AlphavsAlpha

by Francesca Hawley

  When she returned to the house an hour later, Serena felt calmer. Well, only a little. Because now she knew with certainty that Damien was coming for her. She’d felt a sense of determination from him. It had been brief and then gone, but it was enough for her to know he was on his way. So she’d better get ready to face him…soon.

  As she climbed the stairs her mother called out, “Get dressed, Serena. Breakfast is almost ready.”

  “Yes, Mom,” she responded with a sigh.

  She’d have to shower again because she smelled a little like wet dog after her run, and her mother hated that kind of stink at the breakfast table. It didn’t take her long, but she dithered over what to wear—knowing Damien would be here today, she wanted to look her best. Then again. Why should she dress up for him? He could just take her as he found her, damn it, but she still put on one of her favorite outfits, knowing she looked good.

  When she walked into the kitchen, her father stood up from the table, wiping his mouth on the napkin. Ginger turned from the stove, her gaze locking with her husband’s. He grunted, nodded once and walked over to her.

  “I’ll be in my office if you need me. Need to figure out what to do with Quillen today.”

  “Yes dear.” He smiled gently down at her and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.

  He turned to Serena. “Call if you need me, yes?”

  “Yes, Daddy.”

  “Good.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead in passing and left the kitchen.

  “What would you like for breakfast, dear?” her mother asked as she cleaned her father’s dishes off the table.

  Serena took a deep breath of the homey smell of eggs, bacon and pancakes that still hung in the air and swayed, her stomach twisting in her gut. She felt like vomiting. Was she getting the flu?

  Ginger put the dishes in the sink and pointed to the table. “I think you should sit down. You’re green.”

  Serena settled herself at the table and grabbed a glass of water to take a drink. Her mother pursed her lips.

  “Toast, I think.” Her mother made her fresh toast, buttered it lightly and set it in front of her. She hoped she’d be able to choke it down.

  Her mother sat down and poured herself some coffee. Serena reached for the pot.

  “I think you would do better with some milk, dear.” She told her daughter as she took a sip of her coffee.

  “Milk?” Was the female out of her mind? That sounded nauseating.

  “Water then.”

  Serena took another drink of her water. “I must be getting the flu.”

  Ginger chuckled. “Bullshit.”

  “Mother!” Serena’s eyes widened. Ginger rarely swore around her.

  “You’re pregnant, Serena. So when are we going to meet him?”

  “Him…who?”

  “Your new Mate. You know, the wolf who impregnated you?”

  Serena bit her lip, wanting to lie. Ginger watched her calmly as she cast around for a diversion. “Where’s Quinn?”

  “At the clinic, and he dragged Quillen with him. Said it would be good for him to get used to doing some work.”

  “Oh.” No reprieve then and her mother could be relentless.

  “Well?” Ginger asked again. “We’ll want to meet him. Unless he’s one of those wolves who doesn’t do right by their pups?”

  “Don’t be silly,” she growled at her mother. “Damien is very responsible.”

  “Good.” Ginger tilted her head. “So? When do we meet him?”

  “Today. He’s coming today.”

  “You ran away from him, didn’t you?”

  She blinked and her eyes flew up to meet her mother’s shrewd gaze. “What makes you think that?”

  “He’s not here and I’ve never seen you look this rattled in your entire life. You’re your father’s daughter in so many ways.”

  “Daddy runs away?”

  “No. Not once. But you’re both notoriously calm in crisis and as stubborn as the day is long.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yes, oh.” Ginger smiled. “How’s the toast?”

  Surprisingly, it went down pretty well. “Good. Can I have some more?”

  Ginger chuckled and went to make her more. While she worked, she turned. “So why did you run?”

  This is what she’d wanted. Why she came. How did she ask her mother without hurting her feelings as she had last night?

  “Why do you always obey him?”

  “Your father?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t.”

  “You do too. I’ve never heard you argue and he always makes his decrees with which you always agree.”

  Ginger laughed. “Oh dear. While it’s true that you’ve never heard us argue, we argue. Often. We’re both too strong willed not to. But the lack of loud arguments is one of the advantages of being True Mates. He went to work in his office this morning because I told him to.”

  Serena blinked in disbelief. “You what?”

  “I knew you wanted to talk to me and he didn’t need to be here. I told him to leave.”

  “But you didn’t say anything.”

  “You didn’t hear me say anything, but I most assuredly said something to him.” Ginger shook her head, reseating herself at the table. “I have been sadly remiss as a mother. I thought you had been taught by the pack instructors about what it means to have a Mate.”

  “Yes, you choose to be committed and have pups together.”

  “I don’t mean Mates. I mean True Mates. When you meet your True Mate, you recognize each other’s scent. When you have sex, you are compelled to mark each other. It’s almost a ritual and it’s instinctual. After you mark each other, you gradually connect mentally and emotionally. You can sense each other’s feelings. You can feel how near you are to one another. You even hear each other’s thoughts. Your father and I have been together quite some time. We have conversations, debates and even arguments without saying a single word out loud.” Ginger took another sip of her coffee while she watched Serena process the information she’d just heard.

  “You mean you don’t always obey him?” Serena was incredulous. This was a revelation to her. All her life, her father made his proclamations with her mother standing silently at his side.

  “Good heavens, no. Sometimes he obeys me.” Ginger grinned and winked.

  “I don’t have to become a Stepford Mate?” Serena asked.

  “I wouldn’t want a Stepford Mate, Serena.”

  Serena jumped and turned to where Damien stood in the kitchen doorway. She should have known he’d been out in the hall because she could smell him, and her mother was right—she recognized the scent. It was as if she’d always known it. She turned to her mother as he walked into the room to stare at her.

  “Why didn’t you ever say anything, then? Why was it always him?”

  “My dear, your father is the leader of our pack. His word is law…out there.” She waved vaguely toward the front of the house. “But in here, we’re partners. Before the pack, we speak with one voice…his.” She sighed and glanced at Damien, sizing him up before she turned back to Serena. “Were you in line to lead this pack, Damien would be standing at your back as your lieutenant and yours would be the voice that spoke. However, since you have never had any interest in being pack leader, your father chose Quinn as his heir.”

  “I thought it was because he wouldn’t allow a female to lead the pack.”

  The kitchen door was pushed open and Damien was shoved bodily out of the way. Her father entered. “My grandmother was pack leader here. It’s been done before. You just never wanted it. It’s a damn headache.” He turned and looked at his wife. “Where is the rolodex? Quillen came back to the house and is crying pathetically in my office. I want his ass out of here. Quinn followed and is still blaming himself, as usual. That boy needs to be grabbed by the scruff of his neck and shaken!” He growled, “There are times I really hate this job.”

  Her father turned to meet Damien’s dark gaze,
studying him from head to foot and snorting at the perfect black suit and polished black leather shoes. “Damn, you’re one pretty boy. I hope you hunt as well as you look.”

  “Dad!” How dare he insult her Mate! Serena bristled protectively, despite that fact her initial reaction to him had been the same.

  Let me handle this, Serena, Serena heard in her head. She blinked and looked at Damien. He’d talked to her. Silently. Telepathically.

  She frowned in concentration. If he could do this then so could she. He’s my father.

  Yes, and he is challenging me as such. Let me speak for myself. She frowned but gave a slight nod. He smiled. “I caught your daughter, didn’t I?”

  “Tracking isn’t catching,” Drew countered. Ginger handed him the rolodex from the desk in the corner of the kitchen. He went through it and pulled a card.

  Damien growled. “She belongs to me.”

  “Mounting a bitch doesn’t grant ownership, son. I suggest you learn that now or you’ll be due for a life of frustration.” He gave Ginger a wink and kissed her cheek.

  Serena could see Damien tense and his face went still. Oh dear, this wasn’t going well at all. “Dad, he’s my Mate.” The tension seemed to flow out of Damien at her statement.

  Drew turned his olive gaze to his daughter. “He’d better be. He planted a pup in your belly.”

  “How do you…”

  “You reek of him, honey. Your mother can sense the pup and she’s a midwife. Quinn could smell it too. He’s a doctor, after all. They both told me about the little one.” His olive gaze met Damien’s dark eyes. “You’d better take care of them both or there will be hell to pay.” He crossed to Serena and kissed her forehead in a familiar gesture of affection. “He can share the bedroom upstairs, but we don’t have sound proofing in here, so do your mom and me a favor. Be quiet!” He turned and left the room to go deal with Quillen.

  Serena could see Damien swallow. Shit, he’d actually been nervous. She reached out mentally and felt his intense relief, both that he’d found her and that her father had accepted him. She blinked as she looked at him.

  Ginger looked from one to the other and smiled. “Much better. I am going to go find Quinn. He’s been jumpy ever since the business with that bitch Joyce. It’s time to find out what’s wrong.” She kissed her daughter and stopped in front of Damien. “Treat my girl well or I'll gut you and I’m far more dangerous than my Mate is.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  She leaned up and kissed Damien’s cheek then left the room.

  “Why did you run out on me, Serena?” His quiet voice betrayed his hurt. She looked down at her hands.

  “I was confused. I thought…”

  “You thought you’d have to give up your identity to be with me?”

  She nodded as he crossed the room. He knelt in front of her. He set his hands on her knees. “I wouldn’t want you to be any different than you are. You challenge me and you excite me. Why would I want you to turn into some damn china doll? Your strength is what I want in a Mate.”

  “You really want me then? I wasn’t sure you would.”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “It could have just been that you wanted me when I was in heat. It’s happened before.”

  Damien snarled rising to his feet and looking around, “Who hurt you? I’ll tear out his throat.”

  “That won’t be necessary. I’m over it.” She fought a bubble of relieved laughter.

  “You can’t be too over it if you ran away from me because of it. Why would you think I wouldn’t want you?”

  “You don’t want a doll-size female like Kara?”

  “That cringing little omega?” The dismay in his voice told her all she needed to know.

  “Or a slim, athletic girl like Lea?”

  He laughed until he realized she was serious, and then he knelt in front of her again. “Get this perfectly clear. You are incredibly hot, Serena. If your father hadn’t told us to be quiet, I’d fuck you right here and now.”

  She met his eyes and saw truth reflected there. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “I see you found another suit.”

  “I had to go home to get one.”

  “Did you have to shift to leave your office last night?”

  “No, Kenyon had spare clothes; but you owe me big-time for that. Kenyon’s idea of fashion is a bizarre combination of Wand hippie.” Damien shuddered. Serena laughed at the extravagant gesture.

  “Poor baby.”

  “Where the hell are my suits?”

  “Balled up in a chair in my office.” Serena giggled when he winced.

  “Those suits are Italian, Serena!”

  “They’re just fabric.”

  “Oh God. Why me?” he wailed theatrically.

  “Life is hard,” Serena taunted him.

  “Damn right.” He took her hand and set it on his very hard crotch. “Now, I am going to take you to bed and fuck you until you can’t walk. You are going to beg for mercy and eventually I just may give it to you. Are we agreed?”

  “Yes, we are agreed.” Oh how she loved this man.

  “And I love you too, sweetheart, but I am still going to make you beg.” He kissed her hard, stood and threw her over his shoulder. She shrieked as he went through the kitchen door and headed for her bedroom upstairs. Serena waved at her mother with a grin on her face. Ginger winked as Damien climbed up the stairs to take Serena to bed.

  About the Author

  I earned a Master of Arts in Library and Information Science in 2003 and work as a librarian in central Iowa. I’m a member of Romance Writers of America, including multiple special interest chapters. Even in my teens I wrote romances, spending my lunch hours with pen, paper and characters. I love to weave new tales by embroidering and knitting intriguing narratives for the amusement of myself, my friends and my readers.

  My writer’s mission statement is to write about exciting, sensual, plus-size heroines who love and are loved by their intense, passionate and seductive Alpha heroes.

  Why create a mission statement, other than because I’m a librarian and it’s something we tend to do? Because I’ve been plus-size all my life and I don’t know how to be anything else. When I started reading romances, almost every heroine had a slender, girlish figure. If she didn’t start out that way, she ended up that way. Plain or pretty, the heroine was thin. I loved those stories and their writers, but I tired of not seeing me in the heroines of my favorite books.

  As I started writing, I followed market trends and wrote about slender heroines. Then I thought, am I part of the market? Yes. I am. There must be other readers who want to read about a differently shaped heroine too. Everyone deserves to find love. So now, I write about plus-size heroines who know, or learn, how to live in their skins. My heroines are authentic and that’s part of the reason my intense, passionate and seductive Alpha heroes love them. I hope you will too.

  Francesca welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

  Tell Us What You Think

  We appreciate hearing reader opinions about our books. You can email us at Comments@EllorasCave.com.

  Also by Francesca Hawley

  1-800-DOM-help: Controlling Interest

  Protect and Defend

  Seeking Truth

  Whirlwind Affair

  Print books by Francesca Hawley

  Dial B for Bondage anthology

  Protect and Defend

  Red Stilettos anthology

  Seeking Truth

  Discover for yourself why readers can’t get enough of the multiple award-winning publisher Ellora’s Cave. Whether you prefer e-books or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC on the web at www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you breathless.

  www.ellorascave.com

 

 
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