Unleashing His Alpha (12 page)

This was freedom. This was the life she was destined to live. There was no escaping it and she never wanted to look back from this point onward. She was ready for it all to begin.

“How was it?” he asked her with a smile on his lips.

“Felt good,” she answered honestly. It felt a lot better than she had anticipated, too. There was something inside of her that felt like a piece of the shattered dignity she had inside of her coming back. She felt like she was ready to face something new and she was ready to show him what she was made of. This was the grand reclamation she had hoped for.

Sure, it didn’t wash away the years of working there, but it helped take the sting away. It dulled the edge for her going forward.

“Are you ready to say goodbye?” He asked her that honestly. He was so worried about her not being really ready to give up on everything she knew, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The reality of her life was that Katie felt like this was the moment she had been building to. This was the moment she was ready for.

All of her life had been pushing toward this next moment. All of her life had been pushing toward this and now she was finally taking the dive. No more waiting on the block, no more holding back, and no more questioning her purpose.

“Yeah,” she said with a smile on her lips.

CHAPTER SEVEN

* * *

It was good to see Faith and Sarah all dressed up and looking beautiful, instead of in the skanky uniforms that they were forced to wear at Big Mikey’s. She was getting to see them in their natural form, seeing the potential they had inside of them. She could see both of them adorning the arms of rich and successful men who strived to match their wives in their own success.

She could see them happy and living a life far from this part of the city, far from every terrible thing they had been forced to put themselves through for the sake of a paycheck.

Of course, Katie wished she could be sentimental toward April, but there was something about April that told her she wasn’t going to be missed. No, she was going to just walk away from April and probably never give her another thought. There was darkness in April’s future. It was the gloomy certainty that April had already given up on everything she had worked for in her childhood and her dreams had been pawned for a life of settling and getting by.

She was already in the world that she wanted to be a part of and she was happily abiding until it was time for her to go. That was the wretched truth to April and it made Katie wish that one day April would aspire to be something more, but April was a victim of the world and never really saw herself as anything more than a victim of it all.

“I can’t believe you’re actually doing it,” Sarah said, taking a sip of wine as she looked at Katie and Shane. There was no hiding that they were scared for her and suspicious about Shane’s sudden appearance. If anything, it was almost humorous that they were all erring on the side of caution where Shane was constantly making his camp.

That was where Shane liked to live and breathe, so he was right there with them. However, his handsome physique and his undeniable success as a blogger was something that settled the fears and worries swarming around in their minds.

“I’m so proud of you. God, I wish that I could get out of that hellhole and drive off into the sunset.”

“Me too,” Faith said, shaking her head. “God, I can’t believe how quickly all of this has happened.”

Katie smiled and knew exactly what they meant by that. It was an extremely long feeling process she had been a part of, but honestly, it was extremely fast. It was so hard to fathom that she was going to be free of all of this in no time, but it was true. She was going to be free of this. She was going to walk away from this city and never look back.

“I’m going to miss you all so much,” Katie said finally, knowing that it was inevitable. They’d eaten their food, they’d all bought dessert and shared, and now it was time for them to get down to what was finally happening. This was the end of everything they had built with each other since they met at Big Mikey’s.

This was the culmination of all she had experienced with them and honestly, she was sad to see it go. She was sad to wave farewell to them, but she knew this was the natural end of everything. This was what had to happen for each of them. They had to go their separate ways.

“We’re going to miss you,” Faith said, tearing up. “Promise us that you’ll stay in touch and whenever you’re in the area, you’ll stop by and visit us. I don’t want to never hear from you again, you understand? I want constant updating on what’s going on with you and Prince Charming over here. Also, whenever he finally decides to pop the question, I want you to promise me that we’ll all be bride’s maids. I don’t care who you meet down the road. We call dibs.”

“Definitely,” Katie laughed, feeling her eyes burn as tears began to well up. These were her closest friends. When she had shown up with absolutely nothing, looking to try and start a life, these women were her comfort and joy. These were the people that gave her the hope and the courage to press forward. They had shared long nights with her, heartaches, and suffered through all kinds of tragedy together.

They had been given a friendship that was forged in the crucible of troubles and love. But this was the end and it was hard to break the bond. It was hard to walk away from all of it and not feel like there was heartbreak here between them. She was leaving them all behind, but she hoped they would find their way and that they would break free from all of this. That was all she could hope for right now.

“And don’t come back here,” Sarah said sternly. “We’ll come find you, okay? I don’t want to ever see you in this dump of a city again and even if this doesn’t work out the way that either of you want it to, just settle somewhere different. Then, you call us and we’ll be there faster than you can blink, ready to set up roots somewhere else. Okay?”

“Absolutely,” Katie said.

“Now give us a hug and get the hell out of here, you two,” Sarah said, standing up and smiling.

When she hugged her friends goodbye, it was a powerful moment that helped her realize she was ready to take the next step. She was ready to walk out of this restaurant and hit the road with Shane. This was the final loose end that she needed to tie up and say farewell to.

She hugged each of them, even April, though she didn’t think she was ever going to miss April after this moment passed. When they parted ways, she waved to them, all the way to getting into the car with Shane. But as the door closed behind her, she knew she was ready to go. Whether they went on to do great things with their lives or they ended up just being three women who worked at Big Mikey’s until they were old and unattractive, she was glad they had been in her life up to this point.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Shane asked her as he started the car and put it in reverse, waiting for her answer before he sped out of the parking lot and into the nocturnal road ahead of them.

“Let’s get out of here,” she said resolutely.

Shane hit the gas.

CHAPTER EIGHT

She didn’t know how far they’d been traveling or in what direction, really, when she opened her eyes and looked out at the road around her. Nothing about this world seemed familiar or even close to the one she had left behind. This was her new life and as she blinked, trying to dust the cobwebs of sleep from her eyes, she looked at a new world that she knew was hers and that she was going to be taking part in. They were far away from the concrete and gray world of the city that she had spent so many long years in. This was a new world to her, verdant and ready to be explored. She felt like a new person.

“Where are we?” she asked, stretching and thankful that she’d taken her bra off before they got very far yesterday. She was still in her cocktail dress, but she was free and that was something she was very happy about. Any chance she got to lose the bra, she was going to take it. She smiled and looked at Shane who was wearing sunglasses, even though the world beyond the windshield was cloudy and even a little foggy. He grinned at her and she knew that everything was going to be okay. Everything was just the way it was supposed to be.

“We’re heading east,” he said with a grin on his lips. She could tell that he was eyeballing her, no doubt as hungry for her as she was for him. “We’ll stop soon and get a hotel room, figure out where it is that we’re going. You took quite a long nap, I thought you were going to sleep for days.”

“Strangely, I feel incredible,” she said with a smile on her lips that seemed frozen there, locked on her face for all to see. She was ready for whatever the road held for them, but most importantly, she felt like she was ready to get another helping of Shane. It felt like ages since they’d last had sex in her house, giving it one last story to tell the ghosts. If those walls could talk, they’d be talking about the display they’d put on for the past few days – no, it was over a week, easily. It was a lot of fucking, that much was for sure.

“Are you tired?” she asked him, suddenly feeling terrible for leaving him alone for so long.

Shane had a ritual on the road and she would soon discover that it kept him happy for most of the time. He had an app on his phone that would tell him what all the radio stations were in the area and he was also an avid listener of books on CD, which he would listen to on his journeys. He would tell her that this was no excuse for him not to educate himself or to experience something new. She understood that. It was sort of his anchor to the world beyond him and she would respect that.

He needed to be able to communicate with something beyond himself and she was glad to be along for the ride. There was a lot to talk about and a lot to discuss when you were informed. It was the reason she usually listened to NPR in her car, to stay informed and up to date on everything that was happening in the world. It was easy to drown in the problems of one’s own myopic life and forget there was a greater world out there that needed to be addressed.

“I’m good,” he said to her, looking back at the road.

She stared at all the tall trees that seemed so impossibly huge, as tall as buildings out here and not the stubby little things that were skinny and weak looking in the parks that she would pass. There was foliage under the canopy and the forests were dark and foreboding from the road. She would gaze into the black and wonder if there was something staring back at them.

She learned rather quickly that there was an ever moving artery system across the country of people who were traveling on highways and interstates, exploring or on business. It was a never ending system that was alive and well, pumping people from one end of the country to the other without any struggle or difficulty. She liked to think they were part of that system now and it made her feel like she was one with a greater family that surrounded her.

Another hour sped by of her listening to some book that she caught herself in the middle of. It was an interesting book that reminded her of why Shane was going to be such a good leader. He listened to books on being a successful, motivated individual who needed only himself and his loved ones to feel like he was ready to make a difference in the world.

God, she wished that she could have that inside of her. It was the kind of power that could make a person invincible and unstoppable in any situation they found themselves in. She was more than willing to stand by his side, especially if he kept impressing her like this. How could she not be happy with what she had found herself in the company of? Women would kill themselves for a man like Shane and she wasn’t going to forget that any time soon.

When they did stop, it was at a strangely nice Holiday Inn on the side of the road where the only other surrounding buildings were a couple of houses, a gas station, and a store on the other side of the highway. It was a large building that reminded her of something out of a Viking tale or something.

The center was tall and wooden, like a bunch of logs stacked on top of each other, with wooden shingles, and was easily three stories tall. But sprawling to the south were the two stories of rooms and entertaining area that were also designed to look like they were built out of logs. She knew that it was all just a quaint exterior, but she liked it.

It got the feeling of adventure pumping in her blood and that was all that mattered to her. She wanted to be on the grand tour and in the exciting midst of it all.

“This is where we’re staying?” she asked him as he pulled into the parking lot.

“It’s the best hotel in a long ways,” he said with a shrug. “It’s not anything fancy, but it’ll do for now. I’m sure we’ll only stay long enough for us to take showers and get some rest before we get back on the road. Do you want to go over to the gas station and grab some snacks while I go check us in?”

“Well, that depends,” she said with a rather disappointed expression on her face. “Are we really just going to be showering and relaxing or can I anticipate something a little more exciting than that?”

“I encourage you to be expectant,” he said with a devilish grin that she loved.

There was something about the gas station that made her feel wrong when she stepped inside of it. It was an old, stale building that felt like it had been forgotten by the world that it was a part of. The pimply clerk behind the counter looked at her and stared with a dumbstruck expression that made her wonder if she’d just rocked his world. Had he ever seen a girl before?

Was this the first time that he was ever seeing someone this attractive who wasn’t in a porn movie or in the nearest movie theater’s silver screen? She smiled at him and gave him an awkward wave as she headed for the aisles.

This place was clearly built to cater to the surrounding area. There was enough here to keep travelers happy and on their way, but there was also enough here to serve as staples for the locals who couldn’t hitch up the buggy and head into town for their months’ worth of shopping at the nearest grocery store.

She walked the long aisles and saw that she wasn’t alone in here. There was a rather rough looking man with a frayed denim jacket, a handlebar mustache, and a scowl on his face that looked like he’d ended up on the short end of the world’s stick. She could tell that he was the man who owned the motorcycle outside and that his weather worn skin had seen probably as many places as Shane had seen.

It was the kind of appearance that would give small children nightmares and she wondered if he’d ever seen a woman as beautiful as she was up close and in person. Probably not. This was a different place and as far as she could tell, it looked like the last attractive woman he’d seen was probably on a pole.

“Hi,” she said mildly as she passed him, not wanting to start anything with him. He looked at her and she could feel the thoughts coming off of him like a black fog, like tendrils of dark thoughts slithering around her body. It was bad enough that she felt naked around him, but this was something extraordinarily different. This was a kind of dark desire that she had never really been close enough to that she could physically feel it on her.

“Aren’t you a pretty thing,” he said, reaching out and grabbing her ass under the navy fabric of her dress.

She immediately shied away from him and for the first time in her life, she genuinely felt violated, like he’d robbed something from her. She stared at him and knew that her ass had been grabbed hundreds of times when she was at Big Mikey’s but it had never made her feel like this. She had never felt this violated and this offended by it.

It was like he’d stolen something from her. It had to be because she was with Shane now. Being with him had changed everything, so why not that? Why not the dignity that she had tried to take back the day before from Mikey.

“How about you take that dress and slide it down a bit,” the man said, walking toward her with a grotesque expression on his face. “Give me a look at them titties. If I like what I see, maybe we can take it on into the bathroom for an encore.”

“No thank you,” Katie said sternly, but she knew that if this man wanted to hurt her and force her to do something, that he was going to have his way. There was no stopping a man of his size.

“Come on, sweetheart,” he growled at her, his voice all gravel and desperation. She could tell that she was the prettiest woman that he’d ever seen and that he was looking to get something from her that he was never going to get another chance at. He saw an opportunity and if that meant he had to rape her, then he probably could justify that, but Katie wouldn’t stand for it. She started to walk away quickly from him, but he was closing in on her.

“Oh, yeah,” he chuckled. “I like it when you squirm and run. It makes it more fun.”

“Call the police,” Katie shouted to the clerk. “This man is trying to rape me!”

“He’s not going to do shit,” the man said as he looked over his shoulder. “If he keeps his mouth shut, maybe I’ll let him have seconds on you. Hell, seconds are just as good when it comes to girls like you. Takes all the fight out of--”

Katie watched as the man flew at her fast, but as she dove out of the way, she realized that he wasn’t coming for her. He flew at the wall of glass doors with his arms out wide and flailing as he shattered the glass and dozens of beer and soda cans exploded upon the impact of him hitting them. She looked at him as he groaned and slid to the ground, toppling over in agony as the pool of beer and soda began to grow around him, soaking him.

She looked back at Shane who was standing where the man was and she smiled at him. Her hero. She knew she was going to be fine. There was no way that anything could happen to her as long as Shane was near. He looked at the man with fire in his eyes and she noticed that they were a bright, icy blue. She could see how tight the shirt was on him and that it looked like he was in the middle of fighting his own internal battle right now to keep control of the situation. She cautiously walked toward him and held out her hand and touched him.

“Are you okay?” she asked him softly, looking at him as he stood there, trembling and letting his rage ripple through him. “Babe, are you okay? You just saved my life. Thank you so much.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” he said through his clenched together teeth. He looked over his shoulder at the clerk behind the counter who had his hands up and was stepping back into the wall of cigarettes and chew. “You’re going to give us everything we want and I’m going to forget about telling the cops how you stood by and watched my mate almost get raped by that animal and didn’t bother trying to call them. You understand?”

“Totally,” the clerk nodded, his whole body trembling as Shane grabbed everything they were going to need.

“When that asshole wakes up, tell him he’s a dead man if I see him again,” Shane said before they left.

By the time they were at the hotel, Shane had stopped trembling, but she could tell that he was clearly shaken by everything that had happened. She couldn’t blame him. Something horrible had almost happened to her and yet, here they were. She was glad they were okay now, but it was scary to think there was someone out there who could do that to someone. To think that they came this close to a monster and she had survived. She wrapped her arms around him and followed him to the hotel room.

It was strange that she had almost been so horrifically violated, but right now, all she could think about was the silver lining. It had been true that she almost got raped, but at the same time, her man had come to her rescue like Prince Charming and he had kicked that guy’s ass.

She had no doubt that Shane would keep his word about killing the man if he ever saw him again and she thought that was so hot. She thought all of it was hot. She could feel herself getting tingly and she felt like she was missing half of her body. She felt like there was something incomplete about her right now.