An Alpha's Claim

www.beautifultroublepublishing.com

Copyright © 2013 by Naomi Jones

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or shared in any form, including but not limited to: printing, photocopying, faxing, recording, electronic transmission, or by any information storage or retrieval system without prior written permission from the authors or holders of the copyright.

This book is a work of fiction. References may be made to locations and historical events; however, names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination and/or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), businesses, events or locales is either used fictitiously or coincidental. All trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, and registered service marks are the property of their respective owners and are used herein for identification purposes only.

Published by

Beautiful Trouble Publishing, LLC

1589 Skeet Club Rd. Ste. 102-237

High Point, NC 27265

www.beautifultroublepublishing.com

Cover Art: Marteeka Karland

Editor: Cindy Davis

Proofreader: Novellette Whyte

Formatting and ebook conversion: Jim & Zetta,
http://www.jimandzetta.com/

ISBN: (e-book)
978-1-61788-314-9

This book is dedicated to all my family, friends, and fans who have been patiently waiting for this story.

N
OTE
ABOUT
E
B
OOKS

eBooks are NOT transferable. Re-selling, sharing or giving away eBooks is a copyright infringement. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author or Beautiful Trouble Publishing.

CAVEAT

This work may contain adult language and sexually explicit scenes. This book is intended only for adults, as it is defined by the laws of the country in which the purchase is made. Keep this book out of the hands of under-aged readers.

Glossary

Therian shifter
: A person with the ability to physically transform into various animals.

Chapter One

Nathan Romero walked through the forest ignoring everything around him. The singing birds and beautiful green Douglas furs did nothing to ease his anger. He looked around with only one purpose. Nathan searched for humans with the help of his shifter pack. The incident of one of their own being hunted was still fresh in his mind. Even though the trail of blood was gone, the images were forever imbedded in Nathan’s memories. His pack had heard the screams of pain before seeing their fellow pack member struggling to make it back to safety. Her pup, fear in its eyes, dangled in her mouth. That image alone was a constant reminder to everyone when it came to keeping their guard up. Someone might get killed next time.

He moved along allowing his senses to pick up anything out of the ordinary. The smell of fresh air and fallen tree branches filled his nose. Something in Nathan’s peripheral vision caught his attention. The sun made the object glimmer brightly. Shifting back into human form, he walked to it. Nathan picked up the empty shotgun shell and crushed it in his hands.

A group of humans thought they were above the law and had decided to go hunting for mountain lions during the off-season. Nathan had gone through proper channels to restrict as much of his land to hunters during hunting season. This time they overstepped their bounds. Miraculously, she and her cub survived but that was a wake-up call for him. One of their own had been attacked on his watch and their child witnessed it. It wasn’t Nathan’s pup, but he felt like every child in this pack was his. Blood or not they were all a family, and no one fucked with his family.

Nathan had everyone overseeing the area. There would be no repeat attempts like this on any pack member. The humans had been found but weren’t killed. Instead he made an example of them by removing one of their limbs. Hunters no longer came close to the area, but Nathan continued to enforce twenty-four-hour patrols on his home.

“Fucking humans and their guns,” Nathan growled. His ears perked at the sound of footsteps coming closer. The rustling in the bushes made him turn. Dagger, Nathan’s baby brother, walked toward the front and shifted into human form. The others quickly followed.

“Nothing. We can’t find a trace of any humans in the area or any lurking around the forest. I guess they got the message,” Dagger said, a little too cocky for Nathan’s comfort. For the sake of his pack, Nathan truly hoped that Dagger was right.

“I wouldn’t say that just yet,” Anik, the only lion shifter in the pack, said as he stepped out of the bushes. “There’s something you need to see by the creek.”

Nathan gave orders for all but four of the pack to follow. Anik lead them to where a beautiful clouded leopard lay sleeping by the creek. There were only two problems: One, clouded leopards are historically known to be found in East Asia. Two, there were no leopard shifters in the pack.

They had a trespasser on their hands, but this one was a shifter. And female. Nathan took in her feline form. She lay next to the edge of the creek. The yellowish coat of her fur had dark spots with black outlines around them. Her front paws were folded under her chin while her stout legs and long tail lay straight on the fallen leaves.

If this shifter wasn’t trespassing, he might’ve thought that the soft purr she emitted in her sleep was almost cute. Almost cute didn’t cut it. She was trespassing and needed to be dealt with. What amazed him was she allowed herself to lower her guard. A creature like her must have acute senses similar to himself. Nathan went to approach but ended up stepping on a tree branch, breaking it. The leopard stirred and rose slowly.

Regine Hamilton stretched out her paws, trying to wipe away the fatigue.
Great run and great nap,
she thought before shifting into her human form. Between the humming insects, chirping birds, and flowing water, she’d finally found her little slice of heaven. Dipping her hands into the water, Regine splashed it onto her face, loving the cold sensation. With summer days already upon her hot days turned into humid days. Today the weather had been tolerable so she decided to run for a little while.

She stretched her arms straight up, twisting her upper body from left to right.
I’m definitely coming back here,
Regine thought, smiling to herself.
Now if I turn into a peregrine falcon, I should make it home in no time at all. But if I shift into a snow leopard, I could go through the trees like I did before but that would be boring.
Being able to shift into multiple animals had its advantages. Most shifters she came across could only turn into one animal.

Heavy footsteps drawing closer put her on alert. Had she not gotten so comfortable, she wouldn’t have been caught unawares. While there were several shifters in the area, only five males were approaching. Four of them were wolves, though she couldn’t place the other shifter.

Allowing her hands to fall to her sides, Regine turned around slowly. She could feel her heart pounding. Not in fear but interest. She couldn’t recall ever being this close to a wolf shifter. Let alone four of them. The lion shifter standing to the side was also a treat for her since Regine had never seen one. Regine looked at each of them but the wolf in the center stood out the most.

The wolf’s golden orbs stared back at her with something she couldn’t describe. His black-and-brown fur stood up when he took his first step. Then another and another until he took his human form. Regine had to force the rising heat in her body back down. The man who stood before her overshadowed the others by far.

The sun shined on his olive skin and wavy, black hair. His muscular shoulders tensed as if the heat were a burden. Regine felt herself getting lost in this man’s very presence. Until he spoke.