Alpha (6 page)

James
shook his head. “You took what was mine. Mine!”

He held
Thomas’ head in his hands, twisting it until his neck snapped. Even that didn’t
seem to satisfy him. He clawed and tore at Thomas’ body, savaging it until
there was nothing but pulp and bone.

The other
wolves in the pack stood back, afraid to approach. Fred slowly made his way
forward.

“James?
He’s dead now. Let’s go home. My arms hurt. Can we go home?” He knew if he told
James he hurt James would want to care for him. Maybe calm down.

He put
his hand on James’s furred back. It was so hot it near burned his palm. James’s
chest heaved as though he couldn’t catch his breath.

“Come on
now. Let’s go home,” Fred said.

The fur
on James’s arms and back began to recede. Fred touched warm flesh instead of
blistering fur. James turned his face around. Fred touched his cheeks and chin and
mouth that no longer had fangs. James’s eyes still had that dull yellow glow,
but no madness.

 “Home,”
he said.

“Home,”
Fred agreed.

They rode
home with Fred tucked up against James’s chin.

“They
didn’t hurt you?” James asked.

“Not
much,” Fred said. He’d tell James about the knife and the Taser another time.
He just wanted to sit in James’s arms and forget about it.

Fred’s
father had to look him over when they got home. He re-bandaged the cuts and
treated them with antiseptic.

“You keep
getting hurt and I won’t have any supplies left,” Doc said. He leaned over to
gently hug Fred. “And don’t ever steal my truck again!”

Fred
nodded, though he knew not all promises could be kept.. At least now the pack
knew where the problem was. No more bombs. No more attacks. At least Fred
hoped.

He saw
Craig, Hook Nose, and Pugsly being dragged down into the basement. All looked
worse for wear with bruised faces and blood on their clothes.

“He was
nice to me,” Fred said. “Can’t we let him go?” Fred didn’t much care what
happened to the other two wolves, but he’d liked Craig.

“Keeping
someone tied up against their will isn’t nice,” James said.

Fred
sighed. He wanted to argue but knew James wouldn’t budge. The wolves would be
taken to the dungeon and Fred didn’t think they’d be hurt too much that night.
He’d work on James the next day, convince him to treat the boy lightly. He was
just too tired to do anything else that night.

“Why was
I so sick yesterday?” Fred asked once they were in James’s room.

James ran
his hand through his hair. “When we became mates, you sort of changed. A little
more than I’d told you about.”

Fred
scowled. “Am I going to turn furry? Fur makes me itch, you know that.”

“No,
you’re not going to become a wolf. You know only certain humans can be turned.”

“Omegas?”

James
snorted. “I don’t know how you know that, but yes. Omegas can be turned. But
they’re rare and I’ve never even seen one. It’s…hard transitioning. I spent
years fighting my wolf until we both settled. If you’d have stayed, I would
have helped you.”

Fred
looked away. “I didn’t want you to be hurt.”

James
turned his face back to him. “You were hurt instead. I’d rather die than let
that happen.”

Fred
swallowed. He couldn’t look away from James’s eyes. “I feel the same way about
you.”

James
kissed him on the corner of his mouth. Fred rubbed his eyes with the back of
his hand, wiping away tears.

“So I can
hear you in my head like other wolves do. The Thorn Hills mentioned that we’re
connected in other ways. Is that true?”

“You can hear
me and I can hear you. If you hurt, I know it. If I hurt, you know it.”

“That
doesn’t sound so bad,” Fred said. “Although it is something you should have
told me before you bit me.”

James
shrugged. “Heat of the moment?”

Fred hit
him lightly. “Heat of the moment my ass. You knew what you were doing.”

“I
couldn’t let you leave again without being able to find you,” James said. He
pulled Fred close. “Now I know where you are. I know when you’re afraid. I
wouldn’t trade that for anything. Forgive me?”

“Maybe,”
Fred said. “On one condition.”

“Anything.”

A few
minutes later, Fred thought James might be regretting that statement. Fred was
on top of James, scratching at his furred chest. Fred liked that James had the
bear thing going on.

“Not
bear, wolf,” James said.

“This
knowing what each other is thinking is going to get annoying,” Fred said. He
leaned down to bite at the hollow of James’s throat. “I get to be Boss Wolf,” he
said, licking the spot he’d bitten.

The corners
of James’s eyes wrinkled as though he was resisting a laugh. “Mighty wolf, have
mercy,” he coughed.

“No
mercy!” Fred growled and bit his way down to James’s nipples, nipping at the
tips until James’s hands shook at his sides. He licked the thick veins on James’s
arm, nibbling at the crook of his elbow until James started to laugh.

“Tickling
is not sexy,” he said.

“I decide
what’s sexy. And I think riding a big bad Wolf is sexy,” Fred said.

James
stopped laughing when Fred bent over to kiss him, crashing his mouth against James’s.
He licked inside James’s mouth, against those white teeth and beyond. He rubbed
his mouth over James’s armpits, smelling the wood and sweat. He knew he’d be
able to pick out James’s scent from a thousand other men.

James
moaned, pulling at the sides of Fred’s hair. Fred bared his teeth and went for James’s
neck. He didn’t have fangs, but he wanted to mark James as hard as James had
marked him. He bit until he tasted metal.

James
swiveled his hips underneath Fred, asking without asking.

Fred got
a bottle of lube from the bedside table and slicked up his fingers. He spread
his legs, loosening himself for James while James looked on in adoration.

“So hot,”
James said.

Fred
wasn’t loose enough, but the look on James’s face spurred him on. James’s
cheeks had flushed a deep red and his mouth was open while he made soft panting
breaths. His bottom lip was bleeding from where he’d bitten it. He’d promised
to let Fred take charge, and he was trying so hard.

Fred
stroked James’s cock, pumping it until pre-cum leaked from the head. He brought
his fingers to his mouth, sucking them clean.

“I love
the way you taste,” he said. He slicked up James’s cock before impaling
himself, bearing down past the pain, watching James’s eyes roll back.

He
gripped James’s arms, trying to push him deeper inside. The effort it took not
to move made Fred shake. Fred tried pushing down, but James felt so much bigger
when he lying down like this.

James
lunged up, taking Fred’s mouth. He sucked Fred’s tongue as Fred swiveled on
him. James clutched his hips. His fingers were gripping so hard Fred knew he’d leave
marks. James didn’t stop until he’d bottomed out inside of Fred.

Fred
couldn’t breathe. He clutched at James’s sweaty shoulders.

“Okay?”
James asked.

“I think
so,” Fred struggled to answer. He sat still, trying to get used to the
sensation, squeezing James’s arms. He gasped for air, overwhelmed by sensation.
The feeling of James inside him. The smell of them both, sweaty and hot.

“Move,”
James said desperately.

“I’m Boss
Wolf,” Fred said, pushing down on James’s shoulders. He’d wanted to be in
charge. He’d needed to show James that he was a man too and he didn’t need to
be rescued.

“Well
move, Boss Wolf!”

Fred
moved, delighted at being on top of this great beast. James was a club inside
him, moving along the inner walls of his body to that spot that made Fred’s
spine tingle. Fred used his arms to move up and down, faster and faster until
James pulled him down for one full deep plunge. James’s cock swelled again
until they were locked together. This time Fred didn’t feel crushed. He rode
the wave of James’s orgasm until it triggered his own.

James bit
into Fred’s chest, leaving deep teeth marks.

“Mine,”
he said.

“Mine,”
Fred said back.

Fred
caught his breath as he listened to the sound of James’s heartbeat. He traced
the tattoo design on James’s chest that he’d seen before. It was a giant wolf
with an open maw. Inside the mouth was what looked like a small red baby
chicken.

“When did
you add the chicken? You know that’s weird right?” Fred asked.

James
kissed the mark he’d left on Fred’s chest. “It’s you.”

“So I’m a
chicken now?”

“No, but
you’re small and fluffy.”

Fred
flexed his arms. “I am not small.”

James
squeezed Fred’s muscle just a little too hard. Fred yelped.

“You’re
wiry. Comes from all that running.”

Fred
sniffed. “You never noticed me… I thought.”

“You
think you could keep up with a werewolf in the forest if he didn’t want you to
follow him?” James asked.

Fred rubbed
his face against the wolf on James’s chest, licking the chick inside the wolf’s
mouth. He’d always thought he’d been so clever, trailing after James on his
runs. “I wanted to protect you. Stupid.”

“Sweet,”
James said, kissing the top of Fred’s head.

“A human
can’t protect a wolf,” Fred said. “Still, I want to get a gun. Next time I can
at least slow one of them down.”

“You
don’t need a gun. What if you shoot me by mistake?” James asked.

“I’d know
you in a mob of wolves. You’re the cutest one.”

James
growled. “I am ferocious protector. Eater of enemies.”

“Maker of
pancakes?” Fred asked.

James
rolled over until he was on top. He hardened inside Fred again, making Fred’s
back arch with pleasure.

“Pancakes
later,” James said. “I’m eating you now.”

“Well
damn,” Fred said. “I’m going to be sore tomorrow.”

“I’ll
kiss it better.”

Kyle bounced on the end of James’s bed, waking up Fred. Fred
wiped the sleep from his eyes. He felt like he’d been pushed through a meat
grinder. Every bone ached.

He sat up, groaning. “It’s too early for bouncing, Kyle.”

Kyle shrugged. “I got bored. Angel and your Big Wolf are having
a powwow with the pack. Something about routing traitors out and maybe dueling,
or that thing where you both sit on a horse and go after each other with poles.
Not the sex thing, the other one.”

“Jousting?” Fred tried to think of what the sex thing might be
and it made his head swim.

Kyle smacked him on the head. “My smart friend!”

Fred rubbed the back of his head. “I’m still tender, you jerk. Remember
the torture and kidnapping and all?”

Kyle smacked him again. “It wouldn’t have happened if you’d have
stayed put. Running out like a gypsy is getting to be a habit of yours, isn’t
it?”

“I just wanted to make everyone safe.”

Kyle sat next to him, swinging his feet. “You can’t make
everyone safe all the time.”

Fred blew out a breath. “I suppose so. Hey, did you call your
parents yet, or are you and Angel too lovey-dovey to make time for that?”

Kyle blushed. Fred hadn’t known Kyle could blush. “It’s not like
that. Angel and I are friends. He is hot, but I don’t do commitment. Besides,
you know my parents don’t care what happens to me.”

“They did when that picture of you in the ball gag was plastered
all over the papers.” Fred and Kyle’s friends had teased him for weeks until
they found out his parents had threatened to disinherit him.

Fred had only met them once. Their faces had been frozen
looking, as though they only smiled once a year. Fred had asked Kyle if they
made appointments in their yearly planners for those smiles and Kyle had told
him these were called “family portrait days”.

“Not my fault. Jermaine said those would be private.”

“What about the puppy party?” Fred asked.

“Look, just because there were a couple of dudes wearing tails
and drinking from bowls on the ground, doesn’t mean it was a puppy party.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s the definition of a puppy party,” Fred
said.

Kyle waved his arms around. “Never mind that, let’s go spy on
the wolves.”

Fred sighed and followed his friend out. The wolves would hear
them as soon as the door shut, but he didn’t tell Kyle that. He’d learned that
the pack saw, smelled, and heard everything. Maybe James wouldn’t mind? Fred
was James’s mate, part of the pack. He should be right by James’s side.

Kyle and Fred both crouched like naughty children at the door to
the meeting hall. It was a large room that sometimes hosted parties or fancy
ballroom dances. Wolves were pretty light on their feet when they wanted to be.
Fred had been to a pack ball once where the wolves had twirled at dizzying
speeds and he’d kissed James with champagne on his tongue.

Fred heard Gavin’s voice. “I’m sorry. I encouraged the boy.”

“You’ve been encouraging more than Thomas, brother,” James said.
“I think I have given you too little responsibility in the pack. It is time
that you learned what happens when order is not kept.”

Fred had seen Gavin and Thomas speaking regularly and Thomas’s
body language had seemed odd, almost intimate. He wondered if they’d been more
than friends and if so, how Gavin had felt when he’d seen Thomas die.

Kyle shifted from foot to foot mouthing questions at Fred, who
waved him off.

“Gavin McKenzie, you are now Theta, enforcer and protector of
all in the pack. This includes my mate and any human we choose to welcome.”

Fred gasped. Theta was a rarely used title. The Theta was
responsible for killing those who broke rules within the pack and hunting the
pack’s enemies.

“You will find the rest of this rival pack and make sure they do
no more harm to us. This is your penance.”

“Yes, Alpha,” Gavin replied.

“Melanie, step up.”

Fred heard a rustling as wolves moved around.

“You, too, have been accused of breaking pack law. You have
conspired with Thomas to help the Thorn Hill pack. What say you to these
charges?”

“You picked a human over me. Me! I am the strongest female in
the pack. I should have your young. Instead, your seed will wither inside that
human,” Melanie said bitterly.

“Your crime was not violence, but deception, and so you will not
face Thomas’s fate. You are Outcast. No pack member will acknowledge you,
welcome you, or speak to you. If you are seen on pack land after two days, you
will be hunted and harried to the border. If you trespass again, you will die.”

Fred heard her start to cry.

“No, my family is here. My brothers!”

“Anyone who chooses to leave with you may do so, but they will
not be able to return,” James said.

There was a moment of silence.

“Harvey? Ian? Mack?” Melanie asked.

Silence.

Melanie sobbed and Fred couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed
Kyle’s arm, dragging him away.

“We can’t get caught. James will spank me.”

“Oooh, kinky,” Kyle said.

They went back to James’s room after Kyle picked up some nail
polish from his room. James found them innocently sitting on the bed, painting
their toenails red.

“Is it my color?” Fred asked.

James rolled his eyes. “Deception is your color. I know you were
listening.”

“Well, am I pack or aren’t I?”

“Kyle, go tease Angel,” James said.

Kyle scowled. “Tell me everything,” he whispered to Fred as he
left.

“I should have included you,” James said to Fred. “I came to ask
you to speak with Gavin.”

“Is he going to be okay?” Fred asked. Thetas went mad sometimes.
They began hunting for pleasure rather than food or justice. There were old
tales of Theta wolves going feral and killing whole towns. Gavin was already an
angry wolf. How much angrier would he be as a Theta?

“Don’t worry about him.” James said. “He’s a strong wolf.”

“What about Melanie?”

James shrugged. “She made her choice as we all do. She is female
and might find a pack to take her in. They’re rarer and males and can have
children to strengthen the pack.”

Fred looked down at his shoes. “And about what she said?”

“We will have young,” James said. “I have been looking into
fertilization techniques and there are women here that might provide surrogacy
for us. But for now, I want to just be with you.”

“I want that too.”

James brought Fred downstairs where Gavin stood facing the other
way. Fred made an involuntary gasp when Gavin turned to face him. The right
side of the man’s face had two vivid red claw marks tattooed on his cheeks.
Those marks meant Gavin was outcast until he had fulfilled his duty. If he died
before that, he would never rejoin the pack as a full member.

“I am sorry,” Gavin said. He sounded different, like he
regretted what had happened. “I have treated you horribl
y
and encouraged others to do the same. I hope you will forgive me.”

“You’re my mate’s brother. We’re family,” Fred said.

“You forgive too easily.”

“Sometimes,” Fred said. “Not the people who hurt my family. Not
the people who hurt James.”

Gavin nodded. He had a backpack with what looked like swords
sticking out of the top.

“I’ll see you later, brother,” he said.

James patted him on the back and they watched Gavin leave. He
made a lonely figure, walking away from his home.

“Will he be okay?” Fred asked.

“He’s a strong wolf.”

Fred wasn’t satisfied with that answer, but he knew it would
have to be enough.

“Are you ready to be
introduced to my people as my mate?” James asked.

Fred wanted to ask him
to wait. Maybe tomorrow was better. Or next week. Next month. Next year. But if
James could be brave, Fred could too. He reached for James’s hand.

“I’m ready.”

END