Touch of the Alpha

Touch of the
Alpha

K. MATTHEW

Text copyright 2015 by K.
Matthew

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the
author.

CHAPTER ONE

Karen was a disgrace to her pack. Every steadfast
rule that her pack held dear, she insisted on breaking in an
attempt to free herself from the bonds of a lineage that had been
slowly dying out for centuries. Why her pack was trying to preserve
the wolf in their bloodline now was beyond her. They were more
human than wolf. Some of them couldn't even turn anymore. As it
was, Karen's shift was completely involuntary, and it only happened
during the full moon—sometimes. It was really a crap shoot. Half
the time when her pack gathered for the change, she was left
standing there, naked in her human form, while most of her
immediate family went bounding off into the forest without
her.

For a while, her brother insisted that
the human shifters left behind should try to run with the wolves.
Maybe it would help force the change in them. It was pointless
though.

Karen had submitted a long time ago to
the fact that by the time she was an old woman, her grandchildren
would probably be fully human. That was, if her brother didn't now
insist that members of their family could only mate with solid
shifters, those who change every full moon. That was the first rule
Karen broke. She'd be damned if she would allow her lug-headed
Alpha brother to decide who she could have sex with and who she
couldn't.

When Howard came of age and took over
the pack, that's when Karen really began hating her wolf. There
were rules before her brother became alpha, but they were very
loosely enforced. The worst thing that could happen if you broke a
rule was that you'd be shunned by the family for a few days. With
Howard in charge, things took a more serious turn. There were
mediation and interventions, lectures and house arrest, and a whole
lot of other bullshit that Karen wasn't willing to put up
with.

She might have run away from her pack
if they hadn't decided that her behavior was so bad that she needed
to be sent away. The very thought made her huff. Werewolf
reformation, Howard called it. Sending her to go spend some time
with the regional Alpha, the man who enforces all lycan laws with
the larger packs in the entire state of Michigan. If he gave a shit
about whether Karen was following those laws or not, he would have
come after her already. It was proof that the Needham pack was
insignificant, a fact that her brother refused to see.

With the support of the family behind
Howard, Karen was whisked away to Sky High Ranch, home of the
regional Alpha and safe haven to all wolves who hadn't yet found
their place in the world. Karen thought it would be a prison, but
the ranch reminded her far more of a college campus. When she
arrived, she was greeted by the omega of the pack and immediately
shown to her room.

Howard was woefully disappointed that
he wasn't introduced to the regional Alpha. Perhaps he wanted a
chance to prove to him that the Needhams were still a legitimate
pack. Whatever the case, Karen was admittedly pleased that the
regional Alpha didn't find them important enough for even a casual
greeting. Maybe when Howard went home, he would marinate on that
for a while and realize that his attempt at preserving the wolf in
their bloodline was futile. If Karen was lucky, the regional Alpha
would take one look at her and send her packing back to
Lansing.

Shortly after arriving, it became
quite clear to Karen that she'd never get a personal meeting with
the regional Alpha. Essentially, her family had just dumped her off
for a month-long vacation from their bullshit. For a place that
housed the man who made and enforced all the laws of the Michigan
packs, there didn't appear to be many rules at Sky High Ranch.
Lycans of various bloodlines wandered the premises, socializing as
if they didn't have a care in the world. Despite the cornucopia of
people with different percentages of lycan blood, Karen could still
sense that hers was the weakest. Each lycan carried their own
scent, and through that, it was fairly easy to distinguish who had
more wolf in them and who had less. This surprised Karen, because
she was so familiar with the lacking scent of her own family. To
have her nostrils so full of the wolf smell was almost
overwhelming, and it took her a while to get used to it.

At Sky High Ranch, there were no
counseling sessions, no meetings. Karen was allowed to do whatever
she pleased during the daytime, as long as she stayed on the
premises. At night, however, she was required to attend a group
bonfire. It seemed like the oddest form of therapy to reform her,
but who was she to complain. It wasn't like she planned for her
time here to alter her behavior. She would go along with their
kumbaya session and come out none the better for it.

When the sun dipped over the horizon
and the moon arose in the sky, the wolves of Sky High Ranch headed
out into the forest for their nightly bonfire. Karen went along,
completely expecting a marshmallow roast and singalong. Instead of
a guy with a guitar case slung over his shoulder though, there were
several lycans carrying ice chests full of beer. Now this was
something that Karen could get into.

As soon as the fire was started, the
gathering turned into more of a party, with lycans walking around
with beers in their hands sharing conversation. It would have been
a dream come true to Karen, being around so many of her own kind,
except for the fact that no one seemed to want to talk to her.
Social anxiety the likes of which Karen had never felt before came
rolling over her full force, crushing her with what ifs and
feelings of being insufficient. Was she being shunned because there
wasn't enough wolf in her? Or was it because of her hefty
size?

One great thing about being part wolf
is that it works wonders for the metabolism. Not so much when there
are only a few drops of wolf left in your blood. Karen was by far
the biggest girl at the party, and there wasn't a single male
looking her way. If she ever felt more self-conscious, she couldn't
remember a time. Surrounded by her own kind, but completely
alone.

Trying not to be too much of a bummer,
Karen grabbed a beer from the ice chest and found a secluded spot
to sit and watch the festivities from afar. The night was chilly,
so she hugged herself to keep warm. For as excited as she had been
when she realized this was going to be a party instead of a stuffy
social gathering focused on bonding, she was completely miserable
now. All she wanted was to go home.

The party continued on into the night,
and no one gave Karen a second glance. There was a stick a few
inches away from her foot, and she figured that drawing pictures in
the dirt with it would be far more fun than watching everyone else
have a good time. The scent of wolf was so strong in the air, a
melting pot of the collective group, that she didn't even notice
when someone approached her.

“
You look lonely.” A deep
male voice said, causing Karen to jump. Was her wolf so weak that
she couldn't smell the guy walking up on her? It was a reminder of
how pathetic she was.

“
I'm fine,” she sighed.
That reaction alone made it obvious that she wasn't fine. Her
expression spoke of depression, the way her lips hadn't curled into
a smile since realizing she was being shunned by the rest of the
lycans.

“
You're new here, aren't
you?” He quirked a perfect eyebrow, holding a beer in his hand and
standing casually before her. When their eyes met, it took
everything in Karen to keep a blush from her cheeks.

He was handsome, as most of the men at
the party were. Once you had even a drop of wolf blood in you, it
heightened your attraction for your own kind. Sometimes, it even
made the lines blur between primal nature and real attraction. This
man would be attractive to any woman though. He was tall and broad
with dark features. Chocolate eyes that were almost black, and
mussy hair to match. His scent though. My God, was his scent
strong. Even with all the other lycans around, Karen could smell
it. He had a lot of wolf in him. Maybe he was even
pureblood.

“
Just off the ship.” Karen
tossed her stick to the side and picked up her empty beer can just
to give herself something to hold onto.

“
Mind if I sit down?” He
gestured to the empty space beside her.

“
Be my guest.” She glanced
over at the spot before he filled it. He smelled strong before, but
now his scent was almost overwhelming. A good kind of overwhelming
though. There was something about him that woke the small trickle
of wolf blood inside of her—made her feel things that seemed better
snuffed down. Surely, he was just being polite. There was no reason
for her body to be reacting to him like this.

“
So, what are you in for?”
He raised his beer to his lips and gulped it heartily, staring at
the other party-goers. Karen felt slightly ignored, since he wasn't
looking at her, but at least they were talking. Maybe this was the
start to making a new friend. Or maybe he had just gotten bored
with the rest of the girls at the party. Whatever the case, Karen
was thankful not to be alone anymore.

The real answer made her nervous.
Sleeping with humans. Refusing to shift with her family during the
full moon. Breaking away from her pack when she was able to shift
because she didn't want to follow the same trails, or perhaps she
just wanted to hunt alone. She had a feeling that disclosing those
safety violations wouldn't earn her any brownie points with a guy
whom she was pretty sure was a pureblood. Instead, she said, “It
doesn't matter. What I'm in for won't get fixed here.”

“
Why not?” He gave her a
curious look.

Karen straightened herself and allowed
her eyes to roam over the other lycans, all laughing and having a
good time. “Because this place obviously isn't what my family
thought it would be. They had expected some sort of werewolf reform
to go on here. Not all of this partying and bullshit.” She couldn't
believe she actually sounded somewhat angry about it. The last
thing she had wanted was to be reformed, but the fact that she
hadn't been welcomed into the fold with open arms didn't exactly
make her want to party either. “The regional Alpha obviously
doesn't give a shit about the minor packs. He wouldn't even meet
with my family because our bloodline is so muddy. All he cares
about is having fun.” She furrowed her brow. “It looks like this
place could use some new management.”

New management,
huh?
Carter didn't think he did such a bad
job running the place. He certainly didn't have time to greet every
new werewolf dropped off at Sky High Ranch though. There were more
important things to do, like meeting with the pack leaders all over
the state and ensuring that justice was enforced when someone broke
their sacred rules. The nighttime was when he dealt with the lycans
who had been temporarily placed at Sky High Ranch by their
relatives—lycans like Karen.

Carter knew all about Karen Needham,
her pack, and why she was here. Just sitting next to her, he could
smell that there was barely a trace of wolf left in her blood.
Hardly worth his time to convert. If he hadn't felt attracted to
her, he might not have even bothered to come greet her. She was
different than the other wolves though, and not just because of her
blood.

“
I must admit, I was
rather surprised to see such a lovely wolf as you sitting alone.”
It was a lie. She was alone because he made it that way. Told the
rest of the wolves not to speak to her, to make her feel alienated.
It was easier for him to get in and take hold of her emotionally
when she thought he was the only one interested in being her
friend.

All of this was part of his plan.
There was a special way to change good girls who had gone bad, and
Carter rather enjoyed it. Thinking about starting the process with
Karen made his wolf stir in anticipation. Telling her that he was
surprised that she was sitting alone was only part of the lie.
Saying that she was lovely was an understatement. She was fucking
gorgeous. Short and voluptuous, with curves that made his mouth
water at the thought of running his hands over them. It would only
be a matter of time before he got the chance. No woman could resist
the pull of the regional Alpha, even a woman who, currently, didn't
think much of him.