Alpha's Heart: Part One (The Boundary Woods Book 1) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Alpha's Heart: Part One

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  About the Author

  Alpha's Heart: Part One

  by Skye Winters

  * * * * *

  PUBLISHED BY:

  Skye Winters

  Alpha's Heart: Part One

  Copyright © 2014 Skye Winters

  www.skyewinters.com

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  * * * * *

  Surrendering her heart to the woman she loves could cost the pack their lives.

  The laws within the boundary are painstakingly clear. Alphas mate with alphas to keep peace between the packs and the veil hiding their existence in place.

  Anna's determined to pass the pack's leadership to her brothers in order to share her bond with Rowan—the she-wolf who effortlessly stole her heart. But with her mother's health and their population in decline, staying true to her bond might just be the biggest challenge of all.

  * * * * *

  Chapter One

  "Anna, you're going to get us both killed!"

  I glanced over my shoulder at Rowan as she crept in the thick brush. A twig tangled itself in her red hair, and I couldn't help but smile. "Keep screaming like that, and you'll get the both of us tossed from the boundary for good."

  Even in her human form, I could see her cowering as she crouched close to the ground. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" She peered at the large building in front of me and the three stories I had yet to climb. "Maybe you should ask them to give it back."

  I scoffed and shook my head as I returned my attention to the house. And never hear the end of it from my father? Not likely.

  The building stood along the very edge of our territory. Even in the dim evening light, its grey siding and lack of trees made my wolf growl in protest. I'd never been inside before, not even when the outpost belonged to an allying pack. But knowing Devlin was in there, right now, with my amulet...

  I shook myself aware and tried to force the intimidating thoughts from my mind. For Rowan, I reminded myself. I was doing this for Rowan.

  Leaves rustled behind me as Rowan weaved deeper into the underbrush. She'd stay close to her alpha, and I was thankful for the support. But that didn't make the night's events any easier to swallow.

  How dare he hand me off to just anyone. I growled under my breath and eyed the ivy growing along the side of the house. Not just anyone, but an alpha male.

  I went to finger the pendant that was now absent around my neck, the very same one I planned to get back. My heart isn't his to give. I sighed and clenched my jaw as I studied the third story window. It better not be locked.

  An open window was an invitation to sneak inside. I never liked breaking and entering—but if I must—I started to climb.

  Wrapping both hands around the nearest gutter, I set a foot on the side of the house. It may have been an awkward position, but after scaling trees most of my life, this was nothing.

  Plates and silverware clattered on the inside of the house as a deep baritone voice made simple conversation with another female. The voice caused my skin to crawl, but I held my focus and shrugged it off like a drop of water on my wolf's coat.

  The man on the other side of the wall was the same one my father had promised me to. Not for long. Without my pendant, the other alpha would have no claim over me. The jewel was mine to give along with my heart, and I'd given it away a long time ago.

  Sharp metal cut into my palm. I winced from the quick bite. If you bleed, they'll know you were here. The simple fact I was leaving my scent all over the place, they'd know I was here for sure.

  You can worry about that later. I set my jaw and continued upward, ignoring the cramp in my right hand as I passed the second story window.

  I paused a moment to peer inside, squinting from the yellow light filtering over the sill and into the evening air. The window itself was open, but with so much light left to uncover my existence, I avoided it. The last window, the one on the third floor, was dark. And so long as it was unlocked, I could slink inside unnoticed. One more floor to go. One more floor and I'd be able to take back what was mine.

  "Anna," Rowan called in a low voice, "someone's coming down the path."

  I turned my gaze in her direction and slammed my knee against the siding. Father? What's he doing here? And in such a fine mood, too!

  I gripped the gutter and carefully adjusted my legs so I wasn't dangling from my arms.

  My wolf begged to come out, but I fought her back. Wolves can't scale the side of a house. I watched my father a moment longer, then flattened myself against the building, melding into the shadows the best I could.

  I fanned out my long black hair to cover my body, but it still wasn't enough to hide my legs.

  The door to my far right opened, spilling even more light into the night. Don't let him see me. Please, don't—

  "Alpha Zarin, I wasn't expecting you at such a late hour," the alpha I’d been promised to said. Even from my vantage point, I could see the darkness in his eyes. Short brown hair framed his face, making a previous scar along his scalp even more noticeable. "Is everything okay? How's Anna?"

  I grit my teeth. How dare he ask after me. How dare he utter my name. I didn’t move. I couldn’t. If I did, my cover and the retrieval of my amulet would’ve been blown. So I waited. And my wolf listened.

  "No, Devlin," my father said, his voice grim. "Anything involving Anna can wait until that event arises. I’m here in regards to my female. May we speak about this privately?" He paused and looked back at the woods. "I don’t trust these trees. What I wish to say must not be overhead, nor should it be shared beyond this point."

  Devlin nodded and stepped out of my line of sight to let my father into his home. I waited until my father’s silhouette disappeared and darkness returned to the path outside before continuing my climb along the side of the building.

  I longed to hear whatever it was they had to say about my mother, but getting my necklace back was of the utmost importance. It wasn’t only a symbol. If left in the possession of another wolf for too long, I’d be bound to him indefinitely. It was pack magic and how the boundary worked. The amulet could be enchanted, forcing me to bond with a wolf I had no intention of taking on as my mate.

  That's how it is. It wasn't right. Two alphas. The female always had a symbol she carried on her, and when the time was right, she presented it to her chosen mate. Only there was no choice for me to make. Even if I'd wanted to, even if the alpha male was one I'd respected, I could never do what my father asked of me. I had to get it back. Then I could check on my mother.

  I adjusted my grip on the gutter, pressed the toes of my boots against the wall and, with a little more urgency, headed for the third window. My heart pounded in my ears with every move I made. I could feel Rowan's eyes on my back, which I usually didn't mind, but it made it that much harder for me to do my job. To know she was watching. That my submissive, beautiful mate had a clear view of my back.

  My wolf growled from the slight distraction. Right. Amulet first. Then I could worry about Rowan, her soft touch and how wonderful it felt to hold her in my arms.

  I glanced upward at the small ledge marking the third story window. My shoulders burned with fatigue, so I pushed harder. I curled my fingers around the ledge, pulled myself up, and in one single movement, I opened the window and slipped inside.

&n
bsp; I blinked at the darkness, waved a hand outside the window to let Rowan know I was safe, and then stepped toward the far end of the room. Certain everyone in the house was two floors below me, I closed my eyes and allowed my wolf senses to take over, if only for a moment.

  This isn't his room. The room I found myself in didn't belong to any wolf I'd ever smelled before, so it was safe to say I wouldn't find my amulet here. Still, the amount of light streaming in from the hall didn't offer much in way of cover, either.

  You could always come back when they're asleep. And if my pack had taught me anything, it was that wolves slept in groups. Not as a whole. The lights would always be on because someone would always be awake.

  Your father's here. Now was as good a time as any. If luck was on my side, most of the pack would be in the lower levels of the house awaiting their alpha's orders. So long as their pack functions like our own.

  No one's ever to leave the perimeter of the house without the alpha's permission. Permission you never got. If my father knew I was out, my heart wouldn't be the only thing on the line.

  I should've been asleep. And so long as my disappearance from the pack went unnoticed, I could probably hold off on sleep until tomorrow evening. I just have to get my amulet back.

  Get in and get out. That was the idea, and I planned to stick to it. With or without my father's interference.

  I took a breath to center myself and then stepped into the hall. The sound of voices and cutlery were still present, but much of the pack was two floors down, just as I'd hoped.

  I took a moment to identify the smells of wolf and human alike. Not all wolves shifted at the moon's beck and call, but deep down, they were still wolves.

  Left.

  No, right.

  This would be a lot easier if Devlin's scent wasn't so strong. I glanced to my right, at the stairs leading to the lower levels of the house.

  Left seemed like the better option.

  A door opened beneath me, and I froze. I took a slow, steady breath, and focused on whomever was under me. His breathing was even. He didn't even bother to scent me, which meant this particular male was too busy thinking of other things or he hadn't sensed me yet.

  Best not stick around. The hall off to the left wove around to the other side of the building much like a balcony. Five rooms. One of them had to be Devlin's.

  Stopping outside the first door, I placed my hand on the knob and turned it as slow as it would allow. The gears shifted and groaned, but not loud enough for anyone to hear unless they were listening for it. I opened it a crack, honed in on the scents inside, then closed it again.

  It wasn't his room. In fact, aside from his scent heading toward the lower level of the house, it didn't so much as linger in the other rooms. It was odd, but not unheard of. Not all alphas are alike. My parents checked in on everyone and spent time with them. Especially my mother. She was a den mother any pack would be thrilled to have.

  She was protective of everyone, and while it may not have been by blood, every pup, mutt and stray were hers.

  I rolled my shoulders back and continued on to the next room, which offered as little to go by as before.

  After closing the door, I finally picked up Devlin's scent, which grew stronger as I cracked open the one belonging to his room. It was at the end of the hall, and if my instincts were correct, the door beside it belonged to the wolf working beside him.

  And that room was occupied. Even as I crept inside Devlin's bedchambers, I could smell his second-in-command on the other side of the wall. His body shifted, then stilled, likely because he'd rolled over. Fortunately for me, he was very much asleep and probably wouldn't wake until my visit was a distant memory.

  My scent on the other hand—no time for that. I'd made it this far. The few wolves Devlin kept inside the house would be able to pick up my scent regardless. Not to mention however many he had posted outside along the borders of his—stolen—territory. May as well get what you came for.

  I chewed my bottom lip and fought down a wave of nausea as it crept into the back of my throat. Where would I hide if I were a pendant? I scanned the room and stopped when I spotted a glass cabinet. It hung beside the bed, still within reach if one were to lay down. That's where he'd keep it. So long as he didn't have it on him, the cabinet was the only place I could see an alpha such as Devlin keeping another pack's gift.

  Their promise. My bond.

  I fisted my hands and held my wolf back as she clawed at my insides. If I shifted now, I wouldn't be able to take on my human form for at least another hour If you can regain your control. If not, I'd be stuck in my wolf's skin until morning.

  I flexed my hands, opening and closing them as the knuckles distorted and then righted themselves again. Now, was that so hard? My wolf submitted, but I knew she was waiting below the surface, ready to spring out of my frail skin and into her own. And I'd let her, just as soon as I got my necklace back.

  Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I cracked open the cabinet door and waited for an alarm to sound. The alarm either malfunctioned or didn't exist. Any alpha with a head on his shoulders would've kept personal effects locked away behind heavy magic or on his person.

  Looks like Devlin isn't the type. Or maybe he hadn't had the time. I reached inside and closed my fingers around the thin chain.

  My stomach lurched and my heart skipped as I took the pendant in my hands. A shimmer of silver warmed my palms as the green gem in the center of all the delicate filigree glowed and dimmed, pulsing in tune with my heart.

  I'm happy to see you, too. I frowned. Odd. I don't remember the stone being so dark.

  Something banged down the hall, and I quickly lowered the chain around my neck. I closed the cabinet door, left the room and headed down the hall to the same window I'd crawled out of.

  Safely tucked inside the darkened room, I got on my hands and knees and pressed an ear to the floorboards.

  Even two floors up, I could hear my father’s voice as it boomed within the lit walls. No doubt they were sitting in the living area, but his voice carried enough for me to decipher what he’d come to say.

  "She’s ill," my father said, his voice as grim as when he first arrived. "There's more reason as to why I have asked—why I have invited you to bond with my daughter. God knows she’s against it, but no amount of reasoning will change her mind."

  "I don’t quite understand what your mate has to do with my future bond aside from blood," Devlin said.

  "I would never press another male this soon or this hard, but we’re low on time. You understand how our packs work. If we cannot keep our numbers up and support the pack with a pair of strong alphas, the boundary will fail, and the veil that hides our existence from the humans will fall."

  "Those are just den stories to keep pups in their place."

  "I assure you, they're not. And that's what brought me here tonight. We need to move up the ceremony. My mate is unwell and unable to recover. Anna must take her place before my bonded passes beyond our reach."

  The pit of my stomach tightened, and as my wolf whined in pain, I stopped listening. My mother had always been strong within the pack. She held us together. It was her nurturing side that put pups in line when they stepped out of place.

  My father rarely interacted with the other wolves aside from handing out assignments. That was the female’s job. A job that now falls to you. I bit back tears as they burned at the backs of my eyes. My mother’s health didn’t change anything. There were other females who could take my place. Other alphas outside our pack my father could—

  Wolves bond for life. Or at least our wolves did, and that bond dictated our entire existence. There had to be another way to make a bond work without being with a wolf I had no interest in. Any bond must be better than a bad one.

  If only. My father would never see it that way. And for all I knew, he could’ve been making the whole thing up. Not once had my wolf alerted me about my mother’s health. Not once. Surely I would’ve smell
ed something.

  My wolf dug at my stomach, and I doubled over in pain. Clutching the amulet in my hand, I took a handful of slow, even breaths until my need to shift subsided.

  It isn't true. "It's not," I said under my breath. "She can't. I can't. I—"

  I had to get out of there. Fast.

  Scrambling to my feet, I blinked the tears from my eyes and forced back the pain as I climbed out the window. I slung a leg over the sill, followed by the other. My vision blurred. My knuckles turned white as I clawed at the same gutter I'd used to make my ascent.

  I was shifting. Losing control.

  The pack loved my mother. We'd never survive without her. Her guidance.

  I exhaled as another pang hit my stomach, twisting my insides as the area between my shoulder blades tightened.

  No, not here. Not now. Not three stories off the ground.

  I buried the pendant under my shirt and descended to the ground as quickly as the shift would allow. Shifting was painful, but holding it back was even worse. And my wolf had been patient enough. As soon as my feet touched soil, there wasn't a damned thing I could do to hold her or my fear back.

  I half ran, half crawled, into the surrounding brush, removing articles of clothing as I went. I was vaguely aware of Rowan's scent. Of another wolf shifting beside me. But I couldn't see her red coat. Blinded by my father's words and the darkness that followed, I let my wolf take over.

  I borrowed her strength, her thick skin, and ran as far and fast as I could. I wouldn't stop until I reached the edge of the boundary.

  Chapter Two

  I heard her heart beating a second before she pressed a warm cloth to my face.

  "How long was I out?" I asked.

  "Most of the night." Rowan's voice was even, same as always. Most of the pack didn't notice her confidence, but I did. And right now, she was stronger than I could've been. "We have an hour before the sun's up. I'm not sure what you got yourself into, but you could really use a bath before your father starts his morning rounds."

  I groaned and rolled onto my back. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. "You didn't stay with me?"