Free Marked by the Alpha by Adaline Raine Page B

member of a pack, but the dominant female of a pack. It was as if Portia was her sister and her child and her friend all rolled into one, as far as her wolf instincts were concerned, and Dani would make any sacrifice to protect her.
    In the distance, Dani heard the sound of a pickup truck engine coming in her direction. There must be an unpaved road somewhere in the forest nearby ; t he only people who would be out in these woods right now were hunters, she thought darkly. She heard the sound of a second vehicle, then a third, and then more. She quickened her pace, praying she could make it to the house before they caught up to her.
     
    * * *
     
    Mason had been running for quite a while , and he knew it was long past time for him to return to the pack. This long run in his wolf form had calmed his mind and simplified his thoughts. Two things needed to be done as fast as possible. First, he had to protect his pack from the hunters. Then, he needed to claim Dani . The time for talk with her was over, and being in wolf form had opened his eyes to what he needed to do. The decision to claim Dani whether she liked it or not calmed him further, as if a great strain had been taken from his mind. First, though, the hunters…
    As he approached the house, he shifted back into human form to avoid alarming his pack more than necessary. He found a clean pair of clothes by the back door, and tha nked Phil silently in his mind. Phil truly was the best second-in-command a wolf could hope for. After dressing quickly, he walked into the living area to address his pack.
    As soon as he entered the room, however, he knew something was wrong. Phil was pacing back and forth, and Cal was sitting on the couch next to Alisha, but Dani was nowhere to be seen.
    “Mason, we need to talk—” Phil began.
    Mason cut him off. “Where is Dani ?” he demanded fiercely.
    “She ran off looking for you,” Phil answered quickly. “Portia went after her,” he continued, “and I’m sure they’ll be back any minute once they realize you aren’t out there.”
    Dani was out in the woods. There were hunters out in the woods. Dani was in danger! These thoughts hit Mason like a sledgehammer, and suddenly all the effort he had put into calming himself was undone. He saw red, and his mind was clouded by the same rage and fear which had taken him earlier that day.
    “You let my mate go wandering in the woods by herself? You worthless piece of shit !” he shouted, advancing toward Phil.
    “What did you expect me to do? Leave everyone else in the pack confused and unprotected because our idiot leader didn’t bother to claim his mate and can’t keep her in line, or himself for that matter?” Phil was just as angry, and showed no sign of backing down. So be it, thought Mason, his mind becoming cloudier every moment. If his second-in- command wanted to challenge him, then it would end right here!
    He started toward Phil, not even bothering to shift first, but then something hit him in the back of the head . He whirled in fury, ready to tear apart whoever had attacked him… and then stopped cold. Standing not ten feet away was a tiny , dark-skinned human female—that friend of Dani’s , Alisha he thought her name was. It was literally the last thing he expected to see, and the shock of it actually cleared his mind a little. He looked down at the ground to see what had hit him—it was a shoe, he realized—and sure enough Alisha was standing barefoot and hefting her remaining piece of footwear as if she were about to let it fly at his face . His mind cleared a little more.
    “What do you think you are doing—” he started. Then he saw that the hand which held the shoe was shaking. Her entire body was shuddering like a leaf, in fact. Nonetheless, she stood her ground.
    “You listen here,” she snapped, her eyes flashing fire. “My very best friend is out in those woods—out there where there are hunters ! What in the hell are you doing fighting your