Accidentally Bitten by The Alpha

Chapter 12

Zane's POV

Her fear is ripe on my tongue as I rush through the trees along the coast, tracking her scent to my pack's sacred marsh. Artemisia is my island, and I know every inch. It's this knowledge that is helping me now as I make my way to her as her pain radiates throughout my body. This connection I feel to her is unlike anything I've ever experienced. My wolf, Zander, says it's because we're mates. But I can't believe that. She's an outsider. Worse, she's human. And a wolf and a human cannot be mates. Despite what the legends say, humans cannot be turned into werewolves. You need to be born one.

When she arrived on the island with Jake, I initially started following her just to mess with him. I found her fascinating, this pet of his, the human girl he brought home just to mess around on, just another toy for the pretty rich boy to use and discard. Goddess, I wish my twin had better taste in males. I'm pretty sure Zelda's just f*****g around with Jake because she finds it amusing to piss off our father and to make me look bad. What kind of leader will I make for my pack if I'm not even alpha enough to keep my sister in check? I love her, but she can be such a f*****g b***h.

She knows that she can never be serious with Jake, he's Seaglass and off limits. Any mate she takes needs to give up their affiliation to their pack to join ours, but we all know Jake will never give up his claim to Seaglass--even if he says he will. And if Jake marries into our pack before I become Alpha, he'll have everything he needs to take over both packs, uniting us under him.

Thank the Goddess they aren't fated mates. There is no way I'm letting that bastard and his colonizer pack take over sacred land. Not just because he stole the land his ugly resort is sitting on from my pack who has been here since the beginning of time, or because he wants to drain the marsh and put in a golf course, but because he's a genuine grade-a asshole. Just looking at him makes me want to punch things.

There's a sharp pain radiating through my lungs like I'm drowning on land. Felicity must be running hard the way I feel her heart pounding and lungs near exploding. I wish I couldn't feel her pain. It would make casting her aside so much easier. Last night, when Jake tried to take her under the influence of the full moon, I almost gutted him to make a point because her fear was so vivid in my mind I could feel it as if it were happening to me. I couldn't control my wolf, and to keep myself from doing something I'd regret, I used Juliette's eager body to release my building tension.

I was hoping, if she saw me, she'd back away. It worked, but it also hurt. I could feel every single stab of pain as she watched, every agonizing whimper as she struggled to close her ears to the sound of me f*****g someone else in front of her. It took everything in me not to push Julliette away, prostrate myself at Felicity's feet, and beg for her forgiveness.

And then this morning, when I found her leaving, the fire in her eyes was so inviting, so overwhelmingly sexy, I had to keep myself from jumping her and claiming her in the yard.

Goddess, what is wrong with me?!

She wasn't gone even an hour before I felt her distress. I couldn't tell what it was, I just knew I needed, "We need to fetch the new girl," I had typed quickly. "Before the rogues get her."

Jaxon responded immediately with, "Do we have to? I mean, she's a Seaglass girl. Shouldn't we just let her die?"

He wasn't wrong. Technically, she was with Jake first and should be his responsibility...except neither my heart nor my wolf will allow that. "No. We can't leave anyone out there to be eaten by the rogues. Besides, she isn't Seaglass," I corrected him. "She's an offlander."

I can't let anyone know the real reason why I want to save her. The truth would get me in more trouble than I already am in with the pack. It's bad enough that I'm telling them she's an outlander, but in truth she's just a tourist. She isn't even a wolf. I cannot let anyone suspect that this girl is really a human, a human I think might be my mate.

If only she had just listened to me and stayed on campus. Damn stubborn woman. She isn't going to survive here long if she can't follow basic instructions. I am just trying to keep her safe, why did she have to make things so difficult?

When I arrived at the beach, Corrina, Dana, and Jaxon were already stripped down and ready to shift. They brought a few others with them as well, loyal gammas from the football team who would never rat me out to my dad. I'm in charge of the pack until he returns from overseas, a test to see if I'm ready to lead, but when he gets back and finds out what I'm up to, I won't have to worry about leading the pack because I'm pretty sure he'll kick me out.

Lending them some of my strength, my small pack and I run with the speed of alphas, racing towards the human girl. Felicity isn't far, but she is surrounded. Howling, I urge my crew to pick up the pace.

"It's rogues," I mindlink them. "She can't defend herself."

"She's stronger than you realize," Corrina contradicts, "She might surprise you."

I don't correct her. My scent is still so strong on the girl that they all think she's a wolf. If she or her sister suspects that she might be my mate, they will naturally assume she is of strong alpha stock, and more than powerful enough to hold back three rogues. But I know different, I know the truth--she doesn't have claws or teeth to defend herself. She's not even what I'd call strong for a human.

"Except for how she stood up for herself against Jake," Zander, my wolf, reminds me, "She was more than strong enough then."

Zander's words bring an image of her on that night to my mind, and I remember how her blue eyes were shining, her blonde hair loose and falling around her shoulders as her bright pink bikini top glowed against her pale skin under the moonlight. She was as bold as any she-wolf, and as hot to mate as if the almost full moon had just as much of an affect on her as it did on me. Unmated wolves go into heat on full moons as our bodies push us to find potential mates and make pups. It's why we are so forgiving of liaisons during this time--sometimes your body takes over and you have no choice but to obey. Unless you're mated, you have almost no resistance to its pull.

And Goddess help me, but the way she approached me, claimed my lips, and after tasting me, verbally castrated my enemy made me want to claim her right there in front of everyone, human or not. It was so f*****g sexy.

Maybe I deserve my father's wrath. I'm clearly insane lusting after a girl like her.

We crest the ridge and in the distance on the open space before the marsh, Felicity runs as quickly as she can from the small group of rogues now chasing her. Somehow she's managing to stay just outside of their reach, but she is growing tired and they will catch her soon enough. If she were a wolf, she'd easily outpace them, but without another form, she is easy prey. Even as weak and undernourished as they are, those rogues are still wolves, and wolves were born to hunt.

"Take the flank," I order my small pack through our link and Jaxon takes the lead, guiding his sisters as they fan out to surround the rogues. I take the front, charging their leader and knocking him off his feet in a tumble of limbs and snapping teeth. He yelps in agony as my incisors cut through the tendons on his legs, my claws tearing through the flesh of his arms and stomach as his blood splashes my face.

A snap of a twig brings my attention up from my prey and looking over, I see Felicity, her eyes wide with horror, as she covers her mouth with her hand. Her terror rolls through me adding a bitter taste to my kill.

"Please don't kill me," she begs, completely unaware of who or what I am. "Please."

How will I explain this to her without giving everything away? It is forbidden to tell tourists about the true nature of this island. Humans need to remain ignorant of our existence. We have entire agencies of wolves whose only job is to keep the threat of discovery at bay, hiding any traces by destroying all the evidence.

But the urge to shift and pull her into my arms, to tell her it's okay, that the rogues are dead, is so overwhelming it takes all of my strength to keep me from betraying my pack by breaking one of our oldest rules. I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out. My need to comfort her, to ease her pain, is too strong.

"That's because she's our mate," Zander insists. "If you were a true alpha, you'd realize that too."

"No," I insist. "She can't be. It's impossible."

Walking forward slowly, I wonder how I'm going to get her to return to campus without telling her the whole truth. But just as I am deciding if I should run off to get dressed and come back as a man, she turns to run away and trips, hitting her head hard enough to knock her out.

Sniffing her, I lick her cheek, ignoring the electric tingles along my tongue as I check to see if she's okay, and when I discover she's still alive I shift back.

Lifting Felicity's prone body and holding her close to my chest, I order Jaxon to run back to fetch my car. "We're taking her back to the packhouse," I announce, making the decision for her. “She’s too weak now to be on her own.”

Felicity can hate me later, but for now, she's staying with me. She is, after all, my responsibility.

As soon as I cross the threshold of our pack headquarters, a large homestead connected to the rear of the Marshwood Resort and Nature Reserve, I'm given some news that makes my blood run cold.

"Oh good," our pack delta claps her hands. "You're back! Your father wants to see you in his office immediately."