Say You’re Mine

Copyright © 2016, 2018 by Aliyah Burke

Weakness for one is strength for another…

Casimir Lars, Alpha of the Tatra Pack, has fought hard to become the leader he is today. He refuses to show weakness—for in his experience—others will take advantage of it. He’s dedicated to his strong and fearless Pack, yet his life is thrown into upheaval when he has to track down a very specific woman.

Dyana Vance is headstrong, a professional archer, and married? When a stranger shows up claiming to be her husband, she’s less than trusting. There’s no denying the chemistry she has for him but she isn’t Pack.

And refuses to be treated as such.

Bringing her across the country to his lands, Casimir is torn between his growing feelings toward her and what he believes is his duty. Death, plots, and undeniable passion all fly around them. Dyana learns to deal with loss and discovery of something new.

When Casimir accepts what is to be, will he be too late or will his pride have pushed her away forever?

Will Dyana ever look at him and say you’re mine?

****

Chapter One

The charred remains of the land were barren and sorrowful. Two cars drove up from different directions and met on a patch of unburnt ground. A couple emerged from each vehicle.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Rachelle?” an older black man asked. “We won’t be around forever, Donavan. She needs—I need to know she will be protected.”

Donovan opened the back door and lifted the baby from her car seat. Her brown eyes watched him trustingly and lovingly. Nuzzling the cherubic face, he sighed. Rachelle joined him and settled a hand on his arm.

“This will work out.”

He wasn’t as optimistic. Glancing over the roof of his sedan, he spied the other couple. Uncertainty filled him but he did his best to contain it. They made him uneasy. From the inside of their luxury vehicle a thin boy emerged. His hair was stringy and he looked as if he rarely saw the sun.

His wife tightened her grip on his arm when he hesitated. Brushing a kiss along the baby’s head, he forced himself to move.

“How are you?” he asked as they met on green grass. There were no remnants or burn marks on the other female.

“Much better thank you.” The woman was the one who answered him. “Again, thank you for saving my life.”

He gave a small smile, his unease ratcheting up as the air around them thickened with danger. In his arms, his granddaughter looked up at him and stuck out her lower lip, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Let’s get this over with.”

The man spoke to the boy in a language, Donovan didn’t understand. The young child coughed and nodded before walking up to him and holding out his arms.

Donovan reluctantly handed over the baby to the boy who despite his frail body, held her securely in his pale, stick-like arms. His granddaughter’s skin, dark against him.

“As long as this is valid,” the man said. “She will be considered one of our own. Protected. Defended. If ever she needs anything it will be provided.”

As long as it’s valid? I thought this was supposed to be legal and binding. Marriages usually are. He’d heard of shifters but until the night he and Rachelle had witnessed the raging forest fire that damaged the land and he’d had saved the woman who’d been tied up in a trunk—about to be burned alive—he’d never seen one. They had been naught but rumor to him. Now that he’d met them, he wished they were still just rumor.

“You saved my mate and wanted nothing for yourself. You did so at risk of your own peril. For that I can never repay you. You wanted something for your granddaughter. With this arrangement, she will be part of our pack.”

Perhaps money would have been a smarter way to go.

“Thank you,” Donovan said, slanting a peek at his wife. She’d been the one who pushed this. And it made him wonder. Her typically vocal self was unusually quiet. And Donovan was extremely suspicious.

The man—whose name he still didn’t know—said some things in that language he didn’t know. And that was it. The child, with his watery blue eyes, handed her back and Donovan took her quickly.

“Good day.” His words came yet he was unsure what was proper to say at a time like this. He walked back to his older car and fastened her back in the car seat. Rachelle stood talking to them and he watched her.

When she returned to the car, he slid behind the wheel and started the engine. Her smile was in place and she leaned back with a sigh.

“That went well.”

He turned around and drove away, glimpsing the young boy in the rear-view mirror as he climbed back into his car.

“Well?”

“Yes. She is safe and provided for now. The family is large, wealthy, well-respected, and very powerful. They own all of this.”

“Why would they keep their word? She’s nothing to them and that boy is sickly.”

She patted his arm. “It will be for the best.”

Personally, he wasn’t as confident. Arranged marriages weren’t necessarily successful. Peering in the rear view again, he stared at the eight-month old bundled up. She opened her eyes and sent him another heart-melting smile. Lord help him, he hoped they hadn’t just committed a grievous error.

* * * *

25 years later

Casimir Lars fought off his increasing agitation. This woman was proving to be a bear to track down. He remained alert, not about to let his guard down.

Spying the coffee shop he sought, he strode across the street, well aware yet ignoring those who watched him. Mostly women and he could sense the lust coming from them. He pushed through and scanned the patrons. The only information he had was she was a black woman. That was it. Oh, and her name.

His phone vibrated. “What?”

“How’s the hunt going?”

“Not in the mood, Kraven.” Mattias Kraven, not just one of his top lieutenants but the top and his best friend.

The laughter, unapologetic. “I am sending you her picture. I finally located one.”

“Good.” It had both baffled and annoyed him no pictures were found of her.

“Anything else?”

“Two from the Western Clan are coming in to discuss the issues we’ve been having along their border with them. I will handle it.”

“Make sure the cubs are there to apologize, we don’t need to be at war with them.”

“I will. Have fun.”

More unappreciated laughter. Casimir hung up and waited for the image and name.

When he saw it, he understood why they’d not found her. Her last name was different than his grandparents had given him.

Dyana Vance. Not Hunt like they’d assumed. A lot more information popped up but he ignored it. It wasn’t pertinent to learn about her, just to get what he came for.

He spied her in the far corner. Unlike most who occupied the place, she read an actual book instead of being on an electronic device. He read the title and realized he had no clue what Straits of Power was about, although with the submarine on the cover, he deduced an idea. He also hadn’t heard of the author, Joe Buff.

He strolled over to her table and waited for her to acknowledge him. She finished her page before deigning to glance at him. Her brown eyes snared him, the amber flecks they contained were unique. One eyebrow had a slash through it and rose. She summarily dismissed him and went back to her book. He frowned, being the alpha of his pack he wasn’t used to being waved off like yesterday’s trash.

“Yana!” A female hollered from behind him.

His target, closed her book immediately, and slid it into an old tatty black backpack. She got to her feet, shouldered her bag, and brushed by him without a word.

“I’m coming, Shyla.”

“We’re going to be late!”

“We’ll be the first ones there. As usual. I don’t think the Banks’ will party without you.”

Humor laced her tone. His wolf perked up its ears but other than that showed no more than a passing interest. He realized she was on her way out and turned to stop her, no way he was leaving without getting what he came for.

She stood by her friend, Shyla. A pretty petite blonde with a huge smile. Even less reaction from his wolf. He took a step in their direction when someone else came up to them. A black woman who also smiled a lot.

Dyana shoved a hand through her straight hair and the sun gleamed off the gold highlights, as she laughed at her friend’s comment. She had a nice laugh. A new scent hit him. It garnered a response from him and his wolf. Turning back, he instantly spotted the man who’d entered via the other door.

He looked like the majority of the people he’d seen, however, the scent he emitted told an entirely different story. The man hunted. When he met Casimir’s gaze, he deferred immediately. He was a beta all the way around and wouldn’t challenge an alpha.

With a blink, Casimir glanced back to where she’d been. She was gone. Ignoring his wolf’s amusement, he locked onto her scent and began tracking her.

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