Lycan Alpha Claim 3 Read Online Free PDF Page A

an option in my near future.
    “Our base form determines the hierarchy of who is Alpha of the colony.”
    “That's why Donkey backed down?” I ask.
    Drake nods, a smile ghosting his lips. His golden brown hair is a short mat of spikiness tight to his skull.
    He smiles. “Dragon trumps Donkey every time, Talyn.”
    I duck my head between my knees. It's not easy with my ankles bound but it's that or pass out.
    I guess I want to stay awake for my gang rape after all.
    Even if Dragon-man extended a temporary olive branch, it's only a matter of time.
    And time isn't on my side.

8
    Merck
     
    Arden and I lie on our bellies a mile outside of the target area. Our gazes lock on a run-down neighborhood in the slums of the sleepy suburb of Sioux Falls.
    Tract houses run together without a break in style. There are no obvious dissenters in the uniformity of cookie cutter living. Every house sits mournfully similar. Unkempt lawns, and crookedly bent cyclone fences surround forgotten yards.
    Looks about right.
    “Typical Mutable breeding lair.”
    I grunt at Arden's assessment. “Nice shifter community you have.”
    Arden shoots me a look of sharp scorn. “We're not a community. We're a colony of the only shifters who have more than one animal. Maybe you Changers are so much better because you have your pick of Lycan females and the occasional hybrid female to change. Us Mutables? We have whatever female we can impregnate.”
    “Talyn is not going to be bred by Mutables,” I say in a voice bloated with menace and filled with promise.
    Arden rolls to his side, elbow bent, palm supporting his head. “Listen Changer—this is Talyn . My best friend in my human existence. But never confuse things. I am Mutable. The breeding fever chokes me—like it's choking them.” His eyes shift to the distant houses. “If I'd been part of a colony, I'd be down there deliberating my hierarchy within the breeding order.”
    I jump to my feet. “What?”
    He stands too. “Haven't you been listening? The Mutable colony has a scout. He goes out, taps into any female heat signal he can find, and brings the rest of us. The best breeding males are sent. They breed the female. If the pregnancy takes, they leave. If it doesn't, they come back when she cycles again.”
    “So there's no one who takes care of her? The female's just bred and left with young to care for—no mate, pack or anything?”
    Arden shakes his head. “I didn't make the rules, Merck. This is what the one Mutable I ran into explained. He couldn't believe I'd bonded with a female. He behaved as though it was sacrilegious or something.”
    I give him a tight look. “It shows that females can be more than breeding vessels for Mutables. How many females have been broken, and bore young they're unable to care for? How many are raised in broken homes or in the criminal foster system?”
    Arden shrugs. “I'm not being blasé here. I know it's a faulty system. I didn't create it, and for the record, I adore Talyn. Clearly I wouldn't have hung around until her heat cycle if I'd just wanted to be part of the colony and its ways.”
    He turns his head in the direction of the house where Talyn's scent vaguely clings.
    I know we can't just charge in, but my palms dampen with the need to react immediately.
    “And I know my position would be high.”
    What? My face swivels to his. “High?”
    “ Alpha . My base animal is snow leopard. Rarity and power count within a Mutable colony. Some males get stuck with a really weak base animal.” A low chuckle escapes his lips.
    Arden sees my expression and laughs again. “Sure, and an elephant can stomp on a hyena, but the hyena is faster—has survival instincts at the top of the food chain.”
    I grunt. “So it's good that you're a cat?”
    Arden heaves an exasperated exhale. “Large feline and rare.”
    I frown. “What's more Alpha than you?” Being Lycan seems much simpler.
    Arden's face closes down. “Anything prehistoric would be a