Mating Brand (Mating Heat Book 3) Read online

  He rushed into the front yard of the alpha house and saw a lot of the enforcers celebrating. The fight was over. Dead bodies littered the ground but most of them were pride. He spotted a familiar wolf, down and motionless. Greif rose for a brief second when he realized one of their enforcers had been lost. He shifted to skin, dropped the she-cat’s coat on the ground and walked inside the house.

  Kane and Klax grinned at him. Blood coated their bodies but they had kept their clothes on, not fully shifting into wolves. Charma wasn’t with them and he was instantly concerned.

  “Where’s my mate?”

  Klax winked. “In the closet, safe as can be.” He pointed.

  Brand yanked open the door and Charma nearly fell into his arms. She turned, staring up at him with wide eyes. He hugged her hard, hating the smell of fear rolling off her. Then another, scarier scent hit.

  “I smell blood.” He jerked away, staring at her waist.

  “It’s not mine.”

  His relief was instant. “Your sister is safe. At least a female she-cat is.”

  She clung to him. “Where is she?”

  “Braden has her.”

  She wiggled in his arms, trying to look around him. “Where is Bree?”

  “Braden took her to town, away from the fighting.”

  “Did she say her name was Bree? She’s got long dark hair and big blue eyes. We kind of look alike too.”

  “I never saw her.”

  “What do you mean?” Her voice grew panicked. “You were with him, and you said he has her.”

  “Calm down,” he urged. “Braden found her first and he killed the male who was with her.”

  She gasped.

  “He wouldn’t hurt her.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “She’s a pussy.” Klax snorted. “Killing is the last thing that pup would do to her.”

  “What does that mean?” Charma glared at the enforcer.

  Brand instructed Kane to retrieve the jacket he’d left in the yard.

  Kane went outside and brought the jacket, sniffing it. “She-cat. Does this smell like your sister?”

  Charma broke free of his arms and lunged, snatching the jacket out of the enforcer’s hand. She sniffed it and turned back to Brand. Tears filled her eyes as she clutched it against her chest. “I bought this for Breeanna.” She reached inside one of the pockets and withdrew a cell phone. She showed it to him. “This is hers.”

  “Braden definitely has your sister then.” He tried to pull her back into his arms, needing assurance that she was really okay after all the aggression of fighting. She resisted, staring up at him with the beginnings of anger stamping her pretty features.

  “Let’s go find her. I need to make sure she’s fine.”

  Kane cleared his throat. “Um, if Braden has her, you might want to wait a few hours.”

  Brand grimaced and shot the blond a dirty look to shut him up. Charma gaped at Kane and then spun, facing Brand. “Why? What will Braden do?”

  He grabbed her waist, tugging her closer. “He won’t hurt her.”

  “He’ll fuck her,” Klax muttered.

  Charma stiffened in his arms. “No!”

  “I’m sure he won’t,” Brand lied, hoping his cousin wouldn’t try to seduce his mate’s sister. He didn’t really believe that though. Braden was a horn dog. If Breeanna looked similar to Charma, his cousin would be attracted to her.

  “We have to find them now!” Charma released the jacket with one hand and snagged his arm. “She’s a virgin.”

  “Oh lord,” Klax chuckled. “Not for long.”

  “Damn it,” Brand growled, glaring at the twins. “This isn’t amusing.”

  “It depends.” Kane laughed. “It’s not my mate’s innocent sister who’s with Braden so it is kind of funny.”

  “It is,” Klax agreed.

  Charma growled. “Brand, take me to them now. He can’t touch her. She hasn’t even had her coming-out party yet. She’s got to be terrified of a werewolf.”

  “How old is she again?” Brand was afraid to hear the answer.

  “Eighteen. She just graduated from high school.”

  “Old enough,” Kane announced.

  “Damn it, you’re not helping!” Brand wanted to punch him.

  “Brand!” Charma demanded his full attention. “Let’s go.”

  “Not yet.” Klax shook his head. “There are pride still out there fleeing. It’s not safe.”

  “What if they run right to where my sister and your cousin are staying? They could be in trouble.” Charma sounded frantic.

  “He was taking her into town. That’s the last place the pride wants to go. They’re injured and some of them are too hurt to shift back into skin. They’ll want to avoid humans.” Kane was the voice of reason. “Braden is a lot of things but he’s pussy friendly.” He didn’t bother to hide his smile. “No male is getting near your sister. He won’t allow it while he’s in heat.”

  Anton strode into the house butt naked and Brand winced when Charma gaped at his cousin before turning her head away from the sight of so much skin. She buried her face against his chest.

  “We kept four of them alive,” his cousin announced as he tore a curtain off the rod and wrapped it around his waist. “We’re going to send a message back to those prides through them. Rave is handling that and escorting them back to their vehicles with some of our wolves, to make sure they survive that long.”

  “He’s decent,” Brand whispered to Charma, hooking an arm around her waist to keep her close as more wolves returned to the house in different states of undress. Some had put on pants while others just strode in naked, looking for something to wear after shifting back to skin. “But you might want to keep your eyes up for a few minutes. We keep spare clothing in the basement,” he said louder, letting everyone know.

  Charma squeezed his arm. “My sister.”

  Anton frowned. “What about your sister?”

  “She’s in our territory,” Kane stated. “Braden has her.”

  Anton groaned, shooting a dark look at Brand. “Why?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “Make it a quick one,” Anton demanded.

  “She came with the pride males,” Charma told him.

  “To attack us?” Anton frowned.

  “No!” She shook her head. “Breeanna isn’t a fighter.”

  “She’s a lover,” Klax chuckled. “Or she will be if Braden has a say in the matter.”

  “Shit. You trusted my baby brother with your sister?” Anton scowled.

  “No.” Charma pressed tightly against Brand.

  “Charma’s sister ended up in our territory after following some of the pride here. She thought they were coming after Charma. I tracked her down but Braden found her first. He carried her off toward town. I returned here,” Brand explained. “Charma wants to go find her sister but I keep telling her that Braden won’t hurt her.”

  “He won’t,” Anton confirmed. “He’s cat-friendly.”

  Klax laughed.

  Anton and Brand both shot him silencing glares. He turned away. “I’ll go assess the mess and start a bonfire to be rid of the bodies. We need to clear away any evidence of what happened here, before dawn. Von just returned and offered to handle that but he could use some help.”

  “Go help him, Kane,” Anton ordered.

  “What did I do?” The enforcer grinned though. “I’m going.”

  “My sister,” Charma pressed.

  Anton sighed. “She isn’t in any danger if Braden has her. Right now we need to focus on the injured and make sure no stragglers are waiting around to attack us when our defenses are down.” His tone deepened, befitting that of an alpha. “Brand, you and your mate can man the house. The enforcers can do most of the cleanup. I’m going to have to make calls to check on the pack and do a head count, to see who we’ve lost.”

  Brand nodded. He knew Charma wanted to argue but she kept quiet, tense in his hold. Anton left the house, i