Alpha Wolf Read online

  “Maybe you should ignore them.”

  He raised an eyebrow, even though he knew she couldn’t see him in the dark. “Weren’t you the one telling me I needed to answer them?”

  “That was before you started moving inside me.”

  He caressed the side of her face with his knuckles. “I will be right back.” He got up and went to the bathroom. A couple seconds later, he returned with a warm damp washcloth. Gently, he cleaned her and then himself. As he tossed the washcloth into the dirty clothes basket, his phone started ringing again.

  “It has to be important, or they wouldn’t keep calling you at this hour.”

  Draven picked up his jeans and pulled his phone out of the back pocket. “Mason, you had better have a good reason for calling at this hour,” he growled as he tossed his jeans into the basket with the washcloth. He put the phone on speaker.

  “Justin Lars was seen near Marla’s house, and now Kathy Lenton is missing.”

  “It could be just a coincidence,” said Kelly. “Kathy’s mom was in the bar a few days ago having lunch with her sister. They were talking about how Kathy ditched school so she could go to the movies with Ian Simmons. Kathy’s mom was upset because she doesn’t think Ian’s good enough for her daughter.”

  “I thought about that too,” said Mason. “But we found Ian a couple of blocks away from Kathy’s house. He had been beaten and was barely conscious when we found him. He did say Justin and Darius Perrow grabbed Kathy. Justin tried stopping them, but someone attacked him from behind. The last thing he remembers is Justin and some other guy, he had never seen, kicking and stomping him.”

  Kelly gasped. “Kathy’s barely sixteen.”

  “Call Cooper, Pops, and anyone else to else to help search for Kathy. I’ll be at my shop in fifteen minutes.” Rave ended the call. He moved across the room to the dresser, opened a drawer, and pulled out a pair of jeans. Jerking them on, he walked back to the bed. Grabbing his boots, he sat down and started pulling them on.

  Kelly scooted to the edge of the bed and got up. She walked over to her open bag. She rummaged through it, grabbing various items as she found them.

  “What are you doing?” asked Draven. He stared at her.

  “What does it look like I’m doing?” she asked, throwing a pair of jeans on to the bed. She turned and looked at him. “I’m going with you.”

  He shook his head. “No, you’re not.”

  She turned and blinked at him several times. “Excuse me! I know I must have heard wrong. Surely, you didn’t just tell me no.”

  “That’s exactly what I told you. It’s too dangerous. You need to stay here where it’s safe.”

  Kelly’s eyes narrowed as she stared at him. “Fine! I’ll stay here, but I’m still getting dressed. I’ll call mom and get her to help me put together coffee and some kind of breakfast to you and the others.”

  Draven nodded. Pride filled him. She was thinking about the welfare of others in the pack. “That would be good, but I don’t want you leaving the house.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Fine. I won’t leave the house.” She turned her back to him and started dressing. As she pulled her t-shirt over her head, she felt Draven’s hand on her shoulder.

  Gently he turned her around and wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  She smiled up at him. Nothing’s going to happen to me. Mom is probably already on her way. I’ll stay here, but you had better make sure you return to me.”

  He kissed her. “I will.” He stepped away from her and grabbed a t-shirt out of the closest. As he put it on, he watched her finish dressing. A few bruises still marred her skin, but they didn’t take away from her beauty. If anything, they were a reminder of how strong she really was.

  Kelly looked up. “What’s wrong?”

  “When I first realized you were my mate, I thought you were beautiful, but I also thought you would be my biggest weakness.” He walked over and pulled her into a bear hug. “I thought because you were human, you wouldn’t be strong enough to stand up to the she-wolves or be able to take care of the other duties you would have to as the alpha female.”

  “I know not having a wolf makes me a huge liability.” She tried pulling away from him.

  Draven tightened his hug, refusing to let her go. “You are my biggest weakness, but it’s not because you’re human.”

  She looked at him. “What do you mean?”

  He heard the raw emotion in her voice and saw the unshed tears in her eyes. “You are my biggest weakness because I will do anything to protect you and our pups that you will one day carry, but that also makes you my greatest strength. I also realize what I have with you is a true love—what it’s supposed to be between mates. I would give my life to protect you and our pups. One day, when you’re ready to deal with the monster I’ll put in you, I will place my claiming mark right here.” He kissed the spot at the base of her neck. “I love you,” he whispered.

  Kelly wrapped her arms around his neck. “And when you’re ready, my monster wolf and I will mark you, but it will probably be after I whip every she-wolf who even dares to look at you. You’re mine, and I love you too.”

  His phone pinged.

  “You need to go. The pack needs its alpha,” said Kelly, stepping out of his arms.

  He looked at his phone. “Your mom will be here in about thirty minutes.”

  “I’ll start some coffee. I saw a couple of large thermoses in the pantry the other day.”

  “I’ll send Cooper over to stay with you and your mom.” He typed a quick message. “Stay in the house.”

  She smiled. “Don’t worry about me. Find Kathy, and stop Justin and his cohorts before they hurt anyone else.”

  Draven kissed her again. “I’ll see you in a little while.”

  “You can count on it.” She followed him to the kitchen locked the door after he left. She turned and looked around the room. The house didn’t feel the same without Draven.

  She pulled her new phone out of her pocket and sent her mom a quick text. “Bring the thermos. I’m going to start brewing coffee. I think the men will need it.”

  “Baked chocolate chip cookies last night. Bringing some for breakfast. Think we deserve them.”

  “Sounds great.”

  “Be there in about twenty minutes.”

  “K. Be waiting.” Kelly walked over to the where the coffee pot was. She laid her phone on the counter next to it and went to work filling the coffee pot with water, a new filter, and fresh coffee. While the coffee pot was doing its thing, she went to the pantry to get the thermoses.

  She grabbed them off the shelf and was almost back to the counter when the back door swung open and crashed against the wall. Shards of glass showered the floor as Justin Lars burst into the house.

  Kelly screamed before she could stop herself. Throwing both thermoses at him, she ran over to the counter and grabbed her phone. It was wrenched out of her hand almost as soon as she touched it.

  “I don’t think so.” Justin threw the phone against the far wall.

  Kelly watched it bounce off the wall and shatter when it hit the tile floor.

  Justin laughed. “Can’t have you calling anyone and spoiling our fun.”

  The stench coming from him caused Kelly to gag. It was all she could do to keep from throwing up. “Get your stinky ass away from me!”

  “Why would I want to do that when I finally have you where I want you.”

  She tried pushing him away from her. “I don’t want to hear your lame B-movie lines either. They were stupid in high school, and now they’re just pathetic.”

  “You’re not going anywhere.” He jerked he closer to him. He frowned. He sniffed her and growled. “You whored yourself with him.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She tried jerking her arm out of his grasp.

  “You slept with him!” yelled Justin. He shoved her away from him.

  Kelly landed hard against the c
abinet. The pain in her side was intense. She gasped for air.

  Justin’s eyes turned black. “When I finish with you, Draven Grayson will not be able to stand the sight of you, especially when my pup is growing in your belly.”

  Kelly looked at the counter for something…anything she could use as a weapon. The block of knives was too far away, but the coffee pot was directly in front of her. Knowing she had to get away from Justin, she grabbed the glass carafe. It was barely half full of hot coffee, but it would have to do for now.

  She turned and swung it as hard as she could at Justin. The hot glass carafe hit the side of his face and shattered.

  Justin roared.

  Pieces of glass were embedded in the side of his face. Everywhere the hot coffee touched his skin, dark, angry red marks were left behind.

  Kelly shoved him out of her way as hard as she could, and ran for the open door. She was almost outside when a fist hit her square on the right jaw about two seconds before she saw the man standing there.

  Her vision slowly turned black around the edges as her eyesight narrowed. Stars danced in the darkness. She fought to stay conscious, knowing it would be the only way she would be able to escape. If escape was even possible. She prayed Draven would still want her as a mate if Justin had his way before she could escape.

  Someone grabbed her arms and jerked her back to her feet. She felt them start to pick her up.

  “Put her down,” growled Justin.

  The shifter holding her laughed, but there wasn’t anything funny about it. His laughter sent cold chills down her spine. He gave her a hard shake, causing her teeth to rattle and her jaw to throb. “Look at her. She’s a human. She beat you and almost escaped. Son of an alpha maybe, but you are not alpha material.”

  Kelly knew the voice. Her brain didn’t want to focus, but she pushed to find the memory.

  Justin growled. “She belongs to me. You don’t get to touch her unless I say you can. I’m the alpha. Not you. Not Draven. Me. The pack belongs to me. She belongs to me.”

  Kelly suddenly found herself dumped onto the floor. She scooted away from the voices, but when she tried to stand, the room started spinning and she felt sick to her stomach.

  “All right Mr. Big Bad Alpha, I challenge you not only for the alpha position but for the human female.”

  Kelly swallowed, hoping the bile would stay in her stomach. She remembered how she knew the voice. It was the shifter who had followed her outside the bar the first night she met Draven.

  The shifter lunged at Justin, but stopped as suddenly as he started. He growled as he took several steps backwards. “What the hell are you doing with that thing?”

  Justin’s laughter was a mix of a wolf’s snarl and the maniacal laugh of a crazed killer clown from the horror movies that were popular during the seventies. “My daddy taught me a few things, and one of them was to always win, no matter how you had to do it. Too bad he couldn’t have taken care of Draven instead of getting himself killed. I’m not making that mistake.”

  The other shifter snarled. “Coward! Put away the gun and face me like a wolf.”

  “Don’t call me a coward! I’m the alpha. I’m in charge. You will do as I tell you,” yelled Justin.

  Kelly scooted as close the cobwebs as she could. She desperately wanted to get up and run away but her body refused to cooperate. Knowing Justin was crazy made her more desperate.

  Where do you think you’re going?” Justin kicked Kelly, putting most of his strength into it.

  The first kick landed on her hip, the second kick hit the side of her stomach.

  She cried out as she rolled into a ball to protect herself as best she could.

  “Not much of an alpha,” said the other shifter.

  “Shut up.” Justin waved his gun at the shifter.

  “And even less of a man. You’ll beat up a human female, but when it comes to a wolf fight, you have to use a gun.”

  Justin turned back to the shifter. He pointed the gun at him. Weren’t you the one who shoved his fist into her jaw. You caused a lot more damage than I did.

  “At least I prevented her from escaping. That’s more than I can say for you.”

  “And I stopped her from crawling away. Justin’s eyes changed colors.

  “I’ve had enough of this.” The man lunged at Justin.

  Two gun shots echoed through the small space. Kelly closed her eyes and whimpered. It was tempting to just give into the inky black surrounding her. A loud thud caused her to open her eyes. Her jaw dropped as she tried to scream, but not a sound came out of her mouth.

  The shifter’s lifeless eyes stared at her. Where the other eye should have been, was a large hole in the shifter’s skull. Blood and pieces of something else slowly dripped from the wound.

  Something in Kelly’s brain snapped.

  Darkness claimed her.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Draven watched Ian Simmons carry Kathy into the house. Her parents followed. They weren’t happy about Kathy turning to Ian for comfort, but they could only support Kathy and her mate. Draven promised the Lentons he would take care of the wolves who kidnapped her. He also told them he would pay a visit in a few days to talk with Ian and Kathy.

  Something about the kidnapping didn’t make any sense. Kathy said Justin told a shifter she didn’t know to take her and release her when he got the text. Kathy also said the shifter didn’t hurt her physically, but he told her if she tried to escape, no one would recognize her by the time he finished beating her. After driving around town for what felt like hours, she said the shifter received a text and immediately told her to get out. She said she shifted and ran for home.

  “Kathy’s home safe, but you don’t look happy.” Mason walked over to where Draven was standing.

  Draven shook his head. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

  Mason shrugged. “Honestly, nothing Justin ever did made any sense. I’m just glad Kathy’s home safe, though her parents don’t look too happy about their new son-in-law.”

  “They’ll get over it.” Draven frowned. “Fuck! This was a decoy. Justin’s after Kelly.” He turned and ran for his truck.

  Mason yelled to the others to get to Draven’s house as he ran after Draven. He slid into the passenger seat and slammed the door closed.

  Draven spun the tires as he sped down the street. His phone rang. “What is it?”

  “There’s a body in the middle of your kitchen floor and Kelly’s missing.” Sara frantically shouted.

  A deep, low menacing growl erupted from Draven. He dropped his phone as he struggled with his beast of a wolf. It wanted out. It wanted to destroy any and everyone who stood between it and its mate.

  “Focus. You can’t shift, not in the truck while you’re driving.” Mason picked up Draven’s phone. “Mom, are you alone?”

  “Cooper’s here with me, but he’s not going to be for much longer. He said to tell Draven the body is the shifter who attacked Kelly the night of her homecoming party.”

  Draven took a corner without slowing down. The truck groaned against the stress of sliding around the corner. It fishtailed several times before straightening out.

  “We’ll be there in a few minutes.” Mason glanced at Draven. “If this is how it’s going to be when your mate’s threatened, I don’t think I want one.”

  Draven glared at him with eyes that were not exactly human anymore.

  “Hey man! Eyes on the road.”

  Draven returned his attention to the road. “Mates good,” he growled.

  We find our mate, snarled Draven’s beast as it slammed against the mental barriers Draven had erected.

  She should have been safe in our den.

  Eliminate problems and mate be safe.

  Draven knew exactly what his beast meant. Justin Lars and everyone who followed him had just been found guilty and sentenced to death. Nothing was going to stop him or his wolf from having their revenge. He and his beast were in total agreement about that.


  He turned into his driveway. Slamming the truck into park, he and Mason were out of it before it even stopped moving. The coppery odor of blood filled the early morning air. Draven slowed slightly as he reached the house.

  Sara sat on the front porch. She was pointing a finger at Cooper. “Don’t you dare shift and run off. I need you here, and Kelly’s going to need you.” She looked at Draven and stood up. “You don’t want to go in there.”

  Draven felt his heart stop. “Kelly’s in there, isn’t she?” He couldn’t believe Kelly’s own mother lied to him. He started to push his way around Sara.

  “Kelly’s not in there. Cooper and I checked every room.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “If you go in there, you’re going to lose it and Kelly doesn’t have the luxury of waiting hours for your beast to settle down and come to its senses.”

  Several more vehicles pulled into the driveway and the yard.

  “Sara, are you okay?” asked Pops as he pulled his mate into his arms.

  She shook her head. “Kelly’s missing. Justin Lars was here. His scent is strong in the kitchen.”

  “We’ll find her.” Pops looked over her head at Draven. “There’s a couple of old cabins up at River’s Bend. There’s not much left of them, but Justin’s grandparents owned one of the cabins. I have it from a good source that’s where he’s going.”

  “What source?” asked Draven.

  “Moose,” Pops yelled over his shoulder.

  Moose walked into the center of the wolves gathered, dragging Marla with him.

  “Let me go.” She tried pulled her arm out of his grasp. She looked up at Draven. “Would you please tell him this is not the way to treat the alpha female?” She smiled at him.

  Draven’s eyes turned black and his features hardened. He walked over to Marla, stopping a couple of feet from her. “Where did Justin take Kelly?”

  She stared at him.

  “Answer me!”

  Marla would have fallen to her knees if Moose wasn’t holding her arm. Most of the wolves gathered did bare their necks to their alpha, even though the alpha command wasn’t directed at them.