Mated To The Cold Hearted Alpha
Chapter 9

LEANDER’S POV

TEXT: We got her. ETA 4hrs.

When the text came in almost fours hours ago, I’d stared down at my phone in disbelief. Three long years of searching had gone by, and I was beginning to think I’d never replace her. My little mouse had been clever in hiding herself, indeed.

But not clever enough.

Now she was mine.

My brain spun, anticipation lighting up every cell in my body. She would be there any minute. Finally!

I wondered what she looked like now. I’d only had one fleeting glimpse of her as she hid behind her father in the middle of the chaos, fire, and hatred burning in equal measures. Heart shaped face and pert nose, strawberry blonde hair whipping about, caught up in the rushing wind of the flames. And those eyes-deep blue with iridescent flecks like a mountain lake whispering the reflection of the moon.

That one glance had been seared into my brain.

So innocent.

So young.

But she wasn’t a juvenile anymore. By now, she’d shifted, and was a fully matured shewolf.

No longer young. But was she still innocent?

The thought of another male touching her caused my Wolf to snarl angrily.

I tried to calm him down.

She was well past consensual age. It was unrealistic to expect she was still pure as the driven snow. Irritation flowed through me.

If I’d only caught her sooner.

I could have avoided any other males pawing what belonged to me. A low growl slipped my throat without my permission.

Three years.

Three f*****g long years I’d gone without the touch of a woman. Not since I first laid eyes on her. Not that I hadn’t tried to force myself. If only to take my mind off of her for a while and relieve my testosterone-fueled body, but dammit, every time I got close, her lake blue orbs filled my consciousness and f****d with my head. I didn’t want anyone but her. Neither did my Wolf. He would whine and cry, forlorn, missing his mate. And that would be the end of it.

Shit. I was in trouble.

I shook my head. None of that mattered. All of those thoughts and emotions were just a byproduct of the bond. I would never forget who she was, where she came from, whose DNA flowed deep and irreversible in her body.

“Do you have a plan?” Everard interrupted my internal conflict.

I glanced up at him from my desk. He sat in one of the leather chairs, his posture stiff. His dark brown eyes reflected concern and tension of his own.

“What exactly for?” I had a lot of plans for her. He was going to have to narrow it down.

“I think he means keeping her here,” my father interjected from his seat on the nearby couch, his ever constant glass with dark amber liquid swirling in the bottom of it, in his hand.

“Cyril’s right,” Ever agreed. “Now that you have her, how are you going to keep her?”

I ground my teeth together. I had contemplated a few options. It was going to take more manpower than I preferred to assign to the task, but I wasn’t going to take any chances on her slipping through my fingers again. “It will depend on how she reacts when she gets here. If I have to, I’ll collar her until she learns to behave. In the meantime, I want you to personally be responsible for making sure she doesn’t escape.”

Ever’s eyebrows pulled together. His mouth twisted. “What did I do to make you hate me so much?”

I leaned forward and held his gaze. “I can’t trust her with anyone less qualified than you. Besides, you have a vested interest in making sure we get to the Claiming Ceremony.”

His shoulders fell in resignation. He couldn’t argue the truth of the matter. He and his mate had been unable to conceive after five long years of trying. They were one of the mated pairs who were desperate for me and my Luna to fulfill our responsibilities. If we didn’t, they were heat came and went, but it hit his female extra hard. Once the week after her heat expired and revealed she was not pregnant- again-she would run and cry and wail beneath the moon, inconsolable.

He just nodded in agreement.

My father raised his bourbon to his lips, taking a slow sip, eyes glazed over, lost in his own thoughtsunlikely to ever have any pup of their again. I wasn’t sure how he was going to handle having my new little mate here either. The last thing I needed was for him to have a lapse in control and try to kill her. All of it was going to be damn complicated, I growled in frustration.

However, I wasn’t able to think any longer on it because suddenly her scent hit my nose-exotic, orchid, jasmine and cinnamon.own. Both struggled with the loss every time her.

She was here!

Right after my brain acknowledged her presence, her angry words rang out as she yelled at whoever was dragging her through the front part of the house, “Take your hands off me, you c**k-sucking motherfucker of an ugly a*s wolf!”

“Colorful,” I mused. Ever’s lips twitched. So she wasn’t shy and demure, that was for sure. Her voice was smooth with just a little bit of seductive rasp, like maple syrup or honey. Unconsciously, I licked my lips. I stood to my feet and walked around the front of the desk, leaning back slightly on it while I waited for her to make an appearance.

A minute later, Dagger pushed her through the door with a grip on both of her biceps. She tried to wrench away from him, but he held her tighter to keep her constrained.

As soon as she saw us, she glanced at Ever, and my father and then her glare landed on me. Her nostrils flared. Her entire body vibrated in a fury, but also something else fear.

My Wolf didn’t like the scent of her fear. He also didn’t like how the male was restraining her. Dagger had both of her arms jerked back, causing her chest to be pushed out. My irritation matched my Wolf’s. So much so, that I was stunned to realize I was ready to remove his hands from his body for it. A loud growl reverberated from my chest as I commanded, “Let her go!”

I didn’t have time to analyze the force of my reaction, but it shocked Dagger as well. He hadn’t expected the severity of my response either. His eyes went wide and instantly he released her.

Without even a second delay, the little firecracker spun and punched him straight in the side of the face. Hard enough to hear a sharp crack as something broke, causing his head to whiplash the other direction.