Filthy Alpha

by Liza Street

  Blythe looked up at Jase and reached up to smooth the wrinkles on his brow. He was worried, and she wished she could fix all of this for him. She just couldn’t. This was bigger than any one person, bigger than the Junkyard.

  “One last thing, boss,” Ronan said.

  Jase looked at him, sighed. Blythe stifled a giggle; Jase seemed to hate being called boss.

  “Yeah?” Jase said.

  “I’m glad you two worked things out.” Ronan gestured between Jase and Blythe. “I had no doubts, of course, because mates always do work things out. I’m just glad neither of you is moping around anymore.”

  “Thanks, Markowicz,” Jase said shortly.

  Blythe elbowed Jase and said in a nicer tone, “Thank you. We’re glad, too.”

  She liked how reassuring that sounded, that mates always work things out.

  But right now, they had a huge issue to resolve—an upcoming war with the Jagged Forest Clan.

  24

  When Jase didn’t know what to do, he took to his lion form and paced.

  Blythe had found a big rock to sit on near the lake, and he prowled the shore while she stared thoughtfully at the water.

  He didn’t like their chances. The Jagged Forest Clan could come from any direction, and the Junkyard shifters would be surrounded, easy to pick off. It would be like shooting fish in a barrel. The Junkyard shifters needed a plan of defense…he just didn’t know what that plan should be.

  He suspected they’d try to surprise the Junkyard shifters. They’d come at night, most likely, and they’d park a long ways away, then arrive on foot.

  And from there, it was anybody’s guess. They would have the advantage in surprise, the advantage in their ability to move around, and possibly an advantage in number.

  Blythe got up from her perch on the boulder and walked a few yards away. Jase watched her absently, his mind stuck on the problem of how to fight off a coordinated attack without a coordinated defense.

  Blythe waved her hands around and Jase looked past her. If they could direct the Jagged Forest Clan to a certain area of the Junkyard, or lure them somewhere on purpose, the Junkyard shifters would have more of a fighting chance. Or if—

  “Hey Jase,” Blythe said. “Check this out.”

  He looked up, frustrated at his thoughts being interrupted.

  Blythe waved in the air again. She seemed awfully close to the invisible wall to be able to do that. Ears perked with curiosity, Jase watched as she nudged the gravel line with the toe of her tennis shoe. Then she placed her foot fully on the other side of the line.

  He rushed to the line and stopped at the edge, looking at Blythe. She was on the outside. She’d gotten out.

  “Come on,” she said, “see if you can step over the line, too.”

  He wanted to. But if it didn’t allow him to cross, what did that mean? The potential implications were staggering.

  “Here, kitty-kitty,” Blythe said, smirking.

  He gave her a good glare. He was not a “kitty-kitty;” he was a majestic, powerful feline. Still, he needed to know whether or not he could cross. Pressing one of his forepaws out, he waited for it to hit that invisible barrier.

  He touched only air.

  This couldn’t be real. He looked up at Blythe in surprise, and she nodded at him.

  “I know, crazy, right?”

  He kept moving forward, until his entire body was over the line. Was the wall down? Had the magic failed? He walked back inside again, then over. Still no resistance. The line of gravel was meaningless now. Blythe joined him, hopping back and forth over it, her voice ringing with laughter as she said, “I can’t believe this!”

  Going back inside, he shifted to human and pulled on his jeans as he looked over at Blythe. “This changes everything.”

  “Can it start with getting us some ice cream?” she asked. “I’d kill for some mint fudge brownie.”

  “Babe,” he said. “If you want, you can go. I’ll join you when the issue with the Jagged Forest Clan is dealt with.”

  She stepped back over the line, and into his arms. “I’m not going anywhere without you.”

  “You’ll be safer out there,” he said.

  She gave him a look. “We’ve talked about this.”

  “I know, which is why I’m not bodily throwing you over there and chaining you to Grant and Caitlyn’s porch.”

  “You wouldn’t dare.”

  He pressed against her, molding her curves to the front of his body. “The chain could be fun. I know how you like being restrained.”

  She laughed. “When this is over, we’re leaving to get ice cream.”

  “When this is over, I’ll get you a whole freezer full of it, okay?”

  First, he needed to know if the barrier was down entirely, or if it was only working for him and Blythe. They were mates—he knew it whether or not the wall let them through. But he’d known that before now, and it hadn’t allowed them to pass.

  He walked a few yards and listened. Someone was coming—two of his guys. Stetson and Luca Araujo, on their patrol, were walking the perimeter of the territory. Stetson was in his panther form, sleek and predatory.

  Jase held up a hand. “Have you guys checked the wall?”

  “That’s what we’re doing,” Araujo said.

  “Have you touched it?” Jase asked.

  Araujo gave him a strange look and shook his head of black hair. “Not on purpose? Should we?”

  “Just try,” Jase said.

  Brown eyes wide with doubt, Araujo slowly put out his hand. It stopped abruptly. “Yep, wall’s still there. Should we keep going on our patrol?”

  Stetson stared at Jase with his golden eyes. He knew something was up. Nodding at Stetson, Jase took one careful step over the line. Stetson’s eyes widened, and he gave a slight nod with his feline head.

  Just as quickly as he’d gone over, Jase came back again.

  This secret—Jase’s ability to get over the boundary—would do something for them. What that “something” was, Jase didn’t know yet.

  Blythe came up and wrapped her arms around him. “You’re thinking very hard right now.”

  He grinned down at her, drinking in the sight of her beautiful face so close to his.

  “I am, babe. I don’t know how to use this, but…”

  “It’s our superpower, isn’t it?”

  “It is.” He moved his face close to hers and kissed her lips. She tasted sweet and fruity. She tasted like love and hope.

  That night, Jase increased the patrols. He hated not knowing where the Jagged Forest Clan’s next wave of assassins would come in, but he’d enlisted the help of everyone he knew on the outside of the Junkyard—Jessica and Marcus, Lena and Carter, and Caitlyn and Grant. Their roles were primarily as look-outs, although Lena and Carter had volunteered to do whatever necessary to aid in the fight. Marcus and Grant were taking more of a back seat, as their mates were human and they didn’t want to risk them fighting.

  Jase knew how that felt—he’d give anything to convince Blythe to hole up in Grant and Caitlyn’s cabin instead of being a part of the upcoming battle. Unfortunately, she’d found her old pipe, and Barnum, who was still too weak to fight, had taken it upon himself to design Blythe some battle wear with an old black t-shirt. Now the t-shirt bore the words Pipe Dreams in pink paint.

  She was currently wearing it while she sat on top of her old RV—the place she’d been trapped and kept prisoner just a few weeks ago was now her look-out point. She’d converted it to a place of power. Even better, Barnum sat next to her—her former tormentor was now her last protector. Jase wondered, if Alleman had still been alive, whether she’d have been able to convert Alleman over to friendship, too. It was a hard notion to swallow, but Blythe had already taught Barnum how to be a feminist, so evidently the woman was capable of performing miracles.

  When Blythe saw Jase looking at her, she raised her pipe in a mock salute.

  His heart clenched in his chest as he waved bac
k. He had to trust she’d be okay during this battle, but if something happened to her, he’d never recover. Barnum wasn’t Jase’s first choice to sit up there with her, but it made the most sense, as Barnum could barely walk three yards without gasping for breath. The internal damage he’d sustained during the last fight had been substantial. Caitlyn had said it was a wonder Barnum had survived.

  The evening was cool, but not cold. A hush had fallen with the setting sun, woodland creatures going quiet, even the nocturnal ones. The air hung still about them, as if even the wind wasn’t willing to intrude on the upcoming battle. Jase inhaled deeply, wondering who would die tonight.

  Hopefully, all of the assholes coming in. But he knew the chances were slim that all of his men would come out of this unscathed.

  Stetson ambled over. He wore a pair of pants and no shirt—everyone who wasn’t already in their animal form was ready to strip and shift at a moment’s notice. He pointed at the walkie talkie that Jase had set on the hood of a pile of rust that used to be a Mustang. Marcus had picked them up for everyone to use.

  “Anything yet?” Stetson asked.

  Jase shook his head. Tension wound through his body, coiling around his muscles, tightening his gut. If something didn’t happen soon, he was gonna explode.

  Everyone handled the long wait differently. Buenevista paced, looking like he was ready to punch the first person to get within reach. Stetson was quiet, as always. Ephraimson was in his wolf form, sitting on his haunches with the air of someone supremely bored. Markowicz, in his spotted leopard form, looked haughty and annoyed. Mollin leaned against the side of an old refrigerator, clenching and unclenching his fists.

  The walkie talkie squawked, and everyone jumped. Mollin gave a nervous chuckle.

  “South road,” a voice said. That would be Carter, keeping watch from that direction.

  “Northeast,” a feminine voice said—Jessica, who was with Marcus near that boundary.

  Jase nodded. He wasn’t that surprised that the Jagged Forest Clan would come from more than one direction. They’d all meet here, though, in the end. This was the only place they could come. They wanted to kill the Junkyard shifters? Jase was making sure this was the only place they’d be able to do it.

  Already he could hear the swift running footsteps of the two pairs of shifters he’d had on patrol.

  “It’s time, everyone,” Jase said in a low voice. “They think we’re unruly, undisciplined. They think we don’t deserve to live.”

  “Fuck that,” Ephraimson said.

  “Exactly.” Jase nodded. “Unruly? Undisciplined? No fucking way. Look at us. We’ve come together to fight and protect our territory and our lives.”

  “We got a fuckin’ alpha!” someone shouted.

  “So form a circle. A circle means forever. It means strength. It means nobody can sneak up on us. We’re not gonna go down tonight. We’re not gonna go down, ever.”

  Barnum gave a soft whoop, and everyone else nodded, determined expressions on their faces.

  “All right,” Jase said in a quieter voice, looking at each of the men, then ending with his gaze on Blythe. “Let’s do this.”

  He stripped out of his pants and took his lion form. By the time the light surrounding him had faded, he could hear the approach of the Jagged Forest Clan.

  And then it began. Three grizzlies burst into the dump in front of Jase. He heard the sound of bodily impact behind him and stole a glance over his shoulder—three more had come from the opposite direction and were already matched up against Vezirov, Mollin, and Ephraimson. Buenevista and Stetson were on either side of Jase.

  It was impossible to keep track of everything going on. Jase split his attention between two things: his current opponent, and his mate. Blythe was on the RV, ready with her pipe. A seventh bear showed up and swiped at Barnum, and Blythe swung her pipe at the bear, defending Barnum.

  “Pipe Dreams strikes again!” Barnum hollered.

  Fuck yeah, Jase’s mate was fierce.

  Something heavy barreled into him from the side and he went down. His own damn fault, for losing focus. He didn’t stay down long, using the rolling momentum of the fall to leap back up again.

  The fight was a swirling melee of teeth and claws, fur flying, blood spattering. Growls and roars echoed, filling what had only moments ago been a chilly silence.

  Jase threw down his opponent, who didn’t get back up. He looked around, trying to see through the haze of blood and violence. Blythe was still safe; the bears didn’t seem interested in her, although they tried to pull Barnum from the RV. Blythe continued hitting whoever approached.

  Everyone else was matched to an opponent. Stetson, in his panther form, had his jaws clamped on a grizzly’s throat. Vezirov and Markowicz were battling another. Jase searched for whoever might need his help. When he looked around, he noticed that there were more people, hanging back on the other side of the line, probably men who weren’t willing to risk their freedom for killing.

  This was perfect. He hadn’t known how to use his new advantage of going in and out, yet, but now he knew. He’d start with the guy on the left, and drag them in one at a time.

  Stalking closer to the gravel boundary, Jase faced the cowards and snarled at them.

  “Yeah, go ahead,” an older man said in a commanding, yet taunting voice. “Show us how vicious you are, how little control you have.”

  This silver-haired asshole must be their alpha—the one responsible for sending in the assassins, the one responsible for this battle. Jase considered going for him first, to drag him into the Junkyard, but then he noticed the alpha’s hand, protective on a young blond woman’s shoulder.

  The alpha had brought along his mate…no, was this his daughter? Their blue eyes were the same shade.

  Whoever she was, she was a shifter, and her scent revealed to Jase she was a bear. Her eyes were wide and expressed an emotion that Jase couldn’t name. Fear? Excitement? There was no way to tell.

  Regardless of what her relationship to the alpha was, he was protective of her. His mistake. He shouldn’t have brought her with him.

  Beasts fought behind him, their growls of pain and rage filling his ears. Vezirov’s opponent sent him flying and he landed against the base of a tree, tawny fur bloodied. Get up, Jase willed him. Get up.

  Vezirov didn’t move.

  Jase’s heart pounded extra hard, as if for both of them. Come on, Vezirov. Up you go.

  “Yeah!” the Jagged Forest Clan alpha shouted, punching his fist in the air and pointing to Vezirov’s motionless form.

  Jase’s lips curled back from his teeth. He was ready to leap out of the circle and sink his fangs into the alpha’s jugular.

  But then he noticed something—the alpha had let go of the young woman for his ill-timed, celebratory fist-punch.

  Jase didn’t waste a second thinking about it. The idea to start dragging these assholes in was no longer good enough. He wanted to make the alpha put a stop to all of this fighting, and the best way to do that was to drag in a hostage—someone valuable to him.

  Jase waited for his moment, then lunged over the line, grabbed the woman’s arm. She shrieked and scrabbled for the alpha’s hand, but Jase had too good of a hold on her. Using his powerful jaws, he dragged her toward the Junkyard.

  “No!” the alpha shouted. He reached for the woman, but he wasn’t fast enough.

  She was over the line.

  Jase flung her to the ground and stood over her. She stared back at him with a mixture of anger and fear on her face. She leaned up on her elbows and moved as if to get away, but Jase kept his position over her and placed one paw firmly on her shoulder.

  The fighting continued around him, very few of the brawlers having noticed what just happened. Those who stood on the outside of the gravel line were looking to the alpha, as if wondering what he would do.

  The alpha stood completely still, his face white with shock.

  Jase had no intention of harming the woman, but the
other alpha couldn’t possibly know that. Opening his mouth wide, Jase put his face close to the woman’s and snarled.

  “Stop!” the Jagged Forest Clan Clan alpha roared. “Everyone stop fighting. Don’t hurt my daughter!”

  25

  The fighting halted. Blythe nearly dropped her pipe in surprise at the sudden quiet. Looking out over the battleground, she saw immediately what had caused it—Jase had dragged a woman into the Junkyard. And the gray-haired man standing outside the boundary was pissed.

  It was a stroke of brilliance, really, but Blythe’s heart squeezed when Jase stepped away from the woman. She rushed to the boundary line, only to be stopped in her tracks by the solid, invisible wall.

  Yeah, ouch. Blythe knew how that felt.

  Jase looked up and growled at the man who’d shouted. The man’s hair was silvery gray, and his face showed a mixture of fear and rage—the pale eyes wide, the mouth twisted. He went to the gravel line, as close as he could get without putting a part of himself over it. He hesitated before reaching inside, seemed to think better of it. Gesturing at the woman in front of him, he said, “That’s my daughter. You—you kidnapped her.”

  The woman reached forward, her palm flat against the invisible wall. The man didn’t reach over the wall to meet his daughter’s palm. He didn’t try to pull her through. It wouldn’t work, Blythe knew, but it seemed like he should’ve been desperate enough to try. Maybe he was too worried about her dragging him in, as well?

  Those were some fucked up family dynamics, right there.

  Four of their grizzlies were down and unmoving. Three of those were definitely dead, and Blythe couldn’t tell about the other one. The remaining two Jagged Forest bears, who still were able to stand, looked alert and ready to resume fighting. Was that normal, for an alpha to have such control over his pack, or clan, or whatever—that they’d fight a losing battle? Because that was the end of this—the Jagged Forest Clan losing.

  Blythe just hoped they hadn’t lost any Junkyard shifters. She was pretty sure the mountain lion at the base of a tree was Konrad Vezirov. He wasn’t moving, and she couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not. Hopefully he was just knocked unconscious.