Fat-Free Alpha (2 page)

Don looked taken aback by his
marked changed in speech. The last thing his childhood friend probably expected
was the deadly calm in his voice. Weariness then crept into Don’s gaze.

“Carlos, promise me you’ll look at
the situation with a clear and logical mind.” Don winced when his hands blurred
and closed on his wrist.

Carlos leaned in close to say his
next words.

“The last thing I am today is your
friend, Don. I’m your Alpha, and I make all the decisions in the pack.”
 

He wrung out just a bit of pack
magic to place emphasis and command on his words. Don let out a sound. The Beta
tried to fight against the command, but he couldn’t. Not every werewolf could
be an Alpha because not many wolves could use and manipulate the werewolf magic
that made up the metaphysical heart of every pack.

“Reed is the representative sent by
the Starr Mountain Pack to negotiate. Apparently, he’s been working as Jax’s
second for the past few years.”

Shocked into silence, Carlos could
only numbly let go of Don.

The New Haven Pack was his life and
home. He’d spent countless years shaping and making it his, strengthening it
and ensuring it so every wolf who came to his door felt welcome. Carlos would
defend and protect his pack from the encroaching enemy pack even at the cost of
his own life.

For the better part of the year,
the Starr Mountain Pack had been interfering with the affairs of his pack,
claiming it was his pack stealing and poaching their wolves. Carlos couldn’t
understand what the fuck they were talking about, because the wolves
who
came over to his pack all came over willingly when they
found their mates.

“Alpha,” Don began quietly. “The
Starr Mountain Pack is one of the largest and most powerful
pack
in the Quad Cities.”

“You don’t have to fucking
remind
me,” Carlos snapped at him.

Don flinched, and he instantly
regretted his hasty outburst. His friend deserved better. Hell, they might not
be related by blood, but Carlos couldn’t wish for a better brother.

“Sorry ‘bout that.” Carlos let out
a breath and reined in his anger.

He’d reserved and let out his anger
on more deserving outlets, like tearing Reed to shreds.

“Jax wants to goad you, Carlos. He
sent Reed for a reason.”

“Yeah, I know. That bastard Alpha
never plays fair.” Carlos clenched his jaw, remembering how Jax Starr played
dirty on more than one occasion.

Sending spies to his town was just
the tip of the iceberg. Jax shredded every bit of his honor when he hired the
ex-mate of one Carlos’s wolves to shake up chaos in his pack. Carlos also
suspected the bastard subtlety, but happily, steered a serial killer into his
town. What a fucking mess that had been, but at least each of Jax’s plans had
backfired.

“I also want to remind you that
each time Jax tried to shake us, we only come back stronger. Because of him,
more of our wolves found our mates, including me,” Don pointed out.

Carlos knew what he meant. He’d
seen firsthand how more and more of his wolves were finding their fated mates,
and in doing so, strengthened their pack bonds. Don also found his mate during
Jax’s little games, and Carlos couldn’t be anything but happy for his friend.

“He’s a fucking coward. He can’t
even meet me face-to-face,” Carlos spat, disgusted.

Even though he never met the other
Alpha, Carlos didn’t just disapprove of his methods, he’d wanted to kill Jax
Starr the instant the coward set foot on his land. The wolves Jax claimed
Carlos poached weren’t exactly in the best condition when they wandered into
New Haven.

The pack bonds surrounding them felt
tainted and broken. It took a while for those wolves to finally have the
healthy aura most of his pack carried, and Carlos wasn’t going to simply stand
aside and let Jax and the Starr Mountain Pack hurt any of his wolves again.

Don began to speak again, but
Carlos beat him to it.

“You don’t have to worry about a
single damn thing. I’ll talk to Reed in the most civil matter humanly possible
and hear his terms.”

Don looked visibly relieved by the
time they walked out of the cemetery and drove back to town. Carlos didn’t
bother telling what his definition of “civil” really meant.

Bastards like Jax and Reed didn’t
deserve shit, and civility didn’t extend to them. No one messed with him and
his pack and expected to come out alive.

****

Reed Williams wasn’t a nervous man
or werewolf by far. Being second to a ruthless Alpha like Jax Starr meant he
had to have steel in his backbone and an iron stomach. While his position had
its perks, it was sometimes more of a headache. Reed was the pack’s cleaner and
go-to man. If one of his wolves got into trouble, the other pack enforcers
couldn’t deal
with,
it fell to Reed to take care of
it.

Now he was in New Haven, a remote
little town at the fringes of the Quad Cities, ready to fight on his Alpha’s
stead. Reed wasn’t sure why Jax decided to issue a one-on-one duel between two
pack leaders to settle matters peacefully and avoid senseless deaths.

It just wasn’t Jax’s style, or
rather,
it wasn’t the kind of method the Alpha usually
employed these days. As Jax grew visibly unstable over the years, as it
happened with older wolves, Reed began to question why he followed the Alpha in
the first place.

The present wasn’t the time to
contemplate such thoughts. He had to conduct himself honorably as Jax’s second,
and uphold the reputation of the Starr Mountain Pack.
Supposedly
anyway.
He had other reasons.

Reed had always placed the needs of
his pack first before his own. He took care of the pack’s wolves, but it was
time he took care of himself. Fuck, he was nervous as hell though.

“Reed Williams?
Follow me.” The command came from a hulking dark-haired and dark-eyed pack
enforcer Reed met at the entrance of the town.

The bright and powerful
metaphysical sphere of bestial energy surrounding the man told Reed the
werewolf was a Beta. He didn’t provide Reed a name, nor did he speak much. Fine
with him, he wasn’t here to make small talk.

They walked by the pleasant
sidewalks of New Haven’s charming town square, passing by several
establishments. Reed wasn’t sure if the pack had an ulterior motive. Were they
expecting him to have an outburst at being asked to walk to the meeting place?

Reed was sorry to disappoint them
because he rather enjoyed the wind on his face. It helped cool and empty his
head of his worries. A pang of longing shot through him at the sight of the
clean streets, the cheerful passersby, and the neat and tidy rows of shops. New
Haven was just the right kind of place he could imagine raising a kid in.

Bonnie.
Just like that, panic and age-old grief resurfaced like a wound that never
truly healed. Could he really do this? Could he really face the man he loved,
and the mate he’d abandoned long ago?

Werewolves mated and bonded for
life, and he knew the mental and metaphysical damage he caused Carlos was
irreparable. Coming to New Haven on his own was a risk, he knew that, but an
unexplainable reckless part of him wanted to see Carlos Medina again.

Reed didn’t spend the last few
months playing dutiful second to Jax just so he would buckle at the last
moment. Jax may be slightly insane, but he wasn’t dumb. The Alpha probably
suspected Reed had other motives. He knew Reed had a history with Carlos, but
he didn’t know the exact, juicy details.

If he knew just how much Carlos
wanted to kill Reed, Jax wouldn’t have probably sent him here because the Alpha
didn’t dispose of his most useful tools easily.

“Terrence!” A short and slightly
fleshy man in a baker’s apron and hat emerged from the doorway of a bakery.

“Not now, Al,” the enforcer said in
a tight voice. The visible strain and effort in the enforcer’s voice made Reed
study the baker more closely.

“Ah, okay.
Got
it.”
The baker, Al, gave Reed a curious look before retreating inside
the shop.

It was only for a moment, but Reed
could sense the invisible and powerful mate bonds coursing between the two.
Reed licked his dry lips, ignoring the envy that coiled inside him.

I
don’t deserve to be jealous of any other mated pair. I gave that right long ago
when I abandoned my mate when he needed me the most.

“It’s not far,” Terence muttered.

It wasn’t long before they reached
the residential district of the town, and small but homey houses looked back at
Reed.

“Wait here,” Terrence instructed,
stopping by the gate leading to a single-story home.

“Sure.” While Reed’s voice sounded
indifferent to his ears, his stomach dropped.

Carlos
is in there.

He wasn’t sure how he knew that
little tidbit of information. Even when their mate bonds were broken, he could
still sense bits and pieces of Carlos’s signature fierce aura.

Reed wasn’t sure how long he’d been
waiting, but he knew they made him wait on purpose. Did the New Haven wolves
hope to slowly erode his temper? Werewolves were temperamental by nature,
especially wolves that ranked high in the pack hierarchy.

Too bad Reed had to disappoint
them. He was far too nervous to give in to his anger. Oh it was there, but it
barely simmered to the surface.

“The Alpha will see you now, Reed.”

The last thing Reed expected was
kindness. He frowned at the well-built speaker. It was another enforcer,
another Beta, by the feel of him, but he looked oddly familiar.

“Derrick Starr?” Reed asked, unable
to conceal his surprise.

Jax’s wayward prodigal son had
dropped all the extra pounds and turned himself into another formidable wall of
muscle. There was also a confidence in him that Reed never noticed before.

Derrick nodded. “Don’t keep him
waiting.”

Reed felt himself nod. Terrence was
by the porch, his arms crossed. Beside Terrence was another enforcer, another
figure from Reed’s past. Don Mills.

Reed could sense the barely
surpassed hostility from Carlos’s childhood friend

“Carlos wants to see him alone,” a
third voice said.

Derrick frowned at Don but didn’t
argue.

“The Alpha’s in the kitchen,”
Terrence told Reed.

Taking a deep breath, Reed pushed open
the door and stepped in the house. The house was messy, cluttered, and needed a
good cleaning. Reed had to smile at that. At least that part of Carlos hadn’t
changed.

“Carlos?” Reed called, finding the
kitchen empty except for a pair of mixing bowls and some sort of marinade left
in them.

“Out the
backyard.”

Reed opened the back door, wincing
at the creaking sound it made. He felt like a potential victim in a serial
killer TV series. When he spotted a man in an apron standing over a grill and
flipping some steaks, he visibly relaxed.

“Carlos, it’s been a while,” Reed
greeted.

He didn’t dawdle. Reed simply went
to straight the point.

“You know why I’m here. I’m here as
second to the Starr Mountain Pack and on Jax’s behalf. I propose a one-on-one
challenge to clear the air between our two packs and avoid further bloodshed.”

Whatever it was
he
expected, it wasn’t this
. Carlos wasn’t known for being agreeable or
tolerant in the past or the present. Unless invited, most shifters stayed
cleared of New Haven. Carlos and his pack had a
kill-first-and-ask-questions-later rule.

Looking at the mate he’d abandoned
for the first time after so many years, awoke something inside him. How often
did Reed imagine raking his fingers across Carlos’s thick tangle of black hair,
or across the firm rock-hard planes of his golden body?

Would he still smell the same, if
Reed thrust his nose at the side of his neck to inhale his scent?

Just looking at Carlos made him
aware of the other half residing inside his body. The wolf still remembered and
carried the self-inflicted mental scars Reed made when he decided it was safer
for him and Carlos to be apart than be together.

As punishment, his wolf refused to
come to his aid and he’d been stuck for a long time in one form. It got better,
but the beast still hadn’t forgiven him for abandoning his mate.

“Reed.
You
shouldn’t have come.” Carlos’s voice was the only warning Reed got.

The very air shimmered with visible
heat, and all of it gathered around Carlos like a storm.
It’s the energy of his beast.
This
is the power of the New Haven Pack Alpha.
If he looked closely at all that power,
would he be able to see the fine metaphysical threads connecting the Alpha to
the rest of his wolves?

Jax’s connection to the wolves of
the Starr Mountain Pack wasn’t anything like this. In fact, Jax’s pack bonds
felt weak and tainted compared to the pure energy rippling off Carlos.

Reed could hardly breathe. When had
Carlos Medina become this powerful? The outline of Carlos’s figure blurred, and
then he was an unstoppable force of nature. Rooted to his spot, Reed couldn’t
move, couldn’t even breathe.

He reached out desperately for his
own beast, but the wolf was mesmerized by Carlos’s bold show of power, and
reacted to his call sluggishly.

Chapter Two

Two hundred pounds of werewolf fur
and muscles fueled by animalistic, mindless rage lurched at him. Carlos was a
deadly blur of golden force. Reed’s breath was knocked out of him as their
bodies painfully collided.

The force of their collision kicked
up dirt and dried leaves.

“Reed.
You shouldn’t have come.”
Carlos’s words reverberated faintly in
his head, before fear and self-preservation made him claw and fight for his
life.