Chapter 2: Alpha Wolf

Natalie knew she couldn't just wait around for whoever it was to come and get her. She needed to find a way out by herself. Realizing she had only one option left, she took a deep breath and headed for the door on light legs.

She always made it a habit to be cautious whenever she was in a strange place, even if she felt annoyed, woozy, or confused. Better safe than sorry. Although she couldn't help but admit that if these wolves had any intention of hurting her, they would have done so already, and they definitely wouldn't have left her to sleep on such a comfy bed in an extravagant room. But still, she always played it safe at all times.

Wrapping her hands around the door handle, Natalie tugged, but the door was locked. She chewed on her bottom lip in contemplation. She knew that in order to facilitate escape, she needed to make a fuss, needed to get her kidnapper's attention. So, taking in a well-calculated breath, Natalie yelled,

"Hey!" There was no response, so she yelled again, "Helloooooooooo!"

This time she knocked on the door as she did.

Still nothing.

Damn!

So, to sum up, she was in a strange place, around strange werewolves, and she was being confined intentionally. Well, now Raven was pissed. Being cooped up was enough to infuriate and agitate any werewolf.

"Hello! This is your prisoner speaking! Open the freaking door!"

There was a deep chuckle right before the turning of a key, and then the door slowly swung open. Natalie found herself face to face—well, face to chest—with what could only be described as a living, breathing gaint. She arched a brow at his cocky, vicious smirk, wondering what could be so amusing.

"You're awake. Great," the giant grunted, his voice sounding like grain.

"And just which curb might you be?" Natalie spat in response. No, this wasn't a good time to make jokes, but Natalie was sarcastic by nature, and when she was pissed off, the sarcasm took on a life of its own.

Mr. Gaint's smirk widened. "The curb sent to get you to our Alpha. He's ready to speak to you."

Natalie snickered at his sass. "And your Alpha is…?"

He winked. "Follow me to find out."

Oh hell, if things didn't get better from here, Natalie was a hundred and one percent sure she was going to strangle the next person she saw.

---

Natalie followed the gaint man through a passage that took them deeper into the beautifully designed mountain. Seeing the occasional turn-off, she realized that it was a network of tunnels that had been expertly and exquisitely built to confuse a stranger. She sighed, knowing that finding her way out of these tunnels was going to be difficult as hell.

Just like in the bedroom, the light bisque walls of the passage were so smooth they looked soft, and Natalie felt like swiping her palms along the wall as they went. She took a deep breath and shuddered. Raven was going crazy at the strange, unfamiliar scents hovering around the atmosphere and was strongly pushing her to explore the place.

"Mind telling me where I am?" Natalie asked, expecting nothing but a nasty retort from the werewolf in front of her.

"All will be revealed shortly," he drawled instead.

"How about how I got here?" Natalie tried again, knowing that even if she asked for ages on end, he would never tell her anything of value.

"The Alpha will explain everything to you," he replied, and Natalie almost laughed at how predictable he was.

Soon they came to a large brown door, which her soon-to-be-dealt-with bodyguard held open while she passed through.

They were now in a huge open-plan room that was surprisingly modern and stylish, with its oak cabinets, black marble countertop, and platinum appliances.

This was definitely a kitchen.

In the center of the large space was a long oak dining table, around which a small number of male and female werewolves hovered. All heads turned as she entered, and the crowd split, giving her a view of who sat at the head of the table. Her jaw almost hit the floor.

Dominic Motherfucking Crane.

If Dominic Crane was her host, then she knew for a fact that she hadn't come here willingly. Even if she had been on a night out and gotten hammered, no amount of alcohol would have distracted her from the fact that this guy was a terror.

He was kind of like a cobra Python snake; fiercely hostile, had a bad reputation, and was respected, admired, and feared all at the same time.

This had a lot to do with the rumor that he had challenged and almost killed a mature Alpha male at the delicate age of fourteen. A mature Alpha male who had also been his uncle.

If what Natalie had heard was correct, Dominic had been banished rather than earning the position of Alpha male when he hadn't had the heart to finish off his evil uncle after the fight.

The act had caused a divide in the pack, and those who hadn't agreed with the decision of the elder wolves had left with him. Together, they had formed their pack with Dominic as the Alpha male and earned their territory through battles with other packs.

So far, this particular Alpha was undefeated, which was probably because his wolf tended to turn wild during battles. And here she was with him.

She couldn't help but feel that the universe was laughing behind her back.

Given that she was in the company of, or more accurately, being confined by a person who wasn't at all mentally stable, you would think her wolf would be at least a little nervous. Natalie certainly was. But oh, not only was Raven agreeable, she wanted to rub against him enticingly, recognizing his scent as the one from the bedroom.

Oh, well, just great!

It wasn't like Natalie couldn't acknowledge that the homicidal nutcase was seriously hot. She could. She so could. The intense scowl and the sharpness in his light gray eyes seemed to only add to it. His t-shirt didn't hide his broad shoulders, defined upper body, or washboard abs.

Ripped, that was what he was.

Ordinarily, Natalie didn't much like the highlander look, but she found that she couldn't help but admire that physique. In addition, both her body and her wolf helplessly reacted to the power that was practically buzzing around him, cause he wore authority like a second skin.

To make matters worse, his hard penetrating stare was heating her blood rather than making her run scared even though his eyes had taken on a glazed, hungry look that both thrilled and startled her. It made Raven growl in excitement and the primal lust that gripped her as a result was so intense it almost hurt.

Damnit! Was she developing Stockholm Syndrome or something?

In any case, there was no way her inconvenient attraction to him would inspire her to react to him as her body and her wolf wanted. His reputation as a rake should be enough to ground her lust to a halt. Natalie was used to rakes. Her father was one, and he was a pain in the ass.

Betraying nothing about her appreciation of him as a male specimen, Natalie returned his full-on alpha stare with one of her own.

Oh, her wolf may be Kage, but she was still an alpha wolf.