Scarlett
My reunion with Clarissa had not gone like I’d planned, and the frigid bath in the river hadn’t done anything to improve my mood. My full belly helped, but the cold seemed to permeate down to my bones the entire return trip.
The inside of the cabin wasn’t too cold due to the kickass wood stove burner, but my mate’s fiery warmth radiating back to me was enough to make me want to stay under the covers with him forever.
Then, he had to go and ruin my perfect plans for wiling away the time before the meeting tomorrow by being sensible when all I wanted was to get tangled up together in the dusty sheets.
Admittedly, we did need to talk about what had happened last time. I was all for spending an evening ensconced in pleasure with this male, but I also didn’t want him attempting to claim me again either.
I sat up, grasping the edges of the blanket in my fist to keep it wrapped around my shoulders as I replied, “Can
Reese Relief spread through me with Scarlett’s assertion, though my wolf was distressed instead, and our opposing reactions both stemmed from that one pesky little word: yet. She had gone from wanting to outright reject me to accepting I would inevitably be her future, so I was more than thrilled with how things were progressing. My wolf begrudgingly agreed, but that didn’t necessarily mean he would end his efforts to take the reins. Nevertheless, the raging inferno of my arousal was dulled to a weak simmering when my mate clothed her delectable body, and any traces of the sensual smoke disappeared as she dived headfirst into delicate matters. I wasn’t pleased with the plan for the meeting, but I knew I couldn’t go charging in like I wanted either. I had doubts whether I would be able to keep my word in the heat of the moment, but I would try my damnedest. The hours flew by as we strategized, and she proceeded to pour
Scarlett I clutched my arms tighter around my chest, shivering against the cool wind as I waited for Clarissa to show up with Logan. I would have been much warmer if I had chosen to wait in my wolf shape, but I didn’t want to walk into the iffy situation without some sort of shield. I knew shifting would be unavoidable in order to discuss anything, so I opted to be ready beforehand, but I was regretting the decision as my extremities began to numb and my teeth persisted to chatter. The seconds crawled by, and I felt like I had been here for hours. I had prepared myself for the worst before arriving, but I hadn’t expected to be stood up altogether. My hearing was dulled in my human form, but I ranged the sense out anyway, praying my efforts hadn’t all been in vain. When I detected nothing, I ducked my head, turning in Reese’s direction as I resolved on walking away. Even so, the instant I was about to let my guard down, Clariss
Scarlett My quivering legs would have given out from beneath me if I hadn’t already been perched on the ground. Logan’s response told me almost everything I needed to know with just that one word. Evidently, my ex-mate still lived, and the information was enough to send me spiraling into a panic as my father confirmed my living nightmare had survived. I had been okay when Reese was nearby, keeping the memories at bay, but I was by myself this time around. Well, that wasn’t strictly true, but it was difficult to take in my environs when my vision was tunneling. I forced myself to take deep breaths, and once the hammering of my heart in my ears lessened, I heard Logan humming the gentle notes of the lullaby my mother used to sing to me as a child. He kept up the soft melody until he was sure he had succeeded in bringing me back to the present, but then he said, “I don’t know what happened between you two, but I’ve known since t
Reese I don’t know how I managed to get my wolf to turn away from the direction Scarlett was taken, but I did it somehow, channeling the fury consuming my system into tearing through the frozen soil beneath my lupine’s claws. My wolf was incensed, drowning out my own thoughts as he demanded I backtrack the way I’d come, but I knew beyond any doubt that move would end badly for us both. I felt like I was leaving a piece of myself behind, but I forced myself to keep putting one leg in front of the other, focusing on making it back to the wolves’ territories for reinforcements. It was the only thing keeping me going. My mind was already racing over who I could pull for the rescue mission, but suffice it to say, my brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders with my wolf’s torrent of attempts to break through the thin barrier I held. The rough branches on the trees flying by whipped at me as I barreled through the forest, making my own p
Reese The miles flew by as I trudged through the lengthy night. The temperature remained below freezing, even with the closer I drew to Jax’s province, and I had never been more grateful for my wolf’s long fur than I was now. The frigid wind and the occasional patches of snowfall I encountered along the way was a clear signal winter was forthcoming, but it was not a joyous realization for me, as it reminded me of all I still had to accomplish to prepare my territory before the harsh conditions truly set in. I hadn’t seen any bear shifters for the last several hours, but the sudden racket I heard coming up fast from behind me let me know I was no longer alone. I continued racing forward while my wolf’s sensitive hearing picked up on the sounds of multiple assailants advancing in my direction, and I didn’t overlook how their actions intended to encircle me. I was aware I didn’t have the energy necessary to defend myself against
Scarlett I’d been stuck in this damn cell for an entire day by this point. It was proving more difficult than I’d originally boasted to wrangle myself free from the confines of the unmovable bars, but that didn’t mean I was throwing the towel in. Logan was right on a few counts, but I was well accustomed to using my brain when sheer force proved ineffective due to my smaller size. Clarissa had brought food once already, and I knew she would be back tomorrow. I waited and watched my surroundings, learning what I needed in order to get us out of here. The plan was to flee tomorrow when my former best friend arrived to take me to Hunter as she had taunted today when she brought the wolfsbane-tainted food. I didn’t let myself consider why they were trying to poison me, instead I diverted all my focus to strategizing. I felt a gnawing ache in my gut from the hunger, but Logan was thankfully doing a little better with the ext
Reese I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of repeating the arduous trip with only Jace as company, but I couldn’t argue with his logic. A large group invading the bear’s land was sure to draw attention, and we simply couldn’t afford to lose that many men. I couldn’t stop turning Jax’s words over in my mind while I laid restlessly in bed. I hadn’t come across another wolf shifter until I neared the Northern Province, but it didn’t make sense that she-wolves were disappearing left and right. The information drove home the point that I needed to return to my own territory as soon as possible, but I felt confident Oliver was doing the best he could, given the situation. I didn’t dare check in with him for the transitory time I was in range, rather I chose to keep my concentration solely on saving my true mate. I was usually the one to approach cautiously, but I lost all reason where my other half was concerned. Hence, I had to admit S
Scarlett I don’t know how we made it to the cabin without being detected. The only thing I could think of is that Luna must have been watching over us. I know bear shifters didn’t have the same belief in the Moon Goddess, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t the truth. It wasn’t easy getting Kyle and Logan through the yew trees. It required a lot of finagling on my part, and they both were a little worse for the wear by the time they emerged from the toxic flora. In any case, we were safe for the moment. Kyle warned that the others would find this location before long. It wouldn’t be hard to follow my scent trail after all, but the lethal trees should keep them at bay for a while. I worried about what would happen when Reese returned, but I pushed it aside for another time, knowing my plate was full for the moment. I eyed my father where he was reclining on the bed, and I took in his gaunt cheeks and the protruding ribs I could see
Hello wonderful readers, This is the end of 'Mated to the Alpha of the West." Please don't forget to let me know your thoughts, where you think I could use improvement and where you would like to see more information in the last book. I will be going back to do a final reedit of this novel, but I will begin writing East this month. The final installment of 'The Luminary Quartet' will focus more on the dragon shifters if you guys haven't guessed by this point. Finally, I have an artist working on designs for the final covers for all the books in this quartet. The cover for East will be temporary until they are all complete, and in the next few weeks I will be changing all the other covers to the final product. I am super excited for you guys to see what we've come up with, and I've also created a map to give you guys a better idea of the topography for my stories. I will upload the map to my author's page on F* when I have the last pi
Scarlett About Two Weeks Later… It took a while for everyone to figure out where they wanted to settle once it had finally began to set in that the war was truly over. Of course, I remained in the Western Province with my true mate, but there had been a lot of reshuffling so far, and I was expecting even more in the coming weeks. Travel had been restricted before, but everything was entirely different since Hunter’s and Clarissa’s deaths, and since the disturbing truth about my former friend’s actions had been unveiled. I still couldn’t believe I had never known how warped they were on the inside, but any sadness I may have felt from their passing vanished when I thought about the number of deaths that they were collectively responsible for over the years. Needless to say, I hadn’t seen a shred of the children I’d befriended so long ago since either one of the bears had reentered my life, not that I ha
Reese It took every ounce of my self-control to remained fixed in place when the earsplitting roar rent the air, but Scarlett hadn’t informed me she was in trouble, so I clawed at the rocky earth beneath my paws until the time was right. I had a clear vision of the field from where I was positioned, my wolf’s superior vision helping in this respect, and I’d ordered my warriors forward the second my mate faltered with the outpouring of bear shifters into the open area, elated the bears had walked right into our trap. I saw Clarissa prowl in the direction of my true mate as our males defended our land. Concern for Scarlett arose to the forefront of my mind, but my eyes alit upon the massive, scarred beast setting his sights on my other half in the next instant. I was aware Rias and his males would arrive at any minute, and I wasn’t losing my one opportunity to repay some of the damage Hunter had inflicted over the years before t
Scarlett I was lost to the world after I’d crashed for the night, not even noticing when Reese slithered into the bed beside me, but I did register his abrupt movement as he shot out of bed sometime later. The incessant ringing emanating from the blackness around where I believed the night table was on the other side of the bed indicated what had awoken me from my slumber. Moreover, my mate hurriedly silenced the noise, answering the phone before it completed another loop of the tune he’d set. The resulting harried conversation I overheard told me everything I needed to know, and I began steeling myself for the conflict barreling straight for us, knowing I would never have to deal with my ex again after tonight if I could pull myself together long enough to fulfill my role in everything. My mate confirmed what I already knew a moment later as he hung up the phone, announcing in a matter-of-fact tone, “Hunter is leading his males throu
Scarlett The next day and a half seemed to drag by, but it wasn’t for a lack of things to do, that was for damn sure. Reese had been so busy making certain our ducks were all in a row before the bears invaded that we’d hardly had any time for each other. It didn’t help the rogues had begun their guerilla warfare in earnest once more, but I had a feeling my true mate was on to something prior when he’d said their sporadic attacks were a distraction method. My mate and I announced the threat heading our way to our pack members and guests, instructing them of their part in the whole scheme of things, though it mostly boiled down to the visitors staying within the town limits while our warriors helped secure the province. A few of the male members of the Ursidae species who had been keeping watch over the female werebears and their children during the turmoil in the bears’ land expressed their desire to help fend off Hunter’s incursion.
Reese Another damn group of rogues were trying to breach our borders again this evening. They didn’t make it far before I’d caught the faint smell of lady palm, but their attempt didn’t piss me off any less, irrespective. I thanked Luna and Kyle both that I had received the serum when Scarlett and I returned from our mission a couple of days ago as I took off after the trespassers who didn’t know we had the capability of detecting them. My wolf’s claws slashed through the dirt as I raced onward, forgetting about the nippy bite to the air as adrenaline rushed in, and I centered all my concentration on finding the menace lurking in my province. I ran into a few of my pack members who were out monitoring the borders during my pursuit, and the rogues were promptly taken care of with the assistance my warriors provided, afterward. There was nothing out of the ordinary as I finished the last portion of my circuit on patrol, so my wo
Reese Ronnie gave me a subtle thumbs up as she entered the dining room with my mate trailing behind her. Resulting, I breathed a sigh of relief, getting up to embrace Scarlett before she could take her seat next to me. I wasn’t proud to admit it, but I had snuck into the kitchen while she was showering this morning to ask the other she-wolf for a favor before I’d hunted down Ryker. Kyle had earned my trust, but that didn’t change the fact that my other half continued to be exhausted, and I had recently noticed other small things off about her too. I wasn’t sure if it was caused by side effects from the serum or something else entirely, but I was pleased Ronnie had agreed to discreetly check it out, nonetheless. Ronnie’s sign of encouragement allowed me to relax my stiff posture, but a hint of my unease remained after consulting Scarlett and I’s mating bond. The two she-wolves were the last to arrive, and the food was a
Scarlett I stirred in my sleep, something pulling at my consciousness, but the heavy weight of my mate’s arm snug around me and his pine and cinnamon fragrance combatted with whatever it was. Relaxing back into my bliss, I forgot about the momentary intrusion altogether. That was, until the same annoying sound repeated, but this time, it was much closer. The knocking recurred yet again from outside my bedroom door, making it impossible to ignore. Thump, thump, thump! I groaned, already lamenting my morning lost in bed with my true mate, so my mood was surly when I threw the door open a minute later. In any event, my irritated words died on my lips when I saw Ronnie on the other side of the door, and I greeted her with a hug while I heard Reese moving around in the room behind me. “Hey Scar, I figured I’d return the favor.” She smirked, giving me a cheeky grin before she continued, “I was knocking on the front
Scarlett Reese was striding up to my side as soon as we arrived at the training grounds, blanketing me in his embrace once he was within touching distance, so he heard the tail end of my uncle’s statement. “We’ll work it out kid. You’ve got enough on your plate to worry about for now, and we’re grown adults. You’ve done enough already.” Rowan said kindly, patting me on the back before he set off to join the other males who were already warming up. I remained silent, pondering everything I’d learned today. My uncle’s words were slowly sinking into my psyche, but my mate’s deep voice intruded before long. “Are you all right, sweetheart?” He inquired, disregarding the various people who were waiting on us as he squeezed me tighter into his strong chest like we had all the time in the world. I glanced up to meet his stunning silver orbs, answering, “Yeah, it’s just Logan and Rowan working through their issues.