Alpha Call (4 page)

Brett pulled his truck up next to Kayla’s Bronco, rolling
the window down so they could stare at each other from their driver’s side
windows. He waited to see which one of them would crack first.

Kayla pulled a face. wrinkling her nose and sticking out her
tongue, and Brett burst out laughing. “Hey, Sis.”

“Brother.” His tiny sister was the fiercest female, tough
and toothy, with her bright eyes and surprising strength. “He’s been quiet. He
doesn’t know.”

“Well, he will soon. How much containment do you think he’ll
need, when he changes?”

She shrugged. “He’s a big guy. He’ll be a good-sized wolf.”

“Is he playing nice?” Sometimes the newbies instinctively
understood why someone they didn’t know was hanging around. Sometimes they
fought it.

“He’s confused, hurting. I’m bringing him up to the
Packlands.” She sighed, shook her head, heavy mane of dark hair hiding her
face. “Sam says they’ll run with him that first change.”

“They?”

She rolled her eyes. “Sam and Mitch.”

“Not you and Sam?”

“No.” The single word was a snarl, full of hurt and a hint
of pure rage.

Oh, ow. He’d always sort of imagined that Sam and Kayla
would head off, take some of the others and head higher into the mountains. Sam
wasn’t suited to human rules. “Well, good. You don’t need to worry about a
virgin.”

“I told him we had a healer.”

“A healer?”

The look on Kayla’s face was pure evil. “Uh-huh. You know, a
witch doctor?”

“A witch doctor? Seriously? Are you telling the man fairy
stories?”

“You mean like Red Riding Hood?”

“Not funny.” He stared her down this time, watching her eyes
flick to the side.

“What? I had to tell him something. That man is huge
and…shit, Brother, we don’t know how he’ll change. I need him to be away from
the city.”

“Oh, Sis. I know. I do. You’re doing a great job, just don’t
get stupid.” That could get his sister dead and then he’d have to bust heads.

“No. No, I won’t. I’m not the stupid one.” Her lips pursed.
“So, have you caught the rogue wolf yet?”

“No. There was supposedly a sighting last night, but it didn’t
pan out. Ruined my afterglow too.” Surely she wasn’t calling him stupid.

“Afterglow? Horndog.”

“What? That is one hot cop.” He waggled an eyebrow and Kayla
made gagging sounds.

“Is it true? She’s one of us?”

“She is. I intend to make her pack too.” He watched Kayla’s
face carefully. His sister was always his sounding board.

“She’s… You’re going to keep her? A police officer?”

“What’s wrong with that?” He’d always liked an independent
woman. Okay, so Wendy bordered on psychotically capable. Maybe OCD and a bit of
a ballbuster.

But hot. Oh yeah, and wild in bed. And his. To the bone.

She just didn’t know it yet.

“Well, if you can, stick close to him until the moon, huh?
If he doesn’t mind.”

“He won’t. He thinks I’m magical.” Oh, ho. That was a smug
look.

“Oh good.” She was such a little butthead. He loved her
dearly. “You need anything from the grocery store?”

“Can you pick me up some hamburger meat and parmesan? I want
spaghetti sauce.”

Oh God. Sauce.

Sauce.

The entire pack would be panting at Kayla’s door. There had
to be crack in her sauce. Sam was an idiot not to want her.

“Are you seducing the new boy?”

“What? Dork! Shut up. Go hunt something. Get the good beef
too. I’m worth it.”

“Only if you make a double batch and save me some.” He
winked, turning the engine over. “I’ll be back around five.”

“You have my word. Love you, Brother.”

“Love you too.” He winked before pulling out. He’d check on
a few things before he hit the store.

Maybe he’d drive by Wendy’s house. See if that big German
shepherd was out and needed a scritch. Mongo was a good boy; it would suck for
him to be all alone all day, right?

Absolutely right.

And if Mongo’s lady happened to be home and needing a
scratch of her own…

Well, Brett was an expert at scratching that particular
itch. Yes, he was.

He drove through town, up toward the outskirts, the little
house squeezed in tight between two others.

Brett didn’t know how one of theirs could live so close to
all the humans, not without the scents making her crazy. It would make him
howl. A lot.

Mongo was out and wagging like a fool when Brett made it to
the gate.

The front door was open, wide open, swinging in the breeze.

Brett went on high alert, which made Mongo’s ears rise, the
wagging tail straight up in the air. Jumping the fence, Brett padded up the
front walk, his nose going into overdrive.

Piss.

Another male.

God damn it.

“Wendy!” He raced into her house, hoping to hell she was
there. Or not there, but only if she was at work.

Mongo headed in with him, but he didn’t get an answer. The place
had been trashed, furniture clawed, bookshelves overturned. Brett looked for a
phone, a purse. A gun. None of those were present, so he pulled out his phone
and called the police.

“9-1-1, can I help you?”

His girl was going to shit a brick.

Brett guessed he was just lucky he could get right to her by
calling the police. “I want to report a break-in.”

Wendy hit her road going fifty, sirens and lights going.

She swore by the moon and her tail, if anyone hurt her dog,
she’d tear them limb from limb. Mongo was a good baby. Friendly. Soft.

She squealed to a stop and hit the fence, hand on her
holster. “Mongo! Mongo, you okay?”

She heard a bark but it didn’t come from her house. It came
from the big truck parked out by the curb.

She spun around, that familiar face in the window. “Oh, my
boy. My baby boy.”

He panted at her, barked happily, tail wagging as he pushed
into her hands. So, not hurt.

“Thank God.”

“He’s fine. They told me to wait outside.” Brett was there,
big and solid and looking mad as hell.

“Good.” She touched Mongo’s ear, the softness trailing
through her fingers. “Silly boy. You scared me.”

Now, though. Now she could go kill something. She turned
back, headed toward her place.

“Wends? Shit, what the fuck?” Shane was running up the sidewalk,
the sound of those sensible shoes a distant comfort. “You cleared the house?”

She shook her head, glad as hell that her partner was here,
had been having a quick lunch a mile off. “I’m heading in.”

“I’ll take the back.”

She heard a low growl and it wasn’t Mongo. “Who’s this?”

Shane looked over, lips twisting, nose wrinkling. It was
damn near impossible to intimidate Shane Fiorelli. The crazy bastard had a
Mafia don father and a retired nun for a mom. He was stunning. “Thanks for
calling it in. Sit tight, man.”

Brett vibrated, but stayed where he was. She almost smiled.
The alpha bastard had to hate bowing to human law.

Wendy trusted Shane implicitly and she headed up the porch
stairs, nose wrinkling. Jack. God, he’d… Stop. Stop, focus. Check it out.

Her nose knew Jack was gone.

She headed upstairs, the scent intensifying as her heart
sank. Her bed. Her clothes. The mattress was torn and fouled, her closet
destroyed.

Shane’s hand landed on her back. “Fuck, Wends.”

Fighting not to stiffen up, she nodded. “Yeah. A real
mad-on, huh?”

“You know who it is?”

“Got an idea, yeah.”

“Ex, huh? Fucking fabulous. Men suck.” Shane nodded. “You
want Forensics out here?”

“No. No, call it in as okay. We’ll deal with this
privately.” If we meant her, at any rate.

“You sure?” Shane nodded, though, more than willing to do
this. “Who’s the lumberjack outside? He has your dog.”

“He’s from outside of town. My friend, Steph? The witchy one
with the shop and the cats? She hooked up with his family.” In a manner of
speaking.

“Huh. He’s…big. You be careful.” Shane had a funny penchant
for understatement. “You want me to kneecap him? I have rage and it would be
fun.”

“He’s no threat.” She wasn’t going to let him be. She had
hunting to do.

“Well, I worry about you. So keep me posted.” He patted her
back awkwardly.

“You know it. I need…” She looked at the mess, shuddered.
“I’ll need some time. Couple days.”

“I’ll cover you.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Look, if you got this, I have to get back on
that convenience store thing.”

“Go for it. Can you put Mongo inside and send the big guy
off?”

“Sure. See you later.” Shane headed out, leaving with her
tattered stuff.

Okay. Okay, what to do first. Wendy surprised herself by
tearing up, her arms wrapping around her middle. She turned in a slow circle,
the tears giving way to anger. Damn it, she was making herself a place here.
Why did that asshole keep following her?

She threw a window open; she had to get his scent out. Crazy
fucker. How had he found her?

“You okay?” Brett was there, somehow without making a noise,
Mongo padding along behind him.

“Yeah. Shane was supposed to tell you to go.” She couldn’t
do this.

Mongo whined softly, came to her and pushed into her legs
for comfort and she reached down, scratched his ears.

“He did. I ignored him. You don’t need to deal with this
alone.”

Every time she opened her mouth to say something, nothing
came out. She was so angry, she was shaking but not at him, not really. Brett
held out his arms and she went right into them, cursing her body for a traitor.

He wrapped around her, his scent helping to cut the stench
of Jack. The tremors got worse, everything aching.

“Come on, honey.” He took her downstairs, where the place
smelled more like her and Mongo, and sat on the couch. “I got you.”

“I have to…” She had to clean this. Buy new furniture.
Clothes. His hand brushed through her hair, fingers gentle, the slow petting
easy.

“You can take a few minutes, okay? You don’t have to do it
all at once.” He sounded so reasonable.

“Why were you here? Did you follow him?”

“No, I stopped by to see you.” He never even paused, the
words ringing with truth.

The petting kept on and on, distracting her from the chaos,
making her eyes cross. “You need to be careful. He’ll hunt you next. He’ll have
gotten your scent.”

She hadn’t changed the sheets yet.

Brett chuckled. “Oh. I bet that pissed him off, huh?
Smelling me here?”

The laugh had her pushing away, up off the couch. “Yeah.
Apparently. With piss being the effective word. All over all my clothes and my
bed, then he came down here and destroyed all my good furniture and broke my
computer and television. It’s a hoot.”

She headed to the kitchen for trash bags and bleach.

“Hey.” He followed her, hands reaching for her. “I’m sorry.
I am. I didn’t mean to sound so pleased.” He took her arm. “We should take
Mongo and go. We’ll get a couple of my guys out to scent him and get on the
hunt.”

She shook her head. “No. It’s my issue. Not yours. You
handle your pack. I’ll deal with what used to be mine.”

After she cleaned.

“He’s in my territory. And you’re under my protection.” He
pulled her around to face him, shaking her a little. “The moon is almost here.”

“I didn’t ask for your protection.” She knew. Hell, she
wasn’t sure where she could run. Her current hidey-hole wouldn’t work for sure.

“I know you didn’t.” He blew his cheeks at her, a sharp
exhalation. “That doesn’t change the fact that you’re coming with me.”

“I can’t.” If nothing else, she wouldn’t put him and his
pack in danger. “He’s after me.”

“He is and we can help you.” He stared her down a little. He
was really good at that. It made her a little shivery, a lot growly.

“Just go home.” She turned away, determined to storm off,
then started when he grabbed her arm again, whirling her around as neatly as if
they were dancing.

Then he kissed her. He was making that a habit.

“Stop kissing me.” She snarled, then pushed back into the
kiss, taking his mouth with a growl.

He moaned or grunted or something, holding her close, his
free arm sliding around her back. He half lifted her, rubbing her up and down
his body until all she could smell was him. Strong, male, rich—it soothed her
somehow, eased the horror and the fury inside her.

Bastard.

She didn’t want a man to make it better. She didn’t need
help. But, oh, she wanted him.

He wrapped around her, eyes on hers, so serious. “Come home
with me.”

She couldn’t, but she couldn’t look away, couldn’t look at
the chaos, the disgusting mess.

“Hey.” He lifted her chin. “Don’t make me carry you.”

“Stop it.” She moaned as he stroked through her hair. God,
she was tired. Bone-deep tired.

“Come on, honey. I’ll send a couple of my guys to get
anything they can out of this. The moon is so close, I can feel it. You need a
safe place. Come home with me.”

“Just for the moon. That’s it.” She looked around. “He ruined
my clothes. My bed.”

“We’ll make it right, huh?” He put an arm around her,
pulling her away from it all, and Mongo barked at her when they went outside.

“Do you have food for him?” She whistled for her boy. No way
she’d leave him behind.

“Absolutely. He’ll be good to go.” He was so warm. So
tempting.

He slid her into his truck and settled Mongo in the back
seat. Brett was just…strong. Stable. Capable. All the things she’d never found
in a man before.

Don’t get used to it. One full moon and you’re gone,
Wendy. Jack’s out there and he’ll kill anyone hunting your heart.

Still, she could take one full moon and make a memory that
would last. That might just be worth all the trouble.