In the Alpha's Bed: A Shifter Paranormal Romance: Stealing the Alpha, #3

By Kate Rudolph

Everything comes to an end...

Mel promised herself that she would get her vengeance on the witch who slaughtered her family, or die trying. Now a world-renowned thief, she's ready to make good. But things are complicated. That witch, Ava, hasn't just targeted Mel, she's coming for the only people on the planet that Mel cares about.

Vengeance is best served hot...

Luke could never have predicted the path that Mel would bring him down. But now he'll do anything to save his sister's life and capture his thief's heart. Ava threatens his pack, determined to steal a magic artifact of imense power that he never knew he possessed.

Falling in love has never been so deadly...

In the midst of all of this, Luke and Mel have found each other. But Mel doesn't know how to do relationships, and Luke's pack isn't keen on having a thief as their female alpha. When Mel and Luke are together, their relationship is explosive. But that fire will either cleanse... or destroy.

In the Alpha's Bed is the conclusion to the Stealing the Alpha serial. Part one, The Alpha Heist, and part two, Entangled with the Thief, are available now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kate Rudolph
• Release date: Jan 14, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524208349

Kate Rudolph

Kate Rudolph never knows when to stop. Whether it’s riding her bike down the busy streets of Austin, Texas, fixing computers, or shooting off answers to trivia quizzes, she is doing something. She began writing at a young age and now has a stack of projects as tall as her. When she was a child, she visited a wolf sanctuary and became fascinated by the animals. She is concerned with animal conservation and protection. Kate has published one complete series, Stealing the Alpha, and several stand alones. Want to know when she releases a new book? Sign up to her mailing list to receive notifications of new releases and deals. The link can be found here: http://katerudolph.net/index.php/subscribe You can also find her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katerudolphauthor Her website is www.KateRudolph.net

Book preview

Chapter One

Luke Torres should have felt comfortable in his own territory. But right now the heavy branches, bare and ready for winter's first snowfall, only made him tense. Strangers lurked in these woods. Enemies of the worst sort. The cowards hadn't tried to target him. Instead, they'd gone after his sister.

And Luke wouldn't stand for that.

Darkness had long since taken over and midnight approached. Luke could feel the claws beneath his skin ready to spring into action. Soon he would know the face of his enemy and he would tear out the spine of anyone who stood against him or tried to harm his own.

Maya Nunez and Sinclair walked beside him, with half a dozen other lions spread out in their animal forms. Usually the forest outside of Eagle Creek, Colorado teemed with life, no matter the time of day. But now all was silent except for the sound of his packmates’ breathing. Predators walked the night and all the prey was hiding.

The clearing opened before them, small, perhaps twenty feet across. Less than a week before, Luke had recovered his sister here after she'd been kidnapped by a mysterious foe. So much had changed since then. And yet they were nowhere near healing her. The witch had failed to lift the hex that was killing Cassie and they lacked the supplies to try again.

His foe hadn't told him to come alone, so he made no effort to hide his backup, at least not those who walked on two legs. While he could have brought even more lions with him, past mistakes had taught him well. He would not leave his home, his sister, undefended again. If he hadn't screwed up the first time, her life wouldn't be in danger.

All of their lives, most likely.

The air in front of Luke shivered momentarily and dissolved, revealing a tall man in a black trench coat, dark pants, and black boots. He must have meant for it to look intimidating, but as it was, it just looked silly. This witch was all skin and bones, the coat hanging off of him like it was hung on a wire hanger. But power crackled through the air and Luke knew that the danger this man presented wasn't in his meager bulk.

When no other witches showed themselves, Luke grew worried. Well, more worried. How many were hiding behind a cloak of magic? His lions hid by skill, using the lay of the land to their advantage. Using magic was cheating.

The witch took a look at Luke, Maya, and Sinclair and smirked. Too scared to come on your own, oh great Alpha? He spoke like he should be twirling his mustache or hiding behind a cape. If the situation weren't so dire, it would have been laughable.

Luke didn't have time for humor, but as far as enemies went, this one was almost insulting. It seems you have the better of me. Who are you? He had no interest in playing games, not with the stakes so high.

The man gathered himself up, standing an inch taller and speaking half an octave lower. There are those who call me... he bent over wheezing, the witch shot a glance to his right and winced. He gave a single nod and straightened, Tim. I am Tim.

Maya shifted beside him and Luke trusted her to be ready to take on whoever was standing next to Tim, even if that witch was hidden. He didn't take his attention from their visible enemy. Is the wheezing part of your name? Or was that for effect? Clearly Tim was the front man for the real power.

Tim scowled, his teeth half bared. You mock me when you are scared to roam your own territory alone?

Luke wouldn't get angry, but he promised himself that he would have the pleasure of tearing this man's entrails out if he made one wrong move. I know my own strength.

Clearly you're weaker than you thought, Tim tilted his head slightly with a smirk. He held out a hand, unfurling his fingers slowly. Once his palm faced the sky he flicked his fingers in a strange pattern and a sputter of fire appeared. The witch tossed it from hand to hand.

What do you want? He didn't let himself get distracted by the fire. That had to be what Tim wanted.

A great many things, Tim tossed the fire up and caught it, closing his fist and extinguishing the light, Few of which you can offer me. He looked to his right once more, only for a second, before focusing on Luke.

Then why the hell did you want me here? Luke ground it out through clenched teeth. He'd been attacked on his own land once this month, and he never wanted that to happen again.

Tim wasn't offended by his tone, at least not outwardly. I require information.

You have an interesting way of going about getting it. Telling the man to fuck off would get Luke nothing; in fact, it would only make things worse. A part of him didn't care. But he tamped that part down. It was useless to him at the moment. What information?

Where is the Well?

So you can poison my water? What use would a witch have for a well? And couldn't they find that on their own? Neither Maya nor Sinclair seemed to know what he was talking about either, though they gave no outward indication. It was their lack of reaction that made Luke positive that they had no idea what the witch was talking about.

Are you really so clueless? Tim scoffed.

This was getting nowhere, and he'd already revealed his ignorance. There was no reason not to go all in. I have no idea what you're talking about. I can't give you information that I don't have.

Tim faltered for a moment and his eyes shot to the right, he gave a slight nod and stiffened his shoulders, holding his bearing tight. Do you want your sister to die? Give us the information and we will lift the hex. Continue this feigned ignorance and she will not live out the week.

Claws exploded out of Luke's hand, ready to rip out the throat of this impudent whelp. Are you admitting you're the one who hexed my sister?

Tim shrugged. It is your actions now that decide her fate.

Luke had to cage the violence inside of him. Killing this witch would do nothing to solve his problem. It would only make it worse. It isn't safe for you to go there right now. The river is flooded, I will need to make arrangements. A river ran south of his territory and unseasonably heavy rains had swelled the banks. There was no well in the area, but Luke hoped the bluff would buy him time.

You have five days. Tim snapped his fingers and disappeared, the air shimmering where he had just stood. Luke has his lions scour the area, but there was no sign of the witches. It was as if they had never been there at all.

Chapter Two

Cassie wasn't seizing anymore. That was progress. Mel watched Krista work over the girl. The witch could work miracles, but against an expertly laid hex and a newly turned shapeshifter who had already severely injured her, she was having a little trouble. Two days before, Cassie had shifted into her lion form unexpectedly. Even worse, she'd been so caught up in it that she'd opened a nasty gash across Krista's chest. The wound had been tended and was starting to heal, but a witch's constitution did not handle grave injury well. For now, Krista tended to the girl when she had the energy, but she was never alone in the room.

With Luke and Maya out hunting, that left Mel the babysit.

She'd been sitting there for more than an hour of nearly comfortable silence before a commotion broke out, the sound coming from the entrance. Sounds like the alpha's back.

Sure does, Krista didn't look at Mel when she spoke. Mel couldn't tell if the anger was due to her injury or from the history that they weren’t talking about. She didn't know which one she wanted it to be.

Maybe Bob would have been able to tell her, but he was off trying to track down whoever had hexed Cassie. He had contacts he wouldn't share with either Mel or Krista, but he would go and get the information for them. That was something.

Cassie let out a pathetic mewl and turned to her side, curling in to herself. She started shaking once more and fur sprouted out of her arm, coarse and tan. Krista moved back and let Mel take over. With a now practiced hand she grabbed the manacle that they'd mounted to the wall and chained the teenager. It was degrading, a horrible thing to do, but Cassie had agreed it was the only way to keep her and everyone around her safe.

But she was so worn down from the near constant shifting over the last two days that the shaking stopped and she slumped back, the fur on her arm receding into her skin, leaving behind the tan, human flesh. The girl's brown eyes opened and she gave Mel a sad grin. At least I'm not missing out on going to the gym.

Mel smiled, but she didn't know how to respond. I think I heard your brother come in, was what she finally settled on. And that seemed to perk Cassie up.

Cassie scooted back until she could sit against the wall. Her arms were still clamped over her head, but she didn't ask to be unbound. Mel didn't know if she thought she would turn again or if she had simply become so used to the manacles that she didn't notice them.

Maya walked in after a couple of minutes, but there was still no sign of Luke. Mel unlocked Cassie's restraints and left in search of him. After looking everywhere else on the residential floor, she found him in his room, sitting on his bed with his head cradled in his hands. She shut the door behind her as quietly as she could, but he heard her and looked up.

For a moment he smiled, though his eyes held the shadows that had been gathering over the last several days. The smile faded when Mel didn't move

Reviews for In the Alpha's Bed

[Erika · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Action, romance, humor, wonderful storyline and plot. Loved this series and highly recommend. Would like to read more about Bob’s, Krista’s and Maya’s backstory.