by R. E. Butler
Reminding herself that she was there for work and not play, she squeezed her tingly thighs together and turned away from the awesome spectacle of Cairo as he punched a heavy bag like he wanted to destroy it.
Dante came out of his office and handed her a small stack of papers. “When you get a chance, fill out these for our files.”
“Sure.”
He turned away abruptly, shooting an almost hostile look at Mason, who was very close to her suddenly. “You’d have to make files before those would do any good.” He peeked over her shoulder, his chair almost touching hers.
“Not much for filing?”
He shook his head. “I want to go paperless, because his office is like a black hole, but he’s a tactile guy. It’s not real if he can’t hold it in his hands, you know?”
She nodded, because she knew people like that. Maybe if it was dead like this during her shift, she could help them get online.
She filled out the paperwork while Mason told her about the gym, himself, and his brothers. He was funny and sweet, and every time she looked into his dark brown eyes she had to remind herself that he was technically her boss, and she was – what? Oh yeah – not getting involved with anyone anytime soon.
Cairo, glistening with sweat and looking too good to be true, walked by the desk and winked a dark brown eye at her before heading to the men’s locker room. She wondered why he shaved his head, even though she liked it. He also had a tattoo, but it was a military style — a bald eagle with spread wings and a flag tangled around it, on his left bicep.
About nine, Mason straightened with a yawn. “I’m ready to put a fork in the night. How about you?”
“Sure.” She stood up, smoothing her skirt nervously.
“Dante will stay until eleven, and then he’ll close up and turn on the security system. So just don’t open any of the outer doors, and you’ll be fine.” He asked for her phone and programmed in all of their cells and their home number, just in case she needed to call.
After saying goodnight, she walked over to the office. Dante looked up at her, a pen with the end chewed in his fingers. “Mason’s leaving, so I’m going to head back to the, uh, room for the night, if that’s okay?”
“Of course. I didn’t expect you to stick around with him so long tonight.”
“It was nice. I didn’t exactly have anything to do anyway.”
He stared at her silently. She would have given just about anything to know what he was thinking. The lack of conversation settled heavily on her shoulders and she finally broke the silence.
“Good night, Dante.”
“Good night, Alyssa.”
She walked away before she said something stupid, like, Can I sit on your face? Or before she did something stupid, like tear off her clothes. She wasn’t sure she had ever been more attracted to any men before in her life.
Musing on the whole scene, she carried her suitcase to the ladies’ locker room to brush her teeth and wash her face. Maybe it was because she hadn’t had sex in a few months. The gym smelled like men. Not in a bad way, it was just a really wonderful masculine smell that was making her wolf prance around in her head. She thought it was more than just a lack of sex that was making her libido go nuts, though. It was probably because they were so nice. Unlike the pack males, who only cared about sex, and had never seen her as more than a booty call. They wouldn’t have known if she was homeless and starving, or probably cared, unless the alpha told them to care about it. It didn’t hurt that the brothers were gorgeous and exactly the sorts of men that got her motor going. But they were brothers, and that meant choosing one of them over the others, and since they all worked together and she had just started working there, well, she needed to get her head out of her ass and forget about them.
She could do this. She looked at herself in the mirror, barely recognizing the girl there, even though she liked what she saw. A twenty-six year-old brunette with her whole life ahead of her. On her own, without a pack.
With great determination, she put Cairo, Mason, and Dante firmly in the ‘friend’ box in her mind, and reminded her whining wolf that just because they were a wolf, didn’t mean they had to be an animal.
Chapter 6
“How did you sleep last night?” Cairo woke Dante up when he unlocked the doors and turned off the security system at six. Dante had been uncomfortable leaving Alyssa alone in the gym all night, even though he knew it was perfectly safe.
“Like hell.” He stood up from his desk chair and stretched, groaning at the crick in his neck. He’d tried to get comfortable, but it had been a loose definition of the word, leaning back in the chair with his feet propped up on the desk. He’d have been better off sleeping on the boxing ring floor. At least that was lightly padded. But then, he hadn’t wanted her to know that he was there, in case she thought he was trying to get something out of her.
He would bet a large amount of money that the reason she’d left her pack had something to do with her treatment. From what he understood about most wolf packs, unless the female wolf was a mate to a male, she was more property than person, to be used when urges struck and tossed aside just as easily. Even though he wanted to deny it, he did think she was special, but he was trying to be the voice of reason for them. He just didn’t want to rush into things with another woman again, and watch his brothers be hurt. Mason was already smitten with Alyssa after just a few hours with her. And Cairo was no better.
“I’m going to head home and grab some sleep. I’ll be back around lunch to take her out to a few of the apartment complexes.” He turned off the computer and rummaged in the top drawer of the desk for his keys.
“See ya.”
He grabbed Cairo’s arm as his brother turned away. “You guys need to back off with Alyssa. Something happened that made her leave her home pack, and for a female, I don’t think that’s normal. If you push her too fast, she might spook and take off.”
His eyes narrowed. “I didn’t do anything to her.”
“I know that. But I already see your brain working when it comes to her. I know you’re lonely, Cai, we all are, but rushing forward isn’t going to accomplish anything. Give her time to get to know us before you do anything stupid.”
He gave him a wry smile. “I wasn’t planning to do anything stupid; that’s Mason’s job.”
“Just wanted to make sure we’re on the same page, bro.” He slapped him on the shoulder and headed out.
Unlocking the door to his Challenger, he sat down and took a few deep breaths. It hadn’t been easy sleeping in the gym with her, and originally he thought it was the uncomfortable bed he’d made for himself. He realized, though, that it had been the simple fact that she’d been in the building, nearby, and he’d wanted to see her. Looking out his office door and seeing her sweet face had been a treat.
Growling internally, he headed home. He was going to have to be the one to keep her at arm’s length so they didn’t rush into anything. Their mother and fathers were all hyenas. Maybe thirty years ago it was easier to go into a relationship with multiple partners, if you were talking to a she-hyena who was used to their world. But hyena females were so few that Dante wasn’t sure he’d ever met one his own age. Nowadays, you mentioned a three-way to a girl and she hit the road, unless she was so used up she’d done everything and didn’t care. But a four-way – hell, he hadn’t met a girl yet that could handle that.
When they were younger, Cairo, the most adventurous of the three, had taken them to a BDSM club, promising that it would be a great place to find more enthusiastic women. What he’d found there instead – while exciting – had just been a façade. When it came right down to it, your average woman wanted monogamy with one man. The women they’d seen at the club in three-ways were only really with one man, and the other was a good friend or another member of the club who was given to the woman as a special treat. They couldn’t exist like that. Yes, they would each want their bride to themselves on occasion, but in all truth, their bride had to be
able to share them, really share them equally, or it wouldn’t work. How do you start that conversation? Hey baby, my brothers and I would like to fill you up times three and take you down to our den for the winter, how’s that sound?
Sounded like the very distinct sound of a woman running in the opposite direction.
Showering and dropping onto the oversized king bed in the master bedroom, he set his alarm and dozed off, Alyssa’s pretty brown eyes on his mind.
It was one in the afternoon before he got to the gym. He walked back to the break room and then the smaller room she had slept in, but couldn’t find her or Mason. Cairo was working as a trainer, watching a young man with hardly any muscle definition lift weights, struggling to keep the boredom off his face while shouting encouragements.
“If you’re looking for Alyssa, Mason took her out already. They’ve been back for her car, too, so she must have liked one of the places.”
Just as he turned to go to his office to call Mason and chew him out for taking her out when he had planned to, he walked into the gym. He was dressed far better than he should have been for work, in nice jeans and a silk t-shirt. Alyssa wasn’t with him.
“Where did you take her?” he demanded.
“Hmm? Oh, to Pat’s, John’s and Rick’s. She liked John’s best, so that’s where she’s unpacking her things now. She’ll be here for her shift at three.”
“John’s? We’re not paying her enough for any of those places, especially his.” John’s condos were townhomes with garages, very high-end.
“I took care of it.” Mason sniffed.
When he tried to move away, Dante grabbed him. “What do you mean you ‘took care of it’?”
“When I saw how much she liked the place, I talked to John and he came down in price for her so that she could afford it. I’m picking up the rest, and she won’t know, so don’t worry.”
“How much is the rest?” His eyes narrowed.
Mason at least had the decency to look guilty. “Seven hundred. Plus I paid the deposit.”
“What?” he thundered. “You’re paying seven hundred a month for her condo? What is she paying?”
“Four hundred.”
He let out a surprised breath. “You volunteered to pay more than half her rent for a year? What if you guys are wrong about her?”
“Not a year. John offered her month-to-month, said he didn’t do long leases anymore, and she said that was cool. Plus he gave her one of the models that’s furnished really nicely. She doesn’t have anything but the stuff in her car.” Mason wrenched out of Dante’s grasp. “Look, I made the choice and I stick by it. Whatever she’s running from, she’s so surprised and happy with the little things that we’re doing for her, it’s like she’s spent her whole life being knocked down. I don’t regret this at all, so don’t try to make me feel bad.”
“Alright, little brother, I’m sorry. I just don’t want you to get hurt again.”
Mason’s eyes widened slightly and then he gave him a sad smile. “If you don’t take the risk, then you don’t get the reward.”
How true.
* * * * *
With Dante’s caution ringing in his ears, Cairo greeted Alyssa when she walked into the gym a little before three with a small gym bag over her shoulder, wearing light jeans and a fitted dark-green top. The clothes were just the right mixture of casual and sexy.
He should be on his way out. He’d put in his eight hours, but all that waited for him at the house was a long night and an empty bed.
“Mase helped you find a place?” He leaned over the top of the counter and was happy to see that her eyes flashed on his muscles before meeting his eyes. He hoped to hell she liked muscular guys.
“Yeah, it’s really nice. I was surprised I could afford it.”
He’d heard the low-down from Mason about how he’d covered the extra rent so she could swing it. Dante wasn’t thrilled, but he knew Mason secretly hoped she wouldn’t be living there very long, even though the money wasn’t really an issue for them.
“I’m sure it will be much nicer than sleeping on that couch in the back.”
“It wasn’t so bad.” Her perfect white teeth peeked from her lush lips as she smiled gently, and he craved a kiss so badly that his mouth ached.
After what was probably only a minute, but seemed like an eternity lost in the depths of her chocolately eyes, she said, “Are you heading out?”
“Hm? Oh, I’m going to train. I’ve got a match next weekend.”
She arched a delicate brow. “Does being a hyena make you a better fighter?”
“In some ways. Do you think you’re better than a human with your extra abilities?”
She gave him such a strange look that he couldn’t even fathom what she was thinking at that moment. Then, just as easily as she’d smiled at him minutes earlier, she shut down completely with a curt, “I should get to work.” Swiveling her chair to the side, she watched the computer boot up, her jaw clenched, and wouldn’t look at him. Baffled, he walked away from the desk, wondering just what the hell he’d said that had upset her.
His workout was a total waste. His concentration was shot, and every time he glanced over at the desk and saw her smiling or talking easily to one of the human males in the gym, his vision went red.
On his way home, far later than he’d ever stayed since he had a perfectly decent setup at home for training, he thought back over his time with Alyssa. Even Mason was surprised that she’d shut Cairo down so easily, and Mason was also angry because once she shut Cairo down, apparently her easy-going attitude from when they went apartment hunting had evaporated as well.
Unable to sleep, he tossed and turned for hours until he heard Dante come in, after midnight. Even Mason was still up, sitting in the kitchen with a bowl of cereal that had gone soggy from lack of attention.
Dante agreed that something was up with her, but none of them could figure out what it was exactly. He went to bed as unsatisfied as ever, worried that he would trip over his own tongue and upset her again.
Her second day of work, he left a bamboo planter on the desk for her as a house warming gift from them. After Mason had come home, they’d both realized that none of them had gotten her anything for her first day. It seemed like a good thing to do, to give her flowers or something. So since they’d fucked that up, he tried to make amends.
He had three clients that day, and although he gave them their money’s worth, he watched Alyssa like a hawk. She smiled in soft surprise at the planter and glanced around the gym until she met his eyes and waved at him. He waved back and felt a bit of smug satisfaction settle over him.
Later, she grabbed her keys and was heading out the door. “Lunch?” he asked as casually as he could.
“Yeah, I didn’t have time to get any grocery shopping done yet. Can I bring you back something?”
Sweetheart. “No, but thanks. I eat differently when I’m training, and it’s not exactly the sort of stuff you can get at restaurants.”
Wrinkling her nose in the most adorable way, she said, “Raw eggs?”
Laughing, he shook his head. “No, more like plain ground beef and pasta. Pretty boring.”
“You eat like that all the time?” She cocked her head to the side, real interest lighting her features.
“Just when I’m training. Because of my hyena nature, I have to eat a lot, but I’m careful of what I eat before a match, all the same.”
“Do you have them often?”
“I could do them once a week if I cared to, but usually I go once every two months; sometimes more frequently if there’s someone specific I want to match up with. I try to do at least six a year, but a few years ago I used to do a few a month. It’s hard to keep up that level of training for a long time, though. It gets daunting.”
“And you have a match next Saturday?”
“Yeah. Mason always comes. You should think about coming. You’ll get to watch grown men beat each other all to hell.”
She smiled a
nd said, “I’ll think about it.”
He watched her walk out to her old Camaro and drive off, and he turned back to his next appointment with a happy hum. If she was in the stands watching him, he’d totally destroy his opponent. And maybe spending time like that with Mason would be helpful, too. He knew that he could come off like a bull in a china shop sometimes, but Mason was the sweet one of their group. If anyone could get through Alyssa’s defenses, it would be that lovable goofball.
* * * * *
Mason waited until just a few days before the boxing match to drop by the lunchroom and ask Alyssa to join them. He spread out his own meal on the table with her and chatted with her for a while. It had been an interesting two weeks. She seemed to be slowly thawing around them. Her smiles seemed genuine. And she was actually spending time with Dante in his office, trying to help him get through the mess of files stacked everywhere. Even Dante had finally admitted that she was special, but he refused to say outright that she was their mate, even though he and Cairo were more than convinced.