Charming the Alphas (Hex My Heart, #5)

by Talina Perkins

  Lucian, Marabelle & Zane

  TALINA PERKINS

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  CHARMING THE ALPHAS

  HEX MY HEART SERIES

  Copyright© 2015 Talina Perkins

  Excerpt from HEXING THE ALPHA

  copyright© 2015 Talina Perkins

  WWW.TALINAPERKINS.COM

  Edited by Em Petrova

  Cover Artist: Bookin' It Designs

  eBook ISBN: 9781311674319

  All rights reserved. No part of this work may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the permission in writing from the Author.

  DEDICATION

  To all my readers.

  I am truly blessed you joined me on the journey. Thank you!

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I loved diving into Lucian, Marabelle and Zane’s story and I know I couldn’t have written their story without the help of a fabulous team. To my husband. Thank you! Your encouragement and support means the world to me. To my wonderful editor for suggesting Marabelle get to tell her side of the story, for editing it, and for plotting with me. Thank you, Em, for helping me shed my fear in order to find Marabelle’s and discover her inner woman. Lucian and Zane thank you, too!

  Thank you to my four kiddos. You guys are the very foundation for my success! You prove to me that dreams are made for coming true every single day!

  I love my witches and wolves. The Hex My Heart series was my first paranormal romance series and now I get to dive into another supernatural world to bring you more of what you love. Charming the Alphas may be the end of a series, but it’s the beginning of a whole new adventure! Thank you dear readers for joining me on the journey and for all the love you share for my books. I am truly grateful!

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Title

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Epilogue

  Other Titles

  Hexing the Alpha Excerpt

  About the Author

  PROLOGUE

  “Marabelle, what’s wrong, what happened?” Her sister's face flushed and her eyes clouded over as they did when she had a vision of the future. “Tell me, Marabelle. Tell me everything.”

  “I... well, I kinda mighta played with magick and it backfired. Sorta. I got my powers back.” Marabelle shifted her sister’s attention away from what gave her the freaked out look and beckoned her powers to the surface. Indigo laced the length of her arm to pool in the palms of her cupped hands. She couldn’t hold back a sly smile. “Whatcha think?”

  “No way! That’s amazing.” Her sister tucked the corner of her sheet between her breasts and that was when Marabelle noticed the Sweet Briar Sheriff wearing a little less than his usual khaki uniform.

  “Yeah, well, the High Council knows and I need to leave town. Like yesterday.” Marabelle pulled back, her hands on Harmony’s bare shoulders.

  “That was fast. Almost like they were waiting for it to happen. And the dragons I see? The blood? What’s that about, Marabelle?”

  Marabelle froze and cleared her mind. Her sister’s handy knack of foreseeing the future would get her in trouble this time. Couldn’t let that happen. Not if she wanted her plan to work.

  Lucian and Zane walked in, their heads held high, and she watched as their attention zeroed in on the sheriff, Caden.

  “There’s trouble,” Lucian began from where he stood by the door. “We should gather the other enforcers and meet back at the pack’s house.”

  Caden corrected Lucian, crossing his hands over his chest. “I’m not pack, not my problem. Not until it leaks over to the human’s side. Make sure that doesn’t happen, enforcer.”

  Zane stepped up beside her. “You could be. Pack, that is. Jake has made it clear there’s room for another wolf in our ranks. Besides, shit is about to get ugly and you don’t wanna be caught with your dick in your hand.” Zane looked pointedly at the sheet wrapped around Caden’s waist.

  “Colorful, bro. Nice way to get arrested too.” Lucian admonished.

  “But true.”

  They held Caden’s gaze for a brief second before they came to a silent understanding. This whole mated thing would take some getting used to on that level.

  “What do you need from me? What can I do to help?” Harmony squeezed Marabelle’s hands with a gentle understanding.

  “I have no idea what you saw, but... you need to kill me with this.” Marabelle held out a two-foot-long, silver-tipped dagger Obsidian had given her moments after landing. “And you need to make it look like they did it.” Understanding dawned as Harmony looked between Marabelle’s new mates.

  Honor blinked a few times before speaking, her mouth in a flat line. “Congratulations are in order, but you’ll have to forgive me for not jumping for joy.” Every word her sister tossed out hit her harder than the last. Honor let the weight of the blade settle in her hands. “You defied the Council once, and now this? And what the fuck did you ask me to do? Are you crazy?”

  She tipped her chin up, unwilling to back down. That last part was beside the point. A certain amount of crazy glued her whole plan together. Otherwise, who in their right mind would want to off themselves? A pang of regret settled in her heart, but she didn’t have a choice. Honor’s mind had to be running a million miles an hour, and part of Marabelle felt guilty for what she just asked her to do.

  Marabelle grabbed her hands and looked her dead in the eyes. “I know you can do this. We’ve worked magick together in the past and I know what you’re capable of.”

  Honor physically shuddered and she didn’t even try to hold back the horrified look on her face. “Doesn’t mean I’m gonna do it. What makes you think I’ll cross that line, Mara?” Honor shook her hands free and stepped back a pace. “Once you work black magick, there’s no coming back.”

  “You have a mate now.” She shot a glance at Caden, who glared at her. Whatever.“If we don’t do this thousands, maybe millions, will die. Can you live with that? Or can you?” She asked, looking between her sister and her mate.

  A dragon head decorated the handle of the blade, and Marabelle watched as her sister’s finger traced the snout seconds before her face turned blank. Another vision. Shit.

  Slowly Harmony raised her head and held her gaze. “You will die tonight. Your death by this may lead to another war even greater than the last. We may not prevent anything and the goddesses refuse to reveal what they know. Now I ask, can you handle the weight of that burden?”

  A flicker of agony wormed its way into her resolve. Marabelle didn’t know if she should dance for joy her sister would help or run like hell. “I’m winging this all the way, but yeah, that’s my plan.”

  CHAPTER ONE

  Eve of winter solstice, several hours earlier.
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  Blood and black magick.

  The stench rolled over him and stung with every inhale of frigid winter air. No mistaking death. He knew the evil that lurked in the darkness all too well for it to hide from him.

  It drained the energy from the air for three damn counties and clawed at Lucian’s frayed nerves no matter how much distance he put between them and the dump site. His throat grew tight and he swallowed past the disgusting, lingering copper aftertaste of standing over a dead body for eighteen-plus hours.

  As enforcers they’d been called out to give answers and all they had to offer were more damn questions.

  The most pressing question was how could a dead man kill again?

  His gut turned in on itself. Marabelle. How had she gotten herself tangled up in this? Moonlight struggled to push through the ominous dark clouds that hung over them but failed.

  Petal kissing metal, Lucian gunned the 4x4 and white-knuckled the wheel as he hugged the outside line of a deep curve making their way back to Sweet Briar Hollow.

  Black ice caught the back wheels and sent him and Zane skidding across the dark, deserted road. With the storm rolling in if they took a nosedive off the side, no one would find them till the spring thaw. He eased up a notch.

  Winding back mountain roads were the fastest if not the most dangerous route through the sleepy town. He knew every turn and dip in the road that led them home. With a pop of the clutch, Lucian down-shifted and backed off the accelerator, turning the wheel in the opposite direction, praying to whomever might be watching that the tires caught traction.

  Centuries of alpha shifter blood coursed through his veins, and right now he’d sacrifice every last drop if it meant they could save her. Like a bomb clock ticking down, Lucian’s gut tightened with every second. Teeth gnashed together, he worked through the jagged pain as tarnished magick tore into him. Anger fueled the need to drive his fist into the nearest—anything. But in all honesty it wouldn’t curb the savage urge to sink his teeth and claws into the man behind the heinous crimes they’d witnessed tonight.

  Reluctantly they’d left Marabelle alone last night while out on pack business. After arriving on the scene, what they witnessed left them beyond horrified. He had the strongest stomach a shifter could have, and it still made him queasy thinking about the poor human woman and what the beast of a man left of her.

  It fell on them to spread the nightmarish news and tell the alpha of two packs that a werewolf serial killer had risen from the dead and apparently had an agenda.

  “I know what you’re thinking. I’m thinking it too. We can’t force her in a cell or lock her away even if it is for her own good.” Zane scraped a hand down his face and peered out the passenger window into the blackened night. “How the hell are we supposed to keep our mate safe when she’s working with the enemy?” He slammed a fist down on his knee. Lucian kept his gaze glued to the road, but he got where his friend was coming from.

  Zane, the other male half of their unconventional trio, flicked his phone open and pressed replay. Dulcet tones filled the small cabin of the pickup, and their sexy librarian’s usual laid-back tone sounded hurried and hushed as though she didn’t want someone to overhear her.

  Zane sat forward and held a finger up to signal the sound he wanted Lucian to hear. “Something has come up. Don’t wait up for me. I know I said I would bide my time, but I can’t. I hope you both understand.”

  Zane angled toward him, a look of pure horror all over his face. “There. Did you catch that?” Dread filled his words and Zane hit replay for the second time before it finished. He positioned the phone between them. On the edges of his hearing, hidden behind Marabelle’s voice, five distinct rings echoed. One for each of the earthly elements as Marabelle explained, signaling witches and warlocks of the approaching winter solstice and the magickal annual gathering.

  She thought no one was around to witness the plan she’d brewed up to reclaim her magickal powers from the High Council. That had to be it. How else could he explain her recklessness and still keep sane?

  “She never left the High Council’s palace.” Lucian dropped the clutch and took another curve that had them kissing their own asses. Whatever their witch was up to left her in more danger than she knew.

  Instead of hitting replay this time, Zane let the message continue. “Come ou’ ya lit’le bitch, I c’n smell ya and I c’n smell ’em too.”

  The familiar voice of the killer shot ice through his veins, and hearing it for the second time didn’t lesson the blow any. No amount of prayer would lessen the truth either.

  “One more time.”

  Zane complied and Lucian leaned in.

  As enforcers they were trained to deal with mangled bodies, but the horror they found tonight had a different vibe from anything they’d ever dealt with before.

  The killer not only returned, but for some reason had Marabelle in his sites and they were miles away from helping her. Lucian scrubbed a hand over his day-old, thick stubble. “We can’t lose her, Zane. Fuck. This shit you can’t make up.”

  “We don’t know the High Council has anything to do with the murder.”

  “If he’s there with her I’m not willing to play detective and wait around for more clues or for them to make another move.”

  “Me either. But until we have her close we play it cool.”

  “Copy that.”

  Zane replayed the last bit of the message again, and the raspy gurgled voice carried over the speaker in a mesh of words that ran together. As if speaking didn’t come naturally and words had no business falling from his mouth.

  In their world that meant one thing. When a shifter spent most of his time in wolf form, speaking abilities faded after a few months. At the one-year marker or thereabout, all human instinct melted into the habits of their beast. Eventually the poor fool would be more wolf than man within a year and a half tops. Last known case had happened centuries ago when powerful warlocks captured numerous weres—dragon and wolf alike—during the bloody battles and ensnarled them with a spell that prevented any prisoner from shifting back to human. After a few months of torture, what came out the other side were brainwashed beasts unleashed on their own kind with orders to kill, all this under the command of sinister masters.

  Lucian swallowed a curse. Echoes of the recent past pelted him with a one-two combo that had him nauseated. “I just... there’s no freaking way, man. We killed him. Saw the blood and buried the body fuckin’ kinda killed him. You don’t come back from being six feet under.”

  “That we know of. Who the hell knows what the High Council’s been up to behind their thick walls and mysterious magick gatherings.”

  Lucian ground his back molars, gritting out his worse fear. “Marabelle does.” She researched and reported as the High Council required of her on matters of law, while keeping an eye on their comings and goings. The way Lucian understood it, Marabelle continued on in her role as if they hadn’t violated her and worked to regain their trust. She’d watched their moves, calculated their defenses and planned to strike when they’d least expected it.

  That burned. He loved her spontaneous nature, but this time it could get her killed.

  She played the quiet, handled and subdued little witch by day and by night she stayed after hours searching for the hidden tomes the ancients were whispered to have that held every spell and counter-spell known to the magickal realms.

  So they said. He believed Marabelle, but he didn’t make it a habit to step in the middle of witch law. Something he planned on changing.

  “Easier proving the fucking Easter Bunny is real than finding a way to prove the warlocks had anything to do with the murders tonight.”

  Tension compacted against his chest and made every breath harder than the last. “Magick is the only way.” He rammed his hand into the wheel. “Hell, I don’t know, but Marabelle would.”

  Zane nodded, but kept silent. Neither of them could wrap their heads around this shit enough to find any real answers.


  Their witch worked as a librarian within the palace walls and for the highest of warlocks—Royals that considered themselves gods amongst mortals.

  A few months before, she’d helped a human with spellwork, some love potion, and the High Council saw it as breaking the law. Soon after, they stripped Marabelle of all her powers and left her with one option: work within the walls of their fucking gothic-looking castle prison. Just the thought of her possibly stumbling onto something she wasn’t supposed to see sent a new wave of fear to ride him hard.

  Zane played the damn message again and Marabelle’s voice jerked Lucian out of the past.

  “I...I... someone’s coming. Gotta go.”

  Spine rigid, the muscles along his neck bunched. Whispered warnings rattled in the back of his mind.

  “I can’t do this again. We lose her and that’s it.”

  “You can’t think like that.” Zane braced for the last curve that spiraled down to the sleepy town of Sweet Briar Hollow.

  Finally.

  Thick, towering pines stood sentinel over the stretch of road that led along the back side of the small Maine town. Scattered houses dotted the hilly landscape, spirals of smoke the only sign anyone still lived in the quiet town.

  Large evergreen branches bowed from the recent heavy snowfall, reached across the two-lane highway and gave travelers a clear path, for a few miles anyway. He gunned the accelerator.

  “How long since she left that message?”

  Zane gave a couple of flicks over his cell phone screen and answered in a strained voice. “Almost two damn hours.” For once he’d like to get the upper hand.

  “I know what I scented, and so do you.”

  “Ghosts don’t kill and that woman’s body smelled like him from head to toe.”

  Grisly images of the victim, a petite woman with her throat torn out and bite marks along her entire body, filled his mind. No matter how hard he tried, nothing would wash away the senseless violence.

  Two years ago a series of murders struck two local packs and took everyone by surprise, leaving shifter families terrified to leave pack lands.