Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>
But what right did he have to be? Who the f u ck was he to her?
Not her mate, that was for dam n sure.
“You really have no idea where they went?” I studied his face, looking for a hint of a lie, but I only saw concern and impatience.
“I tried to track her,” he explained, “but I only made it as far as the clearing by the lake before her scent went dead.” “F uck!” I ran my hands through my hair, grabbing fistfuls.
“I know you and Zane are mate bonded to her,” Braden said, his facet twisted up like the very idea of that was painful to him. “Couldn’t you mindspeak with her or feel her through the bond or something?”
My father shook his head.
“It doesn’t work that way. If she’s that far from here, you would never hear her.” His tone was enragingly dismissive. “Especially since she hasn’t even been properly claimed. The bond you have is weak, it isn’t true.”
What the hell did he know about Lanie?
Had he snuck off at night with her, too?
“It’s very real,” I snarled.
I locked eyes with Zane and nodded.
We both closed our eyes, and I heard Zane’s voice echo in my head.
“Lanie, if you can hear us, tell us where you are.”
Silence.
I pleaded again. “Lanie, we know you’re out there. Just say something, anything.”
“Xander,” Zane answered instead. “I can’t sense her right now.”
I couldn’t, either. I smelled nothing, heard nothing, felt nothing.
“Well?” My father’s impatient voice broke through our thoughts, and my eyes flew open again.
“No,” I said through gritted teeth. “What if she’s…”
But Braden jumped in before I had to say it.
“She’s not dead. You would know if she was, and I’m pretty sure I would, too.”
What the f uck was that supposed to mean?
“If no one can track her, then what do we do now?” Zane asked. “Where would Aldon even take her?”
Another set of footsteps sounded in the hall, and we all turned as my mother swept into the room.
“I know where Lanie is.”
Zane
I was shocked Xander hadn’t already ripped Braden’s head off.
Or that Orion hadn’t, either, for that matter.
Between the three of us, we could’ve taken him easily.
But then, surely, the rest of the pack would’ve known something was off. I could feel through our bond that Xander was about to lose it…if he didn’t calm down, that fury would infect everyone soon enough.
Still, I understood his frustration.
How could we just now be learning about vampires? And why the f u ck was our mate meeting with one alone?
“Follow me,” Gabriela instructed. “I’ll take you to Lanie.”
Braden and Orion followed, but before Xander could exit, I grabbed his arm and pulled him back to me.
I threw my other arm around his neck and rested my forehead on his. His chest was heaving and his eyes were still flashing with his wolf.
“Just breathe. Save that rage for when we find Aldon.”
He squeezed his eyes shut tight and a low moan of pain escaped his lips. I could swear I felt it pierce my soul.
“I need to find her, Zane,” he choked out. “It’s so f ucked up. I know she was with Braden, but I don’t even care. I can’t do this without her.”
The thought of losing Lanie sent a tornado swirling in my head and a vise-like grip around my chest.
“I know. I can’t, either.”
“G ods, how can this be possible?” Xander whispered. “Mere days ago, we didn’t even know she existed, and now we’re following a f u cking vampire to go find her?”
I snorted out a laugh and as we separated, I saw that Xander was wearing a sad smile.
“Stop me if you think this is crazy. Stop me if you think we shouldn’t do this.”
I shook my head.
“I’m not going to stop you today.”
Lanie
“You’re lying to me.”
I didn’t see how I could be born part vampire and never know it “When you sensed Braden the first time you met, what did you feel?” Aldon asked.
I recalled the way his scent had lured me in and wrapped itself around me. It was intoxicating and inescapable.
Not that I wanted to escape.
Quite the opposite, actually.
I would never say this to Aldon, but the look on his face told me I didn’t have to. I was flushed and biting my lip to keep my thoughts from drifting further Dead f ucking giveaway.
“You wanted him, didn’t you?” Aldon said, his eyes glittering.
That skeevy b stard.
“Or at the very least, you trusted him. Otherwise I wouldn’t have caught you in the predicament you were in earlier.”
His eyes were boring into me so hard, I wondered if he was trying to see straight through the thin fabric covering me. “What’s your point?” I asked, wrapping my arms tighter around myself.
“Most shifters detest the smell of vampires,” Aldon explained. “Their scent rings alarm bells in their brains and creates an immediate sense of distrust.”
That couldn’t have been further from my experience with Braden.
I trusted him immediately, but I had no idea why.
“And why do you think he just showed up out of thin air when vampires and wolf shifters’ paths haven’t crossed for years?” Aldon asked.
I suddenly felt very stu pid for not asking any of these questions myself.
“He told me he’d smelled my distress,” I said, but I knew from Aldon’s wicked smile that there was more to the story.
“No. He was looking for you, s tupid girl.” His voice dripped with contempt.
I suddenly wished Xander and Zane were here to shrink him back down to size.
“Why would he be looking for me?”
Aldon snorted out a sarcastic laugh. “Because you came of age.”
My heart stopped, then banged against my chest.
Of course…he was just another man trying to f u ck me as soon as I turned eighteen.
I shouldn’t have been surprised, but a cold knot formed in my chest all the same.
“When you turned eighteen, Lanie,” Aldon said, slowly moving toward me. “Your vampire abilities surfaced. I could smell it all over you at the mating ceremony.”
I remembered the way he’d grabbed me, squeezing my arm so hard he’d almost drawn blood and the way he spoke to me like I was nothing-less than nothing.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?