Page 14 of The Alpha's Mates

Calder’s jaw flexed as he ground his teeth together. His eyes darkened with anger. I watched his reactions closely. He and his cadre might be good shifters, but how could I trust that? I didn’t know them and those I knew had been the worst of the worst. Asfar as I was concerned, good shifters were nothing but fairy tales. Even some of the women were showing signs of decay. I’d beaten a middle aged female to a pulp when I’d caught her dragging a sobbing omega back to her abusers. Maybe our kind deserved to die out if this was what they were capable of.

“When the head alpha came to bring her home, he’d been faced with my father’s most loyal warriors. Neither my father nor my brothers hold any honor. They don’t care that stealing away mates isn’t the way things are supposed to be done. The alpha had been forced to leave and Batu had his little plaything. At least, until she’d grown tired of the abuse and managed to escape a few months later.”

“Good for her.”

A genuine smile spread over my face. I may have only been a little girl at the time and certainly hadn’t known what I’d become, but even then, I couldn’t stand to see another harmed. The trip back to her village had taken us a few hours, but we’d made it. I’d warned her leaders to take her somewhere my brother couldn't find her because if he did, he’d kill her.

My brothers had searched everywhere for her, but her pack had hidden her away well. I’d been young enough none of the suspicion had fallen on me and they’d finally let it go, agreeing that she must have made it back on her own.

“I met your father. And your brothers,” Calder told me. The hesitation in his tone was easy enough to hear. Most shifters had that kind of reaction when speaking about my family.

“I’m sorry you had the misfortune.”

He barked out a laugh, relaxing at my words. He crossed his arms over his chest again, coming close to hitting the bars in front of us. My heart gave a little leap at the thought of him being injured. It’d done the same when Soren had scalded his hands. It’d taken every ounce of will power I possessed to keep frominsisting he let me see the injuries. Then he stripped and I about swallowed my tongue.

What’s wrong with me?Was Soren right? Was being near them somehow working against my will? As a shifter I’d grown up seeing naked bodies on the regular. Never had the sight of a man sent sensations cascading through me, until now.

It was a good thing I was leaving soon. I made a promise to keep my females safe. I couldn’t go back on that now. It didn’t matter how handsome these men were or how good they smelled. It didn’t matter that somehow they had me considering the idea of staying. No one had ever made me give serious thought to being mated before. If it was just me, I might have considered giving them a chance. I just didn’t have that luxury. Not when so many were counting on me.

Calder’s scent was driving me crazy. My wolf was awake, pacing inside of me, and I was having to fight the desire to brush against him. The silver bars were probably the only reason I wasn’t, because my self-control was fading.

These were the types of sensations Mom had spoken of when she’d given our lessons. But the Moon Goddess didn’t sanction claimings anymore. Not that I knew of. I hadn’t seen a true mated pair or cadre in a year and a half on the run. They were all forced claims that didn’t hold the Moon Goddess’s blessing. Then again, I hadn’t strolled into any pack’s villages and searched either. Maybe it was just my fucked up pack—and a select other few—that were forcing women to live with them against their will.

Calder was watching me, almost as if he could hear my internal debate. It wasn’t possible, though. Alphas could only bring a female into their mental connection once they were mated. Then through their cadre the head alphas of a pack could speak to all mated pairs. That was something that’d pissed mygrandfather and my dad off. They hadn’t ever had the ability to form a mental link with their pack.

Mom always said it was because they shunned the Goddess, so she refused them the gift. I could see it. They were massive assholes. Killers. Unworthy. Grandfather was dead, but my dad had passed all his evilness on to his three sons. I considered myself lucky to have escaped his warped genes.

“I get it.” His deep voice caught my attention. “If I had a family like yours, I wouldn’t trust anyone either.”

My lips twisted into a wry grin. “That’s putting it mildly.”

He nodded, his arms falling to his side. “What would you like for dinner?”

My brows drew together at the question. “Whatever you’re having-”

“No. I want to know whatyouwant. What’s your favorite meal?”

The longing rose up within me again. I couldn’t afford to trust these men, but the part of me that wanted to was growing. I had to get out of here.

CHAPTER 8

Calder

Iwas such a dick. She was staring at me, stunned into silence. We forced this woman to comply with our demands out there in the forest, locked her up, hoping she’d give in to the mating fever that was taking over us. But not one of us had realized the depth of hurt and mistrust that ran through her. She had every right to feel that way, considering who her family was.

Atlas was right. We had to let her go. It was fucking killing me. I hadn’t admitted it to Soren and Atlas, but I wasn’t immune to her. I had no real doubts that she was our mate. And the more I learned about her the more I understood her.

Meeting her father and brothers was one of the most unpleasant things I’d ever had to do. They’d been suspicious and downright nasty. That I could understand. I was an unmated shifter coming into their territory. If I had been a lesser alpha they might have killed me on the spot. The sight of their womenand children slinking around in the shadows so as not to be noticed had nearly broken my heart. Women and pups should be given all the best a pack had to offer. These people had been skin and bones, covered in dirty sacks that were called clothes.

The Silvest Pack hadn’t been highly respected before Lenat had begun the war between packs. His son taking over after his death didn’t help matters. Haron was just as bad as his father was. Looked like once the pack passed on to the eldest of Haron’s sons, it would be more of the same. An endless cycle of abuse and greed.

“Spaghetti and meatballs. Garlic bread. And sweet corn.”

One side of my lips tipped up in amusement. “You eat corn with spaghetti?”

“If you mix it in with the noodles it gives the bite a nice crunch.”

There was no holding back the grin. “That sounds disgusting.”