Alpha’s War (Bad Boy Alphas Book 7)

Nash

I’m in a room full of wolves. Half are huge tattooed bikers, the other half brawny miners murmuring to each other in Spanish.

My motley pack is at my back.

“Kylie hacked the government files. We have the coordinates for Santiago’s villa. Here.” Jackson points to a satellite view map. “From what it looks like, a private compound near a landing strip outside La Ceiba.”

“Nash,” Jackson calls. “What do you think? You’re lead on this.” I know what the words cost him. His wolf is more dominant than any I’ve ever met. Almost too dominant to run a pack. Maybe that’s why he focuses his energy into running a billion-dollar company.

I straighten as all eyes fall on me. My lion is calm. He’s relishing the chance to spill enemy blood, but more than that, he wants to be in charge. It makes sense—I’m the one with a military background. I haven’t used battle strategy in years, but it’s all right here, easily accessible. “We attack in waves. The first line will take out as many guards as they can by stealth. When the alarm is sounded, we switch to a full-scale attack to breach the compound. The helicopters will provide cover.”

Around me, wolves nod.

“Garrett, you’ll lead the second wave. Sam, is there a way we can signal him to start the attack?”

“We can get intel,” Sam says at the same time Laurie speaks up, “I’ll do it.”

“That’ll work,” I approve. “Carlos, your men know the jungle. I need a handpicked contingent for the first wave.”

Carlos nods, yellow eyes gleaming. Of all the wolves here, he and his men most desire revenge. I have no doubt the Mexican alpha will be on the front lines.

“I’ll be the first inside,” I say. “I’ll scent out Nolan if I can, but my priority is Santiago.”

“You want him dead or alive?” one of Garrett’s wolves asks.

“Muerto,” a Mexican wolf mutters.

“We keep Santiago alive until my son is found. After that, I’m happy to turn him over to you and your men, Carlos.” I smile enough to show my canines as approving mutters break out around me.

“Before we break into groups, let me say this.” I wait until the room goes quiet. “I’m a soldier. I never asked to be alpha. I never thought I would lead.” I glance at Jackson, who nods. He knows what it’s like to be deadly and dominant.

“But there’s only so much a man can take. I’m not a man. I’m a lion. A man-eater.” I get a few startled looks at that admission. I sweep the room and Garrett returns my stare. I’m sure he exacted revenge on the men who kidnapped his sister. He knows the price of freedom, of keeping loved ones safe. “I’ve spent years suppressing that side of myself and let evil spread. But no longer.

“The evil has been rooted out, but there’s one final stronghold. We’ve waited long enough.” The shifters nod in unison as I declare, “It’s time to go to war.”

Denali

I stride out to the Jeeps in front of the hacienda, past the waiting wolves. They’re loading up, getting ready to head to the landing strip and fly out to Santiago’s place. As soon as Nash sees me he heads my way.

I meet him boldly, squaring off with him. “Layne just told me the plan. I’m coming with you.”

Instead of answering, Nash takes my hand and draws me aside. I wait until we’re a ways away from the rest of the group to repeat myself. “I don’t care what you think. I’m coming with you.”

Nash nods. I’m not fooled. The minute he thinks my guard is down, he’ll lock me in a dungeon to make sure I’m safe. I’m told the hacienda has one.

“Nash. I’m a lioness. I’m a fighter too. Besides, no one knows Nolan’s scent like I do.” I want to curl into a ball and weep at the thought of my little boy in the hands of these madmen. “He’s my son.”

“He’s mine too. My priority is to keep you safe.”

I don’t spit his last words back. This is a new Nash. He’s changed. Whatever his issues with stepping into his rightful role, he seems to be over them.

“I’ll be smart. I can hang back until it’s time to find Nolan.”

“All right.”

My breath leaves in a rush. “So I can come?”

“Denali, if there’s something you really want, I don’t think I could ever deny you.”

I sag, and he’s there for me, holding me. I didn’t let him touch me earlier. I couldn’t take it. This man broke my heart into a million pieces. But as much as I want to be angry, I need him so much right now. And he’s being everything I need him to be.

“I tried so hard to keep him safe,” I choke out. “I hid as long as I could.”

“Shhh, baby. It’s not your fault,” he says in a way that tells me he thinks it was his.

“It’s not yours, either.”

“My lion was trying to warn me. That’s what all my flashbacks were. I should’ve been there. I should’ve kept you safe.”

I can’t speak, so I hug him.

His lips find my ear. “Baby, if you give me another chance, I swear, I’ll never walk away again.” He steps back and holds my shoulders. “Ever.”

Tears swim in my eyes. Will I take him back?

It would be impossible not to. If Nolan and I are the missing part of him, he’s the missing part of me.

I nod, and he thumbs away the tears tracking down my cheeks. “Yes, you’ll take me back?”

My head wobbles on my neck, but I manage to nod.

Nash holds my face and leans his forehead against mine. “Thank fuck,” he breathes. His jaw sets when he pulls away. “I will get our son back,” he swears with the timbre of an oath.

“I know you will,” I whisper. I believe Nash would move mountains to make it happen. He’ll get our Nolan back.

He has to.

Nash

As soon as the helicopter lands, I’m on the ground. Another day, another jungle. Memories of my soldier days rise and flash through my mind. But no flashbacks. For the first time in decades, my mind is clear.

My lion is quiet, biding his time. He knows I’ll let him out soon. He was born for this. Not a monster. A warrior, born for battle. Born to protect my own. An alpha.

We assemble about a mile out from the target. Everyone’s quiet, readying for battle. Denali stands nearby, staring into the underbrush. She’s so beautiful, her face composed. She wears dark, loose fitting clothes. As soon as we get close, she’ll let loose her lioness. Despite everything, I’m looking forward to seeing her animal again.

Jackson walks by and I lean close to him. “I have a favor to ask.” I jerk my chin toward Denali. “Watch her?”

“Every step of the way.” He grips my shoulder briefly. Shifters touch more than humans do, but I’ve heard Jackson is a notorious loner. He found Sam after Sam escaped from Data-X as a teenager. Jackson took him in and Sam was the only one close to him until Kylie.

“Ready, Alpha?” Parker and Declan appear at my side. They’re about to strip down and take wolf form. They insisted on fighting, and I didn’t try to talk them out of it but ordered them to come in with Garrett. I sense they want to stay close to me.

I grip their shoulders. “You have Nolan’s scent. I need you to be on the lookout for him.”

“Aye, boss.”

“Thank you.”

Above our heads, and huge owl swoops onto a branch and settles. My radio crackles.

“I’ve got eyes on the compound,” Sam says. “Layne is staking out now.”

“Got it.” I signal everyone. “We’re moving out.”

Nash

Santiago’s mansion is a quiet, sprawling shadow, lying between the jungle and the sea. We approach from the jungle side and wait for our moment in the darkness along the high wall.

“No moon tonight,” Carlos murmurs. “And the wind’s blowing off the sea. Any guards who are also shifters won’t scent us coming.” Above our heads, the leaves stir restlessly in the wind. “We better move soon.”

“On my signal.” I step forward. I call my lion and let my hands turn to paws. Carefully, I climb the compound wall. Manicured lawns stretch before me. From Laurie and Layne’s scouting, I know there are gun-wielding guards at every possible exit or defensible spot of the compound, including a few pacing the perimeter.

The great white owl dives on silent wings above my head and I give the signal before leaping onto the lawn. The wolves follow, breaching the walls easily enough. There are a few startled cries along the forest line as the wolves leap from the shadows and take out the first line of guards. Black clad bodies hit the ground simultaneously.

We now have a matter of minutes to infiltrate the mansion. But first we have to cross the lawn without getting caught.

Gun balanced on my shoulder, I creep forward with the line of advancing wolves.

Denali

“They’re in,” Sam reports.

“Roger,” Garrett replies via walkie talkie, rising along with his wolves. “We’re ready.”

“Roger, wait for my signal.”

For a few tense moments, we wait in silence, the wolves giant statues, shirtless in readiness to shift. A breeze rustles through the trees and the shifting shadows play over the tattooed muscles.

A shout, and gunfire clatters in the distance.

The walkie talkie crackles. “Cover blown. Go, go, go!”

I surge to my feet, letting the lioness take my skin. I claw up the wall and hit the lawn at a dead run. Ahead of me, wolves race, noses pointed toward the hacienda, tails streaming. A flash of white from the left. I duck my head until I realize it’s Laurie, his large feathered form swooping in. Sparks flash as he draws gun fire. A yelp ahead of me, and a wolf goes down. The rest run faster, reaching the low wall of the mansion and leaping over it. More gunfire blasts but it’s too late. Garrett’s pack is among the guards, a swarm of deadly shadows.

More gunmen rise up on a parapet, hoisting weapons, but wolves appear behind them before they can fire.

A giant wolf, almost big as a lion, slams into them, casually knocking them to the waiting wolves below. I recognize him as Tank, second in Garrett’s pack, and dominant enough to lead a pack himself, if he wanted.

Hugging the wall, I duck into an alcove and wait for the wolves to make short work of the enemy.

I need to focus on finding Nolan.

I shift back to human form. Beside me, Jackson does the same. From the way he’s dogging my steps, I know Nash put him on me. My own personal guard wolf.

“Intel says there’s a west wing of the house with extra security. If I had to guess, I’d say that’s where he is.”

I nod.

More gunfire and a howl goes up. A second later I duck my head at an explosion. Bits of debris rain against the wall.

“I thought we said no explosives until we find Nolan!” I cry. “Who brought the grenades?”

Jackson shakes his head.

“Incoming!” someone cries, and the building shakes with another blast. “That’s right! Fuck you, muthafuckas,” a young woman’s voice blasts out on a loudspeaker.

Jackson makes strangled noise. “Kylie.” His face is stricken.

It takes me a second to remember that’s the name of his mate. “What? She’s here?”

“She can’t be,” he chokes out. He rises, staring through the smoke and ash.

“Go,” I told him. “Find her. I’ll be fine.”

Another explosion and Kylie whoops in victory along with Garrett’s wolves. He dashes out and disappears.

“Fuck this,” I mutter, and shift back into the lioness. The battle has moved—the explosions growing more distant. Tail weaving, I pad forward, nose to the ground, trying to pick up my son’s scent.

The walls shake as I prowl down a marbled hall, stopping only when men shout and booted feet slam through rooms nearby. The rat-tat-tat of machine gunfire is constant. Passing through one room filled with dead gunmen, I find a set of bloody paw prints and follow them toward the scent of acrid gunpowder, and the smell of the sea.

As I near the back of the mansion, the boom of big guns grows louder. I run faster, slinking along the wall below the level of smoke. I skid into a hall, and jerk as someone opens fire on me. My paws slip on the polished stone. I retreat just in time to avoid the bullet spray. Marble shards bite through my fur and I howl in pain. Something lands by me and explodes. I roar at the flash of pain in my eyes. Blinded, I scramble backwards and hit the wall. Shit. If the gunman follows, he’ll pin me down, no problem.

Through streaming eyes, I see him stalk forward through the smoke. I roll as the gun blasts and hits a heavy piece of furniture. Gunfire follows me, tearing through wood, sending splinters into my body.

A flash of black and orange, and a cat scream, and the gun goes abruptly silent. I hear a growl, and a shadow whirls on me. The smoke clears, and I realize a tiger just saved me. Layne. She swishes her tail and turns on her prey.

Finding my feet, I lope away.

Nolan. I have to find Nolan. I search but can’t catch his scent among the smells of battle.

Then my lioness catches it. Subtle, snaking through the halls. It’s everywhere, but stronger the closer to the sea I get.

Not Nolan’s scent. Santiago’s.

I lope forward, fur prickling as I hear the chop, chop, chop of a helicopter’s blades.

A sound rips through the mansion, and I break into a run, racing toward the lion’s roar.

I burst onto a giant balcony, surrounded by lush jungle, overlooking a turquoise sea. Paradise.

A helicopter hovers on the edge of the stone parapet. A black flock of gunmen surround a figure climbing in. Santiago.

Guns blast from the roof, pinging the helicopter. A few gunman fall but Santiago has already stepped into the helicopter even as it lifts off. He’s getting away.

With all the strength in my body, I rush over the balcony and leap off the edge.

Nash

“Hold fire,” I cry as the lioness darts from cover. Whirling, I rip the gun from the wolf’s shoulder. “You might hit Denali!”

The air shudders under the helicopter’s blades, carrying the sound of the lioness’ outraged screams. A second later, two bodies fall from the helicopter to the balcony below.

“Who else is on that copter?” I demand.

“Three men. I don’t see any kids,” the wolf beside me with a pair of binoculars reports.

“Then shoot it down.” I shove the gun back at the wolf and leap from the roof on to the flagstones below. As soon as I land I race to my mate. Santiago sprawls nearby, blood leaking from a cut on his head. I ignore him.

“Denali?”

The lioness lies on her side. She’s magnificent, golden from head to paw. As I approach breath ripples through her body and she raises her head.

“Denali.” I fall to my knees, unable to stop my hands running down her beautiful flank, checking for wounds.

A warning rumbles in her throat, her eyes widening at something behind me.

I throw myself over her body just before the drumbeat of gunfire. Bullets punch my Kevlar, driving me forward. A few bite into my legs and arms. Denali’s body jerks as her legs are hit.

With a roar I turn, pulling power through my body. All day I could feel it gathering in me—a new dimension of strength. My pack. I called on the alpha ability now, and power rushes through me, filling me with heat. The stinging cuts on my body heal in the two strides it takes to reach Santiago. I kick the gun from his hands.

Santiago whimpers as I crouch by his broken body.

“My son,” I growl. “Where is my son?”

“He’s not yours,” Santiago pants.

Denali snarls.

“Tell that to his mother.” I nod to the angry lioness.

“She was just a breeder. The right combination of genes. That boy wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for me,” the deranged old shifter cries.

After a few attempts, Denali surges to her feet and limps to my side. I bite back my warning for her to be careful. Blood streams from the wounds in her side but her eyes are bright. No vitals were hit.

“Do you remember her? Lioness. One word and she’ll bleed you. And she won’t rush it. She’ll make it slow. Tell us where our son is.” I drag him to the edge of the balcony and throw his torso over the edge.

Santiago yelps as his weight nearly tips and sends him to his death. At the last moment, I catch the back of his shirt to hold him balanced. “Tell us.”

“He’s here.”

“Where?” I demand.

“Western wing,” Santiago pants.

“All right.” I yank him back from the edge and let his body drop to the marble floor. “Denali, let’s go.”

Santiago attempts to stand, but wobbles and falls.

“No, don’t go anywhere, old man. Some of your old friends are dying to see you,” I tell him. A growl sounds behind me. Carlos and his wolves slink at the mouth of the balcony, waiting for us lions to abandon our prey.

Santiago’s skin goes ashen.

“If I were you, I’d try to run.” I nod to the edge of the wall. It’ll be a mercy if the drop kills him. I turn and hurry after my mate, following the trail of blood.

“Denali, wait!”

By the time I catch up, she’s dragging herself forward, inch by painful inch.

“You’re hurt. You need to get back.”

She staggers, her head weaving back and forth.

I kneel and put my hand on her shoulder. “Shift,” I order. The lioness disappears in a rush. A bullet clinks to the floor, Denali’s body shudders a little with the transformation, but her wounds look better. I enforced the command with alpha power—something I’ve never used before. Didn’t even know I had. I strip off my shirt and cover her.

“I’m fine.” She winces as I help her sit up.

“No, you’re not.”

“Found them,” a young woman’s voice rings out. A black drone appears, hovering in the air. “Here they are!”

“Nash—Denali—thank fates.” Jackson rushes in. “Did you find him?”

“Santiago,” I confirm. “Carlos has him.” Or what’s left of him.

“I have a reading on a highly alarmed room, on the second story in the west wing of the house,” the drone chirps. “I think it might be Nolan.”

Denali grips my hand.

“I’ll get him,” I say. “First let’s get you to the helicopter.”

“Not leaving Nolan,” she grits.

“Please, baby. I can focus better on getting Nolan if I know you’re safe. Please.”

“I’ve got her,” Jackson says. “You go with Kylie.”

“Kylie?”

“Right here.” The drone zooms closer. There’s a tiny screen and a smiling woman waves at me. “You didn’t think I’d miss out on the action, did you?”

Jackson mutters something about punishment as he crouches to let Denali throw her arm over his shoulders.

She gasps as he lifts her.

I hesitate.

“Nash, go,” Denali urges.

I jog behind the drone. Kylie navigates deftly through the halls.

“There might be guards,” she says. “Give me a moment.”

I pause as she flies forward, then calls, cheerfully. “All clear.”

We turn into a hall.

“Last door on the right, I believe,” Kylie remarks. “This mansion is pretty nice. For a psychopathic bad guy, Santiago had good taste. Nash—wait!”

I halt in my tracks. A little light beams from the drone, illuminating little red lines crisscrossed in front of the door.

“Lasers,” Kylie says. “Apparently Santiago didn’t trust his own guards to watch your son. Can you get through?”

I nod and back up. Drawing on the lion’s strength, I take a running leap and sail over the laser grid.

Normally I’d shift, but I don’t want to break down the door if I don’t have to. No need to scare my son.

My hand closes on the doorknob. It turns easily.

“Excellent,” Kylie breathes. “I’ll tell Sam to have the helicopter on standby.”

After a moment my eyes to adjust to the dim interior, I step inside. The room is large and surprisingly beautiful, a child’s space filled with toys. A nursery for a beloved son.

Carlos told us Santiago was never able to have children. Maybe if he had, he would never have embarked on his quest to create a master race.

At the end of the room, there’s a bed. As I approach, the blankets stir, and Nolan sits up, face sleepy.

“Nash?” he rubs his eyes. “You came for me.”

“Yes,” I go to my knees, and open my arms as he pushes off the bed and rushes to me. “Son.”

Denali

The throbbing in my side nearly blinds me.

“Get her out of here,” Jackson calls.

“Wait!” I cry. “Please. Not without—”

“It’s okay,” Sam assures me. “Our position’s secure. We’ve got time.”

I gnaw my lip. What if there was another pocket of guards? What if Santiago did something with Nolan and he’s locked up—or not here?

“Trust him, Denali.”

A figure parts the mist of the predawn gloom. My lioness knows before I surge up from the seat.

Nash carries Nolan across the lawn. My boy’s arms around my mate’s strong neck, little face turned up to tell him something. Nash answers and both look over at me. I catch my breath.

“Momma,” Nolan cries as soon as he sees me. I’m crying, arms reaching for him. Nash closes the distance and hands him to me.

“He’s fine,” Nash reassures as I bury my face in Nolan’s hair, breathing in his scent. I check my boy over as Nash straps us both in carefully.

“Mom, why are you crying? I’m okay. Nash came for me.”

“I know, baby.”

“Ready?” Sam calls from the pilot seat.

“All set,” Nash tells him. “Ready for takeoff. Take my family home.”

Agent Dune

Charlie lowers the scope of the sniper rifle and rolls to stand up. A crack of a twig has him snapping the gun back to his shoulder, whirling and aiming to shoot. Just as quickly, he lowers the muzzle.

It’s a wolf. One of them.

A shudder of recognition runs through him, just as it did when he watched the group of humans shift and change. Not all of them are wolves. Nash is a lion and so is his girlfriend. He saw a tiger and an owl, too.

The wolf lifts its upper lip in a growl, showing its teeth.

Knowing there’s a human behind the fangs, Charlie drops the gun and lifts his hands. “Easy. I just came to make sure you got the boy back. I’m not part of this operation.”

The wolf advances, still growling.

A week ago, he might have shot the wolf first and asked questions later, but not now. Not after what he just saw. After what he felt.

Watching the men change into animal form did something strange to his body. His cells heated and rearranged, like they knew the pattern. Like they wanted him to change, too.

“I’m not with Santiago. I gave you guys the coordinates to find this place.”

The wolf launches itself at him.

He throws up his forearm to block the bite, but it never comes. The wolf knocks him to his back and stands on him but doesn’t go for his throat.

In a flash, the wolf transforms into an angry man.

Charlie’s nose smashes under a brutal punch from Jared Johnson, the fighter he picked up in Tucson.

“What do you know about the boy?” Jared demands.

Charlie uses his legs to throw Jared off him and springs to his feet, hands up at the ready. He has another gun at his hip, but he doesn’t go for it. Jared isn’t trying to kill him.

“I saw them take the boy.” The two circle each other. Jared’s fists are up like a boxer’s. “I was too far away to stop it, but I felt obligated to follow up. Make sure you got him back.”

Jared lunges in for a punch, but Charlie dodges it and slips back without retaliation. It might be the first time he’s fought a naked man.

“You work for the government,” Jared accuses.

“I’m not on the job.”

“Why are you here?”

“I just told you.”

Jared drops his fists as abruptly as he first attacked. “Bullshit.” He lifts his chin. There’s a challenge there that sends the prickles of ice up and down Charlie’s spine. “Shift.”

Charlie doesn’t understand the command, but his body heats again, the queer sensation of cells moving and rearranging happening again.

“Shift, asshole.” Jared’s voice carries more power than it should.

It seems to echo in Charlie’s ears, go through his torso. A twisting, wrenching, shattering sensation tears his body apart. His clothing grows too small and rips on his body, and then he’s closer to the ground, staring down at a pair of giant, white paws. The pain in his broken nose disappears.

What… the fuck?

But even as his mind reels, some small inner voice whispers I knew it.

He lifts his head and stares up at the human.

There’s a triumphant gleam in Jared’s eye. He crosses his arms over his chest. “Is this what you really wanted to know? Hmm, Agent Dune?”

Of course, Charlie can’t speak to answer. All he can do is growl.

“Shift back,” he commands again.

Just as inescapably, his body transforms again. Charlie’s on his ass on the ground, his torn clothing twisted around his limbs.

“Stay off our trail. You want answers, come and ask me directly. You know where I live.” And with that, Jared blurs and drops to all fours, loping off into the jungle on giant wolf paws.

Charlie lifts his hands and examines them. No trace of paws remains. “Well,” he mutters aloud. “That was fucking weird.”

An uncharacteristic smile creeps across his face and something, some animal part of him, celebrates.

A werewolf.

“No shit.” He chuckles as he packs up his gun.