Mate Set (Mating Heat Book 1) Read online

  She couldn’t do any more. She knew that. She shut off the water.

  Down the hall, her bedroom door was shut and the house was ominously silent. She wrapped a towel tightly around her and ran for the kitchen. She yanked a bottle of vodka off the top of the fridge and uncapped it as she went to the sink. She opened the towel and poured the clear booze over her injured breast. It was the strongest alcohol she had in the house. She shut her eyes and hissed through gritted teeth as the alcohol burned her injured skin.

  She reached for the phone next and dialed Minnie’s cell number. She moved so she could see down the hallway. Her bedroom door remained shut, the house still silent. Had Grady left? Was he in her room? She was too afraid to risk walking to her room and opening that door to find out.

  “Hey,” Minnie greeted. “How’s life?”

  “Listen to me,” Mika said softly. “Do not freak out, and if Uncle Omar is there, get the hell away from him now. I’m in trouble.”

  Silence greeted those words. “Hang on, Mel. Let me go outside so we can have some privacy. Omar is having a few of the pack over.”

  Mel was Minnie’s brother. Heart pounding, her eyes locked on her closed bedroom door, Mika waited for Minnie to get out of the house so she couldn’t be overheard by Omar. She tried to calm her pounding heart.

  “What happened? Are you all right? You sound like you want to cry.”

  “Don’t freak out. Promise?”

  “Fuck. How bad is this?”

  “Grady accidentally bit me during sex. What do I do? I cleaned it. I scrubbed the puncture wounds with soap and poured alcohol over them. They bled well so that will help push out the saliva, right?”

  Silence.

  Then she heard something on the other end of the phone thump and she heard Minnie softly curse. “Sorry. I dropped the phone. Shit. Oh, shit. Shit!”

  “I know. Grady is…upset.”

  “Upset?” Minnie hissed. “He’s upset? How the hell did he accidentally sink his damn teeth into you while he fucked you?”

  “I…damn. He bit my breast when he came.”

  “What the hell was any part of you doing in his mouth when he came?” Minnie was hissing and growling softly. “He’s old enough to know better. He’s not some damn pup who’s new to sex and— Shit! Are you sure it was accidental?”

  “It was an accident. Trust me.”

  Minnie took deep breaths. “It’s going to be fine. It wasn’t a deep bite, right? More like a scratch? The condom didn’t break, right? You’re good if it was just a scratch and the condom held. Matings don’t take without sperm and saliva together.”

  Mika eyed her breast. It was still bleeding. She used the towel to pinch the areas that bled. “Uh…it’s more than scratches. He punctured the top and bottom of my breast around my nipple. We weren’t using a condom—and he partially shifted.”

  Silence again. Then the sound Minnie made after long seconds of silence almost made Mika drop her phone and she had to jerk it away from her ear.

  Minnie howled loudly in rage. Mika heard glass shatter next, and then Minnie panted into the phone. “Minnie? Calm down. What just broke?”

  “I threw a chair through the damn sliding glass door,” Minnie said softly. “Shit. I lost my temper. Here comes Omar and Elroy and some of the guys to see if I’m all right.”

  “Don’t you dare tell them!” Mika pleaded. “Please?”

  “I have to go. I’ll be there soon. I won’t tell, but Omar’s going to find out the second he gets a whiff of you and realizes you’ve been mated.” Then Minnie hung up on her.

  Mika hung up the phone. She closed her eyes and let her head hang. Minnie’s words rang in her head. You’ve been mated.

  She was so fucked.

  Chapter Twelve

  Half an hour later, Mika finally worked up the nerve to walk to her bedroom. The silence was eerie. She’d seen that Grady’s Jeep was still in her driveway so he was still in her room. She’d started to fear that he’d hurt himself when he’d torn up her bedroom. As afraid as she was to face him, her worry for his well-being finally got her to move down the hallway.

  She opened her door slowly to stare in horrified shock at the devastation he’d created.

  Her dresser was in about twelve pieces and all her clothes were thrown all over the room, as though an explosion had hit. Her bed was also in pieces. The mattress and box spring were shredded by what looked like knives but she knew Grady had done it with his claws. Her other nightstand was destroyed too. Her walls were down to bare studs in a lot of places and insulation showed where the plaster was broken or just gone. The ceiling fan that had been above her bed was torn out and hung in a broken mess of wires and snapped blades.

  Hot tears flooded her eyes as she realized it was going to cost her a fortune to fix it. She swallowed and inched into her room, avoiding broken wood and stuffing from her mattress.

  Grady wasn’t in the room. She stepped over one of her bedposts, a smashed dresser drawer, some of her clothing, and inched around broken glass from her lamp. She made it to the bathroom and peered in—it wasn’t destroyed. The bathroom window was wide open though, and Grady wasn’t there.

  She turned and carefully studied her bedroom again, still horrified that Grady had done this. Her stunned gaze returned to the ceiling fan. She wondered idly if the torn wires could cause a fire. She wiped at hot tears falling down her face. Grady was gone and he’d destroyed her bedroom.

  While she picked up clothes from the floor, looking for something to wear, she silently wondered if he’d have hurt her if she hadn’t run from the room. She stared at the destroyed mattress with all the ugly slashes through it, remembering she’d been on that bed that he’d attacked with his claws. She fought back more tears, knowing crying wasn’t going to fix this mess.

  She found that he’d left her closet untouched. She got her suitcases out and went through her room carefully so she didn’t cut her feet. She salvaged what clothes she could from her smashed dresser drawers. She removed her clothes from the closet and made sure the ceiling fan switch was off.

  She dragged out her suitcases and shut the bedroom door. She left her suitcases in the hallway. She didn’t want to go back into her room but knew she’d have to go in there to pack up her bathroom things. She could stay in the spare bedroom for now.

  Where was Grady? His Jeep was in the driveway but she hadn’t seen his clothes in her room when she’d moved shit around, looking for her things. He’d stripped in her bedroom so they should be there. They weren’t. That meant he hadn’t left her house through the bathroom window on four feet and fur. He’d climbed out that window on two legs, wearing his clothes.

  Anger surged through her. He’d sneaked out the window to avoid her. The coward. He’d gone wild after biting her and he had just sneaked out, not even bothering to check on her. She fought the pain and anger that welled.

  The doorbell rang.

  Was he back? She wondered if he was calm enough now to talk or if maybe he’d just come back to get his Jeep keys. She walked slowly to the door and took a deep breath. She straightened her shoulders, unlocked the deadbolt, and swung the door open wide to face whatever mood Grady was in.

  Minnie was pale and tears swam in her dark brown eyes. “I didn’t tell your uncle a thing about what happened here. I told him I got into an argument with my brother so he thinks I went for ice cream to calm myself down.” Minnie stepped into the entryway and grabbed Mika, pulling her into her arms in a tight hug. “Are you all right?”

  Mika gripped the taller woman tightly around her waist and shook her head. “No.”

  “My poor baby. Where is Grady? I want to talk to him. He knew better than to touch you without condoms. It was stupid! I know you don’t understand a lot about this but damn, it was stupid of him to fuck you without protection. The stronger you scent of them and sex, the more they get the urge to mate you. It was just a matter of time. He―”

  “Is gone,” Mika cut off Minnie’s rant.


  Minnie pulled back and frowned down at Mika. “His Jeep is in the driveway so don’t lie to me. He owes your family an explanation, and he should be glad it’s me and not Omar who wants to hear how this happened.”

  “I’m not lying. He was upset.” That was putting it mildly. “He’s gone and I don’t know where he went. I don’t know when he’s coming back. He didn’t want to face me, I guess. His keys were out here with me but he took off and left the Jeep.”

  Rage twisted Minnie’s face. “He mated you and split? I knew it! He did this on purpose and now feels guilty so he doesn’t want to face you until you calm down! Damn men! I’m always terrified your uncle is going to do this shit to me. He’s been after me for twenty damn years to mate his ass. I was sure Grady was honorable. I’m so damn sorry, but he did this on purpose, baby.”

  “He did not.”

  Minnie gave Mika a frown. “Trust me. This was obviously intentional. He took off because he wants to give you time to calm down.”

  Mika gripped Minnie’s arm and dragged the woman down the hallway. She opened her bedroom door wide and watched the shock and horror play across Minnie’s features as she took in the state of the room.

  “He didn’t mate me on purpose. He was that damn upset over accidentally biting into me. He isn’t avoiding me because of guilt. I think he left so he doesn’t kill my ass. He can’t be mated to me if I’m dead, right?”

  Minnie turned sheet-white as she stared down at Mika. “Let’s go now.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. This is my house. He’ll calm down eventually and come home. At the very least, he still needs me for a few more days, and I have his Jeep keys and his bag is in the spare bedroom, where he’s keeping his clothes. I don’t think I’m really in any danger. He took his rage out on the room instead of me. I was just down the hallway, so if he wanted to hurt me, he could have.”

  “Are you looking at the same damn room I am? He damn near shoved your headboard through the wall that separates the bedroom from your bathroom! Everything in here is broken. Every damn thing!”

  “I’m not broken, and I was in here at first.”

  “Oh, Mika,” Minnie said softly.

  She almost flinched at the look of pity that Minnie directed her way. She straightened her shoulders. “There has to be a way to un-mate us.”

  Shaking her head, Minnie’s look of pity deepened. “The only times I’ve ever heard of an accidental mating, well, they just dealt by trying to make the best of it together as a couple. You were marked before and carried his scent, but it was faint. Markings fade after a short period of time. Now…

  “Hell, Mika, you’re going to smell just like him. It will be that strong, and it will remain that way. Right now, if the mating took, your body is changing. It’s bred into a male that the woman who smells like him, belongs to him. He may not have meant to mate you, but honey, you are his now. He’ll have to come to terms with that because he won’t have a choice. His body, his animal, will know, and once it gets a whiff of you, his instincts will take over.”

  “He wants acceptance from the pack. You’re the one who told me about his childhood. He’s dead set on having a werewolf mate. Look what my parents went through until they left for the human world. He had a hellish childhood, and now he’s going to be facing discrimination again for having a human mate.”

  “He’s Elroy’s son, and your uncle isn’t just some pup like he was back when your mom married your dad. Both of you have powerful relatives. The pack won’t dare shun you or treat you badly, even though you’re a mixed-race mate set. Your mate is alpha-blooded. Few will be stupid enough to give you any shit, Mika. Your man will kick their asses. It will be all right because your children will be shifters. Alpha-blooded kids always carry the strong shifter genes. Most mixed races are looked down on because mating with humans can result in non-shifter children.” She paused. “Besides, it’s more acceptable to werewolves if the males take human mates. Your parents had it really rough because your father was human, and no one believed a human could protect his female mate from other males in the pack.”

  “Grady is so upset, Minnie. What am I going to do?”

  “You’re his mate now, baby. You call your work, quit your job, and hire movers to bring your shit here. Like it or not, you have to stay in town. Your life is here now, with him.”

  Minnie’s face relaxed and she suddenly smiled. “You’re going to live here and I’ll get to see you all the time. Your uncle can’t kill Grady for real because Elroy won’t let him. He’ll be pissed, but he’ll have to accept that you’re mated to one of the pack.”

  “How the hell can I expect Uncle Omar to accept it when Grady won’t? He’s going to hate me and resent me, Minnie! God, this sucks!”

  “I know, baby. Why don’t you come home with me until…well, until your mate cools off and comes looking for you. He will soon. He’s still in mating heat, and needs you now more than ever. He’ll have to accept what’s done—and it is done. It’s just how it has to be.”

  Mika shook her head. “I’ll wait here. I guess I should start cleaning up that mess in there. It will give me something to do until he returns.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. What if he comes back and wants to screw up the rest of your house?”

  She frowned. “Thank you for coming because I was freaking out. I still am, but now I have a clearer picture of everything. I just needed someone to be here for me.”

  Anger tightened Minnie’s face again. “Your mate should have been here to support you. You’re human. This all has to be really confusing and frightening to you. Someone should kick Grady’s ass.”

  “Trust me. He’s kicking his own ass right now more than anyone else ever could over what happened here. Go home. Please don’t mention anything to Uncle Omar yet. Who knows? Maybe we got lucky and it didn’t take.”

  “I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one, baby.” Minnie hugged her and walked out the door.

  Sighing, Mika put on shoes and grabbed trash bags from her kitchen, taking the entire box of them. She stepped into her bedroom and stared with sadness at the disaster that used to be the room she loved. She didn’t need trash bags. She needed a bulldozer and a few large Dumpsters. A few muscular men to lift broken furniture would be helpful too.

  A few hours later, she finally showered. She’d made a dent in the mess but still needed days of cleaning and help just to get the broken debris out of her bedroom. She didn’t even want to think about the damaged walls and the electrical mess.

  Grady still hadn’t returned. She put on jeans and a tank top then forced herself to eat as she watched the clock. He’d been gone six hours in total by the time she started to really worry. He was in mating heat, angry, and probably confused.

  She put on her shoes, grabbed her purse, and walked to the front door. She hesitated and then grabbed his Jeep keys. If he wouldn’t come to her, then she’d try to find him. Her heart was pounding, she was nervous as hell, but she loved the guy. He was out there suffering from going without sex for too long and they needed to talk.

  She straightened her shoulders, opened the front door and walked out into the cool night air.

  He’d go home, she hoped, as she backed the Jeep out of the driveway and headed for the bar. She parked in the back and hoped they didn’t lock the back door as she approached it. The idea of walking through a packed bar wasn’t something she wanted to contend with. She hesitated and then tried the handle, relief sweeping through her as it turned easily in her hand.

  She didn’t run into anyone as she headed for the stairs she’d glimpsed the last time Grady had brought her through the back. She knew he lived above the bar so she’d check his place first. No one stopped her or stepped out from any of the back rooms as she climbed the wide staircase. At the top was only one door. She hesitated and then tried the handle, only to find it locked.

  She had Grady’s keys, so she tested each until she found the right one. Light greeted her as
she opened the door and she swallowed, afraid of the confrontation that was about to take place, but it needed to be done.

  The apartment was an open space with a living room immediately inside the door, and to the left was a bar that separated the living space from a modern kitchen. She stepped farther inside, hopeful that since the lights were on he’d be there. She closed the door firmly and listened, hearing the sound of running water. Her gaze locked on a partially open door across the room and she moved toward it.

  She hesitated at the bathroom door, hearing the shower running, and through the crack she could see a toilet. She took another deep breath and then pushed the door open. “Grady?”

  The shower door was clear—and it only took an instant for Mika to register that the person who turned at the sound of her voice was not Grady.

  It was a tall, slim woman with red hair who spun in the clear glass shower stall, staring back in shock at Mika.

  The woman shoved at the glass door and grabbed a towel from the rack, and frowned at Mika as she wrapped it around her body, turning off the water with her free hand. Anger was instant on the woman’s face. “Who the hell are you?”

  Mika was too shocked to speak. There was a woman, a naked one, in Grady’s shower. She stumbled back a step and pain sliced through her.

  The woman growled, shoving the shower door all the way open and stepping out onto the bath mat, securing the towel tighter around her body.

  Mika backed up.

  “How do you know Grady?” The woman advanced, looking even more enraged. “I’m Megan, his girlfriend.”

  “I’m Mika,” she finally got out. “I’m Omar Deken’s niece.”

  That stopped the tall redhead from advancing on her further. The woman frowned. “Oh. Does he need Grady for something? He should be here any minute. He called me an hour ago and told me to get my ass here, so I just arrived. I think he had to take care of something downstairs.”