Owned By The Alphas: Part Two

O
wned
By The Alphas 2

By Faleena Hopkins

Cover Image Man © Andreas Gradin

Cover Image Wolf © Outdoorsman

Cover Image Moon © Suppakij17

Licensed through: Shutterstock.com

Published by Hop Hop Publications

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission of the publisher.

Copyright © 2014 Faleena Hopkins

All Rights Reserved

A
li's caught
between a rock and a hard place---two ridiculously compelling enemy alphas; one is a god of a creature, and the other she never expected to see again, who has a piece of her heart. Red offers to show her how beautiful Yosemite can
really
be…in daytime…while Calt is sleeping. Why is it so hard to resist him, even when she knows she should?

C
alt’s grip
tightened with a possessive squeeze. His timing felt prophetic; Ali had been thinking of Red’s surprising kiss just then, wondering if he’d gotten away safely or if there was any chance he was still nearby. Brought back to the present moment by the firm pressure on her hand, she glanced up expecting to see inquisitive two-toned eyes searching hers, but he was staring forward, lost in his own thoughts. It made her wonder what was on
his
mind, and if he was thinking of Tawny…Her stomach twisted at the thought, and hypocritical guilt made her cast her eyes downward as she chewed on the inside of her cheek.

He led them down stones cut by glaciers thousands of years before that descended into the room she’d tiptoed past. Torchlight illuminated the cavern in a warm yellow hue, but the brightest point came from the fire glowing in a centered fireplace made of three stacks of large rocks matted together by gravel. Lorn sat on those stones cooking chunks of meat on a long, green branch-stick, her tanned breasts hanging gently forward as she bent. The pelt she’d put on for Ali’s comfort lay now in a heap on the floor at her scratched-up feet.

Behind her on the wall opposite, was stacked firewood from floor to ceiling. Ali eyed it and wondered how they’d cut the wood–with their teeth? She saw no weapons or saws, but then she’d only just begun to scratch the surface of this den, and how they lived was still a complete mystery to her, the ins and outs of daily life unknown in every way. Lorn’s simple explanation had been insufficient, to say the least.

Scanning the room, she found the entire pack present, some in wolf form and some in human. She noted she was the only one wearing a Pelt or clothing of any kind, and she felt more than a little silly wearing socks, too. She wished she were naked like them. But her human, feminine form wouldn’t have been able to take the cold. These creatures seemed unfazed by the chill in the large unevenly shaped cavern, and Ali felt disappointed in herself that she was already eyeing the fireplace with longing. But she waited as Calt stopped in his tracks, his hand still holding hers as they took in the argument steadily rising in volume.

All eyes were on the newcomers, save for two pair. Tawny and the Asian beauty whose name Ali still didn’t know, were in a heated debate with Tawny’s back to the room, and the slightly smaller she-wolf squared off like she was about to fight. Her voice was an octave higher than Tawny’s and she had a hint of accent that betrayed a Japanese heritage as she stated with controlled patience, “We go tomorrow night when we have more time.”

“We go tonight!” Tawny’s body was as tight as an arrow on a bow. “There is no need to wait!”

Light gray eyes flashed as her arm flew into the air at her side. “Why won’t you listen? The night is already half gone and the journey is long and unknown to us. We do not know when we will find them, and if we arrive just before dawn they may think we have tried to catch them while they are sleeping. It could be perceived as an attack.”

A brief, arrogant laugh burst from the taller she-wolf. “Let them think it! We go tonight. You will do as I say!”

“No matter how smart you
think
you are, Tawny, your recklessness will always discount your intelligence by at least seventy percent!”

One of Tawny’s legs stepped back into a fight-stance, her perfect ass pushing up on one side. “So
specific,
Bloo. Where’d you come up with that number? Your I.Q.?”

Ali winced at the cruelty, and quickly memorized the new name. She looked to Calt as she felt her hand released. His body as tensed as theirs, was far more imposing and Ali glanced from the she-wolves back to him, nervously.

“Lucin!” he shouted, causing the females to turn in surprise, suddenly aware of his presence. Both faces flushed as they realized he had been listening.

A sandy-colored snout rose from where it rested on the dirt floor, and soft ears perked in surprise. The brown wolf was spooning Borhan who was in human form and wounded. Ali recognized him immediately and started in surprise as she saw his newly broken limb, the rags that bound it well, and the paleness of his skin. She remembered he hadn’t approved of Calt bringing her home with him, and seeing him in this state sent a shiver through her. Had Calt broken that leg to send a message to them all, to protect her
?
The idea both horrified and thrilled her, and her nerves began to calm as she looked at her alpha with greater appreciation and respect. The room waited with her.

Calt drew two fingers up in the air. The wolf quickly shifted to human form, his bones cracking and reshaping. Ali winced, thinking how painful it must be to transform one’s body like that–but that it could be done at will, fascinated her. Rising up on stocky legs, his toes spread out and balanced, Lucin met his alpha’s eyes. Ali recognized him as the one who’d lit the torches upon her arrival, and put two and two together that he was also the one Lorn had cast her smile downward for when she mentioned his warm eyes, and warm they were.

Calt’s irritation cut the silence into pieces. “Lucin, you will replace Tawny on the expedition.” Tawny made a sound that he ignored, and the worry in the other she-wolf’s eyes quickly dispelled as he added, “Bloo, you will accompany him.”

Tawny stepped forward, but stopped at his expression, her body tight like she wanted to come closer. She shot a look to Ali with blame in her eyes. “What?! It should be me! You know this! You said so yourself!
I
am the strongest
and the boldest–not them. Lucin doesn’t know how to fight anything more dangerous than a caterpillar!”

Lucin exploded, “I can fight! I am just as strong as you are!”

“Hardly!” Tawny snorted.

Calt held up one hand. “I have only myself to blame for your arrogance. I give you preference and it has grown into a sense of entitlement I find both unattractive and not useful to the pack.” Tawny’s eyes rounded with hurt and shock.

Ali bit her lips, her heart picking up speed as she took a step backward reflexively, as if the words had been said to her. She knew nothing of pack mentality, but it seemed unnecessarily cruel to call anyone
not useful.

Calt turned in a circle engaging all of the wolves with a power he clearly possessed. Ali had seen glimpses of it, but now with his eyes filled with the fire of anger, something had clicked in him and he exuded a strength and dynamic magnetism none of them could look away from. “We are
nothing
without each other. We serve the pack and not ourselves. By serving the pack and putting the good of
all
above the good of
one,
we are strong. It is in our
unity
that we have strength. Look at Lucin helping his wounded comrade to heal. Dak and Calus guarding the door so that all of us can relax and eat our meal in peace. Shaynah, healing our physical and spiritual wounds. Lorn, eager to feed and nurture us. And Bloo, happy to be of service in any capacity she is needed. Borhan, always with his cautious thinking and planning, looking out for the greater good of us all. Even tonight when he challenged me, he did so for you.” He stopped walking and fixed his intense stare on Tawny, whose chest was heaving, her eyes filled with angry tears.

“I offer nothing?”

Calt’s jaw hardened. “I said it before that you are bold and think on your feet, and your strength–it is inarguable. But if you do not make room for the counsel and opinions of your brethren, you are nothing. When you do not give credence to Bloo’s caution and order her around as if
you
were her alpha, your arrogance dangles us all before danger. You may not always agree with what everyone has to say, but that does not mean you do not listen.”

“I WAS LISTENING!”

“You were not,” Calt corrected with a tone that balanced hers. “If you had put your ego aside, you would have seen that she is right. If you had done as you wanted, and had have arrived at dawn, the other pack would have thought your arrival a threat, without question. Had you been listening, you would have heard that. If you had not agreed, you should have come to me for the final decision. I see fight in your eyes. This expedition is not to fight, but to avoid one.”

Tawny’s voice was shaky as her pale-blue eyes narrowed into daggers. “If a fight is needed, and you’ve sent these two, you will regret this!”

Ali held her breath. He seemed to become steel before her very eyes.

“With
them
, there will be no fight. I am done explaining. Your insolence is ugly to me. Leave us.”

Tears exploded from Tawny and to hide them she quickly shifted into her wolf, so quickly Ali cringed, the painful shift more explosion than transformation. Ali’s head whipped to the side to watch the tan and white fur fly past her out of the room, her speed lifting up Ali’s long hair in a breeze. For a terrifying second, she thought Tawny would head for the forest, where she might discover Red if he were still around, but her fear was gratefully unfounded. Tawny headed right, instead going deeper into the den. Ali exhaled and turned to catch Calt watching the jaggedly arched doorway. He exhaled loudly and turned to the fire, walking to it with his back to her. She glanced around the room, not knowing if she should follow him. But then he raised his hand and called to her, “Come.”

“I’m here,” Ali said, quickly joining him. Lorn was sitting on the rock-fireplace with a piece of meat burnt to a crisp on a now blackened stick. Ali glanced from it to Calt’s back as Lorn made a face and ripped the meat off, tossing it all the way across the cavern where it dropped with a soft thud on a large pile of ash. Lorn met Ali’s eyes and motioned for her to sit, clueing her into what Calt wanted before he had to ask. Gratefully, Ali bowed her head to her helpful friend and lowered to sit next to the alpha. The delicious aroma was making her salivate, but she didn’t mention this.

He sat on his heels, his chin down as he stared into hypnotic flames, the golden glow making him all the more striking. Ali silently vowed to remain the soft place to land, because Tawny clearly wasn’t that, and maybe that would give her an advantage over the supernatural beauty’s allure and history. Watching the warm colors dance on his skin, Ali wanted to reach out and touch him, but her confidence just wasn’t there yet.

After a few charged moments, he looked up. “Lorn, explain.”

Lorn was pale and nervous as she began, “Uh, well, this is venison. I cooked it since you probably do not eat raw meat.” She waved her hand toward a long, uneven granite slab beside her that already had six good-sized pieces cooked and waiting for Ali.

“That was very nice of you.” She’d meant to say that louder than she had. Clearing her throat, she repeated it and added, “Thank you, Lorn.”

The werewolf, beautifully lit by the orange-red glow, smiled. She bent to pick up a chunk of lightly-charred meat, extending it. “I hope you like it.”

“Lorn takes pleasure in pleasuring others,” Calt said, his eyes only half present.

As she accepted the food, Ali wondered at how many ways he meant that. “That’s a good quality,” was all she allowed herself to respond with. She hadn’t eaten since morning, not including a light snack that just didn’t count with all she’d been through. And before that, breakfast had been pretty awful. She’d stopped at a small-town diner a couple miles shy of Yosemite, where she’d been disappointed by tasteless eggs, burnt coffee and bacon that was more fat than meat. The smell of the venison alone let her know she was in for a treat, but it was even better than she expected. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside–the best combo, and it melted on her tongue.