Alpha's Heart: Part Three (The Boundary Woods Book 3)

by Skye Winters

  Table of Contents

  Alpha's Heart: Part Three

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  About the Author

  Alpha's Heart: Part Three

  by Skye Winters

  * * * * *

  PUBLISHED BY:

  Skye Winters

  Alpha's Heart: Part Three

  Copyright © 2014 Skye Winters

  www.skyewinters.com

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  * * * * *

  Life within the boundary may be complicated, but standing on the outside is madness.

  For Anna, holding back her shift outside the boundary is bad enough without the threat of humans lingering nearby.

  But the huntress's cabin is vacant, and unless Anna's willing to set foot in a human settlement, it doesn't look like she's coming back.

  * * * * *

  Chapter One

  Time outside the boundary was a double-edged sword. It moved too fast, or not at all. In fact, I hadn’t seen the sun move for close to an hour. Or was it two?

  You’re losing your mind out here.

  Without the pack and the ability to control my wolf if I decided to shift, there was no telling what day it was. Holding back the shift was agony. A hot blade digging at the base of my spine.

  I'd seen Rowan once since I'd left our territory. Given the little bit she was able to tell me, the pack had put my father to rest, and both my mother and brothers were safe within the bunker. No doubt Devlin had learned of the passageway by now. I just hoped he wouldn't toss them outside the pack like he'd apparently tried to do with everyone else.

  Fortunately, what Devlin's pack had in numbers, we had in mental strength. Each wolf made him or herself useful, and until Devlin's wolves could perform on an even level, he needed them.

  The needs of my body brought everything else into focus. My stomach twisted with hunger as my wolf clawed at the surface, increasing my instincts to hunt even more. But I'd waited so long, I could barely stand.

  Chasing after a rabbit with my bare hands or slamming a fish with a large rock seemed impossible now.

  I knew I should've kept a reserve.

  Who was I kidding? I hadn't found a single scrap the last time I went out, and the bushes had been picked clean. Anything I may have been able to save would've lasted a day at most.

  How does the pack do it?

  Even in our territory, there was only so much to go around, and we'd managed to do it every day with some to spare.

  When's the last time you ate?

  With my back against a tattered bed frame, I settled on the floor and hugged my knees to my chest. I winced when my stomach rumbled again and tried to think of anything besides food.

  The human city can't be that far from here.

  They were fairly weak, after all. Couldn't be no more than five miles at most.

  And make an appearance with so much food around?

  How would I pay for it? I couldn't go stealing things. That would've gotten the humans to notice me for sure.

  You could sneak back into the boundary.

  I had a feeling Devlin's wolves were scattered around every outpost there was. And if the wind wasn't in my favor, they'd smell me well before I stepped across the dividing line.

  Way to plan things out, Anna.

  I groaned. I'd expected the huntress to show up every few nights. But as the days drew on, the possibility of what Rowan had said when I'd left the boundary was becoming more likely.

  Perhaps the huntress didn't come up this way anymore. If there wasn't any game in the area, maybe the humans had moved on to another, more plentiful spot.

  When I had first arrived, I'd tried to pick up her scent, but the passage of time covered her tracks. As for her cabin, the changing seasons had eaten at the wood and pulled up a handful of shingles.

  I stared at a stain of blood in the middle of the room. It had seeped through the cracks between the wood to whatever soil lay beneath it. More than one animal had been killed here before, but the one who hunted and did the killing was long forgotten.

  A Cold breeze blew in through the cracked glass of a window, reminding me how badly I needed to make repairs to a house that, like it or not, I'd be staying in a while longer. It hadn't rained yet, but the roof wasn't holding up any better. The house groaned whenever a leaf happened to fall on it.

  I exhaled and reached behind me for a warm fur Rowan gave me during her last visit. I wrapped it around my shoulders and smelled the worn pelt, smiling when I caught a small whiff of the woods around our home.

  With the chilly air biting at my skin and my bones aching to shift, the pelt was the only comfort I had. And for the briefest of moments, I was taken back to when Rowan and I were together, in my room, lying in the sun. It had been one of those warm, lazy days where the pack was fed and relaxed. It was a time before Devlin and his wolves, when we had more wolves and just as many mouths to feed.

  And somehow we managed.

  I never could say how the boundary fed us so well. As wolves, we had to eat whenever we could, and as humans, that meant a few times a day. The game and, especially the vegetation, was plentiful. I always expected to see a shortage, but that didn't come until Devlin started closing in on our territory and sniping the food we had left.

  The pack never had to move before, and we refused to do so after he encroached on our land, so we stayed and hoped Devlin would go away instead.

  "Wishful thinking." I rested my arms on my knees.

  He'd stolen from a neighboring pack that had grown too small and merged with ours. The building was used as an outpost of sorts, which Devlin had claimed just as soon as he had enough wolves to do so.

  Not wanting to fight over such a small establishment, we let it go and allowed him to stay—peacefully. But as he collected more wolves, and as his pack grew to live outside the small three-story home, he started to hunt on our land, antagonizing our wolves.

  It was clear now he wouldn't stop at our territory alone. If he ever learned of our allying packs, he'd do the same to them as he'd done to us. Kill the alpha, push the unwanteds from the boundary and take everything else for himself.

  He was a slow spreading infection. The more wolves he had, the further his reach. The pack was in serious need of an antivirus, one of which we didn't have. Devlin had numbers over us, and now he had the territory as well. Without a way to bring the pack together and heal, we'd be unable to fight him.

  At least we had the upper hand on our territory, but he probably knew every hiding place by now, including the bunker and the tunnel system beneath our haven.

  No sneaking in.

  And no way for my family to get away unnoticed.

  I shivered again and hugged the fur tight. Rowan's scent teased my senses, and at first I thought it was coming from the pelt, but as the haze around my mind faded, I realized she was sitting next to me, intently watching her alpha zone out.

  "Good dream?" she asked with a smile, canting her head to one side.

  I tried to think of something corny to say, but all I wanted to do was take her in my arms and kiss those sweet lips.

  Her grin widened, but as she leaned in, I drew away. "What? What is it?"

  I clenched my jaw as a pang of pain and guilt hit my stomach hard
enough to force the air from my lungs. I shook my head and clawed at my legs, hugging them even closer to my body.

  Her scent, having her this close, was causing every emotion I'd been fighting back to well up in my chest. My heart raced, skipped a beat and raced again. My hands were clammy and my fingertips twitched with my need to touch her. To feel her smooth skin. To comb my fingers through her red hair.

  She rocked back on her heels, but she didn't stand. Her eyes were on me as worry lines creased along her forehead. "You look like death."

  I shuddered as much from her eyes as the cold draft coming in through the window. "That bad, huh?"

  Rowan bobbed her head, but I could see my caution of touching her had struck a nerve I never intended to hit. She was hovering, unsure of what to do. Was it okay if she touched me? Hugged me? Would I push her away?

  Will my wolf lash out if I don't?

  I bit my bottom lip, but the small pinch couldn't compare to the searing pain in my stomach. At the base of my spine. Even my fingernails seemed to have feelings of their own.

  A chill ran through me as Rowan's gaze did the usual up-down sweep. I hadn't washed in what felt like forever, so I knew I wasn't presentable, but if she was upset by that, she didn't let on.

  "When did you eat?" She glanced behind her at the door, then back at me.

  I opened my mouth and tested the words on my tongue before they passed over my lips. "I honestly don't know. Not since your last visit." Whenever that was.

  "It's been days." She wrapped her hands around mine. "I tried to get away sooner but—"

  I arced my thumb over the back of her hand. "You don't need to explain."

  "You haven't hunted?" She frowned as we continued to walk the very fine line between platonic and intimate.

  "Nothing to hunt," I said, dropping my gaze. "The land out here is bare. And the more time passes, the less likely I feel finding the huntress will become."

  "Then it's a good thing I brought some supplies with me." She turned away for a moment to grab a bag she'd dropped inside the front door. "It isn't much. I had to take things the pack wouldn't miss."

  "Then I guess it's a good thing I'm not a picky eater."

  "I did manage to get a few favorites." She dug through the worn bag and, bit by bit, various foodstuffs were strewn across the floor.

  My mouth watered at the freshly cut venison, at the handful of cracked pepper, dandelion leaves, nuts, berries and whatever else Rowan had been able to find. "It's perfect," I lied. No matter how much food she brought, it would never be enough for my wolf. My starving wolf.

  But this can still get me into the city.

  Or so I hoped. And that's if the huntress showed up. The sooner, the better.

  Rowan joined me once all of the food had been removed from the bag. "Have you tried shifting out here?"

  "No." I couldn't take the risk. If I lost control, if I couldn't be human again, my time out here would be for nothing.

  "It might help. Maybe if you meditate, your wolf will lend you her strength."

  I scoffed at that. "I don't think we're on speaking terms right now."

  Granted, she had helped me back within the boundary, but ever since we'd left, she'd been asking for a chance to run. A chance I wasn't willing to give in case she decided to go off the grid completely.

  This cabin had become an outpost for me, and so long as I didn't shift, so long as I stayed right here, Rowan knew where to find me. And staying here is my best chance at finding the huntress.

  "Then take some from me," Rowan said after a long moment. "A bond between wolves is supposed to have the same euphoria as shifting does, right? So why not give it—"

  "No." I was already shaking my head and tucking my hands under my arms. You have no idea how badly I want to kiss you right now. Something stabbed along my right side, under my ribs, and I exhaled around the pain. "I can’t put you in danger just to relieve my pain. Besides, you and I both know it would only be temporary. You can't remain outside the boundary for long, least you wish to join me out here instead." Her gaze dropped, and I caressed her cheek with a shaky hand. "Don’t worry. I’ll figure it out. I may have been the future alpha within the pack, but I’m nothing to them now. Most probably think I'm dead, and for the time being, it's better if things stay that way. Less expectations."

  "You're wrong." Her voice was soft, but I could see the tears in her eyes.

  I caressed my thumb under her eye and winced when the tip came away wet. Please don't cry. "I’ll find the huntress, and together we'll save our pack. You just... I need more time." I swallowed hard. If there was ever a time I couldn’t turn her away, now was it. "And while it pains me to send you home, you cannot stay here. You’ve been away from them much too long. Others will ask questions they shouldn’t."

  "But they already know about us."

  "My mother and Caine, yes. However, there’s no saying how they feel now." She bowed her head. "What is it?"

  "Some of Devlin's wolves have tried courting me. It’s getting aggressive, and I –"

  She leaned in to kiss me like she'd tried to do before, but I backed away. "I... I’m sorry. I don’t think—"

  "No. I get it."

  "I don’t think you do." I cupped her face and met her gaze. "I want to kiss you so bad right now, and more. So much more. But even as I touch you, whatever’s left of my core—my ability to shift is aching to come out. I can take the pain, but I can't chance shifting blindly and harming you."

  "But we don’t even know if that’s what would happen."

  "No, but my father used to tell stories about those who'd gone mad, lost all sense of their humanity and ended up doing harm to those they loved. I can’t do that. Not now. Not ever. Just give me some time to get the huntress back to my mother. If I can find her, and if she can help us strengthen our odds against Devlin, it may be enough for me to get back into the ranks. Even if that means hunting every day and doing guard duty for the rest of my life."

  "But you’re an alpha."

  "Future alpha. And that doesn’t matter anymore." I pressed my forehead to hers. "All I value is right he—" I winced from another painful turn of my stomach.

  "Anna?"

  I took a step back and waved a hand dismissively. "It’s nothing. I’m fine." I swallowed and took her hands in mine. "I value you more than anything else. I would never set out to harm you, but that doesn’t mean I can trust the animal inside me when it’s been denied a time or place to run. Trust me. The first thing—the only thing I want to do is get back to you where we’re safe. Now, go. Keep your tail high and your ears just as confident. As for your suitors, guard yourself. If they get harmful, don’t be afraid to show some teeth."

  Rowan hovered a moment longer, wrapped her arms around me and kissed me on the cheek. "You promise?"

  I turned my head to meet her gaze and, in that short moment between looking into her eyes and turning away, she kissed me. Just barely. Like the wind on my lips, but it had definitely been her. I licked them to get the smallest taste of her as she pulled away.

  I held on to her hand until she stepped too far for me to hold it any longer. I gathered the courage to get up from the floor and watch her go from my window. She kept to her human form until she reached the nearby tree line. Then, after removing her clothes with the possibility of one of us needing them again, she expertly shifted into her wolf.

  She glanced back in the direction of the house, shook her red coat and howled into the open air. Then she was gone, leaving my heart feeling as cold as the rest of my skin.

  Chapter Two

  Later that afternoon, once I'd eaten and had a chance to recoup some of my strength, I headed outside under the fading sunlight. It was warm on my back, but the wind pushed that warmth away just as soon as I leaned into it.

  I trembled and shoved my hands in my pockets, eyeing the bushes and anything else I might be able to pick clean over the next few days.

  Kneeling down beside a cluster of groundcover,
I studied the broken branches and twigs nearby. Something's been here. A rabbit was the most likely suspect and well worth the effort to kill if it meant keeping my stomach above empty another day.

  I made a mental note and, as the sun dipped closer to the horizon, I grabbed Rowan's discarded clothing and headed back inside.

  I didn't unfold her belongings. They'd probably get used eventually, but for the time being, the less I moved them around, the stronger her scent would be. It was all I had to keep me sane. To give me a direction. A focal point that didn't include the wolf clawing at my entrails or the bristling fur under my skin.

  The cramped walls of the cabin grew cold as the sun gave way to the night, and as the stars hid behind a series of clouds, I knew I was in for a long evening. The roof above my head didn't seem the type to keep out the rain for very long, so I moved over to the bed which appeared to be the driest space in the room.

  Unfortunately, that also meant I was sitting right next to the cracked window.

  You want to be cold and dry, or cold and wet?

  I sighed, threw the thick fur over myself and used Rowan's clothes as a pillow. The air outside rumbled and cracked as streaks of light jumped between the clouds. With so much open space and so many trees, any storm within the boundary was an active one. And yet, I couldn't sleep.

  I loved storms. I'd watched them with my family when I was young and had enjoyed Rowan's company during a few as well. They were calming for me, almost like a soft birdsong or crickets chirping in the summer.

  But not tonight. The bed, while it wasn't the best, felt even more uncomfortable than nights prior. Springs bit into my back, offering too much support or none at all. I threw off the fur as I was too hot, then reached for it minutes later because I'd gotten too cold.

  I groaned, placed the fur on the bed for extra support and watched the ceiling. White light flickered in a constant dance with cracks of thunder. It hadn't started raining yet, but the storm was close enough to be on the edge of the boundary.

  It was then, among the low rumbles, I caught the hint of something else. Something low. Almost like a male's voice. I frowned and was sure I was hearing things. I missed Rowan and my brothers. I was hearing voices that weren't there.