The Alpha’s Forced Mate
Chapter 21

Blake

Jaws dripped with saliva as sharp canines gnashed viciously in front of me. Tanner and Neil flanked either side of me, each of them in their wolf forms. Behind us, a team of five wolves launched into action, spreading in every direction around us.

I snarled while lowering my head. Raymond stepped forward with a spear in his hand, raising it triumphantly over his head. His aged gaze was more sober than I’d ever seen it.

“Surprise,” he announced with a mocking tone. “I’m here to claim your throne.”

Not happening, pal, I argued.

My gaze never left him as I stepped forward, feeling the vitality of the wolves moving in sync around me.

Raymond bared his teeth. “You’re not going to win this one, Blake. You should have never been made alpha. The whole point of your father dying was to put us in charge of your pack.”

Those words prompted a near heart attack. It froze my paws in place, the ground below me quivering with the threat of a devastating earthquake. Or was that my bones vibrating inside my body?

A sly smile spread over his mouth.

I knew it, I thought weakly. The mate bond isn’t real. It doesn’t work. It’s just something they spoon-feed us to make us reproduce.

I exposed my canines.

“Don’t worry. We didn’t do it,” Raymond continued. “It was just a happy little accident that worked in our favor. Isn’t that right, boys?”

Hope restored itself in my gut. Bond or not, my father had died when he should have lived. That was the greatest betrayal I could have ever experienced, far more impressive than the love of my life trying to kill me.

“Where’s my little assassin?” Raymond asked. “Is she inside? Did you kill her?”

A resonant roar fractured the air. Even the wolves at Raymond’s side cowered at the sound. Though they stood their ground, I could see the hesitance in their eyes. They were following the commands of their leader as any good pack would do. But was their leader right about this assault?

It made me wonder what he’d told them.

Raymond swung the spear. “Taught her some tricks myself. She was such a loyal soldier until she failed.” He shrugged. “She’s dead either way.”

I growled. You won’t touch her!

Tanner and Neil flew forward just as I did. Our collective leap forced Raymond to hop back as two wolves darted in front of him. Though he was guard, the five wolves surrounding us were able to snap at the other line of wolves, pushing them back toward the trees.

While Raymond reared back the spear, Tanner shoved me out of the way. I fell sideways and rolled into a pair of fighting wolves, my ear snagged in someone’s jaws. The scent of my pack—a cloying pine that resonated wherever we went—met my nostrils as I realized my own pack member had chomped me. He nuzzled me apologetically before launching over my body and landing on top of the Gilbert Pack wolf.

Chaos ensued. While Tanner and Neil handled the pair of wolves guarding Raymond, I was left to seek my own fight. Most of my team was handling the line of wolves valiantly, knocking their opponents unconscious as I had taught them to do. While we weren’t opposed to killing, we took every precaution necessary to avoid it.

Except for assassins.

And Veronica.

A Gilbert wolf pounced from the shadows and landed in my path, maw dripping with gooey b***d as he advanced. Without missing a beat, I fell into step with him, circling the beast to search for a weak spot. His hind legs were strong, loose enough to move, but stiff enough to work in his favor if I decided to jump at him.

B***d caked his fur, but there were no visible wounds. Not even a scratch. The wolf was much bigger than the others. His gray fur was speckled with black, and reddish tan spots grew over his back. He might not be related to the Gilberts at all.

But that was just how Raymond built his crew. He grabbed any wolf from any location, housed them, and trained them. I expected nothing less from a pack that had participated in a massive war with the vampires.

The war was over. No other threat existed. The fact that Raymond wanted my pack didn’t make sense to me, considering he had a compound of his own. What more did he want with my pack other than to house and feed more soldiers?

A growl of warning snapped me back into the present. Just as the Gilbert wolf advanced, I feigned left and darted right, snapping my jaws around his massive neck. He wouldn’t go down easy, but I could wound him. And that would give me the opening I wanted.

Growls vibrated my maw as I hung on for dear life. A wolf on my team hopped onto the Gilbert wolf’s back and dug his canines into its scruff. Another roar resonated in my jaw while I snapped harder. The beast shook violently, trying to throw us off.

The commotion drew the attention of a few Gilbert wolves. Soon, we were surrounded, jaws snapping and warning barks echoing in every direction. The Gilbert wolf spun around to fling us off, but we had a strong grip on his neck, proving that he wouldn’t get rid of us without a fight.

Three wolves lunged into the fold. The flurry of motion caught me off guard, inspiring my grip to lax slightly. That was my mistake—within seconds, I was pinned to the ground. A sizable brown wolf planted his paws into my shoulders and snapped at me, aiming for my throat.

Brown fur blurred as a wolf barreled into his side. He yelped as he hit the ground hound, whining when the wolf backed up and slammed into him repeatedly. His bones crunched under the weight of the assault, inviting the attention of the other wolves in the area.

He was down for the count. The wolf that had saved me marched toward me and planted a paw on my chest. Red fur like a gorgeous campfire. Yellow-hazel eyes hosting gray clouds. The scent of powdered roses, sweeter than ever.

Veronica, I thought.

Her jaw popped open in a wolfish grin. Hi, egotistical pr!ck.

What are you doing here? I yelled at her. How are you here? Where’s my mother? Where’s Mamaw? Where’s—?

She slapped my chest with her paw. No time. They’re coming back!

Three wolves descended on us. It didn’t take much for me to leap into action after that. With Veronica at my side, I was imbued with strength—a velvety feeling that reminded me of the first time I’d said her name.

Veronica.

It was like saltwater taffy. It was the candy that made me nostalgic for my childhood. It was everything that I wanted and more.

She flew into the fold without hesitation, snarling maliciously as she tore throat after throat.

I lunged after her and said, Don’t kill them—stun them!

Reluctantly, she relinquished the neck of one of the Gilbert wolves, her unforgiving eyes observing the squirming creature on the ground. It wasn’t a terribly deep wound. He would likely be fine.

She bonked him in the head with her paw until he stopped moving.

Behind us, two wolves from my team had handled the massive wolf and the other two Gilbert wolves. We were safe from battle.

For a second.

I shifted into human form. She followed suit and threw herself into my arms, climbing me like a tree.

“Jesus,” I g*****d. “Nica, chill. We’re still in the middle of—”

“Mate with me.”

I nearly dropped her. My muscles ached, strained and tired from battle, but my c0ck had other ideas. And this was hardly the time or the place for those ideas.

I stared at her. “You’re kidding.”

“Please, don’t make me say the line.”

“Nica, why?”

She cupped my face possessively while rubbing her thumbs along the edges of my mouth. The gesture was simultaneously soothing and arousing.

Again, not the time or the place.

But gods, was I tempted.

“I have to protect you,” she claimed. “I have to make sure you don’t die right now just because of me.”

I shook my head. “This isn’t your fault.”

“But it is my fault. If I hadn’t agreed to that stupid orphan program, then we wouldn’t have met like this. We would have actually—”

She choked. Tears filled her eyes, inspiring me to drift back into the trees where we could be hidden. I propped her against a tree and smoothed her hair away from her face.

“Sweet rose,” I whispered. “I love you.”

“I think I love you too.”

My heart swelled with pride. A new sensation rocked my form, causing my muscles to bulge with renewed strength. Was that the mate bond working? Or was that just because it felt good to hear her say it?

She tangled her fingers into my hair. “Bite me. Now. We have to do it. We have to protect you.”

“I can’t do it.”

“What?”

I set her on the ground. “I can’t, Nica. I can’t tie you to me forever just to protect my own life. That’s not even how it works. My father, he—” It was my turn to choke.

She grabbed my face. “Listen to me, you stubborn idiot. I love you. I want to belong to you. I want to take care of you. Would you just bite me already?”

My canines dropped as I sought her neck. The sweet release was on its way, a warm blanket of l**t that I knew would only make me want her that much more. We were right in the middle of a battle, but I didn’t even care. Her taste was all I needed. It would give me exactly what I wanted.

Though I was uncertain about everything else, I was more than certain about her.

She whimpered while cupping the back of my head. “Yes, like that…”

The tip of my canines grazed her skin, inspiring her back to arch. She pressed flush into me like that was where she belonged, her very being intertwined with mine in ways that were far from earthly. Howls rose in the distance, growls vibrated through the air, and the ground itself jolted with pain.

But she was steady. She was still. She was my anchor.

And forever from this moment, that was exactly how she would remain.

She dug her nails into my flesh. Pain radiated through my neck and a rush of energy forced me to plunge my canines into her throat. A pulsing drum thrummed in my mouth, hot b***d coursing over my tongue and down my throat. It was like a dam had broken between us—her mouth welcomed me as I welcomed her. We rotated energy, suckled eagerly, and whimpered lustfully as we consumed each other.

Her grip on me slacked, inviting me to cradle her body to mine. A boldness took hold of me—the kind of confidence that would encourage me to take the riskiest of moves. I could walk off the edge of the earth right now and feel nothing but the tangy, salty taffy that tapped my tongue every time I spoke her name.

Silky threads wrapped around my heart. They glowed with a resonant affection as they connected me to her, the strings attaching to the muscle that gave her life. Even now, as it pumped madly for me, it fought to stay strong, a force to be reckoned with now that I had her b***d in my system.

I snapped my head back and howled. My wolf jumped to the forefront and took over, skin splitting to release the beast hiding beneath. Veronica appeared next to me in her wolf form, her fur glittering with icy blue strands like tinsel on a tree. She stepped toward me, pawing at the ground, lowering her head to expose her neck to me.

The bite glowed in my vision. It wasn’t a trick of the light either. I could sense it in the way that wolves can sense company. She was mine from now on—and I was hers.

After she had tried to escape, I didn’t think I would ever have her affection again. I’d felt her hesitance in the basement, the way she withdrew from me when I told her that I killed her friend. She almost didn’t come back to me.

Until she did.

I nosed her throat, inhaling the scent of my saliva on her fur. I thought you would hate me.

She nuzzled into me. I could never hate you, Blake. I can’t live without you.

I killed your friend.

She whimpered. You killed an assassin. I would have done the same thing.

But he was—

She bopped my nose with her paw. Blake, shut up. I have something to tell you.

I scrubbed my nose. Save it. We have to get to my grandmother and complete the mating ritual before—

The bushes rustled. I shoved Veronica behind me and growled when Raymond appeared between the trees.

He looked smug as he raised his spear. “Well, isn’t this nice?”

The blade glinted with gold liquid.

What in the world was that?

“Two wolves with one spear,” Raymond joked darkly. “And don’t even think about running. I have you surrounded.”

A few wolves emerged from the shadows around us. They held their ground, keeping us tightly locked together with Raymond blocking our only way out.

Tanner, Neil, Jermaine, I projected. We’re stuck on the east side of the gardens!

Barks snapped in the distance. Raymond perked up, his smile fading slightly. “It’s fine. This won’t take long.” He looked at me with an evil expression. “I just need one shot.”

Two wolves snapped at my heels. They managed to wrestle between Veronica and me, separating us by the length of a human arm. As I lunged to regain control, the spear flashed before my eyes—and pierced the flesh of my mate.