The Alpha's Unusual Mate

Chapter 4

***Alpha Black POV***

The hot water beat down on his head as he leaned into the spray of the shower. He hated this part of his life. This part where he had to exact justice. Anger seeped into his veins again at being in this situation.

If the asshole he had to take out tonight was not human, he could have disposed of him much easier. It was so much easier to deal with these things when the person was a wolf-shifter like Black. However, he had to make this death look like a human murdered him and not something the police would not be able to explain. If it wasn’t for that, Rose would never have seen what went on, and he would not have a human in his cells now.

Rose.

He couldn’t get her out of his mind. There was no doubt that she was beautiful, any man with eyes could see that. She was tall, with legs that went on and on, and her eyes. Her eyes were the color of the deep green forest that surrounded his home.

Even with her makeup smudged under her eyes and her hair in obvious disarray, she was striking. When he realized she was watching his execution of Andrew, he was first struck by how perfect her face looked illuminated by the streetlamps.

Luckily, Dimitri had paid closer attention and took down her license plate number. From there it was easy to track who she was and where she lived.

They had to make sure, however, that she had had no contact with anyone since seeing them with Andrew. This was why it took so long for them to get to her. The plan was simple. Get into her house, quietly, and get rid of her in her sleep. They did not bargain, however, for her to be awake when they came to her house in the dead of night.

That was when everything went to s**t. The moment he stepped into her living room, her scent hit him like an assault. She smelt like jasmine flowers and summer rain, fresh and sweet. There were other scents in the small living space, but there was no mistaking her intoxicating aroma.

He was vaguely aware that the smell of Rose's fear angered him, but he had ignored it, intent on why they had intruded on her home. When Dimitri struck her, and she went out cold, she crumpled in a heap. Black knew he should have let Dimitri or Alex pick her up, but before he knew what he was doing, he had scooped her into his arms.

The feel of her pressed against him was distracting, and he knew he had to get her out of his arms as quickly as possible. Ordering Dimitri to tie her hands, he plopped her onto the back seat of their SUV.

Alex was not happy with this as they didn't bargain on taking a prisoner back to pack-grounds. As it was, there was now no space for him in the car, and he had to retreat into the house where he could shift into his wolf without anyone seeing. The run home would have made him break a sweat at least, but his heightened stamina could handle the twenty-mile run.

The drive home was torture. On multiple occasions Black contemplated opening his window to try and get the smell of her out of his nose, but he knew it would look suspicious, so he had to grit his teeth and suck it up. When he had heard her deep breathing become more frequent and shallow, he knew she was waking up, but he still didn't allow himself to look at her.

Instead, he tried to focus on the road ahead. It was only when Rose stirred that he let his eyes wander in her direction again. There was a clear look of panic on her face, and he hated that he was forced to end her life. She was innocent, but he knew the Council would never let her live if they knew she had seen what she had seen.

Even if she hadn’t witnessed anything preternatural. They knew that should she go to the police they would get unwanted attention. Besides, not even the government knew of their existence, and it had to stay that way.

As the memory of the sight of her bare thighs pierced his thoughts, he growled and punched the wall. A tile cracked and he cursed himself. The sight of her chest heaving as the tops of her breasts peeked through the partially open blouse had made his pants become uncomfortably tight.

He had been very tempted to climb into the back seat to stroke the smooth skin of her exposed thigh even with Dimitri just feet away.

He was a ruthless man, he knew that. He had earned the name Black, because his wolf was always just beneath the surface, making his eyes almost permanently completely black. As such, the beast never fought him on anything, as they moved as one. Tonight, however, his beast was thrashing, demanding to be let out.

Black could not get him to say why he was so adamant to be brought completely to the fore, but he knew that it had something to do with Rose.

He started washing himself roughly, scrubbing to get the stench of Andrew off him but also to try and get the sweet smell of Rose off him. She was a distraction, and he needed to get some sleep. There would not be much sleep as dawn was not far off, but he would take what he could before meeting with the rest of the team later in the morning. Besides, he would need all his strength to keep his wolf at bay for what he knew he had to do in only a few hours.

***Rose POV***

The cell I was kept in was completely bare. There was nothing to sit or lie on, so I tried to make myself as comfortable on the cold stone floor as I could. My feet and fingertips were numb, and my skin stood at attention permanently from the cold.

Hugging my knees to my chest, I tried to will the heat of my core to spread to my bare limbs and feet. At some point, I dosed off, but never fully slept. I was too cold and too afraid. I wanted to prolong the time until one of the guards would appear to take me to whatever end they saw fit.

The cell had no windows, so I had no indication of what the time was when I heard footsteps approaching. I didn’t look up from where I was curled against the wall, determined not to give my captors my attention.

‘Come on, you.’ I recognized the voice of Dimitri and lifted my head.

‘Where are you taking me?’ I asked, sitting up.

He didn’t answer me. Instead, he reached down and took hold of my arm again, pulling me to my feet. I expected him to bind my hands again, but he didn’t, and I was relieved. Somewhere in the back of my mind the thought that it would make it easier to escape entered my mind, but another stronger voice told me that it would be impossible.

Reluctantly, I agreed, resigned to accept my fate. I was led away from the cells and into another, shorter corridor. Opening the first door, Dimitri pushed me into the room. This room was also devoid of any windows, but the florescent light affixed to the ceiling bounced off the white walls and hurt my eyes.

Blinking a few times, I tried to get my eyes to adjust to the new harsher light as I was pushed into a steel chair. Dimitri pulled my hands forward until they rested on the table before me. Before I could put my hands back in my lap, he cuffed my wrists to a bar fastened to the steel table. This had to be some sort of interrogation room.

‘What do you want from me? I don’t know anything!’ I shouted at Dimitri as the realization hit me that they clearly wanted to question me.

‘Me? I just want this thing to be over with. It’s Black who wants to talk to you.’

That made no sense to me. Did I hear him incorrectly or was there really someone named Black? And what did this person want from me? As if answering my thoughts, the Devil walked into the room.

Dressed in black jeans and a black long-sleeve t-shirt. Looking at his inky hair and his black eyes, I understood what Dimitri had meant. This man was obviously called Black. I wanted to roll my eyes at the notion of this man being so hellbent on his image that he went so far as to name himself Black.

He gave me a once over with his eyes before turning to Dimitri. The men looked at each other for a moment before Dimitri nodded and left the room. Black walked to the far side of the room before returning to the table and chairs in the center of the room.

He ran his hand through his hair and grunted in frustration before finally pulling the chair across from me to sit down. He was still not looking at me. This gave me further opportunity to study him. In this harsh, bright light, I could see the tattoos on his neck more clearly.

They looked like they could be part of some tribal design. One of his hands was clenched into a fist and resting on the table, inches from where my hands were cuffed to the table. On the back of his hand was another tattoo. This one looked like a grayscale rendering of a full moon against a dark sky. I could see even more ink on his wrists and wondered how much more was hidden underneath his clothing.