All Chapters of Blood of the Totem: The Alpha's Forbidden Mate: Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

Glass exploded inward from the skylight, and Hart Santino's first thought was that his night just got significantly worse than dealing with overdue student loans.Three massive figures crashed through the ceiling and landed in the conservation lab like they'd done this a thousand times before, which honestly, given how smoothly they moved, they probably had.Hart stood frozen behind his workstation, still holding the stupid wolf totem he'd been documenting for the past hour, and watched these absolutely giant men brush glass off their shoulders like it was confetti.The alarm system went on immediately, and Hart's brain finally caught up with his survival instincts."Oh shit," he said eloquently, and bolted for the door.He made it approximately three steps before the biggest one appeared in front of him, which was impossible because he'd been across the room half a second ago, but apparently physics had taken the night off along with building security."Give us the totem, little huma

The pack meeting hall looked like someone had crossed a medieval throne room with a corporate boardroom and added way too many people who could probably rip Hart's head off without breaking a sweat.Hart stood next to Cole on a raised platform, acutely aware that every pair of eyes in the room was fixed on him with varying degrees of hostility, curiosity, and what he really hoped wasn't hunger."This is a terrible idea," Hart muttered under his breath, and Cole's hand pressed briefly against the small of his back in a grounding manner."They need to see you're real and that you're under my protection," Cole said quietly, then raised his voice to address the assembled pack."Most of you already know why we're here, but for those who don't, the Original Bloodline totem has activated after three thousand years, and it chose a human as my fated mate."The hall erupted into chaos. Wolves shouted over each other, some in languages Hart didn't recognize, and the energy in the room has become

Dawn broke over the neutral territory like the world's worst morning, all grey sky and cold wind that carried the scent of violence waiting to happen.Hart stood between Jethro and Lewis, wrapped in a jacket that smelled like Cole and trying very hard not to throw up from anxiety and the residual heat symptoms."This is barbaric," Lewis said for the fifth time, filming everything on his phone because apparently supernatural secrecy was less important than documentation."We should call the actual police, or the FBI, or I don't know, animal control?""The police can't help with werewolf law," Jethro said, his eyes fixed on the clearing where Cole stood waiting, already shirtless despite the cold because apparently werewolf duels had a dress code."And if you try to leave this area before the duel is finished, the perimeter guards will knock you unconscious and drag you back."Hart's wrist throbbed where the totem mark was under his skin, and he could feel Cole across the distance.The