The Lone Alpha Unleashed: A Big Girl Meets Bad Wolf Romance (8 page)

What? What the hell was
Paddington Fucking Bear on about?

“I can’t let her go because
she’s what we’re fighting for. She’s what you’re going to die for, because ’m
stronger than you.”

KICK

“I’m faster than you.”

KICK

“I’m smarter than…”

“NO!” I screamed, “leave him
alone. You win. You can have me. We can have dinner, go for a walk in the
woods, whatever the hell you want. Just leave him alone.”

Edward paused and turned from
James to me as he considered my offer. But he clearly had the upper hand. I was
in no position to bargain for James’ life.

“I don’t think so.”

As he pulled his leg back for
another kick James shifted and lunged for Edward’s exposed ankle. There was a
sickening crunch as his powerful jaws clamped down and tore a massive chunk of
flesh, bone and god-knows-what else out of it.

Edward screamed, more in rage
than in pain. A scream that turned into a mighty bellowing raw as he shifted
back into bear form. But almost instantly his ankle gave way, unable to support
the massive weight it was being asked to.

He hit the ground with a thud
and now it was James who had the upper hand. He used speed and mobility to his
advantage. Darting within range to nip and claw at Edward’s massive immobile
form and darting away before he could cuff him with his huge paw.

When Edward shifted back, he
groaned in pain. His body covered in cuts and scratches, one foot a bloody mess
as blood poured out of the wound at his ankle.

“Well,” he grinned, “if you're
going to fight dirty then fuck it. Kill him!”

He called to his guards, his pet
wolves that watched from the shadows. They came padding forwards from the trees
and my heart sunk. Despite gaining the upper-hand with Edward, James wasn’t in
any kind of state to take on another wolf. Let alone four… no make that five…
of them.

“Do it you dumb fucking wolves.
FINISH HIM!”

But the wolves kept coming.
Eight… nine… ten… They formed a semicircle around the two injured men, heads
low, their golden eyes shining in the dusk.

Edward coughed, then started
laughing. It was a desperate haunting sound that burst out from between painful
gurgling breaths. At first I was confused. I didn’t understand what was
happening, but then I smelt it. I smelt something more than family. A bond
deeper than blood. I smelt a pack.

James had brought friends. Lots
of friends. They’d taken care of the guards while James and Edward fought.

They shifted and I was surprised
to see it was Dan who led them. In the month since I’d seen James exile him,
the young man had grown-up, and filled out. There was a strength there that I
hadn’t seen before. A commanding presence that suited him.

I wondered what had changed him
and then I saw an unfamiliar woman standing beside him. There was a story
there, I was sure. She was a gorgeous woman, a shifter mate, who looked at him
with the sort of adoration that made my heart ache. The sort of look that
reminded me of the way I felt about James.

J
ames!

I ran to him and fell to my
knees in the blood-soaked mud.

“Oh James, what did he do to
you?”

He grinned at me. Through blood and dirt he grinned that
infuriating, ridiculous grin that turned my poor broken and beaten wolf into
the most gorgeous creature on the face of the earth. He grinned at me and I
fell in love all over again.

- X -

No matter how long I spent in
the company of shifters, I didn’t think I would ever get used to the whole
nudity thing. It was all well and good to be standing around, patting backs and
congratulating each other for a well-timed rescue mission, but all the bare
flesh was a bit much. I wouldn’t be caught dead exposing my bits, wobbly or
otherwise, to such a large group of people.

Friendly hands helped James and
I to our feet and Darla launched herself at me. Embracing me like a long-lost
sister. I squirmed a little, as the contact made my heart beat a little faster
and I felt an unexpected twinge of desire.
It’s the shock
, I decided,
nothing
to do with her warm, sexy little body, it’s just the shock
.

I reached for James, and
breathed a sigh of relief as he embraced me and I felt safe and secure in his
powerful,
masculine
arms. Darla gave me a cheeky wink and went to join
the others who were securing the prisoners.

“Oh no. Don’t worry about me…
I’m fine,” said Kent as he stumbled out of the cabin clutching a nasty wound on
his forehead. I learned later, to my guilt and dismay, that the man I had
assaulted with a lamp, twice, in my escape attempt had actually been there to
rescue me. Kent was actually on Team James and now sported two black eyes for
his troubles. He was not impressed.

“You neglected to tell me about
your backup plan,” said an obviously disgruntled Kent.

James shrugged and I felt him
wince as the motion tugged at one of his many injuries.

“You have your secrets, I have
mine. I wasn’t sure they’d make it in time. They had a lot of ground to cover.”

Kent nodded, “fair enough,” and
then tilted his head towards the prone and bloodied Edward who seemed to have
slipped into unconsciousness. “How much did he tell you?”

“Some… but not everything.”

A look passed between them.
Something dark. Something that I wanted no part of. But whatever it was could
wait. Everything else could wait. I had secrets of my own. Secrets I had to
decide if I wanted to share with the man that I loved. Those too could wait.

“I think James needs to lie down
for a bit before you debrief him or whatever it is you’re planning on doing to
him.”

James turned to face me, “I
think I’m OK. It was never as bad as it looked,  I was trying to lull him into a false…”

“Oh yes, I’m sure getting beaten
black and blue was all part of the plan, but for now I really think you need to
take a moment…”

“We have to secure the perim…”

“To lie down or maybe have…”

“And then figure out how we’re
going to get…”

“Have a nice long shower.”

“Get everyone back to… oh… oh
right. Maybe I do need to lie down for a while. You’ve been through a lot as
well. A terrible ordeal,” he said as he finally got the hint.

“Terrible.”

“And perhaps you could do with a
shower too?”

Kent threw up his arms in
disgust, “Oh for goodness sake. I’ll deal with the prisoners. There’s a
transport on the way. The pack can take care of themselves. Just get in there
and do whatever it is you need to do to get it out of your system and come and
find me when you’ve stopped talking in the worlds most obvious code and acting
like lovesick teenagers.”

- X -

“So…”

“So?”

“Do you think maybe you could
put some clothes on or something so we can have an actual conversation like
normal people.”

James shrugged, “I’m fine. You
could always take your clothes off if you feel uncomfortable.”

I stepped towards him, heat and
sexual energy radiated from his gorgeous, but battered, body. It actually felt
a little empowering, me dressed and him naked. I stood in front of him, up
close and personal. My t-shirt clad breasts pushed hard against his chest as I
lazily stroked his stomach and thighs, making sure I didn’t touch his manhood.

A hiss of pleasure escaped from
between his lips, “Carrie…”

Before he could reach for me, I
turned and walked back across the room. I pulled out a chair and sat, “you were
saying?”

He was already at half-mast, his
rapidly stiffening penis jutting lewdly outward. Bobbing and twitching as if
searching for more contact. Definitely empowering! I was enjoying watching him
squirm.

He rolled his eyes, “fine, I’ll
go and find some clothes.”

As much as I wanted to drop to
my knees in front of him and worship that magnificent beast between his legs,
we did need to talk.

He returned clad in a pair of
neat linen trousers and nothing else. The wounds on his torso were already
beginning to heal, all except for the terrible burn over his shoulder. His
delicious bare chest was still a distraction, but it would have to do.

“I told you I’d come for you.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you did. But I was
kind of thinking along the lines of showing up at work one day with an apology
and a bunch of flowers. This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. Kidnapping.
Bears. Visions.”

“Visions?”

I waved the question away. It
could wait.

I chewed my lip, unsure how to
proceed. I wanted him. I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anything in the
world. But I wanted all of him. I couldn’t live in the shadow of his pack, past
or present. As much as my body yearned for his touch whenever I was in his
presence, I needed something in return. Something beyond the physical.

The silence grew uncomfortable
and I began to feel the familiar sensation of tears forming at the corner of my
eyes. I didn’t want to cry. Crying made me weak. I wanted to be strong. My
stomach lurched when James turned towards the window and stared out into the
dusk. He couldn’t face me.

“When the fire came I lost
everything. I lost everything and I was alone. I did things, terrible things. I
did terrible things for terrible people. I did these things because we’re not
supposed to be alone. It’s hard to explain, but I need you to understand. An
alpha without a pack, with no responsibilities and nothing to anchor him, is
pure ego, terrible and dangerous.

“I need that. I need a pack.
Without one I’ll end up like…”

Edward.

I took a deep breath and felt it
catch in my chest. I understood. I understood why he had to chose the pack over
me. It hurt. It would always hurt, but I understood.

“Oh James. I… I get it. You
can’t help what you are. You need them as much as they need you. I won’t… I
won’t stand in the way of that.”

When he turned to face me he had
tears in his eyes. I don’t think I’d appreciated quite how hard this was for
him. This wasn’t an easy call for him to make. I wasn’t the only one who was
hurting.

And then he grinned.

“What?”

“You don’t get it.”

“I… what?”

“You… I… I need a pack.
Something to protect. Something to fight for. Something to devote myself to
unconditionally. It’s you, Carrie. You’re my pack. I’d been lost for so long
and then I found you and suddenly I had a reason to live. I don’t want to be
alone anymore Carrie.”

The room was spinning and I was
glad I was sitting down.

“But you… but they…”

“They’re not my pack Carrie,
they never were. They’d just lost their way and needed a hand. I don’t run with
them in my dreams. I never have. Since I met you I’ve dreamed of no one else.
You’re my pack.”

You’re my pack.

It wasn’t just the words, but
the way he said it. For a man who seemed to be so strong, there was an
uncharacteristic hint of desperation. He didn’t just want me, he needed me.
Despite his strength there was a fragility there. He was scared. Scared I’d say
no. Scared he’d be alone again.

There were still unanswered
questions about the future. About how we would make this work. But the
knowledge that he needed me as much as I needed him, made all the difference.
The future wasn’t something I’d have to figure out. It was something we could
figure out together.

He was waiting for me to say
something, but I was speechless.

“I..”
Love you?
But it
was more than love. What he was offering me was so much more than love. More
than I could ever have imagined love could be. So in response to the most
heartfelt and emotional declaration of devotion I had ever heard I just… kind
of shrugged and muttered something vaguely positive.

But I didn’t need to say
anything. He could feel it. He could smell it.

Yes. Yes, I’ll be your pack.
Yes, you can fight for me, you can protect me. Don’t be scared, you won’t be
alone again. Now get your tight little alpha-wolf butt over here and claim me.

And then James: my man, my wolf,
my alpha; did just that.

I sat on the couch, returning
his infectious grin, as he bent low and scooped me up. I failed to suppress a
girlish squeal of surprise and delight as I was enveloped in his powerful arms
and lifted in the air. I instinctively wrapped my legs around his torso and
prayed that he didn’t overbalance and topple over.

I felt nervous and giddy, like a
teenager on a big date. For the longest time we just looked into each other’s
eyes. His still fascinated me, an icy blue dotted with flecks of gold. I
couldn’t hold his gaze for long and had to keep looking elsewhere as I
nervously chewed on my bottom lip.

I felt like laughing and I
wasn’t sure why. Relief perhaps? Relief that my ordeal was over. Although I
wasn’t sure if the ordeal in question was my abduction or simply the time I had
spent without this man in my life.

And then he kissed me.

Is it worth trying to describe
it? Some kisses just transcend the physical and emotional connection they
represent. It was the sort of kiss I sighed wistfully at when I’d see it in a
movie, knowing that it would never be like that for me. Held aloft in the arms
of the sort of man that I never dreamed could love a girl like me.

It was the sort of kiss every
woman deserved… but how often do we really get what we deserve?

I squealed again as James swung
me round and I hung on for dear life. He was showing off now, I felt as light
as a feather and I loved every minute of it. There had always been a nervous
intensity to our relationship. The brief time we had spent together had been
amazing, but exhausting. But now… I just felt free.