Wild Mark: Wild Mountain Mates, #2

By Sadie Drake

It's a game of cat and mate--and I play to win.

This fated-mates, InstaLove curvy girl romance features a possessive mountain lion shifter and the smart-mouthed woman he marks as his own. No cheating, and HEA guaranteed. 

Gemma is curvy, cunning, and challenging. She thinks she can run from me? After the hottest night of my life, I'm not letting her escape.

Cody isn't who I thought he was. He isn't a mountain man. He acts like a businessman. But he makes me feel like prey...and I wonder--what kind of man is he? 

Primal play, a filthy talking shifter, intense emotions and a man who hunts his mate make this an extra steamy short read.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sadie Drake
• Release date: Jul 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798888810026

Book preview

1

Cody

I took a deep breath before answering the phone.

You didn’t return my call, my grandmother said in greeting.

The mountain lodge where I’d spent another long day in meetings receded in the rear-view mirror as I drove higher up the mountain to my house. Too many days in a row of suit-wearing with no chance to run made me irritable. And my grandmother had no concern for my own short fuse.

I was in meetings all day.

You’re always in a meeting.

It’s the nature of the business. I pressed harder on the accelerator, impatience to shift riding me. My area of Wild Mountain boasted phenomenal scenery and no guardrails. Panther shifters chose habitats that reflected the animal inside—alluring, stunning, lethal.

All you think about is busine—

"The family business," I interrupted.

There is more to life than money.

I’d love to see that quote from you in the society pages.

Disrespectful cub. She sighed dramatically. I can’t die in peace with no heirs.

Fates willing, you’ll live forever. You have more offspring you can count, including seven children, a few dozen grandchildren, great-grand—

I don’t like any of them, except you. You’re my favorite.

Don’t hold back, Elaine. Favorite, huh? Patience, I told my panther. This call had a purpose.

Grandmother. And there’s no restraint in their behavior. Why should I restrain my words? She was bitter.

I pictured her on the lanai of the family maison-basque, iced tea glass in hand. She’d tried to keep my grandfather’s memory alive through his ethos, the family that works together, stays together. But after his passing, too many of their offspring decided spending money was more important than creating and nurturing a legacy.

Another way we differed from our wild, solitary cousins, puma concolor. For most panther shifters, family and fidelity were synonymous. It pained my grandmother to know that the concept was fading from our blood.

Fair point.

If only more of them were like you…

You just called me a workaholic.

I meant dedicated. Loyal. A family man.

Here it comes. My panther yawned, my wild side resigned to the call.

Who are you sending me?

So suspicious. Can’t I just call—

Tell me.

Dane Berons, and his brother Nicolas.

More cousins. Dane’s successful on his own. There’s no need for him to learn about the mountain lodge or any other Wild Mountain projects. I let the silence stretch. We could both be stubborn and patient, but I needed to run, to dig my claws into dirt. And she had nothing else to occupy her.

I sighed. Fine. Say it.

You need a wife.

We need a mate. My panther rejected the idea of simply allowing anyone into our life. He wanted a true mate, a woman who would accept both man and beast. We wanted love.

When I was younger, I couldn’t comprehend the difference.

I gave everything to the family and our interests, in order to repay Grandmother and fill the void left by my parent’s death. Most of my relatives had dismissed me as one of the family charity cases. But I’d made something of myself, taking over the business from the inside, until my place in the family was undeniable.

Except lately, all the work that usually kept me satisfied—even the precarious Miami project—couldn’t touch the restless emptiness in my chest. As though his fur was being raked back along his spine, my panther bristled at the feeling.

I’ll meet with Dane and Nicolas. Whether they stay here is up to them. The familiar conversation irritated me more than usual tonight. The suit, the car, the power moves and plans were all emblems of a civilized human. I was neither.

Let them help you. You’ll never find a wife if all you do is work.

I don’t want a wife. I want a mate, I grunted, one hand pulling at my tie. Shit. My irritation with the day and conversation allowed the confession to spill out.

All other parts of my life were to my exact desires. I refused to settle in this one. I wanted what my grandmother had with my grandfather. Strong, opinionated, and an absolute terror when displeased, she smiled and laughed with him. Fated to be mates, their love for each other made a young cub believe magic was real.

Nire seme preziatua, she said. Her voice was soft as she called me precious boy, the way she had when I was little and she’d hug me tight after a run-in with my older cousins.

My panther has never so much as twitched a whisker toward any woman I’ve met. I turned onto the long driveway leading to my house, the call of the wild building again, now that I was so close to my personal territory.

And how could he, when you work—

Grandmother. Let it go, please. I fisted my hand to stop myself from ending the call. And no set-ups. They never work out.

I could find a witch and get a spell.

Stop. We both know witches aren’t real.

You don’t know everything, she snapped. You think because you’re young, you’re so much smarter. Life can still surprise you.

My panther flinched at her tone. He remembered the way she’d flick our ear when we misbehaved.

I’m sorry, Grandmother.

She sighed. Thank you. Now, the boys will be there next week, and when you get back to Miami, you’ll take me to lunch to make it up to me.

Boys. Dane was a few years older than I was. We’d always be boys and cubs to her.

It would be my pleasure.

Of course it will. That’s enough of that. I have other calls. She hung up—probably eager to plot who could ‘accidentally’ bump into us at lunch.

Time to run. My panther was right. I couldn’t stop my grandmother, but I could run and reconnect with the wild. And pray to the Fates to be kind.

2

Gemma

I rolled my shoulders as I waited for Bex to come out of the hotel room. I was tight all over from the long drive. The situation I’d left behind in Louisiana made me tense.

Lia’s waiting for us at the bar. She stepped outside and gestured across the empty road toward the roadside bar. It looked more like an old farmhouse with a wide front porch.

Bex gave a little grunt and pulled the hotel door closed behind her. The slam echoed in the night air. She frowned as she turned to lock the