Never His Mate: a Rejected Mates Shifter Romance (Claws and Fangs Book 1)

What the fuck is he doing here?

He… he’s not supposed to be here. In Charlie’s. In Muncie. Anywhere near I am. He’s supposed to be in his cabin with his chosen mate, not staring at me as if he can’t believe that I’m here, too.

That’s all right. I’m probably pulling the same face.

Because I can’t. I can’t believe it.

Did I think that the whole bar watched when Aleks walked in earlier? That’s nothing compared to the reception Ryker gets. Even non-supes can sense that there’s something different about this male. Between his Alpha aura, his animal magnetism, and his looks… he’s almost as dangerous a lure as Aleks, just not so pretty.

That’s one thing I can say about the Mountainside Alpha. He’s not pretty, but hell if he’s not still the most alluring male I’ve ever seen.

He’s grown his hair out a little since I saw him last. Instead of being closely cropped against his skull, it’s shaggier than I remember, though I haven’t forgotten what a nice shade of chocolate-colored brown it is when he isn’t chopping it all off. Like his lush lips, it’s a small hint of softness on such a hard male.

His jaw. The sharp planes of his cheeks. A straight back that looks like it’s made of steel.

And those eyes…

Even from across the bar, I can see the immovable force of his alpha wolf peering out from behind those angry eyes.

I’m not afraid. I’m not.

Well. Not of him, at least.

I’m afraid of the way my body immediately betrays me. One peek at him and, if only for a moment, I’m that fifteen-year-old girl again, the one who looked at Ryker and saw her forever. I take his scent into my lungs, my knees going weak, my panties going damp, my heart singing out for its mate.

Only he’s not my mate. He can’t be.

He rejected me.

So what the fuck is he doing here?

I’ve never heard Charlie’s fall so quiet before. A hush, a murmur, a few shocked exhalations when the vampires realize that one of their enemy is walking so boldly among them. It doesn’t take long for them to peg Ryker as a shifter, but they can also sense that he’s not just any shifter. He’s an alpha, and not someone to fuck with.

Me? I’m fair game, for the most part; at least in comparison, I am. When it becomes even more obvious that his complete focus is on me, the rest of the bar starts sneaking peeks my way. They’re following my lead. And since I’m not about to sacrifice my new life in the vamp town for the sake of Ryker Wolfson, I bring the fakest grin to my face as I can, as if he’s just another customer and not the bastard who broke my heart.

“Hi, there. Welcome to Charlie’s.”

The spell breaks. The humans who don’t quite understand what’s happening just shrug and go back to their drinks, their food, their company. The vampires watch Ryker from the corner of their eyes, but they leave him alone. They might not know that I’m a shifter, but it’s obvious that the dark-haired alpha has come for me. Unless I give them some sign that I need help, they’re going to let me take care of it.

Ryker makes a beeline straight for me. As if I expected anything less.

I reach for one of the spare waitress pads Charlie keeps under the bar. Always prepared, he has a bucket of pens and pencils down there, too.

“How’re you doing?” After a year working the bar, I don’t need to take down a customer’s order. With Ryker, though? I make an exception if only because, if I don’t have something to do with my hands, I’m not so sure I can control my claws. “What can I get you?”

He’s staring at me. I watch as his nostrils flare, trying to catch my scent, before his rugged features form a deep scowl when his nose fails him.

Thank you, Aleks. It’s good to be reassured that his charm and his tea don’t just fool vamps. Seems like even the Alpha can’t pick up on my scent. Definitely good to know.

I poise the tip of my pencil to the pad. “Well?”

“Aren’t you going to say anything?”

His voice is a deep rumble as he continues to stare as if he’s thought I’ve lost my mind or something. Maybe I have. That’s as good an explanation as any for how I feel drawn to the prick who cast me aside more than a year ago.

Keep smiling, Gem. “I did. I asked you what your order is.”

“Gemma—”

I tap my name tag with the edge of my pencil. “Call me Gem.”

He clenches his teeth so tightly, I can see a vein bulging in the side of his neck. It’s so big, I decide to name it Duke.

Duke doesn’t look happy. Come to think of it, neither does Ryker.

“What?”

His eyes flash. “Don’t do this. Not here. Not now. I’m hanging onto my wolf by a thread, Gemma. A year. A whole fucking year I’ve been looking for you and you ask me what I’ll have. You. I came here for you.”

My heart lodges in my throat. Worse, my hand flexes and the pencil snaps into three distinct pieces.

Oh, hell no.

Batting my eyelashes, I open my hand, dropping the pencil pieces. As he so kindly reminded me, it’s been a year since I walked out on him. A year since I’ve had to play the gentle omega princess. To my surprise, I can slip into the old role easier than I thought I could.

“Me?” The sweet voice is so unlike anything I’ve used in so long, some of the regulars at my counter do a double-take. Then they go back to pretending they’re not straining to hear every word over the suddenly raucous din. “Now why would you do that? Considering I’m nothing to you.”

I see Ryker’s mouth move quickly, spitting out a word or two that I can’t hear over the angry thudding of my pulse—but I can guess even so what he’s saying. Too bad I’m more preoccupied by the incredibly loud, cracking sound that seems to cut through the rest of the noise. A piece of the polished wooden curved part of the counter top has smashed and splintered underneath one of Ryker’s big paws. Even though he’s still wearing skin, it’s his turn for his hand to flex, claws slicing out, breaking off a huge chunk of Charlie’s bar.

I raise an eyebrow. “Cash or credit?”

Shaking out his hand, letting the wood shards and plastic pieces flutter to the sticky floor, Ryker’s brow furrows as his heated gaze flies back to me again. “What?”

“I want to know how you plan on paying for the piece of counter you just broke. Cash or credit? I might be able to convince Charlie to take a check, since I know you’re good for it, so I guess that’s an option, too.”

“Stop that. Look, I don’t know what you’re doing here⁠—”

“Working. Isn’t it obvious?”

He thins his lips. “I don’t give a shit. You’re coming with me.”

The pure alpha demand in his voice is hard to ignore—or, it would be, if I wasn’t protected by the charmed fang.

Score another point for Aleks.

So though Ryker expects me to just jump because he says so, I make a big display of pulling my phone out of my back pocket, glancing at the time. “Ooh. Sorry. I’ve got another five hours left to my shift. Looks like I’m not going anywhere ‘til then.”

A whisper of shock dances across his face, as if he can’t believe that I can refuse him.

Pity he recovers quickly.

“Then take a break.”

Hmm… “No.”

“Take. A. Break.”

There’s something in his snarl. I dare another quick look right into his dark gold eyes, not even a little surprised when all I see is the wolf staring back.

I recognize that wolf. Mine calls to his, hoping against irrational hope that he’s changed his mind.

Yeah. Right.

A year. It’s been a year. If he thinks that he can just storm in here and start giving me orders, he’s got another think coming. If I’m nothing to him, he’s nothing to me. Not my mate. Not my Alpha. He’s just another customer, and since he doesn’t want a drink, he’s not even that.

“Can’t. Sorry. So… nice to see you again, but I’ve gotta get back to work. I’ll make sure to send the bill to Accalia.”

Tossing the empty waitress pad on the counter, I turn away from him.

He’s behind the bar before I can snap at him to get away from me. The message is pretty clear, though, and I refuse to give him the satisfaction of reacting to the way he invades my space.

But then his hand shoots out. As much as I hate to admit it, I’m aware of every inch of him. From the way his nostrils flare to the twitch of his tiniest finger, I know where he is even with my back turned. He might think he has some claim to me, some right to touch me, but if so?

He thought wrong.

So his hand shoots out, but I’m ready. I spin, catching it. The warmth of his skin just about sears mine, and it takes every ounce of self-control I profess to have to keep from pulling back.

Hell if I’ll give him the satisfaction.

I’m not the only one affected by our touch. His eyes light up, a deep rumble from low in his chest revving, like he’s a freaking machine and I just pressed ‘on’.

I realize too late that this was a trap. Like everything else he’s ever done, this was planned. It was a pure Alpha move. Somehow, he knew exactly how I would react.

He’s quick, too. Before I can pull away, he switches our positions, using his hand to grab mine. With the other, he reaches for my throat. Using the tip of his pointer claw, he hooks the chain looped around my neck and gently eases it out from beneath the collar of my Charlie’s shirt.

“What,” he says in a voice so icy, it feels like I just walked into the back fridge, “is this?”

“None of your business.” I slap at his hand. “And don’t break it. I just got it fixed.”

He doesn’t let go. “It’s a vampire fang, Gemma.”

“So you do know what it is.” I quirk my eyebrow at him. “Then why did you ask?”

Another rumble. I’m pushing his buttons, but I can’t find it in me to care. If he came here expecting to find Omega Gem, he’s wasting his time.

“Let go.”

“No. Take it off.”

I slap his hand again. “Don’t tell me what to do. You’re not my Alpha anymore.”

“No,” Ryker says, “but I am your⁠—”

“Gem. Is everything okay here? Do you need me?”

Oh, shit.

So distracted by Ryker, I didn’t even notice that Aleks has returned to the counter until his soft voice washes over me. I can only imagine what he thinks is going on. I’ve got an obvious shifter male standing behind the bar with me, his paws still holding tightly to the necklace Aleks gave me while I’m slapping at him ineffectually.

This time, I pinch Ryker. He lets go, though I think that has nothing to do with my pinch and everything to do with the politely possessive way that Aleks regards me.

Uh-oh.

Ryker turns his attention on the bigger threat—and I don’t just mean that because Aleks is a vampire.

“Who are you?” he demands. He sniffs, his cheeks going suddenly taut as he sucks in a breath. “Bloodsucker.” His gaze darts to my necklace, and I can just about see the gears inside of his skull whirring as he puts two and two together. “You? You gave your fang to my mate?”

Oh, he’s got to be kidding me.

I open my mouth, a “not your mate” already halfway to my lips, when Aleks answers before I get the chance to.

“Yes. Because she’s not yours, wolf.”

The unsaid she’s mine hangs in the air. After that? There is no chance.

Ryker bends his knees, then leaps. He clears the bar easily, swiping with his claws as he aims right for Aleks.

Aleks holds his ground. A powerful vampire, I’m sure he’s earned his reputation—but whether he meant to or not, he challenged an alpha wolf shifter. He has his fangs, but Ryker has berserker strength, killer canines, razor-sharp claws, and the instinct to eliminate any threat.

And, for some terrible reason, he’s shown up in my life a year later convinced he’s my mate.

I don’t know why. I don’t know how. But there’s one thing I do know: that when Ryker just claimed me in front of Aleks, in front of the whole of Charlie’s, when he said my mate like that… he fucking meant it.

He barrels into Aleks, swiping with his claws from gut to shoulder. Between the force of his hit and his perfectly aimed strike, Ryker knocks Aleks to the floor. Straddling the stunned vampire, he keeps him down while he goes to town with his claws.

It’s a show of dominance, and not a single soul steps in to stop it.

My wolf doesn’t want me to interfere, either. A mate should be strong enough to protect what he considers his, and watching Ryker slice Aleks open so single-mindedly is intoxicating to my other half. It proves that we were right to think of Ryker as a match for us, that the moon picked the best mate to bond us to.

Only that’s my friend he’s attacking, and despite my instincts warning me not to get involved until it’s over, I can’t. I just can’t stand by and let this happen.

“Ryker.” I lace my voice with as much of a command as I can manage. Sure, I’m probably blowing up my spot if the supes in Charlie’s pick up on my hidden alpha nature, but I have to. For Aleks. “Stop this. Now.”

He immediately jerks his head over his shoulder, searching for me. “For my mate, I will.”

That’s all he says before he climbs up off of Aleks, wiping his bloody claws on his jeans before using the back of his hand to swipe at the spray of blood covering his cheek.

I know he’s not dead, but that’s a small mercy when I see the mess that Ryker has made of my roommate.

“Aleks.” I race over to him just as his eyes blink open. A sigh of relief escapes me as I help him into a sitting position. “Are you okay?”

He mumbles something in Polish.

That’s not a good sign. “What?”

“I said, Roman’s not going to be happy about this.”

Probably not. The head of Muncie’s Cadre is really big on secrecy, and Ryker just turned Aleks’s chest into so much ground beef. I mean, that’s what it looks like. Chunks of pulverized meat with blood everywhere.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“It’ll be fine,” I mutter. If anything, any unaware humans who made the mistake of an evening drink at Charlie’s will just finally figure out why the fang-friendly bar is so different than some of the others in Muncie. We usually have more supes in here this time of day anyway, so it shouldn’t be too bad.

And if it is? I’ll worry about that later. Right now I have to take care of Aleks.

Charlie’s got a bona fide blood bank in the back. It might cost me my next couple of paychecks, but I’m going to make sure that Aleks recovers enough so that he can go out and find a fresh donor himself. A couple of blood bags will seal him up tight.

After that, I’ll take care of Ryker. The time for pretending that he’s not here because of me is long gone. He proved that by the way he went after Aleks like that. He’s a threat to me, too, and I have to handle it.

I use my shifter strength to bring Aleks to his feet, looping his arm around my shoulder to keep him there. Then, as I help him toward the backroom where we keep the blood, I point at Ryker. “You. Stay.”

“I’m not your dog,” he snarls.

“Yeah? Well, I’m not your mate,” I shoot back. “The sooner you get that through your thick skull, the better we’ll both be.”

Ryker shows me his canines. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

His eyes go from dark gold to molten lava. “Have it your way, Gemma. We’ll see about that.”

And, though I told him to stay, he walks out of Charlie’s, secure in the knowledge that—despite being covered in Aleks’s blood—no one will try to keep him from leaving.

Not even me.

Because I recognized that look in his eyes. Ryker’s wolf was in charge just then, but he wasn’t looking at me with anger.

That was need.

Desire.

Lust.

And I’m in big, big trouble.