Alpha (6 page)

Shit!
She had seriously over slept. It had been the early hours of the morning when
she finally snuck back to her room.

As
she threw her legs over the side of the bed, hairs stood up on the back of her
neck and an icy fear caused goose flesh to break out on her arms. Something was
wrong. Ash threw on some jeans and grabbed her knife as she left. She made for
Gray’s suite at an all-out run. Already, she could hear shouts and snarls in
the distance and sure enough, there they were, a large gathering of demon wolves
with Gray and the wolf from last night in the center.

“It
doesn’t have to be like this Rage. Let’s talk about it. You’re my second in
command, my friend.” Gray stood tall and proud. His stance told her that he was
ready even though he didn’t want to fight.

“Nothing
to talk about. Let’s get this over with,” growled the other wolf. 

Her
heart moved to her throat as the big man erupted growing impossibly taller and
stronger with each passing second.           

Man
against demon wolf.

Not
a fair fight. This was murder, plain and simple, why didn’t anyone else see it
or do something to stop it? Gray stood his ground. Frustration gnawed at her.

This
was bullshit and if no one else had the guts to do something, then it was up to
her. Rules and regulations be damned, she pulled her knife from its sheath as
she ran, placing herself between Gray and the wolf.

“Stop!”
she shouted holding up the knife. The wolf, still standing on its hind legs,
was even bigger up close. Trying to stop this beast would be like trying to
tame a hurricane. It didn’t matter, she had to try. “Back off you brute. I said
move.”

The
demon wolf took a half step back and actually had the good grace to look
embarrassed.

Gray
dropped his hands onto her shoulders. “Ash,” he whispered, leaning down so that
he could talk into her ear. “What are you doing?”

“Saving
your doggie ass. What does it look like?”

“I’m
the Alpha and he has challenged me. This is my fight.”

“You’ll
lose.”

Gray
chuckled. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. I’ve got this.” He gestured to
Phoenix who came right over.

Ash
watched the big man approach.

“Come
on wild cat.” Phoenix put a hand on her upper arm.

If
it weren’t for the situation at hand, she would have taken a moment to
appreciate how his double breasted pin striped suit fit him like a glove on
finely chiselled steel.

She
shook her head turning back to Gray.

“Please,
Ash. Thank-you for caring but listen to me just this once. I need you to go
with Phoenix.” His eyes burned, begging her to do as he asked.

Every
instinct she possessed screamed against allowing for this to continue, but in
the end she nodded.

****

As
soon as Ashlyn was at a safe distance, Rage attacked. The demon wolf came at
him hard and the next minute was a blur until another right connected with his
jaw. Gray staggered almost losing his footing. Hounds be damned but he was
losing. Blood ran from a gash in his forehead and at least two of his ribs were
cracked. Not to mention the wound slashed along his entire chest, which was
pretty much what happened when two inch razor sharp claws ripped across flesh.
It was getting harder and harder to stand up. More and more difficult to ward
off the blows. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Rage was holding back. The
big wolf should have had him by now.

Sap
that he was, he actually felt sorry for him, they were still friends despite
the fact that they were trying to kill each other. The time had come to dig
deep, it took more than just muscles to win a fight. It also took skill,
determination and for a half blood like him, a bit of luck.

Rage
struck a particularly hard blow to his jaw. His teeth cracked together. Time
slowed as he fell. Only one thing on his mind.

Ash.

His
Demon Chaser had put herself on the line for him. Had been willing to defend
him when nobody else would. The only other person that had been willing to do
that was his mother, but that was different. A mother had an obligation. Ash
had
chosen
to stand with him. Gray turned his head as he lay sprawled on
the ground. Phoenix held onto the little Chaser who fought and raged against
his confining arms like a single bolt of wild lightening against a clear sky.
The rest of the pack was waiting calmly for Rage to deliver the death blow.

He’d
heard of Omegas being at odds with their demon halves. The two species so
different that internal wars were a given. There was only one time in his life
he had ever been at odds with his demon. When he’d had to fight hard to
suppress his inner wolf and had gone against everything his instincts were
telling him. It had been last night whilst making love to Ash. His canines had
been extended on the soft spot just beneath her ear.
Hounds
, hearing her
beg him to bite her had been almost more than he could handle. His demon had
also begged. Everything in him had told him to do it and for a second there, he
had been afraid that he had. To have marked her during mating would have bound
them to one another irrevocably regardless of species.

Laying
here, on the hard ground, his Demon Chaser still fighting to save him, he
wished so hard that things could have been different. Another time, another
place, he would have made her his. They did belong together, his demon was
right.

Once
the thought took residence, he felt a stirring, his wolf grew and strength
poured through his veins. Warming, filling, fuelling.

Rage
leaned over him, his features pulled back to semi human. “I’m sorry my friend.”
It was a growled whisper and then he surged back into wolf form leaning in for
the death lunge.

It
happened so quickly he didn’t have time to think, just act. His limbs stretched
and cracked as he mostly erupted, not quite making a completely turned wolf but
close enough. Rage faltered for a second which was enough to take the
advantage. Three well placed swipes had the tables turning. Rage landed hard on
his back, Gray clamped his jaw on Rage’s throat, but he couldn’t do it. Blood
trickled from the wounds his canines inflicted. If Rage tried to break free it
would tear him apart. Gray needed to make an example to the rest of the pack.

Rage
growled in fear and anger, “What are you waiting for?”

He
released the much bigger wolf, standing he addressed the pack. “Let this be a
warning. Next time there will be no mercy.” Gray observed the faces of his pack,
lingering on the larger more dominant Beta males. They all looked down
submissively. One or two of the older males even nodded in acceptance.

Gray
turned to leave, but Alisha put herself in his path dropping to her knees in
front of him.

“Forgive
me Gray. I’m yours if you’ll still have me.”

It
was time to set things right. He also needed to recheck the Lores. What had
just happened was not normal. Omegas did not erupt unless under the light of a
full moon.
What in hades was going on?

“Follow
me, we’ll talk in my quarters.”

Ash
pushed the last of her clothing into her bag. How could someone be so incredibly
happy and so unbearably sad all at once?

She
had been wrong. She couldn’t stay and watch Gray take Alisha as his mate. Instead,
she’d called the Agency and arranged to have someone else take her place. If
she was really honest with herself, she’d compromised the investigation anyway
by sleeping with Gray. Her mind was on other things.

“Leaving
us already?” Ash gasped as she whipped around. A tall woman stood directly
behind her. She had so made the right decision by asking to be removed from
this case, no one should have been able to sneak up on her like this. If she
hadn’t been so wrapped up in her thoughts it would never have happened.

The
demon wolf looked exactly like Alisha, only not. This woman was as plain as
Alisha was pretty.

“How
rude of me, I’m Katrina, Alisha’s older sister.”

She
smiled broadly, but Ash could only focus on her teeth as they extended into
sharp daggers.

****

Alisha
had regained her composure. He might have thought he had dreamt the whole
begging scene if it weren’t for the dirt stains on her pants.

“Why
have you changed your mind?” he asked really wanting to know.

“You
proved yourself today.”

“I
don’t buy it. You don’t love me.”

“Does
it really matter?” She flicked a piece of grass from her white blouse. The
gesture seemed disinterested and if it weren’t for the tremble of her fingers
he might have bought it.

“The
funny thing is that yesterday I would have said no to that question, but today
I feel differently. It matters Alisha. Please be honest with me.”

She
put a hand over her mouth in an attempt to staunch a wail, but failed as the
sound punctured the silence. Her eyes turned glassy with unshed tears.  It was
difficult, but he stayed still while she pulled herself back together. Alisha
wasn’t the hugging type or the crying type. This whole situation left him
uncomfortable.

“I
hated Bain.”

Her
words shocked him, but he kept silent.

“The
way he carried on rutting with anything that struck his fancy, especially human
women, and whether they wanted him or not. After all those years of putting up
with all that”—she bit her bottom lip and shook for head for a few beats—“he
decided to take an Omega mate. I was thrilled but scared because Bain would
have wanted to keep me too anyway. Then he died and my life finally was worth
living. I fell in love Gray.”

Of
course. It all made sense, “Rage.”

“Yes.
It’s the only reason he challenged you. Thank you so much for sparing him.
You’re a good man and for doing what you did, I’ll become your mate. Do
whatever you ask of me.” She reached out briefly touching his hand.

He
held his breath not sure what to expect. The contact brought…

Nothing.

He
didn’t feel a single thing and rightly so. Alisha was never meant to be his
true mate.

“You
never loved Bain? Now that I think about it, who would love a bastard like
him?”

“Did
you know that he was even sleeping with my sister? It’s why she never took a
mate of her own. He destroyed her life and her sanity. She believed that she
loved him.”

Something
tickled in his mind. “Maybe Bain loved her too in his own sick way.”

She
scoffed, “Katrina wasn’t human enough for Bain’s taste. Why do you think he ended
up choosing an Omega? Had to keep the pack happy, but wanted to satisfy his own
little fetish at the same time.”

“You
said he cost your sister her sanity. What did you mean?”

“Katrina
was so brain washed by Bain, she would do anything to please him. Even told me
once that she would seduce young human females for threesomes. All to please
him.”

“You
guys talked about this sort of thing with one another? I knew that wolves
sometimes took more than one mate, but hounds…”

“He
was one sick puppy. Worse than you know.” Alisha pulled a face. “I found Katrina
upset one day and she told me that Bain had left her out of the fun. She was
angry Gray like I’ve never seen anyone before. She said that the human bitch
would pay. Not Bain, never Bain, it was always someone else’s fault. He had her
so wound up it was scary.”

His
heart beat stopped for just a second before racing to catch back up. “Do you
think that it might be her hurting these women?”

Her
eyes widened. “No. It can’t possibly…,” she gasped. “It could be. Hounds Gray.
It could be.” She answered more forcibly. “Ever since his death, she’s been
quiet, secretive. She disappears for days on end. No I’m wrong. It was after we
found out about the Omega Bain had chosen for his mate, which was before Bain
died. She’s just become worse since—”

He
didn’t wait to hear any more. Just knew with unexplained surety that Ash was in
trouble. His pack had seen how Ash had reacted to Rage’s challenge. Anyone
close enough might have smelt him on her. She fit the profile, a young,
beautiful human, favoured by a wolf…by him, the Alpha. And she was alone…

****

“You
stink of human. Sweet, sickly, yuhh.” Katrina gagged, increasing the pressure
on her arm.

Ashlyn
had to bite her lip to keep from moaning. They were headed for the middle of
nowhere. Thick forest surrounded them and yet they kept going.

“And
you’re really fucking ugly. What our Alphas see in you puny disgusting human
women is beyond me.”

“If
I’m so disgusting to you, then why don’t you kill me now?” Ash kicked herself
mentally. She was supposed to be trying to stay alive not get herself killed
more quickly.

“Wolves
have excellent hearing. Even stupid Omegas. I plan on making you scream until
your throat bleeds right along with the rest of you, until you beg me to finish
you.”

As
if her words hadn’t been enough, the psycho started to hum to the tune of a
fairy tale. Suddenly she was more scared than she’d ever been in her life.

Ash
was pulled along at an exhausting pace for some time. “Gray will be able to
scent it was you. He’ll kill you Katrina.”

She
laughed, “No he won’t. All he’ll smell is you. I learned a little trick or two
from those demon skins. Thanks ever so much for getting rid of them for me.”

“What
little trick?”

Katrina
smiled. It was one of those twisted smiles of a psychopath. Simultaneously, she
began to bulge and shimmer, like she was made out of molding clay and an
invisible hand was manipulating her. “He can’t smell me because I’m not
allowing it. Enough talk, the time has come for the screaming to begin.”

****

Gray
felt his bones snap and lengthen, felt his muscles rope and thicken, the
transformation took a split second. If he weren’t so anxious about finding Ash,
he might take a few moments to marvel at being able to run on all fours during
daylight hours. Something he’d never experienced before. After finding Ash’s
room empty and her missing trench coat and gun in Katrina’s bedroom, his suspicions
were instantly confirmed. The demon wolf was the killer and she planned on
making Ash her next victim. He had stopped only to let Alisha know what was
happening so that she could send backup.

What
confused him was that he could only pick up one scent but it didn’t matter, he could
smell the scent of peaches clear as the nose on his snout and would only be
content once he found his Chaser. Alive and well. 

****

Ash
had to find a way to distract the demon wolf. She still had her knife but the
problem was that she’d carelessly shoved it, sheath and all, into her jeans
pocket. If she even managed to get the thing out, she knew she’d only get one
shot, so she best she make it count.

Also,
the knife was small, she knew from experience, that both skins and wolves
didn’t go down easily and right now she didn’t know exactly what Katrina was.
She would have to sever an artery to slow her down and then go for her weak
spot.

A
roar sounded. Loud and close. Both angry and deadly.

Katrina
snarled, “I was hoping to kill you slowly but it looks like we’re out of time.”

Her
snout elongated as she erupted, a process that would take a few seconds for a
lower ranking female like Katrina. Her opportunity had come. It was act now or
die. Gray was close but not nearly close enough to save her. She could take
care of herself. Just like she had always done in the past. Ash grabbed the
hilt of the knife and pulled, thanking her luck when the tightness of her
pocket freed it from the sheath as well. The demon wolf had turned to look in
the direction of the approaching Alpha and was in the process of turning back
when Ash plunged the knife home. She’d made the mistake before of letting the
knife go, not so this time, she held tight as Katrina pulled away, her muzzle
open wide exposing a mouth full of sharp teeth, in a silent scream. Ash had to
work to keep from falling, but managed to stay upright.

From
the amount of blood that spouted from the wound, Ash knew she had struck the
jugular. Another lucky break.

The
demon wolf was only half erupted so her gargled scream ended in a high pitched
snarl. When Katrina’s glowing eyes settled on her, she knew it wasn’t over yet.
Those green shards went from regular garden variety psycho to full blown crazy
psycho bitch in seconds. Ash swore she could see the wolf’s canines elongate as
she lunged forward intent on ripping her throat out.  Last chance, this would
either work or she’d be dead. Using both hands, Ash lifted the knife at an
angle to Katrina’s chest. Anything less than a mortal wound would fail to stop
this wolf, this very sick, very deranged brand of insanity would only stop when
it was dead.

The
impact had them both falling to the ground. For a second, it felt like the
knife would inflict no more than a flesh wound but then Katrina’s full weight
landed on her and the blade, which might be small but it was also very sharp.

Just
above her, Katrina’s eyes widened, she breathed out in an almost contented sigh.
Again she worried that the blade was not long enough to have punctured Katrina’s
heart, but the female demon wolf slumped forward. Her lifeless body pinned Ash
to the hard earth.  

Just
when she thought she’d pass out from the weight, Katrina’s body was pulled free
and Gray’s concerned face stared down at her.

“Thank
hounds…,” Gray enveloped her in his strong arms, he picked her up and kissed
her. Hard.

For
a moment she was so happy to be safe. It felt so right to be with him like this
that she forgot everything else. When reality set in, she pulled back.

“No
Gray,” she whispered trying to get him to put her down, horrified to see the
faces of several wolves staring back with more and more joining every second.
“Gray please listen, you have to put me down, your pack, your mate—”

But
he pulled her to him. So close she could feel his breath tickle her lips as he
talked. “You are my mate.”

“Have
you lost your mind?”

Gray
smiled letting her pull back at last, allowing her to try and search the faces
for someone that would reason with him. So she scanned the scatter of wolves,
her eyes locking with Alisha’s.
Oh no
, this was becoming worse. Rage’s
hand was possessively around the female demon wolf’s shoulders. Alisha was
crying silently but when she caught Ash’s eye, she nodded in...
acceptance?
 Had everybody lost their minds?

“What’s
going on?” she asked with mounting confusion.

Gray
turned his head to the building crowd and growled. Rage strode to where Katrina’s
body lay and carefully picked it up. Within seconds, they were alone.

“You
may not have noticed Gray, but you’re naked.”

His
clothes must have been ripped off during the transformation.

“I
hadn’t. Not important.”

 No
sooner were the words spoken and he devoured her lips. His tongue stroked in
and out of her mouth. He put her down cradling her face in his hands. Sighing
as he broke from her, Gray put his forehead to hers. “I’m so glad you’re such a
good Chaser. I was so worried. Thought I might be too late.”

Ash
pulled away. The time had come for answers. “What’s going on Gray? What did I
miss? I’m not your mate.”

“Are
you finished?”

She
clenched her jaw to try and stop herself from answering
no
and launching
into a whole new series of questions like back to her original
had he lost
his mind
?  Then he smiled and she melted a little. Okay she melted a lot.

“You
are
my mate,” his eyes were locked with hers.

“What
happened to Alisha?”

“Alisha
is Rage’s mate. Never meant to be mine. You are mine. I’m sorry it took me so
long to figure it out.”

God
how she loved hearing those words.
You are mine
. “Stop with the whole
possessive thing. I don’t belong to anyone. What about the full moon
situation?”