by M H Soars
“What do you mean?”
“You smell like a beta.”
“I didn’t know that ranking affected one’s scent.”
“Oh, it does. It’s subtle, but the difference is definitely there. You’ll learn to notice.” He buries his nose in the crook of my neck, taking a deep breath. “I fucking love it.”
Samuel licks my neck up until he reaches my earlobe, biting it a little, while his hand grazes my side, then the underside of my breast. Heat ignites, making me squirm closer to his hot and very naked body. I remember the size of his cock the first time he shifted in front of me, and a phantom ache pulses between my legs. I want him inside of me so badly I could almost shout the command, yet something holds me back. This isn’t right. How can I be thinking about having sex with Samuel when his father has just died?
“Sam, maybe we should wait.” My voice has no strength, no true conviction.
Without words, he slides his hand underneath my shirt, leaving a trail of goose bumps as he moves closer to the edge of my bra. “Your skin is so soft and warm. I’d crave a taste even if you weren’t my mate.”
Oh my God. He’s using his rock-god sexy voice, and I’m melting through the sheets.
“The first time I saw you on that stage, I couldn’t look away. You had me ensnared even though I was never into cocky rock stars before.”
Samuel’s throaty laughter makes me giddy, filling me with warmth. I lean on my elbow, so I can look at his face. He’s such a beautiful man, and it’s almost impossible to believe he’s staring at me with such hunger. I trace his face with the tips of my fingers, committing to memory all his edges and angles, his chin dimple, his full mouth. His eyes, despite the laughter, remain sad, so I do the only thing I can think of—I kiss him hard. He answers in kind, plunging his demanding tongue into my mouth with the eagerness of a starving man. Using his deft fingers, he unhooks the front clasp of my bra and takes possession of my breasts, kneading as he goes.
“I really hate clothes on you,” he says between kisses.
“I’m wearing a skirt.”
As if I issued a challenge, Samuel lets go of my breast to transfer his hand to my ass. “What kind of underwear do you like, Red? Are you a white cotton or black lace kind of girl?”
“It depends on my mood, but sometimes I don’t wear them at all.”
To illustrate my point, I roll on top of him before remembering he is still recovering from his injuries, then stop. “Is this okay?”
His eyes narrow to slits at the same time he grabs my hips, bringing them forward a little. The motion makes my clit rub against his erection, and we hiss at the same time. “Is that answer good enough for you?”
I rotate my hips, making Samuel dig his fingers harder into my skin.
“Fuck. I think I’d still enjoy this even if every single bone in my body was broken,” he rasps out.
“I promise I’ll be careful.”
Wrapping my fingers around his shaft, I guide it to my entrance. The feeling we shouldn’t be doing this when everyone else is in mourning is still present, but Samuel wants this, he needs this, so I’ll give it to him. I’ll give everything he wants.
I lower my hips, impaling myself on him slowly, making Samuel let out a string of curses. When I try to keep the pace easy, gentle, he won’t let me. With his hands on my hips, he takes control, making me fuck him harder and harder. I’m not sure he saw the worry in my gaze, but he manages to say, “Stop worrying, Red. You’re not hurting me, but I might die a little.”
Leaning forward, I capture his face between my hands and kiss him. Then it happens, the blissful, overwhelming, earth-shattering orgasm that breaks me and then puts me back together all in the same breath. I cry out, but the sound is muffled by Sam’s tongue. Not much later, I feel him expand inside of me, then it’s his turn to make undiscernible sounds with the back of his throat.
Everything slows down until we stop moving altogether. I roll off him with my heartbeat still erratic and my breathing matching the crazy tempo. Resting my hand on his chest, I close my eyes while I wait for the world to stop spinning. We don’t speak for several minutes until Samuel begins to shake. Alarmed, I open my eyes in time to catch his face twist in the worst anguished expression I’ve ever seen on a man. He covers his mouth with a fist to suppress a loud sob, then turns to me, hiding his face in the crook of my neck.
“He’s dead, Red. He’s dead, and it’s all my fault.”
I run my fingers through his hair, murmuring, “No, it wasn’t your fault, Sam. It wasn’t your fault.”
My reply goes unanswered, and I don’t know if he even heard me. He continues to cry, harder and louder with each breath he takes, so I do the only thing I can. I hold him tight while he releases all his grief.
Chapter 35
Red
I couldn’t leave Sam alone after he broke down like that, so I spent the night. However, I can’t say that I slept. I was up the whole night, thinking about the problems within the pack, the dangerous, unknown enemy we’ll have to face, my complicated relationship with the brothers, and worrying about my future. What’s going to happen to me? How do I fit into the puzzle? That painting Dante did comes back to haunt me. I still don’t know what it means.
I’m watching Sam’s face, glad to see his relaxed expression, when the door opens and Dr. Mervina comes in. Mortification rushes to my face, making it hot. I pull the sheet all the way up to my chin, even though I’m still wearing my clothes.
Dr. Mervina ignores my reaction, moving straight to Sam’s side of the bed to check on him. “How was he during the night?”
“Good. He slept like a baby.”
She places a hand on his forehead, then her gaze shifts to the IV that’s no longer attached to his arm. With a tsking sound, she proceeds to find another line. I decide I should give her room to do her thing, so I slide off the bed.
“I’m going to check on Dante and Tristan,” I say, not knowing why I feel compelled to tell her.
“Tristan went into town, but Dante is in his studio.”
“Okay.”
I stop for a moment to take Dr. Mervina in. Her eyebrows are furrowed in concentration and she has her professional mask on, but I wonder how she can function like that. I’d probably be a blubbering mess if I’d lost my mate.
“How are you holding up?” I ask.
“I don’t know yet.” She glances at me. “For now, all my focus is on discovering who betrayed Anthony. My mind is set on retribution.”
“Do you think it was someone close to him?”
Dr. Mervina doesn’t answer. Instead, she returns her attention to Samuel. “You should go check on Dante. I’m sure he’d want to see you.”
I know a dismissal when I hear one. “Okay. Would you tell Sam I’ll be back to check on him?”
“Of course.”
I don’t go to Dante right away, veering to my room first, wanting to shower and change clothes. I’d feel weird going to him still having Sam’s scent all over me, and I’m not sure if that’s ever going to change. By the time I take the path that leads to his studio up the mountain, it’s already midmorning. The bright sun shining through the canopy of trees feels a little out of place when there’s so much darkness going around.
I’m halfway there when I hear someone approaching. I turn around, finding Lyria coming in my direction. My entire body tenses up. If she wants a repeat of yesterday’s showdown, I’d be more than happy to oblige.
“What do you want?” I ask.
“Relax, I’m not here to fight with you.”
“Then what?”
“You’re the beta now, and as such, you have the alpha’s ear.”
I cross my arms, watching the enforcer. “So?”
“You need to dissuade Dr. Mervina from waiting to hear back from the leader of the Thunderborn sleuth. We need to go after those hunters now.”
Suspicion sneaks up my spine. “You were more than happy to wait around yesterday. Why the sudden hurry
now?”
“The pack’s leadership has been established. That’s all I wanted. Now it’s foolish to wait for a report that might take days to come through. Bears are not as reliable as Dr. Mervina thinks. They also have their own agenda.”
“You should bring your concerns to her yourself.”
Lyria lets out a humorless laugh. “She won’t listen to me. She never liked me when I was the beta, but she couldn’t deny me an audience due to ranking. But now that the title has been stripped from me…”
The woman doesn’t need to continue. I get the gist, but I don’t believe for a second her motivations are true. She’s planning something. No sooner does the thought enter my mind than a shiver runs down my spine and the small hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. But the warning comes too late. There’s a zap, then a prickle on my neck, which immediately makes my skin numb.
“What the hell?” I pull a dart from my skin, staring at it for a second before my legs vanish from under me.
My body is suddenly on the ground, but I don’t feel the fall. The world around me is quickly becoming fuzzier and fuzzier.
“What have you done to me?” I ask.
My heart sinks when Seth emerges from his hiding spot carrying a tranquilizer gun. This was a trap.
Lyria moves closer, then crouches in front me, pulling my hair back. “Do you seriously think I’d let a lowly Shadow Creek mutt take my rightful place in the pack?”
“Lyria, quit wasting time with her. We need to deliver her to Valerius before the Wolfe brothers realize she’s missing.”
“Seth, why are you doing this? I thought you were Tristan’s best friend.”
The blond man’s features twist into a scowl. “Do you think I’m betraying him? I’m saving him from your clutches.”
Lyria lets go of my hair, only to roll me over and press my face against the ground. My entire body has gone numb, and I can’t even feel my wolf anymore. The edges of my vision begin to darken, but I manage to ask one final question. “Where are you taking me?”
“To where you belong,” Seth answers before my entire world goes dark.
Dante
I awake with a start, the sharp pain in my chest making it almost impossible to breathe. Something terrible has happened. I throw my legs to the side of the bed, and practically jump from it. My studio is shrouded in darkness. Only a few rays of sunshine manage to penetrate the blinds, but I know it must be midmorning already. Without bothering to find a pair of shoes, I hurry out barefoot, wearing only the loose sweatpants I fell asleep in.
The sense of foreboding doesn’t ease up; it only gets stronger and stronger the farther I get from my studio. Before I know it, I break into a run, heading straight to the alpha’s manor. I must have made the five-minute trek in less than a minute, zooming down the mountain like the devil himself was after me.
I make a beeline to Sam’s room in the infirmary. Before I reach his door, he rushes out naked as a newborn baby, looking frantic. Mom is right behind him, urging him to return to bed.
“What happened?” I ask.
“Something’s not right,” he says. “You feel it, too, don’t you, Dante?”
“Yes. Where’s Red?”
“She went to see you,” Mom answers.
Dread drips down my spine. Locking gazes with Sam, I know he’s thinking the same thing I am. Something happened to Red.
“Did you look in her room?” Sam asks.
I shake my head. “She’s not in this building. As a matter of fact, I can’t sense her at all.”
Sam stares at me without blinking for a few seconds before he replies, “Me neither.”
The door down the hallway bursts open. Tristan explodes out like a bulldozer ready to raze a building to the ground. “Where is she?”
“We don’t know,” Sam and I answer in unison.
“Your bond is strong enough that you felt something was off all the way from town?” Mom asks incredulously.
“I was already on my way back when the feeling hit. I couldn’t breathe for a few seconds.”
“The same thing happened to us,” I say.
Mom’s scrutinizing gaze falls on each of us before she speaks. “She’s definitely not a regular wolf, and neither is the bond you have with her.”
“What good is this magical bond if we don’t know what happened to her or where she is?” Sam throws his arms in the air.
“You don’t know that you can’t locate her. I’ll get the enforcers available to start a search party. Meanwhile, get ready.” Mom begins to hurry toward the exit, her shoulders squared as if she’s preparing to go to battle.
“You don’t think she ran away, do you?” Sam’s eyes shine with lingering fear. Maybe if he had asked me that questions a few days ago, I would have told him it was a possibility, but not now.
“No. She didn’t run away, and I’m afraid her disappearance is linked to what was done to Dad up in Vancouver,” Tristan replies.
Sam’s eyes widen a fraction before he whispers, as if he’s afraid the walls are listening, “If that’s true, then it means we have a traitor in our midst.”
“Yes, we most certainly do.” And I have a nagging suspicion I know who it is. But I can’t make accusations without proof, not when the person in question is Tristan’s best friend.
Chapter 36
Red
I’m plagued by weird images, a darkness that keeps reaching for me while I run without direction in an unknown forest. There’s a hollowness in my chest that freezes my veins, vanquishing any joy I have ever felt in my entire life. My face is ice cold because I’d been crying and the tears have solidified, giving me a glacial mask.
A lonely wolf howls in the distance, and the sound is so sad and filled with anguish that it makes me want to cry even more. I see a river ahead, its serene waters bathed in moonlight. If I can cross that body of water, the darkness won’t be able to reach me. Hope propels me forward. I’m only a few steps away from salvation when giant claws made from black smoke appear on my arms. At first, they have no substance until they clamp around my limbs, sharp talons digging into my skin. I let out a cry as the hands of pure evil yank me back a second before I was ready to jump toward salvation.
With a start, my eyes fly open, but the tendrils of the nightmare remain, clutching my chest in a vicious hold. My accelerated heartbeat makes it hard to draw air in, and when I don’t recognize my surroundings right away, my panic seems to double. I try to sit up, but I find that my arms and legs are restrained. I’m trapped.
What the hell happened to me?
Memories of an encounter with Lyria and Seth comes to the surface. They drugged and kidnapped me, but where am I? I pull at my restraints, trying to break free, but the bindings are strong and my body is still not completely recovered from the tranquilizer.
“Stop fussing. You’re not going anywhere,” a voice says from a dark corner of the room.
“Who’s there?” My heart begins to beat faster while sweat breaks out on my forehead.
A man with long, straight black hair emerges from the shadows. His face is all sharp edges and angles. In a cruel way, he might even be considered beautiful.
“Forgive me my manners. My name is Valerius Locklear, and I’m the alpha of the Shadow Creek pack. Welcome home, Amelia Redford, Mother of Wolves.”
* TO BE CONTINUED *
Author’s Note
I sincerely hope you enjoyed Red’s Alphas. If you did like it, there are a number of ways you can help spread the word.
#1. Please tell your friends and family why they should read it. Better yet, gift it to them. If you are active on Goodreads, you can use the ‘Recommend’ feature.
#2. Please consider leaving a review for this book. It’s a known fact that recommendations from friends and reviews are the most influential factors in reader’s purchase decisions.
About the Author
M. H. Soars always knew creative arts were her calling but not in a million years did she think s
he would become an author. With a background in fashion design she thought she would follow that path. But one day, out of the blue, she had an idea for a book. One page turned into ten pages, ten pages turned into a hundred, and before she knew, her first novel, The Prophecy of Arcadia, was born.
M. H. Soars resides in The Netherlands with her husband and daughter. She is currently working on the Love Me, I’m Famous series.
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