ALPHA MATE
(BBW Paranormal Romance)
MATE series
By
Natalie Kristen
Copyright © 2014 Natalie Kristen
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are used fictitiously or are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual locales, events, establishments or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
*****
Curvy Charlotte Cole has been given a second chance at life, and vengeance. To live, she has to kill. She has to hunt and kill rogue paranormals. Her life depends on it.
Lucas Rieve, Alpha of the Paranormal Affairs Council (PAC), has to shadow and assess a duo of rookie hunters, a curvy human and her vampire partner. Can the Alpha wolf curb his overpowering instinct to possess and protect when he recognizes the curvaceous human as his mate?
As their paths and purposes clash, will the Alpha lose his mate, or will he lose his mind first?
*****
CHAPTER ONE
Charlotte pushed herself up and swiped the blood from her mouth. Her vision was blurring and tilting, and threatening to spin. With a fierce shake of her head, she forced her eyes to clear and focus. “Get away from her! You...you...” she faltered, gulping and panting too loudly.
What do you call a creature that looked like it was half man, half wolf, all monster? Oh, of course.
“You monster!” she shrieked and barreled headlong towards that snarling, salivating escapee from hell that was snapping its ugly jaws inches from her sister's face. “Shoo! Go away, you—bad, bad dog!” She brought her broken umbrella down on the werewolf's back, snapping the sorely abused umbrella into splinters. That was the end of the umbrella, but not the werewolf. The hideous creature simply shook the remains of the mangled umbrella off its back and turned its massive head over its furry shoulder to stare at Charlotte. Its eyes were red, and glowed eerily in the dark, foggy alleyway.
“No, Charlotte! S-stay back!” Charlene choked out as she tried to get to her feet. Charlotte flicked her panicked eyes to her elder sister. Charlene was badly injured, with blood flowing freely down her face and arms, but still she was doing her darnest to protect her baby sister. Like always.
“Run, Charlene!” Charlotte shouted at the top of her lungs. “Run!”
But even before Charlene shook her head, Charlotte knew that her big sister would never run. Their mother had ran off with another man when Charlotte was twelve, and their father had died a year later, from a broken heart and a broken bottle. Charlene had just turned twenty-one and she stepped up to the roles of father, mother, sister and best friend to her younger sister. Charlene was not one to run away. Ever. She would square her shoulders, stare adversity in the eye and give it the finger. Then she would give Charlotte her best and brightest smile. She was the reason Charlotte grew up happy and well-adjusted. She had filled Charlotte's growing-up years with warm, happy memories. She was Charlotte's only family, and whole world.
“Come to Mama,” Charlene flashed a smile. But this was not the bright, beautiful smile that Charlotte was accustomed to. The smile on Charlene's face was ugly and crooked. Charlotte watched her sister's green eyes narrow and gleam. “Come on. You're no big, bad wolf. That'd be flattering you. You're just a mean, mangy mongrel. And you're not going near my baby sister. Come here!” Charlene balled her fists and took on a boxer's stance. She huffed and puffed and punched the air, trying to distract the werewolf.
The werewolf stopped mid-stride towards Charlotte. It snarled and twisted round at Charlene's relentless taunts. The creature remained motionless for a moment, standing still between the two sisters.
Charlotte gripped the curved handle, the only pathetic piece of her umbrella that hadn't been reduced to sawdust, and blinked rapidly. Her eyes raked down the creature's hideous black fur and human limbs from which glinted deadly, curved claws. The head and shoulders of the creature was wolf, but the bottom half was human. The creature stood tall on human legs that were corded with muscle, but his toes were curled into long, sharp claws.
She suppressed a shiver of revulsion. Living in New Moon City, the only city in North America that legally recognized paranormals and had an official Paranormal Affairs Council (PAC) to protect the rights and lives of humans and paranormals alike against rogues and rule breakers meant that she came across many shifters, vamps and demons. But she had never seen a shifter like the one before her. The PAC had both human and paranormal members. So had their Enforcement Unit, which was run and financed by the PAC.
Paranormals and humans in the Enforcement Unit patrolled the streets of the city every night, and she had seen uniformed men and women shift into predatory animals right in the middle of the street and give chase to rogues. Their shift had always been clean and swift, and they would be completely in their sleek animal forms at the end of their shift. They didn't look like this. Stuck in a monstrous half wolf, half man form.
Before Charlotte could utter a cry, the werewolf had lunged at Charlene. Charlene's shaking fists immediately shot out and she socked the wolf hard in the jaw, but she might as well have patted its head and scratched its ears for all the good it did. A dirty paw struck Charlene across the face, and she reeled back and collapsed at the foot of a graffiti-covered wall. She struggled to push herself up, looking dazed and stunned, with blood pouring from a gash in her cheek.
With a ferocious growl, the wolf pounced and pinned Charlene to the ground. Screeching desperate but by no means empty threats, Charlotte flew towards the monster and stabbed its back with the jagged end of the umbrella handle. She used all her might but she couldn't even pierce its thick, matted fur. Glancing down, she saw that she could stab him where it mattered. Pulling her arms back, she aimed the sharp end of the handle between his human legs, where his male human bits were on full display.
But before she could jam her weapon between its legs, the werewolf reared up and with a swipe of its claws, flung her forcefully away from him. Charlotte smashed against the far wall and slid down like a discarded rag doll.
Her vision threatened to dim and black out completely. No, no, no blacking out. Charlotte shook her head quickly, but instead of clearing it, she seemed to have loosened whatever bolts or bones that were holding her head to her neck. Her head lolled uselessly on her shoulders, and she tasted blood in her mouth.
“Charlene,” she croaked, blinking to focus on her sister. After a few more blinks, she finally saw her.
Charlene, her brave, beautiful big sister, was still fighting to protect her even when she was staring death in its ugly face. She was doing her best to hold the monster off, twisting desperately out of the reach of those dripping jaws. Blood was tracking down her fair, fleshy arms and her face and neck were covered with teeth and claw marks, but still Charlene held the beast off. She was undoubtedly the strongest, toughest person Charlotte knew. She was only twenty-nine, yet she had strands of white hair peeking out from her bob of blond hair.
Charlene's arms were shaking and bleeding badly, as she grunted and grappled with the monster. A growl rumbled through the smoky alley. At the sound, the werewolf turned its head to glower at Charlotte.
Charlotte sucked in a breath at the realization that
the growl had emanated from her own constricted throat. She had never, ever growled before. But a growl was way better than a squeak, and it made her sound more dangerous and powerful.
Charlotte's fists and gut tightened as she swayed on her feet.
“That's right, you big ugly. Pick on someone your own size! I am right here!” Charlotte curled her fingers, daring and inviting the wolf to come fight her. “I'm bigger and badder, and I'll fight you!”
She saw Charlene shake her head rapidly, her eyes and mouth round and wide. Despite the terrible danger they were in, Charlotte felt the corner of her mouth quirk up.
At her sister's look of horror and reproach, Charlotte jutted her chin and smirked. What? She had merely spoken the truth. Both sisters were curvy and buxom, but Charlotte had more generous curves than her sister. And at five foot six, she was also a couple of inches taller than Charlene.
So yeah, that cowardly wolf should come fight the bigger opponent.
“Come on, what are you waiting for? Why aren't you coming to take me on? Oh, I know. You're sca-a-a-red. You're afraid of a big, bad girl.” Charlotte wiggled her brows provocatively. “I see you've not no balls.” Which was a lie. Given that the bottom half of the wolfman was more man than wolf, she saw his, um, male anatomy, all too clearly. And from the looks of it, the bastard was highly aroused.
Shit.
“Violence excites you, eh?” she muttered in disgust. Spitting, she curled her finger at the animal and purred, “Come, you sick animal. You want violence? You'll get violence right here. From me. It'd be fun, I promise.” Charlotte swallowed hard. She had to get the monster away from Charlene, no matter what.
Charlotte saw her sister shake her head frantically, her mouth rounding with a whispered word, “No!”
The wolfman narrowed its red eyes at Charlotte and eased back from Charlene. When the monster began to stalk towards Charlotte, Charlene screamed and hurled herself at the creature's back, digging her nails into its thick neck. “No! Run, Charlotte, run! Please, get out of here! Go!”
The wolfman spun round and clawed Charlene off its back. Throwing Charlene with so much force down on the ground that Charlotte heard a few sickening cracks, the monster leaped through the air with its fangs and claws gleaming in the faint moonlight.
“No!” Charlotte flew towards the monster, her arms outstretched, straining in vain to reach her fallen sister. Her eyes met Charlene's glistening eyes for a frozen, heartbreaking instant. Charlene's lovely green eyes crinkled in a smile. A beautiful, loving, tender smile that was reserved only for her baby sister.
I love you.
Charlene's eyes shone with a fierce light and strength as she mouthed a final command to Charlotte. Live!
The entire scene played out in slow motion before Charlotte's eyes, even though everything happened in the span of a few heartbeats.
Charlotte saw her own splayed fingers moving all too slowly towards Charlene as she tried to reach her. Charlene raised her hand and as their fingertips touched, Charlotte saw the monster lock its deadly jaws around Charlene's pale, quivering throat.
Blood sprayed in an arc and splattered the creature's fur and Charlotte's arms. The dirty brick wall looming above them sported dark splashes of crimson. Charlene never cried out, and her hand dropped from Charlotte's in a final, gentle caress.
Charlotte skidded and slipped, stumbling into the spreading pool of blood. Charlene's blood. Her beautiful sister, who was...was...
“No!” She can't be dead!
With a scream, Charlotte tore her eyes away from her sister's mangled body and met those red, glowing eyes unflinchingly.
“I...will...kill...you!”
Her words were slow but clear, her voice low and unfamiliar. “I will kill you, werewolf.” Her eyes blazed with raw pain and hate.
The wolfman crouched, stiff black fur sprouting along its legs. What was left of the man was gradually disappearing beneath the wolf. With loud cracking of bone and painful snapping of muscle, it morphed messily and completely into a huge, bloody beast.
Charlotte and the hulking black wolf circled each other in the dark alley, which was filled with the smell of smoke, sweat and blood. The wolf tilted its head to sniff the air, and Charlotte flicked her eyes up to see the full moon slide behind a cluster of clouds. No doubt the wolf could see much better in the dark than her. But she was past caring about her own safety. She just wanted vengeance. Vengeance for Charlene.
She would kill this werewolf. Even if it killed her.
At the back of her mind, she heard a voice that sounded so much like Charlene's. Live!
She gasped, and jerked from the sudden stab of pain through her heart. She would never hear her sister's voice again. And she hadn't listened to Charlene tonight. If she had, they wouldn't be here, and Charlene would not be dead. She should have listened to Charlene and not insisted on taking this shortcut. Cutting through this alley would save them fifteen minutes. They had just watched a midnight movie, a rare treat, since Charlene usually worked the night shift at the convenience store. It was also to celebrate Charlotte's promotion. She had just been promoted to senior clerk in that large, telecommunications company that she had been with since she was eighteen. The walk home from the movie theater would have taken them about an hour, and Charlotte was already yawning non-stop. Fifteen minutes! Charlotte choked out an anguished laugh. She'd wanted to save fifteen goddamned minutes! For that, she had lost years, decades. She could have had so many more years with her sister. Charlotte was just twenty-one and Charlene twenty-nine going on thirty. That sweet, painfully shy guy who worked at the convenience store with Charlene had finally screwed up enough courage to ask her out. But Charlene would never get to go on that date. She would never get to hold his large, gentle hand and kiss him goodnight, would never get married, have kids, grow old, have grandkids, have the life she deserved. And Charlotte would never get to hear her laughter, her nagging and her wisecracks ever again. It wasn't fair. This—can't be it!
Charlotte's eyes stung with tears, and she furiously brushed them away. She was still facing the wolf, who was staring at her, its nose and ears twitching. Don't cry. Not now. Now she had a wolf to kill.
Carefully she lowered herself, all the time keeping her eyes on the enemy, and snatched up the broken bottle lolling near her feet. She held out her weapon and pointed the lethal end of the bottle at the wolf.
Her heart was pounding with rage, regret and hate—some of which was directed at herself.
For Charlene.
She would kill this wolf.
But—
This was no ordinary wolf. It was a werewolf.
The realization slammed into her like a fist in the gut. Werewolves couldn't be killed with a glass bottle. They could only be killed with—silver.
Shit, shit, shit!
Frenziedly, her eyes darted around the dump. Where was a silver knife when you needed one? She just needed a silver stick, blade, bullet, something, anything! But why would a silver anything be lying around a garbage dump? She steadied her breathing and narrowed her eyes. Maybe this glass bottle wouldn't kill the monster, but she could make it hurt. Charlotte gripped the neck of the glass bottle harder. This baby could cause some very nasty cuts and gashes. She would inflict as much damage and pain as possible. Count on it.
The wolf bared its teeth in what looked like a smile. Staring intently at her, it stepped to the side so that Charlotte was presented with the stark view of her dead, mutilated sister. Against her will, a ragged sob tore from her aching chest.
In that instant, the wolf pounced.
It was pure reflex that saved her life. Instinctively, Charlotte jerked away and raised her hand. The glass raked across the wolf's underside, drawing a line of blood. But the wolf simply landed lightly on its feet behind Charlotte and shook itself. It attacked again without hesitation, its teeth sinking into Charlotte's arm. Screaming in agony and fury, she lashed out blindly, stabbing indiscriminately with her bottle. She coul
d feel teeth and claws all over her, on her face, neck, arms, legs, torso. The wolf was all over her, having pinned her to the ground with its massive weight. Using all the strength she had left, Charlotte dragged the shard of broken glass that she was still clutching in her hand straight across the wolf's snarling face.
The wolf released her abruptly, and she managed to push herself up. Every muscle in her body hurt, but still she allowed herself a smile of victory when she saw that long, deep cut across the wolf's face. She had just narrowly missed its eye, slicing all the way from the corner of its left eye to the right corner of its mouth. She gripped the glass shard, feeling it cut into the soft flesh of her palm, and pointed it at the wolf.
“Next time, I won't miss,” she said evenly.
Blood was dripping from the wolf's mouth, and Charlotte spat out a mouthful of her own blood. Both were injured, and both were intent on killing the other.
But only one of us can live. And it'd be me. Because Charlene said so.
The air rippled with tension as both took a bracing step back. This was it. A kill would be made.
Animal and human cry echoed through the fog as wolf and woman collided.
She aimed straight for its eye.
It zeroed in on her jugular.
Charlotte screamed and released her hold on the glass shard as she felt long, sharp fangs sink into her neck. The pain was burning, excruciating, and she could feel her lifeblood spurting out of her. “Get...off...me!” Her words were incoherent pants, but she managed to shove the beast off her. She would not die under this piece of shit. She tried to get up, but her limbs felt weak and useless. Her body disobeyed her mind, and just lay limply on the ground even though her mind was screaming for her to get the hell up.
Only her eyes moved. Even as her vision dimmed and her strength ebbed, she could see the wolf stumbling back and hear its agonized howl. A long piece of glass was sticking out of its left eye socket. What used to be its left eye was now a mess of bloody bits.
Alpha Mate: BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance Page 1
