Alphas Unwrapped: 21 New Steamy Paranormal Tales of Shifters, Vampires, Werewolves, Dragons, Witches, Angels, Demons, Fey, and More

by Michele Bardsley

  “He’s not all that bad, are you, Sethos?” Tristan held a calm mask throughout her verbal thrashing, but roared telepathically, Petrina, grab Bernie’s power!

  Turning to the troll, Sethos said, “You watch these two. I’m going after Elaine.”

  Petrina’s telepathic voice finally said, Got him!

  Tristan shouted, “Now!”

  Sethos spun around, and stared at Tristan, distracted. Perfect.

  Energy like he’d never experienced surged inside Tristan’s chest and flowed through his limbs. He reached out with his power and teleported Bernie and Petrina, but not to him. He sent them to the parking lot where Otto waited with the van, ready to free them from the bindings.

  Tristan enjoyed the moment of disbelief in the sorcerer’s eyes at losing his bargaining chips.

  Sethos lifted off the ground and flew at them. When he hit the ward, a flash of blue bloomed then vanished.

  Tristan shoved up a kinetic wall to block the attack and knocked Sethos backwards. He warned, “Don’t ever touch anyone who belongs to me again, Sethos. And, if you’re smart, you’ll leave this area now. I have a feeling VIPER will receive a report of a sorcerer dealing in both nonhumans and humans in this region.”

  Pulling himself together, Sethos settled his feet on the ground and countered in a calm tone. “You win this round, Alterant. Count yourself fortunate, but don’t think you’ll be so lucky a second time.”

  “It’s not luck. You show your face again and my luck will turn you inside out. Literally.”

  Tristan glanced at Mac, who jerked her hands apart with the showmanship of a magician and the chains fell away, just as he’d tutored her. She smiled and said, “See? No bloodshed.”

  Mac took a step toward Tristan.

  Sethos called out a curse.

  Mac jerked around to look at the crazy sorcerer.

  Everything slowed to microseconds as Tristan twisted toward Sethos, who lifted his hands in the air and called on gods of darkness.

  Tristan felt power lash out and wrap his kinetic wall, turning it into black glass then shattering it.

  Sethos whipped his arm down, throwing an arc of blazing energy at Tristan.

  Face rocked with horror, Mac dove between Sethos and Tristan.

  Chapter 11

  Tristan’s world spun back into action at the speed of light.

  When Mac launched her body toward his, Tristan grabbed her to shove her around behind him.

  But the power and curse Sethos released struck Mac just as she reached Tristan. Her body spun away before he could grasp her. She landed on the ground in a silent heap.

  Tristan howled and unloaded everything he had for power, slamming kinetic blasts at Sethos and shooting arcs of energy from his eyes. He’d done that once before in the jungle, and had no idea he still could.

  Sethos flipped up and backwards in the air, somersaulting to land on his feet. As he did, he whipped a flaming arc from each hand at Tristan, who batted them away with kinetic slaps.

  The troll hurried over and lifted Mac to carry her off.

  Tristan couldn’t fight on two fronts. With the combined power from Bernie and Petrina, Tristan called up his beast and exploded out of his body and clothes, growing ten feet in two breaths.

  He teleported next to Sethos, who had no time to react before Tristan grabbed him with the giant eagle beak of a gryphon, snapping his body in half. He threw the parts down and stomped on them, blood spraying in all directions.

  Nothing would put that bastard back together.

  Tristan extended a lion’s paw that could club a grizzly bear and pointed one claw at the troll trying to steal Mac. He lifted the troll off the ground with a kinetic power Tristan had never before experienced and turned the bastard in mid-air.

  The damn troll growled and lifted Mac’s leg to take a bite.

  With a flip of Tristan’s other paw, he yanked Mac out of the troll’s grasp. She flew to him. Tristan caught her rigid body and cradled her with his huge wing. Using his powers, he spun the troll around and bashed him into the ground headfirst, once, twice, then a third time.

  If he lived, Otto could have him.

  Tristan laid Mac gently on the ground. He drew his body back into his human form and conjured something to wear. All he got was a pair of shorts. Guess his power was too depleted for real clothes.

  She hadn’t even blinked.

  He dropped to his knees. “Talk to me, Mac.”

  She grunted something that might be, “Can’t.”

  What the hell had Sethos done to her?

  Tristan touched her neck. She was cold as ice. Deathly cold. He shoved her sweater up. White veins crept along her chest and the skin had started turning gray. He lifted her blouse. Shit. The veins were thickening around her heart. Her eyes moved to his, pleading with him.

  Her lips were turning blue.

  He put his hand on her chest and tried to send his power through his fingers. She jerked and he stopped.

  What good is this power if I can’t even save a human?

  She reached up and covered his hand.

  The white veins started crawling up his arm. Her eyes registered alarm and her heart beat faster beneath his hand. The damn veins began spreading more quickly.

  Had his touch caused that?

  He tried to lift his hand. Couldn’t. It was bound to her chest.

  You have the ability to heal. That’s a gift, not a curse.

  He didn’t know if he heard Mac thinking that or if it was only something he remembered her saying earlier.

  Staring deep into her eyes, Tristan started calling up his beast’s healing powers to shove the venom out of his body.

  The lines stopped moving.

  Her eyes rolled up, showing white.

  Tristan lifted his head and bellowed, “No majik will take her from me!” But he was losing her. He could feel her heart slowing down. Where was the majik he’d gotten from the witch’s brew?

  Closing his eyes, he searched inside for his power, and words began scrolling rapidly through his mind. He forced them to slow down.

  Darkness grows where light is weak. Light to light, mind to mind, two as one will freedom find.

  He whispered the words until they took control of him. He repeated them, louder and louder, until a noise broke through his mad shouting.

  “Tristan?”

  He looked down to where Mac’s fingers were clutching his arm. Her face had returned to a healthy, bright pink color and the white veins were gone.

  Tristan grabbed her to him and she groaned, “Still sore.”

  He eased his hold. “Sorry, baby. Thought I’d lost you.”

  “No chance in hell.” She turned to his face and kissed him. When she stopped, she said, “Took me too long to find you again.”

  He kissed her again just because he needed it right then. If his life were his own, he’d be bundling her up and taking her back to keep tucked away at his place in the city. He nuzzled her neck. “What were you thinking?”

  “That he was going to kill you.”

  She’d put her life before his. “I can take a hit. You’re a human.”

  She leaned back and gripped his shoulders. “I may only be human, but I’m tough. I won’t stand by when you’re attacked.”

  Where had this woman come from, and why did he have to give her up?

  Petrina’s voice interrupted the moment. Tristan, are you okay?

  Yes.

  Bernie says we have to get back to Treoir.

  Heading back to you now. Tell Otto we need cleanup down here.

  You got it, bro.

  Tristan got Mac to her feet. “I’ve got someone coming to clean this up. Let’s head back.”

  “You have no clothes on.”

  Taking her hand, he headed to the trail. “It’s enough. With my metabolism, this feels cool, not icy. But you’re cold, and probably going through shock.”

  “After being threatened with death by witch, and watching you throw in
visible thunderbolts and teleport, a crazy sorcerer and his vicious troll are nothing. Almost dying by a spell did give me pause, but I’m all better now that I’ve had your Alterant healing.”

  He shook his head at her sarcasm.

  She stopped, waiting on him to look back before she said, “Thank you for saving my life.”

  “You should be cursing me for putting you in danger.”

  “You didn’t do that, Tristan. Stop taking blame for everyone else’s decisions. I chose to try for the lead position with Kossman.”

  Reminding him of that sobered him. Tristan tugged on her, and they continued another twenty steps and found the short trail back to the parking lot. The clock fought him with each minutes sliding away. He didn’t have time to fix that problem and get Bernie and Petrina back to Treoir before Evalle arrived. He said, “You can’t be hunting nonhumans when I’m gone.”

  She glanced away.

  Dammit, that had come out harsh, but only because he hated the idea of leaving her here alone where he couldn’t protect her.

  She flipped her hand, waving off his words. “Whatever.”

  Tristan softened his words. “I have to go, but I’ll try my best to be back after the first of the year. I just don’t want you getting into trouble while I’m not here to watch out for you.”

  That brought out cocky Mac. “Let’s not forget that I’m the one who came up with this plan.”

  “And it almost got you killed.” He lifted her over a log they’d had to cross on the way in.

  Her eyes drifted down to his chest. “You’re like Hercules in better packaging.”

  “What do you know about his package?”

  She opened her mouth to answer and the look in her eyes shifted to one of suspicion. “Why are you almost naked?”

  “That happens when I shift. My clothes get ripped to pieces.”

  “You said you’d get into trouble if you shifted to another form in this world.”

  He lifted a shoulder, dismissing her concern. “It’s like a holding penalty in football. Only counts if you get caught.”

  “But in football no one gets killed for holding.”

  “Sometimes the risk is worth it.”

  She walked along silently for a moment then blurted out, “I wish you were able to stay.”

  “Why?” He waited to hear that she’d never met anything as strange as him, or that he might be able to help her find some nonhumans for her Kossman gig.

  Dickhead brain talking again. Mac deserved better than his suspicion at this point.

  She shrugged, looking self-conscious for once. “I’ve never met a man like you.”

  He jumped to what seemed the obvious conclusion to him. “You mean one who shifts into a monster and teleports?”

  “I don’t care about any of that. I care about the man who would not walk away from his friends or hurt me intentionally. I care about the man who makes love to me like I’m the only woman in the world. I care about the man inside you.”

  She was the only woman in his world. He should say those words, but caring about someone generally came back to bite him in the ass.

  Mac laughed and told him, “I care about you even though that probably scares the crap out of you.”

  He cut his eyes to her and she sent a smug look back at him, adding, “But you don’t scare me. Not even with those bright neon eyes. I really like them.”

  “You might be a half bubble off after all.”

  She laughed and his heart hit his chest, wanting to get closer to that sound and to her. Some might not see her as a classic beauty, but he saw what made her special and beautiful to him. His damn conscience backhanded him for not telling her that after what she’d just given him.

  Tristan squeezed her hand and started to speak when a shout cut him off.

  “Tristan, shake a leg,” Petrina grumbled. “Let’s go.”

  Mac picked up her pace. “She’s right. I don’t want you to leave, but you have to get back in time.”

  “That’s probably not going to happen.”

  ~*~*~

  Tristan kept a hand on Mac as she strode across the parking lot to where only one vehicle waited. She suggested, “Maybe I should bring you clothes before some female jogger shows up.”

  “Don’t like me showing off my body?” Tristan quipped, flexing his chest and arms.

  “No,” Mac said. That one word sounded possessive as hell, but she wanted him to know she would not be forgotten. “There are limits to my patience, and you don’t want to piss me off.”

  Bernie jumped out of Otto’s minivan and ran over to them.

  Tristan swung Mac around where Bernie couldn’t hear and whispered, “You’re gorgeous and hot. You know that? Especially when you get your back up.”

  Her eyes twinkled with delight.

  Points to me. I must have said the right thing this time.

  Tristan continued pulling her along to the van while Bernie asked questions nonstop.

  “What happened to Sethos? Is he coming back? Can we teleport ...”

  Tristan ignored him until they reached the rest of the group.

  Petrina stepped out. “Glad to see you could conjure up some shorts. Not that I haven’t seen you shift, but there’s only so much my retinas can take.”

  Petrina got mouthy when she worried, and she was clearly stressed but not admitting it. Tristan said, “Glad to see you, too.”

  He introduced everyone, then he filled the others in on what happened to Sethos.

  Petrina waved off the deaths. “No great loss there.”

  Bernie started whining, “You need to take Petrina back, Tristan. No reason in all of us getting busted.”

  A lead ball of worry hit Tristan’s gut. “I know.”

  Petrina said, “I’m not leaving you here, Bernie.”

  Standing tall, Bernie argued, “I didn’t save you during the war on Treoir to see Macha harm you.”

  Bernie and Petrina squared off and started arguing.

  Tristan was getting between them when Mac whistled loud enough to blow Tristan’s eardrums. When he uncovered his ears, he glared at her. “What?”

  “Why can’t you all go back together?”

  “Because I don’t have that kind of power. I’ve never teleported between realms with more than one person at a time.”

  “What about that linking thing?”

  Silence slammed the tense air.

  Petrina asked, “What about the linking?”

  Mac sounded exasperated with them. “Wouldn’t that give him the power he needs to teleport all of you?”

  Otto walked around, stroking his graying beard. Thick brown and gray hair curled to his neck, but with his glamour, he kept the pointy ears hidden. He cocked his head. “That has merit, Tristan.”

  Bernie and Petrina looked at Tristan. He sighed. “We’ve never tried it. Could be dangerous.”

  “More dangerous than trying to link for the first time while facing off with a crazy sorcerer?” Mac asked, sounding incredulous.

  Well, hell. She did have a point, and Tristan felt pretty damn strong with the three of them still linked to him.

  Petrina crossed her arms. “I agree. I’m not leaving without both of you.”

  Bernie beamed, as if Petrina had showered him with kisses. “Really?”

  Tristan pointed at him. “Stay away from my sister.”

  That seemed to inspire even more hope in Bernie. “You really think I have a chance with her?”

  Tristan said, “What happened to all that crap I heard about Cl–”

  Bernie started waving his hands at Tristan, as if his next words were going to create a disaster.

  Mac shook her head as she watched the banter, but Tristan noticed the wistful look that crossed her face. Was she actually enjoying being in the middle of this mess?

  “Her is standing right here,” Petrina told Bernie. Then she gave Tristan a warning look. “I can handle this myself. Are you going to teleport us back to Treoir or not?�
�

  Chapter 12

  Tristan tossed his hands up. “Okay, I agree. I’ll try teleporting all three of us. Give me a minute.” He walked Mac across the parking lot, now taking on a layer of sleet. He turned, blocking Mac’s view of his nosy friends and sister.

  He cupped her face. “I don’t want to leave you—”

  “—but your buddy Otto can give me a ride home and you’re almost out of time. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  Mac was working hard to make this easy on him.

  How was he going to leave her? “I mentioned earlier that I’m stuck on Treoir until the first of the year, but I’ll come back as soon as I can.” If I can.

  Her smile did a poor job of hiding the sadness in her eyes. “I understand. I’ll be busy while you’re gone.”

  Tristan didn’t want her working for that guy, Kossman, but he had to give Mac space to do what she wanted.

  He’d leave instructions with Otto for security.

  That wouldn’t fix her biggest problem. He was leaving her and she had nothing to give Kossman. In her shoes, he’d be throwing trees around at this point. “Are you still going to work with Kossman?”

  “If he’ll keep me. He might give me another chance, since Seth obviously won’t be showing up for work. Look, I’m leaving first just so you don’t get to leave me twice.”

  That gave his heart a cramp.

  Tristan walked Mac back to the van, turning her into his arms for one last kiss to let her know he was serious about returning. When he lifted his head, she grinned and said, “Hold that thought.”

  Mac would be fine.

  Once he had her settled inside the van, he asked Otto for an extra phone. Otto pulled out one of five that were in his console and handed it to Tristan.

  “Thanks, Otto. I’ll be in touch when I get back.”

  Otto nodded and backed out, then drove away.

  Bernie asked, “What’s the phone for? It won’t work on Treoir.”

  Tristan thumbed keys with blinding speed, ignoring Bernie.

  Petrina told Bernie, “He’s sending a message he didn’t want us to hear.”

  “Oh.”

  “Dollar waiting on a dime, Tristan,” Petrina ragged. “We have six minutes to make it back before Evalle shows, and I have no idea how much time we lose teleporting.”