To Mate an Assassin: The Lost Alphars Series, Book 1 (4 page)

“No, sir. It’s not. I swear.” The guard cleared his throat. “There’s a woman.”

“A woman?” He couldn’t help the growl that accompanied the question. A minute of peace, just one bloody minute. He finally understood why his mentor Grace became so annoyed when someone would interrupt her personal time.

The guard wisely ignored the growl. “Sir, she’s walking around the compound gate. She just appeared out of nowhere. We think she’s heading towards the front gate. She’s…to be frank, sir, she’s a bit off.”

“She’s human?” They couldn’t handle a single woman without his help? He needed new guards.

“No, sir. I smell Wolf.” Kerrick heard muffled shouting in the background. “She’s almost at the front gate now, sir, Robert is going to speak with her. Maybe she’s lost. What do you think, sir?”

“She is just one Wolf. Are you telling me my entire guard is incapable of handling one female Werewolf? Just because you think she’s off?” Kerrick rubbed his forehead, trying to ease the tension headache he felt coming on.

“No, sir,” the guard said nervously. But whether it was from Kerrick’s annoyed growl or the “off” woman, he didn’t know. “We’ll handle it, sir.”

“Keep me updated.” Kerrick ended the call and continued on to his office, thinking he’d need to hire and train an entire new team of guards for the outer perimeter if they flubbed any further inquiries. When he first took the position of Alphar, he’d been eager to implement radical changes for the betterment of shifter society in North America. Now he spent the majority of his time handling little irritants his staff should have been capable of dealing with. The problem was a consistent one, but he couldn’t take his anger out on them too harshly. They were all relatively new recruits whose formative years had been spent under the rule of an insane Alphar.

The stability of the Alphar affected the stability of the territory and those who held leadership positions within it. The leaders of his new soldiers’ packs had been corrupted by the poisoned power filtering down from their Alphar. The men and women come to serve Kerrick had no true role model. They’d only known discord and lies. Yet another issue he was facing across the continent, one he looked upon with equal severity as the Vryk incursion, destabilized and ill-guided youth.

He strolled into his office and shut the door with closed eyes. Solitude and quiet at last, at least that was what he’d hoped for.

“Alphar!”
Fuck my life.
“Kerrick, the front gate just called me talking about—”

“Some woman walking around the outer gates. Yes, I know.” He grabbed the nearest item, a small metal garbage can, and twisted it into a misshapen mass of prongs and metal, imagining it as the pounding headache beating at his skull. Kerrick released the warped metal, satisfied by the echoing clang as it fell to the ground.

Aaron was his right-hand man. The man he would trust above all others. He was also the man who was about to push him over the edge and into insanity if he didn’t get his big ass out of the room and give Kerrick that one minute of peace and quiet. Just one fucking minute!

“Leave, Aaron,” Kerrick said as he settled at his desk, keeping his tone level but tolerating no argument. There was a stack of papers needing to be signed off on that was reaching close to ten inches high. He needed to hire someone else to do all this, paperwork and red tape was not his forte. His strength was interacting with his people, even though he wanted to be far away from everyone at the moment.

Aaron lifted his meaty hands in surrender, recognizing the mood Kerrick was in, and turned to leave. His long black braid trailed down his back in quiet contrast to the custom designer suit he wore. The man couldn’t decide whether to embrace his charming business savvy or his wild, animalistic nature, so he’d found a balance between the two. Aaron’s phone rang the moment he placed his hand on the door handle.

“It’s the front gate again,” Aaron said, seeing the caller ID.

“Just answer it,” Kerrick growled, slamming his fist on the table in an attempt to control his annoyance. The past month had put him on edge. There were Vryks taunting him just beyond the boundary of his land, Mara refused to negotiate any terms Rhiannon brought to Carter, his people were not yet stabilized after three years of detoxing from Riddan’s poisonous influence, and his staff couldn’t handle a damn lone Wolf. Kerrick felt his Beast rising, the teeth and claws of every past and present Were species fighting for control over his body, tempting him to give in to the power and make the people of his territory into slaves. This was the madness Riddan had succumbed to but only after hundreds of years as Alphar. Kerrick would not give in after just over three years. He pushed the power down, knowing if he didn’t excise control over the power it could spiral and injure those he loved most.

Kerrick took a deep breath, centering his mind and allowing the power to merge and roll like the ever-moving sea within him. He would not suffocate this power he’d been born to inherit, but he would not be mastered by it.

Aaron put the call on speakerphone, bringing Kerrick’s attention outward once more.

“Captain, sir!” A soldier’s voice rang out. “She’s— Ah!” The sound of the phone crashing to the ground echoed through Kerrick’s office.

Kerrick stood from his desk upon hearing the sounds of tranq guns firing and the muffled shouts of his guards in distress. He leaped across the desk and pulled Aaron through the door, the situation much more dire than he’d originally thought, cursing himself for not taking the threat more seriously. Perhaps the woman had been wired with explosives. Perhaps she was one of the rare Mage Weres, capable of wielding magic and controlling the elements. The possibilities for what this woman was and what kind of threat she presented to his people were endless.

“Matthew,” Aaron called into the phone as they ran through The Mansion towards the front door. “Soldier, answer me.”

“Matthew cannot come to the phone right now. But if you would like to leave a message, please do so after the beep. Beeeeeeeeeeeeep.” A sing-song voice resonated over the line.

Kerrick grabbed the phone from Aaron. “Who the fuck is this?” he growled into the speaker.

“Language, Captain,” she said, mistaking Kerrick for Aaron. “I will be all too glad to introduce myself but first I would like to speak to the Alphar.”

Kerrick guided Aaron in a new direction, heading for the large windows that overlooked the front lawn. He needed a shortcut to the entrance and a good line of sight to see the damage the woman had wrought. Also, how many people she had with her because no matter how inexperienced, Kerrick had trouble believing one woman could defeat his entire outlying guard.

“I am the Alphar. Be very careful what you do with my men, for if it is anything I think even the slightest bit combative or threatening, I will rip your throat out with my teeth.”

“Oh, I am quite scared. Right, Matthew? Doesn’t that tone just make you shiver in your generic military boots?” Kerrick heard incoherent mumbling through the speaker as they finally made it to the front windows. The lawn was the size of a football field with an iron gate surrounding the property. The checkpoint to enter the compound was dead ahead and the eight guards he had stationed around the entrance were strewn about the lawn, either unconscious or dead. An Alphar’s fury ignited in his heart and roared a Lion’s cry across the property.

“Alphar. There.” Aaron pointed to the roof of the front gate security house. A woman, a small woman with short, curly brown hair all dressed in black, stood with her arm around a kneeling guard. It wasn’t an outwardly threatening position. From far away they looked like buddies hanging out with one another, her hand holding the phone was waving in the air.

“Greetings,” she said as she brought the phone back to her ear. “Come chat with me, Alphar. I do not think your underqualified guards need to be a part of this discussion, do you?”

Aaron placed a hand on Kerrick’s shoulder. “Let me go first.”

“No.” Something inside Kerrick whispered he needed to go, needed to see this woman. “I’m going. Secure the vulnerable in case she brought reinforcements.” Kerrick nodded at Aaron and took a flying leap from the window, landing on the soft lawn swiftly and sure footed. Aaron could have handled this one woman, but in the mood Kerrick was in, he was all too happy to take this on himself.

“My lady,” he called out to her, bowing as he walked with a sharp-tooth grin. The crazy bitch wanted to play games? He’d play right along with her. “Welcome to my home.”

Kerrick’s rage-hazed vision skewed her face, leaving him unable to focus and reliant on his other senses. He could vaguely see what was probably a nasty grin as she let Matthew the guard go by shoving him off the roof. Kerrick watched as Matthew dexterously rolled to a stand, pointing his spare weapon at the woman. Kerrick held his hand up to stay the soldier. He wanted to deal with the woman himself.

The crazy lady gracefully hopped off the roof and walked toward him, a small smile adorning her face. One filled with her very own sharp teeth. “Thank you, Alphar. Although I must say your hospitality is a tad lacking.”

Large, golden-ringed eyes came into focus, and as they closed the distance they both slowed. Her smile slipped from her face and his determination to annihilate her as a threat ebbed, replaced with a new and all-encompassing knowing blossoming in his heart.

“I am—I am the Incendiary,” she stumbled, coming to a halt and pressing a curled hand to her chest. She clutched her black T-shirt, staring at him with wide, angry eyes, her breath heaving.

“What are you doing to me?” Her voice was a rasp.

The Beast within Kerrick, the endless well of power that represented his Alphar nature, roared in joyous triumph. One word rang like bells in his head and his heart, echoing to the very depths of his soul. No. It couldn’t be. He couldn’t be so lucky to have found her.

They were less than a foot away from each other now and Kerrick couldn’t stop himself as his hand reached out to cup her cheek. She jerked but melted into him once their skins met. She was petite and pale. Her skin felt perfectly smooth until his fingers tripped over a thin scar that trailed from her left earlobe down to her neck. But the scar didn’t detract from her beauty; it only enhanced the inherent wild nature of her. Her eyes were black, as was the way of the Weres, circled with a singular ring of color. A gold so pure, so brilliant, he was sure he could see his reflection in it. Her curly hair fell just down to her chin in delicate, chocolate-brown waves. Her body was small but it overflowed with undiluted power and strength.

To Kerrick, she was perfection.

She leaned into his touch, looking more horrified with every passing second. Her hand reached up to cup his over her cheek, stroking his knuckles then encircling his wrist. Her touch sent shockwaves across his skin, his body recognizing hers.

“You are doing something to me, I know it,” she growled in an odd cadence of speech, feral yet formal. Along with the strange dichotomy of her speech patterns, her body was completely at odds with the rage and confusion he heard in her voice and saw in her expression. She was an enigma. “What is this?” She hissed. “If it is some fucked-up power play—”

“We are mating.” Kerrick’s other hand reached forward to complete a frame around her face, unable to look away from her captivating eyes. “Our Beasts, our animals are choosing each other.”

“What? Why? Why would they do that? That is a terrible idea.” She looked like she was on the verge of a mental breakdown but that didn’t stop her body from responding to his touches and shivering as he trailed his hands to her neck and then her shoulders, pulling her closer. He needed to feel the heat coming off her skin.

“From where I’m standing it seems like a brilliant idea.” He wrapped one arm around her waist to bring their bodies closer, rubbing up against one another. His other hand returned to her face, his thumb tracing the scar. He was fascinated by that scar. He wanted to lick and discover its taste.

“You are…this is impossible,” she said, her voice turning breathy, her hands stroking his chest as her eyes trailed over every inch of him. He felt devoured.

“Kiss me,” he demanded, his need to taste her taking over, pulling her face towards his, bending to meet her halfway.

“Another terrible idea.” The woman’s eyes were on his lips now. She wanted him as much as he did, felt what he felt. He could hear it in the rapid pounding of her pulse fluttering away in that delicious neck of hers. Smell it in the tempting scent of her arousal. “I am a bad kisser,” she whispered, still staring at his lips. “You should save yourself from the tedium while you still can.”

“I doubt that,” Kerrick said, enjoying her futile attempts to stop the unstoppable. He would have laughed if his body hadn’t been screaming for him to take her, make her his.
His mate.
“Your lips look like they were made for kissing.” Kerrick’s lips rested against hers, soft as sin and plump enough to bite. “Kiss me,” he said against her lips, withholding the demand this time, instinctively knowing he needed her to make that final move.

“What if you are the bad kisser?” she asked, pulling back slightly as her eyes flicked from his lips to his eyes. If she was feeling half of the sensual torture his body was being put through, he didn’t understand how she could resist submitting to the will of their Beasts calling for their mates. Kerrick couldn’t take it anymore, the Alphar power within his soul reared its wild head and demanded he take his mate and make her his.

“Shut up, woman, and kiss me.”

Her eyes sparked fire. “Do not tell me to shut up!”

He pulled back, looking into those mystic eyes of hers. “You scared, Incendiary?”

Her gaze burned bright with a barely contained fury and her eyes narrowed.
Got her.

She slammed her mouth onto his and his soul exploded into shards of colors and lights of crystalline joy.
His mate
. She was his mate. Their lips danced together and he pushed his tongue into her hot mouth, wanting her to feel what it could be like if it were their bodies entwining instead of just their mouths and lips. Gods, he needed to feel this woman surround him, become part of him. His woman.