Contents

  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

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Epilogue

  Also by Harper A. Brooks

  About the Author

  Wolf Protector © Copyright 2022 Harper A. Brooks

  Visit my books at https://harperabrooks.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, 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/author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  H.A.B. Publications LLC

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  Proofreading: Krista Cook

  Wolf Protector

  In this world of magic and secrets, nothing is as it seems.

  Edmund, the vicious ex-alpha and Reid’s father, is back from the dead. And now, he’s set on expanding his tyrannical reign beyond the pack’s territory of Buson, Maine.

  Even more shocking is that Edmund has brought a new friend with him: Carmen, Tasha’s sister and the one person she’s dedicated her life to bringing home. But the young witch doesn’t want to be saved. In fact, Carmen and Edmund have been working together to take out the Redcliff Pack and put their bloody plans into motion.

  To save their future, Tasha and Reid must fully embrace their mate-bond and Tasha’s witch powers, while battling their pasts head on.

  With claws, teeth, and magic.

  To my sanity…

  Which left me a long, long time ago.

  Chapter

  One

  Reid

  The familiar voice is dragged directly from my nightmares, and I automatically step in front of Tasha, shielding her from my father.

  My dead father.

  No.

  It’s impossible.

  Yet he’s standing before me, with his arms crossed over his chest, wearing the same stone-carved expression he’d adopted my entire life. Everything is the same. The hard planes of his face, the nose I share with him, and the permanent scowl on his lips.

  I don’t know what to do or say. Everything I’ve known has been flipped upside down, and my voice stays lodged in my throat.

  I can feel the tension between my pack behind me, the strange shift in power and authority. Two alphas in one pack? Unheard of. Edmund’s reemergence not only redefines life and death but it fucks with the entire dynamic of the pack.

  But I refuse to bend in front of him. Instead, I straighten my spine and pull back my shoulders. “Father.”

  His eyes bore into mine.

  My jaw drops open. Even as I watch, his skin grows smoother, supple and tan with only the barest hint of lines around his eyes from scowling. From sneering down at anyone who he thought to be less than him.

  So everyone.

  “Am I dead, Reid?” Edmund asks. “Because to me, it seems I am very much alive. Perhaps your sickness has come from your confession of love to this weakling of a witch.”

  In the span of a heartbeat, Edmund is inside the room and yanking Tasha out of my arms. I’m gawking at him, too busy trying to wrap my mind around the impossible to do more than stand there like an asshole. I’m wondering how the hell this man, this nightmare come to life, is here.

  Maybe I’ve actually gone mad.

  “You can’t think it prudent to tie yourself to such a woman, can you?” Edmund clucks his tongue. “You’re just meddling in things you can’t understand.”

  “You’re not really here.” My tongue has swelled to three sizes too large, and I’m having trouble speaking around it.

  “Yes, so you keep saying.”

  Edmund’s grip on Tasha tightens as she struggles to free herself. But I know from experience…

  It’s iron.

  It’s callous.

  It’s anything that is utterly unbreakable. And suddenly my lungs seize, and I’m staring at the floor and struggling to catch my breath.

  “Specter, ghost, or psychopath, you’re going to want to let go of me right fucking now,” Tasha warns.

  She looks ready to spit knives, but he’s not going to allow her even an inch to reach her weapons in the drawer.

  He can’t be here because I saw him in his casket. I saw him before we lowered him into the ground.

  I feel little outside of terror. It’s the same sensation I fought against whenever I was in a room alone with him.

  And for the last few years, after his death, I’ve had a blessed reprieve.

  Father drags her closer and hooks an arm around her neck, pressing a certain point until Tasha’s eyes roll back in her head. A moment later, she slumps with her eyes closed, and I release a groan as I force myself to lift my gaze to Edmund’s face.

  “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this for you to understand,” he says to me. “But if you don’t come with me, I’m going to kill your mate.”

  He means it.

  Edmund purses his lips and sighs dramatically at my hesitation. “Come along now, Reid.”

  It’s painfully easy for him to capture us both. That is my only thought as I dutifully follow him out of the room and down the hallway in a state of shock. It’s as though I’m unable to bear the weight of this new reality. One in which every beat of the last few years is a lie.

  I shake my head to clear it, because what fucking purpose does worry serve? Nothing except leaving a bad taste in my mouth and my pulse thundering like I ran a mile. I’m not ten anymore. I shouldn’t cower in front of him. But I know deep down that no matter how hard I try, I won’t beat him.

  He’s a body without a soul.

  The strong scent of his normal piney aftershave washes over me as we head first to the ground floor and then to the basement. Finally, we approach a set of locked doors I’ve been trying my best to forget exist.

  Edmund marches forward unhindered, removing a key from his pocket and fitting it into the lock. Tasha is draped over his shoulders like a corpse, and I have to force myself to push the imagery aside.

  “Come along,” Father reminds me. He shoots me a sweeping look over his shoulder before his gaze lands on the empty hallway ahead.

  The pack dungeons.

  And I’m trailing after the man like a fearful pup who doesn’t want to get kicked again.

  Because he’ll do it.

  He’ll kill Tasha without question if I don’t follow, and her life is the one thing I’m not willing to gamble with.

  I take one step after another until Father stops in front of a pair of cells with the gates already open.

  “In you go,” he tells me, tossing Tasha into the other and letting her drop like garbage. “Move!”

  I glance over at him as he weighs his options. Except there are no options. I lock myself inside the cage, and he isn’t one bit surprised.

  “I’m sorry to toss you in the hole, but really, you brought it on yourself, didn’t you?”

  “If you hurt her—” I start.

  “What?” he growls. “You’ll what? A little crack on the head isn’t going to hurt your whore.”

  I lunge forward at the word, but what good does it do? Not a damn bit, and we both know it.

  “You’re one to talk about whores. What are you even doing here?” I ask.

  Edmund drops his hands into his pockets, looking more alive than I’ve ever seen him. “All in good time,” he replies cryptically.

  And without bothering to look at me again, he turns on his heel and strides away.

  My gut spirals down toward the drain in the floor. These cells were built by alphas long dead to hold those of our kind who have lost their minds. Those who are too strong to be killed immediately and there’s no other choice but to contain them for whatever reason. The bars are unbreakable, and the walls are warded with the same spells that protect the alpha’s quarters.

  There’s no way out, not until someone decides to undo the locks, and the only key that exists is currently with Edmund.

  Fuck.

  Double fuck.

  What is he doing, and how is he alive?

  It’s him, though. There is no doubt about it in my mind. Somehow, he’s managed to manipulate the entire situation and fake his death.

  It takes way too long for Tasha to wake. To speak. When she finally does, grumbling and shifting, I push my face through

the bars to try to get a glimpse of her.

  “Are you okay?” I ask immediately. “How do you feel?”

  She bites out a curse, and I have the distinct impression she’s scowling in my direction.

  “Another fucking cell,” Tasha mutters. “And this time you promised to keep me safe.”

  I reach out to her through the bars, and she pushes my hand away. I sit upright, the tug in my chest confusing until I finally put a name to it. Hatred. For myself. I don’t blame her for being cold with me and for being unable to accept our current circumstances. I got us to this point. And yes, I promised to keep her safe. I failed.

  “I’m sorry, Tasha.” My failure turns into the most bitter kind of fury I’ve ever experienced. “I didn’t know my father was alive. You have to believe me.”

  Pushing off the floor, I rise to my feet, and search the bars and dark space for a weak spot, a possible way to escape. But even I know it’s pointless. We’re trapped here—in this place where people have suffered so much.

  “I don’t want to talk to you right now,” she spits. “I need a minute to process this.”

  My heart shatters at the tone. I need to hold her, to stand at her side and assure her we’re going to make it. The bars make it impossible.

  “Don’t do that,” I tell her. “Don’t shut me out.”

  She laughs, the sound acidic, but says nothing.

  It kills me to see her this way. She’s hurt and confused, and through the bond, I feel her emotions as my own. I’m left with the most desperate sensation to tear through the walls just to get to her.

  Damn Edmund.

  Damn him for surviving when he should have been dead. Fury replaces everything, and I welcome it.

  Opening my eyes, I stare at the stone wall separating me from my mate and place my palm flat on the stones.

  “This isn’t the end for us, Tash. I’m going to figure a way out of this. I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again.” My brows furrow. “I know I’ve told you to trust me before, and it got us into this mess, but…”

  But what? What excuses do I have to give her this time? Because the sinking sensation in my gut tells me I’m at my father’s mercy yet again, and this time, I’ve managed to drag Tasha down with me.

  I can only hope he decides to finish her off quickly. The worst thing I can imagine is him using her as his plaything.

  So that is exactly what he would do if given the chance.

  I call her name again, pressing my hand harder against the wall until the stone grinds against my skin.

  Suddenly, footsteps sound from further down the long hallway. I jerk toward the sound, with my senses sharpening.

  “Oh my god.”

  Tasha sees the person first, and the awe and dread in her voice seem an impossible combination.

  “I’m sure you’ve had enough surprises for the day. Let this be the last of them, then?” The female voice sounds deceptively sweet and isn’t one I recognize. “You’ve never been one for surprises.”

  A low moan greets me, the sound filled with all the grief I’ve pushed down and more.

  “Tasha?” I push away from the wall and charge toward the bars, hoping to get a glimpse of the woman who hasn’t made herself known to me yet. My heart is so heavy that it nearly drags me to the ground. “What’s going on? What’s happening?”

  Who is it?

  “The last person she expects to see,” the woman continues, emphasizing the statement with a sweet laugh. “You should see the look on her face. It’s bordering on psychotic. Poor thing.”

  “No.” Tasha whispers the word, but I hear it regardless, the single syllable ripping through me with the force of a tidal wave.

  Finally, the woman steps into my view and shoots me a ruthless smile—cotton-candy-hiding-poison type of smile. And she’s painfully familiar, even though I’ve never seen her before.

  How do I know her?

  Narrowing my eyes, I take her in, head to toe. Her hair is blonde, along with her eyes, her body willowy and slender.

  “Carmen. What are you doing here?”

  The young woman doesn’t even blink at the sound of her name. She continues to hold my gaze, and I have to guess that she’s matured since the last time Tasha saw her. Matured and developed the same kind of crafty ruthlessness I learned to recognize as my father’s standard.

  I know the look on her face.

  Carmen tilts her head to the side. “What do you mean, Tash?” she asks in an undertone. “I live here. You’ve been looking for me, haven’t you? And now… you’ve found me. I’ve been right under your nose the entire time. You’re telling me you couldn’t figure it out?”

  Impossible is right.

  I must have said the words out loud, because Carmen’s gaze sharpens. “As you’ve seen today, nothing is impossible, Reid. Liam should have told you that much.”

  “Keep my brother’s name out of your mouth,” I burst out.

  Tasha’s little sister appears to find me infinitely amusing. She laughs right in my face as she draws closer to the bars. “You’ve done a real piss-poor job as alpha, Reid. You really should be ashamed of yourself. Your father was right. You have no idea what you’re meddling with, just as you have no idea what is going on directly under your nose. No idea that your little brother has been the key to it all this entire time, the true eyes and ears of your pack.”

  She punches out the last word so harshly I wince.

  “It’s best for you to remain down here. Better for everyone involved so that you don’t hurt yourself.”

  “Carmen.” The heartbreak in Tasha’s voice has me wanting to drop to my knees and lose my breath. “You can’t. How are you here? Do you have any idea how long I’ve been looking for you?”

  “Probably as long as I’ve been trying to keep out of your way, Tash. Honestly, you’ve always been so feisty and stubborn. I thought you’d catch on to me the second you walked through the door. It didn’t take much effort to stay hidden. I’m surprised at you.”

  “You were here the whole time and trying to avoid me?”

  “I didn’t want to go through that whole awkward conversation thing. Although I’m sorry it had to be this way.” Carmen shakes her head, and I see little of Tasha in her features now.

  Even the expression.

  Clearly, Carmen has been molded. But the questions are piling up, and I’ve got nothing.

  She’s done with me, considering her sister instead, and I guess that’s just what I am. A man who isn’t worthy of her attention.

  “Please,” Tasha breathes out. “Please.”

  I’m not sure what she’s pleading for, but I bleed for her, watching the immovable mask on her sister’s face for any sign of change.

  “You two might as well get cozy.” Carmen points between us. “You’re going to be down here for a long time. Time enough for all those secrets to finally come to light, right?” She laughs again.

  Neither of us says anything as Carmen backs away from the cells, her footsteps fading and leaving me with nothing but the pounding of my heart.

  There’s nothing for me to say.

  No words of wisdom to make this better.

  Because things just got a whole hell of a lot worse, and now we’re both trapped in this cell.

  I slam my fist straight into the fucking wall with such force the skin of my knuckles bursts immediately. Whatever plans Carmen and my father intend to release will come about soon enough.

  Tomorrow still looms ahead.

  Only now I can add a few more enemies to my list.

  Time to hatch an escape plan and hope like hell I don’t get us killed in the process.

  Chapter

  Two

  Tasha

  Not trusting anyone is the single greatest life lesson I’ve ever been taught.

 

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