration of it transfer to my arm and slither into my chest where it roused my heart into a new rhythm. The way she did that was simply magical. I hated it. I loved it. I didn't know how to cope with it. Before I could say anything else, her eyes went wide, and she gasped. "I'm late! I have to go."

It was like we traded places with me standing in the middle of the room while she flew around to gather things from random shelves and shove them into her satchel. Tarot cards, a jar of what seemed to be dirt, and several tiny books that appeared pointless to be carried for they didn't seem like they held much information.

All the while, Laurencia spoke in whispers to herself, asking herself questions, answering those same questions, and then arguing with herself when things didn't add up. Entertainment like this could easily replace a television. I shoved my hands into my pockets and chuckled lightly.

She paused at the door. "What? What's so funny?"

"You."

"Why don't you come along if you think it's so funny?"

I raised my eyebrows. "And just where are we going?"

"To the supernatural market."

My smile fled my face. "Laurencia, were you seriously going there alone?"

"Well, I didn't see you offering to come with me."

I stomped after her. "You didn't even tell me where you were going."

"Am I supposed to tell you my whereabouts all the time now? Do I have to check in with my angry daddy whenever I go somewhere?"

Arousal and irritation swirled in my gut. She didn't have to say it like that, but I didn't entirely oppose her saying it like that.

I yanked on my boots. "A little information goes a long way, kitty cat."

"Oh no, the grumpy guard dog is mad at me for leaving out a small piece of information. Bark, bark."

"It's not small, Rencie. That place gets violent after hours."

She slid her feet into a pair of Crocs. "I've been going there after hours for years and haven't once been threatened by anybody. You're just being racist."

I slid a muscle shirt over my shoulders. "No, I'm being cautious. Recent reports have indicated that-"

"That people like you are biased and have no idea what goes on in the supernatural market at night."

"There are vampires, Laurencia."

She stood her ground. "Those vampires, Wendy, aren't as harmful as you think!"

I smacked my forehead. She was too dull in the skull to listen to me. If that was the case, then I would be following her around everywhere. No wonder Troy had put me in charge of her. She was too naïve to be by herself. "Fine, I'll come with you," I said firmly as I grabbed my wallet and shoved it into my pocket. "But I'm definitely going to complain the whole time." I snatched my keys from the hook near the door. "And I'm driving, Miss Sandals." She smirked.

And something about that smirk turned me on.