Free Caleb's Tempting Mate (Saber Chronicles Book 3) by R. E. Butler

 
     
     
    Chapter 1
     
    Lia Carmichael stood in front of the long mirrors at a boutique in Belle Terra and looked at herself critically.  She wore a short, black dress that fell to mid-thigh.  It was made of silk and hugged her body like a second skin, cut low in the back with daring cleavage.
    “That’s gorgeous,” Aubrey, Lia’s new sister-in-law, said from where she stood next to the small platform in their shared dressing room.  “I don’t think any males will be able to form coherent sentences when you wear that.  It looks amazing on you.”
    She smiled at her sister.  Aubrey was human.  Lia was a saber-tooth tiger shifter, the last female of her kind.  Her brothers – Alaric, Slade, and Galen – were the last males of their kind.  It sucked being the last sabers, but she was hopeful that now that Slade had found his mate in a she-wolf named Gretchen, and Alaric had found Aubrey, she would soon find her own mate.  She had to wait for her other brother, Galen, to find his mate first.  Sabers only found their mates after having mating dreams, which would strengthen as the sabers drew closer to where their mates were.
    It had taken a year for Alaric to find Aubrey.  Their family had joined the National Were-Fighting Association, headed by alpha wolf Jonathon Black, and traveled with him.  Weres, although known to human society, were restricted from randomly moving from town to town due to government laws.  She never fought, but her brothers were well known in the were-fighting world.
    “Tell me about the club we’re going to tonight,” Lia said as she stepped off the platform and walked to the rack.
    “Caleb owns Heat.  It used to be a bank, but he gutted it when he took over as master vampire of the city.  What had been the underground vault became the kiss’s daytime chambers, and the second floor, which had been executive offices, became his private playground.  The first floor is an enormous dance floor with bars on each wall,” Aubrey said.  She stepped onto the platform, wearing a cute navy dress and looked at herself.
    “You look great,” Lia said, undoing the zipper on the black silk dress and letting it slide down her legs.
    “Thanks.  Anyway, most of the kiss work there, but some wolves and humans do, too.”
    “I like that one better than the red one,” Lia said.  “You look pretty in both of them, though.”
    “I wonder if guys worry as much about what they’re wearing as we do?” Aubrey asked.
    Lia snorted.  “I doubt it.  It’s a good thing you told Alaric to dress nicely or he’d probably have wanted to go to the club in jeans and a T-shirt.”
    They tried on a few more outfits before making their selections and taking them to the register.  Lia hadn’t had any females to be friends with when she was traveling with the NWFA.  Although there were some females who traveled with the group, they stayed with their own people and never attempted to befriend her.  She loved her brothers dearly, but she was thankful to have two sisters now.
    After they returned to the hotel, she dropped off her things in her room and then joined Aubrey and Gretchen in Aubrey’s suite on the fourteenth floor.  Alaric had moved into the suite right away, and Gretchen and Slade had moved into the suite next to them.
    “How do you feel about only having Galen left to find his mate before you find yours?” Aubrey asked.
    Lia settled onto the comfortable couch.  “I’m excited and nervous.  It took Alaric a year to find you.  He was really tortured with the dreams.  Sometimes I could hear him thrashing in his bed.”
    “I still think it’s strange that Alaric had sex dreams about me when I was totally clueless,” Aubrey said.
    “What would you have done if you’d had sex dreams about him ?” Gretchen asked.
    Aubrey blushed.  “I have no idea.  I don’t think I would have thought they meant I was going to be meeting my truemate.  I’m human.  I never expected to be