My Female Alpha

FIFTY ONE

lenora

The moment Emery's feet step out of the packhouse, her absence strikes me right in the chest.

My wolf's instincts are firing, warning me that something bad is going to happen.

She's going to be fine, I try to reason with my other side.

I'm just being paranoid because of every bad thing that's happened recently. The rogues wouldn't attack so soon—they can't. We've weakened them tremendously.

If they waste their resources on going after my mate, they're not only negligent but suicidal.

I try to brush the feeling away. Denver will keep Emery safe. In the meantime, I have things I need to focus on.

Tara clears her throat and my gaze snaps up to hers. She smirks. "You're so fucking whipped."

"Shut up," I growl, though my traitorous face grins back at her.

"It's sweet," tuts Chelisse, Tara's mate. "I remember how those early stages feel."

"Yeah, you wanna fuck all the time," Tara says, winking at Chelisse. "And when they leave the room, you want to dismantle the building so there aren't any walls between you."

Her mate laughs. "I think you're probably a bit more extreme than others, Tara."

"No, that's pretty accurate," I say.

Everyone laughs.

I glance at Tara's Beta and nod at him. He's been quiet since they arrived and I've been feeling some interesting vibes about him, but I can't quite decide what they mean.

"How's your mate doing, Frank?" I ask him.

A hush falls between the three of them.

Frank breathes deeply as pain colors his eyes. Absently stroking his chin, he says, "Robin was one of the few unlucky ones. She didn't make it out of the attack."

"Damn," I whisper. "I'm so sorry, Frank. I can't even imagine . . ."

I'd come close to losing my delicate little mate so many times in the last several few weeks. I hated her leaving this house more than anything, but at least she was alive to defy me.

If I lost her—well, I sure as fuck wouldn't be sitting at this table listening to someone else gush about young love.

"I would never want you to imagine what it's like," he tells me. "When I found out, when I found her—her bludgeoned body . . ." He shakes his head. "I could try to get my revenge on my own but it would be pointless. I'm just one wolf," he growls, hatred burning in his voice. "You understand why I insisted on coming now."

I nod. "We'll make sure you get your revenge, Beta."

The tendon in his jaw twitched but he said nothing more. I admired his self-control.

In his shoes, most wolves would dive off the deep end. Maybe he had and was just keeping it together long enough to satiate his blood thirst.

The conversation is heavy after that. We eventually decide to head outside and let our wolves out for a bit.

It's been a long time since I enjoyed a run with friends and it would be good to check the perimeter. My scouts are excellent at what they do but they can only do so much.

Tara, Chelisse, Frank, and I strip out of our clothes and shift behind the house.

Two wolves come jogging over from out of the woods and I immediately recognize them as Caden and Desiree. They come directly over and shift. Both are panting and sharing brief glances.