That was when a voice infiltrated my head.
I’ll find you, Vella. When I do, you will be mine, or you will die. Only warning, girlie. Maliki was in my head from being my Alpha, so I did what I needed to so long ago. I severed my link to him and became a Lone Wolf. Before I did, I responded with the last words he didn’t give my mother.
Go to hell, you bastard. I’ll never be yours or Mekhi’s. With that, I felt the snap, and Leslie gave me a look to let me know she did the same.
She crawled over to me, and I could see the sheer exhaustion riddling her eyes. Her tiredness mixed with the new glimmer of fresh tears. I passed out, knowing I was the reason we both just lost our mothers. The guilt would always be on my soul to bear.
Vella
“Vella!” I felt my head wobble from side to side with a slight pressure on my shoulder. “Vella! We have to jump in a minute, so please wake your ass up. I don’t want to toss you out.”
My wolf whined as I came to and saw the morning light. I hurt in a horribly aching way as I sifted my body to check the damage.
“I licked your neck, but you couldn’t shift…” Leslie hinted.
Joy.
I’d have scars from not shifting in time.
“I got the bullet out of your hip, but you need to shift for your bones, Vel.”
I did, while gritting my teeth from the excruciating agony tearing through me.
“Ugh!” I grunted when I was human again and coughed up some blood.
“You’re too hurt to jump on your own, Vel. Shift into your snake and hug my neck.”
There it was. My hidden secret that no one knew until two days ago—besides those closest to me.
My father came from Baku, Azerbaijan, located by the Caspian Sea. He was a rare form of shifter that other shifters had deemed extinct.
And yet, he’s a Caspian Cobra, and so am I. I was a dual-shifter, which was another thing that was ‘impossible’. I got my father’s tan coloring and pale, amber eyes, but I got my mom’s sharp features.
I was also very small for a shifter female, standing at only five-two. Though, I was stronger than the girls who were seven inches taller than me. Les was five-eight with long legs, pale hair, and the sparkling blue eyes that most arctic wolf shifters had.
I nodded to her without meeting her eyes, knowing I’d see the spitting image of her mother. The woman I got killed because I thought I was in love.
My skin prickled and tingled as the transformation started. This change hurt most days from me not letting my snake out very often. It was too risky because snakes meant power, and there were many who were looking for a powerplay…
I’d be that play, so everyone knew my animal as a wolf, not a snake. My cobra came out with thick stripes of pale yellow and dusty grey.
Les just stared at me like she still couldn’t believe it, even though she’s seen me in this form the most. “Damn! I’ll never get over how cool that is!”
Her bare form shifted into her all-white wolf, and her snout gripped our two backpacks. I slithered to her, going up her leg. I lassoed my coiling body around her neck. She waited for a sign that read Kalispell before I felt her muscles tense for her to spring forward. We were shooting through the air right as the sign appeared.
Les tuck and rolled to not hurt her body. Once we quit tumbling, I let my grip fall and turned into my wolf, to go faster. My snake went about ten miles per hour, and my wolf hit about thirty-five. Easy choice in which form I’d be running in.
My arctic wolf was white with a stripe of deep silver down my snout, and my ears and paws were dipped in the color as well. Les tucked her head under my chin to show her submission to my power. Then, we were off to the outskirts of the tiny city.
The throb in my hip was slowing me down, and I prayed to the Great Luna that it wasn’t permanent. I couldn’t afford to be weak. Not now that I was being hunted by the best tracking pack in the world. The snow was deep, but we pressed on until we made it to a house where a woman sat in her rocking chair on the porch.
Her auburn locks were under a ski hat with yellow tassels to block the cold. Her body was bundled up while she watched us enter her yard.
I was limping as Les tried holding me up. The woman shot up and opened her door immediately, knowing I needed to rest my injuries.
“Vella Marie! You just had to get yourself hurt, didn’t cha!” She huffed, and Les snorted with her snout. We changed back, and Margo ushered us to the bathroom. “I already let the local Alpha Representative know you’re here as Loners, so don’t fret any of the territory shit. The actual Alpha is away on business, but you’re squared away, ya hear?”
We nodded while taking in her white house. It fit her personality with its homey country vibe, and I locked my arms around her middle for her kindness.
“Oh honey, I’m so sorry. Lena filled me in. Speaking of…” She stopped asking when Les lost it, too.
Margo took us both into her warm embrace. She had always been a mother hen with a bigger heart than brain. She wasn’t biologically my aunt, but she was my half-brother’s aunt.
“Well shit. Looks like you’re gonna be here longer than we planned. Don’t worry girls, Aunt Margo’s gotcha now. Clean up, and I’ll warm supper up. Wasn’t sure how fast you’d run once the train passed, so I made a stew.”
We nodded and went into the bathroom together. Les was practically all I had left now, and I literally was all she had.
We were in the shower as the water washed the dried blood from my skin, so I lost my emotions in the falling stream. “I’m so sorry, Les. They’d both still be alive if I hadn’t gotten them killed.”
“Vel, don’t even try to feel guilty over it. Mekhi was your destined mate. You had no idea he’d betray you to his dad.”
“Les…” She raised a finger to hush me.
“My mom has been training me as your guardian for a long time, so don’t self-wallow over something that was out of your control.”
And this, this is why Les would always be my best friend.
We’d need each other now more than ever. With very few left to trust in the whole world, her becoming my guardian was natural. By saving me with her blood on the train, she vowed her allegiance to me as her Alpha.
I tore my wrist in offering to seal the process she had already started. Taking it, she drank me in and was now, officially, my Beta.
Kieran
Eight months later…
* * *
I felt the sultry movement of her bare leg run up and down my thigh. Her fingers dipped into the muscled crevices along my abs. I hummed while waking up in the perfect way on an early fall day.
Morning sex with a fine woman.
Her lips lingered along my collarbone. My hands caressed her sides, moving her on top of me. Our lips met, and I felt her smile through the heat of our touch. “Nine months was too long, Kier. I missed you.”
“You saw me every few months, Liv.” I kissed her harder and pressed her sex down on my stiff shaft. “Though, those months in between were killer too.”
My voice was husky from how good she felt around my cock. In a matter of seconds, we were fucking like the animals we were and kept going until we were both sated again. She went back to sleep, and I just played with her fiery hair.
A pounding on my door told me my son had arrived to be the welcoming committee. I slid out and left Olivia in my bed. The sheet tucked around her long form, so Ethan wouldn’t see me with Olivia. He’d be pissed beyond belief because he didn’t like her.
My boxers were next to my king-sized bed, so I gripped the beam while leaning over to grab them. I got in at about one in the morning last night. Olivia was already waiting for me, like always. Selfishly, I took everything I could from her, knowing I’d have to take over my responsibilities as Alpha again today.
For the last nine months, I had been forming pacts with other packs while my new Beta, Maxen Livingston, went through his hard training in Europe. I had to be there for some of his
schooling, so I mainly stayed there the rest of his time, to secure our connections.
Opening my door, I found a younger version of me with his dark, auburn hair that leaned more towards brown. Tan skin highlighted his turquoise eyes that beamed at me with relief.
Ethan had done a fine job at running things in my absence, but he was ready to hand the reins back over. He got bigger during my time away. He looked stockier as his broad shoulders met my size now. He was twenty-two, and I was thirty-nine. Good thing wolves aged very slow and lived to be five-hundred, or I wouldn’t be looking barely twenty now.
“Hey, Dad. Sorry to bother you, but Margo has been hounding me for months on the two Loners camping with her. Any way you can make time to get the paperwork squared away for them to be safe in the territory? The council wouldn’t let me do it.” He shrugged sheepishly. I hated he thought he might disappoint me from the news of our stuck-up board members.
“Yeah. I’ll head down to town within the hour if you can keep things running here for the afternoon. I’ll take Maxen with me to make sure no problems arise. The council knows Margo takes in runaways all the time, so they shouldn’t be pushing her this hard.”
“Yeah, okay. I can keep things running for one more day,” he teased. I just grinned at the man he was becoming.
Slapping his shoulders with my palms, I looked him square in the eyes. “You did good, son. We’ll have dinner when I get back.”
He left right after to head to my office, so I called Maxen.
“Ugh. Seriously? We agreed nothing til after noon today,” he grumbled from me waking him, even though it was after eleven already. I chuckled, knowing he got hammered last night in celebration of his promotion.
“Change of plans. Your aunt took some new wolves in, and I need to get them papered. Apparently, the board has been having a fit over it. I’ll pick you up in twenty, Maxen.”
“Yeah, yeah. See ya in ten, you fucker.” He knew me so well. I hung up the phone to get ready.
I went back into my room to see Liv splayed over the bed. Her fingers strummed her sex for me to devour with my stare.
She was definitely the pick of the crop in our pack, but after I lost Melanie ten years ago to her destined mate, I hadn’t wanted a new one. Olivia only saw us moving that direction and kept hounding me about us being together.
Though, the last two years we spent together in complete secret. Ethan hated her. I think it was because they were the same age and went to school together. Wolves rarely looked at the age gaps humans did because we didn’t age like they did.
“I’d love another round, baby, but business calls.”
“That was Ethan, wasn’t it?” she whispered like it was some big deal. Liv was a very beautiful, very high maintenance woman, and she did not like our relationship being hidden from her gossiping lips.
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I’ll talk to him tonight, alright?”
She beamed while watching me hurry and change. We showered before our last round in the sack, and I was in too much of a hurry to have another.
“Perfect! I’ll make dinner!” she sauntered into my bathroom and let herself into whatever she wanted to use like it was her place.
I really had commitment problems, and her doing this, annoyed me. I left to get some fresh air from my wolf buzzing at me.
Melanie wasn’t my destined, but she had been my high school sweetheart—who I knocked up back then. We made it work, and I loved her like she was my true mate… until hers came, and she left with him to Alabama.
Kieran
My truck roared when I started her up. I drove quickly into our small town that was tucked into a hidden valley in Glacier Park. Maxen’s apartment was in the middle of it.
He was already out front in his sweats and tank. Heath stood by him, looking like we were hitting a club and not a bakery. He was stirring his hair with his hand like a boy going on his first date and had never seen a pair of tits.
They climbed in when I pulled up to the curb. Maxen laid in the back with his arm over his face, not ready for life to start today.
Heath flipped the visor down, checking on his gelled red hair and flipped his collared shirt.
“You meeting a date there?” I teased my third in command.
“He’s into one of the Loners that’s staying with my aunt, but she keeps rejecting him.” Max tried to laugh but groaned instead from his hangover.
“Shut it, man! I’m tellin’ ya, I’ve never met a wolf who looks like her or has ever been more attractive. She’s tiny in height and build, but she has big tits and full hips with a plump, toned ass. Not to mention her eye…”
“Dude. Shut it. We’ll see your strawberry shortcake soon enough.”
While they argued, I thought back to his tiny comment. Who wants a tiny woman? I’m a man who likes a long pair of legs to wrap around me for her heels to dig into my back. I was a tall man myself, so they were fine wearing heels with me. A few minutes into our drive, Maxen’s snores echoed in the cab. Heath kept toying with his looks.
Pulling up to the bakery and coffee shop called Starting Fresh, Heath took my water bottle and dumped it over Max’s face.
“I’m gonna kill you, shithead!” Max roared.
Heath took off into the building to hide behind Margo. I took my time going in, seeing Heath on the inside of the bar area as Maxen reached over to get him.
“Boys! Ain’t nobody got time for that! Now sit down and order before I smack both your backsides!” Margo went back into the kitchen as Max headed to the bathroom to clean himself up.
We took our seats at the bar where the single sitters go to plug in their devices on the white surface. A blonde was bussing tables, and I smelled her and determined she was one of the wolves I needed to interview. My wolves carried a whiff of me on them from being in my pack.
She was singing along to the country music as a tiny raven-haired beauty stepped out of the kitchen. The dark-haired female whacked her friend’s rear with a coiled towel to hear her yelp.
They both started laughing. The lingering sound held my attention. This small woman was captivating to study.
Heath was right. She was gorgeous and very small for our kind. My nose picked up her wolf and out of nowhere, my wolf tried to take over to go claim her.
Shit! There was no way this teenager was my destined. Plus, I was barely letting thoughts of Liv and me play out.
This chick had shorter hair than I like. The back sat above her shoulders, and the front cut down to fall just below. Her white tank displayed her full rack, and her cinched waist flared into generous hips. Her cutoff shorts let her ass be the show.
Fuck!
It was plump and toned…
Blondie went into the kitchen as the minx came over to take our order. She never looked up from her paper and pen. I bet it was from how often she was hit on. That made my wolf snarl because he seriously thought she was ours.
“Afternoon, gentlemen. What can I get cha?” her voice was honey, and I studied the small, full lips she spoke through.
Heath nudged me.
“Told ya,” he whispered, and he sure did. Maxen came out of the bathroom then. He paled like he was seeing a ghost when he viewed the little woman.
“Vella?” he panted her name like he never thought he’d see her again.
She flipped her head, and her strawberry mint aroma struck me dumb. Dropping the writing utensils, she hopped over the counter to run to Max.
“Maxen!”
He charged her in return, and they got caught in their collision as she hugged him like a tree. He was kissing her whole face, but not her lips like an intimate game between them. Heath cursed beside me, seeing why he lost the dating game.
Kieran
“Maxen! Get your grubby mitts off your sister! She’s on the clock!” Margo hollered from the cash register. Wait, did she just say sister?
“Oh, come on, Aunt Margo. I haven’t seen my baby sister in a few years! Let me enjoy t
he bombshell she’s become.” Max sat her beside me on the bar’s surface and analyzed her from top to bottom. When he said he had a baby sister… well, I assumed a baby. Not this sexy minx. “Vel, what are you doing here? Where’s mom?”
Before my minx could answer, blondie came out and did for her. “Maliki killed her looking for Vel, Max. We barely got out in time.” My minx looked to her white Chucks that could barely touch the barstool’s foot bar below them. Her face sorrowed.
“Little Leslie? Looks like Vella isn’t the only one who grew up,” Maxen growled his approval. When they made eye contact, we all saw the flash of silver, marking them as destined mates.
Lucky bastard.
He wouldn’t have to go through what Ethan and I had.
“Yeah, I’m also her guardian, you pompous dick.”
Yeah, she was perfect for Maxen.
“Guardian? That would mean…”
“She almost died, and I fed her my blood, making our powerline official. She’s my Alpha, and I’m her Beta. Get over it, hotshot. We all knew her destiny when we were still peeing in the little potties.”
“Got it, Les. I’m asking my sister, not you,” Max huffed, and Leslie raised her hands in surrender.
“Hurt her and I’ll kill you, just like Maliki’s Beta.” She strutted into the kitchen.
“Vel, explain before I fucking lose it in here,” Max growled, knowing she was injured somehow.
“He found out. He knows, Maxie. Les and I came back from a run and saw him with Mom and his goons through the window. He demanded she tell him my location, but you know mom. She spit in his face. He ripped her heart out, literally, Max, and I had to see it all through the fucking window. They heard us, and we ran across the open tundra to get to the train depot where Lena waited for us. Maliki wants me to mate him now that he knows, and they were chasing us down in trucks. Some ran in wolf form.
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