They’d spent an awful lot of the night talking, learning about each other while they watched television, all done in the nude. Riya had to admit this had been one of her best first dates ever. She would walk away from it knowing Capac better than when she’d arrived. Actually, he was the first guy she for once hoped would end up wanting to stay with her permanently.
Already she felt as if she may have given him a tiny piece of her heart. That did not bode well for her if Capac didn’t feel the same way about her or only wanted to date casually. Riya didn’t know what she’d do if that turned out to be the case.
Capac shifted on the bed and reached out to the side Riya had slept on. Obviously finding it empty, his eyes snapped open and he surged upright with a quiet, animalistic growl she’d always associate with him since he’d made it so often. Once his gaze landed on her, he seemed to relax.
“What are you doing out of bed?” he asked, his voice still husky with sleep.
“I never meant to stay the night. I fell asleep.”
Capac smiled. “I didn’t mind. I like having you next to me.” He flipped back the covers, giving Riya a good view of his naked hip and thigh. “It’s too early to be up. Take your clothes off and get back in here.”
She nibbled her bottom lip. “I should really go.”
“Why? Do you have to be somewhere later this morning?”
“No.”
“Then why not stay?”
“Well, this is our first date. It looks bad if I sleep over.”
Capac chuckled. “Who says? If you’re worried about what my roommates will think, don’t. They won’t mind.”
“All right. What if I like it too much?”
“I don’t understand.”
She took a deep breath. “What if I want to sleep more than this night in your bed? I could easily get used to it and find myself not able to get a lot of rest in my own because you aren’t there.”
Capac slipped off the mattress and walked toward Riya. He appeared not to care that he was completely naked. Once he reached her, he cupped her face in his hands. “There is nothing wrong with that. I want it.”
Riya met his gaze. “Are you saying you want to see me more than casually? You want to have a relationship with me?”
He smiled, doing delicious things to her body with a simple show of expression. “If you’re asking if I want to be your boyfriend, the answer is yes. I never intended to only see you this one time when I asked you over.”
Her heart skipped a beat at Capac’s words, but she still had to find out one last thing before she let herself believe she could actually call him hers. “What about all the ‘accidents’ I’ve had where you ended up being in the line of fire? I can’t promise that will be the end of them. I’m what you would call klutzy.”
Capac chuckled. “I’m a fast healer, so don’t worry about it. You can do a lot of damage to me and I’ll recover easily.”
“I’ll try not to unman you again.”
“My balls will thank you, but if it does happen, it does. Now stop worrying and get back into bed. We can still sleep for a few more hours before we should get up.”
Riya allowed Capac to strip off her clothes, then lead her to the bed. They both climbed under the covers and cuddled up. With his arms wrapped around her and the sound of his heart beating under her ear, it didn’t take too long before she fell into a deep sleep.
* * * * *
Capac walked Riya to the front door, then pulled her into his arms for a long, passionate kiss. Once he lifted his head he saw her eyes were closed and her lips swollen from his kisses. Having spent the entire night with her, learning more about her, he was more than pleased she had turned out to be his mate. He couldn’t have asked for a better woman. Her personality matched his, and the way she responded to his touch made him long for the time he could take her to bed and make love to her fully.
He reluctantly let her go. “So you’ll come back here once you’ve showered and changed your clothes?”
Riya blinked open her eyes, which were still a little dazed-looking. “Yes, I promise. Then we can decide what you want to do for the rest of the day, but it can’t be a late night. I have to work the next morning.”
Once Capac claimed Riya as his mate she wouldn’t be able to work. The mating bond wouldn’t allow them to be apart for that long without suffering separation anxiety. And it wasn’t necessary, anyway. He had enough money for them to live very comfortably, thanks to their first shaman, who had given each sentinel precious and semiprecious stones and gold nuggets before putting them to sleep in the ice cave.
“All right, no late night,” he said. “When you come back we can go have lunch somewhere since you didn’t want any breakfast.”
“I never was much of a breakfast eater so I eventually gave it up. Lunch sounds good, though.”
Capac dropped his arms to allow Riya to back closer to the front door. “That’s okay. I guess I’ll see you soon.”
Riya nodded, then walked outside. Capac stood in the open doorway and watched her walk toward her car. It was then he saw Brice’s parked next to Riya’s. The local pack leader got out and said a few words to Riya before he headed for the house. Capac waited for him, giving a last wave to his mate as she drove away.
“Hey, Brice,” Capac said as the other werewolf reached him. “We weren’t expecting you today.”
Brice didn’t take time for any pleasantries before he asked, “Was that your mate? I could smell your scent all over her.”
“Yes. Her name is Riya. I found her yesterday.”
“Go after her. Claim her and turn her—now.”
Capac stiffened at Brice’s serious tone and the haggard expression he wore. “Did something happen?”
Brice nodded. “If I were you, I wouldn’t take the chance of leaving my mortal mate unprotected. Not after what happened earlier this morning.”
“Come in. I’ll get the others and you can tell us.”
Capac stepped aside to allow the other man to walk inside. He then called for everyone to come to the living room, the area where they usually all gathered. Werewolf hearing such as it was, the other occupants of the house had had no problem hearing him and soon made an appearance. Ryder must have already been with Edensaw because he followed closely behind their alpha.
Once everyone was seated in the other room, Brice took control of the meeting. “I haven’t had a very good morning, and I have a feeling the rest of the day isn’t going to be much better. There was an incident that took place within my pack that involved the dark wolves, specifically with Tanner. He along with Greg, one of my pack members who has now gone to the dark side, stole Greg’s brother’s mate. They beat Tad up really good in the process. Tad and Greg haven’t been on the best of terms, and it had to do with Tad’s mate Lora, who Greg had clearly wanted for his own since he took her. That’s disturbing enough, but it’s the message Tanner gave Tad to pass along to you guys that is worse.”
Edensaw gave Brice a grim look. “What did he say?”
“It took us a while to get it out of Tad because he’s going through separation anxiety, but it’s not good. Tanner said he was now the leader of the dark wolves, and that he’d killed Andre to achieve his new status. He also said he was stronger than his former maker and isn’t afraid to use what he’d acquired.”
Ryder spoke before anyone else did. “That’s what I sensed, the change in who leads the dark wolves. And Tanner is a bigger threat than Andre ever was. With the shift in power, I felt the darkness was stronger in the one who came out on top.” He looked at Edensaw. “I’m going to have to speed things up to embrace my powers fully.”
Their alpha gazed at their shaman with concern showing clearly on his face. “Is that wise? You haven’t told us what all it involves, but you said you wanted to ease your way into it.”
“I no longer have that luxury. If I were to do that Tanner could make a move that will be the downfall of the sentinels and it will have been for nothing.”
“I’ll be blunt,” Brice said. “Do whatever is necessary to give us the advantage. I came here to tell you what happened but also to ask for your help. We need to get Lora back. The only problem is the dark wolves are stronger and faster than us regular werewolves. You sentinels are stronger and faster than the dark wolves. And there is no telling how many members are in Tanner’s pack.”
Edensaw nodded. “Of course we’ll help. Do you have any clues as to where Tanner and Greg took Lora?”
Brice sighed. “No, not really, but I have most of my pack out scouring the city and in some of the remote areas outside it. Tanner has to be around here locally. And once we locate him we’ll move in to get Lora out.”
“Maybe I can help with finding him,” Ryder said. “I need a little time, but I might be able to work a spell to pinpoint an area.” The shaman rose and left the room. Capac heard Ryder’s bedroom door shut upstairs.
“Let me know if Ryder comes up with anything,” Brice said as he stood. “I need to get back and look in on Tad. He’s not in great shape right now.” The sound of a cell phone ringing filled the air. Brice pulled his out and answered it. His few curt words said it wasn’t good news. “Fuck. Tanner has been busy. Before he went to Tad’s place he paid a visit to his mother and brothers. He forcibly turned his brothers into dark wolves and threatened to kill his mom if she tried to interfere.”
“And you’re just hearing about this now?” Edensaw asked.
“I guess Tanner’s mother was too afraid to call until she made sure Tanner wasn’t coming back.”
“Go and take care of your pack members. I’ll call if Ryder is able to work that locator spell.” Brice gave a nod and walked out of the room. Edensaw looked at Eryn. “Call Carson and tell him we have need of him.”
Wachei’s mate held up her cell phone. “Already on it.”
Capac looked at his alpha. “Brice saw Riya as she was leaving. He told me to claim and turn her now. Do you agree that I should?”
Edensaw put his hand on top of Capac’s shoulder. “I think it would be wise to do it as soon as possible but not today. Riya will be too new to our world, and with what has happened in Brice’s pack, you don’t need to drag your mate into something she’ll have a hard time coming to terms with. At least Cassidy, Eryn, Jaren, Meadow and Haven have been trained to fight in werewolf form. There won’t be enough time for you to teach Riya. That would make her vulnerable still even with her no longer being mortal.”
“Okay. Then I’ll wait until we have this crisis under control.”
His alpha gave his shoulder a squeeze, then released Capac. “And you’ll have to cancel your date with Riya today.”
Capac cringed inside but nodded. He left the living room and headed up to his bedroom to text Riya. Luckily they had exchanged cell phone numbers and he’d gotten her address before she’d left. He didn’t want to disappoint her already at this early stage in their relationship, but he had no choice. He could not bring her along to a confrontation with Tanner. If anything were to happen to Riya, he would never forgive himself.
* * * * *
After taking a shower, Riya dried off before heading to her bedroom. Wren wasn’t home, and Riya had no idea when her roommate had left. She didn’t mind. It wasn’t very often she ended up having the apartment to herself.
Inside her room, she walked over to her dresser to comb her damp hair. As she untangled her long locks, she smiled. She’d soon see Capac again. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him. Now that she knew he wanted to have a real relationship with her, she felt as if she could allow herself to think of a future with them as a couple. Even though she really could be jumping too far ahead of herself, Riya would have no problem moving in with Capac. She already liked his roommates, and they seemed to like her. And his bedroom was large enough for the two of them.
She’d just finished combing her hair when her cell phone, which sat on top of the dresser, beeped to alert her to a new text message. Riya put down the comb and picked up her phone with a smile, hoping it was Capac who’d sent it.
Her smile slowly faded as she found it was indeed from him, but the message wasn’t what she’d expected. Instead of asking her how much longer she’d be or that he missed her, he cancelled their date. His reason why was vague at best, stating something had suddenly come up and he’d get in touch to set up another time to see her when he could.
Riya’s heart sank. She didn’t like the idea of Capac cancelling through a text message. To her, it would have been better if he’d called her and spoken to her. This was so impersonal and allowed him to not really explain himself.
She finished getting dressed and decided to go to the kitchen to make something to eat now that she wouldn’t be going out to lunch with Capac. It really sucked that she couldn’t see him as planned.
Riya opened the fridge and looked to see what she had in her section. It was pretty bare. She’d have to do a grocery-store run either later or after work tomorrow. Wren’s part was well stocked as per usual. She saw a package of ground beef that was thawed. She grimaced. That meant her roommate was going to make steak tartar for her dinner. Riya would have to make sure she wasn’t around once Wren made it or she’d be asking her if she wanted some. Riya couldn’t stand to watch Wren eat the raw meat. She could handle sushi but uncooked beef was way out of her comfort zone.
She’d decided to make some eggs when the apartment door opened. Wren came into the kitchen and stopped in front of Riya. Her roommate looked at her intently before she spoke.