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  “And you won’t try to remove me from the trees to somewhere else?” I ask.

  “Yes. Wolf’s oath.”

  I nod. That’s enough. No wolf can break that oath. But instead of waiting for him to become human, I transform into my wolf. This way, I can face him on even ground in case he decides not to change. I leave my clothing on the ground behind me and walk forward, enjoying the feel of my paws on the grass. It’s been too long since I was my wolf, and it feels good to be her, though this is a shitty situation.

  Fang looks me over. “You’re a fine looking wolf, Aspen.”

  “Thank you,” I say warily, waiting at the edge of the trees. “Why are you here?”

  He paces a few times between a pair of trees. “Why do you think? I’m here to claim you as mate. Like I deserve to.”

  “You don’t deserve anything,” I hiss, grateful that we can talk like humans even in wolf form. “You never put any conditions on our time together.”

  “Oh come on, Aspen. As I said the night you left. nothing comes without a price. No free meals.”

  Rafe gives me free meals all the time, I want to retort, but I keep my mouth shut, because that doesn’t sound like the smartest thing to say right now.

  He sniffs the air. “I heard they had claimed you.” He grins. “They lied, how interesting. If they cared, they would have claimed you, then I couldn’t have.”

  “You still can’t,” I say angrily. “And they didn’t because I didn’t want them to. And if you try it, I’ll scream, and they’ll tear you apart.”

  “Calm down,” he says. “I told you I wouldn’t do anything. But why won’t you just come willingly, Aspen? Why would you come with me for two years if you didn’t want to eventually settle down with me?”

  “I went with you because I didn’t want to settle down,” I say scornfully. “You knew that. Why would you think you were the exception?”

  He laughs. “I guess I didn’t, at the time. I didn’t care. It took a while to realize, to decide that it was only fair that you should be with me.”

  Realization dawns on me, causing a cold shiver. “Was it your pack? Did they find you and point out what you had to gain if you just went with me?”

  He nods. “And they were right to do it. I might have just let you slip away, found another willing female. But they’re right, there’s something about your pack…” he looks off at the mansion with an odd gleam in his eye. “That has its benefits.”

  “Benefits you won’t have,” I say. “So you didn’t even want me for me? You just wanted the benefits?”

  He grins, baring sharp teeth. “I mean, mating with you would be awesome, no doubt about it. But I admit it had a lot to do with my sudden desire for commitment.” He laughs. “Ironic, isn’t it? I mean, at least those guys back at the house wouldn’t want you for your money. But no, they weren’t good enough for you either. No one can ever like you enough, or for the right reasons, can they, Aspen?”

  I swallow and take a step back. “I…”

  “Poor little orphan, never sure anyone loves her,” he says with a sneer, breaking my heart even further. I take another step back, ready to run for help now. I don’t want to do this anymore. I’ll let Rafe take this asshole apart.

  But I sense something behind me and turn to see a wolf closing off my exit. I freeze and give Fang an offended glance. “You gave your wolf’s oath.”

  “That I wouldn’t do anything when you came into the trees, yes,” he says, pacing excitedly. “But I didn’t make any promises for my pack mates, did I?” Another two wolves come out of hiding, and I chastise myself for being too focused on Fang to even think of that. I guess in my mind he was always just so cemented as a lone wolf that the idea of him bringing friends wasn’t even on my radar. My fur raises as they begin to close in.

  “You still can’t do anything to me,” I say. “Wolf’s oath.”

  “I said I wouldn’t do anything in the trees. Once we’re back with my pack, all bets are off.”

  Righteous anger pours through me, heightened by the sense of helplessness I’m feeling. I should never have come out here by myself, tried to solve things alone. “I’m not going with you,” I say.

  “Oh, I think you will,” he says. “Because there are five of us, and we can get you out of here before your precious males can even hear you scream.” A fifth wolf steps out at his side, materializing as if from nowhere to stand at Fang’s side, and Fang grins at me, exposing one crooked canine. “So you will come with us.”

  I blink, trying to get a clear thought through the frustration and rage I’m feeling.

  Fang steps forward again. “I will claim you Aspen. After two years I deserve you. More than anyone.”

  I disagree completely, but I’m just not sure what I can do about it. Why oh why did I come out here alone? They move forward and I let them push me further into the trees, trying desperately to think of a plan before we hit the point of no return.

  * * *

  To be continued in Alpha games 3. Turn the page for next book.

  Alpha Games 3

  Copyright © 2015 by Terry Bolryder

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover Design by Melody Simmons of eBookindiecovers

  Chapter 1

  All I can scent is my own adrenaline and Fang’s excitement, a smell that makes nausea coil in my stomach as I take light, small, tentative steps forward.

  Then my ears perk. Something from the house. A whisper on the wind. Something only I can hear. I take a split second to fake them out, putting one foot out like I’m going forward, then turn and bolt in the other direction as fast as I can, a gray bolt flying over the three wolves behind me and then over the lawn as fast as I can run. My legs are like wind moving beneath me. I’m an odd wolf in that my fur is gray, like my eyes, not the dark red color of my hair, so I’m just a silvery gray bolt going over the grass as fast as my legs can carry me.

  I can feel them catching up on their longer legs and the alpha female in me is preparing for a fight. But she needn’t. Just as one is about to nip at my leg, a large black wolf comes tearing toward us, easily big enough to take two of them at a time, and he lets out a roar as he jumps into the air over me and lands between me and my assailants, snarling.

  I hear a whine as one backs up, can feel their scents backing up. I run a little longer, till Rafe is safely between me and them. Fang is at the back, narrowing his yellow green eyes at me and the situation in general. He knows he’s no match for Rafe, and he probably knows it on a far more visceral level now that he’s face to face with the giant wolf. A wolf that considers himself my protector.

  I grin at Fang as his comrades start to back up, leaving him closer to the front.

  “Get back there,” he growls, “Or do you want to be on my bad side when I’m alpha of the most powerful pack in the area?”

  Rafe lets out a bark of laughter and paces back and forth for a second, before faking out the wolf in front of him, causing the wolf to roll over in a submissive position almost instantly, baring his abdomen to Rafe in a way that would allow him to strike a lethal blow if he chose to. Rafe gives him a haughty nod, but lets him get up and walk back.

  “If you want her, Fang, you’ll have to go through me.”

  The wolf in me couldn’t be more attracted to Rafe right now. He’s a gorgeous wolf, twice my size, muscled and lean, with gorgeous, black silky fur with a streak of white below one ear, and icy blue eyes that I can’t see because he’s facing away from me.

  “Rafe…” I say. “Be careful.”

  He turns over his shoulder with a look of offense, one that tells me to mind my own business and let him do what alphas do.

  But he’s not alpha yet. I would transform into my human if it didn’t mean
I’d be naked in front of Fang and his friends. My inner wolf is chiding me for telling Rafe to be careful. Perhaps it hurt his pride. What else am I supposed to say at a moment like this? I know Fang better than him. He’s treacherous and sneaky and Rafe might win for sure in a fair fight, but there’s nothing to ensure Fang fights safe.

  “You’re seriously saying you want to take five of us on?” Fang asks. “You haven’t even marked her.”

  “Four. One already showed submission. If he goes against that, I’ll kill him.”

  A low whine from the submissive wolf, who is still backing away, ears pressed to his head, tail low between his legs. Definitely not going to be in the fight today. If there is one.

  “But still, you didn’t mark her,” Fang says. “If you wanted her, you obviously would have. So just give her to me. You can marry any alpha female and take another pack.”

  “I want my father’s pack,” Rafe says stubbornly. “The one we’ve both worked our whole lives for.”

  A thrill goes through me. I do admire the part of Rafe that has always been so responsible. Sometimes I only see it in reference to how he would marry me only for that reason, but sometimes, like right now, I see his real commitment, the fact that he’d live or die for the pack. And that includes me.

  “You didn’t claim her and you were with her for two years,” Rafe retorts in response to Fang’s earlier statement. “So I don’t think I need to hear from you on that point.”

  Fang’s eyes narrow further, to lemony slits. “Well, it took me time to come around. I came around. I’ll claim her now, the second I get a chance.”

  “By force?” Rafe asks, a dark tone in his voice.

  “Of course,” Fang says, flashing a wolfish grin. “If necessary. I like to think I could be persuasive though.”

  “I’m going to contact your alpha about this,” Rafe growls. His hackles are raised at the thought of what Fang’s saying about forcing me.

  “You don’t think he already knows about it?”

  “Even if he does, he’ll have to hand you over to the tribunal for something like this. Even if it’s just to cover his own ass.”

  Fang looks to the side, just a quick flash of insecurity. But instead of making him back off, Rafe’s point seems to make him just more sure that he needs to do what he came to do, which is taking me. “Just get out of my way, so I can do what I need to do. You haven’t taken her, so I will.”

  “I don’t have to take her to not want you to take her. There are three potential alphas in our pack right now. Aspen can have her pick of them.”

  “You’re letting her choose? Why don’t you just go with whoever has the most alpha blood?”

  “Yeah, Fang,” Rafe replies. “How much alpha blood do you have?”

  Fang snarks. “None of your business. But thanks to Aspen, my spawn will have plenty.”

  “Spawn,” Rafe says. “Charming. I’m sure with words like that Aspen could hardly withstand your proposal. Oh wait, no, looks like she ran away from you twice now. Doesn’t that sting, Fang?”

  Fang frowns and paces. “Some chicks like to play hard to get.”

  That draws a growl from Rafe. “You want to go? Let’s go now.”

  Fang laughs. “You want to fight me for someone you aren’t going to claim? You’ve got to be kidding.”

  Rafe nods. “I want to fight you because you’re an asshole.”

  “I’m sure you would,” Fang says with a sneer. “Luckily, there are rules to keep huge ass alphas like you from bullying wolves like me. There are rules as to why you can fight, aren’t there?”

  Rafe growls at that and gives me a quick glance, like he wishes I wasn’t hearing this. Nerves coil in my stomach. My wolf knows what’s coming, my human doesn’t.

  “Oh, were you hoping I didn’t know?” Fang asks. “Interesting. Yeah, you can’t fight me unless you have intention to claim a female. Rules of the tribunal. I know you guys grew up in a little more…liberal tribe. But yeah, you can’t interfere with me taking Aspen unless you’re planning to take her for your own.”

  I frown at the thought that my tribe could be one of the more liberal ones, but I don’t have time to really consider that right now.

  “I’m one of several hoping to,” Rafe says, sounding slightly panicked. Not because there’s any doubt of him winning, but because it’s sounding like he can’t fight Fang without having to claim me quickly thereafter.

  “So where are the others?”

  “Inside.”

  “Afraid to face me with you?” Fang gives me a mocking grin. “Not the best mate candidates, right Aspen?”

  It’s my turn to growl at that. I care about both Lindon and Hawthorne and I don’t appreciate anyone speaking ill of them.

  “Naw,” Rafe says. “They just knew I didn’t need their help to kick any amount of asses from your weakass pack.”

  My mouth falls open. It’s unlike Rafe to talk like that, but I’m not really seeing the usual Rafe right now. Dominance and tension is radiating off him, and something else. Excitement. He’s getting excited about the prospect of drawing Fang’s blood. But can I let him do that if he means that he’s going to have to mate me after?

  “Rafe,” I say hesitantly.

  “Aspen.” He turns to acknowledge me, and his features soften. “Trust me. I’m not going to do anything you don’t want me to. It’s against my very nature.”

  I believe him. It doesn’t matter what the rules of our world are, what the beliefs are. When Rafe makes a promise I believe him. I wish I had been mature enough before to just ask him instead of running away. Not that I would give away my time seeing the world, but maybe it could have been with him. “Okay, then,” I say. “Tear him apart.”

  “With pleasure.” Rafe takes a step toward Fang. “I’m here to challenge your claim for Aspen.”

  Fang looks both defensive and angry. Clearly he actually believed Rafe didn’t want me or he would have claimed me, and if forced into a box where he’d have to, he’d surrender. But he’s realizing what I realized a long time ago. Rafe isn’t your typical alpha.

  “You can’t be serious,” he says, not taking a step back, but sort of leaning back as far as he can without doing so.

  “Dead serious,” Rafe says. “Aspen has always been meant for me. There’s never been any hurry to take her because I’ve always known I’d be able to. And now you’re fucking with that. And I don’t need someone fucking with it.”

  “Then why did I scent two other males that have been near her today? Are you all fucking sharing her? At least I wouldn’t submit her to that.”

  Rafe laughs harshly. “It’s more like she’s been sharing us. Taste tests, if you will. I’ve always planned on her choosing me, but if she is going to, she needs a chance to see what else is out there.”

  I tell myself not to listen to any of it. I could choose to get offended about his statements about knowing he could always have me. After all, there’s enough truth in the statements to make them sting. Truthful statements always sting the worst.

  But right now he’s just playing a game with Fang, and if it was obvious what he meant or didn’t mean, then it would be obvious to Fang too, and would ruin whatever mind games he’s trying to pull off in this fight for dominance.

  And honestly, anything is better than going back with Fang, even if it’s a forced mating with Rafe. Well, arranged mating, because truthfully Rafe wouldn’t ever need to force me.

  “Aspen,” Fang says, pleading with me as a last resort as Rafe approaches. “Are you okay with this?”

  I look him over, how weak he looks next to Rafe. Of course he wanted to leave the wolf world and escape, like I did. He wasn’t suited for it. No wonder he didn’t care about claiming or commitment. He probably never expected to have much of a chance of it. He’s weaselly and weak, and just masquerading as hip and cool. I wish I had seen it before. Rafe may be old fashioned and bound by all sorts of responsibilities, but at least he has something Fang doesn’t.
r />   Integrity.

  “Fuck him up,” I say in a low growl to Rafe, telling Fang my exact answer on the matter.

  Chapter 2

  Fang’s eyes widen, and his gaze switches from me to Rafe to the wolves with him and seems to make a silent decision. And then he turns and runs.

  “If you leave after a challenge, you are forfeiting,” Rafe says.

  Fang stops, and seems to reconsider his chances. Then he turns back to us. “I don’t trust you to follow the rules. I’ll be back in a week. I’ll fight whoever is planning to claim Aspen, and only them. If I stay now, I could get jumped by three of you at once, while not paying attention.”

  “Oh, kind of like you jumped Aspen?” Rafe quips.

  Fang gives him a smile that’s all bravado and no substance. “Well…I’ll be bringing my alpha to officiate and witness the whole thing. And whoever is planning to claim her will need to do it thereafter.”

  “Not publicly.”

  “Obviously. But we’ll stay until there is proof to make sure you had a valid reason to fight.”

  “Hm.”

  “So if I were you, I’d make sure I truly wanted to claim her. And that she wanted me to.” He flashes his crooked fang my direction. “And Aspen, I’d pick your favorite as soon as possible. Because I’m coming to tear him apart.”

  “You couldn’t tear a baby sparrow apart,” Rafe says with a sneer.

  “Ha! We’ll see. Spoiled prince."

  “Idiot mongrel.”

  My heartbeat is returning to normal. Neither a fight nor a claiming is taking place today. Which is good, because I’m not ready for either really. One week isn’t the three weeks I was hoping for, but it’s better than having to do it all right now. I’ve only been here a short time, I need more time to make the right decision. After all, this is the rest of my life we’re talking about.

  “Alright coward,” Rafe says. “Come back with your alpha to support you. But next time you show up with four buddies to abduct one of our females, you can plan on leaving in pieces. Tribunal or no tribunal.”