Table of Contents
Title Page
Simon’s Runaway Mate
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
Simon’s Runaway Mate
James Pack
By Lacey Thorn
Simon’s Runaway Mate
by
Lacey Thorn
Cici…
I’ve been fascinated with shifters since my father married one and I inherited a big brother named Hannibal. Following him on the hunt for rogue wolves was fun and exciting. Right up to the minute it wasn’t. Waking up in a hospital bed with a large golden god looming over me wasn’t on my radar either. Falling for him? Out of the question. Now, I’m running because no matter how much I yearn for his touch, I’m not who he wants. But Simon? I’m learning he’s the wolf those tall tales warn you about.
Simon…
I’ve always had a fascination with humans. So fragile as they go about their day to day lives never knowing what lurks around them. Then there was her. I spilled blood for her. I’d do it again. I claimed her when I carried her to safety. My mate. I’ll forgive her for not understanding. She is human. But running from me should have never crossed her mind. Now, I’ll have to chase her down and show her exactly who she belongs to.
Copyright
© 2021, Lacey Thorn
Simon’s Runaway Mate
Cover Art by Supernova Indie Publishing Services, LLC
Edited by MICHELE PAULIN
Electronic Format ISBN: 978-1-949795-66-0
Published by: Lacey Thorn Publishing
Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.
Dedication
To every alpha who exists in my head. Your story is coming, and so are you. I promise.
Chapter One
~ Simon ~
She was mine. I’d known it the moment I heard her voice over the phone, demanding I get my ass in gear and drag my alpha to help her brother collect some bad guys and save the girl. Those husky words had stroked right down my spine and given my balls a jolt that had my cock going full mast. I’d been willing to drop everything and go grab her even before I realized the girl she described was Belinda James, the alpha’s sister. Even then, I couldn’t shake the grip of that voice.
It took me a bit to get to Bastion, discover no one could locate Bee, and gather the rest of Bastion’s inner circle, selecting who’d go with and who’d stay behind in case this was a ploy to gain access to the rest of the pack. Then we were off.
A few of the others noticed my preoccupation, and I knew they thought I was worried about Bee. They all thought I was in love with her. Though I’d hinted more than once that I’d be willing to get physical with her while we waited on our mates to show up, I hadn’t been serious. It was an easy offer to make when I knew she’d never accept.
No, I’d wanted to tease and befriend her, to make her feel wanted and accepted by someone other than her brother. For all the people in the pack around her, Belinda always came across as being sad. And alone. So I teased and complimented and invited her to go anywhere and everywhere. To show both her and the rest of the pack that for all her quirks, Belinda was a woman who belonged.
Either way, I wasn’t prepared for what we walked into. The first thing I saw as we entered the abandoned factory was that bastard Mullins tossing away a woman as if she were garbage.
I didn’t think. I reacted. Stepping in, I took out Mullins’ throat and let him fall where he landed as I made my way to the woman. If her voice hadn’t given me a hint, her scent slammed into me, saturating my senses in nothing but her. A growl rumbled up from my chest as I lifted her into my arms. Tiny. Fragile. Human. And irrevocably mine. My woman. My mate. My entire fucking world.
With a brief word to Bastion, I was out the door, following my mate’s scent to a battered Jeep with obvious wear to it. I’d make sure she had a brand new one. Something with all the newest safety features and any bells and whistles she preferred. I eased her into the back seat, shoving her clutter to the floorboards to make space for her. God, she was beautiful. She had thick waves of hair that fell in shades of brown and red to her shoulders. I wanted to sink my hands into it, but I’d already noted the bruising forming on the side of her head. It made me want to go inside and kill Mullins all over again. Any bastard who’d lay hands on a woman didn’t deserve to breathe. One as tiny and helpless as my human mate? He deserved a special kind of hell for touching her.
I dialed my phone as I slid behind the wheel, adjusting the seat and mirrors for my larger frame. The clinic picked up on the third ring. I cut across the greeting with little care.
“This is Simon. I’m bringing in a human. She’s currently unconscious. Cut on her stomach. Doesn’t appear deep. Bruise on the side of her head concerns me. Have a room ready and make damn sure the doctor is there when I get there. I’m less than ten minutes out.”
Silence for several long seconds then, “You’re bringing a human here?”
“Are you questioning me?”
I didn’t have to force the displeasure that filled my tone. Nor did I embellish the alpha growl that resonated from me. My pack was jokingly referred to as the alpha pack just as often as it was the James Pack. I didn’t know if anyone really
