Alpha Contender Boxed Set: BWWM Paranormal shifter romance BBW

by Terry Bolryder

  I lower the towel, too aware that he’s close and I’m now naked. I make sure there are no mirrors he could be catching my reflection in, and then drop the towel to the ground. I lift a leg to step into the tub, and when my foot hits the bottom, I slip slightly. I hear a curse shoot out of my mouth as I lose my balance and slide all the way into the tub with a little yelp. My foot slides out from under me and I go fully under the water, looking up with panic at the bubbles above me, pressing on the sides of the deep tub to try and get up.

  Strong arms lift under my armpits, grazing my breasts, and I push them away as my head breaks the surface and I scramble to rest my arms on the side of the tub. “Don’t look!” I shout.

  “I’m not!” Lindon says, turning away. From the back of his neck I can tell he’s blushing furiously. “Geez, don’t go drowning again. You really are short, aren’t you?”

  I glare at his back. “Hmph. Maybe your tub is just giant.”

  He chuckles at that, a deep, reassuring sound. “Right. Well, first order of business, we need to teach you to swim.”

  “How do you know I can’t swim?”

  “You were soaking wet and said Matt had to save you. ”

  “Ah,” I say. “Well, what took you so long?” I tease.

  “I came as fast as I could. Thus we need to teach you to swim,” he says firmly.

  I sink up to my chin in the water and move the bubbles around so that he can’t see anything even if he does turn around. But what if he already saw everything already?

  “I didn’t see anything, if that’s what you’re thinking about. I really didn’t,” he says, sounding nervous. “I was just worried that you were okay.”

  “Yeah, you do that a lot,” I say.

  “Do what a lot?”

  “Worry.”

  “True, I do.” His tone is matter of fact.

  “Lindon,” I say hesitantly. “There’s something you should know.”

  He puts a hand up, not facing me, and my stomach sinks for some reason. “No, there’s something you should know. And for what it’s worth, I thought you should have been told sooner. Rowan disagreed, and he’s my pack leader, but I should have fought harder for it.”

  “For what?”

  “For you to be told from the beginning,” he says. I can hear resignation and a little worry in his voice. Whatever he’s about to say, he doesn’t want to say it. And I’m not sure I want to hear it.

  “Told what?” I ask, a sinking feeling in my chest. The suds smell great, kind of Lavenderish, like Fifi, with a hint of mint to keep them from being totally soporific. The steam of the tub feels great and my body has finally stopped shaking. My head is clearer and I no longer feel cold or worried for my life.

  But I do feel scared. Just not for my life. “Told what, Lindon?” I ask slowly, a hint of warning in my voice.

  “Told you there was more to this than you thought. More than just choosing a mate.” He shifts in his chair. “Are you covered? Can I turn around? I’d rather face you for this.”

  “No,” I say. I’ve always kept my emotions to myself, and I’m going to do so now. If he’s going to say something that will hurt me, I don’t him to see my face when he does. I think of the figure standing, watching me drown, and a light goes on in my head.

  “Someone tried to hurt me. Kill me.” My face tightens. “But you already knew that…didn’t you?” I ask, voice small, like I feel.

  “Misty,” he says, resisting the impulse to turn around. “Listen…”

  “No, you listen, don’t you think I had a right to know that? Don’t you think I would have acted differently? I mean, you made it sound like the only danger was men wanting me, but in reality a lot of the guys have been perfect gentlemen.”

  “Well, only because they were threatened,” he says sulkily.

  “No, Lindon. No, you can’t make me think you’re the only good one anymore, because you’ve been lying to me. No, I can’t prove the others aren’t, but I now know you are for sure.”

  “I’m not lying to you now,” he says quietly. “Let me finish.”

  Sure, I’ll let you finish breaking my heart. Why did I let myself get attached? Why did I let myself think overprotectiveness meant something? No wonder Rowan sent him as a bodyguard. He doesn’t get super worried because he cares for me. He gets super worried because he knows someone might be trying to kill me.

  “Here’s the thing. Someone killed your parents. They were never found…”

  “I want to go home,” I mutter, not wanting to hear all of this.

  “You can’t go home. They could find you there with no one to protect you. At least here you’re safe.”

  “Safe with a bunch of men I don’t know who didn’t think this was relevant enough to tell me about?” I spit out, becoming angrier by the second. Anger is good, it masks the hurt.

  “So what’s the real reason for me being here, Lindon?” I continue. “Am I really supposed to choose a mate, or were you guys just hoping that I’d be good bait to draw out my parents’ killer?”

  There’s a short silence, while he considers his words. He’s being that controlled, distant Lindon again. “A little of both,” he says coolly. “I mean, the tribunal felt that all packs should have equal chances to mate with an alpha female with no pack, but at the same time, Rowan knew that would probably draw in the person or persons who tried to get your parents. So that’s why he wanted me here to watch things.”

  I nod, hating what he’s saying, but knowing it makes sense. “So now what? I’m just supposed to sit here and wait while they keep trying? I feel like such a fool.” I slap the water, splashing some up and out of the tub. Oh well, Lindon and his family can deal with a little mildew.

  I’m not sure if I’m angry that my life was in danger and everyone knew it but me, or if I’m just angry that Lindon of all people could keep this secret from me.

  “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you. And now we’re on the same page it’ll be easier to protect you.”

  “You shouldn’t have kissed me,” I say. “You were only here to make sure I didn’t get murdered. You should have kept your distance.”

  “I tried,” he says. “I really did. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry?”

  “For what?” I ask, suddenly feeling cold even though the water is still warm. All those little things I thought meant he secretly cared were just because he knew a murderer was on the loose. The way he seemed too stressed, the way he needed to call Hawes and always keep an eye on me. Why did I let my romantic notions let me get carried away thinking it was something more between us?

  For some reason, I’m just really offended. Maybe because he didn’t even have the respect for me to tell me what was going on.

  Just let the dumb female run around feeling like everything’s fine, don’t bother to let her in on what’s happening.

  “I really want to go,” I say, standing. I grab my towel and wrap it around me. “I want to go back to my world.”

  “Wait, Misty…” he turns and reaches for me but I yank my arm out of the way.

  “Get away from me. I thought I could trust you. You should have told me.”

  “I know, but…”

  “You think I’m an idiot? You don’t think I’d act differently if I knew my life could be in danger? And the guys…” I put a hand up over my face and hold the towel up with the other. “You knew that one or more of them could have bad motives, and you didn’t care to share that with me?”

  “I…”

  “You were just going to let me fall for one of them, or even you, and then find out at the end that the whole point of this wasn’t what I thought?”

  “But—”

  “And then what, send me back to the human world, safe now?” I shake my head as tears gather in the corners of my eyes. “You guys are no better than the people in my world. You acted like you had something to offer, like things were finally going to be good. Like someone was finally going to tell me the truth. Then you treated m
e like an idiot. I’m so done with this.”

  “Wait, Misty, don’t go like this.” He catches my arm this time and I turn my face away so he can’t see tears. It’s hard for me to warm up to people, and it was hard to accept a good situation, because my life up until now has been so not good.

  And then just when life seems good, someone tries to kill me. And worse, the person I’ve been trusting more than anyone is actually the person holding back the biggest lies.

  “What other lies are you telling me?” I ask. “What else are you withholding?”

  Silence.

  “Hawes said something about your pheromones,” I continue.

  “No one knows that for certain,” he retorts.

  “What is it?” I ask. “You tell me or I’ll ask Hawes.”

  “Ask him, then,” Lindon snaps. His voice is cold. “You obviously aren’t going to trust me anymore anyway.”

  That slows me down, and tears threaten my eyes again. I don’t want to lose what I’ve had with Lindon. Whatever it was. Is. He has been a friend. But I can’t get over how stupid and tricked I feel right now.

  “I wasn’t trying to mislead you, Misty. I just…lose control when you’re around. I don’t know what happens.” He really does sound lost. But that doesn’t make it out that he misled me and took advantage of me.

  “Well, I guess you won’t have to worry about it anymore,” I say, swallowing against the boulder size lump in my throat. “I get the message loud and clear now.”

  I walk past him, clinging to the towel, and he walks in front of me to block the door.

  “What message? What makes you think you understand this, Misty? I don’t even understand it.”

  “What’s there to understand?” I quip, not meeting his eyes. “You didn’t want to kiss me, but you did. You didn’t trust me enough to tell me what was going on here. You don’t want a mate. So all that’s left is us working together to catch the murderer. And trying not to kill each other.”

  “I wanted to tell you,” he says, gritting his teeth, looking handsome and frustrated. “It was killing me not to tell you, but Rowan had his reasons. And I thought you trusted me enough not to go running outside the house alone!” His eyes are blazing, and I can tell he’s still angry that I escaped out my window.

  “Well it’s a good thing I did, or I’d still be in the dark about all of this.”

  “It’s a good thing you were nearly killed?” he bellows, switching places with me and backing me against the door. He puts his hands on either side of my head.

  “Stop acting like you care,” I say, turning my head to the side. “I understand everything now.”

  He scrubs a hand through his hair. “I do care, Misty. Maybe it’s not the way you want, but I do…”

  “It’s fine. Now let me go so I can start working to understand some of the other men here. The ones that actually do want me.”

  He sighs. “Remember, one of them is still possibly a murderer.”

  “Maybe, but I still think none of them can hurt me like you did. You should have told me, Lindon. I had a right to know I was putting my life in danger. I almost died!”

  “I would have protected you,” he insists.

  I shake my head. “I believe Matt did that.”

  “Matt could still be a suspect.”

  “Oh right, a suspect. Detective Lindon.” I roll my eyes. “As I said, I get it now. But from here on out you should keep your detective work focused somewhere other than my mouth.”

  “Fine,” he says coldly.

  “You know, if you had told me, I might not have agreed to this at all. I had a life before this,” I say.

  “Oh, right, as a frumpy, lonely librarian,” he retorts.

  “I worked at a bookstore!” I snap back. But his words sting. “You’re right. My life was lame. But that doesn’t mean I was meant to be used as bait.”

  “You weren’t bait, Misty.”

  “Call it what you want,” I say. “But if I’m not part of the plan then you all were using me.” I eye him scornfully. “Your father is awful.”

  He’s speechless, that big brain of his racing but seemingly not able to come up with anything to say. There isn’t anything to say.

  “Do you know what it’s like to drown?” I ask.

  “I didn’t want that to happen to you, Misty. I’d have done anything to prevent it. That’s why I told you not to go out alone.”

  “Anything but tell me the truth, that is,” I mutter.

  He shrugs. “I did the best I could with what I had. If you can’t forgive me, that’s fine. But I’m still here to protect you and nothing changes that. However, I’ll give you your space if that’s what you need.”

  I nod. “That’s what I need.” But my heart aches even as I say it. Even in this big house with so many men, I’ll feel lonely without him to go to. “Goodnight, Lindon.”

  “Good—”

  I slam the door before he can finish and run back to my room. After I shut and lock the door behind me I flop on the bed to cry. Why did my mom have to be right? Why do things that seem too good to be true actually have to be too good to be true?

  A house full of hot guys. And any one of them could be trying to kill me.

  The only guy I trusted was keeping secrets. Still is, including the pheromone thing.

  I close my eyes against the stinging tears and think back to Lindon’s kisses. Even if I had known what was going on, and how much Lindon was hiding from me, I doubt I could have said no to him. And that feels the worst of all.

  Chapter 3

  A quiet knock on my door a few hours later startles me. I put a bookmark on the page where I’m reading and set the book in my lap, wondering who’d be here now. I don’t really want to talk to any of them.

  Why didn’t I stay my usual, skeptical, sarcastic self? Why was I too happy to fall into all of this? Well, I can answer that. I was happy to finally feel like I had a family again.

  It’s been a long time. With how old my adoptive parents were when I was left with them, I was aware that I would be alone for a lot of my life. But I still wasn’t prepared when it happened. And I just kind of shut down.

  The past few days, ever since I met Lindon really, I’ve been waking up inside. But that doesn’t seem to matter now. In fact, I kind of hate myself for it, because that’s why I’m hurting right now. If you don’t hope you can’t hurt.

  I shake my head, not wanting to even open the door to whoever knocked.

  “Misty, it’s Jack, you okay in there?”

  I take a deep breath and rest on the pillow. Who cares if I don’t answer? I think I’ll just stay locked in my room until it’s over.

  “Misty, don’t make me worry, okay? Even if Lindon messed up there’s no need to punish the rest of us,” Jack says.

  I frown at that. That’s a good point, except that one of them could be trying to kill me and I have no idea who at this point.

  “Sure, some of us are going downstairs to play some basketball. You could either join or watch.”

  I check the clock by the side of the bed. I’ve been hiding in here for hours. It’s not really fair to the guys that are here trying to get to know me. We’re all in this together, basically. I sit up, groaning.

  “You okay? Is that a yes?” he asks.

  “Yes,” I say. “I’ll be down in a few minutes. I need to change.”

  “Great, you’ll play?”

  “I don’t know. I might just watch,” I say.

  “As long as we don’t have any guys injured trying to show off.”

  “Just a risk you’ll have to take, I guess,” I say, grinning at the banter. Jack is one of the most mysterious of the guys, and the second one I’ve kissed. But he was always near the top of my list and I’m glad to see him coming to pull me out of my bubble and proving himself to be the man I was hoping he was.

  It’s time to start getting to know the guys with Lindon truly off the table as an option.

  “Okay, you want me
to wait here?” he asks.

  “No, I’ll meet you at the top of the stairs.”

  “Great. See you soon.”

  I stretch and walk to my closet where my clothes are hanging. I grab two sports bras, put one over the other for extra support and bounce a few times to make sure it’s not painful, and then pull on a racer back tank top to match and tight black yoga pants that smooth over my love handles. I pull my hair back in a ponytail, nice and tight, and smooth it down with a little hair spray. Then I pop on some lip gloss to make my face look a little less drab and sad, and study myself in the mirror.

  That’ll do I guess.

  I put on tennis shoes and leave my room. No one is in the hall and the house seems very quiet. I tromp down the stairs and run into the kitchen for a protein shake. I’m not feeling up to dinner just yet. My stomach feels instantly sick whenever I think about my conversation with Lindon. I pound down the protein shake and grab a water bottle to take with me.

  Jack is waiting by the door to the downstairs, so handsome in his athletic gear that he takes my breath away. I think he’s even hotter now that Lindon is out of my mind.

  His dark hair is brushed back from his forehead and he’s wearing a loose basketball tank top that gives me a liberal view of his shoulders and pecs. His heavily muscled arms taper to fine wrists and beautiful hands. His skin is nicely tanned, and he’s wearing basketball shorts that expose perfect calves. The kind of calves other guys might have surgery to pretend to have. And nice ankles that disappear into large basketball shoes.

  Big feet. Wink wink.

  He laughs at my perusal and hands out an arm for me to take as he opens the door to go downstairs. I take it hesitantly, still not fully trusting anyone, including myself, yet. He leads the way down the stairs and is pleasant and accommodating and not trying to push me in any way, which I appreciate right now more than he knows.

  When we reach the bottom of the stairs, we turn right and walk down a hall. I can hear voices and music from up ahead, behind a door. He opens it and light streams out from a gym where a bunch of men are making noisy footsteps inside.