The Alpha's Mate (8 Sexy, Powerful Shifters and Their Fated Mates)

by Lynn Red

  He pulled away with a rough expletive. He was breathing hard, and I tried to catch my breath even as confusion filled me. What now?

  The Masked Wolf looked down at me with green eyes that glittered with passion and possessiveness. I had never been on the receiving end of such a look. Normally, when men looked at me with passion, it was because they wanted to kill me.

  “Tell me why you’re fighting here.”

  I had heard The Masked Wolf speak when he was being interviewed after winning a fight. He had a dulcet and languid way of speaking. He spoke like how I imagined a prince would speak. But the way he spoke now was different. His words were clipped, his tone harsh. He spoke like an alpha used to command.

  I was an alpha myself, but there was something about his voice that made me want to submit. It was as if...as if he was my alpha. The only alpha who could command me.

  And so I spoke the truth. “I am looking for a Cavaliere.”

  Chapter Two

  A Cavaliere, in English, loosely translated to ‘champion’. By the look in The Masked Wolf’s eyes, I knew he recognized the word. Shifter packs rarely needed one because a Cavaliere only served a female pack leader. As far as I knew, I was the only female officially in line to inherit pack leadership.

  The Masked Wolf was looking at me closely. For once, he wasn’t looking at my breasts. Reminded again of my situation, I tried to wriggle free. “Aren’t you going to let me go?”

  He said briefly, “Never.”

  I blinked at his answer. When he didn’t look like he was going to take it back, I yelped, “Are you serious?”

  He answered simply, “Yes.” Before I could ponder that, he continued on with a question, “Why do you need a Cavaliere?”

  “The normal reasons.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Then you are about to be a pack leader?”

  I said stiffly, “Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I can’t lead a pack.”

  “I’m sure it doesn’t, but you will have a damn hard time doing so, little kitty.”

  “Stop calling me that.”

  “Is it too un-alpha-like?” he asked with a smirk. “Perhaps you prefer hellcat?”

  “I don’t want you to call me anything,” I said exasperatedly. “All I want is—-”

  “Another kiss?”

  “Stop putting words in my mouth.”

  “Gladly, princess. I have something much better to put inside your mouth.” And then he promptly put his tongue inside my mouth with another heated kiss.

  His kiss felt even more addictive, but this time I tried to resist. Now that I had broached the topic, I realized that I had indeed hit upon the perfect solution to my problems. The Masked Wolf would make an ideal Cavaliere. And the fact that I, err, enjoyed his kisses was a bonus. Maybe someday, he could be my consort, too.

  The thought had me blushing, but it also had my toes curling. I managed to pull away, breaking off the kiss by twisting my head.

  “What?” His voice was rough, and he was breathing hard.

  “W-would you be my Cavaliere?” I asked breathlessly.

  “That depends. Does it mean I get to fuck you?”

  The question stunned me. “What?”

  He repeated the question patiently. “Does being your Cavaliere mean I get to fuck you?”

  I did hear him right! “How can you ask me that?” I couldn’t decide whether I was flattered or disappointed by his question. A moment later, I decided that disappointment won over flattery by the slightest margin. “Do you really mean it?”

  His voice had a note of genuine surprise when he asked in return, “Are you truly dismayed by my condition?”

  I would have thrown my hands up if they weren’t already over my head. Yes, he still had me in that position. Yes, it was still quite a turn on. But I couldn’t – shouldn’t – think about that right now. “I can’t believe you would only accept being my Cavaliere j-just for that. I truly need your help, and as a superhero you’re—-” Oh crap. What did I just say?

  The Masked Wolf blinked at me. Twice. Thrice.

  And then he drawled, “Is it just me, or did you actually call me a superhero?”

  Craaaap.

  Before I could even think of a way out of that one, we both heard it. The sound of footsteps. A lot of footsteps.

  Double crap.

  I looked at him in panic. I couldn’t let anyone know I was here – and certainly not in this condition. The Masked Wolf must have understood my concern. In a burst of inhuman speed, he had whisked both of us behind a metal beam and even had the presence of mind to swipe my clothes and hide them under one of the tables.

  I sighed in relief, unaware of how this caused my breasts to shake with each deep breath I took.

  I looked up, intending to thank him for saving us from having both our covers busted. But no words came out from my mouth when I saw where he was staring at. I quickly covered my breasts, face flaming.

  His face became solemn. He pressed a finger to his lips. Don’t make a sound.

  Oh, good. He finally remembered we were in trouble and this was no time to think of...breasts. I nodded in understanding. Yes, sir. We definitely didn’t want the other shifters to know we were here.

  A second later, I realized I totally got it wrong.

  In a blur of movement, he had again pushed me against the wall, taken my hands off my body, and took one pouting nipple into his mouth. This was what he wanted me to be quiet about.

  The pleasure was...unimaginable. Indescribable. The Masked Wolf was sucking my nipple, and he was sucking it hard. He was practically a stranger, and he had his mouth on my breast. Was this really happening?

  A part of me tried to struggle. This wasn’t right. We didn’t know each other. I had to save my body for my future mate, my consort. I tried to push him away, but he simply responded by sucking harder. My body jerked, my toes curled, and my eyes squeezed shut.

  Oh God, God, oh God...it was so good. My hands, which had curled against his chest, started to move on their own accord. By the time I realized what I was doing, I was already gripping his hair, pulling his head towards me. More. I wanted more.

  He looked up.

  And smiled.

  God, that smile. It frustrated me. It turned me on. It confused the heck out of me.

  He bent his head again, this time moving to my other breast to suck that nipple. He started soft and gentle and then he started sucking deep and hard. I ended up pulling his head towards me again. I would have completely forgotten the world if not for the thudding sound of a body being thrown to the ground.

  My eyes flew open. The Masked Wolf was even swifter to react. In the next moment, he had already rolled my tank top down and pushed me behind his back. Tiptoeing to see over his shoulder, I caught a glimpse of a short wiry man curled on the floor, a few feet away from us.

  He was bloody and beaten, and when he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was...us. I stiffened, knowing he could point us out to whoever was attacking him. We could be a distraction for him to save his life.

  But he didn’t.

  Instead, he looked away, as if not wanting his approaching attackers to even suspect there were other people here.

  My heart overflowed with gratitude. What an honorable man! I pulled on the back of The Masked Wolf’s shirt. When he looked at me, I mouthed, We must help him.

  He shook his head, mouthing back, This is not our fight.

  I almost gasped. How could he say that? He was The Masked Wolf! Of course he had to do something!

  But before I could mouth back an answer, someone else had spoken.

  “We’re not through with you yet.” The voice was lined with disgust, and when the speaker came into view, my lip turned down. It was none other than Butcher, the leader of the small pack of hyenas that often frequented The Den. Butcher was tall and built like an ox, characteristics that were unusual for his kind and which I suspected the other man didn’t hesitate to use to bully others.

 
When Butcher kicked the man on the ground, I bit my lip hard. It was the only way to keep me from crying out and rushing in to help him.

  “You know the problem with ya birdies? You see and talk too much. You shoulda fucking mind your own shit!”

  When Butcher kicked him again, I shook The Masked Wolf. Hard. Several times.

  He only shook his head at me. I couldn’t believe it. He was The Masked Wolf! He was stronger than most people! It was therefore his duty to protect the weak! Didn’t he know that?

  “Please, please stop,” the man begged, but he only received another kick in response, which crushed the other side of his ribs.

  And then it was silent, the bird shifter having passed out in pain. I tasted blood at the sight. My lip had started to bleed. Tears slipped out of my eyes, but I quickly wiped them away. Righteous fury set my heart on fire. I had no choice now. My honor was at stake. If The Masked Wolf was not going to do anything, then it was up to me to make those men pay.

  “Let’s be done with him,” Butcher said. “Ain’t no one gonna look for him here anyway.”

  “Crush him in one?” a third man asked.

  Butcher’s grin revealed a mix of yellowed and blackened teeth. “Hell yeah. Been some time since I got myself some brain splatter to grease my boots.”

  Ten boots were raised in the air—-

  “STOP!” I rushed past The Masked Wolf and forced my way into the circle of hyenas. The evil on their faces sickened me. They were doing this simply for fun, I realized. But why? I just didn’t get it. How could causing others pain be something fun?

  Something inside me flamed into life. It was black, terrifying, and powerful, a monster that lived in the depths of my soul, waking only when I was in distress. Like now. I wanted to lash out. I wanted to kill every one of them because they didn’t deserve to live. But I did my best to calm myself down. My father always told me that violence was never the best answer, and it should never be the first answer to any problem either. In times of conflict, a good alpha would always be the first to offer an olive branch. And so I said in a controlled voice, “If you promise not to do this again, I will forget about this.”

  There was a moment of silence before the hyenas cackled in laughter.

  “You sure are good at making jokes, pretty lady. I gotta give you that.” Butcher licked his lips. “It pleases me, so whatdya say about me makin’ you happy, too?”

  Butcher unzipped his pants to show me his...thing. It was the last thing he did. It was the last thing any one of the hyenas did before hell came for them.

  Chapter Three

  When I was four years old, I came upon a hunter while playing in the forest. He had been the first human I had met. He had been on his knees, mutilating a deer while it was still alive.

  The last thing I remembered was the excruciating pain shining in the deer’s eyes. Everything else was shrouded in blackness. When I woke up, the hunter was dead, mutilated in the same way the deer was.

  Three more memories would be forever lost to me by the time people finally realized what was going on. In all those instances, I remembered seeing something bad and passing out after. And when I woke up, the only clues I’d have to those missing minutes of my life would be the dead bodies around me.

  The worst of those incidents happened when I was seven. My father had thrown a party to celebrate my birthday. One of the guests’ younger sons had tried to rape one of our house servants. I never saw the boy again after that day.

  ****

  A part of me was not surprised when I heard the knock on the door and then my father coming in. I sat up on my bed as he sat next to me.

  “How you doing, cub?” His voice was gruff. I could tell he was still worried about the older boy that went missing in the party.

  “I’m sorry, Papa.” I looked down at my clenched fists. I was trying very hard not to cry. It was my fault all those men were angry at Papa. I wished I could tell them where the boy went. I knew a part of me would know where that boy was. But I just couldn’t remember.

  “You did nothing wrong.”

  I looked up at his harsh words. “But Papa—-”

  He shook his head. “Listen to me. Have you ever known me to lie?”

  “No, Papa.”

  “Then you know I am telling you the truth when I tell you that you have done nothing wrong.”

  My heart eased at his words. Warriors never lied, and since Papa was the greatest warrior of all then it must be true. I had done nothing wrong.

  My father cleared his throat. “I have something for you.” My eyes widened when I saw Stefano’s prized comics in his hands. “Do you know what these are?”

  I nodded. “Stefano’s comics. They’re about superheroes.” Sometimes, Stefano let me read them, when I wasn’t being “stubborn”, whatever that meant.

  “I want you to read them, too.”

  “Why?”

  “Because their stories are just like yours.”

  My eyes widened at Papa’s answer. “They are?” I glanced down at the comics he gave me, which were new and still covered in plastic. I realized then these weren’t actually Stefano’s. Papa had really bought them for me.

  Thinking about his words, I asked slowly, “Are they also adopted?” Was that what he meant?

  “Well, some of them are, but that’s not the point. You see, cub, they are all ‘different’ like you. Unique. They had...powers...abilities...that no one could understand. Even they didn’t understand their own powers at the start. So when people saw them using their powers—-”

  “The people told them to stop.” I remembered the boy’s mother screaming at me. She had told me to stop. She had called me a monster. “They thought I would...” I shook my head, confused. “They thought the superheroes might hurt them.”

  “But they were wrong.” Papa’s voice was vehement. “The superheroes you read about in these comics...they don’t care what those other people say. All they want is to make the world a better place, and they sometimes need to use their powers to do that.” My father paused. Then he looked at me and said in a serious voice, “You are like them, Calys. You make the world a safer, happier, and better place for everyone. But your powers are very strong, too. So before you can help others, you need to learn how to control your powers. You need to do everything you can first without...” Papa stressed the last word. “—-your powers.”

  “Why can’t I just help them with my powers?”

  “Because people are terrified of them. You can’t help other people if they’re terrified of you.”

  I shook my head. “Even if I don’t use my powers, Papa, they are already scared of me.” I remembered how Papa’s guests had looked at me when they realized the boy had gone missing. They were all scared of me.

  It took a long time for Papa to answer. “They just don’t understand you, Calys. That’s all. But you cannot let it stop you from helping others, and you cannot let what they think of you make you believe you are doing something wrong.”

  “I’ll try, Papa.” I said the words because I knew it was what my father wanted to hear. But warriors didn’t lie. And so I added sadly, “But Papa, I’m worried. What if they will always be afraid of me?”

  “Not everyone will be afraid of you, cub. And you know why? Because there are other people like you.”

  “Like me?”

  “Yes. Other kids who are also like superheroes. And they will be your friends – your best friends. They will never be afraid of you. Ever.”

  Someone who wasn’t afraid of me...

  Only Papa, my sister, and Stefano weren’t afraid of me. But they were different. They were family. But if I found another superhero, then I would finally have my first friend. Someone who would not be afraid of me...even during the times when I was afraid of myself.

  ****

  Stefano was the first one to describe my incidents as “dark fits”. He was twelve when he invented the term, and back then he was very much into Stephen King. He said one of th
e author’s characters had a darker half who did bad things. Mine did bad things, too, but to bad people.

  As time went by, I became more aware of what was happening when I had one of my dark fits. But awareness was all I could achieve, and even now, controlling what I did during my dark fits was beyond me.

  “Stop.”

  The word was spoken in a coolly commanding voice. It was the first time my darker half had heard a voice addressing her without fear. She looked at the person who spoke the word and was instantly besieged by emotions, so many of them, and none of them she had ever experienced.

  Concern. Courage. And, strangely, anger...but not directed at her. It was, rather, for her.

  All the emotions lent power to that one word, Stop.

  And so my darker half stopped. In the middle of breaking the arm of one of the hyenas, she stopped by throwing him against the wall. He groaned as he fell to the floor. She ignored the sound, turning slowly instead towards the man who had dared to tell her to stop.

  The Masked Wolf walked past my darker half, and she watched his every move. I sensed her amazement as he resumed the fight, not breaking a sweat as he methodically demolished those who stood against him.

  Strange. Strong. Beautiful. Those were her last thoughts as she faded back into me.

  She slept.

  I woke.

  And knew that I had found him.

  My superhero.

  Chapter Four

  The first thing I became aware of was the bodies. Most of the hyenas had been knocked down to the ground. I could vaguely recall my darker half beating the hell out of them. The rest was his.

  Crap, oh crap. It had been a long time since I lost control of myself. But...

  It’s not my fault, I thought defensively. Butcher had shown me his...thing. It was a traumatic sight. Of course I’d freak out. And of course my darker half would freak out, too. She might act like a psycho most times, but she was an innocent psycho.

  “I told you not to help him.” The Masked Wolf came to stand in front of me as he spoke.