“I can tell there’s something going on between you two. I could sense it when I first arrived. Your scent is different, Rose. You’re not falling for him, are you?”
“What? No! That’s absurd!” I tell him, shaking off his hand.
“You know he’s dangerous! He’s a thug, Rose. A lowlife. He’s paid to hurt people in the ring. It would be incredibly irresponsible to have feelings for him,” he says.
“What do you know about responsibility?” I mutter.
“More than you, apparently. You have a duty to your pack. To your lineage. To mate with someone who will help carry that line responsibly. Who will take their duties as an alpha seriously.”
There he goes with that alpha crap again. He’s sounding like a broken record now.
“Rose,” he says tenderly, gathering both of my hands in his and holding them tightly. “I would be responsible. I would make you happy. Your father has already approved of us being together. You know this, I think.”
I hear Josh out, mainly because we’ve known each other so long. And it’s difficult to write him off completely, because objectively, he is very attractive.
He looks like he could be straight off the cover of a detective novel. Sharp, square jaw. Perfect, dark hair. A straight nose and strong cheekbones. And intense eyes framed by dark brows. The only deviation in his uniform, clean-cut appearance is a pair of sensual, intensely green eyes, a dark, almost foresty green with a hint of blue. They seem to change color when his mood changes though, and now they’re deep and introspective as we talk about this.
Frankly, part of me just wants to lie down and put this all out of my mind. It hears the delicious, soft bed calling me. But there’s another call inside of me, yearning for a mate in general, and willing to consider that Josh has good qualities. Even if I’ve never wanted him like that.
I know it’s just my werewolf. But these past few days it feels like the voice is getting stronger and stronger inside of me. And for probably the first time in my life, I can see more of his point. That he could be a perfect mate.
Josh moves closer to me, putting his arms around me. It’s surprising how he can be so stoic one minute, and then so tender and caring the next.
“I care for you Rose. You know I do,” he whispers.
“I know.” He’s saved my life more than once. But I’ve never been able to reciprocate those feelings. Partly because I’m sure I felt he was so much like my dad- all about duties and responsibilities- and I was always positive I didn’t want that. But knowing he wants me like that, and that he would be a great mate, almost as if my wolf can sense it on him, makes the possibility of having him, of even wanting him, open up somehow.
It’s all very conflicting, and my head is spinning. I’m not used to having to sort out all of these feelings.
“I turned down a promotion in the other department, by the way. They offered to make me head of the department, but I declined.”
“What?” I say, perking up and looking at him. “That’s crazy, why did you do that?”
“Because we wouldn’t be able to work together anymore. And I didn’t want that,” he replies.
The fact that he turned down a promotion just to look out for me only fuels the wolf raging in me, telling me that he’s a good mate. It’s starting to make me dizzy.
The silence is broken by thumping in the house, the sound of someone rushing up the stairs. Josh, hearing it before me, lets me go and stands in the hallway at a safe distance, properly upright as if at attention.
Down the hall comes Hawes, running at the sort of pace parents would ground their children for doing in the house. I guess you can make your own rules when you own the house…
He reaches us, out of breath not from the running, but from what appears to be pent up excitement, confusion, and worry, all at the same time.
“I just got a call. They want me in the ring again tomorrow,” he blurts out.
“Who’s ‘they’,” Josh inquires, looking questioningly at him.
“The organizers. The ones I made mad last time. They said I have to be there, or else.”
“Stop being so vague, what did they mean, or else?” Josh asks forcefully.
“Or they’ll come for us. They’ll come for Rose,” he says, looking at me with worry.
Shit, things just got real.
Chapter 2
Hawes
I can’t lose her. I don’t even know why yet, but I can’t lose Rose.
I will protect her. I just have no clue from what.
To be honest, the news was really shocking. The call was from someone anonymous. Said they represented the organizers of the underground league. Whatever that meant. When he started threatening, I got really angry. I even hung up.
Then I realized that these are the same people that want her dead. And they almost got it right the first time.
“So, what do we do?” I ask, hoping this Josh-person, as stuffy and stuck-up as he is, has some experience in these things.
“I need to make some calls. Now,” Josh says hurriedly. “You stay here,” he tells us, and walks down the hall away from us, pulling out his phone and dialing something while he walks. A moment later we hear the front door open, then close, presumably him going outside.
I can see Rose getting worried, almost panicky. She’s not doing well, from what I can tell.
“I’m sorry, I figured the news was better out in the open so we could tackle it together,” I tell her, a little sorry for not controlling the situation more.
“No, it’s okay. I…” She trails off, and then her eyes roll back and her knees buckle.
I rush to her side and catch her. She’s fainted, from either the exertion or the stress or from fear, I don’t know. It could be anything at this point. I lift her into my arms and open the door to the room, quickly moving to the bed and laying her on it. I run to a window and open it, letting some air in. A cool breeze enters and I move back to her side at the bed.
For a moment she’s still, breathing short, shallow breaths. Her eyes open and she awakes with a gasp. I take her hand and squeeze it.
“It’s okay, Rose. You’re fine. Everything’s fine,” I tell her.
She looks around and then puts her arms up over her forehead, looking stressed and exasperated.
“Ugh, why do things have to keep getting worse…”
“At least you’re in a really expensive bed. Things could be worse,” I say jokingly, hoping to lift her spirits.
She glares at me, unamused. Apparently jokes aren’t the in thing right now.
“But seriously, Rose. I’ll protect you,” I say, feeling the words escape my lips without thinking. The words are honest, but feel strange, almost foreign to me. It’s been a long time since I cared enough about someone to feel that.
“We don’t even know who’s after us!” she replies, throwing her hands up in the air, then letting them plop to her sides on the bed.
“Rose,” I tell her, tipping her chin towards my direction, and looking at her intently. I can see little stress lines starting to form around her eyes. For someone who has everything put together and on a routine, the past twenty-four hours have been really crazy. “It’ll be okay. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.”
She looks at me and let’s out a deep sigh, closes her eyes, and pulls my hand to her cheek and lets it rest there.
“It’s not that, it’s just…” She pauses, collecting her thoughts. “This is all too much. Someone is trying to kill me.”
“I understand.”
“I’m used to a very normal life, you know.” She opens her eyes and looks up at me, eyes tired, but with a little less worry in them now. “By human standards it’s a pretty normal life. But by shifter standards some would argue it’s downright boring.”
“Well, to hell with the naysayers then. It’s your turn for an adventure.”
She chuckles and smiles, a breath of fresh air that seems to lift the spirits in the room. It stirs that protective
part of me that still feels dusty, like it’s been sitting on a shelf for too long.
“Well, it’s certainly not the adventure I imagined. But I guess you can’t pick and choose sometimes,” she says.
“Hey, it’s got me in it. How bad could it be?” I say, puffing up my chest and flexing for her. I see arousal flash in her eyes for a split second, followed by embarrassment. She’s cute when she’s embarrassed. She’s hot when she’s aroused though.
She sits up in the bed with a huff of air, and turns back to me.
“Can we go outside for a minute? I think I need some air,” she says, sounding resolute and decisive.
“I don’t know. I want to make sure you’re safe,” I reply cautiously.
“The fact of the matter is, as I see it, if they knew you were here, or if they even knew where ‘here’ was, they’d already be at the mansion, not trying to threaten you into coming to them,” she tells me. Her reasoning seems sound.
“Okay, let’s go. I’ll show you around the back?”
“Hawes,” she says, hesitating. “Can we go out in our werewolf forms?”
I laugh. It’s both hilarious to hear and sad when I realize the implication. “You don’t need permission to be yourself,” I reply.
“Huh… I never thought of it that way I guess,” she says, getting out of bed. “I’ll be honest, it’s been a while. I’ve started to forget what it’s like.”
“Trust me, you’ll like it.”
“That’s my hope. That it will help me get more in touch with myself. Feel more in control of things, less powerless.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I say, leading her out of the room and down the hallway.
“I know Josh will probably come up with something. In fact, he’s probably outside right now calling half of the department.” She looks outside to see if she can see him, but he’s nowhere in sight. “But right now, I just want to let my hair down, so to speak.”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place!” I lead her out the back door through the kitchen. Lindon is nowhere in sight either. He must still be in his room.
We exit and I close the door behind me. The backyard is mostly as I remember it. The area immediately around the property is well kept, with groomed patches of grass, flowerbeds, and several small trails winding around behind the house, connecting to a small gazebo fifty or so feet away.
The best part is what lies beyond though. Where the backyard ends, the forest begins, leading far off into distant hills and unseen valleys beyond. A veritable safe haven for any shifter, our stomping ground whenever we needed space.
A small twinge of pain hits me in my heart, thinking of Aspen and the memories we had here. And the memories we could have had.
“This place is amazing. Maybe even better than the mansion,” I hear Rose say.
“Really?” I ask.
“In some ways, yeah. When I was a kid we’d go to national parks, or sometimes visit other packs in the wild, but there was still always the constant risk of being seen by humans. When my mom died…” She pauses for a moment. “We stopped camping altogether. I can probably count on one hand the times I’ve been able to be a werewolf as an adult.”
“Sad, you’re really missing out,” I reply. “Lots of trees, and… Trees.”
“Something tells me you’ve been taking this for granted,” she jests with me.
“Me? Says the person who’s taking for granted the fact they can turn into a giant wolf!” I chide.
“Well, that’s about to change. Now turn around so I can undress. This is one of only two changes of clothes I have here, so I can’t afford to tear through it,” she says, making a twirling motion with her finger to indicate I should do as she says.
“Okay,” I say, turning around slowly and covering my eyes. I think about sneaking a quick peek while she’s taking off her tank top. I can just imagine her smooth, soft, luscious skin. So hot.
“Don’t even think about peeking, Hawes!” she says, part playfully, but mostly dead serious. Like she read my mind.
I hear her finish undressing, then the sound of a breeze through the trees.
“Okay, you can open your eyes now,” I hear Rose say.
I open my eyes and see Rose. The other Rose. Only now instead of a short, curvaceous woman with silver-blonde hair, she’s now a wolf, all white, her snow-colored fur glittering in the afternoon sun breaking through the trees. Her eyes are the same color as her human form, bright light-blue that contrasts magnificently with her white body.
Truly incredible.
Chapter 3
Rose
This feels strange. Almost foreign. Like it’s someone else’s body, but still my own. Instead of hands and feet, I can feel my four paws on the ground, making contact with the soft earth in the yard behind the mansion. I see Hawes, looking at me with a big grin, almost stupefied.
“What are you looking at?” I ask nervously. I can’t say I’ve ever been seen by another male werewolf like this. One that I find attractive, at least. It’s almost vulnerable, in a way.
“You look amazing, Rose. I’ve seen a lot of werewolves in my day, but none have ever looked like you.”
“Yeah. I’ve been told it’s rare, I guess,” I say, remembering something I once heard my mother say long ago.
“What do you say we take the new you for a spin? See how that motor runs?” Hawes says, smiling.
I grimace a bit at the car comparison, but I’m excited to do as he says.
Hawes growls and turns to his werewolf form, then sidles up to me. He’s noticeably larger than me, and his fur is almost the same color as his hair- a beautiful chestnut that flashes golden brown when it catches the light. His eyes, now larger, are even more orange now, intent and soft at the same time.
“Whaddaya say we race?” he asks with a smirk.
“Wait, what? I’m still getting used to standing on paws instead of feet again!” I reply.
“Ready-set-one-two-three-go!” Hawes says, not pausing for a second, and bolting towards the tree line at the end of the yard. I feel a rush of adrenaline and burst after him, trying to catch him.
It feels like flying, almost. The wind rushing through my fur is ecstasy. I feel my mind clear as my heart thumps, pushing myself to catch up to Hawes. He’s only a few paces ahead of me and turns to watch me behind him. I see him smile.
“C’mon, is that all you got? Some super special agent you are!” he taunts me, quickening his pace.
“I’ll show you what I’ve got. Just you watch!” I call from behind him, exerting myself to catch him.
I feel entirely at home now. My legs and feet and body working in unison the way they were meant to. A perfect killing machine, capable of incredible speed and power. And I feel powerful. I feel strong again.
I feel myself catching up to Hawes, and it excites me. The chase. It’s instinctual and calls to me from within my inner self, pushing me closer. Closer to what, I’m not sure. But to something. Something I want. Something my wolf wants.
“What is this? Oh snap, you are fast,” Hawes says as I pull up beside him on the path we’re following.
“You can spare the act. You just slowed down…” I say, feeling my breathing catching up to me, forcing me to breathe heavily and speak between small gasps. I was in pretty good shape working for the Tribunal, but I guess being able to run long distances as a human and run long distances as a werewolf are fairly different things.
Hawes, unfazed and not skipping a beat, just looks at me and smiles. “Maybe, but you are a heckuva fighter.”
Our pace has gone from breakneck sprint to a casual run. I’m suddenly aware of the forest around us. Somehow, we’re able to comb our way through the trees effortlessly. Perhaps Hawes is just really familiar with these woods. But it also feels so natural. Despite everything being foreign to me consciously, subconsciously it feels like… home.
“So how long has it been since you’ve done it?” Hawes asks.
For a second my mind does a
double-take. How dare he ask that?
“Since you’ve shifted into your wolf form…?” he adds, clearly having tried to mislead me with the first statement.
“I don’t know. Maybe a couple of years,” I reply, unable to really tell how long it’s been. Sometimes the days in the office just fly by, without me really being cognizant of everything going on around me.
But here, I feel free. I feel alive. I’m acutely aware of everything around me. And of Hawes, running next to me and smiling at me whenever I try to glance at him.
His wolf form is gorgeous. Gorgeous and powerful. Despite his thick fur, I can tell from his powerful motions that he could be very deadly if he wanted to be. But I’m also glad he can take things easy. That he pulls me out of the box I’ve lived in my whole life and shows me the beauty of everything around me. Everything I’ve been missing.
“Do you really own all of this land?” I ask, awed by the sight of towering trees and lush undergrowth spanning as far as I can see around us.
“Yes. Well, some of it is government-leased, whatever that means, but yeah, more or less,” he tells me.
But as amazing as everything has been, I start to feel tired and queasy, almost like being carsick, or that feeling you get when you’ve run on a full stomach.
“Hawes, I don’t feel great. Something doesn’t feel right,” I say, starting to slow down to a light jog.
Hawes slows with me. “Oh crap, it’s probably your shifter form wearing off,” he says, concerned.
“What? Is that an actual thing?”
“Yeah. Being in shifter form is kind of like exerting a muscle. If you work it out, it gets stronger. If not, it atrophies. Most of the time just shifting every once in a while is enough, but between that run and not shifting in such a long time…”
My jog has slowed to a walk, and my head is pounding.
“What do we do?” I ask.
“Here, follow me. Just a little farther.” He nudges me and I follow him between two particularly thick trees where the brush is very thick, the ferns growing high and walling us in on both sides.
Ultimate Alpha Boxed Set: A BBW and Wolf Shifter collection Page 27