Alpha Wolf (The Westervelt Wolves Book 5) Read online

  As Michael went for a final rip at his father, sure that this would be the one to kill their former Alpha, Kendrick vanished beneath his grip. Michael fell forward hitting the ground with a thump.

  What the hell happened? His wolf was not pleased to be denied the right to finish his enemy off.

  Michael groaned and called his shift back on to him. The white light brought him back to his human form.

  “Dad is such a coward. I had him. I had his throat in my mouth.”

  He could still taste his blood. Michael pounded the ground with his fists as he roared. It was intolerable.

  When Tristan didn’t answer, Michael whirled around. Standing in a group were Barge, Tristan, Cullen,and Seamus. Where was Todd? Michael’s heart beat faster as he took two steps to reach the small group.

  He looked down and knew instantly what the others must have already learned. Todd was dead.

  Michael shut his eyes for a moment to collect himself. He was responsible for this. He should have found another way to get to his father. It had been useless anyway.

  Someone grabbed his arm and he opened his eyes. It was Tristan. Half of his brother’s face was covered in ash, he looked tired and blood ran fast from a gash on the side of his head. “This is not your fault. It’s mine.”

  For a moment, Michael couldn’t speak. When he finally could, his voice sounded hoarse. “I brought them here; I should have done a better job of explaining just how bad it is.”

  He heard Barge suck in his breath as he looked at them. “Don’t do that.” Barge shook his head. “You gave us everything. You came and rescued us. Todd—all of us—we’d gladly trade our lives for the few days of learning we had with you and the night of feeling the wholeness that comes from being in a true pack.”

  Tristan nodded. “Michael gives us what we need, even when we don’t know we need it.”

  Why was Tristan always saying things like that? Michael shook his head. There weren’t words for the conflicting emotions Michael felt. Horror and utter sadness at Todd’s death, pride that his Alpha thought so highly of him. Michael did what he’d trained himself to do for years, he pushed it aside. He’d deal with it later. Cullen leaned over and picked up Todd’s lifeless body.

  “I’ll take him back.” Cullen took two steps forward and looked at Tristan. “Come, my Alpha, it’s not safe yet. There are still miscreant wolves all over the place.”

  Cullen was right. Michael could hear the pack fighting. Tristan had to leave and Michael needed to go help them.

  “Tristan, they need to be trained. Tomorrow might be too late.” And so help him he wasn’t losing any more of them to his father because they didn’t know what they were doing.

  “You’re right. We start tonight. Let’s round up what wolves we can and then Cullen—you take them out back and start the procedures.”

  Cullen nodded. “Yes, my Alpha.”

  Tristan staggered backward and Michael lunged forward. What was wrong?

  “Tristan?”

  “It’s the women, they’ve broken through the defenses to the women.”

  Without another word, Michael shifted into his wolf form and took off running. He’d thought Scarlett safe. Opening up the telepathic link he’d closed off, he moved as fast as he could through the woods.

  Blocking his path was one of his father’s wolves. Growling, he tore into it, ending its life in a matter of seconds as he continued to run.

  “Scarlett?” He called through their telepathic link.

  “Michael, oh gods. Michael, they’re here.”

  Pushing himself even faster, he bounded out of the trees into the open path that would lead to their home.

  “I’m coming. We’re all coming.”

  Her voice laced with fear. “Faith and Summer are fighting them back. They keep coming for the children. Ashlee and I have them. We can’t let them get to the children.”

  “Just hold on, I’m coming.”

  She didn’t answer him and his heart fell to his stomach. Roaring, he tried to move even faster. His legs burned and his breath came out in gasps. His wolf had never moved this fast.

  He tried to reassure himself that he would know if she was dead. He would know, because he would suddenly want to die too and would, in fact, follow her immediately. Tristan would have to win this war without him. Scarlett held half of his soul. He loved her and he would go wherever she went.

  Pushing away the morose thoughts, he plunged through the door of the main house. He would know if she was dead, but hurt was another issue. Bounding down the entranceway to the stairs, he took them four at a time as he made his way to the safe room.

  So much for thinking it could not be breached. It might be fireproof, but the rest of it was going to have to be reevaluated. Storming through the door, the room was in chaos.

  The women fought alongside the men. Summer growled, taking down a wolf with two long slashes of a sword. Where was Scarlett? Too much noise assaulted his ears. He couldn’t hear her. It was time to follow his nose.

  Pushing his nose to the floor, he ran in the direction of her scent. She was in the corner of the room. His niece, Virginia, hung onto her leg as she fought back a wolf still in her human form.

  He gasped as he watched her pick up a chair over her head and smash it down on top of the wolf that attacked them. Pride filled his veins. That was his woman and she was doing a hell of a job improvising. Leaping forward, he took down her attacker quickly and efficiently. Turning back to view the room, he saw the miscreant wolves were all being subdued. Most were dead and Azriel was rounding up the survivors for testing.

  Michael looked at Scarlett. In her tiny arms, she held his three-year-old niece. Murmuring reassuring words to the child, she looked down at him and smiled.

  “Thank you for getting here so fast.”

  “I’m not sure you needed me.” He called the shift onto himself, returning to his human form. “That was a great move with the chair.”

  “I had to make do.”

  She seemed calm as she held the still crying Virginia, but he could tell from her eyes as they darted back and forth that she hung on to her demeanor by a tiny thread.

  “Let me take her.” Michael held out his arms and let Scarlett hand him Virginia. The child was a perfect combination of Tristan and Ashlee with her red hair and Tristan’s former brown eye color. But then again he thought all of the babies born to the pack were perfect. The child sniffled as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “Uncle Mike’s got you.”

  With his free hand, he pulled Scarlett up against his side. “I bet you never thought you could fight back.”

  “When they came at the children, all of a sudden I was capable.”

  He nodded. “Even the Beta wolves step up when the little ones are threatened. You did well. You should be proud of yourself.”

  “When I stop shaking, I will be. Thanks.”

  For his part, he might never sleep again thinking of how close he had come to losing her to one of his father’s creations, but he wasn’t going to mention that to her.

  Across the room, Faith shifted back, having finished off the last wolf. Jumping from foot to foot, she hollered with delight. “I got it. Did you see that, Theo? Did you see how quickly I took it down?”

  Theo raised an eye at Faith. “I saw it, dearest. Now if you could have managed to do it without giving me three different kinds of heart attacks, I might have preferred it.”

  Faith laughed, which made Michael snicker. “Sheesh, you’re getting old.”

  Doing a quick headcount, he was relieved to see everyone was there. Everyone but one, actually. Walking toward Ashlee, he handed her Virginia as he smiled at Elizabeth and Braden. They were shaken up but, he hated to admit it, the children had actually gotten used to the attacks.

  With each incident, they bounced back faster to their usual jovial moods.

  His wolf spoke to him. They’ll get their wolves early. Already, their canines want to protect them.
/>
  Michael nodded. He’d never been entirely sure how the magic that gave them the wolves worked and if he asked his wolf, he got strange answers he couldn’t follow. Maybe that was part of it, maybe he’d never know. Still, he needed to ask one more question on the subject.

  When Todd died, did his wolf go with him? Or did he go to someone else?

  His wolf snorted and lay down to go to sleep. Apparently, he wasn’t going to be informed on that subject today.

  Kissing the top of Scarlett’s head, he knew he was a very lucky man. He still had to tell her what had happened and he couldn’t promise her it would never happen again. “Todd died in the woods helping us get Tristan back.”

  She gasped as her eyes filled up with tears. “Not when he’d finally learned what being a wolf shifter truly meant.”

  “It’s awful.” There weren’t words for his level of sadness. Still, there was something he had to do. “Come with me.” Squeezing her hand, he pulled her from the room. Tristan was going to want to have a meeting to go over what happened and the conversation he needed to have with Scarlett would determine if he went.

  Finally, finding a quiet spot, he stopped walking and leaned down to kiss her. She was soft and smelled so much like home to him some of the tension he’d been holding lessened in his shoulders. He couldn’t relax completely, not yet. Not until they talked.

  “What just happened happens a lot these days. Dad has raged a full-on assault against us. Probably because we took the fight to him a few too many times.”

  She nodded, her eyebrows slanting downwards as if she was confused by what he spoke about.

  He continued. “This will be our life here until it isn’t anymore.” He swallowed. “Unless you want to leave. For you I will go anywhere. Run for the rest of my life to keep you safe, if that’s what you need.”

  Scarlett’s eyes widened. “Michael, what I need is you and what you need is here. There’s no pack here without you. This is my home too. We’ll defend it together. Kendrick’s not going to win. Not now. He can’t.”

  Leaning down he kissed her again. “I may need you to remind me of that a few thousand times.”

  She laughed. “No you won’t.”

  For a Beta wolf, she sounded decidedly sure of herself, which he loved. In fact, as he thought of it, he loved everything about his mate, Scarlett Kane. He might be the Alpha in their relationship, but he was happy to let her be in charge of their lives.

  Forever.

  In this life and the next one.

  The End

  Publisher’s Note

  Please help this author's career by posting an honest review wherever you purchased this book.

  About Rebecca Royce

  As a teenager, Rebecca would hide in her room to read her favorite romance novels when she was supposed to be doing her homework. She hopes that these days, her parents think it was worth it.

  She is the mother of three adorable boys, and she is fortunate to be married to her best friend. They live in northern New Jersey and try not to freeze too badly during the winter months.

  A hardcore fan of science fiction, fantasy, and the paranormal, Rebecca tries to use all of these elements in her writing. She’s been told she’s a little bloodthirsty so she hopes that when you read her work you’ll enjoy the action-packed ride that always ends in romance. In her world, anything is possible, anything can happen, and you should suspect it probably will.

  Connect with Rebecca Royce:

  Visit my Website

  Join my Newsletter

  Find me online at:

  Facebook

  Twitter

  Other Titles by Rebecca Royce

  Her Wolf

  Summer’s Wolf

  Wolf Reborn

  Wolf’s Valentine

  Wolf’s Magic

  Alpha Wolf

  Angel’s Wolf

  Darkest Wolf

  Lone Wolf

  Yes Captain

  Table of Contents

  Alpha Wolf

  Blurb

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13