The Alpha’s Tempting Mate

Ropes of unease twist in my stomach. There’s something going on here I don’t like. Not at all.

I watch, my mind whirling as Maria Jose coaxes my mother, docile now, into taking her pills. I consider my options. Wolves don’t generally require a doctor’s care, as we heal quickly and rarely suffer disease, but there may be some kind of shifter physician in the United States. I just don’t know.

I kiss my mother on the head and leave for my room, which doubles as my office. In the days since Sedona left, I’ve been making lists and rearranging the plans and ideas I had for the growth and modernization of Monte Lobo. Most of it requires money, which means I need to investigate the finances of the pack, figure out what we have available to spend. The trouble is, I’ve asked the council for the accounting five times and have yet to receive anything.

I also haven’t decided what to do about the damn council. I need to strip them of some of their power, punish their actions against me. But before I do that, I need to truly understand all the dynamics afoot here. I don’t have any support from the pack members, and why should I? I haven’t been here to lead them. And without the pack, with the council calling me as crazy as my mother, I could easily wind up in that fucking cell again. Or dead. But that part doesn’t worry me. It’s thoughts of my mother’s safety that has me cautious. The council can be vicious-I’ve seen it before.

I remember once, as a boy, smelling the blood from their meeting room as they called pack members in for untold crimes. There was secrecy and fear to the proceedings. Whispers and terror. My father had been away. When he came back, I remember him shouting at the council, arguing with them for hours, but nothing happened.

Had he been as ineffectual as I am against them? Why? How long has this form of pack rule been in place on Monte Lobo? Because it sure as hell isn’t wolf nature. No other packs in the world are run this way, as far as I know.

But just because things have always been this way doesn’t mean I can’t change them. I just need to be smart. Have a plan.

I rub my face as I walk to my room. It’s the master suite of the hacienda, the room that used to belong to my parents. They gave it to me when I returned as an empty symbol of my alpha status.

I stand at the window and stare out. It’s hard to get my brain to focus on anything besides Sedona. I still imagine I smell her on my fingers, taste her on my tongue. The image of her smile, her lovely long legs, that perfect body, plays in front of my eyes over and over again.

I hear her husky voice. Dream of claiming her over and over again, all night long. My days are an endless torture of Sedona memories.

And I can’t stand that I haven’t even spoken to her since she left. I don’t even know her last name. Her phone number. Her address. But it’s better this way. What would I say, after all? I’m sorry my pack held you prisoner. I never want to do that to you, so have a nice life?

I sigh and stab my fingers through my hair.

A knock sounds at my door. “Come in.”

Don Santiago opens the door and saunters in.

I turn back to the window. “When will you produce the traffickers?”

“I can’t get them by phone. It’s possible the Americans already took care of them. I have the address of their warehouse if you want to check it out.”

I’m both surprised and suspicious by this offer. Why wasn’t it made initially?

“Where is it?”

“In el D. F.” Mexico City. That tracks with what Sedona told me.

“When will you look in on your female?”

I jerk around, surprised by the assumption in the question.

“If she’s pregnant, you’ll have to take responsibility for the child.”

Pregnant. I’m sure the blood drains from my face. Why hadn’t I considered the possibility? Sedona could be carrying my pup right now. She may need me. These past few days I thought I was doing her a favor by staying away, but what if I’m actually not owning up to my duty to her? If she’s carrying my child, I owe her my support, my protection.

Sedona, pregnant. Oh fates. The thought makes me want to run and howl, whether from joy or desperation, I’m not sure. All the itchiness to be near Sedona comes screaming to the surface. I’ve been fighting it, but now, with this thought of my beautiful female alone, abandoned and pregnant, I can’t stay still.

I fly into motion, packing a suitcase before I’ve even admitted to myself what I’m doing.

“I will take you into el D. F., I have an errand there,” Don Santiago says casually. “You can check out the warehouse before you go.”

I’ve just been played and I don’t give a shit. I can’t think of anything except getting to Sedona. I need to find her, verify she’s safe, and make her every promise she deserves. I will be there for her. I will provide. Protect.

Whether she wants it or not.

Sedona

I park my Jeep outside Garrett’s apartment building and get out. It’s a Friday night, so Garrett should be working at his nightclub, but with a new mate, he might be home. I’m not here to see him, though. That’s the point of coming on a Friday night. I want to talk to Amber, his mate. Because in addition to my mind twisting around and around what happened between Carlos and me, I have a new anxiety. A huge one. A looming question I would have to wait a week or two to get an answer on… unless I were psychic.

I enter the building and take the elevator up to the fourth floor. I know Amber’s apartment is next door to Garrett’s. I’m assuming they’re staying there, since Garrett lives with Trey and Jared, and I doubt Amber wanted in on that frat party.

I scent Amber inside the door to the left of Garrett’s and I knock. I hear her on the other side and I don’t catch Garrett’s fresh scent. “Amber? It’s Sedona.”

The door swings wide. “Sedona.” Amber’s blonde hair is pulled up into a French twist and she’s still wearing her work clothes, looking sexy in a silk blouse and pencil skirt. Seeing her like this, it strikes me again how she’s not the kind of female I would have thought Garrett would pick. She’s sleek and refined where he’s all rough edges and brute force, but her warmth is real as she invites me in.

“Garrett’s not here, but he was going to try to come home early.”

“That’s okay. I came to see you, actually.”

She doesn’t seem surprised. I guess psychics know when you’re coming.

“Do you want something to drink?” She walks over to the refrigerator in her bare feet and pulls it open. “I don’t have much, but there’s some ginger ale Garrett brought over. And beer.” She looks quizzically over her shoulder.

“Ginger ale sounds great.” I accept the frosty bottle and Amber grabs an opener out of a drawer. She pops hers first and passes it to me and I trade her for the one in my hand.

I look around her apartment. It’s sparkly clean but not neat, if that makes sense. No dirt or dust, but there are papers scattered on the desk and a pair of high heels unceremoniously discarded by the front door.

“So, um… how are you feeling?” Amber asks.

Ugh. This is definitely not the conversation I want to have, even though I know she’s genuinely asking and seems to care about my response. I draw a breath and launch into why I’m here. “I know I didn’t want you to, um, use your abilities to tell me anything about Carlos, but…” I swallow. It’s harder to say than I expect. “I just wondered if-I mean, I started worrying-” I walk around her living room, not able to face her directly.

“Yes.” She whispers it, and it flips every hair on my arms.

But I don’t even know if she’s answering the right question. I whirl around and stare at her.

She flushes, uncertainty creeping over her expression, as if a direct mirror of my feelings.Content is property © NôvelDrama.Org.

“Yes, I’m pregnant?” I blurt.

She flushes deeper and nods. “That’s what I saw.”

I clutch a chair back to keep from falling over. The room spins around me and the floor possibly tilts as well. I don’t know what I think or feel, but my gut believes she’s right. My gut knew two days ago, I just didn’t allow myself to listen.

Crap!

“Are you sure?”

The doorknob turns and I curse inwardly as Garrett’s hulking form comes through, carrying a box of takeout food. “Sure about what?” His voice is sharp.

Of course he heard, he’s a shifter.

“Did you tell him?” I ask weakly, still holding onto the chair to stay upright.

Amber’s gaze darts from me to Garrett. “No.”

Garrett stalks over, crushing the box of takeout in his hand. Someone who didn’t know my brother is a giant teddy bear to the women he loves might be afraid. His pack members would straighten up to see the silver glint in his eyes. I’m not scared, though, and neither is Amber, although I sense her discomfort. She steps forward to salvage the box of food, shifting it swiftly to the counter before all the contents dump from the mangled cardboard.

“Tell me what?”

I force myself to breathe.

Amber doesn’t answer, probably respecting my right to tell him or not.

My hand moves to protect my lower abdomen and Garrett’s eyes widen.

“Oh fuck.” He falls back and drops onto the couch. “I need to sit down.”

“Me too,” I manage.

Garrett scrubs his face. “Oh kiddo. I should’ve thought of this possibility. I was just so worried about getting you free and your mental state.”

“I know,” I croak. “Me too.”

Garrett lifts his face from his hands and jumps to his feet, stalking over to me. He takes both my elbows. “I’ll stand by you, whatever you decide to do.”

I tug away from him, hating the close scrutiny. I appreciate what he’s saying, but my mama wolf growls at the suggestion I do anything but keep my pup.

But will I be able to keep him or her?

I moisten my lips. “Wh-what do you think Carlos will do if he finds out?”

My brother’s lips tighten and his chest expands and I know he’d do anything in his power to protect me or my pup from any threat. “If he even tries to take that pup from you-”

“You think he will?” I cut in.

Garrett’s lips tug downward. “Every mated male wolf needs to protect his female. Multiply that need by one hundred for an alpha male. And an alpha male with a pregnant female?” Garrett shakes his head. “It would take an entire pack to keep him away.”

I should have let Garrett hold onto me, because the floor tilts sideways again. My blood plummets to my feet. I can’t put Garrett’s or my father’s packs at danger. But maybe Carlos won’t find out. He hasn’t come looking for me yet-hasn’t made any attempt to contact me. Maybe I can keep the fact that I conceived a pup a secret from his pack.

“I’m moving you into this apartment building. It’s where I wanted you from the start,” Garrett declares.

I remember the argument. I’d begged him to let me stay in one of his buildings closer to campus-and further from his watchful eye. He’d relented, because even though he’s an overprotective alpha, he’s also a sweetheart.

“I-” I start to argue, then change my mind. Better not to tell him what I’m thinking. “Okay.”

Garrett’s shoulders sag. “I’ll get the pack over first thing tomorrow. Don’t worry-they’ll do everything. You don’t have to worry about a thing, okay, kiddo?”

I nod, but I’m already heading out the door. “Okay, thanks. Thank you, Amber.” I turn the doorknob.

“Maybe you should stay in my place tonight,” Garrett says.

I knew that was coming.

“No, I’ll be fine. Tomorrow is soon enough. Good night.” I leave before he can think about it any harder.

Carlos may come looking for me, and if he does, I need to be long gone from Tucson. In fact, I’m safer if no one knows where I am.