Black Wolfe's Mate (Paranormal Shifter Romance) by Avelyn McCrae Page B

trusted sentinel met his gaze. “No, Derrick. As your pack, we feel your conviction, and as such, share it.”
    “You will accept her?”
    “We already have.”
    Profound relief flooded through him. He had sensed as much, but hearing Silas say it while looking into his eyes was the proof he’d hoped for. The matter was now closed; no further discussion was required.
    “Any developments on the Northern Tier attack?” Derrick asked. He had sent Nikos and Dieter back to the site, hoping they might find some missed clue to help them identify those responsible for the slaughter. They had mentally checked in with him upon their return, but Derrick had been preoccupied with Angelica’s care for a full debriefing.
    “Nothing good,” Silas frowned. “Niko discovered a cave in which he believes the attackers were hiding. Human males. By the remains, they had been there at least two days prior.”
    Which meant they had been watching, waiting for the most opportune moment to attack. “How were they not detected?”
    The look on Silas’s face was one of pure disgust. “They covered themselves in the skins of freshly killed animals. It masked their own scent.”
    Derrick closed his eyes. It was a trick as old as time itself, and still so perfectly effective. “No sign of the missing?”
    “No.” 
    Derrick knew what Silas wasn’t saying. Not finding the bodies of those still unaccounted for meant they might have been captured. God help them all if the human monsters managed to capture living, breathing Weres.
    ––––––––
    “E asy, my sweet,” Derrick said softly as he freed her limbs, baring her perfect honeyed skin to the black velvet skies. He had carried her to the most remote section of the island, under cover of darkness and wrapped in blankets, while his men secured the area and stood guard around the castle to ensure no guests unwittingly made their way to them.
    Silas was positioned closest to them. As Derrick’s second in command, Silas would be the one to take Angelica down as humanely as possible if the transformation failed. The specialized gun and darts treated with lethal amounts of sedatives to stop her heart quickly and painlessly hung heavily in his pocket. Through their mental connection, Derrick knew Silas hoped he would not be forced to use them.
    Derrick reverently placed gentle kisses on her eyelids, her nose, her lips. “It is time. Rise for me, sweet Angelica. Hear my voice. Obey my call.”
    She stirred beneath him, her skin glowing in the silver moonlight.
    “Yes, Angelica. That’s it. Hear my voice, love. Come to me. Only to me.”
    Her body arched sharply, twisting and turning in on itself as the change began in earnest. Her face contorted in pain as she cried out. The sound was like a blade to his chest. Though Christophe had been very specific about the process and what it would entail, Derrick never could have fully prepared himself to see her hurting like this. He steeled himself against it, forced himself to be strong. She needed him.
    “Don’t fight it, Angelica. Let it claim you. Give yourself over to it. Give yourself over to me , love.”
    She opened her eyes, gasping for breath. Derrick placed himself in her line of vision. “See me, Angelica. Know who claims you. Accept your beast. Accept your Alpha.”
    He held his breath. This was it. Either she would accept this, or she would die.
    Sensing Silas moving restlessly nearby, Derrick moved fully in front of her. She would make it through this. She would .
    Her eyes finally locked onto him and her body stilled. On some visceral level, her inner beast recognized his scent as the source of the power coursing through her veins.
    “Yes,” he coaxed, allowing his voice to turn into a half-growl. “Come to me, Angelica. Choose me. Only me.”
    She watched intently as he began to unbutton his shirt and then unfasten his pants, removing both until he kneeled naked before her. She rose to all fours, intent, focused as she