Rogue Alpha: Wolf Shifter Romance (Wild Lake Wolves Book 1) (14 page)

Mal shut his eyes tight, and his body vibrated with
a steady rumble as he held back the wolf. When he snapped them open, I could
see how much of a battle it really was. Mal’s amber eyes were gone, leaving the
glowing, golden eyes of the beast inside.

Heat flared through me, taking my breath away. Standing
this close to him, his passion burning so bright, I had no hope of any
self-control. He called what was happening to me the Rise. It was a perfect
description. My body was tuned to his. As his heart beat faster, so did mine.
The burning need inside me threatened to erupt, driving away all rational
thought.

“I won’t lose you,” he said.

I shook my head. “You won’t. And I won’t lose you
either. But we have to stay together.”

Mal let out a chuff that set my blood on fire. God.
He was all man, all Alpha, and all mine. “You’ll do what I say. Do you
understand?”

Yes. Oh, yes. I wanted him to dominate and command
me. My body cried out for it. My lust seemed to short circuit all rational
thought. I had just as much beast inside of me, it seemed.

“Never again,” he growled. “Never again will you try
something like what you did back at the camp, Laura. You’re mine. Say it.”

“I-I’m yours. Yes. Whatever we do, we’ll do it
together. No more going off on my own.”

He pressed his lips to mine. His hands were all over
me. My clothes felt like a prison. Warmth flooded through me and settled
between my legs. With just a touch, just the tone of his voice, Mal could have
me soaked and ready for him in an instant. And he knew it.

“Prove it,” he said.

So I did. What happened next was rough, wild, and
fast. There was no time for anything else. I ripped open the button of my jeans
and pulled them down past my thighs as Mal turned me. Somehow, we were at the
side of the Range Rover. He guided me down, bending me over so I stretched
across the back seat, my feet planted wide on the ground. I heard Mal unbuckle
his own jeans. He gave me a firm smack on the ass that made me quiver.

“Say it,” he said.

“Yours,” I gasped. Mal leaned forward and lifted the
hair from the nape of my neck. He’d been rough before; this time, he was even
rougher and my body rose to it. He sank his teeth into my scarred flesh,
deepening the brand he made, the perfect blend of pleasure and pain. The mark flared
hot and pulsed in time with my throbbing sex.

Then he entered me, taking no time to ease his
passage. But, he didn’t need to. I was already gaping open for him, slick with
desire. He sheathed himself to the root. Again, pain and pleasure flooded
through me as he stretched me wide and claimed me. Mal was swift this time. He
coaxed me to a shattering orgasm with his fingers as he pumped inside of me. No
sooner had he entered me before I felt the first, hot spurt of his seed filling
me deep. It was what he needed. I’d gone against him back at the camp. I wasn’t
sorry for it. I knew I’d been right. And yet, Mal was my Alpha. For the first
time, I understood the power of that. He would love me, protect me, treat me as
his equal, but his will would not be denied. I knew I might often chafe against
it. He knew it too. I could submit to him, but I could never be completely
submissive all the time. It wasn’t in my nature, and he knew that too. For
that, he would deliver sweet punishment this way. Deliciously deserved and my
body rose to it . . . craved it.

I screamed his name as he pumped the last of his
seed into me and I reached the apex of my own ecstasy as he held me spread wide
beneath him. He fucked me deep, each thrust an exclamation point to the
unspoken command he gave. He claimed me. He owned me. He loved me. And I loved
him back.

Chapter Twenty-One

We moved with a singular purpose after that. I felt
a new shift within me. Mal had marked me for a second time. He didn’t have to
tell me it meant something. I felt even more connected to him than before. I
couldn’t read his thoughts, not words at least, but I knew his purpose as if it
were my own.

We packed up the Rover and headed away from the
cabin. I chanced a look back, a forlorn feeling clouding my heart. I was reborn
here. Mal had claimed me here. And I knew I would likely never see it again.

Mal drove west as I fired up the laptop. We were
taking a risk as it was late afternoon now. Flood was likely also logged into
the system. He wouldn’t be able to detect another user, but if he saw Tag 16’s
signal, he’d know it was new.

“What do you see?” Mal asked.

The chip had been tracking Luke’s movements for
almost twelve hours. I downloaded the data and watched as the software zeroed
in on one small grid in the vast forest.

“He stayed where you left him for about three
hours,” I said. “Then, he started moving north. Slow. He stopped three or four
times it looks like. I don’t know. I think he’s still on his own.”

I waited as the system showed me the time lapse for
the next couple of hours. Luke made very little progress north. I imagined him
taking slow, halting steps as he tried to find the strength to stand, let alone
run.

“Wait! There!” I tapped the screen to make the grid
bigger.

“What is it?”

“Three hours ago. The signal moves fast. North by
northwest. He’s moving along the river.”

Then the orange blip came into contact with a red
blip. I punched up the data. It was Tag 9, a yearling I’d chipped myself early
in the summer. Then, Tag 9 disappeared.

“He’s hunting!” I clapped my hands together. “Oh,
shit. Poor Number Nine.”

Mal pulled the car over to the side of the trail.
“Show me.”

I rewound the time lapse and showed Mal what I saw.
He furrowed his brow and ran a thumb along his jaw.

“That was a yearling. A button buck.”

Mal cocked his head to the side. I couldn’t help but
giggle a little as it was a purely canine expression of alarm or confusion. A
slow grin spread across his face and he fisted my t-shirt and drew me to him,
planting a hot kiss on my lips.

“What?” I said. I leaned into him. We’d been on the
road for an hour, and I couldn’t help the lustful hunger he sparked in me.

“Luke isn’t strong enough to take down a buck yet.
Even a small one. He’s not traveling alone anymore. The pack’s with him!”

My heart flipped in both excitement and fear. I
expected the tracker to work, not just this well this fast. But, Luke had no
idea he’d been tagged and neither did Flood or Asher as far as we knew. Their
guard was down.

“Where are they now, can you tell?”

I hit the refresh button and waited for the data to
update. Then, the orange blip flared to life in the top left corner of the
screen. “There! It’s moving slow again. Almost stationary. That’s only about
ten miles from here. Right along the Manistee River. There aren’t any stations
or outposts through there. None of the park trails either.”

Mal nodded. “That’s where I’d go if I were Asher. As
far away from people as possible.”

He pressed his foot on the gas, lurching the Rover
forward. My heart raced. “Now? Aren’t we going to . . . uh . . . right now?”

Mal smiled. His own pulse quickened. “The longer we
wait, the worse our chances. One way or another. This ends with Asher tonight.”

***

The plan was simple once Mal laid it out. Well, it
was my plan after all. It was just now that we were really about to execute it,
I panicked a little.

“You’re as safe as I can make you,” Mal said.

“I know. And I’m not as worried about me as I am
you. Are you sure you won’t let me come in a little closer?”

“Absolutely not,” Mal answered his voice firm. We’d
been over the same argument about a dozen times. He went to the back of the
Range Rover and pulled out a green metal tree stand kit.

“That one,” I said, pointing to a large elm. It
stretched tall above us with thick, sturdy branches. Mal nodded and hoisted the
tree stand to his back and started to climb. He went fast, as if he were
were-monkey instead of wolf. He went higher than I’d normally feel safe, but he
insisted the higher the better. He hooked the stand around the thick trunk and
tested his weight on it, bouncing up and down hard enough to make the tree top
sway.

Then, he climbed down just as fast, suspending
himself from a low branch he reached a hand out to me. I took a steadying
breath and let him haul me up to the closest branch. With Mal just above me,
helping me climb, I made it up to the tree stand. We were close to thirty feet
off the ground, about ten more than I felt comfortable with. But, extra height meant
extra time in case something went wrong.

Mal balanced on a strong branch beside me as I
stepped down on the platform. With cold efficiency, he latched my safety
harness around me and secured it tightly to the tree. Gripping the harness with
one hand, he tested the platform again.

“It’s solid,” I said, checking the straps myself.

Mal nodded and leaned in to give me a quick peck on
the cheek. “Sit tight. I’ll be right back up.” Then, he shimmied down the tree
and out of sight. I heard him open and close the car door, then the tree shook
as he started his ascent again. He handed me the shotgun, the tranquilizer gun,
and my pack. He pulled a slim, black phone out of one of the pockets.

“This is your doomsday scenario,” he said. “It’s a
burner, untraceable. If everything else goes to shit, you call for help.”

I nodded and put the phone in my pack.

“How will I know when it’s time?”

Mal smiled and leaned in to kiss me deeply again.
His pulse flared inside of me, hot and steady.

“You’ll know when I’m getting close. And you’ll know
if I’m in trouble.”

“Right.”

“Chances are it’ll be Joe, Sam, and Dax on my tail
when I run out. You remember them from that day at your camp? Three gray
wolves. Asher will send his soldiers after me first. Luke’s still gonna be too
weak to do much damage if he even joins the fight at all. Do what you can to get
a clean shot off at any of those three. You see anything with gray fur moving
fast, shoot it. Red fur, hold your fire. Asher’s mine.”

“But, if shit does go wrong, they can climb as fast
as you can, right?”

“Not in wolf form they can’t. I’m betting Asher
won’t be willing to release them long enough to let ‘em shift. Even if he does,
you saw what Luke was like when he turned human again after months in his wolf.
They’ll be lucky to be able to put one foot in front of the other, let alone climb.
And yes, Asher can climb as fast as me, but you’ll have the advantage of height
and more than a dozen rounds at close range. He’s mad; he’s not stupid. But
just . . . be prepared for stupid.”

I wrinkled my nose at him. “Mal, I get why it’s
important for you to be the one to take Asher out, but if you’re in trouble and
I have a clear shot . . .”

“By all means, if I’m in trouble take the fucker
out.”

I laughed, expecting him to raise an argument. He
leaned in to kiss me again; this time, his lips were more urgent. His heartbeat
quickened and so did mine. There was no time. Mal’s best chance to get close
enough to the pack to draw them out was at dusk. He’d still have enough light
to see well, but his own black coat would help camouflage him.

“Mal,” I said when he finally broke away. “Promise
me you’ll come back to me. Even if it means it’s just the two of us. I know
Wild Lake’s your home, but we could make our home anywhere.”

He caressed my jaw with his thumb, and his amber
eyes blazed gold. “Trust me, my love. And make sure you shoot straight.”

He gave me another quick kiss that took my breath
away, then he leaped down from the tree. He’d already shifted to his wolf as he
hit the ground and took off like a bolt of lightning covered in black fur.

And then, I was alone, high in the air with the
howling wind and swaying trees.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Time seemed to stop, blend together and twist. Only
my heartbeat marked the seconds. Mine and Mal’s. We hadn’t had a chance to
discuss the ramifications, but that second marking, with me bent over the seat
of the Range Rover, had changed me the deepest yet. I felt Mal’s pulse, yes.
But he transmitted something else. A rumbling rage moved through me. My breath
quickened as his pace did. My muscles bunched as it felt like I took each step
with him.

I could see a flash of green as trees and foliage
whipped by Mal’s field of vision. I could still see my own surroundings, but
they were blended with Mal’s if I reached out for him. It meant I might be able
to feel what he felt. Exhilarating, exciting, terrifying. If Mal was wounded,
it would rip through me too. Would my heart stop if his did? Maybe not
physically, but I knew it would hurt me just the same. And I knew he could feel
what I felt. I took a deep breath and let it out slow. If I panicked, if I was
distracted, it could put him at greater risk. No. I could never do that. He
needed me as much as I needed him.

It didn’t take long. Mal’s vision clouded red as
bloodlust overtook him. Hunt. Kill. Win.

A howl rent the air, making every hair on my body
stand on end. Mal. My Mal. I strained against the safety harness. When my Alpha
called, every cell in me wanted to go to him. But, he was calling for someone
else now. He stood stock still in the center of a clearing. His heart rate,
despite the adrenalin coursing through him, stayed slow and steady.

Movement. A whiff of blood. Light flashed through
the trees. No. Not here. There. I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again.
I had to stay present in my own surroundings. Mal would die if I didn’t. I had
to find a way to control the changes in me so I could focus on what he put me here
to do.

Then Mal was on the move again. I felt his need to
turn and fight. Running, fleeing was not in his nature. But this time, it was
crucial. And he was right. He’d been right about everything. I felt hot breath,
teeth snapping, coming close enough to scrape along his left flank.

“Mal,” I whispered to myself. “Don’t let them get so
close.”

I tried to close my mind. Mal needed every sense,
every motion he took focused on a single point. Anything I did to interfere
could be deadly.

Then I saw him. He was a streak of black fur and
murderous rage. I raised the dart gun and sighted the scope. Mal stopped
running. He stopped no more than twenty yards from the base of my tree. He
threw his head back and howled, transmitting his position to every living thing
within miles. But it was only one being that mattered.

Two gray wolves broke into the clearing together. I
sighted the largest one. My aim was sure. I let out a breath and squeezed the
trigger. I went out of my body. The dart hit the bigger gray wolf just behind
his left shoulder. I didn’t have time to see if it did any damage. I racked
another round and aimed for the other wolf. He dove behind a tree but seemed
disoriented, exposing his rump to me. Mal howled again and I got off another
shot. This one went wild and stuck in the tree right next to the wolf.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

I felt Mal presence inside me. Calm. Slow.
Deliberate. I squeezed my eyes shut and racked another round. I had four darts
left.

The first gray wolf lay quiet, slumped against a
fallen log. If Luke were still out of commission, that left Asher and two more
wolves against Mal. The other gray wolf rounded on Mal, but I was ready for it.
I squeezed off another shot. This one stabbed right between the wolf’s shoulder
blades and he went down almost instantly.

God! It was working!

I loaded another dart and brought the gun up,
looking for another target. I didn’t have long to wait. My heart stuck in my
throat as Asher emerged through the trees. His gold eyes blazed. His
unmistakable red coat gleamed under the setting sun, making him nearly glow.

Mal was surrounded. Asher stood before him. Another
large, gray wolf closed in from behind him. Then Luke stalked slowly through
the trees and took a point at Mal’s side looking strong and lethal. Blood
poured out of the wound at Luke’s shoulder, but it didn’t seem to matter. I
knew on instinct it was Asher who controlled him.

But, I could stop it. Sweat poured down my neck. My
palms grew sticky. I rubbed my right hand against my pant leg and braced the
stock against my shoulder. I had Asher in my sights and that was all that
mattered. Mal crouched low, getting ready to strike. I knew what would happen
the instant he did. The three wolves would tear him to pieces. Asher would
probably die too, but it wouldn’t matter. Not to me.

I could kill Asher myself. The shotgun lay at my
feet. But, at this range, the risk I might hit Mal was too great. At least with
the darts, his life wasn’t in danger. I squeezed the trigger.

Nothing happened. The gun was jammed.

The other gray wolf lunged for Mal, tearing a chunk
of flesh from his back, right leg. Pain tore through my own leg but Mal didn’t
even flinch. He kept his eyes locked with Asher as they circled each other.

I put the dart gun down and grabbed the shotgun. I
closed my eyes for an instant and tried to talk to Mal.

Back up
. You’re too close. I can’t get a
clear shot.

But, Mal had shut me out. The beast within him was
in full control.

Luke lunged forward and I could see the strength
leach out of him. He faltered, and swaying to the side he fell to the ground.
It left an opening. Small, but enough. Mal stepped to the side and I was ready.
I had Asher in my crosshairs.

I let out a breath and squeezed the trigger.

The shot cracked through the air followed almost
immediately by a second one. The muscles in my arm quit on me, like someone had
cut invisible puppet strings. My arms and legs twitched involuntarily and a
blanket of blackness closed in on me.

Mal felt whatever hit me and turned away from Asher.

I had just enough strength to turn my head. Asher
was at Mal’s throat, his fangs dripping as he brought Mal down. God, had I
missed? Had I fucking missed Asher? The other gray wolf closed in as well. And
through the trees, I saw the long, cold barrel of another gun aimed straight at
me as Byron Flood stepped into the clearing, and everything went dark.