Filed to story: The Alpha She Chose Instead (Serena & Ethan)
“Yeah, what was that?” Tye should’ve finished off that upstart in one round. I’d forgotten about it in all the drama afterwards.
Tye shrugs. “Too much turkey and gravy? Fuck if I know. It was a strange night.”
“That it was.” I duck between the ropes and slap his back. “Sauna?”
He nods, and we make our way to the locker room. I kept most things the same when I became alpha, but I did have the old gym restored and the facilities updated. We’ve got a sauna and hot tub now, and I had a ring built in the middle of the basketball court. When you can leap ten feet from flat-footed, dunking isn’t really a thrill.
Before I was born, this camp used to be a nature retreat for school children, church groups, and the like. In the 80s, there were budget cuts, and the county was forced to sell the lodge, a dozen cabins, and fifty acres, including the river, ponds, a tract of virgin forest, and a cross section of Quarry Pack’s claimed territory.
Earning the money to buy our land from the government was my father’s greatest accomplishment. And it made our males what we are now-prizefighters mostly, bounty hunters and hired muscle on the side. It could be worse. We could wear suits and sniff human ass all day like Moon Lake Pack.
It’s an impossible balance-the old ways and the new, the human world and our own. There is no balance, really. It’s not unlike Serena Hayes’ gait-steady only because we keep it movin’.
There are only a few in the pack who realize how tenuous our hold on all of this is. Humans are weak, venal, and undisciplined-and they outnumber us by billions. That’s an unstoppable force. They’ve been content to profit off us where they can-bet on our fights, sell souvenirs to the lookie-loos-but how long before they eye our territories?
Our DNA?
Humans are never content to coexist. I see Moon Lake, and I think Man has already conquered us. Wolves in suits. Humans must know they don’t need to do much but let their ways infect our minds. We’ll corrupt ourselves.
I strip, drop my sweats on a bench, and pad out the back of the locker room to the free-standing sauna. The door creaks on its hinges, and I inhale the cedar, sinking down on a hot, dry bench, not bothering with a towel.
Rowan Bell kneels by the fire, ladling water over stones. She casts me a sly look from under her thick lashes and arches her back so her perky tits nearly fall out of her tube top. I close my eyes and tilt my head back to lean against the wood paneled walls.
Rowan’s mated to Liam Hughes. She doesn’t care for the hand she was dealt, so they’re one of those “strictly for heat” couples. Even if I was interested, I wouldn’t go there. I’ve seen “strictly for heat” turn into “my one and only” too often, and I never want to make an enemy of Liam. He’s too good with the engines.
Tye lets the door slam as he comes in and makes the maximum possible noise settling next to me. Hope he’s got a towel wrapped around his waist. He’s got no concept of personal space.
Not content to just harsh my mellow, he digs an elbow into my ribs. “Check out our little sauna maid over there. She’s got something she wants to show you.”
I rest my clasped hands on my belly and exhale. “Not interested. You’re welcome to it.”
He snorts. “Liam’s fixing my alternator.”
“I see we’re in accord.” I open my eyes and snap my fingers, catching Rowan’s eye. She curves her lips into an invitation. She’s got her tits out, shirt bunched around her waist. I jerk my head toward the door. Her smile falls, and she huffs while she yanks up her top, but she goes.
“Rowan better watch herself,” Tye says. “Haisley’s gonna do to her what she did to Serena Hayes.”
A snarl escapes my lips. I cough, clearing my throat. I don’t know where that came from.
“I put no claim on Haisley.”
“Don’t matter. The females have their own way of enforcing rank.”
Yeah, and it doesn’t usually involve blood in the dining room. That’s a great way to rile the males. If this shit becomes a trend, I’m gonna have to put the hammer down again like when I first took over the pack.
Tye keeps going. “Maybe it’s time to put the females on the circuit since they’re so eager to throw down.”
We both laugh. Things ain’t changed that much. If I let a female train and fight for real, Eamon Byrne would have no trouble convincing every male to take turns on me until I bled out, honor be damned.
“I wouldn’t give Eamon the satisfaction.”
“He’s the one pushing Lochlan to challenge for beta.” Tye tells me something I already know.
“Eamon wishes it was the good old days.” There’s more than a few like him. What the hell do they miss about living in caves, shitting in the woods, and freezing all winter?
Tye shakes his head, changing the subject. “I’ve never seen anything like that last night. Serena didn’t stand a chance.”
“You take her to her cabin?” I don’t know why I’m asking. Or why I’m suddenly anxious for the answer.
And it’s not just me. My wolf’s ears are perked, too. Maybe this is all him. He’s got some weird attraction to crazy chicks.
Of course, that’s not possible. The wolf and I are two forms, but one being. We don’t have different concerns. That’s a faulty construct. Like pain. It’s in your head. It’s not real. We are our wolves. Period. Every pup who was raised right knows that.
Your wolf’s hungry? You’re hungry. You’re pissed? Your wolf’s pissed. Simple.
“I dropped her behind the lodge,” Tye says.
“By the dumpsters?” My shoulder blades clench. I have to focus on the muscles to relax. The heat isn’t doing it.
“Haisley and her crew were gathered up front. I figure I’d give Serena a head start.”
“Goddamn.”
My father never had to deal with this kind of shit. Females would have never dared to shift unbidden. Or approach the alpha and lay claim to him in front of the pack.
Or rub up on him uninvited, for that matter.
“Haisley’s getting above herself.” It’s my fault. I guess I’ve let her suck my dick a few too many times.
Tye settles his arms along the back of the bench. “You should talk to Dermot.”
“She’s not gonna listen to him.”
Dermot is Haisley’s mate. They’re “strictly for heat,” too. He’s forty years older than her and kind of done with the drama. She does what she pleases, and he’s happy to let her.
“Maybe it’s time to tell her to move it along, then.” Tye cracks his neck and stretches his legs, spreading wide. My wolf rumbles. He narrows his spread.
“Maybe it is.”
“Pack comes first, right?”
“Always,” I agree. That’s why I’m careful not to get too close to any of the females. A blow job is one thing, but you don’t want to give anyone any ideas. Packs are built on rank, and there’s two ways to gain status-who you fight and who you fuck. Clearly, I’ve given Haisley too much of my favor.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?