Claiming My Mate

By Lila Fox

The last place Simone wants is to be is in the middle of the wilderness all by herself. She's so out of her comfort zone, she's shocked she can even funtion. When she comes face to face with a bigfoot, instead of screaming her bloody head off, she’s drawn to him.

Blake can't believe it when he catches the first scent of his mate on the wind. He thought he’d finally lost what little humanity he had left, expecting to be feral for the rest of his life. After his first look at Simone, the universe that had tortured him for the last six years tilts, and he feels normal and happy—things he never thought would happen again. But good things never tend to last...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Evernight
• Release date: Feb 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9780369507563

Book preview

Published by EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ® at Smashwords

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2023 Lila Fox

ISBN: 978-0-3695-0756-3

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Editor: Lisa Petrocelli

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

CLAIMING MY MATE

Carnal Lust, 2

Lila Fox

Copyright © 2023

Chapter One

Simone glanced at the red light that started to blink on the dashboard several miles back. She had no idea what it meant, but she didn’t think it was good.

She was on her way to meet her friends Brenna and Nicole, and she didn’t think she was more than ten miles from the town she was looking for. The scenery was beautiful, but it was unlike anything she’d ever seen. She was born and raised in the city and couldn’t remember if she’d ever touched a tree. She knew there wasn’t any grass around where she lived except next to some sidewalks.

The car sputtered, bringing her attention back to the present. Oh, no, no, please don’t do this to me! Simone cried. Just go a little bit farther.

The car decelerated, and then a puff of smoke came from under the hood. She pulled over to the side of the road, and it was barely crawling when it sounded like it coughed, and then nothing.

She put the car in park and turned the key before pressing her forehead to the steering wheel. After several calming breaths, she pulled her phone out to call and found she had no reception. Hell, what did she think? She was in the middle of nowhere. She hadn’t seen a car since she left the last big town, which was an hour ago.

God, nothing had gone right for her lately. She’d been fired after working at her job for six years, and the CEO had given his niece her position. Her boss called it downsizing. She called it bullshit.

One of her best friends was being stalked, and she was terrified for her. The guy was certifiably crazy and unpredictable, which made him even scarier.

Then the apartment building where she lived had a bedbug infestation, so they were told they had to move out until it was taken care of. She shivered in revulsion. God, she hated bugs, and the thought of a swarm of them taking over and crawling in all her things made her want to scream.

So, a decision was made between the three friends. They chose to leave the city together. They’d talked about it for years, but it had never been the right time. They needed this push to move forward, but Simone had to admit she was terrified to be away from the city. The country towns didn’t have anything she was used to. She doubted wherever the hell she’d been going—some town named Wolf something or other—would have a Starbucks, or plays, or nice five-star restaurants. But she’d adapt because she would rather be with her friends in the country than in the city alone and without them. All of them had shitty upbringings and very little family left. When they met in high school, they gravitated toward each other and had never left each other’s side.

Simone tried to calculate how many miles she’d have to walk to the town, and she knew she’d never make it by the time it got dark because the light was already dimming. Plus, she would bet her savings there were some dangerous animals in the forest around her. Didn’t all forests have meat-eating animals? Something had to eat the rabbits and squirrels, or they’d take over, right?

Something thumped against her trunk. Her head snapped up, and her stomach twisted with anxiety. The first thing she did was make sure her doors were locked. She turned and glanced out her back window before looking in her rearview mirrors, and nothing.

She lowered the driver’s side window an inch so she could listen for anything.

Nothing was there. The relief was enough to relax her abdomen, reminding her of her most pressing problem. Right at the moment, her biggest issue was that she needed to go to the bathroom, and there wasn’t one for miles. She had no idea how to do it outside, but she couldn’t wait any longer. It felt like her bladder was going to pop.

She had nothing to pee in the car and refused to pee in her pants, so she looked around for a Kleenex and opened her driver’s-side door. She carefully looked around before making her way to the back of the car. She scanned the area before she pulled down her pants and leaned her lower back against the fender, and God, the relief was worth the humiliation of peeing against her car. It helped that no one would ever know about it except the birds and squirrels.

Simone wiped herself, pulled up her jeans, and got a bottle of water out of the

Reviews for Claiming My Mate

[Jasmine Lutgen · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Quick little stories with lots of sex. Not much else. Wish she’d give us more storyline in her books.