Rebecca (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance) (Alpha Marked Book 4) (8 page)

Mate. Mate. Mate. God, he’d fucked up in so many ways, but he didn’t want to let her go, let them both go. He needed to fix things.

Except, right now, his beast wanted more blood. It wanted the man’s accomplices. The “they” and “them” he’d muttered about.

They’d taste so good on his tongue, his teeth ripping their flesh.

The only thing that kept him from hunting down the bastards was the woman beside him. Rebecca needed his protection even if Aidan lurked on her other side.

Rebecca’s fingers remained buried in the fur on his back, sinking deep and fisting his strands. The hold, the sting of her tugs, kept him grounded, focused on herding her toward the elevator and not tearing into the dead wolf once again.

She reached for the button with a still shaking hand, missing twice before Aidan reached past her and depressed the metal disc. Carson leaned against her, offering his wolf’s comfort until he was able to shift, shower, and embrace her with his human arms. Rebecca returned the press and stroked between his ears with her free hand. She didn’t seem to mind the blood and gore, but he figured fear could make a person overlook a lot.

Finally, a soft ding announced the elevator’s arrival. It wasn’t until that moment he realized silence continued to reign behind them. No shuffle of cloth or thump of shoes on marble. Nothing.

He’d shocked them with his ferocity and rapid destruction. Good. Maybe that’d teach others a lesson. They shouldn’t touch what belonged to him. He glanced at Aidan, at the fury coating his partner’s features. They shouldn’t touch what belonged to them.

The low clunk and whoosh of the doors opening cut through the quiet of those gathered in the lobby remaining motionless. When the metal panels fully parted, they were faced with a familiar group of men and women. It didn’t matter that the human recognized the occupants. The wolf refused to allow others near Rebecca.

Snarling, he pushed Rebecca aside with his shoulder, shoving her past Aidan until she was tucked into a small corner of the hallway and he was able to block the path of others. He growled low, the noise echoing off the walls and increasing tenfold. They needed to know she was
his,
and he would protect
his
at all costs.

“Carson?” Aidan’s shout overrode Rebecca’s, but he didn’t care. Protect. He needed to protect their mate. Why wasn’t Aidan at his side?

One of the males slowly emerged, stride fluid and body relaxed as he stepped out of the elevator and turned toward him.

The wolf weighed the man, his nose drawing in the male’s scent and evaluating his innate power. Alpha? Definitely. Stronger than him? His beast paused, inhaling again and searching past the blood to find his opponent’s true scent. Yes, stronger than him. But was he a safe male? One who would help him protect Rebecca? Or would he turn on them as well? Was he one of the “them” and “they”?

The Alpha dropped into a squat, putting him eye level with the wolf. “Hey, Carson. Little bit of trouble down here, huh?”

Carson narrowed his eyes and didn’t lower his lip. The amiable tone annoyed him for some reason, and the wolf wanted to claw the Alpha’s patronizing smile from his lips. As if sensing Carson’s thoughts, Rebecca tugged on him, forcing him to ease closer to her. Force? No, it was more like a silent request he answered with his movements. He was a few hundred pounds of massive male. She wouldn’t move him unless he allowed it. He realized that he’d allow anything should she ask.

The Alpha looked over his shoulder. “Hey, Madden? You and Berke talk to Aidan. Figure out why one of my wolves decided gutting another wolf seemed like a good idea.”

Madden. An Alpha. A Ruling Alpha. Right.

And the one before him was Keller. Strong male.

They were mated to Scarlet, his mate’s cousin.

These could be trusted. Trusted to protect and care for Rebecca. Trusted not to hurt her.

Some of his tension eased, his wolf releasing a relieved huff.

“That’s it,” Keller murmured and extended his hand.

Even though Carson accepted and recognized Keller as his Alpha, he couldn’t let down his guard. Others still lurked. He trusted Keller’s strength, but Rebecca was his responsibility, his mate. The thought had him curling his lip again, exposing his long fangs in a silent threat.

The Ruling Alpha sighed and dropped his hand. “It’s like that?” Keller pushed to his feet. “Fine. Jack, Emmett, and Levy are in the elevator along with our mates. It was a tight fit, lemme tell you, but the women wouldn’t be left behind.”

One of those women, Scarlet, poked her head out of the elevator, drawing Carson’s attention. “Can we come out now? I mean, I can see the Field-o-Death from here. The guy is really,
really
dead.”

No, that couldn’t happen. The evil male…

Carson fully curled back his lips, exposing all of his teeth, and his rumbling echo caused a charged silence to overtake the area.

Keller tilted his head in question, his gaze never leaving Carson’s, but he refused to back down. The females needed to stay safe, should remain with their mates. Joining the increasing crowd was dangerous.

The Ruling Alpha glanced over his shoulder at the Alpha Mate. “That’s not a good idea.”

“But—”

Carson released a snapping bark and then upped the volume of his growl.

“No, you stay put.” Keller’s voice left no room for argument and Scarlet disappeared into the elevator. Good. The Ruling Alpha focused on him again. “Okay, we’re keeping the mates away and you look like you want to keep yours safe.” Another ding, another elevator arriving had the male pausing to look toward the new arrivals. Carson recognized them as men from the Ruling Alpha’s personal guard. “My men are here. Join the mates in the elevator. I’ll grab Madden, Berke, and Aidan. We can all go up and discuss this.”

Carson didn’t want to move, didn’t want to budge an inch. No one could sneak up on him as long as he remained in place. No one could surprise him and take Rebecca again. No one could…

“Carson,” Aidan cut into his thoughts. “I know what you’re trying to do. Let’s get her safe in the Ruling Alpha’s suite. They need you both to talk about what happened so they can level judgment. That’s the safest place in the hotel.”

“Judgment?” Rebecca gasped, and Carson glared at Aidan.

The male held up his hands. “We both know nothing will come of it, but we also know we need to get her out of here. The wolves are getting restless and curious. How long is it before one of them decides they want to figure out what makes her special, Carson?”

Carson pulled his glower from his friend and focused it on the growing group. Yes. Curious was one word to describe the crowd. Lustful and desirous were others.

With a low chuff, he stepped away and gave Rebecca enough space to walk beside him, his body acting as a barrier between her and the gathered werewolves. Aidan took a step toward them, question in his gaze, and Carson didn’t object when the male took up a protective stance.

Aidan was one to be trusted with Rebecca. He was her mate, his partner, his friend. The male wouldn’t allow harm to come to her, the wolf understood that.

The men and women shuffled in place and Aidan met more than one pair of glowing yellowed eyes. Their wolves were near the surface, the scent drawing forward the beasts of the weaker attendants.

When they reached the opened doors, Carson urged Rebecca into the space. It wasn’t long before Madden and Berke returned, murderous glares in place. The rage rolling off them wasn’t directed at Carson, so he didn’t give a damn about their emotions. He was concerned with getting his mate safe. Not much time passed and the doors swooshed closed. He’d never been more thankful for freight elevators in his life. It allowed some of the most powerful males in all the packs to accompany them to the penthouse.

Protection in droves.

No one said a word as they made their ascent, their travels unimpeded by stops at other floors. He imagined the Ruling Alphas were able to override certain functions. That seemed to include bypassing all floors and allowing them to rise uninterrupted.

It didn’t take long for the elevator to ding. The doors spread once again and the riders spilled into the entryway.

Keller took control right away. “Living room. Carson, the spare room is to the left. Shift and shower. I won’t have my rooms smelling like wet wolf and blood.”

He would have snorted had he a human nose. Instead, he merely grabbed a portion of Rebecca’s robe with his teeth and led her toward the open doorway. He didn’t have a claim to her, but he couldn’t let her out of his sight. He just… needed her close.

He was halted by Keller’s next words. “I need her here. She needs to give testimony.”

Fuck that. He didn’t hesitate to voice his objections, wolf releasing an audible threat.

When Madden stepped forward, Scarlet intervened. “Hey, if it were me, you wouldn’t let me out of your sight, would you?” She glared at Keller and then directed her anger at Madden. “And if I remember correctly, you
didn’t
last year when that wolf brought me food and you snarled and growled.”

Both men turned their frustration on their mate for a moment, and then Madden focused on him and Rebecca. “Fine. Make it quick.”

That had Carson going back into action, tugging his mate along. He sensed Aidan following them, hot on their heels.

He whoofed in response. Yes, they could both care for her.

Turning from Aidan, he resumed their trek, padding through the spare room and straight into the bathroom. He dropped Rebecca’s robe as he passed through the doorway only to hear her take another two steps toward him.

He halted and turned back to her, his aches finally making themselves known. He pushed them back as he waited to find out what caused Rebecca to follow him.

“Are you—” She cleared her throat and a tremble wracked her. “Are you okay?”

The scents of her worry and heartbreak reached him and he realized they’d never get anywhere unless he was on two feet. A few of the cuts and scrapes he’d acquired still burned and ached. They wouldn’t heal quickly without a shift, so he pushed his animal to the back of his mind and beckoned his human half forward. The wolf readily agreed, accepting his logic and desperate to soothe their mate.

His skin stretched, bones snapped and reformed while muscles lengthened and shortened as needed. It took no time to go from battered wolf to slightly less battered human.

Rebecca gasped, eyes widening, and she took a step back as she pressed a hand to her chest. In fear of him? His heart squeezed, and he fought to remind himself werewolves were new to her. She wasn’t familiar with shifts; men and women changing to wolves and back again.

Instead of reaching for her, Carson remained in place. “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Eventually, she found her voice. “Hurt me? I know you won’t hurt me.” She shook her head. “There’s so much blood. Oh god, Carson, there’s so much.”

So she wasn’t scared of him. He hadn’t realized the worry that weighed on him, but suddenly his shoulders felt lighter with her words.

“Carson?” Aidan called to him, and he turned his attention to his friend, noting the worry coating his features.

He tore his gaze from the man and refocused on Rebecca. Her concern was palpable and reached into his soul. “I’m fine.” He gestured to his body, encompassing himself with a sweep from head to toe. “Most of this is his.”

Still, tears entered her eyes, gathering on her lashes and then trailing down her cheeks.

He reached for her, extending his arm and holding his palm flat. “I’m fine.”

She rushed to him, carefully wrapping her arms around his middle, and he returned the embrace. He’d almost lost her before he had her. Had he been a moment too late… It wasn’t worth worrying about. He had her with him, safe and sound and at his side.

Carson leaned down to press a kiss to Rebecca’s head, risking her rejection while hoping to reassure her. Her body trembled, sniffles and sobs escaping her lips. “Shh… I’m fine.”

“I-I-I was so scared and he… and you… You can’t do that, Carson. I can’t… I don’t know how or why I feel like this, even after… but you can’t do that to me.”

“I’m okay. It’s the way wolves are.” He laid his cheek atop her head. “We’re bloody and violent, but I promise I’ll never hurt you and I’ll keep others from getting near you. I promise. What happened downstairs—never again.”

Another wave of shakes overtook her, and he held her throughout, waiting for the sharp edge of fear to release her. It was wrong of him, but he reveled in the opportunity to touch her. Jealousy had nearly cost him everything and he resolved to push the emotions aside. Pride was nothing when compared to having his mate in his arms.

It took time, minutes ticking past as they clutched each other while Aidan looked on. The man’s gaze was a heavy weight on Carson’s shoulders, but he couldn’t spare a glance for the male, and he was sure his friend’s expression wasn’t one of welcome. His entire focus needed to remain on his mate.

Eventually, the shudders lessened, and she relaxed against him with a sigh.

“You okay?”

“No.” She shook her head, and he smiled.

“You will be. I need to wash and so do you.” While he’d enjoyed their hug, the dead wolf’s blood now coated her robe. “Let Aidan comfort you and I’ll see you both in the living room.”

Even as the pain from losing her touch speared him, Carson was heartened by her reluctance to leave his embrace, at the way her feet shuffled across the tile and rugs decorating the floor. She was just as unwilling to leave him as he was uneasy with her easing from his protection.

Now he needed to convince her, and Aidan, that despite the pain he’d caused, they should never let him go.

Carson knew he didn’t have the right to touch or hold Rebecca close and assure himself she was fine. More than fine. She was uninjured and hadn’t suffered more than a bruise from her ordeal.

That didn’t soothe his wolf. No, it enraged the beast. The animal was furious at the wolf who’d threatened her and focused even more of its fury on Carson’s human half.