The Alpha's Unwanted Mate: (BWWM) Paranormal Romance Standalone (7 page)

CHAPTER SIX

Jesus, what was she doing to herself, she asked herself angrily. Twenty-four hours after she’d felt the man’s mouth against her own, his scent still lingered. Locked in the small bathroom of Clyde’s cabin, she stared at herself in the mirror. Her tired eyes were the only outward indication of the battle raging within her.

Ever since Clyde had mentioned that the males stayed with their females almost constantly, she’d been wary of trying to speak with the girls. By this juncture, she’d even spotted several faces she recognized, and had to resist the urge to run through the camp to get to them.

She’d
thought
she wanted to hear these girls’ tales of suffering and woe, but even from a distance, she could not see the tiniest hint of misery. Three of the four girls she’d seen were heavy with child, and though they traversed the camp with their hulking mates by their sides, they seemed no worse for the wear. In fact, they seemed smiling and happy, glowing with the warmth of the children in their bellies.

And so, though Alicia had told her that she could speak with anyone in the settlement after the nightly hunt, Angeline had stayed put inside. She’d come to fear that perhaps, the answers she was looking for weren’t what her old friends would tell her.

She’d been in the pack settlement for almost a month, and though she’d seen teenagers scrapping and bloody carcasses dragged back into the center of the clearing after hunting excursions, she’d seen no misery. No pain. There had been neither hide nor hair of human women imprisoned, begging to be free. They weren’t treated like slaves or house servants; in fact, as far as she could tell, they were free to roam the camp as they pleased, when they pleased. Most of them stayed inside, perhaps, because they were in the last few months of pregnancies, or two busy enjoying pleasantries with her mates.

She had been wrong. It was a tough pill to swallow, and Angeline was still having problems digesting it. She had come here to expose the cruelty of the wolves only to discover that there was nothing to expose. The camp was too small to hide anything of terrible import, and though the males swaggered around like cocky predators at times, when it came to protecting pups and women, there was no misunderstanding.

Clyde himself had proved that to her when he’d ceaselessly taken out two males who’d attempted to intimidate her. Wolves, it seemed, were nothing like what she’d thought. However, they weren’t the mysterious, mystical beasts her mother had spoken of either. It seemed, to Angeline, that they existed in a realm both extremely real and hauntingly foreign. She knew that if she were to drive three hours, she would be back in Buckhead.

Yet, here she was, in the middle of nowhere, watching men carry around immense tree trunks like they were nothing and scrap with one another with expressions more animal than human. They were something…otherworldly, yet tangible. If she had doubted
that
particular fact before, then everything had changed the moment Clyde had kissed her. She supposed she’d thought she must have still been dreaming because he’d held her so gently. The wolf hadn’t grabbed her, snatched her to him and proceeded to have his way with her. No, he’d coaxed her gently awake, looking down upon her as if she was the most radiant thing he’d ever seen before his mouth had melted against hers. She’d never lost herself in a kiss so soft, so thorough, that it had left parts of her she thought she’d forgotten, aching for a man’s touch.

By the time he’d been through with her, she’d wanting nothing more than to surrender to him – completely and utterly. And that had frightened her. More than anything she’d ever known. Admitting she’d been wrong about wolves was one thing, but truly allowing herself to know the man she’d gone to only to expose them? That was another thing entirely. Angeline had envisioned herself as a kind of martyr to the human race. She would give her body to Clyde in exchange for learning the truth of what lie behind the mystical face of the pack.

Now that her noble cause had been stolen from her, she was forced to face the very real truth of the matter: she wanted Clyde with every fiber of her being. She had wanted the man the moment he’d stepped into her mother’s house, and despite everything that seemed to be struggling against them, she wanted to heal the hole in his heart. That would mean giving herself over to him – every inch of her. Allowing him to be privy to her thoughts and intimate with her both physically and mentally. The bond between mates was something both ephemeral and deep, something her mother had never taken lightly, and now, Angeline realized why.

She
did
want to be Clyde’s salvation. But that would mean giving up all her preconceived notions that wolves were hard, primal creatures that cared little for anything beyond lust and fighting. Of course, she’d known that Clyde was an emotional creature the first time she’d seen him clutch his son to him, the first time he’d shouted at Elias in front of her, his gaze bright with frustration; it was clear he loved his sons, and feared for their future in a world where their mother no longer existed.

She could never
be
their mother. To be completely honest, Angeline was pretty certain the boys would never accept her. Elias found excuses to be gone whenever she was around and Ian still burst into tears the moment she entered a room.

And Clyde… She hadn’t seen him since yesterday. Not since she’d sent him away with fear in her belly, her body still cooling from his touch. Angeline didn’t think she’d ever been so conflicted in her life. Part of her wanted to demand that Clyde take her back to Atlanta where her life was simple, selfish and uncluttered. The other part wanted nothing more than for her to throw herself into his arms and forgive her for being so ignorant.

Which, she wondered, would be the right choice. The young woman’s head was pounding intensely when the first strains of screaming reached her ears. She stiffened for a moment, sure she must be hearing things. Then, the sound came again – a high, shrill scream of terror.

Immediately, she yanked open the bathroom door and rushed out into the kitchen. She pushed the door open and inhaled sharply to see the tops of flames licking at the trees. From the house’s recessed position, she could barely see the settlement but she saw enough to witness a pregnant woman attempting to run for her life before she was mowed down by a dark, furred shape.

Angeline’s heart leapt into her throat. What was happening? What the hell was going on, she thought frantically. A loud crash reached her ears, accompanied by a series of bone chilling howls. Though she knew that her first impulse should be to run, Angeline stayed rooted in place. She hadn’t seen Clyde for twenty-four hours, and had no idea where he was. She did know, however, that Ian and Elias were in the house, in the living room. Elias was watching his younger brother, the one task Elias could complete without causing trouble, and Alicia had set him to it when the boys had returned the previous night.

Something deadly had entered the camp – that was for certain. Something cruel and evil enough to go after pregnant women, which meant that crippled children wouldn’t be excluded either. She had to get them out.

Whirling, Angeline rushed back into the house, racing to the family room. She found Elias seated in his chair, his nose buried deep in a book of wolf lore while his brother played with a toy airplane on the couch.

“We need to leave.” She said breathlessly.

The words escaped her in a rush, and both boys jerked to attention. Elias immediately reddened at her presence. “What are you talking about?”

Ian had already started to sniffle. “Something is wrong in the settlement, and we need to get away from here.”

All at once, the older boy’s ears perked. It was clear that details that had eluded his heightened senses while he was reading had just begun to reach him. For a split second, Angeline read the raw fear on his face. The expression was present for only a moment, however, before a mask of anger covered it.

“I’m going out there.” Wheeling his chair around, Elias attempted to get past her, only to have her step directly in front of him, incredulous.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?

“It’s the Reef Pack!” Elias barked in reply. “They’re our rivals! They’ve killed dozens of us and they deserve to be punished!”

The boy must be out of his mind. He might be a wolf, but he was in a wheelchair. He’d be ripped apart, she thought incredulously. And what about his brother? Ian’s wails were starting to drift through the small house.

“You’re not going anywhere.” Steeling herself, Angeline planted her feet firmly before taking hold of Elias’ wheelchair handles. “Your father wouldn’t want you anywhere near danger!”

“My father is weak!” Elias’ words came out tense, strangled with the emotion that blazed in is green eyes. “He couldn’t stop the murders! He doesn’t fight for our pack! He couldn’t even save our
mother
!”

His words filled the house with his pain as his eyes swam with tears. Panic and shock combined in Angeline’s mind as she took in the boy’s words. Though she knew them to be uttered  in anger and grief, she had no time to argue with him now.

“Your father fights for this pack every day when he protects you!” She snapped back, breathless. “To him, you
are
the pack. Do you think by dying here, today, you’ll be doing him or your Alpha any kind of service!? Don’t be a fool, Elias! I barely know you, but I’m certain you’re smarter than this!”

The young man gazed up at her, his mouth slightly parted in surprise at the intensity of her outburst. After a moment, tears began to stream down his face. As he went limp in his chair, Angeline rushed over to take Ian into her arms. The child immediately began to struggle, lashing out violently with a force that bloodied the young woman’s lip.

“Ian!” She called out to him. “Ian, it’s going to be ok! I’m going to take you to your dad!”

“I want mommy! I want my
mommy!
” The boy’s tears were pitiful as he beat against her.

Instead of holding him at arms-length, Angeline only hugged him closer to her breast, her own tears threatening. “I know, honey. I know. Shhh…it’s going to be alright.” After a full minute of thrashing, Ian finally collapsed against her, sobbing as his tiny arms wove their way around her neck.

Hefting him in one arm, Angeline returned to Elias, who was sitting, forlorn, in his wheelchair. Another haunting howl pierced the morning air, and the young woman knew she didn’t have much time. Carefully, she wheeled Elias out of the back door and down the ramp built onto the rear of the house. She couldn’t move at a very fast pace with Ian perched precariously on her shoulder, but she did the best she could. The moment she reached the forest floor, she made for the trees, hoping for steady ground. She needed to get the boys as far away from danger as humanly possible. In her heart, she hoped that Clyde was far from danger as well, but she knew that as the Alpha’s brother and advisor, if he were anywhere near, he would be in the thick of it.

All at once, the leaves rustled behind her and she turned, her heart pounding, to be faced with a gigantic, canine creature. Its eyes were a manic red hue that glowed in hunger, and saliva dripped from teeth like jagged nails. Though the animal looked every inch like a rabid wolf, it was the size of a grizzly bear, its coat a deep gray, hunched over onto all fours, its haunches taut as it growled menacingly. Angeline’s knees went weak.

Heaven help them, she thought as she gripped hold of both boys.

**

Clyde was exhausted by the time he headed back towards the Settlement. He had run all day and half the night, covering half the mountain range, in an attempt to clear his mind of the woman that haunted it. Angeline was nothing; and she was everything. It was clear from her scent, the trembling of her body, and her reluctance to meet his gaze that she wanted him, perhaps even as badly as he wanted her. However, she didn’t want to give herself to him. Not completely.

Clyde had brought her into the settlement – into the pack – in the hopes that she might help him to rebuild his life. Instead, she had only thrown it into turmoil. He’d had to run himself ragged before he could come to terms with returning home. She would be there, tempting him with her scent and eyes, while her voice refused him again and again.

All at once, the scent of smoke filled his nostrils. It might have been campfire, but humans seldom ventured this far into the woods to camp. Clyde paused, lifting his snout to sniff at the air. All at once, he stiffened. Smoke, blood, and fear.

All at once, the gravity of his stupidity slammed into him and he forced his exhausted form into a low sprint, racing through the trees. Within minutes, he’d drawn close enough to the settlement to hear terrified screams and see columns of smoke rising into the air. 

Reef pack. They’d come.

Clyde burst into the clearing, his canine eyes widening at the sight that met his eyes. Several cabins had been set aflame and the place was swarming with Reef pack. Fury filled his breast as he took in the bodies of several human women, their rounded bellies ripped open. Likewise, there were pups that had been disemboweled and males with dire injuries bleeding into the dirt.

Ian and Elias. Where were his boys? Clyde immediately streaked through the camp to the Alpha’s cabin. He was horrified to find it aflame and totally empty. Lex and Alicia were nowhere in sight among the chaos. Around him, his own pack members struggled against the superior, larger Reef Pack wolves. Clyde helped where he could, using his battle prowess to rip several enemies from the backs of his comrades before leaping upon them and tearing at their fur with all the desperation and fear he felt.