Alpha (5 page)

Fred left
James sleeping in his room. He wanted answers about the attack that James just
didn’t seem to want to give him. He found Gavin and some other wolves in the
dining room, meeting around the large table.

Gavin had
a new scar across his cheek and his eyes looked bruised. He sneered when he saw
Fred.

“Come to
see your handiwork, Penny?”

“Me? What
the hell did I do?”

Gavin got
up, cracking the bones in his neck as he did so. He loomed over Fred.

“Those
boys that beat you up are from a rival pack, Thorn Hill Hill.”

Fred
crossed his arms in front of his chest. “There’s no such place. Everyone knows
packs are named after the place they settle.”

“That
would be true, but this pack is Outcast. No territory. No land. They roam
around looking for weak packs. They found a weakness in ours. You. Followed you
here. Ambushed us. If they’d have killed our Alpha, they could have taken the
whole territory.”

“It
wasn’t my fault!”

Gavin
growled. The wolves behind him growled along with him. Fred recognized one,
Thomas. Thomas, who had not a scratch on him.

Despite
his instincts screaming at him to run, Fred stood his ground. “I’m his mate.”

Gavin
sniffed his neck. “Hasn’t marked you. Words mean nothing. I could take you and
mate you right now and so could any other wolf. He should put his pack before
you, Penny. You are accountable for every wolf that was injured today.”

Fred
wanted to cry. Was it his fault? Had he brought all of this onto these people?
To James?

“Brother,
I am going to kick your ass.”

Gavin’s
eyes flickered past Fred to where James stood holding himself up on the door
frame. Gavin held his hands up and backed away.

When Fred
turned around, he saw why Gavin was backing up. James’s eyes were yellow and
glowing. He looked like he wanted to commit murder.

“Come on
now, James, we’ll get you a nice juicy steak and then…hey.” Fred stumbled over
his words as he was suddenly in the air.

James
picked Fred up and ran with him back to James’s room. Fred couldn’t protest. He
wanted to, but James was different now. Feral.

James
kicked the door behind him before Fred struggled free.

“Hey now.
We can’t have sex. You’re wounded.”

“He said
you weren’t mine. He could take you from me,” James said.

“I don’t
think Gavin wants me like that. Maybe to murder me, but not sexually. Besides
you’re hurt.”

James
shook his head. “I’m fine.”

Fred felt
his eyes fill with tears. He did look fine. He couldn’t help remembering the
way he’d found James on that forest floor. He leaned his head against James’s
chest to hide his tears.

"I can’t take it if I find you like that
again, James. Those few moments when I thought you were dead were an eternity."

James held him tight. He smelled warm and
alive. Fred pressed his face into James’s chest.

"Promise?" Fred asked.

"I can't promise, but I'll be careful."

James
held him until Fred felt his arms start shaking. He wanted to belong to James.
He wanted James to belong to him. Gavin hadn’t been serious but his talk of
other wolves “claiming” him had scared him.

He
looked up at James. “I want to be yours.”

James
kissed his cheek. “You sure? Once I mate you we can never go back.”

Fred
nodded. “I want that. I want you.”

James unzipped his pants and pulled them down. He wasn't wearing
underwear. Fred shuddered and got onto his knees. James pulled at Fred's hair
in tight fistfuls.

"I'm going to learn how to shoot a gun," Fred vowed.

"I thought you did all right—hey!"

Fred bit James on the thigh before he could finish his sentence.
He licked his way down to James’s penis, nipping at the shaft. He swallowed as
much of James as he could, wanting to devour the man. He didn't stop until he
felt those small hairs tickle his cheeks. 

He sucked while James held his head where he wanted him to be, forcing
him to take James even deeper.

James’s hands shook when he pulled him away. "Not this
time," he said.

He pushed Fred on the bed. "Undressed. Now."

Fred loved when James ran out of words. His eyes were that
strange yellow color, indicating the wolf was riding high. Fred quickly took
off his clothes. James approached him with fingers wet from lube.

"I can do it," Fred said.

"No you can't. I'll come if I watch you prepare
yourself for me."

Fred spread his legs. James leaned in between them, licking at
the base of Fred's cock.

"Stop playing," Fred said, squirming.

James licked his way down to Fred's throbbing center. Fred
screamed when he felt James’s tongue inside. James put one finger inside,
followed by another. His fingers felt so large that Fred wanted to tell him to
stop or to never stop—he couldn’t decide.

"Ready?" James asked.

Fred could only nod frantically.

James put his elbows on either side of Fred's body. He leaned
down to kiss Fred at the same time as he entered his body. He went slow. So
slow Fred had to bite his ear.

"I'm not fragile."

"Breakable," James growled. His arms were carrying his
weight so nothing but his lower body touched Fred's.

Fred grabbed those arms. "Mine," he said.

"Mine," James repeated.

"Show me," Fred said. "Make me yours."

James sped up, thrusting until he hit a spot that made Fred see
stars. 

"Stop. No, faster. No, stop. Jesus, go faster!" Fred
wasn't making sense. He knew that. All he could see and hear was James pounding
inside of him. Fred turned his head to lick at the sweat that had drifted down James’s
arms.

James went still. "Now?"

"Yes, now!"

He bent his head to Fred's neck. Fred saw those sharp canines
for just a second before they pierced his neck. At the same time, James had
gotten bigger inside of him. So much bigger it was almost painful.
Almost.

Fred came as both sensations rushed over him. He spurted against
James’s belly, coating his stomach. He could feel James come inside him, but
James didn't get any smaller.

James huffed against his neck, taking his teeth away. "It's
the knot. Only happens with mates. Just wait. It's all right. Just wait."

Fred put his arms around James’s back."You're heavy, Wolf."

James rolled around until he was on the bottom and Fred was on
top. He wrapped his arms around Fred.

"Better?"

Fred nodded against his chest. He closed his eyes. It was
strange having James inside him like this. Not bad. Just strange.

"So I'm yours now?"

Yes.

"Did you just say that in my mind?!"

James grinned. "One of the perks of mating."

"I don't know that I'd call that a perk," Fred
muttered. "I like alone time."

"I can give you that," James said. "Just as long
as you're with me."

Fred blew out a breath. "We'll work on it."

James had marked him as his, but Fred didn’t know what that
meant. He did know that he was a danger to James and all of his wolves. Gavin
was right. If the Thorn Hill pack was following him to get to James, they
wouldn’t stop as long as he stayed there. He’d go back to his apartment and lay
low for a few weeks, then come back. Surely they’d give up. Wolves weren’t
known for being patient.

He loaded up his backpack and left a note for James that he’d be
back. He paused by the bed.
Déjà vu
. Maybe James wouldn’t
take him back this time. Fred always seemed to be leaving the people he loved.

He touched the wound on his neck, shivering at the remembered
sensations. James would have to be safe. That was all that mattered.

He took the keys to a truck that his father rarely used. It
wasn’t as hardy as the one he used for house calls. Fred had mostly used it to
practice driving as a kid. His father would blister his ears when he got a hold
of him, but Fred wasn’t going to take the chance that James would catch him
before he reached the property line. Once in the city, it would be harder for
James to track him.

It took a few hours to drive into the city, and Fred kept
feeling sick deep in his stomach. He thought maybe he’d eaten something bad but
couldn’t figure out what. He had to pull off the road a few times to vomit onto
the grass. He had a strange feeling, like someone might be following him, but he
dismissed it as paranoia.

He was too sick to make it back to his apartment, so Fred found
a small out of the way hotel and rented a room for the night. His cell kept
ringing and ringing, so he put it on mute. He knew it was Kyle, blowing up his
phone. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. He didn’t want to explain or let
himself be convinced to go back. He wanted to sleep. He curled up on top of the
covers. The hotel hadn’t looked very clean and the sheets smells like mildew.

He slept and dreamed of that wolf again. Only this time it
wasn’t eating him. It was chasing and chasing him through dark forest areas.
Fred kept tripping, but he had to continue running. The wolf nipped at his
heels whenever he stopped.

He slept through the night and into the afternoon the next day.
Maybe he had the flu? He couldn’t move for the pain. His whole body ached.

Just when it got dark outside, the front door of the hotel room
burst open. Thomas stood there with familiar looking men. The skinheads who’d
beaten him.

“Gotcha,” Thomas said.

One of the skinheads pulled a hood over Fred’s head and then he
was in the air bouncing over a shoulder. He groaned. His skin felt like it was
on fire. He didn’t want anyone touching him.

“He’s scrawny. You sure the Alpha will come for him?”

“Shut up, Johnson. He’ll come. This kid’s like catnip… or
wolfnip. Whatever,” Thomas said.

It was Thomas then. Thomas all along. Thomas who’d told these
wolves where to find Fred, sending him back to James so they’d have something
to use against him.

“We’re not going to hurt him, are we?” a voice asked.

“Damn it, Craig. We’re Thorn Hill. We hurt people. If you pussy
out, we’ll give you to Donnal again.”

“You want a home, don’t you Craig? No more wandering and
starving? We kill the Alpha, I become Alpha, and then you’re all members,”
Thomas said. “I’ll stop this gay shit from happening and run the pack like it
should be. The traditional way.”

Someone dumped Fred in what felt like the back of a van and then
he was moving. His head banged against the metal wall of the van.

Fred. Fred?

He thought he dreamed it. Maybe he was dying. Where was that
white light? The angels singing his favorite songs?

Fred. Tell me where you are, baby. Come on, tell me. You can do
it.
James sounded so clear in his head.

Don’t know where I am. Van. Moving.

Okay. Where were you? Where’d they take you from?

Island Palms. Glitter palm trees out front. Taking them for our
wedding.

He thought James sounded amused.
Good to know. I’ll find you.
Hold on.

Thomas. It was Thomas.

The van drove over a bump and Fred’s head hit the side of the
van so hard that he passed out.

When he woke up, he was tied to a wooden bed frame. His mouth
was covered in tape, but he could see. Never a good sign. He watched crime
shows religiously, so he knew that if your attacker let you see him, he was
probably going to murder you, sever your body parts, and tell everyone you went
to Virginia to live with your mother.

He saw Thomas and three other men. He thought the small one
might be Craig, the one who hadn’t wanted to hurt him. He had green eyes that
never quite looked up and hair that was almost white, shorn close to his scalp.
The other two men were much bigger and darker. One had a hooked nose and
carried a large sharp-looking machete. The other was a little shorter than Hook
Nose and had a squashed in looking nose. Fred decided to call him Pugsly.

“The beauty awakens,” Thomas said. “We’ve got such sights to
show you. I know the Alpha marked you. We just have to see how deep that mark
went.”

“He’ll feel every cut. Every poke. Hell, if we rape you he might
even feel that,” Hook Nose said.

Pugsly took out a cigarette, lit it, and then approached the
bed. Fred thought about begging. He’d never liked pain. Instead, he waited
until Pugsly got close enough and kicked with the one leg he’d managed to get
free.

Straight in the groin. Ten points. The crowd goes wild!

“You
little bastard!” Hook Nose sliced at Fred’s leg. He twisted so the knife hit
the rope and not flesh. He had two legs free and both arms still tied up.

“Craig,
get one of his legs!” Hook Nose yelled.

Pugsly
was on the ground, groaning and holding himself. Thomas took out what looked
like a Taser. He thrust it up against Fred’s side. It felt like fire and ice
all at once. Fred’s body jumped, jerking at the ropes holding his hands until
he could feel the skin tearing.

“Not so
feisty now, are you?” Thomas said smugly.

Fred hung
limp as they retied his legs. Pugsly punched him viciously between his legs. He
took a small knife and made short cuts on Fred’s arms and hands still tied to
the bed. The cuts weren’t deep, but he knew they bled. He could feel the blood
dripping down his arms.

“Asshole,”
Pugsly said.

“Watch
him,” Hook Nose told Craig. “I’ve got to get out of here. Think the stinking
human pissed himself.”

Fred
hadn’t, but he would have gladly if he’d known it had meant they’d leave.

Craig
watched him with wide eyes. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t know it would
be like this.”

He
cleaned Fred’s cuts, putting large band-aids on them.

Fred
tried to talk, but only grunting noises came out from behind the gag.

“I can
take it off, but I have to put it back before they get here,” he said.

Fred
nodded. “Water,” he croaked as soon as Craig had peeled the tape off.

Craig put
a glass against his lips and let him drink. “Not too much.”

“Why are
they doing this? I mean I know why, but why me?” Fred asked.

“You’re
the Alpha Mate now. He can hear you telepathically. You can hear him. You’ve
heard of Siamese twins right? It’s a little like that. If you are weak, he is
weak. Thomas can’t beat him on his own.”

James had
told Fred they could speak mind to mind, but not the rest.

Stupid
bastard.

He hoped
James heard that.

Craig sat
with him for an hour or so, giving him water and talking to him. Other than the
kidnapping, Craig seemed like a nice guy. Craig worked at a coffee shop and
wanted to study physics. Fred wondered why the kid was with such a bad crowd.
He looked clean cut and had all his teeth. He remembered who one of the wolves
had threatened Craig with. Donnal. Would he come in next? How many would
torture him until he broke?

Craig
must have heard the others coming back because he quickly put the gag back on
and stood against the wall. Hook Nose, Pugsly, and Thomas strode in smelling of
booze and rancid perfume.

“Little
bro, we would have brought you, but we know you’re too faggy for a whore
house,” Hook Nose said. He put his arm around Craig, dragging the smaller man
in a circle. “Good thing you didn’t let the princess go. Woulda had to cut off
a finger or a toe.”

Craig
swallowed loudly. Pugsly ran right into the wall then passed out on the floor.

Thomas
and Hook Nose laughed. They left for the back of the cabin, telling Craig to
watch Fred overnight. Craig sat in the chair, nodding off now and again. Fred
tried to loosen his hands while Craig slept, but the ropes were too tight.
Towards dawn he slept a little out of sheer exhaustion.

Be ready.
Be ready. I hope you’re okay.

Fred’s
eyes opened. His arms tensed.

The front
door burst open, smashing and splintering against the wall. James ran in with a
handful of wolves following him. Only James didn’t look like James. He looked
more like Wolf.  His eyes were pure yellow. His nose was elongated and almost
pointed, giving it a snout-like appearance. His fingers were spread, revealing
sharp black claws. He roared and Fred shook.

James
went for Craig, who was closest to the bed Fred was on. He thrust him against
the wall, raking at his face.

Don’t
hurt him! He helped me!

Craig
howled in pain as James continued to attack him. Angel quickly freed Fred’s
hands and feet from the bed.

Please,
James. Don’t do this. He might not be innocent, but he isn’t a bad wolf.
Please.

James
paused. Drool ran from his open mouth, dripping down to Craig’s cheeks.

“Take
him,” he said, in voice full of rocks.

Two
wolves took Craig and dragged him outside then tied him up. Craig didn’t
resist. His face was so full of red Fred couldn’t see his eyes. He wanted to
help, but James was more important.

 Pugsly,
who’d previously been passed out on the floor, did try to fight. But there were
too many. He went down swinging and then finally whimpering. James let Fred
kick him once while he was on the ground. Pugsly had liked hurting him. Fred
felt a little better that he’d hurt him back.

Hook Nose
put up more of a struggle. He had a knife, and he used it to slash at the
wolves surrounding him. Angel, who was behind him, pushed him over and he was
impaled by his own knife.

Thomas
took advantage of the distraction and ran out through the back door. James noticed
and chased him, roaring his fury. Sometime during the chase, Thomas had changed
into his wolf form. He was much faster at changing than any other wolf Fred had
heard of. He saw the wolf running and had a flashback to the first time they’d
met in the woods. That first day when Fred had come home. Thomas had wanted him
dead, and it seemed he wanted James dead as well.

James
caught up to Thomas, clawing viciously at his heel. Blood spurted and Thomas
howled. Thomas turned around, biting at James’s human neck. James shook him
off, pushing back with arms that had grown larger and darkly furred. His head
had changed too. His pointed ears and snout were now more prominent. Fred had
never known that wolves could half change like that. James was terrifying and
beautiful.

Don’t
look.

Why?
You’re beautiful.

James
looked back at him for a split second before Thomas attacked again. They
snarled at each other, trading swipes and bites. Thomas tore a hunk from James’s
leg then spat the flesh onto the ground. James, enraged, picked Thomas up and
threw him against a tree. Fred heard Thomas’ body snap.

Thomas
tried to get up, but his legs didn’t seem to work. James looked down at him,
bleeding and breathing harshly.

“Traitor,”
he hissed.

Thomas
coughed up blood. “You are the traitor. Weakening for that human. Bringing
filth into our pack.”