A Wolf's Desire (A BBW Paranormal Romance): The Holiday Ball by Marie Mason Read Free Book Online Page B

he found his tuxedo pants and pulled them on, not bothering to zip them all the way. They hung low on his hips almost exposing his semi-hard dick. He didn’t care. All that was important was finding his mate.
    Mate. Find. Claim.
    Anger boiled inside him. What the hell did she think she was doing leaving their room? He threw open the door and took a deep breath, instantly finding her scent. She had headed downstairs. So his mate wanted to play games, did she? Well, it would be that much sweeter for the chase. He couldn’t wait to spank her ass until it turned bright red.
    This alpha was on the hunt.
    As he neared the staircase, he remembered the party and thought twice about his state of undress. Then thought what the fuck. He only cared about finding his mate. She’d spent the night in his arms and then fled. As he jogged down the stairs, he cracked his neck trying to loosen the tension rising inside him.
    Her trail led him toward the kitchen. She was either helping the catering crew cleanup or slipping out the back door. He’d never told her much about himself last night, he’d been too focused on fucking her. But she should have realized he wasn’t a man to let something of his simply walk away. His cock rose in his pants. When he found her, he was going to fuck her until she couldn’t walk straight for a week.
    As he neared the kitchen, he heard a click of china from his right and turned his head. In the doorway of a small family dining room, Hayden Barringer stood sipping a cup of coffee. The fragile china cup and saucer should have looked damn silly in his big hands, but he somehow managed to look elegant. As always.
    Hayden was a player but last night’s ball had seen to his fall.
    Just as it had Kade’s.
    “I didn’t expect to see you this early, Townsend.” Hayden took a sip of coffee and Kade had the feeling he was trying to tell him something.
    “What do you want Barringer? There’s something important I need to do.”
    “I would imagine so.” He took another slow sip and Kade wanted to pull the cup from his hand and smash it against the wall. The wolf was up to something and he didn’t have time for this shit. He had to find Daphne.
    “What do you want?” he almost roared the question, his fists clenched at his sides.
    “I didn’t think you were the type of man to make your latest conquest walk the walk of shame. Much less your mate. I thought you had more class than that.”
    Kade was on him in a minute. The cup and saucer tumbled to the floor, spilling the dark liquid on the luxurious carpeted floor. He backed Hayden up against the wall then slammed his hand down. The other alpha didn’t flinch and Kade got no satisfaction from the fact that the wall now carried a hole roughly the size and shape of his fist.
    “Where is she?”
    “Easy there, buddy. No need to get all worked up.”
    “I want to know where my mate is. Now.”
    “So, she is your mate?” Hayden calmly asked, even though Kade’s other hand was still wrapped around his throat. “The curvy human dressed, ummm, partially dressed in black pants and a white shirt. Is that your mate?”
    Kade’s jealousy ate at him when he realized Hayden had seen Daphne in a state of undress. He’d almost shredded her pants getting them off her last night.
    Hayden continued. “The one that came downstairs looking like she’d been crying? Is that your mate, Townsend?”
    Kade cringed under the harsh tone of Hayden’s words even as he was trying to puzzle out why Daphne would have been crying. Had someone hurt her?
    “Damn it, where is she? Is she hurt?” Kade’s hand tightened around the other wolf’s neck.
    “Do you love her?”
    “Yes!” he shouted, giving a loin shifter a run for his money in the intensity and strength of his roar.
    “Just asking, don’t get your panties in a bunch.”
    Hayden broke Kade’s hold. When the other man smiled, Kade realize he’d just been toying with him.
    What the fuck was going on?
    “Hayden