Page 16 of Claimed By the Alpha Pack

Part of me wanted to kill the rogue the minute I discovered him in the same territory as Grace. I had Maggie, or at least I thought I did. When she turned twenty-one and the full moon blessed her with her unique scent. Her floral scent didn’t call to me. It did the exact opposite; it repulsed me. That was the day I stopped driving to Grace’s and tried to forget her. Alcohol and loose women did nothing to dull the drive to find what was missing.

My wolf has other plans. Like last night, we pissed on every tree, bush, and rock within five miles of her cabin. Fuck, we even pissed all around her grandmother’s house just for good measure. Being in the bar restaurant tonight is going to be a huge fucking mistake. Being in her presence and not able to touch her is going to kill us. Fucking Conrad is playing a dangerous game, dragging us along.

Last night’s news broadcast alone set my wolf on edge. The attacks doubled in the area that Grace used to live in. It can only mean one thing. He’s lost to his wolf and we will have a battle on our hands. It’s only a matter of time before he can track his daughter. As she gets older, his pull to his pup is going to act like a homing beacon. The moment she shifts is going to put Grace and her daughter in mortal danger. The only thing we can hope for is that she is a late bloomer and doesn’t get her wolf until Gracie accepts at least one of us as a mate.

Shaking my head, I try to clear the dark thoughts as I finish my shower. Staring in the mirror, all I see is the pale glow of my wolf’s eyes in my human ones. “You’re gonna scare our mate away doing that, you know.” I say out loud, as if it’s going to get my wolf to settle. As predicted, it doesn’t do a damn thing. The stubborn bastard is still making his presence known. Out of my brothers, I’m a monster. I work as a bounty hunter, and I literally get paid to hunt humans.

Laughing to myself as I pull on my jeans and then look over my button-down shirts, trying to pick a nice one. A wolf hunting humans for a living is quite comical, if you ask me. Picking out a solid black button-down, I slide it on and do up all the buttons.

“Are you ready Ethan?” Conrad calls from somewhere down the hall and it irritates the hell out of me. I really shouldn’t be around people. Especially not her. Not yet.

“Yeah, keep your panties on Con!” Rolling my eyes when he laughs at me. I swear it must be nice to be the last one born. Mom babied the fuck out of him. Dad took Griff as his little man. Me, I hovered between both parents, hoping for the time of day.

“This is a huge mistake.” Roughly, I run my hand over my freshly shaved head. I finally get my wolf to settle down enough that I almost feel human.

“How do you figure?” Conrad has that look that he knows pisses me off to no end.

“How do I fucking figure?” I practically roar at him. Fur races down my arms. Conrad’s eyes widen as he steps back. “Run … I dare you!” A feral grin crosses my lips. Just as I step forward, Griffin steps into the room.

“We’ll go. They are having a dance tonight. So, we will go and we will attempt to be as friendly as possible.” The wave of Alpha power comes off of Griff is almost overwhelming. The three of us being Alphas, this is no small feat on his part.

“A dance?” Eyes widening, I feel my heart sink in my chest. I used to love dancing. Loved it when Maddie would pull me close and press her curvy form against mine and slowly dance us right into the bedroom.

Snapping catches my attention and draws me out of one of the few pleasant memories that I have left. “What?” Short, sweet and to the point.

“Take the bike, Con, take the car. I’m taking the truck. I’m curious to see what Gracie likes better.” Griffin gets his rocks off, barking orders at the rest of us. Two minutes is all that separates him and me at this point. Two minutes different and I would have been first born and would have inherited the pack when dad died.

“Fine.” Giving Griff my back, I leave, heading through the house to the garage. As a pack, we’re a creative bunch of wolves. We are the only pack in a hundred miles that has their own custom motorcycle shop on pack lands. Dave at the shop crafted my chopper himself. He’s one of the most sought after creators in the mountain region. My cruising bike was a featured creation in a build-off on T.V. I’m hoping that Gracie enjoys watching those kinds of shows and maybe saw it being built.

A quick kick and the bike turns over instantly. The deep throaty purr of the motor vibrates through the bike and makes my chest rumble. Over seventeen hundred cc’s of block powers this beast. It’s the closest you can come to flying without skydiving. I send a quick text to Barrett to find out the game plan. Laughing at the reply, I shake my head before responding. Our poor little Omega is terrified of fucking this up for his alphas.

He finally sends over the times and I forward it to my brothers. We have a good forty-five minutes before she’s due to walk through the front door. Excellent. Conrad is taking a point at a booth near the door so he can watch for her. I’m taking the bar and Griff at the pool tables. Lucky for us, mom has already addressed the pack as its Luna, to keep their grubby paws to themselves when it comes to Grace.

The ride to the bar flies by and before I know it, I’m parking my bike out front and striding up the wood stairs. I take my usual corner seat at the bar, where I can watch the exits and entrances. Not a single being is out of my line of sight. The bartender brings me my Long Island Iced Tea and chicken bites to snack on. A hungry Alpha is a grumpy Alpha. Joe pushes the pretzels closer to me and backs up my first drink when I am halfway done.

The bell from the front door chimes and in strides Grace. The world stops and there’s no sound except for the clunking of her boots on the wood floor. Her jeans hug her generous curves, making my wolf stand at attention. I take my time and study every single inch of her body. I am in my own private hell. She’s perfect, every inch of her perfection. Soft in all the right places and plenty of her to worship, not like the sick figure twig Betas.

I watch several of the females snarl at her, showing a human canine out of wolfish habit. Griff shuts it down immediately, sending a wave of his Alpha power out. Grace stops dead in her tracks and takes notice of the power shift. Subconsciously, she lowers her head in submission, then heads in the direction that Andrea moves her in. The glare on that girl could castrate a lesser man. Griff just smirks at our Omega’s cousin. She means well, and if we didn’t need her help right now, we wouldn’t tolerate her bullshit.

Watching my mate without watching my mate is fucking impossible. Her laughter is music to my ears and sets my wolf at ease. Barrett is being his usual charming and soothing self, making our girl feel at ease. There’s at least two Beta females in the building I’m concerned about. One used to be a favorite bed mate of Griff’s and the other is the pack bicycle. Roxy gives every new female a problem till either they consider her the dominant or the female leaves.

I can see the bitch’s lips moving and Gracie’s eye twitches. Firing a text off to Barrett, he looks down, then grips Gracie’s hand and takes her out on the dance floor. At least the trouble has been avoided for a little bit. Her laugh does things to my insides, making me hope beyond hope that this is real. My wolf, for once, isn’t trying to destroy me from the inside.

Gracie’s eyes drift around the room as Barrett sways in time with the music. Her eyes lock with Griff for several moments longer than I thought possible before Barrett spins her to see who she was looking at so intensely. Through the bond, I can feel the concern wash over him.

“This is a good thing.” I remind him using the bond.

He gives the smallest of nods and continues to spin Gracie around the dance floor. With each pass, he brings her closer to us, trying to ease her into getting used to our presence. Her brilliant blue eyes lock with mine and I swear I am a dead man. I watch as her pupils expand, almost eclipsing the blue. Her mouth pops open and she visibly has to shake her head to clear it and break eye contact with me.

The pull to her is absolutely insane. It’s like a magnet attracted to a piece of steel. I muster all of my strength and break eye contact with her. I smile, probably the first genuine smile I have in a very long time. Tilting my head to the side, I look at her dancing with Barrett, and now she’s watching Conrad.

“The way she’s looking at me…” Conrad’s voice holds as much wonder in it I had felt when she was focused on me.

“Intoxicating isn’t it?” I can’t help myself. She is truly an enigma.

“Will you two stop fucking around and keep an eye on the room?” Griff fucks up the good time that Conrad and I were having like usual.

“Keep pretending this isn’t affecting you, too. She is gonna hit you like a ton of bricks when you least expect it.” I’m smirking into my drink as I watch Barrett spin our mate around the dance floor.

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