Aaron's Awakening (2019 Reissue) Read online

  Aaron’s Awakening

  Lavinia Lewis

  Copyright Lavinia Lewis 2019

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is a work of fiction. All characters, places, and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

  License notes

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. The book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of Lavinia Lewis.

  Warning: This book contains material that some readers might find disturbing or objectionable and is intended for mature readers only.

  Back Cover Information

  When werewolf Aaron Drake moves to Texas with his father, Stefan, he couldn’t be more excited to meet his mate – Panther shifter Cary - on the very first day in his new home.

  But Aaron’s happiness is short-lived when, upon their first meeting, Cary runs away from him, distraught.

  Panther shifter Cary Lewis is absolutely terrified to discover that werewolf Aaron Drake is his mate.

  Mate. The word fills him with dread.

  Cary Spent two years being abused by his mate Gill and the last six months trying to get over his death. The last thing he needs or wants is another mate, especially one who appears to be as aggressive and dominant as Gill had been.

  But the mating bond is hard to resist and so is Aaron Drake. Just when Cary begins to come to terms with their union a representative from the supernatural council shows up, and Cary learns that cross-species mating is strictly forbidden.

  Forced to hide their relationship from the council or face dire consequences their bond is further tested when they discover gay shifters in the area are being targeted and killed by a group of local thugs.

  Are there too many problems for two such young men to overcome or is their blossoming relationship worth taking a chance on?

  Reader Advisory: The events in this series follow chronologically so each book is best read in sequence as part of the series.

  Chapter One

  As quietly as he could manage, Aaron pressed an ear to the door of his father’s bedroom and listened intently.

  Stefan would tan his hide if he knew Aaron was eavesdropping, but how else was he supposed to learn anything? In a few months’ time, he’d be twenty, but his father still treated him like a child.

  Stefan and his mate, Cody, had been secretive around him lately—their conversations halting whenever he walked into the room. His father was keeping something from him—Aaron was certain of it.

  Tonight he intended to find out exactly what that something was.

  Aaron only hoped his father’s evasiveness had nothing to do with the pack. The last time his position as alpha had been challenged, Cody had nearly got killed. Aaron had been made to watch the challenge and there hadn’t been a damn thing he could do to stop it. He was a little older now and stronger. He wouldn’t let his father or Cody go through something like that again.

  Not if he could help it.

  When the hushed voices in the room fell silent, Aaron pressed closer trying to hear more clearly. He yelped when the door was yanked open, and he fell into the room, coming down heavily onto his knees.

  “I knew he was listening!” Cody pointed an accusing finger at Aaron.

  Stefan grabbed Aaron by the ear then dragged him farther into the room. Aaron had gone through a growth spurt in the last six months. At six-foot-two, he now stood shoulder to shoulder with his father but Stefan pulled him along as though he was no heavier than a feather.

  “Do you want to explain yourself?”

  Stefan put his hands on his hips and frowned at his son.

  Stefan’s nostrils flared and Aaron was sure he saw the vein in his father’s temple pulse.

  “Well, if you won’t tell me what’s going on with the pack, I have to find out for myself, don’t I?”

  Stefan rolled his eyes. “How many times do we have to tell you? There is nothing going on with the pack!”

  “I’m not a kid anymore, Dad. When you are gonna start treating me like an adult?”

  “When you start acting like one,” Stefan boomed. “And stop listening at doors.”

  Aaron narrowed his eyes. “Is someone challenging you again?”

  “Oh, for pity’s sake!” Stefan threw his arms up in exasperation. “Cody, can you help me out here?”

  “Aaron, come sit over here.” Cody patted the bed next to him and smiled reassuringly.

  Aaron sighed, got up off the floor then crossed the room. He sat down next to Cody and waited to hear what he had to say. If anyone was going to tell him the truth it would be his father’s mate.

  “No one has challenged your father’s position as alpha, I promise you.”

  “Then what’s with all the secrets?” Aaron asked. “You’re keeping something from me. I know you are.”

  Cody looked to his mate, as if for consent.

  Stefan’s shoulders slumped in resignation but he said nothing.

  Cody turned back to Aaron and nodded. “Yes. We have been.”

  “I knew it!” Aaron swallowed hard.

  Crap.

  This could be bad.

  “What’s wrong? Is it Dad? Is he sick?”

  Cody rolled his eyes. “Your father’s thirty-six, not seventy. There’s nothing wrong with him or with me for that matter. We were working on a surprise for you.”

  Aaron looked up at his father and then back to Cody. “Huh?”

  “A surprise, you know…for your birthday.”

  “Oh. Oh!”

  “Yes, oh! Now that’s all we’re going to tell you. If you learn any more, and it will completely ruin what we have planned.”

  Aaron leaned forward, eyes wide with excitement. “Are we going to see Kelan?”

  It had been months since Aaron had seen Cody’s elder brother.

  The few times he’d visited the ranch, Kelan had been in New York with his mate, Jake. Aaron had heard a lot about Kelan’s new mate but he’d yet to meet him.

  “Aaron. You’ve got to get over this infatuation you have with Kelan.” Stefan took a seat on the bed next to his son. “He’s mated now, you know that. Nothing could ever happen between the two of you.

  “You’ll find your own mate soon enough, I promise.”

  “I know that, Dad. Jeez, I’m so over Kelan.”

  Aaron might have been attracted to the big, powerful alpha wolf when he’d first met him, but a lot had changed in the last six months. Aaron had not only grown in size but in strength.

  His own alpha instincts and power had increased tenfold.

  In the year he’d spent in college, Aaron had found himself increasingly attracted to smaller, somewhat fragile men.

  Men he could protect.

  “So are we going to see him?”

  “Well, sort of,” Stefan confirmed.

  “Stefan! What did you go and tell him that for?”

  Stefan shrugged. “He asked. I’m not going to lie to him.”

  “Yes! When do we leave?”

  Aaron was practically bouncing on the bed. He loved Texas and being on the ranch around the horses. He couldn’t think of anywhere on earth he’d rather be.
<
br />   “Well, you’ve ruined the surprise now.” Cody pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. The action made him look younger than his years.

  “You might as well tell him the rest.”

  Aaron looked to his father expectantly.

  At first, he thought his father wasn’t going to tell him, but then Stefan sighed and nodded.

  “Okay, fine. We bought you a horse.”

  Aaron’s jaw practically hit the floor.

  “Stefan!” Cody’s face turned bright red. “Not that! I meant the other part.”

  “Oh, damn.” Stefan winced.

  His face colored and he threw his mate an apologetic glance.

  “Oh my God! A horse! Are you kidding me? Where is it? When can I see it?”

  “Uh, yeah, so the other part I was supposed to tell you is that the council has agreed to accept my brother as pack leader. He’s going to be taking up the position in the next couple of weeks.”

  “Does that mean…?”Aaron was so excited he couldn’t finish the sentence.

  He stared at his father wide-eyed.

  “Yep. We’re going to be moving to Texas.”

  “Yes!” Aaron pumped his fist in the air. This was the best news he’d had all year, by far. “Is Mom coming?”

  “I don’t know. You’re gonna have to speak to her about that. Your mom knows she’s welcome, but now that she’s dating Cole, she might not want to move away from New Mexico.”

  “Oh…right. I didn‘t think of that.”

  Aaron was happy that his mom had finally met someone to share her life with. She had been alone since before Aaron had been born, and although she tried to hide it from him, it was obvious she’d been lonely.

  Cole was a nice guy—genuine.

  Aaron liked him a lot, and he was good for her. In the few months that Aaron’s mom had spent with Cole, she’d been happier than Aaron had ever seen her.

  “Look, we understand that what Leah decides might affect your decision, too, so you don’t have to make your mind up right now.”

  Cody patted Aaron on the back. “Have a chat with your mom first, okay?”

  “I want to come,” Aaron said quickly. “I’d rather Mom came too, but I still want to go even if she doesn’t.”

  Stefan nodded. “All right. We’ll talk to your mom together about it, okay?”

  “Okay. How long before we can move?”

  “Well, I’ve got a few things to arrange here first but if everything goes to plan then I’d say in about two weeks.”

  “Cool. Are we going to be staying at the ranch?”

  Stefan frowned. “I don’t know. We’re not sure if there’ll be room enough for all of us. The ranch only has four bedrooms. Kelan and his mate, Jake, have one. Luke and Mark are in the other.

  “With Cody and me that would only leave one room, so it all depends on what your mom decides to do. If Leah wants to come too, then we’ll have to find ourselves a place in town.”

  “What about the bunkhouse?” Aaron asked. “I could sleep there.”

  “Aaron, the bunkhouse is for the cowboys that work on the ranch.”

  Here we go.

  Aaron had been waiting for this part. “I know that Dad, but maybe I could work on the ranch. Kelan said he’d give me a job if I wanted one.”

  “What about college?” Stefan narrowed his eyes. “You promised me you’d think about going back.”

  Aaron had known that his dad would give him shit about college, but what use was a business degree to someone who wanted to spend their days riding horses and working the land?

  “I have thought about it,” Aaron said. “And I really don’t think I’m cut out for college. I gave it a year as I promised, but it’s not for me. I’d rather work on the ranch.”

  “You could do a lot better for yourself with a college education.”

  “You never went to college and you do okay.”

  Aaron grinned, feeling triumphant.

  Let his father try and get out of that one.

  “Crap.” Stefan pleaded with his eyes for Cody to help him.

  “Aaron, it was different for your father. He had responsibilities as pack leader and with his father’s business interests.”

  “Maybe,” Aaron conceded. “But I’ve made up my mind, and I’m old enough to make my own decisions. And besides, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to work on a ranch.”

  Stefan huffed out a breath. “We’ll talk about this later.”

  His father could talk all he liked.

  Aaron knew what he wanted to do with his life and no amount of talking was going to change his mind.

  Chapter Two

  “Ack!”

  “Cary?” Kelan called. “Are you okay? What hap—?”

  Kelan strode into Misty’s stall then stopped short inside the door.

  Cary was lying flat on his back, arms flailing. He was covered head to toe in straw, horse manure and feed. His face filled with heat when his boss tried, unsuccessfully to stifle a grin.

  He couldn’t blame the man.

  Cary might have laughed himself if his ass wasn’t sore and he wasn’t stinking of horse shit.

  “I…uh…slipped,” he explained lamely.

  Kelan crossed the stall in two long strides and reached a hand down. Instinct took over and Cary threw his arms up over his head to protect himself.

  “I’m sorry.” Kelan stood up straight and backed away a few steps. “I was just… Damn it. I didn’t mean to scare you, I was just gonna give you a hand up.”

  Cary lowered his arms.

  Crap.

  He felt even more embarrassed than he had before. When was he going to stop jumping at his own damn shadow? His skittishness was making the people he worked with uncomfortable.

  “Sorry.” Cary’s voice was barely audible to him over the pounding of his heart.

  “Don’t apologize. No harm done…but you do know I’d never hurt you, right? You’re safe here, I promise you that.”

  “I know.”

  Cary lowered his gaze.

  When he spoke again, he heard the crack in his voice. “I’m trying. I am. Please don’t fire me. I like it here.”

  “Now where would you get a crazy idea like that?” Kelan frowned and placed his hands on his hips. “I have no intention of firing you. You work hard—matter of fact, you’re the hardest worker I’ve got.

  “I could do with more men like you around here.”

  Cary shook his head regretfully. “I’m clumsy.”

  He seated himself on the stall floor then brushed away the feed that covered his chest. “I drop things, I fall over, and I’m miserable. None of the other hands want to spend more than five minutes at a time with me.”

  Shit.

  Now he was trying to talk himself out of a job.

  What the hell was wrong with him?

  “You’re not miserable—you’re grieving—and if any of the hands are giving you shit, I wanna hear about it, understand?”

  Cary was relieved that Kelan didn’t mention his clumsiness.

  “No, everyone here has been nothing but nice to me, it’s not that. It’s…”

  He tried to keep the self-pity out of his voice, he really did. Cary didn’t want his boss to feel sorry for him.

  “It’s not them…it’s me. I’m trying to be normal, but it’s hard.”

  “I know.” Kelan’s eyes softened and he gave Cary an encouraging smile. “It’s gonna take time. You went through a lot back in New York.

  “I know Gill never treated you right but he was still your mate. You can’t expect to get over his death overnight.”

  “But it’s been six months, and it still hurts. What if I never get over it?”

  The part that worried Cary the most was that, although he was sorry to have lost the only mate he was ever likely to get, he didn’t miss Gill—not really—didn’t ache for him. Hell, Cary missed his cat, Henry, who’d died in the fire Gill set back in New York more than he missed Gill.

>   Just what sort of person did that make him?

  Sure, Gill had treated Cary badly—he’d almost killed him, in fact…on more than one occasion—but if they’d been mates then shouldn’t he feel worse than he did?

  Shouldn’t he feel something?

  Cary had missed Gill in the beginning, or so he’d thought. But now he wondered if he’d ever actually missed Gill at all, or if it was just the knowledge that he’d lost something he wouldn’t ever get again.

  There was no way he could explain all that to Kelan. The alpha loved Jake with a ferocity that Cary could never imagine feeling for another person, so he would never understand.

  Kelan was lucky.

  Cary had never had a connection like that…and probably never would.

  “You will get over it,” Kelan replied, tearing Cary out of his gloomy thoughts. “But you’ve got to give yourself time to heal properly.”

  Cary raised an amused eyebrow. “Time heals all wounds, huh?”

  Kelan met Cary’s gaze and grinned. “Exactly. Just don’t rush it. You’ll know when it’s time to move on and meet someone new.”

  Cary shook his head. “Oh no. Hell no. No way. I don’t want to meet anyone else. I couldn’t go through that again. It would kill me.”

  “Not all men are like Gill, you know. We don’t all use our fists. There are some decent men out there, but you have to be open to it. When the time is right, you’ll know.”

  “I guess.”

  Cary shrugged and lowered his eyes.

  He wasn’t so sure that Kelan was right, but he didn’t want to talk about his problems anymore. Talking about them didn’t help. In fact, dwelling on everything that was wrong in his life made him feel worse.

  Fortunately, his boss didn’t press the matter.

  “I’ve got to get going,” Kelan reached for his Stetson, which was hanging on a hook outside the stall door. “My brother’s flight gets in a couple of hours from now and I’ve been roped into picking him up at the airport.”

  Cary’s mood brightened instantly at the mention of Kelan’s younger brother. “Cody’s getting here today?”