The infant was least concerned that it was their alpha he was trying to eat and gleefully drooled all over him. Luke scowled but made no attempt to remove the boy. It was his mother who gave Luke an apologetic look and picked up the baby, who resisted with loud wails.
“I don’t mind, Eve. Let him stay.”
Eve, a young, harried looking woman, sighed. “It’s Jack’s bed time. He refuses to sleep on time.”
In the meantime, Jack was showing off his excellent pair of lungs and screamed in defiance. His tiny face scrunched up in anger at being disturbed. People were milling about the common room and some winced while some just plugged in their earphones. It was Luke’s loud rumbling growl that blessed the room with silence.
Holding Jack up, he showed his displeasure, and the boy shut up. Now subdued, Jack looked anywhere but at Luke who gave him a quick comforting lick on the nose before handing him over to the grateful mother.
“You’re good with kids.”
Luke handed Cassie a plate of spaghetti. “I’m the alpha. It’s part of the job description.”
Cassie stared at the food in front of her and clenched her fist. She wanted to tell him to stop with the lies. That she knew what an alpha was capable of. But she stuffed her mouth with food.
She had been approached by many packmates who wanted to know who she was. They had no shame in asking her straight to her face. There was no strict hierarchy set in place here. As she watched a teenage girl sidle up to Luke and sit next to him, she realized that this pack seemed more like a family.
The girl eyed her and then looked at Luke who nodded at her in return.
“Hi, I’m Kayla.”
“Hey,” Cassie said, nodding.
If another person asked her who she was, Cassie was going to kill them. However, Luke took care of the introductions. “This is Cassie. She’s my–”
He stumbled over the words and Cassie, helpfully, filled in the blanks, “We’re dating.”
To say that Kayla looked shocked was an understatement. The girl nearly fell off her seat, “So, it’s true! You two are living together. Then,” she looked at Luke, horrified, “did you make her pregnant? Was Jude telling the truth?”
It wasn’t as much of a secret as Cassie had thought it would be. It was only hours after she had regained consciousness that the whole pack was aware that Luke had managed to knock up a female shifter and that they were now living together and were mated.
She tightened her shield on the mating bond.
It was best that everybody assumed that a bond existed.
Technically, the bond should not have sprung up. Getting pregnant was one thing, but for the bond to materialize was a shock, even to her.
Luke and the girl were conversing while Cassie tuned out. After all the excitement, she was feeling tired. Her animal had been oddly silent – how unusual. Her bear had been thrilled at scenting Luke, but now her enthusiasm was dampened, and she seemed anxious.
Luke must have noticed something in her face. “You want to lie down?”
Cassie glanced down at her unfinished plate. “I’m hungry, but too tired.”
“Come on. Let’s go to bed.”
Cassie headed towards the room when she felt a pair of eyes on her. The animosity directed towards her made her tense, and she looked over to see a fair-headed woman standing across the hall, studying her. She wasn’t wearing a frown and wasn’t scowling, but when Cassie’s brown eyes met her blue ones, she was taken aback to see the cold hatred in them.
So, there were people who did not like her presence here.
Cassie’s bear forced her to drop her gaze, and it pissed her off. She felt the satisfaction the woman had when she entered the room.
“Just to be clear, Luke, we are not having sex.”
Luke had cleared his things off the bed to make room for her. He smiled at Cassie and stripped off his shirt, revealing his defined six pack. Towering over her, he put his hand on Cassie’s cheek and met her eyes. Those golden eyes gleamed at her, and Cassie’s bear looked up in interest. No matter her personality, Cassie’s submissive nature always came into play with Luke around. Her bear wanted to submit to his, but Cassie refused.
Even as her eyes dropped, her hand tightened on the small knife she had in her sleeve. As she slipped it into her palm, the alpha gripped her hand forcibly, making her drop the knife.
He kneeled to pick it up. Looking up at her, he asked incredulously, “Were you going to stab me with a butter knife? Are you for real?”
Cassie felt offended. “I can be very creative with a butter knife.”
Luke tossed the knife in a corner of the room. “I’m sure you can. Now come on. You look exhausted.”
Cassie let him drag her to the bed. When he gave her an extra pillow and kept asking if the blanket was warm enough, she became aware of what was going on. He was fussing over her.
“Luke, stop it.”
The man in question had been bringing out more blankets when he stopped and stared at her. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
Cassie had never had any experience with men trying to do something nice for her, and she scowled. “Just go to sleep, okay? Stop being so weird.”
“I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable.”
“I know.” She shifted on the bed, awkwardly. “I’m fine. If I need something, I’ll tell you.”
Luke climbed into bed and switched off the light.
He watched Cassie twist and turn on the bed and his animal grew restless. Unable to handle it, he dragged her towards him and spooned her, one hand on her stomach. When Cassie made a sound, he growled, “When I want to seduce you into my bed, you’ll know it. Now, sleep.”
Cassie’s bear had been agitated, pacing up and down, whining. When Luke surrounded her with his scent, her animal calmed down. Feeling the warmth of his arm across her belly, Cassie felt contentment – a feeling she hadn’t experienced in a long time. She was no fool. She wasn’t going to let down her guard around this man just because her bear liked him.
Tomorrow, she would have to ring up Elsa and tell her to poke around for any witches. She needed the amulet for her cub. It was the one thing that could not only protect him but also hide his identity as a shifter. The herbs were to mask his nature by making him give off a repulsive scent to keep shifters from getting too close. Her eyes drifted shut as she made a mental reminder to keep searching.
Chapter 7
When Cassie’s eyes opened, she blinked wearily. Feeling the warmth around her, she didn’t want to move and snuggled deeper into the body that spooned her. She closed her eyes and felt herself slipping again. That was when reality hit her.
She was living with a bear pack. Her eyes opened, and she felt Luke’s arm around her. One of his legs was thrown over hers, and he had drawn her into himself in a hold that was impossible to break. She nudged him with her elbow and felt him wake up.
Realizing the position they were in, Luke released her and fell on his back. “Well, shit,” he said.
“What?” Cassie asked, annoyed at missing the comfort of his body. She was leaning on her elbows looking down at him. When he met her eyes, he froze.
“Your eyes,” he said.
“What?”
Luke sat up and dragged her up with him. He cupped her face. “You do wear contact lenses.”
Her eyes were the most exquisite color of silver and purple. A gorgeous blend of the two colors, he could see the fear reflected in them as he felt Cassie stand still and say in a quiet but deadly tone, “Let go of me.”
He released her and watched her feel around on the bed for her contact lenses. Finding them, she got up, washed them in the sink and then inserted them into her eyes. Turning around, she saw Luke watching her as he leaned against the headrest with his arms crossed. “You mind explaining?” he asked.
“No.” She turned around, but Luke moved so fast that her eyes didn’t detect him. His hand gripped her wrist in a firm, but gentle hold.
“I won’t force your secrets from you, Cassie, but why don’t you start meeting me midway?”
Cassie knew that if she met his gaze her bear would submit, and she hated her helplessness, so she waited for him to release her wrist and then sat down on the bed.
Luke waited.
“I…” She stood up and paced, and then glared at him. “Nobody can find out.”
Luke raised a brow. “Find out what? That you wear contacts?”
Cassie was a ball of energy as she clenched her fists and tried to walk off her frustration. Finally, she stood still and rubbed her face.
“Yes...no!” She looked at him, and he could see that she had regained control of herself. “You know nothing about me and the same goes for me. I can’t trust you. Not yet. So, I’m asking you not to consider this – not to tell anyone. If you want to earn my trust, then you need to prove it.”
A few hours later, Luke sat in his office, thinking about Cassie’s words. She had panicked over the color of her eyes which meant that they had a significant meaning. He wanted to go to the archive holder and ask him, but her words held him back.
Trust.
She had asked him to earn her trust.
But he remembered something. In the back of his mind, a fragment of a memory whispered and when he tried to catch it, it faded. Something about those eyes. Something important.
****
It was midafternoon when Cassie burst in.
She was wearing a frown. “I need something to do. I can’t stay in bed all day.”
Luke clasped his fingers and rested his chin on them. “You could. I could join you.”
“Or you could give me something to do. I’m not used to pack life. I usually travel around. There’s only so much research that I can do.”
“Research?” Luke asked, curiously. “What research?”
Cassie’s cheeks turned red, and she said, crossly, “Never you mind. Just give me some job where I don’t have to sit still.”
Luke scowled. “You’re three months pregnant. You need to be sitting still.”
Cassie walked across the desk to him and gripped him by the lapels of his shirt. “No! I need to be active.”
Luke didn’t even mind that she was practically threatening him. She had offered this proximity, and now he would take advantage of it. Lifting her up, he put her on his desk, hands on both of her sides.
He leaned forward, smirking. “You could be my personal assistant.” He moved his face closer to Cassie’s and felt the spice in her scent. He could taste her arousal as his lips skimmed over her cheek and moved lower to her jaw and neck.
“Oh, hell no.” His face jerked back up to hers and Cassie glared at him. “No sex,” she said, defiantly.
Luke laughed and then sobered up when he saw that she was annoyed, “Look,” he said, “I want someone to take over the adolescent training, but I don’t know if–”
“I’ll do it!”
Cassie seemed so excited by the prospect of having something to do that Luke could only wince. She had no idea what she was in for. He would have to make sure to have a talk with the kids so they went easy on her.
“Kayla will give you the details. Wait.” Luke stopped her from leaving and lowered his head to bury his face in her stomach. He sniffed her stomach and then growled something at the baby. Pulling back, he rubbed Cassie’s belly, unable to stop the broad smile on his face from appearing.
Cassie studied him nervously before leaving. He wondered what that look meant as he went back to work.
The day passed by quickly, and in his eagerness to find out how Cassie’s class went, he nearly tripped over one of her students in the common room. Edgar lay on the sofa groaning. At his feet sat Jillian, another adolescent. She was rubbing her back.
“What happened to you two?”
“Your mate happened,” Edgar said.
“Cassie? Did you piss her off or something?”
Edgar looked up at his alpha. “She says we fight like pussies. I don’t know whether she meant the cats or the other thing, but she beat us all so bad.”
“I learned how to nearly break someone’s neck,” Jillian told him, “but I can’t feel my butt anymore.”
Luke grinned down at her. “So you like her then?”
Edgar moaned in pain, “Yes. But she is such a badass. None of us could take her. And we all tried together.”
For some reason, Luke’s chest swelled with pride. His mate was very strong.
Not his mate, he told himself. But saying that felt wrong, somehow.
As he left the common room, he nearly walked into Fiona.
Fiona had been one of the females who had joined the pack after their numbers had depleted in the panther attack. She and a few other females had decided to set their eyes on Luke as a prize. They hadn’t bothered to create bonds within the pack and felt more like outsiders than when they had joined.
Fiona ran her hands over his chest. “Luke, what a surprise.”
“Hi, Fiona.” Luke grasped her hands firmly and pulled them away from his chest. “Did you need something?”
Fiona widened her eyes artfully and said, “That new girl, Carlie–”
“Cassie,” Luke corrected her, patiently, but she wasn’t listening.
“She is so violent. I just saw her beat poor Kristen into the ground. And the boy begged and begged her to let him go, but she just kept hurting him.”
“I see. Anything else?”
Fiona must have felt that she was getting through to Luke because she shook her head, sadly. “I really don’t think she should be a part of this pack, Luke.”
“Do you?” Luke asked, mockingly. “I’m sorry. I’m a bit late for an appointment.”
He frowned as he walked away from her. Fiona was bad news, and a rotting apple had to be kept away from the rest of the apples.
Cassie was taking a shower when Luke saw her laptop open on the bed. Not trying to sneak a look, his eyes fell on an open email. Luke forced his eyes away. Trust.
He watched Cassie walk into the room, and he smiled.
Chapter 8
One and a half months passed by quickly. Cassie found herself settled in her new life with the pack. Her students had taken a liking to her and after two weeks, she wasn’t beating them into the ground anymore.
Luke was turning out to be nothing like she had seen or imagined an alpha to be. He kept showing her that alphas could be kind as well as caring. For once, his actions were starting to make her feel that maybe she could call this place home.
He kept trying to steal kisses from her, and Cassie had started to let him. The packmates were so familiar with each other that they had dragged her into their fold before she even knew it. This life was too good to be true. She still hadn’t told Luke everything, but she wasn’t planning on handing him her life story. She was happy here, but she wasn’t going to let that give her a false sense of security.
She had contacted Elsa – a human whose life she had once saved. Elsa knew how to get in touch with the paranormal, but even she was coming up empty in regards to finding a witch.
Life was not all perfect here, though. She was aware that not everyone liked her presence. From the bits and pieces she learned, a few females had joined the pack recently. Among those female shifters was one called Fiona who disliked Cassie with a passion.
Cassie couldn’t care less about being hated. She also knew that she could probably take Fiona in a fight. But she wanted to keep a low profile, and when you were hated by someone with such intensity, everything you said or did was observed and noted. Cassie didn’t need that attention.
Another major problem was that although she had concealed the mating bond, it’s strength was growing by the day. And that meant she had to be on constant alert to keep it under wraps. If she released the bond and let Luke realize what it meant, she would be tied down.
Shifters did not carry for the full nine months as humans did. They carried for only seven. The baby’s movements start
led her at times, and at night he was the most restless. Now both her bear and her baby only slept soundly when Luke’s scent surrounded them and his hand was on her belly. It delighted the alpha when his child would respond to his growls with small movements and brush against the spot where his hand would be.
With everything going so well, she had not even imagined how one event could change everything. Luke had been in a bad mood the evening before, and when she had poked and prodded him, he said something about politics being a pain in the ass.
The next morning when she was getting dressed, Luke said, “I might not be in the den today. So, if you need anything, call me on my cell phone.”
Cassie looked at him, curiously, “Why? Where are you going?”
“We have an envoy coming from another pack. Malcolm liked his politics; I don’t. The pack can’t afford outside interferences.”
“Can’t you just say no?”
Luke shook his head, “Pack protocol is very extensive. I can’t offend another pack. We sometimes trade with them.”
Cassie stood up. “Then I’ll be out on a run today. Inside pack territory.”
“You don’t have classes?”
She shook her head, “Just some basic self-defense with the cubs. I’m teaching Sarah, Keenan, and some of the younger ones how to defend themselves in an attack.”
That was actually a good idea, Luke thought. They were the most vulnerable in the pack and needed to be able to defend themselves if they were ever in danger.
He watched her leave. She was adjusting quite well to the pack. Not only had she found her place in it, but she was both admired and feared by the pack members. She hadn’t been able to hide her nature as a submissive for long, but her badass attitude and her ability to put anyone on their back within seconds had his people viewing her with new eyes and a healthy amount of respect.
People had assumed she had mated him, and Cassie hadn’t let them deny it – another one of her secrets that she was so fond of keeping. Not that he minded this one. It let him get away with being affectionate in front of the pack. However, some of the elders who were in the den were getting antsy. They wanted to perform the mating ceremony before the birth of the cub. He had told them that he and Cassie wanted to wait until their child was born.
Saved by Alpha Bear (Paranormal Shifter Romance) (Shadow Claw Book 1) Page 5
