Code of the Alpha: Shifter Romance Collection

by Lola Gabriel

Mash nodded and Cole went back inside. The house was a mess, everything charred, or still in flames. He made his way back to where he had found Asra. He searched through the room, not finding anything or anyone. He was just about to give up when he noticed movement in the corner. Something stirred under an overturned bookshelf and when he approached it, he noticed a pair of dark eyes glowering at him.

  “Are you okay, ma’am?” Cole called out.

  “Get away from me,” the old woman retorted.

  “We have to get out of here.”

  “Get out of my house,” she barked at him again.

  “If we don’t get out of here there won’t be anything left of you or your house. Asra loves you, and she wouldn't allow anything to happen to you. Please, come with me,” Cole said, glancing quickly around him as the ceiling crackled above. He held out his hand to Asra’s grandmother, who was still semi-concealed under the bookshelf.

  To his relief, the old woman moved out from under the bookshelf, and as she stood from the floor, his eyes widened.

  “Edythe…” His voice was a whisper, but he knew she heard him.

  “Hello, Cole.”

  He couldn't believe that she stood in front of him. Her dark eyes still bore the same pain as the last time he had gazed into them, and he took a step back.

  “I haven't seen you in such a long time,” he said in disbelief.

  “You didn't think I was dead, did you?” she asked.

  “Nothing could kill you, except maybe your bitterness,” he pointed out.

  “After all this time, and you’re still the same cocky little kid you were back then,” she snarled.

  As the ceiling boards started to give way above them, Cole stepped towards Edythe and held out his hand to her. “Can we please just get out of here before neither one of us gets out of here alive?”

  “Fine, but I still don’t like you, Wylde,” Edythe muttered.

  “I didn't expect you to,” Cole countered.

  He grabbed Edythe, who was much lighter than he expected, and flung her over his shoulder. He carefully made his way through the house, and as they reached the hallway, the ceiling gave way under the strain of the fire and collapsed completely. Cole and Edythe were forced onto the floor, but a heavy beam had fallen onto Cole’s back, its weight causing a searing pain in his spine.

  He wasn't sure for how long he was unconscious, but it couldn't have been long, because as he opened his eyes, the dust hadn't even settled.

  “Edythe, are you okay?” he asked groggily.

  “Yes. I am fine. You?”

  “I am not sure. There’s a beam on me,” he wheezed.

  “Can you move it?” she asked.

  “I guess,” he grunted and pushed himself up off the floor with his hands. The weight of the beam wasn't as heavy as he’d thought, despite the impact it had when it fell onto him.

  If there was one thing about Cole that set him apart from any of the other wolves he had ever known, it was his incredible strength. He recalled his mother telling him, “You’re strong on the outside because you’re strong on the inside.” He had forgotten those words, but now they replayed over and over in his mind. He rotated his torso, grabbed hold of the beam and pushed it off him, fueled by his need to save Edythe, but also to prove to himself that his mother knew him better than anyone else.

  That was for you, Mother, he thought with a small smile.

  “Come on, Edythe,” Cole called out to her and grabbed her wrists, pulling her to her feet.

  Together, they rushed out of the house as fast as they could before the entire structure came crashing down.

  “Cole!” he heard Asra’s relieved voice as he and Edythe made their way to the grass where Asra, her mother and Mash stood. A small crowd of their neighbors stood in the street, and they looked just as relieved when Cole and Edythe emerged from the house.

  Asra ran up to him, and he put his arms around her. Her body was cool against his burning skin, and the scent of her immediately calmed his racing heart.

  “I’m so glad that you’re okay,” she whispered to him and gazed up at him. “Thank you.”

  “For you, anything.”

  Asra smiled and kissed him on the lips before slipping out of his embrace. Cole watched as she approached Edythe and embraced her as well. They shared a few words, which Cole didn't listen to. Instead, he approached Mash, who seemed even more relieved to see him. Mash opened his arms to Cole, and without even a moment’s hesitation, Cole hugged his best friend.

  “You gave me a fright there, buddy,” Mash said and patted his back.

  “It takes more than a little fire to kill me, Mash,” Cole said with a wink.

  “Clearly,” Mash chuckled. “I think you might be fire resistant as well.”

  Cole raised his arm, revealing a few second-degree burns, and shook his head. “Not quite.”

  Mash smiled, but Cole noticed this was merely a ploy to suppress the shallow tears in his eyes.

  “Thank you, for everything you do, Mash. I know I don’t always give you the credit you deserve, but you’re the best friend and Beta anyone could ever ask for,” Cole said sincerely.

  “I don’t do it for the credit, buddy. You’re my friend, and I’d lay my life down for you without a shadow of a doubt,” Mash said and raised his fist towards Cole.

  Cole grinned and pounded his fist against Mash’s.

  “I love you, buddy.”

  “I love you too, Mash,” Cole reciprocated.

  “And speaking of love,” Mash said and motioned over to their right.

  Cole glanced over his shoulder and saw Asra and Edythe approaching him.

  “I’ll give you three a moment,” Mash said and stepped away.

  Cole smiled gratefully and looked at Asra. “Hey.”

  “Hey,” Asra smiled in return. “Thank you for saving my family.”

  “They’re my family too, right?” Cole shrugged.

  “You’re a good kid, Wylde, just a bit misunderstood. Unlike that father of yours,” Edythe pointed out.

  “Wait,” Asra said and held her hands up, gaping at her grandmother. “You know him?”

  “Yes, ever since I was a little girl,” Edythe answered.

  “But... I don't understand,” Asra frowned in confusion. “You hate the Wyldes.”

  “I did, but you were right, Azzie. He’s nothing like his father. Sure, he can be cocky at times, and arrogant,” Edythe retorted and raised her eyebrows at him, “but he’s a good kid.”

  “I just wish I could have done something to stop my father from doing what he did all those years ago,” Cole said.

  “What did your father do?” Asra asked.

  “You haven’t told her?” Edythe asked.

  “No, I haven’t,” Cole admitted and glanced apologetically at Asra.

  “Then I think you two should go talk,” Edythe said. “Your mother and I are going to the hospital.”

  Sirens wailed in the distance, and as Edythe stumbled across the lawn, Asra turned towards her. “Grandma, wait.”

  Edythe looked at her and Asra approached her slowly. “I love you so much, and I am sorry that I hurt you.”

  Edythe touched her cheek and smiled slightly. “I was the one who hurt you, dear, and I am sorry for that. I wanted so badly for you to be like me that I forgot that you are your own person. I was too wrapped up in my own pain to allow you to live your own life. Clearly, you are more than capable of running your own life, choosing your own destiny, and you are one hell of a witch,” Edythe told her, glancing briefly at Cole and winking at her before turning back to where Asra’s mother stood with Mash.

  Asra turned back to Cole and he held out his hand to her. “Come on. I have a few things to tell you.”

  “So do I, actually.”

  About an hour later, Asra and Cole sat in her living room on the couch, and even though Cole was concerned that Asra should have gone to the hospital with her mother and Edythe, she insisted that she was fine. Asra was more concern
ed about the burns on Cole’s arms, and after much persuasion from her, Cole allowed her to rub a few of her herbs onto his skin, despite his faster-than-normal healing.

  She regarded him expectantly.

  “Okay. I’m about to tell you about the most horrible thing my father did in his entire life. Even worse than selling out his own father to the Crescents, or killing an entire pack in the Midwest,” Cole warned her. “It’s pretty graphic.”

  “I just set my grandmother’s house alight with my anger and almost killed my mother, my grandmother and myself in the process, which, I might add, was not the first time, so I think I’ll be okay,” Asra pointed out reassuringly.

  “You started the fire?” he asked in disbelief.

  “I was angry, and I have the tendency to allow my anger to manifest into flames and fire which are impossible to get under control,” she answered calmly.

  “Oh my God. What the hell did they say to you?” he asked, but shook his head immediately. “You know what, I don’t really want to know.”

  “It happens when you feel powerless, because that is when you possess the most power,” she explained.

  A hint of a smile flickered on his lips before it disappeared and he grew serious. “As you already know, my father wasn't a good guy. He hated the humans, especially the witches, and everything that wasn't a wolf.”

  “I know. I read that,” Asra nodded.

  “What you probably didn't read was the reason why we came to America from Italy was that my father had a violent temper. He got into a fight with his Alpha, and since it was considered an act of defiance, he got banished from the pack,” Cole explained.

  “Your father was a member of another pack? Who?”

  Cole cleared his throat and shifted around uncomfortably. “He was a Crescent.”

  Asra’s jaw dropped and she shook her head. “Oh my God.”

  “Of all the brothers, I’m the only one who knows this. The others were too young to understand it, and my father made me promise not to tell them. I never did.”

  “All this time you were running away from them because of your dad defying them?”

  “Actually, my mom was supposed to marry the then-Alpha’s son, but she imprinted on my father instead,” Cole explained. “Of course, the Alpha wanted him dead after he refused to let my mother go. A price was put on his head, so my parents fled around Europe, eventually settling back into Venice for a few decades. After Scout was born, they somehow picked up our scent, and we had to leave for good.”

  “That is terrible. You’ve lived your entire life in fear of this pack,” Asra muttered. “That’s just wrong.”

  “Very,” Cole sighed. “Coming back to the story I wanted to tell you, it was at the end of the nineteenth century, which you also know was a very important time of your coven’s existence.”

  “The great fire,” Asra answered simply.

  Cole nodded and cleared his throat. “My family stayed in Marblehead, laying low until we could get away from there. It was a rather impoverished area at the time with little to no money going around. My father had left all the wealth he attained from the Crescents behind, so we had to start over somewhere new. It had become so normal to me, not staying in the same place for too long, so it didn't even bother me. One night, I snuck out of the house to watch the stars from the top of Marblehead falls. I met Edythe that night, and we talked until the sun came up the next morning. Of course, her father was furious and chased me away when I tried to apologize. I didn't even tell my father or mother about it. But they knew. They could smell her scent.”

  “Let me guess, your dad freaked out and set the town alight?” Asra interrupted grimly.

  Cole’s eyes widened and he stared at her. “How did you know that?”

  “My grandmother told me. She watched as her father burnt to death while trying to save her little brother. They both died. After my dad died, we moved back into her house and I heard her every night, crying and screaming in her dreams for her father and her brother. She doesn't like to talk about it, because it still hurts. She doesn't like to talk about a lot of things. I found out yesterday that my grandfather, her late husband, was also a human. It made me wonder why she hated the humans so much. I was adamant to know, but then I realized that it had nothing to do with me, just like my feelings for you have nothing to do with her or my mother,” Asra said and placed her hand on his. “Cole, I love you, regardless of what you are, or what your father did. You are not him. You are so much more than he will ever be. I hope you know that and that you never forget it.”

  Cole squeezed her hand, brought it up to his lips and kissed it. “I love you. Both of you.”

  Asra smiled as she leaned in closer to him and kissed him on the lips. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Of course, you can ask me anything,” he murmured.

  “How did you find my grandmother’s house? Or have you known where it was all along?” she asked and narrowed her eyes at him.

  “I haven't seen your grandmother since the night of the fire, Asra, so I had no idea where her house was. I didn't even know she was your grandmother until I found her in the house behind a bookshelf. Trust me, I was just as shocked to see her standing in front of me as you were when you found out we knew each other,” Cole answered. “I honestly didn't think I’d ever see her again after what happened.”

  “You two weren't together or anything like that, were you?” Asra asked with a cringe.

  “No. While she was nice and smart and pretty, I was too much of a dork to think of her in that way. Plus, I think I was drawn to her because she’s your grandmother,” Cole pointed out.

  Asra smiled and licked her lips. “One more question.”

  “Okay.”

  “How did you know I was in trouble?”

  “This is going to sound really strange, but I felt it, right here,” he answered and placed his hand against his heart. “I know your voice like it’s my own, Asra, and my blood runs through you thanks to the life which grows inside you.”

  A smile spread across her face, followed by tears surfacing in her eyes. “Where the hell have you been all my life?”

  “Waiting patiently for the right time to see you for the first time, and to love you for the rest of my life.”

  Asra placed her arms around his shoulders and kissed him, filling his heart to the brim with love and contentment.

  11

  Asra rolled her shoulders and glanced at the clock on the wall of the kitchen. It was still an hour before the kitchen was due to close, but she felt exhausted. Being six months pregnant was beginning to take its toll on Asra’s energy levels, especially at work, and even though Cole tried his hardest to persuade her to stop working, she insisted she was fine. She couldn't imagine staying at home just yet, but also looked forward to spending quality time with their baby when the time came.

  Last month, she and Cole found out that the baby was a boy, which had made Cole more emotional than he would ever admit to anyone, and seeing the little baby on the monitor at the doctor’s office made his chest swell up with pride each time.

  Her relationship with her mother and grandmother also improved a great deal, and they were very accepting of Cole and the situation with the baby, although her grandmother was a little concerned that the child may possibly be a wolf. Asra didn't really mind at all, and neither did Cole. In fact, she hoped their son would have both his parents’ traits, as that would definitely be a first. A wolf who could do magic. But either way, Asra and Cole just wanted a healthy baby.

  They spent many nights talking about the future, which excited Asra to no end. She had finally found the one person she had been hoping for her entire life. Someone who looked at her the way her father looked at her mother. Someone who would love her forever, and even after that.

  Asra smiled happily and continued finishing a few desserts that were ordered by the last few patrons in the restaurant. Ben had the night off, so Asra was the only person at her station, but she d
idn’t mind. Luckily the restaurant wasn't too busy and she could easily manage on her own.

  She poured melted chocolate over the last two desserts and when Connie, the waitress, came into the kitchen, she had just finished with her two masterpieces.

  “Two perfect desserts,” Connie sighed dreamily as she approached the counter. “You should have your own restaurant, or bakery or something. You’re too good for this place.”

  “Thanks, Connie, but I love it here. I get to experiment,” Asra said with a smile.

  “You know what you should do? Get your own cooking show,” Connie suggested.

  Asra laughed and ran her hands over her belly. “I’m way too camera shy for that. I prefer to be behind the scenes, you know?”

  “I better get these out,” Connie said as she carefully placed the two dessert bowls on her tray and left the kitchen.

  Asra watched as the doors closed by themselves, and she glanced at the clock again. She felt more tired than usual tonight, and wasn't quite sure why. She looked forward to getting home and sitting her butt down on her comfortable couch while Cole made dinner for them tonight. They took turns in the kitchen, but lately, Cole had been cooking more often, giving Asra a much-needed break to relax with her feet up. Standing for most of the day took its toll on her legs and ankles, but she didn't complain. She enjoyed her pregnancy, and often wondered if they would have any more kids. Hopefully not too many, as she wasn't even sure whether she’d be a good mother. Cole, of course, would be a really great father according to her, because he strived to be nothing like his own father, which was the perfect way not to be. The only thing that she still didn't like was his motorcycle. Even though she had never ridden on it, she didn't feel it was safe.

  God, I’m turning into a real mother, she’d often think, but she was just being responsible.

  She didn't like the thought of him being on it, even though he assured her that he was a safe driver. Sure, he might be a safe and responsible driver, but others might not be. There was no protection around him on that thing, but she wasn't about to force him to get rid of it. She didn't want things to change between them with the baby on the way, and she definitely didn't want to come across as the nagging girlfriend.