The Alpha’s Tempting Mate

GarrettUpstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

I toss Jared the keys. “You drive.” I lead Amber to the backseat and climbing in beside her.

I pull out my phone and open the photos on it, scrolling through until I find one of my sister and show it to Amber. “This is Sedona. She went out for a run on the beach and didn’t come back.”

Amber looks at the picture and nibbles her lip. “You think I’ll be able to figure out where she is?”

“Will you just see if you get anything? Anything at all?”

She stares at the phone but doesn’t seem to be looking at the picture. Her eyes are unfocused.

I force down a stab of frustration and wait.

Finally, she says in a shaky voice, “What if I see something you don’t want to know?”

“What do you see?”

She looks past me out the window, a haunted expression in her eyes.

“What?”

“I saw a white wolf, on her side, suffering. Surrounded by men.”

My wolf nearly breaks out of me. My whole body shakes with the almost change. My growl vibrates through the car.

I blink, but when I look over, Amber’s almost in Trey’s lap.

“Stay quiet, eyes down,” he whispers to her.

Why the fuck is she in his arms?

I reach out and haul her into my lap. “I said don’t touch her.” My voice is choked with wolf.

“You scared her, boss.” Trey keeps his own eyes lowered, his voice quiet and even. “Don’t fight him,” he warns Amber, and I realize the little human is struggling in my arms.

I ease my grip. “Sorry.” One last inhale of her signature Amber scent, and I let her slide off my lap to her seat.

She starts to raise her gaze but drops her eyes again, holding still like a rabbit who thinks she can’t be seen by the hawk above.

I unclench my fists and reach out to stroke her hair.

She doesn’t move. “I told you. No one wants to know the things I see.”

“No, I do.” I’m about to apologize again, when I catch the scent of her tears. My wolf whines and backs down. It’s almost a relief not to feel the power of the animal clamoring for freedom. As my brain and logic return, I’m flooded with sympathy for this sweet human who obviously considers her gift a curse. How she’s suffered for this skill. The need to protect and care for her outweighs the danger facing Sedona, which I can do nothing about at the moment. I cup her chin with a gentle touch and lift her face. “You’ve seen a lot of things you wished you hadn’t,” I guess, keeping my voice soft, sympathetic.

Her eyes fill with fresh tears. “Yeah.”

“Tell me.” I sift my hand through her hair, releasing more of her scent. I don’t want to drag her through bad memories, but I know she doesn’t share much of herself with others. Maybe getting it out would help.

She shakes her head, shoulders slumping. “All kinds of things. Werewolves, for one thing.” Her lips twist into a wry grimace.

“Yeah, I think we’ve covered that.”

“I saw my high school English teacher’s husband beating her up, the rape of a friend. I see people’s traumas, their worst secrets. It’s a fucking curse. I have a recurring dream of a puppy standing in blood.” Tears fall down her face. “And every time I have it, someone dies. First my dad. Later, my mom. Then a social worker. When I was little, I thought I made it happen.”

I slide my arm around her shoulders and pull her in close. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. That’s terrible.”

She sniffs. “Yeah. I only see bad things-” she breaks off, staring at me, her eyes wide, and all the air leaves the Range Rover.

“You think I’m a bad thing?” I guess, my organs turning to stone.

She swallows and studies the tattoo on my hand.

Maybe I am bad for her. Fuck. The fact that she knows about us puts her at risk from any vigilante pack member who gets nervous about her. The fact my wolf wants to mark her with his teeth puts her at risk of being shackled to me for her whole life or, worse, dying from infection or bleed-out.

But I’m not going to let anything bad happen to her. No matter what.

“You see secrets,” I say firmly. “Shifting is mine. Doesn’t mean I’m going to harm you, baby.” Even as I speak, I doubt she will believe me. I strong-armed her into coming with me. I’ve kept her on edge to win her silence.

Her gaze drifts out the window of the car, her expression blank.

Damn. I fucked everything up.

Garrett

We arrive at the beach at sunset, pulling into Condos Pilar, the cluster of vacation rentals nestled along the white sand. I get out and stalk to the door of the condo where Sedona stayed, not waiting to see if the rest follow. I rap on the door and hear the voices of the young people and running footsteps.

“Hey man.” Jason, the young kid who called, opens the door. The rest of the kids stare at me with pinched faces. I met them all when Sedona stopped by on her way out, but damn if I remember all their names. The place smells like sunscreen, liquor, and a sour smell that reminds me of nausea.

Trey, Jared, and Amber arrive behind me as the group of college students gather around. They repeat their stories, each a variation of what I already heard: Sedona went for a run on the beach that morning and never returned. No one saw anyone or anything menacing. They spoke with the authorities and filed a report, but since she hadn’t been missing twenty-four hours, nothing was being done.

My fists tighten at my sides, wolf rages beneath the surface. The more they talk, the more I feel like I’m coming out of my skin. Finally, I reach for Amber. My wolf needs her close, and I’m willing to give him whatever he wants to keep from shifting and tearing this place apart. Already the kids look nervous, their gazes on the floor or darting to me, then away. Humans don’t often understand animal dominance, but their primal brains recognize a predator when they see one.

Amber leans into me, her arm slipping around my waist and giving me a squeeze. She’s still too pale, biting her lower lip. I scared her, bringing her down here and keeping her from escaping. But, here she is, comforting me. Her warm weight against my side keeps me focused.

“Okay, do you know how we can rent a place to stay here for the night?” I ask. It’s almost dark, and I’m dying to shift and sniff the entirety of the beach.

“Actually, we were thinking we’d head back home tonight. We could go report it to the authorities in Tucson. So you could stay here.”

Normally, I’d do anything to avoid involving the authorities, but, in this instance, not knowing what had happened to Sedona, I want all the help we can get. I should call my parents, too, but I don’t want to worry my mom or my dad to start a war. If I can find Sedona first, it, would be better. If not, I’ll call them in the morning. “That sounds like a good plan. Thank you all.”

Within twenty minutes, Sedona’s friends leave. We settle into the place, my pack mates searching the refrigerator to eat the leftovers from the college students.

“We’ll go sniff the beach.” Jared shucks his T-shirt.

I flex my muscles, my body itching to shift as well. While I trust Trey and Jared, my wolf won’t rest until I’ve done the sniffing himself. But I can’t leave Amber here alone. I’m not certain she’ll stay put. Her attempt to climb out the bathroom window at the border crossing has me cautious.

“Bring me the duct tape from the trunk of the Range Rover,” I order Trey in an undertone. He raises his brows like he thinks I’m nuts, but obeys.

When he returns, I take Amber’s hand, leading her toward a bedroom.

Once inside, she turns. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” I blow out a breath. I can’t forget she betrayed us, no matter how much my wolf wants her. “Listen, baby. I need to go shift and sniff the beach. I’m really sorry about this.” I spin her around and pin her wrists behind her back.

“What in the hell-stop it!” she shrieks, real panic entering her voice.

“Easy, easy,” I murmur in her ear. While this is a necessity, I’m going for seductive rather than abusive. I’m hard as a rock, and I remember how much she liked being restrained last night. If I can keep it sexy, I just might pull this off without her hating me for the rest of our lives.

I work quickly, wrapping the duct tape around her wrists and picking her up by the waist. “You’re safe with me, Counselor. Nothing terrible is going to happen. It’s just that after that little escape stunt you pulled at the border, I don’t feel comfortable leaving you here alone while I go check out the beach.”

Amber’s resistance slackens. I sense her confusion.

I nip the shell of her ear. “Be a good girl, and I promise I’ll reward you when I get back, baby. I’ll even keep you tied up.”

“You sadistic-”

I cut her tirade off with a hard kiss.

When I break it, she looks at me dazedly, lips parted. Gritting my teeth to keep from prying those legs apart to reward her immediately, I restrain her, plunking her in a high-backed chair and pinning her there while I rip off tape. Little angry grunts escape her.

Sexy little grunts.

“You growling at me, princess?”

“Don’t call me that!”

“You’re so fucking cute when you’re mad.” I secure her wrists and tie her to the chair.

“Let me go, Garrett. This isn’t funny.”

I drop to my knees at her feet and pry her legs apart. She’s wearing the yoga pants from this morning, and her arousal has leaked through. I press my face into the apex of her thighs, open my mouth, and nip at her sex through the thin fabric.

She thrusts her pussy toward my mouth, making the cutest sound of dissatisfaction. “We both know you like being restrained, Counselor.” I stroke my thumb slowly over her slit. “I’ll make it up to you when I get back. You have my word.”

She looks so beautiful, eyes dilated, hair mussed, full lips parted. My wolf surges to the surface, and my vision domes. Fuck. I guess I still want to mark her. Desperately.

Time to leave.

I rip off another piece of tape and clamp it down on her mouth. “Sorry, sweetheart. But this is the only way I feel comfortable leaving you. Trey will be right in the living room if you need anything. I’ll be back soon. No more than a couple hours.”

“Rmphel mphs!” she repeats in a muffled scream.

“Be good.” I stroke her hair, watching her tits jiggle as she keeps squirming. “Are you hungry? Do you need anything before I go?”

Her brows slam together. “Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm.” She kicks at me, eyes narrowed.

“No? Okay, baby. Bathroom? I guess I should’ve asked that before I taped you up. No? All right. I’ll be back before you know it.”

I tug her head to the side and nip her neck. “Please don’t wear yourself out fighting with that tape.”

Another furious scream, and I can’t stop myself leaning down to kiss her lips through the tape. She tries to head butt me.

Chuckling, I rear back and look her up and down. Her chest heaves, and there are pink spots on her cheeks. Fucking gorgeous. “This is a good look for you,” I drawl, just to see the anger and frustration spark again in her eyes.

She stills, and glares at me. “Uck. Oo.” She enunciates each word clearly, as best she can behind the tape.

“There’s my good bad girl.”