The Alpha's Choice (15 page)

Kat watched from the edge of her seat, eyes
wide as one cried out in pain and then another. The waning moon
rising above the treetops shed enough of its pale light to see one
lone wolf hang back from the pack and limp off to the side.

"Poor Hyatt. He never was much good at games.
My mother always said he lacked the killer instinct," Jo said
fondly. "He's loyal, though, and one helluva a lawyer."

"Isn't he the one you were bickering with?"
Kat asked.

They watched as the injured wolf lay down on
the edge of field.

"He's my brother. Who else can I bicker
with?" She spoke calmly enough, but her eyes never left Hyatt.
"We've always been like that. Don't you have brothers,
sisters?"

"Just me. My mother died when I was nine, but
my grandmother said her trouble started soon after I was born.
Grams is gone now, too." Kat changed her mind and poured a little
more wine in her glass. After taking a sip, she spoke again. "My
father is still around somewhere. I think. I haven't seen him in
years. He fell apart after my mother died, started drinking. The
last good thing he did for me was leave me with Grams."

"You didn't see him? Didn't he visit?"

Kat took another sip of wine. It was another
hurt that kept on hurting. "He would show up once in a while, sober
up long enough for me to begin to get to know him and then start
drinking again." As an adult, she knew he suffered from depression
and self-medicated with alcohol, but knowing that didn't help the
hurt she felt as a child each time he left. She often thought back
then that it would be better if he didn't come at all, but when he
stopped coming, it was worse.

"My dad and mom still live in Maine along
with my sister, her mate and my two nephews. I miss them, but I
couldn't live like them."

Kat raised her eyebrows in question and it
was enough for Jo to continue.

"Most wolver packs live behind the times.
Males are dominant, females subservient. The women are content to
stay home and raise their families and take care of their mates. If
they have jobs, they're secondary and devoting your life to a
career is unheard of. That's okay for them, but it wasn't for me. I
couldn't wait to leave the backwoods for the big city. When I met
Charles and he offered me this job and a place in his pack, I
thought it was a dream come true, though lately I've been wondering
if I made the right choice." She waved her hand to indicate the
surrounding area. "I miss this. The land, I mean. I miss the
wild."

"I like teaching," Kat admitted, "and I never
planned to set it aside, but all I ever really wanted was a
husband, a house in the suburbs and two point three children. You
know; a normal, average, regular life."

"Well, you sure ain't finding it here. We're
not even normal by Wolver standards, though I think that might be
about to change," Jo sat back in her chair and turned her eyes to
Kat after the wounded wolver arose and limped after the pack that
was now running toward the woods. "He doesn't have any money, you
know."

"Who? Charles?" Kat thought of the cars in
the barn, the house and the renovations, not to mention the pool
and hot tub.

"Yes, Charles. Who else would I be talking
about? Everything is held by Wolf's Head Enterprises except for
this house and it's mortgaged to the hilt. Charles earns good
money, but he likes the high life. If he lost his position as the
Alpha, he'd lose everything."

"Not everything," Kat said with quiet
confidence and then realizing she'd spoken aloud, she blushed. More
to cover her slip of the tongue than curiosity, she said, "I guess
I don't understand the whole concept. I thought he was born to be
the Alpha."

Jo watched the trees where the wolves had
run. "Every man out there is an alpha in his own right. Charles
handpicked every one of them because they had those qualities.
They're smart, aggressive, and strong. Hyatt is probably the
weakest physically, but he makes up for it in intelligence. There
are others, betas and below, who work for Wolf's Head. They also
have strengths and talents, but not to the alpha degree. The Alpha,
the leader with a capital A, normally has to earn that position
through strength and cunning, but any alpha has the right to
challenge for it at any time." She watched the women in the hot tub
for a few moments and when she was sure they were busy with their
own conversation she continued.

"Charles was raised to be the Alpha, but he
didn't fight for his position. He created it. He wanted to break
from the old isolationist ways to form a new kind of pack based on
business principles, one that functions more as a corporation than
a pack. The corporation would grow through recruitment rather than
mating. He sought out others who were dissatisfied with the
traditional packs, others like myself who wanted to live
independent lives without going rogue. Applying our pack mentality
to the business world has worked well for almost ten years., but
now it's falling apart. No one says much about it, but we all feel
it."

Kat shifted a bit to get a clearer view of
Jo's face. "Why? What's happened to change things?"

"That's the problem. We don't know, but the
theories are driving us apart." Jo checked on the women in the hot
tub again. "Most of us were really young when the pack was formed.
We thought the old ways were outdated. We thought we knew better
than our elders. Now, some of us think they were right. About some
things, anyway."

Kat thought of the many times she'd argued
with Grams about how she went about planning her future and how
things turned out. "That's nothing new. It's pretty common, isn't
it? I've been guilty of it myself."

Jo shrugged and made a wry face. "That's just
it. It's common for you, not for us. Tradition is strong in the
packs and we believed that's all they were, traditions. Now, some
of us are thinking it's more than that. The beast runs strong in
all of us. We talk about our animal instincts that make us
successful, but there are others instincts that we've tried to
ignore; home, the family unit, mating, communal structure. Some of
us believe those are instincts, too, and the beast within us is
calling us to obey."

"You miss it." Kat whispered the
commiseration. "We're not so different, you and I. You miss your
home and family. I miss mine, too, and I want one more than
anything."

"Some of us are beginning to feel that way,
too."

"Some of you, but not all of you," Kat filled
in.

Jo kept her voice low, barely above a
whisper. "Some believe it's a matter of leadership."

"You don't mean someone might
challenge…?"

"Yeah, I do."

"But…"

Jo's eyes flashed a warning. "Is there any
wine left in that bottle?" she asked loudly, picking the bottle up
and turning it upside down. "Guess not."

The women in the hot tub rose as one. There
was squealing and laughter from two of them as the cool night air
hit their water warmed bodies.

"I'm off to bed," said one as she wrapped
herself in a heavy terrycloth robe. "When Tanner comes home, he
always brings a bit of the beast with him. I want to be ready."

"Fine for you, sharing a comfy room on the
second floor. Stephanie and I have to make do with those stuffy
little rooms on the third." The speaker was short, plump and
curvaceous. Kat thought her name was Sylvia. The woman briskly
wiped down with a towel and then wrapped it about her
shoulders.

Stephanie didn't bother with robe or towel,
but struck a pose that showed off her perfect body to its best
advantage. She stood so close to Jo's lounge, water dripped from
her body onto Jo's bare legs. She didn't seem concerned with the
chilly air and Kat thought, uncharitably, it was because of her
cold heart.

Kat had met Stephanie before or at least
women just like her. There was one in every bar she worked. They
sauntered in, sat at the bar with their legs crossed and their
skirt riding high and issued some nonverbal command that had six
guys at their side within minutes. They'd flirt, pout, laugh, and
lightly touch, but you could tell they didn't give a damn about the
men. It was the power they got off on. If they came in with another
woman, it was usually one who gratefully accepted the siren's
leavings.

"Speak for yourself, Syl." Stephanie pulled
away the plastic clip that held her hair above the water and shook
her head. Her hair immediately took on that wind-blown look that
other women took hours to achieve. "I have no intentions of
sleeping on the third floor, like the hired help." She looked
pointedly at Kat.

"Then I guess you'll have to knock on doors
until someone lets you in. Just don't knock on mine. It's the one
next to the Alpha's."

"Oh, give it up, Jo," Stephanie sneered. "We
all know you're not Charles' type."

"So true, Stephanie dear, so true." It was
clear Joanne was enjoying herself. "What you failed to notice is
neither are you."

"We'll see about that, won't we?" Stephanie
tossed her hair artfully over her shoulder and led her sisterly
supporters into the house.

"And on that note," Jo laughed, "I think I'd
better hit the sack, too. If I wait too long, I'm liable to find my
things thrown out in the hallway."

"She wouldn't dare."

"Oh yes she would. Don't ever underestimate
Stephanie. She's an alpha through and through."

This society was more complex than Kat had
imagined. "I thought only men were alpha's."

Jo laughed and poked her chin at the woods
the way she had before. "That's what they think, but in every pack
there are strong woman that folks turn to for wisdom and guidance
and support. In a strong pack, there may be more than one. They're
the glue that holds a pack together. No one calls them alpha's, but
that's what they are. Stephanie's just a new breed of the old girl.
Strength and power aren't always found in tooth and claw. Remember
that." She yawned and stretched. "And now that I've probably said
more than I should, I'm off to bed. Rhonda's right, when the men
come home, they'll bring the wild with them. I want to be rested if
I'm going to get me some of that." She smacked her lips and rubbed
her flat stomach. "With the male/female ratio, I'll have my pick of
the litter."

"Anyone special?"

Jo pretended to be offended. "Do I look like
a girl who kisses and tells?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Kat
laughed. Plain spoken Jo was anything but reticent.

"Fine. It's Ryker." Jo huffed, "But there's
nothing to tell until after the kissing, so the juicy details will
have to wait for tomorrow." Jo wiggled her ass suggestively and
headed for the door. "You coming?"

Kat laughed again and shook her head,
wondering how she could have misjudged this open and forthright
woman. "I think I'll sit here and ponder for a while. You've given
me a lot to think about."

Jo turned back, all smiles and laughter gone.
"Then let me give you something else to think about. You might be
the one who has the power to make this pack what it should be."

Kat shook her head. "I'm no wolver and I'm
sure as hell not an alpha."

"But you could be the Alpha's Mate." Jo
winked and continued on into the house.

Kat turned off the propane heaters and added
more wood to the fire before settling back into her lounge. She
grabbed a towel to cover her legs, folded her arms over her chest
and stared into the flames.

Charles' mate? Could that even be possible?
She was human, after all. She wanted him; wanted to talk with him;
wanted to watch him as he listened to her. She wanted to spend time
with him and work beside him, even if that meant clearing spiders
and their webs from the corners of the room they were about to
paint. His body and his touch called to her. Just the thought of
him in her bed made her body burn with the memory.

But a mate? And just what was that, anyway? A
girlfriend? A lover? Or was it something more permanent? Was it the
wolver term for spouse? She hadn't known him long enough to be any
of those things, really. And yet, there was something powerful
between them. One night in his bed had shown her that. He felt it
too. Hadn't he told her she might be the one? Could one person fall
in love with another that fast? Did she even know what love
was?

When Jo spoke of Charles establishing his new
pack, Kat was filled with pride for his accomplishments. When Jo
spoke of someone contesting his leadership, Kat was angered on his
behalf. How dare they? And when Jo suggested she could be the
Alpha's mate, Kat's insides fluttered excitedly at the possibility.
Was that love?

Kat told herself she was waiting and watching
for the men to return so that she could watch the change, watch
them coming home. In truth, she was only waiting for one wolver to
come home. She'd missed him in the short time he'd been gone.

Chapter 15

Half asleep, her legs tucked up under her
chin so the heavy towel covered her whole body, Kat heard them
coming. In the dark's silence, she heard the faint pounding of
their feet accentuated by a sharp yip, a quiet snarl of reprimand
and then a long drawn out howl that echoed through the night.

Opening her eyes, she saw them stop where
they'd flung their clothes. They milled about and she could feel
their excitement and then suddenly they stilled. Small flashes of
light began with the outermost beasts, moving rapidly inward,
lighting the whole area around them until the final blinding flash
erupted from the center and the beasts became men.

For a moment, Kat couldn't breathe. She'd
felt the power of that final flare at the very center of her core.
It stunned her and thrilled her. Charles had brought his wolvers
home.