The Alpha's Mate (Werewolf Romance) Read Free Page A

very sharp canines outlined with red lipstick.
    “You have a problem with me?” My voice came out in a snarl as it entered the vocal range of a wolf.
    She crossed her arms and tossed her head, flinging her dark hair out of her face. “Well, duh.”
    I stepped closer to her until we almost touched. “Watch yourself.” My tolerance snapped and my temper flared hotter than lighter fluid on coals. I was so done with Vicki and her digs. It was time to lay down the law.
    “Or what?” She lifted her chin in a haughty gesture.
    Without thinking, I wrapped a hand around her neck. We were about the same size and my hand shouldn’t have been able to span her throat, but it did. With shock, I realized my bones had lengthened, until my hand was big enough. I wasn’t shifting; my wolf form matched my human size, putting me more on the petite end of the spectrum. This was something else, something new. Jackson told me I would come into my full wolf powers gradually and here was proof.
    I surprised Vicki too. She tried not to show it, but her pupils dilated. Her scent changed subtly as well, emitting the tart scent of fear. I squeezed and the fear stink grew strong as a skunk. Alan, Tony and John covered their noses and backed away, refusing to meet my eyes or Vicki’s.
    Someone behind me said, “Is she going to kill her?”
    The question brought me back to my senses. At least a little. Enough that I peeled my hand away from her throat and let her go.
    “No, I’m not going to kill her,” I said more to reassure myself than anyone else. Rage still ran hot in me and screamed for an outlet, preferably one that included ramming Vicki’s head into the nearest wall.
    Vicki coughed and rubbed her throat. “She couldn’t kill me even if she wanted to.”
    Vicki’s persistence made me blink. I’d almost popped her head like a pimple and yet she co ntinued to provoke me. Amazing.
    “ Don’t make me regret letting you go,” I said with dangerous calm. My wolf growled in my mind’s eye and pawed at the ground, desperate to leap out and finish what I’d almost started. It took everything I had to maintain control.
    “You’re weak, bitch. Too weak to be an alpha’s mate. Right?” She looked to the guys who nodded, tentative at first, but then with increasing confidence.
    “Yeah. She’s an Omega,” Alan said. “She shouldn’t be mated with Jackson.”
    The word Omega gave me pause. They were weak wolves and most packs refused to let them mate, not wanting their weakness to taint pack bloodlines. Back when everyone thought I was a null, I’d been something lower than even an Omega. It was the equivalent of being born blind, deaf and dumb in the human world. At least Omega wolves could still change, even if they were scrawny and sickly. Sometimes packs killed them outright, preferring to exterminate weak genetics altogether. It wouldn’t surprise me if Vicki’s sentiments on the issue ran toward the more extreme end of the spectrum.
    “Vicki?” I said.
    “Yeah,” she looked at me, her confidence back at full throttle. All of her earlier fear had vanished, and, in its place, I smelled a cloying self-satisfaction.
    “I’m not an Omega.” I advanced on her again, forcing her to step back and give ground to my dominance.
    “Yeah, you are.” She looked up and down, her upper lip curled in disgust. “You’ve always been nothing , Chloe. Just because you can shift now doesn’t change that and I’m not the only one who’s noticed.”
    I wanted to roll my eyes, but kept them narrowed on Vicki. “Don’t you get it?” I shook my head, deciding to speak plainly. No doubt the unvarnished truth would hurt, but maybe it would get her to move on. “Jackson couldn’t choose you even if he wanted to. You’re not his mate, Vicki. Not now, not ever. I’m not your competition because there isn’t one. You were a mistake, one that Jackson won’t repeat.”
    She lunged for me, hands flailing and nails morphing into claws as