Curse of the Alpha: The Complete Bundle (3 page)

T
he walk
to town was short but beautiful. Tarker’s Hollow had a shade tree committee, dedicated to maintaining the glorious canopy of maples and oaks that met over the streets, dappling the old sandstone sidewalks with soft green shadows.

Each house she passed belonged to a character from her youth. Sadie Epstein-Walker squatted in her garden across the street, big floppy hat and sunglasses in place, harvesting late summer roses just like she had when Ainsley was in high school.

Was she a wolf?

Ainsley studied her back, trying to decide. When Sadie turned, Ainsley shifted her gaze straight ahead and sped up her walk.

A few houses down, Mrs. Hooper’s bicycle still sat on her front porch, even though Mrs. Hooper must be seventy by now.

As she turned the corner onto Elm she could hear a few cars a block away on Yale Avenue. All the streets in town bore the names of either trees or colleges. There was a gorgeous garden in front of the post office and even in late summer plenty of flowers were in bloom.

She turned the corner onto Yale and passed the flower shop, the toy store, and some new place that sold eco-friendly home décor. Then there it was – the hardware store. There was a lump in her throat when she saw the old sign was still in place.

Selling her mother’s family store had been really hard for Ainsley. She remembered how her high school History teacher, Mr. MacGregor, had approached her at the funeral:

“Ainsley, please come home,” he said simply, hands pressed against his sides. His blonde hair was still a little long. All the girls at Tarker’s High when Ainsley has been there mooned over him.

“Mr. MacGregor, thank you for coming.”

“Can we please talk after the service? There is so much I need to tell you.”

Ainsley squirmed. “I’ve really got to get back to New York.”

“I’d like to buy the hardware store. Can we at least talk about that?”

Ainsley had resisted the instinct to snarl at him.

Why did she feel so protective of the old place?

Of course she wasn’t going to come home to Tarker’s Hollow and run a hardware store. Something had to be done about the business and the building.

She agreed to meet him after the service. MacGregor, it turned out, was the beta of the Tarker’s Hollow wolves.

He perched on the edge of her father’s brown leather chesterfield with his hands clasped in front of him.

“Ainsley, a beta can’t lead a pack forever,” he said. “It’s complicated, and the wolves are patient, but something’s going to give way soon. We need an alpha”

Ainsley shifted uncomfortably and re-crossed her legs. His heart pounded in response and she froze.

“I’m sorry, Ainsley, I know this isn’t the world you chose. But we are your people and we need your help.”

“Why don’t you just choose an alpha?”

“That’s not the way it works. Lineage is important.” He twisted in his seat. “We need you to choose.”

“Fine. I choose you,” she said immediately. “Does that fix everything?”

He swallowed, “Do you know what it means for you to choose?”

“Um, you become alpha, right?”

“The only way for an alpha to emerge is for you to choose a mate.”

Oh Jesus.

She studied the face of the teacher she’d fantasized about in high school. He was gazing miserably at her and sweating a little. The scent of his growing arousal was overpowering. A soft, golden haze formed around him. The creases at the corners of his eyes disappeared and his shoulders broadened.

What the hell was going on?

“So, if we just?” she whispered.

His eyes widened and he leaned toward her hungrily. The thundering of his heart vibrated through her whole body as her own pulse struggled to match its rhythm. His face had gone from mildly attractive to dazzlingly handsome; he looked like a young god. The air seemed to crackle with energy, and she moved to bridge the distance between them.

At the last second, he pulled back with obvious effort and sighed, looking away from her.

“We don’t just have to couple – choosing a mate means choosing a mate. It’s for life.”

Ainsley shook her head, and the haze disappeared. The room returned to normal. Mr. MacGregor looked just as he always had – handsome in a rumpled way.

She had only been home three days for the funeral, and already strange things were happening. She couldn’t wait to get back to New York.

“Sorry, Mr. MacGregor,” she said. “I’m not interested in choosing a mate.”

“I know you’re not. And even if you were, I shouldn’t be on your list.” He smiled ruefully. “There are several promising candidates, and one in particular your parents hoped you would choose.”

Her parents had a mate in mind for her? Lovely.

“Okay, I’ll bite, who’s the lucky guy?”

“Erik Jensen.”

Ainsley swallowed. The thought of Erik Jensen always made her feel a twinge of regret. Erik had been her best childhood friend. When the boys in school decided that girls were dumb and couldn’t play in the woods, Erik had stubbornly insisted that Ainsley Connor was super neat and that they would kick her out over his dead body.

He’d won out over the other kids and Ainsley was allowed to keep her place by his side. By third grade they had ruled the woods and creek and even built a massive tree fort, just the two of them.

But when the school labeled Ainsley as gifted, she had been pulled out of their shared classes. The extra homework cut into her playtime, and she found herself spending more time with Grace Kwan-Cortez and her studious, less “outdoorsy” crowd.

She never exactly had a falling out with Erik. But by middle school, Ainsley realized that not only did she not hang out with him anymore, he wouldn’t even look at her when they passed in the halls.

By high school he was really handsome. His strong jaw contrasted with soft, dark eyes that were framed with long lashes. His hair was so dark it almost black. He wore a black leather jacket that Ainsley secretly thought was pretty cool.

Although he had bad boy good looks and excelled at sports, it was common knowledge that he was a nice person. He even headed up a group of boys who would shovel out the senior citizens around town in the frequent winter storms.

Realizing now that Erik Jensen was the man her parents wanted for her gave Ainsley a pang of longing. At ten years old, Erik had shown her more respect and kindness than any other man she’d ever met. And like every other person of importance in her life, she’d dropped him like a hot potato.

Ainsley realized Mr. MacGregor was waiting for her to respond.

“Wow, Erik Jensen?” she said.

“That’s who your father told me he hoped you would choose. That was a long time ago, but I know he didn’t say it lightly.”

“Well, I appreciate the insight but I’m not going to be choosing a mate. I’m sure you guys can vote or something. Can we take care of the paperwork for the hardware store?”

A
insley shook
herself out of her reverie and continued her walk. She didn’t have time to reminisce. No good would come of that.

Mr. MacGregor had kept up her mom’s tradition of putting out some seasonal items on tables out front with silly signs reminding everyone why they needed them. There was a collection of rakes and paper leaf bags laid out with the sign:
You’ll be raking in the compliments on your beautiful fall lawn!
MacGregor clearly did not have her mother’s wit. But she was glad he tried.

She caught a glimpse of him grinding a key for Patty Loveless, one of the local real estate agents. That reminded her that she had better stop by and talk to Charley about the house. In her periphery she could sense them turning toward her as soon as she shifted her gaze.

Ainsley wasn’t about to risk getting pulled into a conversation. She looked both ways and crossed Yale. There was nothing over there except the empty construction site.

No one to bother her.

The construction vehicles seemed out of place, especially for a town that feared change as much as Tarker’s Hollow. The former ball field was going to be an Inn and restaurant soon. The town had approved it fifteen years ago but they were only just now breaking ground because there had been such a fuss.

As Ainsley crossed Yale she studied the temporary fencing, trying to picture the size of the building and the parking area that would be there one day. Many of the trophies that still lined the shelves of her room featured miniature golden softball players. Ainsley had thrown her share of strikeouts on the field that had already been erased by the heavy treads of the earth movers.

Just as she arrived on the sidewalk on the college side of Yale, a figure appeared behind the fence in the construction area. Tall, dark and handsome didn’t begin to describe him. But Ainsley was never the kind of girl who fantasized about Neanderthal types, so she tore her eyes away from his tantalizing shape and headed toward the overpass. She would just walk back over Yale to the café and real estate office.

“Hi!”

She turned – the guy was yelling at her. She expected that kind of behavior on the streets of Manhattan, but here? Did construction workers actually think girls liked that? She turned up her nose and sped up her walk.

“Ainsley!” he called.

She turned on her heel and squinted at him. Did she know this person? She didn’t think so. She would have remembered a body like that.

“Ainsley Connor, I didn’t know you were in town.”

Well, she wasn’t going to get out of this. She swallowed a sigh and walked toward him. God, he was good-looking. A white T-shirt stretched over his broad chest. His arms rippled with muscles. Faded jeans hung low on his hips.

Why were these blue-collar types always so hot? It wasn’t fair.

“Do I know you?”

“It’s Erik. Erik Jensen.” His eyes crinkled in a smile. He had the longest eyelashes – that was the only part of him she recognized.

“
Erik
?” Ainsley did
not
remember that incredible body.

“Yeah, I almost didn’t recognize you either, Ainsley. We grew up, didn’t we?”

Yes. Erik had grown into an underwear model. Ainsley had just grown curvier than she wanted to. But she couldn’t help smiling.

“We did,” she said.

“I was really sad to hear about your parents.” He glanced down and kicked at some dirt with the toe of his work boot. “Sorry. I was out of state for the funeral, or else I…”

“It’s okay,” she said, letting him off the hook. “I’m dealing with it.”

“So you live in New York, right?”

“Yes, I’m in real estate. It’s going well.” She left it at that. He was still stuck in Tarker’s Hollow, and digging holes for a living. How awkward. It would be better to not make a big deal of her success. “How are things with you?”

“They’re great, thanks for asking. I just found out I’m on the short list for the highway.”

What could that possibly mean? Was he on clean-up duty as some sort of community service?

“I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

“Sorry, Ainsley. I guess our small-town news doesn’t make in into the New York Times.” He flashed her a playful smile that made her forget to breathe for a minute. “I own this excavation company. We’re working on the Inn project now. And it sounds like we’re on the short list to do excavation for the new highway coming in. It’s a huge opportunity.”

The highway, was that really going to happen? She knew the residents had been fighting it for years but the highway would finally put the town on the map. Although given the special kind of diversity found in Tarker’s Hollow, maybe that wasn’t such a good thing.

Ainsley’s cheeks flushed at her assumption that Erik was a bog standard construction type. His ambitions had clearly brought him well beyond the role of ditch digger.

It dawned on her that Erik was a wolf, too. She remembered what Mr. MacGregor had told her. Her cheeks flushed even more. She must look like a fool.

“Wow, Erik, that’s amazing. I’m really happy for you.”

He smiled and looked down modestly, showing off those eyelashes again.

For a moment she allowed herself to imagine what it would be like to be his mate. She let her eyes run down the length of his body, wide shoulders forming a triangle with his narrow waist. His jeans hung just low enough that she couldn’t quite see but could well imagine the silken trail leading down to what just had to be a beautiful cock. Even the jeans couldn’t disguise the size of the bulge between his legs.

Plus, he was a wolf. No need to worry about losing control and hurting him. Erik looked like the type that could take care of himself.

He looked up and she met his eyes.

In a heartbeat, the edges of her vision blurred and nothing mattered but Erik. His eyes were luminous; his sweat was an intoxicating musk. His too long hair lifted in an imaginary breeze as his heartbeat strained to match hers. Tiny, golden motes danced along his muscular body.

It was happening again. Just like with MacGregor. Only this wasn’t a middle aged History teacher standing on the other side of the fence.

Ainsley licked her lips and moved toward him. Her palms clinked against chain link fence, just as he crashed into it, clenching the metal in his powerful hands and twisting until several of the links gave way with a pop. God, but he was strong. She had a vision of him tearing down the entire section of fence just to get to her.

A tiny moan escaped her lips and he growled softly in return, his dark eyes flashing a spectacular amber. His wolf must be close to the surface. She could feel her own, begging to be unleashed. Somehow she tore her eyes from his and the spell was broken.

E
rik cursed softly to himself
. He had almost lost control. In front of everyone. He hadn’t felt so reckless since he first learned to shift. His father was ex-military. Erik had grown up valuing the benefits of self-discipline.

On the other side of the fence, Ainsley panted and held her head in her hands.

“Wow,” Erik said. “I didn’t think that was real.”

“What was real?” Ainsley asked, regaining her composure.

“The drawing of the alpha.” He could tell from her befuddled look that she had no idea what he was talking about. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Ainsley Connor confused about anything. “Did you think about mating with me?”

“Uh…” Her cheeks began to flush again.

“It’s okay, I thought about it too.” He smiled but didn’t make eye contact. He didn’t want her to feel too embarrassed about it.

“Yes, Erik, I’m an adult and have had those thoughts casually about
plenty
of men.” She was trying to sound cool and composed, but her racing heartbeat betrayed her. Ainsley obviously wasn’t used to dealing with wolves. When your senses were this sharp, there wasn’t much use in putting on airs. Most wolves were pretty straightforward as a result.

“Wow, plenty, huh?”

“Well, enough men.” A hint of a smile danced around the corner of her mouth. “Did something crazy really happen just then? Because of who I am?”

“Yes, I always wondered if that part was fairy tale. I guess not.”

He scaled the fence and landed next to her in a fluid motion.

Her closeness was almost intoxicating, and he could feel heat radiating from her in waves. He had to try very, very hard not to think about mating. Not to think about her clawing her fingernails down his chest as he licked the spot where her neck met her collarbone…

He could tell she was having the same problem.

“Let’s not go down that road again,” he teased, letting out a long breath.

“So what’s the drawing of the alpha?” she asked.

“A wolf can’t become alpha without a mate. There’s no room for lone wolves as pack leaders. All wolves have the potential to be an alpha, but most never get a glimpse of it. You are the rightful heir, so when you looked into my eyes and thought about mating with me, it brought out my inner alpha. It was crazy. Did you really see a halo around me?”

She studied him for a moment, as though she were trying to tell if he was joking at her expense. Couldn’t she hear his pulse, or smell him at all? Ainsley was not a very good wolf, but he supposed that was hardly her fault.

“Yes,” she said. “There was light all around you and your hair was moving and your eyes were…”

“It’s funny, there was light around you too – you looked just like an angel,” he mused. “I guess they don’t really talk about that part.”

“So if I were to, um, choose you, you would become the alpha?”

“It’s not that simple. It has to be real, Ainsley. You’d have to love me. Or whoever,” he added, looking away again.

Erik wondered how any small town wolf from Tarker’s Hollow was ever going to convince Ainsley Connor to fall in love. He remembered her stubborn determination, even as a child. The pack might be in more trouble than anyone suspected.

He wished Ainsley’s dad were still around. Michael Connor would know how to handle all of this. He always did.

They stood in silence for a moment.

“I guess I should go. I need coffee, and I have to see Charley about getting the house on the market.” She let out a sigh that would’ve escaped normal ears.

“You must miss your dad so much.” The words were out before he had a chance to think. He could tell Ainsley wasn’t as okay with everything as she pretended to be. Tears welled in her beautiful eyes.

What an asshole.

“It’s just, I know it’s tough.” He tried to recover. “My parents have been gone for a few years now and…”

“Oh, Erik.” A shocked look crossed Ainsley’s face. “I had no idea. I’m-”

“To Florida.” He cut her off. Could he possibly mess up this conversation any more? “My parents moved to Florida when my dads military pension kicked in. And I had to deal with clearing out their old place.”

“Oh. I thought you meant…”

They stared in awkward silence for a moment, Erik unsure what to say next. Then Ainsley laughed. It was a full, throaty laugh that made him think of church bells, and Erik thought he might do anything in the world to hear that sound again.

“Can I walk you over?” Erik asked, feeling relieved.

Ainsley shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m fine.”

They both smiled. He wanted to hug her, but it felt too intimate and she probably didn’t want his sweat and dirt all over her dress.

“Listen,” Erik said. “I don’t want to offend you, but are you staying in the house alone?”

“Yes.”

“Ainsley, everyone in town knows who you are. You might get unwanted visitors.”

“You think there’s anyone who wants to be an alpha so much they would tie me up and tell me to think about mating?”

“I think there are plenty of men who would try to convince you in a nicer way.”

He bristled at the idea of the other young wolves in town, and what they might do to try and work their way into Ainsley’s good graces. The thought made him want to punch someone.

Why?

He had no claim to Ainsley. Why did seeing her again after all these years make him feel like this? Most likely it was an aftereffect of what had happened, or almost happened, between them a few minutes ago. But Erik thought it might be something more than that.

He sensed Ainsley stiffen at his words. Whatever it was, she felt it too. And she obviously didn’t like it for some reason.

“Well, unfortunately, my parents are dead and I’m not married or anything, so I’m going to be by myself in the house until it’s empty. Don’t worry. It won’t be long,” she said sharply, then stormed away.