Celebrity Alpha Series: Book one: The Billionaire Alpha's mate.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Mia stared up at Cole's down turned face and sucked in a breath. He really made it difficult to stay mad at him when he said things like that. She knew that he would have to let go of her soon, he had no choice and she was apparently giving him none. She couldn't afford to get Cole and his entire family involved with the rogue werewolves that had killed her parents. She would not be able to bear having a other set of deaths on her hands.

"I'm sorry Cole but I'm giving you no choice. You'll either have to let me go or I'll just walk away on my own."

Cole's blue gaze narrowed to cold, angry slits. God, she hated making him angry but what could she do? His involvement in the werewolf case was non negotiable.

"I wasn't exactly asking for a choice, Mia. You're mine and you'll remain mine. That means you're not going anywhere and even if you tried, I've got enough money, power and resources to track your stubborn ass down so save us both the stress, will ya? "

Mia huffed,

" You're so... "

Her words were cut short when Cole covered her mouth with his big palm. His once bright blue eyes darkened to a colour that Mia knew too well...desire. She struggled against his touch but he simply backed her out of the room and into the kitchen, his palm still against her moving lips. He finally let go of her and she gasped for air.

"What the f**k is wro..."

"I've got so many things to talk to you about Mia but first I want to kiss you. I need to feel your lips on mine right now."

Mia's eyes widened and she started shaking her head when Cole just held her upper arms and pulled her further into the heat of his chest, crushing her lips against his.

He kissed her like a man that was starving and this kiss was devoid of restrictions. It was not gentle, like their previous delicious lip locks but rather it was raw and hard and so irresistible that Mia felt herself surrendering, melting in Cole's powerful arms. God, she could get used to this, to kissing this man without a care in the world. But too many problems and indifferences separated her world from his and anyway, she was a woman on the run and she had to protect her heart before it was completely stolen by the handsome hunk that was about to kissing her senseless.

The chasm between them was probably too wide and Mia could not risk falling into it so she summoned up all her courage and drew back, just a little bit, to look into his eyes, eyes that were glowing a bright silver from barely concealed lust, eyes that she found herself falling so deeply in love with.

She shook her head to clear her rioting thoughts, Cole stared down at her, his gaze smoldering with possessiveness and desire. She felt it clear to her bones, like he'd marked her and made her his.

"What did you want to talk about?"

He stared at her for a while longer then let go of her arms and paced to the kitchen's floor to ceiling glass panel.

"You knew I was a werewolf, Mia. When did you make that discovery and when did you plan on telling me about it?"

Mia licked her dry lips, she knew this was coming but somehow she was not prepared yet.

"Do we really have to talk about this right now?"

"Bullshit!" Cole shouted, "Why do you always want to avoid me, why do always look for ways sidestep my questions. Is it because of my Lycan nature? Because I'm a werewolf?"

" N-no. That's not why."

He paced back and stood directly in front of her, so close that Mia has to tilt her head to look him in the eyes."

" Then tell me. Tell me why, because I'm tired of the negative thoughts that are running through my head, I'm tired of not thinking straight."

Mia caught a hint of pain in his storm blue eyes and was startled at the kind of hold she had over his emotions. She grabbed hold of both his hands and held them against her thundering heart.

"Does that feel like the heart beat of someone that would willingly want to avoid you, Cole?"

Cole's eyes narrowed at her,

"Your heart beat is so rapid, what else am I supposed to think other than the fact that you're scared of me."

" I'm not scared of you. Werewolf or not, powerful billionaire or not, I'm not scared of you, Cole."

" Then what's your deal? Why do you keep running from me, why do you keep rejecting my help."

Mia let go of his hands and took a deep breath.

" If the situation was normal or far less dangerous, I would've accepted your help without batting an eyelash. But the case is far from normal, Cole. The rouge werewolves are too dangerous to get other people involved. They have an uncontrolled desire for blood and death, it's almost madness. It's too dangerous, I can't get your family involved, I won't have your deaths on my hands."

Cole actually looked insulted,

"We're a family of alpha werewolf warriors, my sister is a damn witch and my brothers are the most ruthless bastards I've ever seen in a fight and you think we won't be able to take care of ourselves? You don't trust us to defend you against a group of rogue werewolves that are probably not up to our standards? Listen here, miss, I've been killing rogues since I turned eighteen. Jackson killed his first rogue at sixteen. We're more than capable and qualified to protect you and your sister from harm, Mia. You just have to trust us."

"Trust is not something I give out freely, Cole. My life and past experiences have taught me not to trust anyone, and believe me, I learned the hard way. I won't let you and your family get involved in the rogue case and that's final."

Cole gave her a hard, cold look and Mia got a glimpse of the ruthless billionaire so many people saw him to be. It would be very dangerous to cross this man and Mia has a feeling that she was already standing on his toes. He looked like he was about to say something, then he shook his head and stepped back.

"You know what, if you don't want my help then it's fine but for Maria's sake, I will always watch your backs. And I was serious about earlier, Floyd's a dangerous man .I need you to be very careful and extra cautious starting now. we're yet to figure out who the woman that's working with him is but you also have to be wary of every new comer till we sort this out.

If you must go out during the day, take a guard with you. I intend to get to the bottom of this with every one unscathed. Goodnight."

" Cole?"

" What"

" I knew you were a Lycan since our first heated moment in the gym. I always knew."

He paused for a while,

" Well, good for you."

And with that, he walked away without so much as a backward glance. Mia's heart twisted as she watched him go and somewhere deep inside, she knew she was responsible for messing up the most beautiful thing that had ever happened to her.

**********************

"Say, Mia. I've not had a cup of Starbucks' best coffee in a while. Do you mind driving me to town? I'm really craving one right now"

Mia looked up from the dishes she was rinsing and smiled at Grand pa Zach.

"Zach, you know the situation of things around the house these days, we're no longer supposed to venture out for fun outings. It could be dangerous."

Zach rolled his eyes,

" Bah humbug. I've heard all about it. Dosen't really make sense to me and not to worry, I'm an alpha in my prime, very capable of protecting you mon Ami." he said with a mock bow.

Mia's eyes twinkled with laughter,

"I know you're my knight in shining armor, Grand pa but Mr. Anderson would have my head if something were to happen to you."

" I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself and besides we're taking one of the handsome hunks Cole hired for protection duty with us. Gotta say, I know Cole's jealous of all the healthy male testosterone that's been running wild in the mansion lately. He's got his eyes all over you, Mia to make sure that none of the body guards touch what's his. Gotta say, he caught one of the guards eying your backside earlier and he's still recuperating from his black eye."

Mia's face flamed, turning a bright red at Zach's words. Did Cole really blacken a guard's eye because of her? Hope bloomed, bright and beautiful within her and she struggled to hold back a smile. She'd thought that Cole had written her off completely but he still cared about her. She'd talk to him later and apologise for the things she said but right now, Grand pa Zach needed a cup of Starbucks coffee.

She rinsed her soapy hands and turned to him,

"Common Zach, there's a Starbucks outlet in town, if we hurry, we'll get the good seats before the afternoon rush takes 'em all.

"That's more like it."

Thirty minutes later, Zach, Mia and one bodyguard left hill top Creek in one of Cole's cars, Mia silently praying that they all made it back in one piece.

*************************

From the safety of one of the uncompleted buildings in northern Sacramento, Floyd Hickman loaded a 300 Winchester long range sniper , it's barrel pointed at the Starbucks directly opposite the building. Today's job was easy, kill or seriously injure Cole Anderson's Grand father. Floyd knew damn well that the old man was a shifter so it would be very difficult to kill and he would need more than three bullets from his high class gun to put him down. That would no doubt draw too much attention and the operation could go downhill pretty quickly.

His job was therefore only to get one bullet in the man, preferably in the head or chest to make it hurt and make it hurt badly. Cole and those macho jerks he called brothers were about to get a serious taste of the dangerous consequences that messing with Floyd Hickman brought. He'd vowed to make their lives miserable for a while before killing every single last one of them in cold blood but the boss apparently was in a hurry. He wanted Cole and his entire family dead and he wanted them dead ASAP.

Floyd could understand the age-long feud between Cole Anderson and Jack Steve. Jack always said that Cole was the only thing standing between him and his ticket to becoming the greatest and most well respected wrestler in history. The boss has tried to eliminate Cole from the industry three years ago with a serious, crippling injury but he'd ended up being the injured one, his career put on hold for one and a half years. The boss's hatred for Cole Anderson had become so lethal that he hired Floyd with orders to immediately eliminate Cole. That was early the previous year and Cole's brother had ended up not only killing him but Cole also set Jack Steve's Mexican home on fire, killing his thirteen years old nephew in the process, a boy that he'd been training to become one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.

Now, the boss's hatred was a lot more personal and heads were about to roll. Floyd had vowed to make it his personal crusade to eliminate Cole and his i***t brothers from the time he'd woken up in a hotel somewhere in Mexico, covered in blood and burning with a super natural fire that he couldn't quite explain. It had taken him few hours to realise that he was going through a healing process. The boss, a man of many connections had made a deal with a group of rogue werewolves. He was to help them capture the fugitives they were looking for and had traced to Sacramento in exchange for their own help.

The shifters had agreed to the deal and let their powerful witch work on Floyd and he was brought back to life, given a second chance to avenge himself and his master. Floyd vowed that he would get this job done, no matter what it took. Just then, a small, cordless phone rang from the back pocket of his expensive black slacks. Floyd looked at the display briefly and immediately answered the call.

"Speak."

"They just left the mansion," A cold, hard voice said from the other end, "They are coming towards your direction, be sure to get the job done this time."

" I don't need to be told how to do my job, ma'm, I understand perfectly what's at stake."

" I'm glad you do" The cold feminine voice came again. "You know you owe this to Jack."

The connection severed immediately and silence filled the building once more. He did not know why his boss had chosen such a snide b***h to be his mistress but he swore to himself as he struggled to control his rising temper that if she was not his boss's little play thing, Vanessa Velazquez would've died a very horrible death a long time ago. He would've made sure of it.