Rogue Alpha: Wolf Shifter Romance (Wild Lake Wolves Book 1) (15 page)

Chapter Twenty-Three

“Princess? Baby? Come on back.”

Sound
seemed to have physical form and stabbed me right between
the eyes. I wanted quiet, sleep, darkness. Rough hands on my shoulders shook me
hard and wouldn’t let me be.

A splash of cold water on my face and I was done
for. Sputtering, I opened my eyes to see two blazing gold ones staring back at
me.

“Fuck.” It was all I could manage to say past a dry
throat. Mal lifted me, bringing a cool cup of water to my lips and helping me
drink.

“That’s my girl,” he said, pulling me close to his
chest. He kissed my forehead.

“What happened?”

Mal smiled but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Deep
lines of worry framed his face and sweat beaded his brow.

“You happened.” An oddly familiar voice was at my
side. I turned my head. Luke sat next to me, his arm in a sling. He looked like
hell. Maybe worse than I felt. But, he was human. He was whole. His wavy brown
hair hung over the side of his face, but he’d trimmed the caveman beard. He
leaned forward and put a hand on my shoulder.

“Luke?”

His green eyes flashed. A haunted, hollow look
rimmed them, but the agony I’d seen in him before seemed to have melted away. I
raised my head and looked around the dim room. We were back in Mal’s cabin. I
lay stretched out on the bed in Mal’s arms. My legs felt swollen and fat. My
right arm did too. I was naked, covered only by the thin cotton sheet Mal
wrapped around me. I saw an angry red welt on my right upper arm.

“Flood got you with the other tranquilizer gun,” Mal
explained. “Thank Christ you had the shotgun instead of him or you’d probably
be dead. That’s going to smart for a few days, but I think you should probably
have feeling in your arms and legs in a couple of hours.”

“Flood?”

“Don’t worry.” A deep booming voice penetrated the
room. With Mal’s help, I got up to a fully seated position. The voice belonged
to a stocky, clean-shaven hulk of a man standing in the doorway. A figure lay
slumped at his feet, hog tied with thick cords of rope.

“Meet Dax,” Mal whispered against my ear.

Dax ran a hand over his bald head and he kicked the
figure on the floor, rolling him over so I could see his face. His was red,
puffy, with both eyes swollen shut, but it was Professor Flood. He moaned and
spat blood on the ground.

“He’ll be all right,” Dax said. He leaned against
the door frame and casually sipped out of a tin cup. Coffee. Strong brewed. My
stomach growled.

Dax moved away from the door as it swung open,
flooding the cabin with light that seared my eyes. I could see the sun rising
high over the trees. It was early morning. Two more hulking men stepped into
the cabin. They looked so similar, I guessed they were brothers. Related at
least for sure. They each had dark blond hair and gray eyes. They were broad-shouldered
and burly, but they smiled warmly when they stepped in and saw me.

“That’d be Joe and Sam,” Mal said. Joe, I guess it
was, limped a little when he walked and recognition clicked. He was the one I
hit with the dart gun myself. That he was up and walking while I was still laid
flat underscored the extent of his werewolf strength.

“Good morning, ma’am,” Joe said, looking sheepish
and endearing.

“It’s over then?” I looked up at Mal. “We did it?
Asher’s gone?”

Mal smiled but his eyes still had dark shadows in
them. “His hold over the pack is broken. As you can see for yourself.”

I may not have known Mal long, but he was in me. I
knew when he was holding something back. “Where is he, Mal?”

Mal shrugged. “He’s dead, baby. Just before Flood
hit you, you hit Asher. I thought it was over. Hell, when I felt you go down, I
wanted
it to be over. Asher had me by the throat. But, then the juice
kicked in and he faltered. The second he lost consciousness, the pack was free.
It was pretty much a melee after that. I felt Flood’s shot go into you and I
had to get to you. It was more important than finishing Asher off. I thought .
. . it sounded like a shotgun. I saw you slump over and it damn near finished
me.”

“But, he’s dead. You said he’s dead.”

Mal gave me a solemn nod and looked over his
shoulder. Luke sat at the hearth, wringing his hands together. “You killed
Asher,” I said to Luke .

He looked up at me, his eyes still haunted by
whatever demons he held at bay. But, he shook his head. “No,” he answered.
“That was Mal’s kill.”

A vision flashed behind my eyes. Maybe it was from
before I completely lost consciousness. Maybe it was something I saw from my
connection to Mal. But, I saw Asher lying helpless as Luke staggered toward him
on two legs. He got to him. Fell forward. Then Mal, still in his wolf came to
his shoulder. Luke stepped aside as Mal lunged and tore Asher’s throat apart. I
watched as Asher’s yellow eyes went dim and the rest of the pack closed in
around him. Then each of them formed a circle around Mal and shifted back to
their wolves, dipped their heads.

The rest of the men shifted around me. Casting their
eyes down, they all went outside. Dax grabbed Flood by the feet and dragged him
over the threshold too. Then, Mal and I were alone.

“My God,” he said. Mal looked down and cradled my
head in his palms. “For a second there I thought I’d lost you.”

Mal took a breath. Something had happened. Something
big. My blood started to heat as Mal’s did. His pulse quickened and I felt that
familiar twinge as his mood seemed to bleed into mine. I sensed something different
though. We weren’t alone. Dax stood to the north of the cabin scanning the tree
line. I
felt
Luke standing off just to the side of him. He wasn’t at
peace yet. Something tore at him, a longing that broke my heart a little. And
Joe and Sam. They moved as a unit toward the south side of the cabin. I felt
Joe shift first. It was just a flash, nothing like the clarity with which I
could see through Mal’s eyes. But, there could be no denying I had some
connection with these other men now too.

“What’s happening?”

Mal smiled and kissed the top of my head. “The pack
has accepted me as Alpha. I challenged their Alpha and won. I could have
claimed the pack by right, but they chose me anyway. Now, they can sense me and
follow my commands. And because you’re my mate, they’re kind of hard-wired to
you too. Each of them would lay down their lives for you.”

Warmth flooded me as Mal held me. It felt good and
right. A missing piece of Mal seemed to fill, one I hadn’t realized until now
he needed. He was safe and whole and all mine. Whatever else happened didn’t
matter as long as Mal was with me and the pack was here.

“What about Flood?” I asked.

Mal let out a chuckle that sent a shiver of warmth
through me. “Him? Yeah. Dax is maybe getting a little carried away.” No sooner
had he said it then a yelp cut through the air. I couldn’t see it, but I sensed
Dax had hauled Flood to his feet only to watch him crumple to the ground again.

“As soon as you feel up to it, we’re going to drop
him off at the ranger station on the way out. It seems your professor has some
things he’d like to say about what really happened back at the outpost. You
might say he’s had some clarity and a change of heart. See, Dax is very
persuasive.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. My affection for Dax had
already started to grow. With it, feeling started to flood back into my legs. I
looked down and wiggled my toes.

“I think I’m starting to feel a lot better.”

“Good,” Mal said. “The pack is antsy to get on the
move.”

I could feel that too. Anticipation moved through
the pack like an electrical current. “We need to get them home,” I said, as
their feeling of longing became mine. “How far is Wild Lake?”

Mal slid off the bed and held his hands out to me. I
rose on unsteady legs as he wrapped the bed sheet around me and tucked it tight
so it wouldn’t fall. Then, I took the first slow steps toward the front door
and sunlight. Mal kept me steady as we came to the doorway, ready to tell the
others we were ready to take them home.

Chapter Twenty-Four

My first view of Wild Lake was the bobbing tree tops
as the Range Rover jostled up a dirt path. I lay with my head in Mal’s lap,
having slept most of the way through northern Michigan. The farther we went,
the wilder the woods became around us. Maybe, in some faraway time in my life,
that would have seemed unnatural. As if I were leaving everything I knew
behind. Now though, with Mal at my side, it felt like a homecoming.

He gazed down at me, warmth flooding his eyes as the
noon sunlight stabbed through the window. I lifted my hand to shield it from
the brightness. Mal was at peace, but a new energy coursed through his veins.
It was hard not to get swept up in it. Dax drove this final leg of the trip.
Luke sat in the passenger seat and Mal and I were in back. Joe and Sam followed
behind on a matching pair of Harleys. Soon, the pack would need to shift. I
felt their urge to hunt, to explore the lands they called home. But, they had
healing to do. We’d driven for several hours. Plenty of time for Dax to fill us
in on the highlights of what they’d been through.

Asher had taken the pack out of their sanctuary in
Kentucky. They had a home deep in the forests surrounding Mammoth Caves. I’d
never been there, but my new connection to the pack filled in some of the gaps.
The caves were cold and dark, stretching for miles in directions that had been
unexplored by normal men.

After Asher’s last skirmish with the Wild Lake
packs, he started to go mad with his all-consuming lust for revenge. Nothing
else mattered to him. Not the health of the pack or his own. When Luke and the
others tried to reason with him he forced them all to shift, trapping them in
the animal rage that ate away at him like a cancer.

Luke had suffered the worst because he was the
closest to Asher and fought back the hardest. He kept himself distant, closed
off a little from Mal and the rest of us. It would take time for him to heal.
Mal felt confident Wild Lake itself would help bring him back the rest of the
way.

I wasn’t so sure. I watched Luke. He separated
himself from the pack more than the others. His tortured gaze drifted to some
far off place and agony that no one but he could ever truly understand. I hoped
Mal was right. Luke was a good man. I could feel it. Whatever evil had touched
his soul could never take that away from him.

“This is as far as we can drive,” Dax finally said,
jamming the Rover into park and shutting off the engine. He threw the door open
and stretched his limbs. Mal and I followed suit. Excitement crackled through
the pack. Joe and Sam came to stand at Dax’s side with Mal leading the way. He
held my hand as we started down a rocky path leading to a large yellow and
white farm house perched high on a hill.

The place looked straight out of a picture postcard
with a wrap-around porch, white picket fence, and long porch swing at the
front. A light mist hung near the tips of the tall pines surrounding the house.
A large, rustic, red barn with white trim stood behind the house. Beyond that,
Mal told me was Wild Lake itself. Nearly four hundred acres of pristine waters
surrounded by lush, green forests, he told me.

Mal cupped his hands to his mouth and whistled. The
shrill ring of it pierced my ears. The front screen door flew open and I could
make out two figures standing on the porch. A man and a woman. Older. It was
hard to tell from the distance, but I guessed in their seventies. The woman
walked slowly down the porch steps. She had thick, wild, wavy gray hair that flowed
behind her as she quickened her step. She was short and round, and her bare
white legs poked out from under a bright green housecoat. Halfway across the yard
she froze.

The old man behind her held on to the porch railing.
He looked at us but didn’t focus on anything in particular. Even so, I could
see the corners of his mouth lift into a smile.

The woman began to flap her hands. Barefoot, she
broke into a run toward us, screaming wildly. She moved fast for someone her size
and age. “Heaven’s sake! Oh, Jesus! Malcolm!”

She stopped right in front of us, breathless. She
had a warm, kind face with bright green eyes that flashed in a way that seemed
familiar. But, instinctively, I knew she was human, just like me.

“Laura,” Mal stepped forward. “This is Pat. Up
there’s Harold. Wild Lake belongs to them.”

Pat flapped a hand. “Oh, bullshit, Malcolm. Our
name’s on the paperwork, but you know this is your home.” She emphasized the
word home and her smile brightened. She lunged forward and pulled Mal into a
rib-crushing hug. He smiled and lifted her effortlessly off her feet, giving
the old woman a twirl and a thrill that brought laughter bubbling up out of me.

When he set her down, she turned to me, smiling wide.
She stepped forward and put her hands on my cheeks. She was warm and kind,
smelling of baked goods and wood soap. I liked her immediately.

“Who have you brought?”

“Princess Laura,” Mal teased.

“Prince,” I said. “My name is Laura Prince.”

“Not for long.” Mal’s voice was deep, dark, and
filled with mischief. He shot me a look that sent a thrill of heat tickling
along my spine. Pat didn’t miss it. She put a hand on her hip and another
around my shoulders. She reached back and felt the mark at the base of my neck and
gave me a knowing smile.

“Well, welcome home Laura. Don’t let these dogs give
you too much trouble. You probably haven’t had access to warm running water and
home cooking since you threw in with these boys. You let me take care of you
while you’re here.” My shoulders sagged with relief at her invitation. I hadn’t
realized how much I missed hot baths.

She wrapped her arm around me and steered me toward
the house. “I’ve got a room ready you can claim. Clean clothes too. I’ve
learned to be prepared when the boys come home.”

“I don’t even know how to begin to thank you.”

Pat clucked as she led me down the hill. We would
have kept on going, but Mal called out to us.

“Pat,” Mal said, his voice taking on a solemn tone.
“There’s something else.”

Pat stiffened next to me and her arm fell off my
shoulder. She trembled and I had the urge to go to her, offer her a steadying
hand. But, she put up a palm to stop me. The old man had made his way down from
the porch. He took halting steps and held a cane out in front of him. I saw
immediately why. He had an old but deep scar slashing across his face,
rendering his cloudy blue eyes sightless. Claw marks. A shudder ran through me
as I guessed exactly what type of creature could have made them.

Pat drew her shoulders back and turned to face Mal.
Her eyes filled with dread as she seemed to brace herself for whatever news Mal
needed to share. The car door opened and closed behind me and Luke walked
slowly toward us. In all the excitement, I hadn’t noticed he’d hung back until
now. Pat’s hands flew to her mouth and tears sprang from her eyes. Mal moved
quicker than I did. He got behind her and held her up by the elbows before she
would have fallen to the ground.

She reached out a shaky hand as tears streamed down
her face. Luke’s eyes misted as well as he came to her. It was the first sign
of emotion I’d seen in Luke since I’d met him. Pat reached out and touched his
face, tracing the lines of Luke’s jaw as if she were the one who was blind.

“Hi Mama,” Luke said. “I’m home.”

Mama. Of course Pat’s eyes seemed familiar. They
were a match for her son’s. I choked past a lump in my throat as Pat let out a
sob and folded her son against her breast. The old man came beside him and put
a hand on Luke’s shoulder. He was crying too.

“Good to have you back,” he said.

“Good to be back, Uncle Harold,” Luke said quietly.

Mal clasped his hand in mine and gestured with his
chin to the rest of the pack. Whatever passed between them, Luke, Pat, and
Harold deserved to have this moment in private.

***

Later, when the sun set, Mal took me to Wild Lake.
Since he’d been made Alpha, the pack had been with us constantly. Though I
relished the time I got to spend getting to know them, I missed my time with
Mal. Now, a full moon rose high and I sat resting my head against his chest on
a large outcropping of rock overlooking the lake. The water was still as glass,
mirroring the starlit sky and wooded horizon so it was hard to tell where one
began and the other ended.

“I love it here,” I said, leaning the back of my
head against his chest. After her reunion with Luke, Pat made me feel like it
was my home too. She’d made me a huge pot of chicken noodle soup while the pack
took to the woods to hunt. They needed their time together and I felt the bond
among them . . . among all of us strengthen as we breathed in the pure air of
Wild Lake.

“I’m glad. You know, I’ll go anywhere in the world
with you, Laura, but this place is special. I was hoping you’d love it as much
as I do.”

“Oh. I do. How could I not? I can’t explain it. But,
it almost feels like the land is part of the pack too.

I snuggled against him. With the lake to ourselves,
we’d stripped naked. Mal’s growing erection pressed against the small of my
back as I threaded my fingers through his. Moisture pooled between my legs as
my own urgent need rose. We’d have another moment or two, but soon I wouldn’t
be able to stand not having him inside me.

“I’m glad,” he said. “I’ve talked to Harold and Pat
and a few of the other Alphas who call Wild Lake home. We can stay here. I’ve
been given a claim further north. We can build a home there if you’d like. I
can take back my piece of the business.”

“What business?”

“Wild Lake Outfitters.”

I tilted my head back to look at him. “Wild Lake
Outfitters. That’s you?” I knew the name. Even as far west as Green Bluff, my
father only bought W.L.O. hunting and fishing gear. I hadn’t put two and two
together until now.

Mal nodded. “I’ve got a stake in it, yeah. All of
the Wild Lake packs do. You didn’t think we lived on venison and rabbit alone,
did you?”

I laughed. My Alpha was full of surprises. Ones I
hoped I’d have a lifetime to unravel.

“My home is wherever you are.” I said it and I meant
it, but even so, I felt unsettled.

“What is it?” Mal asked. Of course he sensed my
moods just as I did his.

I shifted in his arms and tilted my head again to
meet his eyes. “It’s just, I still want to finish what I started. Flood’s
confessed, so my scholarship and my standing at G.L.U. has been restored. I’m
three semesters away from graduating and they’ve offered me a spot in their
graduate program. Flood’s going to jail for what he did, so I don’t have to
worry about him anymore.”

Mal stiffened. He reached down and smoothed a lock
of hair away from my face. “I don’t want you to worry about anyone like Flood
ever hurting you again.”

I leaned up to kiss him. “I’m not. But, I think the
last few weeks have given me a taste of what pack life can be like, Mal. We’ve
earned some peace, but the packs still have enemies, don’t they?”

His silence was all the answer I needed.

“I said I want to finish what I started. I want to
learn all I can about what makes you were. What happens during the Rise and what
happens after that. Why there aren’t as many female werewolves. I want to
understand the science of it. So if there
is
some kind of biological
threat to you, to us, maybe we can fight that too. So yes. I’m going to finish
my degree at G.L.U. They have a global campus. If there’s internet in these
northern lands of which you speak, hook me up and let’s rock and roll. And then
we can . . .”

Mal quieted me with hot kisses. He lifted me and
turned me so I laid flat on my back on the smooth rock, my legs spread beneath
him. I giggled as my hair fanned out and spilled over the side of the rock.

He took each of my ankles in his hand and spread
them, making a wide V with my legs. I gasped as he slid his hard cock into me,
sheathing himself to the root.

“I love your mind as much as your body, my princess.
You want to be a werewolf vet when you grow up?” He bit his bottom lip and
closed his eyes, savoring the pleasure of my warm, wet pussy as he thrust in
and out of me.

I moaned and arched my back, basking in the pleasure
of him as well. “M-maybe.” Though it was getting harder and harder to form a rational
thought.

Mal’s eyes snapped open as he reached the deepest
parts of me. He let go of my ankles as I wrapped them around his shoulders.
From this angle, Mal was inside me as far as he could go.

“But, I can tell you what happens after the Rise, my
love.” He reached around and his fingers traced the outlines of the crescent
shaped scar on my neck. His mark. His brand. As always, it pulsed to match the
growing need between my legs. Two perfect points of pleasure, forever
connecting me to Mal. He leaned down and nipped at my ear.

“Tell me,” I gasped.

“The Heat.” He growled his answer and a new dark
desire rose within me.

“Heat? You can put me in heat? You mean there’s a
level higher than what I’m feeling right now. My God Mal, I can’t get enough of
you as it is. I think if you put me in heat, I might as well just stay right
here on this rock and keep you inside of me forever.”