Hunted by the Alpha King

Nine

Vaxon Nightshade caught the young wolf’s head as she passed out. She was beautiful, even underneath the blood and dirt that clung to her. His amber eyes flicked over the gaping hole in her neck. Whoever did this to her was a monster. He was vaguely familiar with wolves but it sounded as if her mate had done this to her. Was this her mating mark? He thought it was supposed to be a fairly easy ritual. He understood that a she-wolf needed a bite from her mate in order to awake her werewolf gene. It was animalistic and barbaric, but he had never heard of a mate nearly tearing his mates head off. Any mating mark that he had seen was a small circle.. Nothing like what the young she-wolf had.

He jerked to look at the window above them as a beast huffed on the glass. Was it her mate? It was clear from her appearance and the faint smell of lavender that clung to her that she was running away. But it would take an amazing tracker to find her. Her mate had to be one of the best. The silence spell that he had cast over them prevented anyone from being able to hear them. Which seemed a little unnecessary now that the she-wolf had passed out. But he wasn’t skilled enough to know an invisibility spell. He looked around until he found a dark green blanket resting on some hay that was set out for the animals in the shed. He gently covered her with the blanket and straightened to his full height. He couldn’t see anything immediately out of the window but that didn’t mean the wolf had moved on so easily.

With an easy incantation he adopted the elderly farm hand appearance again before he stepped out of the shed. Three wolves instantly started snarling at him, all dark brown in color. Around this area that meant that these wolves were higher ranked. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to stun three wolves, but until they found the she-wolf in the shed they would have no reason to attack him. Attacking someone who was not in the supernatural community was strictly forbidden and he knew for a fact that this village was typically safe. Which is why he had chose to come here. He was searching for some herbs that were only found near this village. He figured he would be safer if he adopted an old man appearance. If he had shown his warlock look towards the villagers he could’ve gotten in trouble with the High Coven for exposing himself and the magic world to humans.

Stupid politics.

His typical blonde hair and amber eyes weren’t supernatural in appearance. But his fangs and horns that curved out of his skull were. Further south they thought he was just eccentric. He could get away with it. But north where they were less welcoming to strangers he was obviously an outsider.

Vaxon lifted his old wrinkly hands in surrender as the wolves split and a hulking black wolf stepped forward. For the first time since he found the she-wolf fear shook him. This was the darkest wolf he had ever seen. Fur so black it had tints of blue in the moonlight. His large teeth were blood soaked. Blood from the she-wolf, he guessed. This had to be her mate.

How did she ever make it as far as she did with this monster coming after her?

Suddenly, the black fur melted away revealing a hulking man. He was easily seven feet tall with shoulder length black hair. His black eyes roamed over Vaxon’s face with the promise of pain. He was naked. Bare torso marked with numerous scars. Dried blood surrounded his mouth, caked on like he had been drinking her like a vampire not a werewolf. Clearly he didn’t care that he was exposing himself to the human world. He just wanted his mate back.

“What are you?” the wolf asked, his voice a growl.

It was too late for Vaxon to realize he did not react appropriately to seeing wolves near the shed. Which was probably why the alpha had shown himself to the warlock.

“Just an old farmer,” Vaxon replied trying to age his voice. He hadn’t been able to cast the voice changing spell in time. He cringed when his voice sounded way too youthful.

Ronan sniffed deeply, “Why do you smell of lavender?”

Vaxon’s heart stuttered. If the wolves went into the shed they wouldn’t be able to see the she-wolf but clearly her mate could smell her. It would take two seconds for the alpha to break his neck and the spell to be lifted from the she-wolf. Somehow Vaxon needed to stop that future. But given the aggression that permeated in the air around them it would be hard.

“My wife lit a candle,” Vaxon tilted his head toward the farmhouse that had a light on in the kitchen. He hoped the werewolf didn’t call his bluff because there was no one in the house right now.

“I smell no wax.”

What the hell? Who was this wolf?

“Why are you on my property?” Vaxon asked trying to take the attention away from him.

The alpha snarled, “Is she here?”

“Is who here?”

One of the brown wolves shifted back into human form holding back the alpha. “Have you seen a women with white hair and purple eyes?”

“White hair and purple eyes? That’d be a hard woman to miss. I haven’t seen anyone like that.” Vaxon lied, pressing a finger into a pressure point on his hand to prevent his heartrate from increasing. With this wolf’s superior senses he would be able to tell if the warlock was lying. The alpha’s black eyes shifted to the shed behind him. “You’re more than welcome to look in my shed if you want to.”

The alpha would be able to smell her blood and the lavender of his mate, but he wouldn’t be able to see her. Vaxon hoped that the alpha would assume his mate had been here but chose to leave. Maybe he would be able to get her to safety after that.

He just needed to stay alive.