Marked by the Alpha

Copyright
©
201
3
by Stormy Night Publications and
Adaline
Raine

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by Stormy Night Publications and Design, LLC.

www.StormyNightPublications.com

Raine
,
Adaline

Marked by the Alpha

Cover Design by
Korey
Mae Johnson

Image
s
by
Deposit Photos
©
wildatart
and
The
Killion
Group
.

This book is intended for
adults only
. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults.

“
Dani
!”
Alisha yelled across the store
.
If it was an everyday sort of thing
like
a price check
Dani
knew that
her best friend would have simply
come and found her, so this must be something more serious.

Sure enough, at that moment
Dani
felt an unnatural power su
rge from the front of the store, and deep down she knew that surge of power could mean only one thing.
She
wiped her hands on her jeans as she stood up
, and
pressed her hand to her side
where she kept
her knife
—it
was small but sharp
, and it was made
of pure silver.
After taking a moment to calm
herself
, s
he stepped cautiously out
from the back room
and was met with an unusual sight.

Mason Daniels was standing at the counter.
He stood
well over six feet tall
, but even aside from his formidable stature s
he would have known him anywhere
—h
is power was just that intense
. She stopped in her tracks for a second and gazed at his broad shoulders and heavily muscled body.
She knew that it was all natural, although she
guessed
that
most men would need to work out in a gym on a daily basis to look so sexy
…

Sexy?
Keep yourself together!
Dani
nearly growled in her head.
She knew very well that Mason Daniels was the alpha male of a large pack, and she had no intention of walking out of here as his mate. Regaining her composure, she strode up to the front desk to find out what Mason wanted.

He was staring at her as she approached and those damn chocolate brown eyes were locked on hers.
Damn him
!
He
was
sexy.
She threw a glance to Alisha who was trying to look noncha
lant
behind the counter but
Alisha averted her eyes
.

Dani
had kept to herself in all matters
, but
she
was the only red-haired fema
le werewolf in her entire state
and a dominant female to boot
;
she had always known that one day some alpha would try to claim her.
She didn’t want to belong to a pack of any kind
, however,
and she certainly did not want to
submit to Mason or any other cocky alpha
.
Dani
wanted nothing to do with that!

Before she knew it, she realized that she had walked up close enough to him that their bodies were almost touching—h
e had literally pulled her to him with
just his eyes. She stepped back quickly.

Mason didn’t waste time with a greeting.
“Have you been threatened?”
he asked her in a voice that was nearly a growl.

“
No,”
Dani
answered quickly,
and
then
glanced angrily at Alisha
who had shouted out “Yes!” just as quickly
. Of all the times that girl had to open her mouth!

“
I
t was not that recently
,
”
Dani
said firmly, and then
s
hot another look to her friend.
If
Mason knew the extent of the threats she had received
he would pick her up right there and carry her off
to the protection of his pack
.
Some odd part of her tightened at th
at
thought
,
and
Dani
flushed. She had been around him for thirty seconds and already she was
not thinking clearly.

Mason raised an eyebrow. “Recent enough that you carry a silver knife at all times?” He looked over to Alisha
,
who crossed her arms in front of her.
Alisha shrugged as s
he looked intensely at
Dani
.
She nodded towards Mason and mouthed, “Tell him.”

Dani
ignored Alisha and
cocked her head to the side as she shook off the flush. “So, what brings you to my little store?”
she asked him, trying to sound casual.
Her emotions were spinning around
in a vortex of
arousal and anger and she was fighting to remain focused. He would be able to sense both
aspects of the
fight
-
or
-
fuck
response she was displaying, and that knowledge just increased her agitation.

“I wanted to have dinner with you tonight
,
”
he said simply.
His words seem
ed
to brush right against her sex as if he
had
touched her there
.
Dani
took another step back.

“I have to close the store.”
Dani
pulled the excuse from her long list and
looked away
before she could get lost in his eyes again
—his aura of power permeated
the room with such intensity that she was
damn near drooling.

“I can close up tonight
,
” Alisha offered sincerely.
Dani
had noticed that she was edging further away from the two of them.

“I appreciate the offer
,
but unless you would
like to do an inventory count…”
Dani
trailed off as Mason touched her arm and sent waves of heat over her body.

“I would really like to see you tonight,
Dani
.” His hand was gripping her arm firmly and his voice held a husky undertone that demanded
her
attention.

Dani
tried to draw her arm away from him, but then
she gasped from
a
sudden flare
-
up
in her loins
. Another spark
went through her
and
Dani
got an urge to roll around on top of him.
She growled then, low in her throat
,
and
out of the corner of her eye
she saw Alisha retreating
into the back room.

Mason dropped his hand but kept his eyes on her. He looked amused and intrigued at the same time. “May I come over for dinner?”
he asked again.

Dani
sneered. She was furious at the way her body was reacting. Her uncle had hinted years ago that
a
dominant female
would react immediately to her true mate
,
but
at the time
she had not been old enough to understand. She shook off the memories and focused back on Mason
, putting a slight scowl on her face.

Mason grabbed her chin
, gently but firmly
. “Such a face does not belong on you.”

Dani
balked.
“Come over for dinner but don’t touch me
,
”
she stammered quickly.
She wanted to pull away from his grasp but
,
at the same time
,
she found it
deeply
arousing.

“I demand respect from you
,
”
Mason growled under his breath.
He had let go of her chin and moved so that she was pressed dangerously close to his chest.

“Respect has to be earned
,
”
Dani
managed to reply, even though she
felt like a small child standing there looking up at him. Hell, her voice sounded weak even to her own ears.

Mason smirked as he moved a piece of hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. “You will regret saying those words to me tonight,
Dani
. I will earn
your respect
even though I am sure you won’t like my method
s
.”

“You really are an arrogant son of a bitch
,
”
Dani
snapped, feeling
like she was suffocating from the heat.
She had never been remotely intimate with another wolf and the sensations flying through her mind were overwhelming.

Mason’s face darkened as he turned and began to walk towards the front of the store. “I know that you have isolated yourself from other wolves for years
,
but I will not allow you to speak to me like that.” Mason
glanced
towards the back
of the store
. “Apologize to your friend for me. This display was inappropriate.” His stare lingered a moment before he refocused on her.

Dani
let out a long breath and pointed to the door. “I need you to leave, Mason. I don’t want you in my store anymore.”

“I will deal with your attitude tonight,
Dani
, and I expect you to be much more considerate of my position afterwards.
I’ll be at your place at seven.
”
With those words he finally walked out of the store and the fire
in her blood
immediately
extinguished
.

His words
rattled
around in her head and she could not figure out exactly what he meant. He had mentioned that he would earn her respect and then said that he
would
‘deal’ with her. What the hell did that mean?