To Mate an Assassin: The Lost Alphars Series, Book 1 Read Online Free PDF Page B

was away on business, he would normally inundate her phone with annoyed text messages regarding the various issues that came up. But his cousin was a hard-working Lieutenant, and the land ownership issue she’d been tirelessly hammering out with the local Vryk clan was too important for her to reschedule, the consequences too severe if it didn’t go as planned. So far they’d been lucky each side hadn’t overstepped their boundaries, the mounting tension almost palpable for the packs nearest in location to Mara’s compound. He could handle a few irritating phone calls if it meant Rhiannon and Carter could come up with an understanding both Kerrick and Mara could agree on.
    Nevertheless, Kerrick imagined turning his phone off and shirking his responsibilities for a run in the woods. With a heavy-hearted yet determined grunt, he pressed the green button and lifted the phone to his ear.
    “Yes?”
    “Alphar, we have a situation at the front gate.”
    He stood at attention, looking beyond the archway and casting out his senses to detect any outward threats. Had the Vryks finally snapped their leashes and made a move? Kerrick didn’t jump to conclusion, however, as counting the front gate guards’ recent dubious history, he had his doubts this call held an actual matter of concern. “If this is about where I want produce deliveries again, I will come out there and unman you.”
    “No, sir. It’s not. I swear.” The guard cleared his throat. “There’s a woman.”
    “A woman?” He couldn’t help the growl that accompanied the question. A minute of peace, just one bloody minute. He finally understood why his mentor Grace became so annoyed when someone would interrupt her personal time.
    The guard wisely ignored the growl. “Sir, she’s walking around the compound gate. She just appeared out of nowhere. We think she’s heading towards the front gate. She’s…to be frank, sir, she’s a bit off.”
    “She’s human?” They couldn’t handle a single woman without his help? He needed new guards.
    “No, sir. I smell Wolf.” Kerrick heard muffled shouting in the background. “She’s almost at the front gate now, sir, Robert is going to speak with her. Maybe she’s lost. What do you think, sir?”
    “She is just one Wolf. Are you telling me my entire guard is incapable of handling one female Werewolf? Just because you think she’s off?” Kerrick rubbed his forehead, trying to ease the tension headache he felt coming on.
    “No, sir,” the guard said nervously. But whether it was from Kerrick’s annoyed growl or the “off” woman, he didn’t know. “We’ll handle it, sir.”
    “Keep me updated.” Kerrick ended the call and continued on to his office, thinking he’d need to hire and train an entire new team of guards for the outer perimeter if they flubbed any further inquiries. When he first took the position of Alphar, he’d been eager to implement radical changes for the betterment of shifter society in North America. Now he spent the majority of his time handling little irritants his staff should have been capable of dealing with. The problem was a consistent one, but he couldn’t take his anger out on them too harshly. They were all relatively new recruits whose formative years had been spent under the rule of an insane Alphar.
    The stability of the Alphar affected the stability of the territory and those who held leadership positions within it. The leaders of his new soldiers’ packs had been corrupted by the poisoned power filtering down from their Alphar. The men and women come to serve Kerrick had no true role model. They’d only known discord and lies. Yet another issue he was facing across the continent, one he looked upon with equal severity as the Vryk incursion, destabilized and ill-guided youth.
    He strolled into his office and shut the door with closed eyes. Solitude and quiet at last, at least that was what he’d hoped for.
    “Alphar!” Fuck my life. “Kerrick, the front