The Greystone Ridge Pack Series Book 3

Alpha Jamerson

I was taken aback to see them together, each cradling a child. I knew Alice had recently given birth—Akasha had told me—but seeing the worthless woman holding two infants was a shock. She looked scared, and I couldn’t help but smirk.

Alice, however, was a different story. She needed to be put in her place. No one disrespected me. My wolf, Gunnolf, was seething inside me. “Take her down now!” he growled.

“Sheathe your claws, wolf.” Alice’s words were almost a command. How was this possible? This only made us angrier.

My hands balled into fists, Gunnolf itching to break free. “You won’t win, little girl.” I glared at her.

Her eyes flashed a violet hue, something I’d never seen in a wolf before.

“Take them down now!” Gunnolf roared, and I let him loose.

He burst forth, looming over the two women. Alice must have said something to Astrid because she tried to step away with the babies. Gunnolf slammed his paw down, making my little toy jump. But Alice remained calm—too calm. She raised a hand, and I almost laughed at her audacity.

“Kill her.” I ordered Gunnolf.

He lunged for her arm, but before he could clamp down, her wolf was there, her paw down my throat, choking me. Gunnolf recoiled quickly before she grabbed his tongue, and we found ourselves face to face with Aurora. Her eyes glared red at me, and despite what Akasha had said, I wasn’t prepared for this. She was larger than most she-wolves and could easily pass for an alpha.

She moved with a grace that belied her size, stepping side to side, each paw landing with a thud, like a predator ready to pounce. But Gunnolf was larger and had never been bested by another wolf, especially not a she-wolf.

Gunnolf lunged at Aurora. She was as quick as I’d anticipated, and we collided in midair, both of us crashing to the ground. She got a hold of Gunnolf’s neck, but he swiped at her face with his front paws, breaking her grip.

“What lies has Akasha told you?” Aurora was looking at us, but it was Alice who spoke.

“How can you link with me?” I asked her.

Aurora’s lips curled, and her eyes narrowed. “Didn’t you know? I’m of the Conri bloodline, born under the blood moon.” This time, it wasn’t Alice speaking. It was her wolf, and the power behind the words gave me pause.

This was news to me. Akasha had been keeping secrets, but now he had as much control over my pack as I did. His voice in my head was the same as Aurora’s, but hers wasn’t controlling, just commanding.

“Kill her! You must destroy her and bring me her blood and heart.” Akasha’s voice echoed in my head. I turned to see him materializing with a child in his arms. Screams and howls filled the air. Akasha had caught my little plaything trying to escape, and now he held one of the infants. Astrid was sobbing in the distance, restrained by another woman.

Aurora lunged at Akasha, who deftly sidestepped her and climbed into the trees above us.

“One wrong move, Aurora, and this child dies,” he threatened, dangling the child. Aurora growled menacingly. “What will it be, Alice? Will you sacrifice your life for your child?” His mouth was smeared with blood, his eyes glowing red with malice.

“You’ve sealed your own fate, Akasha.” Alice’s voice echoed in our minds.

She turned her back on him and advanced on me, her eyes hard, red, and furious. She pounced, and we tumbled around on the ground, jaws snapping, fur flying. Akasha was feeding me instructions, clouding my mind as Gunnolf transformed into the killing machine he was.

My vision narrowed as we focused on Aurora. We attacked with slashes and swipes, tearing skin and fur. She matched us blow for blow, leaving us with several nasty wounds.

“Bitch,” I spat as one of her claws caught the corner of Gunnolf’s eye, leaving a deep gash. Blood poured out, obscuring our vision. Gunnolf shook his head, spraying blood. That was the last straw.

Aurora came at us again. We’d never faced such a prolonged challenge from a single wolf before. She was tiring as we fought. That’s where my alpha blood gave me the advantage. My strength held steady, while hers waned.

“Surrender, Aurora.” I growled, Gunnolf standing over her with his jaws clamped around her throat. Her once pristine white coat was now stained with blood.

“As long as he holds a child that isn’t his, I will never surrender!” Alice’s voice roared out, and she threw me aside.

A series of aggressive howls echoed around us. Draven’s men were suffering, as were mine. More wolves from another pack had arrived, and we were under threat. Akasha wasn’t calling it, but I was.

“Fall back to safe ground,” I mind-linked my entire pack. Akasha huffed at me, but then he smirked, holding the baby.

“We can use this as leverage.” He jumped down and ran, the baby crying as he went.

Aurora lunged at us again. Gunnolf met her head-on, sending her flying into a tree. She grunted, but the sound of her scrambling to her feet… She was getting back up…

“Unbelievable!” I muttered as she tried to attack me again.

The sound of pounding paws approached. It was what was left of Draven’s men, followed by some of my pack. Aurora stood glaring at me.

“Knock her out as we retreat.” I ordered my pack.

Aurora was sent flying as two of my warriors rammed her at full force, and I was sure I heard the crack of bones. With us all together, we fled as a group from the Greystone Ridge Pack appeared. We followed Akasha back to neutral territory between pack lands.

We’d set out to attack and destroy them. Instead, we’d weakened them. It was better than being wiped out, which would have happened if I hadn’t made the call. Of the fifty who left my pack, thirty-six returned. They were battered and injured, but they were alive and would heal, unlike Draven’s men. He was down to fifteen of the men he’d sent in.

Akasha hissed at us all as we changed and tended to our wounds. “Why did you disobey me?” He got in my face. “You had her. I ordered you to kill her.”

“No, I didn’t. She was weakening, but not giving up. More of them had appeared from the other packs to help out, and they would have overpowered us and taken down all of our men.” I gritted my teeth. “We got leverage, like you said.” I nodded to the child he’d handed off to one of my men.

“Yes, but I lost two of my friends in that battle.” Akasha clenched his fist, his chest heaving with anger. I looked around and didn’t see any vampires with us. Maybe he was mistaken? But then I spotted her, Lucinda. She was feeding off one of my guys, draining his blood.

Akasha lunged at me and stared into my eyes. “We will regroup and strengthen our packs. I think if we bring the Bloodclaw Pack into it, we can take them all out. I was holding them back with the humans I have under control, saving them for the next attack wave.” There was a glint in his eyes. Did he expect us to fail?

“What’s your plan for the baby?” I growled, unhappy that we now had a helpless being to care for.

He walked over and picked up the child, stared at it, then snarled. “Your men did enough damage to hold them back for now, but she will come for it soon.” The child seemed to calm, almost as if it understood what Akasha was saying. “I predict it will take her two hours, so be sure to be ready.” He turned his back on me. “I need her, so the child stays alive for now.”

With a grunt, I turned to my men and scowled. “Heal and prepare for another battle.” I stormed out of the caves, which were set into the mountainside. This was neutral ground, but that didn’t mean Aurora wouldn’t stop at nothing to get her child back.

I gingerly touched the healing cut on my face, a reminder of where Aurora had defended Gunnolf. Her fierce protection of her luna and children hinted at a depth beyond her role as the beta’s mate. Alice, with her Conri blood, was a threat. Akasha was a mystery, his secrets piling up, and I was determined to uncover his intentions. His consumption of alpha blood was excessive, and it worried me.

My thoughts drifted to Astrid, that wretched woman, and her offspring. I wanted her to feel the pain she had caused me all those years ago. I had imprisoned her for a reason, a reason she was too young to comprehend at the time.

“Mate,” I called out across the grasslands, my voice echoing as a woman in the distance hummed a tune.

~

She turned, her face registering shock as our eyes met, and then she ran. She ran from me, from Gunnolf. I didn’t understand why she would run from her mate. Gunnolf took over, and we chased her. When we caught up, she screamed, terrified of us, of Gunnolf. I shifted back into my human form, and she gasped. That’s when I realized my mate was a hybrid, half wolf, half human, and she was holding a two-year-old child.

~

A man appeared behind her, his eyes blazing with anger at my naked presence. He brandished an ax and charged at me. Did he not know who I was? He was human, ignorant of our kind. I shifted as he swung his ax, and I took him down. My mate’s wail of grief tore through me, a pain like no other. She was mourning him, not me.

~

“I am your mate, not him,” I growled, shifting back into my human form. The child clung to my mate’s leg, crying. I was repulsed and pulled her away so I could grasp my mate by the neck, forcing her to look at me. “Accept me.”

~

“Never,” she whispered, her words a dagger to my heart.

~

I tightened my grip, glaring at her. Gunnolf growled in my mind, unable to comprehend her defiance. She was our mate, and her rejection was a torment. Didn’t she realize she would be safer in a pack than wandering the woods with a single man and a child?

~

“I don’t care if you are half wolf, you are my mate,” I snarled, my wolf echoing my sentiment. Tears welled in her eyes, and she closed them, letting them fall. “You know I won’t let you stay here.” My words were harsh, and she struggled against my grip.

~

She fought me, kicking and scratching. It was almost amusing. I tightened my grip on her neck, cutting off her blood flow until her eyes bulged. The whites of her eyes filled with burst veins, and panic surged through me. I released her, but she collapsed. What had I done?

~

“Momma,” the little girl cried, throwing herself over her mother, my mate.

~

“This is your fault!” I yanked the girl up by her hair as she clung to her mother. My mate was still, and Gunnolf howled in agony. “You will suffer the consequences of this for the rest of your life.” I scooped the girl under my arm and ran as the sound of approaching vehicles filled the air.

I shook my head, trying to dispel the haunting memories. I had let Astrid live, a punishment for myself as much as for her. The pain of what I had done to my mate still lingered, fueling my viciousness toward others.

“They are coming!” Akasha’s voice rang in my head.