Page 60 of Alpha Games

As Alpha I was used to the underlying constant need to protect. Even before I’d assumed the position, it was second nature to take care of those around me. But with Aspen, it was physically painful to walk away when I hadn’t done anything to seal our bond and I wasn’t right there to make sure she was safe.

This had to be a unique experience to fated mates. I knew the basics of a chosen mate bond and how wolves left their mark during the mating, declaring their loyalty and merging their wolves’ spirits. They formed their own link, being able to check on each other, and settled down for life. But this was too consuming. Something about the connection to Aspen was so raw and vulnerable. I had an overpowering need to hide it–to cultivate it–away from the prying eyes of the world. I wanted her hidden. Safe. And alone with me.

A camera drone buzzed above my wolf’s head causing him to bare his teeth and snarl.

Idiots will scare the game.

I know.I urged him forward, trying to keep a soothing tone. He was more keyed up than I was when it came to Aspen and the hunt and the coming rut. We were walking a thin line about to snap and I knew it, but I had no choice except to see this through.

She’s in our bed,he reminded me as he put his snout to the forest floor, picking up a trail.

The thought filled me with a strange warmth. We wouldn’t be here for much longer, but I’d denyroom service to keep her scent on my sheets when all she’d done is slept there a few hours. Most of my previous sexual encounters hadn’t lasted more than a scene or two in the club. I didn’t engage in long term relations with the same women due to pack drama and favorites, but also because there were none I’d like to bring home. Now I had a sleepy female in my bed and I never wanted her to leave it.

If she stayed there, I could keep her safe.

The thought of someone else touching her, of her being taken advantage of as she partied last night, had both me and my beast seeing red. My wolf ran faster, taking his aggression out on the game trail we were hunting, and I settled down with my human thoughts.

The Nuva Pack situation was handled for now and her grandfather would be heading to McCaw Pack lands this afternoon as long as everything went according to plan. That was taken care of, but I needed Aspen off this show and safely within my territory so I could breathe easy again.

We didn’t even have to run this mating season if it would be easier for her to accept our bond. As long as she was safe, I’d wait until next year for the chase. Or the year after if she needed the time.

Speak for yourself.

I laughed off my beast’s outrage.

He’d wait.

And I realized that’s what we’d been doing our whole life. Ever since we’d lost our mother, we’dnever gotten close to any other female that wasn’t blood related. We’d been waiting for this moment.

Waiting for Aspen.

And now she was waiting for me.

With a renewed sense of purpose and pride fueling our mission, my beast picked up the pace. The area we’d scouted earlier was familiar, but fresh scents crisscrossed the tracks. A trail cam blinked red as the recording started when my wolf trotted past it. He gave an internal eye-roll with his focus still on the scent of the game trail embedded in the rich and dark soil. The path diverged, crossing prey with predator.

We continued on the hunt.

Sunlight streamed through the sparse branches on the aspen trees that were budding with bits of green above. Despite following the trail of a predator we’d been chasing for the past couple of hours, we still came upon an elk.

The scent of fresh blood hung heavy in the air and the brays of pain called out to the primitive nature of my wolf as he stalked through the underbrush.

I tugged on the reins a little, pulling him back to sense the immediate area.It could be a trap.

None of the other Alphas had openly challenged me, but after the spear tossing and the threats to Aspen, I was wary of the shadows.

My wolf doubled back and crept through a more northern passage into the clearing, keeping his scent downwind. The mewls of a dying female elk grew weaker.

I shivered in disgust as we came upon the body, wondering which of these Alpha wannabes had taken down a doe in calving season.

I’d known hunger so deep it clawed at my insides and brought me to my knees and I’d watched helplessly as the fat melted from my little sister’s body, but even in our hardest days as pups, I’d never killed mindlessly like this.

The pregnant elk lay half-eaten as she drew her last breath. My beast growled, scenting the ground around her and frustrated at the senseless death.

Not a wolf.He picked back up the trail we’d been following all morning. Our intended kill was so much sweeter now and we weren’t that far behind it.

*

We’d left the trail cams in the woods, but coming up to the mountain ridge brought us right under the camera drones that circled like vultures. My wolf panted heavy, slowing as his muscles tired.