A Tomboy for a Mate

“Oh... harder...Ohhhh!” The girl moaned, bent on all fours under him as Tony sped up his pace. He’d slept with her before but for the life of him, the beta to the Crimson Phoenix Pack couldn’t remember her name. Carrie? Clara? “Oh Tonnyy.” Clara threw her head back, her vibrant red hair falling down her pale back like molten fire as she came and Tony found his release soon after. He rolled onto his back, completely spent and Carrie curled into his side. Tony peeped an eye open to look at her. “You know the rules, gorgeous.” His voice was smooth. He’d done this multiple times. “You gotta get going soon.” Because Tony never let a girl spend the night. Letting them stay led to things like cuddling, pillow talk, and breakfast. It led to a form of socializing he definitely didn’t want to partake in with a nameless stranger. Plus, he didn’t want to give any girl the wrong idea that maybe he wanted more than s*x. No. Tony was perfectly happy to remain blissfully single at least until he found his mate. Commitment was unavoidable once that happened, but until then, Tony wanted to enjoy women. The girl leaning into his side let her lips brush across his bare chest. “Come on.” She let her hands trail down his torso in an attempt to coax him into another go around. It wasn’t working. “We could—” Her suggestive pur was interrupted by someone knocking on his bedroom door. Tony lifted his head startled at the incessant pounding. Who could it be at this hour? Tony sure as hell hoped one of his brothers hadn’t shown up unannounced. Grumbling inwardly, and not paying much attention to Cassie, who had her eyes trained on him, he shrugged into his pants as the knocking got louder and louder. Tony finally picked up the faint traces of strawberries once his s*x-addled brain had gotten time to come to grips with his surroundings. He sighed, opening the door to look at his childhood friend and pack warrior, Lana. Her brown hair was in a severe bun, piled atop her head and held in place with an inordinate amount of black clips. “What are you—” and then it dawned on him. “Oh s**t!” He had completely forgotten about patrols tonight. “Why even bother getting dressed, Tony?” Lana queried mockingly. He was going to have to shift into his wolf for patrols anyway, and it was clearly evident that he’d been naked only moments before. She was not amused. She’d been waiting for him for the last forty minutes outside his log home, which Tony had built from scratch with his bare hands, to start their patrols, and she’d known the moment she entered that he’d basically blown off his duties to screw some random girl. “I knew it!” Carrie screamed from behind Tony, clutching her purse angrily. Apparently she’d finally gotten dressed. “You only want me gone so you can screw someone else!” Carrie pointed accusingly at Lana. Lana simply raised an incredulous eyebrow and looked at Tony. “She’s a smart one all right.” Lana commented dryly, shaking her head. Tony shrugged. It wasn’t like he’d been interested in her IQ at the time. “He’s all yours you-you”—the redhead spluttered incoherently before spitting out the words—“man-stealing slut!” Tony’s usually smiling caramel eyes became positively lethal as they darkened and went to rest on the girl who’d just been in his bed. No one insulted Lana like that. At least not on his watch. “I think it’s time for you to leave, Carrie.” His voice was low, almost a feral hiss. Anger evident over his friend being insulted. “My name is Coralie.” She gave him a withering glare as Lana burst out into a peal of laughter. Red-faced, Coralie brushed by them as Lana jeered after her. “I may be a slut, but at least he knows my name!” And then the petite warrior doubled over in laughter as the resounding slam of the front door of Tony’s cabin echoed throughout the house. Tony merely crossed his arms and looked down at the 5’3” girl in her baggy shirt and sweats. She’d just cost him one of the better ones. There was no way Corey, or whatever her name was, was going to come back again. Pity, she’d had a nice ass, and she didn’t mind if he was a little rough with her. “How did you even get in here?” Tony finally asked, watching Lana flick away tears from her thick fringe of eyelashes. They were definitely one of her most discerning features. Tony had recognized early that Lana had eyelashes that could probably store rainwater in them if they tried. They framed a nice pair of startling gray eyes which definitely gave off a softer edge and contrasted to the harsh set of her mouth and defined cheekbones. Her Filipino heritage from her mother’s side was the reason Lana was petite. But the woman packed a hard punch. Tony knew that better than anyone. Lana always found anything that made her look soft to be an utter inconvenience. She was a warrior and a fierce one. Looking feminine was the last thing she wanted when her main aim was to take over as beta of the pack one day. Tony was the beta, but he didn’t feel at all threatened by Lana’s determination. For one, he knew he was stronger than her. For another, it kept him on his toes. “You always keep a spare key in the potted plant by your door,” Lana claimed dismissively. “Now come on, Big Guy. I know you find patrols a huge inconvenience, considering you probably had better things going on tonight”—her gaze flitted meaningfully towards his rumpled bed before going to meet Tony’s again—“but Alpha Xavier assigned us on night patrols for the perimeter near your house. Let’s get started, we’re already late.” Tony followed Lana outside, realizing he’d definitely made an irresponsible move tonight. But he’d completely lost track of time. Luna Rose had given him a top secret assignment. She’d entrusted him with a time traveling device that a witch had uncovered. Luna Rose possessed the ability to converse with the pack ancestors that had passed on. They had directed her to have the artifact hidden away. Tony could understand why. Even Alpha Xavier, Tony’s older brother by one year, had been tempted to use the device to go back in time. He’d wanted to try changing things, to try to fix his mistakes. He’d made a lot of them, especially when it came to Luna Rose. Alpha Xavier had tried to fight the mate pull when it came to Rose, completely intent on making his girlfriend his luna. But somewhere along the way, he fell hard for Rose and regretted fighting the mate pull for so long. Rose, adamant that the past was meant to stay the past, stated that no man should be allowed to tamper with history. She’d also stated that the future was meant to stay unknown for a reason as well. Tony agreed to an extent. Messing with time was dangerous. A person could set off an entirely new trajectory by changing one small thing that could domino into disastrous consequences. As he ran through the woods with Lana by his side, scenting the edges of their territory most susceptible to intrusions, Tony knew that part of the beauty of life was being able to live in the moment. So he’d taken on the task, venturing out today to go buy a map to figure out the best place to hide the damn thing. That’s when he’d run into Coralie. She was part of the neighboring Silver Creek Pack which Tony’s younger brother was the alpha of. Tony had slept with her a few times before and well…the woman came onto him. Deciding that it’d be a good way to take the edge off, he’d ended up losing track of time. But now, as he ran around in his wolf form, he couldn’t help but think there really had to be more to life than this parade of random nameless girls. Werewolves usually found their mates once they were sixteen and shifted for the first time. Sometimes, if you never found your mate, it meant your mate had died or that your True Mate had taken on a Chosen Mate, severing the True Mate bond. But Tony was only nineteen, turning twenty in another month. There was still time to find his mate. Tony playfully nipped at Lana in his wolf form. She growled back, wagging her tail playfully. The next thing Tony knew was that he was being pounced on by Lana’s wolf. Truth be told, he was the one to request night patrols specifically with Lana. Xavier had been about to place him with Olivia, but Tony knew they wouldn’t get much done. Olivia only wanted one thing from him, and it involved her on her back with him on top. Without any clothes on. If you wanted something done right, you went to Lana. What she lacked in size, she made up in speed and agility. Many a rogue often underestimated Lana’s wolf and paid the price with their life. In addition to being a fierce warrior, she was fun to be around. Tony and Lana had been friends since they were kids. Things with her were so easy and natural. She was one of the guys, part of the upper ranked warriors, and someone he’d known since he was in diapers. So it was no surprise when dawn broke , signaling the end of their night patrol, Tony invited her over to his place for breakfast. They flipped a coin to see who was going to get stuck cooking and Tony lost. “Think you can make me some pancakes without burning your house down?” Lana teased as he slung a friendly arm over her shoulders. “Not likely,” Tony replied flatly. “But I make a mean pair of waffles a la toaster oven!” Lana laughed at his awful joke and the two comrades entered the three bedroom home that Tony had built after graduating high school.