Queen of the Shifters

Chapter 7: What Is She?

BRYANT

I followed my nose and made it to the alley in no time. The same damn alley I'd watched Tallia walk down. This was my fault.

I could smell her melon and sugar scent. It mixed with her terror and her blood. My wolf was furious. I was furious. We'd kill whoever hurt her.

There was also the scent of another wolf. He stank like cold stone and wildness. I sucked in another lungful of air through my nose and couldn't scent a pack on him. He was a rogue.

I bent over to bring my nose closer to the ground. The smell of blood filled my senses, and a snarl ripped free from my chest. I sucked in several deep breaths to calm my wolf. He'd hurt her. He'd hurt Tallia.

I tried to focus on the other scents and shook my head to concentrate. The rogue had gone one way and Tallia another.

I followed Tallia.

Her trail led me out of the alley and toward her home. The further I walked, though, her scent started to change.

With each step, the human scent of her lessened, only to be replaced by that wild dog scent I was so familiar with. Wolf.

F*ck.

“She was bitten," Zarron said, his voice low and grave as he followed behind me.

I didn't respond. I couldn't. This was my damn fault. I'd abandoned her, and she'd been bitten against her will.

My wolf paced back and forth in my head and tried to say something to me, but I couldn't catch it. I was too focused on her trail and the guilt that consumed me.

Finally, we reached her building and let ourselves inside the unlocked glass door that was doing a poor job of guarding the apartments. We climbed the stairs and went straight to her door, her scent leading us all the way. I could smell her on the other side of the door, but she was quiet. Too quiet.

My heart hammered in my chest, and my wolf snarled. People died during their first shifts, especially turned shifters.

She couldn't be dead.

My heart cracked in two, and I couldn't catch my breath. She would survive. She had to.

Without another thought, I slammed my foot into her door and sent it buckling inwards.

I shoved it out of the way and stepped inside the studio apartment.

In the center of the apartment, she stood with her fur raised in defense and her teeth bared. She was the most beautiful wolf I'd ever seen.

Her coat was a sleek steel gray except for white tips on her ears and the tip of her tail. I'd never seen a wolf with that coloring before. Her blue eyes were crystalline and glowed as they glared at me.

My breath caught in my throat as my wolf's message finally became loud and clear.

Mate.

Everything in me screamed to go to her. To comfort her. To love her for always.

But I couldn't.

She was a turned shifter. She couldn't be my mate. Surely she couldn't.

But there was no denying the magnetic pull between us.

My heart and wolf shoved me at her, but my mind was saying f*ck no. I didn't know what to do.

Tallia's ears twitched and lowered, along with her lips and fur. Her head c****d to the side as she studied me.

She was a bold thing, standing up to an alpha like that. Especially an Alpha of a pack like me. H*ll, the Alpha of all of North America. It should be instinct for her to submit, but she stared me down. She didn't show a hint of need to avert her gaze from mine.

I sniffed the air again but couldn't figure out her rank.

“What's her rank?" I asked.

Zarron stepped up to my side and shook his head. “I don't know. I've never smelled a wolf like that. She's dominant, but not an alpha. Not a beta either. Not any of the ranks I know."

I frowned and crouched down. “Shift back, Tallia."

Her head c****d the other way, as if she was debating whether or not to listen to me. That…wasn't possible.

My word was law. No shifter could resist my command, even the other alphas. The Alpha of a pack was stronger than the average alpha, but my title came with even more weight. The Alpha King was never disobeyed.

Tallia let out a huff that sounded a h*ll of a lot like annoyance before her skin started shaking and she shifted.

She fell to the ground with a long whine, and I hated seeing her in pain.

Her bones cracked and popped, and her wolf writhed in agony on the ground.

It took several minutes, but finally a naked Tallia was sprawled on the floor. She panted and was coated in sweat.

“Look away," she growled.

My wolf perked up at the dominance in that command. He didn't seem to mind it as much as I did.

But still, I stood and obeyed because I knew she was saying it out of modesty. Zarron followed my lead and turned.

Behind us, I heard the rustle of clothes and then the groan of the bed.

“Okay," she said.

We turned back and found her sitting on the edge of the bed. She watched us with wary eyes as she tried to catch her breath.

“What's your rank?" I asked.

Tallia blinked at me. “My what?"

“I don't think she'll know. She won't know anything about our world," Zarron said. "Maybe it's just taking longer to set in. She's got to be an alpha."

"It should be automatic," I said, my eyes still focused on Tallia as she stared right back.

Zarron shrugged. "Well, clearly it isn't."

I let out a low growl. That's exactly why a turned shifter could never be my mate. They didn't behave like others. They were too human to ever understand our ways fully.

My wolf growled and snapped. He whole-heartedly disagreed.

Tallia's nose lifted in the air, and she sniffed. Her pupils dilated, and she focused hard on me. Her wolf surged in power, and it was pure dominance. She had to be an alpha.

“What are you?" Her tone was one of awe.

I shook my head. I didn't want to explain mates, but I didn't think she was going to let it slide if I said something vague. She hadn't liked that when she was human and now that she was combined with a dominant wolf, she'd like it even less.

Sh*t.