Share
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY
Related chapters
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY ONE
“WHAT!?” Barrett’s eyes look like they’re going to burst out of his skull. “Zach and I are in love,” Orsina says with a wide grin. “And we are going to be mated.”“No, no, no no no no no.” Barrett crosses his arms and shakes his head. “I’m on board to make a truce with the wolves, and see if this blessing thing is real, but I draw the line at a member of my own clan becoming mates with one of them.”“But that’s how we end this thing once and for all,” Orsina pleads.“This has gone too far. I won’t have it.” Barrett reaches out to take Orsina by the arm and pull her back toward him. “We’ll let your new wolf friends go, but we bears are going back to our camp site to talk this over.”“No!” Orsina yanks her arm back from Barrett and stands beside Zach. “I’m not leaving him.”“Well I’m not allowing this,” Barrett says. “Just because you kids found some cool rock down by the stream doesn’t mean we’re going to change how we do things after hundreds of years.”“But doing
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY TWO
We all stand in reverent silence for a moment. Then Norah, the wolf who appeared to explain the origins of the carving and its blessing, nuzzles against Orsina. At the same time, Arlo pats his heavy paw on Zach’s shoulder again.Before our eyes, the wolf and bear disappear, their bodies flowing into small images now visible on Orsina and Zach’s skin. On Orsina’s upper arm, the image of a wolf, and on the exact same place, Zach has an image of a bear.The carving is no longer. Now, Norah and Arlo and their legacy live on in the strange, beautiful tattoos marking Orsina and Zach.Bears don’t do claiming marks as part of their mating ritual - Orsina told me that, when we were stuck in the prison trailer together talking - so this seems to be taking their place. Zach and Orsina are now sealed into their mated bond, marked with and for each other.“Well then,” Barrett says, coughing awkwardly. “I can’t say I fully understand everything that’s just transpired, but as the Alpha of
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY THREE
Things are looking like they’re going to settle down in Montana, so Jasper and I decide it’s time to go home. But we don’t want to head straight back to the Santa Cruz tree house. It seems like Isaac and Regan have things well under control there, so we hop in with the San Diego caravan and plan for some relaxing beachside time.Jasper and I still haven’t actually sealed our mating bond, but our friends Sarah and Nash take it upon themselves to get us a beautiful hotel along the way, a massive penthouse all to ourselves, overlooking the granite cliffs and blue lakes of Glacier National Park.“Don’t worry about keeping up with the rest of the caravan,” Sarah tells me, pressing the lacquered wood hotel key into my hand. “We’ll have everything nice and ready for you when you get home.”“Take as much time as you like,” Nash tells Jasper. I can see in both of their expressions that Sarah and Nash are so happy for us, especially me, finding a new mate after the heartbreak of losing
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FOUR
SIX MONTHS LATER“Regan, are we all set for the self defense overnight this weekend?”“Absolutely, boss!”I smile and head back down the hallway toward the bedroom wing that Jasper and I now share. We’ve converted my old living suite into a temporary guest space for clients who want to stay for a more immersive experience. After six months, we have our training business off the ground. Howling Wolf Tactical Trainings has become a huge success, especially now that we take human and pet dog clients as well. People come from all over the country to work with us, training guard dogs, search and rescue canines, and even the occasional service dog for paralympians and other outdoor, active service dog teams. “How are things going with this overnight?” Jasper asks me, pulling on his workout gear as he steps out of the shower.“Regan says everything is all set up,” I tell him. “The first night, they’ll be sleeping up here, and then we’ll do a beachside campout with tactical e
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE
It’s been a long morning out on the beach. We’re training wolf shifters, which mean we’re a bit more casual and friendly with them, more open about who we are, than when we’re with human clients. But this group has been slow to warm up to us. They’re from a wolf pack out in Maine, sent out by their Alpha to train with us, and it’s clear that not all of them were too thrilled to spend a few weeks out in California getting run ragged by Jasper and me.“It’s miserably hot out here,” one of the shifters whines as he grabs a towel and wipes his face. Santa Cruz isn’t exactly a tropical paradise, but there’s no shade out on the beach, and it’s probably warmer than wherever they’re from in Maine.“We can go for a swim in the water later,” I promise him, handing him a fresh water bottle.“That’s too cold,” he says.“Not in wolf form,” I tell him. “Have you ever gotten in the ocean as a wolf?”He shakes his head. “Always figured the salt water would be bad for my fur. Plus, the o
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY SIX
Zach and Orsina don’t have any idea who the wolf shifters were who tried to attack them in Serpent’s creek.But I think I do.“Let me see that again,” I ask, gently taking Zach’s arm and inspecting the burn from the wolfsbane weapon. “You said it smelled bad?”“Awful,” Zach says, wrinkling his nose at the memory.“I couldn’t smell anything,” Orsina says with a baffled shrug.“That’s because it was wolfsbane,” I tell them. “It’s an incredibly dangerous magical herb that can kill or severely weaken werewolves. You were lucky to make it out alive.”Zach and Orsina seem to share my relief at their well being. They lean in on each other, arms around each other’s shoulders.“There’s only one wolf pack I know about that’s running around with wolfsbane weapons,” I say.“Really?” Orsina’s eyes go wide. “You know those guys?”“If it’s who I think it is, yeah. It’s Sarah’s old pack out of Flagstaff, Arizona.”“Your Luna’s old pack!?” Zach looks angry, worried, like h
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY SEVEN
Orsina seems relieved that the plan ends up being to take them back to Montana. I can’t blame her. We leave Regan and Isaac in charge of Howling Wolf, which is much easier to do this time for a handful of reasons. One, I’m tired of dealing with the unhappy training clients from the pack out in Maine. Isaac, with his gruff, silent warrior personality, will probably be able to handle them better.Second, I know they’ll do a great job. Now that we’ve been working together for six months, I trust Regan and Isaac with every aspect of the business. I know that Regan had some past problems with Sarah and Nash, but all of that seems like water under the bridge, and since it didn’t even involve me, it’s easy enough to just be Regan’s friend and business partner.They see us off, waving from the driveway as Jasper, Orsina, Zach and I head out on the road, making our way back toward Montana.“I can’t wait to get to Clara’s,” Jasper says, watching as the mountains and cliffs of Montan
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY EIGHT
JASPERWeston leads me and Zach over to a small path that leads into the woods. I’m genuinely surprised that he wants to spend time with us. But we’re about the same age, and now that he’s taken over as Alpha, maybe he wants to demonstrate strong leadership by forging these bonds.There’s a clearing in the woods with a little campfire already burning. Weston sits down on a log and starts handing out hot dogs and sticks to roast them on.“Thanks for this,” I say, still feeling a bit uncomfortable about this. Up until very recently, Weston and his crew were engaged in a blood feud with me and Zach, trying to kill us and destroy our ancestral cave.But I’m grateful for the second chance. I’m not sure what my parents would think of me having this sort of “guy time” with a bear shifter, but we’re the generation in charge now, and we get to forge a new path forward. “So,” Zach says, biting into his charred hot dog, “how’s it been, taking over as Alpha? I always figured it mus
Latest chapter
- The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED
- The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY NINE
- The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY EIGHT
- The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY SEVEN
- The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY SIX
- The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY FIVE
- The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY FOUR
- The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY THREE
- The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY TWO
