Fated for the Alphas: The Complete Collection (Nine Book Paranormal Romance Box Set) (6 page)

“I know.” Lia waded in. The water was cool, but bearable. She could feel her face burning.

“What’s wrong?” Cricket asked. “Your face has gone red.”

“Cricket! It’s not polite to ask questions like that.” Lark shook water droplets from her hair. “But Lia, why has your face gone red? Are you hurt?”

Lia sank into the water, letting it rise to her chin. The surface rippled, distorting her lower body. She felt safer that way, hidden from their judgment and scorn.

Her eyes prickled with tears. “Are you guys making fun of me?”

“We’re sorry,” Lark said, “it’s just that our faces don’t turn red. Not unless we paint them with clay. And we only do that if we’re about to go into battle.”

“Are you going into battle, Lia?” Cricket asked. “We can help you if you are.”

Maybe she was going into battle. Exhaling, she steeled herself.

“You didn’t notice anything… strange about me?” Lia closed her eyes. “I’m not like you.”

“We know,” Dove said. “You’re a witch. Were a witch, anyway.”

“No, I don’t look like you. I’m not…” Lia moved her hands, outlining an invisible woman.

“Oh,” Lark said, “you mean you don’t have a hunter’s body?” Lark lifted an arm from the water, tracing its length with one finger. “I don’t either, believe me. I can’t run for miles like Cricket and Dove can. No stamina. No endurance. It’s pathetic, really. Fox and Dash are forever making fun of me. It’s not easy, being mated to the fastest runners in the pack when you can be outstripped by wandering bumblebees.”

“Even I’m not as good as Cricket,” Dove said. “I can chase our quarry for miles, but she’s the one who can get that last burst of speed and go in for the kill.”

“Yeah,” Cricket said, “but I still need you to help me bring it down. Remember that boar two weeks ago? I couldn’t have snapped its neck without you.”

“Heartwarming,” Lia said. She couldn’t help but smile.

“Don’t worry if you can’t run as fast as us, or jump as high,” Lark said. “You’re going to be mated to the Alphas. You’ll have us to do the hunting for you.”

Feeling considerably better, Lia soaked her hair in the cool water.

“Wait,” Lark said. “Use this.” Taking a deep breath, she went under, kicking her way to the bottom of the pool. She stayed down there a good two minutes, though Lia couldn’t tell what she was doing.

Lark finally popped up, her hands filled with mud. “River mud,” she panted. “For your hair and your skin. It’s incredible.”

Skeptically, Lia took a glob of mud. The witches had always washed with bars of tallow. Magda demanded cleanliness, and Lia could only imagine how the crone would shriek if she could see Lia with mud in her hair.

Well, Magda wasn’t here, was she? Closing her eyes, Lia slapped the mud onto her head. She worked it into her scalp, coating her head in muck.

“Get your face, too,” Lark said. “I know it sounds weird, but mud will be good for your cut.”

Lia spread the mud on her skin until every inch of her above the waterline was covered with the stuff. She had never been dirtier in her life. It was marvelous.

“Now rinse,” Lark said. “Easily the most important part.”

Lia plunged into the pool, wiping mud from her face and hair. At last she emerged, her skin tingling in the crisp air.

Lark sighed, looking wistful.

“What is it?” Lia asked.

“I miss the blood down your face. It was a good look for you.”

Lia splashed her.

“Hey!” Lark rubbed her eyes. “You’re not even the Alpha female yet and you’re already getting all high and mighty. I’ll hate to see what happens when you actually have power.”

“Sorry,” Lia said. “I might not be, though.”

“Not be what?”

Lark had gotten very serious all of a sudden. Lia scratched her arm. “Be… the Alpha female?”

“What do you mean?” Lark’s voice was hushed.

“It’s just… things might not work out for me here. I might leave.”

“Leave? You can’t leave. What about the prophecy?”

“Oh.” Lia sank into the water. “You don’t believe that, do you?”

Lark looked at the other two nervously. “It’s all we have to believe.”

“What do you mean?”

Taking a breath, Lark ran her hands over her hair. “All right. I don’t think I should be the one explaining this, but I’ll try. The Alphas co-lead at the moment, right?”

Lia wished she hadn’t said anything at all about leaving, but she nodded.

“They think they can both remain Alphas, but we’re not so sure.”

“Ronan isn’t so sure, either,” Lia said. She didn’t want Lark to think he had lied to her.

“At least he’s not stupid. They’re fine for now—a pack usually has two Alphas, it’s not strange. But most can’t handle three. Shifters have tried before, because who wouldn’t want two mates? I have two mates, but it’s different. Alphas don’t share power well. If one of them isn’t killed, he’ll be driven out.”

“That’s not all,” Dove said. “One of our neighboring packs, the Shadow pack, suspects what Kane and Ronan are trying to do. They have a treaty with us, but it’s with Kane and Ronan as Alphas and fighters. If they hear that one of them has been killed, and one injured, they’ll strike.”

Lark growled. “The Alphas are fooling themselves if they think they can both have you, Lia. They’ll rip each other apart in the process, and maybe you as well.” She clapped her hands over her mouth. “Oops. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Lia’s stomach turned. She hadn’t thought that one of the shifters might turn on her in the heat of things. By the Third Hell, she was still having trouble wrapping her mind around the thought that they wanted to mate with her in the first place.

Cricket slapped the water. “But you’re forgetting the prophecy. It says a failed witch will lead us. If there’s one person who can hold the pack together, it’s Lia.”

That was a rather big
if
, and Lia wasn’t sure she wanted that dubious honor. Also, at the moment, she wasn’t sure she would mind Ronan ripping Kane to shreds. Of course, it could end up being the other way around.

“So, Lia,” Dove said, “you think you can handle two Alphas?”

Cricket crossed her arms. “Della does. That’s good enough for me.”

“If Lia’s going to stay,” Lark said, giving her a side-eye, “we should teach her about the pack.”

“Ooh, let’s!” Cricket clapped her hands.

“You’ve already heard about Fox and Dash,” Lark said, “the best men in the pack besides the Alphas.”

Dove frowned. “What about our Huck?”

“It’s short for Huckleberry,” Cricket told Lia. “But don’t call him that. Only we get to call him that.”

“Orion’s good, too,” Dove said, “even if he is the size of a bear.”

“Don’t forget Briar,” Cricket said. “He can be fun.”

Lark scraped mud under her fingernails. “The only downside of them is the company they keep.”

“Could be worse,” Dove said. “At least neither of them is mated to Sequoia.”

Lark turned to Lia. “We’d warn you about Sequoia if you hadn’t already met her. I’m sure you don’t need a warning at this point.”

“Is she always like that?” Lia asked.

“No. Worse.” Lark sighed. “Anyway, the boys. First there are the soldiers—”

“They hunt, too,” Cricket said.

“I’m trying to keep it simple. So, the soldiers. If things get bloody, Flint, Duke, and Orion will take care of it.”

“Hopefully,” Dove said.

“Yes, hopefully. But they have every time so far. Next there are the hunters, Fox, Dash, and Huck.”

Dove sighed longingly.

Lark smacked her. “You’ll see him in half an hour, give me a break. The hunters keep us fed, but they can hunt shifters from other packs if they step out of line. Finally, there are the guards, Briar, Cage, and Grey. They stay behind and protect the den if there’s any trouble.”

“Don’t forget Gaunt,” Cricket said.

“Gaunt’s seen too many winters to be much use anymore.”

“He’s still part of the pack,” Cricket said stubbornly.

Lark bowed her head. “You’re right. I shouldn’t forget Gaunt. He and Della held the pack together, in the early days.”

“Enough about Gaunt,” Dove said. “Tell Lia about the girls.”

“Can you tell me later?” Lia put her head in her hands. “I can barely remember the names you just told me. Fox, Cage, Green…”

“You mean Grey?”

“See? They’re all running together.”

“Yeah,” Lark said. “We can tell you about them later.” She puffed out her chest. “You already know the most important ones.”

Cricket elbowed her. “And you know to stay away from Sequoia. That’s all the information you need, really.”

“I think we’ve covered the most important things,” Lark said. “How about we get out and sunbathe for a bit?”

Lia followed them out of the pool and onto a boulder covered in a plush carpet of moss. Letting out a happy sigh, Lark lay down, stretching her arms. She patted a spot next to her, motioning for Lia to join. Lia couldn’t help the groan that escaped as she sank into the moss. It was like lying on a cloud.

Dove and Cricket ranged themselves around her, spreading their limbs. They were all quiet, caught in the warm afternoon glow. Though she’d only taken a walk and a bath, it seemed like she’d done something far more strenuous, like hunt down a deer. The sun beat down, and she found herself feeling drowsy. She felt something else, something she couldn’t quite name. Cracking an eyelid, Lia looked around at Lark and Dove and Cricket. Their chests rose and fell slowly, and they were almost certainly asleep.

That’s when she knew. Content, Lia let herself drift away.

It felt like having friends.

Chapter Four

Ronan loped into the woods, his underbelly still warm from where Lia had lain beside him. He shook his head, his ears flapping. He couldn’t think of her right now. It would send him to a place of happy, comfortable thoughts, and he couldn’t allow himself to get distracted. He needed to deal with Kane.

Silently, he slipped into the grove. Kane was there, just as he expected. His brother was in human form, which he did not expect. Kane slumped against the base of a massive sycamore, wedged between two of its mighty roots. The sycamore’s mottled bark was covered in gashes and gouges, some old and some recent. A new set of scratches were carved deep into the trunk, and Ronan could smell the newly exposed heartwood.

He shifted. The earth was cool under his feet. Walking to Kane, he crouched beside him.

“I don’t understand why you keep coming here,” Ronan said.

Kane didn’t look up. “I don’t keep coming here. But sometimes I start to wander and eventually I find myself here.”

Ronan looked up at the towering sycamore. He held no ill will toward it. The tree couldn’t help what had happened beneath its branches. But it was still the Leaving Place, and it always would be.

Beside the tree, Kane looked so small. Like a child, scared and vulnerable. Ronan set his jaw. He couldn’t feel too much pity for Kane. If his brother wanted to pout out here, that was his choice. He could do it alone. Ronan shouldn’t have to leave Lia’s warm bed to check on a pouting Alpha.

He rose. He should go.

“Don’t,” Kane said. “Don’t you go too.”

Ronan let out an exasperated sigh. “I wouldn’t do that, and you know it. You’re my other half, Kane. I wouldn’t leave you.”

“I’m not so sure anymore.” Kane lifted his head. “You stink of her.”

Ronan bit back a growl. “If that bothers you, then maybe I should go.”

Kane grabbed his hand. “The female won’t get between us, will she?”

“Of course not.” Ronan shifted his hand to a paw for an instant, making Kane lose his grasp. “We have a plan. It’ll work. We can share her.”

“Good.” Kane put his hands behind his head. “I’d never put a female before you. Especially not one like that. She’s hopeless. No claws, no teeth…”

“Not yet.”

“Fine, but until then, how does she think she’ll survive out here?”

Ronan thought of Lia, how soft she was, how he had left her lying alone. “I’ll look after her.”

“Yes.” Kane nodded. “It’s better if she’s your responsibility. She looks nice enough, but I’ll only require her for mating.”

Ronan’s lip curled. Kane, who had just closed his eyes for a nap, hadn’t noticed. Ronan stifled the urge to pick him up by the throat. No, that wouldn’t do. The pack needed Kane. He needed Kane. Still, he shifted, bounding off to keep from leaving Kane with a scar to help him remember his manners.

He trotted into the deeper woods, avoiding the fallen leaves still brittle from last winter. Kane just needed some time alone with Lia to get to know her. Then he’d see she wasn’t just any female to rut with and then forget. She was special.

He thought of Kane with Lia. Wooing her. Kissing her. Mating with her. Ronan snarled involuntarily. He couldn’t share Lia. He wouldn’t. She should be his. She would be his!

No. He launched into the woods at a dead sprint. There was a plan. He must honor it. He would share, for the good of the pack.

His heart still howled with rage at the very thought. He ran faster, faster, until it was all but silenced. Maybe a twenty-mile run would cool his temper.

Ronan splashed into the stream. He paused a moment, panting, letting his lungs drink their fill of air. Bending, he lapped cool water, and reveled as it slid down his throat.

His head jerked upright as his nose caught the scent of laurel. Lia was here. She was close. His heart thumped against his ribs. He needed to see her, needed to know she was still safe.

Moving urgently, he padded toward the edge of the waterfall. He should never have trusted Lark with her. He should have stayed by Lia’s side, looked after her himself. If Lark had let Lia come to harm, he’d never forgive her.

Ronan looked over the waterfall, which had covered the sound of his approach. There she was, on a slab of rock. The shifters were splayed around her, a circle of protectors. Ronan relaxed. He shouldn’t have been so worried. Lia could take care of herself. And somehow, subconsciously, she seemed to win allies. He couldn’t help but smile. If only she had been there when he brokered the treaty with the Shadow pack. They could have come to terms in days instead of months.