The Alpha Takes a Mate (8 page)

“Does it hurt you?” she asked.

“No. I accept my beast. He’s part of me, and I’d never fight the release that letting him loose gives me.”

“Do you ever wish you didn’t turn?” His arms were huge where they rested on her stomach.

“No. This is what I’ve been born to do. I love changing and love running out in the wild.”

“What colour is your wolf?” she asked.

“Black.”

She thought about the wolf she’d seen outside her bedroom window earlier. “Was that you earlier?” she asked.

“Yes. That’s enough questions for one day.” He kissed her temple. “Get some sleep.”

“Will you be here to chase the nightmares away?” she asked.

“You can count on it.”

Elle closed her eyes. It was the best night
’s sleep she’d ever had.

Chapter Eight

Brandon
stared at the river several days later. He’d spent every night sleeping next to his mate but not doing anything other than holding her in his arms. Darcy, Drake, and Lewis were preparing for the other creatures to come to Grace Hill. Along with the planned visit, humans had wandered into their town. They were currently staying inside the only hotel available for them. He didn’t like them being in his town or near his mate. One of them from the group was paying a lot of interest in Elle. She didn’t encourage him, but she didn’t shoot the other man down either.

With the other sectors arriving every chance he’d tried to talk with Darcy ended up being interrupted. The meeting took precedence over his human mate
, and even as he thought the words they irritated him. Elle was human, but she was his mate. Lori was on his case, and he’d given her far too many warnings.

You’re being light on her because she was a regular fuck until your mate came along.

What mate? She was human.

“Why are you here alone,
Brandon?” Darcy asked, moving out of the clearing. “It’s not safe for you to be alone right now.”

“Why isn’t it safe? I’m the alpha.”

“And more of a reason to pick you off, leaving the Northern Forest pack open for someone else to take over. You’re only as strong as your last enemy,” Darcy said, standing next to him.

“You’re always so serious.”
Brandon sat down on the edge of the river and paddled his feet into the water.

“I need to be.” Darcy sat down next to him. “You want to talk to me?”

“Yes, I want to know everything about Elle and her family. You were the one to handle her petition.”

Darcy cursed.
“Raymond Smith came to me stinking of vampire blood. I don’t know how he found me, but on one of my trips to the city he did. He approached me about this community. He’s a good collector of books and information.”

“I know this. Why was he covered in vamp blood?”
Brandon asked.

“His wife was seduced by a vampire. Raymond didn’t know what his wife had that was important to the vampire. By the time I got to her she was almost dead. I gave her my blood to help heal her
, and I called on Crazy Lizzy to deal with the spell that wiped their memory.”

Crazy Lizzy was one of the oldest witches. She’d been tortured by warlocks when she was young
, which had sent her a little bit loopy. Brandon liked her. She ranted a bit about nothing, but she was strong.

“What happened to Elle?” he asked.

“None of us know. She was bitten but not enough to kill. Raymond killed the vamp before anything else happened. When I spoke to him about it, the vamp was chanting something to her. She was staring into her eyes. Nothing else came from it.”

“They’re here under our protection?”
Brandon asked.

“Raymond killed the vamp
, but he had symbols along his arms similar to ours.” Darcy pointed at his back then arms. All the men possessed the Northern Forest pack symbols. “He believes they were part of a tribe or something.”

“That’s why he has all those books?”

“Yes. I’ve spoken to him recently, and he can’t find anything of any value. This meeting has him riled.”

“I think this m
eeting has the whole pack riled,” Brandon said, loosening his shoulders.

“You know your scent will disappear if you don’t claim her soon,” Darcy said after several seconds passed.

“I know.”

They stood and left the forest.
Brandon made his way toward the diner. The summer heat was bearing down on the town. He followed the scent of his mate through to the diner, Darcy’s words ringing in his head. For as much as he wanted to take her to his home and claim her, he couldn’t bring himself to do it with the Otherworld species coming. There was so much on his plate right that now adding a human mate to the mix wasn’t in his list.

He walked into the diner and saw the human males
sitting in the corner both. Layla was serving Lewis and Drake. Elle was in the corner with the human males. She was writing down their orders. Elle didn’t turn to him or acknowledge his presence in any way. His whole world was focused on her, and yet he got nothing for his trouble. Pulling out the chair so the legs scraped along the floor, gaining her attention and that of everyone else in the diner, Brandon sat down.

With his excellent hearing he listened on the conversation one of the boys was having. He refused to call the humans men.

“Wow, he’s a little childish,”
one of the guys said.

“Is that all?”
Elle asked.

Brandon
watched as she pointed down at the list of meals she’d written down.

“It sure is, baby.”

She nodded, walking away. He saw the one who’d been talking to her check out her ass.

“Dude, what are you doing?”
one of his friends asked.

“If we’re here for a
while I want to get laid.”

“We’re not staying here.”
Another growled.

The guy
’s friends clearly knew they weren’t wanted here. It was a shame Asshole didn’t get the same kind of vibe as his friends.

“She’s a little big
, but I’d fuck her.”

That was enough.
Brandon snatched her arm pulling her against him as she made to move past. She squealed. Her gaze went to his before turning away instantly. He was really starting to get pissed off with her lack of attention. Brandon wanted her eyes on him at all times.

“I’m working,
Brandon,” she said.

“You’re not working that table. Get someone else to do it.”

“This is my job. I’m working the table.” She pulled away from him. Her hands smoothed down her skirt as she walked on by.

“She’s a feisty one,” Lewis said.

“If those boys keep trying to touch her or talk filth about her, they’re fucking dead.”

****

Elle slammed the order down on the counter next to Daisy. The older woman stood flipping burgers. “I smell attitude,” Daisy said.

“
Brandon is acting all possessive,” Elle said. Layla smiled at her before taking the order she was carrying back outside.

“Sweetheart, the
alpha is not acting. He
is
possessive. All the wolves are possessive. It’s in our blood. You’re just going to have to deal with it.” Daisy grabbed the order, glanced through it, then started assembling the burgers

“I don’t think I can handle his possessive streak. I’m human. I’m not coded to accept the kind of attitude he’s giving me. It’s not who I am.”

“Sounds to me like you’re doing a lot of moaning, Elle. Men don’t like women who moan.”

“What exactly do men like?”

Elle jumped up on the counter. She needed to rest her feet. Daisy gave her a pointed look. Climbing off the counter, Elle fixed the drinks ready to go with the order.

“Do you mean human me
n or wolf men?” Daisy asked.

Elle
paused, thinking about the question. “Wolf men,” she said, whispering.

The older woman smirked. “You can’t fool me. You’re the Alpha’s woman.”

“I’m not his anything. I don’t even know him.”

“So?” Daisy had her arms folded under her impressive chest.

“I’ve never been with a man. I don’t know what a human man wants, let alone what a wolf man wants.”

“Elle, stop
over-thinking everything. Brandon is a good man. He’s not a wolf all the time. I’m sure he’ll be happy to be trained as your little puppy dog.”

Elle
laughed at the image of Brandon being a puppy. There was no way that big hunk of man could ever be compared to a puppy.

“Besides, everything is a little different for mates,” Daisy said, going back to work.

“What’s different?” Elle picked up her chocolate milkshake and took a sip.

“Well, for one, your mind is not your own.
When you mate completely and accept each other, a connection opens up. I know where my mate is at all times, and he knows where I am. We can even communicate through our thoughts.”

“That sounds creepy,” Elle said. She couldn’t hear
Brandon. Their connection mustn’t be there.

“We’re compelled by one another. There is no other man or woman for either of us. When we mate, we mate for life. It’s our tradition. Vamps
, on the other hand, are notorious hound dogs.”

Elle burst out laughing. The other woman was done explaining the mating rules for one day. “Thank you for giving me the
heads-up.”

She grabbed the tray with all the food on
it. The table waited patiently in the corner for her. Brandon’s gaze was on her as she walked past.

The men at the table didn’t help her as she handed out each of their
orders. Remembering who ordered what was the challenge. Once she handed out the last can of soda Elle stood up.

“Congrats, miss, you remembered who ordered what.
There’ll be a good ol’ big tip waiting for you,” the guy said.

Great, I don’t want your money. You give me the creeps.

“Will there be anything else?” she asked.

“Not at the moment.”

She left them alone to serve other customers. When members of the pack entered they took the time to assess the human collection.

Layla looked harassed as she tried to keep up with the pack orders. “They’ve got an appetite today,” she said, when it quietened down for a moment.

“It’s the night after the full moon. They’ve always got an appetite.” Elle made sure to keep her words quiet so the visitors didn’t hear anything. Grace Hill had one rule, and that rule was sacred. No one outside of Grace Hill would ever know about the pack. Brandon made sure to enforce the rule whenever visitors came through.

Matthew and his mate walked into the diner. “I’ll take this,” Elle said, moving toward them.

She watched as they seated how Matthew kept touching his woman. From what she saw, he didn’t like to be away from her for any length of time. She found his attentiveness sweet.

He stroked his mate’s face before turning to her. “Hiya, Elle, congratulations on your mating,” he said.

Elle pressed the pen to her lips and then pointed the tip in the direction of the humans.

“They’re still here?” he asked.

“They’re making their presence known. Thank you for your words. They really mean a lot.”

“We’re not all monsters in the pack.” He snuggled against his woman. “Being with your fated mate is the best thing possible.”

Yearning hit her in the stomach. She wanted the kind of love on display. Putting a hand to her stomach she excused herself from the table.

Elle walked out of the diner and walked around to the back and as far away from the workplace as possible. She leaned against the nearest tree taking in huge gulps of air.

I can’t do this.

There is no way that I’m his mate.

He doesn’t look at me like that.

Staring up at the sky, she took in deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves.

“What are you doing out here?” Brandon asked.

She spun around to face the man responsible for her current turmoil.