Alpha Pack 4 - Hunters Heart (11 page)

brushed the top of the doorframe when he’d stepped

through. The wildlife biologist danced in glee at this find.

The woman stared, not sure whether to greet him or run

and hide.

“Incredible.” She couldn’t take her eyes off him.

“Isn’t he?” Ryon’s voice was wry, tinged with humor.

“Sariel tends to suck up most of the air when he’s in the

room.”

The male made his way toward them, having noticed

Daria. His wide smile was warm as he stopped beside

their table.

“Hello there! You must be Miss Bradford, our guest.”

He bowed slightly. “I’m Sariel, or Blue if you prefer. For

obvious reasons.”

Her mouth worked, speech having died between her

brain and her mouth.

Ryon interceded with a chuckle. “She’s going to need

some time to get used to us, buddy. Just call her Daria.

Daria, this is our resident Seelie prince.”

“Removed from my throne,” he said smoothly. “Titles

don’t mean much here, unless you’re the commander.”

“What’s a Seelie?” she managed at last.

Blue explained patiently. “A member of the Fae realm,

a world that exists parallel to this one. The portal to the

Fae realm is located in a country you call Ireland. The Fae

consist of two groups—the Seelie and the Unseelie.

Members of my Court consider us to be the
good guys
, if

you will. Though we all know not every world is made of

entirely good or bad people.”

A shadow passed over his face as he related that last

bit, and she wondered at it. “What are the Unseelie, then?

The
bad guys
?”

“Essentially. They devote their existence to pleasing

themselves, no matter who they hurt. Their minions are the

Sluagh, Seelie who’ve given themselves to evil, and have

fallen.”

She took this in. “And you’re a prince.”

“Yes, formerly from the Seelie Court. Old news, and a

long story.” He waved a hand at a vacant chair. “May I

join you both?”

“Sit,” Ryon said. “Eat. You’re way too skinny. Haven’t

you been following the diet Melina put you on?”

Blue, as Daria was starting to think of him, wrinkled his

nose at the hamburger patties as though they were the most

revolting things he’d ever seen. “I seriously doubt those

should be on anyone’s diet.”

“You just need to gain weight, man. Doesn’t matter how

at this point.”

Blue glared at his friend. “Thank you for so helpfully

pointing that out.” He reached for a bun and piled it with

vegetables, leaving out the meat altogether and ignoring

the fries.

Thankfully, Ryon didn’t comment on his choice. She

could see that Blue was rather sensitive about the subject

of his eating habits. She wondered if food was so different

in the Seelie Court that he couldn’t find things here to

satisfy his palate. Then she ground to a mental halt at the

direction of her thoughts.

She was pondering the eating habits of a Fae prince. As

though that were perfectly normal.

We’re wolf shifters, Daria.

She had believed Ryon to be mentally ill. And the proof

that he wasn’t was sitting here, politely chatting away with

the man who’d appointed himself her friend and protector.

Ryon had been telling the absolute truth about his world

and the creatures in it.

And
her
world had just been irrevocably turned on its

head.

Five

Ryon witnessed the exact moment Daria
knew
the truth.

He saw it in her brown eyes, on her stunned face. She

was shaken, but didn’t do anything dramatic like dissolve

into hysterics, and for that he breathed a sigh of relief.

That didn’t mean they were out of the woods on her

acceptance of things, but it was a start.

To her credit she held it together, focusing her attention

on Blue, who preened under the attention. The prince

regaled her with tales of his brothers, his adventures with

them, and the good times they had. Well, before he’d been

thrown out of the realm when Elders in the Seelie Court

found out that Blue was a bastard. A product of the

Unseelie king Malik’s forcible taking of the Seelie queen,

Blue’s mother.

“I’m so sorry,” Daria said, her pretty face empathetic.

Blue smiled, though Ryon knew it was a front. “I’ll see

my brothers and Mother again one day. In the meantime, I

have Kalen. He and I recently found out that we’re half

brothers.”

“Who’s Kalen?”

Ryon pointed to the man, who was sitting at a nearby

table, eating and talking with Aric and Aric’s mate,

Rowan.

“Wow, physically you guys are total opposites,” Daria

observed. “He’s completely Goth, and you’re like sunlight

and sky.”

Ryon had gotten so used to Kalen, he didn’t notice

anymore how different the man was from the others. But it

was true. With his layered, black rock-star hair falling to

his shoulders, the black jeans and T-shirt with his new

black leather duster over it, and the matching kohl-rimmed

green eyes and nail polish, the guy definitely made people

look twice.

Blue smiled. “Sunlight and sky? That might be the nicest

thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

She shrugged. “Well, it’s true.”

Ryon knew she had definitely earned a friend in their

Fae prince.

“So,” she went on, “how are you and Kalen half

brothers?”

“It’s complicated, but I’ll try and simplify. We had

different mothers, but like me, Kalen’s father was also

Malik, the fortunately now-deceased Unseelie.”

“Kalen fried his ass in a big battle we had with Malik

and his forces not long ago,” Ryon supplied helpfully.

“Did Kalen live in the Seelie Court, too?”

“No. If he had, we would’ve met long ago. He was

raised in the human world, led to believe he was human

with magical powers. His grandmother didn’t want him to

learn the truth of his ancestry, in order to keep him safe

from Malik and his minions.” Blue sent his half brother a

look filled with sympathy. “When she died, the man Kalen

believed to be his father threw him out of the house,

leaving him to survive on the streets. He was fourteen.”

“Rotten bastard,” Daria hissed. “What happened then?”

“He survived for years, until the Alpha Pack found him

in a nearby cemetery, raising a corpse to speak to it while

investigating the man’s murder.”

“Hold up—Kalen raised a corpse? Out of the ground,

and spoke to it?” Her eyes were wide. “As in ‘Hellooo,

Mr. Corpse, let’s have a chat and tell me who killed

you?’”

“Not so simple as that. It’s not easy to raise the dead,

you know.”

Daria blinked at him. “Guess not.”

“So Kalen was taken into the Pack. He was just finding

his place here when he met Mac and started to fall in love

with her, and then Malik came along and tried to steal him

away from all of us to use his Sorcerer’s power.”

“So, he’s a Sorcerer and can raise the dead. What

else?” She said it sarcastically, as if there couldn’t be

anything else.

“He’s also a black panther. That’s all.”

“Sure.” She rested her elbows on the table and looked

around the room. “So Kalen is married to the doctor,

Mackenzie Grant.”

“Mated, not married. Much stronger bond than some

piece of paper,” he said. “But yes, and they’re expecting

their first child.”

“I sort of got that from the baby bump she’s carrying

around. Any other
mated
pairs here, as you call them?”

“Aric and Rowan. Aric has been with the Pack since the

beginning, like a lot of the men, but Rowan recently joined

the team. She’s a former police officer from some vile

place called Los Angeles.” Daria snickered. Blue pointed

to the redheaded wolf and his brunette mate. Then he

gestured to a goateed man and a small blond woman.

“Then there’s Jax and Kira. Jax is an original member,

a silver wolf and RetroCog, meaning he can touch an

object and see important events surrounding it. Kira is one

of our lab assistants who specializes in DNA and gene

strand stuff. Don’t ask me more about that, it’s confusing.

She’s also working to build a sanctuary for displaced

paranormal beings, and I’m helping her,” he said proudly.

“That’s my job here.”

“I think you’ll be wonderful at it.”

He beamed at the praise, his feathers rustling. “I hope

so. Kira is a dear friend of mine and I would hate to let

her down.”

“I doubt that will happen.”

“We have several creatures depending on us, and I’m

sure more will come.”

That seemed to unsettle her, but she said nothing about

it. Blue pointed out some of the other guys, but it was

apparently too many people for her to take in. She just

nodded politely and chatted with the prince, finishing her

burger. When they were done eating, Blue rose.

“It’s been a pleasure talking with you, Daria. I’m sure

we’ll get to know each other much better.” He slid a sly

smile at Ryon.

Ryon wondered if the prince had the ability to sense

their bond, but he couldn’t very well ask. He knew that

Daria would likely start to feel it, too, if she hadn’t

already. He’d have to explain soon, as Nick advised, or

she might think there was something wrong with herself.

He was afraid she would be upset, too.

Blue left to join Kalen. Ryon wiped his hands and laid

aside his napkin. “Would you like to see the compound?”

Her eyes held his for a moment, something sparking

between them. “I’d love to.”

His heart did a little happy dance, but he forced himself

to stay cool. This was not a woman to be pushed, and yet

he’d had no choice but to change her entire life without her

input. He hoped she would forgive him.

Taking the handles of her chair, he guided it into the

hallway and turned the corner. “How about the recreation

room first? If you’re by yourself and can’t find who you

need, there’s always someone relaxing in there.”

“Sounds good.” She gestured to the place in general.

“It’s very homey. Not what one would expect.”

“The women rallied when we first opened the place and

demanded new paint, carpet, the works. They said if they

had to live here, they weren’t going to live in a drab white

box.”

“Nick approved that? He doesn’t seem the type.”

“Nick wouldn’t have cared, but he wasn’t our

commander back then. Our boss was Terry Noble. He was

killed in an ambush several months ago, along with some

of our team.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said honestly.

“Our job is dangerous, and death is always a high risk.

But we all miss him, Ari, and Jonas. Those are the other

guys we lost.” He paused. “We thought Micah and Phoenix

had been killed along with them, but it turns out that they

were being held in a lab facility run by Malik, where his

doctors were performing experiments on humans and

shifters, trying to perfect a super-soldier.”

“That’s horrible! I’m glad you were able to get back

two of your guys, though. Maybe the others are still out

there somewhere?” she asked hopefully.

God love her. “It would be a miracle. All of Malik’s

labs have been destroyed, as far as we know, and none of

the other Pack members were found.”

“You never know.”

“True. But on a happier note, this is the rec room.”

Pushing her inside, he came around to stand where they

could see each other. “We have all sorts of games in here.

Ping-Pong, board games, and the Wii. We’re thinking

about buying another TV and game system because there’s

always someone hogging the one we do have.”

“Neat room, lots of comfy furniture. I can see why

everyone likes to hang out here.”

“Just beyond those doors is a field with a picnic area

where we play football, baseball, grill out, and whatever

other excuse we can think of to get outside.”

“With scenery as beautiful as that outside your door, I

can see why.” She gazed outside thoughtfully. “How can

you have a compound in the middle of the Shoshone when

it’s government land?”

“Because the government sanctions our being here.

Those in power who need to know, do.”

“I see.”

They left the rec room and he took her to the gym.

Micah was shooting hoops. Jax was there, apparently

working off lunch, lying on his back on a bench, lifting

weights. A small, furry brown creature was perched on his

chest, curled up dozing with a look of pure bliss on its

teddy-bear face. Ryon glanced at Daria, who was

frowning at the creature.

“What is that?”

He pushed her closer, chuckling. But not too close.

“That’s Chup-Chup. He’s sort of like a gremlin, or

something. Nobody’s really sure.”

“One of the rescued critters Blue was telling me

about?”

“Among others.”

“Hey, guys,” Jax called as they approached. He heaved

a couple more bench presses, then sat the bar in the holder

and wiped at the sweat on his brow with his hand. “Move