Alpha Mine (The Alpha Council Chronicles) (13 page)

Marcus smiled, looking pointedly at Stephan. “You are right, Kitty Kat. I
am
always the one who gets hurt during our sessions.”

“As well you should be.” Stephan smiled his approval.

“If I didn’t let you use full force, Kat, how would you learn? You need to get used to using appropriate force, and since I heal quickly, there is no reason not to let you injure me,” Marcus said as he donned pads while Kat pulled on her boxing gloves.

Marcus had told him that he wanted to keep the sessions as real as possible so he went after Kat with as much force as he dared. The purpose of the sessions was to teach her how to defend herself in the event she was ever attacked again, and it was hard to do that if Marcus didn’t at least use the equivalent of human strength and speed when attacking Kat.

Marcus placed his padded hands up in a fighting stance, and Katrina’s punches flew. She threw upper cuts, followed by a series of left and right punches into the pads. Marcus easily blocked each blow. After a few minutes, Marcus straightened dropping his guard. “That’s great, now let’s try some kicks.”

Kat took a deep breath and wiped the perspiration from her brow. She began a succession of kicks, each one easily blocked by Marcus.

Stephan watched, smiling. “That’s my girl. You’re doing great! Kick his ass.” Kat looked at him and smiled, clearly enjoying the compliment while letting her guard down.

Marcus took advantage of Kat’s momentary distraction and grabbed her from behind pinning her arms to her side as he lifted her off of her feet. Her instincts took over, and she struggled against his hold. She threw her head back once again, contacting with his nose. Marcus dropped Kat as his head snapped back, his face contorted in pain. She landed in a heap on the blue mat. Stephan chortled, his laughter echoing throughout the gym.

“Way to go, Kitten! That was impressive.” Stephan felt a flurry of pride, his chest expanding with satisfaction at the sight of his woman besting his friend. He was instantly beside her to help her to her feet.

As Marcus wiped the blood from his nose with his forearm, the doorbell rang.

“That will be Nicholai,” Stephan said and easily drew Katrina to her feet, dusting off her behind. “Marcus, go get cleaned up while I let Nicholai in. We’ll meet you in the library.”

“Can I offer you a drink?” Stephan asked, as he led his friend to the library.

“That would be appreciated. I will take vodka if you have any.”

Stephan sent Marcus a mental command, asking him to bring in drinks when he joined them in the library.

The library was a semi-circular room with built-in bookcases lining the curved walls. Stephan kept a thick, ornately carved desk in the center of the room. Two matching chairs with hand-carved arms and claw-foot legs sat flanking a matching small claw-footed table with a glass top.

“Marcus will be joining us soon. Please sit down.” Stephan informed his fellow Alpha, gesturing to one of the matching burgundy print upholstered chairs. Marcus entered the room carrying a vodka tonic in one hand and a scotch on the rocks in the other.

Nicholai crossed one ankle over his knee and accepted the glass from Marcus. “Thank you.” He did a double take. “Shit, you look awful, Marcus. What happened to you?”

Marcus wiped the blood from his nose and sat in the chair opposite from Nicholai. “I was sparring.”

“With Kat,” Stephan offered with a genuine smile that reached the corners of his eyes.

Nicholai laughed. “A human female did that to you?”

“Yeah, she did this. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. I’ll be fine.”

“I am sure you will, comrade. I trust Miss Katrina is unharmed?”

“Kat is just fine. Marcus was the only one who took a beating.” Stephan beamed, bringing a heavy hand to rest on Marcus’ shoulder.

Nicholai grinned wide, showing his teeth. “I have always thought the beautiful ones were the most dangerous.”

“You can say that again,” Marcus said, straightening his nose one final time as the bones knit back together. He pulled the cotton from his nose.

Stephan eased into his chair behind the massive desk. “So Nicholai, have you seen the couple that was in your office after the ballet performance?”

“I just came from there. I think they may be a place to start looking for clues about the hunt club.” Nicholai took a sip of his drink.

“What makes you think that?’

“Nothing was out of the ordinary when they took me on a tour of the home, but there was a smell, like stale human and a strong sense of dread and fear, the stench of which permeated the house. There is something not right in that house. I do not know if it will turn out to be the hunt club, but definitely something is not right.”

Stephan nodded in understanding and took a swig of his scotch. “I think we should do some recon on the house. Watch it for a few days and see if we notice anything suspicious happening.”

“I can do that,” Marcus volunteered. “The only thing is that someone will need to pick up Kat after work.”

“That is not a problem. I’ll get her,” Stephan volunteered a little too quickly, bringing a smirk to Marcus’ face.

After taking another gulp of his scotch, he inquired, “If Nicholai shows you where the house is located, can you dematerialize there or will you need to borrow the car?”

Marcus dropped his gaze to his shoes. “I can’t dematerialize yet, I’ll need the car. I’ll take the Hummer.”

Stephan smiled, a sinful idea popped into his mind like a firecracker. “If I’m picking up Kat, I’ll need the Hummer. You can take the Mercedes.”

The three warriors discussed their plan in detail, agreeing that Marcus would watch the home from a mountain located nearby and report his findings back to Stephan. By the time the evening turned into early morning, they’d worked out a plan, decided which part each of them would play, as well as established a timeline. When the pink hues of dawn threatened to take the sky, the Alphas made their way downstairs.

After escorting Nicholai to the door, the males bid each other goodbye, grasping forearms in the way of the warrior. Kat strolled up as Nicholai was leaving. “Goodbye, Mr. Peterhof.”

Nicholai stepped past Stephan and Marcus, and bowing over Kat’s hand, he placed a kiss squarely on the back. “Please call me Nicholai, Ms. Spencer.”

“Only if you call me Kat.”

“A rose by any other name,” Nicholai mused as he straightened to his full height, still holding her hand in his much larger one. “Kat it is then. Goodnight, sweet Kat.” He turned on his heels and once outside the door dematerialized, leaving only a wisp of smoke behind.

“Does he do that a lot?” asked Kat, looking up at Stephan.

“Do what? Dematerialize?” Stephan tucked her under his arm.

“No, quote poetry. Both times I’ve met him he has quoted poetry.”

Stephan pondered the observation as they made their way to the kitchen to join Marcus. “Yes actually. He does quote poems often. I hadn’t really noticed until you mentioned it.”

“A man with a heart of a poet. How romantic, especially for someone so young.”

Marcus snickered. “Young? Nicholai is older than I am.”

“Really?” Katrina could not keep the disbelief from her voice. “He looks like he’s around my age.”

Stephan shrugged deftly changing the subject to bring Katrina’s thoughts back to him. “Want something to eat? I’m thinking about having some ice cream.”

“Sure, that sounds good.”

“I’ll get the bowls,” volunteered Marcus.

Stephan grabbed the ice cream and toppings while Marcus placed the bowls on the table. The three sat and created their sundaes. Marcus took the spray can of whipped topping and shook it ominously with a smirk on his face. He lifted one eyebrow, eyeing Kat, mischief darkening his eyes.

“I think I owe you for earlier,” he threatened.

“No. You wouldn’t dare.” Kat furrowed her brows. “Stephan, stop him.”

The Alpha leader raised his hands in mock surrender. “This is between you and Marcus. You wounded his pride, now he wants retribution.”

Marcus shook the can aiming it toward Katrina and looked for approval from Stephan. A quick nod of his head and Marcus gave a squirt of topping on her nose. Stephan’s gut tightened when Katrina’s lips parted to inhale an indignant gasp of air and her tiny pink tongue darted out to lick at the cream.

Stephan reached one long finger and scooped the whipped cream from her nose. Kat quickly grabbed Stephan’s hand before he could retract it. Bringing his finger to her mouth, she drew it in, sucking the white goodness from the end of his finger. Stephan closed his eyes, a soft moan escaped his lips. Without thinking, he reached out with his thoughts to gently stroke her face. Her eyes widened in shock. “What was that?” Kat placed her hand on her cheek.

His lips smirked as he purposely shifted his thoughts to give the impression of him trailing his fingers up her thigh. “What was what?” he asked with mock innocence.

“You know darn well what I mean. I can feel you touching me. How are you doing that?”

“You mean this?” Without touching her physically, he teased her nipple into a hard pink point that could be seen through the blue T-shirt she wore.

She gasped. “Stop that.”

“What? Don’t you like it?” A smile of male satisfaction crossed his lips.

She smiled at him “I think if you keep this up, I won’t be able to think straight.”

Marcus cleared his throat. “Why don’t you two get a room?”

“That won’t be necessary because Stephan is going to stop now before things get out of hand. Aren’t you, Stephan?”

“If you wish.” He touched her other breast, mentally taking the heavy weight of it in his hand as he gave her a crooked smile. “Are you sure that’s what you wish?”

A blush reddened her cheeks. “I…I…” She took a steadying breath and let it out very slowly. “I think we need to get back to eating our ice cream before it melts.”

Chapter 16

Trace and Alvero put on their clothes as the woman lay sleeping on the bed, naked from their earlier escapades. After having their way with her, Trace had compelled her to sleep. The guard raked his hand down his face. “We still need another human.”

“I know just the one,” Alvero volunteered. “I was in a bar several months ago and a waitress there was rather interested in me. I bet if we go there, she’ll come willingly.”

“Sounds easy.” Trace pulled on his sweater as he spoke. “How do you know she won’t be missed when she’s gone?”

“I’ll probe her mind once we are there.” Alvero shrugged into his black leather jacket and threw Trace his duster.

“Fine, let’s go. We’re burning moonlight.” Trace grabbed the keys to the van and glanced over his shoulder at the sleeping woman on the bed, satisfied his compulsion would keep her unconscious while they hunted.

The two males locked the door to their cheap hotel room and jumped into the dark van that waited for them in the parking lot. It was a basic delivery van with two bucket seats in the front and no windows in the back, the perfect vehicle for what they had planned. The tires screeched as they rode off toward their next target.

Jasmine Newfield sat in the back of Bunker’s taking a smoke break. Her long black hair was done up in a tight ponytail. She wore a skin tight uniform of hot pants and a T-shirt with the Bunker’s logo plastered on it. A dirty mini apron hung from her waist, just large enough for her to put her order pad and pack of cigarettes in the pockets. Her pretty, Asian features drew tight as she took a long drag from her cigarette, hoping to inhale away the events of the evening.

Two frat boys had come into the bar and ordered a pitcher of beer along with some wings. Her coworker, Betty, brought their order, and they gave her a hard time, wanting her to sit with them. When one of the men touched her inappropriately, Jasmine noticed and went over to the table. A confrontation ensued which ended with the other waitress dumping the sauce for the wings on one of the men and the other man dumping the pitcher of beer back on her coworker. Jasmine escaped relatively unharmed, though some of the sauce splashed on her apron, but Betty had to go home to change. Now they were one server short for the dinner rush.

Tonight she was definitely going to earn her two week vacation that was scheduled to begin tomorrow. She took one last drag from her smoke before stomping out the butt with the heel of her sneaker and heading back inside.

“Hey, Jasmine,” said her boss and owner of the place, Kelly Bunker. “Two men just sat down at table thirteen. Will you please take their order?”

“Yeah, sure,” she mumbled out between pursed lips. Kelly was okay to work for, but she could be a bit of a slave driver.

On her way to the table, Jasmine lamented about how table thirteen would have belonged to her beer-covered coworker and she wouldn’t be working the table if those frat boys hadn’t been such jerks earlier. The last thing her tired feet needed were extra tables to handle. She plastered a fake smile on her face.

“Good evening, gentleman. Can I bring you a drink?” Jasmine looked at the men. They reminded her of muscle men. Beautifully handsome, both were broad in the shoulders with large arms and thick necks. It was obvious they worked out, and Jasmine couldn’t help but wonder if they had any brains to go with their brawn. She swallowed her lust and waited for them to reply.

The bigger of the two spoke first. “I was in here several weeks ago and there was a woman with blonde hair, about five feet tall, who was waitressing. Is she here tonight?”

“You mean Betty. She was here earlier, but she had to leave.” Jasmine refrained from adding the reason for Betty’s departure—the beer bath.

“Oh, that’s too bad. I hoped to see her.” The man shot Jasmine a sexy smile, flashing his perfect white teeth.

“So what can I get you guys to drink?”

His buddy looked at Jasmine, capturing her eyes in his gaze. “We’ll have two beers. Anything American you have on tap.”

Jasmine nodded slowly. Mesmerized by his gaze, her brain went fuzzy. She felt a tingling sensation in her mind as information about her life passed through. She lived alone, no family in the area. Not even a pet to keep her company. Vacation starts tomorrow. The tingling eased. Her vision blurred momentarily before coming back in focus. “Two beers…coming…right…up,” she murmured slowly, swaying slightly.