The Alpha's Reluctant Mate (6 page)

I didn't have any family left; Epenie was the closest thing to family I had. “Does this mean Epenie is in danger too?” I asked, horrified by the possibility.

“Yes, that's partly why I included her in the information I gave you last night,” Tera confided.

“We have to get her and keep her safe,” I said, jumping up and trying to keep from panicking.

“It's okay, Xandie, Connor sent someone to get Epenie already. She'll be at the compound when we arrive. Go and get anything you need for you and Dizzy.”

“Dizabell can come too? Will she be safe?”

“Connor will ensure any human or animal you love is safe, you're his mate,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” I said firmly, as I left the room to gather my toiletries and everything Dizzy would need for the next few days.

“You don't have anything to say about it,” Tera said softly.

I pretended not to hear her whispered comeback; an argument served no purpose at the moment.

I didn't agree; in fact, I had an awful lot to say about it indeed.

Chapter Six

 

 

We were each lost in our own thoughts on the drive to the mysterious compound. It seemed strange to call a home a compound. At least it did to me. Tera obviously didn't seem to have an issue with it.

Dizabell was softly snoring from her bed on the backseat.

I studied Tera's profile as she navigated her black Honda Ridgeline through the crowded city streets, biting back a grin at some of the pithier comments she made to the other drivers. My new friend was aggressive behind the wheel of a car. “Moron! What day do you think it is? Sunday? I wish these people would get out of my way!”

She glared at the drivers as she passed them and gunned the large motor in her truck. I chewed my lower lip thoughtfully, thinking about not having a way out of my own if I didn't like this compound of Connor's.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why I didn't need a car. Connor the great obviously didn't intend for it to be easy to leave his compound once I got there.

I still didn't know exactly where we were going; I just knew Connor's place was somewhere on the outskirts of the city.

“What exactly is a compound? I mean it's nothing like that whole Branch Davidian thing, is it?” I asked, suddenly feeling the need to end the silence that surrounded the car like a tomb.

“Not at all. We aren't a cult. We're a pack. There is a huge difference between the two. A pack is like a family with an even bigger bond. We don't always get along but we always have each other's backs, with of course the exception of the group trying to take over. Connor's compound is really more of a large estate. We don't all live there, but most of us do live in the same subdivision, Connor included. It's a gated community. All of the residents are werewolves and their families,” she explained.

“How do you keep other people out?” I asked curiously.

“The application process; we make it so frustrating for humans with no connection to the pack that they finally give up, and if they don't, we find a reason to deny the application. It can be pretty funny to watch rich people get all upset about being excluded by such a prestigious community,” Tera grinned.

“What subdivision is it?”

“Wolf Creek.”

I whistled in a little awe; that was one of the most prestigious areas in this part of the state. “Are all werewolves that rich?”

“Most of the wolves are employed by the pack in some fashion and the pack has a lot of diversified assets. Plus since the land is all owned by the pack, it isn't as expensive as you might think to live there.”

“Do you work for the pack?”

“I do. I train German Shepherds to guard the community,” Tera said proudly.

“You do? I wouldn't have thought they would like being around wolves.”

“I get them when they're puppies and they are raised with the pack. Dogs are really pack animals so they feel like they are a part of our pack, which makes them very protective. Since we smell the same to them in either form, they always recognize us as pack and they offer quite a deterrent to curious humans.”

“You mean those who get denied residency in Wolf Creek?”

Tera grinned. “Yep, and the ones that nose around before they apply. Some people just don't respect the fact that a gated community means no one comes in unless they are invited. The dogs guard us and our families and sometimes we let them run with the pack as a reward.”

“It's safe for them to run with the pack?”

“No one in our pack would hurt the dogs. They are totally loyal and we love them.”

“Dizabell could run with the pack?”

“Her legs are awfully short; she will be safe and the pack will protect her but I don't think she can run with the pack.”

I sniffed, a little offended on Dizzy's behalf.

“I'm thinking of Dizabell, Xandie; you just don't realize how fast we can run. We're fast in our human form, but as a wolf, even the Shepherds can't keep up. You'll understand once you've changed for the first time. The sense of freedom is unbelievable; you won't want to slow down or stop for Dizzy.”

“All right, I can see the sense in that.”

Tera slowed the car and turned left and I caught my first glimpse of Wolf Creek. Large imposing walls ran down each side of the gatehouse as far as I could see.

The big guard manning the gate studied me closely, then nodded at Tera before opening the metal gate. The gate itself was made from heavy wrought-iron bars that curved into a scroll at the top, and the scroll ended in sharp-looking spikes to discourage people from climbing the gate. Of course I would have thought the daunting size of the gate guard would have been deterrent enough.

From the gate house on it seemed like your average gated community. Upper class homes with large lots and a big strip of green fields, streams, and trees winding through the center of it.

The road we traveled wound in and out of hills and valleys, areas of dense foliage could be seen from the car, and the stream that traversed the greenbelt narrowed to a tiny little brook at one point and then gradually widened to the point where a bridge crossed it.

I was fascinated by the bounty of nature surrounding me. “This is amazing.”

“The river empties into a small lake at the base of the compound,” Tera said encouragingly. “It's a beautiful place to live.”

“I'm not ready to think that far ahead,” I said softly, turning my attention back out the window to watch the passing scenery.

As we turned up the drive to another, smaller gate house, I saw the lake Tera had spoken about. It was pretty with trees surrounding it and a little rowboat moored to a small pier. The island in the middle of the lake looked ideal for a picnic on a warm summer's day.

It was all too easy to picture myself sunning on that island and dipping into the lake when the sun's rays became too hot.

The guard at the compound gate let us in without a word and I got my first look at Connor's compound. A large Tudor-style home stood out imposingly at the top of a large hill; a few smaller, less imposing cottages were scattered around between the house and the gate. Another stone wall separated Connor's property from the rest of the subdivision.

Like a king and his loyal subjects, I thought sourly.

Then we were pulling up in front of Connor's home and there was no time left to ponder my strange situation.

I heard the commotion the minute I put one foot outside of the car. Epenie's shrill yell nearly stopped my heart.

I discovered firsthand how much faster I was as a werewolf.

One moment I was halfway out of the car and the next I was in the house standing between E and the large wolf she'd been trying to beat senseless with a rolled-up newspaper.

He looked over my shoulder to glare at her, growling from deep within his throat.

I immediately growled back; she was here for her safety, not to be threatened by this bully.

In the next second Tera was standing with me shoulder to shoulder in front of Epenie and adding her own growl to the mix. Dizabell stood at our feet adding her own yips of outrage.

Suddenly Epenie stepped around me and raised the newspaper to swat the man right on the end of his nose as she yelled up at him, “Don't you growl at me, you overgrown, hairy excuse for a man! Bad dog!”

“I am
not
a
dog!
” he bellowed, ending in another outraged growl. Then almost faster than I could blink, the man went down on one knee with Epenie bent across it as he delivered slap after slap to her upturned posterior.

As soon as I recovered from my shock, I ripped Epenie off the man's lap and pulled her behind me again, where she stood glaring over my shoulder and rubbing the sting out of her bottom.

Suddenly we were all yelling, growling, and barking at once. I'm sure to a passerby we would have all looked certifiably insane.

“
Enough!
” An authoritative voice boomed out with power from the top of the stairs.

All of the wolves present dropped their heads and shoulders in submission; Dizzy rolled over onto her back. I was shocked at my impulse to bow down to him in response to the raw power sizzling across my skin.

Epenie gulped loudly and backed away from Connor, back toward the large man who'd just been paddling her bottom with such zeal.

It said a lot about Connor that she thought the other man the safer of the two.

“Tera, take Alexandria and our guest into my office at once.” His tone brooked no argument.

“This way,” Tera said softly and I found myself following her without question, picking up Dizzy and pulling E along behind me.

Suddenly the unknown future looming before me was terrifying in a way it hadn't been before. How was I going to resist a man that had the power to make me and every other werewolf in the pack buckle down in submission before him?

 

* * *

 

Once we were all in the office, Tera closed the door behind us and I turned to Epenie in concern.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I'm fine, I'm just angry. That overgrown goon kidnapped me!” she said shrilly.

“He was just trying to protect you, Epenie,” Tera said quietly. “You hurt his feelings when you hit him with a newspaper and called him a dog.”

Epenie arched an eyebrow. “I suppose it wasn't disturbing at all for me when a giant man knocked on my door, then scooped me up and dumped me in the back of a van like a sack of potatoes. He didn't say so much as boo; every time I asked what was happening and why he was taking me out of the city, he just grunted that he was following instructions.”

“Tuck isn't much on conversation, but he's really a nice guy and he was just following instructions,” Tera defended.

“Whose instructions?” Epenie demanded.

“Mine,” Connor said as he opened the door and came into the room.

We all froze at the quiet authority in his tone. He looked us each in the eye in turn as he walked to sit behind his big desk.

Even Epenie seemed to lose most of her bluster in the face of his calm, unapologetic demeanor.

“Oh,” she said meekly.

“Ladies, please have a seat.” Connor waved a hand, indicating the chairs in front of his desk.

It felt like being called to the principal's office after misbehaving. I satisfied myself with a scowl in his direction before sinking into the chair on the left. Epenie and Tera quickly sat in the two chairs to the right of me, Epenie wisely choosing to position herself between Tera and me.

“Epenie, I'm sorry if you were frightened. I was tied up here with some urgent business or I would have come for you myself and explained everything fully. I'm afraid that Alexandria has been targeted by a rather unsavory element, which unfortunately has also put you at risk. I felt the most expedient way to ensure your safety was to bring you to my home with Alexandria.”

“Xandie is in danger?” she asked, sitting forward in her chair with concern.

“Yes, the wolves that tried to kill her would still like to finish the job and would use any means necessary to reach their objective, including you.”

“How could they use me?” she asked, baffled.

“Bait,” he said succinctly.

“Thank you for considering my safety, but I don't think I belong here.”

“You will be perfectly safe. Tuck knows he owes you an apology and will offer it at the first opportunity. It's not as bad as it seems. You'll have the freedom of the grounds and the chance to learn about us firsthand. I can promise you there is nothing on the Internet that will give you as much information as you will find here.”

My eyes narrowed as I studied Connor; he was a perceptive man, using Epenie's love of learning and research to win her over to his way of thinking. What would he use against me?

Epenie visibly relaxed and even managed to smile at Connor. “That would be quite an opportunity and I don't want to do anything to put Xandie at risk.”

I rolled my eyes; now she was kissing up to him. Of course to be fair, there hadn't been a chance to fill her in on the whole mate thing.

“Tera, show Epenie to her room so she can settle in. I've put her in the room next to Alexandria's.”

Tera stood to lead Epenie from the room and I jumped up.

“Hold the phone! I am not staying here,” I said firmly.

Connor looked at Tera and jerked his head toward the door. Tera and Epenie immediately left the room, shutting the door behind them.

I spun on my heel to face him, squaring my shoulders and glaring up at him. “You can't just take over my life without so much as a hello.”

He smiled. “Hello, Alexandria.”

“Very funny. I meant what I said; I am not staying in your house.”