The Alpha's Search (The Craven Trilogy, #1) (13 page)

“What's funny?”

“Nothing. Sorry. I didn't mean—” It was nerves. I was having difficulty taking it all in. Only a few days ago, I'd had a
normal
life. Boring job, boring (mostly non-existent) love-life—boring everything. Now, here I was, a wolf shifter with my mate of over forty years (apparently) discussing raising a family. Oh, and yes, I almost forgot, we're on the run from a vampire.

“Craven?”

“Yeah?”

“This is all a dream—right? I'm going to wake up any time now—right?”

He took one hand off the steering wheel, and before I could stop him, he'd pinched my bare arm.

“Ouch!”

“Does that answer your question?” He grinned.

Oh shit! This really is happening.

*********

A
s we approached the outskirts of the city, I began to study the people—most on their way to work.

“How will I know which ones are shifters.”

“You'll know. Don't try too hard—let it come naturally.”

I didn't know what he meant.

“What do you see?” he asked.

“Early morning shoppers. People on their way to work.”

“What do you hear?”

“Car engines. Car horns. Music.”

“What do you smell?” He cracked open the passenger's side window.

“Nothing?”

“Are you sure? Relax. Don't over think it.”

“I can't smell anything except the soap from the shower.”

“Close your eyes. Put your head on the head-rest. Now, try again.”

I did as he said although I had no idea what he expected it to achieve. The only smell I was aware of was the soap. Moments later, I was about to give up and open my eyes when it happened. The onslaught of aromas was almost too much to take in. I caught Craven's eye and he nodded.

I scanned the scene outside, and slowly managed to match individual smells to their source.

“How am I doing this?” I said.

“You've always been able to do it—you'd just forgotten how. In your human form, it's a little more difficult because your senses are not as keen.

Suddenly, a new smell caught my attention. It was quite weak, and obviously some distance away, but it was unmistakeable. I turned to Craven, but before I could speak, he nodded to indicate he'd already picked up on it.

“We're getting close now.” He wound down the window a little further. “I don't think there are many of them—two, maybe three.”

He took a left. He was being guided by his nose.

“That's it over there.” He pointed to a small bar named 'Talbots' which was some way down the road on the opposite side.

“It's closed,” I said, pointing to a small red neon sign next to the entrance.

“Let's check around the back.” Craven began to open the car door, but then hesitated. “Are you sure you're ready for this.”

I nodded. I didn't trust myself to speak. My nerve-ends felt like they were wrapped tight around my vocal chords.

Craven led the way around the rear of the building. The back door was locked.

“Fire escape,” he said in little more than a whisper. I followed him up the steel stairway. The  door on the next floor was locked too, so Craven stood with his back to the window, and brought his elbow back with huge force. The window cracked and he was able to push out the shattered pieces of glass. I'd expected to hear a burglar alarm as soon as the window broke, but none sounded. There was always the possibility that a silent alarm inside the building could have alerted the occupants. I followed Craven through the window. The room we were in was almost empty—just a few cardboard boxes piled in one corner. Craven tried the inner door. It opened with a creak. We made our way along a short corridor, and then began our descent down a poorly illuminated staircase.

The room was circular with a bar on two of the four walls. The black and red theme was somewhat tasteless. I couldn't see or hear anyone, but my nose told me they were there. I glanced at Craven who indicated I should stay put. He edged his way around the room headed for a door marked 'Private' which was located to the left of the bar.

“What do we have here?” a man's voice said.

Before I could spin around, both of my arms were grabbed from behind. I was flanked by two tall male shifters—one had short dark hair—the other had a shaven head. A third man walked past me, and stood facing Craven.

“Let her go!” Craven's voice showed no sign of fear.

“We've been expecting you,” the man facing Craven said. “Caught your scent yesterday, but thought you might have been passing through. You're going to wish you had been.”

“I said let her go. The four of us can sort this out. Let her go back to the car.”

“Just like that? I don't think so. You walk into our territory, and think you can give out the orders. That's not the way it works. I'll tell you what I will do though. I'll let you watch my two friends fuck your little mate. When they've finished, I'll rip her head off her shoulders. Then, it will be your turn to suffer. How does that sound?”

I should have been terrified, but all I could feel was an anger growing inside of me. Neither man was expecting me to make a move—that was my only advantage. Their focus was almost entirely on Craven and the third member of their group. If I'd tried to pull forward, they'd have stopped me before I took a step. Instead, I pulled down, so I was on one knee. The sudden movement caught them off balance. The shifter to my right released his grip—only slightly, but enough to allow me to pull my arm free. I swung my free arm in an arc, and caught the second guy full on the nose. That did the trick—both of my arms were free now. Craven had seen the third man turn to glance back at me. In that split second, he was upon him. The man was no match for Craven who had him by the neck. A quick twist, and then the sound of his neck breaking echoed around the club. The man with the bloodied nose grabbed me around the neck, and began to lift me off the floor. He was much taller and stronger than me, but I managed to plant a foot in his midriff. Although it winded him, he didn't release his grip. Craven had knocked the other man to the floor, and had his foot on his windpipe. The stricken man flailed around, but could not break free.

“Let her go or I'll kill him,” Craven said. “And then I'll kill you.”

I landed on my knees—gasping for air. It took me several seconds to get my bearings, by which time the two men were seated at the nearest table. Craven stood between them. They would have been no match for him, and they knew it.

“Are you all right?” Craven shouted.

“I'm okay.” I didn't sound it. 

“You have no idea what you've done,” the man with the bloodied nose said. “That's Simone.” He gestured towards the dead man.

“Heston will have your heart before the day is out.” He turned towards me. “And you'll wish you'd never been born—”

Craven shut him up with a backhand to the mouth. The man now had a split lip to go with his broken nose.

“Who's Heston?” Craven grabbed the man by the neck.

“Fuck you!” The man spat at Craven.

Another backhand—much harder—sent the man tumbling backwards off the chair.

“Who's Heston?” Craven turned his attention to the second man.

“The Beta.”

“Who's your Alpha?”

“Zema.”

“Don't tell him anything,” the man on the floor managed to say before my foot shattered two of his teeth.

“Where will I find them?” Craven said.

The man shook his head.

Craven punched him in the stomach—doubling him up.

“Where will I find them?”

“Go on, kill me,” the man spluttered. “If I tell you, I'll be dead anyway.”

Craven thumped the man in the face—sending him onto the floor next to his companion.

“Come on.” He grabbed my arm. “Let's get out of here.”

As we walked back up the stairs, I heard one of them shout, “You're dead!”

––––––––

“W
hat happens now?” I asked as we reached the car.

“We wait.”

“That's it? That's the plan?”

“Have faith.”

Craven sounded confident, but then he always did. It seemed to me we'd shaken the beehive, and could expect a swarm of angry bees to come after us. Two against three hadn't been too much of a problem although I did have a few cuts and bruises to show for the encounter. If the whole pack came looking for us, that would be a whole different ball game.

“You did well today,” he said.

“Thanks.” I hesitated. “Craven?”

“Yes?”

“Nothing. It doesn't matter.”

“What doesn't matter?”

“Why did you pick me as your mate? Why didn't you pick someone from your own pack?”

“I did.”

“Oh?” I suddenly felt sick in the pit of my stomach. “I don't understand.”

“Her name was Jarline. She was the daughter of the Beta in my pack. We'd grown up together, and it was always assumed I'd take her for my mate. And I did, but within less than a year, she was dead. A vampire. He'd been struck down with the plague, and lost his mind. Before his own people found him, he'd attacked several shifters including Jarline. In normal circumstances the bite wouldn't have been fatal.”

“The plague?”

“Yeah. It wasn't contagious for shifters, but it was toxic enough to kill her.”

“I'm sorry.”

“That's one of the reasons I began to travel. I needed to get away—needed to forget. That's when I bumped into you in the airport.”

“You said I was your fated mate. What about Jarline?”

“I loved Jarline and, if she hadn't died, I'd still be with her today. But for every wolf, there is only ever one fated mate, and for me, that's you. Even though I loved Jarline, I never felt the connection I have with you.”

*********

“T
here!” Craven pointed towards the club entrance. The two men who we'd left lying on the floor had just staggered out of the front door. 

“What are they doing?” For some reason, I was whispering even though we were parked almost a hundred metres from the club entrance.

“Looks like they're waiting for someone.”

“Who?”

“Jeez Louise. Do you always ask so many questions?”

I thumped Craven's arm.

“Look! There!” He pointed to a black 4 x 4 which had pulled up in front of the club.

The two men climbed into the car which set off at a lick. Craven pulled out straight in front of a taxi. The driver hit his horn to let us know what he thought of our manoeuvre.

“What if they spot us?”

“They won't be expecting us to hang around. Anyone with even an ounce of sense would have high-tailed it out of the city.”

Which sounded like a good idea to me, but I bit my lip and said nothing.

The 4 x 4 had gone no more than a few blocks when it took a left down a ramp into a basement car park. The steel gates were unmanned and slid open as soon as it approached.

“Quick!” Craven parked at the roadside in a no parking zone.

“We'll get towed!” I said.

He was already racing towards the car park. I leapt out of the car and ran after him. The gates were glacially slow which gave Craven time to slip in between them. I didn't think I was going to make it.

“Come on!” He grabbed my arm and pulled me through the gap just in time. The gates clanked closed behind us.

I couldn't see the 4 x 4, so gave Craven a '
where did they go
' shrug. He gestured to the far side of the basement where another ramp led to a lower level. Hugging the walls, we made our way towards the second ramp. There were raised voices, but I couldn't make out what was being said. From behind a pillar, we could see only the near section of the floor below. Craven started to walk down the ramp, but then doubled back. Footsteps—sounded like several people—echoed below us. Two, three, four men came into sight. The two men we'd encountered earlier plus another two. For a moment I thought they might walk back up the ramp, but they headed for a doorway at the far side of the lower floor. As soon as they were through the door we headed down the ramp.

“Stay close.” Craven tried the door. It was unlocked.

“Which way?” I whispered once we were inside.

He looked left and right, and then sniffed the air.

“This way.”

My heart was pounding so loudly I felt sure it would give us away. At the end of the corridor, Craven peered around the corner and indicated the coast was clear. He stopped in front of a lift, and watched the buttons illuminate one after another: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

“Fifth floor,” Craven said. He was already heading for the staircase next to the lift. Much to my relief, we met no one on the stairs.

“Ready?” He had one hand on the door marked only with the number '5'.

I nodded, although I felt anything but.

“Sir?” the woman behind the reception desk said. “You can't come in here. These are private offices.”

Craven walked past her without a word. I saw her reach under the desk, and assumed she was summoning help.

I was right. Three shifters burst through another set of double doors in front of Craven.

“Get out of my way,” Craven said without a hint of fear in his voice.

“You have no business here,” the shortest of the three men said.

“We're here to see Zema.” Craven stood his ground.

“Really?” Shorty laughed. All three of them seemed to find this amusing. “Zema doesn't waste his time with lone wolves. You've picked the wrong territory.”

“He can tell me that himself.” Craven stood his ground.

“Are you hard of hearing? I just told you that lone wolves have no business here. You have ten seconds to turn around and leave. Make sure you're out of our territory within the hour.”

“We aren't leaving until we've seen Zema.”

“Ten seconds.” Shorty took a step forward. “One, two—”

“Ten,” Craven said, as he swivelled on the spot, and kicked Shorty in the chest. The impact knocked Shorty off his feet, and back towards his two companions. Before the other two could react, Craven leapt onto one of them. That was my cue—I charged at the third man, but he side-stepped me with ease. As I turned back to face him, he leapt at me, sending the two of us to the floor. I was winded, and found myself pinned beneath his body as he knelt astride me.