Fate of the Alpha: The Complete Bundle (12 page)

A
insley stepped
out of the hot shower, feeling decidedly less invigorated than she normally would after letting the steaming water pound away at her.

She slipped into her favorite night shirt and a pair of boy shorts with lace edges, then wrapped her fluffy robe around herself and made her way down to the kitchen.

When the kettle was boiling away merrily, she reached for her phone on the table. She had a message.

Erik.

Ainsley, whatever you do, don’t leave the house alone. Don’t forget that someone wanted to take your wolf. Call Julian, call Grace, call someone, but don’t leave the house alone.

Good god, with everything else going on she had almost forgotten.

I won’t. How did it go with MacGregor?
she replied.

She waited a moment but there was no response. He must still be with MacGregor now. That was a good sign.

But why did everything feel so wrong?

She pulled the mug she’d made in senior pottery class out of the cupboard and stuck a peppermint tea bag in it.

When the boiling water hit the cup and steam rose to greet her nose, she felt a tiny bit more like Ainsley. Determined not to sit around feeling sorry for herself, she sat down at the table and slid a piece of paper and pen in front of her.

Placing the mug on the ring that had formed on the table after many other cups of tea, Ainsley exhaled with purpose and began to write.

I am grateful for a mate who loves me even in trying times.

I am grateful for a best friend who helps me without worrying about what it will cost her.

I am grateful that the Federation sent Ophelia and didn’t just take my pack from me.

I am grateful for my abilities, even if I can’t fucking figure them out.

The phone buzzed again before she could think of another item for her list. She dropped the pen.

Erik.

But it wasn’t Erik. It was Charley Coslaw.

Hey Ainsley, I’m out front, are you home? I have that termination for you.

Shit.

Ainsley walked to the door. Through the glass panes of the vestibule she could see Charley’s trademark green convertible. Though it was a chilly night, he had the top down.

She went through the vestibule and opened the front door, but remembering her promise to Erik, she didn’t step through.

Charley was blasting classic rock. He flashed her a friendly smile and waved. Camilla Parker Bowles stood on his lap, grinning with her tongue hanging out.

“Hey Ainsley, I’ve got your papers here, but I don’t want to leave the dog in the car. Do you mind grabbing them?”

Camilla Parker Bowles barked happily at Ainsley.

“Hey Charley, just bring her in! I’d be glad to find her a snack.”

“I don’t think she’s feeling well,” Charley shouted back. “Besides, I don’t want to keep you.” He waved the manilla envelope at her. “Never been happier to terminate a listing contract, by the way! Glad you finally came to your senses and decided to stay!”

Ainsley took a step out of the door and felt the tingle of the magic from the ward as she passed through it.

She paused.

Ainsley knew she was in some danger in general, but for heaven’s sake, it was only Charley. She had known him all her life. She couldn’t be paranoid all the time, she was the alpha. She would just grab the envelope and head back in - problem solved.

Ainsley took a few more steps across the porch toward the car.

She couldn’t hear Charley’s heartbeat with the loud music on and the engine running. But she would smell a trap.

And she didn’t smell anything.

Shit!

Ainsley wheeled around just in time to catch a lightning bolt to the chest that took her off her feet.

She landed hard, her back slamming into the porch floor. Instantly, she was hit with the sensation of being drenched with a bucket of ice water. It was a familiar feeling. Because Julian had used it on her to stop her from shifting only a month ago.

Her wolf banged heedlessly at the bars, but couldn’t come out. Ainsley threw her head back and howled in rage and pain.

A
insley took
a few more steps across the porch toward the car.

She couldn’t hear Charley’s heartbeat with the loud music on and the engine running. But she would smell a trap.

And she didn’t smell anything.

Shit!

Ainsley wheeled around just in time to catch a lightning bolt to the chest that took her off her feet.

She landed hard, her back slamming into the porch floor. Instantly, she was hit with the sensation of being drenched with a bucket of ice water. It was a familiar feeling. Because Julian had used it on her to stop her from shifting only a month ago.

Her wolf banged heedlessly at the bars, but couldn’t come out. Ainsley threw her head back and howled in rage and pain.

A
insley lay
on her back on the porch, head aching from the fall. The magic had hit her so hard, it felt like someone had replaced her bones with a swarm of angry bees. She tried to rise but couldn’t.

Exhaling slowly, she called on her senses for any information that might help her. The porch ceiling needed paint and there were dried-up fall leaves under the wicker sofa. Classic rock was still blasting from Charley’s car. The song had changed. It was a Stones song now. Jagger was in character, introducing himself and gloating over his wealth and his taste.

She could smell Camilla Parker Bowles dashing toward her. Instead of bounding up the stairs, the little dog began snuffling around in the rhododendrons that lined the front of the porch.

There was no sound of Charley. Had he been hit too? He had nothing to do with any of this. It seemed dreadfully unfair that even a human resident of this village had to suffer.

Ainsley’s wolf was slamming herself helplessly against the bars of Ainsley’s mind, but she was completely unable to shift.

In all the years she’d spent in Manhattan, denying her nature and wishing she could be free of what she saw as her curse, it had never occurred to her that she could feel such a profound sense of loss at losing that connection, however briefly.

Her jangled thoughts bounced to her mate, Erik. How must he feel, without his wolf?

And somewhere nearby was the bastard that took it. Ainsley grabbed hold of that thought before it could slip away and forced her consciousness around it until the chaos focused into a pinpoint of rage.

A powerful hum tingled along the surface of her skin. She couldn’t turn to her wolf, but her magic was still intact.

Responding to her call, the magic reverberated at a deeper pitch, clearing the cobwebs and bringing her back to the moment.

Ainsley was very, very angry.

A light blue haze tinted her vision.

A car door slammed.

Charley!

His heavy tread shook the porch as he approached. Thank god he was okay.

With supreme effort, Ainsley lifted her hand to him.

He didn’t take it.

Instead, she heard the creak of the wicker sofa and his face appeared, looming down over her.

“Ainsley,” he said. “Why couldn’t you just
go
?”

He leaned back and she was left looking at his knees, clad in a pair of soft brown cords.

“I’ve known you since you were a little girl. And, I don’t want to do this. But dammit, you’ve left me no choice.”

What was he talking about?

A fluttering of wings drew their attention.

“Are you finished monologuing, Coslaw?” a smooth voice asked.

“Jesus, Garrett, stop doing that.”

“You’re jealous, aren’t you?”

Ainsley capitalized on the distraction to take inventory of her body. The magic coursed through her and her limbs seemed less ghostlike and more real again. Maybe she could take them by surprise.

Before she could try, there was a tap, tap, tap sound across the porch.

An attractive older man with a long black cane stood above her.

“Ainsley Connor,” he said slowly.

She blinked at him.

“I’m going to keep this short and sweet,” said the man Charley had called Garrett. Where had she heard that name? “We’re here for the key. We know Sadie had it. We know she gave it to you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ainsley said, honestly.

“We are going to offer you
one
chance to hand it over. If you don’t, we’ll kill you.” Garrett spoke in a conversational tone, as though he were asking about the weather instead of threatening her life. “So, Ainsley Connor, daughter of Michael, where is the key?”

Ainsley willed herself not to mentally chase her tail wondering how sweet Charley Coslaw could be involved with this.

She had no clue what key they were talking about, but these two seemed to think she did. It occurred to Ainsley that her life might just depend on keeping them under that impression.

“You will rot in hell before you will lay one stinking finger on that key, you creepy, Charlie Chaplin motherfucker!” she spat.

Garrett barked out a surprised laugh. “Are you making fun of my cane?” he asked.

She shrugged and felt the magic surge again. Every part of her crackled with energy.

“Funny,” he said. “Well, I guess we’ll be finding the key on our own.”

With a flourish, he pulled a thin sword out of his cane and lifted it over his shoulder.

Suddenly, the neighbor’s holly bush shook and something dark and furry exploded out of it and streaked through the air, crashing into Garrett and knocking him to his knees.

Erik!

Ainsley’s heart soared for an instant as she pulled herself to her knees.

But of course it wasn’t Erik. He hadn’t been able to shift since he’d been struck by the trap. The trap that was meant for her.

It was the lone wolf she’d fought in the woods...yesterday? It already seemed like a lifetime ago.

He had found a way to prove his loyalty after all.

Through the buzz of her magic, Ainsley could feel the warm green glow of his submission. The pact was made. He was one of her own now.

“Son of a bitch!” Charley yelled.

The new wolf had the element of surprise, but its impact was already receding.

Desperately, Ainsley tried to gather up her magic. The image of the wobbling Coke bottle on the stump from the last time she had trained with Julian threatened to derail her.

Then she caught sight of Garrett slashing her pack-mate with that thin sword and she was filled with fury.

Charley stood. Frantically, she racked her brains and hit him with a spell.

“
Subsisto lupo mutatis!
”

Nothing happened.

Why was he smiling?

Oh god, that was the wolf spell. Charley wasn’t a wolf.

She took a shallow breath, evoked her energy ball and hurled it at him.

He caught the tiny mote of light like it was a ping pong ball, then bounced it playfully in his hand. The condescending look on his face was infuriating.

The ball in his hand shifted from blue to red. He controlled it now. In the span of a breath, the energy swelled to the size of a watermelon.

Ainsley braced herself.

G
race’s heart
beat frantically in her chest as she felt herself being lifted like a rag doll and carried away under a mysterious cloak.

“Hush,” the assailant whispered and she felt her insides melt.

Julian.

The hand that was clamped over her mouth loosened slightly.

“Put me down,” she whispered through clenched teeth.

Abuelo’s voice spoke in Grace’s head, coaching her through an escape.
Head butt him, knee to the groin, and he’ll drop you!

But her body was also speaking to her.
Wrap your legs around him, press yourself against his chest, smell his hair!

Before she could make up her own mind, he had placed her gently on the ground. The darkness around them parted slightly and Grace could see they were back in Triangle Park.

“We don’t have much time, and we’ve got to get to Ainsley before it’s too late,” Julian whispered.

“Walk and talk,” Grace replied.

“Indeed.”

He put his arm around her, keeping them shrouded in the magical darkness which had hidden them from the two passing men. Now that she had calmed down, Grace could just make out the street and the shapes of the houses in front of them through the shadowy shroud.

Julian’s warmth reassured her. Grace fought to stay focused on the task at hand.

‘That was Garrett Sanderson, wasn’t it?” she asked.

“Yes, he’s looking for a key. And he thinks Ainsley has it.”

“Does she?”

“I don’t think so,” Julian said. “Which could be very bad for her.”

“Who was the other guy?” Grace asked.

“You’re the sheriff. You tell me.”

“His voice was familiar.” Grace strained to match a face to the voice, but came up short. “I just can’t place it.”

Without speaking, they quickened their pace.

They had barely cleared the park when a ripple of magical dread lifted the hair on Grace’s arms.

Ainsley.

She broke into a run and Julian followed suit, dropping the magical cloak of darkness. The time for secrecy had passed. They swung left onto Princeton and tore down the last half of a block to Ainsley’s house.

Julian was in shape, but Grace was fast, and her friend was in danger. By the time Ainsley’s house came into view, she had pulled ahead of him by about half a block.

The wet leaves made the sandstone sidewalks slippery and she nearly wiped out as she rounded the corner onto Ainsley’s front walk.

She froze in place for a second, taking in the scene as Julian closed the distance.

Her best friend was on her knees on her own front porch. Charley Coslaw, a man Ainsley and Grace had known since childhood, stood over her, a roiling red ball of energy in his hand, ready to be hurled.

On the other side of the porch, Garrett was slashing at a wounded brown wolf with such gusto it jangled the wind chimes.

Her police instincts took over.

“Hold up!” she shouted with confidence, pulling her taser out of its holster. “Everybody cool off.”

All eyes moved to her.

“You don’t want to do this, Charley,” she said, looking into his eyes.

“You’re going to have to do this, Charley! Man
up
!” Garrett hissed. “Take her out and deal with the consequences. More important things are at stake here.”

Charley wavered.

While Charley thought and Garrett cursed at him, and the music blasted out of the car, Grace edged closer to her friend.

“I’m gonna give you a boost, be ready,” she breathed to Ainsley so quietly that no one without a wolf’s ears could hear it.

Then she reached out and Ainsley reached back.

The second their fingertips touched, the ball in Charley’s hand began to turn blue again.

Ainsley’s eyes rolled back in her head and Grace felt a surge like no magic she’d ever experienced before.

The blue ball in Charley’s hand expanded explosively, enveloping his whole body. He moaned in agony from inside the energy field.

With her other hand, Grace managed to deploy her taser at Garrett. The angle was off, and she was firing left-handed, but her aim was true.

He slumped. But instead of jerking outward in reaction to the electrical charge, he seemed to fold in on himself, disappearing in a cloud of birds that turned the porch black with their beating wings.

Instinctively, Grace dropped to protect Ainsley. When the sound of the birds was gone, she stood quickly.

Garrett was gone and Charley was gone as well.

“Neat trick,” Ainsley said in a light voice that reassured Grace her friend was unharmed. “Can you teach me to do that?”

“Why didn’t you catch him? I thought wolves had a strong small prey drive!” Grace joked.

“I’m no bird dog!” Ainsley pretended to be insulted. Then her face grew serious. “How did you get here so fast?”

“Hold that thought.” Julian’s voice cut through the cool air. “This boy may be dying.”

Grace turned to the brown wolf. But it was gone. In its place, a muscular young man, with a tattoos circling each bicep, lay unconscious in a pool of his own blood.