Her Alpha

Chapter Two

Ezra's POV

Damn you, I thought to my wolf. He'd been so insistent we head out for a run. All I'd wanted was to settle into my room after the long journey, so I'd be good and ready to begin integrating myself into the Blood Moon pack tomorrow. But no, my wolf got it in his head that we needed to go outside. We needed to run.

Leave it to him to lead me chest-first into my fucking mate. As if I didn't have enough to deal with.

I'd been lifting my shirt over my head, determined to get the run over with so I could get back to my room. With the cloth in my face, I couldn't see in front of me and ended up walking right into someone. That someone stumbled backward. Since I was the asshole not keeping an eye on where I was going, I gave up on getting my shirt off and grabbed her arms to help her stay on her feet.

My eyes uncovered, I saw there was someone behind her doing the same thing. But that was all that registered before I realized electricity was running between the girl and me. Sparks started in my fingertips, rocketing through my entire body. I met her gaze as my own widened, and her honey-colored eyes created a tightening sensation in my chest.

MATE, my wolf howled.

Oh. Shit.

Before I could process anything else, she was falling. Instinctively, I held her up. But she wasn't catching any of her own weight. She was passed out. This caused my wolf to start freaking out, but I told him to shut the hell up while simultaneously growling at anyone trying to stop and stare. People could mind their own damn business. I bent to sweep her into my arms, not like I could leave her laying in the doorway, when the guy behind her pulled her body his way.

"Reagan," he demanded, giving her a slight shake. "This isn't funny." He shook her a little harder, and I couldn't tell whether the dude was worried or angry or what. It was hard to pinpoint the scent of his emotion while the smell of vampire was so overwhelming. I'd have been able to if this was a vamp I was familiar with, but this was my first time meeting him.

And we need to focus on our MATE, my wolf growled.

I sighed. Yeah. That, too.

"Dude," I said to the vampire. "She is out."

His dark eyes lifted to me, assessing. "Why? What did you do to her?" And then to himself, "Shit. I am so getting fired."

"She's fine," I told him as nonchalantly as I could, even though I wasn't so sure. It wasn't exactly normal for females to faint at finding their mate.

His skepticism turned to the girl kind of hanging between us. That position could not be comfortable. My wolf tried to tell me to lift her, cradle her, but no way in hell was I doing anything like that. "So she's faking?" he asked, and yeah--that was anger infusing his voice.

I got the feeling I was getting her in trouble, so I rushed to say, "No," before he could shake her again. She was a tiny thing, surely shaking her harder than he already had would do some damage. I may not have wanted a mate, not then when I needed to focus on getting to know my second and third in command and gaining the respect of my new pack, but that didn't mean I wanted her hurt or anything. "She's out cold, but she's okay. She just had...an odd reaction." That was the best explanation I could come up with.

His gaze narrowed on me, connecting the dots that I was what she was negatively reacting to. Then he scooped her up, tugging her away from me so even the small grasp I'd had on her was severed. My wolf hated it, but I let it happen. "Why? What did you do?"

Obviously I could defend myself, but I'd prefer to avoid a fight with this guy who seemed ready to knee me in the nuts, so my hands lifted in surrender. "Nothing. It's just...a wolf thing."