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Todos os capítulos de The Tyrant alpha: Capítulo 31 - Capítulo 40

486 Capítulos

29

Where’s he going with this? The back of my neck prickles. This isn’t good.“It’s peaceful.” And there’s no one to watch us come and go.He sighs. “You know, I put you guys up here to keep you away from—” He cracks his jaw. “From, uh, males who’d take advantage.”I never knew why he did it. We’d been living various places until one day, Cheryl told the four of us that Alpha said to pack our shit and move up the hill.Seems weird, though. To put all us lone females out here alone for our protection.Killian seems to read my mind. “My cabin’s straight down wind. Anyone approaches, I know.”Oh.“And I got the patrols overlapping up there.” He points to the crest of the ridge behind our cabin.I had no idea. Oh, shit. Why don’t we scent them? They can definitely smell us from that close. Kennedy smokes her pipe on the back deck.Killian cracks a slight grin. “We know you ladies cut loose sometimes up here.”“I—”He raises a hand. “Keep it up here, and we don’t have a problem.”“We didn’t—W

30

He smooths my hair, dropping a kiss to my hairline, the tip of my nose. I sigh and cling tighter, winding my arms around his neck, lifting myself so I can kiss him back.This is perfect. This is designed. This can make up for it all if I let go, if I just give in to the mysterious swirling rising inside me.He’s exploring, traveling from my lips to my temple to my jaw, as if he’s tasting the differences, as if he’s swept away, too.We’re thigh to thigh, the shawl bunched and tented as we twist to reach each other. I want more. I want to touch everything. I grab his shoulders to lift myself, but my leg is stiff, and I can’t get a good enough grip. I growl, frustrated.He chuckles. “I got you.” He picks me up and resettles me sideways in his lap, returning my hands to his shoulders and then massaging the thigh of my bad leg.He kisses me, eyes closed, as he cradles me, and I feel floaty and surrounded and gobsmacked. I feel held.He’s so strong. I run my fingers down his bulging arms, t

31

“We can’t take him just the three of us,” Mari says, her sweet voice quavering. “I’m gonna call Abertha.”And whoosh, the temper drops out of me like a row in Tetris. I’m not accustomed to anger. Big feelings aren’t my register. I’m calm, cool, and collected.And my roomies are the best. I’ve done okay with them, I think. We’re taught every day to bend and show our necks, but all three are making to move the couch. They’ve got my back.“You don’t have to. The kitchen door’s right there.” I hike a thumb over my shoulder. “And I don’t think he’s going to bust in.”Mari peeks outside. “He’s sitting on the edge of the porch again.”“Wolf or man?” Annie asks.“Man.”“What’s he doing?” Kennedy elbows Mari away so she can see for herself.“Staring at the moon.”They’re all looking to me, but I don’t know what to say. “I think he’s guarding us. He’ll probably go home in a little bit.”They seem skeptical.“What do we do?” Annie asks.“Go to bed. I’m sure everything will go back to normal in t

32

And if some drunk night when I’m away, Lochlan or one of his buddies decides to rally the unmated males, head up to the lone female cabin, and take what they want? What Eamon and a lot of the other elders have been telling them for years is their due?Well, I put ‘em all in one place, didn’t I? Like fish in a barrel.That’s why if I’m away, Tye or Ivo is here. And at the end of the day, they’re safer together with Una to keep an eye on them. She’s a good packmate. Keeps her head down. Does her work. She’s solid.But she’s not my mate.Yet, for some reason, all of a sudden, I want to fuck her so bad I can taste it. The mate bond is deeper than that, though. Right?The bond is a flower, rooted in two souls, blossoming with the first onset of a female’s heat. Or some such shit. I don’t pay a lot of attention during worship.I need answers. Which means I gotta go see the crone. Not my favorite thing. She speaks in riddles, and she always wants me to drink tea.I clear my throat, and Gael

33

A picture flashes in my head of the little gray creature licking her hindquarters, ignoring me while I balanced on Gael’s carcass. Her indifference pissed me off and calmed me down at the same time. Despite my rage, I could still sense her fear. She was being daring. And her fear made me rein it in.So maybe she’s not dumb, exactly. Maybe she’s the kind of brave that looks like stupidity from a certain angle. I’ve got more than a few fighters who are the same. They’re my best fighters.The narrow passage she made opens to almost a burrow. The scents smack my nose. Heat. Slick. Blood.Fuck.My wolf licks the matted stems. He howls. He circles the nest, nosing everything, flustered. Upset.It’s been strange lately, his feelings separate from mine, but in this, we’re of one mind.This is wrong.There’s a sense of loss. A memory that floats just out of reach. A word stuck on the tip of our tongue.She was alone here, in pain and need, and where were we?We want to fight someone, and there

34

“I do.”“Is Una Hayes my mate?”“Did you ask her?”Did I? I definitely did. Didn’t I?She said I wasn’t. She agreed with me that she wasn’t. I search my memory for the exact words. It’s never this hard with males. I hate semantics. “I don’t know. She said you fixed it. What does that mean?”“At the risk of repeating myself—did you ask her?”I grab a cookie and take a bite. It’s good.“Is there a reason you’re busting my balls?” I say after swallowing. The crone laughs, and she comes to sit across from me. She breaks a cookie in half and begins nibbling.“Besides entertainment value?” She leans back in her chair. “I’ll answer your questions if you answer mine first.”“Fine. Shoot.”“What do you remember about your first shift?”“Pain.” It’s a strange question, but I’ve been asked it before. I shifted at nine years old. That’s unheard of, and wolves are nosy.“What else?”“Blood. Screams. I thought I went blind for a while.”“Do you remember what happened before the shift?”“Not really.

35

“No doubt.” I’ve seen her wolf. She’s sleek and silver, and she’s got uncommonly sharp fangs.“What I’m trying to say is that I thought it’d undo. Repair in good time. I thought the Fates would prevail. But I was wrong. You aren’t like other males.”“Yeah. I’m a flip-shifter.”“I’m not talking about that. You’re—” Her face scrunches like she’s searching for the right words. “You’re getting in your own way.”“Yeah? Maybe so, but I’ve done all right so far.” I abandon the tea and lean back.“Have you?” The crone sinks back in her chair, mimicking my posture. “Is everything right?”What kind of philosophical bullshit is that?“Listen, I came with a question. Are you gonna answer it? Is Una Hayes my mate?”“You honestly can’t tell.” Her brow creases. There’s pity in her gray eyes. “Yes. She was.”Every muscle tightens, and I push back, the chair screeching on the hard wood. “What do you mean—was?”“Sounds like she told you. I pulled the mate bond out of her.”I bound to my feet. “You what

36

I’m done with this vague, hippie shit. I am going to get my mate. My body warms. A faint, strange pulse tick tocks in my sternum.My wolf raises his snout as we race back to camp, and I swear words ring in his howls.Took you long enough.I’m almost back to camp when another scent stops me in my tracks. It’s rich. Delicious. I bound off through the underbrush, and it doesn’t take long to discover the source.Darragh Ryan is hauling a fresh kill on his shoulders. A buck. Eight points.Before I shift, my wolf leaps up and snaps a chunk off the haunch. So fresh.When I rise to two feet, I wipe blood from my mouth. “What are you doing down here?”Darragh’s twisting his neck to check out the damage. “Did you really have to? Couldn’t wait for me to dress it for you?”“You don’t do it for me. You do it for Mari.”Mari’s the mate he avoids claiming by living feral in the foothills. He says it’s ‘cause of the age difference—he wants her to have the chance to grow up before taking on his old as

37

8UNA“Killian’s not in camp.” Kennedy rushes through the screen door, letting it slam.Annie’s having a panic attack on the sofa. She’s wrung her skirt to the point it’s wrinkled and damp with palm sweat. She’s not going to be able to make the mushroom run. She was cool yesterday, but having Killian howling outside all night long jangled her nerves. And they’re not steady on the best of days.“Where is he?” I ease my backpack over my shoulders. I’ve carefully wrapped the jar of morels in a thick quilt.“Old Noreen didn’t know, and I didn’t want to ask anybody else. I don’t smell him anywhere, though.” She squeezes Annie’s shoulder.“I—I’m s—so sorry.” Annie’s eyes are tormented. She hates herself like this, but once the poison gets in her head, you can’t talk her out of it. Abertha’s calming tea doesn’t help. Even Kennedy’s weed doesn’t do much but blunt the worst of it.“Nothing to be sorry about. We’re a team, right?” I hold out my fist.She wrinkles her forehead.“You bump it wit

38

I straighten my spine and turn on the radio. It only gets a few staticky stations, but I find one that plays Top 40, and I sing along. I love human music. More melody, less howling.I’m in town before the commercial break.Chapel Bell has three stop lights, six cross streets, and a town square in the grassy expanse between northbound and southbound Main Street. That’s where the farmer’s market shares space with a weathered bandstand. There are also permanent shops on the street facing the park. An ice cream shop with a life-sized cow statue out front. A vintage jewelry store.It’s a nice town. Very peaceful. No sparring or wrestling.I park and check my phone.Here. At the honey table.My belly swoops. This is it. This is going to be the biggest deal I’ve ever made. Who knows? Maybe the beginning of a mushroom empire. I force myself to steady my breathing.I’m not new at this. I’m a business woman. I’ve got almost a thousand dollars in the trunk of an oak tree that says it.And I am n

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