by Bonnie Vanak
SNOWBOUND WITH THE ALPHA WOLF
Werewolves of Montana Book 11
Bonnie Vanak
Contents
SNOWBOUND WITH THE ALPHA WOLF
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
SNOWBOUND WITH THE ALPHA WOLF
Ten years ago on a snowy night, alpha werewolf Adrian Williams was left stranded on a frozen mountain and knew he would die. Until he was rescued by a mysterious, lovely woman came along who shifted into a wolf and fed him her body heat. She gave him new life, and new hope, and led him to a ragged pack of Lupines needing a leader. At that moment, Adrian knew he would survive and form his own pack. He vowed she would become his mate. Nothing would stop him.
* * *
Darcy Chambers is no ordinary woman. She’s a powerful Changeling Shifter, who can shapeshift into any animal form. Drawn to Adrian that snowy night, she has resisted the potent sexual chemistry drawing them together. Caught “borrowing” a rare gem from him without permission, she is forced to spend two weeks with Adrian. He desires her as his mate, but also needs her powers to help him retrieve an important crystal that could save a pack member’s life. The crystal is hidden in an abandoned silver mine where dark magick still lingers. But what awaits them in frozen Colorado is not only deadly, it could also expose the dark secret Darcy hides, the secret that could turn this powerful alpha wolf against her…
Prologue
Colorado, ten years ago.
* * *
Cold. He was so damn cold and alone, the ice spearing his very bones.
I’m not going to die out here.
Adrian Williams struggled against the blinding snow stinging his eyes. Drifts four feet deep covered this rugged terrain, with treacherous ice beneath. One slip and he’d tumble down the jagged mountain, becoming shattered bones and smashed skin.
I’m not going to die out here, he repeated silently. Adrian huddled deeper into the thinly lined parka they’d given him. The thin trousers and hiking boots were soaked in the last hour. Blisters formed on his feet from the too-big hiking boots. He’d already hiked five miles when the rain turned to ice and then snow.
Real nice of his pack alpha, to let him have clothing that would provide little protection against the blizzard. Then again, his alpha wanted to send him naked into the storm. Into the land where no pack dared to venture, for the snow came here early. Winter was brutal.
This was the land where Lars, his alpha, sent Lupines to die.
Wind whistled through the pine boughs, tore at the hood of his parka as he struggled to reach the forest. Blinding snow made it hard to see more than two feet in front of him. If he could get to that mound of rock, find a cave and shelter, he’d make it.
But weakened from seven days of starvation forced on him as punishment, he barely had the strength to walk. The pack alpha had denied him raw meat as well, so he could not shift into his wolf.
Something lay ahead in the snow—a mound. Perhaps a shelter? He walked quicker, his heart racing with hope. Something glinted in the blinding white, a speck of gold. But when he reached the mound, he discovered it was a corpse.
A cheap gold necklace, once cherished, ringed the dead person’s neck. No, not a person—a human, or Skin, as Lupines called him. But an old wolf, sick and bedridden, unable to produce work for Lars.
He reached out, stroked the frozen face, the sightless eyes staring skyward.
“Gran,” he whispered, his throat raw and scraped.
Grief consumed him. Adrian lifted his face to the sky and howled.
His alpha detested the weak and the elderly, and those who could not work in the mine were sent out into the elements to die.
Alone and afraid, starving to death.
Gently, he covered the frail bones with snow and said a silent goodbye. Tears trickled down his frozen cheeks. He scrubbed them away. No tears, but revenge.
He kept plodding on, but the blinding snow confused him. No forest. No cave.
Exhausted, at his limit, he slipped and fell. Adrian lay upon the snow, his body growing numb.
I’m going to die out here. What a fucking waste.
He refused to howl or mourn. Refused to give up. Just a rest. A small rest and I’ll push on. But deep inside, he knew he was dying.
He rolled over, closing his eyes against the stinging snowfall. Silently he made a vow. If I get out of this, my goddess Danu, I promise I will form my own pack and shelter and protect any elderly Lupine who asks me for refuge.
Something white fluttered nearby. Adrian forced his eyes open.
A snowy owl perched on a jutting rock a few feet away. Unblinking, it looked at him, tilting its head.
He gave a faint smile. “Figures. Would you be a vulture, you’d have fresh meat to gnaw on soon. I’m dying. Do me the favor of waiting until I’m dead at least.”
The bird did not move.
“I hate birds,” he muttered. Adrian looked at the sky. “Couldn’t you have sent a cute female instead? A last kiss instead of a damn bird?”
As if the goddess heard him, the owl changed. A woman sat on the rock, clad in a white snowsuit. Dark hair spilled from the hood she’d pulled over her head, whipped in the wind. She could be lovely, or ugly; he cared not.
“You’re not real,” he said hoarsely. “But since this is a hallucination, could you stop staring at me?”
Still silent, she remained motionless.
“Are you one of Lars’s punishments?” He gave a hoarse laugh. “All this to torment me? He threw me out here. Isn’t that enough?”
Then she spoke, her voice as sweet as wind chimes. “Why did he throw you out?”
Adrian dropped his head into the snow. “I challenged him for leadership. Didn’t like how he abused the weak and the elderly.”
“You’re awfully young to challenge a powerful alpha.” She tilted her head again. “What are you, twenty years old?”
“I am a purebred alpha,” he muttered. “And I’m twenty-one. Go away, mirage. I have memories enough to torment me.”
She came through the snow, knelt down next to him. “I give of my life so you may live.”
The lovely mirage kissed him.
Her mouth was soft and warm, so wonderfully warm. Adrian trembled as he kept kissing her. His blood fired and sang, and incredible heat pulsed through his frozen body, as if she’d immersed him into a soothing bath. Power flowed through him, as if all the magick in the world suffused his body. And then it faded, leaving him shivering and cold once more.
The woman pulled away, and he knew she was a mere mirage. Hallucination brought on by his brain, unable to cope with the terror of perishing in this wilderness alone. He might die today, but on his own terms.
“Just leave me. Go,” he ordered. “I don’t want you to watch me die.”
The woman stood and whistled.
Adrian managed to lift his head. What he saw stunned him into silence.
Dozens of wolves bounded through the snow, coming from every direction. Howling, they rushed forward. Adrian’s instinct urged him to stand, fight and die like the warrior he was. But he was far too weak.
He waited for them to pounce, to rip his throat. He imagined the warm gush of his blood flowing upon the pure white snow.
Let it be quick and merciful.
But as he turned his
head, the woman herself turned into a snowy white wolf. She loped forward, lay down beside him and curled next to him. Shocking warmth surrounded him. The wolves did the same, huddling close, providing him with their body heat. One old gray wolf, hobbling along, curled up at his feet. Sighing, the wolf rested his muzzle on Adrian’s boots like an affectionate dog.
Adrian closed his eyes, comforted by their bodies. He reached out and stroked the white wolf’s fur.
When he opened his eyes again, the blizzard had abated. All around him, the mountain sparkled white. The wolves were gone. But the woman in white sat next to him.
“Who were they?” he asked, his throat raw but his body stronger.
“Your new pack, if you’ll have them. They were abandoned by Lars two years ago and have managed to survive on their own. They need a leader, especially Clyde, the oldest, the gray wolf who was at your feet. They all came for you, except Theo. She’s too weak from the cold.”
She offered her arm. “My name is Darcy. Can you stand?”
Through cracked lips that trembled, he managed to speak. “Yes.”
“There is a cave not far from here. The other Lupines are there, with food and water for you. I’m not strong enough to carry you, but you may lean on me.” Her eyes were brilliant, a moss green, her Cupid’s bow mouth that pursed now into a small smile. “I know you’re a big, arrogant alpha and probably not willing to be helped by a woman, but perhaps you can make an exception this time.”
He was arrogant but not stupid. Adrian took the hand she offered and leaned on her as they pushed through the snow.
Darcy, he repeated to himself. His savior. He would never forget her or her kiss. As he leaned on her, Adrian inhaled her fresh, sweet scent of wildflowers and snow. Though she was slight, there was strength in those slender shoulders.
Strength in her spirit as well.
He would never forget her or his promise to Danu to protect the weak and the frail. When he formed his own pack, he would need a mate at his side.
Someday, Darcy, I will make you mine. You will be my queen.
1
Florida, present day
* * *
Life never took her where she expected. Certainly she never expected to be here, trapped by an alpha wolf. Forced to do whatever he pleased for the next two weeks.
All because she’d sneaked a pretty bauble from his estate and had gotten caught. Hey, I would have returned it.
Darcy Chambers folded her arms across her chest and refused to lower her gaze before the alpha. With his ink-jet hair, caramel eyes and chiseled features, Adrian Williams was a striking man who looked more suited for the cover of GQ magazine.
Except Adrian wasn’t a man.
He was a purebred alpha wolf.
Cool and collected, Adrian leaned back in his leather chair. Dressed in faded jeans and a white-and-blue-striped shirt, he wore expensive hiking boots. Another thing she didn’t understand.
Hiking boots where she’d found him in Colorado? Yes.
Here in Florida, where the weather was suited for sandals? Made no sense.
The alpha’s office was larger than her last home. Elegant mahogany furniture decorated the second-floor room, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the thick forest beyond.
Though it was early November and warm temperatures still lingered in south Florida, she was cold. Frozen.
Perhaps it was the deep, penetrating gaze regarding her. Eyes that missed nothing. Barely a few minutes after she’d knocked on the door of his magnificent Florida mansion, two burly Lupines had escorted her up the stairs to this office.
Show of power. And why not? She’d expected nothing less of Adrian. He only needed to snap his fingers and give an order, and his pack leapt to obey. They would tear her from limb to limb if he desired.
Or bind her to his bed, to let the alpha deliver a different kind of punishment…
“Naughty Darcy,” he said softly, leaning his chin on one hand. “What am I to do with you? You stole my priceless magick ruby crystal.”
“Borrowed,” she corrected. “I only borrowed it to see into the future, help Kieran and Ella find the crystal of Calmach.”
“Semantics.” His smile dropped. “Had you asked, I might have used it to help you. But you stole it instead. The magick is gone from it, the crystal useless from your touch.”
Giving a little shrug, she refused to let him intimate her. “It probably wouldn’t have worked anyway. You did get it from a troll antiquities dealer. You know they aren’t trustworthy.”
“It matters now. You took what is mine. I never allow anyone to possess what is mine.” That slow, ruthless smile again, hinting he would claim her as well.
Fat chance. I’ll never be yours.
Darcy shrugged again. “It’s over. Done. I’m here. Now what? Need me to wash dishes? Clean the floors? Yard work?” Unblinking, she scowled at him. “I’m real good at delivering packages as well.”
“Of course,” he murmured. “You can fly.”
“And there’s the difference between us. I can shift into any animal form, and you can’t. You’re grounded. So what do you want from me, you furry, four-legged doggie?”
Before she could utter another syllable or consider the foolishness of taunting him, something she did when she was scared, he bolted out of his chair. With a lethal quickness she’d seldom witnessed in males, Adrian was at her side. He fisted a hand in her long, dark hair, forcing her head back to meet his brutal gaze.
“I,” he ground out, his gaze fierce and proud, “Am. Not. A. Dog.”
Adrian released her hair, but his other hand wrapped around her throat, his thumb slowly stroking a sensual line across her skin. The ice left Darcy’s veins, replaced by fire licking between her legs.
Damn, she was toast. He could turn her on with a mere touch. It was the main reason she’d escaped him last time he’d had her at his mercy.
“Yes, you can fly and shift into other life forms. It would make bedtime quite…interesting,” he murmured.
Darcy could not resist him. He was pure orgasm on a stick. And though he’d never done anything other than kiss her, she’d known ten years ago after rescuing him in the snowstorm that she could never stay with him.
Adrian would trap her in her human form with the temptation of his muscled, strong body and long sessions of lovemaking. She would lose her very self in his arms, forgetting her own identity, forgetting what she was.
Free.
He bent his head, nuzzling her neck, giving her skin a slow, deliberate lick. Her nipples hardened and ached as his warm breath feathered over her chilled skin. Darcy clenched her thighs.
“Stop that.”
Satisfaction swam in his gaze as he lifted his head. Adrian released her. “Still vulnerable to my touch, Darcy.”
As he resumed his seat, she shoved her hands into her jeans pockets to hide their trembling. Or prevent throttling him.
Adrian’s guards would race inside the room and bind her if she dared to harm their alpha. His pack would not hesitate to die for their leader.
Such loyalty would have ordinarily gained her respect. With Adrian, it only served to make her even more wary of his purpose.
Darcy pointed to the elegant clock on the fireplace mantel. “Time’s wasting, Adrian. I promised you two weeks. Are you going to play games or tell me what you want me to do?”
Anything but share your bed. Not that. Please.
But a different tension tightened his expression. Not sexual need, for his gaze narrowed as he looked at a paper on his desk.
“I need you to help me find a buried treasure hidden on the grounds where my former pack lived.”
Darcy blinked. Had he asked her to strip and dance an Irish jig, she couldn’t have been more shocked. “Help how?”
“You can fly. You can shift into any lifeform.”
Gaze guarded, he waited. Darcy drew in a breath. Adrian knew she was a Changeling Shifter, capable of shifting into anything from a wolf
to a tiny housefly.
What he didn’t know was how she gained the energy to do all that shifting. That would remain her little secret.
“So? You need a mole to dig for you?”
“Not quite. More like a bat.” A gleam lit his gaze. “I do hope you’re not afraid of dark, cramped places.”
He picked up a paper from the desk. Curious, she joined him. It was a map of Colorado, and his former home was highlighted in yellow.
“I need your help to retrieve a snow crystal.” His mouth thinned. “The crystal is small but contains powerful magick. It was hidden before I freed the pack from Lars, but I had no chance to retrieve it.”
After picking up the map, Adrian tapped the edge against the edge of his hiking boot. “It’s stored in the old mine.”
She frowned. “You hid it. Why ask for my help in getting it back? You’re the one who cast the warding on the mine to keep Skins and Others away.”
“I can’t get to it. I’d need a twenty-foot ladder to reach it.” He smiled slowly. “Or a Changeling Shifter who can shift into a bat.”
If that was all he required, these two weeks would be a breeze. A small part of her felt disappointed he wanted her shifting abilities and nothing more.
“I can shift into a bat.” Darcy shrugged. “Easy. Is that all you need?”
“No. I require more of you.” A slow, knowing smile. “Later, when the crystal is safe in my possession, I’ll pursue the other reason I want you with me.”
Unsmiling, he studied her as a wolf studied prey he wished to devour. A delicious shiver snaked down her spine. Only, the way Adrian planned to devour her had to do with her getting naked.
“Don’t be so confident, Adrian. When are we leaving?”