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CHAPTER THIRTEEN
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The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The restaurant, called Big Belly, serves massive sandwiches, piled high with meat. It’s werewolf heaven. The waitress seems impressed at my order, and even more impressed when I finish it all. “You were right,” I tell Caleb. “This place is amazing.”“To humans, these are huge portions,” Caleb laughs. “The first time I came here, I didn’t quite realize that they put so much meat on them, so I ordered three sandwiches like I usually do.”I nod. We wolves eat differently than humans, and we need large amounts of meat and other proteins.“I finished all three of them, and they took a picture of me to put on their wall!” Caleb points, and sure enough, there’s a picture of him looking somewhat confused and sitting next to three empty plates. Above it, someone has written BIG BELLY’S WORLD RECORD HOLDER.I laugh. “Caleb, we’re supposed to keep a low profile among humans, not go around setting world records!”He shrugs. “Between you and me, I think the chef might be a shifte
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER FIFTEEN
I show the note to Caleb later that evening, once I’m back home at the pack house. He sits down on the bed next to me, sighing and running a hand through those gorgeous dark curls.“Most of the pack has started to accept you, especially now that you’re my Luna, but there’s something dangerous about how much Malcolm and Miranda still hate you.”“I’ll be okay as long as I wear your amulet, though, right?” I ask.“It’s your amulet,” Caleb corrects me. “I gifted it to you - you’re not borrowing it, it belongs to you. That’s important for the ritual.”“Right, right.” I remember how Caleb had to sacrifice something of his own in order to reverse my banishment, and I know it’s important to the werewolf magic of the ritual that it remains mine. “But it should protect me from them.”“Hopefully. But the amulet’s spell is very specific - it protects you from being betrayed. Since you already don’t trust Miranda and Malcolm, there’s nothing there to betray. Someone could still attac
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I have known all my life that when a werewolf finds their mate, they join their bodies and become fully one another’s. But I never knew just how incredible the actual experience was.Caleb carries me into our bedroom, and soon our snow gear and ski clothes are in a pile on the floor, and he’s kissing me, holding me, and his Alpha musk is stronger than I’ve ever smelled it. It wraps around me, my body, my head, my heart, and makes me want to dissolve completely in it.He takes deep breaths, scenting me, drawing in whatever pheromones I’m putting out, and I feel wanted, desired, cherished. Our bodies entangle, and when we finally mate, his teeth sink into the flesh of my shoulder and I feel his mark enter me, a brilliant flash of love and claiming and connection.When it’s over, we lay next to each other, panting, basking in the hazy glow that seems to be surrounding us. Through the windows, the clear white light of the moon shines onto our bare skin. When it touches my clai
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
As I get dressed, making sure I have warm clothes and sturdy boots for my sojourn into the forest, Caleb continues to explain some things about my shift.“I’ve been reading more of Arnold’s books, learning about what happens when an Alpha mates to an Omega, and what it means for a werewolf to have their first after they’re mated and marked. Both are pretty rare.”I feel my face grow hot with the reminder of how weird and unusual I am. Sometimes I feel sorry for Caleb, being stuck with me as a mate.“I’m sorry,” I mutter, stuffing my feet into my warm winter boots. I know I won’t need any of these warm winter clothes after I shift, since a wolf’s thick fur and heavy paw pads protect them, but part of me worries that I might be stuck in human form forever. “It’s nothing to be sorry for,” Caleb insists. “It means there’s something special about you - and about us, about our bond. It also means that this shift is about more than you discovering your wolf. It means something to
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
I hear a hawk cry somewhere above me and turn my face up. When the moonlight catches my eyes, something happens. Everything starts to look different - sharper, more in focus.The shadows all around me are no longer dark, blurry shapes. I can make out each individual one, can tell which branches are swaying in the woods and which are moving because an animal just leapt through them.It’s happening. I could cry with joy, but my eyes no longer feel human. The delicate lashes and tear ducts have given way to rounded eyes that let me see clearly even in the dark.My muscles ripple beneath my skin, and I feel my body changing form. Soon I have four feet on the ground, bare, touching the stones and snowy patches directly. No more heavy soled boots separating me from the world around me. I feel everything.A thrill runs through me, and I lift my head and howl. My wolf’s voice is clear as crystal, piercing the night sky, and I hear animals all through the forest respond, crying out
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER NINETEEN
I turn and try to run as fast as I can, back toward the lodge, toward Caleb, but there are too many of them, and I’m still new to my wolf form.They descend on me, howling and baying, and one of the biggest ones, a brown wolf with black eyes, jumps onto my back, biting my ruff and throwing me onto my side.I scramble to my feet, trying to escape, but then two of them shift back into human form and throw something that looks like gray rope over me.It burns as soon as it hits me, and I thrash beneath it. Quickly, I realize that it isn’t gray rope. It’s silver chains.Silver - the one thing that can subdue a werewolf and limit their powers. I struggle and snarl, trying to throw the silver chains off me, but then someone approaches me and snaps a silver collar around me neck.Coughing and sobbing, I find myself instantly snapped back into human form. With the collar on, I can’t shift again. “Who are you?” I cry, grabbing at the collar and trying to yank it off. It’s
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER TWENTY
“Hello, Omega.” Malcolm sneers down at me, licking his lips.“I have a name,” I hiss. “Yeah, yeah, and you want us all to call you Luna, too. I remember. But that’s all over now. Your Alpha is about to lose his place, and then you’ll be nothing but a foolish Omega who thought she was better than she was.”“What’s going on?” I look between Malcolm and the Rogers Lake Alpha, my head spinning. “Where’s Caleb? Is he okay?”Malcolm shrugs. “He’s still alive, if that’s what you’re asking.”“For now, at least,” laughs the Alpha. He seems to really be enjoying this, and I can see a cruel streak in him. It makes sense, now, why Caleb was so wary of him. He told me once that the Rogers Lake pack wasn’t welcome in Flagstaff, and that he didn’t trust them at all. “That little necklace he gave you didn’t just mean that we all had to put up with your Omega stink everywhere,” Malcolm says. “It also meant that your precious Alpha was no longer immune from betrayal.”“But the amu
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
CALEBIt’s dawn. I haven’t slept a wink all night, too busy thinking about Sarah and how she’s doing on her first shift.But now, I can see the sun coming up over the valley, the pink and gold streaks making the snow look like cotton candy.Sarah should be here any minute. I thought she might be back earlier, but maybe she really did need to take all the way until dawn.I hate having to wait to see her, to hold her, to congratulate her, but I’m not worried. I know she’ll come back for me. She said she loved me. The loyalty ritual is just that - a ritual. Maybe, I tell myself, maybe she doesn’t know it’s dawn yet. Maybe the sunrise has taken a while to make it up over the mountain peaks and ridges.I can’t wait to see her. I want to see her wolf form. I know it must be incredible. I’ll run my hands through her fur, look into her round wolf eyes, and we’ll be together again. I’m so proud of her for shifting. But the minutes tick by, and I’m still waiting. Sarah isn
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The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED
Damian is a healthy baby, well loved, and by the time he’s a few months old, it’s obvious that Jasper and I don’t need to stick around in Serpent’s Creek. The mansion is nearly full to bursting with wolf and bear shifters excited to be part of this new family and to dote on the precious baby whose existence symbolizes a fresh start for everyone.Jasper mentions going home to Santa Cruz a few times before I’m happy about it, though. I tell him that Orsina could still use my help, or that there’s still some magic I want to learn from Clara. He sees right through my excuses, though. “Are you nervous and going back to live somewhere with those guys in the basement?” Jasper asks me one evening, sliding his hands around my waist to nibble at my earlobes as he asks. “Maybe,” I say. “Now that he’s not a rabbit anymore, and he’s seen me and spoken to me, and he’s already gotten out once -”“He didn’t get out,” Jasper reminds me. “We let him think he escaped.”“I know, but he th
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY NINE
My eyes fall shut easily, after such a long day. But I don’t sleep very deeply. Instead, I get caught up in a long, complex dream.In the dream, I’m back in the celestial realm, standing in the same dungeon cage that Coello used to keep me in. Sterling is there, too, walking up to me with those piercing gray eyes and that familiar smile. “Hello,” he says. He leans in to kiss me, and I think that the bars will prevent him from being able to, but he just passes right through. I feel his hands on my face, his lips on mine, and he kisses me for a long time.When I open my eyes after the kiss, I’m no longer in the cage. Now, Sterling and I are standing on top of the massive tower where we found him, high up above the rest of the celestial realm. But when I look out, I don’t see the rolling, starlit darkness of the celestial realm. I see the golden yellow plains of Montana, the valley that stretches out around Serpent’s Creek.“Where are we?” I ask, feeling strangely dizzy.
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY EIGHT
Clara and Zach arrive soon enough, and we all go careening up the mountain. With Clara behind the wheel, we get back to the house in record time. Orsina is sweating now, her breaths coming heavy and hard, and Zach has to help her out of the truck and into her room.“Can you shift?” Clara asks her, gently lowering the laboring mother down into her bed. “It’s so much easier if you shift.”“I think so,” Orsina says. She squeezes her eyes shut, holding her breath. It takes a few tries, but soon she’s a bear, curled up on top of the quilts in her bedroom.“Perfect, perfect,” Clara coos. “There you go, mama bear.”“Could that cause a problem for the baby?” Zach asks, hovering in the doorway. Clara asked him to bring towels, and he’s already brought twice as many as we’ll need, but he has yet another armful. I don’t even know where he’s getting them from, at this point. Even a mansion like this can only hold so many towels.“What do you mean?” Clara asks, her voice calm and unf
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY SEVEN
When we call home to let Regan and Isaac know what’s going on, they’re thrilled to hear that Barrett is okay and that Zach and Orsina have a safe place to land. They tell us that Howling Wolf is doing amazingly well - after so many volunteers and friends came to help us with the battle, we’ve gotten tons more clients in the shifter world, and we’ve been able to hire a handful of new employees.Since they seem to have things well in hand, Jasper and I decide to stay in Montana. We set up in one of the westward facing bedrooms, next door to Zach and Orsina. Clara and Bennett take an upstairs bedroom, smaller but cozier and with more privacy. With Weston defeated and his supporters scattered after our Santa Cruz victory, the rest of the bear clan needs a leader and a place to stay. Through a peaceful process, Clara and Barrett become the Alpha and Luna for the bear clan. Bear clans don’t typically refer to their Alpha’s mates as a “Luna,” but Clara is a wolf, and the title just see
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY SIX
“Barrett!” Orsina rushes to his side, laying a hand over his forehead. He lifts his head weakly at her voice, then his eyes spark with recognition.“Orsina…” he croaks, his eyes fluttering shut again. “Help…”Everything then happens in a flurry of activity. Clara sends everyone but Orsina out of the room, giving each of us specific directions. Jasper is sent to get a bowl of hot water and towels, I’m supposed to find a medicine kit under the sink in the kitchen, and Zach is told to go secure the perimeter of the house, especially the rear door.I return with the medicine chest in my arms. It smells familiar, full of the healing herbs and magical potions Layla often uses. It’s also got modern medical stuff like clean white bandages and stitching kits.Clara instantly sets about getting Barrett to sit up. She holds a glass of water to his lips, encouraging him to drink and take a handful of pills and capsules she’s picked out of the medicine chest. She works on Barrett fo
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY FIVE
We barely have time to process everything Clara has told us before she’s packing us a picnic dinner and ushering us out the door. We pile into her battered, ancient Jeep, which is almost definitely running more on shifter magic than gasoline at this point, and she heads out toward the mountains. “So, uh,” Orsina asks, after a bit of silence, “does that mean this is, like…you?” She rolls up her sleeve to show the tattoo mark of the wolf that appeared on her arm after the spirits from the carving gave their blessing.“It is perhaps an image of me,” Clara says in her cryptic way as she careens up the switchbacking roads. “Or, perhaps it is another manifestation of my spirit. There have been many over the years.”“What about your beloved?” Orsina asks. “The bear shifter you fell in love with. Where is he?”“That is a lovely question,” Clara says softly. “At times, we have found each other. At other times, our spirits have been far from one another. Since the curse took a deep
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY FOUR
It takes Malcolm and Coello a little while to accept the reality of their new situation - that Malcolm is irreversibly bound to Coello, and that Coello is bound to us by virtue of some very powerful magic Layla cooked up for us. They snarl and fight, argue and wheedle, and even try to bust out of their chains by brute force. But nothing works. We’ve won. Malcolm and Weston are both banished to cells in the basement, very far apart to prevent them trying to scheme together. Maybe someday we’ll have another use for them, but for now, it’s a breath of fresh air to know that my biggest enemy, and the biggest enemy of my pack, are both completely neutralized. I had hoped that we would be able to relax and settle down for a bit now that this problem has been solved. In fact, we had a lovely day after the battle, with all our friends and volunteers and former trainees lounging on the beach and splashing around in the cool water.But something is bothering Orsina. She paces, agitate
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY THREE
The Moon Rabbit doesn’t waste any time once Malcolm agrees to the binding spell. With quick, almost spider like hands, Coello spreads the stalks and herbs out on the rocky beach, fluttering them into complex shapes. I stand on my tiptoes, peering out from behind my hiding place. Coello’s form of magic is rough and brutish, nothing like the delicate work Layla does. But it does the job. Malcolm steps over the edges of the intricate shape Coello has created on the ground, and even I can feel the burst of intense magic that snaps through the air as the spell takes effect. “I look forward to having you in my service,” Coello says with a low bow. “For now, however, I must depart. Do enjoy your newfound power.”Malcolm smiles, flexing his hands like he can somehow feel himself getting stronger. Then the two separate, Coello sneaking back into the tree house before anyone catches him outside.I’m surprised, but not entirely so. Some of us thought Coello would try to get as far a
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY TWO
The various wolf shifters staying with us to help out have been instructed not to speak with the Moon Rabbit, but to keep a close eye on him. Coello soon gives up trying to draw them into conversation and instead just wanders around the busy tree house, doing what he clearly thinks is subtle reconnaissance in preparation for his escape attempt. What he doesn’t know is that his ability to slip out of here isn’t going to be the result of his own careful cleverness. It will be perfectly engineered by me and my team, right down to the very moment. It’s early afternoon when we get the signal. We’ve had scouts placed in inconspicuous locations all around the forest and the town of Santa Cruz watching for any sigh of Malcolm or Weston. Sure enough, they roll into town with a huge entourage of bear shifters and werewolves. Our scouts say that they’ve set up a campsite near the beach about a mile south from our location, and that Malcolm is heading our way on his own, apparently to chec
