Free NocC 013 - Katie Reus - Protector's Mate - Harlequin 2012-04 by Nocturne

somewhere out west. My Alpha’s mate and most of the females of the pack couldn’t stand her so don’t worry about anyone holding a grudge.”
    She was surprised he hadn’t done more to Amanda, but at the moment Felicia was more concerned about her own relationship with Alaric.
    Before she could question him he closed the distance between them until he stood inches in front of her. “I’ve wanted you from the moment we met. I told Lamont that I planned to take you as my mate years ago, but at the time you were too young. He promised he’d keep an eye on you and inform you of my plans when you were older. I never thought he’d…” He shook his head. “If I’d known he wanted you for himself I’d have claimed you long ago. Or at least asked you to join our pack.”
    “Why didn’t you ask me to join your pack anyway?” She couldn’t help the hurt in her voice.
    His expression softened. “I didn’t trust myself around you, but if I’d known what his pack treated you like, I swear I would have brought you in to our pack.” Before she could respond, he continued. “For about a year I started that first letter a hundred times. I knew you were ignoring your pack’s attempts to contact you and I wasn’t sure I’d be any different.”
    She remembered that first letter. Just a quick hello and he’d asked her if she needed any care packages. He’d also told her he was worried about her. It had taken him a year to work up the courage to write that? The pressure in her chest lifted at his small confession.
    She started to respond but he wasn’t finished. “I’m telling you right now that I want you as my mate. I guess I didn’t make that clear this morning, but I promise no one will ever hurt you again as long as I’m still breathing.”
    As she digested his words, shock rippled through her. It stunned her that he’d wanted her for so long. “And if I say no to mating?” She didn’t plan to but wanted to hear his response.
    “Then I’ll just have to convince you otherwise.” He reached out and cupped her cheek.
    Raw, hot desire flared inside her. To go from anger to this intense feeling of need was insane. But this was exactly what she’d wanted, wasn’t it? To feel such intense sexual hunger for someone who wanted her right back. When she’d thought Alaric was mating with another female, it had felt as if someone had hit her in the stomach with a two-by-four. She still needed to clear something up with him though. “I’m sorry I assumed the worst about you and Amanda.”
    He was silent for a long moment, as if considering his next words. “You’ve gotten a raw deal from your own kind. If I could rewrite history I would, but from this point forward you’ve got to know I’ll always have your back. Always. ”
    She nodded, knowing bone deep that it was true. They might still have a lot to learn about each other, but the man she’d been exchanging emails with the past few months before she’d cut off contact—the man who’d basically just offered to kill someone for her—was telling her everything she’d wanted to hear. If she didn’t take a chance now, she’d never be able to look at herself in the mirror. She couldn’t keep expecting people to disappoint her or turn on her.
    Before she could change her mind, she stripped her sweater off and then her pants, letting them silently fall to the floor. Her hands shook the entire time and all she could hear was the blood rushing in her ears. When Alaric raked her from head to toe with a scorching gaze, some of her nervousness faded. She was putting herself out there the best way she knew how.
    Alaric’s entire body heated up as he stared at the she-wolf in front of him. The thought of her leaving again had shaken him bone deep. It still did.
    His inner wolf had howled in pain and frustration and he was having a hell of a time convincing himself she was standing right in front of him. Naked and beautiful.
    As she started to cover her breasts,