BAD BOY ROMANCE: DIESEL: Contemporary Bad Boy Biker MC Romance (Box Set) (New Adult Sports Romance Short Stories Boxset) (130 page)

“Once,’ I echoed.

“And if you could do it once, you can do it again. It’s happened before you know, where humans were part of werewolf packs and vampire clans.””

I put my hands over my face for a just a second before I pushed my fingers into my hair.

“You might not have magic on your side, but everyone has what it takes to be a leader.”

He nodded at me, bowing his head very low as he did so that it made me think it was more like a bow than a greeting, and back to the door before he turned his back to me. It was strange to see the men act that way around me. It made me feel awkward.

I walked to the door and watched John leave. He moved with the same fluid grace Reid did. If I looked hard enough I could notice the signs of the wolves. The animals were there, so close to the skin sometimes I wondered how society could miss it. But I knew what to look for.

And I was starting to wish I really hadn’t known.

My cell phone woke me up with a shrill ring just after three in the morning. I grabbed for it and knocked it down on the carpet. I was half-asleep, fishing under the bed for it when I finally found it and pushed the ‘talk’ button.

“You have to get down to Harry’s house as fast as you can.” John’s voice sounded loud over the speaker, and it was filled with panic. It made my own heart constrict and I suddenly struggled to breath.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Harry’s losing it,” he said.

“I can’t do anything,” I said back, nearly shouting. Panic wrapped around me like a blanket.

“You’re gonna have to,” John said and hung up. I sat with the phone in my hands, staring at it. A howl pierced the night air, and I jumped out of bed. I just threw a coat over my pajamas and stepped into shoes before I flew out the front door.

It took me longer to find Harry’s address than it took me to get there. When I pulled my car in front of the house there were already more cars in the drive way. I parked in the road and got out, running to the front door.

When I stepped inside the air was thick with energy and it crackled around me as I moved into the house. Harry was on the floor in wolf form. The only reason I knew that was because no one else was in wolf for, and four of the nine wolves were present. Abdul and Carlos stood against the far wall.

Harry’s wolf was big, but long and slim, like he was built for speed rather than strength. It had a red coat with white tips on its tail and ears, like an overgrown fox. But instead of the gentle brown eyes of a fox, Harry’s wolf had eyes that were so light blue they looked like ice. Like a husky’s eyes, but even more intense.

John was closest to Harry, and he had his hand out. He was squatting and he had his eyes turned down. From what I knew that was submissive, and Harry was below John. Which meant that he was dangerous now.

“John,” I said softly. He looked up when he heard my voice, and beckoned me closer.

“You have to do something,” he said. The other two said nothing. I doubted they were high enough to say much. I doubted they wanted to get involved.

“Like what?” Harry really didn’t look like he was open to reason.

“He’s angry. Sarelle worked him up and then she disappeared. They had a fight and we both know she’s a lot more dangerous than he is.”

I didn’t know that, but I was more than willing to believe it.

“Where is she?” I asked.

“Hunting, to work of the anger. But Harry can’t do that,” he answered before I got to ask. “At this point he’s not in control and he’ll kill someone instead of taking the time to hunt down an animal.”

My throat tightened and the panic I’d been feeling evolved into fear. Harry snapped his jaws at me, a warning to stay away, and growled low in his throat.

“What am I supposed to do about it?” I asked.

“You need to show dominance. You’re the pack leader until Reid comes back. You need to do something.”

“I don’t know what to do,” I said. “He’s not going to submit to me.”

“Challenge him. Even his wolf knows he can’t take you on without answering to Reid. If you challenge him he should back down.”

“And if he doesn’t?” I asked. Challenging a werewolf didn’t sound like a good idea.

“If you take charge he will. You just need to step into your role as leader. You know how, I’ve felt you do it before.”

Harry’s wolf threw its head back and a howl tore from its throat, piercing the air around us. It sent goose bumps marching down my spine.

“Now, Allegra,” John said, and he was starting to sound scared, which freaked me out. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I stood up and stood in front of Harry. I looked him straight in the eye. His eyes were wild, with pupils like pinpricks.

“What do I do?” I whispered.

“Don’t look away. If you look away now, you’re giving in. He has to look away first.”

I stared at Harry. He was staring back. His face was menacing and his lips curled back, showing me long white fangs.

“John?” I asked and the panic was clear in my voice.

“Just keep at it,” he said. “He’s not going to do it unless you look away.”

I kept staring. John kept talking me through it. Harry kept staring back.

“It’s not working,” I said. I was starting to feel like an idiot.

“It will,” he said. His voice was suddenly lower, and from the corner of my eye I saw him move, sinking to the floor. I forced myself to look Harry in the eye. John made a strange sound, like a growl, and I tore my eyes away from Harry to look at John.

Big mistake.

Harry let out a sound that was a cross between the bark and a growl, and launched for me. I was on my back with two hundred pounds of werewolf on me. Harry went for me neck, but then a blur of white and gray tackled him off me. John had disappeared. A white wolf with gray flecks and burning yellow eyes had replaced him, and it was fighting with the red wolf.

It was worse than the sound of dogs fighting. They tore at each other, and blood spilled onto the floor. I rolled out of the way, crouching on my knees, hands clasped to my mouth.

I glanced up to the other two. Carlos and Abdul were busy changing. If something didn’t give soon, this was going to be a full on wolf fight. But before they’d changed completely, the fight suddenly stopped. John’s wolf lay motionless on the floor, with blood pouring out of his side and staining his fur. Harry curled into a ball on the floor and whimpered like a kicked dog.

Carlos and Abdul were a cross between a werewolf and a man, bi-pedal monsters that scared me.

Finally Harry changed back into human form, shrinking, fur pulling back, until he sat there naked and rocking. He had scratches and bruises, blood covered a big part of his body. But he crawled to John’s wolf and let out a weird wailing sound.

I reached out my hand. This was all my fault.

“Get out,” Harry said, not looking at me. “You’ve done enough.”

“I didn’t do anything,” I said softly.

“Exactly.”

Chapter 4

Reid

I was away for four days in total, and in that time my pack had fallen apart. I’d felt it while I’d been in the hotel room. It had felt like a hot blade had sliced through me, my chest, my side, and there had been a lot of emotional pain.

I’d known it had to do with the pack, but no one answered their phones. For two days after I’d felt the pain and the terror, I’d been left in the dark. I was sufficiently pissed.

When I got home, Allegra was hysterical. She kept talking about Harry and John and an attack, but I couldn’t get more than that out of her. All I could feel was her overwhelming fear.

I hadn’t left her with so much fear. I’d been sure everything was going to be fine.

When I knocked on John’s door Charlene opened. She looked grim when she saw me, but stepped aside so that I could walk in. John sat on the couch in front of the TV without a shirt on. He had a gauze on his size, but otherwise he looked fine.

“What’s going on?” I asked, and he switched off the television when he saw me. I sat down, and he averted his eyes. It wasn’t a sign of submission, it was a sign of guilt.

“We had an accident,” he said. He still didn’t look at me.

“What happened?” I asked again. I could feel power building in the room, rolling around us like waves. The stronger it got, the more John cowered, and I realized it was my own power that washed over us like that. I took a deep breath and drew it back to me, trying to control it.

It died down a lot, but it didn’t go away completely. I was too angry for that. It wasn’t a screaming rage, either. I was disappointed in my pack.

“Harry and Sarelle had a fight and he lost it.”

“So far away from full moon?” I asked.

John shrugged. “I don’t know what she said to him. It was a bad one though. You know how she gets, pushing the right buttons and drawing on fear and regrets.”

I nodded. I did know. I was starting to think more and more that I should just get rid of her. She wasn’t doing the pack any good. Then again, the whole business of trying to push Allegra into the pack wasn’t working out very well either.

“Where was Allegra when it happened?” I asked.

“At home. We called her to—“

“You called her?” I asked, my anger building. The power around us built even bigger, too big for me to hold onto, and I set it free again. It crackled around the room. I wasn’t often aware of my own power.

“I thought she might be able to stop him. She was here in your place while you were gone.”

“Dammit, John,” I said and stood up. I could feel the wolf inside me, clawing at my humanity, wanting out. But I could bloody well behave myself, which was more than I could say about my pack. “How did you think she was going to be able to control him? She’s got more fear than anything else. We feed on that, for god’s sake. Harry could have killed her.”

John nodded, not making eye contact. “I stopped him before it got that far. When he attacked her I attacked him.”

“And you nearly didn’t make it either, if you’re not healed up completely by now,” I said, nodding my head toward the bandage. John sighed.

“I wasn’t completely shifted yet when he attacked. I got the memo too late, Reid. I’m sorry.”

I was angry enough to break something. Lucky for John, it wouldn’t be his neck. My anger felt like a rolling wave of darkness and it filled the room. John felt it and shivered, sliding off the couch and sinking to his knees. He crawled to me, low on the ground, and squirmed at my feet. He was submitting himself to me completely.

“You’re my third. You should have done better,” I barked.

“I know, alpha,” John said. He rubbed his head against my leg, like a cat. A shudder rippled through me and I closed my eyes, calling the power back. Pushing it back inside me, using it like a giant hand to hold the wolf down.

“I don’t want this happening again,” I said and walked away from John, still on the floor. He nodded. He would stay down until I left the house. He was lucky I hadn’t hurt him. The incessant begging had been out of fear. Total submission. Good to know my wolves still listened to me.

When I got home Allegra was in bed reading a magazine. It was very normal, very human. My skin was still humming, the aftermath of all that anger dancing over my skin. When she heard me come in she lowered the magazine.

“I’m sorry,” she said. I don’t know what my face showed to make her apologize straight away.

“It’s not your fault. John should have known better. I should have known better.”

She looked down. I was still angry, and she cowered from it. I didn’t like that it was like that. It never used to be like that. But there was always a price to pay to be part of a werewolf pack. We were both paying it now. We just weren’t on equal footing anymore – we couldn’t be.

“I’m going to have to teach you how to deal with this stuff. I shouldn’t have left you in charge when you knew so little.”

She looked up at me and her dark hair hung in her face, framing it. Her dark eyes were full of something I couldn’t read. When I breathed in I smelled her emotion, her panic, her apology. I was bitter at the back of my throat.

“I don’t think there should be a next time,” she said softly. I was angry again immediately. When she looked in my eyes fear crossed her face, and I knew my eyes had changed. The wolf was glaring out at her. Hell, I  could feel it staring out at her.

“I just don’t think I can do this,” she added on, offering explanation.

“So that’s it?” I asked and my voice was getting deeper, heading toward a growl. “You’re just going to pull out now?”

“I don’t know what I’m doing, Reid,” she said and her voice rose. The panic in it was clear, but there was also the usual tones to it, the annoyance, anger, in a fight. I hadn’t lost her completely. There were a few times the last while I’d thought I might have.

“You can’t just pull out like it’s something you tried and it’s not for you. You stepped into this role, and you offered to lead this pack with me.”

“I never said that!” she cried out.

“But you did it. And that’s how we work, Allegra. Our actions show who we are.”