The Alpha's Mate: (10 page)

Chapter Twelve

Adam pushed the doors open to the station purposefully.  His wolf snarled viciously in his head.

Liv was sat at the reception desk
. She stood up as if to speak to him but seeing the deadly look on his face thought better of it and sat back down.

At Rosalee’s
insistence he had dropped her back at her house, now that they had arrested the person responsible for breaking into her house she felt easier about being back in the house alone.

He’d much rather have
taken her back to his house and argued that point with her.  She countered that the quicker she sorts out the house the more time they spend together.  He had reasoned that if she agreed to sell him the house and land she could set the thing on fire for all he cared.  At which point she had huffed and made noises about how he was only after her land.

His wolf had whined that their mate was hurt.
  He felt guilty and caved in, much to Rosalee’s delight.  He had dropped her at her house and told her to stay put, he would be with her shortly.

He wanted to deal with this quickly and get back to her.  He had yet to
persuade her to bond with him.  The more she told him about her life the more he worried it was unlikely that she want to stay in Rose with him.

She had lived like a gypsy, moving from place to place, never settling.
  She’d been all over the country and even outside the country.  The fact that he had never lived anywhere other than Rose made him feel a bit inadequate, although he acknowledged that he wouldn’t have lived anywhere other than Rose even if he had the choice. 

The pack was his family. 
His life
.  The thought of living without his pack was troubling, but the thought of not being with his mate was intolerable.

His wolf howled. 
Caught between a rock and a hard place.
  If Rosalee didn’t want to stay in Rose would he leave with to be with her?  As difficult as it would be, yes he would. 
If she would have him. 
The pack would survive without him, but he wouldn’t survive without Rosalee.

His wolf grumbled angrily at the thought of leaving his pack
, but whined at the thought of losing his mate.

Adam made his way back to the cells.
  Keen to sort out the asshole who had been scaring his mate and invading her house.

He pushed the door open to find Alec and Gabe stood outside one of the cells
, Don was sat at the desk idly leaning back in the chair twirling his Stetson in his hands.  Gabe leant against a wall and Alec stood rigid, his massive arms folded over his chest. 

Adam looked past them to the crumpled man in the cell.
  The cell door was open, there was no way he would get past the wolf shifters so it made no difference.  He was sat on the bunk cradling his head in his hands.  He looked small and pathetic.  Slowly he lifted his head.  It was Dennis Hardison the bobcat shifter, who worked at the Diner and who was training to be an EMT.

Adam was a little taken aback.  He was aware that Dennis had been arrested a few times for underage drinking, but he knew Dennis had problems at home, and had
actually been supplied the alcohol by his own mother.  In spite of this Dennis had strived to be accepted onto the EMT training programme, often working two jobs to support himself and his brothers and sisters.

Dennis’
eyes were red rimmed and didn’t seem to focus on anything.  When he saw Adam Dennis stumbled to his feet swaying lightly, his face paling even more.  Gabe strolled into the cell and gently pushed Dennis back down until he was sitting.

Adam’s beast snarled. 
This man needs to be punished for hurting their mate
.  His fangs and claws lengthened.  “Drunk?”  Barked Adam, his voice deep and menacing.

Alec shook his head. 
“Nope, doesn’t smell of alcohol, and he passed a breathalyser.”

Adam paced up and down never taking his eyes off Dennis.
  “Drugs?”

Gabe kept a hand on Dennis’ shoulder.  “I don’t think
so, it looks more like he’s been in a trance.”

Don cleared his throat.  “
We found a candy bar wrapper in the Bennett house, led us to Dennis.”

Adam stared at him, eyebrows raised.  “A candy bar wrapper?  After using
wolfsbane and cows blood to cover his scent the first two times he broke in, he then gets caught out by a candy bar?” 

“Maybe he’ just really dumb...”  Began Gabe.

“I don’t think so...”  Liv’s melodious voice floated to them as she entered the room.

Alec immediately moved to her
standing between her and Dennis, huffing at her.  She grasped his hand and squeezed it to reassure him.

“I think he’s coming down from a spell...”

“Magic?”  Don snapped to attention.

Liv nodded frowning.
  “I can feel a little residual energy from him but,” she placed a hand over her stomach, “I can’t really do anything because of the baby.”  Liv would only have limited magical abilities during her pregnancy, to ensure that the baby wouldn’t be hurt.

“Does Dennis have magic?”  Asked Adam lowly.

“No, definitely not.”  Liv looked at Dennis thoughtfully.  “If he has been under a spell someone else cast it, and if he was the one breaking into Rosalee’s house then it’s possible that he didn’t know what he was doing.  From the way he’s reacting I think it’s a manipulation spell, it turns people into puppets.”

Alec exhaled loudly.  “I hope you’re right, his sister Dee is training to be a Deputy.  I wouldn’t want to have to arrest her brother... again.  Gabe could you call Dee and get her in here, Dennis could use her support right now.”

Gabe nodded and making sure Dennis wouldn’t slump over left the room.

Adam looked to Liv. 
For Alec’s sake he was pleased when Liv had joined the pack.  The first witch to ever join the pack.  But now he was starting to think her help could be invaluable.  “Who could have done this?”

Liv creased her forehead thinking
and sighed.  “I’ve no idea, I wouldn’t have thought anyone in this town would be low enough to cast a manipulation spell.  But then again I used to think Iris Bennett was a nice person and look how that turned out...”

Alec tightened his grip on her hand and she smile
d weakly at him.  “They’re really awful spells, people affected by them can see and understand what they’re doing but are powerless to stop themselves, and it’s a real drain on them... unless the spell is broken the person affected dies.”

“What can we
do for Dennis?”

“
We need witches, to try and break the spell.”

Don cocked his head.   “Witches
plural
?”

“Umm hmm, breaking another witches spell is difficult and
requires  a lot of energy, and if it goes wrong it can seriously hurt those trying to break it.  We need witches who will be willing to help.  Agatha is still the most powerful witch I know.”

Alec nodded.
  Agatha was an elderly witch who adored Liv and Alec, they visited her regularly and helped her out round her little cottage.  “She’ll help, definitely.”

“If I ask Melody and
Kayleigh they definitely will too... maybe I could ask Dena although I suspect she’d say no, the risk is too great...”

“
Dena...”

Liv started at the sound of Dennis’ strangled voice and Alec growled menacingly at the boy in the cell.

“
Dena... must obey Dena...”

Everybody froze staring at Dennis.

“Anybody wanna take a wild guess at who cast the spell yet?”  Don’s Texas drawl cut through the silence.

“Why though?”  Asked Alec puzzled.  “Why force him to break into Rosalee’s house?”

“
Fuck!”
  Liv blushed and immediately covered her mouth. 
She generally didn’t swear
.  “A week ago Dena was asking me about Iris’ Grimoire...”

She was met with blank looks.  “Her spell book, Dena wanted to know
what was going to happen to it.  She told me the spells belonged to all of us and that it should be shared but I disagreed, there was too much black magic in it.  I didn’t tell her but I gave both Iris and Emerald’s Grimoires to Agatha to destroy right after Emerald died.”

The truth dawned on Adam.  “That’s why Dennis kept going back to the
house, she wanted him to find something that wasn’t there.  Which means she’s still looking for it...”  He looked at Alec.  “We need to find Dena right now.”

He fished out his
phone and called Rosalee, as Liv tried to call Dena on hers. 
No answer
.

He tried Rosalee repeatedly while Alec and Liv tried calling Dena and the boarding house where she lives.
  Liv managed to get hold of Kayleigh who also lived at the boarding house.  Nobody had seen Dena all day.  Liv asked Kayleigh to find Melody and come down to the station.

Adam’s wolf prowled his mind
. 
Why wasn’t Rosalee answering her phone?

Adam angrily clicked his phone off.
  “Rose isn’t answering her phone, I’m going to her house.  Alec, Don with me.”  Gabe came back into the room.  Adam pointed at him.  “You stay here with Dennis.”

Liv hugged Alec.  “I’m going to fetch Agatha, and she can start working the spell for Dennis as soon as we can.  Stay safe my sweet.”

“You too angel.”  He kissed her quickly and followed the Alpha and Don as they strode from the room.

Adam felt his skin tightening, itching.  His wolf was restless, keen to be free.
Desperate to find their mate
.

Chapter Thirteen

Rosalee’s head was pounding. 
Really pounding
.  It was like someone was playing a steel drum in her head on a loop.  Her eyes felt heavy and her mouth was woolly.

She tried to touch her head but her arm didn’t want to co-operate. 
What’s with that? 
She tried both arms but felt resistance.

Gingerly she licked her lips and forced her eyes to open.  Everything was blurry for a few seconds but eventually she managed to focus.  Looking down she saw what the issue was.
 
Shit
.

Ugh!  Tied to a chair.  Fucking terrific!

She struggled against the bonds trying to loosen them.

“Don’t bother.” 
Came a frosty voice.  “They’re tied with magic, no way a
human
like you could get out of them.”

Rosalee looked around
see one of the witches from the bar walk in.  It was the dark haired witch who had been staring at her. 
Dena
.

“What the hell are you doing?”  Screamed Rosalee with more confidence than she felt, and more vo
lume than she probably should have used considering her head.

Dena smirked at her.

Rosalee scowled in return.  “You can’t do this!  People know I’m here, they’ll come looking for me... Adam will come for me.”

Dena flinched at the mention of the Alpha but she gave Rosalee a chilly grin.  “They don’t know I’m here though, by the time your
boyfriend
turns up I’ll be long gone and I’ll have covered my scent with magic.”

“Adam was right behind me, he’ll be here any second.”  Lied Rosalee.

“Liar.”  Crowed Dena.  “He’s too busy dealing with your ‘burglar’.”

“How do you know that?”  Rosalee, in spite of what Dena told her, carefully tried to work her way out of her bindings.

Dena saw what she was doing but ignored her. 
Stupid human
.  “How do you think?  Dennis was getting nowhere finding it so I had him arrested so that he could distract that fucking mutt Alpha while we had a little...
chat
...”  The corners of her mouth turned up grimly.

“You had him arrested?” 
That’s it keep the crazy lady talking so help can arrive
.

Dean shrugged.  “Simple really, I had him break in
again and made sure that he left something behind.  That dog, the tracker Don followed his scent, and hey presto!  They found your burglar.”  She actually looked pleased with herself thought Rosalee disgustedly.

“They actually found him a lot quicker than I expected, but no matter.  You’re here that’s what’s important.”

Rosalee looked at her sourly.  “Yes about that... why hell are you doing this?  I assume there actually is a point and not just that you’re crazy beans...”  What was with her big mouth?  The pain she felt apparently made her even more sparky and irritable. 

De
na stormed over to her, violet eyes flashing furiously.  She leaned over, her face inches from Rosalee.  “Look I tried to make this easy, if Dennis had just found the book and brought it to me all of this could have been avoided.  This really is your fault!”

“What?!”  Confusion and pain stabbed at Rosalee in equal measure
.

“You shouldn’t have hid the book
.”  Said Dena simply, like she was talking to a child.

Rosalee started to shake her head and then decided against that. 
Best not to jar her brain
more
.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Dena stepped away and threw up her hands in disgust.
  “I don’t have time for your fucking bullshit!”  She shrieked.  “Just tell me where it is and I’ll get it and leave.”

Rosalee felt like she was trying to do a jigsaw puzzle.  Where you didn’t have the picture on the box for reference.  And also half the pieces were missing.  And also the pieces you did have
didn’t seem to belong to the same puzzle.

Dena was looking at her with wild eyes.  Rosalee had a terrible feeling that if the girl got what she wanted she wouldn’t just walk away
.  Even Dena had noticed the Alpha’s attachment to her, she had to know that the Alpha would hunt her down for hurting Rosalee. 
But if Rosalee weren’t alive to tell him who did this...

“I’ve no idea...”

Dena flicked her finger and a shot of electricity flowed through Rosalee’s body.  She screeched and shook as tears flowed down her cheeks from the abject pain permeating her body.

Dena sighed heavily.  “Look be reasonable, you’re human.  It’s not like you can even use the book.”

Rosalee gritted her teeth.  “Let me make it easy for you.  I.  Don’t.  Know. What. Book.  You.  Are.  Talking.  About...  Bitch”

Dena tapped her foot.  “The
Grimoire of course.  Iris’ Grimoire.”

Rosalee screeched in exasperation.  “You crazy loon!  I don’t even know what
a Grimoire is!”

Dena sent another zap towards her.  “Iris’ book of magic, I need it.  Where the fuck is it?”

Rosalee panted trying to get over the residual pain.  “I don’t know.”

“Bullshit!
  It has to be here somewhere.”  Screamed Dena.

“What do you even want it for?  Don’t you have your own
magic book
?” 
That’s it get the supervillain to reveal her evil plan, now she’s definitely going to kill me!

“I do, but Iris had a certain spell that I want.”  Dena looked a little dreamy.  “
She had a spell that could make witches more powerful... and I want it!”

Rosalee stared at her in horror.  “You mean the spell where witches kill other witches to take their power?  The spell that my grandmother was killed over
?”

Dena sneered at her.  “You’re
human
, you wouldn’t understand.”

Rosalee felt herself becoming more and
more angry.  “I don’t have the fucking book.  The only things I’ve thrown out are the things that your helper monkey destroyed when he decided to slaughter a cow in my house.”

Dena narrowed her eyes, watching Rosalee closely.  She stood up and chewed her bottom lip.
  “You’re not lying are you?”

Rosalee glared at her.

“Where the fuck is it then?”  Muttered Dena to herself stomping round the room, momentarily forgetting Rosalee was even there. 

Rosalee made a last ditch effort to
loosen the ropes tied around her arms and legs. 
No dice
.

Dena stopped unexpectedly and stared ahead of her.  “Fucking Liv... she must have taken it. 
Fucking hell!
”

Frustrated Dena sent a zap at the wall behind Rosalee’s head.
  Rosalee bit her lip to stop herself from crying out.

Dena settled her
vacant gaze on Rosalee, breathing hard.  “I’m sorry about this Rosalee.”  Her voice was hollow. 
She wasn’t sorry at all
.

She went out of the room and Rosalee struggled at the bonds with renewed vigour
.  Please Adam where are you?

Dena came back into the room holding a knife. 
Where the fuck did that come from?  Shit she brought it with her! 
Dena had a horribly serene expression on her face.  She moved toward Rosalee.

Panic gripped Rosalee who sobbed loudly. 
No, no, no, no no!  This was not how she was supposed to die, shredded by a nutter!

“Hey!”  Yelled an irate voice behind her.

Dena looked up, a ferocious look in her eyes before they widened in surprise.  She threw up her hands in a futile attempt to protect herself before an enormous zap of lightening pulsated through her throwing her off her feet and slamming her into the wall.

Heels clacked on the floor and soft hands gripped her shoulders.

“Ro?”

“
Mom?”