Loved by Alpha Wolf

by Sarah J. Stone

  The kittens crept up to where Matt stood and attached themselves to his legs. The paternal wolf put a hand on each of their heads, acknowledging their presence.

  “They have logs dating back to the 1400s.” Alan sounded grim, “Shifters, their habits, information about packs that disappeared centuries ago. Some of these are even in different languages. These are hunters, Fergus.”

  “Their weapons are next level,” Matt spoke. “From what I can see, they’re a step up from military grade even.”

  “How would hunters get their hands on something even the military doesn’t have?” Fergus asked. “This is serious. I’ll get in touch with Kevin.”

  When he stood up, Diana immediately backed a few steps, alert.

  He stood still, and she sniffed at his ankles and then circled around, still sniffing.

  “She okay, Boss?” Alan asked, befuddled by the behavior of his alpha’s mate.

  Lorne answered, his voice holding traces of weariness. “She’s testing him, familiarizing herself with him. I’ll tell you, but you’ll have to be very patient with that one. I don’t know how anybody can stay sane after what they did.”

  “Ten years is a bloody, long time,” Matt said quietly. “She doesn’t know who you are, does she?”

  Fergus ran a hand over her and watched her freeze, and then relax, as she let him pet her. “I don’t think she does. She refuses to shift.”

  Alan pursed his lips. “She doesn’t trust us. Since she already has a bond with you, even if she doesn’t remember you, her wolf finds you familiar.” He looked at Matt, “Maybe if we leave, she’ll shift.”

  Fergus looked at Lorne and the two children. “You guys have no place to go, do you?”

  The tiger shifter offered a painful shrug and the kittens just clung onto Matt even tighter as if afraid he would abandon them.

  “They’ve been here for nearly six months,” Lorne said.

  Fergus looked at his packmates and then walked over to where the tiger sat, naked as the day he was born. Fergus raised his brow, and said, “We could use someone with your years of experience in our pack.”

  “I’m a tiger.”

  Fergus shrugged. “So?”

  Lorne slid off the rock. “So, if that doesn’t bother you, why should it bother me?” He extended his hand. “Lorne Thunder.”

  “Fergus Adoff. Welcome to the pack.” Fergus shook his hand and gave his subordinates a look. “You all return to the pack. I’ll bring Diana in a while. She might not be able to take so many packmates all at once.”

  Alan nodded, and then to Lorne, he said, “Come along, pussycat.”

  Although the tiger shifter’s eyes were heavy with grief, he bared his teeth. “I’ve got some major claws, mutt.”

  They set fire to the cabin and buried all the hides they had found.

  As the fire raged on, they watched in silence.

  “This is the first time that I’ve heard of humans who hunt others,” Alan said to Fergus. “I’m taking the logs with me, and I’ll share them with Samuel and Abigail.”

  “I’ll inform Luke.” His alpha nodded.

  They parted ways, and Fergus waited until the party was well out of sight. Then he shifted. His wolf was two sizes larger than Diana’s, and he took advantage of that fact. Sniffing out the nearest stream, he nudged her along, determined to clean her up and get rid of that god-awful stench.

  She was too weak to wade in the water, and he shifted so he could help keep her up if she moved toward the deeper parts. They had run across a small lake, and they were far too exposed for Fergus’ liking.

  He quickly cleaned his mate’s fur and dunked in himself. He moved her toward the trees and found a spot where the sun beams were particularly generous.

  Tired, Diana laid down in the sun and felt the silver wolf – no, Fergus – settle down next to her. He put one paw over her back in a gesture that soothed her more than it should have in its familiarity. Against her best wishes, she dozed off again, aware of how alert her silver wolf was.

  As Fergus kept watch as his mate slipped into a deep, healing sleep, he thought back to the cabin, and his blood ran cold as he realized that nowhere in the cabin or the torture chambers had he scented any humans.

  Not even the three hunters they had killed had carried the stench of humans.

  Had these humans managed to somehow mask their scent?

  Chapter 4

  Diana had always had an affinity for wolves. They would follow her around for days on end, and Diana never once expressed any annoyance at their constant presence in her life.

  All wolf shifters were linked to the baser forms of their animals, but the way Diana was attuned to them had been completely different. Her father, the previous alpha, used to laugh, saying that the wolves claimed her as their queen.

  Even now, a part of Fergus relaxed when he saw the three wolves wander over to where his mate lay and curl themselves around her almost protectively. It was as if they could sense her pain and were trying to offer her comfort.

  Diana stirred, her red coat gleaming in the fading sunlight.

  Although Alan had healed her to the best of his abilities, he could see places where her fur was distended sticking out, as if she had suffered massive injuries there. Keeping his anger and guilt in check was becoming harder.

  He watched her slowly stir awake and told himself that if he had not left her that night – that if he had stayed with her – this would not have happened.

  Those green eyes blinked at him, a sharp fear in them, which faded within seconds. She wasn’t bothered by the wolves, and licked one of them on the head as one would to a pup.

  Fergus rubbed his head over hers in a familiar manner. She remained still, a little stiffness lingering there.

  It hurt him to see that, despite the fact that she was starting to trust him, a part of her remained wary.

  He stood up and padded around.

  The wolves, knowing they were in the presence of a greater predator, watched him unwaveringly, and in that moment, Fergus knew that if he were to seem even the slightest bit of threatening to his mate, these wolves would attack him. That thought eased his mind.

  He needed to hunt, but he didn’t think Diana would be able to keep up with him right now. Not in the state that she was.

  Even if he was willing to leave her with her wolves for protection, he didn’t want to move too far away. Nuzzling her once again, he moved toward the trees, planning to catch something small like a rabbit.

  However, when Diana saw him leaving, a hot panic filled her, and she tried to get up. Her body felt weak, and she couldn’t maintain her weight. When she stumbled down onto one of the wolves, it yipped and tried to escape. But she didn’t care.

  Right now, all she could see was the same sequence of events that occurred in her dreams. His back to her as he left her all alone in the dark.

  She stared in the direction he had left and howled. In her panicked state, her vocal cords refused to work. Her mouth felt dry, and she tried to stand up again. Her heart was beating wildly against her chest! Why was he leaving her?

  The wolves clambered over each other, trying to help her, but she was so upset that it seemed her limbs were made of lead

  Gone was the adrenaline.

  Gone was the fear.

  It was misery and heartbreak that filled her now.

  Closing her eyes, she forced her human form to the forefront.

  It wasn’t that it was hard to shift. It was just that after the last ‘session,’ she had a healthy fear of how vulnerable she was in her human form. But right now, her rational side was overtaken by her fear of abandonment.

  Her wolf couldn’t leave her.

  Her red hair reached her waist, all dirty and tangled up. Her body was pale, and the large bruises on her stood out in stark relief. She didn’t notice them, and if she did, she certainly didn’t care.

  Using the tree trunk, she stood up and waited for her legs to stop wobbling. Her holding cell had
been so cramped that exercise had been out of the question. Not that she had been in any shape to be exercising after they were done with her.

  She walked slowly, taking one step at a time, and trying to follow her wolf’s trail.

  Was he hers?

  Her wolf shifted anxiously, and Diana grabbed onto a tree as she felt her knees buckle.

  She wasn’t going to be left behind this time.

  This wolf made her feel safe, protected. Like a screaming cry from within her soul, she felt a connection to him. She couldn’t define it or pinpoint what it was about him, but she was starting to trust her instincts again. Especially when it came to this wolf.

  She walked for a little while, and her lower lip trembled as she became more and more agitated.

  After all the torture she had undergone and all the psychological trauma, she was holding on by a thin thread. For reasons she didn’t quite know, it was this wolf that had become her reason to fight back. Now, he had just up and left. She didn’t want that. She couldn’t handle that.

  ***

  A few miles south of the distraught Diana, Fergus bunched the two dead rabbits in his mouth. He had a feeling Diana wouldn’t be able to eat so much. She was so malnourished that it hurt him just to look at her. But then he could stare at her for hours, and his heart wouldn’t be completely sated.

  Just being able to touch her had done wonders for his broken soul. He wanted to curl up next to her, surround her with his heat and bask in her wild scent.

  He froze when that scent filtered around him.

  That wasn’t possible.

  Why was Diana’s scent here? He lowered the rabbits on the ground and sniffed the air.

  The smell of her blood was mixed in that wildness, and a cold rage filled him. Snarling, he was about to follow the trail when he heard rustling in the bushes behind him.

  Teeth bared, he was about to attack when a very naked woman emerged.

  Diana’s ribs were sharply defined and her gait was unsteady. The bruises that bloomed on her torso and legs were glaringly obvious. And there was a broken look in her eyes.

  He moved toward her swiftly and shifted in the process, catching her as she nearly fell on him.

  “Diana!”

  Speech was difficult for her as she said, “You left me.”

  For a few painful seconds, Ferus thought she was talking about ten years ago. “Diana, I’m–”

  “You were going to leave me.”

  He blinked in confusion. One beat. Two beats. Then he realized what she meant. “No, sweetheart. I was hunting.”

  She looked over his shoulder at the two dead rabbits, and her voice was uncertain. “Oh.”

  Feeling shards of pain pierce his heart, he cupped her face. “I am never going to leave you again, Diana. I swear.”

  Those green eyes no longer held any wicked laughter in them. A strange wariness and an emptiness had replaced that emotion. Her head jerked in a rough nod and her voice was small. “Okay,” she said.

  He knew that it would take time for her to recover, both mentally and physically, but it killed a part of him to see her like this. “I love you.” The words came out of him, before he could stop them.

  She stared at him but didn’t reply as one of the wolves who had been shadowing her rubbed against her. Fergus looked at the black and blue patches on her skin, and he wished that he could go back in time and take his time in killing those men.

  “Come on.” He wasn’t going to ask her about the marks on her skin. If he wanted her to move past the trauma, he couldn’t make her recount the details of those past ten years.

  Not until she was in a steadier frame of mind and wanted to talk.

  He found out that Diana’s appetite was very small. When he had suggested that she take a bath, she had immediately shifted. After a few small mouthfuls, she couldn’t eat anymore of the rabbit. He had told her to eat some more, but she couldn’t manage anything else. Instead, she had given her leftovers to her wolves.

  She had curled up next to him and fallen asleep promptly.

  This was becoming a routine. After every few hours, she would take a nap – just curl up, around him, on him, and drift off. It relaxed her, he saw.

  Her responses became more honest. Her movement more agile. Her appetite better.

  A self-healing sleep, Alan told him over the phone. It was good, his lieutenant told him. They were moving as fast as they could, but Lorne was also quite weak.

  Calling Kevin had turned out to be a bust, since the bear shifter was not picking up.

  One thing that was starting to annoy Fergus was the number of wolves. Every time they moved, two more joined them. It was like a god damn football team following his mate about. Beyond ridiculous.

  He growled at one of them, making it bare its neck in submission. The wolf alpha looked away, grumpy.

  It was two days later when Diana shifted again.

  She looked better and blinked at him. Luckily for Fergus, he had retrieved one of the bundle of clothes that Alan had buried nearby when they had been traveling.

  He first made her take a bath. Her movement was stiff in the water, and he stepped in to help.

  His hands were gentle as he washed her, and when he felt the embarrassment show on her cheeks, he told himself to ignore it. The shirt that she wore later was too big for her, but she seemed happy with it.

  “I didn’t have clothes there,” Diana told him as she sat on the ground, looking like dwarf in those oversized clothes. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me. Never thank me.” Fergus’ voice was rough.

  After a brief pause as she nibbled on some fruits he had gotten her, he asked, “You don’t remember me at all, do you?”

  Diana looked at him, and then back to the pear in her hand. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, don’t you dare apologize,” Fergus told her fiercely. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

  His mate looked startled at his outburst and although he tried to bring out some of his charm that helped people relax around him, he just couldn’t summon it. In front of her, it seemed like a lie, so his voice was quiet as he asked, “What do you remember?”

  Diana stared at the ground as if trying to recall and then their eyes met, “Nothing. I didn’t even know my name until you told me.” She was quiet for a few moments, and then asked, “Were we friends?”

  The hopeful tone in her voice had him swallowing, and he said thickly, “Yeah. Something like that.”

  “Do I have a home?”

  “Yeah. Your whole pack is waiting for you to come home to them. Your father, too.”

  The small cry she gave out had him jumping to his feet. “Diana!” he screamed.

  She dug the palms of her hands in her temples and bent forward, crying out, “My head!” The vicious pain that swept through her was making it hard for her to breathe. She heard her wolf’s voice from far away as the waves of pain kept coming. Her words were a gasping sob. “Oh, God, make it stop!” she pleaded.

  “Diana! Diana, look at me!” His wolf was in his eyes.

  She could see the contained anger in him, and something familiar pulsed inside her.

  Fergus.

  It came and it went, but the feeling of his rough hands on her cheeks steadied her, and slowly the pain faded. Her forehead felt damp, and she realized she was sweating.

  “Are you okay now?”

  She nodded, unable to speak.

  “What happened?”

  Diana drew strength from his unwavering presence and croaked, “Pain. In my head.”

  He let her collect herself and watched as the wolves that surrounded her watched her unblinkingly, settling down.

  “You should–”

  Fergus cut himself off mid-sentence as he felt the air change around him. He looked up and saw the wolves jump to their feet.

  From the quiet peace of the forest, the buzzing of the insects had stopped and the calls of the birds had ceased, nature’s own way of warning its inhab
itants that something else lurked in their home besides them.

  The wolf alpha could taste the wrongness on his tongue as Diana’s wolves bristled. He felt his mate draw up, her teeth bared in a snarl.

  The fear and anger on her face was a mixture he never wanted to see again – an almost inhuman expression that told him that she would die before being taken again.

  “They’re here,” she whispered. Her fingers clenched the material of his jeans just as his phone rang and he saw Kevin’s ID.

  He answered the call to hear Nina scream, “Fergus! Run!”

  Chapter 5

  Fergus did not think. He reacted.

  Grabbing Diana by the hand, he jumped to his feet and ran.

  The wolves followed them, and he cursed. They wouldn’t let the two of them blend in.

  He had made sure that they kept a large distance between the cabin and themselves. Had the humans found them?

  Diana did not protest his tight grip on her hand, and she ran to the best of her ability, her eyes trained on the ground as she jumped over every obstacle that came their way.

  Fergus could sense her terror, and he increased his pace.

  The wolves raced alongside them, and one of them howled when a black arrow struck it in its side. It collapsed, and Diana faltered for a few seconds.

  His animal in his eyes, Fergus snarled at her, “Keep running!”

  The hesitation in her was obvious, and he sensed her need to see to the fallen wolf, but Fergus had a strong feeling that the loyal animal was already dead. He also knew that they needed to shift. He may be fast in his human form, but Diana was not, and if he carried her, he would make her back exposed to any attack.

  He needed her in front of him so that any arrow that came their way did not touch her first.

  “On the count of three, shift!”

  Her eyes widened and then narrowed in determination. Her jaw was tense, and he could see flickers of the old Diana in her. The way her wolf carried herself now, the gritty focus, he could see that she was not too far gone. He didn’t know how she had come out of this hole, but the essence of her was not gone. It was still there, hidden behind the wary woman who had been broken more times than could be counted.