Shifter's Revenge (Alpha Lineage) (6 page)

Kera’s mother looked at her. “Repeat after me.”

She obeyed and saw a stream of energy pass over the forest and covered the area around her house. The magick flowed from her tongue and the strength of it depleted all of her energy. She was left panting and drained when her voice finally gave out.

“I love you Kera. As long as you call this forest and that house home, you will
be safe from the shifters. Rayland can’t come to you and neither can any of his blood kin. You need to decide when it is the right time to tell Jason about his brother. Stop his evil ways before he brings the pack down with him. They are more important than you could know right now. Their mountains house a vortex of power that people like me and my family gravitate to. The wolves may not know but they feed off of it. They need to stay there so that it doesn’t get out of hand. The consequences would be insurmountable.” Her mother’s spirit began to fade.

She didn’t have time to say goodbye before she was gone.

Kera woke up beside the fallen tree embedded with the fragments of paint from her mother’s crash. Sobs tore through her chest and she crumpled to the ground as she ran her hands across it over and over trying desperately to go back and ask a few more questions. If she could just get back to before the accident and warn her mother could she change the past?

When
nothing happened she let Fang take over and clawed at the tree with her sharp nails. She touched everything along the path that she could. Nothing brought her back into the vision of her mother’s death. Somehow the moment her mother turned to her in the car she knew she would never look at her mother’s death the same way. She hadn’t just died but had been murdered. Not only was she able to go back and talk to her mother but her spirit had remained for a while afterwards.

Could she still be here? Maybe waiting for her to read page seventy seven of the book Rayland and Luke had taken from her.

Kera remembered Maddox’s voicemail saying that they had been contacted by Rayland and he wanted her there. Kera clenched her jaw and headed back to her fathers house. She wouldn’t fail.

Maddox paced the room. He still felt severed in half. The moment he had reached Kera’s father’s house, the pain had torn into him. His wolf had tried to run and clawed at his body and mind. On the inside the damage was catastrophic. Outside he watched as Sam opened the door with a frown as he passed out on the front steps.

That had been days ago. Since then he had received a vague text from Kera’s phone which he wasn’t really in
clined to believe was her. In return he texted her a simple demand for her to come home immediately.

Jason had done everything he could to find her. Nothing helped until that news report that was no longer available anywhere on the internet saying that some girl had moved faster than anything
they had seen before. It could have been Kera or some trick of the mind. These people had been held hostage for six hours and watched children die.

This time his phone rang. It wasn’t a text. He rushed to it and put the phone to his ear. “Kera.”

Her breath practically shot through his phone. He could hear her panting. “I found out what is going on.” She said in a choppy rough sentence. “I… I spoke to my mother. I saw her like I did when I passed out in your car and saw your car accident. Nothing about the two was accidents. My mother was murdered and Andrew tried to do the same to you.”

As he digeste
d this for a moment fought back the anger and relief that washed over him.

Kera c
ontinued. “Rayland killed her.” She grunted for a moment before the phone rustled and she started again. “He was here. My mother and I did a spell. I don’t know how it works but it will keep me safe from anyone in your family as long as I am in the forest or my father’s house.”

“From me?” he growled.

Kera sucked in a breath and the other end went quiet. “Not intentionally.” She whispered. “I’m coming home.”

Maddox began pacing the room again. His had clinched the phone. “Lie to me Kera.”

“What?”

Being apart from his instinct was a battle. He didn’t know what was up or down, right or wrong. He felt like he was going insane.
“Lie to me.” He demanded of her.

She hesitated for a moment.
“I hate you.” She whispered.

The lie washed over him. He closed his eyes and smiled. “Come home.”

“I’m a few hours away.” Her voice washed over him every time she spoke.

He had to grip the phone tightly or it would shake right out of his hand. When the plastic started to splinter and crack he loosened his grip and shut his eyes so he could concentrate. “Where are
you?”

She told him what road she was on and anger at her father tore through him. She had been there all along. He tossed the phone to the side and began to reach for the wolf lost inside of him.
He couldn’t do this again. Ever. He was going to tell her that.

Daniel knocked on his door. “Dinner.” He called out.

Maddox opened the door and pulled Daniel into a hug. “She’s coming home.” His eyes watered with relief. He couldn’t wait. He ran outside and shifted so painfully that he roared out into the night air. His howl echoed through the night and he heard the answer from the wolves in the forest surrounding his father’s house. His mate was few hours away but he didn’t plan on waiting that long. The wolf inside of him came to the forefront with a snarl. He took over by sheer force commanding the Alpha wolf to follow his orders.

Then they ran toward their mate
even though he knew in his soul that the bond they tried to create hadn’t formed. That realization wouldn’t stop him from trying over and over until they got it right.

Kera wiped tears from her eyes as she drove her dad’s truck as fast as she could. She just wanted Maddox to yell at her. She wanted to hear every word that went on in his head. Kera had to know how to fix this when she returned.

After an hour or so Kera brought her hand to
her chest and felt Fang sit up in attention. Emotions began to wash over her and she trembled so hard she actually pulled to the side of the road. Without realizing what she was doing she got out of the truck and shifted. Before the pain even subsided she took off down the road.

Her tension rose as he drew near.

Maddox stalked her in the shadows. His bright white fur darted out and his teeth pushed against her neck. His jaw locked her in place as he growled low in his throat.

Kera
whimpered in fear but he didn’t hurt her.

His warm breath pushed against the back of her neck as he maneuvered her under him and held her in place. The weight from his body and the beating of his heart was the only thing she could feel and hear. His scent washed over her as he continued to growl
deep in his throat.

Fang understood better than she did.
Maddox was an animal. He was a very strong Alpha wolf who by all intents and purposes was claiming her and asking that she submit. If she struggled it would only make him frustrated. Kera had never seen this side of him. Something was different. The one time she had seen him in this form he was more human than wolf. She let her muscled go slack and whimpered in response to his actions.

Maddox released her and began to shift. His weight never left her body. Kera shifted as well and tasted the magick on her tongue when her clothes came along with her.

A loud groan came out of Maddox’s chest as he shifted slowly.

Kera tried to reach out for him but her chest was pinned to the earth from his weight on her back. When he
finally finished shifting he bent down and bit the tender flesh between her neck and shoulder. His breath sawed in and out of his mouth as he held her under him.

Thro
ugh a wave of emotion she spoke, “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

This time his growl was all human male. His deep voice echoed through her chest and filtered into her ears. Her skin flushed and goose bumps formed across her legs and back.

Maddox inhaled deeply and licked the marks his teeth left on her neck. Kera drew in a shaky breath as he continued up the column of her neck and sunk is teeth into the soft skin of her ear. The small zings of pain shot straight to her stomach and between her legs. When he released her ear he licked away the sting and positioned his lips so he could whisper his next words of command without the possibility of her missing a single word.

“
If you run from me again don’t bother coming back,” he spoke in the deepest inflection of his voice. She almost didn’t recognize him. “There won’t be anything left for you to come back to.”

Her eyes slammed shut at the pain and anger in his voice. She couldn’t speak because nothing she could say would help the situation.

He removed his body from her so quickly the chill left in his wake shook her to the bone. She pushed up from the ground and turned to make sure he was still there. His naked body took her breath away. Each inch of skin was wrapped around hard corded muscles. Steam seemed to permeate off of him.

She reached out for him but he backed away with a growl. Again it was human in nature
, pushed out deep from his chest. His eyes were the dullest blue she had ever seen and fear chilled her to the bone. His skin hadn’t carried the same wash of power it had every other time he touched her. Her eyes filled with tears. “What happened?”

His eyes hardened as he looked at her but he didn’t answer.

Kera felt her heart pound against her ribs. She took another step to him and watched is eyes narrow in suspicion. A fissure opened deep inside her chest and threatened to send her to her knees in painful sorrow. Something was very wrong. She hesitated for only a moment before she closed the gap between them and cupped his neck in her hand. A sob tore from her throat when all she felt was his warm skin beneath her palm.

They didn’t speak after that. No words could fix the damage that had been done. Maddox turned back into his wolf with a painful howl and followed closely beside her before hopping into the back of the truck.

She could feel his stare as she drove. The distance unnerved her. The change in him scared her. She understood now why Jason had taken the time to plead with her to return. He was injured deeply. She focused on the road and remembered the torment she and her mother had caused to Rayland. Was it possible this whole thing with the result of her actions? Could the book somehow be the key to heal Maddox? If so then she needed full control of it. She couldn’t decide if curing Maddox would force her to cure Rayland at the same time. If she did this it could also undo the protection her mother placed over her father.

An hour had passed before Maddox clawed at the window to the truck and growled. Kera took that as a sign to pull over. The night had descended fully and her emotions were tearing her apart inside. He jumped out of the truck bed and Kera followed. She
took the keys with her and shut the door behind her. She tentatively followed Maddox into the woods and weaved in and out of the thick brush and large trees. He finally stopped and shifted again this time clinching his jaw through the pain.

He rested his back against the base of a large tree and closed his eyes. His chest pumped up and down with exertion.

She moved closer and his eyes opened to pin her with a harsh stare. Kera sucked in a breath and sat down on the cool ground. Her limbs shook in fear. He was going to leave her and there was nothing she could do about it.

She thought about the promise they made to each other and felt like a naïve idiot. They had been each other’s first. Maddox had made love to her and she had turned into a sullen and damaged girl that shut him off from her feelings and experiences. Then she just left him.

“You deserve someone better than me,” she told him now.

His jaw clinched but he didn’t speak.

“Look what I’ve done to you Maddox,” she whispered this in harsh bravado, fueled by the anger she had at herself. “I brought turmoil into your family in a way that ripped you apart. Sure there were things going on already but by me being involved everything was blown out of proportion. People died because of me. If I hadn’t been involved with you then maybe when Luke and Rayland found a way to bring me here with the book I would have been able to help him and this would all be over.”

Maddox pushed out a breath and leaned his head against the hard wood behind him. His eyes closed but he was still listening so she continued.

“My father told the government that I was being held by supernatural beings. Instead of involving you I went on my own.” A growl permeated from his chest and Fang whimpered in submission. The sound came out of her mouth and drew another growl from Maddox. His shoulders bunched and his eyes pierced her. She waited for a moment expecting him to speak but he didn’t. “They know about us but they haven’t been able to get anyone on their side. People are dying because they are going after criminals with abilities they don’t know about. I helped them Maddox but you already know that. There was a hostage situation at a stadium and people died. The unit will be able to pull the videos from the internet if anyone recorded what I did.”

The silence from his was making her nervous. She made eye contact with him and refused to look away as they sat on the cold forest floor together but so far apart. When she couldn’t handle being this close to him and not touching him she
crawled forward and reached out for his extended leg. The muscles in his calf contracted as she touched him with the tips of her fingers. When he didn’t pull away or ask her to stop she continued.

The feel of his skin without the power somehow made it all that more intimate. She felt like she was touching him for the first time even though she never had such an opportunity with his body. Her heart raced as she ran her fingers over his knee and onto his strong thigh.

She watched only her fingers and the skin they touched. She didn’t dare look at his face and see hate or pain or condemnation. Her hand began to tremble as she moved further across his leg and closer to his hip. Her eyes darted to his lap and her cheeks flushed when she saw his thick erection.

“Kera,” h
is whispered groan caused her eyes to dart to his face. The heated look he gave her caused a race of excitement to wash over her.

“I missed you,
” She whispered quickly. “Every moment I was gone I thought about you and how I had pushed you away. I long for your touch Maddox. I need you.”

He reached out and grabbed her hand and pulled i
t from his hip. “You left me,” he growled at her.

His anger was a palpable thing. She breathed it in and accepted it.
With her free hand she gripped his corded neck and used it as an anchor. Her lips crashed against his. His hand that held hers tightened almost painfully. The other threaded through her hair like shackles that would never let her go. She moaned into his mouth and the next moment his tongue darted in and tasted her. He covered her lips with his and pulled her across his lap.

His thick erection pressed into the seam of her jeans. She sucked in a breath from his mouth and felt her eyes shift beneath her lids. In the next moment she knew exactly what was wrong with Maddox. His wolf was absent. Fang whimpered at the loss and receded into her mind.