The Alpha's Unwanted Mate: (BWWM) Paranormal Romance Standalone by Ellie Valentina Page B

couch.
    “We need to leave.” She said breathlessly.
    The words escaped her in a rush, and both boys jerked to attention. Elias immediately reddened at her presence. “What are you talking about?”
    Ian had already started to sniffle. “Something is wrong in the settlement, and we need to get away from here.”
    All at once, the older boy’s ears perked. It was clear that details that had eluded his heightened senses while he was reading had just begun to reach him. For a split second, Angeline read the raw fear on his face. The expression was present for only a moment, however, before a mask of anger covered it.
    “I’m going out there.” Wheeling his chair around, Elias attempted to get past her, only to have her step directly in front of him, incredulous.
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing?
    “It’s the Reef Pack!” Elias barked in reply. “They’re our rivals! They’ve killed dozens of us and they deserve to be punished!”
    The boy must be out of his mind. He might be a wolf, but he was in a wheelchair. He’d be ripped apart, she thought incredulously. And what about his brother? Ian’s wails were starting to drift through the small house.
    “You’re not going anywhere.” Steeling herself, Angeline planted her feet firmly before taking hold of Elias’ wheelchair handles. “Your father wouldn’t want you anywhere near danger!”
    “My father is weak!” Elias’ words came out tense, strangled with the emotion that blazed in is green eyes. “He couldn’t stop the murders! He doesn’t fight for our pack! He couldn’t even save our mother !”
    His words filled the house with his pain as his eyes swam with tears. Panic and shock combined in Angeline’s mind as she took in the boy’s words. Though she knew them to be uttered  in anger and grief, she had no time to argue with him now.
    “Your father fights for this pack every day when he protects you!” She snapped back, breathless. “To him, you are the pack. Do you think by dying here, today, you’ll be doing him or your Alpha any kind of service!? Don’t be a fool, Elias! I barely know you, but I’m certain you’re smarter than this!”
    The young man gazed up at her, his mouth slightly parted in surprise at the intensity of her outburst. After a moment, tears began to stream down his face. As he went limp in his chair, Angeline rushed over to take Ian into her arms. The child immediately began to struggle, lashing out violently with a force that bloodied the young woman’s lip.
    “Ian!” She called out to him. “Ian, it’s going to be ok! I’m going to take you to your dad!”
    “I want mommy! I want my mommy! ” The boy’s tears were pitiful as he beat against her.
    Instead of holding him at arms-length, Angeline only hugged him closer to her breast, her own tears threatening. “I know, honey. I know. Shhh…it’s going to be alright.” After a full minute of thrashing, Ian finally collapsed against her, sobbing as his tiny arms wove their way around her neck.
    Hefting him in one arm, Angeline returned to Elias, who was sitting, forlorn, in his wheelchair. Another haunting howl pierced the morning air, and the young woman knew she didn’t have much time. Carefully, she wheeled Elias out of the back door and down the ramp built onto the rear of the house. She couldn’t move at a very fast pace with Ian perched precariously on her shoulder, but she did the best she could. The moment she reached the forest floor, she made for the trees, hoping for steady ground. She needed to get the boys as far away from danger as humanly possible. In her heart, she hoped that Clyde was far from danger as well, but she knew that as the Alpha’s brother and advisor, if he were anywhere near, he would be in the thick of it.
    All at once, the leaves rustled behind her and she turned, her heart pounding, to be faced with a gigantic, canine creature. Its eyes were a manic red hue that glowed in hunger, and saliva dripped from teeth