A Lamb for the Bear's Appetite Read online

  “Mate, move out of the way so I can beat that motherfucker’s ass for laying his hands on what’s mine.”

  Olive’s anger, which had been a slow simmer deep inside of her, flared to the surface with astounding force. She jabbed her finger into his rock solid chest, only managing to cause a sting of pain in the digit from the contact as she came up against stone.

  “First thing, ‘mate’ is not my name, and secondly you have no claim on me, bear.” She looked over her shoulder at Trent, saw the asshole grin down at her, and felt everything inside of her tightening in disgust. Clearly the vile leopard was having fun with this little encounter, and she sensed that he, too, was barely holding to his inner animal. When she looked at the polar bear again he was staring right at her, his animal now taking control. She could see his canines press against his lower lip and knew that he was barely hanging on. He was all alpha male, and ready to claim her right here, but no damn way in hell was that happening. Ever. She couldn’t be saddled with an alpha when her main focus right now was finishing this obligation with Trent, and getting Holden the hell out of Kashton and away from this evil. Letting herself get immersed in the world of being mated and claimed would only distract her from that end goal.

  “Step out of the way, female.” He lifted his hand and wrapped it around her wrist in a gentle, yet possessive manner. Heat traveled from the point of contact right up her arm and seemed to engulf her instantly.

  It was hard to keep her strength when the sheep inside of her wanted nothing more than to give itself over to her mate, but Olive’s human side was far stronger than her usually shy and timid breed, and she wasn’t about to submit to any male, let alone an overbearing polar bear that thought he could call the shots without even asking her name.

  “Just move out of the fucking way, Olive. Let the bear come after me since he thinks his balls are big enough to take me on.” Of course Trent had to open his big mouth. The low, deep rumble that left the bear went through every single part of her body.

  “Trent, please. You’re not helping things.” She hated begging him for anything, hated that she had to be this docile female because she was afraid of how he would retaliate. But he had reminded her on more than one occasion that if he got injured, or God forbid died, her brother’s life was as good as erased, and so was hers. He laughed low, and she gritted her teeth. She sensed the leopard move closer, and everything inside of her tensed.

  The next sequence of events happened so rapidly that she didn’t know what to think. Trent grabbed her arm and tried to yank her back, but the bear had moved so fast that she stumbled back and saw her mate pin Trent against the wall with a hand to his throat. Olive felt her eyes widen as the bear lifted Trent off the ground with one hand. The bear couldn’t have been much older than she was, but he lifted the leopard off his feet, a male that was well into his forties and solid muscle, as if he weighed nothing at all. Her heart thundered in her chest, and her pulse pounded in her ears. The music still pumped throughout the room, and their position made it impossible for the main floor of people to see what was happening.

  “Stop.” The word was a strangled groan from her.

  The bear wouldn’t listen, and even after Trent’s leopard rose up and his eyes flashed with pure animalistic rage, she knew she had to put an end to this before there was a full out shifter brawl.

  Grabbing onto her composure she went to the bear and grabbed his arm. It was like holding onto steel, and she had a hell of a time even gripping the bulging muscle. She didn’t pay any attention to the electricity that was a steady hum through her body whenever she touched him. She couldn’t, not if she wanted to stop this before it escalated any further. He looked over his shoulder and down at her, and the smirk he gave, canines flashing and all, pissed her off even further. He thought this was funny when it was far from it. In fact, lives were hanging in the balance because of this situation. She didn’t want Trent retaliating on Holden because of this. “Let him go.”

  Flashing her animal would only seem like a bluff tactic given the fact his kind in the wild would have eaten hers. She pleaded with her eyes, because she wasn’t physically capable of prying him off. But out of the blue Trent sucker-punched him in the side of the face, which had his hold loosening. He took a step back, and Trent charged forward, his fists swinging and his leopard flashing across his face. They clashed together in a tumble of fists and roars, and when their huge bodies went to the side and successfully knocked her against the opposite wall, the air left her in a whoosh. How in the hell did this get so out of control? That was easy. These two are alpha assholes in every sense.

  “Stop!” Olive screamed as loud as she could, not caring who heard her in the club. The bear stilled, but Trent kept going. Then in one powerful surge of power the polar bear slammed his fist into the side of Trent’s head, knocking the leopard off his feet and taking him out cold. For a moment all Olive could do was stare at Trent with her mouth gaping open and her eyes no doubt as wide as saucers. He was still alive, but shit, he was going to be pissed when he woke up. And that wasn’t good for her or her brother, because Trent would take it out on them. Slowly she turned and looked at the bear, and of course he had his penetrating green eyes trained right on her. “What in the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Those words were a haggard gasp from her. She had a lot of emotions tumbling through her right now: anger, fear, hatred, and relief. Anger took the forefront though, and she curled her hands into fists and took a slow, deliberate step toward him. “You have no idea what in the hell you just did.”

  As she looked at Trent again, her fear sprang up, and she swallowed roughly. No, she couldn’t let that emotion take over, or she wouldn’t make it. Looking back at the bear all she could see was her mate, but she pushed away the instinct to go into his arms and let their connection fill her, and focused on finishing out the last week with Trent and getting the hell out of Kashton with Holden. She slammed her fists against the bear’s chest, over and over again, but he didn’t move an inch.

  When her arms were tired and the tears had stopped falling down her cheeks she took a step back and looked at the main floor. The music still played, but the commotion had moved them enough that they were in clear view of everyone. All eyes were on her, and humiliation, fear, and anger had her turning on her heel and stalking back to where Trent lay. He was coming to and was on his feet a few seconds later. She stared up at him, but there was no denying the retribution he wanted, and what he would deliver unto her.

  “Come here, mate.”

  Olive was exhausted and closed her eyes and hung her head, but when she sensed the bear come close she spun around and snapped her eyes open. She didn’t bother hiding her rage.

  “Just leave.” Whispering the words, she watched the emotion play across his face. “I don’t want you as a mate. You’ve done nothing but ruin my life, and I’ve only known you for ten minutes.” Olive refused to cry any more. Turning back to Trent, she lowered her eyes and breathed out. “I’m ready to go.” There was a low, shocked growl that left the male fate had deemed as hers, but Olive’s life wasn’t meant to have that. She had too much riding on what she did and how she acted right now, and until she could make sure that her brother was safe and free of being in debt to Trent, she would have to play by the leopard’s rules. Olive didn’t miss the self-satisfied smirk Trent threw toward the bear, and when she looked at him once more it was to see him barely restraining himself. The scent of his regret, rage, and need to possess her was strong and coated her like a suffocating blanket. Trent grabbed her arm, but right as her mate let out a warning sound she shook off Trent’s hold and continued down the hall and away from temptation, and what would surely be the death of her brother.

  Chapter Two

  Trent watched her from across the seat of the limo, his grin greasy and making her feel like she needed four winter jackets just to feel safe from his slimy gaze. “You know,” he ran his thumb over his split eyebrow, courtesy of the bear, and a dark mask m
omentarily covered his face. “I don’t think that is the last time we will be seeing that shifter, Olive darling.”

  “He won’t be an issue.” She didn’t waver from his stare. “And he won’t ruin what we have going on, Trent.”

  His grin widened. “I know, darling, but I don’t think he knows that. In fact, I’m pretty sure he will continue to make foolish mistakes all in the name of claiming his mate.”

  “I really don’t know what to say, or how to react to what happened back there. I didn’t plan that.” He smirked, and she could see in his eyes that he wasn’t about to let her off the hook regarding him getting his ass kicked. “Listen, I only have to be in your presence for one more week, and our little arrangement will come to an end.” That had excitement and relief flowing through her, but she kept that in check, because the last thing she wanted to show around Trent was hope.

  “I’m disappointed in you, Olive. You don’t like my company?”

  She wouldn’t have liked it if she only had to spend a minute in his presence, but the fact she had been dancing at his sleazy club for the past three weeks, made her sick to just think about it. She wanted to slit her own wrists on a daily basis. If there had been another way to go about this she would have taken that road, but Olive had no money, and aside from Holden she had no other family. “You know I don’t, Trent. This week can’t go fast enough.” She might do what he said, rub herself on the pole in his nasty club, and even be forced to endure his presence, but she would still make it known that she wasn’t weak. She looked out the window, but was very aware of Trent and the fact his eyes were right on here. The leopard wanted her, and didn’t make it a secret.

  “Come here, Olive.” She snapped her head in his direction when he said those three words softly, but with assertiveness. When she didn’t move fast enough he barked out, “Get the fuck over here.” He patted his lap and smiled. “It’s time for you to make me feel better.”

  “What?” Dammit, she hated that her voice cracked.

  “I think you owe me a little something for the scene that you caused back there.” Olive didn’t both telling him once again that she had nothing to do with that, because it would have been pointless. “Now.”

  That one word had had a chill racing up her spine. She slid off her seat and moved over to where he sat. There were a few inches between them, but apparently that was a few too many. Trent reached out, gripped her around the arms hard enough that she gasped, and pulled her onto his lap. He had his hand in her hair, and yanked her head back with enough force that pain lanced up her skull.

  “You smell so good, and look so damn delicious that I am having a hard time not doing what I really want to you, Olive.” He ran his tongue up her cheek, and she closed her eyes and grimaced. His leopard was the one taking control, and she felt the roughness of his tongue on her flesh. “If you knew that things I wanted to do to you, you would run screaming.” He licked her again and again, and she held back the bile that threatened to rise. “And it would be music to my ears.” He took hold of her chin with his thumb and forefinger and yanked her face toward his. “I want you to kiss me like you’re afraid of me, Olive. I want to feel your fear, smell it, and taste it.” He looked at her lips. “But I don’t think that will be very hard for you seeing as the tangy smell of how scared you are fills my nose and makes my dick hard.”

  She could feel the disgusting length right beneath her bottom, and everything inside of her tightened in fear. He could take her right now, but as she had learned in her short time with Trent, he enjoyed the game just as much as the outcome.. He leaned in and kissed her, and she didn’t have to pretend to be frightened of him, because Olive had never been more afraid of someone or something than she was of Trent Sharpe.

  ****

  Liam was fuming, really fucking fuming. All he could think about was his mate, and how he had just watched her go. All that shit had gone down last night, but his body was still on alert as if he was standing right next to that asshole leopard. He would have gone after his mate, but Striker and Bodhe had stopped him. He glared at his two friends, and knew his eyes were as black as the coal fueling his inner fire. They had kept him away from his mate. A low growl left him at that thought. They were lucky that was the only thing he’d dealt them, because if he hadn’t controlled himself there wouldn’t be anything left of the males he considered his closest friends.

  “Dude, you’re lucky we showed up when we did and pulled your ass back. Did you see the big fuckers that came barreling out of the woodwork? You’re big, Liam, but not even you could take on five leopard shifters, even with us backing you,” Striker said gravely.

  “Besides, they were packing some heavy duty weapons, man. You would have had a bullet between your eyes before you even took one step.” Bodhe spoke deeply and with a seriousness in his voice that Liam had never heard before. He ignored them and instead thought about his mate.

  Olive. Her name was Olive, and it sounded so good to him.

  “You fuckers should have had my back.” And he knew he could have taken those assholes on, but then again that was his bear talking, and the damn animal was on a rampage. They had finally gotten his ass out of the strip club, but Liam told himself he would go back for Olive, because there was no way in hell he was going to just walk away. He may not have thought he needed a mate, and at twenty-four years old he was pretty young to have found her, but none of that mattered. The fact of the matter was he had found her. She recognized him as her mate, and no way in hell was there going to be anything that stood in his way of claiming her. That leopard fucker wanted her, and that was clear by the scent of sickening arousal that had come from him. Liam wanted to fight the other male polar bear-to-leopard, and he would have no problem tearing the bastard’s throat out.

  “I’ve never seen you get that look in your eye before.” Striker leaned back on his couch and kicked his legs out on the old, wooden coffee table separating the leather couches. “I mean, shit, dude, I thought you were about to shift right then and tear that leopard’s head off.”

  He had been about to, but then these douche-bags had stopped him. But that was going to change, because he was heading back there tonight, and he wasn’t above throwing her over his shoulder and taking her back to his home.

  “You just better get those fucking thoughts right out of your head, man.” Bodhe had his arms behind his head, but he was glaring pretty damn hard at Liam.

  “What in the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Liam straightened, feeling his polar bear rise up to the tiger’s challenge.

  “Chill, man. This isn’t the Stone Age, and I can see that you’re about two seconds away from getting a club and busting her over the head with it just so you can drag her back to your cave.” Striker started laughing, which further pissed Liam off. He leaned back on the couch, closed his eyes, and breathed out. He did need to calm down, because he knew he couldn’t just order her to stop her life and come with him, and admitting that was damn hard. But there was no way in hell his female was going to be shaking her tits and ass in front of a bunch of horny ass males just to make a living. He also had scented her apprehension in front of the leopard. He didn’t know why she felt the hesitation, but it didn’t sit well with him. She was headstrong, that was for sure, but he was stronger, more stubborn, and he didn’t give up on something he wanted.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Bodhe.” Liam scrubbed a hand over his face. “Besides, I’d like to see how you act when you find your mate half naked up on a stage with a bunch dickwads looking at what’s not theirs.”

  That had Striker laughing again, and he was about to kill the prick just because he was getting on his damn nerves.

  “True, but it’s still funny as hell to see you all worked up. Man, you are the last person I would have thought would go all He-Man when you found your mate.” Striker grinned again. “Well, I gotta go.” Striker stood and stretched, cracking his back. “I got a hot pussy lined up, but I have to wine and dine h
er before she’ll spread for me.”

  Bodhe started laughing and stood as well. “She must be special if you’re willing to pay for a meal that isn’t off a dollar menu.” Bodhe grinned. “Unless it is dinner off the dollar menu?”

  Striker shook his head, but his grin was in place.

  “Yeah, I ain’t gonna lie. She’s a hot piece of ass, but definitely nothing long term. I figure if I buy her a burger and fries she might not bitch later that I was only after her for the sex.” Liam could hear the teasing note in Striker’s voice. His friend sounded like an ass, but Liam knew that he treated females with respect. He might be a man-whore, but he wasn’t a bastard. Striker grabbed his phone and pocketed it. “You hanging out longer, Bodhe?”

  Bodhe shook his head. “Nah, I got shit to do at my place.” He stood and slapped Liam on the back. The three of them headed upstairs.

  “You aren’t going to do anything stupid, right?” Bodhe stopped before he stepped out of the front door.

  “What, you my mom now?” They stared at each other for a moment, because even though Liam was trying to make light of the situation, his mother was a worthless bitch that had nearly sliced his dad’s face right off.

  “Listen, I’m not going to hassle you. Do what you gotta do, but if you need back-up you hit us up, okay?”