The Alpha's Mate (8 Sexy, Powerful Shifters and Their Fated Mates)

by Lynn Red

  The blond man shook his head and sneered back at the dark-haired driver.

  "Just a thought," he whined.

  "Stop thinking. You're not good at it."

  Julia squinted her eyes and breathed deeply. The crash. That's right. Damien. And Kyle—

  "Where am I?" she asked.

  The SUV pulled off of the highway and swerved hard onto a dirt road. Julia held her head in her hands as they bounced over the potholes in the road. Every bump in the road turned into blinding pain in her head. She'd hit the windshield. Yes. Blood covered her hand now as she pressed it to her head.

  "I need help," she said, her voice trembling. "I need to go to a hospital."

  "We'll take care of you just fine," the driver said, not turning back at all.

  "Yeah, you'll be fine," the blond man said.

  The thought made its way fuzzily through Julia's brain: these men are kidnapping me. She reached for the door handle, but it was locked from the outside.

  "Tsk, tsk," the driver said. "So anxious? You can get out when we get there."

  "Get where?" Julia looked around, her heart beating faster as she regained awareness of the situation. These had been the men in the car behind her. They had run her off of the road. She had to get out.

  "Silly girl," the driver said. He looked in the mirror now, and Julia's breath stopped as she saw his face. His eyes glowed blood red, and he was smiling. He was a shifter. They must be working with Kyle. Damien had warned her. He'd warned her, but the men had still gotten to her. The shifter's next words crawled through her nerves and made her shiver in terror.

  "We're taking you home."

  CHAPTER TEN

  Damien

  Damien and Jordan listened intently to Dee. He'd taken her for a simple old woman, a human whose only interest was her relation to Julia. Now, though, he realized that she was something more. They kept the windows cracked open to make sure they didn't miss a scent, and the night air rushed past his ears as she told their history. Clearing her throat, Dee settled back and spoke in a sonorous voice that reminded Damien of the storytellers of his old pack. The lilting rhythm of her words lulled him into a calmer state, despite his fear for Julia.

  "A long time ago, I was part of a pack that lived north of here. They were a fierce pack, and proud, and they did as much as they could to expand their territory. Wars were fought, and many wolves died. Julia—Julia's parents— fought in the battle of Karawka. My daughter died alongside her husband in that fight, and I was left to raise Julia with my Charles.

  "She's a special child, in more ways than one. The genes she inherited from me through my daughter are recessive, and quite rare. My hair turned white a long time ago, but it used to be as red as hers. Red like fire, oh yes. And we are able to shift well into our old age, until death.”

  "It is a pure shift, you understand? That is why you can't scent us. When Julia is human, she is human. Not a hybrid, not stalled, half-wolf and half-man, like the vast majority of shifters. Our pack leader was purebred, and so were two others in the pack. All male, all except my daughter. And Julia."

  Dee's voice quavered at this last sentence.

  "We were the very last of the pure shifters, and Julia herself was the last of these in her generation. Her parents never conceived another child, and when they died, only Julia and I were left with the female half of the gene. The pack leader came to me after her parents had died and told me that he was going to take her.

  "'Take her where?' I asked.

  "'Take her for myself,' the alpha said. 'Take her for the rest of the purebred.'

  "I knew then that he meant to violate the Calling. Julia was still a pup at the time, and had no idea of her true mate. The pack leader told me that she would be a fine mother, that she could have litters with all of the other purebred males in the pack. To create a master pack. An invincible army of purebred shifters."

  Dee shuddered, her voice breaking. Jordan and Damien waited in silence until she was ready to continue.

  "Charles and I took her and ran. It meant leaving our pack, our home, all of our friends and family. We didn't have to go far. All we had to do was find a small town, and we knew the pack would never find us as long as we stayed low, out of sight. They couldn't scent us, after all. We simply had to stay in human form for good. And so we did. From one of the contacts we kept, we received news that they were looking for us, that they had rendezvous points set up across the territory. Whenever they would pass close by, we would make sure to stay hidden, and, eventually, they stopped looking. Charles passed away some years ago, and I thought Julia would marry a human man. It would have ended the recessive line, but that was a small price to pay for her safety."

  Dee sighed. "So many old memories. I never thought I would have to revisit them. My daughter..." Her voice trailed off, and Damien could tell she was holding back her tears.

  "If Julia is a shifter," Damien said carefully, "wouldn't she know? Wouldn't she shift?"

  "Before we left, we visited a medical sage. I don't know what she did to Julia—some sort of hypnosis—but it left her permanently human."

  "She can't shift back? Ever?" Jordan asked.

  "Not as far as I know," Dee said. "We've never tested it, for obvious reasons. If Julia knew what she was, it would be more dangerous for her. She would be tempted to shift. I couldn't risk that."

  "Then she can't defend herself," Damien growled. "She can't shift, she can't fight. She has no chance."

  "What would you have had me do?" Dee cried in anger, her words piercingly sharp. "She needed to be protected! If there had been any other way, any way at all, do you think I would have done this?"

  Damien clamped his mouth shut. It was not his place to judge, he knew that, but the thought of Julia being forced to remain human was abhorrent. To never know the feeling of running free, to never know the true smell of the world, was a cruelty he could not imagine.

  "So what now?" Jordan said quietly.

  "Now we go to the closest rendezvous point," Dee said. "We hope they haven't changed locations since the last time I made contact with the pack."

  "And then?" Damien asked.

  "And then," Dee said, the hint of a snarl touching her words, "we fight."

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Julia

  Julia slid back in her seat, her breath coming fast.

  "Where's Damien?" she asked. Her hand moved slowly towards her seatbelt buckle. It was dark, nearly black, inside the car, but she couldn't afford to attract the attention of the blond shifter. Fortunately, he seemed to be easily distracted. "Where's Kyle?"

  "Oh, you know Kyle?" the blond wolf said. "I knew him back when he was a pup. Sorry to see him leave the pack, but, well, survival of the fittest."

  Julia listened with one ear as her fingers touched the seatbelt release. The car bumped along the road.

  "You mean he's not fit."

  "You've seen him, haven't you?" the blond man said.

  "His limp? It didn't seem that bad," Julia said. "He could walk."

  The blond man laughed, a harsh, grating noise.

  "You need to do more than walk to keep up with Trax and the rest of the wolves." He grinned meanly. "Kyle couldn't cut it."

  "That's a shame," Julia said, every muscle of hers tensed in anticipation. The SUV pulled forward up a steep hill through the woods. She waited. She would only get one chance to act.

  "Eh." He shrugged. "No skin off my pads. He's better off as a loner anyway. No pack would want him."

  "I suppose you're right," Julia said, not wanting to give away any information they didn't already know. She wondered why Kyle had told them he was alone.

  The SUV turned through a curve and headed back downhill, picking up speed.

  "There we are," the blond man said, pointing just ahead to where a small cabin lay at the end of the dirt road. A large bonfire illuminated the front of the cabin, flickering shadows behind it onto the dark trees. Above them Julia could just make out the stars in the ni
ght sky.

  "You think I can't see it?" the driver asked, swatting the hand down from in front of him as they sped toward the cabin. Now. Julia had to act now, or it was all over.

  Taking a deep breath, she unbuckled her seatbelt and leapt forward in one movement to the steering wheel. Leaning over onto the driver, she jammed her feet forward on top of the driver's like a child sitting on an adult and pretending to drive. She pressed the gas pedal to the floor while trying to keep the shifter's other foot off of the brake.

  "OW!"

  "Get off of him!"

  The engine whined as the SUV picked up speed. The blond man had his hands on her, pulling, and she held tightly to the steering wheel for dear life as the car accelerated toward the cabin. She knew in one more second they would have control again, but perhaps it was enough. The driver yanked the steering wheel to the right, and Julia clung on, pulling back the other way and aiming directly for the small cabin in front of them. The SUV lurched onto two wheels, then dropped back down with a thud that shot lightning bolts of pain through Julia's head. The shock knocked the blond man into the dashboard and he lost his hold on her. The driver had his foot on the brake now and the whine from the engine pierced her bones, but the car still skidded straight ahead.

  Julia clenched her teeth and braced for impact, but the driver jerked the wheel so that the SUV clipped the side of the cabin and slid sideways into a roll. Julia hit the roof of the car and heard the crack before she felt the sharp stabbing pain lance through her arm. The SUV, still upside down, skidded to a stop. One headlight flickered into the forest.

  Her head spinning, Julia crawled with one arm out of the broken window and onto the forest floor, her hands sinking into the soft layer of leaves. The blond man had been thrown from the window when the SUV rolled and was lying motionless under a tree not far away, the dim light of the bonfire casting an eerie red glow over his body. She was almost out of the car when a hand grabbed her ankle and she kicked back, turning to see the driver holding onto her leg through the window.

  "Get... off of me!" she said, using her other foot to kick his arm into the broken glass.

  "Ahh!" The glass sliced his arm, leaving him bleeding rapidly.

  The shifter let go and fumbled at his seatbelt, and she shoved herself back out of his grasp, struggling to get up on two feet. Gasping for air and holding her broken arm, she stumbled backwards and into something hard.

  "Hello, Julia," a voice said. Julia shrieked as she spun around to see what she'd run into. A huge man stood in front of her, his arms crossed over the muscled chest bulging against the fabric of his shirt. She lifted her eyes to his face. He had dark red hair haloed by the light of the bonfire, and his eyes glittered like emeralds.

  "Welcome home."

  Julia turned to run into the darkness of the woods, but she had only taken one step before his hand reached out and grabbed her by the hair. She'd had her braids pulled in kindergarten by the boys, but this was a thousand times more painful. She screamed as he lifted her onto her tiptoes by her hair. Desperate, she clutched his arm with one hand and felt her broken arm drag down along her side. In the corner of her eye she could see the driver of the SUV clamber out and vomit on the ground.

  "You did quite a number on my wolves," the man said, letting her down just enough so that she had most of her weight on the balls of her feet. Her scalp burned.

  His eyes swept down her figure and she flushed as she realized she'd left the house without being able to put on a bra. One eyebrow arched over his disapproving face. A rage of shame and anger rose in Julia. He had no right to do this. No right at all to take her like this.

  "Not much of a figure," he said. "But we'll get you in shape in no time."

  Julia spat in his face.

  Letting go of her hair, he whipped the back of his hand across her face. Bright lights flashed in front of her eyes in an instant of unbearable pain. Then he was dragging her by her arm, the one that wasn't broken, back to the cabin. There was someone else waiting in the doorway, and Julia realized as they came closer that it was a woman, her muscles bulging almost as much as those of the men that had taken her. She peered down at Julia with dark, slitted eyes, the flames of the bonfire reflected in her pupils.

  "Trax, should I call the others and let them know we have her?"

  "Not yet," the man said. Trax. Julia moaned, her legs kicking helplessly, as he brought her inside and threw her against the wall. She crumpled into a heap on the floor, her fingers scraping against the rough wood planks as she brought her injured arm up to her chest. There was a single lantern on the table, and she retreated from it instinctively, seeing the dark like a wounded animal.

  "If you want reinforcements—"

  "We'll be fine," Trax said. "The kid should be here soon, anyway. And I want to make sure she's the real thing before we get the pack all excited."

  "Kyle said—"

  "I know what Kyle said," Trax snarled. "There's a reason he was exiled from the pack."

  "Sure," the woman said. Her voice trembled a bit as she spoke, and Julia saw her eyes dart over to her corner. "Of course. Whatever you want."

  The driver of the SUV came into the cabin, closing the door behind him.

  "Rylan's dead," he said, a look of guilt on his face. "Broke his neck."

  Trax sniffed. "Should have been more careful. Both of you."

  The man looked out the window and said nothing.

  "Now," he said, kneeling in front of Julia, "let's talk."

  Julia did not move, did not even look at him. His hand shot out and grabbed her chin, lifting her face toward his. His breath was hot on her skin, and he smelled like burnt wood.

  "Do you know why you're here?"

  Julia shook her head. The pain in her head brought tears to her eyes. She couldn't think, it was so bad.

  His fingers dug into her cheeks.

  "You're going to have to learn some manners," Trax said softly. "When I ask you a question, you respond to me. Understood?"

  He shook her head slightly and the throbbing agony in her head left her gasping for air.

  "Yes!" she cried. "Yes!" Anything to stop the pain.

  "Good," Trax said, letting go of her face. Sobs racked her body, but at least all that was left was a dull ache in her head.

  "Now," he said, "let's start over. Do you know why you're here?"

  Julia choked, wiping her eyes.

  "Is this... does this have to do with Damien?"

  "Who is Damien?" Trax cocked his head.

  "That's the blind wolf, I think," the driver said. "The one who killed Trevor."

  "He didn't kill Trevor!" Julia cried. "Damien fought in self-defense. They were trying to save him when he shifted and—"

  "Enough." Trax put one finger on her lips and she drew back against the wall in disgust. He smiled at her, and a chill ran through her bones. "You're going to be a very good mate once we get you properly trained."

  "Mate?" The word reverberated through the cabin from her lips, and in the corner Julia could see the woman tossing her dark hair behind her shoulders.

  "My mate," Trax said.

  His fingers stroked her arm now. Julia pressed herself hard against the wall.

  "I'm not... you can't... I'm not a shifter like you," Julia stammered. "I'm human."

  Trax grinned.

  "You're a sweet little thing," he said. "But you're not fooling anyone."

  "No, it's true!" Julia swiveled her head from one person to another in the cabin. Both the woman and driver looked at her in disbelief. Her jaw dropped open in amazement. "You brought me here to... wait! This is all a mistake! You don't understand!"

  "Stop," Trax said. His voice brought Julia's protests to a halt. He stared into her eyes and spoke in a slow rhythm. "I don't want my mate to lie to me. Not... ever. You're a special shifter. One of a kind. And now you're mine."

  "I have a mate already," Julia said, her voice choking. If they thought she was a shifter, then maybe she needed to try
something different. "Damien. My true mate. He—"

  "Did he tell you he felt the Calling with you?" Trax said. He laughed and stood up. "Smart wolf. Maybe we should have done the same. Try to convince you to come on your own."

  Julia's mouth went dry. No. It wasn't possible. Damien wouldn't do that to her. But...

  He'd told her Katherine was just his guide when they first met. That had been a lie. What else had he lied about?

  "You're wrong," she said, but doubt had already crept into her voice.

  "Doesn't matter now," Trax said. "You're mine."

  He bent over quickly to caress her face and she winced as he lowered his head towards her lips. She drew back but he had her chin firmly in his hand. With the other he tore her dress. The seams cut into her flesh before ripping. Trax tossed the scraps of fabric aside and grabbed her breast, squeezing hard. She beat at his chest with her good hand, but he was too strong. He would have her, no matter what she did. A cry tore from her throat as he moved his hands down her body.

  Then he paused, raised his head, and sniffed.

  "Wolves," he said.

  The driver swung the cabin door open to the darkness and inhaled. "Two of them. They're close. Do you hear that engine?"

  "Damien," Julia whispered.

  Trax began to laugh, a slow chuckle that worked its way into thick bellowing laughter.

  "A blind wolf coming for us! We'd better run!"

  The driver laughed nervously along with Trax. The pack leader turned to Julia, his eyes gleaming green in the dim light of the cabin.

  "Come, then," he said, cracking his knuckles. "I'll win you as my mate the traditional way after all."

  Julia screamed as he pulled her to her feet, sending a fresh shot of agony down her arm.

  "Come, bitch," he said. "You'd love to see two men fight for your affections, wouldn't you? Two packs, all fighting, all for you."

  "No!" Julia cried. "Please, no!"

  The two others followed Trax outside as he shoved Julia in front of him. She collapsed in front of the cabin and he picked up a dirty blanket from the side of the cabin where it had been resting on top of a stack of firewood. He tossed it over her.