Page 7 of Alpha's Rise

This is a feeling she hadn’t let loose in a while, and it felt damn good. Romi made note of the five beings standing before her as she lifted her arms out to the side and spoke, “Let’s dance, motherfuckers.”

Four

The scent hit Tobias as he was walking to meet with his father, who was also the current Alpha Supreme, his mother, and their mate, Brayden. As soon as the scent hit his nostrils, it stopped him in his tracks.

Mango.

The sweet smell was all around him, but that was impossible. Tobias noticed everyone else going about their business. No one else seemed to be affected by the amazing smell wafting around him. The scent was taking over his senses. He could almost taste it on his tongue. There was a need increasing inside him. Something, or someone, was calling to him. Beckoning him.

The wolf inside him clawed at his skin. He wanted out.

His eyes began staring at every face around him. His nose tracked the scent, trying to understand where it was coming from. Tobias began walking in the direction where it was the strongest.

Then, without thinking, he started running. In his human form, he could only go so fast and the need bubbling up inside forced him to change. Long claws grew from his fingers as he shifted into his other form. The clothes covering his body ripped at the seams, becoming too small for him in his Biped form. Nothing could stop him. There was only one thing he needed right now.

Mate.

The voice was clear in his head. No matter how much he wanted to deny the feeling coursing through his mind and body, the scent calling to him said otherwise. The heat coursing through his body sent an obvious message that his time had come.

Tobias did not know what he was running into or who he was running toward, but it didn’t matter. His mate had finally arrived. The Goddess was making her demand of him clear. The time had come for him to take over from his father and become Alpha Supreme. Which also meant… it was time for Nathan to return home.

Fuck. Tobias couldn’t think about that right now. If he knew nothing else, he knew with Nathan’s arrival, there would be another fight.

He shook his head to clear those negative thoughts and kept running, focused only on getting to his mate. The closer Tobias got to his destination, the more he smelled other shifters. Wolves. Pack.

What the fuck?

He ran faster. Confusion and need ripped through him. Tobias couldn’t help but question why his pack would be surrounding his mate. Unless…

No. He wasn’t going there. He just needed to go faster. If his mate was in danger, Tobias knew he would rip out the throat of anyone who threatened her. Pack or not. The mate of the Alpha Supreme was to be protected at all costs.

Mate. His wolf growled the word again—louder this time.

As Tobias came upon the scene, he leaped in the air, his body twisting and flipping as it shifted back to his human form.

He Landed directly between the brown-skinned woman and one of the pack guards. The woman, unfazed by his entrance, stood in front of his pack with a smile on her face. But there was something else. It was like she was looking through him. Her gaze focused on the members of the security team, but even with the oddness of the standoff they were in, Tobias could do nothing but stare at her.

Beautiful. It was the only word he could use to describe her, and he knew she would be his soon enough.

Mate, his wolf, growled again, the voice clear and strong. Almost as if he were taunting Tobias.’

The scent of mango was all over the woman. Tobias’ mouth salivated as his cock hardened. Finally, his presence caught her attention, and her gaze slowly left his men as she turned to him. She glanced down at his naked form, her eyes resting on his thickening length for an extra moment before she continued her perusal. Tobias heard the hitch in her voice as she looked at him, but he knew at once that something was off.

She wasn’t a wolf.

She was… something else.

He did not know who she was, but it didn’t matter. Tobias was determined to make her his because his wolf knew her as his mate. That was all he needed to stake his claim.

“Who the fuck are you?” She snapped at him, her hands curling into fists by her side.

Her voice was husky, smooth like the whiskey he pretended to like. Tobias still had no fucking clue why human men drank that shit, but if it tasted anything like her voice sounded, he’d be willing to drink a gallon every day. Shifter metabolism wouldn’t allow them to get drunk, but they usually drank for show. It was expected of them in the human world. The woman’s voice reminded Tobias of the smoky taste of the liquor. Smooth. Dark. Rough. He wanted to hear her speak some more.

Tobias sniffed the air for the familiar scent of sweet mango. There was also a scent of ash, which meant she was angry. What he didn’t smell was fear. The smile that came over his face couldn’t be helped.

Six large, naked men surrounding her in the woods. Yet, this woman stood here challenging them all, as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

He glanced over his shoulder at the security team and gave a slight shake of his head before turning back to the gorgeous woman. Finally deciding to answer her question, he smiled. “The better question is, why are you on our lands?”

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