by Alanea Alder
“The bastard had her chained in one of the mine shafts in a pool of ammonia to mask her scent. I bet he wasn’t counting on Nic and I being able to sense her,” Ashby said, staying close to Rebecca.
“I’m okay. I’m okay,” Rebecca kept repeating.
“Aleks, step back, son, let me look at her,” Dr. Claybourne said. Aleks shook his head and refused to move.
“Aleks, if she’s hurt, I need to make it so she’s not in any pain. You don’t want your mate in any pain, do you?” the doctor asked in a very calm voice. Aleks shook his head and leaned back.
“Are you hurt?” he asked Rebecca gently. He pulled the blanket back carefully. The wool fibers stuck to her back, and she cried out when it was removed. Dr. Claybourne immediately covered her front with a sheet. Aleks stood shaking with the need to destroy.
“Who are you working with?” Bran demanded, punching the hyena in the face again. The hyena just laughed.
“Take me to Arkadia and put me in jail and I will tell you all I know. The clients, the routes, everything,” he said, spitting blood on the ground. Grinding his canines, together Aleks looked at Bran and then Liam. He knew that they wanted to taste this man’s blood and shake his body and watch the life slip away as much as he did. He looked back over to Bran, and the wolf Alpha gave a terse nod. It would be worth the sacrifice to get information. Aleks turned back to see Rebecca standing before the prisoner holding the sheet around her. Out of the folds of the sheet, she brought her right arm up pointing a gun to his head.
“Poor little human. I have already made a deal with the Arkadion,” the hyena said and cackled.
“Poor little hyena. I’m the Alpha Mother and I haven’t agreed to shit. It will be a cold day in hell before I let you anywhere close to where my children will be. You will never, ever get them, or any of Arkadion’s children,” she said flatly and then pulled the trigger. At such close proximity the back of the hyena’s head exploded out and his body fell. Rebecca continued to shoot his body until all of the bullets were gone. The sound of the gun clicking filled the night air as the gunshots echoed off of the trees. Everyone stared at the tiny woman in the middle of the circle. Rebecca looked up and saw that two other hyenas were held captive, one held by a wolf and one held by a lion.
“Kill them,” she said softly.
“Yes, Alpha Mother,” the men replied in unison and ripped the heads off the hyenas they had been holding.
Rebecca looked up and Aleks flinched at her cold gaze.
“Aleks, I want to go home now,” she said softly. Swallowing hard, he stepped forward, lifted her up careful of her injured back, and carried her to the SUV. It was time to go home.
Chapter 18
“Aleks, I can walk,” Rebecca said for what felt like the one hundredth time as Aleks carried her into the diner. It had been over a month since Aleks brought her home after her kidnapping. She kept catching him look at her as if she would suddenly fall. The odd part was she was convinced that her violent side was a turn on for him. Weird.
He sat her down at the counter. Everyone was subdued. Word of what happened with the hyenas made it around town, and now everyone was walking on eggshells around her. The only ones who treated her normally were Ma, Kate, Ashby, and Nicholas. Rebecca sighed. She had had enough.
“Are you okay, baby?” Aleks asked when he heard her sigh.
“I’m fine! You hear that, everyone, I am fine, hunky dory, peachy, totally and utterly fine!” she said loudly to everyone in the diner. “I got kidnapped and stripped naked and whipped, which believe me, hurt like a son of a bitch. But I am healing. So please stop acting weird around me. I can’t take it anymore!” she yelled.
“Oh sweetie, we’re not worried about your physical injuries, we’re worried about your mental state. You killed that man almost execution style. We just want to make sure you’re okay,” Liam said, coming up behind her and giving her a gentle hug.
“Is that all? All this time y’all have been acting as if I were about to go all postal on your asses because of that?” Rebecca started laughing. Kate smiled.
“I told y’all she’s fine. I would have done the same thing and it wouldn’t have bothered me one bit. But I wouldn’t have shot him. I would have ripped him apart with my canines starting with his groin,” Kate said. Bran and the rest of the men winced. Unlike Rebecca Kate’s wolf had her up and around much quicker than her human friend.
“I also told you to act normal, but you didn’t listen to me,” Ma said, handing Rebecca a cup of coffee.
“We expect it out of you and Kate, Ma, but Rebecca is so…” Connor started but then caught the eye of all three women.
“I’m so what, Connor?” Rebecca asked.
“Itty-bitty,” he said simply. There was silence. Rebecca then Kate started laughing. The atmosphere in the entire diner changed and brightened.
“I may be itty-bitty, but no one, and I do mean no one, threatens my children or this town. If they do, they die,” Rebecca said simply, blowing on her coffee. The men just stared.
“He threatened our children?” Aleks asked, growling and grabbing Rebecca to put her in his lap, which seemed to be a growing habit with Aleks. He wasn’t happy unless he had her in his arms at all times.
“Watch my coffee,” she said, growling when he jostled her mug.
“There’s that tiny growl I love,” Ashby said, walking into the diner with Nicholas. “Have they started acting normal yet?” Ashby asked, walking up to kiss her on the cheek.
“Yup, evidently they thought I was unbalanced,” Rebecca said, holding her coffee to her chest. She turned to Aleks.
“Yes, they said that even if I escaped they were going to figure out a way into town and wait until I was pregnant and then cut me open and take our son,” she said, giving a sniffle. “I wish I could shoot him all over again!” Rebecca exclaimed. Aleks just nodded.
“Speaking of which, where on earth did you get that gun?” Liam asked.
“Nic gave it to me,” she said, taking another sip of coffee. All eyes swung to Nic, who shrugged.
“I got it from Roman, Gabriel’s acting second-in-command. I told him I needed something so that I could help in the fight. I like a nine millimeter,” he said simply.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t let him live to get information. I just couldn’t chance him escaping,” Rebecca said to the group quietly.
“Don’t worry, Rebecca. Gabriel said they are still working on the hyena that we captured trying to get away at the mine. He’s slowly getting more information,” Rian said with an evil grin.
“I know a lot of people are rethinking their views on smaller shifters thanks to you, Ashby. Your size worked to our advantage, and you never stopped trying to save Rebecca. That took a lot of courage,” Ma said, smiling at Ashby. He blushed furiously.
“I would do it again, except maybe the being in the snow naked. I swear I froze my…” He looked around and blushed again. “I was cold,” he said, blushing. Everyone laughed.
“Okay, now that everyone is acting normal, there’s something I need to do,” Kate said, standing. She looked down at Bran, who nodded and smiled. Kate walked over to Rebecca and took her coffee, placing it on the counter before taking her hands.
“Rebecca, I don’t remember much from that night at the club, but I do distinctly remember you jumping in front of the hyena who was about to stab me in the heart. You put yourself in harm’s way to keep me safe. You have also shown that you can think and plan, even when getting tortured. And you have also shown that you will do whatever it takes to keep our children and our town safe. I’d like to offer you my allegiance.” She knelt down and tilted her head in a submissive manner. Ma gasped. By showing submission, Kate, and through her Bran, was giving Rebecca the pack.
Rebecca’s eyes filled with tears. She slid off of Aleks’s lap and placed both hands on Kate’s shoulders.
“You are the sister I never had. I swear to always take care of you and the ones you hold dear,” sh
e said before placing her lips on Kate’s neck. Both women sighed happily.
“Dude, that was hot!” Emmett exclaimed. Pa reached out and cuffed him upside the head.
Rebecca and Kate looked at each other and laughed. Rebecca went to help Kate up until both women realized that it wasn’t going to work and they started laughing again. Rolling his eyes, Aleks offered Kate a hand up.
“I’m so happy. Everyone is safe and acting normal! Whoo hoo,” Rebecca said, dancing around the diner. “Come on, Aleks, it’s time for my doctor’s appointment,” she said, heading to the door.
“But you’ve already had your stitches out,” he said as he watched her turn in circles trying to get her arm in her other coat sleeve. She paused and looked up at him.
“It’s not for stitches. I get the results back from my pregnancy test today,” she said matter-of-factly, tilting her head.
Aleks blinked once, then twice before his eyes rolled up in his head. Liam jumped out of the way as Aleks went down and hit the floor. Her eyes went wide before she threw both hands in the air and started dancing around as if she were boxing.
“Yes! Yes! Yes! And round one goes to Rebecca. It’s a KO, ladies and gentleman.” She danced around until Liam, laughing, picked her up and swung her around like a doll.
Rebecca laughed. Yup. Instructions for being mated to a bear. Fuck them, feed them, and keep them off balance. So far she was off to a great start.
Epilogue
“We lost the girl.” The hyena whined and cowered in fear at the man’s feet. The gentleman spun from where he was looking out the window and frowned.
“That makes me sad. Had you not gotten greedy and demanded the entire town, the Arkadion would have probably given you his blood,” he said in a perfectly cultured voice. The hyena started to shake.
“If you lose control of your bladder on my antique Turkish rug, I really will kill you. As it is, I’ll need to air it out to get rid of your stench from groveling on it. Now there’s an idea. Payne,” he called out.
The dark figure stepped from the shadows.
“Make a note that for future meetings with the hyenas that they stand on plastic. It will keep both of us from ruining the carpet. I had to replace the last one from when I tickled his spine. We couldn’t get the blood out,” he said, licking his lips.
The figure nodded.
“Please don’t kill me,” the hyena cried.
“I almost forgot you were there, old boy. Yes, the girl. We will try for her again later. I have a new target for you. It’s so easy, even a child could do it.” He chuckled.
“There are twin infant boys in Arkadia. Their blood is most rare, almost completely gone from this world. I want them. Bring them to me.” A rough hand reached down and dragged the hyena out the room screeching in fear. The gentleman smiled, turned his back on his guest, and resumed looking out the window.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alanea has been writing since she could hold a crayon and has the paper to prove it. She loves reading almost as much as she loves writing and can be found at any given moment either in front of the computer or on the couch with her iPad reading some of her favorite authors. She believes that love truly conquers all and that everyone no matter what, deserves a chance at that love and a place they can call home. She loves to hear from her readers, please visit her website or follow her on Facebook.
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