Fated for the Alphas: The Complete Collection (Nine Book Paranormal Romance Box Set) (10 page)

“He always comes back.”

“Does he always try to rip out your throat?”

Kane was silent for a long moment. “Let’s just give him some space, okay?”

Lia gathered the pieces of her pants, which were definitely beyond repair. “Do you think he’s mad at me?”

“How would I know?”

She tried to fashion a pair of shorts, but it was hopeless. “Kane?”

“What?”

“What happens now? With us, I mean?”

He hadn’t looked this disconcerted when Ronan was leaping for his throat. “I don’t know. Why do you think I have all the answers? Talk to me if you want to rut again. If you want to discuss your feelings, you’ll have to find another wolf.”

“That’s what that was to you? No more than rutting?”

Kane backed away. “See, that’s that feelings thing again. Look, maybe it’s better if I go.”

“You’re just going to leave me here?”

“I’m not a complete asshole. I’ll send someone to collect you.” He loped away in the direction of the den before she could protest.

Her legs seemed to crumple underneath her. Bowing her head, Lia hugged her knees to her chest. She should have stuck with Ronan. He wouldn’t have let something like this happen. But she had given in to her lust, and now everything seemed broken. Lia wished she could go back to yesterday, when Ronan had kissed her and called her radiant. Now he probably hated her, and deservedly so. He had promised to protect her, but he couldn’t protect her from her own stupid decisions.

Lia wiped her eyes. Things had seemed so promising yesterday. For a few shining moments, she thought she could make a place for herself. She thought she wouldn’t have to be alone. But that was stupid of her, as usual. Magda had been right. She was useless, a failure. Maybe she deserved this misery. At least now there was nothing to stop her from leaving. No one would miss her. She could travel on, alone until the day she died.

“Feeling sorry for yourself, chickpea?”

She looked up to find Della beside her.

“You do know that most girls wouldn’t weep after bedding an Alpha, don’t you? They’d be celebrating.”

Lia dashed her tears with a tattered sleeve. “Maybe I’m not most girls.”

“You’re just not a wolf girl. Not yet.” Della crouched down to rub Lia’s back.

Lia realized with a start that no one had ever touched her that way before. It was strange, the casual care of it.

“You grew up with witches, didn’t you?” Della asked. “Did they not teach you of human pleasures?”

“We rarely met any boys when I was in the coven,” Lia said. “Men aren’t allowed to step foot inside a witch dwelling, so the few I saw never stayed for more than a few hours. Magda once caught Nadine kissing a mage boy near the scrying pools, and she was more confused than angry. She couldn’t understand why Nadine would want to touch her lips to someone else’s. Magda still made Nadine scrub out all the cauldrons three times each. She said none of us could afford to get distracted.”

“Distracted?” Della laughed. “They do know that there’s only one way to make more witches, don’t they?”

“If there’s another way, I don’t want to know what it is.”

Della gazed at Lia for a moment, as if studying her. “Do you wish you hadn’t grown up with the witches?”

Lia tugged the shirt around her. “I never thought about it. I mean, it was all I knew. And I do have—I did have a friend there.”

“Well, that’s all past. You’re with the pack now. We’ll take care of you.” Della grabbed Lia’s hands and pulled her to her feet. “Come. Walk with me. We’re going to get you cleaned up.”

She let Della lead her into the woods. The woman had a confidence about her, an air that she knew exactly what she was doing. Lia wished she had even a sliver of Della’s surety. These last few days had sent her emotions whipsawing from one extreme to the next, and now she felt nothing but numbness. It was all she could do not to stumble over every stone and twisted root.

“Here.” Della stopped, and Lia almost walked into her.

“Oh,” Lia said thickly. “The bathing pools. I was here yesterday.”

“Yes. Get in.”

The command was gentle, and maybe that’s what made it hard to disobey. Lia stripped off her shirt. For some reason, it was easy today. Maybe it was because Della wasn’t as lean and lithe as the young shifters. She had a softness to her. Something about her made Lia feel safe.

She waded into the water.

“Sit,” Della said, “and close your eyes. Let the water run over you a while.”

Della rolled up the torn shirt and placed it under Lia’s head. Lia sighed, releasing the tautness in her shoulders and back. She hadn’t realized she was so tense. The water was cool, the falls cascading around her and bathing her face in mist. Birds sang in the trees. It wasn’t so bad here. Seconds spooled into minutes until she lost track of time.

“Lia.”

Her eyes fluttered open at the whisper.

“Are you feeling better?” Della asked.

“A little.”

“Then come sit on the moss with me.”

Pulling herself from the water, Lia stretched out on the plush green carpet. Her muscles felt like rubber, and her fingers had pruned. The sun had moved much higher, and the heat dried her skin quickly. The thick moss soaked up the droplets of water that clung to her.

“I’m like you, Lia,” Della said. “I’m not a Born wolf. Their ways were so scary, so foreign to me at first. What could prepare anyone for a pack of naked shifters living in the wild? Their beauty, their ferocity?

“I know what’s it’s like to be where you are now. That’s why I asked them if they could wear clothes, if only for a few days. That’s why I tried to get some of them to use plates. But there are some things I can’t prepare you for. Like when an Alpha desires you, with the force of primal need. The hunger, the power, the lust, it’s almost impossible to resist. I don’t know anyone who has.”

“Really?” Lia asked.

“There are stories of women falling under an Alpha’s sway within seconds, and they aren’t exaggerated. Alphas are built to lead and command entire packs. When they focus their will on a single person, it’s generally only a matter of time until that person submits to them. And most submit blissfully, because no one is more loyal, more protective, more devoted than an Alpha wolf.”

Lia gave a hollow laugh. “Someone should tell that to Kane.”

“You’ll have to excuse my boys, Lia. They’ve never met anyone like you before. I’m afraid they don’t quite know what to do with themselves.”

“I think I’ve ruined everything.” Tears dripped down her face, falling to the moss below. “Ronan hates Kane, and Kane hates me. I know they have this plan where they both take me as their mate, but I don’t think it’s going to work. And honestly, I wouldn’t make a good mate anyway. I can hardly live with me, I wouldn’t want to inflict myself on both of them.” Lia put her head in her hands. “I don’t think I can do this.”

“Chickpea…” Della put a hand on her back.

The gesture was too much. Lia sobbed openly. A kind touch was all she had needed from Kane, and he had given her nothing.

Della held her close until her shoulders stopped heaving.

Lia wiped her eyes. “If they don’t want me, should I just leave?”

“Don’t think for a second that they don’t want you.” Della tucked a stray lock of hair behind Lia’s ear. “Consider giving them another chance. They have good hearts, though they don’t always show it.”

She peered up at Della. “Are you their mother? They never said.”

“I am, after a fashion. The closest they’ve got, anyway.”

“And you think that their plan is good? Both of them trying to share me? I mean, you had the dream about me, didn’t you? About the prophecy?”

“Yes, I dreamed of you...” Della trailed off.

“Do you have magic?”

“No, but I met a mage once. Fell under his spell in minutes. But that’s a story for another day. Yes, I dreamed of you, and you are more than I hoped you would be.”

Lia sat back, stunned. “Me?”

“You’re more than a match for both of them, Lia. The three of you could make this pack prosper.”

“You saw that, in your dream?”

“No,” Della said. “I don’t need to dream that, now that I’ve met you.”

Tears welled in Lia’s eyes.

“Come on, chickpea. Let’s get you home.”

They walked back toward the den. Kane and Ronan were very lucky, Lia thought, to have Della as their mother.

If she hadn’t been with Della, she probably couldn’t have set foot in the meadow. Her shirt was torn beyond repair, she was no longer wearing pants… It was painfully obvious what had happened.

Lia tried to hold her head high, despite the whispers and open stares. She and Kane had done nothing unusual, at least by shifter standards. Sex was just another part of their lives, wasn’t it? But then why was Clove leaning close to Sequoia, speaking low and smirking?

“Don’t let them pour poison in your ears,” Della said, eyeing the pair. “They’d give anything to be in your place, trust me.”

Lia wasn’t so sure as she eyed them. They seemed to have tired of clothes, as they were naked in the sunlight. They were tall and beautiful, and Lia couldn’t see a single flaw, not even something like weird-looking elbows.

Sequoia murmured something to Clove, and they both looked her way. Clove arched an eyebrow.

“They won’t say anything to you,” Della said, “not while I’m around.”

But Della wouldn’t be around all the time. And what did they have to say, anyway? Surely they could say it to her face. After dealing with a near murder and abandonment before noon, she had run out of patience.

Lia marched up to them. “Do you have something to share with the rest of the pack?”

Clove looked startled, but Sequoia held her ground. “You’re not part of the pack. And there may not be a pack for long with the way you’re trying to destroy it.”

“How am I destroying it?” Lia asked. “Am I the one being hostile to potential new pack members?”

Clove opened her mouth to speak, but Della stepped in before she could.

“That’s enough.” Her words had a hint of a growl to them.

“We wouldn’t want to upset Della, now would we, Clove?” Sequoia shook her hair out of its braid. “She might run and tell the Alphas on us.”

Della laughed. “I don’t need anyone to do my fighting for me. And if you’d like to challenge me, I won’t keep you waiting.” She shifted into a wolf, with fur black as a moonless night. While she was half the size of Ronan’s wolf, she was still formidable. She bared her fangs.

Sequoia yawned. “I don’t have time for fighting. I just washed my hair. Really, Della. How uncivilized.”

Della shifted back. “If you don’t want me to claw off your scalp, then get out of my sight.”

Sequoia rolled her eyes. “Come on, Clove. Let’s go where we’re appreciated.”

The two of them shifted, and trotted away as red and rust-colored wolves.

“Yes,” Della said, “run away.” She turned to Lia. “It’s probably for the best. Oh, and just for future reference, I wouldn’t recommend threatening most wolves, but Sequoia’s a coward at heart. She only understands threats of violence, which makes sense when you consider who her family is.”

“Lia!” Lark ran over to them. “I heard you were back. I got here as fast as I could.”

Della put a hand on Lark’s arm. “Could you help find Lia some pants?”

“Sure,” Lark said. “This way, Lia.”

Lia didn’t really want to leave Della, but she did need pants.

Lark led her into the den. “I think I know a pair that should fit. We might have to rip off part of the leg, but you wouldn’t mind, would you?”

Lia shook her head.

They went into the storage room. Lark started going through one of the piles.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “I know the Alphas can be… rougher than most.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Lia didn’t really want to think about Kane’s roughness, which was more emotional than physical.

“So did they both claim you?” Lark asked. “Did they mark you?”

“What do you mean?”

Lark continued sorting through the pile, which Lia now realized contained paper and not clothes. “Did Ronan and Kane take you? Were you Bitten?”

“No, why would they bite me?”

Lark waved a stack of papers, clearly impatient. “But they both took you, right?”

“Kane did.”

Lark went ashen. “And Ronan?”

“He left. Well, he tried to kill Kane first, but then he left.”

Lark sat down heavily. “I knew it. I knew they couldn’t both have you. Not easily, anyway.”

Lia paced the room. She needed to talk to Ronan, and see if he wanted to go forward with his plan or if she should leave. Because Della had asked, she’d give him a chance. But he couldn’t just run off without talking to her. Not when Kane had done the same. It was okay if he hated her, but she needed to know.

“Lark?”

She took her face out of her hands. “Yes?”

“Where would I find Ronan?”

Warily, Lark stood. “I thought you wanted pants.”

“I don’t have time for pants. I need to talk to Ronan. Now.”

Lark perched on a low dresser. “When he gets angry, he patrols the border of our territory until he gets tired. He gets angry a lot.”

“I guess I would too, having to deal with Kane all the time.”

“Ronan will be easy to find. Rather, he’ll find you. Just cross one of the rivers and wait for him to pass. I can take you, if you’d like.”

“No,” Lia said. “I’ll go alone.”

Chapter Two

Her stomach had sunk when Lark pointed the way to the nearest crossing. Lia didn’t need a guide, as she’d been there that morning. She trudged through the woods, remembering how Kane had tossed her onto his back, how good it had felt to ride him. Walking was a lot slower, and gave her plenty of time to think about how stupid she’d been.

She didn’t feel any better by the time she reached the log that stretched over the river. The wounds of this place were too fresh. There was the elm she’d backed up against, where she had told Kane she wanted him. It was where everything had gone wrong. Straightening her shoulders, Lia steeled herself. This was going to be the place where she fixed things. Crossing the bridge, she sat on the end of the log and waited for Ronan.