Read Racing The Alpha (Dirt Track Dogs #1) for Free Online

better, and he wasn’t letting something like that happen to his mate.
    “You okay, El?” Ella’s co-worker with all the metal touched her shoulder and she flinched. “He bothering you? I can get Pete to toss him out.”
    Ella shook her head, her eyes wide and crazy.
    Shit. She didn’t know it, but the animal part of her was extremely unstable. Maybe the band-aid approach wasn’t the best idea after all.
    “Can we go somewhere to talk?” If he could get her out of this place and away from all these people, she could feel safer to express herself. And he’d feel better knowing no one was in harm’s way.
    “She’s not going anywhere with you, dog ,” the woman spat.
    Drake stood to his full height, looking down at her. Who was this woman who thought she could answer for his mate?
    “I don’t know you but I think your business is over there somewhere.” He gestured dismissively to the back of the bar.
    She crossed her arms, clearly not going anywhere.
    Drake leaned across the bar to stare into Ella’s eyes. “Let’s go outside. Get some fresh air.”
    She narrowed her troubled gaze on him, but then stormed off toward the door.
    “You’d better watch it, asshole,” the other woman snapped. “You fuck with her and it’ll be the last time you fuck with anything.”
    “Are you threatening me ?”
    She leaned across the counter, her voice low. “Yes. And I don’t make empty threats. I’ve spent a lifetime dreaming up ways to dismember the member, if you know what I mean.”
    Son of a bitch. This woman was scary. If Drake was human, he’d never want to cross her.
    “I’ll keep that in mind,” he muttered, following Ella out the back door and into the small alley.
    She paced the area, and Drake let the door slam shut behind him. Back and forth she went, becoming more and more agitated. He wanted to do something to help her, to distract her, to take away the pain she must be feeling over her father. But there was so much more he needed to tell her first.
    “Say something.” He kept his voice soft, hoping her wolf could feel what he was projecting: he was there for her. No matter what she was thinking or feeling, or what their future held, he would always be there for her because she was his. Even if she went batshit crazy from being a shade. They’d work through it.
    Truth was, he never imagined he’d have this chance. Never truly thought he’d have a female of his own to care for. Now that she was here, he hardly knew what to do with himself. Surely he couldn’t go wrong with being available. He’d be anything she needed. Everything she needed. How could that fail?
    She stopped and stared at him with wide eyes. “Say something? Say something ? What exactly should I say to you? You just told me one of your friends is my long lost uncle, and I have absolutely no way to prove whether you’re right or not because I never actually knew my mother. You… you could be lying to me for all I know. And besides that, to go from having no family to having family in the span of thirty seconds is a little bit of an emotional leap for me, so.”
    “Your father must’ve talked about her. Or her family. Surely he—”
    “No. He wouldn’t talk about my mother. Only when I was older, and only long enough to tell me how she’d died.” She got a faraway look in her eyes. “He must have loved her very much. Dredging up those memories sent him to bed for weeks.”
    “He never told you of your ancestors.”
    She shook her head. “But then, why would he if they were all dead? What would be the point?”
    “The history of who we are is important, Ella.” Especially so, for one like her. Not knowing what was inside her was dangerous. “What did he tell you as a child?”
    Shaking her head, she crossed her arms. “Why should I tell you? My memories of my daddy are precious. Why would I share them?”
    “Because I want to help you. And because I would never take them for granted.” He pocketed his hands to