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  Claimed by the Alpha

  By

  Sassa Daniels

  Copyright © 2020 by Stormy Night Publications and Sassa Daniels

  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

  Daniels, Sassa

  Claimed by the Alpha

  Cover Design by Korey Mae Johnson

  Images by DepositPhotos/HayDmitriy and Shutterstock/Shaiith

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

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Epilogue

  More Stormy Night Books by Sassa Daniels

  Sassa Daniels Links

  Chapter One

  It didn’t matter which way she added the numbers. Zero plus zero was always going to amount to a whole lot of nothing. Sighing as she was once again confronted with the sorry state of her finances, Sadie dropped the calculator into her desk drawer. She slammed it closed as if that would somehow make her money worries go away. It was time to admit she was in the midst of a crisis. Her business, her one shot at independence, was failing.

  The problem wasn’t location. Occupying a prime spot on the banks of the Arno, the gallery was ideally placed to attract tourists. In fact, plenty of people did walk in through the doors. Unfortunately, she just didn’t have it in her to push them to buy anything. She was friendly, chatting with everyone who came in, but when it came to making that sale, she always faltered.

  Everything was falling apart, and it was about to get worse. In less than a week, the men she’d borrowed money from were coming to collect the first repayment and she had nothing to give. They weren’t the type to accept excuses. She’d come to Florence to show her big brother she could survive on her own and now she was going to have to ask him for money to get out of this hole she’d dug herself into. He’d give it in a heartbeat, but there’d be strings attached. He would insist she come home and that was the last thing she wanted.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t love her family. She adored each and every one of the domineering wolf-shifters, but they were protective to the point of suffocating her. In the last three days alone, her cousin Ross had left dozens of messages for her to call. Perhaps he’d found out about her money situation, that she was in debt to unsavory characters. The thought made her cringe.

  She glanced at the clock and realized it was eight-thirty, a whole hour later than she usually closed up. Grabbing her keys and her purse, she got up and headed through to the front of the store. She froze in shock. A man stood staring at one of the paintings. It wasn’t like her to be so lax about security. She hadn’t even heard the door.

  Laying her things on the sales counter, she studied him carefully. Tall and broad-shouldered, his dark hair was tousled, as though he’d just tumbled out of bed. In contrast, his clothing was immaculate. His suit looked expensive and she was sure his leather shoes were handmade. Could he be a debt collector? Did roughing people up for cash pay that well? She dismissed the idea. Perhaps he was just a customer. Her heart soared at the prospect that he might actually buy something.

  She crossed the floor toward him and frowned as she detected something familiar in the air. It was a scent too subtle for most people to pick up on, but she knew it well. After all, she’d grown up around men like him. Her customer was a shifter. Perhaps his being here was a coincidence, but her gut told her there was no such thing. She might not possess the ability to transform into a wolf, but her instincts were usually right.

  “What is this supposed to be?” He addressed her in English with an underlying hint of an Italian accent.

  She ignored her suspicion about how he knew which language to speak with her and answered the question.

  “The artist calls it hope in despair.”

  “Hmmm.” He leaned a little closer to the painting. “I see the despair, but where is the hope?”

  To the untrained eye, it looked like there was nothing but black paint. Sadie pointed to the center of the canvas where the artist had used a dark grey.

  “There’s nothing,” the man protested. “It’s just a wash of black paint and you want five thousand euro for it?”

  “This sort of art isn’t for everyone.” Sadie didn’t want to admit she wasn’t entirely convinced by it either. “But I have a couple of very nice landscapes if that’s more your thing.”

  “I prefer portraits, preferably of the female form.”

  Sadie’s cheeks flushed red and she shuffled from one foot to the other. Something about this man had her senses on high alert.

  “Ah, I don’t have anything like that in stock right now.”

  “Then it is as well I did not come to purchase art, isn’t it, Sadie?”

  How did he know her name? He turned to her and hit her with the full force of a mega-watt smile. If it was possible to call a man such a thing, he was radiant. His eyes were deep, dark... but those lips. What she wouldn’t do to feel those lips trailing kisses down her spine.

  Sadie shrugged off her ridiculous reaction and fixed him with a determined glare. “Did my brother send you?”

  “Do I strike you as the sort of man who runs errands?”

  No, he didn’t. He reeked of dominance. This was a man who gave orders and expected people to obey with question. He’d probably never been told what to do in his life. He had the air of an alpha about him.

  Sadie narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Who are you, then?”

  “I am Marco di Angelo.”

  He spoke as though she should know exactly who he was and, in fact Sadie did. Her stomach somersaulted. The head of the most powerful wolf-shifter pack in Europe was standing in her little gallery. Instinct told her he wasn’t here by accident.

  “What do you want?” There was a degree of challenge in her tone.

  “Civility would be nice,” he replied silkily. “I am here to offer you my protection.”

  “I don’t need protection.”

  “Your cousin thinks otherwise.”

  “So my family did send you?”

  His eyes darkened. “I am here as a favor, one I expect to be returned at some point in the future.”

  The thought of her family owing this man anything made Sadie nervous. Her brother, Finn, held a lot of power, but the MacDonald pack’s numbers were dangerously low. In fact, they were on the verge of extinction. Getting on the wrong side of someone like Marco di Angelo could be fatal. If they went to war, her brother’s pack would be wiped out. She had no idea why Ross would risk being indebted to him.

  “Will you excuse me, please?” she asked. “I need to verify a few things.”

  “Of course,” Marco replied smoothly. “I’ll just... browse.”

  Sadie took her cellphone from her bag and hurried back through to her office. She dialed Ross’s number. He picked up after a few rings.

  “Sadie.”

  He didn’t sound too thrilled to hear from her, which was a bit rich considering how many messages he’d left demanding she call him. Well, fine, if he wanted to be unfriendly, she could match that.

  “Did you send some arsehole werewolf after me?”

  Irritated as she was at Ross, she kept her voice down in case Marco heard her.

  “I asked an acquaintance to look out for you.”

  She’d been here for months, surviving just fine on her own. Ross must know something about her financial problems.

  “Why? What’s going on? Why now?”

  “If you ever answered your bloody phone, you’d know what’s happening.”

  Boy, he sounded really mad. She moderated her tone to try to placate him.

  “I’m sorry I haven’t spoken to you. I’ve been busy. We’ve had a lot of new customers lately.”

  There was no point telling him it was no longer we. She’d had to let Valeria go weeks ago. With bills mounting up she’d not been able to pay her anymore. It was a pity since the girl had been teaching her Italian.

  “That’s good, but you need to answer when I call.”

  Sadie rolled her eyes as he used his disappointed father tone on her. He had a cheek when he was only a couple of years older than her.

  “Okay, I get it. So what’s up?”

  “Finn met his mate.”

  It was the last thing she’d expected him to say. A squeal of delight burst out of her at the thought of her big brother finding the woman who’d stand by his side and help rebuild the pack. “What’s she like? When can I meet her?”

  “You can’t. She left him.”

  “What? Trust Ro
ss to give her good news with one hand and snatch it back with the other. “But if she’s his mate, they’re bound together, aren’t they?”

  “He didn’t claim her and now she’s gone.”

  There was a hint of disapproval in Ross’s tone. Sadie wondered if it was directed at Finn or the woman who’d left him.

  “How’s he taking it?”

  “Badly.”

  Of course he was. If Finn had pinned his hopes for the future on this woman, he’d be crushed it hadn’t worked out. Sadie felt a weight pressing on her. Would Finn now expect her to provide the pack with its heirs? She couldn’t shift, none of the females in their family did, but any children she bore might. Irritation swelled in her at the thought Ross might be calling to use emotional blackmail to persuade her to step up.

  “So you called me to come home? What do you expect me to do, Ross? Dish up tea and sympathy?”

  “No, Sadie, I want you to stay where you are, but I need you to let Marco look out for you. There are some seriously bad guys out there who may use you to strike a blow at Finn.”

  “Bad guys?” How dare he speak to her as though she was a child? “I’m not five years old. Tell me who’s after us.”

  Ross huffed out a breath.

  “The Knights of St. Francis.”

  Shit. She’d heard stories about the shadowy organization that sought to exterminate shifters.

  “They tried to get to Finn’s mate,” Ross continued. “They attacked the house.”

  Nobody had ever tried something like that before. Glenlogie Lodge was miles from anywhere and it was well protected.

  “They’re fine. We dealt with it.”

  “So why do I need a bodyguard all of a sudden?”

  And Marco di Angelo, of all people.

  “Because Finn needs to know you’re safe, Sadie. He’s got a ton of crap to deal with right now. If he thinks you’re in danger, he’ll turn himself inside out worrying about you. We all will.”

  Ross knew just where to hit her to make her toe the line. She hated the thought of her family worrying about her.

  “Okay, I’ll let this thug look after me.”

  She had no intention of doing any such thing. The minute she hung up, she was going to give him his marching orders.

  “Marco’s not a thug, Sadie, and I’d watch my attitude around him if I were you.”

  Sadie grumbled incoherently in response to the warning and disconnected the call. She plastered a smile on her face and returned to the shop floor to find Marco standing in the center of the room waiting for her.

  “Your offer of protection is very kind, signore, but I have no need of it.”

  “You are a woman alone in a foreign country, far from the loving embrace of her family. You are too pale, too tired-looking. I think you are very much in need of someone to take care of you.”

  Sadie’s eyes flashed with anger. “I am perfectly capable of looking after myself.”

  As if trying to contradict her bold assertion, her stomach rumbled loudly. Sadie groaned as Marco raised an elegant eyebrow and grinned. Now it seemed as though she couldn’t even manage to feed herself.

  “I was just on my way to get something to eat when you barged in,” she grumbled irritably.

  “Then let us go.” Marco gestured toward the door. He held up a hand to forestall her objections. “Allow me to buy you dinner, Sadie. I will satisfy myself that you will be alright and then I can go without feeling I have failed in my duty to your family. I might even be able to impart a few useful tips on personal safety.”

  Sadie scowled but he was being so reasonable it was hard to argue against him. Besides, he’d offered to buy her dinner when she’d have headed home to reheat some of yesterday’s bland beef stew. She could listen to his advice on spotting psychopaths at forty paces while she ate and then they’d part ways. It would all be perfectly civilized.

  “Very well, I will have dinner with you,” she agreed, “but I want to choose the restaurant.”

  “As you wish.”

  Sadie hid a smirk as she ushered him from the store and locked the door behind them. She knew just the place for dinner, a tourist spot a real Italian like him wouldn’t want to be seen dead in.

  As they made their way along the banks of the River Arno, a cool breeze teased her hair back from her face and Marco tugged at the sleeve of her blouse.

  “You’re not wearing a coat.”

  “I don’t feel cold.” Sometimes she wore a jacket just so people wouldn’t comment. “I think it comes from growing up in Scotland. Italy always seems warm to me.”

  Marco inclined his head as though that impressed him for some reason. Sadie wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t as if it was a great achievement on her part to not need a coat in November.

  As they made their way along the river to the Ponte Vecchio every woman they passed seemed to flirt with Marco. They batted their eyelashes, smiled seductively, or forced their lips into unnatural pouts that they apparently thought were sexy.

  “Doesn’t that get annoying?” Sadie sniped.

  “What?”

  “The way women drool over you.”

  Marco shrugged indolently. Of course it didn’t irritate him to have fawning admirers wherever he went. He was no doubt aware he was a good-looking man. He was probably so used to receiving adoration he didn’t even notice anymore.

  They weaved their way through the crowds of tourists on the bridge. No matter how often she crossed the Ponte Vecchio, Sadie didn’t think she’d ever tire of it. She loved the medieval stone structure and the little jewelry shops dotted along it.

  “Have you ever been up there?” Marco pointed to the Vasari corridor that led from the Uffizi Gallery and across the bridge to eventually reach the Pitti Palace.

  Sadie shook her head. “It’s closed to the public until next year.”

  “I could get you access,” Marco offered.

  “I’m sure you could, and I might take you up on that if we were ever going to meet again after tonight.”

  That displeased him. The mask slipped and a dark scowl crossed his face. Ignoring the chill in the atmosphere, Sadie turned left as they came off the bridge. She walked along a quiet side street to the restaurant she’d chosen.

  “Here we are.”

  Now he really couldn’t hide his displeasure as he took in the red and white checked tablecloths and heard the cheesy Italian crooning the restaurant played on a loop.

  “Tavolo per due,” Sadie said brightly as a waiter approached, “alla finestra per favore.”

  She spoke pretty good Italian but suddenly, with Marco standing right behind her, she felt as though her accent was off. He made her incredibly self-conscious, probably because he reeked of disapproval. As he trailed behind her to the table by the window, she could almost hear him judging their surroundings and finding them wanting. Well, good. She’d chosen this place because she knew he wouldn’t like it.

  “So, what do you think?”

  “There’s a nice view.”

  Sadie wasn’t sure if he was talking about her or the Ponte Vecchio which was perfectly framed in the window behind her.

  “Come for the view, stay for the pizza.”

  “It’s a pizza joint?” Marco sneered.

  “They serve other things, but their pizza is to die for. Or do you only eat live chickens?”

  “I’ve been known to indulge in other delicacies.”

  Sadie’s eyes widened as his gaze slid down her face and came to rest on her breasts. Her cheeks heated and she concentrated on the menu she already knew by heart.

  “So, where do you live?” she asked once she’d regained her composure. “Here in Florence?”

  “That wouldn’t be ideal for a man like me.”

  “A shifter, you mean?”

  “Si.” It hadn’t been explicitly mentioned until now and Marco inclined his head in agreement. “I need room to roam. My family has an estate near San Gimignano.”

  Sadie’s eyes lit up at the mention of a town she planned to visit one day.

  “Oh, I’ve always wanted to see the towers.”

  “You haven’t been?”

  “No, I don’t have a car here and I never got around to checking out the buses.”

  The waiter returned at that moment and Sadie ordered a Margherita pizza, more because she thought it would annoy Marco than anything. He cast a disdainful look over the menu before ordering the veal.

  “And a bottle of whatever passes for vino rosso in this place.”