The Wanted Alpha
Bonus Chapter 1

Christopher

“You don’t have to do this Sparrow, not if it’s going to be painful” I tried to soothe from the driver’s seat of our pickup, while Cowyn rubbed circles on the back of her hand.

In the six weeks since he had first felt the beckoning pull towards her, the two had become incredibly close and she had accepted him almost immediately as her familiar, her soul’s missing counterpart. She was still so young, only 19, and already she had bared witness to such destruction. Wiccans, sometimes, were far too innocent and pure for this dangerous world. Living lives solely within their own community of peace and abhorring any violence, it left them at risk to unscrupulous characters that would take from them.

“No, I…I can continue. I don’t want to come all this way for nothing.”

“Just don’t forget, love, we’re all here for you” Maeryn comforted her from the side.

I was busy looking in the rearview mirror to the backseat, when Maeryn’s husband, Rhian, spoke up from the front passenger seat next to me.

“Hang on…who the bloody hell is this, now?”

I looked over to where he was indicating through the evergreen shrubs, seeing the large SUV turn down the dirt road to the old Family commune. It could not be coincidence that a vehicle arrives a mere two weeks after we dispatched the rogues that attacked and destroyed the wiccan Family. Could this be their allies come seeking answers…or revenge? Both Rhian and his wife seemed to share my thoughts, voicing them aloud. Sparrow paled with fright at the mention of wolves, as Cowyn held her close and whispered soothing words to her ear.

We decided to wait, something deep inside told me to observe and follow this vehicle…maybe it was my protectiveness over my charges to make sure we weren’t in danger from a future attack.

“Chris, why in goddess’s name are we following this car that’s probably filled with wolves?!” Rhian asked in exasperation.

“We need to make sure they’re heading away and not trying to replace any survivors to retaliate against” and something from this vehicle was calling me. But I left my thoughts unsaid, as even in my head they sounded insane.

They seemed to be heading south, well away from the home we had temporarily made in the next state north. I had, reluctantly, been about to cease my tailing of the car when they suddenly sped off. Before any of us could utter a word, another large SUV from a tree lined side road hit them at speed, knocking them clear to the side. A second vehicle pulled up behind, with its occupants instantly moving to the one they had ploughed off of the road.

“Those people…their aura’s…they’re good people, they need help!” Sparrow exclaimed from the backseat.

“No, we need to get the bloody hell out of here! We can’t get in the middle of a wolf fight now!” Rhian tried to argue, but I already had my blade in hand and was leaping out of the truck’s cab.

“Stay here!” I ordered, I had buried more of my coven than I had ever wished to.

Christopher

I had once ruled a coven of over 50 vampires…but those days were gone. Our species numbers had been decimated over the centuries and we were barely clinging to existence as it was. Losing eight of my remaining peers had just been another nail in the coffin for our people. I refused to let my last three die simply for this idiotic force I felt towards some wolves.

Hearing gunshots ring out, I ran to assist with my blade drawn as the wolves in front of me started to abandon their weapons to shift. I quickly took in their positions and the appearance of their wolf so I wouldn’t attack the wrong individual; we vampires hadn’t their sense of smell or their ability to mind-link, the most we could do was sense intentions of our coven peers.

My nearest opponent was fighting against a much smaller wolf, standing protectively over an unresponsive young redhead on the ground. Before it could leap forward, I brought my sword down through its head, killing it instantly and leaving it to revert to its human form. I nodded to the smaller wolf to let it know I fought as their ally. I moved further into the fight, slashing my way through the enemy wolves. A vampire may be no match for a werewolf’s strength but we could outmanoeuvre them in speed anytime. Despite me telling Rhian and Cowyn to stay put, they still joined into the fray, hurling a dagger each into the wolf attempting to launch an attack behind me.

The fight was finished as fast as it began.

The wolves standing shifted back to their bare human form causing the three of us to avert our eyes. Werewolves held no ignominy over their nudity; though the males in particular were quite a sight to behold, I doubt even they would take lightly a stranger ogling their impressive physique.

“Thanks for the help” I heard one of the males speak, with what sounded like clothes being hastily dragged out of their trashed vehicle and thrown on.

I returned my sights to them to see them dressed in simple sweats, shorts and t-shirts, with the two males attempting to lift someone from the backseat of their SUV. They quickly pulled out the man, unconscious, and from the looks of it, he had taken the brunt of the blow. But even with the b***d trickling down his temple and the small cuts littering the side of his face, he was still the most exquisite man I had ever laid eyes on.

Was he the pull I felt? It couldn’t be.

While it may be somewhat uncommon for vampires and wiccans to replace their soulmate outside of their species, it was virtually unheard of for werewolves to mate outside their own kind. True, the Alpha of the pack we had lived with in Yorkshire, England had found his fated mate in a fauna wiccan. But what would be the chance of that happening again…and to me at that? I wouldn’t know till he woke up, till his wolf was conscious to identify my soul as his counterpart.

“Do you have a phone we can use? We need to call our pack asap!” the eldest looking male asked.

“I’m afraid we lost everything in the fire you saw at the Family commune. We have a landline at our home, it’s a long journey but we should get you out of here now. If any more of these men return, I doubt we’d fare well a second time. We have some supplies in the truck, we can treat on the way” I offered.

They looked hesitant, not that I could fault them for their scepticism.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to press you. Either come with or don’t, it’s your choice. But I can’t risk my people anymore than I already have” I urged, while my gaze lingered the captivating man laying unmoving.

My heart begged me to stay with this wolf and as much as I didn’t want to walk away from this man, I wouldn’t put my coven in danger for this stranger…no matter how much I wanted him.

They silently looked to each other, obviously mind-linking, before responding and agreeing to come with us. I moved to pick up the young woman, noticing their discountenance at me handling her.

“…Be careful with her…she’s our Luna” the other young she-wolf spoke.

Now it made sense why their focus was on protecting the redhead. I made sure to hold her securely in my arms, knowing precisely how important the Luna was to the pack and her members. I headed to the back end of the truck, where Maeryn opened the door to the hardtop. Here, there would be enough room to lay both unconscious wolves side by side so I could address their injuries. I instructed Rhian to drive as I got into the back and to my surprise, the elder male with mocha skin climbed in with me.

“I’m pretty good with stuff like this, I hope you don’t mind?” he questioned, but it was clear he wasn’t about to get out anytime soon even if I did protest.

“I’m Greer, by the way. And that’s Janine and Jaime” he said, indicating the two similar looking faces peering at us through the open, sliding window to the backseat.

I nodded but shifted my attention to the wolves that required it. This was going to be a long trip back, given that Rhian had to drive steadily so we could work. The Luna was relatively unharmed and I was able to clean the gash on her forehead easily for it to heal. The Beta, as he was addressed, was not so fortunate. Luckily he had no glass embedded in him, but did have several large gashes down his arm which was also broken and several cracked ribs. I had tried desperately to control my heart rate as Greer lifted up the Beta’s shirt to check his injuries, revealing his broad and heavily muscled torso and wonderfully tan skin.

I kept repeating to myself that this could not be the beckoning I was feeling, reminding myself that the chances of this beautiful wolf seeing or even wanting a mate that was not his kin was slim to none. I was simply experiencing a very physical attraction to a very handsome man and this was just the side effects of having not been intimate with another man for a very long time.

…This was going to be an arduous five hours indeed.