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  Bailey’s head hit the side of the van and her stapled flank hit the bench seat. The air was knocked out of her lungs. She hunched over and dry heaved while trying to catch her breath.

  As the doors closed Bailey thought what the hell, she hadn’t done anything, and then passed out.

  Bailey woke, still in the van, but she could breathe this time. She looked around and saw the man talking to the driver in hushed tones, “I thought he’d claimed her. This one has no claiming scent.”

  “Maybe he hasn’t got around to it yet. This is the Alpha’s mate; I saw them in the same car. We need her…”

  She didn’t wait around to see what they needed her for. They thought she was Shana, the Alpha mate. Dumbasses. They hadn’t even tied her up. Bailey eyed the van door which was unguarded and launched herself out. She felt her wound pull but she kept going right out the back.

  As Bailey rolled out of the van and hit the asphalt, hard, she was praying that she wouldn’t be hit by another car. She was sturdy but probably wouldn’t survive being hit at freeway speeds. She grimaced in pain and stayed in the fetal position in the middle of the road. She was chanting, please don’t pass out, please don’t pass out, please don’t pass out; when she heard tires squealing again. God, please don’t be the van.

  *****

  Paul saw Bailey being taken into an unknown van by a very large man. Dammit, he shouldn’t have been late but he’d been making cookies with Trevor and lost track of time. He hadn’t realized it until Trevor got a glazed look and then said, “You’re late, and if you don’t leave now you won’t be able to catch them.”

  Paul had no idea what Trevor was talking about but he knew never to question him, so he ran out of the house and cursed the fact Bailey didn’t have a cell phone. He pulled up to see the action and he followed the van closely, hoping Bailey wasn’t being hurt in the back. When the van door opened he saw her propel herself out the back as large beefy hands tried to grab for her.

  She tucked and rolled but ended up in the middle of the road, huddled in a ball. She had blood on her side where her old wound was. It was almost healed with her super shifter healing but something must have opened it.

  Paul stopped his truck and sprinted to her side. He had already called Jake and let him know to alert the pack to a threat. Bailey was hurt but he couldn’t just leave her lying in the middle of the street. He picked her up and placed her in the cab of his truck. He noticed the van kept going and the license plate was covered.

  Bailey was hunched on the seat not making a sound. “Bailey, I’m taking you to the hospital.”

  She looked up and into Paul’s eyes. “Take me back to Alpha house. I need to talk to Jake and Shana. Please.”

  “You’re about to pass out from pain and you want me to take you home. You need a doctor.”

  “Paul, I appreciate your concern, but all I need right now is another staple gun and to speak with Jake.”

  Paul was flummoxed. “I really want you to go to the hospital. This isn’t right.”

  Bailey pulled her hand from her side and placed it lightly on his forearm. “I’m fine. Please, we need to get to Alpha house and warn them. I know I’m protected with you.” And then she passed out again.

  Paul called Jake and updated him on the situation. He changed coarse so he could take her to Alpha house. He called Blake and asked him to pick up Bailey’s purse that was probably on the sidewalk in front of Insatiable.

  He looked over at his mate and placed his hand on her thigh. He wanted so much for her to be okay. When he felt heat in his hand he looked down and saw his hand was glowing and so was Bailey’s thigh. Shit, shit, shit. What was happening? Oh God, did he hurt her?

  Bailey’s eyes opened and she turned her head to the side to watch Paul. Surprisingly she didn’t have much pain anymore. How long was she out? She sat up and had a slight twinge in her side. “Whoa, I feel good. How long was I out?”

  Paul looked over at her. “I’m a bit freaked out actually. You looked pretty bad and I was trying to give you comfort so I touched your leg, and we sort of glowed. I thought I hurt you but you started to pink up. How do you feel?”

  “Great actually.” Bailey remembered their previous encounter and she blushed. “Paul, I’m really sorry I acted poorly earlier. In the store.”

  Paul’s mouth fell open. “You have to be kidding me. It’s not your fault, Bailey. I shouldn’t have gotten mad and acted like a bull. I should have just told you that I…like you.”

  Bailey smiled. “I like you too. You’re a great friend.”

  Paul sighed. “Yeah, I’m a great friend, and I will be until you are ready to see that I like you…more than a friend. I think you are honorable, honest, smart, funny and sexy.”

  Bailey stuttered. “But you like that mean woman. She made you smell…ya know…” Paul smiled at her blush.

  “No, Bailey, it was you. I don’t like that evil mean woman. I could never like someone who was blatantly mean for no reason. You have all the qualities I look for in a woman, or a mate. Have you had that talk with Jake about mating yet?” Paul knew he was pushing it but he couldn’t stop. All this pent up lust was getting to him.

  The truck pulled into the gravel driveway of Alpha house but neither Bailey nor Paul moved. She scrutinized him waiting for him to say ‘just kidding’ or ‘who would like a scarred virgin dummy.’

  Her door was pulled open by Jake who ran his hands over her bloody wound. She heard Paul’s low snarl and held her breath. Jake removed his hands and said. “I apologize. Bailey, can you walk or would you like Paul to carry you?”

  What the heck was going on? Paul had convinced her that he liked her but he was acting like a beast when Jake touched her, no matter how innocent.

  “I’ll walk. I need to tell you what happened.” She turned to Paul whose eyes had turned the color of his wolf, golden with brown flecks. Uh oh, “Paul, would you be kind enough to get my purse where I dropped it in front of the store? Please.”

  “Blake’s getting it. I want to hear this.”

  Jake looked in between them and then his gaze settled on Paul. “I thought you said she was severely injured.”

  Paul closed his eyes and tried to reign in his enraged beast. “She was.”

  Jake was getting impatient. “Care to explain?”

  Bailey stepped between the two and said, “Maybe we can go inside and talk about it. I’d like Shana to hear this as well.”

  Jake motioned for her to walk in front of him. “Ladies first.”

  They walked into the house and Shana was sitting in the easy chair, with the staple gun in hand and a solemn look on her face. At Bailey’s questioning look Shana said. “Trevor told me I’d need this, and these.” She held up a box of tissues.

  Bailey took a seat on the couch and began re-telling the story of her snatching. She could hear Paul growling and soon enough Jake followed him. Shana was sobbing, crying and her chest was heaving with the effort to try and keep it in. It clearly wasn’t working.

  When she was done Jake was sitting in the chair with his pregnant wife in his lap and he was rubbing her back. “That’s it. Except I was really hurt and when I woke up I felt better.”

  Paul regarded her and said. “I wanted to comfort her so I touched her leg. We glowed for a while and then she woke up feeling better. I think I might have given her some of my magic and it helped her heal, but I didn’t know that was possible.”

  Bailey made an effort not to look up, and kept her eyes on her hands in her lap. She thought, surely, she would be in trouble for being mistaken for someone above her station. It was a gift to be an Alpha’s mate and surely no one else thought that should be bestowed to someone like her.

  She wasn’t prepared for Shana to kneel in front of her and engulf her in a hug. “I never want you to say that again. You’re worthy of the best things in this world. You are the most selfless person I’ve ever met. I am honored to have you in this pack and I am so very sorry that you’ve been put throu
gh so much.”

  Bailey looked up with blurry vision to find them all gawking at her. She wanted to run again. She needed to be far away.

  It was Paul who noticed her breathing increasing and the tension in her shoulders. “Maybe we can see to her wounds. She’d probably like a nap before dinner.”

  She looked up at him with a thankful expression and it broke his heart.

  Shana wiped the last of her tears and took the staple gun in hand. “Strip, I need to see the wound.”

  Bailey removed her shirt but clutched it over her scar. Paul thought it was telling that she didn’t care if her breast was exposed, but she didn’t want anyone to see her scar. Shifters really didn’t care much for nudity but to see her cover her scar he wanted to kill her old Alpha, Allen, for causing the scar and her discomfort.

  Shana noticed it too and looked over to Paul with sad knowing eyes. “It looks good. It tore a bit but Paul’s healing must have helped quite a bit. I’m going to place just a few staples in the middle where it’s gaping just to prevent further scarring.”

  Bailey gave a bitter laugh. “What’s one more scar really? No biggie.”

  Paul growled at her. Not a nice growl but one that said he was on the edge and if she said anything else he would lose it. Luckily Blake walked in, “Simmer down brother. I can’t believe your acting like a total wolf.” Blake turned his smile to Bailey, “Whoa, you must be, like a magnet for pain.” He tossed her purse on the coffee table and of course the heavy dildo sprang out and onto the table.

  Every person in the room froze, including Bailey. The silence was awkward until Shana leaned forward and said. “Hey, I have this same one. Jake got it for me on our honeymoon. It’s amazing.”

  Jake looked at his wife and then at the dildo. “Yep, that’s the one. Good choice, Paul.”

  Paul snarled again as Blake said. “Yeah, but I know my brother and that’s” pointing to the dildo, “just gonna be a warm up. Paul is-“

  Paul roared. “Enough!” And once again silence fell, with the exception of Jake, Shana and Blake’s belly laughs.

  Bailey thought she would never get rid of the redness on her cheeks that was rapidly spreading to her neck. Bailey said, “Uh, I should be going.”

  She grabbed her purse and toy and quickly fled to her room. She actually ran, although she shouldn’t have. She was an adult and had every right to play with adult toys. Damn though, the heated look on Paul’s face had her wishing she was brazen enough to proposition him. It didn’t matter; when she went to work tomorrow she would have one less thing to be ashamed of. Take that virginity!

  *****

  Paul sat with the other’s staring at him, for what seemed like forever, before he spoke. “So, whoever these people are, they thought Bailey was your mate and attempted to kidnap her. Why though?”

  Jake was just as confused. “I haven’t upset any of the surrounding packs. I have no idea why someone would want to hurt my mate. It pisses me off royally though, and we’ll have to put extra protection on Shana and Bailey.”

  “I can stay at the store with her tomorrow. Something’s been bothering me though. The man who took her was huge, larger than anyone I’ve seen in town. Also, there was a woman in the store today who seemed to upset Bailey. She was taunting her, unnecessarily.”

  Paul had an epiphany. “I know why she bought that toy. The woman called her a scarred virgin. Bloody hell.” Paul put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. God, she must feel horrible. Did she know that woman?

  Jake replied. “Bailey can take care of herself, Paul. Giving her pity isn’t going to go over well. I agree it’s a good idea for someone to be with Bailey at the store tomorrow. I’ll keep Shana here, and I’ll call Conner to pick up Trevor and take him to school.”

  Shana piped up. “He’s not going to like leaving Katie when she’s so pregnant. She’s having triplets, Jake; she could pop at any minute. Have a heart.”

  Jake was clearly getting aggravated, “Do you want me to leave you then mate? You’re due in four weeks. Especially when someone hurt Bailey thinking she was you. Ain’t happenin’.”

  “I can take Trevor to school, no problem. I’ll stay with him too. If someone is after Shana they might try and get Trevor too.” Blake looked around to the shocked faces, “What? I can manage a five year old.”

  Jake nodded his head. “Thank you Blake. It’s a great idea and I thank you. We’ll see you at eight. School starts at eight fifteen.”

  Blake groaned, “So early? I’ll be here but you owe me.” He was looking at Paul.

  “What? Trevor’s not my kid. I’m going to bed.”

  Jake said. “We need to meet again tomorrow night. All of us.”

  They all made noises of acknowledgment before disbursing.

  Chapter 11

  Paul was pacing outside Bailey’s room wondering what she was doing and if she needed help. He was imagining her using her new toy. God, he was going to drive himself crazy. He should just go back to his room and change into his pajamas.

  He was walking to his room when he heard a small sound of pain. He rushed into her room but she wasn’t there. He called out, “Bailey, where are you? Are you okay?”

  She called back. “I’m in the bathroom and I’m…okay.”

  He knew exactly what she was doing. “Bailey, can I come in?”

  Her immediate response. “Uh, no I’m pretty busy. You should…just go. I’ll be out in a few minutes and then we can chat.”

  He ignored her protests and walked right into the bathroom. He was shocked by what he saw. Bailey was sitting on the cold tile floor naked, knees to her chest with the dildo lying on a towel in the middle of the floor on a towel. She looked upset, lost, and confused.

  She looked up at him, “I couldn’t do it. It wouldn’t go in. No matter how hard I shoved. I can’t do anything right.” Her face fell down to her knees.

  Paul walked over to her and picked her up into his arms. “Come on, we need to talk.”

  “But I need to do this tonight. I can’t go back to work like this.”

  “Bailey, there’s no shame in being a virgin. It will be a blessing and a gift for your mate. Please, let’s just talk for a while.”

  He pulled the covers back and put her under them pulling them high enough to cover her scar. She smiled innocently up at him and he felt like a major pervert because of the bulge in his pants. What? He was only human, kinda.

  Paul climbed in the bed above the covers and started with, “I know Jake hasn’t had time to tell you about mates yet, with all the drama, so I figured I’d talk with you.”

  “Um, are you sure you want to do this now? Maybe another time when I have more clothes on.”

  Paul gave her a cat that got the cream grin. “I think you’ll be fine. Let’s make a deal. We’ll talk, and then I can tell you how to help yourself with the problem you were having.”

  She was quick to respond. “Deal. Go on.”

  Paul sighed. “Mating is a very special and sacred thing. It doesn’t happen to all shifters, but those who it does happen to are extremely blessed. In this pack the wolves travel often in attempt to scent their mate.”

  “You can smell your mate? What does it smell like?” She was sitting up like an eager child in school.

  “Patience. I’ll get there. Your mate will smell almost irresistible. Scent is unique to everyone as you know-”

  Bailey blurted, “You smell like lemongrass,” before she thought better. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay, Bailey. You smell like the sweetest cotton candy.” Uh oh, she noticed his eyes were changing. “Mates are physically compatible as well as mutually attracted. It takes a strong shifter to deny his attraction. Mated pairs are unable to find physical pleasure if their mate is not in the room. If another person touches one half of a mated pair in a sexual way they would become physically sick. We mate for life.”

  “So, let me get this straight. If Jake were to touch someone’s boob, not Shana’s, he would
get sick?”

  Paul nodded. “Yes, and the same applies to Shana. It will always be them together, until death and even then when a mate dies often times the other dies shortly after.”

  “Great, with my constant assaults and bad luck, I’ll probably never mate. No one will want to risk mating with me, with the scars and bad luck I’m bad a bet.”

  Paul looked directly at Bailey letting her see the golden hue in his eyes. “That’s not true. You are a prize to a worthy male. You have proven that you are protective of children, even when you did not breed them. You’re loyal to a fault, refusing to go to the hospital until you personally warned Jake of the threat to his family. And you’re beautiful inside and out. Any male of worth would be lucky to have you.”

  Bailey was blushing and had a warm feeling low in her stomach. No one had ever spoken kind words to her, except her brother and it felt nothing like this. “You are going to make some girl very happy one day, Paul.” She wished she was good enough for him. He smelled great and he knew a woman’s value.

  “Oh, I plan to. Hopefully very soon.” Paul had to take a deep breath before he jumped on Bailey and took what he wanted, her heart.

  Why did she feel liquid seeping in between her legs? Oh shit, what was happening? She was leaking, had she started her period? No, she didn’t smell blood. She took some deep breaths and noticed her scent had changed and silently prayed that Paul hadn’t noticed. Too late.

  Paul inhaled and smelled Bailey’s rich woman’s cream. He wanted her so very badly. He had tried so hard to keep his distance knowing she needed time but…he didn’t want to wait. He slid closer to Bailey and noticed her heart rate had picked up. Was she afraid of him?

  Paul saw her white knuckles clutching the sheet. “I would never hurt you, Bailey, you know that.”

  “I know.”

  “Can I talk to you about your bathroom escapades?”