Alpha's Second Chance (Harvest Moon Wolves 1) Read online

  “What is it, Torren?”

  “I want to come in your mouth.”

  Her breath caught. “You can come again?”

  He smiled a little. “Wolf, remember? I can fuck you all day and all night, and not need a moment’s rest in between.”

  She eyed his cock, then licked her lips. “So take what you want.”

  Her gaze shifted to his, and she watched as his eyes darkened. Torren carefully climbed onto the bed and straddled her shoulders. Olivia opened her mouth and Torren teased her lips, painting them with pre-cum, before sliding inside. He gripped the headboard with one hand, and fisted her hair with the other. Torren fucked her mouth, making her take all of him. Olivia pulled at her bonds, wanting to touch herself, wanting to come when he did.

  Torren groaned and a moment later her mouth flooded with his cum. She swallowed it down and licked her lips as he pulled free. Torren got off the bed, but he didn’t release her right away. He just stood there, staring, as if he were trying to memorize the moment.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful, tied down and spread open for me. My cum coating your pussy and ass, and slicking those perfect lips of yours. Lick them clean.”

  Her tongue flicked out, and she tasted him again as she cleaned the last bits of cum off her lips. The way he watched her, with such heat and longing, made her feel every bit as beautiful as he claimed she was. Olivia had never really thought of herself as pretty before, but Torren made her feel special.

  He released her bonds, and softly rubbed her wrists. “Was I too rough?”

  She smiled up at him. “No, Torren. You were perfect.”

  He pulled the pillows out from under her, then curled up next to her in bed, wrapping his arms around her. “I won’t let anyone hurt you, Olivia.”

  She snuggled closer. “I know. I trust you, Torren.”

  He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and Olivia closed her eyes. After everything she’d been through, sleep was pulling her down. As she started to drift, she would have sworn she heard Torren say he loved her.

  Chapter Six

  Torren, his Beta Baxter, the pack Enforcer Luke, and three other male wolves scoured the woods for any scent that might lead him to the wolf who attacked Olivia. He’d reached out to Gwen’s father, requesting information on the wolf she’d wanted, but the man had been tight-lipped and claimed he didn’t know of anyone Gwen had been with prior to her mating with Torren. Torren thought that was bullshit, but he kept his mouth shut. For now.

  There were smells that didn’t belong in the woods near his home, but nothing that jumped out as something he needed to explore further. A sickly sweet smell confused his nose in certain areas, but it wasn’t something he could place. It was familiar and yet different from the cloying scent that often clung to Gwen. Not like perfume or room spray, just off-putting to a wolf. They’d been searching for three days, while Jaxon and three others took turns sitting with Olivia. He was beginning to worry that they would never locate the male who tried to kill his mate, and he had no doubt it was only a matter of time before the male struck again.

  Suddenly, an acrid scent reached his nose and Torren looked at the horizon. Smoke rose above the trees and his heart sped up when he realized it was coming from their village. Torren shifted and took off, with the others following, not caring if their clothes were shredded and left behind. They broke into the clearing and saw the lodge burning. It looked like the entire pack was there, putting out the flames. Torren skidded to a halt, and as he scanned the crowd, he knew that the fire had been a diversion. Not quite the entire pack was present. Olivia wasn’t there, and neither was Rafe, one of the wolves he’d entrusted with his mate’s safety. He tore through the village toward his cabin, hoping Olivia was safe and Rafe had stayed with her.

  His cabin was eerily silent as he approached. He shifted when he reached the porch and went inside. “Olivia!”

  There wasn’t so much as a whisper or rustle anywhere inside. He went room by room, hoping she was hiding. But as he checked every square inch of their home, he knew that his gut was right. Olivia was missing. Again. And this time Rafe was gone too. Torren hoped that Rafe had seen the smoke and taken Olivia somewhere he’d thought would be safer, but Torren didn’t like his chances.

  The hair on his nape lifted and Torren spun, fangs bared, only to draw up short when he saw a pack member hovering just inside the door. Kaito was young, not much older than Jaxon or Olivia, but the wolf never missed any details. The young shifter approached, baring his throat in submission.

  “Alpha, you need to hurry if you want to save your mate and Rafe.”

  “The person who took Olivia managed to take them both?” Torren asked. Rafe wasn’t an easy wolf to take down, in human or beast form. He couldn’t imagine someone taking off with both his mate and Rafe without losing some limbs.

  Kaito hesitated. “Not exactly. The wolf who took Olivia knocked out Rafe with a tranq dart. Then another male approached as the other one left, and he dragged Rafe off into the woods. He hid Rafe’s body in a mound of fallen leaves, and I followed that wolf a little way to try and figure out who he was, but he seemed to be heading into another pack’s territory. I’m strong, but not strong enough to take on a pack. I was going to alert the others, but your mate needs us more. I figured Rafe would wake and take care of himself, but your mate is helpless. She can’t fight off a wolf shifter.”

  What the fuck was going on? He’d thought he was dealing with one enemy, but now there were two? And it didn’t even sound like they were working together, or they would have attacked as a pair.

  “Show me,” Torren demanded.

  Kaito shifted into his gray wolf as Torren leaped off the porch, shifting mid-air, and racing after the younger shifter. When they reached the spot where Olivia had nearly died before, Kaito stopped and looked off in two different directions.

  They took different paths? he asked the younger wolf.

  Kaito nodded.

  Go after Rafe. Make sure he’s safe and the other wolf didn’t come back for him, Torren said to Kaito. I’ll find Olivia and bring her home.

  Kaito took off toward the right, and Torren split to the left. That weird, sickly sweet smell filled his nose again, and this time he decided to follow it. Before, he’d thought it an oddity, but he’d been hunting for a shifter smell and had ignored it. Now he realized that had probably been a mistake, and likely the male who had taken Olivia was using it to mask his smell. At the time, he’d been so frantic about his mate, he hadn’t been thinking clearly.

  The leaves crunched under his paws as he bounded in the direction the other male had taken Olivia. He could hear water in the distance and the scent was leading him there. Torren hoped like hell he reached his mate in time. He didn’t know why the wolf was going northeast, since nothing lay that way except more woods. Had Gwen’s lover gone rogue and was now living alone in the woods? Torren’s heart raced at the thought, knowing a rogue wolf was too unstable to make any guarantees about Olivia’s life.

  As he broke through the trees and the rushing water of the river came into view, he slid to a stop. The male was naked, his claw-tipped fingers pressed to Olivia’s throat. There was a wild look in his eyes, and Torren worried that if the wolf didn’t rip out her throat, he’d toss her into the water. He had no idea if his mate could swim, and even if she could, the currents looked strong. Possibly too strong for a human female.

  “Let her go. Olivia didn’t do anything, she has nothing to do with this,” Torren said. “You don’t want to hurt an innocent, pregnant woman.”

  “Don’t I?” the wolf asked. “You took Gwen from me. I don’t know how you found out about us, but you could have set her free instead of killing her.”

  “I didn’t kill Gwen,” Torren said. “I didn’t even know she was seeing someone else, or pregnant for that matter, until after I found her mangled body. Someone else killed her.”

  “Why would anyone else want to hurt my Gwen?” the wolf asked. “She w
as sweet, kind. I’ve never heard her utter a harsh word to anyone. She couldn’t even tell her father no when the Alpha demanded that she mate with you.”

  “I didn’t know that Gwen didn’t want to be with me. When I accepted the mating, I assumed she was willing. It wasn’t until we had intimacy issues that I realized she’d never wanted me. She confessed that she’d loved someone else. It was you she wanted, and she only accepted me when she went into heat and couldn’t handle it on her own.”

  The anguish in the other wolf’s eyes made Torren almost sympathetic to him. Almost. There was the small matter of the wolf threatening his mate though, and Torren wasn’t going to tolerate that. Grieving or not, there was no excuse for trying to kill an innocent woman and child.

  “If you promise to leave my pack lands and never return, I’ll let you go,” Torren said. “Just release Olivia and we’ll head back home, and you can find a new area.”

  “Why should you get to keep your mate when mine is gone? She was taken from me before I could mark her. How is that fair?” the wolf asked. “If she hadn’t been afraid of her father, I’d have marked her our first time together. She’d asked me to wait, and look what happened.”

  “It’s not,” Torren said. “But my Olivia would never hurt anyone, especially not someone hurting from a lost love. She’s kindhearted, and she’s been hurt a lot in her short lifetime. Doesn’t she deserve a chance to live and find happiness? Do you think Gwen would want you to kill her?”

  The wolf hesitated.

  “I’m sorry you lost your mate,” Olivia said. “Torren has never said anything bad about Gwen, and I know that if he could change things, he never would have accepted her. He’d thought he was doing the right thing. You have to believe that he’s an honorable man. The other Alpha never told him Gwen wasn’t willing.”

  The wolf growled, the amber of his beast shining through. Torren’s muscles locked tight when he saw the other wolf’s claws prick Olivia’s skin, drawing blood. Was this it? Would he have to watch his mate die? There was no way to get her away from the other male without harm coming to her, possibly death.

  Torren knew the male wasn’t from his pack, but he had to try something. Anything to save the woman he loved. Drawing from the power of his beast, he let the wolf come forward.

  “Let my mate go,” he said, his voice carrying the command of an Alpha.

  The other wolf trembled and weakened, but he didn’t release Olivia.

  “Let. Her. Go,” Torren said, willing the other wolf to bend to his command.

  The wolf released her, falling to his knees, head bowed and body shaking.

  Olivia rushed toward him, holding on tight and burying her face against his chest.

  “I’ve got you,” he murmured, smoothing a hand down her hair.

  “Stand up,” he commanded the wolf. “What’s your name?”

  The male stood, baring his throat. “Seamus. Gwen was my everything and now she’s gone.” His voice cracked at the end.

  “Torren, we need to find out who killed Gwen. Seamus deserves to know what happened to his mate and why she was killed,” Olivia said.

  He smiled faintly. “Spoken like a true Alpha female.”

  “Who else knew about Gwen and Seamus?” Olivia asked.

  Torren looked at the male, still standing in a form of submission. “Gwen’s father, the Alpha of the other pack. He had to have known. You said Seamus told you that Gwen was forced to mate with me. That means the Alpha had to have known his daughter was seeing someone.”

  “And he wouldn’t have wanted anything to mess up his plans, right?” Olivia asked.

  “Clever girl,” a voice said from off to the right.

  Torren tensed as Gwen’s father entered the clearing.

  “Too bad my daughter wasn’t as smart as this one,” the other Alpha said. “No. Not my Gwen. She could have an Alpha, possibly breed the future leader of this pack, but she threw it away for this piece of trash.”

  The other Alpha swiped at Seamus, claws extended, and shredded the male’s upper arm. Seamus cried out and fell to the ground, the power coming off two Alphas too much for him to overcome.

  “Why force Gwen to mate with Torren?” Olivia said. “You knew she didn’t want him. Why did you care if they were together?”

  The other Alpha smiled and it sent a chill through Torren.

  “I was biding my time. I thought I could control Gwen. She was ordered to get pregnant with the Alpha’s heir as soon as possible, and once the baby was born a healthy male, I was going to take care of Torren. Naturally as the grandfather to the future pack Alpha, I would step in and guide everyone. I know it was a gamble that she’d be able to get pregnant since they weren’t destined, but our pack hasn’t seemed to have issues with that. Maybe it’s a genetic flaw.”

  “You wanted both packs,” Olivia said. “Why? Torren’s pack is rather small, from what he’s said.”

  The other Alpha nodded. “True enough. They are small, but they would have added some diversity to my pack. We’re getting too inbred and I need some new blood. Take Seamus here. His father is his mother’s first cousin. I couldn’t let someone like that breed my daughter. But he did it anyway, so Gwen had to be punished. I’d have killed Seamus too, but I decided living without Gwen would be punishment enough.”

  “So you killed her,” Torren said, his voice tight. “And then acted the part of the grieving father. What kind of monster can kill his own child?”

  The other Alpha waved a hand. “Gwen was a disobedient girl. I offered her a way to a better life, and she spit in my face. You should be furious. The child she carried wasn’t yours. I did you a favor by ending her life. I’d planned to offer you another of my daughters, but I was trying to play my part and give you time to grieve. Then you mated this human.” The Alpha practically snarled the word like it was filthy.

  “Or I could have freed Gwen and she could have mated Seamus, the way she wanted,” Torren said. “I never wanted an unwilling mate. I’d have never accepted another of your daughters.”

  “Since you’ve already knocked this one up,” the Alpha said motioning to Olivia, “it seems you found a woman to spread her legs easily enough. Maybe you should have used some of that charm on my Gwen.”

  “Olivia is my fated mate,” Torren said. “And I’d have lost out on having her if I were still mated to Gwen, all because you wanted more power. You knew it was doubtful she’d ever give me a child.”

  The other Alpha snarled, his face turning purple. “My pack will die out if I don’t do something. The inbreeding is causing too many health problems, and stillborn babies. My own mate was my father’s youngest sister. I was never given a choice who to breed with. Our pack has never had trouble breeding with non-fated mates, so it seemed reasonable enough that Gwen could carry your heir.”

  Torren felt bile rise in his throat at the thought off all those wolves inter-mating. It was sick and twisted, and he wanted no part of it. The world would be better off if Gwen’s old pack were wiped out, but Torren knew he could never harm innocent people. And not all of those wolves had volunteered for the life they led. But something needed to be done, and Gwen’s father needed to be taken out.

  A twig snapped behind him and he turned his head enough to catch Rafe and Kaito coming toward them. Now that he had backup, he wouldn’t have to worry quite as much about Olivia, and maybe he could end the problem once and for all. If he could take out the older wolf, then Gwen’s old pack could go their separate ways, find new homes and have a chance at a good life. And those who wouldn’t accept a change would have to be eliminated. There was no getting around that.

  “And you,” the Alpha snarled at Rafe. “I knew you’d try to save your precious Alpha female, so one of my wolves took care of you. It seems he failed. I was going to kill the bitch and I knew Torren would blame Seamus. All three of them could have been wiped out and then your pack would have needed a strong Alpha leader. I would have, of course, stepped in.”

&n
bsp; Torren handed Olivia to Kaito. “Watch over my mate.”

  Kaito nodded and pulled Olivia toward the trees, getting her out of the way of the impending fight. Torren looked at Seamus, catching the other wolf’s attention.

  “I’m going to offer you vengeance for your mate, with some assistance. Help me now, and you can go wherever you want when this is over,” Torren said.

  The older Alpha laughed. “You really think the three of you can take me on? I’m twice as old and experienced as all of you put together.”

  “Maybe,” Rafe said with a smile. “But it means you’re slower too. And I’m liking our three-to-one odds. Normally I don’t believe in ganging up on someone, but you are a seriously fucked-up Alpha. We’ll be doing the world a favor by ending your miserable life.”

  Gwen’s father snarled and shifted to his wolf faster than Torren would have thought possible. He and the others shifted as well, and he lunged at the other Alpha. His teeth sank into the older wolf’s shoulder, as Rafe landed on the Alpha’s back, going for his neck. Seamus lunged from the other side, latching onto a leg. Snapping, snarling, and biting at any part of the older wolf they could, the three went after the Alpha with everything they had, knowing they couldn’t lose. Not only was his Olivia’s life at stake, but so was the rest of his pack. And Torren would rather die than let the twisted male take over.

  Torren could feel himself slowing, and noticed the other two were losing their momentum as well. All three had received bites from the older wolf, and the worst part was that the older Alpha was still standing. Rafe clawed at the male’s back and bit into his ear, causing the older Alpha to throw back his head and howl in agony. It was the break Torren had been waiting for. He moved lightning fast and sank his teeth into the Alpha’s throat, tearing out a chunk.

  The older wolf fell to the ground, blood pouring from the gaping wound in his neck. The three wolves backed off and shifted back to human form. Torren was covered in blood and held out a hand to keep Olivia back. She didn’t have his immunity, and there was no telling if the older Alpha was carrying any diseases. With the inbreeding making him weaker, and the life he’d led, Torren wouldn’t rule anything out.