Tamed by the Mistress: BBW/Alpha Male Werewolf Romantic Erotica (Smut-Shorties Book 13) by Mina Carter

Chapter One
     
    As soon as Reena set foot into the Griffin pack house, she knew something was wrong. The air stank of deceit and desperation. A scent so strong, she tasted it in the back of her throat.
    “What the hell is going on here?” she demanded, her voice pitched to carry. She didn’t care that she had just arrived or this was not her house. As Mistress of the City and overlord of all lycans, all pack houses were her territory. And right now, all the hairs on the back of her neck told her this one was in trouble.
    “My lady…I’m so sorry, we weren’t informed you would be visiting today,” the young woman who’d opened the door said, bowing and refusing to look Reena or her companion in the eye. Her skin was pale, pulse elevated…
    Reena frowned, exchanging a glance with Isla, her captain of the guard. The taller woman shrugged, her expression saying clearly I got nothing .
    “It’s not a problem, I often drop into pack houses unannounced. No blame will be attached to you,” she promised. And it wouldn’t. She might have a reputation as a cast-iron bitch birthed from a hellhound itself, but she’d never lift a hand or claw to an innocent. “If you’d fetch the Alpha for me.”
    The girl began to quake, but she didn’t get a chance to answer. Instead, a roar rang through the house, one so loud it made even Reena wince. It was a sound of pain and anger, of torment and fury. A wolf in agony.
    Her head snapped around to the girl, and she put a hand under her chin to make her look up. “Who is that?” Reena’s voice was deadly calm, one that plainly said she would not accept a lie for an answer.
    The girl’s eyes filled with tears. “I-it’s Master Archer, ma’am. He’s…was human.”
    Archer. Reena dropped her hold on the girl’s jaw like she’d been stung. Archer Griffin, who’d shared her bed not three nights past. The Midwinter Offering who disappeared before she awoke.
    Human? There had to be some mistake. He’d been alpha through and through at the ball.
    Another bellow rang through the mansion, rattling windows. A small glass figurine on the cabinet fell to the left and shattered.
    Whatever he was, he was in pain. And if he’d been human…a horrible suspicion formed in her mind.
    “Where?” she demanded, her voice harsh. The command hung in the air.
    The girl jerked as though she’d been hit. “The basement.”
    The small turn of her head was all the information Reena needed. Her wolf snarled within, echoing the sounds of torment that filled the halls, and she set off. Her heels clicked on the stone flooring, Isla’s boots silent in contrast, as the two followed the sounds through the house until they found the basement’s entrance.
    The scent hit them as soon as Reena opened the door. Wolf. Male. Virile. In need.
    Isla coughed, biting back a choke. “Fuck me. Smells like someone needs to get laid. Bad.”
    “Yeah. No kidding.” Reena didn’t delay, heading down the steps toward the deafening bellows. It was easy to find the source of the pain and within minutes she stood in a doorway looking into what could only be described as a containment cell.
    Archer was chained to a wall. Naked to the waist, he thrashed and pulled at his bonds, the muscles in his body straining as he tried to break free. In frustration he threw back his head and howled. A sound no human could make.
    “Archer, please,” the woman in front of him sobbed. “You have to calm down, you’ll make yourself worse.”
    “What the hell is going on?” Reena demanded, striding into the room. All eyes turned to her. As well as Archer and the woman, she recognized an older man.
    “Johnathon,” she nodded at the Griffin pack alpha, keeping her shock at his frail appearance off her face. The last time she’d seen Alpha Griffin, he’d been in good health, and although a wolf with more years than most, he had still been formidable. Now he just looked old.
    “What’s the matter with him?” She nodded toward