He puts one foot on a rolling chair next to his desk and pushes it toward me. I catch it with one hand, surprised by his coordination. “Sit there for a minute, till my bro gets here.”
“Rafe?” I ask.
“No, the other one. Hawthorne.”
“Ah,” I say. “What’s he like?”
Lindon raises an eyebrow. “Don’t get any ideas. He’s mated. He’ll be immune to your scent and that’s a good thing.”
“Oh,” I say.
“As to what he’s like? Obnoxious. Completely, in-your-face annoying. But I guess that’s what makes him lovable.”
“Weird,” I say.
Lindon just makes a casual shrug of his shoulders and sorts through papers on his desk, putting them into organized files in one of the side drawers. I get the idea that everything about this man goes according to a specific system, that he thrives on order and controlling things.
The night he kissed me, he said something about that being one of his weaknesses. Needing to be in control.
Well, I happen to not consider that a weakness, since I have no problem with a man being in control. I blush, thinking of Lock’s kiss, the way he was holding me as we looked out at the mansion.
Lindon exhales, frustrated. “Can you stop doing that for one stinking minute?”
“What do you mean?”
“No pun intended,” he says dryly.
Oh. He means my pheromones. “I would if I knew how. Maybe you could show me how you control yours?”
“Well, one, I’ve been practicing for years, and two, I genuinely don’t want a mate. My body seems to sense that. So I guess, if you could be uninterested in any of the men here, including me…”
Impossible. “Ah.”
“Anyway, he should be here soon. It’ll be nice to have him help out.”
“Is he bringing his mate?” I ask. “What’s she like?”
“Rose?” He tilts his head to the side, considering it. “I don’t know her that well, but she’s nice. Full alpha, like you. Similar pheromone issues, as I recall. They were kind of a whirlwind romance, but that’s not uncommon in our world. Mates can be chosen very quickly. And no, I don’t think she’s coming. I doubt Hawes would let his mate step foot in a house like this.”
“Like what?”
“Full of males.”
“Ah.”
“Even though being mated dims the pheromones significantly, and the ability to scent them. So you should have zero effect on Hawes, and he should have zero effect on you. And most of the guys here should have no attraction to Rose, but then, even without pheromones some alphas aren’t to be trusted.”
“You pretty much don’t trust anyone, do you?” I say.
He shrugs. “Other than myself.”
I lean back in my chair and chew my bottom lip. “You know what? I don’t think you even trust yourself.”
His eyes meet mine, a yellow amber now that he has calmed down. I can see a light green ring around the center. When his eyes are bright and glowing, I never see that, but it must be what gives them that cool feel. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I don’t trust anyone.” He eyes me warily. “Maybe you’re the expert.”
I can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic and mean or not. He’s such a changeable person, that much has been obvious in the few days I’ve known him.
“Lindon?” I ask, because I have further questions. But before I can continue, someone raps on the door.
“Who is it?” Lindon calls, tall body tensing.
“Hawes,” a pleasant voice calls out. Deeper than Lindon’s, but more melodic. More cheerful. Still similar though.
“Come in,” Lindon says. “But don’t let anyone else in, if they’re out there.”
The door opens and a shifter with wavy chestnut brown hair and tanned, olive skin comes in. He smiles at me and a prominent fang on one side of his smile flashes at me. He strides in and closes the door behind him.
I can see the family resemblance. The high cheekbones, the square jaw, the sparkling eyes. But Hawes’ eyes are brown with an orange tint, and his whole face has a kind of boyish quality that Lindon’s doesn’t.
Lindon’s face has a kind of sharp beauty that I see in neither Rafe nor Hawes, and it must come from his mother. She was probably amazingly gorgeous. So was his former mate, most likely.
“S’up bro?” Hawes says, giving me a wink and going to his brother to rub his shoulders. As he digs in Lindon lets out a little growl and gets up out of the chair, shrugging his brother’s hands away.
“Not now, Hawes. We have trouble.”
Hawes raises one dark eyebrow. “Trouble? With ten alphas in one house with one unmated female? What could possibly go wrong?” he says sardonically, taking Lindon’s chair and propping his feet on his desk, much to Lindon’s chagrin.
Lindon gives him a cool look and sits on the edge of his bed. “I know.”
“Honestly, I’m just surprised you said yes to this whole thing. I never thought the old man had much hold on you.”
“I can be loyal to the pack, when I need to,” Lindon retorts, eyeing Hawes coolly. “How’s married life?”
Hawes grins and leans back in the chair with closed eyes. “Bliss.” He sits forward. “When are you going to come visit?”
“Ha, like I want to interrupt the newlyweds.”
“True, on second thought, don’t visit.” Hawes finally looks at me, really looks at me, and his playful almond eyes grow serious as he looks me over. “So, you’re the lucky female who has to put up with all of these doofuses?”
I shrug. “Maybe, but at least they’re hot doofuses.”
He laughs at that, holding his stomach. “I like this one, Lindon. Let’s keep her around. How ‘bout you mate her? We’ll make a triple alpha sweep for the pack.”
Lindon gives him a withering glare. “How about I don’t. Now, the reason I called you…”
Hawes purses his lips. “For help winning the lady? It’ll be tough, after all, she has a lot of doofuses to choose from, and you’ll have to set yourself apart as the head doofus…”
Lindon puts his hand over his face and sighs loudly, and Hawes stops. But when Lindon looks up again, he’s smiling, looking a little more relaxed. “Alright, I have to give it to you. You’re ridiculous, but you always know how to calm me down.”
“Well, it doesn’t happen that often that you get riled up. You’re supposed to be the calm, collected one,” Hawes says. “So what’s got you down? And how long will you need me? I left Rose with Rafe and Aspen, and I’m sure she’ll want me back soon.”
“Sure about that?” Lindon asks, a teasing smirk putting a dimple in his perfect cheek.
“Hey now, I resemble that remark,” Hawes says, grinning. “So, you just need me to keep an eye on your girl for a while so you can get a nap or something?” He stands up and goes to Lindon, looking for the first time like a concerned older brother. He puts a hand out to Lindon’s forehead. “You look like you aren’t sleeping well.”
He takes a deep breath and lets it out, pulling away from Hawes’ hand. “No, I haven’t slept well. Every time I turn my back, another idiot is putting his hands on Misty.” He gestures at me, and I blush, embarrassed to be talked about like I’m not even here. “Misty, Hawes. Hawes, Misty,” he says, gesturing between us.
Hawes comes over to shake my hands. His are calloused, a little rougher than I would have expected. “Nice to meet you, Misty. I apologize for my brother. He’s not usually this annoying. Well, he’s usually annoying, but when he’s stressed…”
“Hawes,” Lindon growls. “Back to the point.”
“Oh yeah. Sure, whatever you need. Want me to take her downstairs or something?”
“Like I said, I just need a few minutes where I can focus.”
“I’m sorry he called you,” I interject. “There’s really no need. A. I can take care of myself and B. There are other guys here who can be trusted.”
Hawes eyes me with pursed lips. “Hm. I can se
e why this one’s trouble, bro.”
I glare at him. “I’m not the problem here.”
He shrugs. “Well, I’m guessing if Lindon trusted the men the way you seem to, he wouldn’t have called me.”
“Hawes has super strength, like me,” Lindon says. “And he was a cage fighter for a while. And he’s mated.” He ticks off each point on his long, tanned fingers. “If he’s with you, I can be one hundred percent sure I’m not letting Rowan down.”
Hawes nods. “You get some rest, bro. Maybe I’ll take Misty down and show her the gym.”
“Sounds good,” Lindon says. “Maybe some self defense training wouldn’t be out of place either.” But he’s already crawling under the covers, looking exhausted.
My poor, vigilant protector.
Hawes catches me watching Lindon with soft eyes, and gets an odd gleam in his.
“What?” I ask defensively.
“Nothing,” he says, shaking his head. “Let’s get out of here and let him sleep.”
Chapter 4
Hawes leads the way downstairs, and when we get to the ground floor, he gestures to a door down at the end of the hall.
“Wait there, I’mma get a volunteer.”
“Volunteer?” I raise an eyebrow. “What for?”
“Self defense,” he says, baring a fang. “It’ll make Lindon feel a little more confident I think. Which is good, because this level of stress isn’t good for him.”
“Ah,” I say. “I’m not sure why he’s going so nuts about it, though.”
“Well, Lindon is odd around females. I think he’s a little scared they’re fragile, after losing his mom and a female friend all in one season, when a bad illness swept through the pack.”
“Oh,” I say, heart sinking. I should have known. There is almost always a reason behind a person’s odd behavior. Too bad Lindon’s is such a sad one. “Makes sense.”
“Yup,” Hawes says, not seeming overly concerned. He pops his head into the living room where some of the guys are talking, playing chess, or reading. “Any of you have any fighting experience? Ah, you, come here. I need you for something.”
“Why do we need a volunteer?” I ask, eyes widening when Asher comes into the hall to join us, followed by catcalls and boos from the other alphas. Well, they’ll have to wait a while. Somehow I don’t think Hawes is going to let them come around until he’s sure Lindon’s not going to have a heart attack. Hopefully after some sleep…
“Well, being that people are gonna be trying to mate you, we’ll definitely want to go over ground work.” He grins. “And my mate isn’t about to let me climb all over another female, even in the name of teaching.” He turns to Asher as he opens the door for us both to go in. “What’s your background?”
“My pack owns a martial arts studio,” Asher says. “And we train MMA fighters.”
“Ah,” Hawes says. “I’ve done a little MMA on the underground circuit.”
“I know,” Asher says. When he glares sideways at Hawes I swear I can see a little bit of awe in the eyes of the usually belligerent shifter.
“Why did you let Lindon throw you at the wall then?” I ask Asher.
“Testing him,” he says, shrugging. “If he was going to run things, I wanted to know just how he was planning to. Good to know other’s strengths. I wasn’t seriously intending anything, but at the same time I wanted to know that he was capable of keeping anyone else from trying anything either.” He flashes a grin at me. “Not that I don’t want to try something, but I have no need of forcing a female.”
“Oh right,” I say, rolling my eyes as Hawes opens a door at the bottom of the stairs and flicks on a light. “All you alphas have crazy seduction skills,” I say.
He just shrugs, like it’s obvious. A fact of life. Oh, if only he could see the world I came from, where a drink and a bad pick-up line is about the most foreplay a woman can expect.
Asher lets out a yell of enthusiasm and pumps a fist in the air when we reach the gym. Luckily he’s already wearing gym shorts and a tee (which he was probably relaxing around the house in) and is ready to go.
Me on the other hand…
“Should I change?” I ask, gesturing to my skinny jeans and lack of fitness clothing.
Asher is ignoring us, circling a standing punching bag and peppering it with quick hits. He pauses and then does a stunning spinning jump kick that hits the standing bag so hard that it tilts and then falls over with a slam.
He looks up at us with a grin, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Nice one,” Hawes says. Then he turns to me. “No, you’ll be fine in that. Chances are you’ll be in street clothes if you need to use any of this.”
“Right,” I say.
“I thought Lindon was head protector or something,” Asher says, pausing in torturing another bag to come over to the mat Hawes is pulling out for us.
“He’s tired,” Hawes says.
Asher puts his hands behind his head, displaying large biceps. I’d put him at a good deal younger than me, though his age is hard to determine.
His body is taut and gorgeous, taller than mine even if it’s shorter than the tallest males like Lindon and the twins. But he has a very thickly muscled build, which makes sense as he has probably been working out from a very young age, given what his family does.
He looks great with a thin sheen of sweat on his muscled body, and his dark eyes flick over me, heated and reveling in my perusal of him.
He struts like a peacock, back over the weight stand, picks up substantial looking dumbbells, and raises them, doing sets that show off impressive, bulging biceps. I swallow.
“Alright, stop showing off and get over here, doofus,” Hawes says, but there’s humor in his voice. “We need to work on getting out of different mounts.”
Asher shakes his hands off and brushes his thick, dark hair out of his face, tucking some behind his ear. He still has that sort of not-put-together, bad boy feeling to him, but there’s something more attractive about him, having seen him do what he’s talented at.
“Actually, I think I know your brothers,” Hawes says. “I’ve trained with them. Good gym.”
Asher’s expression darkens slightly. “Maybe.”
“So why are you the one here then, aren’t you the youngest? I didn’t even know about you.”
“Who would? With Jordan and Lucas around?” he grumbles, avoiding my eyes. “Anyway, I’m more full alpha. My father married an alpha after they were born. So they’re half brothers. So here I am.”
He sends us a look like he’s daring us to question it, but Hawes just shrugs and gestures for him to get in a position on the ground. Then he tells me to lay on my back, and then for him to get over me.
Awkward. Even Asher blushes slightly as his thighs straddle mine. His scent is spicy and slightly bitter, like licorice.
He has a very square jaw, I like the look of it with those round, big eyes. So dark I can’t really make out his pupil from his iris. Deep, long lashes that flutter as he looks me over. And those thighs… He could probably squat three of me.
His shoulders are huge, bulging out of his tank, and I try to stop perving as he listens to Hawe’s instructions with an intent, focused face that is very unlike him. After a moment though, he winces and looks at me.
“Um, oh gosh. Can you control that at all?” he asks.
“No,” Hawes says. “No, I’m afraid unlike my brother she hasn’t figured out how to get a handle on it.”
Both Asher and I look at Hawes with interest, and Hawes frowns and blushes slightly.
“Um, never mind. Anyway, no, she can’t. So you’ll just have to try and overlook it.”
“I can’t,” Asher whines, running his tongue over his full lower lip in a way that makes a shock run down the length of my body. I want to see him do that spinning kick again. “It makes me want to lick her. Damn, how can anyone smell like that?”
“Like what?” I ask, almost worried for what I’m going to hear.
> “So good,” he says. “Like summer.”
“And summer makes you want to lick me?”
He tilts his head. “Like sex on the beach in the summer. Like the best sex you’ll ever have, like sex every day for a year condensed into one moment.”
Oh damn, I think I’m getting wet.
He inhales deeply. “Yeah, like ocean breeze.”
He’s oddly poetic when he wants to be. Purely on impulse, I reach up to touch his hair, something I’ve been wanting to do since I met him, but didn’t think the prickly shifter would allow.
He does though, leaning his head slightly forward as if I commanded him, and letting me run a hand through the hair at the side of his face.
His eyes watch me tentatively, and I bite my lip. His hair is thick, soft, perfectly matched to his face, an odd mix of masculine (jaw, brow, nose) and feminine (eyes, lips). He growls softly, closing his eyes as the licorice smell in the room heightens.
His wolf, calling to mine.
“Um, should I leave you two alone?” Hawes asks, grinning.
“Don’t you dare,” Asher says, getting off me.
“Hey, I need you for demo-ing,” Hawes says.
Asher folds his arms and turns away. “She’s too precious for what I want to do when I sit on her like that. Sorry, use a dummy or something.”
I can’t tell if what he just said was really sweet or really rude. Maybe a mix, like he is. But he turns to look at me over his shoulder, and when I grin, he blushes and storms off. So I at least think we’ve made some progress.
“Well, he’s kind of a difficult one, isn’t he?” Hawes says, scratching his head. “I guess I’ll just have to teach by example.” He rolls onto his back a bit away from me, and starts going through moves, demonstrating both sides. It’s a little bit harder to follow, but I think I get it.
Plus, I kind of agree with Asher. It’s a little too dangerous to have any one of these sexy men on me. Dangerous for them as well as myself.
I try to pay attention to Hawes’ instructions, though. If only to keep my mind from wandering to thoughts of Lindon losing his mother and friend, and how it affected him.
Stop trying to figure him out, Misty. He’s still not going to want you.
Ultimate Alpha Boxed Set: A BBW and Wolf Shifter collection Page 48