Unleashing His Alpha (11 page)

“I think we should leave,” Katie said to him as she stepped out into the living room where he was getting dressed out of his luggage that he carried around with him. He turned and looked at her, slightly baffled and confused by the sudden shift in their plans. She knew he didn’t want to do anything sudden, but that was because he was afraid of what she would think.

He was scared of the possibility that she wasn’t what she claimed or that they might have been mistaken, carried away by everything that was happening. Maybe he thought she was a lust filled little girl who just wanted a sugar daddy or something along those lines. She didn’t know whether this was actually something she should be furious about or if she should just prove him wrong. Sometimes, it was more important to let actions speak louder than words.

“I don’t think that’s a smart move,” Shane said, shaking his head in disagreement.

She hated the thought that he didn’t believe her right now, but that was only because he was afraid. He wanted to be cautious and he wanted to make sure this was legitimate, even though they both knew it. He didn’t want to force a life upon her that she wasn’t ready for.

She could handle that and she could forgive that, but she knew there was something wrong with being here. It wasn’t sitting well with her and it was terrifying her to be here. It was like time was slipping away and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

“We need to just settle in for a little bit and we need to see how things go. I don’t want to have you in another state with your house on the market only to have you realize that this isn’t something you want. I’m patient and we have the time. We can take it slowly, Katie. Don’t worry about it. I’m not going anywhere.”

“No, you’re not listening,” Katie said strongly. “There’s something new. Something’s happened to me. All I can think about right now is that there’s something seriously wrong with all of this. We have to leave. There has to be some kind of point to all of this. There has to be a reason why we met and it’s not to stay here in this house. Everything is fake right now. Everything is a lie right now and I need to get out of here and I know that staying here is the wrong thing.”

Looking at all of the people who had come through her life, this was the one who actually made sense. This was the person she had clarity with and who she actually understood that there was something more in this world.  She needed him to understand that she had their best intentions in mind and that she was something more to him. This was what they were going to do and she couldn’t debate it.

“So what are you saying?” Shane asked her; finally, the one person who was confused wasn’t her. He realized that there was more purpose to his life than this, but he was looking completely lost. All she could think about was how good this felt right now. This was what control felt like and she could really get used to it. She smiled at him as he pulled a Henley over his head and covered up his perfectly sculpted body.

“We need to find your true destiny,” Katie said with the earnestness that she knew he was the man for the job. There was no doubt in her mind that there was nothing more important right now than getting him to see that. He was a charismatic champion that was completely ready for the job, whether he saw that right now or not. She would get him to see it by the time that they were there. “I need to know, can you really transform?”

He looked at her in silence for a moment. “Yes,” he said after his pause. “Every time we have sex, I can feel it getting stronger inside of me. After the first night, I doubt that I could have made it a few minutes as a wolf, but right now, I know that I could probably last much longer. I could probably go hours before I would have to turn into a man again. There's something about you that makes the bond stronger. I’m not one hundred percent right now, but I think I will get more and more powerful the longer we’re together.”

“So then we need to stay together right now,” Katie said to him with a smile on her lips. “I think I can handle that. But, there’s one thing I can’t handle and that’s being stuck in this town for one day longer. We have to get moving. We have to get out of here. There’s something I need to do. I need to actually help you with your destiny. That’s something I have to get through to you. I’m not going to be able to force you to do this, but I want to be the person who helps you. I want to be your beta.”

“Good,” he said earnestly. “That’s what I want, too.”

Katie smiled at him and turned toward her bedroom. Her house was small and there was just her one bedroom. She would gladly share it with Shane, but there was something telling her to take to the road. It was telling her that she needed to get out of there with him because there were greater things on the horizon for them.

There was something out there that demanded their attention and she wouldn’t be able to rest until she found it. She took a deep breath and headed back to her room and sat down on the old stool at her vanity. Hopefully, this would be one of the last days she would get ready in front of this old vanity, at least in this house.

She was almost done paying off this house. It had cost her next to nothing to buy it and since she had relatively good credit, she had gotten a decent rate on her loan. She had always been smart with money and had always known there would come a day when she needed to get rid of her debt and she'd need to be ready for it.

So, month after month, she had paid a little more than she was supposed to and she had made sure that the loan shrank as quickly as it could. It was amazing what could happen when you lived like a monk and doubled all of your payments. Maybe it was her past, the childhood from hell, that had taught her that money was supposed to be respected and valued, not wasted.

In the end, all she could think about was getting even and having things in her own name. But the good thing was that soon, all of that would be coming back in spades to her. The equity on this house would be enough for them to be safe for a while, and besides, Shane seemed to be doing very well for himself. Maybe she’d just roll that money over and invest it. There was so much she could do right now, but more importantly, there was all the other stuff.

She was going to need to sell a lot of stuff. It wasn’t like she was going to be paying for a storage unit in this dumpy little city, thinking that one day she might come back and eventually end up selling everything anyway. Katie didn’t believe in wasting her time like that. All she wanted to do was get on the road with Shane and she wanted to get there as soon as possible. In a few days, they would be out there and on their way to discovering his destiny.

With a deep breath, she looked at herself in the mirror and knew they were going to be just fine. There was nothing that she really had to be worried about here. The one thing she did know was that she needed to get rid of it all as quickly as she could and make sure she understood the things that she needed to know. She needed to know how to help Shane. Was there something she could really do to help him, or was being around him all she was supposed to do? It was strange to think about it, but there was something she knew she could do.

She needed to be with him. All she could think about right now was Shane and getting complete closure for him. All she wanted to do was to find something that could finally heal that wound that was gaping inside of him.

All she could think about now were the family members that he had lost, the loved ones who had died because of their beliefs, their idea that progress was something that could be obtained for those on the run. They had died because of their ideals and because others were unwilling to give up the fear that they had held onto for so long. But the worst part of it was that there were bystanders watching helplessly as the person who could have led them out of the Stone Age was brutally murdered with his wife while their child watched from hiding.

Katie liked to think of herself as a just person and she wanted to make sure that there was something they could do about this. The people who had wronged not only Shane, but his parents and his entire clan, needed to be brought to justice. That was something she could help out with right now and she was going to do everything in her power to see that this all came crumbling down around them.

CHAPTER SIX

“And you’re sure I’ve signed everything that I need to?” Katie asked, feeling like there was something wrong, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Maybe it was just the reality that things were starting to happen and that was scary to her. The world was changing, the tectonic plates were shifting; it was all coming to pieces around her and reforming into something new and brilliant. It was a long time coming. It was the grand revolution everyone was unaware of. Everything was transitioning and changing for the better. But truthfully, as she sat here right now, watching through the window, she felt scared.

“Katie, sweetheart, I promise you, everything is going to be just fine,” Ray said on the other end of the phone. She had only known him for a few days, but she was already getting used to the way he always called her sweetheart and treated her like she was a lost babe in the woods. He was an older man who was used to the old way of treating people.

It was just another way she felt a man was trying to objectify her, but she wouldn’t say anything to him. She would let him have his moment, so long as he came through for her.

“All the paperwork is signed and we’re just waiting for them to finish up. You’re lucky to have found an investor who was interested in that home. I have sources telling me that he’s looking to buy up all the homes on your street and get them rezoned for something a little more lucrative. He’s one of those idealists who believes in ripping up the old and paving it under the new.”

Good for him. That was something that Katie could admire in him. As the car came to a stop, she thought about her old car as well. She’d already sold it. She’d bought it for five thousand dollars and thanks to an admirer at the mechanic’s, she’d upgraded it to the point where she was able to sell it for six thousand dollars.

A thousand dollars might not seem like a lot to anyone else, but she was proud of the profit. That was one of the many different purchases that had emptied the clutter in her already, fairly minimalist lifestyle. For most people, this kind of purging process would be emotional, hard to see so many things that had been so frequent in their life vanish piece by piece in a matter of days, but that wasn’t the case for Katie. As she watched them go, it was like she could feel the hands of destiny at work within her.

All that was left to get rid of was the stuff in the house. Everything was packed into a suitcase, sold, or donated. She made sure that she got paid for everything she needed to be paid for and the smaller things were worth donating to those in need. She remembered when she was alone in the world for the first time and the terror that went along with it. Right now, all she could feel were her nerves constricting, coming together like a ball of vipers, hissing and biting at her stomach. She wasn’t ready for this, but she was rarely ever ready for the important moments in her life. It was important that she follow through with this.

Right now, she was a little egg, ready to hatch and she was pushing against the shell. She was ready to break free and she was ready to see what this new world was like, but she was realizing for the first time that she had been stuck in her egg for such a long time and this was the final push. This was the final thing that she needed to do before everything came crashing down and she was finally free to pursue the future that she knew she had in store for her.

“Okay,” she said to Ray, looking at their final destination. “Well, if there’s anything you need, just call me and I’ll make sure I do anything in my power to get on top of it right away.”

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart,” he said with his bellowing, jovial voice that sounded like he was a cowboy just off the ranch. “We’re out of the woods now and we’re in green pastures. Take it easy and go out and buy yourselves a bottle of wine to celebrate. This house is as good as sold.”

“Thank you,” she said before hanging up and feeling the car coming to a stop. She turned and looked at Shane who was not nearly as concerned as she was right now. That worried her more than it probably should. He had never had to quit a job and turn his back on a life that he used—wait a minute, yes he had. In fact, if there was one person in this world right now who would understand what she was going through, it would be Shane.

This was everything that Shane had already gone through and she wasn’t even close to it. There was nothing that she could ever lose that would even come close to what he had suffered at the hands of the animals who had butchered his parents so cruelly.

She wondered if using the world “animal” was now something of a slur. Maybe she would have to check that at the door from now on. She made a mental note to ask him about it after she felt the nausea and terror of what she was about to do wash away from her.

“You’ve got this,” Shane told her, gently holding her hand as he put the car in park and looked her in the eye. “If you’re not sure you want to do this, then we can always hold off for a few more days. It’ll be okay.”

“No,” Katie said with fierce determination. This was the moment that she had been waiting for and she was going to do what needed to be done. “Give me a few minutes, okay?”

“Text me if you’re in trouble,” he said with a cautionary tone in his voice that was like a balm to her soul. She needed his confidence and she needed to know he was there for her. He was great at giving her both. She threw open the door and stepped outside and looked at the gray, frigid world around her.

Walking into Big Mikey’s for the last time, she listened to the music and could feel the eyes of everyone in the room shifting to her. She wasn’t going to miss this place. It was going to be nice to get out of there. Chloe looked at her with a smile and cautiously grabbed one of the menus in case she was going to need it. Katie shook her head and gestured that she wouldn’t need the menu.

It was one of the few days that Mikey was going to be in the place and she wanted to tell him personally that she was done with this wretched place. She was going to leave here and she was never going to look back. She was never going to come here and she was so ready to unload everything that she had bottled up inside of her. This was the moment that she had been waiting for since the moment she started working here.

It had only taken a few seconds for her to realize how much she was going to hate this job and this was the culmination of all that hatred, all that disgust, and all of that disappointment. This was her big moment.

This was her time to shine.

“Do you know where Mikey is?” she asked Chloe, not wanting to go walking around and looking for the man. She wanted to be surgical here. She wanted to strike and hit hard with a lethal efficiency that she could smile and walk away with.

As her eyes wandered around the dining area, she wondered if she had the poor luck and the bad misfortune of actually missing him. That wouldn’t be so bad. She could tell whoever was running around as the supervisor that she was done, but it wouldn’t have the same sort of cathartic meaning that it would for her to tell Mikey.

“He’s at the bar,” Chloe said. “I think there’s a state senator or something talking to him. He’s really important, that’s all I know.”

“Okay,” Katie said. That would be even better to her. She really wanted to let this asshole know just how shitty life had been working here and she wanted him to know that she was actively thinking about what it would be like to burn this place to the ground.

If three of her friends didn’t actually need to work at this dump, she totally would. She would burn it to the ground and she would hit the road with Shane. Maybe running away from arson wasn’t the best way to start out their new relationship, but she was willing to give it a try. She was willing to really work for it that way.

She walked through the dining area and she made her way toward the bar where she could already see Big Mikey with his nasty goatee, his bald head, and his once muscular body slowly turning into a pudgy sludge that sagged in all the wrong places.

She looked at his old, faded tattoos and wondered if this was the life he had been envisioning for himself when he started out. Was this going to be everything he had ever wanted? Was he going to show the world that this was the true Big Mikey? Running a glorified slut gallery where they served greasy food and cheap alcohol to whoever was willing to buy? Regardless, he had used her for the last time. She wasn’t going to dress up like a slutty patriot for the Fourth of July or a Mexican for Cinco de Mayo. She was done with all of this.

“Hey Mikey,” she said, clearing her throat and cutting into whatever riveting conversation he was having with a douche in a fancy suit. He turned to look at her, and at first he was annoyed that he’d been interrupted, but then it quickly turned to curiosity because she could probably count on both hands how many times she had actually come up to him to have a personal conversation.

Sure, he was probably looking forward to this. He was probably thinking that he was finally going to get to take advantage of her for a loan or a favor, but she had news for him.

“What’s up, Doll?”  His words were dripping with selfish, smug, greasy, satisfaction that she hated. This was what he lived for, after all. This was what he loved most about his job. He got to treat women like objects, make money, and let people worship and envy him. She wondered how someone could ever get so disgusting and so low, but she didn’t want to waste the time anymore.

“I’m done with this place,” she said to him bluntly. “I’m done being objectified and I quit. I thought you ought to know that in person, since you’re the flesh peddler who thinks that this kind of place is classy and what men like. You’re one of the reasons why this city is going to hell and I thought I should have the courage to tell you that to your face one last time before I’m gone. So, effective immediately, I’m done.”

He looked at her, his eyes dark as coal and she wondered what he was thinking. Was his cock shriveling up when he realized that she wasn’t going to lick it for him or was his mind wilting and getting pissed at her right now? She knew that he’d struck women before and she was just begging for a reason to get Shane in here to rip him apart. Shane would devour him in a heartbeat and she knew it would be slow and painful for Mikey.

“Fair enough,” he said finally with a shrug. “Good luck to you. I’ll miss your sweet ass.”

“You will,” she assured him, not letting him go on that kind of an insult. He stopped turning away and looked back at her, his eyes warning her not to push it, but she knew that he truly would miss her. She was a major draw to this place and she was also his hardest worker. There was nothing in her mind that suggested she was afraid of him or that she ever would be, but she knew he was going to have a hard time getting anyone like her again.

They would be talking about her years down the road when only April and new bodies were in this place. They’d talk about how great times were when Katie had been here. Heck, even Mikey would probably end up talking about how he missed the good old days when Katie was there, teasing the boys just by walking by and getting big fat tips.

She turned and walked away from them, leaving her fake name tag that said “Candy” on the ground and not looking back at it. As she walked toward Chloe, she decided that it was time to stop and look her dead in the eye.

“You’re better than this, Chloe. Get out now, while you still have some dignity.”  Katie looked at her and knew that the young woman probably wouldn’t listen to her.

Katie wouldn’t have listened to someone who might have told her that when she first started here, but in the end, it was worth a shot. One day, those words would pop up in Chloe’s mind and she would split from this place. She’d be done and she would move on.

That was the best that Katie could do for her and as she pushed open the doors and saw Shane leaning on the side of the car, holding his cell phone, she knew that this was the life she wanted. She wanted to be free of everything but Shane.

Even when she thought about Sarah, Faith, and April, she knew that the time had come for them to part ways. They had done everything their friendship would allow and it was time for all of them to move on. It was time for them to pick up camp and go their separate ways.

She was comfortable with being the first one to leave. If she was the first to leave, then maybe she would inspire the others to go their separate ways as well. That would be all that she needed.

Shane wasn’t the kind of person who was ever going to let her down and she knew that. He was the kind of person worth fighting for and going the extra mile for. She was going to make sure that everything they ever wanted came to be. This was the beginning of everything she wanted to build with him and it was a terrifying first step, but it was a necessary first step. It was the jump that they were making into the great unknown and it was captivating her with each new breath she took.