Bonding Experience

By Cora Zane

When her pack leader issues a mating pact between herself and hotshot werewolf Luke Roman, Claire knows there must be some mistake. She doesn’t know Luke very well, but she can’t imagine two less compatible people being thrown together.

Luke has loved Claire for years, and he isn’t about to let her undo what he’s worked so hard to put into effect. When she refuses to discuss the pact with him, even when he follows her home, Luke finds a silk scarf on her dresser and decides to try other, more creative ways of winning her approval.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cora Zane
• Release date: Aug 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463354124

Cora Zane

Cora Zane is probably best known as the author of the Werekind Werewolf Series of e-books. She began writing professionally in 2005 and has since published over twenty stories through multiple publishers, including Cleis Press. Her erotica work has been called "Surprisingly Kinky" by Library Journal, and a "Charasmatic Standout" by Publisher's Weekly. She is also a former P.E.A.R.L. finalist and a winner of the Freya Award. Primarily an erotic romance and erotica author, she has also published horror and slipstream stories in various anthologies. You can visit her online at www.corazane.com.

Book preview

1

Claire absently wiggled her pen between her fingers and thought, It’s far too pretty outside to be stuck in here working. She frowned and rested her chin in her palm, momentarily ignoring the slew of invoices she had sorted into three messy piles on the counter. From her perch behind the cash register, she could see directly out the hardware store’s shady window front—a terrible distraction. It was Saturday, and the traffic along Main Street seemed to flow in an endless, colorful knot.

She sighed and pulled herself back from a daydream. She knew she was only prolonging the inevitable. The books had to be completed whether she wanted to do them or not, and unfortunately, they weren’t going to balance themselves.

She had just put pen to paper, her thoughts drifting toward home and whether the repairman had dropped by her house to fix the AC yet, when the door to the street opened, causing the chimes to jangle and a rush of warm wind to sweep inside. Claire slapped an arm across the stacks of invoices to keep them from flying away, and looked up again, doing a double take when she noticed Austin Maddox heading straight toward her.

Hey, Austin. What can I do for you this morning?

Nothing much. Just came by to drop this off.

The scarred werewolf rarely spoke to anyone, and even now he barely met her eyes as he set an envelope on the counter and tapped it sharply with a finger. Before she could ask him what it was about, he tipped his cowboy hat at her and turned on his heel. He was out of her Uncle’s store as quickly as he had entered it.

Claire stared after him in confusion then dropped her gaze to the large yellow envelope he had left behind. She picked it up and turned it over. There was no to or from address, only her name handwritten on the front in big, black letters—Claire Vaught.

Unease swept through her, a tangle of wariness and anxiety that sent her heart into a gallop. A part of her knew it was from Seth Parker, the local pack leader, before she even opened it.

That looks like a council letter.

Claire glanced up at the voice and found her Uncle Albert standing in the doorway to the storage room. He watched her over the rim of his glasses, his blue eyes glittering. He seemed to be waiting for an unspoken verdict. There was only one reason she would get a pack letter, and they both knew what that reason was—she had been promised to someone as a mate.

A tremor ran through her, sending a wave of goose bumps racing over her skin. Claire shivered. She didn’t know why she should feel so unnerved when actually on some level she had been expecting this to happen. After all, she was thirty-three and still unmated. How unlikely was that?

It wasn’t like she didn’t want pups, or that she hadn’t tried to find a suitable mate. She’d just never been very successful with the males. No one who had ever asked her out stuck around past a second date, so of course, it had crossed her mind on more than one occasion that Seth might eventually arrange a mating pact for her.

Here was the tangible proof that she had been right.

Claire swallowed hard and shifted her gaze back to the letter. She puffed up her courage and ripped it open with trembling hands.

So who’s the lucky fellow? Uncle Albert asked.

Claire took out the single page and flipped it over, ignoring the formalities. She scanned for the name, and the instant she saw it, her breath seized in her lungs and her insides clenched into a tight, fluttery knot.

Luke Roman? She blurted his name, incredulous.

An odd, electric feeling skittered up her spine. There had to be a mistake. She flipped the page over again and reread it from the beginning, paying special attention the wording. It was indeed a mating pact.

Stunned by the revelation, Claire read the name three more times before it finally sank in. I’m being mated off to Luke Roman? She dropped the letter to her side and scowled at her Uncle. Is Seth out of his mind?

The older werewolf shrugged. I can only assume he had your best interests in mind when he made the match.

She snarled at that. Best interests my ass!

Uncle Albert was clearly going senile. Her best interests involved staying as far away from Luke Roman as possible. The overbearing, hotshot werewolf lived to torment her—a trend that had started in high school and still carried on to this day. How many times in the last month had she left work to find him leaning against her car?

Oh, this is bad. This is serious! She refolded the letter and reached under the counter to tuck it into her shoulder bag.

I’m taking off for a while, Uncle Al. Do you mind?

Go ahead. He grumbled and waved her away. That’s what I pay you for. To take off and wander around town...

As he lumbered back into the storeroom, she could have sworn he muttered something that sounded suspiciously like good ole Luke.

Claire gritted her teeth and pretended she hadn’t heard him say that. Luke might be well-liked within the community, but he wasn’t the right match for her.

She tugged her purse strap over her shoulder and started toward the door. She hated to leave when she had so much work to do, but this was an emergency. She needed to talk to Susie—and fast. If anyone could put things into perspective, her best friend could.

---

The busy, stop‐start traffic along Main Street lost some of its appeal once Claire was outside the hardware store and walking toward Clark’s Cafe. The warm air and sunshine felt good on her skin, but she was far too edgy to enjoy it.

Luke Roman... The name alone made her feel self-conscious and squirmy inside. Of all the available males within the pack, she would have to land him. Claire shook her head, still unable to believe it.

She could hardly wait to hear what Susie had to say about this pending disaster. Claire already had it in mind to go to Seth and try to get the pact overturned. It seemed like the most logical thing to do. And yet, a part of her wanted—no, needed—to hear Susie’s thoughts on the situation first.

Throughout high school, Susie had been there. She had witnessed how Claire had wrangled with Luke on an almost daily basis. She had seen the way he and his friends