BETA: Her Alpha(3)

“I want them all dead.” But it better not be who I think it is.

“Who, Rocky?” I ask furiously.

“Hunter, and his family. I want them to pay. I shouldn’t be the Beta. I’m the Alpha. Treacherous family,” he grumbles to himself. Rocky looks a little crazed right now. His eyes are blazing and his pupils are dilated, but his words strike me to the core. I won’t let anything happen to Chloe. She may never be my mate, but I’ll do all I can to protect her.

I let out a little growl that he picks up on.

“What’s up with your fascination with Chloe? You can’t have her, so what the fuck?” He looks at me with disgust—like I was the traitor.

My feelings for her are more on display than I thought. “I don’t have a fascination with her. We’re good friends. That’s all.”

He’s almost in my face when he calls me on my lie. “Bullshit. You’ve got feelings for her you can’t act on. I think it’s another way to try to bring our family down. They know what they’re doing. She’s led you to believe it’s love and it’s going to be the death of you. They’ve been coming after us since the start.”

“Hunter isn’t after you,” I contradict. It’s clear he’s not in his right mind.

“No, he isn’t, but he thinks he can boss me around, and I can’t stand it.” Rocky’s fists keep clenching and unclenching as he paces.

“He can; he’s the Alpha.” I have to remind him that there’s a reason for the order of things. We don’t get to choose our fate. I have firsthand knowledge of that.

“Whatever. I don’t have a plan anyway, but I will get him soon,” he says before storming out of the house. Shit. I want to talk some sense into him, but since I can’t, I have to get a hold of our Alpha.

I’m just about to get on the phone to Hunter when a call comes in from the station.

Lauren, our temporary dispatcher, says, “Sheriff there’s an incident happening on the edge of town near Wheeling. I would call Deputy Ryan, but he’s handling some kids spray painting the old windmill.”

“That’s fine, Lauren. I’m on it.” She’s been added as help because Letty is pregnant. Lauren’s only fifteen, but she’s a sweet girl.

I rush over there to deal with the incident when I realize I didn’t get any details. Then it hits me. Something is off about that call. Lauren is off today. Letty’s at the station. What the hell is going on?

I call the office right back and Letty answers, “Hey, Sheriff. What’s up?”

“Is there an incident near Wheeling?” I ask.

“No. There’s no incident, sir.” I can hear the confusion in her voice, and I’m right with her.

“I just got a call from the office. Is Lauren there?”

Letty replies, “No. She’s off today.”

“Okay. Thanks.” I rush to my squad car and head to Hunter’s home. It’s a longer drive than usual because I’m all the way on the other side of town.

I get there, and he’s coming out of the house with his brother Gage and an elder from Redding, Creed Holt. I know something is wrong. Hunter’s radiating anger. Gage and Creed look panic-stricken. God, I hope Rocky hasn’t attacked, but I smell his scent in the air.

“My cousin has lost his mind,” I say as I climb the stairs.

“How do I know you’re not helping him?” Hunter howls at me.

Having known him for a year, I find it hurtful that he doesn’t trust me, but he’s known Rocky since they were pups. “Have I ever really acknowledged our kinship openly?” I challenge. My father hated that he was fated to a Lake. They moved into the territories south of here after they were exiled. After years of shame most worked their way into the new pack with pride. It took a long time for my father to get over the fact that he was related to them, but he cared deeply for my mother. It’s been a long time since they died. They had me late in life, believing it was fate and punishment for being a part of the Lakes.

“No, in fact you’ve been very clear that your mother was a Lake—not your father.” I can see he begrudgingly accepts my justification. He explains what happened very briefly. Rocky has kidnapped Catherine, Hunter’s mate.

“I knew the tensions between the families. I’m sheriff for a reason—to keep the peace.” I need to help them. Whatever Rocky has done, I’m siding with the Greys. Family or not, Chloe would be destroyed if something happened to Cat because it would hurt Hunter. As the Alpha, I owe Hunter my loyalty as should Rocky.

“Do you know where he would have taken her to?”

“It wouldn’t be too far from here. It hasn’t been long since I saw him. Hell, he still might be on the road. Did you check for tracks?”

“Yes, he carried her for a mile before getting into a vehicle, but I lost the tire tracks.” Hunter’s frustration is heartbreaking. I wouldn’t know what to do if it was Chloe.





A minute later and Hunter knows where to go. Apparently, Hunter has some sort of telepathy going on with Cat. She tells him where to find her. Rushing to his vehicle, Hunter explains that she’s at a property that used to belong to the Lake family before they betrayed the Greys and we’re exiled.

We make a plan and strike. It’s not an easy attack. We have to mask our scent and stay downwind. We can smell that it’s only Rocky and Catherine inside, but we don’t know how vulnerable she is at the moment. We have to make sure she doesn’t get hurt.

A blitz attack is our game plan, but it has consequences. Hunter and I take the back entrance while Gage, and Creed go to through the front. Rocky’s armed and ready. Creed goes down immediately, taking a bullet when he bursts through the door. A deadly fight ensues, as Hunter takes on Rocky. Hunter asked us to stay back, so we pull Cat away from the melee and tend to Creed. In the process Hunter’s shot, but he doesn’t give up or lose steam.

Cat’s a human, so she’s extra fragile. She’s also the first I ever heard to actually mate with a shifter. She’s in tears as she watches her mate fight to the death. I feel her pull out of my embrace, then the craziest shit happens. Cat shifts into a wolf and attacks Rocky, saving Hunter’s life and giving him the opportunity to deliver a deadly attack to Rocky’s throat.

Before everything is said and done, Hunter and Creed have been shot, Rocky’s dead, Cat’s a badass shifter, and the battle’s over. My family blood has been spilled and I should be enraged, yet I can only think about getting to Chloe.





As soon as we get to the hospital, Gage calls Chloe. She’s on her way and I’m so anxious to see her. The moment she walks into the front lobby, she runs into my arms. I hold her tight, like I’ve longed to do for so long. She’s crying hard, and it breaks my heart. I can’t stand seeing her in pain. I thought Gage told her that Hunter was going to make it, but then again we don’t know that yet.

“He’s alive, babe. Chloe, he’s alive,” I reiterate looking into her sad eyes.

“You could’ve died,” she sobs, squeezing herself to me, pressing her body into mine for comfort. I realize her tears are for my survival.

Pulling her off my shoulder, I take her face in my hands and instinctively kiss the tears away. Kissing her forehead, I pause. I shouldn’t have done that, and we both know it. Her lips were so close. I wanted to taste them just once, but it’s not right. I squeeze her tight one more time before letting go.

“I’ll take you to the waiting room.” My eyes are refusing to make contact. I’ve crossed boundaries I shouldn’t have, but in truth I don’t regret them. I want to do it again.

“Thanks, Erik,” she whispers, and follows behind me.

Looking over my shoulder, I reply as I always do with a smile and a wink. “Anything for my favorite wolf.”

“Whatever, Sheriff. Take me to your leader!” she mocks.

We spent two hours in the hospital before she gives me a ride back to pick up my squad car.

“Thanks for staying by my side today and for being there for Hunter. I know Rocky was your cousin.”

“He’s nothing to me. I’d do anything for you.”

“Be safe, Erik.” I know right then and there I need to keep my distance until I get this longing under control.





Do you want to hang out today? I text Chloe.

I haven’t seen her for a week. It’s hard to be away from her, but I need to get over my strange fascination with her before I say goodbye for good. With the major threat of Rocky gone, I feel like I can break away, but it’s not working. The more I want to leave, the more the pain in my chest grows.

Sure thing. I’ve got time. Do you want to come over to my place? she replies right back.

That’s what I love—she’s quick to answer me, even when she’s mad at me. Do I want to come over? I always want to come over. Sometimes I just want to hold her in my arms, but I can’t.

Sounds great. How about at 7? My shift ends at 6. I text back.

Perfect. Two sausage pizzas?

She knows me. I can eat a pizza all by myself. You know it, babe.





Chapter 3


I look out into the night sky and the rain is coming down hard. I have a meeting in an hour, but it doesn’t look like the rain’s going to slow down any time soon. My frustration with Erik and this rain are going to drive me mad. “Damn it, why is it storming? I have to get back to the meeting with the inspectors for the final touches on the hotel,” I complain to myself while sitting in the diner and constantly checking my favorite watch I got for my birthday. I’ve got to wait until it lightens up because I don’t want my plans to get wet.