The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates

The Pack: Rule Number 1 – No Mates

Chapter Two Hundred Ninety–Three

PAUL

Coasting down the street in my jeep, I’m acutely aware of the fact that Anastacia still does not have any shoes. The stores on the main drag don’t open for an hour, so I decide to take her to breakfast instead

Watching her face as she gazes out the window, her eyes lighting up with glee as we pass through the older neighborhoods, I can’t help but smile. She may be used to swamps and marshlands, but she likes this place, I can tell.

Good. Maybe she won’t hate me so much when I tell her she can’t go back to Louisiana,

What about her sister Paul?

She mentioned a sister didn’t she?

My phone chirps on the dash and I read a short message from Koda saying they’ve scouted the woods. It appears the hounds have taken off into the mountains heading toward Blackjack. Knowing Cane and Gryffin will be on the lookout for them is only mildly comforting because lion’s can’t scent other shifters the way wolves can, save for Cane. And being as how Cane is a new somewhat made shifter, who knows how long that will last.

“What are we doing?” Anastacia asks as we pull into a space at the ‘Land Ho Diner’.

The diner is a landmark out here. Set along the coastline, right next to the docks, it has an incredible view of the sea and the harbor. It’s also the one place in town you might come across every local inhabitant of the city. This is where law enforcement have coffee and the dockworkers have lunch, the rangers often stop in for dinner and the old biddies in town spread gossip like wildfire. It’s the heartbeat of this place that we love. Cozy and cute, homey and warm.

“We are going to have breakfast,” I tell her, snapping up my phone. “The shops don’t open for an hour at least.”

“Oh.” Her mouth falls open in a perfect oval, her full lips puckering up all plump and juicy as if waiting for my kiss.

“Would you like me to carry you inside?” I tease her, my gaze falling over the front of her sweater where I can see that her nipples are still as hard as little stone pebbles.

God, I can’t wait for the stores to open. I know exactly what color I want to see her in.

She smiles, her long black curls draping forward over her chest. “Are they going to let me in without my shoes?”

“They will.”

“Then I’ll walk in my socks,” she says smartly.

“The ground is wet,” I point out.

She shoves backward, falling against the seat in resignation. “Shit. Then you’ll carry me.”

4

“You say it like it’s a bad thing,” I whisper, my eyes falling toward her lap, traces of honeycomb floating my way.

I fucking love how aroused she gets whenever she’s in my arms.

With a chuckle, I step out of the vehicle and walk around to her side. Once I’m holding her again, I notice I breathe a little easier and a little deeper. The warmth and the weight of her, the feel of her heart beating next to mine… it’s all so soothing.

Stepping inside of the diner, every head in the place turns our way. Most of them smile brightly, waving or greeting me by name, but then

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Chapter Two Hundred Ninety–Three

there’s Charlotte Bodega, a waitress I once bent over the trunk of a Honda Civic, and she doesn’t look happy at all.

I smile at her anyway.

With a toss of her long brown hair and a flash of her dark brown eyes, she eyes Anastacia and then disappears into the kitchen.

“Well hello,” Kendall says, walking up from the back of the restaurant. Her hazel eyes glitter with mischief when she spies Anastacia in my arms and for a moment I almost turn around.

Pulling Anastacia’s soft body in a little tighter, I send Kendall a warning glare. Don’t fuck with me, K. Not today. “What are you doing here, Kendall? You’re working at the bar now. I happen to know just the tips you get there make your paycheck here look like chump change.” Anastacia swats my chest and I simply grin down at her.

eyes. “If only that were your business, Paul.” She grabs a couple of menus, then surveys the floor as if looking for the worst table she can find. “Hmm… how about I put you in

you.”

smile. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

Anastacia asks, her eyes slanting suspiciously.

scramble out of my arms. “Anastacia,” I hiss

pushing against my chest until I grudgingly set

Give the girls some air,” Kendall giggles, smirking of the

us onto the floor and toward a booth in the corner with

bitch. But at least she didn’t seat us

in

hers.

as opposed to across, smiling when she gazes at me warily. There’s a reason I want her right next to

menus,” Kendall says smoothly, accidentally swatting me

my menu. “I already know what I

“Oh, my bad. So

as she opens hers and surreptitiously Much like she did in the

from me,

allow it, scooting in deeper, and pressing my outer thigh against her

own.

low to her ear, I whisper,

she turns her head to bat her lashes in my direction, the sweet scent of honeycomb nearly drowns out my senses

away from her, I say, “I’ll have the steak and eggs benedict,

lips are slow on the draw of her smile, but smile

thing like you, Kendall

please,” Anastacia answers

can’t stop. The cocoa of her skin just below

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Hundred

this place I’d taste

up,” Kendall confirms, then disappears,

“Did you have a thing with that girl or

back. Absolutely fucking not. One of my brother’s used to date her. She cheated on

sworn all that barking you were doing at her was some twisted form of

the Goddess, huh?” I murmur. “Does that mean you want me

she leans in her scent almost has me panting. So entranced am I that I don’t even notice when her hand creeps

grins, licking her lips. “You already know the answer to that, Paul.”

her palm disappearing when she removes her hand. I almost snatch it back and use it to stroke the tension in my cock,

I know. But facts,

if I do it

and not lose complete control? Can I stop myself from looking like a pubescent pup when she unravels right here next to me and my

not going to

clack down on the table so sharply I know who is there even

you? Long time no see.”

shut and

you fucking bitch.

Charlotte. It is. I know

Chapter Comments

Number

Hundred Ninety–Four

ANASTACIA

his shoulder where a tall, voluptuous female sneers down at me. The look she gives me is haughty, and as she takes in my sweatsuit that is twenty times too big for me, I get

then Big Bird, you don’t have to like

legs, knobby knees. The whole of her reeks Kentucky Derby and I don’t find her nearly as pretty as she apparently finds herself. Her lips are painted a bright, glossy red that is thick with the taint of whore when applied this early

be released. The energy is fiercely possessive and the vibe I am getting from this… person… is pissing off my magic.

returning her fake ass grin. She’s lucky she got the please and

Paul’s head. “We had so much fun that night. I

and refuses to