Stealing the Alpha’s Heart

MAHLAN

I snapped my jaws as Cyprus lunged in the direction of my new mate. My new mate that was currently racing away from me at top speed. Part of me was incredibly hurt that she was abandoning me, but thankfully it was a small part. Most of me knew I needed to focus entirely on my opponent. After all, I had marked her, so we were bonded in an irrevocable way.

Sure, Cyprus was a lot older than me. He wasn’t as strong, as fast, nor could he heal like I could. But he had years and years of experience on me. The stories of fights in his heyday were legendary, and I needed to take him seriously if I wanted to survive.

“You’re really challenging us over a nobody?” another one of the elders, maybe Hiro, asked. I couldn’t spare my attention long enough to figure out where the voice was coming from.

Because even with my conflicted feelings, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I needed to protect my mate. Sure, maybe she had tried to steal from one of our most venerated leaders. And yeah, perhaps she was bolting away as if her life depended on it, but none of that mattered. I needed to smell her scent again, to feel her body against mine.

When I’d bitten her neck, I was surprised that I hadn’t fallen over from the shock. Instantly, I’d been swamped with those bonding chemicals that I’d always heard about but scoffed at. Suddenly I went from enjoying her scent and wanting more of it to needing it. Like water. Like the air itself.

Idiot! I heard Cyprus hiss, vicious and judging, in my head.

That was all the warning Cyprus gave before he lunged at me. I jumped backward, my wolf body responding quite well despite the fact I hadn’t been able to use it lately.

I wasn’t delusional; although I’d trained plenty for this possibility, I’d never actually fought an alpha one on one. If I wanted to come out on top, I had to make sure that I didn’t miss a beat.

Cyprus pressed his advantage, surging to try to snap at my throat while I was still in the middle of landing. But I managed to do a barrel roll to the side, fighting my wolf’s instinct to never end up on his back during a fight.

And that move turned out to give me just the edge I needed. Cyprus skidded to a stop, his knees shaking as he tried to kill his momentum, and I blindsided him with a rush.

I didn’t want to maim him when everything went so well, so I kept my jaw closed and used the blunt part of my head to slam into his side.

Cyprus went flying from the sheer force of it, crashing into one of those industrial dumpsters and denting it with a thundering crash. It was deafeningly loud, enough that even humans would no doubt be drawn to it.

Which meant we had a very limited time to finish things before risking exposing ourselves to a random citizen.

Not wanting to lose my advantage, I leaped over to Cyprus while he struggled to get to his feet, opening my jaw so my teeth could rest just over his jugular.

That was it. Somehow, I had won without either of us being injured.

Thank the moon.

I backed off, shifting back into my human form. Not for the first time, I was more than grateful that the magic of our condition allowed our clothing to return after a shift. Within reason, of course. I had heard of watches, diamond necklaces, and even wigs being lost or destroyed in the transition, but no one was left stark naked. That would complicate things in a way that would make it very hard for us to remain under the radar as a people.

Perhaps fortunately for me, Cyprus shifted back too, the rest of the alphas helping him to his feet. It was only when he tilted his head to bow in front of me that I realized the full ramifications of what I had done.

Wolf politics were intense and complicated things, but one of the tenets that all packs shared was that whoever won an alpha fight held dominance and authority over their defeated opponent. Even though I knew that, it took another beat for my mind to come to terms with the ramifications of what that meant.

I had a higher ranking than Cyprus. I was at the head of the table now.

The thought was dizzying, but I tried to tuck it deep within my mind. I’d accidentally changed the power structure of our little city, so I didn’t need my ketones giving off signs of weakness.

I was well aware that I had just drastically complicated my life, as well as the lives of my pack, but I couldn’t deal with it at the moment.

I had a runaway mate to find.

“You are all dismissed. Go home to your packs, and we will discuss more of this later.”

I could tell that while some of the other alphas were in shock, several were incredibly displeased with what had just happened. I wasn’t exactly thrilled either, but my hand had been forced.

I couldn’t explain why, but I’d been inexplicably drawn to that woman ever since I saw her in the lobby, and once I’d bitten her… well, it was pretty much game over. I’d heard other shifters discuss their claiming bites before, sure. Plenty of them used flowery language or overwrought poetry that always made me roll my eyes. I remembered thinking that they were exaggerating. While the act could be fun, thrilling, or even erotic, there was no way it could be that good.

But biting the pickpocket had been that good. No, more than that. It was an indescribable tempest of pleasure, desire, and belonging that my inner wolf was desperate to feel again.

I waited until the other alphas turned and began to leave begrudgingly before following my mate’s scent. I hated the acrid tones of fear that underlaid it, but otherwise, her trail was exhilarating. The perfect ambrosia, I felt like I could float along the pheromones like a cartoon character, tongue hanging out of my mouth while I drooled. Thankfully, real-life physics didn’t work that way, and I could keep my feet on the ground while replaying all her features in my head.

She was stunning — I knew that much. But there was a power to her form that I liked. She had to be an athlete, that was for sure. And there was a sharpness to her green eyes that intrigued both me and the wolf within. She had the gaze of a real hunter, someone cunning and bright.

I ran as fast as possible through the scent markings, not caring if anyone stared at the well-dressed man streaking through back alleys and side streets. Clearly, she knew where she was going, which made the chase all the more fun.

And the more I followed her, the stronger the scent was, telling me I was growing closer.

Emotions swirled through me, making a thick concoction of feelings. Pride at her hasty retreat and her excellent instinct. Arousal at how her body called out to mine. Rejection, sharp and sour that she didn’t seem nearly as afflicted as I was. Exhaustion and worry at how her actions had caused me to upheave the somewhat tenuous peace in our conglomeration of packs. They mixed in a confusing mishmash, but I didn’t let it distract me from the task at hand.

And that was when I spotted her, darting out from between two buildings and towards a high school across the street. I practically flew across the street, cutting her off and herding her back towards the alleyway.

To her credit, she seemed unfazed by me, just spinning on her heel and running the other way. I had to admit I was a little surprised, considering a bite was supposed to cause a blissful, euphoric state. I could have been wrong, but she certainly didn’t look relaxed or happy to me.

Finally, I managed to get her to a dead end, and she turned to face me with defiance. My inner wolf bared his teeth as if trying to tell her to obey her alpha. But I knew better than that, especially if adrenaline was causing the woman to ignore the joy of a claiming bite.

Besides, there’s something different about this woman.

I could tell she was a shifter without a doubt, but my inner wolf couldn’t call out to hers as Cyprus had done with me. Almost all shifters could silently communicate with each other in their animal forms, but when my wolf tried with my mysterious mate, there was just a staticky sort of nothing.

With her staring at me, I stepped closer, trying to exude protection and calm. But she stepped back, nearly tripping on some uneven concrete. My instincts demanded I rush forward and catch her, but I managed to stop myself. She looked so damn terrified; I didn’t want her to be any more frightened.

“Look, I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You bit me!”

Her sheer shock was bizarre to me. She had to be a shifter. I could tell from her pheromones to the sheer magnetic pull she had on me. Bites were a part of nearly all shifter cultures. Whether mating bites or otherwise, there was a history going back far longer than anyone’s memories.

And yet she looked like she had no idea what was going on.

What if she didn’t?

The idea made me sick to my stomach. What kind of history did she have not to know even the most basic shared rule amongst shifters? The neglect…

I shook my head and cleared my thoughts. I needed to concentrate on calming her and could worry about the why of everything later. All I knew was that my entire hindbrain was screaming that I needed to protect her. To comfort her. To wrap her up in soft things and feed her rich food until those too-sharp angles of her face rounded out.

“I did that to protect you.”

“Bullshit!”

It took quite a bit of willpower not to sigh. “I know this is a lot for you right now, but we need to go.”

I took another step towards her, not trying to look intimidating but also projecting that I was not to be argued with. While I had plenty of natural inclinations of how to treat my mate as an alpha, I didn’t exactly have a lot of experience in that department.

“Like hell I’m going with you!”

While I was trying to be patient, there was a line, and I was worried about my mate’s long-term effects of ignoring the chemical rush of the bite for an extended period. I’d never heard of such a thing, so naturally, it made me leery.

So, I reached down within me and pulled out a trick I hadn’t used in quite a while.

“You will come with me,” I said, using my alpha voice. I saw it affect her nearly instantly, her eyes glazing over as her shoulder relaxed ever so slightly. “There you go. Don’t worry; you’re safe now. I promise.”

I reached into my pocket to call John, but the moment our gazes broke, she tried to bolt past me.

“Hey now!”

Only my reflexes from battle training allowed me to grab her, hauling her back into the alley.

Why is she so scared of me?

I didn’t know, and answers didn’t come considering the girl was writhing, hissing, and cursing her head off.

“Let me go! Please! You have to let me go!”

I hated how shrill her voice was. The thought of upsetting her, of making her afraid, made my stomach twist. I was supposed to be protecting her, providing for her — not terrorizing her.

“Please! Tonight is important! You don’t understand!”

The crack in her voice brought me to a standstill, and I finally looked at her outfit. She was dressed quite nicely, and a lightning-hot strike of jealousy cracked through me.

Growling slightly, I backed her into a wall, trying to tell if I could catch anyone else’s scent on her.

But no, nothing. She must have just showered because all I could smell was her and her laundry.

“If you give me just a few minutes to get somewhere secluded, we can talk. It’s imperative.”

“Are you kidding? I’ve watched enough True Crime docs to know that being taken to a second location is instant death!”

The absurdity of it all forced a bout of laughter out of my mouth. “I’m not going to kidnap or kill you!” Didn’t she understand how incredibly important she was to me? That I would sooner cut off my head before purposefully hurting her.

She really had no idea what was going on, which was impossible! And yet…

“You…” she rubbed her hand over her neck, eyelids fluttering slightly. The small sign of being affected by the bite bolstered my pride. At least she wasn’t completely impervious to me. “You must have drugged me or something. I’m lucky it faded off!”

“Oh, no, no, I would never drug you. Or let you be drugged! I don’t want to harm you!”

“How in the hell do you expect me to believe that?”

“Because it’s true!” I could feel myself growing more exasperated by the second. I’d never heard about someone having such trouble with a mate. But from how I was drawn to her, to the bite itself, to her reaction, nothing was going how it should! “Just… just think about it and feel the mark on your neck. Please.”

To my great surprise, she did, her fingers gently running over the mark. Once more, her eyes glazed over, growing foggy with gentle bliss.

“I put that mark on you to protect you, and you’re now my mate. We’re linked together, some say, by fate itself.”

She still had that hazy look, so I pressed forward with my explanation. “That bite is fresh, so it’s still releasing endorphins into your system. You should get a little zap of happiness every time you touch it. Or perhaps…” I hesitated for just a moment before deciding to take a minor gamble. “…even arousal.”

She kept gently stroking it, and every press of her fingers made me want to do the same myself, to feel how I’d permanently marked her as mine. But I kept my hands to myself. Considering just how tenuous the moment was between us, I knew there was a limit to how much I could press my luck.

“Will it scar?” she asked. I couldn’t quite decipher her tone, which was unusual for me.

“It is permanent.”

“…oh.”

She swayed slightly, and the last of my control waned. I closed the distance between us, drawn like a comet caught in the gravitational pull of a celestial body, raising my hand slowly.

“If that feels good now, it’s even better when your mate touches it.”

“My mate?”

“Yes. Let me show you.”

My heart was thundering in my chest, and my inner wolf was practically howling as I slowly, ever so slowly, reached out to cup her cheek.

By the moon, her skin was so soft. Little crackles of pleasure sank into my palm, making goosebumps raise all along my arm. It was like my entire body was wired to respond to her, and my brain could barely keep up.

And yet I liked it. I liked it a lot.

As careful as ever, I tenderly ran my hand down from her cheek to her neck, gently trailing my fingers over her mark. There was nothing that could have possibly prepared me for what that was like. The moment I made contact, it was like I was feeling everything she was, hazy pleasure falling over my every sense like the world’s most lovingly crocheted blanket.

It was electric. It was warm. It was everything I never knew I’d been missing in my life and more. I could feel it rewriting my DNA instantaneously, completely changing my brain’s wiring and my wolf.

And yet I wasn’t scared of it. No, I wanted to embrace it, bury myself in it until I forgot what it was like before.

Thankfully, my mate didn’t flinch away. Didn’t recoil. Instead, her eyes slid closed, and she m****d, beckoning me in.

I couldn’t help it, nor did I want to. I leaned in, barely brushing my lips across the mark. It was even better than my fingers, drenching my every cell in desire and protectiveness.

Our bodies pressed together, it was like the lobby, the bite, and everything combined. I had no idea it was possible to feel things so intensely. No wonder people got so obsessed with finding a mate.

Like a man possessed, I couldn’t stop. I lazily kissed at her mark, drinking in every sensation, reaction, even every twitch. I was drunk on her, and yet I wanted to drink more.

“T-touch me.”

It was the tiniest breath of a request that froze me in place. I pulled away, ever so slightly, even though it wasn’t what I wanted to do. “What did you say?”

Her sweet, slightly raspy voice floated from her mouth again in a tantalizing whisper.

“Touch me, please.”

Who was I to deny a request like that?

My free hand settled on her shoulder, and I swore I could feel her heart thundering below my palm. It was an intoxicating feeling, just like every other part of her, pulling me further into her intrigue.

I let it sit there for a moment, the weight telling her that I was real, anchoring her to the moment even though I was sure all the endorphins made her want to float away just like I’d wanted to earlier.

Once I was sure she was somewhat attached to the moment, I let my palm trail over her form — the softness of her curves, the strength of her lithe muscles. I could feel far too many of her bones sticking out more than they were supposed to, and the desire to provide for her pushed to the front of my brain again.

She was so perfect. Everything I ever wanted and more. My body screamed for her, deafening all my worries and concerns for the future.

“More,” she m****d, the need practically dripping from her words. “More!”

It was so tempting too. And it would be so easy. But her scared expression flitted through my memory, and I knew I didn’t want to take advantage of what was happening. Especially since she clearly didn’t understand what was going on.

A whimper escaped her as I pulled away, and it took all of the strength within me not to give into everything my body wanted.

“Hey, we need to go.”

“No, no, just touch me! Why aren’t you touching me?”

She grabbed my hand and guided me down to the edge of her dress. I could barely feel its hem against my fingertips, and the urges rose again.

“Please,” she begged, saccharine and needy. “Please.”

She began to grind against me, and I struggled to draw in a steady breath. I’d never been so affected by a woman, but I was completely caught in her web. I didn’t know where I got the strength, but I pulled my hand away, instead kissing her on the mouth.

Oh.

Oh!

I thought I knew what a k**s was. I was wrong. Because there was nothing, absolutely nothing, like kissing my mate. It was fire. It was comfort. It was thrilling and calming. It was everything all at once, filling me with sensation from my head down to my toes.

I could have stayed there forever, our lips locked together. And maybe I would have if her legs didn’t suddenly go out from under her.

“Hey!” I cried, startled as I rushed to pull her close to my body. It wasn’t until I was steady on my feet again that I realized she’d fainted.

There were those consequences I was worried about. Ignoring the pull of the mating bond had stressed her system out.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you,” I whispered, determination running steely through me.

Bending, I picked her up, listening to her heartbeat as I did. To my great relief, it was slowing to a much calmer rate. With a simple call to John, he arrived a few moments later with my car. As carefully as possible, I slid my mate into the back seat before getting in beside her. It took a bit of arranging, but eventually, I managed to get a seatbelt around her prone form and her head in my lap. I couldn’t be too careful when it concerned the woman I was bonded to for the rest of our lives.

“Drive,” was all I said, not even looking at John. Because how was I supposed to take my eyes away from the woman beside me? She’d become the new center of my universe, someone I was willing to upend the entire power structure of the city for.

“Yes, alpha.”

The car lurched back into traffic, nothing but the woman’s soft breathing filling the back seat.

“So, I see you’ve found your mate, sir.”

“It looks like it.”

It certainly looked like it indeed.