Mated to the Beast (An Ironhaven Pack Romance Book 4) Read online

Growling, he put on his running shoes and headed for Garrett’s apartment.

  Garrett was his best friend, as close to a brother as he had, and the only member of the pack who hadn’t given him shit for not shifting since he got discharged from the army.

  Longer, even though the pack didn’t need to know that.

  “Roark? What are you doing here?”

  “I’m a fucking idiot, man. I should never have let her go.” Roark’s wolf was pacing, and so the man couldn’t stand still either.

  “Slow down. Who? Where?”

  “Hailey. My mate. I let her go back to fucking Bellemare for her stuff.” He snarled. “Why didn’t I just claim her?”

  Garrett shook his head. “You found your mate. And you didn’t claim her?”

  Garrett knew better than most the danger of an unclaimed mate.

  “I know, I’m a fucking idiot. Can you just help me get her back?”

  “It’ll be faster if you shift.”

  Roark grunted, not meeting Garrett’s eyes. “We could drive.”

  “We can, you’re right, let’s go.” Garrett tossed his clothes and shifted easily from his six-foot five-inch frame into a large reddish colored wolf before they headed out to the car.

  Roark opened the door for Garrett to get in, but Garrett sat and reared his head back and howled into the sky.

  Roark cringed and squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t want to deal with this humiliation. He’d kept his Alpha at bay for so long, he didn’t want to face what he knew was true. What Garrett knew was true. He needed his Alpha and his pack.

  It didn’t take long before more wolves appeared on Garrett’s front lawn.

  Merrick’s brown and white wolf stepped forward and he shifted back into his human form. The Alpha gave Garrett a nod and then moved to Roark.

  “What’s going on?”

  Roark kept his eyes on the ground. “My mate’s in danger. She went back to Bellemare to get her stuff and like an idiot, I let her go, unclaimed and unarmed.”

  Merrick sighed. “This is my fault.”

  Roark’s gaze flickered to Merrick’s, before returning to the ground.

  “I couldn’t have screwed this whole thing up more if I tried. I haven’t been the Alpha we needed. I’ve been in damage control for so long, I didn’t see that we weren’t even operating as a pack, that we’ve been fractured. That curse did more than take our females, our loved ones, our family, it turned us all into lone wolves. And I’m the idiot that let it happen.” Merrick let out a snarl. “There isn’t time for apologies, but I will make this right. Starting with getting your mate back where she belongs, with her pack. You haven’t shifted, have you?”

  Roark froze. He expected to feel shame and ridicule, but all he felt was sorrow.

  Merrick grabbed his shoulders. “Look at me, Roark.”

  He lifted his head and met his Alpha’s eyes. His wolf seemed to sink into place.

  Merrick’s growl started low in chest and grew deeper, more resonating, and designed to put the fear of the Gods in the hearts of lesser wolves. “You are a fucking wolf. And your mate is in danger. Are you going to shift and go save her, or are you going to let her die?”

  Roark snarled and broke free of his grip. “I’ll do whatever it takes to save her.”

  “Then do it, Roark. Your pack is with you.”

  Roark yanked off his shirt and grunted as he felt the shift start deep in his bones. His body groaned against the change, like atrophied muscles being forced into a marathon. Arching, shifting, relocating. Every part of him fought against the change, against letting the wolf out again, but in this, Roark and his beast were of one mind.

  Hailey.

  The only reason he’d survived the IED was because he’d let his instincts save him as shifted and ran. The rest of his unit hadn’t been so lucky. He hadn’t wanted to shift and not run through the woods with his sister by his side, taunting him with her speed. He’d buried his wolf because he couldn’t handle the pain of everything he’d lost. And now he needed his wolf, so he didn’t lose any more.

  He wouldn’t fail to protect someone he loved, not again.

  Garrett’s wolf nearly smiled as he took off running for Bellemare.

  Roark followed behind, his movements a little stiffer at first. But then he caught up, his body and his wolf remembering the freedom of running on all fours.

  Feeling the pack all flank him and Garrett, including their Alpha brought a sense of peace he never thought he’d have again. For the first time, in a long time, they were running together, they were a pack again.

  He almost felt sorry for the unsuspecting Bellemares.

  Roark hardly registered the scent change as they crossed the border. The only thing he wanted to smell, the only thing he wanted to focus on, was Hailey’s scent. The aroma of warm spices and coffee.

  Her scent was masked by sawdust, but nothing was going to keep him from Hailey.

  When he heard the scream, he ran faster, his wolf chanting Mine!

  Two wolves guarded the door to the mill, and Garrett nodded at the white one even as he rounded on the dark grey.

  The Bellemares rushed toward them as soon as they caught the scent, but Garrett and Roark were already ready. They lunged, catching the other beasts off guard as they tumbled to the ground.

  Roark felt rusty, achy, as he battled in wolf form. But sparring with wolves was second nature, as conditioned into him as riding a bike. He fought dirty, going for the sensitive spots—the neck, the soft underbelly.

  It was scrappy, underhanded, and not how Roark preferred to spar, but all bets were off when Hailey was on the line.

  He didn’t stop until the white wolf was stained red and lying still.

  Roark glanced back to see Garrett was holding his own against the grey beast with two pack members backing him up. He took off into the mill, roaring when he saw Hailey tied to a chair, a Bellemare standing over her.

  Holding what looked like pliers.

  No one tortured his mate.

  Roark flung himself at the other wolf, colliding with him hard.

  He had no trouble shifting, changing in a breath from smarmy businessman to hulking black and white beast midair.

  They landed on the concrete floor with a crash, both wolves landing hard on their shoulders.

  Roark used his back legs, kicking at the other wolf as he tried to latch onto Roark’s neck.

  Another set of jaws helped, as Garrett’s red fur ripped the black and white beast from Roark’s grip.

  Together, it didn’t take much to cripple the Bellemare, and when he lay still, barely breathing, Roark ripped out his throat.

  This wolf deserved no mercy. Not where his mate was concerned.

  Garrett nudged Roark toward Hailey before grabbing the beast and dragging him out.

  With another rocky shift, Roark stood on two legs and ran to his mate.

  “Hailey? Are you okay?” He knelt in front of her, looking over every inch of exposed skin he could see.

  She nodded, fighting against her binds as she tried to lean toward him. “Let me out of these.”

  With a snap of his claws, he freed her from the tape, and Hailey practically fell into his arms.

  “You came for me.”

  “You’re my mate.” He kissed her cheeks, still looking for signs of pain.

  She curled into him, her arms tightly around his neck. “He barely started. My pinky’s going to need a splint probably, but he wasn’t trying to hurt me much. Yet.” She kissed Roark hard. “Take me home.”

  Garrett walked back in, and Roark instinctively pushed her behind him.

  “She’s safe.”

  Garrett smirked as he tried to peek around Roark. “Make sure you claim her, and then I want to meet the woman that made you shift again.”

  Garrett shifted back into his wolf form again and took off, leaving the two of them alone.

  “What did he mean by that?” Hailey stood slowly, her hands staying on some part of Roark the
whole time.

  He sighed. “I hadn’t shifted since I was overseas. But I couldn’t let my mate suffer. You needed a wolf. Not a soldier.” He kissed her, lifting her into his arms easily. “And I’m taking you back to our home and making you mine.”

  He lifted her into his arms and carried her outside. Merrick was waiting in his human form with the rest of the pack behind him.

  “You all right?” Merrick asked.

  Roark nodded trying to resist the urge hide Hailey behind him. “I want to take her home.”

  “I had to leave my stuff behind,” Hailey said.

  Roark growled.

  Merrick chuckled. “I’ll retrieve your stuff and get it to Roark’s home. You’re Hailey, aren’t you? Jenna’s friend?”

  Hailey nodded.

  “It’s nice to meet you. Jenna always spoke highly of you.” He looked at Roark. “I assume you’re taking her home and not that basement you’ve been living in?”

  Roark nodded.

  “Good. Bring her around once you’ve claimed her. I’m sure Sierra will want to meet her as well.” Merrick shifted and called a couple of his wolves and they headed toward Bellemare.

  “Don’t they need my address?” Hailey asked.

  Roark chuckled. “Wolf nose is better than any GPS.”

  “Take me home, Roark.”

  Roark didn’t like it, but he took Hailey to Ethan at the hospital first. He wanted her to have a clean bill of health and make sure she was really okay. He growled and snarled every time Ethan touched her, but he kept himself in check. Knowing Ethan had his own mate certainly helped.

  Hailey stared up at the cabin off Cranberry Lake. “This is your house?”

  Roark smiled softly. “Our house.” He opened the door and scooped her up into his arms and carried her over the threshold. “I’ll give you the tour later. Right now, I’m making my mark.”

  Hailey chuckled. “I’m already wearing dozens of your marks. Now, you’re ready to bite?”

  Roark growled softly, nipping at her ear. “No one should ever question who your mate is.” He set her on the huge bed that took up most of the master bedroom and leaned down to kiss her. He knelt down in front of her. “We don’t have to do this right now.”

  Hailey cupped his face with both her hands. “I don’t want to be wooed or courted or whatever you think. I wanted you to claim me before. I’m just sorry Jenna isn’t here so we could truly be sisters.”

  “You were pack with her, and you’re pack with me. You were already sisters,” he said gently. He pressed his head against her stomach and rubbed against her while they both thought of Jenna.

  Hailey pulled him back from her and looked down at him. “Are you going to claim me, or what?”

  He growled, his hands tightening on her thighs. “Strip. Or I’ll rip more of your clothes.”

  The flash of heat in Hailey’s eye made him think she probably wouldn’t have been opposed, but she pulled off her shirt, and then reached for the waistband of her jeans. “Where are you going to bite?”

  Roark looked her up and down, trying to decide. “We’ll start with one on your inner thigh, after you come on my tongue. I’m definitely biting that curvy ass of yours too.” He grinned. “Where do you want my bite, mate?”

  She practically shivered as she dropped her jeans, revealing a tiny thong as she bent over the bed. “Anywhere you want to give it to me.”

  He groaned at the sight, thinking that he wasn’t just going to bite her all over, he was going to make sure she was well and thoroughly fucked everywhere too. The temptress with her perfect body made his wolf want to howl and made his cock constantly hard.

  “You’re not naked.”

  She grinned as she turned around again. “Maybe I like it when you rip some of my clothes off.”

  Roark didn’t have to be told twice, as he practically pounced on her, using his claws to reduce her underwear to shreds. Dropping to his knees, he pulled one of her legs up over his shoulder, opening her up to him as he leaned forward and dragged his tongue through her folds.

  She was already dripping wet, and when his hand slid around the curve of her ass to play with the hole there, she rocked hard into his face.

  Roark ate her out hungrily, letting the scent of her arousal cover his nose, his chin. His tongue delved deep, tasting all of her, just to trace back up to her clit again.

  A couple scrapes of his teeth made her moan, and when he ran his hand up her inner thigh and pushed two fingers inside her, she came hard for him, screaming his name.

  Roark kept his fingers working those sweet spots inside her as he shifted over to press a kiss to her inner thigh, and then he bit down on the soft flesh hard, drawing blood and marking her as his mate.

  True to his word, he fucked her into the night, and all through the next day, marking her all over—both thighs, her left ass cheek, the bottom curve of her right breast, even the inside of her left wrist.

  No one would ever doubt that Hailey was his.

  And as a few of her marks blossomed on his skin, he’d never doubt that he was hers either.

  Epilogue

  GARRETT

  Roark finding his mate was a shock to the whole pack. He’d been so distant, so cut off from his wolf heritage, that most assumed he’d left his heart in the war.

  Garrett had nothing but joy for the newest mates in the pack. With Merrick finally pulling his head out of the sand and standing tall with his pack, for his pack, they were all starting to heal. The new mates brought healing as well, and even the oldest most stubborn of wolves had started to accept them. They were even revered.

  Roark deserved Hailey. Deserved the connection, the healing, that finding his mate had brought. And from the sounds that came from the wolf’s cabin on the lake, Garrett had no doubt the two would soon have a few more wolves in their line.

  Garrett longed for the peace of a mate, for the chance to have family like that. He didn’t think he’d get it. Roark was a warrior, a soldier who fought with his life for the right for a mate.

  But Garrett doesn’t want to find a mate in the middle of war with the Bellemares. Merrick’s intrusion on Bellemare property, and Roark mating with someone who worked with the Bellemare Alpha didn’t go unnoticed. The danger is only mounting, and the last thing Garrett wants is to find his mate only to risk losing her.

  But when he sees her, something changes. She’s got the spirit of a wolf, and the stubborn streak to match.

  With her life on the line, Garrett has to decide if a selfish kiss is worth testing the connection between them, if he can be the mate she needs.

  Garrett’s story, Kidnapped by Her Mate, is available here!

  For more Foxy Reads by Piper Fox and the exclusive inside scoop, join my newsletter now and get a free Ironhaven Pack Romance book, Mated in Secret! Get it now!

  Thank you so much for taking the time to read this book and I would love it if you would consider leaving a review!

  Also by Piper Fox

  Ironhaven Pack Romance Series

  The Alpha’s Mate

  Bitten by Her Mate

  Saved by Her Mate

  Mated to the Beast

  Kidnapped by Her Mate

  Mated to the Savage Wolf

  About the Author

  Piper Fox writes steamy paranormal romances for sassy, strong-willed women and the sexy, alpha men who love them.

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  Copyright © 2020 by Piper Fox

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests write to the author directly.

>   Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Mated to the Beast / Piper Fox

  First Edition June 11, 2020

  Cover by Germancreative