Alpha

The big bad wolf was afraid of needles. Mia Stone sat on the examination table, so still that her weight didn’t even wrinkle the protective paper. Did wolves need protective paper? Seemed unlikely. The thin parchment must’ve been in place just in case a human or two walked into the doctor’s office in Lost Lake, looking for medical help. She kept her hand over the new bandage applied to her arm after giving blood. Again. “Are you sure you’re all right?” she asked. Seth Volk lounged in a bright pink plastic chair by the door, his bulk overwhelming the seat. “I’m fine,” he growled. It was a full on, wolf shifter growl. Yet he didn’t look fine. He was pale beneath his normally bronze skin, and the pupils of his sharp blue eyes had dilated. Dr. Sharon chortled from her position at the lime green counter as she carefully categorized Mia’s blood. Her stark white hair was up in a fancy bun, and her shoulders were only slightly stooped from age. “The boy has always gone faint when a syringe showed up. Funniest thing ever.” She turned, her brown eyes merry. Seth cut her what Mia had dubbed his ‘Alpha’ look, but the elderly doctor didn’t seemed overly bothered by it. “What’s wrong with her?” he finally asked. Dr. Sharon shrugged bony shoulders beneath a white lab coat. “I have no idea.” Mia swallowed over a lump in her throat. “Um, Dr. Sharon? I noticed you don’t have any diplomas on your walls.” The doctor snorted. “Diplomas? Why would I have diplomas?” Mia finally shifted her weight, and the paper crinkled. “Because you’re a doctor?” “Right,” Dr. Sharon said. “It’s probably more accurate to say that I’m a healer. The practice has been handed down through my family each generation, and when it comes to wolves, I know it all. You’re not a wolf shifter, sweetie.” Seth straightened, an air of tension rolling from his powerful body. His hair was jet black, his body cut muscle, and his strike deadly. “Wolf shifters have mated humans many times through the years. Well, sometimes through the years.” “It’s rare,” Dr. Sharon murmured. “The last human mate I can think of was Melissa Redbird. She seemed to do all right. But the only time she saw me was during birth and then for a broken arm or two, before she died of cancer.” Mia shook her head. “Can wolf shifters die from cancer?” “Yes, but it’s rare,” the doctor said. Even so, come on. “You people are wolf shifters. How do you not have reams of data on genetics? On your genetics?” Dr. Sharon’s white eyebrows lifted. “Why would we?” “Because you’re different,” Mia breathed. “You turn into wolves and live twice as long as humans.” “You’re different,” Dr. Sharon countered. “Humans are different. Wolves are just wolves, and we’ve never needed to study why. You want to know the difference between wolf shifters and humans, and we don’t. We don’t really care.” Huh. What an odd thought…yet true. Wolves already had longevity and strength. It would be humans who benefited from figuring out the differences between the species. So why would the wolves spend time or resources studying genetics? She gingerly touched the healed bite mark on her neck. Seth Volk’s bite mark. His eyes flared in a way that zinged butterflies throughout Mia’s abdomen. “She’s bitten and mated, right?” “Absolutely,” Dr. Sharon said, following his gaze. “That marking is deep and permanent.” Now his gaze turned possessive…and heated. Mia tried to ignore her body’s instant reaction to him. Lust and need. But right now, she needed answers more than she did his sexy body. Even though the wolf shifters didn’t care about science, there had to be at least one of them with an ounce of curiosity. “There has to be somebody who just wants to find answers,” Mia prodded. The doctor pursed her lips and cut a quick look at Seth, losing her amusement. “Well, there is somebody, but you’re not going to like it.” Seth didn’t twitch. “Explain.” “There’s one healer who has tried to study our genetics. She’s a little eccentric but seems fairly smart. I’ve only spoken with her a few times the last several years, so I’m uncertain whether or not she’s still pursuing knowledge.” Dr. Sharon scrawled notes in a battered manilla file folder and didn’t meet Seth’s gaze. Mia released the cotton ball, noting she’d stopped bleeding. “Who is this wolf shifter healer?” Dr. Sharon stopped taking notes. “Her name is Doc Lana.” Seth’s dark brows drew down. “Lana? We don’t have a Lana.” “I know,” the doctor murmured. “Lana is with the Copper pack.” “Damn it,” Seth muttered. Mia sighed. The Stope pack coalition of wolf shifters was comprised of four mining packs, and Seth was the alpha of the Silver pack. While the packs had apparently bonded together centuries ago to protect themselves against outside enemies, it seemed like they were at war with each other right now. She’d mated Seth only a couple of weeks previous, and she hadn’t had time to really figure out the possible threats. “Can’t we just call and ask her?” “No,” Seth said bluntly. “The Copper pack has cut off all communications with us and is threatening war unless either Erik or I die.” Mia blinked. “I thought that was old news.” Erik was Seth’s younger brother, and wolf law dictated that only one of them could become Alpha of the pack when their father passed away. Erik had circumvented the rules by becoming engaged to the heiress of the Slate pack, and Seth had stood up as the new alpha. It was a job he didn’t seem to be enjoying much, considering threats were still coming for his head. Seth stretched his neck. “The Copper pack doesn’t like the idea of a familial loyalty between the Silver and Slate packs. We’re too strong together.” Dr. Sharon nodded. “Yeah, not to mention that you’re genetically related to the Granite pack.” “Cousin Jackson wants me dead as well,” Seth muttered. “Or Erik dead. They don’t like our relationship either.” Mia shook her head. “So the Copper pack thinks you’re too close to the Granite pack, but the Granite pack wants you dead anyway?” Just what kind of a world had she entered? Seth lifted a powerful shoulder. “I don’t know if Cousin Jackson wants me dead now that I’m no longer a threat to his position as alpha of the Granite pack, but I’m sure he doesn’t like Erik and I both becoming alphas. Potentially.” Seth had been born in the Granite pack but his mother had then mated with the head of the Silver pack, and their alpha had adopted him. “I could take out Jackson, but I assume whoever steps up will be just as dangerous.” Mia’s mouth gaped open. “Or you could call him, you know, on the damn phone. Work things out diplomatically.” Seth just stared at her, his unreal blue eyes deep and unfathomable. “That’s not how wolves work, baby.” She reared up. “You’re not the enforcer any longer, Volk. You’re the head of the so called nation, and diplomacy is part of that skill set. Perhaps you should work on that?” She tried incredibly hard to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, but by the narrowing of his pupils, she didn’t entirely succeed. “Like I said,” he said softly, “that’s not how wolves work.” He straightened and focused fully on the doctor. “I’ll have someone take Lana at the first opportunity.” Mia jerked. “You most certainly will not.” The wolf shifter didn’t answer her, and instead kept his gaze on the doctor. “I mated Mia more than two weeks ago. Why isn’t she any stronger, and why does she have a damn head cold?” The head cold was almost gone, but there was no doubt Mia hadn’t gained any strength or speed. She thought she could discern colors and smells with more keenness, but even those skills seemed to be waning. “I truly don’t know,” Dr. Sharon said, her brown eyes soft. “It might have something to do with Mia getting stabbed with silver so soon after you mated, or it might just be genetics. I’ll take a look at her blood and compare it with the few samples we have from years past, but like I said, we have never studied genetics. Heck. I’ve only attended a few biology classes at the University of Washington when I had the chance.” Mia pushed off the table, landing squarely on the scratched wooden floor. “That’s one of the many things that is going to change now that Seth is in charge. Kids will finish high school and then be able to go on to college or at least gain some experience outside of this small town.” For eons, apparently the boys had headed into the mines upon turning sixteen, and the girls had aimed to get married. “One thing at a time,” Seth drawled, also standing and unintentionally towering over them both. “The first priority is to figure out your health.” She waved a hand. “I’m fine. Maybe I won’t end up stronger or faster, and I don’t care. Either way, I need to return home and prepare for work tomorrow.” In a barely perceptible movement, Seth’s nostrils flared. “I thought we discussed that.” “We did,” Mia agreed. “But I’m still going back to work, Seth.” Sure it was as a shrink for the Seattle FBI and not as an agent like she was before, but she still had hopes of regaining her job and tracking down a killer sweeping across the states. She’d been a good agent until Robert Joseph Delaney, a serial killer, had nearly taken out her mother, and she wanted to prove to everyone, especially herself, that she could still do the job. “It’s the only way I can investigate this new serial killer leaving bodies in dumpsters in a westerly trajectory.” One she suspected had ties to Delaney. She was alone in that suspicion. The razor sharp doubts slicing through her insides had to be hidden from everyone, including Seth. Even as she shoved them down, that tiny voice in the back of her head whispered that she’d failed. Not only had she lost her mind after fatally shooting Delaney in front of her mother, she’d recently been fooled by one of the worst murderers in Washington state history; Sheriff Pete Maxwell, her mentor and a man she’d trusted. A lump dropped into her stomach. “You okay?” Seth asked, his predatory gaze missing nothing. “Of course.” She put her shoulders back and glanced at her watch. “I’m due in Seattle tomorrow and need to get organized today. Do you mind dropping me back off at the cabin?” “Not at all.” Seth’s expression was unreadable, which was a talent she wished she could learn. No doubt he wasn’t happy she was planning to leave Lost Lake each day and drive the couple of hours to Seattle, but he didn’t understand the demons driving her. How could he? Dr. Sharon cleared her throat. “Um, as your doctor, I feel I should at least speak to you. I don’t want to interfere, but…” Mia turned toward the doctor, who had to be five foot tall at best. “What’s going on?” Sharon blinked. “There’s talk. I know it’s soon, but there’s talk in town that you’re still living in the cabin and not with our alpha.” She held up a gnarled hand before Mia could protest. “I know you’ve only dated, if that, for weeks. But you’re the alpha’s mate, and traditions matter to the pack.” She shuffled worn tennis shoes. “Although I know that there are humans in town as well, so…” “Not for long,” Seth said quietly. Mia jolted. “What does that mean?” “The hotel is closing, and all humans are being bought out of property they might own.” Seth’s jaw looked granite hard. “After recent events, I’ve decided that Lost Lake will be inhabited by wolf shifters or mates only.” Mia sucked in air. “That’s crazy.” The rock hard angles in his rugged face didn’t soften. “No, it’s not. If we’re really going to try and give the kids some freedom, we have to protect our home. Pete should’ve never been allowed access to any of us.” At the mention of Pete’s name, Mia’s gut clenched. He’d been her mentor and her friend, and he’d turned out to be a murderous bastard who’d killed both wolf shifters and humans. And Mia hadn’t had a clue. “What about my family?” She wouldn’t cast out her mother or Aunt Dotty. “They’re grandfathered in,” Seth said. Apparently his word was law. Mia’s chin lifted. His eyelids half lowered. Then his phone buzzed, and he tugged it from his back pocket without losing eye contact. Her breath heated and her lungs seized. She couldn’t look away from his stubborn jawline, even if she wanted to do so. “Volk,” Seth answered, phone to his ear. He listened, and while no expression crossed his face, heated waves rolled off him with an intensity that sped up Mia’s heart rate. “Understood. We’ll drive out there immediately.” He clicked off. “What?” Mia breathed, her instincts flaring hot and sharp. Seth’s jaw somehow hardened even more. “The body of a woman was found earlier today by Lost Asylum.” Her vision wavered. “By the building?” Even as she asked, she knew the answer. Somehow, she just knew. “No.” Seth shoved his phone back into his pocket. “She was found in the dumpster out back.”

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