Alpha Rising by Rebecca Royce Read Free Book Online

that totem. He should never have had it. Cousin or no cousin. She liked me best.”
    “Shh.” Lake elbowed Cyrus before putting her hand on Lilliana’s arm. “Rest.”
    As if Lake’s command made it happen, Lilliana fell fast asleep confused as ever.
     
    ****
     
    Travis stormed into his headquarters, not surprised to see all the senior members of his pack waiting for him. He’d called them together, and they always did what he said.
    “What is it, Trav?” His second-in-command, Douval, walked forward. “I could hear it over the phone. Something’s happened.”
    “Cyrus Fennell.” He roared. His beast wanted to rise two days early. As Alpha he could do so if he wished. Everyone else would have to wait until the moon. Only he didn’t want the change. Not yet. The wolf would wait until it could eat its prey. “He’s taken—and maybe killed—my mate.”
    Someone gasped, and the rest of the assembled pack remained silent. They’d known Lilliana would be coming. Some of them had started to plan nice things for her to do, ways to make her feel welcome. He’d watched the small touches happening around the main repair shop. One of the older women had asked if she could take Lilliana shopping. He loved his people. They would have made her transition easier for her. Their joy at his finding a mate, even during wartime, had been palpable. A piece of joy to counteract the otherwise crappy circumstances.
    “What’s the plan?” Douval asked, speaking for the pack. They didn’t question Travis motives; they never did. He’d earned their trust with his blood. Still, he liked to tell them more than others might.
    “I went to her apartment. The building was ablaze. A couple of people are dead. She might be as well. His blood-soaked shirt was on the ground and I could smell her blood.”
    He stormed into his office, and then turned around. “Tomorrow. It’s the full moon. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the perfect time to begin the Take Manhattan plan.”
    Travis waited to see if anyone would contradict him or suggest a better idea. They knew they could speak up. He didn’t rule by terror. No one spoke so he said one last thing. “I never wanted this. I hoped we’d never have to use the battle plan. I wanted to rule Philly. Cyrus could have kept Manhattan. I have no interest in Alpha Prime. That position could have stayed dead when Lucian died. Cyrus has waged war by taking my mate, which means New York City will be mine by the time the sun rises in the sky after the full moon.”
    He slammed his door and took a couple of deep breaths. Lilliana had to live. He’d spend the rest of his life eliminating any and all threats to her. If Cyrus had hurt her, even a hair on her head, he’d make sure the Alpha’s ending came painfully. Slowly.
     
    ****
     
    Lilliana sat up. She really felt much better, and that seemed sort of impossible. Her hands healed, other than having a bit of an unnatural red glow to them. She could stretch, move, and adjust herself without feeling as though she might break apart.
    From across the room, Lake smiled at her. “I’m glad you’re up. I have to go if I’m going to be with pack for the shift. I hated to leave you here alone unaware.”
    “You’re serious about this.” A slight throbbing in her left temple jarred her. Damn it. Was it that time of the month again? Her weird headaches, the ones the doctors shrugged away as hormonal, couldn’t have come at a worse time. “You think you’re a werewolf.”
    Lake stood up and crossed to her. “I don’t think. I know I’ve been gifted with the change. You should know it too. You’ve never shifted yourself? Usually half-breeds can still become wolves.”
    “No.” She snorted. Had she landed in an insane asylum? “My body stays just like this one. Nice and safe and human.”
    A vision of the story Travis had told her, the one about the wolves loving the human woman, passed through her mind. Did Travis think that tale was