Her Alpha Protector (3 page)

A faint scent carried on the wind and Angel tensed, her narrowed eyes studying the shadows for the source. It didn’t matter how many times she whipped around, there appeared to be no one following them. Worse, Hunter appeared completely at ease.

The sound of her luggage wheels rolling over the pavement was loud in the dead of night, but Angel ignored it, her ears primed for the more natural sounds of crickets chirping in the tall grasses and the wind whipping through the reeds of the nearby swamp. She could even make out a couple of small mice burrowing through the loose soil and an owl silently stalking them. It was when the wildlife suddenly went quiet that she knew she had reason to fear.

“There’s a bus stop just around the corner.” Hunter’s quiet voice sundered the silence.

Angel jumped and her fingers tensed around her luggage. Yes, there was a bus stop. In fact, it was the same stop where she’d purchased her ticket. For a moment her chest tightened; was he letting her go? Her thoughts wavered, torn between her head and heart. She
should
run—that was the smart thing to do. Sadly, it seemed her brain had little in the way of control.

Hunter turned and slowly slid his arms around her waist, drawing her into his chest. Her heart rate spiked, her lips tingling with the memory of that kiss, and she found herself straining toward him, craving another taste.

His head ducked and the warm press of his mouth found her ear. “Pretend we’re saying goodbye,” he whispered, his breath pooling against her neck.

Pretend?
She tipped her head back and fell into the depths of his eyes as her hand crept up his chest. Who were they pretending for? Her fingers flexed the moment he dipped down, her excitement barely containable. This wasn’t healthy, this odd infatuation she had with him.
He is an alpha
—the words chanted through her mind, yet when his lips sealed around hers, she melted into him, her arm sliding around his neck.

The kiss was little more than a brush of lips and she shivered when his mouth dragged across her jaw, settling at her ear once more.

“We’re being followed,” he whispered.

Her stomach lurched; she should have trusted her instincts. “Seth?”

“Shh,” he murmured softly as he threaded his fingers through her hair and smoothed it back behind her ear. “I won’t let anything happen to you. But I need you to enter the bus station like you’re leaving.”

Her breath caught and her fingers latched onto his shirt. Bait. He wanted her to play bait. It must be Seth, then, and her entire body froze with fear.

Aware of her impending panic, he backed away and cupped her face between his palms, his lips crooking into a small smile. A final kiss and he turned and vanished into the shadows.

Surely those following wouldn’t believe that he’d just left? The ticket she’d bought had been purchased for the eleven twenty-five bus, only fifteen minutes from now, and it was practically burning a hole through her pocket. She should leave right now, hop on the bus and never look back. Could she do that?

Following his instruction, she wrapped her fingers loosely around the metal handle of the terminal door and swung it open. She quickly slipped inside, only to find a deserted room, the ticket counter closed and locked. Angel fell to a dead stop, her eyes flicking to the departures board. She’d checked the schedule upon arriving in this city and knew it like the back of her hand. Sometime between then and now, however, someone had opted for a new one and, with panic chasing down her spine, she realized she had no escape. The next bus wasn’t until five-thirty in the morning.

Sighing, she slumped down into the nearest hard plastic chair, jumping at every little sound. What was she supposed to do now? Sit here and wait for Seth to show up? Hope that Hunter did first? Her life was a mess; she just wanted to board that damn bus and get the hell out of Dodge. Of course, her mind took that moment to flash an image of Hunter, remind her of the sinful taste of his lips. Perfect, just perfect. She couldn’t run—they’d follow her scent—and without the bus she was trapped; her only option was to follow Hunter’s plan. She tipped her head back, her thoughts drifting away without pursuit, praying for them not to center on Seth.

In the backdrop her sensitive ears picked up on insects scurrying over the walls, pipes creaking and moaning, and somewhere in a back room, a stray animal tearing into the garbage. She tried to focus on those things, lose herself to the sounds around her, but her mind rebelled. The memory of Hunter’s touch rose unbidden instead. Her eyes tightened and her face pinched with concern. She should
not
have let that happen. What in the world had she been thinking, getting physical with a werewolf? And not just any werewolf—an alpha. She’d sworn to herself the moment she’d first opened her eyes after her change, after realizing there was a whole other world hidden away in the deep folds of what
had
been her reality, that she would never become one of them. Oh, they’d tried many things to force her beast out of her—things she did
not
want to think about in the dark of night with the shadows pressing in. But it’d never worked, or at least, not in the manner they’d wanted.

Angel ached with exhaustion—she’d managed to complete her tenth hour of work before all hell had broken loose, and her dogs were barking. Her finger ran along the line of her lower lip as she remembered the feel of his mouth on hers, the sweet scent of his breath filling her. She’d wanted
more
; even now her body burned for it. Ten years and the desire now was just as maddening! Her startled laugh rose in the cavernous bus terminal, dancing off the walls with a haunting echo. The worst—the
absolute worst
—had been the desire to comfort him when his face had shifted into that torturous look.

Fool
.

She’d been taught never to trust a werewolf, especially alphas. The lesson had been carved into her flesh and bone. And here she’d gone and fallen—

She sucked in a sharp breath, snapping straight in her seat.
Don’t say it
,
pup
.
Don’t even think it.
It isn’t possible.

He was a werewolf, a monster. It was as simple as that. She might be one, too, but her human half was stronger, always keeping the beast locked down. She was nothing like them and never would be. If she was being honest with herself, she would at least admit that
he
was nothing like them as well.

Slamming the door shut on those thoughts, Angel slumped low in the chair again and returned to her former position, arms crossed over her chest to hold in the warmth. Who knew how long this little plot would take to play out, and she loathed the thought of simply sitting and waiting. She started by counting her breaths—anything to pass the insufferable time.

Chapter Four

A familiar scent filled her dreams, and even in her sleep, her stomach knotted. It’d been
years
since she’d last inhaled that particular aroma, yet she remembered it as clear as day. She scrunched down into the hard-backed chair and buried her nose deep into her jacket in an attempt to block it out. The odor clung to a shimmering phantom, one that drifted around her and threaded its wraithlike fingers through her hair. Grimacing, she struggled to drive the specter from her mind and sink back into a dreamless state.

It was a task easier said than done.

The ghost grew incensed the longer she ignored it and its body began to shimmer in a furious red glow, its milky eyes staring down at her. Ethereal lips curled back over fanged teeth and from its mouth came a deep thrumming growl, one that roused the hairs on the back of her neck.

Angel stirred and dug her fingers into the sides of her jacket, drawing them around her with the hope of warding off this nasty chill. In her dream, her eyes lifted to the spirit and widened when a familiar face took form. Features she’d long committed to memory took shape from the wisps of mist: sharp chin, narrow face, long nose and hard, piercing eyes.

She gasped and jerked as she came fully awake, her eyes flying open. The scent lingered and she dragged her hand down her rumpled face, wiping under her nose. It seemed stronger now, and she groaned as she struggled to rid herself of the pungent smell.

Asleep.
What had she been thinking? How much time had passed since Hunter left? Rubbing her eyes, she lifted her gaze to the clock nailed above the counter gate. The ticker dragged, thundering from one second to the next. Not an hour had passed, and she slumped back, sighing, forcing herself to remain awake. Such a fool. Stupid, but boredom had taken hold as she listened to the seconds tick by on that dreaded clock, waiting for Seth to make his appearance.

“Still not using your nose properly.” A dark, familiar voice rose at her back.

Angel shot up from the chair as if she’d been struck, whipping around at the last moment to find the phantom in solid form, perched in the seat behind her. Those eyes...
oh
,
hell
, those eyes. It’d taken her years to convince herself that not every man had that same stare, and even longer to overcome the distressing fear that he was always there, always watching.

Seth—her maker and former alpha.

“What?” he mused as he pushed to his feet and stalked around the bench. “No warm welcome for your old lover?”

Her face twisted and she sucked in her lower lip. She’d
never
been his lover—at least not willingly. But to Seth that meant nothing. When he found something he liked, he claimed it without thought of whether it was even his to take. She countered his steps, her eyes darting to the large glass doors, searching for Hunter. Two shadows darkened the entry, and though they were familiar faces, neither of them was Hunter. Had she put her trust in the wrong person?

“Come now, Angel.” His words pulled her attention back to him and she shuddered at the sound of her name, breathy and thick with desire. “Do you know how long I’ve searched for you? Some small bit of gratitude would be appropriate.”

She felt the draw, the pull, whatever it was that alphas could do to those beneath them. Her stomach warmed with the thought of going to him, even though she knew she’d be disgusted later. That was always the way of it. She would have liked to think her strength had grown in their time apart. But he was an alpha and she was not.

“Come,” he ordered, his rumbling voice full of authority.

She broke at the waist, his words binding her to his will, forcing her into submission. The ground rose up, her hands and knees slamming down before she began to crawl across the squalid floor. Inside, her wolf was howling, struggling in a mad assault to free the alpha’s hold, but she wasn’t strong enough.
Where was Hunter?
He’d sworn he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Well, something sure was happening.

When she reached his feet, two long fingers curled under her chin and drew her head up until he could spear her with his stare. “This is where you belong, my Angel.”

Her head shook without thought, her hair settling around her shoulders. No, she didn’t
belong
anywhere. She was her own person, had been her entire life until this man had savaged her in the back of his car.

“No?” he asked, his voice darkening with ire. “You are mine. I allowed you your freedom, but the time has come for you to return home. I need my mate.”

Cringing, her head dropped forward once more, a curtain of hair sliding over her face. His
mate
—it was what he’d always claimed her to be, the reason why he’d attacked her, the reason why he’d stolen her life. They’d gone on a single date together; it
had
been going well, up until he’d phased and ripped her to shreds. The first moment she’d awoken with her new eyes, she’d known she would never belong to him.

“No.” She finally spoke, her breathy voice a pale imitation of what she usually mustered.

Seth sucked in a sharp breath and not a second later he gathered her into his hands and wrenched her to her feet. Fury darkened his already opaque eyes. His wolf was nowhere near the surface; it was purely the cruel man within that she now saw.

“No?” he repeated, a perverse storm thundering across his face. “
No?
” he roared. She was flung from his grasp, her back driven into the far wall.

A sharp crack echoed through the station, her cheek stinging from the sudden imprint of his open-palmed hand. Gasping, Angel cupped her face, her widened eyes swinging back up to him.

It wouldn’t be the first time Seth had resorted to violence, though he’d never dared assault her in public. She bit down on her lip, refusing to give him the satisfaction of hearing her cry out.

“You do
not
say no to me,” he spat in her face, his hand held high as though he meant to strike her once more. Instead, his iron fingers gripped her chin and squeezed, jerking her around to face him.

“Now, you will come with me, and you
will
be my mate—”

“No,” she stated in a firm voice, refusing to let him bully her further. It wasn’t the fear of what he could do to her, but rather the idea of returning with him that terrified her. Just the thought of being
his
, having to obey his every whim and fulfill his every fantasy, made her stomach flip. There was much she would do to keep that from happening.

Seth stared down at her, poised on the edge of strong emotion. The storm burst free, a furious rage sweeping over his face. “You might think you’re something else,” he growled, his eyes flashing gold at her, “running around with
Hunter.
You think I didn’t see you out there? Think I didn’t
know?
I
am your alpha! And you will obey me, even if I have to beat obedience into you.”

His grip on her chin tightened and he pressed her aching head into the wall as his fingers kneaded her jaw. Angel’s heart leaped into her throat as she stared into Seth’s hardened face. His voided eyes held the promise of torment and pain, but there were worse things in life. He’d taught her that.

What a fool she was, trusting another werewolf, thinking that this time it might be different—that
he
might be different. She’d learned years ago that she could only depend on herself. With a sharp breath, she drove her elbow down into his arm and twisted in his grasp. A startled cry rose between them as Angel shoved him back. Without any thought, her arm shot out, a clenched fist colliding with the side of his head. For a moment she was too startled to move, having never thrown a successful punch before. Her knuckles blazed with pain, fingers trembling as they flexed and retracted like a nervous cat. It wasn’t until he rose, his hand cradling his mouth, that she thought to bolt. If she could just shift—

A firm grip ensnared her waist and whipped her around, throwing her back and knocking her head against the wall. Stars burst before her eyes and she crumpled, her legs incapable of holding her up.

“You’ll pay for that,” he muttered darkly. “Think you can just do whatever you like? A lesson in manners, I think, in how to treat your betters.”

Angel couldn’t help the crazed laugh that spilled from her mouth. “Maybe you should fetch me one first.” She knew the moment the words left her lips, it was a mistake. But she’d rather he kill her than drag her back to the pack.

“I’ll not stand for this, Angel,” he growled, lips rearing back over his teeth.

Her eyes fluttered shut at the sight of his lengthening fangs. His wolf was so close, soon it would be over. That was all she could hope for now. No more running, no more hiding, no more monsters in the shadows. Fingers wrapped around her throat and he flexed his grip, the station fogging as blackness crept along the edge of her vision.

Through the brume, a wolf’s howl rent the suffocating silence. Angel stiffened at the sound of the symphonic baying. Somehow she knew it was Hunter and relief rushed through her; he’d kept his promise—she wasn’t alone here with Seth. A surge of strength straightened her shoulders and her gaze darted expectantly toward the door, waiting for the moment Hunter came into view.

A shadow darted beyond the entrance, knocking into one of Seth’s wolves, and she jumped when a splash of blood sprayed the glass. Seth’s grip vanished and she sucked in a sharp breath, shuddering as she fought to control her racking cough. He stalked away from her, hardly paying her a second glance when she slid to the ground.

The creak of the door roused her attention and she lifted her chin to watch as Seth propped it open, peering out into the darkness. A faint scent drifted through the door and Angel’s breath caught in her bruised throat—oak. She was more than familiar with that distinct fragrance. Seth’s nostrils flared as he took it in, and from the white of his eyes, it seemed he also recognized Hunter.

The beast appeared then, phasing out of the darkness, eyes smoldering with green light. His head tilted, taking in the sight of her huddled against the wall, cradling her throat. Enraged, he bared his teeth and whipped back to Seth.

Never had she seen such a large wolf before. At the sight of him, all slick black fur, she lowered her hands to the floor and began to creep forward, longing for a closer look. Dark as night, his coat caught the dim light of the station, shimmering bands of indigo rippling with his every step. He was more than gorgeous, he was exquisite.

“Hunter,” Seth stated, and she heard the slight tremble in his voice.

The wolf’s fangs snapped at the air between him and Seth. The sound was sharp enough that even Angel cringed and dragged her knees into her chest. Her eyes wandered past them to the blood-smeared doors. Was that what had kept Hunter? Had there been more than those two wolves, now nothing more than lumps of fur sprawled on the cement? Yet hardly a hair in Hunter’s coat was out of place.

Hunter strode forward, his tail erect as he held Seth’s stare. When he didn’t immediately drop his gaze, Hunter snarled and lunged, about to attack when Seth finally skittered back, his eyes dropping to the floor. The bitter tang of fear perfumed the air and a twisted smile crooked Angel’s lips. It was nice, for once, to see
him
fear someone.

Hunter pushed past him, purposely keeping his back to Seth. He was coming toward her and with wide eyes she tucked against the wall, her gaze flicking between the two of them. She didn’t fear this alpha, not in the least, and her brow knotted with that realization. In fact, with every step he took, the weight in her chest loosened, and her shoulders rounded with relief. After today, she just knew he would never hurt her, unlike the one that stood behind him.

Hunter stalked across the lobby, his massive paws tracing a wake in the thin spread of dust coating the floor. She stared at the footprints, her keen eyes noticing that his paws were at least twice the size of hers. A common occurrence between male and females, but it made her feel insecure. The wolves she’d once called her brethren had taken nothing but joy in teaching her how pathetic she was. Too small to be anybody, too dainty to be truly fearsome—all traits she’d once thought appealing. But the human world and the
other
world had different standards.

A soft muzzle brushing under her jaw snapped her thoughts back to the present. Seth still stood by the door, his eyes lowered in caution. Hunter’s stare trained on her face, watching her for any indication of what was happening behind him. A flash of pink darted from between his lips, wet heat painting up the side of her face. Strangely, laughter bloomed in her stomach, her lidded eyes dropping to his face. For the very first time, in more years than she cared to admit, she felt no fear at meeting another’s gaze, and if she wasn’t mistaken, Hunter seemed encouraged by this. His lower jaw loosened into a wolfish grin, tongue dangling from his mouth as he panted eagerly. Her own mouth crooked, sharing in this momentous occasion. Her laugh was breathy and high-pitched, but it blended well with his low huff.

The sound seemed to awaken something in the station. Magic crept along her skin, her throat tightening. Her body was a knot of nerves, tingling and thrumming to a voiceless song that only she could hear. The drumming beat came from Hunter, a steady rhythm that called to her. When she dropped forward onto her hands and knees, there was little resistance from her, simply acceptance and an eager need to split her skin that filled her head until she could no longer think.

“Angel,” Seth gasped, the heels of his boots clicking over the floor.

As one, Hunter and Angel lifted their eyes, ignoring the unwelcome one. The wolf before her flicked his tail, his paws dancing in the dust, his hunger evident. The call—it was so strong, so resplendent. Even with the roof over them, she could see the heavens above, unbound and dotted with glittering diamonds, all singing their celestial songs. The blood moon waned in the velvet folds, caroling its own ancient woes to the bare, brown earth. And from her lips, a melody slipped out—her howl and hers alone, joining with the primal lullaby.