Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
To keep was you klin eyed me. “You got something else going on today that I should know about? You look like s hit.”
“No, sir. Just that bad night’s sleep, like I said.”
He lowered his voice and leaned in. “You’d better get to Smith’s post. You know we can’t keep those yahoos waiting. I’m headed that way, we can walk together. I gotta tell you about this date I had with a hot little honey…”
The leer on his face grossed me out, but I sent up a prayer to the Moon Goddess for watching out for me.
I didn’t think I’d ever be able to find my way to where the twins were being kept without Franklin as my guide, and I was glad for the tour even if it meant I had to listen to him bragging about his sexploits for the next fifteen minutes.
…80 then she goes, ‘but it’s so big, right? And I’m like…ah, s hit, here we are. Guess I’ll have to finish the story later.” Franklin pulled up so short I almost ran into him.
Honestly, I’d been tuning him out while I kept my eyes and ears open, paying as much attention as I could to all the different corridors and signs. I had to be sure I could find my way out of here again. Lucky for me, Franklin was so preoccupied with his story that he didn’t notice I barely responded.
He ducked his chin toward the door at our left and the tall man there who had to be Smith.
“Dismissed,” Franklin barked. “You’ve got a new assignment.”
Smith grinned. “Better than the smell of diapers and listening to those two little freaks screaming their heads off, I hope.”
Franklin clapped him on the shoulder and they both headed down the hall, leaving me to take my post outside the door without another word to me.
My heart pounded at what I’d just heard, and I sent up another grateful prayer. The Goddess was definitely looking out for me, which I confirmed with a quick peek inside the room before I shut the door quickly, The twins were inside.
Lanie–
“My” heart pounded in Philips’s broad chest, but it was my mind and thoughts that whirled with what I’d Just discovered. I wanted to run in and grab Alaina and Isaac immediately, but I knew I didn’t dare. I might be desperate to get those babies out of here, but I had to do it the right way, or else everything would be lost.
Instead, I focused, concentrating until I could open up the mind link with Zane. For a few terrifying seconds, I thought I wasn’t going to be able to. The overhead fluorescents were too bright, this uniform was so heavy, and I was sweating under the unaccustomed weight of Philips’s body. Then, sweet relief rushed over me when I heard Zane’s voice in my head.
“Are you all right, love?”
“I made it inside. I found them. I’ve been- I mean, Philips has been posted outside their door. But, Zane…. they’re sending people to give more protection to the High Council. A higher-ranking guard told me there’s talk of the vampires killing the Alphas.”
The silence in reply went on so long I started to be afraid the mind link had broken. They could use silver to keep us from shifting. I guess it wouldn’t be such a stretch to think they could somehow shield the building, to stop us from linking our minds, too.
“Zane?”
” here, love hard to hear you….
“I think they might be blocking us somehow!”
More silence. Then, finally, “…see what I can find out about the Council. Just get the babies…”
The connection…well, it didn’t break, exactly, but it faded to the point where I couldn’t sense Zane any longer. I was on my own. I stood up straighter, my thoughts whirling. I could do this.
I’d have to My ears strained for any sound from inside the room. In my own form, I could call on Lily’s wolf hearing to help me out, but somehow, with Philips ears, she felt blocked off from me. A shudder of unease rippled through me. Maybe the mind links weren’t the only things that were being blocked…what if they found a way to disconnect us from our wolves, even without silver?
“Stop it,” I muttered to myself.
Paranoia wasn’t going to help me. I had to think about how I was going to get inside that room, get both babies, and get out and away from this place without anyone seeing. I scanned the hallways for cameras, but if they had security cams set up, they were well-hidden, I might just have to risk running.
“Well hi there. I didn’t know you were on duty today. Lucky me.” The warm female voice burbled into a The woman approaching wore a set of neat scrubs patterned with cartoon characters. It took me a second to realize that the way her eyes flashed and she kept smiling meant she was flirting with me.
Well, with Philips. Flirting hard.
“Haven’t seen you in awhile,” she continued. “I thought maybe you were blowing me off.”
Oh, sh it. Da mmit, Philips, I thought with an internal sigh. To the woman, I gave a big, broad grin.
“Never,” I said. “I was hoping I’d see you today, as a matter of fact.”
Her entire face lit up, and I felt bad. Clearly, she was super into him, and he didn’t seem to feel the same. My guilt lasted only a few seconds. She might be on the road to heartbreak, but she was clearly okay working here in a place where terrible things happened, and she stood between me and the twins. I’d do whatever it took The door behind me opened, and a woman poked her head out. She wore similar scrubs, but she looked tired. “There you are. I’ve been waiting. I need to pee, so get in here.”
The new nurse made a face. “I was going to grab a shack from my locker real quick…”
“I need to go!” the other one said.
“Ladies, ladies,” I said in my best “I’m a man and I’ve got you covered” tone. “Why don’t you go ahead the restroom, and you grab your snacks. So long as you promise to share,” I added in a low voice as flirty as could make it. “I’ll be right outside the door. Nobody’s going to get past me.”
“I can’t wait, and you’re late, so if they come to write us up, I’m totally throwing you under the bus!” She scurried down the hall, calling out over her shoulder.
“Go on,” I urged the flirty nurse. I couldn’t believe my luck, but I had to be careful not to give away my eagerness.
She hurried to the end of the hall and turned the corner. The second she got out of sight, I flew into the room. Oh, dear Goddess, there they were, both babies asleep in their cribs. I checked as quickly as I could, but they both seemed fine Yanking the baby sling I had stuffed into my uniform, I managed to get both twins into it. It wasn’t meant for two, but Philips’s chest was a lot broader than mine, so I was able to bind them both against me. His arms were longer, too, which was great since I could cradle them with one arm.
us!”
Breathing hard, I sent out a last desperate mind link, hoping Zane would get it. “Found them! Be ready for I checked to make sure the coast was clear. Nobody was in the hallway. I held the babies close to me…
And I ran.
Lanie–
Running with two babies strapped to my chest and feet four sizes bigger than I was used to was harder than I’d thought it would be. I caught myself as I stumbled, muttering a curse, and my heart pounded at the thought of what would happen if I dropped the twins.
My shoulder hit the wall, and I spun in a half-circle. Alaina shifted against my chest, letting out a mu ffled yelp.
“Shh, shh,” I soothed. If she started crying, this was going to get that much harder.
Light shone into the corridor that didn’t look like it came from overhead fluorescents, and when I turned the corner, I let out a small yelp of my own at the sight of a door to the outside. I mumbled more thanks to all the g ods above. Nobody was standing guard. I ran for it. I was never going to make it through the front door without getting caught.
I wasn’t going to get out this door, either.
Just as I passed one of the many closed doors lining the corridor, one flew open. A guard came out, looking as startled as I felt when I screamed. Philips’s mouth let out a high-pitched and shrill shriek that would’ve had me busting into hysterical laughter under any other circumstances.
The guard reeled back for a moment before getting himself under control. “The f uck?”
“Out of my way!” I shouted with as much authority as I could. “There’s been a breach in security! You gotta get…f uck!”
I kicked the door shut in his face. From behind it came a shout, but I didn’t stop. I kept running toward thé
door, and freedom. Behind me, I heard half a dozen voices and the heavy clomp of boots as more guards spilled out of the doorway. Shouting like thunder. The floor, rumbling.
“They found me,” I sent to Zane. “Where are you? I need you!”
I did my best to send him a m ental picture of where I’d be exiting the building, but I couldn’t tell if he would understand. Against my chest, the babies screamed and wriggled in the sling. My arms ached from holding them both up, my shoulder hurt from hitting it against the wall, and I was only steps ahead of the other guards.
“Philips, what the f uck are you doing?”
“Breach!” I shouted over my shoulder. “The coup! They’re coming! You need to get to the armory!”
I had no f ucking clue what I was saying, but the raised voices told me they were all confused. When I was just a few feet from the door, alarms started drowning out the screaming infants.
My heart seized. Sheer terror threatened to overtake me, but there was no way I was going to let any one of those mot herf u ckers catch me and take away the twins again. I’d fight them all to death if I had to.
I didn’t have time to think about that feeling, because the guards behind me weren’t going to stop. Wheezing, doing my best to haul Philips’s big body, I kept heading for that door.
“Zane, please! I’m almost to the door! Where are you?”
“…edge of the fence…cut a hole…”
His voice broke up but gave me fresh determination. flew out the door, banging it open so hard it bounced off the wall and came back, almost knocking me over, I sta ggered, holding the babies tight with one arm while the other grabbed the railing to the short flight of concrete steps.
From behind me, a voice shouted, “No, idiot! Don’t shoot him! he’s got those kids with him!”
I didn’t dare close my eyes, even though I wanted to freeze, tense with expecting to feel a bullet between my shoulder blades. I leaped off the steps, hitting the pavement beyond and rolling my ankle. I went to one knee, shredding Philips’s uniform pants, but I kept the babies safe against me.
I could see the fence in the distance. There were a few vehicles between me and it. The alarms blared.
Other doors were opening with more guards appearing.
All I could do was run as fast as I could. My legs pumped. My breath seared my throat, sharp as thorns, and I was sure my next step would be my last.
I had to keep my feet. Had to keep running. I had to make it to that fence.
“I see you!” Zane said through the mind link. “Keep coming, love! I’m here!”
“They’re right behind me! They’re going to catch us!”
More than words came through the link. Zane’s strength, his love, support and confidence in me all urged me to run faster. I could see the hole in the fence, a familiar shape just beyond. Searchlights swept the area as I reached the chain links, and Zane’s strong hands grabbed me by the front of Philips’s jacket. He pulled me through.
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?