The Alpha's Search (The Craven Trilogy, #1) (10 page)

At least Drake had the sense to park at the far side of the car park, and not right outside Minsters – the travel agency where I worked.

“Morning, Louise,” Michelle called when I walked in. “Good weekend?”

There were three staff members: Michelle the boss, Linda, and me. Linda hadn't arrived yet, but then she rarely showed up more than a minute before opening time.

“Yes thanks.”

“Do anything special?” Michelle asked.

My mind drifted back to Saturday night. I'd been out with a friend at Jesters; a night club run by the
business
. Half way through the evening, I'd noticed one of our pack—a young male shifter—was becoming aggressive towards a group of humans. I could tell by his demeanour and the look in his eyes that he'd lost all control. If he'd shifted into wolf form, and attacked the humans, the damage to the club's reputation would have been impossible to repair. I'd steered him into one of the empty rooms at the back of the club where I tried to calm him down. There had been no reasoning with him—he'd completely lost the plot. When he'd tried to push past me to get back into the club, I'd been forced to take matters into my own hands.

Afterwards, I'd called security to have them remove what was left of him.

“No. Nothing much,” I lied. “Usual boring weekend.”

––––––––

“N
ot long until your trip to the States now,” Linda said. She'd arrived at nine o' clock, and had spent the next ten minutes putting on her make-up in the loo.

“Yeah. Can't wait.” I tried to sound enthusiastic, but I had serious misgivings as to whether I'd even make the trip. There was no way my father would let me go if the Milton issue was still unresolved. I was pretty pissed off. I was more than capable of looking after myself, but I couldn't go against my Alpha's wishes.

It was a slow day. I hated it when it was quiet—time dragged. I checked my watch—there were still two hours to go.

I sensed him long before I saw him. We didn't get many shifters in the travel agents. Wandering into an adjoining territory could be dangerous enough. Travelling further afield? That was almost unknown. I was one of the few shifters in our pack that had been abroad. I'd always travelled with humans, and managed to avoid the attention of other packs.

Linda's desk was closer to the entrance door than mine, so she was first on her feet when he came through the door.  Linda was single, but had had a string of boyfriends during the time we'd worked together. Despite company policy, Linda had no qualms about flirting with or dating customers. I could tell by the look on her face that she had this guy in her sights.

What was he doing in our territory? He wasn't one of our pack. Such incursions were rare because shifters throughout the country knew the strength of our pack. The few incursions I could recall hadn't ended well for the offender. I watched as the man waved away Linda's offer of assistance. He was studying brochures, and had his back to me. As he edged closer, his scent became stronger. Not only stronger, but familiar too. I knew who he was even before he turned around.

*********

I
'd been certain that I'd never see him again. On the return journey of my last overseas trip—to Austria—I'd caught his scent in the departure lounge. Whether by coincidence or because he'd asked to swap seats—the latter I suspected—we'd ended up sitting next to one another on the plane. Unsurprisingly, we'd been the only two shifters on there. I couldn't believe his nerve when he'd tried to strike up a conversation:

“I'm Craven.” I could feel his breath on my neck as he leaned in to whisper.

“I don't care who you are. Don't speak to me!”

“That's not very friendly. It's a long flight. I thought we could chat.”

“Chat?” I looked at him in disbelief. Opposing pack members didn't 'chat'. In any other circumstances, if I'd come face to face with a member of a neighbouring pack, I'd have seen him off or died trying.

“Are you afraid of what Krell might think if you talk to me?” he said.

“I make my own decisions, and I elect not to speak to you.” I wasn't about to tell him Krell was my father.

“You're very attractive. I'd love to see your wolf.”

“That's never going to happen. Now, do you mind? I'd like to read.”

When I'd come face to face with wolves from other packs before, my killer instinct had come to the fore. Seated next to Craven, I was experiencing a totally different instinct. A strong urge, the likes of which I'd never known before.

Despite my protests, he'd insisted on talking to me throughout the flight. I'd tried to ignore him, but in the end it had been easier to make small talk. He'd had the gift of the gab, and was as handsome as any shifter I'd ever met. I'd been relieved when we landed, and not entirely surprised when he'd made himself scarce. The airport is in our territory. Hanging around longer than absolutely necessary would have been suicidal for him.

So why had he turned up here today?

“Hello again.” He grinned, and I immediately felt the same sensations I'd experienced on the plane.

“Hello.” I forced a smile. I could feel Linda's eyes burning into me. She was none too pleased that he'd ignored her, and made a beeline for me. “What the hell are you playing at?” I said in a whisper.

“I thought you'd be pleased to see me.”

He was clearly insane. It was one thing for a shifter from a neighbouring pack to be found on the airport. There, some leeway was allowed because it was the only airport for miles around. No such allowance would be given for this incursion.

“Will you come with me, please?” I said, but didn't wait for an answer. I ignored Michelle’s quizzical look as I led Craven through to the staff room at the rear of the building.

“What are you doing here?”

“I had to see you again.”

“You're in our territory—alone! Are you out of your mind?”

“Like I said. I had to see you.”

“Why?”

“Now you're being naive. You felt the same urge as I did that day.”

“I felt nothing,” I lied.

“You're a hopeless liar.”

“The only thing I felt was the urge to tear you apart.”

“Go on then.” He held up his hands in mock surrender. 

“You have to leave. One of Krell's men is in the car park. He'll be over here any minute.”

“I'm not leaving until you admit what you felt that day.”

I looked through the small window in the door. There was no sign of Drake yet, but he must have got scent of the intruder by now. I had to get Craven out of there.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“You know precisely what I mean.”

He put his arms around me, and pulled me into his body. I tried to pull away, but he was much too strong. At least, that's what I told myself afterwards, but I'm not sure I actually tried all that hard. Pressed up against him, I could feel his arousal.

“Tell me you can't feel it now,” he said, as his eyes locked with mine.

I felt dizzy and confused. I had no idea what was happening.

“You're my fated mate,” he said. I knew the moment I caught your scent in the departure lounge.”

You're insane.” I summoned all of my strength, and managed to pull away. “You expect me to mate with a shifter from another pack?”

“Why not?”

“Why not? It'd be suicide that's why not. My pack would turn on me. Besides, I have no desire to—”

“The dampness between your legs tells me otherwise. I can smell your arousal.”

I glanced again through the small window. Drake was standing close to my desk; Linda was with him. She turned and pointed towards the staff room.

“You have to leave now or we'll both be killed. You can go the back way.” I pointed to the fire escape at the back of the staff room. “Hurry!”

“I'll go, but I'm going to return.”

“No. You must never come here again. Go on! Hurry!”

*********

I
stepped out of the staff room just as Drake was about to come through the door.

“Where is he?” He pushed past me.

“He's gone.” There was no point in denying Craven had been there—his scent still filled the air.

“What was he doing here?”

“No idea.”

“You must know. What did he say?”

“Nothing. I think he'd inadvertently strayed out of his territory.

Drake knew I was lying. It was a stupid lie, but what else was I supposed to say? If my father found out that I'd travelled back from Austria with Craven, he'd go ballistic.

“I have to tell Krell,” Drake said.

“No!” I grabbed his arm. “What's the point? He's gone now. No harm done.”

“Are you serious? Do you know who that was?”

“He said his name was Craven.”

“And?” Drake seemed to be waiting for more.

“That's all I know. What's it matter? He's gone.”

“Craven is the Alpha of the Terroun Pack.”

“Alpha?”

“How could you not know that?”

I should have known. Five other packs bordered our territory, but we had so little involvement with them, that I'd never paid much attention to the names of their leaders.

“Alpha?” I said again. I was in a state of shock.

“Do you still think he wandered over here by mistake? Something's going on and Krell needs to know.”

Drake was right. My father did need to know. A random shifter wandering into our territory was one thing and might be overlooked. For an Alpha to do it was an altogether different matter. 

––––––––

“I
should have told you,” I said.

“Then why didn't you?” my father raged.

It was a long time since I'd seen him so angry. His face was red and his eyes wide. If I'd been anyone except his daughter, I'd have probably been dead already.

“I didn't know he was the Alpha. I only chatted to him—”

“Chatted?”

That had been the wrong thing to say.

“You
chatted
to him? What exactly did you chat about? How much about our pack and business does he know?”

“Nothing. I'd never discuss those things. We just talked about—nothing really.”

“Why did he turn up at your place of work today?”

“I err—” How could I tell my father what Craven had said? I couldn't. “I don't know. He just—”

“Do you think I'm some kind of fool, Louise?”

“No father.”

“Then why do you insist on lying to me? Daughter or not, if you don't tell me everything right this minute, I swear I'll tear you limb from limb.”

The words cut straight through me. To hear the man who had shown me nothing but love and affection since the moment I was born, threaten to disembowel me, was too painful to bear.

“He said I was his fated mate.” I kept my eyes trained on the floor. I daren't look my father in the eye.

There was the longest silence, and I wondered if I'd done enough to avoid my father's wrath.

“Fated mate?” He was laughing now.

“That's what he said.” I should have been relieved that my father's mood appeared to have changed. The fierce look in his eyes had been replaced by—what? Amusement. Now it was my turn to be angry. Why should he find it so unbelievable that another shifter—an Alpha no less—had wanted me as his mate?

“What's so funny?” I asked.

“I thought this Craven might be a threat, but now I know better. He has obviously lost his mind to even suggest such a thing. An Alpha take a mate from another pack? Ridiculous!”

My father was right, but somehow hearing the truth was painful.

“There will be no more overseas travel for you.” My father's stern countenance had returned.

“But it's part of my job.”

“Not any longer. You're going to hand in your resignation in the morning. You'll work for the business from now on.”

“But—”

“Enough!” The expression on my father's face told me further debate would be useless. I'd always hated the idea of working for the business. I enjoyed making my own way, and being in the company of humans.

“What will you do about Craven?” I asked.

“That isn't your concern.”

“I'm sure he won't do it again.”

“You can bet your life on that.”

My father would not let such a slight go unpunished. To do so would be to show weakness—that wasn't something he would do at any time, but particularly not now with the likelihood of a challenge from Milton growing every day.

“Let me deal with him, father.”

“What?” He scoffed at the idea.

“Why not? The slight was made against me personally. He came into my place of work. I should be the one to punish him.”

“It would be suicide. You're a strong wolf, but you'd be no match for the Alpha.”

“I'm not afraid.”

“You should be. I won't allow it.”

“But—”

“I don't want to hear any more. Report to Layla. She'll arrange for your induction into the business.”

*********

“T
his is bullshit!” I complained.

“I warned you this would happen,” Layla said.

We'd known each other since we were children—we'd played and run together as wolves. Over recent years, we'd drifted apart. Layla had been happy to join the business—she had a mistrust which bordered on hatred for humans. She'd always preferred to surround herself with shifters in and out of work. She'd never understood my need to broaden my horizons, and she'd always warned that it would not end well.

“There are plenty of openings to choose from—there must be something that takes your fancy,” she said.

“I already have a perfectly good job.”

“You
had
a job. Just look where working with scum got you.”

“You shouldn't call them that. Most humans are perfectly nice.”

“I haven't met a human yet whose throat I wouldn't like to tear open.”

It was pointless arguing with Layla. We'd had this discussion numerous times in years gone by, but to no avail. Layla was a bigot with views that were never going to change.

“So? What's he like?” Layla said.

“Who?”

“Come on. Don't be coy. Everyone's talking about the Alpha who came to claim his fated mate.”