by Crissy Smith
He needed help taking care of all those under his protection. But even after a couple months of searching he’d yet to appoint his second-in-command and it weighed heavy on his mind.
He’d thought long and hard about who would be good for the position. Every Alpha picked his own man to watch his back. His father’s man had stayed when Adam had taken over, but Adam knew he was more than ready to retire. Their agreement was that he’d train the new second, but he did want to spend more time with his family soon.
As he reached the desk, he turned on the computer and waited for it to boot up. As he sat, there was a knock on the door. He tried not to be annoyed at the interruption, but it was hard. He’d been hoping to have a little time to himself at the late hour. He wanted to finish going through the applications for his Enforcer. There was no one strong enough or dominant enough in his Pack, so he was going to have to bring someone else in.
The Council and several other Packs had sent recommendations but Adam hadn’t found anyone who he felt completely comfortable with. An Alpha had to have a second. This person would be Adam’s most trusted ally. And he’d been struggling to find the right match.
The knock sounded again, and Adam realized he’d gotten lost in his own thoughts. “Come in!” he called out to the guard that would be on duty.
Tasha Johnson had followed the guard inside the Alpha’s house and down the hall. When they’d reached a large oak door, she’d run her sweaty palms over her jeans. She hated to bring her family problems to the new Alpha, but she didn’t know where else to turn.
The low voice that told them to enter sent a shiver down her spine. She braced herself as the guard opened the door and nodded at her to stay outside. Procedure dictated that she wait while she was announced, then the Alpha decided whether or not to grant her an audience. Tasha wasn’t too worried. Like his father before him, Adam was already known for making time for members of his Pack. As the guard walked from the office, she peeked inside and got a good look at the new Pack leader.
She’d known Adam for years, even though they’d never been close, and had admired him from a distance for a long time now. The fact that she was about to face him alone made her stomach flutter with nerves. He was just so good looking and she did not want to make a fool of herself in front of him. Plus, she really did need his help.
Adam nodded as the guard spoke quietly to him before looking up and locking gazes with her. His light green eyes held hers, and her breath rushed out of her chest at the intensity with which he watched her.
Then he smiled and liquid arousal pooled inside her panties. She shifted to relieve the pressure, certain if she didn’t calm her body, he would be able to tell. Oh, the man just oozed raw sexuality.
When he stood and motioned her in, she didn’t miss the large bulge trapped in his jeans. The sight of his excitement did nothing to tame her own desire. She wasn’t sure if he was reacting to her or not, but a woman could hope. Secretly, she wished he wanted her as much as she did him. Not that she believed that would ever happen. No one with Adam’s looks or power would be interested in a nobody like her.
The guard left the office without another word and closed the door behind him. The Alpha’s scent surrounded her, and Tasha struggled not to close her eyes and breathe deeply. She had serious business to discuss.
“Bryan told me that you had a family emergency and needed my help,” Adam said as he gestured for her to sit.
Weak-kneed, Tasha gladly took a seat on the worn brown leather couch and clasped her hands in her lap. She should be concentrating on getting her sister back instead of her desire for a male. “Yes, Alpha. I need to talk you about my sister, Crystal.”
He sat in the chair across from her and leaned forward. “I’m listening. Whatever you need I’ll help.”
“I’m not sure if your father told you about my family when you took over the Pack.” She was so nervous, she could feel sweat bead on her forehead. She hated talking about her family and sharing the pain of her past.
She could see the sympathy in his eyes when he spoke. “Why don’t you tell me?”
Tasha took a deep breath before starting. “Five years ago, my father left our family. I’m still not sure where he went, but my mother didn’t take it well. Six months after he left, she ended her existence and left Crystal with me. She was eleven.”
He nodded but didn’t comment. She appreciated him letting her get the story out quickly. The sooner she finished, the sooner she could once again bury her pain.
“I’ve tried to do the best I can, but I don’t always understand what she is going through. My sister Crystal is a…non-shifter.” Tasha waited for his reaction. Being a non-shifter was an embarrassment for her sister. Tasha only saw how wonderful her sibling was instead of whether she could shift or not, and even though she didn’t understand, she always respected Crystal’s wishes. They didn’t tell many people because a lot of Pack members considered non-shifters lower class.
“Go on,” he told her gently, and she didn’t hear or see anything negative from him.
“Crystal’s had a hard time lately with some of the kids from school. That’s why I think she ran away.”
“Do you have any idea where she could have gone?” he asked, and Tasha just stared at him. Didn’t he want to ask questions about the non-shifter part of the story? He didn’t say anything more, instead simply waited for her reply.
“I do. I talked to her best friend and she told me that Crystal has been talking to a boy in the city over the Internet. She probably went there.” Tasha spoke quickly. “I have his name and number. I keep trying to call but no one is answering. He is older and I’m worried about what he might do to her.”
Adam leaned over and placed his hand over hers. “Give me the information and I will find her. I promise you that.”
Tasha could feel tears threaten to fall in relief. “Thank you, Alpha. Thank you.”
He squeezed her hand before releasing it. “That is what I am here for. Do you have the information with you?”
Tasha nodded and dug in her purse for her small notebook. Her hand still tingled from where Adam had touched her. “I wrote it all down.” She tore out a page and handed it to him, hoping he didn’t notice her hands shaking.
“I’ll work on this and let you know what I find out,” he told her as he stood. He reached down and helped her stand.
She bit back her moan when his touch caused her body once again to tingle. Her breasts felt fuller and heavy, her stomach tightened, and her sex clinched. It was unbelievable how much she could want one man.
They stood close, not quite touching, and stared at each other for several minutes. Adam shook his head and took a step back. “I’ll be in touch.”
Tasha turned and took a deep cleansing breath. She needed to get a hold of herself. It would be wrong to throw herself at her Alpha’s feet and beg him to take her.
“Thank you,” she murmured as she made her way to the door.
Hell, with wolf senses, he could do a lot more than just hear well. There was no doubt in her mind that he knew just how much she wanted him. Then again, she was also a wolf shifter. His need had saturated the room.
She left the room with a small smile on her face. It felt like way too long since she’d had anything to smile about.
Also available from Totally Bound Publishing:
What’s her Secret?: Designated Alpha
Crissy Smith
Excerpt
Chapter One
The scent of salt water hung heavy in the air as the full moon lightened the dark crashing waves. Piper Maxwell stepped from the dense woods surrounding the area and onto the cool sand of the beach. Her paws made deep impressions as she climbed down the small sandbank.
Her heart pumped a frantic tempo while her body trembled in anticipation. She’d spent a couple of hours playing alone and letting her wolf enjoy freedom. Now she would hunt down a completely different kind of prey from the rabbit she’d chased only an hour befo
re.
Though his time she had no intention of hunting the prey for dinner.
She caught a faint trace on the light breeze of someone close and lifted her head. She breathed deeply, her nose twitching, trying to determine the direction of the smell.
There, to the right.
Piper leaped down the rest of the incline and silently stalked toward her reward.
Even in her shifted form she kept her human intelligence. However, the more time she spent in her other form, the more she could feel the wolf’s instincts strengthen. She didn’t know whether it was normal for her to feel her wolf getting stronger. There was no one that she could ask the hundreds of questions she had.
The only connection she had with another shifter was the man who had turned her into what she was. After running for years, six months ago Joe had found her, and she’d had to kill him to protect herself and Jace.
If she hadn’t ended Joe, he would have killed her, Jace and anyone else who had gotten in his way. Still, although she knew she’d done the right thing, she had bad nights when she remembered her teeth sinking into Joe’s flesh. Sometimes the nightmares were so realistic that she almost believed he was haunting her.
She stumbled over a broken log and that jolt brought her attention back to the present. She wouldn’t let the memory of Joe ruin her night. She refused to go back and relive it again. While the human part of her was still mortified about what she’d done, the wolf was proud. Piper had protected her mate.
Satisfaction that she could—and did—defend her lover, had her wolf side gloating inside.
Piper pushed away the feeling by mentally blocking the thought. It had taken a lot of time for her to realize that she was able to do that.
To get control of herself once again, Piper shook her body and raced down to the shore. Her wolf enjoyed the exercise and she could use it to tire her animal out.
She knew she was going in the right direction by small catches of a familiar scent. Several yards down from where she’d started she slowed, darting a look around.
Panting, she stopped and listened.
She had no idea what her face would have looked like right then but she was smiling. The aroma of her quarry was close and she could even pick up the faint crackle from a fire.
She followed the trail up the beach farther back away from the water. The sand beneath her paws was soft and helped her move in silence. She was coming up from the south, down-wind, knowing the element of surprise was on her side. He had his back to her as he crouched over the fire poking at it with a stick.
Piper hunkered down and waited.
There was no chance that she would ever hurt this man. Jace Anderson was her mate. The word floated around in her mind and it was her wolf side that liked that word.
As a human she loved Jace as her partner. As a wolf she ached to claim him, for everyone else in the world to know that he belonged to her.
For several months she’d struggled to keep the animal instinct from doing just that. To claim Jace, she would have to bite him, and that scared her. She had no idea what consequences would come from her sinking her teeth into his flesh.
She would not let Jace be changed the way she’d been.
He straightened and tossed the stick in his hand away. Piper admired his strong, broad back. She loved to run her hands and tongue over his bulging muscles. Squirming, she bit down on her tongue to hold in the sound of her need that wanted to escape.
Piper was impatient for the man to turn toward her so that she could see his face. Considering her options, she came up with an idea. She thumped her tail against the log to her side in three quick beats before she froze again.
He turned, his gaze roaming around the fallen logs and darkness. She didn’t have long before he would spot her. The muscles in her legs bunched as she prepared herself. Just as he rotated to face her fully, she pounced.
In a well-practiced move, she leaped at his chest, knocking him back. His arms closed around her as the fell to the ground. She let out a rumble as he buried his hands in her fur and held her tight. She loomed over him, running her long, rough tongue over his cheek.
“Okay,” he said with a laugh and pushed her head to the side. “You got me.”
Pleased, she climbed off him so he could sit up. Settling next to him, she rested her chin on his leg.
“How was your run, baby?”
Jace liked to talk to her, even if she couldn’t respond back. She pawed his hand, wanting to feel it back on her.
“All right, I get it,” he said petting her side again.
Piper wiggled around until she was comfortably laid out listening to Jace’s voice.
“I got an email from Mitch today. He downloaded several files that he wanted me to take a look at.”
Mitch Ryan was Jace’s best friend whom he’d known since their Special Forces days. So far Piper hadn’t met the man, but she had the feeling that soon she would no longer be able to put off the introduction. Not that she didn’t want to meet him…exactly. She just knew she wasn’t what anyone would expect or want for their best friend. Fully aware of her shortcomings that didn’t even include the fact she turned into a freaking wolf, she was lucky to have Jace.
Jace loved her. Sometimes Piper still waited for him to catch on that she wasn’t good enough to him. She was certain when his best friend was there that Mitch would point it out to Jace as well.
Time was running out and she knew it. Jace had contacted Mitch, the best hacker he knew, in hope of Mitch being able to help in their investigation on her shifter origin. There weren’t many avenues they could search without drawing attention to themselves. Jace believed one hundred percent that Mitch would never betray them. Jace had saved Mitch’s life not once, but twice.
Her secret would have to be revealed to a stranger for the first time, if Mitch hadn’t already figured it out by what Jace had requested from him. She sure hoped that Jace knew what he was doing. As much as she wanted to find out about what she was, she still feared what would happen if the wrong person found her.
In the years she’d been on the run, she had met very few people like herself. The ones she had met had either wanted nothing to do with her or hadn’t given her the chance to talk to them before disappearing. It was upsetting that she’d had the chance at getting real information from someone who knew what she was going through and had ended up disappointed every time.
Jace strongly believed that the more they could find out about her gift, the better chance they had at protecting themselves. Piper hadn’t been so sure but over the last couple of months, Jace had talked her into looking more into it. She knew he was doing it because he loved her.
She went along with his plan for the same reason.
“I haven’t had the chance to look at them yet but I thought we could do it tonight before bed,” Jace continued talking, unaware of the reflection she was doing in her mind.
Each week when she transformed, she and Jace stuck to this unique ritual. She would head out right after dark and spend hours letting her wolf roam free. After that she would track down Jace and spend a good amount of time with him in her shifter form. Having her as a wolf with him was helping them both. Piper no longer feared that she would somehow hurt her mate, and Jace knew that no matter which Piper he was with, he was safe.
“Mitch also wants to come down. He can be here first thing in the morning.”
She jerked her attention back to Jace. She hadn’t met any of Jace’s close friends yet. The few co-workers that she and Jace interacted with daily were the only people that Piper was comfortable around.
She growled, showing her displeasure. Sometimes being right sucked. They were going to have to meet.
“I know.” He patted her side. “He’s my best friend. I’ve told you how much I trust him. If he sent those files and feels the need to come down, I’m sure there is a good reason.”
She pushed away from Jace and stood before stretching her legs out in front of her. She want
ed to shift so she was able to talk to Jace.
Presumably understanding what she wanted, Jace gained his feet and stepped back. “Go ahead.”
Piper hated this part.
In movies and fiction books the transformation back and forth between human and animal was shown to be effortless. That was very untrue for her.
It hurt to shift.
It also took several long minutes to complete the change.
She crouched low and closed her eyes tightly. Her shifting started with a tingle at the base of her spine. As her skin started to stretch, she cried out in pain. The sounds of her bones popping and reshaping were loud in the quiet night. After that, Piper never really knew what took place. It seemed like she zoned out from the hurt until she was on her hands and knees, gasping for breath.
“Shh.” Jace gathered her into his arms. “It’s over, baby. Calm down.”
Piper clung to him as she trembled in exhaustion. God, she hated what she had to go through anytime she wanted to shift into her wolf.
Jace whispered softly to her, which helped Piper get control of herself. She pushed her bangs off her sweaty face and peered up at him.
“Hi.” He smiled.
He was so handsome. Sometimes Piper would just stare at him, amazed that this wonderful man wanted her. “Hi.”
He chuckled and stood, helping her to her feet. “How do you feel now?”
“I’m fine,” she assured him. Her legs were still a little shaky, but she had more important things on her mind. “Did you really invite your…your friend here?”
Jace sighed before cupping her cheek. “He’s not going to hurt you.”
“But he knows…what I am?”
“I think he might suspect,” Jace admitted. “He knows what I’m looking for but I never told him it was because of you. He does know that I didn’t start looking into werewolves until after we moved in together.”
