A Cold Wind Blows (Forgotten series, #3)

Chapter 4

"Say your piece." Her voice was soft but held an edge that was well hidden. She was small, smaller than I would have liked but she was alluring. Her eyes were so dark they bordered on black and her hair was like spun gold. She was also disrespectful as she refused to lower her gaze from mine.

"My name is Azrael Thorn. I am Alpha of the Algus pack." I almost expected a reaction to the statement but she simply blinked at me, the action almost lazy. "As you are my current mate I am offering you a choice." It wasn't something I was even going to offer her when I saw her but then I had looked her over. I had seen the smears of blood that coated her face, her neck and her hands, I had seen the head she held tightly and her bared teeth and I had paused.

She was too small, too... delicate looking to survive in the mountains but when I had found the aftermath of her protection of the sniffling female she had been dragging, something clicked in my head. There was a harsh brutality to the actions. Something that spoke of a strength that was usually only reserved for the mountain shifters and I could almost see her in a new light. There was something hidden inside of her that demanded my wolf's interest. He was intent upon her, curious to see how she would fair in the trials.

"I am a Mountain Alpha. To truly become my mate, there are trials one must pass. I can reject you here and now or we can go to my pack and go through the trials." I watched her intently, her expression was neutral. There was nothing to give away what she was thinking, just a piercing gaze and an expression like stone.

"Lace? Whatever happens, you have a place with us." Alpha Linton walked over and my small mate said nothing but blinked slowly, her gaze turning to her Alpha. "We would love to have you stay." He patted his mate's belly and Lace tilted her head as his mate smiled at her brightly.

"You could help me with the baby." At the words there was finally a bit of life to my mate's face, her lip twitched and I could almost see her bristling.

"Your territory... is it isolated?" The question was clipped as she turned her rather intense gaze back onto me and I nodded. "Then fine." Elation surged through my at her acceptance of my proposition. My wolf had a smugness radiating off on him. She was an oddity he wanted to examine thoroughly. She turned to Alpha Linton and nodded almost respectfully.

"Alpha, thank you but the debt is paid and I must go." There was no emotion to her voice but Linton let his mate go and hugged Lace tightly. I fought back the urge to growl at him, they had some sort of bond that I refused to interfere with.

"If you ever need something, I will always be here for you." He pulled away before cupping her cheek in his hand. She stiffened at the contact as if she could not stand it but she didn't pull away. "Okay, Lace? You understand?" She gave him a small nod before reaching up and touching his face with her fingers tips. A growl worked it's way up my throat but I forced it away once more.

"You take care of her and that future." Claws emerged from her nail beds and she tapped them on his cheek, her head tilting the other way. He didn't seem phased by the subtle warning, it was as if he had grown used to them. I stared at her in slight shock. Linton seemed to view her his equal, if not someone higher than him. As an Alpha with highly sexist tendencies it was extremely unusual for him to show that level of restrain with anyone, let alone a female.

"I will protect them with every thing that I am." Linton nodded and patted her cheek gently before letting his hand drop from her face.

"Do not tell me, prove it to them." She nodded at his mate and lifted her chin, letting the claws scratch against his face lightly, red marks following her sharpness as she let her hand drop. Alpha Linton smiled at her almost tenderly before he gathered his mate into his arms, pressing his face into her hair. The entire interaction was something I took in intently. There was something about my new mate that I wanted to discover. Her soft aura hid a spine of steel, unbending and unbroken.