My Alphas: The Complete Series (15 page)

He leapt out of bed and shifted, running down the corridor and out into the cavern. At the entrance he shifted again, turning human so he could navigate the small passageway. It was an advantage and hindrance. Any werewolves seeking to enter or leave had to do so on human form. They would be at a slight disadvantage upon exiting. Rey considered it a waste of time - if invaders reached your door you had already failed.

He emerged into the early morning light, Edon close behind him and then stopped to look at the creature cowering in the clearing before them.

A fleshy human female with blonde hair, ragged and dirty. She was wearing a tight black dress with a plunging neckline that accentuated her curves but it was muddy and torn. She was barefoot, wearing dark stockings with a patchwork of holes running up them. As he approached, she looked up at him. Her lips were red like hot blood and she had blue eyes.

He looked her over, the fading echoes of his lust for his human still affecting his body, and saw what this new human would look like naked. She would be curvy too, with soft hips and full breasts.

Rey sniffed, breathing in her ridiculous scent. Overpowering perfume, soap, mud, grass and… unfamiliar werewolf.

Turo pack.

He growled and saw the human flinch, cowering within herself. It pleased him to see her so scared but that feeling passed. Another change thanks to his human, he thought derisively.

Mera and Galler, the scouts who’d found her, lingered nearby next to a red glittery bag that could have only belonged to the woman. Rey sniffed at it but there was nothing new to be gleaned.

He growled at the woman again, stalking around her but the pleasure of it was gone. She was a cringing weak thing. It was a relief when Edon appeared and told him to stop it. He nodded to Mera and Galler to follow him into the forest. They had to talk about why they would be so stupid to bring a human to the den.

*

As Edon crossed the cavern, Kita explained to him what had happened. Mera and Galler, out scouting, had found a human. She had no supplies, no clothing, and only carried a handbag and somehow was two days march into their territory. Acting on general instructions to return any humans to Hinton they had picked her up and started back. However they had soon discovered some werewolves from the Turo pack blocking their path. With them so close they had turned around and carried her to the den rather than risk her (or themselves) being killed.

Edon hastily dressed at the entrance and then rushed outside to find Rey growling, stalking around the human, looking like he would tear her to pieces.

“Rey, stop it.”

Rey growled at him but did as he asked, walking off into the forest, Mera and Galler close behind him.

“What is your name?” he asked the girl.

She didn’t answer or look up. He saw her hands shaking and caught the scent of fear rolling off her (hard as it was to detect under the excessive perfume).

“It’s okay. You’re safe here. I promise.”

The girl started crying, frozen on the spot.

Edon stepped toward her but then she flinched, turning pale, so he stopped. He turned around where assorted werewolves were gathered, looking at the new intruder.

“Nia, fetch Cass. Have her take this girl to the cabin. Everyone else go about your business.”

Nia rushed to obey him. Other werewolves dawdled returning inside or heading away into the forest until he gave them a stern look and then suddenly he was alone with the girl. He turned to examine her. She was sobbing and it tugged at his empathetic side. He guessed she’d been escorted into the wild by humans, probably working with the Turo pack, and was meant to be a dead body to be found on Arctos territory. Only by chance had Mera and Galler come across her before Turo werewolves could kill her.

As tired as the pack was, the extra patrols of their territory was bearing fruit. One fewer dead human was good news indeed.

She would have to be returned to town as soon as possible and then he’d have to get working on a better plan to handle the Turo pack. They weren’t going to stop until someone stopped them and Edon was starting to think perhaps Rey was right: we have to kill them all.

*

After the Alphas left, Cass found herself unexpectedly awake. Perhaps some combination of sleep and lack of morning sex had awoken her properly. For the first time in a week she could think straight.

She forced herself out of bed lest she fall back into the drowse and dressed. Usually Nia was on hand, chatting away, passing her things but this morning she was alone. It felt odd to dress in silence and Cass realized how quickly she’d become used to her presence.

A week had passed. Had it? Or was it eight days or nine? The small cut on her hand had well and truly healed. In the blur of Alpha werewolves she wasn’t so sure and it wasn’t like they kept clocks and calendars around the place. If she wasn’t careful she’d sex and snooze a year away without noticing. She knew three days after arriving at the den she’d gone to the warm spring and washed her muddy pack out and cleaned all her clothes but it felt like a dream now. She was dazed, asleep on her feet and soon after arriving back at the den, Edon had entered her room and she’d eagerly fallen into bed with him.

Pulling her top into place, she went over to the small mirror that had appeared in her room a few days ago and looked at herself. No bags under the eyes so that was good news. She didn’t look like the girl she’d been a week ago.
That
girl had been a ball of nerves and hot anxiety. Now she was… well, still a ball of nerves and plenty of hot anxiety but there was a growing calmness in the center of her. Cass blinked a few times and smiled at herself. A week of strong Alphas will do that to a girl.

Speaking of Alphas, Cass felt her hips and legs, testing for any sore spots. Edon and Rey delighted in marking her and she hadn’t had so many love bites since she was in her first week of college and she went a little… wild. There were a few small sore areas but nothing major. And nothing she wouldn’t do again in a heartbeat.

Cass drifted away into a ten-second daydream as her mind followed the memories but she managed to pull herself away from getting hot and bothered. These days her body seemed to be on a hair trigger and all it took was an Alpha standing near her, looking at her, breathing on her neck…

Cass squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again to look at herself in the mirror.

“Instead of being passive you need to be active,” she told herself. “No more waiting for werewolves to fetch you or climb into bed. It was time to ask questions and get answers. Yes? So you’re going to go to the main cavern and meet werewolves. Talk to them.”

Questions such as:

Rey has cubs?

Um… fertile time?

Am I Pack Mate now? What does that mean?

Before she went, Cass checked her outfit. It was more demure than some of her other clothing, covering up her cleavage and arms. It also fit well, supporting what needed to be supported, which was important when you were about to stand around with a bunch of naked slender women.

“It’ll be okay. It’ll be okay,” she repeated to herself before leaving the room.

She followed the passageway down to the main cavern, trailing her fingers along the wall and giving herself a lot of self-talk. Keep going. Just keep swimming. All too soon she reached the main cavern and emerged into the light. She glanced around, seeing wolves laying around on rock shelves. Some were in human form, talking in groups. All who were awake turned to look at her, almost as one.

Cass felt she was the new girl at high-school again, walking into the lunchroom. All she needed was someone to drop a tray in shock, leaving a plate to spin to a stop on the vinyl floor.

The moment of intense awkwardness passed swiftly however as the werewolves looked away. A number of hostile looks changed to indifference and Cass was counting that as a win for now.

Between time with the Alphas, she’d spent most of her days with Nia. There was the occasional approach by Kale that would invariably end up in a scuffle which was sometimes entertaining and sometimes exhausting. Vara, an older werewolf with beautiful golden hair, had talked to her for three minutes about the weather of all things. Apart from that, the other werewolves appeared to want to keep their distance.

Not seeing Nia around to rescue her from this idiotic decision, she approached a group of three. One she knew was Leto, although she’d never spoken with her. The werewolves, who had been talking before she arrived, lapsed into silence.

“Hey,” Cass said, trying to be casual. I talk to totally naked women all the time. No big deal.

“Greetings, Pack Mate,” Leto answered. The other two looked down and shuffled awkwardly.

Feeling like she was going to die of embarrassment, Cass forced herself to keep talking.

“Where are Edon and Rey?”

“Outside. There is a human.”

“A human? Really? How did they get here? Why are they here?”

The questions seemed too much for the embarrassed werewolves who shuffled and mumbled.

Just when Cass felt she might self-combust, Nia appeared in the doorway.

“Oh, you’re up. We found a human but she won’t stop crying. Edon wants you to take her to the cabin.”

Cass could have hugged her. She fled the group of three and followed Nia out into the light.

Give me an attacking werewolf pack any day over awkward social dumbness she thought as she went.

*

Leaving Edon to deal with the new human, Rey stalked into the forest, Mera and Geller following him. He ignored the sound of their footsteps (which sounded cringing) and focused on the problem of the Turo pack. They were becoming bold in their invasions Edon had told him. Suicidally bold Rey had responded. They had argued then, Rey favoring wiping them out and Edon arguing even with their entire pack of forty they might not be able to defeat the seventy plus Turo pack werewolves.

Even if they could, Utson pack would come sweeping in to attack the weakened victors. To attack was a great risk.

At the time, Rey had argued for the instant death of any werewolf found invading their territory but over the last few days he’d come to grudgingly accept all-out warfare mightn’t work in this situation. And so, he’d forced himself to think of answers that didn’t rely on teeth and claws meeting undefended throat.

Between the human capturing his thoughts and Edon making him create solutions that didn’t involve gutting enemies, Rey was feeling distinctly civilized and not enjoying it at all.

He stopped in a small clearing and shifted. Mera and Geller followed him obediently.

“You,” he said to Mera, “why did you bring the human here?”

“We found her and were taking her back to the town but the Turo pack had invaded our territory. They were howling. Sounded like ten at least. So we came here.”

Mera spoke calmly, answering the ground but he could see she was terrified. At one time this would’ve pleased him but since the human the joy of it had waned too. Now, most puzzlingly, he wanted to inspire fear but only in his enemies. In his pack it was a hindrance to have them cowering, avoiding his gaze.

“Mera. Look at me.”

She looked up, her breath quickening.

“You did well to bring the human. Wise decision. Or she would’ve been killed and we would have another dead human on our land. You and Geller may have been killed also. Get some food now.”

As he spoke he felt he was channeling Edon. He saw Mera relax but now she was confused and scared as though he’d leap at her and swat her to the ground without warning.

“Thank you Alpha,” she said finally, looking up at him. Together she and Geller shifted and ran off to the den leaving Rey to think about what had happened.

There was a power there. A power of forgiveness or understanding. He could see how Edon enjoyed it. To frighten others was simple. To control oneself and act calmly was a new challenge and far more enjoyable.

Musing on this, Rey walked into the forest, tracking their path back. He may have been becoming more civilized but if he found any Turo pack werewolves he’d shred the meat from their bones…

*

Even though it had only been a week since she’d arrived at the den and she’d hardly gone native, Cass couldn’t believe her eyes (or nose) when she saw the girl. She’d come into the wild like this?

The little black dress she was wearing had been reinvented to little black slutty dress given how much cleavage she had happening. Cass was all for cleavage but seriously, pick one feature! It was ridiculously short to the point that if she sat down everything would be on display. Pair that with the excessive make-up and perfume she could smell from across the clearing and she reminded Cass of a clown. Too much in all directions and no subtlety at all. The bag nearby covered in red glittering sequins completed the entire stupid picture and Cass mentally cringed at what she must have looked like to the werewolves a week ago.

No wonder Sheriff Harmony had stopped her on the street on her first day and given her a lecture about not walking out to find werewolves. Girls with that one thing on their minds stuck out like a make-up-caked sore thumb in a miniskirt.

At least she’d brought a pack and hiking boots.