Stolen by the Alpha Wolf: Shifter Romance (Accidental Theft Book 1) Read online

  “But, it’s night-time.”

  Muscles bunched and roped. Ward’s hands fisted at his sides. “Go, before I change my mind and beat you some more. You sure as hell deserve it.”

  “It means we’ll have to cut down a tree in the dark.”

  Ward shrugged. “Last I checked, wolves could see in the dark.”

  “What about dinner?” Hayden whined. It never ceased to amaze her how bullies always ended up being the biggest babies.

  “You’d better get to it then,” Ward said. Hayden grumbled an agreement, his shoulders slumped.

  “You should’ve put a stop to that,” Ward addressed Sawyer.

  “I tried.” The male frowned.

  “Should’ve tried harder. Go with him.”

  “What about the female?” Sawyer glanced her way.

  “You really fucked up this time, Hayden. In more ways than one.” Ward ran a hand over his scalp. “We’ll have to hold onto her until I decide what to do with her.” He shook his head.

  “Should I send her to the other females?”

  “No,” Ward snarled. Stephany’s breathing hitched and she bit down on her top lip to keep from making a noise.

  The big alpha paced across the room. “There are things about us that this vampire is not to find out. Things that will weaken our position amongst the species. Use your head.” He turned his icy green shards on her. They narrowed making her feel like she was to blame for this predicament, like she’d somehow asked to be here.

  Utter nonsense.

  Stephany squared her shoulders and narrowed her eyes right back at the alpha. There was no way she was going to take the blame for this. She outright refused.

  His stare softened somewhat although his mouth remained a white slash. “I want the repairs completed before you turn in,” his eyes stayed on hers as he spoke. “You are to report in on time tomorrow morning. Get out.” He sighed. “You can inform the pack that I will take personal responsibility for the female.”

  Chapter 2

  What the fuck.

  Although his decision was the right one, he didn’t have to like it. Truth was, he didn’t trust anyone else with her. A vampire female? In the middle of his pack amongst women and children? The weak were his to protect. Yet, it was important that nothing happened to this female either. She was in danger. His wolves didn’t take kindly to bloodsuckers. The pain from the loss of one of their own still fresh.

  They were at war.

  Their alliance with the elves was in tatters, it looked more and more like those bastard vampire kings were going to retain their dominance over the rest of the species. A bitter taste filled his mouth.

  Turning his eyes on her, he looked at her properly for the first time since walking into his cabin. Her wounds were minor and already healing. Tall, although his first thought was skinny, it was incorrect; she was lean, athletic even. Covered in dirt, blood and grime from head to toe. She wore what looked like had once been a business suit. Her sheer stockings were torn. Her blouse gaped, her breasts concealed in a thin fabric casing. Definitely female. Of that there was no mistake.

  Ward grit his teeth forcing his gaze back to her large, blue eyes. The female was a sorry sight yet she still stood tall, a slight lilt to her chin sparking an instant respect.

  “What are you going to do with me?” her voice was parched. Her lips dry. Her demeanor was unflinching, even when he narrowed his eyes at her. In fact, she squared her shoulders and stood even taller.

  “Right now…tend to your wounds, get you cleaned up and fed. What is your name?” Ward snagged a bottle of water and handed it to her. The vampire opened the lid and drank her fill using the back of her hand to wipe her mouth.

  Her eyes narrowed in distrust. Ward waited patiently, keeping his eyes locked with hers the whole time. She finally sighed softly. “I suppose it won’t make any difference if you know…I’m Stephany.” She paused as if she expected it to mean something to him. “My wounds are almost healed. Though if you are going to insist on holding me prisoner then a bath would be appreciated.” Her eyes drifted around his small space, landing on the two doors on his back wall.

  Despite himself, he felt his lips draw into a smile. His personal lodgings were not meant for non-shifters. “I’m Ward. It’s the one on the left. Wait a moment while I fetch you a towel.”

  The female took a step towards the exit but halted at his bidding. He rummaged in a cabinet, hoping he still had a clean one…thank hounds. He grabbed the fabric, stepping in front of her in order to open the door.

  She made a sound of disgust. Ward had to work to keep from chuckling.

  “What the…?”

  “It’s an outdoor shower. Cold water only I’m afraid. I would’ve lit the fire that heats the tank for it if I had known I was going to be having a guest.” Ward had been a part of the team that had breached the castle earlier today. In what was an attempt to get their hands on the future vampire queen. His blood ignited at his knowledge of their failure. In the end, the elves had run. Yellow-bellied cowards. The wolves had been forced to flee. Somewhere in the chaos, Hayden had taken this female. He suppressed a sigh. As if he didn’t have enough to deal with.

  She shook her head, stepping into the small space outside. It was closed in with a seven foot makeshift fence made from fine, stripped branches tied tightly together to form a screen. He had made it himself.

  “I’ll manage.” She didn’t look at him as she spoke, dismissing him with her body language.

  Ward folded his arms across his chest.

  “Um…this is kind of private.” Her eyes widened.

  “A few quick rules before I allow you to shower. For your own good.” he added when she narrowed her eyes and cocked her head.

  “You stay at my side at all times…when I say at all times, I mean it. There are males out there that would see you dead in a heartbeat. The fact that you are a female means nothing. Your kind is not welcome in my territory.”

  “Listen, Mister…wolf.” She remained polite, her voice even. “I didn’t ask to be stolen away from my people. I didn’t ask for you to attack us in the first place. As to my being female, I just had a very definite taste of what your males would do to me.”

  Ward felt his blood ignite. A knot twisted in his belly. “What happened with Hayden was inexcusable. The male worries me. It is something I will deal with. You need to know that you are in no danger of being rutted against your will by one of my males, but make no mistake that they will not hesitate to remove your head or burn you at the stake.”

  Stephany kept her composure, which impressed him.

  “I apologize for the way you were treated. It should never have happened. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  She pursed her lips. “Okay so let me get this straight, my only crime is that I am a vampire? For this I deserve persecution? There is no love lost between our species, but I would’ve thought that being a non-human species in general meant that we were somehow on the same side at the end of the day.”

  “Look, it’s complicated.” He sighed shaking his head. “Quite frankly I have no idea what any of them would do if they got their hands on you, but I don’t want to take any chances. You are right, there is no love lost between our species. We are not on the same side. Never have been, never will be. It is that type of arrogance that makes it so.”

  She shook her head. “It is not arrogance, but simple fact. We vampires may not want to move in next to you, but we have no issues with the shifters’ existence in general. At least we won’t once you swear your allegiance. You must realize though wolf that after this fiasco, my kings will make you work for their forgiveness. Which is your own fault, seeing as we were quite content with keeping our distance.”

  A snort escaped him. “You tolerate us as long as we stay in line. For centuries your species have occupied the best territories. Do the townsfolk of Sweetwater even know who their landlords are? Every time I so much as raise my voice, I’m expected to go down o
n one knee at the feet of one or both of the kings. We can do as we please as long as it doesn’t mess with their plans. They can do as they please period. Regardless of how it affects the rest of us. I’m done grovelling.”

  A thoughtful expression crossed her face. “You will be annihilated.”

  “They have to find us first.”

  She shrugged. “You can’t run forever.”

  “I don’t plan to.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Look, you should never have been taken. It was a mistake. One I plan on rectifying. I need a few days to let things cool down and then I’ll take you back.”

  The female narrowed her eyes at him.

  “I mean it…I’ll take you back myself. Until then, we need to keep you safe. Also”—he grit his teeth, contemplating how he should best continue—“there are things about us that would be best kept a secret. If you were to find them out, then I would have to keep you…here. You would never be permitted to leave.”

  Her brow furrowed. “What things?”

  A snort escaped. “Didn’t you just hear what I said? If I told you, you’d have to remain my captive”—he narrowed his eyes at her trying to drive the seriousness of what he was saying home—“indefinitely.”

  “As if you could keep me here long term,” she huffed. “Are we done?”

  He nodded. “I mean it, Stephany.” Her eyes widened at his use of her name. “Your species would never find you. Don’t you want to go home?”

  She nodded once. “Of course I do. The sooner the better.”

  “We’re in agreement then.”

  “Yes!” she snapped. “Very much so.” She looked around, a heavy tilt to her chin meant that it happened from down her nose. What could only be a soft snort of disgust escaped from between her pursed lips as well.

  Her eyes returned to him, they narrowed. “You tried to kidnap the chosen human female. Did you plan on mating her yourself?” Her eyes flashed a brighter blue.

  Ward didn’t feel like discussing this with her or anyone else for that matter. The plan had been a colossal clusterfuck to begin with. He felt like an idiot for having trusted the elves, for having gone along with it in the first place. Hopefully in time he’d be able to forget the events of the last twenty four hours. If nothing else, it had taught him not to trust any of the other species. “That is none of your concern.”

  “It would be a good way to ensure long-term success against our species. No vampire heirs would mean that our species would eventually crumble. It is seriously low, uncouth behavior even for a wolf.”

  He pursed his lips. They had no clue what he planned, and he would use that to his advantage.

  “You will not have her. Not this time, not next time, not ever. You can call off your dogs.”

  “What do you know of it?” Ward growled. “Who are you?” his voice softened.

  “A female. A nobody. You don’t strike me as the type of male that would take a female against their will though, or maybe human females are different to you. There to use as you please.”

  His whole frame tensed. “I would never force a female. The plan was not mine and I’ll admit, stupid. I should never have gone along with it.” He clenched his teeth for a few beats. “I would never have forced the human. Never.” The last he said on a growl.

  The vampire’s tense frame eased. “You can go now.” She lifted her eyebrows as she spoke.

  He gave a humourless chuckle. “I said that you needed to stay at my side at all times…at all times, vampire.”

  Her mouth dropped open and she made an incredulous noise. “I didn’t mean in the shower. You couldn’t possibly mean while I’m…”

  “Naked?” He huffed. “I’m a shifter. Nudity is one of those things. I won’t even notice.”

  She grit her teeth and her hands moved to her hips. “I’m a vampire. I refuse. I will notice.”

  Ward shrugged. “Then let’s go back inside.”

  “But, I’m filthy.”

  “I must say, I would prefer to share a bed with a clean—”

  “What?”

  He felt his eyes roll back. The vampire clearly hadn’t understood a single thing that he had said. “You will stay at my side at all times. I plan on sleeping. If you are at my side, it means that you will need to share my bed.”

  “I refuse to share a bed with you, wolf. Forget it. Think of something else.”

  Ward looked up to the heavens. The gods surely hated him. “I still have that silver infused rope…” For a second he was tempted to agree to letting her have the bed, but something in him resisted. “I’m sure you’ll be comfortable on the floor. I heard vampires don’t need sleep anyway.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “A myth. Please be a gentleman and let me have the bed.”

  “Sorry, honey, I’m a wolf. That means I’m neither gentle nor a man. I won’t touch you if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  Her chest heaved as she took a deep breath into her lungs, holding it for a few beats before slowly releasing it. “We’ll discuss the sleeping arrangements later. How are we going to do this? I need to get clean, but you’re not watching me. I’m not one of your wolves. I don’t undress in front of others.”

  “Makes me feel sorry for your mate. It can’t be easy, rutting with clothes on.”

  Her eyes clouded for the briefest second before she schooled her expression. “I don’t have a mate.” She mumbled something that sounded very much like no rutting either, but he had to have misunderstood her. She was a healthy female in her prime.

  Stephany chewed on her lower lip for a few seconds before she asked, “You really need to stay by my side while I am in here?”

  “That’s what I said.” He didn’t trust her to stay put. Hell, if he was in her place he would try and escape too. He would have a hard time believing that his captors would just set him free in a few days. Especially after how Hayden had treated her.

  “I can’t believe I’m about to say this”—she shook her head—“but desperate times and all that.” She finally looked him dead on. “I suppose you have to stay but you don’t have to look.”

  “You could slip away.”

  “You just told me you were a wolf. So start acting like one. Use your senses.”

  She smiled briefly. Even under the grime, he could tell that she was pretty with her defined cheekbones made more prominent by her short hair. Her eyes were a little too big and her mouth a little too full to be deemed a classic beauty, but pretty all the same.

  “Close your eyes, Mister Ward.”

  “Just Ward.” He did as she said. He could make out her heartbeat easily. Hear her breathing.

  “Will you keep them closed?” Her voice was soft and timid.

  Ward tried to sound bored. “Yes.” He was anything but bored because he‘d zoned in on her scent. On the surface, she smelled mostly of wolf, there was also dirt, the iron tang of caked blood. Beneath all of that, she smelled of vampire. Normally a scent that would offend, only there was something more. Vanilla cookies, the kind his grandmother used to bake with the lemon zest frosting. Freshly baked. Still warm to the touch. As a young pup, he’d been in so much trouble on so many occasions for not being able to keep his paws off those cookies, but damned if he could help it.

  His mouth watered.

  “If you open your eyes, I swear it will be the last thing you see.”

  “I will keep them closed.” Ward swallowed hard not wanting to scare his guest by drooling. Especially since he could hear her clothes as they fell to the ground. It wouldn’t look good if he salivated while she was naked, so he willed his eyes to stay shut. The shower splattered to life. Her breathing hitched and her heart rate quickened as the sound of the falling water broke when she stepped under the shower. Ward scented his soap and heard her frantic movements.

  “I thought you vampires were immune to the cold.” He couldn’t help but to smile.

  “A myth, I assure you,” her voice was shaky. The water stopped and there was a sound of fabr
ic against skin. Damn, the scent of cookies was so much stronger now. All that lemon buttery goodness accosted his senses and he had to suppress a moan. He’d just have to try harder to keep his fix on the scent of vampire that lurked just beneath. The need to drool eased up a whole lot.

  “You can open your eyes now,” she said.

  Her short hair was mussed from being towelled. It was still dripping and rivulets snaked their way down her neck and shoulders. The large bath towel stopped high on her thighs. Beneath the terry cloth were two shapely legs. One thing was for sure, he’d been wrong about her not being a classic beauty. Her skin was surely made from the smoothest buttermilk. Her complexion spoke of utter perfection. Those large, blue eyes were encased in the longest lashes he had ever seen. They fused as she narrowed her eyes at him. “Can we go inside, I’m freezing.” Her lips were blue and shivering. They were also plump…the female was one of his enemy, he reminded himself.

  Ward turned and opened the door for her, closing it behind them. She made for the fireplace, standing as close to the flames as she could. After searching in his closet for a few beats, he pulled out a shirt and, as an afterthought, a pair of boxers. Her legs were so long that he was afraid the shirt wouldn’t cover much. He handed the clothing items to her and she inclined her head in thanks. A yellow tinged bruise still marred her right cheek, but that was all that remained of her injuries, or at least those that he could see.

  “I’ll order us some food.”

  “Thank you.” She widened her eyes at him, gesturing to the clothes in her hands.

  “Sorry.” He closed his eyes while she dressed.

  “Why can’t you just take me back tonight?”

  “Like I said earlier, it’s complicated. They will be searching for you and I don’t want to inadvertently lead them here. Once the dust settles, I’ll drop you in Sweetwater. You have my word.”

  “You can open your eyes now.”

  Ward noticed how her nipples spiked the t-shirt material. How obscenely good she looked in his clothes. She licked her lips, his eyes moving to her lush mouth. She was a fucking bloodsucker. What the hell was he doing checking her out?