The Werelion Tycoon’s Forgotten Mate: Howls Romance Read online

  The Werelion Tycoon’s Forgotten Mate

  Howls Romance

  Celia Kyle

  Contents

  Blurb

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Blurb

  Avery returned from her Greek vacation, unable to remember the accident that caused her amnesia nor the man who got her pregnant.

  Elias has rid his pride of treacherous lions that stole Avery away and still hunts for his lost mate—unwilling to believe she’s dead as the traitors claimed. A chance glimpse during a conference call gives him her location, but when he arrives, he never expects that he’s been forgotten—or that his lost mate is pregnant with his cub!

  Now that he’s found her, he will have to convince Avery that their relationship was more than a vacation fling on the Greek Isles and that the scar on her shoulder is his mating bite. She belongs to him… forever!

  Chapter One

  Elias Leondros’s hands moved deftly across the keyboard while he spoke to his business partner, Galen Liakos via video conference. The wolf shifter had important news about shipping changes and how they affected profit margins and Elias made a good show of being committed to the conversation.

  Even if his heart was nowhere near business.

  “Ultimately,” Galen sighed, “even though it looks like a five percent hike per delivery, it’s going to save us funds at the end of the year.” Galen shuffled a few pages in his grasp, flipping through sheet after sheet before pausing to stare at Elias. “I know you worked on this for a long time, but there’s a new manager in distribution. We had to renegotiate.”

  “It doesn’t sound like you did a very good job,” Elias growled, his inner lion on edge though the cause of his animal’s frustration and simmering anger had nothing to do with business. He struggled against the beast, fighting not to come off too aggressive though he was sure he failed. “I had an excellent arrangement in place. Now you’re telling me there’s going to be an increase?”

  “As I said, the offset at the end of the year will balance the increase.”

  But Elias no longer listened. He idly observed the computer keys while his mind went to the multiple calls and upcoming meetings that filled his schedule for the afternoon… and the fact that what once captivated him—making money—now barely held his interest.

  Galen continued the meeting, moving beyond the increase in delivery costs to… something else. Elias wasn’t sure what and honestly didn’t care. Instead he flicked through the many open apps on his computer, seeing them all yet not truly seeing a single one. He had multiple windows open, only one of which was Galen’s video call. Not a single one captured his interest. Nothing captured his interest any longer.

  All he could think about was the ache in his heart. The hole in his chest where his love once resided. The emptiness now took up residence and consumed his every waking moment.

  He spent so much time and energy covering the gaping blackness that he was always exhausted. It was like an open wound, torn and shredded, leaving only small pieces of his heart behind—a rift that could never heal.

  It was the place his mate should have been—the place that had belonged to her since the day he was born. Fated and destined, drawn together with more surety than magnets, he had felt the lack of her before he found her.

  At that time, there was a sweetness to it, an expectation. Even though it had taken years to find her, he always had the hope that he would discover his other half. It kept him sane. Kept him going from one day to the next.

  It drove him to be the best alpha he could be, leading the pride with generosity and strength so he could be worthy of his bride when she finally came along.

  He toyed with some pens at the edge of his desk, a harsh cough from the speakers reminding him Galen was still on the line. His friend deserved better than this type of behavior and yet… Elias had difficulty concentrating long enough to give anyone respect, let alone the alpha of a wolf pack on the other side of the world.

  “Sorry, Galen,” he barked shortly. “What was that?”

  He struggled to focus on the call, barely moving as he placed his hands on the desk and looked at his fingers pressing into the wood. Part of him wanted to roar and shatter the furniture—wreck everything in the room as his heart was wrecked.

  Finding Avery had been like standing in the sun for the first time. Like every breath he had ever taken was too shallow and suddenly he had air in his lungs. The way her dark eyes sparkled and looked up at him, the curve of her lips and the fall of her brown hair.

  She had known it just as surely as he had. That was the magic of the connection. There was no guessing, no courting. Just a complete and utter knowledge that this creature was made for him and no other.

  The days before Avery were remembered with a sort of bitter sweetness, where the lack of her was a tease, not torture. Then finding her, bonding with her, mating with her… The lion in him had purred with joy every moment of the day.

  As the memories crowded into his mind, his claws extended, just a little. Human nails gave way to the cat’s claws. A faint, annoying screech hurt his ears as he made small lines in the lacquered mahogany.

  The lion did not purr now. Elias didn’t believe it would ever again. It begged to roar. It longed to rip, tear and destroy.

  He could become a dark thing indeed, now that she was gone with no hope of return.

  He tried not to think about it, but the trap door had been opened and he had fallen through.

  The inescapable fear of finding her gone. Her scent rich with spilled blood, sweat and fear. Frantic tracking, desperate to find her. Finding instead the small group of lowlifes who had stolen her from him. They had wanted control of the pride. They thought the best way to do that was take his mate. They thought it would make him easy to control.

  He had torn one to shreds without hesitation, turning to the four others and threatening to destroy them if they did not release her immediately.

  That was when the leader announced she was already dead. Elias killed the others in an eyeblink, razor sharp claws and powerful muscles ripping them apart.

  He had held the ringleader Carlos in his hands, shifting back into human form to deal with this one. The man’s eyes had been full of fear, but still he laughed.

  “You’ll never be happy again!” the bastard roared. “She’s gone!”

  Elias begged for any clue. Where was her body?

  Thrown in the river, came the reply.

  Elias crushed his skull.

  He spent the rest of the evening tracking her. The scent of her blood permeated the air, and the scent trail did indeed lead to the river. But she was never found. He hunted. He checked news reports every day. He paid millions of dollars to trackers and detectives.

  Nothing. Never, ever, anything.

  With the memories at an end, he came back to himself, struggling to pry his claws from the wood of the desk. He had carved long furrows in the perfectly smooth surface. He had not even registered the pain from the emergence of his claws, the agony of emptiness in his chest the only thing he could truly feel.

  Gone, gone, his chest was as barren as his life. It was like having shotgun rounds blasted into his heart over and over until nothing was
left.

  Perhaps he should go away, roam for a while. See if his lion could be soothed by solitude or by the routines of being an animal. There was one big problem with that idea, though.

  He could turn into a rogue cat, feral and untamed—more animal than man.

  At least in his home in Greece, he had the rest of the pride to worry about. It kept him sane, in a sense. He wouldn’t call this turmoil of dark thoughts true sanity but having a purpose meant the solitude could not swallow and destroy him.

  The screen flashed again, and he realized his friend was still talking.

  “Yes, Galen?” He tried not to sigh. He knew life went on and the fact he felt like a dead man walking should not affect others. However, he found it very difficult to focus on things like profit margin when it literally felt like his chest was dripping from an open wound.

  “My assistant has just brought over some documents.” Galen, by rights, should be annoyed at him. Should be a surly, snarling wolf alpha that demanded Elias’ attention. Yet the male tried to step gently. Galen knew the state Elias was in. Almost everyone did. Shifters gossiped worse than humans.

  “Yes?”

  “Maybe you should come to New York and review them in person? If you sign off on it, we can finalize this new client.”

  Elias looked up through the tiny window on the screen, toward Galen’s office and the petite female at the wolf alpha’s side.

  If his heart had still been in his chest, at this moment it would have broken free and flown.

  He couldn’t believe his eyes.

  Avery.

  No, no, impossible!

  But it was her. Skin that pale, creamy hue he remembered so well, catching the light like alabaster. Her cheeks blushed naturally as her enthusiasm for life bubbled inside her. It made her eyes sparkle, her lips curve and her hair bounce.

  “Elias? Elias?” Galen almost yelled through the screen.

  “I can’t...” he whispered.

  He watched, transfixed. She left Galen’s side and moved around the office, smiling and laughing as she organized stacks of files. Sick, cold fear dropped through his stomach as the heart that had been dead for so long began to beat with joy and hope.

  And fury.

  Why did she not come to him? After everything that had happened, how could she just leave? She was his mate! He knew she had felt it, too.

  The urgency in him begged to be released.

  “Galen, who is that woman?”

  “What?”

  “The woman in your office, right fucking now! Who is she?”

  “Uh.” Galen paused, looking around and then waving a negligent hand toward the female. “That’s Avery. She’s the assistant to my executive assistant.”

  “Where did she come from?”

  “She applied, just like everyone else. Her résumé was very short, but she impressed me with her manner. I made a good choice, I think. She’s very organized.”

  “Yes. She always was.” Elias rasped, voice a mere whisper.

  “Are you all right, old friend?”

  “Yes. I mean, no.” He shook his head. He was unsure if he would ever truly be well again. “There is something going on here. That is my mate.”

  “What?”

  “She’s my mate! I’m coming for her!”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Neither do I!” Elias pounded his desk, frustration bubbling through him. “It hardly matters. She’s mine!”

  He ended the call roughly, abusing the computer. He was slightly amazed he hadn’t broken the device since his loss.

  With one phone call, he ordered his car from the garage. Their destination? The airfield where his private jet was being prepared for the long flight from Greece to New York City. Perhaps he would whisk her away shortly after he arrived. If he attempted to stay in town and talk to her in the city, she could vanish just like she did before. All he had to do was turn his back and she’d be lost in the crowd. He could never forget her scent, but he still feared tracking her through New York’s crowded streets.

  Yes, as insane as it sounded, he had to get her somewhere private. He had to take her up in the plane and then talk, really talk.

  How could she leave me… I know she was taken, and she didn’t intend to go. My mind understands this. But my heart, my wounded heart, cries now even harder than before.

  There was no hope, only an endless, empty void.

  Now rage, terrible rage interlaced with the confusion.

  Why didn’t she come to me?

  She survived the kidnapping, so why didn’t she return? His fury knew no bounds and his mind was full of stalking her, grabbing her hand and leading her to the jet so he could close them off in their own private world.

  Then, he would get the truth. She wouldn’t be able to run again.

  He had to get to her. Touch her, smell her… Look into her eyes. His lion twisted against his bones. It roared so loudly it shook his thoughts from his head. Its hunger and desperation consumed his mind. That fury joined with that of his human and they became one in their desire.

  He let his mind wander back to the few moments he saw her in the background of the call. Watching her move around with the bright smile on her face… No, he could not kidnap her onto his jet no matter what he desired. He did not want to give any reason for her joyous smiles to die. Whatever was going on, he had to give her the chance to explain on her own terms. He couldn’t terrify her into submission like he would one of his lions.

  Her status as his mate did not diminish just because he felt betrayed by her existence. He couldn’t trap her or coerce her. Just because she left him and broke the mate bond did not mean he could do the same thing.

  Pain twisted in his chest. He still felt incredible disbelief that she was right in front of him. So much longing, so much fear and so very little hope.

  He would have her. His lion and his heart would have it no other way. He was still having trouble accepting the situation, as if she might be a ghost or an apparition.

  But she was real. She had interacted with others in the office while he watched, gracing them with her smile and the flick of her hair.

  He longed to stand in that warm gaze again. To finally be in the sun again.

  “My love, we will be together,” he whispered. “This time, forever. I’m never letting you go.”

  Chapter Two

  Avery took jaunty steps across the paved sidewalk, enjoying the bright click of her heels on the pavement, the cool breeze in her hair, and the warm sun on her face. She simply embraced the hustle and bustle around her, enjoying life for once. Things were looking up for her.

  Finally.

  She had a good job. Heck, she was lucky to have such excellent employment. Being the assistant to an executive assistant didn’t sound all that exciting, but she enjoyed her work, especially since the company was one of the busiest and most successful in the United States.

  For a while, it had seemed she would never have anything, ever again.

  Her hand drifted to the tight lump of her belly and she rubbed the taut curve with a gentle stroke.

  “Except you,” she whispered.

  She paused at her regular stop, purchasing an herbal tea and fruit pastry before returning to her trek to work. She meandered along the edge of the sidewalk, out of the rushing foot traffic of New York City’s rushing streets. She nibbled on her pastry, reveling in the ability to buy something fancy for breakfast rather than just scrimping by as she had not long ago. It seemed the baby enjoyed the sweet, as well, rolling and kicking every time she swallowed a bite.

  “I see you like apple turnovers,” she spoke to her belly with a wide grin.

  Her gaze trailed over the big buildings towering above as she drew a deep breath into her lungs. The world appeared brand new, sky clean (mostly), fresh blue, and clouds spotlessly white. She liked this time of year, the crispness, the anticipation of change and the bracing chill that came with the turn in the weather.

 
She wondered if she’d always loved this time of year or if it was a new thing in her life. Then she wondered if she’d ever know.

  Beyond the last few months, Avery had no memory of her prior life. Nothing. Her oldest memories were of waking in the hospital, weak and sick. Apparently, she’d almost drowned and was pulled out by a passing truck driver. He had taken her to the nearest hospital.

  Once she’d woken, the questions had begun. What’s your name? What happened to you?

  And Avery hadn’t known. Not then. Not now. She was a blank slate of nothingness.

  Then they’d told her not to worry. Her baby was fine and healthy.

  Baby?

  That had definitely been a surprise. She’d been about twelve weeks pregnant when she’d woken in the hospital, barely showing yet. Not only did they immediately let her hear the heartbeat, they did an ultrasound, showing her the tiny human inside her, moving around and sucking its thumb. The love she had for her child had been instantaneous, tears filling her eyes as she stared at the small baby.

  Whoever I am, I am your mother.

  The thought brought her joy. It comforted her during the long, lonely nights in the hospital. The days were empty. She had no friends, no family to visit her. No one stepped forward to claim the patient who couldn’t remember her own name. With each passing day, part of her hurt sharpened and deepened.

  She had been missing something—something important. It felt as if a part of her heart was gone, and without it, she would never be complete.

  She wrapped herself around her growing belly and cried herself to sleep night after night. Grief. Loss. They told her it was only her memory, trauma after losing herself, but Avery felt like it was more. It was a deeper agony. It cut even sharper.