Her Alphas (10 page)

“And do you know how your folks met?”

“Yeah, Dad was on spring break with some college
buddies—camping in the Black Hills in South Dakota. He met Mom while out hiking
around—”

“Custer State Park,” Tommy finished quietly.

Gwen turned to face the Cat King. “Right. How’d you know?”

“It’s got the largest population of the Western clan.”

Alex studied Tommy’s face. He seemed lost in thought. “What
do you think, Longtree—is it possible?”

Tommy nodded. “I’d say it would explain a lot.”

Gwen cocked her head. “But if I’ve been one of your people
since birth, why haven’t I shifted yet?”

“Who knows?” Tommy responded. “The first time usually
happens in early adulthood. I’d guess you’ve been delayed because you’re only
half Cat. Maybe you never will shift. Then again, now that you’ve been bitten
by a werewolf…”

“So now what? What’s going to happen to me at the full
moon?”

That was the million-dollar question. “We don’t know,” Alex
finally admitted. “Jeremiah said there’s no precedent for it. But whatever it
is, it can’t happen here in Talbot. We think it’s best to leave right away.
I’ve had the network cancel my filming schedule for the next three weeks and—”

Gwen jumped to her feet. “Excuse me?”

The command in her voice caused Alex’s tailbone to tingle
again, but when she met his gaze, a glimmer of his former attraction to her
broke through. It was as though having some answers—no matter how theoretical
they might be—had cleared the anger and confusion that had clouded his mind for
the past week.

“Please sit down, Gwen,” Alex said softly. When she had, he
continued. “It’s Jeremiah’s opinion—and I agree—that we need to keep this quiet
until we know what we’re dealing with. Outside of us, Sergei and Jeremiah,
nobody in the pack even knows you were bitten. And since it looks like you’re
now part of Tommy’s world and mine, we both need to be there for your first
lunar cycle.”

“Then put me in the fledgling cell. You’re the alpha. Just
tell the rest of the pack to stay out.”

Tommy shook his head. “I can’t enter the cave.”

Gwen threw up her hands. “Well, where are we supposed to go then?”

The two men looked at each other and silently agreed on the
only logical place.

“Fine, but I’m bringing my dog,” Gwen said.

Alex snapped his gaze back to her.
Gwen, can you hear me?
I can’t hear you.

She nodded. “Yes, I can hear you both—and you two fearless
leaders can wash the dishes while I go pack.”

Tommy Longtree lived in a beautifully restored stone
boathouse on the shore of Box Turtle Lake. Three arched openings rose from the
water and were tall enough for large boats to pull into the protected slips.
Heavy wood doors could be slid shut to shield the vessels in stormy weather.

The living quarters were upstairs with banks of tall windows
overlooking the lake and French doors opening on to a wraparound deck. Clearly,
the west-facing building had been constructed to take full advantage of the
sunsets.

Bedrooms and baths were situated around the rectangular
perimeter of the spacious main living space. A pool table was the centerpiece
of one end of the room and a seating area was arranged in front of a stone
fireplace on the other. Between the two was a huge, state-of-the-art kitchen
with high-end appliances and luxurious finishes.

The décor throughout was stunningly eclectic mix of classic
and modern, and Gwen was surprised to learn that every piece of furniture and
art had been handpicked by Tommy.

“Yeah, after the first couple hundred years I got pretty
good at arranging knick-knacks,” he joked.

Jezebel and Bob sniffed around the space then found spots in
front of the hearth and flopped down. Alex dropped his and Gwen’s suitcases on
the antique Persian rug. “Sleeping arrangements?”

Gwen bit her lip. She’d been wondering the same thing
herself.

Tommy set the grocery bags on the counter. “Well, there are
four bedrooms. Mine’s over there,” he said nodding to the paneled oak door
beside the fireplace. “You guys can have your pick of the other three, but I’d
suggest they be different ones. Are we all in agreement on that point?”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Alex said.

“Absolutely,” Gwen agreed, trying to hide her
disappointment.

After poking their heads into each of the spacious guest
quarters, Alex chose the suite directly across the long great-room from Tommy’s
and Gwen settled in the middle. Geometrically, it was the farthest the three
could be from one another.

Yeah,
that
should make it easier!
Gwen
thought.

Though she knew that getting physical with either—or both—of
the men would only complicate things further, her sex drive was raging out of
control. The thought of waiting another month to satisfy that urge—especially
with them all living under the same roof—seemed daunting.

For the next three weeks, they occupied themselves with
cooking huge feasts, playing card games, and planning what they would do when
the moon reached three-quarters full.

Alex and Gwen were quarantined to the boathouse and it fell
on Tommy to do the grocery shopping. Back in Talbot, the pack had been told
that Gwen had traveled to Los Angeles with Alex and they would spend the coming
moon week with a local West Coast enclave. The two couldn’t risk being seen
anywhere near their home.

Almost immediately, they’d begun working out the logistics
of what was to come. There were so many unknowns regarding how the lunar cycle
would affect her, they agreed it would be best to assume she’d react like any
other werewolf fledgling. The boat slips below seemed the most logical place to
secure Gwen during moon week.

The three had spent hours downstairs pondering their
choices. Alex had jumped on the wide plank docks, as if testing their strength,
then nodded. He’d pointed to the huge exposed timber beams overhead. “Are those
pretty sturdy?”

Tommy had nodded. “They’re twenty-four inches wide and deep,
set in three feet of stone wall. They’re not going anywhere.”

How they’d keep her inside posed another problem.

Ropes weren’t an option. Any supernatural being could break
through even the thickest rigging. Shackles were out. A shifter’s body changed
size so dramatically that a handcuff that was tight on one that had transformed
would slip off a human.

A cage would have been ideal, but procuring one large enough
and strong enough would certainly raise red flags. It wouldn’t take long for
rumors to spread if the neighboring Cat King were to accept delivery of a large
animal enclosure.

They’d struggled for weeks searching for a solution to a
problem they hadn’t even clearly defined. Just when Gwen was sure one of them
would have to take up welding and build a cage onsite, Alex had an idea. It was
the night before the three-quarter moon.

He gathered them around the breakfast bar and asked for a
pen and paper. “Chains,” he said and began sketching. “Now, keep in mind, I’m
not an artist, but this is what I’m thinking.”

Gwen bit back a laugh when he drew the outline of a woman
with an hourglass figure and huge breasts that looked like something out of a
horny teenager’s notebook. He scribbled in long hair, dots for eyes and a
stick-figure smiley face. “Is that supposed to be me?” she scoffed.

“No, if it were you the mouth would be much bigger,” Alex
teased. “Now focus!”

Alex drew a diagonal line from the top of each shoulder to
the crotch, then horizontal lines across the middle and above the breasts.
“Chains,” he said. “Okay, so we create a loop over each shoulder and between
the legs, then a kind of belt around the waist and another one around the
chest, about armpit height. We leave enough slack to allow for any, um,
expansion, and secure all of the junctions with padlocks.”

Tommy nodded. “No welding required.”

“Right!” Alex said. “Then we attach a long chain to the loop
between her shoulder blades and secure it to an overhead beam.”

“What would I wear?” Gwen asked.

The two men stared at her with identical looks of confusion.
She widened her eyes at them. “You know, wear under the chains. All of the
fledglings I’ve seen strip off their clothes before they shift.”

“Good point,” Alex said. “Well, I suppose you could wear
kind of a poncho-type thing, but I think it would be best if you just started
off without any clothes.”

Gwen squirmed. The thought of being trussed up, naked in
front of them was incredibly erotic. It had an effect on the men as well. As
soon Alex had uttered the words, she smelled the arousal rolling off them. It
only fueled her desire.

With each passing day, Gwen’s senses had become more acute.
She could pick out the subtle nuances in each man’s scent and soon was able to
detect their emotions just by sniffing the air. Restlessness and worry seemed
to be always present, with sexual excitement running a close second.

Her own libido was flourishing and on the eve of moon week,
simply brushing against them nearly made her come undone. She had
learned—almost organically—how to shield her thoughts from them, and one
overriding idea consumed her.
Want.

* * * * *

At noon of the three-quarter moon, Gwen puttered around the
kitchen performing mindless tasks to pass the time. She’d alphabetized the
canned goods in the cupboards and sorted the paperclips from the rubber bands
in the junk drawer.

For the tenth time, she unnecessarily flipped the steaks
that Tommy had set out to thaw, then checked the clock on the stove. It had
ticked to a minute past twelve. The Cat King would be inside the hardware store
by now.

Last night, when Alex had come up with the chain-harness
idea, she was so relieved that she’d momentarily forgotten that they were in
the middle of nowhere and there were no 24/7 mega-stores here. Tommy wouldn’t
be able to pick up supplies until the next day, and because it was a Sunday,
he’d have to wait until noon.

Tommy had left early enough to make the forty-five minute
drive into town and be at the hardware store when it opened. Before he’d walked
out the door, he and Alex had gone over the list three times. There was too
much preparation to do to waste time on a second trip into town.

Gwen stared out the window over the sink, focusing on the
winding drive that led up to the rear of the boathouse. She knew Tommy wouldn’t
be back for at least an hour, but she couldn’t tear her gaze from his parking
space. Really, it was just a backdrop for the images that bubbled up in her
mind.

The faces of her fledglings burst into her memory. She could
picture in minute detail how each of them had looked as their bodies had
twisted and contorted during their changes. They’d snarled and howled with
fear, confusion and pain. Gwen cringed as she recalled the popping of mutating
joints and the spray from snapping jaws.

She realized that knowing what was about to happen to her was
worse than ignorance. The new wolves she had ushered in were afraid, yes, but
they’d had no idea how terrible the reality was. Gwen supposed she might be the
only werewolf ever to have to face her first moon with a true understanding of
its horrors.

Gripping the edge of the sink, she squeezed her eyes shut
and tried to block out the things she’d witnessed in the sacred cave. Suddenly
she found it hard to believe that she’d petitioned Alex so hard to change her.
Now that her wish was imminent, the finality of it seemed overwhelming.

“Are you doing okay?” Alex asked.

Gwen had been so deep inside her own head that she’d hadn’t
heard or sensed him step into the kitchen. She yelped and her entire body
prickled in surprise.

When she turned to face him, he was standing with his arms
crossed and a guilty look on his face. “I’m sorry, Gwen. I didn’t mean to
startle you.”

She forced a wry smile. “Pretty crazy, huh?”

Alex nodded. “I’ll say.”

“So if you were a betting man, what would you wager was
going to happen to me down there?”

He shrugged. “I can’t even guess, but don’t worry. You’re in
good hands and it will all be over soon.”

A shiver ran over Gwen’s skin. That was almost the exact
thing she’d told the fledglings before they started their trials.

She concentrated on shielding her thoughts. The last thing
she wanted Alex to know was how afraid she was.

That Evening

Gwen pulled the robe closed around her neck and followed the
men down the wide staircase leading to the docks. Tommy hurried ahead of them
and flipped on the overhead lights. The huge doors onto the lake had been
rolled shut and the water lapped at the algae-covered wood. The hollow echo of
it bounced off the stone walls.

Tommy switched on the underwater lights and Gwen peered over
the edge of the dock. Sunfish darted around the pilings and under the hulls of
the boats tied to the metal cleats. She was mesmerized by the glint of their
scales as they slipped through the water.

“Gwen, it’s time,” Alex said.

She walked over the worn planks to where a thick chain hung
down from the rafters. “It’s cold,” she muttered.

“I’ll turn on the heaters,” Tommy said. “They’re just enough
to keep the water from freezing in the winter, but it should help.”

She nodded then shrugged off her robe. Her skin tightened
against the chill and her nipples puckered and hardened.

Alex bent to gather up one of the lengths of chain. “You’ll
warm up once…it starts.”

Gwen stared up at one of the small windows set high in the
side wall. The gray November sky showed dusk.
Soon.

The icy weight of iron links touching her shoulder caused
Gwen to draw in a sharp breath.

“Sorry,” Alex muttered. He laid his palm on the inside of
her knee and gently coaxed her legs apart. After looping the chain between her
thighs, Alex checked the length then brought the ends together near the center
of her back. “Lock,” he said.

Gwen sensed Tommy behind her and she flinched when the first
padlock was snapped shut. They repeated the arrangement over her other
shoulder, then passed another premeasured length around her waist. They secured
it where the links intersected the shoulder straps in the front and back and then
completed the circuit at her spine with yet another lock.

So far she’d counted three lengths of chain and seven
padlocks. When they’d fastened the final loop under her arms and across her
back, and added five more locks, the weight of the metal threatened to bring
her to her knees. Her thighs began to tremble.

“Shit,” Alex muttered, “I didn’t take into account how heavy
this stuff would be. Let’s loop the rafter chain up high on her shoulders to
take some of the weight off.”

Gwen’s body began to quake with fear and strain. She stared
at the darting sunfish as the men worked to relieve the pressure.
If I
fell—or jumped—into the water now, I’d sink to the bottom and this would all be
over.

“Lift, Alex!” Tommy directed and with a rattle of chains and
the snap of another padlock, the weight was lifted from Gwen’s body. She was
still able to stand flat-footed and turn around but couldn’t move more than a
couple feet in any direction.

When her teeth began to chatter, Tommy scooped her robe from
the decking and helped her slip it over her chains. Standing in front of her,
he lapped one side over the other and secured the belt. It did little to
relieve her chill.

“I’m so cold,” she whispered.

Alex flattened his body against her back and Tommy pressed
against her front. Their body heat enveloped her like a blanket and her
trembling subsided.

She glanced behind her at the nautical clock on the archway
above the stairs. The moon would be up any minute. Turning back to the window,
she watched the night sky over Tommy’s shoulder.

Gwen felt the moon before she saw it. Energy seemed to flow
through the window and into the top of her head. It filled her up until it
threatened to burst from her fingers and toes.

“Take off my robe,” she whispered.

Tommy untied the belt and Alex slid it off then tossed it
aside. The men had each taken a step back and without their contact, she was
free to experience the sensations that flowed through her.

When the edge of the moon appeared in the window, she opened
her arms wide and tilted up her breasts to its sensual kiss. “Ah,” she moaned,
then closed her eyes and let her head drop back.