Alpha Wolf: Black Mesa Wolves #2 (Werewolf Shifter Paranormal Romance)

by Harper, J. K.

  Chapter 8

  The chaos in Sara's mind felt muted and distant as she leaned toward the mirror a little. Frowning at her reflection, she dabbed at her lower lip with the applicator until the color was just right. Finally satisfied, she smacked her lips together and blew herself a kiss. Then she stuck her tongue out at her reflection and turned away.

  The all day patrol had exhausted her, and not simply because it was long and fruitless. They'd met up with the other Guardians, Caleb and his patrol partner, who'd scented the strange wolves at the far southwestern boundaries of Pack territory. None of them could pinpoint the origin of the scent. Sara still thought it was rogues, but Rafe hadn't been as certain. Whoever it was had crept near their boundary line, which although invisible to the human eye was clearly delineated to a wolf's senses. All four had returned to the den close to sunset, made their report to their grimly silent Alpha, and scattered to their own evening pursuits.

  Rafe had excused himself with just a nod good evening at Sara, although he'd stayed back to speak privately with his father.

  She'd come home with a raging headache, confusion still ricocheting throughout her. She knew of only one good way to make it all disappear. Her old stand-by solution: time to hit the bars in town and rustle up a little action. Losing herself in the embrace of some human cowboy had always been a fun release from anything and everything. Rafe was a whole lot of everything, and he was making her crazy with the “come here, come here, go away go away” routine. She'd had enough of it. Beside, it was Friday. Plenty of people would be out on the town.

  Her wolf rested somewhere deep in her mind where Sara couldn't clearly sense her presence. Despite the unease that created, she ignored it. Rafe couldn't give her what she wanted, anyway. There were way too many strings attached there.

  Right?

  Several time she picked up her phone to call Lily. Each time she put it back down again. Lily wouldn't want to go out without Kieran, which just wasn't like the old days. Besides, Lily seemed to be on Team Rafe. She wouldn't judge Sara's motives, but she wouldn't exactly approve, either.

  Nope, tonight Sara was flying solo until she met just the right guy to just take her to sweet oblivion. Who needed a hot blond wolf shifter with massive issues when she could just pick up some random guy in town? No muss, no fuss. Twisting her lips, she forced herself to believe that thought.

  With one last look in the full-length mirror, she nodded in satisfaction. Tiny black skirt, mid-riff baring top, and outrageously sexy red pumps. She was ready for action, on her own terms. Grabbing her phone, keys, i.d., and money, she headed out to her car. Resolutely, she ignored the fact her wolf seemed to be ignoring her.

  Rafe fished out his phone for the fourth time that evening, looked at the screen, and shoved it back in his pocket. The rumble of laughter, the smack of a cue stick against the ball followed by disappointed groans, and the ceaseless clinks of glass against glass from behind the hopping bar all provided a welcoming background of noise. The day hadn't gone as he'd planned. That and no calls or texts from Sara made him short-tempered.

  “Hey.” Caleb snapped his fingers in front of Rafe's eyes. “Did you hear what I just said?”

  Rafe dragged his gaze to his brother's rugged face, which was lit by an edgy grin. Caleb was itching for a bar fight to get out the energy he'd hoped to expend on busting some rogue ass today. The fact they not only couldn't find but couldn't even identify the scent of the strange wolves sniffing around their territory today had gotten under Caleb's ruff like a nasty burr. Rafe already felt sorry for the fool who decided to take on the barely contained rage of a wolf denied his prey. The Last Locomotive, one of the rougher bars in town, catered mostly to townies. The bar's motto of “Come on in and blow off a little steam” fit both their moods tonight.

  “What.” Rafe heard the flatness of his own voice and grimaced at himself. He'd been slipping more and more in his usually unyielding self control lately. His brother, though, could take it.

  “I said,” Caleb drew out in exaggerated slow motion, “did you see who just walked in and is looking for trouble?”

  Rafe shrugged. He wasn't interested in his brother's fights. All he wanted tonight was a stiff drink to get that one sexy, vexing she-wolf off his mind. Just for one night, it would be nice.

  “You might want to take a look at the dance floor.” Caleb's gravelly voice barely contained laughter. “Clearly your nose isn't working right now. She's broadcasting her needs like nobody's business.”

  An odd challenge underlay Caleb's words and nudged Rafe's interest. He glanced over at the crowded dance floor, where bodies flailed and bopped and ground together. Girls flaunted their assets beneath barely-there clothing. Men pumped their hips behind women in drink-fueled imitations of back door fantasies.

  And one outrageously sexy Sara Kenyon gyrated just to the side of the dancing mass, surrounded by several men with lust clear on their faces and in every motion of their bodies. Rafe's mouth dried in an instant as he took in the scene. She wore a postage stamp excuse for a skirt that revealed miles of leg, flashing as she spun around and shook her booty. Red high heels gave her both height and a clear message of “do me, baby.” How she managed to stay up on those, let alone bust out some provocative moves, was beyond Rafe. Those sweet little breasts he'd been allowed to touch and stroke and fondle bounced under the revealing peach-colored top that dipped dangerously low between them, accentuating their gorgeousness and sheer availability.

  His wolf sat up and snarled. Mine.

  “Yeah, there's a girl who's gonna get some tonight,” Caleb said. He reached over and hit Rafe's shoulder with a slightly less than brotherly punch. “Wonder which one will be the lucky guy? You think all of them?”

  “Shut the hell up, Caleb.” Rafe's voice ground out like rocks pounding through a crusher. “She's not like that.”

  Caleb shot back, “You mean she wouldn't be acting like that right this very second if you'd go over there and get her, Rafe. As in, take her. You want to be her Alpha? Then show her you can do it.” His voice held no softness when he added, “She's already yours, bro. You're the one who needs to act on it.”

  Rafe glared at the men grinding away by his mate. Already on his feet, he was headed in her direction before he realized it. He might have heard his brother shout out, “Finally, ya dumbass!” behind him, but he was too focused on Sara to care.

  It felt so freaking good to be dancing. Sara reveled in her body. She let it move, shake, and shimmy to the music pounding out. She'd pulled in all her senses to filter out the overwhelming aroma of sweaty humans, skyrocketing pheromones, spilled beer, and questionable smells drifting over from the bathrooms. By simply grounding herself into her own body, she lost herself in her own sweet, freeing movements. This was exactly what she needed.

  Her wolf still remained silent on the matter.

  This wasn't her usual bar of choice, but she was sure to find some hot guy who just wanted a quick tumble and nothing more. Cowboys around here worked hard, and they played harder when it was quitting time. She'd already noticed a few in here she'd played with once or twice before. But tonight was all about meeting someone she'd never seen before and would never talk to again afterward.

  The one guy who'd moved in closest to her come-hither smile and little finger wave would be just the ticket. Dark hair, dark eyes, a young guy just itching for a good time. He'd already given her that knowing grin, the one that promised some yee-hawing later on.

  Perfect. She moved a little closer, flashing him her best sultry smile as she let his hand circle over her waist. She ignored the fact he didn't remotely turn her on, cute as he was. This wasn't about being turned on. It was just about forgetting, pure and simple.

  “Hey, cowboy,” she said into his ear as she let his hips grind closer to hers. “Wanna have a good time?”

  “No, he doesn't,” a familiar voice flooded with dangerous fury snarled over her shoulder. “Get the hell off my woman.”

  �
��Rafe!” was all Sara got out before the dark-haired cowboy flew through the air to the chorus of a few screams and several goading cries. He slammed into a few other drunk guys, who shoved him back with encouraging yells of, “Fight! Fight!”

  “Hell, yeah!” another deep voice hollered over the melee. Caleb Bardou leapt into the fray and started pummeling random cowboys left and right. The dance floor immediately became a free-for-all of bodies either scrambling to escape or struggling through to get in on the down and dirty action.

  Rafe tugged at Sara's arm, then grabbed her full body and literally swung her out of the way when two guys began landing punches on one another about an inch away from where her nose had been seconds earlier. Kicking and spitting indignant words at her would-be rescuer, she saw the bouncers moving like enormous Mack trucks toward the fray, boredom evident on their faces as they began a familiar chain of Friday night events at their raucous little watering hole.

  Rafe firmly set her down in front of him. Keeping his arms around her like a protective shield, one hand circling her upper left arm and causing no small amount of ridiculous tingling over her body, he steered them out of the crowd and toward the door.

  “Rafe, let me go! What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Saving you from your idiotic self, it seems,” he snapped as he continued to march her through the throngs of people. “And finally taking what's mine.”

  “What?” she said, twisting her head to look at him. She tripped over someone's foot and yelped as she started to go down. Rafe righted her and held on tight until they reached the door. He shouldered through it and maneuvered them outside into the cool night spring air.

  Sara wrenched away from him. He immediately let her go and she stumbled again. He reached out again to catch her before she tripped once more over large, heavy ashtray pots just outside the door. This time, she let herself laugh a little, though there was a somewhat desperate edge to it.

  “We have to stop dancing like this.” She kept her tone light to cover the way her hormones had sprung to life the moment she'd heard his voice rumble by her ear.

  Her wolf danced in her mind as well.

  Rafe steadied her once more, this time making sure there was nothing else she could gracefully stumble over. When he released her, his hand lingered on her arm, sending more tantalizing shudders through her. Something dark and feral lurked in his eyes. She had seen that look before. Each time, it meant she was about to get naked and howl in ecstasy with this man.

  The deep forest green button down he wore complemented his eyes and the chest she longed to run her fingers over. The sexy five-o-clock shadow still dusted his face. She wondered what it would feel like to have it scratch over her sensitive skin as he kissed his way across her body.

  She must have started to breathe more rapidly at the thought, because his eyes darkened even more. The intoxicating scent of an aroused wolf engulfed her. Swallowing hard, Sara let the shivers consume her body with their languid thrill as Rafe stepped toward her.

  Rafe almost swallowed his own tongue at the look Sara gave him. The way she was dressed was already enough to make him hard. The yards of bare skin became all the more inviting when framed in peekaboo manner by the slight amount of clothing she wore.

  Seeing that guy in there putting his hands on Sara had pushed Rafe over the edge. Hard. After the long day—year—of tension between them, the futile search for the unknown wolves, and his own internal questioning whether or not he'd completely messed up any chance with her, he finally, spectacularly, lost his famous even temper.

  Now, he moved toward with a stalking grace that came directly from his wolf, who prowled just beneath the surface.

  “What were you doing back in there, Sara?” he asked in a silken growl. Sara's eyes widened. The pulse at her neck jumped and his eyes shot to it. Sliding his tongue between his teeth and lips, he could almost taste her there. Sweet salt on her skin would explode through his mouth as he traced the blood throbbing underneath, traveling heated through her veins because of him.

  “Wh-what?”

  “Did you dress up for the boys,” he said with some disdain, “in there, or for the wolf you knew would come for you?”

  Sara's mouth opened a bit. The pulse in her neck raced and her chest made the most intriguing things happen to the scrap of material covering it as she began breathing faster. She shook her head as if slightly dazed. There was no fooling Rafe's sense of smell now he was focused so immediately on her. Knee-knocking desire radiated from every centimeter of her luscious little body. She knew exactly what she wanted, and it was him.

  “You're coming with me,” he said, and shot his arm out to grab her hand. She held on as he closed his grasp on her and pulled her with him down the street. He strode past small bus benches, potted flowers set out by the town, and other businesses, all shut for the night. The low thumping from the bar they'd just exited spilled out behind them, along with the whoops of the crowd inside, clearly still amped up. He wondered for a split second how many guys Caleb had taken out by now. Then he wiped all thought from his mind but that about the delectable woman at his side.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, half running to keep up with his long, determined strides. Excitement thrilled beneath her words. Wherever he took her, she was in. All the way.

  He turned left at the next street corner, tugging her willing body along. His wolf stayed alert, focused on the moment.

  Abruptly, he stopped. Sara collided with him, all softness and spicy vanilla scent. He took a deep whiff of her and said, “Here.”

  Sara stared into the blackness toward which he pointed.

  “There?”

  He turned her so she faced the dark alley completely, nestling himself behind her. The gasp that escaped her lips soothed his wolf. Rafe's cock throbbed against her backside as he nodded into her bright hair.

  “Yes,” he breathed into her ear as he pushed against her. “Right there. Right now.”

  Chapter 9

  Sara stared wide-eyed into the very dark alleyway behind Main Street's cute little commercial storefronts. She wasn't sure if her mini bout of hyperventilating came from the apprehensive expectation she felt at the sight of the looming darkness before them...or from Rafe's hardness pressing demandingly into her ass, letting her know in no uncertain terms just what he meant to do to her in there.

  “Oh,” she whispered. Rafe brushed his fingers from her wrist to shoulder. Chills bumped out along her arms.

  “Back in there, sweetheart.” His voice rasped over her. It held an edge she'd only ever heard when he looked at her with the expression that promised immediate gratification. The one that said his wolf was in charge, ready to claim her in every way possible.

  He nudged her, pressing his entire body length into hers. The ridge of hardness against her ass drew a soft groan from her. Rafe chuckled, the sound rumbling through her. She allowed him to propel her forward, letting her sharp night vision adjust to make out shapes.

  The short alleyway was remarkably clear of trash. Fire escapes clutched the brick sides, a few large wooden crates lay neatly stacked in a corner, and a metal grate hunkered down beside one wall halfway through. No doorways opened up into it, which accounted for the lack of any trash. The sometimes haphazard design of downtown had obviously left this random corner awkwardly stuck between buildings.

  Despite its cleanliness, the thought of what was about to happen in a dark alley made Sara feel very dirty, in a very turned on way.

  Her breath caught again as Rafe moved to her side, still walking them both forward. After a quick glance around, he led them directly to the crates and let her go. With quick movements, he unbuttoned his shirt, pulled it over his head, and carefully laid it out over the top and front side of the crate facing them. Without warning, he reached forward, took hold of Sara, and swiveled her around to face him. His teeth gleamed for a split second in warning before he suddenly hoisted her into the air.

  She squeaked in surprise
as her butt gently hit the shirt covering the crate. The smooth wood below scraped gently at her bare calves. The sensation only aroused her more, and her squeak ended on a tiny gasp. Rafe pushed her legs apart and positioned himself between them. Cupping his hands around her hips, he pulled her forward until her heated center pressed directly into his very hard cock.

  Completely unintelligible sounds left her mouth. Sparks seemed to shoot out from the intensely aroused nerve endings right between her legs as Rafe demanded closer contact. All too willing, she spread her legs more so he could get even closer. She reached her hands around his strong, broad back to pull him closer.

  Rafe grabbed her hands before they could get there, tsk-ing under his breath. “No way. I'm in charge now,” he said.

  Liquid fire roared through her as he put her hands behind her back and caught her wrists together in one hand. Supporting her body with his one arm wrapped around it, he leaned her back just a little, still pressing into her from the front.

  “Tilt your head back, Sara. More,” he said in rough voice. Shivering with anticipation, she tipped her head more deeply to the left. His mouth came down on her throat. He licked from her collarbone to her ear, his tongue trailing fire along the way.

  “Oh, my...” she whispered. Her wolf whimpered with sheer longing.

  “Shh,” he said. The rasp in his voice let her know his wolf prowled just under the surface. “I do the talking.”

  The command in his voice made the throbbing deep inside her pitch to a stronger level. It also dampened her panties with wetness. Inanely, all she could think was how grateful she was to have worn a silky black new pair.

  Rafe nipped at the skin just beneath her cheekbone. He nibbled and then let his tongue stroke over her again, eddying it around her neck until she thought she might hyperventilate for real. Slowly, his mouth made its way back up to cover hers. Sara moaned against him as he kissed her, tongues colliding in sharp hunger. She tried to move her hands but he tightened his grasp on her wrists. The sensation of being held sent another direct shot of pulsing fire to her clit. She kissed him with fierce greed, tasting him, drinking him in.