Rebecca (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance) (Alpha Marked Book 4) (2 page)

“No idea, no idea, and no.” Because she already knew what it said.

The Ruling Alphas of the North American Packs cordially demand…

He frowned and opened his mouth, but she cut him off.

“Look, there’s some weird… person…”—she waved the envelope—“leaving these around. I have no idea who it is or anything. It’s just…” She sighed. “I’m going to the police station as soon as we finish our date.”

“How many have you gotten? Are you sure it’s the same person? Maybe it’s a mistake.”

Ah, how she loved blindly trusting people. Plus, it was addressed to her. Her full, utterly hated, name. Digory? Really?

Rebecca flipped the envelope and slid her finger beneath the flap, breaking the seal without a problem. “I’m ninety-nine percent sure it’s the same, but if it makes you feel better…” She tugged the single card from its sheath. It was thick and firm, like all the others. Her psycho writer didn’t cheap out on cardstock. She recognized the gold ink and swirling script. He was also consistent in his font choices. He should break it up a little. There was no law against interspersing a few variations. She cleared her throat before she began reading.

“‘The Ruling Alphas of the North American Packs…’” She looked to Joseph. “The sender is a little crazy.” When he frowned at her attempt at humor, she went back to reading. “‘Demand.’ Nothing new there. He’s been demanding since day one.”

“How long ago was that?”

Rebecca frowned and thought back. “I got the first one on my birthday a few weeks ago.” She shrugged. “Anyway, they demand. Not ‘cordially’ this time, though. Demand I attend this ‘Gathering’ thing and then when I finish reading this summons…” That was new… she kept scanning the “summons,” following along until she got to the bottom. “‘You will be immediately transported to the Wolfson Hoooo…’”

The breeze suddenly picked up, whipping her with its force and assaulting her with pellets of dirt—she fucking hated dirt—as it encircled her. She clutched her backpack, fisting the water-resistant fabric. The strength of the air almost ripped it from her grasp, but she tightened her hold further. The world around her dimmed until darkness surrounded her. The wind still battered her body, shoving her this way and that, while the ground dropped from beneath her. Or did she rise?

Who cared? The ass was not on the floor. Period. There was no hard surface-to-ass connection.

It was as if she floated in a sea of black—and wasn’t that all poetic.

Then, just as quick as the world disappeared, it returned with a bone-jarring, pain-inducing thump when the aforementioned ass collided with a rock-hard floor.

A floor that was polished to a mirror shine. Cream tiles with darker lines of deep brown and strands of white threaded throughout. The pale color was offset by splashes of black. A mosaic. She was sitting on a shiny cream and black mosaic.

The biggest change was the absence of dirt.

Where the fuck was the dirt? Panic slammed into her, hot and fierce, and it clung to her heart. Adrenaline poured into her veins while that good ol’ fight or flight crawled into her body. She was all about flighting. Big time with the flighting.

The loud roar and whoosh of water yanked her attention from the floor to the stalls lining the wall to her right. Bathroom stalls. Right. She looked to her left and spied a bank of sinks. She was in a bathroom, a high-end, hoity-toity bathroom to be sure, but still a bathroom.

Great. She’d gone from forest to Toilet Land.

The jiggling of metal was followed by a scraping squeak and then one of the stall doors swung open. A woman strode out, high heels clicking and clacking on the marble floor.

If Rebecca weren’t going crazy, she’d call the woman pretty. Okay, gorgeous.

But she was going crazy, which meant only three words flew from her mouth. “What the fucking fuck of all fucks?”

Okay, seven, but she should count it as three since all the fucking should be considered one word and then “what” was an important part of a sentence so she’d take “all” as her third word and…

What the fuck was she
thinking
?

“Oh.” The woman’s voice was tinkling yet seductive and oozed sex. One syllable and even Rebecca was thinking twice about her love of penises. “You’re one of
them
.”

“One of—”

The bathroom door swung open and a wolf trotted in. That was crazy enough, but then said wolf transformed. That was the only word for it. One second wolf, the next second very gorgeous, very human woman.

Rebecca squeaked, the dressed woman frowned, and the
naked
woman smirked.

Now would be a good time to pass out. Maybe when she woke up she would be back in the forest. On dirt. She fucking loved dirt.

Aidan crossed his legs and leaned against the wall outside one of the hotel’s ballroom doors as he waited for the “festivities” to begin. Noise surrounded him, conference goers filing past, through the double doors. Their words formed a cacophony of noise that bounced off the marble flooring and walls. The hard surfaces amplified the sounds until the roar rang in his ears. The hotel was a picture of elegance that was wasted on a bunch of wolves who would be more at home in a forest than surrounded by opulence.

He didn’t know why the Ruling Alphas held a Gathering every year. The concept of finding his mate was tempting, but unrealistic. Sure, the aforementioned Ruling Pair found their mate last year, and the Ruling Wardens had as well. Then there was the third Wickham sister Gabriella with those two Alphas…

He shook his head. Nah, it was a fluke. Maybe ten percent of the males who attended the Gathering found their mates. Alpha Pairs from across the country were required to attend, and now Warden Pairs were lumped in after that mess with Whitney Wickham and the Ruling Wardens.

Then there were the single wolves. They couldn’t mate with humans, not like the Alphas and Wardens, but individual males and females couldn’t resist the chance to party. What better way to mingle and meet others than on the Ruling Alphas’ dime?

His phone vibrated in his pocket, drawing his attention, and he fished it out. He expected a text from his other—not necessarily better—Alpha half. There was no doubt Carson had been waylaid by yet another female looking for a good time. With Carson being the prettier of them, he constantly got hit on. Unfortunately, they had a place to be which meant Carson would have to take a pass on the female. He doubted that’d put her off though. When his partner shot down a female, she still walked away floating on air and half in love with the wolf.

Sighing, he swiped his thumb over the screen, smiling when the familiar background came into view. His family—him, his younger half-brother, and their dad—all shifted, while his brother attempted to swallow Aidan’s head whole. Literally. Aidan had been a runt until puberty and his brother never let him forget it.

Another vibration and he tapped the text message icon. He scrolled through them, finding the newest first from Scarlet, the Ruling Alpha Mate:

The world is in chaos. Woman down! Save yourselves! Kidding. There are more crazed women than anticipated. Gathering disclaimer now includes any infectious diseases known to man. The women are from all corners of the Earth including remote villages in South America where bathing is optional.

What the hell? Aidan admitted he hadn’t glanced at his phone when he woke, but what was she rambling about? The woman was a little unhinged, but…

He scrolled back to the previous one…
No sniffing butts? Penises?

Aidan shook his head. Yeah, she’d lost it. A new message popped up, and this one came from Carson. Thank God, he about gave up on his partner.

Grab a beer. You won’t believe this shit.

Aidan glanced at his watch. At noon? Fuck it. He pushed away from the wall and eased into the mass of bodies. The rumble of voices echoed around him, filling his ears with the rambling words. His wolf whined at the overwhelming sounds, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Until they got into the grand ballroom, and the Ruling Alphas called for quiet, the wolves were like high school kids, talking as loud as they possibly could and not caring about anyone else.

His fucking animal hated loud noise, these crowds, and especially hated strangers touching him. Ever since…

It’d taken hours, but the docs and nurses had eventually gotten him stitched back together. He rubbed his chest, wiping away the rising ache and pushing back the memory.

He moved closer to the bar he’d seen on his way downstairs. Positioned near the lobby, it was the perfect spot to snare a drink on the go. He was almost to the place of salvation when a sweet scent slammed into him, and a blur of brown caught his eye. It shouldn’t have grabbed his attention. Plenty of wolves were brown, and quite a few of the attendees liked wandering around in their fur. The Ruling Alphas didn’t give a damn about a person’s shape as long as they followed orders.

So, yeah, brown and sweet and it raced along the wall and against the flow of traffic. His wolf whined and pawed him, urging him to follow that scent, but he rolled his eyes at the beast and kept moving toward his destination.

A low whimper reached his ears, one that was filled with fear. It rolled through the crowd, traveling on the vibrating air, and Aidan wondered why his animal singled out that one sound above the others. But it did. It found it and clutched it and snarled to turn his stubborn ass around and follow the aromas of crisp winter and ripe berries.

Groaning, Aidan turned and retraced his path. He pushed through the moving mass of bodies, ignoring the bestial grumbles that sounded in his wake. Each one started threatening as hell and then ended as abruptly as it’d begun.

Sometimes being bigger than everyone had its advantages.

Before long, conference attendees stepped out of the way, creating a widening path toward the wall. As soon as he got close enough, he drew the fresh scent into his lungs. It rose above the woodsy smell of the werewolves in attendance. It seemed to reach into him and sink into his bones.

Shit, he was getting all poetic.

He turned right, internally smiling when some of the weaker wolves practically ran in the opposite direction. Though, if he were telling the truth, even the weaker wolves were Alphas. Just not Alphas like
him
.

He dropped his attention to the ground, to the brown scrapings decorating the floor and the clumps of dirt that lay on the cream marble. Housekeeping was gonna be pissed. Those women were fierce, and even Aidan was a little afraid of them.

Following the person’s scent and trail, he strode down the hall. He pushed people aside when they weren’t paying close enough attention to get out of his way. The faster his quarry moved, the more insistent his beast became. It wanted to be with the source. Now. It wanted to be beside the person, wrap it in his arms, hold her close and…

Her.

Yes. Her.

The wolf knew what it wanted, and it craved the woman. The hint of tempting musk intermingling with the berries and sunshine should have immediately clued him in, but he had been distracted by the plethora of bodies surrounding him.

The female changed her path, turning left and down a side hallway, her steps grinding dirt into the plush patterned carpet. As he entered the new hall, he caught sight of a flash of brown and then she was gone with a quick right turn.

Aidan’s cell phone vibrated, and he spared it a glance. Carson must’ve still been waiting, and the man was texting him. Increasing his pace, he hit reply.

Hunting. South hall.

They were surrounded by conference rooms, places meant to accommodate meetings between Alpha Pairs and Marked females. When she ducked into a room on the right, he knew there was one way in and one way out.

He jerked to a halt outside the door and breathed deeply, savoring the seductive scent. He wanted it, wanted to bathe in it and coat his skin. The wolf ached to roll in the aroma and let it cover every strand of fur.

A sign to the left of the door caught his attention, and he added to his text.

Bad Doggie meeting room.

Aidan rolled his eyes. The Ruling Alpha Mate and her idea of jokes.

Carson was quick to reply.
WTF?

Yeah, he understood his partner’s feelings.
Get here.

With that final reply, he tucked his phone in his pocket and reached for the door. Aidan’s skin rippled, his wolf lurking beneath the surface and ready to pounce. It was like a cat, crouched and prepared to leap when the moment was right. It wanted the woman on the other side of the door more than it’d ever wanted
anything
.

Which scared the shit out of him.

But that didn’t keep him from gripping the handle and pressing the lever to disengage the catch. He tugged, and the panel swung toward him, granting him entrance, and more importantly, gifting him with more of that sugary scent. He drew the flavors in until they sank into his blood. The wolf howled in appreciation, urging Aidan to move into the space and hunt her.

Fur slid free of his pores and just as quickly sunk back into his skin. The animal wanted out, wanted to pursue her, but the beast also knew it was easier to talk to her without a wolf’s snout.

There was something else in her flavors. Or rather there was something
missing
from her scent. She wasn’t a wolf, but one hundred percent human. Which meant that, because she was at the Gathering, she was either Alpha Marked or Warden Born.

For the first time in his life, Aidan felt a hint of hope and… desire. Not a hard-on that was easily served by any woman who dropped to her knees. No, this was a soul-deep craving.

Aidan stepped into the room and scanned the interior. Tables and trios of chairs were scattered throughout the small area, the furniture setup specifically for Tests of Proximity. They were all very scheduled and rigid, specific times when Alpha Marked could sit with Alpha Pairs to determine if they were a match. The Ruling Alpha Mate described it as werewolf speed dating.
“Sniff? No burning marks? Next!”