Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
“Well, I’m sure you’re all tired, and the sun’s about to come up,” Braden said, changing the subject. “I’ll be out here while you sleep. You can move safely around the cabin and as far away as that cluster of trees. You’ll be able to feel when you’ve gone out of bounds.”
He pointed to a group of trees about twenty meters in the distance. It was better than nothing, but still not enough space for wolves to run and burn off energy. It would be a miracle if we didn’t rip each other’s heads off within the first day of staying here.
We all shuffled inside, already crowding the living room with our luggage and the three bassinets.
I moved into the bedroom and discovered it was even tinier than it looked from the outside, with barely enough room for a bed. Great.
Lanie walked up behind me and looked over my shoulder. “Da mn, it’s small,” she said.
I huffed out a laugh. “Yeah. You should take it,” I told her.
She didn’t argue with me. Her lids were heavy and her eyes were bloodshot. We all needed sleep.
I walked back out to the living room where Mason was starting a fire while Xander stood over him, watching awkwardly.
Thankfully, all the babies had stayed asleep after we moved them from their car seats.
“You think she’ll sleep in there with Mason?” Xander asked me silently as I entered.
“Yeah, probably,” I answered. Did I wish she’d pull the two of us into that room with her instead? Yes. I liked imagining us all piling into the small bed together, bodies pressed up against each other. But I knew that wouldn’t happen.
I grabbed a blanket from the couch and spread it on the floor, then I laid down without another word. Behind me, I could hear Xander settling in on the couch.
Then Lanie stepped out of the bedroom and toward Mason, taking him by the hand.
The last thing I saw before my eyes closed was her leading him into the bedroom and shutting the 8881.
Braden I heard stirring in the cabin a few hours after daylight had broken.
They v. sol didn’t get much sleep, which meant tensions would be high. Thankfully, I had places to be today, didn’t have to listen to them bicker.
Zane’s grumbling voice traveled through the front door, and I focused on it until I could decipher his words.
“I’m gonna have to shift to heal my back after sleeping on that hard-a ss floor,” he complained.
I rolled my eyes, but I guess I didn’t really know what it was like to have to sleep. It had been so long since.
I needed to.
“I bet Mason slept like a baby,” Xander hissed.
I had to admit, it was a little entertaining, watching these shifters try and fail to hide their jealousy, but I wondered for a second if I’d made a mistake bringing them here, knowing Lanie would get caught in the middle of it all.
As if I’d conjured her, Lanie stepped out of the front door, shutting it firmly behind her and plopping down on the porch steps next to me.
She was wearing an oversized t-shirt, tall fuzzy socks, and a black cardigan. Her hair was long and wild.
She looked beautiful but exhausted.
She scrubbed a hand down her face. “You couldn’t have put us up in an enchanted high rise or something?” she asked.
I laughed. “Sorry, it’s the best I could do on short notice.”
She smirked and placed a hand on my arm. She squeezed lightly, but it felt more like a jolt. Her touch was magic.
“No, it’s great. Thank you for letting us stay here. You’re literally a lifesaver,” she said. “Even though I’m definitely worried they might all kill each other before the day is over,”
We both glanced behind us at the closed front door.
“lam, too, to be honest.” She laughed this time. The sound was sweet, alluring even. “But it’s still better than the alternative.”
“How bad is it? How much danger are Stella and I in?” she asked, tucking her hands inside the sleeves of her sweater.
I could reassure her and tell her that as long as she stayed here, she’d be safe. But she deserved to know what was going on.
They all did.
Lanie’s eyes widened. “What do they do?” she whispered.
“They torture them,” I said simply. “Shoot them with silver bullets, stab them with silver blades, inject silver directly into their bloodstream, burn them with torches. You name it. They want to see how immortal they really are.”
Lanie shivered, but she didn’t look away from me.
“But they’ve discovered that unless a hybrid is born from a pure shifter and vampire bloodline, this kind of torture will maim them at best, and kill them at worst.”
Her mouth dropped open slightly.
“They don’t know if a hybrid’s blood is pure unless they torture them?” Lanie asked in a shaky voice.
“There is one other way.” I said. I knew she wouldn’t like to hear this. “If you can smell the vampire blood of a hybrid pup, then that means they are pure.”
“But…” Lanie trailed off, her eyes drifting off to the distance. “You could smell Stella’s blood.”
“You know your maternal grandfather is a vampire, right?” I asked.
“Yes. He’s the vampire who sired you,” she said.
I nodded. There was more to it than that, but I didn’t want to overwhelm her right now.
“He’s an ancient vampire, born from the original line of vampires who walked the earth,” I explained. “And Xander is a Constantine, one of the purest wolf bloodlines that exists. Which makes Stella…”
“The perfect hybrid,” Lanie finished in a whisper.
“That’s why it’s so important that you all stay here and figure out a way to make it work,” I urged her. “If anyone leaves, they’re in danger, and so are you and Stella.”
Through the front door, we could already hear the rumble of irritated voices. Easier said than done.
Lanie dropped her head into her hands.
“I don’t even know if I should be telling you this, but I can feel my body changing,” she said, looking back un at me. ‘I think…I think I’m going into heat again.”
I thought back to that first time I’d met her, the way her scent had wrapped itself around me, trapping me like a prisoner. And she’d tasted even better than she’d smelled. Da mn, I would give anything for one more bite…
“Last time this happened, we all went f ucking crazy” she said, her voice dropping lower, her head leaning closer to mine. “I’m worried I might do something tupid,”
I had to do it. I had to taste her once more. Just to know that there was really nothing left between us.
“St upid like this?” I asked.
And then I kissed her.
Lanie–
When his lips touched mine, I tried not to think.
Not about Xander or Zane or Mason, or the danger Stella and I were in. There had been something about Braden that had made me want to kiss him the first time..maybe now I’d remember why.
But when I finally did, I planted my hands on his chest and gently pushed myself away.
His eyes blinked open, and his face settled into an unreadable expression.
I’d kissed him before because I was sad and confused. My wolf and I were looking for answers and comfort wherever we could get it. Kind of like I was doing right now.
But the real reason why I trusted Braden, why Lily always ran to him, too, was because he was a good friend.
“Nothing, huh?” Braden asked, a small smirk curling up his lips.
I smiled back and shook my head. “Nothing romantic, maybe. I think we’re better as friends.”
He clenched his fist and brought it to his heart in a stabbing motion. “Better as friends. The kiss of death!” he cried dramatically.
“But I get it. Four men is one too many to juggle ut away G ods, the nerve of him. I reached out and shoved him playfully. Only he could with being that cheeky.
“Thanks for understanding,” I said, co cking my eyebrow at him.
“Godspeed to all of you in that tiny cabin. That scent of yours is going to drive them all crazy. It really is delectable, if I may say so, Braden said. “In a friendly way, of course.”
I barked out a laugh. “Of course.”
“And besides, I do have quite the little rotation going,” Braden said mischievously. “You and I have that in common.”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?