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CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
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The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
I don’t know how long I stay there, curled up against Caleb’s lifeless body. I cry until there are no more tears, and then I just stare into the dark of the empty pack house.My body feels limp, like a wrung out dish towel. My mind is racing with thoughts, but none of them seem to really go anywhere. Just days ago, I was the Luna of the pack, preparing to mate with my beloved, then proudly wearing his claiming mark.Now, I’m not the Luna anymore. I don’t know what will happen to me, or my position within the pack, now that I don’t have Caleb around to protect me.My hands close around the amulet. It was warm before, alerting me of Caleb’s death, but now it’s just cold, hard stone. I can still feel the magic spell deep within it, but it seems to have gone quiet.Some time passes, and then I hear the door pushing open. It’s Malcolm and Miranda and most of the rest of the Flagstaff pack. They switch on the lights, gasping when they see me and Caleb in the lounge chair
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
Malcolm declares himself the new Alpha, which makes Miranda the new Luna. She stands by his side, one arm around his waist, and even though we just finished the funeral ceremony for our last Alpha, she can’t hide her grin.I look over at Arnold, hoping that maybe he knows of some rule or ritual that can help me, but even though he looks rather annoyed at having Malcolm as his Alpha, he just gives me an apologetic shrug. There’s nothing he can do. “Now,” Malcolm says, pointing at me, “I think there was the issue of what to do with this Omega traitor.”“I’m not a traitor,” I say through gritted teeth. “Caleb and I were betrayed. You worked with the Rogers Lake pack to set us up.”“Now, we all know that can’t be true,” Malcolm says with a roll of his eyes. “For one thing, you and Caleb have that magic amulet, so you can’t be betrayed.”“It doesn’t work that way,” I try to explain, but Miranda interrupts me.“Plus,” she says, “we all just spent the whole day hanging out
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
My jaw drops. I can’t believe what I’ve just heard. Malcolm, mere minutes after declaring himself the pack’s new Alpha, has proposed that I become his Luna.I have no idea how to respond, but fortunately, Miranda takes that issue off my plate by flying into a shrieking rage. “What!? Malcolm!” Miranda rushes to his side, looking like she wants to slap and kiss him simultaneously.“Calm down,” Malcolm says, putting his hands on Miranda’s shoulders to soothe her. “You’re still my mate. One and only. Forever.”“I know,” Miranda coos. She kisses him, sloppily, and I feel almost sick at the show they’re putting on. “But it is possible for an Alpha to take multiple Lunas,” Malcolm continues. “I found it in one of Caleb and Arnold’s old books.”“Is that true?” I ask, turning to Arnold.He nods. “It’s unusual, since most werewolves, once mated, feel a strong bond to their individual partner. However, in some circumstances, an Alpha may have multiple Lunas.”“Yeah,” Mal
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
Malcolm looks shocked, like he never expected me to choose death over a life spent in his thrall. Then, once the surprise fades from his face, a vicious sort of excitement takes over. Beside him, Miranda looks like she’s starving, and the only thing she wants to eat is me.“Well,” Malcolm says, narrowing his eyes at me, “you heard her. Flagstaff pack, as your Alpha, I give you both permission and command - KILL HER.”After that, everything starts moving incredibly fast. I feel the world around me go blurry as the pack moves in, all lunging at me together.For a moment, I feel sure that I’m about to die. The Flagstaff pack is full of tough, strong wolves, and they have killed much bigger prey than me. These are experienced hunters who know how to take down an elk together. The difference is, though, that I’m not prey.I’m a wolf.In an instant, I shift, feeling the same crackling magic ripple through my body as it did the first time. I land on all four feet in the
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
Night falls, and I’m still somewhere in the forest, looking for a place to settle down.I can see the lights of the city twinkling below, and I make my way closer, wondering if my parents are still at the little apartment where we started out living in Flagstaff.But as I approach the door, lurking in the shadows, the reek of death hits my nose. A streak of blood, visible through a window, leaves me certain.My parents are dead.I had suspected as much, back in the pack house when I chose death over staying with Malcolm and Miranda. Usually, a wolf’s pack bond with their family members would be enough to override their willingness to die. But I was so sure that I had nothing left to live for, and I realize now that if my parents had been alive, I would have wanted to survive if only to avoid putting them through the devastation of losing their only child.I prowl around the edges of the apartment, not wanting to go in. I can smell Malcolm and Miranda here, and I know the
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER THIRTY
I dream.In the dream, I’m sitting beside Caleb on the porch of the cabin. He looks older, a few more lines around his eyes, some lighter hairs peppered through his dark curls, but he looks happy.I hear laughter. In front of us, running around on the grass, are two cubs. Our cubs. A boy and a girl, currently chasing each other back and forth across the stream, splashing as they jump.“I always wanted to bring my own cubs here,” Caleb says, reaching over to take my hand. “They’re adorable,” I say, stroking his hand with one finger. I’m wearing a ring, I notice. One with blue gems in it.“I’m so glad Arnold figured out how to split the amulet,” Caleb says, noticing me admiring the ring. “Now everyone in our family is protected.”I see two dark stones, each hanging around the necks of my children. No one can ever betray them. They are the future of this pack, intelligent and kind, born to be leaders. Neither of them will grow up like I did, ridiculed and ostracized.
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
We head south, away from Flagstaff and down through the deserts of Arizona. It’s so much different from the pine trees and mountain trails of Flagstaff. I see tall stone mountains, brown with bare rock, not covered in a green carpet of trees.On the back of Nash’s motorcycle, I watch the desert fly by. Tall saguaro cacti dot the landscape, their arms reaching toward the sky. They’re so much shorter than the massive trees on the Flagstaff mountains, but somehow they look just as majestic.I could make a life in the desert, I think. After all, what better place is there for a lone wolf like me? Most big towns and cities already have an established pack of wolf shifters, but this area is so remote and lonely that I could get by without anyone bothering me.Leaning against Nash, letting the wind tangle my hair, I try to imagine life on my own as a desert dwelling lone wolf. I already know that in my wolf form, I can fend for myself, even if my white coat won’t afford much camoufla
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
We get up early the next morning. I feel much better, especially after sleeping with the rabbit pelt, but Nash looks like he slept miserably. I notice him tucking the pelt into his motorcycle helmet as he packs up and gets ready to leave.“Here,” he says, tossing me my own helmet. It’s silver, not black like his, and smaller, so it’ll fit me. “When did you get this?”“When I was out for burritos last night.”“Oh. Thanks.”Nash just flashes me a tired smile in response. We check out, dropping our cactus keychains in a metal box that’s already turning hot in the morning sun. On the way down south, we ride all the way around Joshua Tree National Park, desert wind whipping my hair back as I take in the almost alien landscape. Squat, gnarled joshua trees fill the fields, and the horizon is taken up by bone white mountains rising in the distance. It’s beautiful, but to be honest, I’m ready to get out of here. Despite the fact that I wear a protective amulet, the anger
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