He looks up at his mother and studies her face. It’s only been three years since his father passed, but it might as well be a lifetime since. And moments like this, he missed him the most and would give anything to speak to the old man one more time.
“Look, I need a little more time to sort this shit out in my head,” he speaks, taking a breath, and letting his mother in a little bit. “I’m not ready for this part of my life yet.”
“I’ll try, son, but I don’t know much more time I can buy you.” She nods as the air around them shifts. “Maybe you should make some time to talk with Thalia.”
“Ma, that’s not going to happen—”
“She’s your intended—”
“Again. Not. Going. To. Happen,” he grits with a tight jaw. It was bad enough he is struggling with his role in the pack but throwing Thalia into the mix only helped pushed Alarik away.
It’s a tradition in his pack for the alpha to be mated with an intended partner, usually the first female born after him. Because it’s rare for a shifter to find their true mate and the fact that their clan depends on the alpha line to continue, they implicated a betrothal system to assure their customs and traditions continue throughout the years. There have been cases where an alpha meets their true mate, his mother and father are a great example of it. But Alarik was born in a time when they needed an alliance, and they used this arrangement to strengthen their numbers with another clan.
Thalia is the first daughter of their allied clan’s former alpha and she came to live in their pack when she came of age. Alarik couldn’t stand her. She was shy and eager to please. She was nothing like kind of woman he wanted to give him children. He wanted someone with backbone and sass. Someone who stand up to him and call him out on his bullshit.
Someone like Reaghan, his bear says proudly.
“Alarik,” she starts, halting as he frowns and looks toward the cottage. “Did something happen with the girl?”
“Ma—”
“There’s something about her, Alarik, something that doesn’t add up.”
“I got that feeling too,” he replies with a nod. For the first time this morning, they’re both on the same page.
“She told me she came here because she’s looking for something.”
“I think…” he trails off and checks for the guys, making sure they have privacy in this moment. Alarik could care less if his feelings about becoming the alpha are known, but this subject is far more delicate. At least to him it is. “Ma, I think she’s part of our world.”
“She could be a person who knows too much of something she shouldn’t know,” she offers and crosses her arms. She had to have noticed girl has no scent. If she were a shifter, they’d have known the moment they made contact with her, and his mom was no doubt thinking that very thing.
“That’s not it.” He moves closer still and lowers his voice, not wanting anyone to overhear him. If Reaghan is a dragon, the last thing they need is for the wrong person to find out. “Have you ever met a dragon?”
Isla opens her mouth to speak but closes it quickly, taken aback by her son’s suggestion.
“I met one when I was with Red Dice. He was an asshole, as most males of his kind are, but dragons don’t have a scent,” he goes on to explain. “But their eyes shift with a range of emotions. Last night, Ma, there was a moment her eyes shifted to an iridescent green.”
“Alarik,” she whispers. “That’s not possible. Besides, if she is a dragon, why would she risk stopping in a town filled with shifters?”
“I don’t know, Ma, but I can’t help feeling there is something more to this whole thing. She didn’t drive here on accident, no one comes to Eileen for shits and giggles. But what could she be looking for?”
His mother takes a step back and regards him with curious eyes.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this side of you,” she murmurs, and he knew she wished he would feel this passionate about his job as the clan’s alpha.
“Ma, is it possible she doesn’t know what she is?” he asks, ignoring her comment.
“I don’t know.” She shrugs and scours her brain for a better answer. “Beyond the tonic a shifter can take to suppress their animal, I’ve never heard of it. Animals, especially dragons, are proud creatures.”
“But what if her dragon is hiding to keep her safe? If she doesn’t know what she is, she’d be in more danger because she could accidentally expose herself to the human world.” He exhales, feeling a wave of frustration. “Her animal’s instinct, proud or not, is to survive.”
“Son of a bitch,” his mother curses and her face drops. She looks like she’s seen a ghost. “She mentioned a place north of here.”
“The old Bennett place?”
“Maybe,” she trails off and looks away.
“What aren’t you telling me, Ma?”
“They were dragons, son. I saw them once, late at night. A storm had just rolled through, so the area was quiet. They were flying, but it was more like a dance the way they ducked and rolled with one another. I remember thinking it was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. Your father and I kept their secret.” She looks back at him with sad eyes. “Do you remember the night the Bennett house burned down?”
“The town was on lock down.” He nods as the vague memory of the night surfaces. Alarik never met the Bennett family but he remembers that night well. It was the first time he’d ever seen pure fear in his father’s face. It was also the first time he learned about the Enforcer world, as they descended onto their town hours after it all started.
“It was a group of hunters.” She hung her heading sounding mournful. “When your father came back after dispatching a group of clan members to investigate, he called in the Enforcers. The hunters killed the male dragon, Rufus and they kidnapped his wife, Rayna. She was never found.”
“Shit,” he murmurs as the dots begin to click into place. “Maybe that’s why she wants to explore that area. She might be looking for the Bennett’s. I don’t remember them having any children though.”
“I don’t know if they did,” she shakes her head and takes a deep breath. “They were a private couple, but it’s possible. About a week after their deaths, there was a report on the news about a young girl who was found alone in the woods by a couple of humans. The girl had no memory of how she got there or where she came from. I wondered if she was theirs, but the couple eventually stopped looking and adopted the girl. ”
“Ma, she’s going to need help,” he tells her slowly as everything begins to sink in for him. He puts it out into the world because he wants to be the one to help her. He shouldn’t want to, but once again, there is just something about the woman that calls out to him on a level he’s never experienced.
Mate” his animal responds and Alarik feels a shock through his body, but he ignores it. He can’t let himself go there right now, even though he wants to wrap her in his arms and protect her from the truth because it might hurt her.
“The clan won’t go for it.” She shakes her head, already putting together his meaning. “She isn’t one of us.”
Yet, his bear roars, but Alarik ignores him again because he knows she’s going to need a friend, not a man pawing at her, while she sorts through everything—if she is who he thinks she is. No matter how pretty her eyes are or how much his body aches to be near her, Alarik refuses to take anything his bear claims to heart. A least right now.
“I’ll put a call into a buddy of mine from my days at Enforcer training, Colton. Maybe he’ll know something more.” He rakes a hand through his hair and looks toward the cottage across the street. A shiver runs up his spine. and for a moment Alarik feels like they are being watched.
“Alarik, be careful. The group that targeted the Bennett’s are savages, based on the things they did. They probably won’t stop at dragons.”
He nods, letting her know he understands the fire he’s playing with. Not just for him, but for the clan as well.
; But she’s worth it, his bear surmises, and for once Alarik doesn’t tell him to fuck off.
Chapter Three
Stanley places his hand over his mouth, unable to believe his ears. It’s not a surprise to hear Alarik arguing with his mother about his place in the pack—everyone knows how he feels about it. But what Stanley found interesting was the information about the girl he brought into town last night, and Alarik’s reaction to her.
A dragon here in Eileen? his bear shivers with fear before burrowing deep into Stanley’s chest.
Don’t be such a pussy, he tells it before leaving his spot beside the bay door and making his way to Kane’s cabin up the road. His thoughts are filled with ways to help Kane further damage Alarik’s reputation with the elders, and he knows how excited Kane will be with this new information he’s discovered.
Isla was right about one thing, the clan won’t help the girl, and it’s not because she’s a dragon. Shifters come in all shapes and sizes and their clan is filled with mates who weren’t bears. But the Blue Ridge bear clan will not meddle in the problems of others, especially if the other is not a member of the clan. Alarik’s new dragon friend is not one of them, and if all goes to Kane’s plan, Alarik won’t be either.
Stanley bounds up the stairs of the green cabin and pounds on the old front door. “Kane? Are you home?”
The heavy wooden door swings open and Kane steps out on the porch, his eyes fill with rage at the sight of the scraggly man.
“I thought I told you to never come to the front door,” he growls at him. He had told Stanley this over and over in fact, but the man never remembers. Plus, he doesn’t understand the big deal of it. So, what if the clan knows they are friends. They are going to have to get used to seeing more of Stanley when Kane becomes their new alpha. Kane had promised to make him the omega if Stanley proved loyal to him.
“I’ve got something important to tell you.” Stanley smiles like a fool. Finally, they have their smoking gun and Stanley will have his glory. He’s always been an outcast but that is all going to change today.
“Get on with it,” Kane demands, narrowing his eyes on the man. “This better not be like the time you spotted Dana Paul leaving his—"
“This is about Alarik,” Stanley cuts in. “He has a secret. A big one. I think you can use it to finally take him down.”
As Stanley tells Kane about the conversation he listened in on, he watches Kane take in every detail with a blank stare. Kane is good about hiding his emotions, it’s a trait Stanley wishes he could have. When he was finished with his tale of Alarik’s chance meeting with a dragon, he waits for Kane’s reaction. But it never comes.
“You can take this to the elders,” he insists, ready to lay out a plan and get rid of Alarik once and for all. “He’s placed the clan in danger bringing that dragon here, and now he wants us to help her.”
Kane’s jaw tightens and his glare grows colder, but Stanley assumes it’s because he’s growing angry over Alarik’s blatant care for the clan.
“Say something.” He hops from one to another with anticipation.
“No.”
“No?”
“This isn’t something I can use.” Kane crosses his arms against his broad chest and takes a step back to sneers down at Stanley. “Get me something else.”
“Are you a fool?” Stanley covers his mouth with a hand. Shit, he shouldn’t have said that, but he can’t help wondering if maybe Kane misunderstood him.
“What did you say to me?” Kane takes a menacing step toward him, causing Stanley to shrink back.
“I m-mean no disrespect.” He holds up his hands in defense. He’s only ever seen Kane angry once, and the person on the other end of it left in an ambulance. “I just thought—"
“You thought wrong. Now get the hell off my front porch.” He turns away, dismissing the spy like yesterday’s garbage.
Stanley stumbles backward, down the stairs. His heart hammers heavy in his chest. No, this wrong. Kane is supposed to be happy with him. “But—”
“I said no,” Kane bellows and walks back into the cabin, slamming the door at his back. The sound of it echoes in Stanley’s ears, and he stares at the door thoroughly confused.
No, this isn’t how it’s supposed to happen, he screams internally again before looking around him. Kane has never treated him this way before. They were friends. They care about each other. Together they planned to lead the clan into greatness.
But friends don’t treat each other the way Kane has treated him. Friends don’t turn their backs on each other. Maybe Kane wasn’t his friend after all.
Fine, if he’s not going to do anything about the dragon, I will, he thinks, as a new plan begins to form in his pea-sized brain. Maybe Kane is right though. Maybe exposing Alarik won’t work. But there is another way, and when the clan learns all he did to protect them, surely they will make him the alpha.
Stanley had a new plan.
One that would take care of Alarik, Kane, and the dragon.
And the man who fathered him.
Chapter Four
Reaghan clicks the link on her computer screen and drags in a breath, thanking the heavens above for small town Wi-Fi. Turns out the tiny town of Eileen doesn’t have a public library to access any information about the area, but the county it resided in had online access to the information. She’s been scrolling through newspaper articles all morning and so far, she hasn’t found anything helpful.
You could’ve done this at home, she tells herself before glancing out her window to stare at the garage across the street. Alarik said he’d have an update for her this morning, but he hasn’t been by with any new information. In fact, he’s all but disappeared after Isla crossed the street about an hour ago.
She closes her laptop and stands up to stretch out the kinks in her back, feeling more frustrated now than ever before. She needs to come up with a new plan, but without a car she’s stuck. Despite her better judgement, she played it smart to heed Isla’s warning about talking to the locals, but that only led Reaghan to believe they were hiding something. Whether or not it had anything to do with the truth she sought was yet to be determined.
After putting her leather gloves back on, she grabs the key Isla handed to her late last night and reaches for her black pullover sweater. She could go with some fresh air and since Alarik hadn’t come to her, she would go to him.
The cold air hit her skin fast and hard as she closes the front door behind her. The sharp breeze cuts right through the fabric of her sweater. Something about it feels familiar to her and she burrows deeper into the material.
She enters the office of the garage and comes face to face with a younger version of Alarik.
“Hi, can I help you?” He smiles. Reaghan notes that this version of Alarik isn’t nearly as large, but they look enough alike there has to be some relation between them. He gives her a once over and his eyes settle on her hands.
“Is Alarik in?” she asks and subconsciously tucks her gloved hands into the pockets of her sweater. She’s used to people looking at her hands, especially when it’s hotter than hell outside. Most assume she wears them because she has an issue with germs, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
“He is.” He turns and cranes his neck to look out a dirty window separating the office from the garage. “Let me run back and see if he is available.”
“Thank you,” she murmurs, and he exits out the service door. A moment later she spots Isla walking back to the cottage, her head is down like she’s deep in thought about something. The door to the garage opens and Alarik steps into the room.
Reaghan steps back from the sheer size on him. Even in the broad daylight he’s intimidating, and she has to crane her neck to look up. She swallows hard, trying to commit every line of his face to her memory.
Fuck, this man is sexy, she thinks to herself as she finally admits her attraction to him. Men like him are out of her league, not that it mattered. She didn’t have time for a f
ling. Even if the guy set her body on fire without so much as a touch.
Mate, a voice deep inside of her chest says, making every nerve in Reaghan’s body comes to life. She shakes her head as a sudden dizzy spell hits her and she feels her legs give out from underneath her. She closes her head. trying to fight the wave of emotion as it hits her full force.
She didn’t know what the word was supposed to mean, but somewhere deep inside her, she recognizes the importance of it.
Please, not now, she thinks as she struggles to regain control, but it's too late. Her defenses are down and every human emotion in a ten-mile radius fills her body and mind, until she can’t function.
“Reaghan?” A voice calls out her, deep and filled with panic. She feels a set of arms scoop her off the ground.
No, don’t touch me, she screams internally as his thoughts and fears begin to take over all the others crowding her mind. She needs to get away but as she struggles to open her eyes, the darkness closes in on her until it’s too heavy to fight.
Snippets of Alarik’s life, his thoughts and emotions, play through her mind like a movie. The night of the fire at the Bennett’s. The phone call that came when his father died. The night he nearly lost his life as an Enforcer, whatever that was. Last night, when he caught her scent of jasmine from her favorite shampoo. His conversation with Isla, moments ago. It was about her.
She falls, deeper and deeper into the abyss, learning everything she needed to know with his touch.
Alarik carries Reaghan through the cottage door and he sets her down on an overstuffed couch, he kneels beside her as his mother enters the room.
“What happened?” she asks, crossing the room to stand beside them.
“I’m not sure. She passed out.” He props Reaghan’s head up with a pillow and places a hand over her forehead to check the temperature of her skin. It’s scalding. “She’s burning up. Help me get her sweater off.”
Alarik (A Rogue Enforcers Novella) Page 3
