Marisa Chenery: Jagers Mate

They did a thorough search of the alley but didn’t see the animal that had made the growl. “Nope. Nothing. Whatever it was, I don’t think it hung around. Let’s go.”

“You don’t have to ask me twice.”

As Nick and she walked out of the alley to their cruisers, Daylen couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched. Before she got into the car, she looked one last time down the alley. It remained just as empty as it had been when they had left it.

Jager stood up from where he’d crouched on the upper level of the fire escape attached to one of the buildings that made up the alley walls. He’d had a good vantage point from up there to see what went on below. The shadows had also helped to hide his presence. When he’d let Daylen spot him, he’d climbed up the fire escape before she’d followed him. Being able to move faster than a mortal did have its advantages.

He’d been quite happy to watch Daylen when she’d done her search of the alley. Her scent had drifted up to him on the slight breeze, making him ache for her. His cock had hardened the instant she’d stepped into the alley. His gaze had run over her face and body. She wasn’t supermodel pretty like female werewolves were, but she was far from ugly with her full, kissable lips, high cheekbones and sharp brown eyes that didn’t seem to miss anything. Even dressed in her uniform, Jager had been able to see the faint outline of a small, curved waist and more-than-a-handful breasts. The uniform did more to hide her body than not. He wanted nothing more than to strip it off her and see what she would look like out of it. He also wanted to free her hair from its tight bun to see how long it was while he ran his fingers through it.

Then the male cop had arrived. Seeing how friendly they were with each other, Jager had had to put a tight rein on his wolf. The wolf didn’t like any other males around his potential mate. Neither had the man. Until he claimed Daylen as his own, her being around other males would make the mating urge ride him all the harder.

He’d been able to keep himself in control up to the point where Daylen had kissed the male cop on the cheek. His wolf had wanted him to rush down to the alley and warn the other male away from his mate. Jager hadn’t been able to stop the growl that had rumbled out of him.

Once he figured Daylen would have driven away, Jager headed down the fire escape.

Thanks to Dirk, he’d found out in which precinct Daylen worked. Dirk hadn’t been able to find a telephone number or a home address. Obviously being a cop, Daylen didn’t want that kind of information to be common knowledge.

Reaching the alley below, Jager took off at a fast run to where he’d parked his Camaro. From the conversation he’d heard between Daylen and the male cop, he figured she would be on her way back to the police station since it was the end of her shift. He drove to the street where it was located and parked at the curb across from it where he had a good view of the cars leaving the parking lot. He fully intended to follow Daylen home. Fifteen minutes later, Jager watched a dark blue Ford Focus pull out of the lot with Daylen behind the wheel. He quickly started his car and merged into the traffic and followed at a discreet distance behind her.

The sky had completely lightened by the time he saw Daylen pull into the driveway of a bungalow in a quiet neighborhood. He drove past the house and parked his car a couple blocks away. He’d had all day to come up with a plan to be around Daylen without her trying to throw him in jail. There was a good chance it would backfire on him, but Jager was willing to take that chance.

Getting out of his car, he quickly made his way back to Daylen’s house. When he reached it, he went to the side where the sun’s rays had yet to touch. With a quick look around to make sure none of Daylen’s neighbors would see him, Jager reached for the magic inside of him that would allow him to shift to his wolf form.

With his hand held out in front of him, Jager watched it begin to shimmer and then blur as he shifted. In a matter of seconds, a wolf with light brown fur took his place. On silent paws, he made his way over to the front door of the bungalow. He then scratched at it. When it didn’t cause any reaction from inside the house, he threw his body up against it. Still not hearing any movement from the other side of the door, he threw back his head and let out a loud howl. If that didn’t get Daylen’s attention, nothing would.

The sound of a loud howl coming from the front of the house had Daylen rushing to the front door. She’d just finished changing into her pajamas. Knowing she wouldn’t get any sleep until she found out what had made the noise, she yanked open the front door to peer outside.

No sooner had she gotten the door open then a large furry body darted past her and into the house. “What the hell?” Daylen turned around to find what suspiciously looked to be a wolf sitting in the middle of her front entranceway hall staring at her. On closer inspection, she noticed it was a male. Not sure what to do next, she stared back at him.

The wolf soon broke off the staring contest, got up and headed down the hallway that led to her bedroom.

“Oh, no you don’t,” she called as she followed him after she shut the front door in case there were more strays out there.

This was one headache she didn’t need. All she wanted to do was get a few hours of sleep. Since she didn’t have to work for the next couple of days, Daylen usually shifted back to sleeping at night instead of all day, which required her to only nap for a few hours before she got up again. That being the case, she didn’t want to waste what little time she had chasing after what she thought was a wolf to get it out of her house.

Sure enough, the wolf had made a beeline straight to her bedroom. When she entered the room, he opened his mouth in a way that almost made it look as if he were smiling at her. Almost as if he knew exactly what room this was.

Trying not to make any sudden movements, Daylen edged nearer. “All right, you, it’s time for you to leave.” While she spoke, the wolf cocked his head to the side and wagged his tail. At least he didn’t seem to be vicious. Actually, Daylen was starting to get the feeling he was used to being around humans. It made her wonder if he was someone’s pet and had somehow gotten loose. It would explain why he had been so quick to run into the house after she’d opened the front door.

As she edged nearer, the wolf remained where he was, still watching her every move.

Just before she reached him, he closed the distance between them. He gently took her wrist in his mouth and pulled her toward the king-sized bed. Daylen knew better than to try and yank her arm free. She could feel the sharp points of the wolf’s teeth against her skin, but he wasn’t biting down hard enough to break it. If she tried to free herself, there was a good chance those teeth could do some damage.

Once he had her at the end of the bed with her back toward it, the wolf released her.

Daylen straightened to her full height and looked down at him. “And what exactly do you think you’re doing? I’m not a new toy to play with, you know. You obviously have to belong to someone. You’re pretty tame. I really should call animal control right now, but I have no idea how long it will take for them to get here, and I really do need to sleep.”

As if he had understood what she’d said, the wolf jumped up and put his paws on her chest. Not expecting it, Daylen lost her balance and fell back on the bed. The wolf jumped up onto the mattress beside her and lay down next to her with his head on her upper chest.