The Cougar's Mate by Holley Trent Page A

fingers through his loose hair.
    Mason sputtered his lips. “She’s either going to get three daughters-in-law or three wild cats for sons by the time all is said and done. I’m not placing any bets.”
    The vengeful Dama had been pretty clear in his dream. Mate-snatching was a traditional trial for male Cougars of a certain age, but it was rarely done anymore, what with the advent of romantic love and all. Supposedly, only the bravest, truest of hearts snatch a mate and make her say, “Yes, I accept you and I’ll stay,” in two weeks. Most guys nowadays needed a little more time. Like a year. Five, if the guy was a Foye. Apparently, they had reputations for being a little stubborn. Mason was under no illusions that he was going to convince that angry lady in the truck to be his forever love.
    He hadn’t told his brothers the rest of the dream. He knew exactly which woman was supposed to be his. Until the moment they’d lifted that tent, he’d hoped the dream wasn’t a true vision at all, but merely the result of sleep exhaustion and drinking too many cans of Tecate.
    But there she was—angry as a scorpion and possibly the prettiest woman he’d ever seen. She was stunning with that halo of thick, curly hair and glowing skin. He thought she looked like some sort of wild goddess come to Earth to taunt mankind with her perfection. The captive named Ellery was very likely going to be the end of the two-legged Mason Foye.
    Mom lifted her hands upon approach. “Come on. Open it up and let ’em out. Don’t keep ’em waiting. I thought I raised you better than that.”
    “You tried.”
    She sighed.
    “There really isn’t an instruction manual for this sort of thing. They didn’t exactly come gently.”
    “If they had, you wouldn’t want them. Trust me on that. I was no easy target, let me tell you.”
    He believed it. He just bet she gave Pop hell. She never stopped giving him hell, but he usually deserved it. Mason grunted, wrapped his fingers around the top dome’s handle, and pulled the door up.
    The women didn’t budge. They sat in the back, huddled against each other in their inadequate-for-camping clothes, slumbering under a shared blanket. They were good friends, probably, and not just acquaintances. That’d make the transition easier for them.
    “Aw.” Mom pulled down the tailgate and climbed onto the truck bed. She eased in, cooing, “Wake up, girls. You’re home now. No one’s gonna hurt you.” She peeled the tape off the dark-haired short one’s mouth, and the little lady—Miles—immediately widened her eyes and drew in a breath.
    “Please help us!” she said in a high-pitched voice. “We’ve been kidnapped.”
    Mom patted Miles’s head and worked on Hannah’s tape next. “I know, honey. It’s their way, sometimes. I was taken, too, when I was just a girl of eighteen.” She rubbed the flowing tears on Miles’s cheeks with her thumb pads. “Everything will make sense soon enough, goddess willing. My boys may look intimidating, but they won’t hurt you on purpose.”
    Ellery, with her mouth still taped, grunted and rolled her eyes.
    Yeah, his girl had spunk. And he was supposed to figure out how to temper it without putting a stopper in it altogether? Mom was right. Weak Cougar mates were liabilities. He’d need her strong, yet capable of softness. He’d rather go to bed with a desert rose than a cactus, if he had to go to bed with either. He leaned onto the truck bed, watching her watch him. He was so screwed.
    She narrowed her eyes at him and her cheeks tightened from the smile beneath the tape. It was positively hostile—as if she knew what he was thinking and reveled in his impending doom.
    Mom started on Ellery’s tape.
    “Leave hers on,” he said. “I think she has some things to say that may offend your sensibilities.”
    “Oh, hush.” Mom peeled the tape.
    “Shit!” Ellery said when the tape came off. She opened her mouth, moved her lips left and right, and