Home In His Arms (Wildwood Mates Book 1) Read online

  Home In His Arms

  Wildwood Mates Book 1

  Skye R. Richmond

  Copyright © 2019 Skye R. Richmond & Rheland Richmond

  All rights reserved.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are a product of the author’s imagination. Any similarities to actual persons, living or dead, is pure coincidence. As are any similarities to any businesses, events or locations.

  All products and brand names mentioned are registered trademarks of their respective holder and or company. I do not own the rights to these, nor do I claim to.”

  Cover Art: Ana J Phoenix

  Edited by Ann Attwood Editing and Proofreading Service

  Proofreading by Alphabitz Editing

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  Contents

  1. Ronin

  2. Ollie

  3. Ronin

  4. Ronin

  5. Ollie

  6. Ronin

  7. Ollie

  8. Ronin

  9. Ollie

  10. Ronin

  11. Ollie

  12. Ronin

  13. Oliver

  14. Ronin

  15. Ronin

  16. Oliver

  17. Ronin

  18. Oliver

  19. Ronin

  20. Oliver

  21. Ronin

  22. Oliver

  About the Author

  Also by Skye R. Richmond

  Writing As Rheland Richmond

  Chapter One

  Ronin

  Ronin lay in bed for a moment after his alarm clock went off. He’d purposely left it on the table far away from his bed so that he would have to get up to turn it off.

  He groaned as he sat up in bed. The last thing he wanted to do was go to the meeting he had scheduled this evening. Ro had an appointment to meet with the Alpha leader of the pack on the outskirts of town. And he couldn’t exactly bail, especially since Rick, his oldest brother and Alpha, was the one that set up the meeting.

  Ro had driven all day after his last meeting the night before and had crashed once he’d checked in to the hotel in Chesterfield.

  His alarm clock didn’t seem to be letting up, the sound making him want to smash his phone, so he got out of bed and walked over to it.

  All you have to do is attend and hope for the best.

  They were in the midst of trying to set up a work exchange program. Although calling it that was a tad disingenuous since it was really a chance for alphas and omegas to find their mates. But, even with that being the case, they needed to set up volunteers to live with host families. They’d also made a rule that all host families had to be mated couples to keep their omega charges safe.

  Rick thought it was the perfect way for alphas to meet their omegas, especially those that hadn’t found their mates in their respective packs. Ronin knew that as much as his brother wanted mates to come together, Rick was really searching for his own mate since he couldn’t leave the pack unattended to go looking, and he definitely didn't want to have to mate with one of the women the elders in the pack kept parading his way.

  Ronin wasn't exactly on the mate search… not that he didn't want one, but he wasn't exactly sure he was ready for an omega, though if he happened to meet his mate, well… still, he wasn't actively looking.

  “Time to get ready,” Ro said on a sigh. “Might as well get it over with.”

  He got through his shower and didn't bother with a shave since he was already running late. By the time he was on the road, he had barely half an hour to make it to his destination.

  Ro was about ten minutes into his drive when his phone started ringing. He glanced toward it over on the passenger seat and breathed a sigh of relief. His first thought was that it was Rick calling to check up on him and see how things were going. He wouldn't have been surprised, either, if his brother had called to find out if he was going to make it to the meeting on time.

  Thankfully, it was Maddox's name on the caller ID. Maddox was a friend from his days in the human army—they'd belonged to the same team. Those men he'd served with were like his second brothers… for lack of a better word. Ronin tried to catch up with his former teammates, but they didn't do it nearly enough.

  He answered the call using his Bluetooth, and his friend's voice immediately filled the car.

  “Yo,” Maddox said.

  “How's it going, bro?” he asked.

  “Going well. Going well,” Maddox replied.

  Ronin could clearly hear noise in the background, and couldn't help asking, “A little early for a party, isn't it?”

  Maddox laughed. “Nah, man. I'm at the bar, and you should be here too.”

  Fuck, that sounded perfect to Ronin right now. He'd give anything to be there and not on the way to a meeting that was sure to drag on and waste his night. “Wish I could, but I can't,” he sighed. The reluctance was heavy in his voice.

  “Come on, man. It's been ages since we got together with the whole gang. Say hello, men.”

  Ronin heard the voices of a few of his teammates, although instead of, “hello,” it was more along the lines of, “join us asshole.”

  “Trust me, I would rather hang out with y'all tonight. It sounds like a blast, but I'm not in town. I'm in Chesterfield. So, I'm going to have to make it another night.”

  “Did you say Chesterfield?” Maddox asked. “Did I mention that we're… hmm, let me check. It looks like we’re in the same town.”

  Ronin snorted. “No, you failed to mention that. What a coincidence.”

  Maddox laughed loudly into the phone. “We might have had a bit of a head's up of where you’d be. We spoke to Finn, and he mentioned you'd be down this way today. We've been working a job about thirty minutes away, so we figured we'd run on over here, and, well, here we are. There's really nothing you can say now to get out of it.”

  Other than Rick will have my head if I bail.

  But somehow the words that came out of his mouth were, “Maybe just one beer.”

  “Great! See you soon. We're at 54th Street Bar.”

  “Okay, I'll be there in ten or so.” Ronin disconnected the call and looked down at his clock on the dashboard. A few extra minutes wasn't going to hurt anyone. Well, maybe just him when Rick got a hold of him. Still, Ro shrugged, and muttered, “He'll get over it.” Ronin needed the night out with his buddies.

  Maddox, Zander, and Phoenix were all shifters that Ro had gotten to know well through the army. They'd all left their packs for different reasons—Ronin being the only one still in his—and when they'd bonded, finding people like themselves, they had become firm friends and formed a tight-knit group. The only ones that would be missing tonight were his cousins, Finn and Dax.

  They'd all left the army at pretty much the same time, Ro, Finn, and Dax had gone home to Wildwood, while the other three had started their own security company.

  Ro didn't catch up with them as often as he liked. Between his work for the pack and them jetting out of the country for jobs… well, their schedules didn't exactly line up.

  Still, when opportunities arose, they tried to meet up. Rick couldn't blame him that this just happened to be one of those opportunities.

  Nope, it wasn't his fault. Ro pulled over to the side of the road and searched for the name of the bar on his GPS.
He found he was literally ten minutes away… serendipity, much?

  Okay, five-minute detour, Ro, no more… maybe ten.

  Ronin walked into the bar and was immediately hit with the scent of aftershave, whiskey, beer, and body odor. One of the perks of his shifter nose was that he smelled everything… He immediately glanced around the dimly lit, smoky room, his eyes landing on each table taking everything in until he came upon them. Maddox, Phoenix, and Zander were all sitting round a table at the back of the room nearest to the exit… He wasn't surprised. Even when you weren't working, one thing the army taught you was hypervigilance.

  They were all laughing and talking, completely unaware he'd arrived. At least, so he thought.

  He made his way towards them as quietly as he could, trying to sneak up on them. He thought he had and was about to give them shit for it, but before he could speak, Phoenix beat him to it.

  “And there he is.” Nix smiled and held up his beer bottle in salute before taking a drink. “Nice try,” his friend teased.

  “Hey, Nix. How ya doin'?” Ronin rolled his eyes, but there was still a smile on his face.

  “Can't much complain.” Nix shrugged. “Trust me, I've tried, and it does absolutely no good.” He winked at him, and Ro couldn't help snorting at his friend’s words.

  Ronin took a seat at the table.

  “Yeah, but doesn't stop you from bitching now, does it?” Zander shot at Nix.

  Ro chuckled at their banter. Man, he missed these guys.

  “And how about you?” Ro directed at both Zander and Maddox. “How's the security biz treating y’all?” he asked.

  Zander held up his hand. “That shit can wait until you get yourself a beer, man,” he said, then motioned for a waiter to come over to the table.

  “You just get me.” Ro batted his eyes at Zander.

  His friend shot him the finger right as the waiter got to their table.

  “What can I get ya?” the waiter asked.

  Ronin noticed that he stood close to the table, perhaps a little too close… certainly close enough for his body to rub against Zander's. Ronin couldn't help the snicker that escaped as he took in the waiter’s blatant flirting—if you could call throwing yourself at someone flirting—but his friend didn't seem to mind because he shot the waiter a flirty grin that had the man almost become a puddle at his feet.

  “Hey there again, handsome,” Zander flirted. “This is my very good buddy, Ronin. Robbie, say hi to Ronin.”

  Like a puppet on a string, the waiter said, “Hi.”

  Ro swallowed the laugh that was trying to get out. Fuck, Zander was a horrible flirt. With his clear green eyes and chiseled cheekbones, the man always had both men and women throwing themselves at him.

  “Beers for the whole table,” Zander said, his handsome face split wide with a smile. Ronin shook his head at Zan's antics… not that he was surprised.

  When he looked over to Maddox and Phoenix, the two were lost in conversation, not caring one way or the other. They were definitely used to him.

  “Is that all I can get ya?” Robbie asked, the innuendo clear as day. Zander's smile deepened.

  “Well, since you asked, your number would be nice too.” Zander winked, and Robbie's face reddened.

  “Coming right up,” he said. He turned on his heel and walked away, the sway in his hips more pronounced.

  Ronin snorted. “That was fun, as usual,” he said. He chuckled, shaking his head, then glanced over at Maddox and Phoenix. “Y'all missed quite a show. Or maybe you're just used to it.”

  “Used to what?” Maddox asked.

  Ronin chuckled and shook his head. “Never mind! So, now… how’s business and what brings y’all down this way?”

  “Same ol’ same ol’,” Nix said. “Work and play… although Zan is doing most of the playing for us.” Nix chuckled, but then it changed into a sigh, which his friend covered by drinking the last bit from his beer bottle.

  Ronin couldn't help wondering what the story was behind that sigh…

  “That good, huh?” Ronin asked.

  Maddox laughed. “Actually, for the most part, it's not half bad. It definitely beats the army. It pays better, and we choose who shoots at us.” His friend snickered, downing half of his beer.

  Ro rolled his eyes at Maddox, shaking his head at his friend’s macabre sense of humor… although it was nothing new.

  “What about you, bro?” Maddox asked, “How's life?”

  Ronin groaned and rubbed his face with his hand. He was about to speak when he glanced to his right and saw Robbie approaching the table with their beers, so he paused.

  Robbie handed out their beers. “Need anything else?” His eyes were on Zander as he asked that question. Zander arched an eyebrow at Robbie, and the poor guy looked away.

  The poor guy was playing with fire and didn't even realize it.

  “I think that's it,” Maddox replied, breaking the eye-fucking Zan was giving Robbie.

  “Killjoy,” Zander muttered.

  Robbie nodded, but before leaving their table, he passed a note to Zander. “Holla if you need anything... I'm yours for the night,” Robbie added, before walking away.

  Ro shook his head at the two of them and watched as Zander opened the note. A smile appeared on his friend’s face at reading whatever was on the piece of paper.

  Zander held it up for everyone to read. It was Robbie's phone number and, “I'll be off at midnight.”

  “Looks like someone's getting lucky tonight,” Nix teased, and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

  Ronin chuckled. It was just like hanging with the men when they were back in the army and out on leave... Zander was always the first to ditch them for a piece of ass... Nothing changed. Maddox turned to Ronin. “Anyway, you were about to fill us in on how life was in your shoes.”

  Ronin took a swig of his beer before speaking. “Honestly, not bad. I'm just doing a lot of random tasks for Rick at the moment. Right now, he has me going to certain packs, meeting with pack Alphas to set up work exchanges so that unmated pack members have a chance to find their mates. Not exactly like taking out insurgents in Fallujah, but I need calm right now... well, sometimes it gets tedious..." Ronin shrugged. “It's going well so far, but I still can't wait to be done.”

  “Better you than me,” Maddox replied. “I can't imagine having to do all the schmoozing.”

  “Yeah, wouldn't have been my first choice, but I don't really know what I want to do next, and as annoying as Rick is... well mostly... I love doing something to help the pack. Finn and Dax took over as sheriffs at the station. But I don’t think law enforcement is for me.” Ro sighed, “Honestly, I don’t know what’s next, so why not help a bunch of pack members get mated.”

  “I see you said help others get mated. Don’t you want to?” Nix’s brow was raised questioningly.

  “Can’t say it’s part of my plan when I barely have my life together, you know,” Ro let out a sigh. He hadn’t admitted this, not even to Rome, his twin brother, but he was feeling a little lost.

  “That fated shit is for the birds, man. Fuck all that mess. Why would you want to tie yourself to one person forever?” There was a bitterness in Maddox’s tone that they’d never heard before.

  “Cynical, much?” Zander said. He let out a chuckle, “Don’t you believe in having a mate and finding your fated one?”

  “Why would I want to tie myself to someone, so much so that losing them makes me want to die? We’ve all seen death. Can you imagine doing what we do and leaving your omega at home?” Maddox’s fist was wrapped around his bottle of beer so tightly that Ro was worried he would break it.

  “Want to talk about it, bro?” Ronin asked Maddox. He glanced at Zander and Nix to see if they knew what this was about, but they both shook their heads.

  “It’s nothing, man,” Maddox replied, and took a long swig of beer signifying that was that.

  “Well, changing the subject,” Zander said.

  Ro shook his hea
d at his friend, but it was certainly one way to break the tension, and it seemed to work because they all laughed, even Maddox.

  “I know you said you’re not looking for your mate, but you do believe in fated mates, don’t you?“ Nix asked.

  Ronin shrugged. “Yea, I guess I do... although a part of me feels like maybe we are interfering with the goddess.” Ronin took another drink, before adding, “Then again, goddess helps those that help themselves, right?"

  “That’s right, shit ain’t handed to no one. You gotta work for it,” Nix replied.

  Zander looked down at the note that held Robbie’s phone number. He put it into his pocket and laughed. “I hear ya. If I didn’t just happen to be in this bar, then I wouldn’t have met Robbie. Who knows… he could be the one I’m meant to be with.”

  “Don’t bullshit a bullshitter,” Maddox snorted. “If he was your mate, you would have carried him out of here first chance you got.”

  Ronin thought about it. Nix was right. The goddess wasn’t going to deliver his mate to his front door... although that was basically what happened to Roman. Whatever, it didn’t even matter what he thought. He was going to do what Rick asked and set up the exchanges... but after another beer, though.

  “So, are you going to get together with him tonight...? Robbie, I mean?” Ronin asked.

  “Fuck, yeah!” Zander said, “He may not be mine, but have you seen that ass?” He chuckled as he downed more of his beer. “I’m only human after all... Well, mostly.”

  Zander chortled at his joke and the rest of them snorted. Yup, they’d heard that before.

  Ronin thought about that and took another sip. They continued talking and reminiscing, and he completely lost track of time until a glance at his watch proved that he had been there nearly an hour. A phone rang, and for a minute, he went into panic mode, thinking it was Rick calling him. Instead, it was Phoenix’s phone that was ringing.