Page 24 of The Alpha's Mates

It was impossible to turn off the constant vigilance after so much time on the run. Even when speaking with the others, I was always scanning, always worrying.

“That’s still very young to tell you about such things,” I told her, turning my attention back to the conversation. I wasn’t judging her mother. Our kind did whatever they needed to in order to survive and keep their children safe. That being said, I couldn’t imagine telling an eight-year-old that when she came of age her body would go into heat in order to attract alphas. That it would cause her immense pain unless those alphas helped her through it. And the only way for them to help would be for them to fuck their omega over and over again until the heat passed. That they would tip into their rut and be nearly as mindless as she was. That they would fuck each other to death unless they had others who cared about them enough to bring them food and water.

That was one of the reasons cadres had been formed. With three or four males there was someone who might have a brief moment of lucidity where they could make sure to look aftertheir omega and cadre mates before they were overtaken once more. Well, that and the fact that there weren’t enough females for our kind to pair off anymore.

“Do alphas really have a knot at the base of their-” she broke off when a wolf jumped into the path in front of us.

His teeth were bared, his barrel chest heaving as though he’d been running for miles. Saliva dripped from his mouth down toward the ground.

Fuck. I knew better, but now it’s too late. So love struck that I got lazy.

I reached out an arm and gently shoved Clover behind me. “Emma.”

She shot me a glare. “I can help.”

“You can help by getting them out of here.” It was an old argument between us.

Four more wolves slunk onto the path behind their leader. Something told me that wouldn’t be the last of them.

“You have to get them out of here-” I broke off when the man in front of us shifted.

His eyes flicked between Emma and I. He inhaled, head moving around as he caught our scents. “You’re an alpha.”

Shit. He figured that out too quickly. “We’re under the protection of Soren Venat.” It was a desperate ploy. They were already trespassing, they wouldn’t care.

His smile was more of a snarl, a gnashing of teeth. “Fuck Soren Venat. He doesn’t get to claim a group of omegas without a fight.”

My muscles tensed as I prepared. Soren wasn’t here to fight him. If I wanted to protect my females, I was going to have to fight in his place. I had kept my women safe by mostly avoiding fights, but these males were sorely mistaken if they thought that I couldn’t. More wolves materialized out of the woods, surrounding us. They cut off Emma and the others’ retreat.

I couldn’t worry about that now. There were at least fifteen wolves. I was so outnumbered it was going to be a bloodbath if I fought them. But going with them meant my pack of females would be the ones who suffered.

Without giving the shifter in front of me a chance to prepare, I shifted and lunged at his throat. My body hit him with all the power I could gain with my single leap. It, plus my body weight in wolf form, was enough to knock him back a step. My jaws closed around his neck and I clamped down. He was still in human form. His neck crumpled beneath my strong jaws with a satisfying crunch.

Blood spilled against my tongue and my wolf gave a happy growl. I shook my head, allowing my fangs to sink deeper. Once they made it past the muscle they slid through his windpipe like butter and I jerked backward.

His limp body fell to the ground. I stood, head low, eyes darting from wolf to wolf. My wolf and I were both on high alert. I was hoping that by killing their leader the rest would put a stop to the fighting.

Deep inside, I knew better. My pack was too valuable to let that stop these males. The deranged look in their eyes confirmed they were beyond reason. Angry snarls sounded around us. A quick glance backward and I saw four alphas herding my pack off into the forest, while the remaining nine stayed to deal with me. They wouldn’t have left so many if they didn’t consider me a threat, but since I’d just killed the shifter in front of me within seconds they weren’t taking any chances.

Teeth tore at my haunches forcing me to whirl around to face the attack coming from behind. They were matching my energy. There wouldn’t be any fighting with honor. I didn’t have the luxury being outnumbered nine-to-one and they didn’t have the morals. These wolves weren’t like Soren, Atlas, and Calder.

Snapping at the wolves behind me, I turned slowly in a circle trying to come up with a plan. I didn’t like that my girls were out of my sight, but now that they were it made it easier on me. There was no reason to stick around where the wolves ambushed us.

I darted between two brown wolves and took off in the direction they’d taken my pack. If I could use my speed to separate some of these males, I’d have more of a chance. I’d only managed to get about a quarter mile away before a wolf appeared beside me. He glared over at me and I saw the intent in his gaze.

Putting the brakes on hard, I skidded to a stop and he tumbled out in front of me. His tail flew through the air. He’d gone to snap at my front leg, but since it wasn’t there anymore, he’d stumbled. I snickered as I watched him bounce across the ground.

My wolf was screaming at me. I was defaulting to my usual run and hide technique. We were beyond that. This was Armageddon. They had my pack. They were going to enslave them and kill me. My wolf was right, it was time.

I lunged at the tumbling wolf, shifting to human as I did so. I grabbed his hind legs with either hand and pulled in opposite directions, breaking his legs. His howl was as loud as it was pitiful. I dropped his legs and lifted him by the scruff of his neck and the fur above his ass.

Turing to face the next wolves closing on me, I raised their limp friend in the air and brought him slamming down onto my knee. My knee vibrated with the shattering of his spine. I dropped the lifeless rug and shouted, “You want my pack! You’ll have to kill me first!”

The two didn’t get a chance to respond before I launched myself at them, turning back into a wolf mid-air, and landing on them in a heap of teeth and claws. I felt a bite on my back leg butmanaged to kick it off. When we stopped rolling I emerged with a head in my jaws. A wolf skull was stronger than a human’s, but it still crumbled under my bite.

I turned to the other wolf. He had backed up and waited for reinforcements. There were three now, and I could hear the others closing in.

He lunged at me, knocking me to the ground. I shifted back to human and placed my foot under his stomach, launching him away from me with a solid push. My arm was bleeding; his teeth had sunk deep into my flesh. I didn’t let it phase me. I was on my feet in time to catch the wolf jumping at me.