Alpha undercover, p.1
Alpha Undercover, page 1
ALPHA UNDERCOVER
BAD BOY SHIFTERS
BOOK TWO
HEATHER HILDENBRAND
Alpha Undercover
(Bad Boy Shifters Series)
©2016 Heather Hildenbrand
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written consent of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are a product of the authors’ imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, either living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Cover design by RJ Creatives
www.heatherhildenbrand.com
CONTENTS
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
Alpha Bear
About the Author
Also by Heather Hildenbrand
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Sworn to the light, can she resist darkness incarnate when he claims her very soul?
CHAPTER ONE
The target ahead slipped easily through the crowd of foot traffic, but Gage was better. He kept the street urchin in his sight line effortlessly despite the steady stream of pedestrians. Red Mountain, Montana wasn’t a metropolis by any means. Hell, give everyone darker skin and a pet camel and it would look just like his last command post, especially when you factored in the reddish hue of the mountains that rose up around the town like a natural fortifying wall.
Up ahead, the pickpocket he was tailing bumped shoulders with an older woman exiting the drug store, jostling her purse. The kid grunted a half-assed apology from underneath his hooded sweatshirt, as was part of his act, this time coming away with a wallet and a shimmering bracelet. The woman recovered and hurried on, a couple of items lighter and a tad grumpier than before. Gage wasn’t impressed; he was disgusted. And he was sick of tailing the kid.
Luckily, the order had changed today. He was going to enjoy finally being able to bust this asshole. He’d enjoy it all even more when this whole job was over and he could get back on the road. He had no destination in mind after he left, but Red Mountain held nothing for him. He was only here as a favor to his father’s best friend. Hardy Gilbert had been like an uncle to Gage growing up, and he respected the man’s ethics. That was the only reason he’d agreed to come do this job in the first place. When he was finished, he’d have to get back to his real mission: finding a place to settle down now that he was a free man. It was strange not having a home, stranger still being on the search for one.
When the greasy kid with heavy pockets took a left into the shaded alleyway, Gage followed and picked up the pace, his senses alert. His boots made no sound against the cracked asphalt. His breathing, his movements—everything was muted but efficient. Just like the military had trained him for. Mentally, he calculated the timing and the speed versus distance to his target.
The pickpocket slowed his pace, too caught up in counting his loot to even notice he had a tail. Even better.
Gage waited until the noise from the streets and the sunlight had all dimmed and then faded. Here, there was nothing but shadows and nefarious intentions. Red Mountain was nice enough on the surface—a lumber town and, in the summers, a getaway for the wealthier that lived in the big city—but in the two weeks Gage had been here, he’d learned the underbelly of this place was as dark and corrupt as any war zone he’d ever served in.
Somewhere unseen, a cat gave a pathetic meow. The mark didn’t react. Still ogling his take. Either the dumbest pickpocket or the most self-assured. Gage took a deep breath, still following silently, closing the gap.
This was it. And despite the kid being no match—scrawny, human, nothing compared to Gage’s built form or his inner wolf—anticipation sent a jolt of adrenaline through his veins. Finally, some damn action.
He was on the kid in three steps and yanked him up by his shirt sleeve.
“Calm down,” Gage said calmly as the kid struggled and twisted in a too-late attempt to escape.
“Get the fuck off me!” the kid yelled and Gage rolled his eyes.
“Not happening,” Gage said.
The kid, no more than nineteen he saw now, struggled wildly, contorting this way and that. Gage held fast to his sleeve.
A second later, the kid had slid out of his jacket and took off running, the soles of his high-tops slapping the pavement. Gage scowled at the empty hoodie, still laden down with the goods of a morning’s work. He tossed it aside and took off after the mark. It didn’t take long for him to close the gap between them. He rounded the corner just inches from his fingers closing around the kid’s collar but then pulled up short at what he saw.
A woman, curvy, blond, and gorgeous—and currently in distress—was being held down against the wall of a dilapidated brick building by two men. They’d wedged her between themselves and an old metal cargo door and were pawing at her. One already had her purse and still, they kept grabbing at her, roaming her waistline and chest through her thin blouse with their meaty hands.
The one on the left inhaled. “Hot damn, you smell good.” He smiled lewdly as the woman cringed, scrunching her eyes closed and turning her face away.
Gage stopped. His hands fell to his sides, fisting automatically. Vaguely, he heard the slap of the kid’s shoes as the pickpocket sprinted farther and farther away. Finally, the sound disappeared. He’d lost his mark.
He’d find him again later.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Gage asked, finally drawing the attention of the two thugs that held the woman.
He strode over without waiting for an answer.
They scowled at him and one of them—the one with the purse—spit at Gage’s feet, turning fully to face him with fisted hands. “None of your business. Keep it moving, prick.”
The man’s skin rippled with evidence of some inner animal and Gage knew the punk’s beast was close to the surface. Red Mountain was a shifter town, after all, so he wasn’t surprised. In fact, he welcomed the challenge.
Finally, a worthy fight.
“Mistreating and assaulting women… I’d say that’s my business,” Gage said, the words too casual for the boiling rage inside him. He had a particular disgust for men who knocked women around.
The man’s eyes gleamed. He took a step forward.
Gage was ready for him. There was a split of fabric as both men shifted without bothering to undress, and Gage charged. He was met by a snapping-jawed hyena that screeched as its teeth sought purchase on furry flesh. Gage snarled, dipped, and twisted—and finally landed his canines into the hyena’s throat. He sank deep into the bite, dragging the hyena along the asphalt, killing his prey while he chased down the other man who was trying to escape with the woman.
“Agh! Get… off me!” The woman fought back, but he dragged her along toward a doorway Gage hadn’t seen before that led into the brick building behind them.
If the asshole got her inside, Gage might not be able to find them again. Not happening.
Gage gave the hyena’s flesh locked in his jaw a final shake. The hyena yelped sharply and then went silent. Gage released it, hoping it was injured enough not to follow. Sure enough, the hyena fell in a heap against the damp pavement. It didn’t move and Gage’s wolf didn’t sense a heartbeat.
Unmoved, Gage broke into a run, rushing at the woman and her captor at full speed, and caught the man’s ankle just before he crossed the threshold into the inky darkness on the other side.
“Oh!” The woman called out in surprise and fell back, giving Gage the room he needed to take the man down. There was a yell and then a pop as bone gave way, crushed under Gage’s powerful jaw.
When Gage let go, blood streamed from the man’s boot, and the criminal rolled side to side cradling his foot.
Gage snarled at the man, so tempted to give into his animal instincts and finish the guy off. But the woman was crying softly behind him and she’d had enough trauma for one day. He shifted back to his human form and approached her slowly, his hands up to show he meant no harm.
“You’re okay. I won’t hurt you,” he told her. “Neither will they,” he added.
Her cry was soft but even so, Gage was at a loss. He hated seeing women cry. It always made him feel so helpless. Unsure what else to do, and caught up in the way her hair shone even in the shadows of the alleyway, he brought his arms around her and pulled her in close.
She stopped crying and looked up at him in sharp surprise . “What are you doing?” she asked.
“You looked like you needed a hug.” Gage stared down at her, caught completely under her spell. Her flushed cheeks, wet lashes, and full, parted lips invited him to want things he hadn’t let himself want in a very long time. He found himself leaning closer just to taste her breath. Just to feel her full in his arms. “Did they hurt you?” he asked, his voice rough with a need that had been long buried.
“No. I’m not hurt,” she said but neither of them moved. Her silky skin heated underneath his touch. Her tongue darted out to lick her full bottom lip and Gage felt his body react. Still, she didn’t back away. She seemed just as caught up as he was.
When her blue eyes dropped to Gage’s mouth and then even lower to the rest of his exposed body, he felt his control crumbling. He leaned in until her breath washed over his face and was pleased to see her cheeks flush as she took him in—all of him.
Inhaling her scent, he tasted sweet honeysuckle mixed with her own animal’s pheromones—some kind of cat shifter, he guessed—and it only left him determined for more of her. Gage wasn’t exactly in the habit of rescuing and then screwing beautiful women in alleyways—but there was a first time for everything. Besides, he didn’t have a military rank and rule to adhere to anymore.
A noise deep inside the building beside them caught his ear, but he didn’t give a shit about anything that wasn’t her right now. He wondered if she’d let him just lift her skirt and slide inside her—or if he should maybe ask her name first.
God, he was out of practice. Not that he’d ever been in practice for something quite like this. She was a damned stranger for God’s sake. But his wolf had never wanted anyone more than it wanted her right now.
Gage pulled her closer, letting his erection press against her belly. She exhaled again and Gage tasted her anticipation. He leaned in to kiss her. But with their mouths an inch apart, she went stiff in his arms.
From inside the building, the noise got louder—Gage identified it clearly now as footsteps—and closer. Gage’s head cleared. He cocked an ear and felt the woman begin to pull away from him.
Her expression contorted to an unsettling blankness that left Gage puzzled. He dropped his arms from around her and leaned back. “What’s wrong—?” he began.
Footsteps sounded from just beyond the open doorway behind him. Gage tensed and stepped in front of the woman, intent on protecting her again if it came to that. He tucked her behind him, positioning himself in front as three figures—then five—materialized from the darkness. The man in front wore a black, pin-striped suit, crisp and strangely out of place in the bowels of the alley where they stood now. Although, Gage had to admit that a freshly pressed suit would be better than nothing… which is what he currently wore.
From behind the first man, a small swarm of thugs in too-small t-shirts and a permanent scowl also poured out of the doorway. Gage counted five and although he never took his eyes off the man in charge, he knew exactly where they circled around and stood as they surrounded him.
The man in the suit sniffed and made a show of adjusting his cuff link. The metal ring on his pinky caught Gage’s eye and was all the confirmation he needed of the man’s identity. Finally, he was getting a face-to-face with the man he’d come to town for. Although, he hadn’t imagined it going down quite like this.
“Mr. Morgan, looking fit and competent, as always,” the man said, clearly enjoying Gage’s lack of clothing.
“Mr. Cattaneo,” Gage said with a nod. “Surprised to see you here. It’s nice to meet you.” He didn’t bother pointing out that technically this was the first face-to-face meeting they’d had—despite Gage’s daily orders from the man for the past five days. The man was hard to please—and to pin down, as Gage’s recon efforts could vouch for.
“Likewise. The surprise is mutual,” Cattaneo said with a chuckle at Gage before glancing at the blonde behind him. “Angelica,” he said, his tone warming a fraction.
Gage cast a narrow look between the well-dressed man in front of him and the beautiful woman behind him. She was still a little mussed although not nearly as terror-stricken as before. She’d straightened her blouse where it had fallen invitingly as he held her. She stared back at Cattaneo as if she’d seen him a thousand times before. Warning bells went off in Gage’s mind.
Gage cleared his throat. “What the hell’s going on, sir?”
Mr. Cattaneo’s brow rose. One of the goons behind him grunted and took a small step forward.
“Respectfully,” Gage added, ducking his head to hide the fact that he was rolling his eyes. Protocol. There was a procedure for these things. And if he wanted to complete his mission, feigning respect for the town’s crime boss was necessary.
Cattaneo held up a hand to stop the goon from moving any closer. A wise choice. Gage might be here to get in good with Cattaneo but he wasn’t about to let some meat-brained knuckle-dragger kick his ass just for good measure. A man had limits.
“What’s going on here is a test,” Cattaneo said briskly, hands shoved inside his suit pants. “You passed.”
A test? Gage’s mind raced, putting all the details of the past thirty minutes back together from a different perspective. Finally, it all clicked into place. Irritated, he glanced back at the woman. She gave him a secret smile and he almost lost his temper and his human form right there. Respect for Hardy and the value of his own promise already given were the only things that kept his feet planted and his mouth shut. The broad had played him. He shook his head, disgusted with himself for falling for it.
The fact that her smile alone sent a sizzle straight to his cock—which was currently on display—explained a lot. Still, he had been an idiot. There’d be time to berate himself later, though. Now, he forced himself to focus. This was the moment he’d been waiting for since he’d arrived in town. Too bad it was happening alongside a raging erection. On display.
“Sir, I assumed the pickpocket was the test. You sent instructions this morning to bring him in. I almost had him—”
“Yes, Larry. He’s been a nuisance for years but no real threat. I’m not interested in him.” Cattaneo waved a hand, dismissing the last four days of Gage’s work. “I hear you want in. A place at my table. You’ve completed every task I’ve given you so far but for that, a larger test was necessary.” His thin lips twitched in a small smile. “A damsel in distress always does the trick.”
Gage sighed and grit his teeth to keep from blasting the man who was hopefully about to become his new boss. At least until he sent the prick to jail. “Sir, the men that attacked this woman… I killed one of them. Seriously injured another…” He trailed off and nodded at the body on the ground behind him.
“Yes, that.” Mr. Cattaneo spun and stalked to where the injured man stood leaning against the bricks. He kicked the man’s leg with the toe of his shoe and the injured man yelped, trying to back away without falling. “You double-crossed me, Frank. Took too much off the top on that last one.” Cattaneo clucked his tongue. “Shouldn’ta done that.”
“Boss, I didn’t take anything off the top, I—”
“Get him outta here,” Cattaneo said. Two goons sprang into action, scooping up the injured man—Frank—and carrying him into the building despite his protests and struggles.
When Frank’s yelling faded, Cattaneo nodded at the woman. “Ang, you did good. You get going. I booked you a massage for your trouble.”
The woman gave a tight smile and walked up to Cattaneo, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. A familiar gesture that, for some reason, made Gage want to slug the man. Although, if the fire in her icicle eyes was any indication, she wanted to slug him right about now too. That made things interesting.
