Loved by Alpha Wolf

by Sarah J. Stone

  Fergus grinned at her. “I have pissed off more vampires in this place than I can count, sweetheart. This isn’t a gift unique to the Council. I mean, obviously, what Gael did was more heavy duty, but Sebastian can do something similar.”

  Diana wondered at his relationship with the vampire butler who was always polite to her. She opened her mouth to ask, but Fergus seemed lost in thought. “What is it?” she asked.

  A smile that held incandescent joy. “Our mating bond. I can feel it thrum inside me.” He grabbed her to him, and this time the kiss was wilder and more raw. Dana felt herself responding with a newfound enthusiasm.

  Every time Fergus touched her or kissed her, it felt like he was erasing the imprints left by her captors. Three hours of scrubbing her skin raw did not give her the peace of mind that one kiss from her mate did.

  Diana pulled away from Fergus and looked into his eyes, troubled. Was she supposed to feel this way?

  Fergus puller closer to her, and whispered, “Don’t think too much.”

  His smile was so infectious that she couldn’t help it as her lips curved involuntarily, and she let him press his lips against hers again.

  A wolf butted his head against her, trying to wedge its head between the couple.

  Fergus growled as he released her. “What is their problem?”

  Diana leaned down and rubbed the wolf’s ears, making it close its eyes and rumble in its throat. “They feel you don’t give them enough attention.”

  “What?” Fergus stared at his mate.

  Diana shrugged. “They see us as an alpha pair, and when the alpha withholds affection…”

  Fergus groaned. “I get it. Fine.” He ran a hand through the wolf’s fur, making it open its eyes and its tongue loll out happily.

  “Wolves are supposed to look threatening. Not like docile pets,” the wolf alpha complained.

  “And yet, you’re still petting him.” Diana hid a smile.

  Fergus just huffed, but there was no mistaking the laughter in his eyes. The worries slid from Diana’s shoulder as she watched him.

  “I want to spar with you,” she told him. The second she spoke those words, she blinked. Where had that come from?

  Her mate looked at her, a little hesitant. “Why?”

  “Because. Just because.”

  Fergus knew he wouldn’t ever hurt her, and he wasn’t against a little friendly sparring. It was just that the request was a little jarring. Standing up, he took a few steps back and flexed his arms. “Just a spar.”

  Diana nodded. She saw the gleam in his eye and realized she didn’t want him to take it easy on her. So, she started off with a roundhouse kick that made him take a few steps back, startled.

  “Woah! What happened to ‘being friendly?’” He ducked as she threw a fist at him.

  Diana’s lips curved.

  Although she had gained speed, Fergus was still faster than her, and her face became set in a scowl as she realized that she couldn’t manage to land a single hit on him.

  Frustrated and annoyed, she made a small sound that had him rushing to her side in panic. “What’s–”

  The wolf alpha was thrown onto the ground, with her straddling him.

  “Does this mean I win?” she asked him, her chest moving as she breathed.

  Fergus’ eyes were fixed on her beautiful breasts and he smirked. “Sure you do.”

  His mate couldn’t help the small chuckle as she stood up and offered him a hand. “Pervert.”

  The hand that Fergus had clasped was used as a leverage as he pulled her toward him and then walked her back into a wall until she was imprisoned between him and the bricked wall. “Only with you.”

  He lowered his mouth until their lips were barely apart.

  Fergus’ eyes narrowed as he focused on those pretty lips. He brushed against them once, and before Diana could press back, he immediately pulled away teasingly. He raised his hand to brush her cheek with his thumb and then lowered it to stroke her plump bottom lip.

  “Fergus.” Diana’s unspoken plea made his cock harden, and he pressed his body against hers, effectively pinning her against the wall.

  Diana felt the hardness rub against her, and she moaned involuntarily as her inner muscles clenched in anticipation. The pain, the anger that she concealed within herself, faded momentarily, as she was swept up in the sea of turbulent emotions.

  Her mate liked kissing her, she realized dimly as his tongue sucked on hers. She pushed back, fighting for dominance and failing.

  A cough behind them had the wolves snarling and Fergus groaning. He pulled back and glared at Sebastian.

  The butler had his hair slicked back and looked vaguely annoyed. “Remove these wolves from the premises. They are disturbing the other residents.”

  “Say Sebas…”

  The butler had already left.

  “He’s like a ghost,” Diana murmured. “You just never see him coming.”

  Fergus’ eyes studied the spot where Sebastian had been standing, “Don’t let his frailty fool you. Sebastian is one of the oldest vampires after Gael. He’s very powerful.”

  Diana was silent, then she glanced at him. “You distracted me. We didn’t finish our spar.”

  Fergus grinned, a charmingly rakish look on him. “I really like it when you get distracted.”

  Diana’s cheeks turned red. She felt one of the wolves nudge her, and she rubbed its head absentmindedly. “I can feel this power moving inside me like a sentient being.”

  “That’s not creepy at all.” Fergus grinned at her, making her frown.

  She extended her arm, and her chest glowed. Beautiful strings of what could only be called magic or energy extended from her chest, twining around her arm until it focused in the center of her palm.

  The chandelier toward which her palm had been facing shattered in slow motion into finely tuned dust.

  Fergus watched, entranced. “You can manipulate your energy into doing anything.”

  “I think so,” Diana admitted. “I’m not entirely sure. But it’s like a presence in my body which I can draw out at will.” She was silent for a few seconds, and then asked, “Does this mean we are going back to the pack?”

  Fergus watched her. “You don’t want to?”

  His mate wrapped her arms around herself. “They don’t trust me.”

  Fergus sighed, and then rested his head against hers. “We don’t know that yet. My experience has been to always test the waters first. If, for any reason, they make you feel unwanted or unwelcome, we will leave the pack, no questions asked.”

  Diana swallowed. “But that’s your family. They’re your people. Lone wolves cannot possibly–”

  The wolf alpha shook his head, correcting her. “You’re my family. You’re all I need. We can travel, move around, or settle anywhere. It doesn’t mean we’ll be rogues.”

  “You’d do that for me?” Diana looked at him uncertainly. “Even when I can’t be who I was? Even if I’m not the woman you mated?”

  She looked away, “You talk about a woman who used to be happy all the time, and who used to laugh and tease you. She seemed wonderful.” Her eyes lifted to meet his, a lost look in them, filled with despair. “I’m not that person, Fergus. I’m afraid I might never be that person.”

  Fergus lifted her chin with her finger. “Then I’ll laugh enough for the both of us. I’ll drive you crazy if I have to.” He tugged at a strand of hair that loosened from her bun. “You’re alive, Diana. After ten years, I can touch you, kiss you, and look at you. You don’t know how much that means to me. It’s like I’ve found my reason to live again.”

  Diana felt her eyes burn, and she buried her face in his chest. Startled, Fergus put his hand on her head, one arm pinning her to his body.

  Her voice was muffled. “You make me feel like I’m the center of your universe. It makes me happy and embarrassed at the same time.”

  Fergus chuckled. “Because you are the center of my universe.” He eyed the wolves that sa
t there on the marble floor, watching them with unblinking eyes. “It’s very unsettling the way they just watch us when I’m trying to make out with you.”

  He heard his mate laugh into his chest just as his phone rang.

  He pulled it out, and the caller ID told him it was Raoul.

  “What is it?”

  Raoul’s voice held barely concealed worry. “You need to get home. Hunter sightings are increasing near our territory. And Fergus, they don’t seem like ordinary hunters.”

  Chapter 12

  “You’re leaving?” Gael asked.

  Fergus watched as Diana let Hill kiss her on both cheeks, her form a little stiff.

  “Your mate doesn’t seem too happy to be going home,” Gael commented.

  Fergus sighed. “She isn’t unhappy. She just doesn’t know how well she’ll be received there. And then there is also the other issue that Nina mentioned.”

  The wolf alpha had noted that Gael did not bring up any others business in front of Hill. It was obvious that the master vampire wanted to shield her from the world of the others. He did not understand his decision, but Fergus respected it.

  Gael nodded. “I would advise you to be careful. Trust is a liability at this moment.”

  Fergus didn’t say anything. His face didn’t betray the conflict that was inside of him. He watched his mate approach, and stand next to him silently.

  Did she think he was angry about what she had told him last night? Her expression had been wary as she revealed to him what Nina had said.

  It wasn’t that he found it hard to believe that she would take such a drastic step in order to protect the pack, but it ripped something inside of him, knowing that she had been forced into a situation where she had to make that choice. His mate had completely destroyed herself in an effort to protect him, and the pack and the wolf inside of him snarled.

  He was the protector. He should have shielded her.

  Although he understood why she had done what she had done, his wolf was angry. About what, he couldn’t quite pinpoint. He was struggling with himself, and in order to contain the anger, he found himself avoiding speaking to Diana. He did not want to cause her more hurt than necessary.

  He glanced at the blank expression on his mate’s face. It seemed he was failing.

  He trusted Diana implicitly. If she had wiped her memories, then she had had good reason. They left in the darkness of the night, and although Fergus never saw Gael see them off, he knew the master vampire was keeping watch from a distance.

  Diana trudged behind him silently, and he hated that. He slowed his own pace to match hers, and she looked up, startled, when he grasped her hand.

  “The last thing I heard from you was, ‘Hide the pups. Trust no one,’” Fergus murmured. “After that, you were gone from my life for ten years.”

  Diana’s hand tightened around his, and he felt the tremor that she tried to mask.

  “That means that this was an inside job. Somebody who had knowledge of the pups and of the alpha pair, including our location. Somebody in the pack gave us away.” There was an angry rumble in his throat, even though his expression was light and easy.

  “I don’t know who that is. I wish I did.” Diana looked a bit queasy.

  Fergus stopped at the edge of the city where nature broke in, and he looked at his mate. “You might already know. But until you get your memories back, we can’t be certain who it is.”

  “Gael says there is still a lot for me to learn before I can get to that stage where I can recall my memories.”

  Her mate touched his lips to her forehead and shook his head. “You’re Council. Which means even you don’t understand your powers completely. If, under pressure, without even knowing who you were, you managed to completely wipe out your memory, I have a feeling you will be able to restore it in time as well.”

  He started taking off his clothes to shift, and Diana shrugged out of her jacket and paused uncertainly. “Am I a sleeper, Fergus?”

  The wolf alpha froze and then growled. “I want to kick the asshole that put this idea in your head in the first place, but since you overheard it from me…”

  “I asked Nina about it, and she said I wasn’t.”

  Fergus narrowed his eyes at his mate. “Are you trying to convince me? Do you think I need proof that you aren’t a traitor?”

  Diana stood her ground. “You will need something of–”

  “I don’t need you to prove anything to me! I know you, and I trust you!” He snarled. “Your integrity has never been in question, Diana. And it never will be!”

  Diana stood still, taken aback by the vehemence of his declaration. His eyes were fierce, and she realized that what Nina had said held true. Fergus would turn his back on his pack if they were to stand against her. It would kill him, but he would be willing to sacrifice his heart if it meant being with her.

  “What’s a sleeper?”

  Her mate sighed. “Sleepers are shifters who have been captured and conditioned to betray the pack. They look and act normal, which is what gives them away at times. You are not a sleeper, Diana.”

  “Because I’m Council?”

  “Because you’re you. I don’t want to discuss this any longer.”

  Diana was silent for a few moments, and then she commented, “When you’re angry, you have this mask on. You’re all smiles. But when you’re with me, when you’re angry, you’re growling and sniping.”

  Fergus glanced at her. “Does that bother you?”

  His mate shook her head. “It makes me feel better. Makes me feel like you trust me.”

  Fergus tied his clothes in a small bundle on his leg, and Diana did the same. Both naked, he brought her to him and kissed her lightly on the lips. “I do trust you.”

  They shifted together and started running.

  Fergus was faster than Diana, but he slowed his pace to match hers. At the edge of the woods, a jeep was to meet them, and one of Gael’s men who was stationed in that town was going to give them a ride. Right now, the woods were not safe.

  They did not bother shifting, and they did not stop running. A few stops here and there to rest was all they were willing to risk as they raced against time.

  ***

  It was a two day journey to where Gael’s man was supposed to meet them, and those two days of continuous running tired Diana out. As she was nodding off in the Land Rover that had come to meet them, the blond vampire glanced in the rear-view mirror. “Does your companion need refreshments?”

  Fergus looked regretful as he shook his head. “No stops.”

  He was sure his mate would have appreciated getting a chance to rest properly, but there was a sense of urgency driving him at that moment. He couldn’t get the reports and files out of his head. In all of the cases, there was a pattern that he was starting to see. The dominant males were the first to be eliminated, and then the children were the next focal point. After the first few massacres, Morbus had started abducting the children.

  That was not reassuring.

  He had a very bad feeling about why this group wanted to get their hands on the shifter offspring.

  Luckily, Diana was able to catch enough sleep for her to feel a little refreshed when they drew near their part of the woods. It was going to be a day’s journey from here, and he helped her out.

  The abilities of the Council members were still a mystery. He watched Diana shed her human skin and noted that the more rest she got, the better she looked for it. Sure, there were nerves he could see. Her hesitation at facing a pack who might have already formed an opinion about her was obvious, but he would have her back every step of the way.

  However, what he wasn’t prepared for was who would be waiting for them at the border of their territory.

  His second in command did not seem too pleased to be accompanied by the two people who stood next to him. Of course, Luke lived to rile up his stuck in the mud lieutenant. The bear alpha had his arms across his chest as he glared at his mate who was po
intedly ignoring his presence.

  Incidentally, she was the first person to notice him since he was coming from upwind.

  “Fergus!” she beamed, and started waddling over to him, looking delighted. Luke’s scowl grew as he watched his mate move with great difficulty.

  Moving quickly, he settled one hand on her back, steadying her. “Watch it. Any quick movements and the cub is going to decide to pop out on its own.”

  “Could you be any more sensitive?” His mate glared at him.

  Shadow Claw’s alpha just looked at his mate until she frowned and waited for Fergus to approach him.

  Fergus held onto Diana’s hand, and he felt her pace slow down. The wariness in her eyes when he turned to look at her made him murmur, “Trust your instinct, Diana. It’s never let you down before.”

  “I don’t know why I’m so scared,” she mumbled for his ears only. “I’ve faced much worse.”

  “Just remember, no matter what happens I have your back. No matter how bad things may seem, I am standing right next to you.”

  “I don’t like being weak.”

  Her mate stopped mid track and stared at her. “What? You are the farthest thing from weak. You’ve been to hell and back.”

  Diana swallowed and ran a hand through her loosely braided red hair, a quick nervous gesture.

  Cassie, it seemed, had had enough. Bursting with impatience, she started walking toward them and threw her arms around Fergus. “Welcome back!”

  Diana took a step back, startled with the open affection the pregnant bear shifter was bestowing upon her mate. She was even more bewildered when she bumped bellies with the woman.

  “It’s so wonderful to finally meet you! Not that Fergus has ever told us anything about you. But, ohhh,” Cassie took a step back and her eyes widened, “your hair is so pretty!”

  “Is she trying to flatter my mate?” Fergus murmured to Luke.

  The bear alpha rolled his eyes. “She’s determined to become best friends with your mate. Although,” he made an approving sound, “her hair is rather attractive.” Luke bared his teeth at Fergus’ snarl. “Don’t like it, do you? Live with it, mutt. After the shit you pulled–”