The Alpha's Choice (21 page)

Charles nodded. "So you and she had a
chat."

Kat nodded. "She thinks I probably am
one."

"Oh you are. You definitely are. I knew that
the first time you kissed me. Scared the hell out of me." He wasn't
laughing.

She wasn't either. "You kissed me. So when
were you going to tell me?"

"If I recall correctly, I mentioned it last
night."

They walked together, not speaking, not
touching, up the narrow lane. She was so engrossed in trying to
remember, she failed to notice when Charles stopped. When she
finally realized she was walking alone, she spun around to find him
standing in the middle of the lane with his hands on his hips.

"Why didn't you ask me?" he asked and there
was something in his voice that told Kat this wasn't a curiosity
question.

"Because at the time, I didn't know what I
was asking. I was asking for clarification about some things I'd
heard," she hedged.

"Is that it, or was it because you didn't
trust me? The others don't. Mrs. Martin didn't trust me to heal her
son. The Council doesn't trust me enough to follow my lead and
support my decisions. Maybe you didn't trust me enough to ask about
these things you heard."

"Trust you? I don't trust you?" She marched
back toward him, her finger up and ready to poke him in the chest.
"Damnit! I let you strip me naked while running around the damn
backyard. I let you tie me to a beam in the barn. I don't do those
kinds of things, Charles Goodman. I've never done anything like
that in my entire life, but I did it for you and I trusted you
wouldn't hurt me. So don't give me your 'You don't trust me'
shit."

"Then why didn't you come to me?" he
demanded.

"Because a girl doesn't go up to a guy she
virtually just met, no matter how hot and heavy they've been making
it, and ask about marriage… mating… whatever! And if she does, that
guy is likely to take off for the hills." Kat threw up her hands
and turned away.

"I said you were the one," he said as if that
should be enough.

"Good God, Charles, guys always say stuff
like that when they want to get in a girl's pants. You ought to
know that being the charmer that you are."

"I never said it," he said defensively, "The
women I've been with all knew it could never end in a mating. The
only other unattached Mate I've met wasn't interested. She was in
love with my brother."

"Did you love her?" Kat whispered, more to
herself than to him, but in spite of her back being turned, he
heard her.

"I was attracted to her. It's in the nature
of the beast to be attracted to a Mate, but no, it felt like more
of a game. In the end, we were friends. She's the one who made me
see what Wolf's Head might be missing."

Kat turned back to see him smiling wryly.
"What about me?" she asked quietly, hating the catch in her voice,
not wanting to hear the answer, but knowing it was important to
them both. "Is what we share just the nature of the beast? Is this
just a game? Because it's not a game for me, Charles. This is
something that has changed my whole life."

Kat knew from the beginning that her reaction
to all this wasn't natural, wasn't normal. These people could morph
into wolves and yet she'd accepted that as easily as she would a
change in their clothes. She'd had a harder time adjusting to Lucy
Spellman returning to work as Luke Spellman after the school's
summer break.

This was much more than an adjustment in
perception and yet it didn't feel unusual. It felt right. For the
first time since her mother died, Kat felt like she was where she
was supposed to be. She felt like she'd met the man she was
supposed to be with. She felt like she'd found her place and her
place was beside Charles. And she was terrified to find out what it
would feel like if all this was taken away.

"It's not a game, Katarina," he said
solemnly. "What I feel for you is more than the nature of the
beast. You are an Alpha's Mate, but am I the true Alpha? After this
morning's meeting, I'm not sure. What if someone else is meant to
be the Alpha of this pack? If it's not me, if I'm not the Alpha,
then you and I can't be."

Over Charles' shoulder, Kat saw Ryker running
with amazing grace and speed down the lane to meet them. He was
waving one arm high over his head to attract their attention. There
wasn't time to say what she wanted to, so she kept it short and to
the point.

"You're a damn fool, Charles Goodman," she
said as Ryker jogged to a halt beside them. "You are the Alpha of
Wolf's Head pack. If the others don't see that, then they're damn
fools, too. I'm new to this Alpha's Mate business and even I know
the difference. Now, do I have to kiss him to prove it?"

She pointed her thumb at Ryker who stepped
back with his hands, palms outward, in front of his chest to ward
her off. His usual stone cold face cracked enough to show his
surprise. He looked to his Alpha.

"What the hell?" he asked as if someone here
had lost their mind.

"She wants to see if kissing you is different
from kissing me," Charles explained.

Ryker took another step back. "Sorry, ma'am,
but didn't you just say you were an Alpha's Mate?"

"I did," Kat agreed.

"Then if there's any kissing to be done, you
should be directing your attentions that way." He pointed to
Charles. "Like you said, he's the Alpha."

"See? One down and…" Kat paused. "Just how
many are in this pack?"

"Only fifty three."

"Then forty-eight to go. You've got Jo and
Hyatt and Mrs. Martin and Buddy. They're definitely in your
corner." She meant it as a joke. In her mind, Charles was the Alpha
and that was that.

"He's got more than that, ma'am." Ryker
seemed to understand what she was talking about only he wasn't
smiling.

"How many?" Charles asked, as serious as
Ryker.

"Twenty-five if it comes down to it. More if
you knock some heads."

"Heads? Whose heads?" Kat was walking between
the two and had a crick in her neck from looking up.

"You and I need to talk, Ryker."

"I've been waiting for you to ask."

"I was afraid you might be one of them."

Ryker chuckled and it sounded odd coming from
that granite mask. "I could take you in the fight, but I'm not
smart enough to run the pack. I'd probably kill half of them.
Easier that way."

"He doesn't really mean that, does he?" Kat
asked Charles worriedly. The man looked like he could do it without
batting an eye.

Charles smiled at her and winked.

The look that Ryker gave her said he'd do it
in a heartbeat. Then he ignored her and spoke to Charles. "We make
a good showing tonight and you'll probably convince a few more." he
said to Charles. "Oh, and Marcus called to say they finally found
the cubs. He'll be bringing them in tomorrow. Wanted to know if we
had any cages."

Chapter 20

"It's our land. We have every right to drive
them off."

"We'd be better off to charge them rent, a
percentage of the take. Alex had a good point. They'll only move
their business elsewhere."

"It's dog fighting!"

"It's money!"

"You wouldn't say that if it was your pup
instead of Buddy."

"We don't have any pups and we have the
brains not to get caught. Buddy should never have been allowed to
run."

"We've got pups now. I overheard Ryker on the
phone."

"Yeah, and who's bright idea was that. I
didn't sign on to be a foster parent."

There were a half dozen voices all shouting
over the top of one another from the room where the television
blared. Ryker moved toward the door, but Charles stopped him with a
signal from his hand. Alex was coming down the hallway shaking his
head.

"They're only blowing off steam. I'll settle
them down."

"No." Charles moved the hand he held up to
Ryker and showed it to Alex. "I've let you do enough of my dirty
work. It's time I did it myself."

"It's my job. I'm your Second."

"And now it's my job. I'm your Alpha."

"Charles, I don't think this is a good time
to…"

"Go all Alpha on you?" Charles finished the
sentence for him. "I've heard those words before, Alex, and I
disagree. I can't think of a better time."

He slid the doors to the TV room back and the
crowd roared. The roar was from a televised football game, but Kat
thought it was appropriate. Ryker followed on his Alpha's heels and
once inside, he slid the doors closed behind him and stood in front
of them, blocking the exit and the view.

There was some harsh talk, a bit of swearing,
but Kat couldn't hear what was said and then she felt that wall
expanding power again. There was a crash. The TV went silent. There
was another crash, followed by a groan. Kat didn't know why they
thought Charles shouldn't go all Alpha. She found it pretty
impressive. She bent in half to see if she could see past Ryker's
big body and wondered if she could ask him to move.

There were more thuds. Kat knew what those
sounds were. She'd worked in enough low life bars to recognize the
sounds of body blows. She bobbed and weaved herself, trying to get
a better view. There were two of them getting a pounding, maybe
three.

"Don't just stand there, Ryker. Back him up,"
she muttered. "Ooo, good one, Big Bad!"

Alex sniffed at the nickname. "This is your
fault," he accused.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Like I told him to go in
there and start a brawl." Kat stood and made a display of wiping
imaginary dust off her hands. "It's all over but the mopping
up."

"This isn't any way to run a business." Alex
scowl was centered on Kat.

"Probably not, but this isn't about Wolf's
Head Enterprises. This is about pack." Kat stared at the handsome
man for a moment. "What do you have against me?"

"Nothing, Ms. Bennett, nothing at all. I'm
sure you’re a fine young woman and an excellent teacher."

Alex didn't look her in the eye, hadn't
looked her in the eye since he arrived, not even when he'd shaken
her hand to say hello. He spoke to the air over her right shoulder,
just like he did when they first met, just like he did at meals or
when they passed in the halls. She'd seen this behavior when she
was a kid living in the old neighborhood. There were some people
with whom you never made eye contact.

She remembered reading that animals were
often the same way. Direct eye contact could be interpreted as a
challenge for dominance. How much of the animal was in these
wolvers? Surely Alex couldn't see her as a threat?

"Why are you afraid of me, Alex?" she asked
quietly and sure enough, he looked surprised at her question, but
he didn't look at her.

"Afraid? No, Ms. Bennett, I'm not afraid of
you. If I'm afraid, it's for you, not of you. You've been placed in
an unfortunate position here and I'm afraid you'll find nothing but
heartache in the end."

Alex did look at her then and what flashed
through his eyes wasn't fear, but a challenge. It startled her.

"Your presence will precipitate a battle that
need not be fought," he said, answering her unspoken question. "And
in the end, it will destroy this pack. Charles will be forced to
make choices he is not equipped to make."

"If you have so little confidence in his
abilities as your Alpha, then why do you stay? Why do you serve as
his Second?" she asked.

"As you said yourself, Ms. Bennett, it's
about the pack. This pack is mine. I was there at its inception and
I will see it preserved."

"What is it you want to preserve, Alex? How
will it be destroyed? I only want to see Charles happy and I think
I can do that for him. None of what's going on has anything to do
with me. This all started long before I arrived."

"And except for your arrival, this all, as
you put it, would have resolved itself. It can still resolve itself
and I am determined to make that happen. It would be best for all
concerned, Katarina, if you left now. Then all you would suffer is
a broken heart and our Alpha would remain intact."

"Your Alpha will remain intact whether I stay
or go. I'll go when my contract is up or when the Alpha tells me to
and not a moment before." She heard the doors behind her slide
open. "And just for the record, Alex, the name's Kat, K–A-T. I may
not run with the big dogs, but I still have claws."

Alex nodded as if to an opponent, which Kat
supposed she was, and turned to the opening doors.

Kat silently cursed herself. While engaged in
her mini-battle with Alex, she'd missed her opportunity to
eavesdrop on what was said behind the closed doors. She noted
happily, however, that Charles was looking none the worse for wear
and except for a slight bruise on his right cheek, he'd come
through the brawl unscathed.

Two of the young men following him with their
heads lowered were not so fortunate. They were both bruised and
battered and they would both be in the market for new shirts. A
third emerged with his head held high and a proud grin on his face,
though he looked little better than his peers. This was Tanner and
he gave Kat a wink when he caught her eye.

Three more, all untouched, followed and Kat
thought maybe she should start a list of names to keep track of
yeses, noes and maybes. She really had to learn some names. She
couldn't keep thinking of them in terms like Naked and Speedo.

"Charles, we really need to discuss this,"
Alex said and his disapproval was clear.

"Damn right we do," Charles snarled. "My
office."

Kat did a mental happy dance and smiled her
approval at Charles. He said something to Ryker that Kat didn't
catch and then he kissed her cheek and gave her arm a quick
squeeze. Power still rippled the air around him and she got the
impression his show of affection was more a statement to the others
than for her.