Whisk'er Away: Cruising with Alphas (Meet Your Alpha Book 4)

by Gwen Knight

  And Star.

  What in the flying crocodilian hell was I supposed to tell her? That my mother had lost her marbles? That I’d never intended on starting any sort of relationship with her? Doubtful I’d break her heart. She’d never shown any sort of inclination toward me. But I still didn’t want to be that dick who shot a girl down over a message.

  Groaning, I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.

  This was madness.

  I didn’t want to deal with any of it. Not that I could avoid it. One involved my personal life, the other the pride. I had to handle both, and soon. Thankfully, though, both situations could wait until I returned home. But in the meantime, I needed to figure out two very different solutions.

  And now I needed to leave if I was going to make it to the restaurant on time. I rose from the seat and grabbed my lanyard, complete with SeaPass card. Every purchase made aboard the ship was done using these cards. It was also the only way to get in the staterooms, so best not to forget it.

  Glancing at the time, I cursed and jogged toward the door. Both emails had chewed up more time than I’d wanted, and I now had five minutes left to descend five decks, navigate the crowds, and find the restaurant. Hopefully Kendra wouldn’t mind if I was a few minutes late.

  Luckily for me, the restaurant wasn’t packed, otherwise I might have never found Kendra. The waitress had seated her near the back of the room, hidden in a darkened, almost romantic, corner. Nose-deep in a menu, she leaned over and slipped her drink’s straw into her mouth. The sight of her lips closing tightly around it nearly had me groaning.

  Ignoring those devious thoughts, I slipped into the booth across from her. Guilt assuaged me. I’d wanted to arrive first. Stand when she approached, hand her the menu—do the gentlemanly thing. Instead, I’d been completely waylaid by my parents.

  The second my butt hit the plush seat, she glanced up in surprise. “Oh, you’re here.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I started. “It’s been quite the night. I definitely hadn’t intended to be late.”

  She waved a carefree hand and lowered her menu onto the table. “What happened?”

  I drummed my fingers against the table, debating how much to tell her. It wasn’t that I needed to keep anything a secret, but I hated unloading my burdens on other people. Of course, the past couple days, I’d been telling her she could do exactly that with me. How could I show her that it was all right to open up to someone unless I was willing to reciprocate?

  “My parents,” I finally said, diving in. “I mentioned earlier that my mom is desperate for grandkids and wants me to settle down, right?”

  She nodded, her unwavering gaze locked on me. Lost in the depths of her eyes, I almost forgot what I was saying. But after a few befuddled seconds, I cleared my throat and continued. “Well, apparently my mother decided not to listen to a word I said and had Star reach out to me, to initiate a conversation, and apparently, a relationship.”

  Kendra coughed into her hands, her mouth twitching as she bit back laughter. “That’s…uh, ballsy of your mother.”

  This time, I laughed. Ballsy was the perfect descriptive word for my mother. “So, now I have to deal with that when I get home. And my father…he decided to go against my wishes and upended a deal I was in the middle of orchestrating. The person I was working with reached out to inform me of my father’s wrongdoings.”

  “Oh, dear. I hope it wasn’t anything serious?”

  “Not serious, no. But the arrangement was being made in an attempt to settle a decade-long feud between the pride and a coven of neighboring vampires.”

  She winced in sympathy. “That could be problematic.”

  “Indeed. My father loathes vampires in general. And when he learned that I was trying to establish a friendlier relationship…”

  “He got his panties in a twist.”

  I blinked, stunned by the unbidden image of my father strutting around in a knotted pair of panties. I chuckled and nodded. “That’s one way of putting it. I’m going to have to figure something out. I can’t let this slide. I’m not officially the alpha yet, but technically, he isn’t any more either. Everyone knows that I’m taking over once I’m home, and they’ll know that my father went behind my back to ruin a workable deal.”

  Kendra sighed and leaned forward, her elbows braced against the table. “He’s your father. It isn’t like you can punish him like you would any other pack member, pride member, whatever terminology you guys use.”

  “I know, but I can’t let it slide, either.”

  Mouth pursed, Kendra considered me and my situation. Eventually, an evil little smirk took shape, an arresting sight I definitely wanted to see more often. “So, you “sentence” him to fixing his mistake. You give him the option. He chooses to fix this error of his and finalize the deal, or…”

  “Or…what?”

  “Or he has to accept that he’s endangered your standing within the pride. Once you explain to him that he’s weakening your stance as alpha before you’ve even begun, he’ll sing a different tune. The thing about parents—they want nothing more than our happiness, or so they claim, even if that means driving us insane. So, you go home and give your father two choices. He fixes what he broke, or he damages your position as alpha before you’ve even officially taken on the role. No father would want that. He’ll choose to fix the problem.”

  My brows shot up into my hairline. “You’re deviant.”

  “I know,” she said, her smirk blooming into a full grin.

  “I love that solution. No risk of challenging him, or punishing him. It’s simply his choice. Magnificent.”

  “Glad you approve. As for the Star problem…”

  “Ugh, don’t remind me. I know how to settle that one. I’m just dreading it. I won’t send her a message while here. But once home, I’ll have to sit her down and explain the situation clearly.”

  “Refrain from blaming your mother,” Kendra offered. “Drama like that spreads like wildfire, and alphas should never cast blame elsewhere. Explain that there’s been a miscommunication somewhere and that you were never interested in engaging in a relationship with her.”

  I shook my head, absolutely astounded by this woman. “Where did you learn all this?”

  She shrugged and took another sip of water. “I helped Daniel with quite a few situations in the pack. I was his mate, after all.”

  That made sense. But the last thing I wanted to discuss tonight was Daniel. We’d only recently moved past that, and she was starting to open up to me. Time for a subject change. “Did you see the decorations out in the promenade?”

  Her face lit up with wonder. “Isn’t it marvelous? Did you hear about the festival next week?”

  “I did. Apparently, they have real live psychic readings planned, and palm readings, and an honest-to-goodness necromancer coming to put on a show.”

  Kendra’s eyes grew wide. “Seriously? I hadn’t heard about any of that.”

  “It’s going to be quite the spectacle. We’ll have to check it out.”

  She swallowed, then met my gaze. “We?”

  Shit. Too much, too soon? “Well, if you want, I mean. I don’t expect you—”

  She reached out and took my hand, a simple sign of trust and affection that stole my breath. “I’d love to.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. Whatever this little wolf was doing to me, it was permanent. I could feel it deep in my chest. Something growing and spreading throughout me.

  “Listen,” I said. “After dinner, they have a film night happening in the theater. Some sort of horror flick. Wanna check it out?”

  “A horror film? I’m not a huge fan of those…”

  I wasn’t necessarily either. But the thought of sitting next to Kendra in a dark theater, possibly holding her hand through the scary parts appealed on a massive level.

  “Why not,” she finally said. “If it gets too scary, we could leave.”

  I leaned forward. “You’re a werewolf. What’s sc
arier than that?”

  Sweet laughter rolled past her lips. “I suppose I could protect you from the big bad monster then.”

  “Damn straight,” I said, winking. “I also expect you to walk me to my room tonight. You know, for my protection.”

  She swallowed her laughter and adopted an expression of mock-seriousness. “On my honor, I promise to escort you home and protect you from any villainous monsters out there ready to suck on your neck.”

  Heat spread through my stomach. Her words gave rise to a new image. That of us lingering in a dark corner, her mouth caressing my neck. I wouldn’t mind a little monster action tonight. Not at all.

  12

  Kendra

  “Hurry up, would you?” Brittany threw me a stern glare as she navigated her way through the massive crowd.

  “Sorry! I wasn’t expecting so many people…”

  She scoffed, then clutched my hand and dragged me forward. “Are you kidding me? The boat is packed. Of course everyone is going to escape it the first chance they get.”

  True. I skirted around yet another couple and rushed to keep up with Brittany. Today was the first stop after a fun three days of sea travel, and we were due at our excursion’s meetup location within the next ten minutes. Cutting it a little close, thanks to a delay with the port authorities while docking this morning, but I had faith we’d make it. Especially with Brittany leading the way, plowing through the many unsuspecting victims.

  “Oh! Over here!” Brittany shouted over the din, pointing toward a woman holding a sign above her head with our excursion title written across it. Hoisting my day bag over my shoulder, I jogged over and joined the quickly growing group.

  “Hi there! Your names?”

  “Kendra and Brittany Phillips,” my sister informed her.

  The guide scanned her clipboard, then grinned and checked off our names. “Perfect. Join the group, please. We’ll head for the bus in the next five minutes or so once the last remaining guests arrive.”

  Phew. My shoulders rounded in relief. We’d made it.

  After thanking the guide, Brittany and I started toward the back of the group. So many smiling faces as we passed, excitement twinkling in their eyes. Even I had to admit, I was pretty damn excited as well. I’d never seen a volcano before, and although the park was only partially open due to the recent eruption, I still couldn’t wait to go exploring. Volcanoes had always been a secret fascination of mine. In another life, I liked to believe I would have been a volcanologist. Or maybe a marine geologist. But life had led me in an entirely different direction.

  “Ready?” Brittany asked as we slipped in behind the back of the group.

  Nodding, I pulled out my phone and gave it a quick scan. Seemed unlikely we’d have reception in the park. There were a few messages waiting for me, but the only one that caught my interest had come from Leo, thanking me for a wonderful time last night. Just thinking about our dinner and movie date brought a fresh smile to my face. I’d never had so much fun before, simply hanging out and watching a movie without any pressure to make it mean more.

  The theater had featured the remade version of It. Personally, I loathed clowns. Creepy bastards like Pennywise made me want to rip out someone’s throat. But last night had been different. The theater had been smaller than expected, and the crowd had seemed more friendly because of that. No one cared when someone cracked a joke to ease the tension, or when someone yelled boo to scare their companion. Their antics had kept the movie light and entertaining versus utterly terrifying. Not that it stopped me from hiding behind my hands every time that creepy SOB came on screen. Clowns, man. A face only a mother could love.

  After the movie, we’d discussed some of our more irrational fears. Hadn’t been hard to guess mine after my reaction to the movie, but his fear of dark water had definitely cracked me up. According to him, we had no way of knowing what fresh hell lurked in the deep blue depths. And he’d decided that if he was going die while scuba diving, he wanted to see the shark coming at him.

  “I haven’t seen you smile like that in a long time,” Brittany murmured, her soft voice distracting me from my thoughts. She rose on her tiptoes and peeked over my shoulder, quickly scanning the message from Leo before I could shut off my screen.

  “Rude,” I scolded her.

  “Please. How else will I learn how your date went? Getting details outta you is like pulling teeth.”

  I shrugged and bit back a smile. Was it so bad that I wanted to keep this private? At least for now? The last thing I needed was my sister nosing her way into our relationship—not that Leo and I even had a relationship. But I still wanted Brittany as far away from it as possible.

  Leo had insisted on walking me back to my room, and as we’d approached the door, I’d found myself wondering if he’d kiss me. More than that, I’d wanted him to. A huge step for me. I’d felt this tickle of anticipation and excitement. Something hopeful. Butterflies had fluttered to life in the pit of my stomach and my damn hands had started to sweat, all from the simple thought of us sharing a kiss. There’d been an element of fear, too, but a good fear.

  Instead, he’d brushed the hair back from my face, cradled my cheek, and wished me a good night.

  The second he’d left, I’d sagged against the door, my wobbly legs unable to hold me up. I’d eventually managed to drag my ass into my room, where I’d collapsed into bed and stared up at the ceiling. It’d taken a few minutes for my body to stop humming. With a simple touch, he’d made me want, made me feel. And it’d terrified me.

  “Obviously, it went well,” Brittany laughed, “if you can’t even talk about it.”

  “It went very well.”

  “And you like him?”

  A couple days ago, a question like that might have sent me running for the hills. I would have slammed my mental barriers in place and hidden behind my walls. But now? A soft smile chased across my face and I nodded.

  “Good. Because here he comes.”

  I gasped and jerked straight, my gaze searching the crowd until I found him. And sure enough, he was heading right toward us.

  “Oh, my God,” I whispered. “What are the chances that he’s going on the same excursion as us?”

  Brittany laughed and patted my arm. “Pretty good, I’d wager. And hello there, who is that gorgeous hunk of manmeat next to him?”

  I hadn’t even noticed his friend, my eyes were all for Leo.

  “What if they want to spend the day with us?” I hissed under my breath.

  “I say come to mama.” Brittany smoothed down her hair and tossed it over her shoulders. Then she reached into her purse and fished out her compact. She flipped it open and studied her reflection, pursing her lips once, then plumping her chest. “Oh, yeah. Time for a little dessert.”

  “Brittany,” I snapped.

  “What? You can’t be the only one who meets a delicious piece of man-candy. It’s a singles cruise, in case you’ve forgotten. Don’t ruin this for me.”

  Oh, God. I could picture it. Me, returning to our room, and finding a sock or some nonsense hanging off the door handle.

  I snuck Leo another glance, my heart jumping when I found his gaze locked on me. With a devastatingly handsome grin, he strode toward us. “Fancy meeting you here.”

  “Yeah, fancy that. Um. My sister, Brittany, in case you forgot.”

  Leo quickly glanced her way and nodded his hello. Then he gestured toward the guy standing beside him. “This is Chris. We met this morning in the gym and found out we were going on the same tour today.”

  “This one?” I asked, a hopeful note lifting my voice.

  “No, unfortunately not. I heard the park wasn’t fully open yet, so I opted for some waterfalls, instead.”

  “Oh.” I tried not to let my disappointment show.

  “I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun, though.”

  I nibbled my bottom lip and nodded. My excitement dimmed a little knowing that Leo wouldn’t be coming with us. Ugh, I was clearly sm
itten as my sister had suggested yesterday.

  “Hey…” Leo brushed my bangs back from my face, the simplest brush of his knuckles against my cheek stirring my libido into a frenzy. “How about dinner again tonight? If you’re free, of course.”

  A dazed nod was all I could muster.

  Leo hooked his finger beneath my chin and lifted until our gazes met. I had to force myself to swallow, especially when his eyes lowered to my lips. He wanted to kiss me, I could feel it in my bones. And my God, I wanted him to. Instead, he leaned down and brushed his lips against my cheek. My cheek! Ugh!

  “Until tonight then,” he murmured in my ear, his voice thick and husky.

  I held perfectly still, afraid the slightest movement would ruin this moment. “Until tonight.”

  Leo straightened, then winked and strode off with Chris.

  “Holy shit,” Brittany breathed next to me. “That was…the sexual tension between you two… I think I need to take a cold shower now.”

  I gave a shaky laugh and slumped backward, bracing my weight against my sister. My damn knees had betrayed me again, turning into boneless lumps.

  “Man, I really need to find me some of that,” she mused, wrapping her arm around my shoulder.

  “All right!” Our guide stepped into view with the sign in sight. “Everyone follow me. The bus is here and waiting. We have a long day of sightseeing ahead of us, so let’s get this show on the road!”

  A long day…I couldn’t have said it better. I glanced over at Leo, my gaze lingering on his backside as he walked toward his own group. At the very least, this would give me something to fantasize about while staring at rocks all day.