Chained To The Alpha: A Paranormal Shifter Romance Standalone by JJ Jones Page A

any better way to haul water.” I groaned and stretched after our sunlit moment in that tiny little tent.
    “We’ll make it. Let’s refill the water a few times until we have enough.” He looked at me.
    There was something behind our conversation, something behind our smiles and our motions. Something hidden. Someone on the outside could never understand the subtle communication that we were sharing. We drank until we had our fill. It was nice to be fully hydrated for a short while, but slipping out to go to the bathroom became unbearable.
    It didn’t take us long to decide to sleep in our furs. We both changed, watching each other and cuddled in the warmth of the fire. It was where we were meant to be. There was something about it that was comforting, and while we cuddled through the night we both drifted in and out, keeping a careful eye on the fire, but we slept, each of us managing to gather a few hours before it was time to prepare for the next day. We had a breakfast of dried deer meat and melted snow. It was delicious and prepared for the next line of our trek. It was going to be hard to track through the fresh snow, but we had to continue to try.
    We had traveled for most of the day when we started hearing things in the distance. There were voices ringing out through the snow-covered forest. We went into stealth mode, slipping through the trees as silently as possible. We had to find out way through. I was wearing his clothes and he was wandering as a wolf. I hung back, hoping I wouldn’t be spotted. I wasn’t jealous. If I had been in the form of the wolf, I would have been able to slip through the underbrush with a little more tact, but I wasn’t, so I had to hang back and wait for him to return and let me know what had happened.
    When he returned through the forest he wasn’t trying to hide. He had his head up and his tail wagging. That told me everything that I needed to know. I followed him to the camping people. There were three people around a campfire that looked up when we approached. It was clear that my companion recognized these men, but none of them looked familiar to me.
     
     

CHAPTER SIX
     
     
    We had barely reached the edge of the camp when the bullets started to fly. They barely missed Devin and he dodged into the underbrush. There was no time to ask questions, no time to explain, no time to figure out what was going on. I struggled with my own breath as I tried to determine what direction the bullets were coming from. I didn’t have time to do anything other than to burst into action, trying to take some cover behind a tree. There was only so much time to hide, so I dove for cover. I could smell the acrid odor of hot silver. I knew what it meant. They were trying to kill us.
    I saw two of the shifters that were in the camp take off into the shaded forest. They were after the shooters. I followed them into the forest, changing as I moved through the brush. It would be better to stay low. It was a different thing to change on the run. There is something freeing about it as I made my way after the other shifters. There was going to be a fight. We didn’t start it, but we were going to finish it.
    It didn’t take us long to track down the assailants. They were on the top of a hill with plenty of firepower to keep us from climbing up to get them. I wanted to curse, but I could only growl in frustration. I was behind a log, glancing over it occasionally while the gunshots continued. I couldn’t see a clear path, but someone was coming up behind me. I snapped around, trying to figure out who it was. I recognized the scent immediately. It was Devin and he was in his wolf form. He stared at me for a moment and we both turned back to face the men that were shooting at us. The truth was, I hadn’t had much experience with hunters. That was the nature of not being a particularly important individual.
    I sniffed, communicating with Devin. “Who?”
    He huffed at me. It was a kind of