ALLISON KEELERI muffled a curse as the deafening wails of the prison's alarm intensified the throbbing ache in my head and my thick lashes fluttered rapidly to accommodate the scene before me. Hoisting from the floor, I winced at the pain in my right arm from a futile attempt to place a soothing hand on the burning sensation on my head. With my trembling fingers, I felt the encrusted blood on my head. The main entrance was blurry as my gaze squinted, trying to make out the silhouette masculine figure against the ray of lights by the door as he approached me. They had all escaped. The frantic prisoners had broken free and I was one of their victims, but unlucky enough to have survived the fatal blow. He knew I was no match for this job. Alpha Colton knew I was too weak for defense as a prison warden in case things turned out the way they did, and yet, he had chosen to select me to keep watch on the vicious rogues. He had chosen to punish me in ways that triggered my anxiety daily.
ALLISON KEELERMy heart momentarily ceased beating the second my thick lashes flickered open, locking on the mesmerizing eyes gazing right at me.Instantly, I averted my gaze, squinting at the brightness of the room. The lights were blinding and the sheets felt comfortable. My eyes darted across from where I lay in the big bed. It was a luxuriously furnished room with comfortable beddings and Colton's patchouli intermingled sweetly with the roses in a white vase by the corner. Alpha Colton was all I thought of. Sitting up in the bed, my wounds were healed and my head was void of the excruciating pain from earlier. Tears filled my eyes. I had survived again. Something I didn't mean to. Fear clung onto my inside now I could sense power emanating from Colton. The Alpha aura. Colton was a ferocious Alpha who was a force to be reckoned with. He was better as an ally than a foe. I had unbelievably gotten on his blacklist which had automatically placed me as his foe, and I was still payin
ALPHA COLTON I had awoken that fateful morning to the sound of my buzzing phone that morning. The call came in from the prison desk and I had quickly surmised something was terribly wrong. I was not mistaken. When I had learned of what happened all my heart prayed for was having Allison taken out of my Pack for good.I glanced back at her, feeling the same wave of disgust I did each time my eyes drifted off to her. The Goddess must've been high on some cheap stuff to think I was ever going to be with her. Not even in my drunken state. I knew just how to end her misery but couldn't take the initiative to do it. All that there was to do was to wait for the perfect accident to clear her off. instantly, I caught myself, repressed the fury surging inside of me just to remind myself this was the last phase of my plan. I consciously shifted my thoughts from the pathetic Omega to the captives that just escaped. I desperately wanted to know how they were able to break out of the heavily
ALPHA COLTONPeering at the escaping sun rays from the heavy window drapes, I disentangled from Allison’s engulfing body. Then my eyes dropped on the girl sleeping peacefully beside me.Memories of the previous night surged through my mind. I hadn't planned on taking Allison to bed the way I did. I would've doubted if I had been told my previous day would end up in her arms. Yet it did. I thought of reasons why I found her appealing at first. She wasn't half as elegant as Shirley was, yet, she turned my head a few times. She was petite, way smaller than how I liked my women. She was frightful and weak, the extreme opposite of what I wanted in my woman. As an Alpha, I was attracted to strength, beauty, and class. This girl in my arms was void of those three qualities, yet I had gawked at her in the black dress. I couldn't bring myself to think of how scared my wolf had been when I walked into the prison to find her completely hurt and frightened. It was how I loved seeing her but my
ALLISON KEELER I sat absently in an armchair by the window munching on the toasts Maeve served me for breakfast. My mind wandered far off, the night before invading my thoughts. I woke up that morning to empty sheets with Alpha Colton gone from the room but his scent lingered on the sheets. His patchouli lingered sweetly on me. We'd made love the previous night. I had made love to a man for the first time and it wasn't just any man but my mate. It was going to remain one of the best nights of my life. Alpha Colton had marked me as his mate. That was the best sign I could ever search for. Finally, I belonged to him forever. A wide grin plastered on my face. "I've picked out a dress, hurry and come get ready," Maeve announced, popping her head from the closet door. "Do you think he's going to take me out to lunch?" I asked cluelessly, unsure of what to expect as I walked into the closet discarding the gray bathrobe I wore. Maeve smiled at me, moving ahead to cl
ALPHA COLTON I remained quiet the entire time, my eyes not leaving Allison's, and my hand balled to a fist next to my coffee on the table. This deal had sounded appealing a few weeks ago. It was the only way I thought I could be rid of this runt until the distance made our bond weaken and eventually break. Now it didn't seem so right. Giving her off to Grimsby, Alpha of Hornsgate just to keep my tail of the bargain didn't feel right. I easily could call the deal off. I could choose to do the right thing. She was vulnerable to our greed. The deal was for Grimsby, ALpha of the Hornsgate Pack to take my mate for six months, while he kept his tail of the bargain. The bargain I didn't want to think of. Not now. I had thought of ways to dispose of the repulsive Omega turning it into a win-win situation for us. It sounded like the perfect step to take a few weeks ago. But after sharing something blissful with the innocent wolf I feared I had stubbed out too far. Yet, I di
ALLISON KEELER Jace McAvoy strode into the conference hall in his gallant strides. His face hardened in a way I had never seen and his dark eyes roamed the occupants of the hall. "What the hell is this?" Jace's icy tone broke through the silence in the hall, his squinted gaze snagged his stepbrother's glaring ones. Alpha Colton moved towards his stepbrother, the annoyance surging through his soul was pretty palpable in his red eyes. "What the hell gave you the goddamn right to crash my meeting?" Colton growled with his eyes a darker shade of red. My heart thrashed wildly to see the two stepbrothers get into an argument that I feared was going to turn heated. An argument that might trap me in the middle leaving me more hurt. This scared me. This scared me beyond whatever deal Colton had with this smirking Alpha. Jace averted his glares from Colton, his eyes burning with savage fire as he snapped them right at Grimsby. The smirks on Grimsby's face hardened to a scowl. "Get
ALLISON KEELER It wasn't until I awoke in a dimly lit room did it hit me I had slept all through the ride and the day. That was strange. My mind was too active to have slept, especially with the looming danger. They had drugged me. But how? Now, it was going to be hard to trace my way out of this Pack. I heaved a sigh and got to my feet. My head hurt and my stomach lurched in a manner I knew I was going to be sick. I threw up in the toilet, brushed my teeth, and stepped into the shower. There was nothing to wear in the closet except a pleated blue dress and a knitted white apron. I understood what these outfits were. I quickly got dressed. I returned to the room only to meet with a gruff-looking man whose eyes were carefully considering me. Half of his weight was heavy on the staff in his hand. The lust in his washed-out blue eyes was perceptible as they roamed my chest and lingered there. He took in his lower lips in a confirmation he found what he was searching for. "I am
ALLISON KEELER"What's going on?"I asked Alan after it took Dane forever to spill whatever he had in his guts. "We just received an email from the Western territories of the kingdom." Dane went ahead with a tone that sounded more husky than businesslike. "There's bound to be a war."A war? My face conveyed my shock. War was never a good thing especially when my territory was starting to thrive and recoup from bad governance."Our territory is safe." Alan must've caught the dismay on my face so he chipped in. "We're sealed by magic, it would be hard for the Outlanders to strike.""So why then is everyone acting this way?""The westerners solicit our amalgamation." Dane dragged out the words as though it was supposed to affect me. It did.The Western territories revolved mainly around Colton's territories. His territories were the majority. If we amalgamated our territories that meant going for those meetings, running into Colton, and risking the big discovery of the child we had to
ALLISON KEELER "There's a notice from the border," Alan dropped the folders in his hands on my desk, "It's a good thing we were on guard last night.""We would have been swept last night if we didn't take security measures?" I asked to be certain I understood him. "Here's your speech for this noon." Luca dropped a file on my desk. Smiling, Luca took a photo of me on my executive desk and smiled broadly into his phone. "Hmm, look how good you you look!""Delete that!" I growled at him stretching out to snatch the phone from his hand."You will need some executive photos," he held the phone out so I could see the photo. A smile curled on my lips. I looked so good. "Delete that," I said regardless. "We will have more patrol teams on the borders and send spies and trackers to see what they can gather." Alan went back to business. "You will address the entire Pack today by noon."I already knew that. Thoughts of standing before the entire Pack kicked in my anxiety. "Your executive a
ALLISON KEELER"Congratulations!"Evelyn gushed as I descended the stairs the night of the full moon. The silver dress I wore was perfect as the glow of the moon shone on it, and my hair and makeup looked extremely perfect. This was one of the things that kept me smiling all through. "So we get to leave this hole?" Darlene snorted. "I love this place." I did. The size didn't matter to me, all that did was have everyone together. Sir Garfield, although placed in a facility to help him recover quickly, was now an integral part of my life. A bigger mansion was no doubt going to fit everyone but it wasn't what I fancied at that time of my life. The ritual that night was a rare lucid moment. Without a trace of doubt in my heart, I picked Alan as my Beta. He knew so much about the pack and I was unsure why I picked Dane as my Gamma. This caused a stir in my circle but none of them seemed to own up to their thoughts. Was it because of the crown on my head now?"I don't know what's goi
Alpha Colton"Bullshit," I spat with vengeful eyes on Grimsby. All he said to me made no sense at all. "Where the hell is she?""You're not here for war now are you?" Grimsby sounded nervous but he kept a feigned composure. "You give me the girl and we're all good." I tried not to let my fury consume me. "She's not here." Grimsby huffed.My face dissolved into a confused frown. What did he mean she wasn't here?He met my inquisitive eyes and chose to explain things."Allison is safe. Trust me but I'm not the only northern ruler bonded to this deal, we don't want to turn this into some bloodbath." His tone was gravely low, "Let's talk at my office."Vinny released a breath glancing my way. I completely understood the dangers of striking out at the moment. The risk to these innocent pack members' lives was great and even worse, the weaker Western territories were going to feel the heat. The northerners were only going to strike brutally as revenge. This didn't feel right. "It's jus
ALPHA COLTON "I can't sense her," I informed Vinny the second we made it through Hornsgate borders. "You don't expect her scent to waft up your nostrils if she's a million miles away from here." He replied, his gaze on the map on his phone. "Hornsgate isn't that big a place." I inwardly scorned it. I had been to bigger territories, this was absolutely not one of them. "Grimsby will realize we're in his territory in no time." Vinny glanced from his phone. "I want him to as soon as possible. I just can't wait to end this." I hissed and drummed the steering wheel as the car zoomed through the highway. The thoughts of the northerners pooling in on us were now so overwhelming that I gestured to Vinny to get the anti-wolfsbane and anti-silver spray that Haedon had given me. If anything, this barbaric Pac was only going to try to use these two lethal forces on us. I knew just that. From a distance, three trucks zoomed up behind us. There was every possibility they were Gri
ALLISON KEELER"Would you abandon your territory to become Colton's Luna if he wanted you?"Dane typed a few things on his computer making a few edits to the speech Luca had just sent him. My coronation speech."My people are now my priority. So, no." I was unsure why he brought this up. Dane rarely talked to me and lately, he was all bent on asking about Colton. Did he fancy the ruthless ruler as well?He stretched and glanced at his wristwatch before he put his computer away. "I want to grab dinner," he slammed the computer and got to his feet grabbing his keys, "Coming?"Me?I thought he didn't like having me around but what did it hurt? I nodded and got to my feet. I left Sir Garfield's home office to first check on Fihl before I followed Dane out towards his Rover. "I want to see the pack, I want to meet with and get to know my people," I said in the front seat of his car. "You will, in a few more days." He glanced at me and reached out to grab the little fancy gift bag stre
ALLISON KEELER Matt was eerily silent all through the meeting with the pack elders. Alan and Chase did most of the talking. The elders swore their fealty and were more than willing to back me up on my rulership as the Luna of the pack. The day for the official crowning was the next full moon which was in just six days. I was happy. My joy was radiant but Matt's silence caught me even as we were all gathered for dinner he didn't say a word. All he did was cast me weird gazes and toy with his salmon. Something was bothering him and he denied it each time I asked. I offered to help Evelyn clear the table and stack the dishwasher. She was teasing me all over again about Grimsby's felicitations. I rolled my eyes and remained silent. "A diamond ring?" She gasped, "That's an awfully expensive one." She was talking about the ring Grimsby had sent my way amongst other gifts and items which were now in Darlene's possession. I didn't want anything from Grimsby. But what if it was
ALPHA COLTON "This is extremely impulsive," Vinny breathed, "We don't act on impulse." "If Grimsby wants to make this into a war then so be it." "This can cause a lot of damage, this can lead to regret." "I'm already wallowing in both." I hissed, "There's nothing left to lose." "Your territories?" I flail my hand in the air in an attempt to ease the fury inside of me. "I've already made up my mind. Do what needs to be done around here, I'll be back in a few days." "I'd be doomed if I let you off on your own." He met the fury in my eyes and quickly added, "You're a strong Alpha no doubt but the Northerners..." "I want the Pack matters that need my attention to be instantly sorted out, I want you to..." "Fuck it, Colton, I'm coming with you." "You're not leaving my territory unguarded, you're the Gamma of this pack..." "Karl will take care of what needs to be taken care of. We'll find a wolf to track her scent and I..." I hoisted the backpack from the coffee table and hea
ALPHA COLTON "Not that frown again," Shirley clucked her tongue with a broadening smile on her face. "What do you want?" I asked my face, suggesting I was not pleased to have her meddle in my part of the property. I had been unnecessarily liberal when I chose to offer Jace a part of my mansion to live in. Now I had to deal with it. "I miss you." She pursed her lips reaching out to touch my face. I acted instantly to prevent her from touching me. Whatever we had ended a while ago. She was now with my stepbrother. There had to be some boundaries. A lot was going on with me and having to pick a fight over a girl with Jace became a luxury I couldn't afford. "From now on you will speak discreetly. There's nothing between us anymore so I expect a more discreet relationship." The smile on her face faded, and a snort appeared on her face. "There's no gain being with you." She hissed, "Jace had a lot more to offer. I'm happy and content with my small family." "I'm glad to hear t