Bad Boy Alphas

by Alexis Davie

  Mia felt as if Aaron was completely unravelling. He had always had a drinking problem, which had only gotten worse with time, and his behavior had escalated from annoying to creepy.

  Mia hadn’t heard a word from him for a few weeks, and she’d started to think that maybe he’d actually moved on. But here he was now, as if he hadn’t missed a day.

  “I’m leaving,” Mia said. “Give me my keys.”

  Aaron looked at the keys in his hand and smiled. “Only if you talk to me for a moment. Then you will get them back.”

  “I have nothing to say to you.”

  “Okay,” he said, “then just listen, baby. I miss you. I’ve turned over a new leaf. Things between us will be better this time. I promise.”

  The way he spoke almost sounded like he was mocking her. He talked with a faint lilt to his voice, and his words almost had a sing-song tone that literally spat on their meaning.

  “Give me my keys,” Mia repeated.

  “I don’t think you appreciate this,” said Aaron, gesturing to both of them with his hand. “What we have. You are seriously going to destroy this because of a few small mishaps?”

  “Raising a hand to me is not a mishap,” Mia said. “Lying to me is not a mishap.”

  Aaron ignored her and continued, almost as if he’d rehearsed everything he wanted to say beforehand.

  “All couples fight,” Aaron argued. “I would never hurt you. I know you love me, and you know I love you. Why are you even doing this? It’s silly.”

  Mia’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “If you loved me, then you would leave me alone and get yourself some help.”

  “You’re being silly. I’m still the guy you fell in love with.”

  Mia clenched her teeth. “The guy I fell for was not an angry drunk.”

  Aaron growled at her. He grabbed her arm hard and effortlessly jerked her out of the car. Mia would have fallen to the ground if he wasn’t still clenching her arm. His nails dug into her flesh as he pinned her against her vehicle.

  “You’re hurting me!” she cried.

  “You have no idea what hurt is,” Aaron snarled, glaring at her. His voice was low and menacing.

  Mia had never seen him this way. Even at his worst, she’d never seen his face look so evil.

  “Please…” Mia pleaded.

  “Oh, you look so good when you’re scared… and begging,” Aaron chuckled, and he inhaled deeply. “You smell delicious.”.

  “Let her go!”

  A loud voice came from behind Aaron. Mia couldn’t believe what she saw: walking towards her—looking every bit like a knight in shining armor—was Jack. What was he doing here? She didn’t care; the only thing that mattered was that he was there. She wasn’t alone anymore.

  Tears of relief stung her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

  Aaron’s head snapped around with a huff. He was instantly in a fight stance, his arms raised in front of him to take Jack on. But suddenly his body language changed. He straightened up, his arms dropping to his sides. He released his hold on Mia and took a few steps backwards.

  “Jack?” Aaron asked. “What are you doing here?”

  He took the words right out of Mia’s mouth. She held back a gasp, and her jaw dropped open. Did the two men in front of her know each other?

  “Never mind that,” Jack said.

  He was standing right in front of Aaron, and his gaze on him was intense. Mia noticed that his jaw was clenched, as if he were ready for an argument, or even a fight, to break out.

  Looking at them, Mia realized just how strongly built Jack was in comparison to Aaron. Not only was Jack a few inches taller, but he definitely had about twenty pounds of rock-solid muscle over him. Apparently, Aaron realized that this was a fight he would not win, and he backed down, stepping aside.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Jack asked.

  “Oh, we were… um… we were just talking,” Aaron said, shrugging his shoulders.

  “That’s not what it looked like,” Jack replied. “I believe she asked you to give her back her car keys and to leave her alone.”

  Suddenly, Aaron’s anger returned, and he snarled again. “Wait, what is this to you? What the hell are you even doing here? You’re spying on me?”

  “I’ve heard things about you,” Jack answered. “Things I don’t like.”

  “This is between me and her!” Aaron yelled.

  Jack stepped forward. His face was almost touching Aaron’s now, and his eyes bore into Aaron’s like daggers.

  “I told you to leave,” Jack demanded, though his voice remained calm and collected. “Now.”

  Aaron paused for a moment. Mia could hear his jaw clenching and his teeth grinding together. His hands were balled into fists, shaking with rage. She thought he was going to make a move any second.

  Oh, God, she didn’t want to see a fight, nor did she want to see how it would end.

  Just when she thought Aaron was going to lunge at Jack, he relaxed again and slowly stepped away. His gaze stayed on Jack a moment longer and then turned to her.

  “This isn’t over,” Aaron said.

  “Yes, it is,” Jack replied.

  Aaron didn’t bother to look back as he sauntered off into the night. Once he had disappeared from sight, Jack turned his attention to Mia.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  Mia, who had been holding her breath during the exchange, gasped for air as she tried to resume her normal breathing.

  “Oh, my God!” she exclaimed, her body shaking slightly. “I thought he was going to…” She shook her head. “Well, I didn’t know what he might do, but I didn’t want to find out.”

  “It’s okay,” Jack said, stepping closer to her. “He’s gone now.”

  “Thank you so much,” Mia said. “If you hadn’t been here…” Her sentence died in her throat. “Um, actually, why are you here?”

  Jack smiled softly, and he glanced down at the ground before looking back at her. “I guess it’s a bit embarrassing, but I wanted to talk to you again.”

  “About what?” Mia asked.

  “Well,” he said, “I wished I’d done this before, but I didn’t. I don’t know why. Anyway, I couldn’t rest thinking that I was blowing my shot, so I came back here to ask you out.”

  Mia’s thoughts were a mess. Her mind was still trying to process what had just happened to her and what Aaron might have done to her if Jack hadn’t arrived. The man was clearly deranged and spiraling far worse than he had been before. And now Jack, her hero, had just laid this on her. This gorgeous man had not only saved her, he had also come back to ask her out. Wow…

  “What did you say?” Mia had to hear it once more to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. Was she going to wake up slumped over her books at her kitchen table?

  “I wanted to know if you would like to have dinner with me,” Jack said. “What do you say?”

  Mia couldn’t stop smiling. “I’d love to,” she answered.

  3

  “That’s not going to help anything,” Jack said.

  He tried to keep himself calm, but now that he was face-to-face with Aaron, just the two of them, the anger started to boil over him. He wanted to rip him limb from limb and show him who was boss. Sometimes people just needed to be reminded of their place. It was necessary for order and structure to continue, especially in Jack’s world.

  He had decided to walk the six blocks to Aaron’s house from his place rather than drive there. It was a nice night, and truthfully, he’d hoped the exercise would help to squash the rage he felt.

  He didn’t want to do something rash. It wasn’t the way of an alpha to lose control and let a beta rile him up. The wolf pack had to know they could depend on him to keep a cool and level head no matter the situation.

  He was their leader, and he was determined to stay that way. His position had been given to him at birth, but it could be taken from him by the right challenger. He had to make sure that didn’t happen.

  If t
he wrong person stepped into the role of the alpha, then the entire pack’s safety would be put at risk. The others all knew that, but as with any wolf pack, there was always a straggler or two who dreamed of becoming the leader.

  Aaron ignored him. Instead of making eye contact, he continued to hit the punching bag set up in his basement.

  Jack watched this man, this beast who was once a fine addition to his pack. The guy was coming apart. He drank himself to oblivion almost daily, and he may have graduated to harder stuff by now. Jack wasn’t sure what substances coursed through Aaron’s bloodstream. But his behavior was putting the whole group at risk. He had to be stopped.

  “I’m talking to you,” Jack said, walking closer.

  Aaron finally stopped hitting the punching bag, and he turned to glare at him.

  Jack laughed. “That’s cute. You think you can intimidate me with your intense stare? Please. I’ve faced bigger and badder than you several times in my life.”

  Aaron stepped towards him. “You had no right to intervene tonight!” he snarled, and his words were so slurred that Jack could barely make them out.

  “Oh, I had every right. You terrorized that poor girl. You lost control. What would have happened if you’d gone over the edge and shifted right in front of her? Would you have just walked away in embarrassment, or would you have killed her and left an unexplainable murder in our city?”

  “I had everything under control,” Aaron retorted.

  “It’s funny that you think that,” Jack replied. “You are so wasted, you probably don’t even realize what you’re saying. Even now, you can hardly speak without slurring your words.”

  “It’s none of your business. I love that girl. I’m going to marry her. She belongs with me,” Aaron said.

  It was Jack’s turn to glare at him. “No, she doesn’t. You are going to stay away from her. You will have no contact with her in any way. If I find out you disobeyed me—and I will find out—you will be severely punished. You might not even live through it.” He took a deep breath in order to continue. As much as it was his job, it wasn’t easy for him to say this. “You’ve become too much of a liability, Aaron. The others are getting nervous. You’re about to expose us to the world with your careless behavior.”

  “I have to be with her. We belong together,” Aaron protested.

  “You need to learn that what you want is often the exact opposite of what you should have in this world,” Jack told him. “Do you really feel that she is your mate? Is that what you think? Or is it just the booze in your system feeding your fragile ego?”

  “I love her,” Aaron said.

  “I’m sure you do,” Jack replied. “But the truth of the matter is that she is not for you. Now, either you do as I say or I’ll be forced to take action against you. The choice is yours.”

  With that, Jack walked out of Aaron’s basement, left the house, and headed back out into the night.

  He wasn’t sure if Aaron would heed his warning or not, but he meant every word he’d said. He made peace with the fact that he might have to kill Aaron if he disobeyed. He hated the idea of killing anyone, but he would do what he must to protect the rest of his pack. And he’d given Aaron plenty of warning. The rest was up to him.

  If he didn’t stay away from Mia, then Jack would make him pay.

  Jack tensed knowing that confronting Aaron was more personal than he wanted to admit. Something about Mia was different. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since he’d first laid eyes on her.

  She was everything he’d ever wanted in a woman, and she was his chosen mate. He was sure of it. He’d lived a long time, and he’d loved many women, but none of them had been preordained by divinity to be his one true mate.

  It was said that every wolf had a soul mate out there, someone who was selected by the powers that be to complete them, to be their other half. Jack had started to think that this would never happen for him. Until today. He hadn’t even walked through the front doors of the vet’s office when he’d felt it: the tingling pleasure coursing through his body, like a bolt of lightning hitting his body and rolling through his system.

  He had to be with her.

  The fact that Aaron had scared her angered Jack beyond anything he’d ever known. He wanted to rip him apart right then and there, but he did not have the moral right to do that. At least, not yet. He had to let nature take its course without acting on any personal feelings.

  Something had led Jack to Mia today. And he was ready for the next chapter of this adventure.

  4

  Mia stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel from the rack. As she dried herself off, she looked at her figure in the mirror. Occasionally, she did have to admit to herself that she was quite svelte. She worked hard for it, though, going to a spinning class four times a week and practicing yoga when she had free time.

  Even though she could see she was attractive, she’d always tried to cover it up or simply ignore the fact. Maybe it was to protect herself from relationships and the possibility of being hurt. Almost all relationships ended eventually, and she wasn’t sure she ever wanted to feel that pain. The few relationships she’d had were tragic enough. Aaron was the perfect example.

  When Mia had gotten home that night, she’d been dying to tell her roommate, Claire, everything that happened, but she was out, as usual. Claire had been her roommate and best friend since they had bunked together in the dorms freshman year.

  After deciding to move out of the dorms mid-sophomore year, the two women had rented a quaint, cozy little house not far from campus. It wasn’t fancy, but it was clean, well kept, and in a good neighborhood. It was nice being able to study without parties always disturbing them. But if the party monster within them began to stir, campus was only ten minutes away.

  Mia had tried to make sense of the events that had unfolded that evening. It had been a few hours, and yet she was still shaken up. She wanted to study when she first got home and just forget everything, but she couldn’t concentrate.

  Instead, she fixed herself a cup of herbal tea and watched reruns of her favorite sitcom. Now she was freshly showered and feeling much more relaxed and invigorated. The all-night cram session she had ahead of her was still looming, but she felt like she was going to be able to tackle through it now.

  Thoughts of Jack still plagued her mind. This enigmatic stranger had just waltzed into her life and then saved her. If he hadn’t been there…

  Mia cleared her throat and tried to shake off that train of thought. She didn’t want to think about it. She was probably blowing it all out of proportion. Could Aaron ever really hurt her? He’d nearly hit her once, but he’d caught himself before his hand came in contact with her face. That was when she’d broken things off with him. She had always told herself that no man would ever get a chance to hit her, much less a second time, and she’d stuck to her word.

  It was obvious she’d made the right choice. Mia had truly feared for her life tonight. She made up her mind up to go to the cops the following day. They had to investigate Aaron, or at the very least, grant her a restraining order. He obviously wasn’t stable. It was just a matter of time before he hurt her or someone else.

  Mia dropped her towel to the floor. She put her underwear on, a pair of shorts, and an oversized t-shirt—her typical evening attire.

  She’d just finished getting dressed when the back of her neck stood up. She froze for a moment, her entire body tensing. She spun around, slowly, and then immediately backed up against the wall.

  “You are so beautiful.”

  Standing on the other side of her bedroom was Aaron.

  Mia was terrified, but she struggled not to let it show. She had to be strong. She looked around to try to figure out how Aaron had gotten into her room, and her eyes widened when she came across her open window.

  How could she have forgotten to lock her window?

  Mia turned her attention back to him. “What the hell are you doing in my house?”
<
br />   “Well,” he said, as casually as if they had bumped into each other on the street, “we were so rudely interrupted earlier that I was hoping we could finish our conversation.”

  Mia could perfectly understand Aaron’s words, but she noticed that they sounded… slurred. Only a little, but there all the same. Oh, God, had he been drinking?

  “I told you to leave me alone,” Mia said, forcing her voice not to crack with fear. “Get out of my house or I’m calling the police.”

  Aaron’s eyes widened in mock surprise. “Cops? Oh, no. They’d just make everything worse. You keep forgetting how they didn’t care about your complaints before. It’s a waste of time, and honestly, it will only aggravate me. Come on, you need to lighten up.”

  “What do you want?” Mia demanded as she tried to stealthily look for her cell phone. Where had she left the damn thing?

  “I want you to come back to me. I want us to be together again,” Aaron said.

  He strode slowly across the room until he was right in front of her, and he placed his hands against the wall behind her. Mia remembered his musky scent, now mingled with the smell of cheap whiskey and cigarettes. How did she ever find him attractive? The sight of him now made her cringe with disgust.

  “That will never happen,” she said. “It’s over. Nothing you can do will change that.”

  She elbowed past him and hurried toward the door. Aaron, however, firmly grabbed both of her wrists before she could get far and led her to the bed, forcing her to sit down.

  “Oh, yes, there is,” Aaron muttered in a low voice, letting go of her. “You see, there are a few things you don’t know about me. I was hoping to reveal this to you when the time was right, like our wedding night. But it looks like you aren’t giving me much of a choice here.”

  “What are you talking about?” Mia questioned. Her wrists stung from his grip, but she didn’t dare rub them. She wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.

  “I think it’s best that I show you,” Aaron replied.

  She didn’t even have time to think about what nonsense he was spouting now—what started to happen in front of her was something she would never forget. It blew away everything she’d ever known about reality, everything she’d ever known about the world she lived in. Everything she’d ever read, every movie she’d ever watched, and every campfire ghost story she’d ever heard all came back to her in that moment. And they all materialized right before her very eyes.