Her Alpha Protector Read Online Free PDF Page B

to block it out. The odor clung to a shimmering phantom, one that drifted around her and threaded its wraithlike fingers through her hair. Grimacing, she struggled to drive the specter from her mind and sink back into a dreamless state.
    It was a task easier said than done.
    The ghost grew incensed the longer she ignored it and its body began to shimmer in a furious red glow, its milky eyes staring down at her. Ethereal lips curled back over fanged teeth and from its mouth came a deep thrumming growl, one that roused the hairs on the back of her neck.
    Angel stirred and dug her fingers into the sides of her jacket, drawing them around her with the hope of warding off this nasty chill. In her dream, her eyes lifted to the spirit and widened when a familiar face took form. Features she’d long committed to memory took shape from the wisps of mist: sharp chin, narrow face, long nose and hard, piercing eyes.
    She gasped and jerked as she came fully awake, her eyes flying open. The scent lingered and she dragged her hand down her rumpled face, wiping under her nose. It seemed stronger now, and she groaned as she struggled to rid herself of the pungent smell.
    Asleep. What had she been thinking? How much time had passed since Hunter left? Rubbing her eyes, she lifted her gaze to the clock nailed above the counter gate. The ticker dragged, thundering from one second to the next. Not an hour had passed, and she slumped back, sighing, forcing herself to remain awake. Such a fool. Stupid, but boredom had taken hold as she listened to the seconds tick by on that dreaded clock, waiting for Seth to make his appearance.
    “Still not using your nose properly.” A dark, familiar voice rose at her back.
    Angel shot up from the chair as if she’d been struck, whipping around at the last moment to find the phantom in solid form, perched in the seat behind her. Those eyes... oh , hell , those eyes. It’d taken her years to convince herself that not every man had that same stare, and even longer to overcome the distressing fear that he was always there, always watching.
    Seth—her maker and former alpha.
    “What?” he mused as he pushed to his feet and stalked around the bench. “No warm welcome for your old lover?”
    Her face twisted and she sucked in her lower lip. She’d never been his lover—at least not willingly. But to Seth that meant nothing. When he found something he liked, he claimed it without thought of whether it was even his to take. She countered his steps, her eyes darting to the large glass doors, searching for Hunter. Two shadows darkened the entry, and though they were familiar faces, neither of them was Hunter. Had she put her trust in the wrong person?
    “Come now, Angel.” His words pulled her attention back to him and she shuddered at the sound of her name, breathy and thick with desire. “Do you know how long I’ve searched for you? Some small bit of gratitude would be appropriate.”
    She felt the draw, the pull, whatever it was that alphas could do to those beneath them. Her stomach warmed with the thought of going to him, even though she knew she’d be disgusted later. That was always the way of it. She would have liked to think her strength had grown in their time apart. But he was an alpha and she was not.
    “Come,” he ordered, his rumbling voice full of authority.
    She broke at the waist, his words binding her to his will, forcing her into submission. The ground rose up, her hands and knees slamming down before she began to crawl across the squalid floor. Inside, her wolf was howling, struggling in a mad assault to free the alpha’s hold, but she wasn’t strong enough. Where was Hunter? He’d sworn he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Well, something sure was happening.
    When she reached his feet, two long fingers curled under her chin and drew her head up until he could spear her with his stare. “This is where you belong, my Angel.”
    Her head shook without thought, her hair settling