“Sorry, baby. This is all new to me.”I shrug my shoulders and give Craig the most innocent look I can muster.
He buys it because he just chuckles and kisses the top of my head.
“Oh my goodness! Isn’t she a beauty! Craig, I knew you would have a beautiful mate.” An older woman comes out of nowhere and grabs me by the hand.
She’s beautiful with tanned skin and long dark hair with streaks of silver throughout. Her eyes are the same hazel color as Craig’s, and I can tell she’s his mother by her smell.Wait, do I have super smell now? I guess the movies were right.
“Alora, this is my mama, Martha. She’ll take you into the safe room and stay with you. I don’t know what’s happening, and I want to know you’re safe so I can concentrate on eliminating the threat.”
I don’t argue. Craig gives me a chaste kiss on the lips, and I feel a zap of love coming through our link. I follow Martha out of the room, but love wasn’t the only emotion I felt coming through. I also felt fear.
CHAPTER 12
CONFESSIONS
CRAIG
I’ve never really been one to fear much in my life, but an unknown enemy when I just got my new mate gives me pause. The fear of losing Alora before we can really start our life together is a new unlocked fear.
I pace back and forth, trying not to shift before I give out directions on what I want my pack to do. I open my pack link and give instructions,“Alright, everyone, we have an unknown threat on pack lands. Stay alert and cautious. We won’t lose a member of this pack being stupid. Kill anything that makes a threat!”
I direct Vance, Dutton, and Silas to lead their teams. Vance is my only Beta, but Dutton and Silas are like my brothers. We grew up together, and without them, I wouldn’t be the leader that I am.
We head out in the early morning light. The sun hasn’t even kissed the horizon, and we are about to go to war. I let Alpha take over as my bones contort and I shift into my eight-foot wolf. My senses are heightened and as soon as I hit the front porch of the ranch house, I smell something familiar. The scent is close to Alora’s, but not quite hers.
I proceed cautiously as my nose leads me to the dense forest surrounding our land. We keep the trees thick and lush for our privacy, but I realized that our enemies could try to use them as a cover to invade our land. Our pack doesn’t need high-tech security systems because as shifters our abilities far surpass any cameras that could be invented. However, we make sure the forest is guarded at all times. That’s why the pack member was able to alert me as soon as someone was on our land.
My pack is spread out as we creep up on the invaders. When I get closer to where I know someone is hiding, I stop.
Alpha and I growl loudly in warning. The familiar scent of Alora lingers in the air. Smelling someone that’s related to my mate in my woods is shocking. Especially because, unlike my mate, they are not human. No, I’m definitely dealing with a Werewolf.
I shift back into my human form to confront the intruders. “Come out and show yourself, or I will kill you. This is your only chance to explain,” I call out.
My pack members have closed in, and I can tell that we are dealing with a small group of individuals. They have to be insane to come to our land uninvited with such a small number.
“I’m here for Alora Johns. I know she’s here,” a woman with dark brown skin and long jet-black hair walks forward.
If I wasn’t sure before that she was a shifter, I am now as I watch her unabashedly walk forward in all of her naked glory. She’s absolutely gorgeous, but she’s not my mate. And although I can smell the similarities, physically, the woman only mildly resembles Alora.
The woman and Alora are probably the same height and build, and they have the same color complexion, but where Alora’s eyes are wide and deep brown, this woman has almond-shaped light color eyes that stand out from her melanated skin.
“Who are you?” I ask without confirming Alora’s whereabouts.
It doesn’t matter if she’s related to my mate. She could still be a threat. I will kill her before she even thinks about shifting if she means Alora any harm.
“I’m Bianca, Alora’s cousin and best friend. I was with her at the party last night. But I saw you leave with her screaming,” she challenges with a tick of her head.
Three other large she-wolves come out and stand protectively at each of Bianca’s sides as if they are ready to take on the entire pack to make sure Alora is safe. I respect the hell outta them for that.
“First of all, she wasn’t screaming. I hauled her little ass outta there cause she went into heat, and everybody lost their fucking minds. I’m assuming you know what can happen when a Luna goes into heat…”
Bianca’s eyes go wide, and she inhales deeply. “Alora’s a Luna! You’re an Alpha… Oh my God!”
“I would love to stand here all day and discuss my mate with you, but I need to get back. Y’all took a chance comin’ up on our land like this. It was brave… stupid, but brave.”
“Right. Sorry about that. It’s only us four because shifters run in our line, but not everyone has the gift. I knew Alora had it, but she needed a little push.”
“It was you. You brought her to KNK. Well, I guess I should say thank you for that. Alora is my true mate,” I respond proudly, puffing my chest out.
