A Mate's Wish (Ouachita Mountain Shifters 0.5) by P. Jameson Page A

foretelling rendered him useless to the pack. A male who couldn’t secure a mate? One who couldn’t produce offspring? Even though he’d been too young to do much more than simply survive pack life, he was the weakest link and therefore expelled. Or as he liked to think of it, tossed on his ass. 
    He’d spent so much of his life hoping the Elders were wrong. Now, he needed them to be. And not because his mate was beautiful beyond words, with a body he’d love to spend a lifetime learning to master. No, he needed them to be wrong because his pack—the very ones who’d betrayed him—was in danger.
    And she was the only one who could save them.
    His plan had to work. There was much more at stake than the future of his love life.
    Her scent drifted over to him, a thousand times stronger than it had been when she was still inside. His wolf shuffled under his skin, wanting out, because he knew Trager wasn’t going any closer to her. Wolf wanted to get cozy, and Trager wouldn’t mind either, but he had to take it easy.
    He gripped the handle of his bike so hard, it squeaked.
    His mate paused by the door of the restaurant to dig in her purse, her long hair falling to shield what he knew now was full round cheeks, big almond-shaped eyes, and a mouth that formed a perfect puckered bow.
    Time to go. He needed to regroup, rethink. Some place her scent wasn’t clouding his mind.
    Trager revved his bike, preparing to escape her presence and find a way to calm his wolf. But at the first sound of the engine, his mate’s head snapped up, her eyes narrowing, her gaze lasering on him.
    His mouth dried, at the look on her face. Shock, anger, concern. He couldn’t understand why she looked at him like that, with her already big eyes widening.
    Attempting to ignore her, he turned the wheel of his bike to pull into the lane, narrowly missing a minivan. But that wasn’t the real trouble….
    It happened so fast all he could do was react, and deal with any consequences later.
    The pop of a chain snapping, the rush of collective gasps, the whoosh of something falling fast enough to do a hell of a lot of damage when it landed. He had the smallest fraction of a second to make sure his mate was out of harm’s way.
    When he realized he was the one in danger, not her, he dove from his bike, rolling across the road, thankful for a break in the traffic. Before he’d even come to a stop, a crash that sounded like a bomb exploding, sent dust and debris skittering into the road. He jumped up, and lunged at his mate, shielding her from any possible shrapnel.
    Their surroundings erupted in commotion. A disturbing combination of sirens wailing, people yelling, and horns honking. But Trager hardly noticed any of it. Not with his mate pressed so close to him he could feel her heart pounding like the fluttering of a tiny bird’s wings. Up close, she was even more delectable, her lips parted slightly. His body surged with adrenaline, breath heaving with the effort to keep his wolf in check. He wanted to put his nose to the soft skin of her neck and sniff, until her scent was all he knew.
    Her brow furrowed, forming a tiny line between her eyes, before she pushed at his chest. “Let me go!”
    A command. He immediately stepped back, releasing her. She wobbled on her feet, but when he reached out to steady her, she jerked away. A knot formed in the pit of his stomach. And so it begins .
    Trager cleared his throat—twice—before he could speak. “Are you okay?”
    She nodded. “Fine. You?” Her voice sounded angry rather than concerned.
    “I’m good. My bike might not be though.” Staring back over his shoulder, he could see the dust was clearing. A crowd of people gathered around his crumpled motorcycle. Some stared his way, pointing, their lips flapping a story about his narrow escape.
    Trager’s gaze went upward, to the heavy machinery working the nearby construction site. It appeared a steel beam had come loose and fallen on his poor ride.