Second Chance Mates Read Online Free

want to put a bet on it
where you're guaranteed to lose?"
    "Fine. Two hundred bucks says she mates
with you."
    "I am not betting on Clara!"
    "Afraid you'll lose?" Luke
jibed.
    "More afraid she'll kick me in the
balls for suggesting it again and that'll be the end of my sex
life."
    They both took a sip and crossed their
legs.
    "What are you going to do?" asked Luke
after a long silence and another round of beers.
    "I'm going to do the right thing," Cade
decided, taking a long look around the apartment they shared. With
the open plan room featuring black leather sofas, a glass coffee
table and a kitchen that was a blank palate of granite and walnut,
it screamed bachelor pad, yet it had none of the warmth he craved.
Most of all, it didn't have Clara. "I'm going to go
home."
    "And the bet?"
    "Two hundred says she doesn't mate with
me. And I'm only taking the bet because one, I'm giving you a
chance to win back what you lost at poker last week and two, I'll
be glad to lose."
    "Very generous. I'll grab a
bag."
    "What for?"
    "I want to see your face either way.
And if you win, I'll get to see your balls take a beating
too."
    "You still pissed about
poker?"
    "Not at all," lied Luke smoothly. "I'm
just coming along for the ride. I finished my contract. I have a
month free and I feel like a change of scenery. The girl situation
might be good amusement too."
    "Callous, man. She lost my
brother."
    Luke winced under Cade's glare. "Sorry,
dude. My insensitive side promises to stay at home."
    Cade reached for the phone, tapped in
the number. "Rose," he said, when he heard Rose's voice on the
line. "I'm leaving in the morning. I'll be with you in a few hours.
I'm bringing a friend. No, we don't need anywhere to stay but I
appreciate the offer. I seem to recall my brother offered an open
invitation to stay with them and I intend to take him up on that.
Clara can’t argue." He paused, listening, then grinned. "Yes, Rose,
I'll bring ice."
     
    ***
     
    Despite repeated attempts at
conversation during the long drive, Luke finally admitted Cade
wasn't in much of a chatty mood. Watching his friend of several
years clutch the steering wheel, his jaw set in a 'don't mess with
me' line, Luke couldn't help wonder just how bad this Clara had
messed his friend up. And that made him pissed.
    Not that he liked to think on it but
he'd had the occasional brush off from a human female in his time
which rarely hurt but usually astounded him, given that
shapeshifting females practically drooled when he showed his face,
never mind his animal side. However he'd never been fortunate
enough to meet his mate and had never really contemplated what
would happen if when, and that was a big if, he met her it wasn't
exactly an auspicious meeting. Only Cade had met the mate destiny
chose for him and she'd rejected him, a cruelty Luke couldn't
imagine. Not that he’d thought on it much, but he assumed the fated
mate meeting was like a thump to the heart, a meeting of minds,
flowers and candy, all wrapped into one.
    The more he thought about it, the
angrier it made him. Who was this stubborn female to refuse the
mating destiny sent her way? It wasn't like every shifter was lucky
enough to ever meet his mate. Not that he'd been looking, but if he
had he'd have accepted fate. He was sure of that. Pretty
much.
    So why couldn't this woman?
    It wasn't like Cade was a stranger to
her, or, not that he really thought about dudes at all, but his
best friend wasn't exactly butt-ugly. Given the pleased noises that
came from his bedroom from time to time, he wasn't exactly lacking
in the bedroom department either. He wondered if the human ideal of
two partners only was just a ruse; maybe she thought Cade wasn’t
good enough.
    Luke snuck a sideways glance at Cade
again, then had to brace himself against the door as Cade wrenched
the wheel and they turned onto a rough road. "Easy there,
buddy."
    "Sorry," Cade muttered, his gruff voice
not quite hiding the emotion. Luke could tell how