Katee frowned at him. “Why would I sell it? I’m going to live in it, at least until I find a new job and have to move on.”
Toren frowned back at her, and his was much more fearsome than hers. A shiver ran through her, but she wasn’t sure if it was fear or renewed desire. “Dancer, you’re my mate. You’ll live here with me. And you won’t need a job. You already have one.”
“I do?”
“You are mate to the Waverly pack alpha. Keeping me happy will be job enough that you won’t need another one.”
Katee wanted to argue but instead decided to change the subject as shivers began to run up and down her entire body. “It’s getting cold. Would you like to go inside, dry off, and warm up?”
And maybe try that mating thing again?She did not ask that question out loud, but her cheeks burned with embarrassment at her thoughts. She needed to think on his words before she dove back into that argument again.
Toren shocked her speechless when he rose to his feet with her still cradled in his arms.
“Wow, how did you do that?”
Katee wrapped her arms and legs around his body andclung to him like a koala in a eucalyptus tree. He quickly strode across the backyard to the porch like a man on a mission.
“You should have told me you were cold. The last thing I want is for my mate to get sick because I’d kept her out in the cold.”
Chapter Three
Toren wanted to kick himself for keeping his mate out in the cold until she was shivering. He could feel her trembling against him as he pushed through the back door. Entering the kitchen, he looked around, not impressed with what he saw.
The back door entered the kitchen area, which was separated from the main room by a countertop, which was piled with books and canned goods. An oil lantern and a low fire in the fireplace provided just enough light to see the rest of the room. Not that there was much to see.
Other than the kitchen counters, the only furniture was what appeared to be a pile of pillows, cushions, and blankets in the middle of the main room. She couldn’t stay here. Even if she hadn’t been his mate, he could not in good conscience leave any woman in this sad situation.
He would take her straight to the pack house, except they were both naked.
“Where’s your phone?” he asked as he carried her to the pile of softness in front of the fire and set her in the middle of it.
“K-K-Kitchen c-counter,” Katee chattered as she pulled a blanket around her before burrowing into the middle of the pile. When she finally stopped moving, all he could see was her nose.
After finding her phone on its charger by the back door, Toren moved to the bathroom and found a single bath-sheet-size towel hanging on the rack by the shower. Once he’d quickly dried off, he hung it up and then turned his attention to the phone.
After quickly dialing his beta’s cell phone number from memory, he was not surprised when Duck picked up on the first ring.
“Where the fuck did you disappear to? Keller was here looking for you again. If he finds you unprotected…”
Toren didn’t want to think about Keller, especially now that he’d found his mate. The other wolf shifter had moved from some big city up north and had recently killed the alpha of the neighboring pack to gain control. Now he wanted to absorb the Waverly pack into his so he could take over their pack territory. Not many packs owned a mountain that backed up to national forestland.
From their first meeting, Toren felt it would take a war, or one of them dying, to stop Keller. He would have to keep the news of finding his mate a secret until he taught Keller that the Waverly pack wasn’t up for takeover.
“I need you to bring me some clothes and an SUV to Mariah Jones’s cabin,” Toren said in the alpha tone that demanded immediate obedience, without bothering to explain his disappearance. “And have the path cleared from the front door to my rooms when we get back.”
“Yes, Alpha,” his second-in-command responded. “We’ll be there in ten minutes.”
Toren hung up without saying anything further. Taking the few toiletries out of the bathroom, he moved to the bedroom. This room was completely empty, except for two suitcases. Was Katee sleeping in that pile of bedding? Totally unacceptable.
After repacking and closing the suitcases, he carried them to the front door. Looking around the main room, he saw a half-filled plastic bin in the corner. He took the few minutes to pack up her books and computer in it. The box of food on the counter was added to the growing pile by the front door. There was no refrigerator, so he didn’t have to worry about any other food. Checking the cabinets, he found them empty. Except for the pile of bedding on the floor, everything was packed.
He heard several car engines well before lights flashed across the front windows. Opening the door, he watched three SUVs pull into the yard. Men from the two emerged and spreadout around the yard, each with a high-powered rifle. He waited for Duck to join him on the front porch. “Take those. The food will go to the kitchen and everything goes to my rooms.”
Duck nodded and quickly transferred Katee’s belongings to the back of the SUV. While he did that, Toren returned to collect his mate. He banked the fire so it wouldn’t burn the house down, then turned off the lantern before going to the pile of softness.
Gently pulling the pillows and cushions away from her body, he finally found his woman in the middle of the pile. Once Duck had finished taking her belongings out of the cabin, Toren rewrapped her in the extra-large blanket until she was fully covered and looked like a human burrito. Only then did he slide one arm under her knees and the other under her shoulders.
“What?” Katee jolted awake as he lifted her.