The Good Wolf's Alpha Mate

Chapter 4

Liam’s POV

I had barely closed my eyes when the little monster woke me again. This time her hunger was accompanied by a foul-smelling diaper that smelled worse than the Devil’s Ass! Frustrated and tired, I wasn’t used to being woken up in the middle of the night, I did my best to change her diaper. But I wasn’t going to lie. Changing the toxic waste that came out of her otherwise cute little butt, had me gagging more than once.

How did any parent do this?!

And just to top off an already shitty Sunday, she was hungry again. And I’d only grabbed one of those ready mixtures. Cursing myself for not having more foresight, I returned to the gas station. As dawn was approaching, there were more staff present. And as the little one was trying to call on the Armies of Hell with her wailing, there was no way that someone wasn’t going to hear her. So leaving her behind this time was out of the question…

Luckily, just then, a car pulled up with a middle-aged human woman at the helm. Making a bold calculation, I walked right up to her, hoping that she wouldn’t question me too much.

“Excuse me?” I said as politely as possible as I walked up to her. She let out a startled cry and – much to my dismay! - held up a can of pepper spray.

“I’m sorry!” I exclaimed, jumping back. Sure, pepper spray might not kill me, but that s**t hurt like a son of a b***h! “I-I didn’t mean to scare you! I-I just wanted to ask---”

“What the---?!” The woman cut me off, as she took in my appearance. And I gulped, knowing that if anything I looked WAY worse for were. My sandy blond hair was frizzy and shoulder-length because it was easier to maintain like that in the woods. My much darker beard was overgrown and ill-kept, as toiletries weren’t exactly easy to come by. Sure, it wasn’t as bad as it usually was since I almost made it a point to shave and look presentable when construction season kicked off. It was easier to get a job if you didn’t look like a hobo. But the season was over now and I hadn’t been shopping when I came across the dying, pregnant Vampire lady. And despite having washed my clothes in the river, I knew that the stains and marks wouldn’t come out that easily…

Fuck!

Perhaps my best-thought-out plan wasn’t so brilliant after all…

I blame the lack of sleep, my wolf mumbled low, his attention on the female in front of us. If she turned out to be a threat, he’d lend me his strength and get us out of here, I knew as much. But I really, really needed to get little Peach something to eat!

Or I’d really start drawing attention to myself…

Finally, the woman snapped her attention to the screaming newborn in my arms. And with a judgemental frown, she pointed to her.

“What on earth is going on here?” she barked, just as her head snapped back up to my face. “Why isn’t she dressed? And why haven’t you fed her? She’s obviously hungry!”

Tell me something I don’t know, lady, my wolf gruffly growled, not liking her attitude at all. And willing or not, I didn’t like being judged like that. Protectively I clutched Peach just a little bit tighter as if I needed to shield her from this human.

“I-I know,” was all I managed to get out, taking another step back while thinking of a lie to explain all of this. “My car broke down, just a couple of miles away from here and my phone battery died. I was just wondering if you might be willing to help me hold her, while I asked the clerk for a phone I could borrow.” And as an afterthought added: “And I need to buy some baby formula.”

Actually, I just needed her to hold her while I went in the back and stole some of their supplies. This time I couldn’t just be taking one or two Packages, having learned from my previous mistake. I was taking a cartload! And by hiding it in the woods, I could come back to collect Peach all within a full five minutes.

But as the woman’s eyes slipped to my naked feet, I was getting increasingly worried. I didn’t like her calculative gaze as she took us in, and an instinct I didn’t know I had, was screaming at me to leave: to protect my little Peach, and take her far away from there. But before I had time to act on those feelings, the woman stretched out her arms to me.

“Well, hand her over then,” she said curtly, making a “give her here”- gesture with her hands. “We’re not getting any younger, and I’m late for work!”

I hesitated for a second, and my wolf urged me not to hand Peach over. But I really didn't have a choice.

I needed to feed her!

Besides, I tried to comfort my wolf as well as myself. With our speed, we'll be in and out of there in no time. She'll be safe for just a couple of minutes...

And if she's not, we'll hunt this woman down and rip her to shreds, my wolf promised with a low threat. I had to stifle a grin...

That went without saying!

“Thank you,” I said, and with a sinking feeling in my gut, I carefully handed the small, wailing banshee over to the human. "I-I'll be just a minute.”

With one last backward glance, I saw the little Peach glance around, as if confused by the new scent that had enveloped her. She stopped crying for about a second, but when her dark eyes couldn’t find me, she started her wailing back up again. This time with a renewed effort that even had the woman flinching.

That’s my girl, my wolf grinned wickedly, and I couldn’t help but agree. It was stupid – especially considering that the kid wasn’t even mine – but I liked that she preferred me to the woman.

I had to be doing something right then, right?

Forcing myself to look away, I walked into the store, making a point to keep my head down the whole time. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but my instinct told me that s**t was about to hit the fan. Trusting those instincts, I kept my face away from the cameras and headed straight to the back, pretending that I was heading for the toilets. With my wolf’s speed, I changed direction and went to their storage room. It didn’t take me long to find what I was looking for, and I almost smiled when I saw it was a new shipment.

At least I didn’t need to think about expiration dates.

Grabbing as much as I could hold – as well as a fresh Package of diapers and wet wipes – I ran back outside, using their loading dock. Which wasn’t much more than just a garage with an old lock on it. It didn’t take me long to find a relatively safe spot a few hundred feet into the woods.

And then I was heading back, my heart racing in my chest. But it wasn’t the exertion that had my heart pounding. Everything inside of me was hounding me to get back to our baby. Biologically mine or not, apparently a part of me refused to acknowledge that. As long as she was with me, she was mine to protect!

I just barely remembered to slow down when I returned to the gas station and went back in the same way I’d come out. But the urgency I felt in my chest to get back was growing more intense and more urgent by the second. Hell, when I finally got outside and saw her, I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding!

“Hi! I’m back,” I breathed, no need to fake relief in my voice. My whole body shook from the intense feelings that were coursing through my blood. Hell, even my wolf was pacing uneasily back and forth in my mind, wanting to have his little Peach back…

“Where is her formula?” the woman griped, instead of instantly handing her back. My gut roiled at that. Not because I’d been caught in a lie, but because she wasn’t giving Peach back.

“They were all sold out,” I replied, and before the woman could brace for it, I made a grab for the baby.

“What---? Wait just a moment! You can’t---!” she hissed as she tried to wrestle my baby away from me. Something inside of me snapped at that, and fury like I’d never felt before, burst to the surface.

“Let her go!” I demanded with a growl that made the air feel thick with electricity. She gasped and faltered, taking a step back, clutching her heart. And in doing so, let go of the little Peach.

As quick as I could, I snatched her away from the mad woman, pulling her into me as if to reassure myself that she was truly back in my arms. Then I gave her a quick once-over, making sure that she wasn’t harmed in the struggle. She wasn’t wearing any clothes, so her soft pink skin was exposed. But other than being a little red, she was just perfect.

And that’s when I heard it!

“He took her!”

Stunned, I looked up--- and cursed under my breath when I saw the woman frantically fishing out her phone from her pocket. And judging by the hastened reply on the other side of the line, she’d called the f*****g cops!

"s**t!" I hissed under my breath before spinning around, and as quickly as human speed would allow me to, I headed for the trees.

“NO! Stop! He’s kidnapping her! I’m telling you, that baby isn’t his!”

The woman behind me hollered. Ironically, it was true, but I couldn’t give up a werewolf baby to the human authorities. Not only would I be in deep s**t with the Alpha King, if he ever found out, but there was also no telling what the human government would do if they ever found a lost werewolf baby. Sure, most governments knew about the existence of supernatural beings, and mostly we were civil to one another.

You know, respecting human rights and stuff like that...

But while governments knew we existed, the common people were left in the dark. This was mostly for the benefit of everyone. Humans wouldn't be caught in a war they couldn't win, and we wouldn't be turned into guinea pigs.

I dared a glance back--- and cursed again when I noticed that several humans were trying to pursue me. Well, yeah… I doubted that being accused of kidnapping would go over well with anyone.

And here I was thinking that my faith in humanity was lost, my wolf sarcastically remarked, as he lent me his powers to move faster.

What a perfect time to rediscover faith! I snorted as I pumped my legs harder to lose the human trail behind me. If the situation hadn’t been so dire, I would have laughed at my wolf’s joke. But pictures with men holding pitchforks and torches came to mind, and I used more power to run as fast as I could to get away from there.

Well, Peach, I thought drily as I grabbed the stolen goods and ran off like a Bat out of Hell. Looks like our first excursion was a bust…