Beaufort Creek Shifters (10 book series)
The Bear’s Arranged Mate Chapter 9

Jermaine

Doing couples shit with Elva wasn't what I thought it would be.

Movies and television shows alike displayed reportedly "happy" pairings who went mini golfing or thrifting together. Neither of those things was my style. While Elva would probably love to spend a whole day rummaging through Market City Thrift bins, I would much rather saw off my own foot.

Which was why I'd taken her to dinner instead.

I'd been right about the Mexican place. She had a good time even though we started off rocky. We were really getting into the swing of things when I'd suggested taking a walk. Watching her strut ahead of me in six-inch stilettos did something for me. Though I wouldn't readily admit just what it did out loud to her.

The next few days unfolded much the same. We picked something to do together and did it, taking our time to explore the many facets of our personalities. Elva turned out to be highly skilled with crafts while I struggled with glue getting stuck to my fingers every five minutes.

Sunlight did wonders for me. For Elva? She preferred the shade of a tree with sunglasses and a tall glass of coconut water with brown sugar and lime. She was a simple creature with refined taste. Things that were easy to put together.

I loved that about her. I loved nearly everything about her.

And apparently, it was starting to become obvious.

Tanner waved his hand in front of my face. "Dude, I asked you about the hack job like five minutes ago. Anybody in there?"

I shoved his hand away. I could have easily gotten annoyed. But I was floating on cloud nine with all the Elva shit.

He couldn't ruin my mood if he tried. "Yeah, I said we have to get a proper hacker in here. I can only do so much."

"I think Neil knows a guy."

"Milton does all that Al stuff. Can't we ask him?"

Tanner tapped his fingers on the desk, causing the pencils nearby to start rolling. Before they fell off the edge, he snatched them out of the air and started juggling them. "You know, that's not a bad idea. The Kanes love their tech. They probably know a guy who knows a few guys." "Alright, get 'em in here."

Without breaking his rhythm, he stared at me. "Really?"

"What?"

"You're not going to argue with me about security protocols? How we should keep our network private? How outside help isn't good help?"

I arched my left brow. "Why would I argue those things?"

He held up his fingers and tapped each one as he said, "Because you're stubborn, you're hardheaded, you're rigid about the way everything is done."

I tapped his hand lightly, biting back a chuckle. "You're a jerk."

"Ah, there he is. That's the Jermaine I know."

"You want me to be rude to you?"

Tanner waved the mouse on the pad and cleared the monitor in front of us. He clicked through a few screens, bringing up the video footage that had recently been tapped. "No, I didn't say that." "Well, that's what it sounds like."

"Why pick a fight with me when you can do it with your mate?"

I raised my eyebrows. "She's not my mate. She's just my-"

"Toy? Friend with benefits?"

"She's none of those things." I swiveled around in my chair, scooting toward the other desk. At least here in the basement I had plenty of space to move away from Tanner. "She's just a partner." He whistled. "That sounds way more serious than Brandi made it sound."

"You're talking to Brandi about us?"

"Man, I didn't say shit to Brandi. She said shit to Leah who said shit to me."

I grabbed a few folders. They weren't even important. They were just folders, just things to do with my hands. "So, Leah said something?"

"Leah said that Elva said that you called her your mate."

"When did the pack start playing telephone?"

He chuckled. "When did we stop?"

"That's not fair to say."

"It's more than fair when you're looking happier than you ever have."

I squared my gaze on him and waved a folder. "Interrogation transcripts-have you reviewed them?"

"That's last year's pack expenses."

I read the label. Damn it, he was right. I was losing my mind here. I wasn't even trying to do anything with the folders other than occupy my hands. Why was I trying to change the subject? Because it was Elva? Or because it was about my feelings about Elva?

A frustrated grunt sent me back to the folder drawer. I grabbed the interrogation transcripts and set them up for us to review. Within a few minutes, Tanner was asking me all sorts of questions about the vampire-wolf wars. None of them seemed to make sense.

Until he said, "Didn't the Gilberts have a hand in the whole thing?"

"Where did you hear that?"

Tanner shrugged slightly and then leaned forward, lowering his voice. It was sort of useless seeing as we were the only two down here.

But then again, I had the place bugged. He was right to lower his voice. "Raymond had done some deals with Nathan, too. I remember Blake saying something. Veronica dug through some old records, too." "That's a lot of connections."

"I'm not sure where they lead, honestly. I'm just speculating. Maybe Raymond got screwed over by Nathan picking a side or something. I asked you because you-" He drifted back. "Well, you know a lot more about the wars than most people." What he meant was that I had a personal connection to the wars.

Harsh images rose from the marsh in the back of my mind. "I don't know, Tanner. It's a stretch."

"There's got to be some reason that man keeps attacking us here. Maybe there was a dirty dealing gone wrong."

"Are you seriously implying that Nathan had blood on his hands?"

Tanner gave me a serious look. "I'm not implying anything. Look at this part." He pointed to a paragraph in the middle of the page. "They mention Myrtle. Like Myrtle Beach? Nathan went that way once."

"Myrtle?" I read through the context repeatedly. "No, it sounds like a name."

"Like a woman?"

I frowned. "It's hard to tell. Did Blake do this one or Neil?"

"I think Blake did this one."

I nodded. "Then we'll have to ask him about it. There has to be something there."

"What's he going to do with those wolves once he's done with them?"

"I don't know, man. But it's probably bad luck keeping dire wolves around. They're not even real dire wolves."

Tanner snorted. "Like you would know. You're a bear."

"I know about a lot of shifters, Tan. I know they're not naturally that huge. We're always the size of our animal counterparts. Those things?" I pointed to the ground below us. Only the gods knew what happened down there when we weren't watching. "They're monstrous. They're made in labs. That's unnatural."

"That doesn't mean they're not dire wolves."

I shuddered. "It's just wrong, Tan. How could somebody do that to them?"

"Ever think maybe they volunteered?"

"I can't imagine a pack that would endorse such a thing."

He sighed while maneuvering the mouse again, reducing a few screens until we could see the cameras monitoring the dungeon right beneath our feet. "I can't imagine either. Raymond must be twelve types of f****d up."

"The man is unhinged. And there's really no reason for him to be coming after us like this."

"Sometimes, I wonder what we would be doing if we didn't have intel from Veronica."

A growl vibrated my throat. "Two-timing spies can't be trusted."

"Well, we have to trust this one. She's the alpha's mate. I had trouble with it, too."

"I don't know what to think anymore, Tan. It's a lot."

He nodded. "I know, man. It is a lot. Which is why you need to lean into Elva."

"I don't know if I can-"

"She's your partner, right? Then treat her like a partner."

He had a point that I loathed to admit. That's why mate bonds existed. That's why we got paired up by our alpha. We were supposed to use them.

But for some reason, I couldn't wrap my head around using Elva for anything other than physical release.

Even if I felt like she was worth much more than the physical.

"Besides," Tanner said with a grin, "happiness looks good on you. Surprisingly enough."

"Are you saying I'm ugly?"

He cocked his head. "Here we go."

"Because I am handsome. I spend hours on my appearance, Tanner. What do you do? Splash some water on your face? I can see your pores from here. They're craters."

"And I bet Elva loves that you know so much about skincare."

I flipped around. "She hasn't said anything about it."

"If you're so good at skincare, then why do you keep growing a beard?"

"Skincare and grooming are two different things."

He chuckled. "Fascinating. Does Elva like sandpaper?"

"No comment."

"You sound like Milton."

I smirked. "Who do you think I learned that from?"

While we dove into a playful banter session, I organized the interrogation sheets. We still didn't have much information. All we could tell was that Raymond had a stick up his ass about Blake being alpha when he had never had a problem with Nathan-at least, as far as we were aware.

The wars had something to do with it. Once Tanner brought it up, I couldn't shake the correlations. Weird experiments. Dire wolves. Random attacks.

Those were things that had happened during the wars as well. I'd heard as much on the underground tracks that connected our pack to other packs. Even a few fae creatures had given me some intelligence on it.

Because Tanner was right. I knew more about the wars than I let on. Due to my personal involvement, it was hard to let go of certain things-like how the clan responsible for the murder of my family was still roaming the streets of Hilton Head Island. Deep down, it was hard to deny that my motives for keeping track of that clan were sound. I could paint it up as being about safety all day, but truly, it wasn't about that. It wasn't about vengeance either.

It was about studying my mistakes. Vampires were great foes. They were highly trained operatives who could move much faster than shifters in any form.

But dire wolves? Those puppies could probably take down a whole clan of vampires. And if that was the case, then what was Raymond hiding up his sleeve other than this ace he kept claiming in his letters? Tanner patted the desk. "Alright, old man. Go home to your wife."

"She's not my wife."

"No, but she could be."

Did he know something I didn't? I mean, if Leah was telling Brandi things and Brandi was telling him things...

"Stop scowling at me," Tanner teased while waving me toward the door. "I'm literally giving you the night off so you can be with your woman."

"You're not in charge here."

He winked. "But I'm next in line, right?"

"Keep dreaming, kid."

One brotherly hug later, I was racing up to the foyer and out to the porch of the mansion. The brisk night air whipped my face, humidity smacking me right in the sinuses. I sniffled while trotting down the steps and marching the path that would lead to the bottom of the driveway.

My house was just up ahead. It would only take me a few minutes to get home. And when I did get home, I was going to smash my lips to Elva's and pray that she didn't speak a word of it to her friends.

Who was I kidding? Spilling that sort of naughty detail was probably the highlight of her day other than verbally berating rude customers at the cafe.

Lights illuminated the front door. A new rhythm wound through me as I ascended the stairs and walked inside, searching for my partner the moment I crossed the threshold. She was in the kitchen with a bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other. "Is that an apron?" I pointed to her waist where an apron surely hung. "Elva, are you seriously cooking?"

She gaped at me with her mouth wide open. Those tantalizing lips drew me in, forcing me to close the distance between us and scoop her into my arms. She dropped the bowl. Something gooey slapped my boot.

I didn't care.

I crashed into her. I folded her into my arms. I made a mess with whatever stained her apron, smashing it into the fibers of my t-shirt. I wanted to make a mess out of her, too.

And nothing could stop me.

She rested her hands on my chest. She didn't push either, cooing while she returned every kiss, huffing with each gasp for air. While arching her back, I felt her arousal, noticing the way her heartbeat shifted with the promise of something more. Because she was more to me. She was everything I could have ever dreamed of having.

Losing her wasn't an option.

She smacked her lips, surfacing for air. "What's that for?"

"I missed you, I guess."

"That's dangerous."

I hooked her leg over my hip, watching the bashful grin die and lust replace it. "Why's it dangerous?"

"Because I...I just...I have the oven..."

"Turn the oven off."

She struggled to look at me. "You don't tell me what to do."

"You seem to like it."

"Says who?"

I growled. "Says me."

Another bruising kiss sent her stumbling back to the counter. Dishes skittered over the marble and utensils hit the tile. If I wasn't careful, then I'd make an even bigger mess.

In more ways than one.