Mated by Zoe Winters Read Free Book Online Page A

marketed to attract the opposite sex. It was strong and musky to his nose, but to a human would have been barely discernible. It might aid in luring a human female from a place of safety into the woods. It also made it impossible to separate the scent of the wolf’s natural pheromones from the synthetic concoction.
    Cole followed the trail to the edge of the forest where the mingled scents ended. There were no broken branches or disturbed leaves. Up until the spot the human had died, there had been no struggle. It wasn’t a loss of control with a hapless camper. It had been premeditated.
    He returned to the kill site. The killer had done this before. Many times. It was too clean. A wolf taken by the wildness of the first human kill wouldn’t have had the cognitive ability to clean up the mess. He shook his head and went for his clothes. He hated when Cain was right.
    He was a quarter mile away from the den when he heard the screaming and pounding. He broke into a run, panic gripping his chest.
    Not Jane.
    His fingers flew over the security keypad to input the code, and when the door slid open he was ready to catch her as she pitched forward into his arms. He scented the air, his eyes wild, searching for the threat.
    When he realized she was alone, he carried her back inside.
    She’d stopped screaming and collapsed against him, still crying, but the panic had faded. He sat her gently on the couch and took her chin in his hands, his eyes locking with hers. “I’ll be right back.”
    She nodded.
    She looked so small sitting on the couch in one of his T-shirts. He was in and out of the kitchen in less than thirty seconds with an open bottle of water.
    “Drink.”
    She took the bottle and drank. Her face was red and flushed from crying, her eyes puffy. Her throat was no doubt raw if she’d been screaming for long. He wondered if any of the pack had woken. Well, if they had, the cat was out of the bag, and they were either going to think he was having really wild sex or torturing someone.
    “I won’t leave you alone here again,” he said, the guilt starting to weigh on him that his behavior had been the cause of this much fear.
    She nodded and lifted the bottle to her lips again. That’s when the scent of her blood hit him. Her hands. She’d pounded on the door until her hands had bled. His pupils dilated but he resisted the change, glad he’d eaten a bear.
    He lifted the hand she wasn’t using to drink and caught her eyes. “I’m not going to hurt you. But we used the last of the ointment on your cheek. Can I?”
    She looked at him confused for a second, then her eyes widened a fraction.
    “I know it might seem disgusting, but it’s really the best antiseptic. And I can make the bleeding stop.”
    She nodded.
    He ran his tongue gently over her hand, and he could taste the vampire in her blood. He’d deal with that issue later. For now, what was important was to try to make her feel safe.
    The guilt crushed in on him. He’d meant to help her, and instead he’d traumatized her. Well, what did he expect keeping her against her will? Had he thought she’d be A-okay with being locked up?
    Her arousal hit him hard, jolting him out of his thoughts. He looked up at her, his pupils dilating this time for a new reason. She looked away, clearly mortified, knowing he’d sensed her reaction. He released her hand.
    They sat silent for a few minutes. Her other hand was still bleeding and clutching tightly onto the water bottle. He didn’t push the issue. Finally, after a few minutes of neither of them speaking, she shifted the bottle to her cleaned hand, and gave him her other one.
    “Jane?”
    “I’m bleeding.”
    His nostrils flared. “Yes, I’m aware of that. Are you sure you’re comfortable with this?”
    She nodded and looked away from him while he used his tongue to make the bleeding stop on the other hand.
    When he finished, he started babbling. “I didn’t mean to be gone that long. I should have known