Page 2 of Elusive Mate

Zaiden threw his head back and laughed. “You truly are delusional. I’m not saying you can’t force her submission, but even you cannot dictate to someone whether or not they will be happy.”

Lucian snorted and returned his attention to the land outside. He could picture them in his mind’s eye, lounging on the tundra under a bright sun that glinted on the snow. They were in their white-tiger forms, surrounded by their clan who were either resting or playing, knowing the patrols and the electronic security system kept them safe. He was lying next to Zenya, two of their cubs playing—pouncing on their parents and attacking them with glee, knowing their rambunctiousness would be indulged.

“My hope is that your vision will be fulfilled,” said Zaiden, who knew the future his alpha envisioned.

Shaking off his image of the future, Lucian took another sip of the rich, dark coffee. “It is time for your sister to come home. Her graduation is coming up. I would go myself, but I have responsibilities I must attend to here in Alaska.”

“The Resistance again?” Lucian nodded. “Maybe we would be better off to join with them.”

“I am not yet convinced they can win. I would not make an enemy of the Shadow League.”

“Perhaps our commitment would tip the scale in the Resistance’s favor.”

“That occurred to me, thus the reason I agreed to meet with them. Take some of the warriors with you. Attend your sister’s graduation and then bring Zenya back to me.”

“What if she respectfully declines your invitation?” chuckled Zaiden.

“Bring her anyway. If you have to nail her with a tranquilizer dart, do it.”

Zaiden frowned. “You do know brute force is never going to work…”

He and Zaiden had argued before over this matter. “I am her alpha and her fated mate. She will do as she is told or face the consequences.”

“What might those consequences be? Banishment? I don’t think she’d be all that upset over that. Physically harming, maiming, or killing her? Nobody, including Zenya, believes that you would go so far for even a nano-second. She has stated repeatedly she has no interest in a life as your mate or as first lady of the clan. She has made it painfully clear that she will not, as she has so scathingly stated to anyone who will listen, become your broodmare.”

Lucian did not doubt Zaiden’s loyalty in the least, but it occurred to him that he was putting his best friend and beta in a terrible position. Lucian had known from the moment Zenya hit puberty and come into her first heat that she was his fated mate, but she had been far too young to claim. He had been indulgent of both her desires and his beta’s feelings and given her permission to leave Alaska and go as far as veterinary medical school at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. Zenya was smart and driven; Lucian thought if he allowed her to run the medical staff at the stronghold that she would find it fulfilling.

That hadn’t been enough for her. She taken control of her own future and the little minx had managed to get a full-ride scholarship to the University of California at Davis.

It was too far away to suit him, but again, Lucian had indulged her and not stood in her way. He had, however, kept a close eye on her—sending two of his warriors to watch over her from a discreet distance.

“If you’d rather, I can send someone else. The men I have had watching her should be able to handle the capture and transport without you…”

“No,” Zaiden said, shaking his head, “I think she’ll go down easier if I’m there and she knows it’s you who is kidnapping her.”

“I am not kidnapping her; I am claiming what is mine.”

“Yeah. She’s not going to see it like that. But putting that aside, we’ve been able to get a lead on Stephen.” Two days prior, one of their people had gone missing after going out for an evening run. “We have a report of him being spotted over on Kodiak. A small place called Wolf Creek.”

“Wolf Creek? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Technically it’s not a town, or even a village, it’s a census-designated encampment that boasts a bar and the barest trappings of civilization. Population is mostly human, but some shifters in the area go to have a drink or get laid. The guy who reported it said Stephen seemed off or different. He said he didn’t carry the scent of a tiger-shifter.”

“What did he mean?”

“He sounded spooked, but he thought there was something other-worldly about him.”

“Other-worldly? Like what?”

“The guy seemed to think the old stories about ghost towns being populated by nests of vampires might not be so far-fetched.”

“Do you believe that?”

“I don’t know enough to believe anything. I just know the guy was terrified and was headed to the Lower Forty-Eight. I think we need to go see for ourselves.”

Troubled, Lucian said, “Let’s keep this between us. How about you and I go see what’s what and if we can find Stephen.”

“And if Stephen has been turned?”

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