His Perfect Wolf (Mystic Wolves Book 2) (15 page)

“Were you able to
contact their alpha to confirm their story?” he asked River.

River kicked the one
closest to him. “This one actually called his
alpha
and told him they’d failed in their
mission. He left it on his voic
email, but immediately
received a text back.” River turned the phone around to show Niall what it
said.

Niall whistled through
his teeth. “Looks like you boys don’t have a pack unless you bring the prize
home. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen.”

“You can’t just kill
us. We have family,” one of the men cried.

The old Niall would’ve
felt a twinge of guilt. The new Niall saw the way the men had looked at the
women in his bar. Seen the way they’d stood by while Rickard was ready to hurt
or even kill A
laina without once thinking of stopping
him. Their death warrants were all but signed, sealed, and delivered. He fought
for control.

Pack law would be
invoked, and nobody would blink an eye, or think it wasn’t his right, since
Rickard went to his home wher
e his cub was present.
Even though he hadn’t claimed Alaina yet, he’d made it clear she was his, she
carried his scent. Rickard chose to ignore all those facts.

He pictured her face,
the hurt he’d inflicted when he’d left.

The elders signaled
they agreed w
ith him and pack law would be passed
down. He motioned for them to release Rickard. “You have two choices. Die on
your knees or on your feet.”

Rickard stood, his
wounds beginning to heal. At six foot three Niall was a big man, but Rickard
was a little tall
er and almost as brawny, black hair
cut military short and not a tattoo in sight. He wore a pair of khaki pants and
a polo shirt for crying out loud.

The
exact opposite of Niall.

Niall lunged forward,
not allowing the man a chance to take a swing.
His fist
connecting with enough
force to send him flying through the air.

Rickard’s eyes
widened, his mouth opened, begging for mercy.

None would come for
him. Drunk on bloodlust, Niall pounded all his pent up fury into Rickard who
turned on his stomach and tried
to crawl away. With a
yell, Niall planted his booted foot in the middle of the other man’s back, and
reaching down he gave a vicious twist.

All went quiet around
him, not even the forest creatures seemed to breathe. Bodies shuffled after a
few minutes. His
heartbeat returned to normal, and
then he felt Emerson’s presence next to him. “Come on, son, it’s time you went
home,” Emerson Glade said.

Niall nodded.

Chapter Eight

Alaina hugged her
mother. “Mom, what are you doing here?" She pulled back and
looked at the other woman. She was a towering woman next to
Adalynn, but looked very similar.

“Sweetheart, this is
my sister Payton.”

She released her mom,
feeling the power both women had. An immense sense of weakness, of being the
only one with nothing,
overwhelmed her. Like a
petulant child, she let go of Adalynn. “Why didn’t you tell me? I thought you
were fey and I was just a half fey and a defective shifter, but obviously
there’s more. What’s going on?”

Her mother dabbed her
eyes with her hand. “I did
it to protect you. Roger
would have killed you had he known. I…did the only thing I could think of.”

Payton scowled at her.
“What your mother did was endure years of abuse in order to give you what she
thought was a better life, and at a great cost to her
self.
Look at her,” Payton said indicating Adalynn. “Does she look like a fey at full
strength? She hid your nature, even from you, in order to keep you safe.”

“Don’t Pay. I
should’ve told her. Roger was—is a bastard. You have no clue.” Her mom
shuddered.
“The man who fathered you is even worse,
but I didn’t realize it until I’d fallen head over heels in love with him. When
I overheard him talking to some of his pack members, and the things they’d
planned for me, I latched onto Roger. I know it was wrong, b
ut he was the lesser of two evils. I did the best I could,”
Adalynn sobbed. “I was your birth father’s truemate, but I used my fey magic to
hide myself, and you, from him. I manipulated so much it drained me for all
these years, but I’d do it again. What h
e’d planned
for me would’ve killed both of us, before you’d even had the chance to be
born.”

“Mom, I’m sorry. You
were the best mom in the world.” Alaina hugged her.

“There’s more,
sweetheart.” Her mom’s tear filled voice broke her heart. “Roger’s truemate
had died the year before I’d met him. I used his loss and
broken heart to my advantage, knowing I resembled her and he wouldn’t turn me
away. I am far from innocent.”

At some point she was
going to need to find out who her real dad was, but right now her
nerves were too raw from Niall’s rejection. “Mom, go and we
can talk later.”

Her aunt nodded. “She
will recover her strength now that she is home. I will make sure of it. Are you
coming with us?”

Alaina looked at the
drill sergeant of an aunt and saw true
love and worry
etched on her face. For better or worse she needed to stay and face Niall. “I
have to talk with Niall first. I’ll call you when I…I know what is happening.”

“Something else you
should know. Niall’s wife was my daughter Emma. She was taken to
o soon from this earth, but I believe the All Mighty has a
way of balancing things out. You, my child, are just what he needs. Don’t let
him run roughshod over you.” Payton bent and kissed her on both cheeks.

Unable to speak with
the tears choking her, Ala
ina nodded. A golden orb
appeared to surround both her mom and aunt and then they were gone. She really
wished she wasn’t the weak link in the equation, but if Niall could accept her
with all her faults she would too.

“That was truly a
lovely homecoming wa
sn’t it.”

She jumped at the
sound of Roger Strop’s voice. “What the hell are you doing here?” She looked
around for his enforcers, wondering how her mom didn’t scent him.

He tsked. “Are you
looking for help?”

“You should leave
before Niall returns.”

Roger
laughed. “He doesn’t want a liar any more than I do.”

Her mind whirled. “How
did you find us?” She was stalling for time, hoping Niall came back.

“When the little bird
flew the coop, I let her think she got away and followed. She thinks she’s
smart, but sh
e’s nothing except a stupid bitch who’s
outlived her usefulness,” he spat.

“Clearly, she
outsmarted you for twenty-five years. She’s not a fey with no powers like you
thought?” Alaina edged closer to the forest while they were talking.

His expression darke
ned. “I sensed something, but I assumed it was her lack of
abilities, not her tampering with them. When I get my hands on her, I’ll make
sure she suffers before I kill her. You, on the other hand, I’m going to enjoy
killing quickly.”

Her tone softened. “Do
n’t you have any feelings for me at all? You raised me as
your child.” She hated the whine, but she only wanted to be loved by her
father.

He shook his dark
head. “Why would I have? You couldn’t shift. You were a girl, and you had no
talents except you wer
e pretty. I couldn’t fuck you
because I thought you were mine, but that’s no longer true.” Roger’s face
twisted in a sinister smile. “Now, I can do whatever I like, and then I’ll end
your sad existence.”

“You’ll have to kill
me before I’ll let you touch me
, you sick fuck.”

“No,” he said
menacingly. “That is where you are wrong, Alaina.”

“I’ll fight you with
every fiber of my being,” she said just as menacingly.

“Oh, you have no idea
how much I enjoy a good fight.”

She swung around, and
ran for the woods. Sh
e’d thought she could throw him
off by angering him, but she could smell by his scent he was getting excited
and that was the last thing she wanted. His maniacal laughter followed behind
her and then she knew he’d shifted, the familiar sense of displaced a
ir, signaling a shifter’s change.

Power ebbed and flowed
in her veins, unfamiliar, yet soothing, giving her strength and speed.

Unwilling to glance
backward, she swore she could feel the hot breath on her neck. She screamed.
The trees on each side of her s
hook, leaves falling
as she passed them in a blur of unnatural speed. Branches broke too close to
her, making her stumble, and then the big black wolf was on her in a flash.

Alaina rolled with the
huge animal, knowing if he got his fangs into the back of h
er neck he’d jerk her around like a rag doll. She hit the
trunk of a huge tree, grunting at the pain, but fought to breathe through the
ache. The impact sent Roger tumbling off, giving her a moment of respite. He
got to his feet shaking it off and glared a
t her
through huge wolven eyes. She thought of trying to run for it, but he’d be on
her in seconds. A low hanging branch caught her attention, and she made up her
mind. Jumping to her feet, she swung up and ascended as fast as she could,
scraping her bare
legs on the rough bark.

The way her luck was
going her blood was going to coat the forest. Roger paced at the base of the
tree, leapt at the branch and snarled. Just as she was prepared to watch him
shift and come after her, the most beautiful sight she’d
ever seen came barreling through the woods.

Niall.
Goddess, he was beautiful as a man and
wolf.

Roger turned to meet
Niall’s charge, clearly unprepared for the younger man’s ferocity.

He showed no mercy
coming at Roger with all the alpha strength and power
that Alaina admired from the beginning. The fight between the two men was short
and swift, and she was suddenly aware Niall hadn’t wanted to battle with
Rickard, had in fact only been playing with the other wolf. His actions gave
her hope for a future.

Sh
e stared down at the man who she’d thought was her father
and felt no remorse for the loss of his life.

“You coming down, or
do I need to come up and get you?”

Suddenly, Alaina was
aware she truly wasn’t sure if she could get down. Licking her lips she
thought about how she’d gotten up. “I think I’ll just stay
up here for a little longer if you don’t mind,” her voice had a slight quiver
to it.

“Hold tight, babe, I’m
coming to get you.”

Oh, shit. The tree
shook as he started scaling it. Alaina didn’t thin
k
it would hold up under all their weight. She inhaled sharply and held it. Maybe
if she didn’t breathe the branch she was clinging to for dear life wouldn’t
break. She giggled.

“I am not that big,
woman,” Niall said just below her.

Two more branches and
h
e’d be right next to her on the twig. “I’ll come
down to you.”

He studied her face
then nodded and held his hand up for her. She’d have to release the death grip
she had, but she trusted Niall to keep her safe.

Placing her palm in
his, she scooted down to
the larger limb he stood on.

“Goddess, you scared
ten years off my life.”

* * * *

Jett followed the
trail of the woman who’d caused him to allow Rickard to escape. He really
couldn’t blame her though. He’d caught her scent and instantly his wolf had
stoo
d up and howled. The fact she’d smelled like
spiced honey wrapped in sin should have been enough to warn him she was
trouble, but he never was one to listen to common sense.

He’d ignored her,
thinking she
was far enough away as
not to be an issue, knowing
she was canine and somewhat
familiar, and then he’d smelled rogues heading her way. The prisoner became a
nonissue to him, even though his alpha had entrusted him to watch over Rickard.
His main focus, only focus, became finding the woman and insuring her
safety until common sense kicked in.

Turning back, he’d
planned to ask Bronx to watch over Rickard only to find the wolf had escaped.
By the time he’d alerted Niall, he couldn’t find any trace of the elusive
woman, or the rogues except a faint trail of the
ir
scents. When his alpha had shown up and he’d realized she’d returned, Jett was
ready to put himself in front of her, only to realize she had disappeared
without a trace once again. His frustration rose at one woman’s ability to
evade him so easily.

But
Jett wasn’t one to give up easily. He shifted seamlessly
into his wolf, going to the last area he’d scented her. His hackles rose at the
overlying smell of other wolves trampling her uniqueness. Several paw prints
showed him there were at least four other
wolves that
had tracked over hers, and he hoped she hadn’t come with them in an attempt to
draw him out. By the indent of the different prints, she was clearly a small
wolf next to the males, especially his own, much larger paws. He’d wager she
was light a
s a feather, and had it not rained earlier
in the day he’d have had a hard time finding her prints at all.

He shook his head and
continued to track the other wolves back the way they’d come. From the looks of
their trail they were either all together or th
ey
were following the female. The latter made him and his wolf growl.

When he got close to
the highway he noticed several sets of tire tracks and fresh oil from a leaky
car. Whoever had been parked there had an older vehicle that needed
maintenance. Still
that elusive, sweet spiced honey
could be smelled under all the other odors, making him want to howl at the
moon. Jett breathed deeply, memorizing the female, because he wanted to know
her when he found her. There was no doubt in his mind he would find her
.

The moon overhead
shone on an object not far from where he assumed the female would’ve gotten
out. Jett’s instincts had him crouching in the shadows, blending into the
darkness and waiting. An hour later his patience paid off. A fifty-seven Chevy
pickup
came rumbling up, its neon purple color in no
way trying to blend in. He wasn’t sure if it was coincidence or not until the
driver’s door opened, and he was hit with the smell of sweet honey. The driver
couldn’t be seen until she stepped around the back of
the short-bed. His breath stalled in his throat.

Her hair gleamed in
the moonlight, dark brown with streaks of purple, like her vehicle. He
shifted,
his dick instantly hardening. Jett
couldn’t believe he was aroused to the point he was just by looking at
a strange woman, and she was possibly the enemy.