The Alpha’s Mate: Book 4

By Bella Lore

Ayala, 18, has always been a hopeless romantic and a dreamer. After a whirlwind year, she’s ready to settle into her new life at the Santa Cruz tree house, with Jasper, Isaac, Regan, and the other members of the pack.

When she suggests they host a bonfire, Jasper and the rest agree.

It seems like a magical night. But when Ayala leans in to kiss Jasper, he backs away.

She’s ready to give up on him as her mate when fate forces them into a cross-country road trip together. Soon, they learn they have more in common than they thought.

Might he be her true mate after all?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bella Lore
• Release date: Mar 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9781094393742

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T H E   A L P H A’ S   M A T E

(Book 4)

B e l l a   L o r e

Bella Lore

Debut author Bella Lore is the paranormal romance author of the MY TRUE MATE series, comprising four books, and THE ALPHA’S MATE series, comprising four books.

Bella loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit bellaloreauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.

Copyright © 2022 by Bella Lore. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Jacket image Copyright Subbotina Anna, used under license from Shutterstock.com.

BOOKS BY BELLA LORE

MY TRUE MATE

MY TRUE MATE (Book #1)

MY TRUE MATE (Book #2)

MY TRUE MATE (Book #3)

MY TRUE MATE (Book #4)

THE ALPHA’S MATE

THE ALPHA’S MATE (Book #1)

THE ALPHA’S MATE (Book #2)

THE ALPHA’S MATE (Book #3)

THE ALPHA’S MATE (Book #4)

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

CHAPTER FORTY

CHAPTER FORTY ONE

CHAPTER FORTY TWO

CHAPTER FORTY THREE

CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

CHAPTER FORTY FIVE

CHAPTER FORTY SIX

CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN

CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT

CHAPTER FORTY NINE

CHAPTER FIFTY

CHAPTER ONE

It takes us a few weeks to get fully settled in the Santa Cruz tree house. The plan is for Jasper to take over all of Sterling’s operations, with me at his side to help out, and Isaac and Regan as the first team members for the new project.

After a plenty of work, and a bunch of phone calls to Sterling’s brother Greyson to get all the security codes that we need, we’re ready to re-open the doors.

Sterling’s mission was to train shifters, especially those serving as Alphas and Betas, in combat, stealth, scouting, and defensive strategies. So the first thing we do is gather the shifters who were training under him when he disappeared.

Jasper wants a chance to re-introduce himself to everyone as the new leader, so Isaac and Regan are helping host a huge bonfire and barbecue out on the beach. We’ve invited a bunch of local shifters, and everyone whose contact information we could find in Sterling’s most recent records.

The evening of the bonfire, I throw on a dark gray hoodie and some sapphire blue leggings. Most of what I wear these days are the workout clothes that Sterling gave me when I first started living with him. Even though Isaac and Regan are planning multiple giant bonfires, it’s cold and misty down by the beach, so the hoodie should help.

When I go down, I see some of the shifters I remember from my very first days in Santa Cruz with Sterling. Piper and Chastity, who were there when I had just started to work out and train with his team, greet me like long lost friends.

We’ve missed you so much! Piper pulls me into a tight hug, which Chastity quickly joins in on.

It’s so awful about Sterling, Chastity says, patting me on the shoulder. Stuck in the celestial realm. You must be so lost without him.

He’s happy where he is, I tell them. Sure, it was hard to adjust to his absence, but it’s been a while since our mating bond faded, and now he’s more of a pleasant memory. His destiny took him to the celestial realm, and I’m sure he’s going to do great things up there.

Wish we could visit him, Piper says.

Yeah, Chastity agrees. I want to see the celestial realm!

I shake my head. Unless you are, or you become, a celestial being, it’s not that great. Trust me, we’ll be better off here on earth.

I guess we have to take your word for it, Piper says with a shrug. They don’t know my whole story, about being trapped in the celestial realm under the Moon Rabbit’s control for hundreds of years, and then captured again alongside Sterling. But they do seem to trust me, so they drop the issue.

However, their trust for me clearly doesn’t extend to Jasper. When he arrives on the beach, his sandy brown hair combed back, wearing a plain pair of jeans and a thermal workout shirt, their voices go quiet and their eyes narrow.

Here comes the traitor, Piper mumbles.

I don’t know why he thinks we’re just going to start following behind him now, Chastity agrees. He’s the reason Sterling isn’t here. And he used to be a mercenary. How are we supposed to take him seriously as a leader?

Give him a chance, guys, I plead.

I heard he even tried to change his name, Piper says. Wants us all to call him Jasper now.

Like that’s going to make us forget what he did, Chastity grumbles.

Actually, I tell them, Jasper is his real name. Martell was his mercenary name, and he wants to leave all that behind. He knows he made mistakes, and he regrets what he did. He’s taking over Sterling’s business to try and make things right, to give shifters the capacity to take care of themselves and each other.

If you say so, Piper says, crossing her arms. It’s obvious that they’re not really going to change their minds.

I look around at the other gathered shifters, and I see that it isn’t just Piper and Chastity who feel this way. No one has greeted Jasper, and they’re all looking at him with scrunched up noses and disgusted glares.

Jasper tries to smile, but he looks nervous and out of place. I decide to go join him, hoping that if people see Sterling’s former mate standing by Jasper’s side, they might soften their attitudes a bit.

Why don’t you say something, I prompt, nudging Jasper with a friendly smile. Welcome them to the party.

Jasper clears his throat, standing tall and looking out at the crowd. Hate filled faces glower back at him in the flickering firelight.

I’m glad all of you decided to come tonight, Jasper says. I wasn’t sure anyone would accept my invitation, but I wanted a chance to get to know everyone and share my plans for the future.

No one cares, comes a shout from somewhere near the bonfire.

Yeah, another voice pipes up. We just wanted to see what kind of asshole would betray Sterling like that.

Plus there’s free barbecue, someone else says. Isaac and Regan were at least right about that - if you want to get wolf shifters to gather somewhere, offer them roasted meats.

I wanted to tell you all, Jasper tries again, that I’m deeply sorry for what happened with Sterling. I regret what I did, and I want to start fresh.

No second chances for mercenaries!

Sterling would hate to see you stomping on his legacy!

The crowd is getting angrier and angrier, and I can sense Jasper feeling defeated and frustrated beside me.

Just leave us alone!

Yeah! You don’t deserve to set foot in that tree house!

Jasper takes a deep breath, and I think he’s preparing to address the crowd again, but then he just exhales, a long, sad sigh. He turns his back on the crowd and walks off into the darkness, his hands in his pockets, his shoulders hunched.

CHAPTER TWO

The crowd laughs and jeers as Jasper leaves. They seem to think they’ve won some kind of victory. As Jasper heads off by himself, someone hits play on a boom box they’ve brought, and loud hip hop music starts blasting. It becomes a loud party, shifters dancing and shouting, after Jasper disappears.

But I’m not interested in a party. I follow Jasper. He’s moving quickly, and I’m struggling to keep up and follow his scent. Then I remember that I can shift now. In wolf form, he’s easy to find. I catch up with him sitting on a flat boulder, resting his elbows on his knees, staring out into the darkness.

I return to my human form as I approach.

Hi, I say gently, sitting down on the boulder beside him. Around us, the redwoods tower and the air buzzes with the sound of insects. In the distance, we can hear the party music and smell the cooking barbecue.

You don’t have to be here, Jasper mumbles. You can go have fun at the party.

I wouldn’t have any fun hanging out with people like that, I say, putting an arm around his shoulders.

They’re right, you know.

Right about what?

About who I am. I did betray Sterling. I was a mercenary. I’ve done awful things. No shifter should even want to be around me.

But that’s who you were in the past, I insist. The fact that you feel bad about it and want things to be different means you’re a different person now. And they’re just being mean and stupid and refusing to see that.

Jasper just shrugs. Even before I was a mercenary, though, I was…not good.

Look, I tell him. I don’t know your past. I know that’s something you want to keep private, and that’s okay. But I know who you are today. I’ve seen how motivated you are to help protect shifters and make sure that what happened with the Moon Rabbit never happens to anyone else ever again. And I’m on your side in that. I want to help you make it work.

What use is a training program if no one wants to train with me? Jasper shakes his head. It’s all a failure. I should just leave you in charge and go away.

Please don’t do that.

Why not? That’s what everyone else wants. You saw how happy they were when I left the party.

They don’t know what they’re talking about, I reassure him. Besides, it’s not what I want.

Jasper looks at me, finally, turning to meet my gaze. He looks hopeful and confused. Why? Why are you trying so hard to help me? Why do you even care if I get a second chance?

Because I believe in second chances, I tell him. I wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for a long line of shifters and their packs who were able to see things a different way and forgive dark pasts.

Thanks, Jasper says.

And it’s not just that, I tell him. If I’m being honest…it’s because I like you. I care about you.

Why? By all logic, you should hate me.

But I don’t. I rub comforting circles on Jasper’s back, leaning close against him as we sit together in the forest. I never have. Even when we first met, and I noticed your mercenary tattoos, I was drawn to you.

I remember that, Jasper says. You came over to say hi. We were all training together on the beach.

Yeah. There’s something about you, Jasper, that I can just sense. You have a good heart, even though you’ve been through some dangerous and scary stuff. You’re strong, and driven, and you take this mission seriously. I see how hard you’re working to make sure that Sterling’s work doesn’t fade away.

I wouldn’t need to work this hard if I had just never abducted him in the first place, Jasper groans. It all comes back to the fact that I let the Moon Rabbit convince me to take on his mission.

Getting in over your head with the Moon Rabbit isn’t exactly a rare situation to find yourself in, I remind him. Someday, you’re going to have to stop beating yourself up and just let yourself live in the present, not the past.

Jasper smiles then, giving me a sad little laugh. Sounds good, but it’s easier said than done, you know?

I nod. I really do. I have a lot of stuff in my past - more than you’d think just by looking at me. But I’ve learned that the only way to move forward is to stop looking backward.

Huh. Jasper looks out into the darkness, sighing. Maybe you can show me how.

I’d really like that, I tell him. I lean in close, inhaling his scent, enjoying the warmth of his body. The stone we’re sitting on is hard and cold, but something about Jasper feels soft, like there’s a sweetness and a tenderness beneath all the pain and toughness of his exterior.

I guess maybe we should go back to the party, Jasper mumbles. At least show them that they can’t chase me off.

Might be a good idea, I tell him. But let’s sit here for a little while longer.

That sounds nice, Jasper agrees.

I like sitting here, with you, I say. That’s something that helps me be in the present, like we were talking about. Just finding something pleasant and nice to do.

Jasper gives a disbelieving little chuckle. I doubt I’m that nice to be around.

Want me to prove it?

How would you do that?

I’ve wanted to do this all evening - longer than that, actually - and now is finally my chance. I lean in close and press my lips to Jasper’s, kissing him.

He kisses me back for a few seconds, his lips parting, his breath quickening. Then he pulls away, shaking his head.

I’m sorry, Ayala, but I can’t - I shouldn’t do this.

Why not? I protest.

But Jasper doesn’t seem able to give me an answer. He just apologizes again, then stands up and walks off into the forested darkness.

CHAPTER THREE

I don’t know why Jasper stopped kissing me. I want to understand what’s going on with him - we seem to have a strong connection, but all he does is deny it and avoid me.

I go back to the party, hoping to find him there, but he’s nowhere to be found. I hang out with Isaac and Regan, introducing them to the other fighters I know from my time with Sterling, and eat a few burgers before the bonfires start to fade and the party dies down.

The next day, I look for Jasper, hoping to get a chance to talk with him about what happened. I go into the kitchen, but he’s already made his breakfast and gone down to the beach for a run. I can see him through the tree house’s tall windows, racing back and forth on the beach, swapping methodically between his wolf form and human form to get the right muscle conditioning.

I decide to wait for him to come back in for lunch, but when he does, he has his workout headphones in, still blasting music. He grabs a protein smoothie from the fridge and disappears into the gym room again.

This type of pattern continues for