Reluctant Mate Read online

  Reluctant Mate

  By Lauren Dane

  Previously published under a different title

  “I can’t touch you yet. Once I do, it’s over.”

  As daughter of the ruling Pack family, Layla Warden is under pressure to settle down. Find a nice wolf mate from a nice wolf family and have nice wolf babies. Layla has other plans, but when you’re a werewolf, biology trumps plans. And when Layla meets Sid, the sex is so intense, so hot, so consuming, it’s more than just a connection. It’s a mating bond.

  Sid Rosario wasn’t expecting to find his mate so soon—some wolves never find theirs. Now that he’s found Layla, he’s never letting her go. But lust and desire alone aren’t enough to secure their bond. If they want this incredible happiness to last, there’s one more thing they’ll have to do...

  Watch for more Cascadia Wolves stories coming soon from Lauren Dane and Carina Press!

  This book is approximately 13,000 words

  One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise! Find out more at CarinaPress.com/RomancePromise

  Dear Reader,

  I was supposed to write this letter in August. I procrastinated it to September. Because I didn’t want to think about December—holidays, shopping, baking, cleaning, shopping, shopping, cold and snow. I don’t know about you, but just thinking of the business of the holidays makes my chest a little tight with anxiety. And you’re probably reading this right in the middle of all those busy times! So it’s a good thing we have a few escapist reads for you this month, to help give you a respite from some of the stress of the season and take you away on a mental vacation!

  Jade A. Waters brings all the sexiness in her debut erotic romance, The Assignment, first in her Lessons in Control trilogy. After freeing herself from a troubled past, independent Maya Clery explores her wildest sexual fantasies with playful, dominant Dean Sova in a dynamic that challenges her inhibitions—leading her down an intoxicating path of passion, pleasure and true emotional freedom.

  Wattpad author and Harlequin’s 2015 So You Think You Can Write winner, Lauren D.M. Smith, returns to Carina Press with her next fantasy romance. In Enveloping Shadows, monsters, thieves and demons might stand between Terrwyn and the princess she’s sworn her loyalty to, but it’s the mysterious Zel who could be the most dangerous. Make sure you check out The Emperor’s Arrow, the book that won the SYTYCW contest and started Lauren’s publishing journey, available now!

  We have two—yes, two!—exciting releases from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Dane this month. In the Cascadia Wolves series, we follow the Warden siblings as they find their mates. Fall in love with Layla and Sid in Reluctant Mate, and then meet Lex and Nina in Pack Enforcer. Watch for more Cascadia Wolves books in the coming months!

  Adrian is an Alpha, a genetically and computer enhanced assassin who has spent years plotting revenge. The only woman he wants is the daughter of his greatest enemy. With war looming and people’s lives on the line, does he trust Charity, does he f**k her or does he kill her? Alpha’s Revenge by N.J. Walters is a futuristic erotic romance sure to heat up your holidays (and beyond)! Other titles in the Project Alpha trilogy, Embracing Silence and Assassin’s Awakening, are now available for your holiday shopping checkout-line reading!

  If you love the darker side of romance, Devil’s Slave, an American Monsters erotic male/male thriller romance, is going to send your socks up in flames, not just knock them off. To save his niece and help stop a human trafficking ring, former detective Hugh Kincaid offers a rich, dark and scorching-hot dominant everything he has—himself. Dark, dirty and more than a little forbidden, this love affair from debut author Lola Hale has all the hallmarks of what readers loved about Captive Prince, but in a contemporary setting.

  In the third installment of Jade Chandler’s down-and-dirty Jericho Brotherhood motorcycle club series, two hard cases deny the beyond-carnal bond that forms between them...until it’s almost too late. Deny: A Dark, Erotic Motorcycle Club Romance is sure to get all motors revving! Read the other two scorching romances in this series, Enough and Release, now available!

  Don’t forget Shannon Stacey’s Holiday with a Twist holiday novella, which released last month, and we also have a full backlist of holiday titles, if you’re in the mood for some romance with a holiday flair. Visit CarinaPress.com and find reads like All She Wants for Christmas by Jaci Burton, Lone Star by Josh Lanyon, Believe by Lauren Dane, A Christmas Reunion by Susanna Fraser, Breath on Embers by Anne Calhoun and dozens more!

  Whatever your celebration, wherever you are, this season the Carina Press team once again thanks you for your continued love, enthusiasm and support of our books and authors. We hope you’re surrounded by all the things you love this holiday season, and we wish you, as always, a month of reading books you love, remember and recommend.

  Happy reading!

  Angela James

  Editorial Director, Carina Press

  Dedication

  This is for all you wonderful readers who have supported and loved my Cascadia Wolves so much.

  Author’s Note

  Reluctant Mate was originally published some years ago with the title Reluctant. It’s a prequel novella to Pack Enforcer, so if you’re starting here, the world will bloom in the next book—which opens ten years later.

  While I’ve cleaned it up, the story remains the same.

  The world of the Cascadia Wolves is connected to my other paranormal romance series. For reading order and information about how they’re all related to one another, head on over to my website: www.laurendane.com/faq.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Pack Enforcer by Lauren Dane

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Lauren Dane

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Seattle, Washington, 1996

  Layla Warden pulled her brand-new BMW into her spot in the parking garage. She’d just gotten the parking spot and the big raise that paid for the flashy new car at the financial firm that’d hired her straight out of college three years before.

  Getting out, she headed to the bank of elevators and smoothed down the skirt of the suit she’d picked up from Brooks Brothers the weekend prior. Her hair was perfectly cut every six weeks, without fail, and her manicure was flawless. Layla Warden had a ten-year plan and things were going quite well.

  No one she worked with had the slightest idea that she turned furry and ran through the woods hunting rabbits every few weekends, and she planned to keep it that way. Humans tended to get a bit shirty when confronted with the existence of werewolves. Most werewolves she knew weren’t very out about it. It kept them all safer.

  Her human life was kept separate from her life as a member of the ruling Pack family. Most of her social life was with her Pack and family while her work life was absent that altogether. Her family was not incredibly pleased with the distance she kept her professional life from the Pack. They wanted her to hook up with a male from the Pack and settle down. They felt she could do that better if she worked for one of the Pack businesses. And she could understand their wishes. Who knew what her other sisters would end up doing? Tracy was a wild child at just fourteen and the twins, Megan and Tegan, had decided at eighteen to become part of their older brother Lex’s Enforcer guards. Clearly their parents looked to her to continue their line. But they’d have to wait.

  The last
thing Layla wanted right then was a mate. Ugh. She didn’t want that intense connection to anyone just yet. Werewolves didn’t just marry each other, they mated. They had an intense chemical and metaphysical bond to their spouse. At some point in the future that would be what she wanted, but right then Layla had plans! Those plans didn’t include bossy werewolf males meddling in her day-to-day life. She had two domineering, control-freak brothers and enough other male relatives to know life mated to a werewolf male wouldn’t be easy.

  She loved her freedom and she liked dating around. Because she may be button-down on the outside, but Layla did love sex, and the thought of getting it from just one guy forever? That didn’t appeal at all.

  Still, she appreciated her roots and her upbringing. She wasn’t ashamed of being a werewolf, but she also didn’t make it her entire life like her oldest brother Cade, the Pack Alpha, did.

  “Good morning, Ms. Warden.”

  Layla smiled at her secretary and took her mail into her office. Her new, bigger corner office. That hadn’t even been due to happen until year five of the ten-year plan and here she was at year three. Booting up her computer with a satisfied sigh, she began her work day.

  And by the end of it, some ten hours later, she left the office feeling way too tired to go out like she’d promised her best friend.

  When Layla got to the front doors of her building, Tia was waiting there, already dressed up, looking amazing as always and sporting an expression that told Layla any excuse she’d been planning on making to get out of the evening wasn’t going to be entertained.

  The petite blonde narrowed her eyes at Layla and put a hand on her hip. “I knew you’d try to get out of tonight. I can see it in your face right now. But we both need the distraction so I’m here to bug you mercilessly until you give in.”

  Sighing, Layla rolled her eyes and waved her through the doors after she’d unlocked them. “How much can I pay you to go away?”

  “Shaddup. You’re coming out with me tonight. You work twelve hours a day! You need to play a little. You’re too uptight as it is. So let’s see what you have in your closet. I’ll pick out an outfit for you while you shower.” Tia shoved her toward her bathroom and then headed off to root through the closet to find what Layla was sure would be the most revealing outfit she owned.

  Even as she thought it she laughed. Tia Mathers had been her best friend since third grade. They’d gone to college and roomed together and basically shared just about everything. It helped that Tia and her family were part of Cascadia Pack too.

  The best thing about Tia was that she knew a side of Layla most people didn’t. People thought of Tia as the fun-loving one while Layla was the serious one—they didn’t know that Layla had a fun side too. It just got a little lost sometimes, especially since she’d gotten promoted at work.

  Going into her bedroom after the shower, Layla saw that on her bed lay a pair of leather pants and a tank top.

  “Are you kidding me? That’s a Halloween costume!” Layla had gone to a party as Catwoman two years before and probably hadn’t worn the pants since. “I’m sure I will not be able to get my ass into them now.”

  “Oh stop crying and try them on. They looked good on you then and hell, woman, I’d be surprised if you even ate today. You’re getting skinny since you work all the damned time.”

  Giving in, Layla tried the pants on and Tia was right. They fit quite well and Layla had to admit she looked pretty sexy in them.

  “Okay, okay. But no tank top. I can’t wear a bra with one. You know how I hate when straps show and goodness knows me without a bra is a challenge to gravity.”

  “Fine. Wear this one.” Tia tossed her a bright red, shimmery, short-sleeved blouse that was tight across the bodice but loose around the waist.

  By the time they’d left the condo, Layla’s hair was tousled in a sexy style and she wore red lipstick to match the blouse and teetered on spiky heels.

  “Before you complain, we’re going to Nautica. I made reservations.”

  Nautica was a werewolf hot spot. Members only. Tia loved it, Layla tolerated it for Tia.

  “I thought you said I was supposed to play tonight? Now I’ll be hounded by power-hungry males who want to fuck their way into my family.”

  “Oh my god! Lay! Have you looked at yourself? You’re gorgeous. They want to fuck you. Some of them are hot to be married into the Warden family but most of them want to bed you because you’re beautiful, sexy and have a good job.”

  It was an old argument and on most days Layla could believe Tia, but it was hard being from an influential family. People assumed things. They assumed she got her job through her connections instead of the fact she’d graduated at the top of her class, interned and then worked part-time at her company for three years. They assumed her money was family money. There was money there but it was all tied up in trusts. What she and her siblings had they’d all earned.

  “Okay. Fine.” She knew she was being selfish and she gave in. Tia didn’t date too many humans. She didn’t think it was fair to have to hide such a large part of herself from them. Werewolf-only clubs like Nautica were the few places she could meet wolf males her age.

  “Good. Life would be so much better if you just agreed with me from the start and I didn’t have to argue with you. Because you know I’m right.”

  Layla rolled her eyes when they pulled into valet and flashed their membership cards. “It’s 1996! What is up with the mullets?” Layla whispered this quietly to Tia before they got to the top of the stairs leading into the restaurant and lounge area.

  Tia looked back over her shoulder at the group of male wolves clustered near the front doors, several with the “short on the top, long in the back” hairdo that puzzled both women. “Werewolves and their mullets! I don’t know, but I’m sure glad Cade got rid of his. Your brother is hot stuff but man did he look stupid.”

  The two of them dissolved into laughter and the hostess just smiled at them as if they were a bit soft in the head as she led them to their table.

  One thing Layla did like about the place was that due to the sheer number of wolves on-site, they piped a neutralizer for pheromones through the air-circulation system. So there wasn’t a whole lot of sniffing going on. She thought it was tacky when some guy she’d just met started sniffing on her.

  * * *

  Across the room, Sid Rosario watched the tall, very busty redhead enter the room and sit down. Her hair was tousled around her shoulders like she’d just rolled out of bed and very big china-blue eyes took in the room around them. And damn, but the woman did leather pants well enough to make him want to lick her like a giant ice-cream cone.

  “Who is that?” Sid asked his cousin Adam.

  Adam peered around Sid’s shoulder. “The tall one with the red hair is Layla Warden. The petite one is Tia Mathers. Layla is Pack royalty. She’s the oldest daughter. Tia’s just smoking hot.”

  “I’m not interested in her pedigree. But I’d sure like to get to know her better. You know either one of them?” Sid could not take his eyes from Layla Warden’s mouth with that shiny red lipstick painting it. His cock throbbed in anticipation as a picture of red lipstick marks at the base of it flashed through his mind. Lipstick kisses on his cock, yeah, that worked.

  “Ah, it’s like that, is it? Well, many have tried and failed. She’s a bit cool. Tia and I dated a few times. Let’s go. I’ll introduce you.” Adam stood and Sid followed.

  * * *

  “Ah, so soon?” Tia murmured to Layla. “Adam Rosario. I have very fond naked memories of him. And who is that with him?”

  Layla looked up from the menu and locked gazes with tall, dark and dangerous. The man just oozed rebellion. Short black hair, a row of earrings in his right ear. Nautica had a strict dress code but despite the black jeans and the button-down shirt, she was sure the guy lived i
n ripped jeans and Clash T-shirts.

  So utterly not her type. This thought seemed to escape her as she looked into those big hazel eyes.

  “Tia, gorgeous. Long time no see.”

  Tia smiled up at Adam and batted her lashes a bit. “Hi.”

  “Hey, Layla. You look great too. Can we join you?”

  Tia accepted before Layla could speak. But she wouldn’t have refused anyway. Mr. Rebel made her all tingly. And it had been a while. Four months to be exact.

  “This is my cousin, Sid. He’s visiting here for a few weeks. Sid, this is Tia Mathers and Layla Warden.”

  Sid shook hands with Tia, but it was fleeting compared to the full-on, deep, soul-shaking look he gave Layla. Taking her hand, he kissed the knuckles and the warmth of his lips shot straight to her pussy.

  “It’s very nice to meet you, Layla. I like that name. Is it...”

  “Yes. My parents were big Eric Clapton fans when I was conceived. Let’s speak of it no more.”

  Her smile was flirtatious and Sid smiled back.

  “So what are you doing while you visit? Where do you call home?” Layla felt like she couldn’t look at him enough.

  The server came and took their orders and Sid watched as she sipped her drink.

  He cleared his throat. “I’m doing a mural—I’m an artist. I live in Tucson. And what do you do?”

  “I’m in financial services. I do portfolio planning.”

  His eyebrows rose.

  “What? Too Yuppie for you?”

  He laughed. “No, not at all. I love smart women. I’m impressed.”

  She relaxed.

  All through dinner she felt herself being pulled under his spell. Each time he reached out to grab the salt or his beer, he’d touch her in some small way. His total attention was on her at every moment. His voice was low and seductive, an aural caress. When she spoke, he listened intently, clearly interested in what she had to say.