Alpha Temptation: Sanmere Shifters Romance Collection

by Lola Gabriel

  She had spent all of yesterday hanging around, waiting for Bastian to show up. She hadn’t given him a time, and it was well after two p.m. before she started to seriously think he wasn’t going to show. Even then, she had given him the benefit of the doubt, thinking that maybe there had been some sort of misunderstanding. She had remembered Bastian suggesting they take Stephanie to the park, and she had allowed herself a moment of hope where she told herself that maybe they just had their wires crossed. Maybe she thought Bastian was coming to the house, and Bastian thought they were meeting in the park. She hadn’t let the voice into her head, the one that tried to tell her that if that was the case, they definitely would have arranged a time. She had tried to call Bastian, but his cell phone was switched off, and that was when she knew for sure he wasn’t coming.

  She had refused to allow herself to be upset, but last night when she had lain in bed, she had cried herself to sleep, no longer strong enough to stop the tears from coming. She’d told herself then that she would allow herself that moment of weakness, and then that was it. No more crying over Bastian. No more time wasted even thinking about him. It had been easy to tell herself that, but doing it was proving to be much harder than Rachel had thought it would be.

  She sat at the kitchen table, staring into space, thinking of nothing but Bastian. Of the way he had held her. Of the way he had implied there could be a future for them. She had been the one to shut it down. Maybe that was it. Maybe he couldn’t bear to be there for Stephanie, to be around her if he couldn’t be with her. But that made no sense. Bastian didn’t give Rachel the impression he was someone who just gave up on something he wanted. He seemed like the sort of man who would fight for what he wanted. And she hadn’t imagined the love she saw in his eyes when he looked at Stephanie. There was no way he would walk away from her.

  The more Rachel thought about it, the more sure she was that Bastian would have come here yesterday if he could have. Something had to have happened to him. She shook her head, telling herself she was clutching at straws, just looking for ways to let Bastian off the hook. But she didn’t believe it. Not anymore. Now that she had let herself explore the possibility that something has stopped Bastian from getting to her, her mind went to where he had said he was going. To take Lewis down. What if Lewis had overpowered him? What if Lewis had killed him?

  She wouldn’t let her mind go there. It was too painful. She blinked, coming out of her daze. She knew what she had to do. She was afraid, but she had to know one way or the other. She had to let her bear out, trust her animal instincts. If Bastian was dead, her bear would know it. And if he was in danger, it would sense that too. She was confident her connection with Bastian was strong enough for that. She was just afraid to let her bear in.

  She told herself Bastian was worth it, and slowly, she let herself relax. Rachel closed her eyes and took a deep breath and waited for the familiar stirring of her bear. Normally, she shut it down the second she felt it, but now, she let it come out further. As she did, she was filled with a sense of power, a sense of freedom like nothing she had ever known. But with it came something else. A certainty that Bastian was in danger. The bear side of her was restless, filled with adrenaline, telling her she needed to act. She held onto that feeling for another moment and then she swallowed hard, pushing her bear back down.

  She got to her feet and went and got her cell phone. She called Doctor Monroe and apologized for the short notice, but explained that something had come up—a family emergency—and she needed a few days off. Doctor Monroe told her to take all of the time she needed and Rachel knew then that the doctor had heard the desperation in her voice. She thanked her and ended the call, and then she called Lena and asked her if she could stay here for a few days and have Stephanie overnight. Lena agreed and said she would be there shortly.

  Rachel felt better now that she had a plan in place. She went and got Stephanie up and gave her breakfast. She bathed her and got her dressed and then she sat down to wait for Lena to arrive. Once Lena was there, Rachel repeated her story about a family emergency and then she went outside, got in her car, and headed for Houston and the Bellevue Hotel, a place she had vowed never to set foot in again.

  As Rachel had driven across the state, she had felt her sense of strength fading away, replaced by a fear that got stronger the closer she got to the Bellevue Hotel. She began to doubt herself, asking herself what she could do about this. How could she hope to overpower Lewis if even Bastian couldn’t? But she also felt her connection to Bastian growing as she got closer to the hotel, and she knew her instincts had been right. Bastian was alive. He was in the hotel somewhere and he was in danger. She had no real plan, no idea what she was going to do, but she knew all the same she wasn’t backing out of this.

  When she reached the end of the dirt road, she parked her car and got out. She wasn’t going to make this too easy for Lewis by arriving in her car and letting him know she was here. She walked through the trees that lined the road, staying hidden but following the path so she didn’t end up lost. She came to the end of the path and she peered out through the trees, looking at the building where her whole nightmare had started. She felt fear flood her as the memories of Lewis grabbing her, scratching her, and biting her replayed in her mind. Her heart raced and her head spun dizzily for a moment. She reached out and pressed her palm against a tree trunk, taking deep breaths.

  Rachel pushed the images away, reminding herself that while this whole thing started out in a nightmare, it ended with her finding Bastian, having Stephanie, and then Bastian finding her again. Thinking of Bastian and Stephanie calmed her down a little bit and she decided to focus on the good rather than the bad.

  Rachel couldn’t work out why Lewis would be keeping Bastian in the hotel, but the second she had set her eyes on it, her bear had stirred, and although she didn’t let it come out, she knew what that meant. Bastian was indeed in there. Her bear sensed his bear was close. It didn’t matter why Lewis was keeping Bastian a prisoner. It only mattered that she found a way to set him free.

  She suspected he would be in the ballroom, in one of the cages like the one she had been kept in. She knew she only had to open the front door and walk down the short hallway to get to the room, but she hesitated. Lewis surely would have some sort of security system focused on the front door. He wasn’t going to just sit back and let anyone wander into the hotel and find his cages. She began to move again, staying in the trees, following the perimeter of the hotel grounds until she came to the back of the building. She peered out, squinting at the building. There was another door around here, and Rachel just had to hope this one wasn’t guarded in any way.

  Rachel darted out of the trees before she could talk herself out of it. She ran to the gate, opened it, and slipped into the hotel grounds. She ran toward the door and pulled it. It was locked. Of course it was. Why hadn’t she considered that? What now? Think, Rachel, think.

  She knew now she had two choices. She could break the window in this door and unlock it through the broken glass. Or she could take her chances with the front door. She decided breaking the window was safer. It would make a noise, but the Bellevue Hotel was huge and the chances of Lewis being somewhere he could hear the breaking glass had to be pretty slim. Rachel raised her elbow and smashed it into the glass pane. She winced at the sound of breaking glass and she ducked down and held her breath, listening for any running footsteps. None came and Rachel stood back up and put her hand through the broken glass, being careful not to cut herself on the wicked-looking shards that stood up from the edges of the window. She felt for the bolt and slid it back and when she pushed on the door again, it opened silently. Rachel cheered in her mind and then she stepped into the hotel.

  She thought the back door was pretty much opposite the front door and she made her way across what she realized was a huge kitchen and slipped out into a hallway. If she was right, then the door at the end of it would be the room with the cages. She had no other plan and so she c
rept forward, moving as fast as she could while not making any noise. She reached the door and hesitated for a moment. What if Lewis was in there?

  But what if he isn’t? she asked herself. This is your chance, Rachel. Don’t blow it.

  She reached out and pushed the door open. She had been right about the placement of the door. She was in the ballroom, entering by the door Lewis had used when she was a prisoner here. She looked around and instantly saw Bastian in one of the cages. Her heart leapt when she saw him. He turned as she moved closer, trying to keep her movements slow and quiet.

  “Rachel?” Bastian gasped. “What the hell…?”

  “No time,” Rachel interrupted him. “Where are the keys?”

  “I don’t know. In one of the desk drawers, I think, but it’s not safe for you to be here. The room is being watched on camera. Lewis will be here any second,” Bastian said. “You have to get out of here, Rachel.”

  Rachel ignored his pleas for her to leave as she moved across the room. She ran now. If the room was on camera, there was no point in trying to be quiet. She reached the desk and as she reached out for the drawer handle, she heard the ballroom door opening. She straightened up and spun around as Lewis came in. He smiled and shook his head.

  “Well, there’s a face I never expected to see again,” he said. “Let me guess. You’ve spent all of these years looking for the man who ordered you to be turned and then when you did, you convinced him to help you, and now he’s told you where I keep the gun? Am I right?”

  “Not even close,” Bastian laughed.

  Lewis looked in Bastian’s direction and Rachel realized that had been his intention. She wrenched the desk drawer open, going for the gun. The drawer was empty. She reached for the next one. Lewis laughed behind her.

  “Looking for this?” Lewis taunted her.

  She turned as Bastian yelled for her to hit the deck. She threw herself to the ground as the gun in Lewis’ hand went off. The bullet missed her, but she heard Lewis recocking the gun. He fired again, but this time, the sound was different. It was more of a clack than a bang.

  “Dammit,” Lewis cursed.

  Rachel pushed herself to her feet as Lewis started to reload his gun. She knew what she had to do. The thing she had been the most afraid of. She let her bear right in and she made no attempt to swallow it down.

  She screamed in pain as she felt her skin splitting and fur bursting through it. Her clothes ripped and fell away from her as she got bigger. Her arms and legs began to bend and snap and she felt her face elongating. She screamed again, sure this had been a mistake.

  “The pain will be over in a second, let it come!” Bastian screamed.

  Rachel did as he said, letting the pain overtake her senses. Bastian was right. The pain was gone in seconds. Rachel glanced down at her new body—the furry body of a bear. She saw her razor-sharp claws.

  She roared, a sound filled with power and fury, and she no longer let her human side hold her bear back at all. She sprang at Lewis. He dropped the gun and started to turn himself, but he was too late. Rachel slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. She swiped her claws across his face and chest, digging deep cuts into him. Lewis screamed and Rachel let herself hear it, let her human side take control again. She slammed a large paw down into Lewis’ face, knocking him unconscious, and then she backed away from him, turning back into a woman.

  She panted for breath and then she smiled. She had stayed in control. She hadn’t let herself kill Lewis, as much as she had wanted to. She turned to face Bastian and smiled at him.

  “I did it, Bastian. I turned into a bear and kept my humanity,” she said. “I wanted to kill him but I didn’t. And what I did do—well, he deserved that.”

  Bastian beamed back at her.

  “I’m so proud of you, Rachel,” he said. “Now, get the key and let me out of here before he heals and comes after you again.”

  Rachel sprang into action. She knew she had taken Lewis by surprise and been lucky. If he recovered and she had to face him again, she didn’t think she would be so lucky again. She ran to the desk and opened the second drawer. She found a bunch of keys and ran to Bastian’s cage. The third key she tried opened the cage. Bastian stepped out and pulled her into his arms. She was conscious of the fact that she was naked and he wasn’t, but more than anything, she just wanted to be held by him. He kissed the top of her head and then he released her. He pulled his t-shirt off and gave it to her.

  “Put that on,” he said. “Go and wait outside in the car while I deal with Lewis.”

  “What are you going to do to him?” she asked.

  “I’m going to throw him into this cage. And I’m tempted to leave him here to rot for all that he’s done. But I won’t. I’ll follow your example and be humane. I’ll have a couple of pack members come up here and run him out of my district. And I’ll have someone keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn’t go back to his old ways. Go on, now. Go and wait in the car.”

  Rachel turned and ran from the room. She glanced back at the door and saw Bastian dragging Lewis across the ground by his ankles. She made her way out of the hotel and got into the car parked out front, the one she assumed was Bastian’s rental car.

  She sat in the car and thought about how she had felt in her bear form. Strong. Powerful. More dangerous than she’d ever been. But through it all, she had still been in control of herself. She finally saw for herself what Bastian had tried to explain to her. Her bear was a part of her, and that meant she could choose to use the power it gave her for good or for evil. As long as she chose to stay herself, she would do the right thing. She thought that maybe now, she was ready to embrace who she really was instead of running from it and keeping a part of herself hidden away.

  And she thought she knew the perfect place to do it. By Bastian’s side, as part of a family, and maybe even as part of a pack.

  16

  Bastian made fast work of locking Lewis in the cage. Once he was secure, Bastian moved to the desk and put the keys in the top drawer. Spotting his cell phone in the drawer, he pulled it out and switched it on. He waited for it to power up. He really wanted to kill Lewis for what he had done, but he had told Rachel he wouldn’t do that and he didn’t want to ever lie to her. Instead, he called Oscar and told him where to find Lewis and the keys to the cage. He instructed him to exile him from the state and have someone keep an eye on him.

  Oscar came up with an even better plan. He told Bastian of a witch he knew who owed him a favor. She could make a potion that would suppress Lewis’ bear side and make him human again. No human would dare to attempt to continue a career as a Matchmaker and Bastian agreed it was a fitting punishment. Lewis would live a miserable human life knowing what he had done, and then eventually, he would die of natural causes. It was perfect. Bastian authorized the move and then he left the Bellevue Hotel and went to his car.

  His heart skipped a beat when he saw Rachel sitting there in his t-shirt. She looked so fragile and yet he knew how powerful she was. He got into the car and pulled her to him, kissing her full on the mouth.

  “I really thought I was dead back there. How did you find me?” he said after the kiss.

  He started the engine and began to drive down the dirt road as Rachel replied.

  “At first, I thought you’d taken me up on my offer to walk away and never come back,” Rachel admitted.

  “Never,” Bastian winced.

  “When I really thought about it, though, I knew that didn’t feel right. I let my bear instincts come out and they told me you were in danger. I knew I had to act,” she said.

  “You could have been killed, Rachel. You should have gone to Brady,” Bastian said.

  “Okay, let’s get one thing straight,” Rachel said. She smiled but Bastian knew she was serious. “If there’s any chance of this thing between us working out, then you’re going to have to accept that I’m not a damsel in distress.”

  “I wouldn’t dare even suggest such a thing,” Bastian g
rinned. His smile faded. “Seriously, Rachel, you were magnificent in there. How did it feel to embrace your bear side?”

  “Stop!” Rachel shouted, startling Bastian.

  He hit the brakes and frowned at her.

  “It’s okay,” he said.

  She shook her head.

  “I know. But I can’t just leave my car here,” she said, nodding to her car.

  Bastian felt relief flood him when he realized she only wanted him to stop because her car was here.

  “We’ll take your car and I’ll have the rental company collect this one from here,” he said.

  They moved to Rachel’s car and got in. She started the engine, but she left the car idling and looked at Bastian.

  “It felt good,” she said. “Embracing my bear side. I think I might like to do it more often. So I was thinking… is there maybe space for two more in your pack?”

  Bastian didn’t reply with words. Instead, he pulled Rachel toward him and kissed her hard on the mouth. When they broke apart, they were both breathless. They looked at each other for a moment and then Rachel smiled.

  “I take it that’s a yes, then?” she said.

  “It’s a hell yes,” Bastian said. “You won’t regret this, Rachel.”

  She smiled and started to take the hand break off. Bastian put his hand over hers, stopping her for a moment. Rachel looked up at him questioningly.

  “Even if you say no to this, you’re welcome to join the pack,” he said. “But Rachel, I would love it if you joined the pack as my mate. I love you and I want us to spend eternity together.”

  “I love you too,” Rachel said, tears shining in her eyes. “And my answer is yes. I would love to be your mate for life. Forever.”