Mate Of The Billionaire Alpha

Death wasn't all it was cracked up to be. There was a distinct lack of bright lights and absolutely no sign of the pearly gates or thankfully, the other place that is believed to be the lake of fire better known as purgatory.

Death was...quiet. Peaceful. Comfortable. But it was just too comfortable and peaceful

She was pretty sure the afterlife was more harps and clouds and singing songs of glory to the creator the one who created everything rather than feather beds, so what gave? The more she thought, the more sensation slipped through the blackness. Her body on the soft surface beneath, the pressure of a warm duvet above. Perhaps this was Heaven 2.0, a version never reported in near-death experiences a version of heaven never before experienced and seen a version that made her question her sanity. Anything was possible, right? That didn't explain the voices that filtered through the fog to reach her ears. "Should've left her to die," a sharp female voice said. Instantly, Bella disliked it and its owner. "There's no way the pack will accept her. She's a bitten. She will never be anything more than a beta. And hell knows, we have enough of them." Pack. Bitten. Beta. The words slammed into Bella's consciousness, dragging her higher and higher until she became aware that she lay on a bed, in a warm room, with someone in the corridor outside.

How many people, and who were they? Who were they discussing, and what are they talking about? She took a deep breath and rolled over her tongue, and something new within informed her there were two of them. One male, one female, both Lycan. Holy shit. Her eyes snapped open in sheer surprise. How the hell had she known that? On the coattails of that realization came others. Working out who was in the corridor wasn't exactly what you call a human ability. There was no one else in the room... Which meant they were discussing her.

"You don't know that," the male replied. "It's not unknown for a bitten wolf to become an alpha. Rare, I admit, but not unknown."

The woman laughed, the sound high and derisive. "Really? Come on, Jacob, you've seen her. Like the rest of the humans, pathetic and weak-willed. Good enough to fuck, but Rex needs a stronger woman to mate. Besides, a bitten wolf hasn't become an alpha for generations and I doubt that will happen now so just get the stupid idea out of your head."

Okay, Bella had only disliked her before, now she straight up wished the bitch would crawl into a hole and die.

Instead of the ceiling she'd expected, there was fabric. Blue material tucked into folds to create a swirl. What kind of person had material all over their ceiling? She followed the swirl with her gaze to the corner and a heavy wooden post. One of four that surrounded her and belonged to a heavy, antique-looking four-poster bed.

"Stronger?" Jacob laughed. "Since you happen to be the highest ranked female in the pack, it doesn't take a genius to work out who you think Rex should mate, does it, Gift?"

Bella practically heard the shrug she gave. "Well, if the cap fits... why not? The alpha female of a pack needs to be strong, capable in a fight and able to enforce discipline in the pack. "Bella snorted as she sat up. Even with her limited knowledge of the lycan world, she could tell the woman didn't know shit about true leadership. It wasn't just about power, but obligation and duty; things which seemed to have totally bypassed the lycan woman.

Her head was a little fuzzy. Bella sat on the edge of the bed and checked over herself. She wore a long white nightdress covering her from neck to ankle. It wasn't hers and a faint flush covered her cheeks as she wondered who had dressed her.

That question woke other inquiries and they crowded into her brain at once. Where was she? What had happened? Where was Rex? Why could she see smells, like an aura that left streaks of light in the air?

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Bella." A man, presumably Jacob, stood in the doorway, a careful smile on his lips. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and if she hadn't met Rex already, she'd have thought him the most handsome man she'd ever seen. But she had, so Jacob here took second place.

"No, don't get up." He started forward at her movement, a hand on her shoulder to push her down. For all his size, and the ring of amber in his eyes, his touch was gentle. "You were injured and out of it for a couple of days, so you need to take it easy."

Her head had begun to swim at the attempt for freedom anyway, so Bella sat back with a bump. "Uh-huh. Yeah, sitting sounds good."

"Yeah, it might take a while for your strength to return. I'm Jacob, by the way, the Greenwood pack medic. Do you mind if I take a look at you, make sure everything's okay?" Medic. Shouldn't that be vet if he was dealing with lycans? Bella managed to keep the thought safely in her head and nodded.

"Thank you." Jacob produced a small flashlight, which he shone in her eyes a couple of times, then examined her neck carefully.

His touch wasn't familiar and something inside her cringed, a wave of anger rising. She pulled away in relief as soon as he finished. He seemed a nice guy, but she didn't like him touching her. Like tear his hand off didn't like him touching her.

He noted her backward movement with a small smile and pulled a chair by the bed to sit opposite her rather than next to her. His expression was grave and her heart did a little flutter in her chest. He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it.

"Rex bit me, didn't he? He turned me into a werewolf."

Rex had been born into money, old lycan money, and from the moment of his birth only the best had been good enough. The most expensive toys, the finest clothes, and the most prestigious schools, and the best sports cars were all things that were his simply by the happy accident of being who he was. His food had been prepared by a Michelin starred chef and his tennis coach had been a former champion whatever he wanted he got... Nothing was too good for the Greenwood heir.

Looks had followed. Puberty changed angelic boyhood features into something harder and more masculine. His body once gangly, feeling not quite his as he navigated with all the hapless manner of a teenager, filled out and brought the gargoyle genes into play. Add in the animal magnetism of his newly emerging wolf and he'd never had a problem getting women.

Instead, it was more a problem getting rid of them. They'd thrown themselves at him even back then, a situation his teenaged self-had reveled in. Girls, women... Hell, his first time had been with a middle-aged business friend of his father, a stunning woman who exuded sensuality and experience. In the space of a few short hours, she'd turned him from a boy into a man, and he never looked back.

But it hadn't been easy. With privilege came responsibility. He'd had that refrain hammered into him from as far back as he could remember. Despite the trappings of the Greenwood life, his father had expected him to work for his rewards. A lesson he learned early and well, and one he applied to the companies and holdings he'd taken over years ago, more than tripling their profits before his father died and left him not only the companies but the pack. Hard work, perseverance, and the backup of the family fortune meant everything fell at the feet of the Greenwood Alpha.

Everything apart from one small woman.

Rex stood by the picture window of his second-floor office at the Manor and looked into the garden. The long lawn rolled away from the house in a swath of green that would give any English country garden a run for its money. A hammock swayed under a small group of trees halfway down, a small figure reclined comfortably in its embrace.

Bella.

She was asleep, one hand trailing over the rope edge of the hammock and the soft breeze lifting her hair every now and then. Rex leaned against the wall by the bay window and watched her. Dressed in a white lace sundress with her feet bare, she looked so beautiful it took his breath away. But the pale color of her skin made him frown, as did the haunting fragility of her curvy frame. Even if he hadn't already known she'd cheated death by the skin of her teeth only a few nights ago, he would have sensed it anyway.