Stealing the Alpha’s Heart

I woke up slowly, expecting to feel utterly terrible, but…I was almost in a pleasant mood. But that didn’t make any sense, and the sheer discordance of it launched me fully back to consciousness.

My eyelids fluttered and I realized I was being held. And that something was…nuzzling my neck?

That was odd. Even in my rattled state, I knew that much. Blinking, I tried to figure out what was happening and why I felt so…so good.

And that was right about when I realized that Theo was holding me, nuzzling into my neck. Despite the pleasant feelings simmering through me, I was aware that there was an undercurrent of hurt. Also, I felt so weak. Like even drawing in a breath was too much to ask of me.

“Wake up, Emma. Please, please, please. You have to wake up!”

Wow, I didn’t think that I had ever heard him sound so desperate or upset. While I was pretty good at reading Theo, he was still a relatively taciturn person. To hear him practically openly weeping over me…well, that was certainly something new. I knew our pack had been going through a lot lately, but I never imagined that he’d sound like that for me.

“Emmaline, just open your eyes, please. I’ll do anything, just wake up, okay?”

The pain, the fear in his voice was just too much, and I summoned enough breath to say something.

“…Theo?”

He pulled back in shock, the jostling briefly making the pain completely overwhelm any pleasantness I was experiencing.

“Emmaline?!”

I faintly nodded, and even that was too much effort. I wanted to go back to sleep, but Theo’s panic was so thick that I couldn’t quite slip into blessed nothingness.

“Oh my God, Emma!” Theo hugged me tightly, and the waves of relief pouring out of him were almost enough to dull the sharp spike of pain at the movement. “I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry!”

Nothing was quite making sense in my head. What was he sorry for? Sure, his jostling wasn’t exactly appreciated, but it wasn’t the end of the world.

“You have to understand, I didn’t have a choice! I had to save you! I had to!”

My mind was swirling, trying to puzzle out why he was so upset. But that was when one of the tears on his face dropped down to my neck, landing with a splash that viscerally jolted me.

Oh no.

Oh no!

It was like the entire world came to a screeching halt, blasted away with the horror of my epiphany. Hormones and endorphins flooded my body, but even that wasn’t enough to scrub the shock lancing through my brain.

Theo had bitten me. I could feel that was true, down to my very soul.

I had been mated.

I had been mated!

No, no, no, no, that couldn’t be true. I had to be wrong. I had to!

I tried to lift my hand to touch it, but it was like I couldn’t move. I was cold, so cold, and the pain was no longer competing with the pleasant feeling of his bite. No, it was now a raging inferno that had beaten everything else except for my terror into submission.

Was I dying? I felt like I was dying, slipping down into a tempest of fury, horror, and sheer confusion.

“Emma, you have to bite me back, okay? It’s the only way, and you have to live! Can you hear me? Can you?!”

His panic was ramping up again, and he lifted my head so that my mouth was right against his own neck. If I bit him, it would seal our mating ritual. We would be bonded in one of the most intimate ways two wolf shifters could be bonded.

No!

I didn’t want this. I was finally getting closer to Kaleb after years of trying. Besides, I’d built my whole life around being an independent woman, one who forged her own way and had a business that was quite literally booming.

“Emma, I know this isn’t what you wanted, but you’ve been attacked by a witch and whatever she did to you is killing you. Sam and Savannah are on their way, but they’re not gonna make it in time. The Alma told me this was the only way to stabilize you until she can get here.”

I wanted to tell him he was full of shit. To punch him in the face and maybe even piledrive him with my elbow. But when I couldn’t so much as utter his name, I knew he was telling the truth.

I had a choice. I could stick to my guns and die, or I could throw everything away and live.

Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Except it was more like being stuck between physical and emotional death.

F**k.

What should I do? It was getting hard to think, a cold, inky darkness nibbling at me, pulling away pieces and swallowing them down as I grew lesser and lesser.

At that point, the fear took over, and I did what my instincts were screaming at me to do.

I bit Theo.

It was nothing like how I had always dreamed my mating bite would be. I’d often imagined sweaty limbs and silken sheets, me and my love intertwined together in a dark room illuminated only by candles. There would be romantic music playing softly in the background. Sometimes it was under open skies, with the stars twinkling down on us, sometimes it was in a remote cabin with a crackling fire.

But none of my fantasies involved lying on the floor of my shop, glass digging into my back while I felt my life draining away from me. None of them involved a life or death choice where there was basically no choice at all.

“Emmaline!” Theo gasped in shock, drawing me back to what I was doing. Which, right, was mating my brother’s best friend.

I didn’t know if it was because I was almost dead, or that everyone around me had underplayed exactly what happened when a mating ritual was completed, but I was in no way prepared for the deluge that hit me.

Endorphins, desire, excitement, joy—it all flooded me ten times stronger than the pleasant rush that had woken me up. It wiped everything negative from my mind, even the exhaustion from my severe emotional whiplash.

And goodness, Theo. I felt so connected to him. More connected to him than I’d ever felt to anyone else before. It was like his emotions were channeling through me, influencing my mood, and even my heartbeat began to echo the hammering of his own. But while mine was flying at a staccato beat from sheer happiness, Theo’s was fueled by terror.

Well, that wouldn’t do. I wanted to comfort him, to tell him that everything would be alright. He didn’t have to be sad, because what was there to be sad about?

Actually, I was pretty sure I wanted to k!ss him.

As if he could sense exactly what I wanted, Theo pressed his forehead to mine, still whispering, begging me for forgiveness. The anguish in his voice just about broke my heart. I was fine, I was. Everything was going to be okay.

I tried to lift my chin, to seal my l!ps to his, but it was too much effort. I could only stare at him until the wave washed over me, and I started to come back to myself.

It was anger that reared its head first, sharp and full of its own teeth. Finally, I felt myself begin to warm, energy flowing back into me. The extra energy allowed me to finally reach up to touch my neck, to feel what had been done to me.

Although it was rage that began to build up inside of me, the moment my fingers touched the raised burning bite, something else took its place. Goodness, I was going to need therapy with all the U-turns my hormones were taking.

It was lvst. Unfiltered, unfettered, completely unhinged lvst.

The urge to k!ss him returned, but ten times stronger.

And it was more than that. I wanted to tackle him to the floor, rip his pants off, and ride him until he couldn’t so much as crawl away. My inner wolf howled for more. To sink my teeth into him, to claw him and ruin him for any other woman or wolf.

And while that was quite a thing to experience, it just pissed me off even more. How dare he! How dare he?!

“I’m so sorry, Emma. God, I’m so sorry!”

More tears dripped down onto me, my heart aching for him and the position he had been put into. It wasn’t fair to him, but it wasn’t fair to me, either, and I needed someone to direct my fury towards.

“Let me go,” I ground out, my head starting to pound. I had so many emotions within me that they were physically hurting me.

Theo did, helping me sit up before backing away a bit. The space was a relief, even if it didn’t really help.

What should I do now? I was mated to my brother’s best friend. And someone had attacked me in my own shop! Whoever was going after our pack was getting ballsier.

Theo seemed equally lost, and the two of us just stared at each other, sitting on the floor, silent in our shock. Our entire lives had changed, we both knew that, but my mind felt overwhelmed as it tried to puzzle out all the different variables that were about to alter themselves.

And we were still sitting there when Savannah and Samson arrived within seconds of each other. Both of them rushed to me and started asking questions as they looked me over. I was vaguely aware that I was answering them, but I wasn’t really cognizant of what I was saying.

Was I going into shock? I was pretty sure I was going into shock.

“Emma, the curse is still in you. Theo bought you time, but I’m going to have to form a temporary bond with you, okay?” Savvy said.

I nodded. Sure, why not just bond with everyone? Theo, Savannah, Sam, the dog walker on the street, someone’s Uncle Steve?

Part of me knew that an Alma’s bond was different, and exactly what their purpose was within a pack. By taking her b***d into me, it would boost the natural gifts of my inner wolf, including my healing ability. There was a reason all packs had one, as they were one of the best defenses against magical attacks.

Savannah pulled a small vial from one of the pouches attached to her belt and poured it over my head. It smelled just like regular puddle liquid to me; was she trying to tell me I needed a bath or something?

“Mother Luna, it is with your tears that I bless your daughter.” Oh, it was moon water. I supposed that should have been obvious. “Grant me guidance and power as I stand in your place, and protect your flock from the evil attacking them.”

Then the Alma pressed her forearm to my mouth. I didn’t need instructions to know what to do, so I bit her, too. Why not, it was going around anyway?

Her b***d was…strange as it went down my throat. Not like Theo’s. Not like an enemies either. It tasted of moonlight and morning dew, of ancient secrets that shouldn’t be uttered in the light, and the faintest whisper of deep magic.

But after the strange taste, it seemed to meld with the bonding energy already surging through me, and I began to feel better. It wasn’t a miraculous healing—it wasn’t like I was going to start doing somersaults around the place—but it was much better than how I’d been just minutes before.

“I’m still sensing some poison within you,” Samson said. “It’s…whew, whoever made this spell had it out for you.”

“What do you mean?” Savannah asked, her voice incredibly steady given that my teeth were still stuck in her arm.

“The roots of this spell are based in some bad stuff. Hemlock. Belladonna. Wolfsbane. And a whole lot of bad intentions. You got any containers around here? I need to go get some dirt.”

I pointed to the front of the store where my meticulously kept window beds were. Dear Lord on High, if that witch ruined the beauties I had planted and been taking care of for several years, I was going to find her and murder her three times over. Did she have any idea how hard it was to wait two years for my jet-black hollyhocks to produce blooms?!

Wait, maybe my priorities were a little off. But whatever, I’d almost died and I’d been mated against my will. Forgive me for wanting to worry about my flowers and perennials for a moment.

Thankfully, Samson seemed to understand when I pointed to the little mesh shopping bags I had right by the door. He grabbed three of them before heading outside.

“Alright, you can let go now,” Savannah said, her voice soft as her other hand gently stroked my head. I leaned into the contact, weariness bogging me down again.

I loosened my jaw, l!cking my l!ps as I sat back. While I felt less like the entire universe was spinning out of control, it definitely still seemed like the world was about to ricochet off its own axis and flinging me into outer space.

“Is this real?” I whispered to myself, wondering if I was having the world’s most persistent nightmare.

“It is, my dear, and I’m sorry. But please, don’t blame Theo. He did exactly what I told him to do.”

I knew she meant it to be comforting, but my fury rose, hellfire-hot now that it had a new target to aim itself at.

I drew in a sharp breath, my tongue readying a scathing monologue of exactly what I wanted to say, but I clamped down on it. Which probably was a good thing, because otherwise I would have distracted Savannah from looking over Theo.

“You’re bleeding,” the Alma murmured, crossing to him and looking at his forehead.

Oh, he was, wasn’t he? I knew that Theo was also forcibly mated to me and was no doubt struggling, too, but it was so hard for me to find grace in my heart for him. I was just so angry. Angrier than I had ever been.

“Oh, the witch used some spell to slam me around a little,” he said, sounding like he was only halfway there. A real case of the lights were all on but there was no one home. “She was good.”

The witch had slammed him around? She must have been powerful, because Theo was no pushover.

“Here, let me check you out.”

While Savannah looked Theo over, Sam returned, the four bags filled with dirt. Pulling his own pouch out of his pocket, he put a couple of seeds in each before resting his hands over them.

I watched, fascinated, as the air around them rippled with energy until seedlings started to shoot up. They grew and blossomed in real time, until Samson finally pulled his hand away.

“Ew, this is gonna be gross without a mortar and pestle,” he complained as he picked blossoms from two and leaves from the rest. Then, in a move I didn’t see, he shoved all of them into his mouth and chewed. “Twuth me, tith ith worth for me thawn it ith for oo.”

Right. I got most of that.

After masticating them for a while, he spit the mixture out into his hand. Yeah, that was pretty gross. But what was grosser was that he put a smear on each of my wrists, across my forehead, then rolled my pant legs up to wipe it around my ankles.

My day had really gone in some strange directions, but having Samson’s magical plant spit and goop rubbed onto me was nowhere on my bingo list. I needed a long shower once everything was said and done.

“There, this should draw the bases of the poison out of you and allow Savannah’s b***d ties to work.”

I nodded, so thoroughly exhausted that I couldn’t manage much else.

“I think I’ll put up a barrier around this place. It won’t keep powerful magic users out, but it’ll alert us to anyone coming and definitely slow them down.”

“Excellent,” Savannah said, not tearing her eyes away from Theo, whom she was still treating. “That would most certainly be useful.”

That it would. If more witches came back and stole our Alma, our pack would be officially fvcked.

I observed as Savannah thoroughly examined Theo, spreading her own medicine on his few cuts. After a bit, I realized that I’d healed enough to become restless, and I finally stood. Shakily at first, which caused Theo to surge up and steady me, but I pulled away.

“I’m fine,” I hissed, full of so much conflicting emotion that I wanted to puke.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, before seeming to regain his composure. “The witch who attacked you was incredibly strong. I don’t know if they wanted to take you, or get control of your wolf like some sort of sleeper agent, but if I had been just a few moments later…” He shuddered before his gaze sharpened. “Where the hell is Kaleb!? He was the closest!”

“Oh yeah, he was supposed to arrive with me, wasn’t he?” Samson asked, looking around. But unless he was hiding in one of the upended flower pots, Kaleb was nowhere to be seen.

Maybe that was for the best. I didn’t want to see the man I’d been pining for when I was still trying to come to terms with being a mated woman. It would be far too difficult.

Then again, if Kaleb had been there, would I be mated to him?

The idea was dizzying, and I grabbed onto one of the few inventory racks that was still upright to balance myself. “What if he was cut off by the witch?”

“I’ll have someone call him,” Savannah said, pulling bandages from the pouch at her h*p and wrapping them around her forearm where I’d bitten.

“Where is she?! Emma? Emma!”

My head jerked toward the entrance to see my brother. His eyes were the blazing green of his wolf’s and his features had sharpened, as shifters’ did when they were about to lose control. I never thought I would be so relieved to see my incensed sibling, and suddenly I was rushing toward him.

“Mahlan!” I cried, flinging my arms around him. Of course, as I did, I jostled the bite on my neck and a small g***n issued from Theo behind me. Clearly the touch affected him, too, which was another strange thing to wrap my head around.

A moment later, another shape barreled through the door and I realized it was Lyssa, who was breathing hard and covered in sweat. Had she shifted and ran all the way to me from her college? That was incredibly risky.

But she didn’t seem to care one bit, her face cracking into a relieved sob when she saw me.

“Emma, you’re alive!” she cried, joining our hug. “What happened? Are you okay? I was so scared”

I opened my mouth to answer my best friend, but nothing came out. How did I explain everything that had gone on? How my world had been flipped inside out, turned upside down, and shaken, like an Etch-a-Sketch with an epileptic disorder? That was a bit more complicated than I could handle at the moment.

“A witch attacked Emma in this shop. I managed to get here in time to interrupt her draining Emma, but when I tried to stop her, she was able to blast me away and get enough distance that I couldn’t catch up without abandoning Emma.”

“Thank you, Theo,” Mahlan breathed, hugging me even more tightly and resting his chin on the top of my head. “But where the hell is Kaleb?”

In another strange twist of fate, the back door exploded inward. All of us jolted, with Theo and Mahlan instantly half-shifting before we recognized the mid-sized black wolf that came stumbling in.

“Kaleb!” I blurted, as the black form rapidly began to transform until it was my crush standing in front of us.

He was heavily hurt, with sharp stakes of wood popping out of him as he stood, and green oozing slashes across his stomach.

“I think I ran into the witch,” he wheezed, taking a step forward. “I thought I had her but she had…she had back-up.”

“Moon take it, when it rains, it pours!” Savannah cried, rushing over to Kaleb and making him sit down. “Here, let me tend to you. Samson, do you recognize what could have made these wounds?”

“I’m fine,” Kaleb growled. “I can already feel myself healing.” He looked to me, sorrow written all over his face. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get here fast enough, Emma.”

“It’s okay,” I murmured, heart sinking. The witches really had deprived me of everything, hadn’t they? “You had no way of knowing you’d get cut off by the witch.”

“Thank you, Theo,” Kaleb continued quietly. “I don’t know what I would do if you hadn’t gotten here in time.”

“Yes, thank you,” my brother agreed. “I owe you a great debt. Anything you need, I will do my best to make it happen for you. You have no idea what this means to me.”

Theo’s face went through several uncomfortable emotions before settling into a placid sort of calm. “There is something I should tell you before you offer me thanks.”

“Oh?”

Theo looked at me and I just stared back. I didn’t want to say it out loud, almost like I feared making it true with my words. Which didn’t make any sense, considering it was so very obviously real and inescapable.

“The witch,” Theo started, and I could tell that he was trying to choose his words very carefully. “She—”

“I recognized her,” I cut in. Maybe I was trying to delay the inevitable, but I knew that I needed Mahlan to be aware of everything that happened and that I didn’t want to admit it out loud. “She’d come into our store a couple times and I always felt something terrible with her, but she never tried anything. This time, she did, I guess.”

“She attacked Emma,” Theo continued. “And she’s powerful. Quite powerful. She cursed Emma and… and…”

“It was killing me,” I said, swallowing hard. “The last thing I remember is passing out while being incredibly cold.”

“I couldn’t wake her up when I arrived,” Theo said, voice just as pained. “So I called Savannah and she said it was serious. That Emma was going to die.”

“But you’re here,” Mahlan said. “And you’re safe, aren’t you?”

“She is not in danger of dying,” Savannah said. “But, Alpha, I need you to know that everything Theo did was on my orders. I made an executive decision as your Alma and he listened, as he should have.”

Mahlan looked from me, to Theo, and then back to Savannah. “I appreciate that you’ve had a hard day, but would all of you stop beating around the bush and tell me what happened?”

There was a beat of silence, none of us wanting to say it, let alone me. But eventually, it was Theo who spoke.

“I had to mate her, Mahlan. It was the only way to save her life.”

“You what?!”

Yeah, my thoughts exactly.