Table of Contents
Title Page
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About Guarded by the Alpha
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue
What to Read Next
A Witch’s Call
Chapter One
Chapter Two
About the Author
Guarded by the Alpha
©2016 Heather Hildenbrand
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written consent of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are a product of the authors’ imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, either living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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About Guarded by the Alpha
Wolf shifter and ex-soldier, Zak Armsford, did his duty for his country with a passion some men reserved for their mates. Now that he’s a free agent, he’s not exactly white collar material. So when his friend calls with a protection detail, Zak is just hungry enough for some action to say yes.
That was his first mistake.
Turns out he’s been hired to protect the Princess of Fort Jericho herself. Del Santoni. The same girl who broke his heart all those years ago.
The girl who tells herself she’s way past caring about a rotten ex like Zak Armsford. Del’s got more important things to do, like preserve the history of her ancestors. A family line who’s been at war with the Armsfords for decades.
Forced together after years’ apart, the tension between them is thick enough to cut with a knife. And that’s exactly what someone’s trying to do. Knives. Guns. Claws. Someone is determined to take Del out of the picture. With this much at stake, Zak can’t walk away a second time. To keep Del alive, he’ll ruthlessly use his supernatural strength, his connections, and Del’s own secrets against her.
On the run, Del struggles to learn the truth. Is Zak her Fated Mate—or her mortal enemy? Because it’s not just Del’s heart that’s at risk. It’s her life.
Chapter One
3 days’ drive from Fort Jericho, Wyoming
Late-summer sun beat against the cracked clay ground, drying Zak Armsford’s mouth with every inhale as he crossed the parking lot. Several furtive glances were cast his way as he made his way past racks of potato skins and cases of beer. Zak knew by looking at the men he was the only shifter in the gas station who didn't have a machete concealed somewhere on his body. Then again, he was the only one who didn't need one.
Still, he eyed them, measuring risk as he inspected their faces. Anyone who made a life this far outside the borders of Fort Jericho wasn’t exactly a stand-up citizen of the shifter community. And because Zak’s spec-ops training had taught him where to look, he saw in a glance that almost all of them carried. Not exactly the most welcoming of places.
A pile of coins and a dark look at the squinty-eyed cashier yielded him a bottle of water.
“Anything else?” the cashier drawled.
Someone shuffled up behind him. Zak didn’t turn. It would only make them edgier.
“Nope.” He slugged back half the bottle then exited underneath the locals’ watchful glare.
An hour later, his GPS signal failed and he switched to a paper map, pulling off to study the route. He tried calling Kenneth, his friend and currently his boss at Shifters, Inc., but there was no signal. The farther away from civilization he got, the more the desert reminded him of his deployments overseas. It wasn’t a happy memory, either. Pissed he’d ever agreed to come here, he tossed the phone aside and muttered to himself about shitty technology.
His friend Kenneth’s offer was the last in a long line of freelance jobs he’d taken on since being discharged. Special forces, black ops…these weren’t the sort of job skills one could put on a white-collar resume. And he damn sure wasn’t going home. All that waited for him in Fort Jericho was more violence—the kind that lived outside the law—and shame.
Better to focus on the job and then get lost again. Kenneth had already made it clear that if he did well, there would be other opportunities. That’s all Zak wanted was a chance.
He’d been hired to rescue a team of archeologists that had become a target for some gang or another out here, but he had no idea who they were. Thanks to the spotty reception he’d had this entire trip, Orion International, the name of the organization that was funding the dig, was the only name he had.
He used his odometer to mark the distance on the directions. Two miles up a winding dirt trail, he spotted tents flapping in the wind. He pulled off and got out, leaving the keys inside his newly purchased armored Jeep for a fast getaway. Old habits died hard, it seemed.
Zak peered at the camp site around him and yanked his makeshift head covering—an extra t-shirt—lower over his eyes. The place was a dustbowl that swirled in every direction until it stuck inside every nook and cranny it could find. He was pretty sure when he showered later, he’d shake enough sand out of his pants and boots that he could lounge on it like a beach. For now, he wanted to locate his targets and get them out of here alive. Get paid. Then he’d find a nice hot shower and maybe a cold beer. This desert was bringing up too many memories better left buried.
The wind howled as he crept around the deserted camp. Empty tents, a cold fire pit … His file from Kenneth had said these guys were roughing it and that they’d already been attacked once. Maybe they’d seen him coming and were hiding out.
A noise sounded from beyond the last tent. Zak crept down the hill and found himself staring into a deep hole with ropes and ladders extending into the void. Damn. This was already more than he signed up for.
The noise came again—a scream—this time to his left. He darted that way, rounding the corner of a stack of boxes—a shipment of supplies from the looks of it—before stopping short.
Three bodies lay strewn across the dirt. Two men and a woman all way too young and unarmed for this kind of fate. He tasted something bitter in his throat at the sight of it and turned away, scanning. A fourth body—this one alive—huddled near an overturned supply box. She was covered in dirt and sweat but she didn’t make another sound as a black-clad figure loomed over her. Like she’d simply accepted her fate and waited patiently for the man to finish it.
Zak rushed forward but before he could intervene, the woman rose up and lunged with her shoulder angled, tackling the man at the knees like a football linebacker. She grunted with the effort and Zak wanted to high-five her, whoever she was, on a job well done. The figure stumbled backward but caught hi
mself easily under the woman’s slight frame. Zak intercepted the man just as he was about to land a hard kick to the woman’s ribs.
The two men went down in a dusty heap.
Shifter, Zak realized with a cruel curve of his mouth. Good. He didn’t want this to be too easy. He’d been itching for a fight for days now. Since the moment Kenneth had asked him to take this job. Since he’d known he would have to come so close to his childhood home and face the ghosts that remained. And because of that, he let the man land a punch in his gut. But only one.
The hot anger took over, washing through until it transformed every cell inside him. He let out a howl and the man eased his grip, scrambling away as he finally realized what he was up against. But it wasn’t going to be that easy.
Zak’s sense of smell and hearing sharpened to fine points, the ripple of skin and pop of bone splitting his clothes as the world around him turned to black and gray. He rolled away from the man and came up in a crouch on four paws just in time to see his opponent do the same. A coyote shifter.
Another howl came from close by and a second later, another coyote appeared behind the first. Even better, Zak thought. His wolf snarled and he launched himself through the air, a massive blur of black fur and claws against the dusty desert.
When it was over, the remains of the coyotes littered the ground, their blood baking in the sun. Not even close to a fair fight. But it was better than nothing.
He shifted back to human form and grabbed what was left of his pants but it was useless; his clothes were shredded. He looked up and found the woman from earlier finally on her feet and without all that golden hair hanging in her face. He blinked, something buried deep inside him stirring for the first time in years. He hadn’t seen golden hair and curves like that since—
His heart thudded as their eyes met. Not ghosts after all. This was the real thing. And he’d come face to face with it. With her.
“Zak effing Armsford. I should have known it was you all along.”
Her scent hit him harder than any punch, rich and sweet. “Del Santoni?”
She huffed and crossed her arms, her disdainful glare sending the message that she was just as spoiled as he remembered. And just as beautiful, but that didn’t matter.
“What do you mean you should have known all along?” he asked warily.
How could she have possibly known anything when he hadn’t known it himself? Kenneth never gave him the names of the team here. Although, if he had, Zak wondered if he’d still come.
She threw up her hands, her hair bouncing wildly with the gesture. “Stalking me. Trying to kill me—obviously.”
“Trying to—? I just saved your life. You’re welcome,” he said, his control already wavering. Five seconds with the only girl from his childhood that still haunted him at night and his temper was about to explode.
She had no idea. Standing here, treating him like all the others did. Treating him like a pariah. A criminal. A villain. And she had no idea he had thought of her every night since he’d left town ten years ago. Well, clearly she didn’t deserve to know.
He snatched his shirt off the ground and used it to cover his growing erection—because damn if she didn’t turn him on even faster than she had in high school.
“We don’t have time for this.” He stalked toward her and grabbed her wrist. “We need to go before more of these guys show up.”
“Whoa, easy big boy. Why would I go anywhere with you?” She yanked out of his grasp and backed away. The wind tossed her hair wildly and he was close enough now to see the glowing tan she’d gotten from living out here, exposed to the elements. She looked magnificent. And 100% untouchable. Just like she always had.
And now, she was his mark.
He’d been sent here to rescue the princess of Fort Jericho herself. Del Santoni, heir to the ruling pack—his family’s biggest rival. The daughter of the man who’d killed his parents.
Chapter Two
“I’m not going anywhere.” Del huffed and turned her back, striding away in the direction of the giant hole he’d passed on his way into camp.
Zak considered grabbing a fistful of that golden hair and dragging her to his rental, but at the last moment he decided against it. That would mean upsetting the careful balance between their families. If he did that, he’d almost surely have to go home to squash a war that had been brewing between them all for longer than his lifetime.
Zak was sick of war.
“Whatever, I did not sign up for this shit.” He turned on his heel and left her, marching back to his rental and rummaging in his bag for a new set of clothes. Clad in pants and shirt again, he snatched his phone from the passenger seat.
He dialed Kenneth and breathed a sigh of relief when the call connected. Static came over the line at the same time as Kenneth’s crisp “Hello?”
“It’s Zak. You’re going to need to send a replacement. I can’t do this, man.”
The line buzzed and crackled as Kenneth said, “What are you talking about? This is child’s play compared—”
“It’s not about the danger,” Zak snapped. He turned and watched through the dusty fog as Del disappeared down the ladder and into the hole. “Three of the four-man team is already dead. There’s only one left.”
“Shit,” Kenneth said. “Was one of them Delilah Santoni?”
Oh, now Kenneth wanted to be forthcoming with names. “Yeah, she’s alive. But I can’t work with her.”
“Ah, I see,” Kenneth said and even through the static, Zak heard a note of amusement that made him grit his teeth to keep from snarling. His friend didn’t “see” anything. No one did. Not when it came to Del Santoni.
Most people assumed his reaction to Del was a product of their families’ feud. Her father had killed his in a pack war that dated back a hundred years; a dispute over the land that legend said could only be solved by some mysterious artifact naming the true heir and owner of Fort Jericho. Zak didn’t give two shits about this mystery item that no one had ever found but both sides had pledged to honor should it ever surface.
His feelings toward Del Santoni were much more complicated than that. She’d always done something strange to him. Something he couldn’t explain and had never admitted, not even to himself. He was drawn to her. Even when she wasn’t around, back in high school, he’d sit in his room and consider whether the consequences would be worth ringing her doorbell just to get a glimpse of her face. Something about the sight of her always calmed the storm inside him. It also created a tornado all its own.
Fated Mate, his aunt had teased once when she saw him watching Del get into her family’s car after school. He’d just about bitten Georgia’s head off for that, and he’d made sure to never let her catch him watching the Santoni princess again. It only made him feel more like an outcast anyway. Wanting the one thing that ruined him.
In fact, he’d left after high school to avoid the entire thing. Gone to war. Slept in trenches. Marched through rivers red with blood. Killed the enemy. And none of that was nearly as unsettling as finding Del Santoni out here in the middle of this dustbowl somehow still as beautiful as the day he’d left her.
“Look, man, I hear you,” Kenneth was saying as the line crackled between them. “But this chick’s family paid me a mint to bring her home safely. Someone’s out for her and they aren’t letting up. Something about a priceless artifact. The last bodyguard we sent didn’t last three days. I don’t have anyone else.”
Zak swore.
“There’s something here about an artifact. Some statue or whatever. It’s worth a lot of money to the town if she finds it.”
Zak’s mouth went dry. He only knew of one statue Fort Jericho would care about. A statue that Fort Jericho’s alphas had pledged in blood to honor if ever actually found. But it couldn’t be. The whole thing was a myth.
“Look, just get the girl home safely and I’ll have someone waiting there to take over.” Zak’s silence must have driven home his point because Kenneth added, �
�I’ll double your fee.”
Zak sighed. It wasn’t about the money. But how did he explain to his friend that he didn’t want to go to Fort Jericho because he didn’t want to face a town full of condescending hypocrites who’d spent years ostracizing him for a crime he didn’t commit. Not for any paycheck. And especially not with that damned statue involved.
Then again, the price of walking away now and leaving Del out here to die—alone from the looks of the bodies littering the site—would be all-out war in Fort Jericho. And he’d have to go home then. He wouldn’t Georgia face that alone.
He snarled to make his point and then spoke through clenched teeth. “I’ll get her home and that’s it.”
“Deal,” Kenneth said just as the line went dead. Zak shoved the phone inside his pocket and strode toward the black hole where Del had disappeared.
Chapter Three
Footsteps sounded on the packed dirt above Del’s head and a second later, she sneered at the sight of Zak Armsford peering down at her. Butterflies batted against her ribs but she told herself it was fear. She’d suspected him or someone from his side from the moment the threats began.
He’s a criminal, she reminded herself. A roughneck looking for revenge. Didn’t matter that he was drop-dead gorgeous or like something out of an old, sexy photograph from her past.
“What?” she demanded.
“Look, I don’t like this any more than you do, but it’s not safe here. We can sort it all out in the car but we need to go,” he said, bending over her.
Del shook her head and clung to the ladder rung. “I’m not leaving with you,” she said and Zak glared. He made no move to climb in to get her, though, and for that she was glad. She wasn’t sure about fighting him on this rickety ladder.
She’d already retrieved what she’d come back for, though, and the truth was, she wanted nothing more than to get the heck out of Dodge. Those coyote thugs had scared the daylights out of her. Not to mention the sight of her friends’ bodies littering the ground when she’d climbed out of the dig site for the day. She’d taken one look and gone into full panic—so much that she hadn’t even thought to shift and defend herself against that jerk who’d cornered her earlier.
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