The Alpha's Chick

by T. Cobbin

  * * * *

  “Hey, put me down, you oaf. I am not a fucking sack of potatoes.” Melinda pounded her good arm against Harris’s muscled backside.

  “You put yourself in danger, my mate.”

  “Oh my God! All I did was go to the fucking cake shop.” She smacked on his backside with her hand. Punching him hurt. “There were plenty of you guys around. You said yourself I’m not a prisoner.”

  She let out a scream as her world turned and she landed on something soft. Looking around, she saw he’d thrown her onto their bed. Harris knelt on the bed and crawled over the top of her, trapping her between him and the mattress.

  “I just wanted five minutes, Harris. Five minutes to go outside and be free from these four walls.” To her dismay her voice came out all whiney.

  Harris looked down at her, waiting for something. She couldn’t tell his mood from his expression. She knew he had to be feeling angry, but who was he the most annoyed at—her or Felix?

  “Why did you get upset with Felix? Now that I think about it calmly...all he did was try to get us to come home. A little roughly, but we did go out.”

  She spotted the brief flicker of anger in his eyes. He didn’t move or say anything, he just stared. She lifted her hands and placed them on his chest.

  “Harris? I’m not sorry for going out, I was going nuts here. Yes, I could have asked Felix or someone else to go with us, but I honestly thought we were safe. You said I’m not a captive, right?”

  Still he didn’t move or speak.

  She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. She could feel tears burning behind her eyelids, wanting to spill. “And it’s not all bad—when Felix grabbed me, he kinda sent a jolt through me and I remember everything now.”

  Opening her eyes, she watched his face go from a stoic expression to one of worry. His arms wrapped around her and her world spun again. She found herself lying over his heaving chest. It was an instant reaction to curl into him. She felt so tiny against his huge body. It made her feel safe.

  “What if something had happened?” Harris asked gruffly. “I wasn’t here. I had to rely on my men to protect you. What if they couldn’t do their job properly because you didn’t tell them where you were?” He sighed. “If you wanted to go out, you should have talked to me about it. I would do anything to make you happy, Chick.”

  “I’m sorry, Harris,” she whispered into his chest. The tears that had been threatening to spill a few seconds ago, did.

  Realization hit her like a bolt of thunder. How would she feel if something happened to Harris? How would someone tell her? And if something happened to her when he wasn’t around to protect her, who the hell would tell Harris, the big I-am-Alpha of Stonesdale shifter village, that news? Life wasn’t a guarantee, she knew that now. Anything could happen, anytime, anyplace.

  “I love you.” The words slipped from her mouth as fast as the tears streaming over her cheeks.

  “Oh, my chick...” He sighed. “I love you more than words can say.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly like he never wanted to let go. She could feel and hear the purr rumble from deep inside his chest. “Tell me what you remembered,” he said a little while later.

  Melinda closed her eyes and filled Harris in on her stray memories. “Well, I told you about my mother dying. What I didn’t remember was my father told the funeral parlor he had no money to pay for it. I was too young then to get a job so couldn’t do anything. My mother ended up having a pauper’s funeral. No urn, no plaque, nothing. Her ashes were scattered behind the crematorium and probably forgotten about except for me.” Fresh tears flowed as she remembered her mother. “Even when I got older I couldn’t rake up the money for a plaque because of my father’s continuous want for money. How worthless am I as a child that I couldn’t do something so simple? She was the one thing that was good in my life.” She gripped hold of Harris’s t-shirt and wept. “I miss her so much.”

  After what seemed an age Harris spoke. “How about we get a bench made and have it put in the village square with a dedication on it and have some of her favorite flowers planted there too?”

  She hiccupped and lay listening to the quiet beating heart of her mate before asking, “But you didn’t know her, why would you do that?”

  “Because you did, and she was your mother, and if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have you.”

  Melinda lifted her head off Harris’s chest and looked up into his face. “We can do that really?”

  He smiled down at her. “Aye, lass. When we have our own kits, you can go sit on her bench and tell them all about her. Her memory will live on as long as her story is told.”

  She wrapped her arms tightly about her man and cried another load of tears. That was until he asked her what else she had remembered. That’s when her panic rose.

  Chapter 19

  “I remember details from the week I was taken,” Melinda said. “I felt so miserable. Job hunting wasn’t going well, and I was on the last of my money. My father had started to ring on a daily basis wanting money. He kept saying it was urgent. For once in my life I ignored his pleas and let the answering machine pick up his calls.” She rubbed her cheek over Harris’s chest, breathing him in. He was stroking her back in a comforting manner, which helped her to tell the end of her story and how close she’d been to giving up. “I had all but reached my limit and often had thoughts of just ending it all.”

  Harris lifted his head from his pillow and looked down at her. “I’m glad you didn’t.” Honesty shone through his words and hit her straight in the heart.

  “I am too.” She curled back around his huge body and lay for a few more minutes in silence. “When I was taken I was at my at apartment, looking over the city from my window. I’d received an email inviting me to a job interview, so I was feeling a little better, but then my father rang again. Before his message ended my front door was kicked off its hinges. The two men I told you about took me. I woke up in a dark car with tinted windows. My hands and feet were bound by ropes. I lay still, pretending I was still asleep while trying to get my bearings, and I heard the men talking. They were going on about someone named Jacob and how he was going to own my arse even if my father did pay up. The way they talked about this Jacob made my skin crawl. The ropes on my hands and feet were pretty tight, and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t loosen them. All kinds of thoughts went through my head—the main one was to escape. To do that I had to get out of the car, so I started moaning as if coming awake. You should have heard them curse.”

  “Fucking bitch is coming around.”

  “No way! Should have been a while yet. Get some stuff ready.”

  “Before they could put me out again I started begging to go to the bathroom. I thought if I could get out of the car I might stand a chance of getting away. It took them a while to agree. I think it was the ‘I’m going to pee myself if you don’t stop’ that finally did it.” She chuckled. “I would have done it too, just to piss them off. Anyway, they stopped and opened the car door. I kicked out at one of the men but realized my mistake when I sat up. I still had my feet bound. The other bloke hit me with an iron bar he was holding in his hand. If I hadn’t raised my arms to protect myself, I could have had worse injuries.”

  She paused a second to take that in. What if things had gone differently? Where would she be now? In a shallow grave?

  As if sensing her thoughts Harris again lifted her head to look her in the eyes. “You’re here, alive and mated to me.” A smile filled his face, showing his pride that she was with him, and it made her heart melt. He released her head, so she rested it back on his chest as she continued.

  “When he hit me it was like an explosion going off in my arm. It was so intensely painful that it made me feel sick. As I waited for the pain to settle I heard the two of them arguing about hitting me.”

  “You’re a fucking idiot hitting her. He said safe and untouched, you fool.”

  “What else was I supposed to do, let her
run?”

  “After a while they turned to me and warned me not to do anything else stupid. The one I kicked out at finally untied the ropes around my ankles. The other stood back, watching with the tire iron in his hand. They threatened me again and pulled me from the car. I’m glad they were thick as shit, because after walking me a little way behind the car they turned their backs after I whined about not being able to go if they watched me. And if they had taken me to the front of the car they might have caught me sooner because of the headlights showing them where I was. As soon as their backs were turned I ran.”

  She lay silent over Harris’s chest, wiggling her feet and toes. Thinking back, she could feel the ground beneath her feet, the sharp rocks ripping away at her soles. She’d tried to keep her harsh breathing as quiet as possible. It was pitch-dark, and she could barely see anything in front of her. She could hear the streams of cursing and the men’s panting as they ran after her, but eventually, although she wasn’t sure how, she managed to get further in front of them. In time she couldn’t hear anything behind her at all and she slowed down. Looking around her, she managed to find a jagged piece of rock and begin scraping the rope on it until finally her hands were free.

  “When I slowed down the pain in my arm and both of my feet hit me like a son of a bitch. But I knew if I didn’t keep going I wasn’t going to make it out alive, so I kept moving. I’m not sure how long I ran, but suddenly the ground beneath me opened up. I don’t even remember getting knocked out, I just woke up freezing my arse off and feeling pain like I had never felt before.”

  “Then I found you.” His deep, gruff voice had her looking up at him again.

  “Yes, and I intend on keeping you.” She moved up over his body and laid a gentle kiss on his lips. “My life before the hole was worthless. I was surviving and only just coping. But now I have more than I could have ever dreamed of. There is nothing that I want or need from back then.”

  “I’m glad, because I’m never letting you go.”

  She found herself looking into Harris’s eyes and searching them for any sign of deception. Moving like the feline he was, even with her in his arms, he swiftly rolled so he was atop her.

  “Mine.” He growled down at her, then began kissing up her neck and nibbling behind her ear. Her body was primed and ready within seconds.

  “There is one way to make sure that I couldn’t leave you or this village.”

  Pausing, Harris lifted his head from her neck and looked down at her with questioning eyes.

  “Well, if I was to have a shifter baby...” she said, and a slow smile drifted over Harris’s lips. “I know I wasn’t on anything before I was taken. I hadn’t slept with anyone for years, so why bother? I’ve always wanted a big, loving family. I just hadn’t found the right person ’til now.”

  She didn’t get to say anything else. Harris’s lips fused to hers. His tongue slid into her mouth and swept along hers.

  “The day I found you I was pondering what lay ahead for me. My kind are a dying breed. I was hearing that dreaded biological ticking clock. From the moment I found you I was drawn to you. I think it was because of the shock of finding you that I didn’t immediately realize you were my mate, but my leopard knew. Now though? You are my heart, my world, my mate. There is no way on earth I could even think about you not being by my side.”

  And with the honest truth that lived deep inside of her, she admitted to herself that there was no way she could or would ever leave him. “Fuck me stupid until I’m carrying our babies.”

  With a growl Harris had them both stripped in seconds. She was already slick with her own juices. She craved his cock inside of her. Her pussy pulsed with anticipation. She ran her good hand up Harris’s chest as he crawled over her. He kissed up her body, licking and nibbling at her sensitive breasts with his coarse tongue and teeth. Latching onto one of her nipples, he tugged it between his teeth before sucking it into his mouth.

  She couldn’t help but push her breasts up toward him. She wanted to close her legs and tightly squeeze her thighs together to soothe the building ache coming from her clit and pussy, but with his thick legs between hers, they remained open. She had to spread them wider to adjust for his size. Finally, his knee rubbed over her swollen lips and pressed against her nub, adding the pressure she so badly wanted. She undulated her hips against his limb almost frantically in desperation to find some kind of friction. Her breathing came out in pants.

  “Please, Harris, do something,” she begged, moving her hips faster, trying to get some sort of satisfaction from her actions. Frustration hit her hard when he moved his knee. “Nooo, ” she cried out in distress.

  “Patience, Chick.”

  She could feel the heavy weight of his cock resting against her stomach. One of his thick fingers slid through her swollen, slick lips. Harris let out another rumble; this one she could tell was satisfaction. As he moved lower she could feel his shaft slide across her skin, leaving a damp trail of pre-cum.

  “Harris, I’m begging you, for God’s sake, stick your cock in my pussy and fuck me now.”

  He added to her frustration by chuckling. She raised her head when his weight lifted off her body. He was kneeling between her legs, his hand sliding up and down his erection. His own moan of satisfaction mixed with hers. Why was watching her man stroke his long, thick length so captivating?

  He lowered his massive body over hers once again. Immediately, she wrapped her legs around his waist. The head of his cock entered her, and her eyes rolled back as he did. The delectable sensation grew more intense as he slowly pushed into her.

  “Oh yeah, so wet, so tight. Have I told you before I never want to not be inside you?” Harris finished off his sentence with a low growl.

  Seeming to lose what control he had, he grasped hold of her hips and started pounding inside her. The front of his thighs slapped the backs of hers as he thrust in and out with hard strokes.

  “I’m going to fuck you so long and hard you aren’t going to be able to walk for a week,” he promised.

  “Bring it on,” she taunted.

  Harris picked up his pace, letting out a sexy grunt each time he drove inside her. She tightened her legs around him, holding on as much as she could and lifting her hips, meeting him thrust for thrust. Her orgasm was building; her whole body was brimming with sexual tension.

  Without slowing Harris swept his hand between them and tightened two of his fingers around her clit. Little white lights shined behind her eyelids. She cried out his name at the same time he roared out the word “mine!”

  She could feel his cock pulse inside of her, pumping his seed deep into her womb. Thoughts of carrying their child swept through her with satisfaction. She was ready and willing to carry any child born from their love, and it couldn’t happen soon enough.

  For the rest of the night Harris was true to his word—he fucked her senseless.

  Chapter 20

  Harris swiped a hand down his face. He was signing a few much needed pieces of paperwork and dating them. Twenty-first of December. Fucking hell, where had the year gone?

  Although he’d been buried up to his eyeballs in paperwork all morning he couldn’t help but stop every few minutes to listen to the house. Well, not the house exactly, but for his mate. He loved to hear her sweet voice; it made him feel complete. His cat chuffed, agreeing with him. Inhaling and closing his eyes briefly, he listened. He could hear the rustle of paper and giggling coming from the living room. Melinda and his sister had been holed up in there all morning wrapping presents.

  The joy he felt knowing he had finally found his mate still hit him in waves. She was a breath of fresh air in a once stale world. His enforcers were still out on daily patrol. No one had yet come across anything that wasn’t meant to be, although there were hints of two humans moving about their land. Alas, they hadn’t been spotted. His enforcers were good, and he was sure they’d find them soon. But the hairs on the back of his neck told him that something was coming. It was a
s if he could sense it in the air.

  “Harris?” Terrie asked warily while poking her head inside his office.

  Fuck! He’d been so lost in his thoughts he hadn’t heard her approach.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “Umm, I know you’re working.” She paused for a few seconds, and he could almost hear the and you get grouchy when you’re disturbed. “But Melinda and I could do with a break from the wrapping, so we thought we might take a walk to the café?”

  Harris pushed away from his desk and reached backward, stretching his arms above his head. “Grab your coats. I could do with a walk myself.”

  Terrie let out a whoop of glee and ran down the hallway. He couldn’t help but smile at his sister’s excitement. Half of him felt bad keeping his chick confined to the house while the other knew he was keeping her safe.

  A little while later he was actually laughing aloud at his mate’s disgust at it being so bloody cold out. Her face though belied her complaining. She had bright rosy cheeks, and her smile reached all the way to her sparkling eyes.

  “You two go ahead. I’ll meet you in a sec.” Terrie bounded off when they reached the bakery doors.

  Heat washed over him when they walked inside the building.

  “Morning, Alpha.” Flo stood behind the counter with her son Lens.

  “Morning, Flo,” he replied and nodded to Lens, acknowledging him too. “Let’s have three coffees and three of your coffee walnut cakes please.”

  “Umm, make mine a hot chocolate please, Flo,” his mate chirped up.

  He gave his chick a questioning look. That was twice today she had turned down coffee, and in the time he’d gotten to know her, she had never turned it down.