Alpha Beast (The Alpha Shifter Collection)

From what his memory recalled, Wayne’s own family couldn’t stand him. He wouldn’t just do as he was told or fall in line. He was always after more, demanding more.

“This crazy cunt belongs to you.” Wayne smiled.

“You were in the warehouse. What the fuck were you doing there?”

“What most people are always doing, taking what belongs to them. You stole. Your entire family are thieves.”

Jenny gripped the edge of the pool, gasping for breath. She turned toward him and the moment she looked at him, her eyes filled with tears as she shook her head. “No.”

“You took from me, Liam, and now, I get to take from you.”

Wayne was suddenly beside Jenny, shoving her head back into the pool.

Liam merely reacted. He didn’t know how it happened, but he was there, next to Wayne, reaching out and gripping him.

With one grip, he threw him across the room, but since they were ghosts, he didn’t get to go far.

“You think you can get rid of me that easily? Her line is supposed to die at our hands. You think you can protect her forever?”

“He’s not alone,” her grandmother said.

“She will never be alone.”

Liam turned to see another woman he remembered from pictures—her mother.

Next, her uncle, followed by Lewis and Anna, then several more of Jenny’s generation. He saw them, their power. With one touch, they linked, and as he stared at Wayne, it was like he knew what to do.

The energy flowed through him and as he stared back, Wayne’s confidence faltered. He stumbled back away, and then finally, as he kept on fighting, his screams filled the air until finally, the scary shadow exploded, disappearing into thin air.

Even the scent in the air changed as his presence ceased to exist.

Jenny was out of the pool, and he turned toward her. Some of her family faded away, and he imagined they were the ones that didn’t wish to be seen. At his side stood her grandmother, mother, Lewis, and Anna.

She rushed toward them, only to stop.

She was alive.

They were all dead.

Suddenly, Liam jerked.

“It’s time for you to go, son,” her grandmother said.

“I didn’t cause the burning,” Lewis said. “I was there purely because I heard a rumor of it functioning again.”

Another jerk.

“Go,” Jenny’s mother said. “We’ll tell her everything she needs to know.”

Another jerk.

“Go! Before it’s too late.”

As he was pulled back a fourth time, he didn’t fight it, he went willingly back, coming to with a giant gasp.

“Holy fucking shit balls. You scared me.” Ben slammed his palm against his shoulder. “Don’t do that again. You crazy-ass fucker. Damn it.”

Liam breathed deeply. “You brought me back.”

“I thought I was going to have to declare you dead. Fucking … ugh… I hate you right now. I don’t know what the hell happened, but I hate you.”

“It was Wayne,” he said. His voice croaky from the tight grip that his brother had on him.

“Crazy fucker Wayne?”

“Yes, the very same one.” He got to his feet and swayed a little.

Ben grabbed him. “Whoa, you’ve got to take it easy.”

“I don’t have time. I need to go see my wife.” Liam stumbled.

“Okay, let me take you to your wife, and you concentrate on just, you know … breathing.”

****

“Mom,” Jenny said, tears filling her eyes.

“He’s back where he needs to be, sweetie, but don’t let him do that again.” Her mother came forward and reached out as if to grab her, but she never touched. Like always, so close, but never enough.

“He’s safe?”

“Yes, he’s safe.” This came from her grandmother.

She nodded, pleased. Seeing him like that, she was heartbroken. “I can’t live without him. I don’t want to.”

“You won’t have to. He’s coming back to you.”

“Before I go back with Anna. I had nothing to do with the fire, Jen.” Lewis stepped forward. “Tana set the fire. It’s why she feels guilty. Wayne had negotiated guns, drugs, and women. Tana was there, she overheard everything, and she got scared. Anna had followed her there. She didn’t realize.”

“What was Wayne doing?”

“I don’t know. I was there because I had asked Tana to … check on things.”

“Lewis?”

“This was before the negotiations. Afterward, I made sure Tana knew this and that was why I was there. I was going to pick her up and make sure she was safe.”

“Why didn’t you say all this when you were alive?”

“I was pissed off. Tana was going crazy. I couldn’t find Anna. Liam looked so fucking calm and collected, and it’s no excuse, but I wanted to annoy everyone. Instead, I didn’t put my seatbelt on and I got to be with Anna.” Lewis offered her a smile. “Go and take care of your husband. I’ll see you around sometime.”

Anna giggled and waved at her.

Jenny tensed and glanced behind her toward the door. She had a sense that she needed to move. She’d always felt it was her sense for the dead, but now she was starting to see it was her wolf. Her beast was inside her somewhere, not too close, but enough to keep her safe.