Promised: True Mates Book 1 (BBW Paranormal Wolf Shifter Romance) (A Craggstone Paranormal Romance) by Olivia Arran Read Free Book Online Page B

to the small of my back. It felt like he was calling to my soul and drawing out my emotions, magnifying my responses.
    “This—” he ground himself against me, “—is special. This is real. You don’t have to tell me everything, not right now, because I know it will not change the fact that we are true mates, and you belong with me.”
    His words rang in my ears, cutting through my hormone induced stupor. I didn’t belong to anyone. Not anymore! I would not have my decisions made for me — not again! Ice formed in my veins. I had to get away, to think.
    Placing my hand firmly on his chest I pushed as hard as I could. It was like moving a large boulder up a steep hill.
    “I said —” I ground out and shoved hard again, watching with satisfaction as he jerked back, a thoroughly bewildered expression marring his handsome face, “—I need time !”
    He said he wanted alpha-mate, I’d give him alpha-bitch! I strode across to the door and yanked it open. “I don’t belong to anyone. Been there, done that, got the fucking t-shirt,” I threw the words over my shoulder, glancing back. I stalked to my room with my head held high and the image of his shocked face imprinted in my mind.

Chapter Seven
    James
    M y wolf howled in anguish as I watched Kara stalk away. She had felt the bond, I was sure of it. So why was she walking away? Dumb ass! A slip of the tongue and she was spooked. I didn’t want to own her, but she was mine! Just as I was hers .
    “Shit!” I cursed, kicking the railing hard. It took everything I had not to storm after her, grab her and show her what she meant to me. If I could just get her to listen. Once bonded, she would know my every thought, my every feeling. She would know that I loved her with every fiber of my being. That I would die to protect her.
    “Fuck it!” I lurched into motion, intent on following her.
    “Let her go, James,” my mother murmured, her smooth twang stroking across my pricked temper.
    Whirling around, I spied her at the end of the veranda, curled up on the porch swing. With a little nudge she set the swing into a smooth glide.
    “How much did you hear?”
    “Not much.” I could see her smirk from here, her lightly lined face creased up in mirth. “You didn’t do much talking. Then again, you didn’t do much listening, either.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “It means,” she motioned me to come sit “You know what you want—”
    “She is my true mate.” Gingerly, I lowered my bulk into the old, wooden swing. It held firm, but emitted an ominous creak of protest.
    “Yes, she is—”
    “Then, she should be with me! We should be together. I’ve waited all my life to meet her, and now I finally have…” Shaking my head, I stared at the rough, wooden floor. “This is just not how it was supposed to be. Why is she running? Why is she making this so hard?”
    “Because everything worth something is hard work, James.” She gently laid a work-roughened hand on my shoulder. “You’re not thinking, boy.”
    She only ever called me ‘boy’ when I really fucked up. Not recently, but back when I was a young Alpha — thrust into the role far too early, volatile and angry at the unfairness of the motherfucking world — she called me it often. Far too often. I had let my wolf rule during those years, because it was easier that way. I had kept my title, but had earned people’s fear. Mom had been the only one who had not been cowed by me. She had sat me down and told me I was acting like an asshole. She had been right.
    “Yes, you’re acting like an asshole again,” she said, smirking. “Your trip down memory lane paraded across your face. Do you remember what I told you then? No one is entitled to anything. You have to earn everything , and not through brute force — although it does have its place, and you wouldn’t be a good Alpha without it.” She patted my hand to ease the sting of her words. “Have you earned her trust, her respect,