Free The Alpha's Mate by Jacqueline Rhoades Page A

even if it wasn’t dead because you can’t
remember where you stuffed the damn charger.” Shit. She’d crossed
the invisible line and was answering herself.
    “Oh shut up and go make a cup of tea.”
    Elizabeth used her flashlight to make her way
to the kitchen. The silky feel of the floors, worn smooth by
hundreds of years of bare feet before hers, eased her distress. Her
doors were barred and there were no horses here to attract the
wolves. A helpless old man lived here before her and according to
Max, he died of old age. She was perfectly safe.
    She flipped the switch for the single forty
watt bulb that hung from the kitchen ceiling, took a mug from the
upper cupboard, filled it with water and laughed out loud. How much
of civilization we take for granted. No microwave. She’d have to do
this the old fashioned way.
    The freshly washed pots were stored one
inside the other in the lower cupboard. She reached in and
something moved against her hand. She squealed, pulled back and
threw the cupboard door closed. She slammed the mug on the counter
and swore when the water sloshed. Damned mice!
    They’d taken care of a dozen or more while
cleaning out the kitchen and after Max and the others laughed at
her timidity she sucked it up and took matters into her own hands.
She was becoming an accomplished mouse killer. She was a different
woman from the one who crossed paths with that furry rodent on the
porch this morning. She was brave. She was strong. She grabbed the
broom from the corner. She was going to kill the little
bastard.
    She started at one end, pulling out the pots
and pans and attacking with her broom. She moved to the next
cupboard and the next, driving her foe before her. When it was
trapped in the corner with nowhere to run, she’d drive home the
killing blow. This was her home and she would not be driven out of
it by fear of the unknown. Or a shitty little mouse.
    She threw open the final door, shifted the
broom and struck. She felt the impact and it was too large for a
mouse. A rat? She cringed and then straightened her shoulders. No
matter. Large or small, a rodent was a rodent and she wouldn’t
tolerate the creepy creatures in her kitchen. She leaned down to
get a better look at the enemy. It slithered right at her and fell
to the floor.
    “Aaaaack!”
    Elizabeth backpeddled and was still
backpeddling as she threw the broom to the floor. She grabbed the
flashlight and almost threw it, too. The snake crawled over the
broom and headed right for her or at least she thought it did. She
really didn’t stop to look. She was too busy running for the exit.
She threw the bar off the front door and headed for the path.
    Across the overgrown yard she flew. She had
no shoes and wore only her nightgown. She didn’t care. She was sure
that thing was following her. It had to be five, six, eight feet
long!
    She couldn’t get the stride she needed with
her legs restricted by the skirt of her gown. She reached with one
hand to draw it up over her knees, caught her toe on something and
stumbled. The flashlight went rolling down through the opening
between the roses. She scrambled after it and grabbed it. Still
running head down, she lurched into the path ahead.
    And rammed into something resembling a brick
wall.
    “Oh!” Her flashlight shone on heavy leather
work boots.
    “Oooph!” Marshall’s large hands gripped her
shoulders as he doubled over. “What is it? What’s happened?” he
coughed out as he tried to straighten from her head-butt.
    “Sna, s-s-sna, s-s-sna…” The word wouldn’t
come out. She wove her hand back and forth, snapping her thumb and
fingers together. “Sssss. Big!”
    “Snake? Where? What kind?”
    Kind? It was a snake. It was big. That’s all
she needed to know. Didn’t matter what kind of snake it was. The
important thing was to put as much distance between you and it as
quickly as possible. Marshall was violating the number one rule on
her list of What To Do If You Meet A Snake. He