Heart of Stone - Book 1: Fighting Fate

The remainder of the shopping trip was more tense and quiet. Stone kept his distance from the girls, balling his hands into fists and shoving them as deep as he could in the pockets of his leather jacket without ripping the material.

He didn’t even need the jacket; he just liked the smell of it and the groaning noises it made when he moved. If humans had done one thing right in the fashion industry, it was leather jackets. He liked them even more than fur coats, which brought his wolf out too easily, looking for a snack or a new toy to play with.

He closed his mind off completely, allowing his thoughts to circulate undisturbed within the deep crevices of his mind. He only opened it once when he felt his beta, Alistair, pressing against his wall to give him an update on the border.

Gwen left him alone after giving him a good mental scolding. He was thankful for the peace of mind. Not having her in his head enabled him to think more clearly about what had happened.

The way he saw it, he had every right to react the way he did. It was to protect and defend Aubree. Whether she was aware of it or not, they shared a special connection. A matebond: the most sacred thing to lycans. She couldn’t possibly understand, he knew, but that didn’t make her his, and it profoundly frustrated him. He hated walking on eggshells around her. He struggled to reign in the urge to mark her, to claim her. It was out of the question, he knew.

It would only destroy her...

He wished she understood and he wanted to explain, but damn his luck! She was already claimed by another male—a male of her own species, naturally.

It was wrong for him to want her. Wrong for him to need her. Wrong for him to crave every inch of her body, mind, and soul like he had with Adelaide.

How could he chase after another while his beloved soulmate was dead?

That made him feel even more like a monster than the humans thought him to be.

A lycan could only have one soulmate in his lifetime. And his was gone.

Yet, somehow, there she was. The scent was identical. The touch of her skin, sparking like electricity, matched the sensation of the matebond. His soul yearned to be near her, drove him toward her, and as much as he wanted to fight it and back off, it was a struggle to win.

And he hated to lose.

He hated that she was human, a weak, pathetic, little mortal, whose life was short compared to his. Her strength was limited to nothing, her speed and endurance were laughable, and her six—no, five—senses notwithstanding.

She would never be able to survive in a world like his. It was far too risky and far too dangerous for such a delicate rose. She would wilt, wither, and bruise before dying a slow and painful death.

He couldn’t bear the thought of that.

He liked her courage, her feisty attitude, and most importantly, the way she responded to him.

The matebond was strong, so strong that she couldn’t fight it. He knew she wanted to. He could see the conflict in her eyes, smell the fear on her skin, and feel her soul calling to him so intensely it rendered her incapable of breathing.

But she was a human, claimed by another pitiful human, and it sickened him.

He would destroy her if he claimed her as his, and he couldn’t do that to her. She deserved a happy and fulfilled life, and he couldn’t risk destroying that, no matter how strong the matebond was.

That was why she had to leave. Not only because of the vampire threat but because he, himself, would be a threat to her life.

After dropping Aubree off at her apartment and returning to the pack house in the forest outside of town, only then did Gwen attempt to talk with him.

As they pulled up, she said, “You almost fucked up back there.”

He kept his eyes straight ahead as he pressed on the brake. “You don’t need to remind me.”

“Really, Papa, you need to be more careful.”

He ignored her as he put the car in park in front of the three-story house surrounded by trees. Greens and browns blended together as if brushed in by an oil painter.

It was home, his sanctuary, the place where harmony existed in an otherwise cruel and chaotic world.

Harmony would not be present in his home today, unfortunately.

Gwen huffed, gathering her bright yellow purse in both of her hands. “You don’t spend as much time around humans as I do—”

He laughed at the irony in her words. “I’m five hundred years older than you. I understand humans.”

Snapping at him, she shot him a hard glare. “But not twenty-first-century females!”

He clenched the wheel tightly in both of his hands without uttering a word.

She had him there, and she knew it.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t under-estimate Aubree. She’s stronger than you give her credit.”

He gritted his teeth together. He didn’t need to be told that. He knew Aubree was strong, as far as human females were concerned, but it was because she was a human that he had to be careful. Didn’t she get that? “But she’s not one of us.”

“So?”

"So?" he fired right back at her. He looked her straight in the eye authoritatively, daring her to challenge him or to back off. “You know what happens to humans when they mix with our kind! I can’t do that to her! Besides, it’s against the law.”

She lowered her gaze, her fingers white as they gripped her purse. “That’s not your decision to make,” she grunted as she pushed open the door and climbed out.

The car shook as she slammed the door shut.

Growling under his breath, he watched her storm into the house.

It wasn’t a decision Aubree should have to make. He couldn’t ask that of her. It would only tear her apart.

Rubbing his forehead, he exhaled before climbing out of the car.

Gavin was patrolling her neighborhood that evening like he did every evening since she arrived. While not a single threat had been in sight, he still couldn’t chance it. Damn the matebond for its hold over him!

Slamming the car door shut, he itched for a run to burn off the extra energy he got from being so close to Aubree and being pissed with himself.

A run would do him some good.

The truth was that he couldn’t stop thinking about her since he first laid eyes on her and could attach the scent to the person.

She was almost as lovely as Adelaide. While the similarities in personality were evident, Aubree’s delicate nature as a human only heightened his need to protect her.

He went into the pack house, to shed his clothes before strutting outside.

“Back already?” Gavin said with a yawn as he came down the stairs.

Stone’s eyes narrowed at his son in question.

Gavin brushed his fingers through his short brown hair, lighter in color than his twin’s, but his eyes matched his father’s. He had the same square jawline as Stone and a similar build, though leaner, and sharp as a tack like his mother and sister. He was wearing only a pair of black boxer shorts against his sun-kissed skin.

“Yes. And you should be out there keeping watch now.”

Gavin yawned again. “Yes, sir. I just woke up. I didn’t expect you guys to come back until late. Please forgive my tardiness.”

“You are forgiven. I’m going to grant Alistair a break from border patrol for a bit.”

Gavin nodded but looked like he had something on his mind. He rubbed the back of his neck, drawing a sigh from Stone.

“What is it?” Stone asked, folding his arms over his broad chest.

“Have you considered... I mean, is it possible that the girl could be...?”

Blood rushed to Stone’s face. “She’s not your mother, Gawain. No one can ever replace her.”

Gavin didn’t look convinced. “But what if it is? Is it possible that her soul lives on in another body?”

Pain seized Stone’s heart as his beloved’s face appeared in his mind. Her rich brown locks framing her heart-shaped face as he ran his fingers through the thick strands. The hours he spent gazing into her warm brown eyes. He longed for the touch of her hand against his skin, the feel of her body in his arms, the fiery passion of her lips against his...

He swallowed, seeing Gavin’s face soften.

[I feel it too.]

Stone pushed Gavin out of his mind and drew up his mental barriers.

“She’s not your mother,” Stone said firmly. “Now get to your post.”

He turned back to the door, ripped the last of his clothes from his body and stormed into the treeline as his bones and ligaments tore apart as he transformed into the beast.