A True Alpha Christmas (2 page)

The room itself was absolutely gorgeous—tiny, white lights wound around the circular dark-wood bar, twirled up a broad spiral staircase at the heart of the room, and danced along the ceiling beams. A legion of candles were tucked in fresh evergreens, and the city’s lights sparkled from the broad expanse of windows. The glamour of the décor was rivaled only by the beautiful people in attendance: men in elegant black suits, women with more bared flesh than covered. Mia’s dress was far from the most revealing one, which made her sigh in relief.

There were over a hundred people milling about, and Mia had dragged her feet long enough that the party had clearly begun without them. The holiday scents—a wash of upscale martinis, candles, and fresh pine boughs—deluged her shifter-heightened sense of smell. But she would take those any day over the stench of spilt party drinks and
eau de
dorm room at the university. Plus it gave a soothing sense of the Olympic mountains, which calmed her inner wolf, who was already anxiously scanning the crowds for her alpha. Her human side wanted to find Lucas, too, not least to warn him about the impending meetup with her mother.

Jupiter tugged on her arm. “Hey, is that Colin over there in the killer suit?”

Mia peered in the direction Jupiter had subtly gestured with her chin. A trio of wolves Mia knew well stood together: Llyr, the eldest of Mr. Sparks’s sons and an alpha like Lucas; Colin, Llyr’s beta and the wolf Mia had turned down for a mate; and Sampson, another of Llyr’s pack who worked in the office on mergers and acquisitions.

“Yeah, that’s him,” Mia said. Colin’s tall, commanding figure seemed made for filling out formalwear. Something about the shifter gene made all the males hulky, good-looking, and dominating: Mia could easily attest to how difficult
that
was to resist.

“He’s the one you threw back, right?” She licked her lips.

“Jeeter,” Mia chastised. “Don’t—”

Jupiter turned toward her in a mock-fury, her drama school training in high gear. “And why ever not? Do you have eyes, woman? That man’s 100% delicious packed in a tux and tails.”

“He’s not a man, he’s a
shifter,”
Mia said, keeping her voice low, so the couple drifting nearby wouldn’t overhear. SparkTech employees were primarily shifters, but their clients were decidedly
not
—and advertising that fact wasn’t good for business.

“All the better.” Jeeter was back to raking her gaze over Colin. “He hasn’t claimed a mate yet, right?”

“No, not yet.” Mia felt a little bad about that, only because Colin clearly wanted a mate so badly. “There’s a new female shifter in the office, just started, but she’s really a beta. I don’t think he’s even interested in her.” Mia scanned the party, but she didn’t see the new intern, Rebecca. “But he’s not looking for a human girlfriend, Jeeter.” Shifters were notoriously hot in bed, but Mia knew better than anyone that they only took shifters for mates.

“What makes you think I’m looking for a boyfriend?” Jupiter adjusted her dress to show a little more cleavage. Mia rolled her eyes and gave up—her friend was amazing and awesome, but she was clearly focused on one thing.

“Just be safe.” Mia didn’t want Jeeter coming home with scars.

She wrinkled up her face in horror. “Oh my god, you’ve turned into my mother.”

Mia smirked. “I’m just saying. Shifters can be a little…
intense.
Especially in bed.”

But that just made Jeeter’s eyes light up more. “You’re going to be okay here without me, right?” she asked, flicking hungry looks in Colin’s direction.

“Go,” Mia said, shaking her head. “I’ll find Lucas, and everything will be fine.” Which was the truth. Whenever she was with her alpha, the world could be on fire, and she wouldn’t feel it—being with him, especially since they mated, created this incredible sense of safety.
Belonging.
And the amazing thing was that it grew stronger every day. Her wolf was completely satisfied—only her human side wished for something a little more
public
to show for their love.

Jupiter scampered away. As she approached the trio, Colin’s gaze immediately swept up and down Jeeter’s revealing dress. He took her hand and brought her into their tight little conversation cluster. The look on Llyr’s face was classic—the disapproval could be seen across the room—but somehow Colin was able to ignore it, which Mia found intriguing. Going against your alpha’s wishes was something that was hard on any wolf, male or female. But Mia had heard the rumors—Colin was on a wild streak that even his alpha couldn’t stop, sleeping his way through the human female population of Seattle after Mia had turned him down. Lucas had done something similar after he lost his mate and before he met Mia—maybe that paved the way. Llyr and Sampson soon drifted away, leaving Colin to his wolfish looks for Jeeter.

Her ex-roomie was eating it up with a spoon.

“Well, aren’t they the charming couple?”

Mia was startled by the voice at her side, but only momentarily: it was Lev, Lucas’s younger brother and his beta, as well as one of her favorite people on the planet.

She smiled wide. “Charming isn’t the word I would use. Disastrous, maybe.”

Lev turned his big brown eyes on her, full puppy dog mode. “Oh, please,
please,
New Girl, tell me to go rescue your roommate. You have no idea how much I’d like to sink my teeth into Colin’s throat.”

Mia chuckled. “I don’t think that’s the kind of entertainment your father had in mind for the party tonight.”

Lev’s shoulders slumped, but he turned a heated glare on Colin. Lev still hadn’t forgiven him for coming between her and Lucas, but he really wasn’t the fighting kind. Lev himself told her once: there were two kinds of betas, alphas-in-waiting like Colin and sweet, adorable ones like Lev. And as hot as Colin could be, Lev was the one Mia would protect with her life. And the one who truly deserved to find an amazing female shifter for a mate.

“You know I’m not the New Girl anymore, right?” Mia flicked her gaze around the room. “Where’s Rebecca, and why are you wasting time with me? You should be charming her into an after-party date.”

“Yeah, well, Rebecca’s not my type.” Lev looked away and sipped at his drink.

Mia gave him a skeptical look. “She’s gorgeous, smart, and here explicitly to find a mate. And she’s a
beta.
In what way is that not your type?”

Lev just shook his head. “Let me get you a drink, and you’ll see what I mean.”

He took her by the elbow and steered her to where a black-tie bartender waited to take orders. Their new position in the room allowed her a view of the five male shifters surrounding Rebecca, each puffing his chest out more than the last. Mia could scent the pheromone surge from the bar, at least thirty feet away.

“A lemon martini for the lady and another double scotch for me,” Lev said to the bartender. He gestured with his nearly-empty glass to the cluster around Rebecca. “See what I mean? She’s a little busy.”

Mia peered more closely at the group. She knew most of the wolves at SparkTech—many had laid down their lives to rescue her. “Those guys are no competition for you, Lev. You’re way funnier than Steven, Blake is too old, and you’re smarter than any of them. And you’re the son of a pack leader.”

Lev gave her a mock-affronted look that made her grin. “Well yeah,
obviously,
I’m a much better catch than any of those guys. She’s just not my type.” He shrugged and traded his old drink for the new one, handing Mia hers as well.

She sipped at it, but she wasn’t buying Lev’s act. Rebecca had arrived at SparkTech only a few weeks ago, and Mia had liked her right away. She had a bubbly way about her—just the kind of girl that would be right for Lev.

“She seems smart,” Mia offered. “I mean, she helped me out with the Blue Wave report last week, and she totally rocked it. Plus she’s cute.”

Lev gave a small snort-laugh, then leaned against the bar, finally giving Rebecca a good look. “She’s not
cute,
Mia Fiore. She’s super hot.” He pointed with his drink at the wolves surrounding her. “Those guys are all hoping she’ll at least give them a try before she moves on.”

Mia frowned. Sleeping with all the Sparks pack wolves would be the hallmark of someone having fun, not seriously looking for a mate. Maybe. Mia wasn’t pack-raised, so she still didn’t understand all the inner workings of pack social rules.

“Is that how it works?” she asked Lev. “I mean, normally. I’m assuming most people don’t find their mate by rescuing them in an alley.” Which was how she and Lucas met, but that was a completely different story.

“Sometimes.” Lev settled into a grumpy look, refusing to look at either her or Rebecca.

Mia whacked him with her miniature purse, which sloshed the ice cubes in his drink.

“Hey!” he protested. “Watch the suit.”

“Since when are you the moody and grumpy brother? If I want that, I’ll hang out with Llyr.”

That drew a smirk from Lev, which soothed her heart. She hated seeing him this way. “Now, tell me how this works. I need some education on wolfy ways if I’m going to find you a mate.”

Lev lifted his eyebrows. “Since when are you on the Committee To Get Lev A Mate? I’m quite capable of handling that myself.”

“Clearly not.” Mia took another sip of her drink then gestured to Rebecca with it. “Now tell me why a female shifter like Rebecca would leave her own pack and come here? Why not find a mate in Redmond?” Rebecca had come from the small high-tech town near Seattle. “Is she just looking for a change of pace with a big city pack?”

He shrugged again. “Maybe. But it’s not uncommon for shifters to leave their pack to find a mate. Otherwise, it’s a little like marrying your cousin. There’s not that many of us, so we have to be somewhat careful to keep the gene pool from getting too shallow. But more likely, a hot shifter like Rebecca will simply have the pick of whoever she wants, wherever she goes.”

“And she wanted to come here?” Mia asked.

Lev nodded, studying his drink. “She’s smart, graduated the top of her class. I’m guessing she came to SparkTech specifically for the business-side training, and she’s just pretending to shop for a mate while she’s here. A girl like her…” Lev’s gaze finally drifted back to Rebecca. She was laughing at something Steven said. “She’s the kind who’s looking for an alpha-in-waiting, not any of these betas or omegas.” He waved his glass at the group. “If Colin’s not interested in her, he’s an idiot. But we’ve already established that. Beyond him, I doubt she’ll find a mate she wants here.”

Mia frowned. “If she doesn’t, there are going to be some very disappointed wolves at SparkTech.”

“And yours truly will
not
be one of them.” Lev raised his glass to Rebecca and then drained it. He winced as the scotch went down and set his glass on the bar. “Come on, New Girl. You sidetracked me. I was supposed to find you and bring you to Lucas.”

Lev watched with one eyebrow lifted as Mia drained the rest of her martini and set it on the bar as well. She wasn’t giving up on getting Lev and Rebecca together, but she needed to brace herself. If Lev was retrieving her, it meant Lucas was busy with clients….

And wanted her to meet them.

Lev led Mia through the clusters of partiers in the White Elephant. Lucas stood with a group of potential clients near the hundredth floor windows. Her inner wolf urged her forward.
Our alpha wants us.
Even before Lucas caught sight of her, the tension in her body eased—the magic in her blood, the result of the mating, made her automatically relax when she was around him. The mating was both magical and sexual—although the sex was hot enough to be life-altering all by itself. Lucas’s broad shoulders, tousled dark hair, and deep liquid brown eyes were enough to make any girl’s panties melt, but the magic took it to a whole different level. It intensified every feeling and made every nerve-ending in her body buzz. When he looked at her with one of those intense stares of his, it literally electrified her.

And made her inner wolf pant, even at the most inappropriate of times... like now.

Mia mentally shoved her wolf to the back of her mind and ignored her whining. Just because Lucas looked amazingly hot in his monochromatic all-black silk shirt, suit, and tie, didn’t mean she could jump him in the middle of the party. Even holding his hand was probably off limits—it would definitely give away that they were much more than boss and intern.

Lucas’s tight circle of conversation was comprised of three well-dressed clients: all men, all young like her, and all bright-eyed and intelligent-looking. Just the kind of entrepreneurs SparkTech usually funded… and their conversation stopped dead once Lucas’s gaze fell on her.

“Gentlemen, this is Mia Fiore.” Lucas’s eyes locked with hers for an intense moment. He was her alpha, and when he looked at her like that, she couldn’t look away even if she wanted to—which she didn’t, even though it made heat flush through her body. Just as her wolf whimpered her desire to match that heat with some friction, Lucas looked away, first to his hands, which were clutching a scotch like Lev’s, then back to the faces of his clients. The whole interchange only lasted a second, but Mia’s body was on fire underneath the silk sheath of her dress. Her body didn’t jump to instant arousal like that
every
time Lucas caught her eye at the office… but then he usually reserved those kinds of looks for their bedroom.