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

by Michele Bardsley

  Mortified at the mere thought of Rafe seeing her dream, Mina desperately tried to pull away, but Rafe’s strong arms held her steady. His hands cupped her ass, pulling her even closer as his hips shifted slightly, letting her feel his arousal…wanting her to know what she had done to him.

  Surprised by the intimacy of the hold, Mina gasped as Rafe moved in for the kill. His lips moved expertly over hers, just as they had in her dream—only the feeling was ten thousand times better. Her body felt electrified as his hands slid under her delicate tank top. A needy moan tore from her lips when his fingers slid under the waist of her yoga pants, meeting her soft triangle of curls.

  Her body trembled as his caresses continued. Never had she felt anything so…so good. It was like a switch had been flipped in her body, turning her into a needy hussy. She was putty in his hands.

  “I want to make you feel good. Is that okay?” Rafe’s husky voice was nearly a purr in her ear.

  A breathy “Yes” was all she could manage to mumble.

  Mina wrapped her arms around Rafe’s neck for support as her legs began to crumble under her. With slow, deliberate steps, Rafe led them to the couch. His touch never slowing as he carried out each teasing circle over her clit as his tongue teased her ear.

  With one swift motion, Rafe stripped Mina of her pants before gently pushing her onto the couch. Kneeling before her, he pulled her legs apart.

  Glancing down in horror at what he was about to do, Mina tried to scramble off the couch, only to give in to his silent demand when his warm, wet tongue brushed over her core…once…twice—by the third swipe of his tongue, she found herself gasping for air. Her fingers tunneled through his hair, pulling him closer, needing more of what his wicked tongue had to offer.

  Throwing her head back in ecstasy, a lone shout flew from her mouth when Rafe grabbed onto her hips, sliding her closer to the edge of the couch. Her back arched as his finger parted her core, pressing gently inside.

  Her climax stole over her furiously as he sucked her clit into his mouth while adding a second finger, stretching her center to accommodate himself. Mina’s breaths came short and quick as a blinding white light flashed before her eyes as the orgasm sent her flying past the moon to the stars above. She was left with the feeling of floating above the world as the pleasure continued to tear through her body.

  Rafe’s head snapped up when a lone howl filled the air, quickly followed by another. He flew to his feet, leaving Mina cold and empty.

  “Whatever you hear, don’t leave the house. You got it?”

  Mina nodded as she quickly pulled her pants back on.

  Chapter Eleven

  Pulling the backdoor open, Rafe sprang into a full shift. Snarls and growls filled the air as he lunged for the Twisted Tail mutt who tried to make his way to Rafe’s deck. Catching him completely off guard, Rafe tore through his throat in an instant, then made his way to the next intruder.

  Rafe bounded from one opponent to the next, his razor sharp incisors hitting the mark with each new target. Keeping an eye on Lucas, Tanner, and Eddie, he quickly picked his way through the Twisted Tail ranks, dropping one after another. Something was amiss, it was too easy. The wolves Rafe took down were not Twisted Tail’s top fighters. They couldn’t have been, they barely put up a fight.

  Taking a step back from the scene, Rafe glanced around to confirm that Lucas and the others had fought with ease. “Did they put up much of a fight?” Rafe silently asked Lucas.

  “The first couple did, but after that, it’s like they sent in the replacements.”

  “It doesn’t make sense. Why would Griffin send less than his best fighters to the home of an Alpha?”Tanner questioned.

  “As a distraction.” Rafe was the first to come to the conclusion.

  Rafe’s ears twitched as several twigs snapped around him. The four of them drew closer together, scenting the air.

  Warning the rest of the pack and calling for backup was Rafe’s priority as he found himself face to face with five wolves. Their eyes glowed an eerie red, foam dripped from their mouths as if they were possessed. He didn’t need to turn around to know that three more just joined the group.

  “Eight against four and they’re hopped up on something.” Rafe sent the thought to any pack members in wolf form. He heard a single series of yips before another sounded. It was Black Paw’s secret messaging system. The high pitched noises were barely audible and Twisted Tail would have no idea what the message meant.

  “Have you ever seen anything like this before?” Lucas moved closer to Rafe.

  Rafe nodded to Lucas. “Once, and it wasn’t a fun experience. Don’t let them bite you. Their teeth are tipped with silver.”

  Thankfully, within minutes of having sent the message to his pack, members of Black Paw started to arrive on the scene, howling to let the others know exactly where they were and what was going on. Seconds later, a second wave of reinforcements arrived.

  Rafe, Lucas, Tanner, and Eddie no longer worried about being outnumbered. They widened their huddle, pushing the wolves who surrounded them further apart into the waiting jaws of Black Paw.

  “I want at least one of them alive,” Rafe ordered.

  Snarls filled the air as Black Paw attacked the intruders. As for Rafe, he went after the one who appeared to be the leader. Instead of going for his throat, he latched on to the wolf’s hamstring, ripping its leg open.

  The force of the injury Rafe inflicted caused his opponent to shift to human form. Rafe clamped down on his arm, dragging him further from the fray. Unable to communicate mentally with an opposing pack member, Rafe shifted to human. “You have five seconds to talk before I rip your throat out.”

  “Go ahead and kill me, you piece of shit. We already got what we came for.”

  Every hair on Rafe’s arms stood on end. He opened his connection to his mate. He called out for her, but no response came. His heart pounded in his chest as he thought back over the fight. No one got past them to get to Mina. They couldn’t have. “Lucas,” Rafe yelled for his second-in-command.

  Lucas shifted to human form. “Take this scum to the holding cells and meet me at my house. Wrap it up here as quick as you can. I need to check on Mina.”

  “You got it, boss.”

  Rafe shifted back to wolf, hoping to get a better idea of where Mina was. With any luck, his wolf would be able to pick up the connection better than his human form could. It was a long shot, but one he was willing to take.

  Dashing back to the house, Rafe kept his head to the ground, smelling for any foreign scents. When he failed to detect any unknown scent, he shifted and made his way inside the house.

  Rafe’s heart began to pound harder as several unknown wolf scents filled his nose.

  “Mina. Mina,” Rafe called as he entered each room, skidding to a halt when he made it to the bedroom. Broken picture frames, an upended dresser, and a shattered window filled his view. Sounds of labored breathing came from the left side of the bed.

  Rafe’s nose worked overtime as he tried to catalogue each of the different scents. There were several that didn’t belong and one that surprised him. When he reached the side of the bed, he looked down to see Erin in human form, her throat ripped open. Lifting her gently from the floor, he laid her on the bed, and grabbed a towel to stem the bleeding.

  “I tried to stop them.” Erin’s voice was barely a whisper as she wheezed for air.

  Lucas charged into the room, quickly halting in his tracks as he took in the situation. “We’re all done out—”

  Gurgles bubbled from Erin’s throat as she tried to speak again. “They hit her with a tranquilizer dart and took her.”

  Shock tore through Rafe as Lucas leapt for the bed in human form, shifting in midair. Lucas landed next to Erin, his tongue swiped up a drop of her blood before a growl left his throat. What happened next would be argued for years to come, between the two, as Lucas bit down on the uninjured part of Erin’s neck.

  Rafe gasped as he wa
tched the wound on Erin’s neck begin to knit itself back together. It could only mean one thing…Lucas and Erin were true mates.

  “Huh,” was the only word that could sum up the shock that Rafe felt. Somehow, Erin had kept her scent hidden from Lucas all these years. When Lucas collapsed beside Erin in human form, Rafe shook his head and tossed him a pair of jeans.

  “I know you feel like you’ve been beat to death from healing Erin’s wound, but you need to get up and get dressed. We need to find out where they took Mina. Meet me at the holding cells in five minutes.”

  “Ugh. You got it, boss.” Lucas pushed himself off of the bed, giving Erin a hard stare. “We have some talking to do later.”

  Erin nodded in surprise.

  Chapter Twelve

  Patience was not one of Rafe’s strengths. He tried time and time again to calm down, but all he wanted to do was rip the throat from the scum lounging behind the bars. Lucas had ripped the metal tipped teeth from the man’s mouth and allowed his to wolf to heal him. It was the way of Black Paw. But no answers would be forthcoming as long as the man remained in wolf form.

  “You can shift now on your own, or we can do this the hard way,” Rafe warned.

  The wolf refused to acknowledge Rafe’s demand.

  Forcing a wolf to change forms was messy business and not something Rafe liked to do on a regular basis, if ever. But desperate times and all. It was a gift that all true Alphas were born with…the ability to force any wolf in and out of their current forms. It was the ultimate punishment to strip them of their ability to shift temporarily, or even on a more permanent basis if needed.

  Lucas entered seconds later as Rafe began to mentally press his will upon the captive. The wolf paced the cell, whimpering in pain as he tried to fight Rafe’s will.

  “He seems to think he can fight it,” Rafe joked with Lucas.

  “You know, I have heard that those who run with Twisted Tail aren’t the brightest bulbs in the box.”

  Rafe pressed harder, causing the pacing wolf to collapse to the floor. Blood poured from his nose and ears as howls of pain came from the creature.

  “Last warning.” Rafe moved closer to the bars. “I’ve barely broken a sweat here. How much longer do you think you can last?”

  The wolf shook his head in defiance.

  “If I force you to human, it will break all ties you have with Twisted Tail. Not to mention, from here on out, you will only be able to shift at my will. Never again on your own. Is protecting Griffin worth it?”

  Taking away the ability to shift was a hard decision and he’d done it only once. To lose one’s wolf left the person feeling empty and emotionally scarred. Rafe hated the mere thought of it, but would strip this wolf in a heartbeat if it meant finding his mate.

  A few seconds had passed with no response from the wolf. Rafe was tired of messing around. He doubled his force and blasted the wolf with a stronger dose of will. A scream erupted from the captive as his body slowly changed to human.

  Rafe watched in disgust as each limb slowly shifted from wolf to human. Mucus dropped to the floor as the slow process began. More screams filled the cell as each shift of bone was felt by the prisoner, leaving him writhing in pain. The man cried out, begging Rafe to make the pain stop, but it was too late. Once the process started, there was no stopping it.

  “If it ever gets to the point where you feel the need to do that to me, do me a favor and put a silver bullet through my heart.” Lucas being one of the few to ever witness Rafe’s true powers cringed at the sight.

  “It will never happen. I would have no reason to ever force your wolf from you,” Rafe tried to reassure Lucas.

  “How do you know? What if this whole mate thing with Erin drives me insane?”

  Taking a deep breath, Rafe didn’t have to think about the answer. “Even on your worst day, you would be a thousand times better than this guy on his best day.”

  “I sure hope you’re right because I don’t ever want to do that.” Lucas motioned to the huffing heap on the floor. The change had spread to about forty-five percent of the man’s body, with each new spasm looking a million times more painful than the last.

  “I’m going to see what I can get out of him now. He’s in too much pain to throw up any mental blocks. Even if he did, at this point, I’d knock through them in about ten seconds flat.”

  Rafe darted into the man’s mind, dodging the pain that consumed his every thought. He looked passed the bullshit of the man’s life and went straight for pack business. What he saw sent a surge of fear through him, knocking him into action.

  “Send someone down here to sit with him. We need to go. Griffin plans on forcing a mating on Mina as soon as he gets a hold of her.”

  “She hasn’t begun her heat cycle yet, has she?” Concern laced Lucas’s voice.

  “No, and if he forces it on her, it will kill her.” Rafe’s wolf panicked in his mind at seeing what was planned for his mate. He tried to claw his way to the surface, but Rafe held strong, calming his wolf the best he could. We’re going to get her. Hang tight for just a little longer.

  “What the hell is he thinking?” Lucas exclaimed.

  “That he’d rather see her dead than mated to someone else. Griffin thinks that if Mina isn’t strong enough to survive, she doesn’t deserve to be his mate.”

  “Oh God.” Lucas’s face paled at the thought.

  “Exactly. Tanner’s on his way down here now. Get him up to speed on what’s going on and meet me in the kitchen as soon as you can. I’m going to gather the rest of the pack.”

  Lucas nodded as Rafe bolted up the stairs.

  Rafe walked outside and let out a series of long, loud howls, calling the pack together. He paced the deck, awaiting their arrival as the plan came together in his mind. Lost in thought, he glanced up, finding himself flanked by Eddie and Lucas. The pack had assembled in his back yard.

  He filled everyone in on the events and broke the pack into four groups. Those who would stay behind to guard Black Paw and three teams who would take down Twisted Tail. With everything quickly sorted, Rafe led the charge to bring his mate home.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Mina’s head pounded as her eyes flicked open. Trying to make sense of where she was, the room spun when she tried to sit up. The stench of rotting flesh assaulted her nostrils as she took in the scene before her. The carcasses of rotting animals were strewn across the floor, making her gag.

  “Ahh. There’s my little traitorous bitch.”

  The sound of Griffin’s voice startled Mina. She shook her head, trying to clear the haze clouding her thoughts as she tried breathing through her mouth.

  “What did you do to me?”

  “Very little compared to what I’m about to do. It was just a little supercharged sedative so you wouldn’t scream and ruin my plan of getting you out of Black Paw. Imagine my surprise when I found you in the Alpha’s home, with his mating mark on your neck. His scent tainting every inch of your body.”

  She sat, defiantly meeting Griffin’s hostile gaze. The old Mina would have dropped her head in shame. But since meeting Rafe, a true Alpha, and others at Black Paw, she knew Griffin was no true Alpha. He was nothing more than a heavy handed thug who posed as their Alpha. How she hadn’t seen it all along, she had no idea.

  “You think you’re so smug now that you wear his mating mark? It’s nothing but a dead man’s mark anyway.” Griffin challenged Mina. “You think he will show up in time to save you? He doesn’t even know where you are, unless he’s a bloodhound and can scent out tire tracks. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was mixed with a dog. From what I hear, his mother’s a whore.” Griffin shrugged as he pulled up a seat on the desk. “It doesn’t matter if his blood is contaminated by a mutt from the pound. He won’t survive the attack.”

  Mina’s blood boiled. Grace had been nothing but kind and nice to her. “You keep her name out of your mouth. Grace is a damn good woman and wolf.”

  “Mina, can you hear me
? Are you okay?” The thoughts invaded her mind.

  “Rafe, is that you?”

  “Don’t you mean was a good woman? My enforcers are there now, ripping Black Paw apart. I told them to start with the whore and her son. I told them to bring their heads back to me on pikes,” Griffin continued to taunt Mina.

  “I’m fine. Are you okay? Is your mom okay? Griffin said he sent his enforcers to kill you and your mom.”

  “Whatever you do, don’t let him know we’re communicating. My mom is with me. So is the pack. We’re on our way to get you. We’re close, but we need a little bit of time. Keep him talking. Stall him the best you can. He’s going to force you to shift so he can try and force a mating on you.”

  A single tear streaked down Mina’s face when she heard Grace was alive and well. She would have never forgiven herself if she had been hurt because of her.

  “You would shed a tear for a woman who cares nothing for you?” Griffin sneered in repulsion. “I would think my mate would be stronger…not so weak. It’s a problem we can easily remedy, should you survive the mating.”

  Nausea churned in Mina’s stomach at the thought of Griffin touching her. His long, greasy hair made her want to hurl. Crooked teeth offset his shaggy, graying beard. She glanced over his stained clothes to see his dirt packed fingernails.

  “I’ll never mate with you.”

  “You will, and I’ll enjoy every minute of breaking your so called bond with Rafe. I even brought a mating present for you.”

  “I don’t want anything from you. You…monster!” Mina spit at Griffin’s feet.

  “Rafe, please hurry. He’s up to something, but I have no idea what.”

  “Can you run?”

  “Maybe. I can try.”

  “Mina, I need you to tell me which building you’re in. We just crossed over the boundary lines.”

  Mina looked around the room for any chance of escape. There were a few boarded up windows and one single door across the large expanse of the room.