The Alpha's Mate (Werewolf Romance) (7 page)

I gave a sigh of exasperation
. “First of all, Cal is my alpha, not you, not yet. Second, the pack sees us as a unit. You leave me behind often enough and no one else will value me either.” I pushed his hands away. “Is that what you want for me? Is that what
your
mother did?”

“No.” He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I just want to keep you safe, away from whoever kicked in Tonya’s door.”

The sincerity of the concern in his voice softened my anger toward him. I understood the desire to keep me safe. I felt the same way about him. More gently, I said, “We won’t be alone and if you can’t protect me there’s no hope for anyone in this pack.”

My logic finally prevailed and he gave a curt nod. “A
ll right. But do what I say.”

I snorted.
“Come on, Jacks. That’s over the top.”

“Hey, remember
you’re a new wolf, babe. Running wild is a fast way to get hurt. Just listen to me, okay? It’s for your own safety.”

“Okay,” I said after a long pause where I tried to find something wrong with his logic and failed. God, it sucked being a baby wolf in an adult body. My wolf needed to grow up like yesterday.
She gave me a curt nod or total agreement. Neither one of us liked being curtailed.

He picked up the
keys to his truck and tucked his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans. “Come on. I’ll buy you coffee down at the gas station. I have a feeling we’re going to need all the caffeine we can get.”

***

Tonya lived out in the woods in one of the few houses that didn’t cluster around the town center. Wolves don’t want to be separated from their packs and liked close neighbors, but the occasional lone wolf wanted more distance. I wasn’t sure how Tonya felt as she’d inherited the house from her great-aunt. She always seemed social enough to me. Everyone knew her and appeared to like her well enough, which made her disappearance all the more chilling.

As we
pulled into her driveway, we saw the damage. Tonya’s door had been kicked in, left to hang askew on splintered wood. Jackson parked his truck and we both hopped out. We didn’t speak, but the glance we exchanged spoke volumes. Something really violent had happened here and it made us uneasy.

My hackles on high alert, I gingerly made my way to her
porch, stepping over pieces of broken wood along the way. The porch was new and made of white pine. Tonya had added some nice wicker rocking chairs and a few plants. The chairs now rested on their sides and the pots were a smashed mess of terracotta and dirt. Running my hand over the warped door frame, I inhaled the frigid morning air, wincing as a pungent, unpleasant scent filled my sinuses.

Covering my
nose with a hand, I turned back to look at Jackson. “What is that smell?” I could identify most animals by scent alone, but I’d never smelled anything like this. It stung my lungs with acrid air, bringing tears to my eyes. The foul odor was strong enough that even a human would notice it.

Jackson sniffed and then covered his nose too. “Testosterone.
Lots of testosterone.”

I raised my eyebrows at him, confused. “What does that mean?”

Cal walked out of the house, worry etched on his broad face as he caught the tail end of our conversation. “Rogue alpha.”

That meant something to Jackson
because he went still as a corpse next to me. I had no idea what a rogue alpha was though and just looked at him with wide eyes, alarmed at his reaction. Behind my eyelids, my wolf stood ready to bolt. She knew something I didn’t.

“You sure about that?” Ja
ckson said, his voice gruff with concern.

Cal nodded. “
Yep. I got a call from the pack leader down by Nashville warning me about it. They lost some of their women last week. They tracked him until they lost his scent and he was heading our way.”

“You knew?” I gasped
, offended at the idea of Cal not sharing this threat with the pack.

He held up a hand. “Hold your horses, wolf. They called me after I left your place this morning.” He kicked at the dirt and frowned. “Too bad they didn’t think to call sooner.”

We all looked at the house in silence.

“So, is Tonya...
dead?” I choked on the last word. The thought horrified me.

Jackson pulled me into a one armed hug. “Only if she fought him too hard.”

“Nashville thinks he’s got a camp somewhere up here where he’s taking all the women.”

“What makes them think that?”
I asked. Cal and Jackson seemed to have a better understanding of the situation than I did. I felt lost, like I’d forgotten to study for a final exam. Rogue alpha was an entirely new concept to me.

Cal heaved a tired sigh and rubbed his neck.
“Some strange wolf bought a lot of camping supplies. He smelled the same as the trail they tracked.”

I furrowed my brow. “How would they know about the camping stuff?”

Cal pulled out his iphone and tapped the touch screen. “The pack down there runs every hunting and camping franchise in Tennessee. They got wolves working in all the branches and they caught the guy on tape. Someone remembered the scent.” He held up his phone so we could see.

I leaned in and squinted my eye
s. “Any idea who he is?” The picture wasn’t just small, but also of poor quality, probably retrieved from security cameras. It showed a tall, lean man wearing worn fatigues paired with combat boots. Dark hair hung down to his shoulders and a wiry black beard framed his face. Even in black and white, his eyes were wild and crazed. He looked like an off-the-grid militant. I could easily believe he’d gone off the deep end.

“None yet, but the police chief i
s looking for a match in the criminal databases.” Cal tapped his phone and the screen went dark.

Jackson began to take off his clothes. “Let’s track him. That scent is so strong, he can’t hide.”

“Not so fast, cowboy.” Cal held up a hand. “I called in our best trackers. Once they get here, we’ll go after him.”

Jackson paused, ha
nd on his belt buckle. “He’s just getting further away. We need to move fast.”

Cal locked eyes with Jackson.
“I know that and they’re coming just as soon as they secure their wives and children. We’re also setting up patrols around the city in case he pops up while we’re out tracking him. We don’t want to leave any easy targets behind.” When Jackson lowered his eyes in submission, Cal said, “Take Chloe home and make sure she’s got a gun. By the time you get back, we’ll be ready to hunt this rogue down.”

I shook my head
. “Hey, I want to track with you.”

Jackson
pulled his t-shirt back on. “You’re too new and exactly the kind of wolf this guy wants.”

I glared at him.
“What kind of wolf is that?”

“An alpha’s mate,” Cal said quietly. “That’s what he’s looking for.
Rogues want to start their own pack and they need a mate to do it.”

A chill went through me. “Why take Tonya then? Or any of the others?”

“Because he thinks they might be a match.” Cal whirled a finger by his ear. “Rogue alphas don’t play with a full deck.”

Jackson nodded his agreement. “It’s like ‘
roid rage only worse.”

“But if he catches your scent, Chloe, he’d do anything to have you,” Cal added.

I frowned. “I still don’t get it.”

“Not ever
y wolf can lead a pack, right?” Cal asked. At my nod, he continued, “Well, not every wolf can mate with an alpha. You’re special, my dear, but you haven’t come into your full power yet. Your wolf is still growing and that makes you vulnerable.”

I snorted in disbelief
. The still growing thing made sense. It seemed every week I had more strength or speed. But special?
Yeah, right.

Cal chuckle
d at my reaction and patted my shoulder. Jackson glared at me though and I just rolled my eyes. There he went again, trying to control me. Lucky for him he was so hot and spectacular in bed. Otherwise I would’ve never had a thing to do with him. My wolf took issue with that thought and gave a soft growl that reverberated through my mind.

Don’t sass me,
I thought at her.

She tossed her head and refused to look at me.
Typical bitch, except for the part where she lived in my brain.

“Come on,” I said walking over to the truck’s passenger door. “If you’re taking me back home, let’s go.”  I still wasn’t convinced this rogue alpha guy would be so interested in me, but if Cal was concerned, so was I.

Chapter Seven

Tension filled the ride back to Jackson’s house.
It irked me to be left out. As for Jackson, well, I couldn’t say for sure what he thought, but the way he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel along with the clench of his jaw painted a portrait of a man on edge.

Our ranch sat
closer to Huntsville’s center than Tonya’s house. Not quite in town, but not too far away from it either. It only took us a few minutes to reach the long drive leading up to his ranch house. Gravel spit under the tires and the shadows of the pine trees lining the driveway swallowed his pick-up truck whole.

“You know how to use a gun?” h
e asked as he parked the truck.

“My Daddy t
aught me to shoot when I was nine,” I said, the bittersweet memory of that day bringing a fleeting smile to my lips. My parents had been gone for a long time now, but I never stopped missing them.

“How good a shot are you?”

I paused in the process of unbuckling my seatbelt. “Good enough.” The truth was I hadn’t taken out my gun in years. If not for my Daddy, I might have never picked up one. Now I was grateful for his tutelage while also wishing I’d paid more attention.

Jackson stepped out of the truck and, ever the gentleman, came around to open my door. “You don’t sound certain.”

I shrugged as I slid out of my seat. The driveway gravel crunched under my feet. “I can hit a target. It’s just been a while.” I looked up at him and my heart stuttered. The mid-morning sun filtered down through the pine trees and streaked his dark hair with light. His hazel eyes reflected the rich green of the trees around us. He was magnificently handsome and I sometimes still couldn’t believe he was mine.

I reached out and touched his cheek.
Forgetting my earlier irritation with him down at Tonya’s house, I said, “What did I do to deserve you?”

He turned his face into my palm and kissed me.
“I think that’s my question to ask.” There was a forlorn note in his voice that gave me pause.

“Everything okay?”
Jackson was more prone to over confidence than a crisis of one.

He pulled me close and sank his nose into my neck, inhaling my scent. His hands drifted to my backside and squeezed. I cradled him against me, giving in to the strong instinct to comfort him.

“Talk to me, Jacks,” I whispered.

He groaned. “I’m an idiot,
Clo.”

“What?”

He lifted his head, but wouldn’t meet my eyes. “You saw me. I was ready to run off.”

“So?” I’d felt the same urge
.

“I would have left you behind.” He cupped my face in his hands. “The most precious thing in my life is you and I didn’t even think to protect you.” He let me go and abruptly stepped back, running a hand through his hair, a look of anguish on his f
ace. “And Cal had a plan. A good plan. I had,” he paused to kick the gravel, “nothing but dumb instinct.”

“I had the same instinct, Jacks,” I said.

“You’re not supposed to lead the pack.” He glowered at me, but I knew he was more angry with himself than me.

“Neither are you. Not yet.” I crossed my arms and leaned against the truck. “Why do you think Cal includes you on everything? So
you can learn how to lead.” The alpha had Jackson working at all hours, trying to teach him everything he could. “Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

In response, h
is body slammed into mine, shoving me against the cold metal of his pick-up. I raised my hands to push him back, surprised by his sudden movement, but he captured my hands and pinned them at my sides. The human side of me wanted to fight and resist, but my wolf quivered, utterly charmed at the dominant display. When he claimed my mouth in a crush of soft lips and the scrub of unshaved facial hair, a wet heat pooled between my legs.

That’s how crazy strong the
attraction was between us. Danger surrounded the pack, but we couldn’t keep our hands of each other. If that didn’t define ‘crazy in love’ I didn’t know what did.

“Don’t you need to go?” I asked in a soft voice.

His teeth nipped my neck, adding a new mark to the one he’d planted the night before. “You always come first, Clo.”

“But Cal--” I started. He should go, I knew it, but I didn’t want him to. I wanted him to finish what he
’d started. My core was already melting in anticipation.

Jackson put a finger to my lips. “Shush. We have a few minutes.”