The Alpha's Choice

by Jacqueline Rhoades

  "What else did the sheriff say?" Alex drew the attention back to himself.

  "He thanked Mrs. Martin for her time and warned her to keep an eye out for wild dogs. She's to give him a call if she sees or hears anything unusual."

  "Like howling, snarling, growling?" someone quipped, "There's nothing unusual about that!"

  Chapter 14

  Kat pointed to the gathering of men in the field, pale shadows in the darkness. There was laughter and playful shoving as they shucked their clothing and tossed it to the ground. "Do they always…?"

  "Yeah, pretty much. Too bad they're not closer. It's a sight to behold." Jo topped her glass off and offered the bottle to Kat.

  Kat shook her head. These wolvers could consume a frightening amount of liquor without showing its effects. She, on the other hand, had already had one glass too many.

  "I don't know about that." She giggled at the thought of a dozen men running around naked in what was, in effect, the backyard. "It's warm enough here, but out there it's cold enough to shrivel the goods. Charles wore jeans the other night," she added, remembering.

  "Every pack is different. Back home, good old cotton longjohns were the norm. It gets cold in the Maine woods. As long as it's natural fibers, it works. Synthetics come home in shreds." She poked her chin in the men's direction. "These guys are always measuring the size of their dicks in one way or another. It gets old after a while. Not this, though. Watch. This never gets old."

  Light shone from the center of the group, the same light Kat saw when Charles went over the moon in the field. How easily the term came to her now. The light grew brighter and another light flared and another and another until a soft glow covered the group of men. Only they weren't men anymore, but beasts; great wolves who yipped and nipped at one another the way their man-forms laughed and shoved.

  Two of the women, red headed Becky and her quiet friend Nan, had already gone to bed. Stephanie and the two others shared gossip in the warmth of the hot tub, their short bursts of brittle laughter slicing through the stillness. Jo declined their offer to join them. Kat remained uninvited and felt a bit like High School all over again.

  The wolves broke up into teams of three or four. Kat wasn't sure what game they played or if it was a game at all. It almost looked like keep-away although apparently there was a goal in mind as they moved farther out into the field. The snarling became more pronounced, the tackling more vicious. They circled, pounced, and tore into one another with a vehemence that was frightening.

  Kat watched from the edge of her seat, eyes wide as one cried out in pain and then another. The waning moon rising above the treetops shed enough of its pale light to see one lone wolf hang back from the pack and limp off to the side.

  "Poor Hyatt. He never was much good at games. My mother always said he lacked the killer instinct," Jo said fondly. "He's loyal, though, and one helluva a lawyer."

  "Isn't he the one you were bickering with?" Kat asked.

  They watched as the injured wolf lay down on the edge of field.

  "He's my brother. Who else can I bicker with?" She spoke calmly enough, but her eyes never left Hyatt. "We've always been like that. Don't you have brothers, sisters?"

  "Just me. My mother died when I was nine, but my grandmother said her trouble started soon after I was born. Grams is gone now, too." Kat changed her mind and poured a little more wine in her glass. After taking a sip, she spoke again. "My father is still around somewhere. I think. I haven't seen him in years. He fell apart after my mother died, started drinking. The last good thing he did for me was leave me with Grams."

  "You didn't see him? Didn't he visit?"

  Kat took another sip of wine. It was another hurt that kept on hurting. "He would show up once in a while, sober up long enough for me to begin to get to know him and then start drinking again." As an adult, she knew he suffered from depression and self-medicated with alcohol, but knowing that didn't help the hurt she felt as a child each time he left. She often thought back then that it would be better if he didn't come at all, but when he stopped coming, it was worse.

  "My dad and mom still live in Maine along with my sister, her mate and my two nephews. I miss them, but I couldn't live like them."

  Kat raised her eyebrows in question and it was enough for Jo to continue.

  "Most wolver packs live behind the times. Males are dominant, females subservient. The women are content to stay home and raise their families and take care of their mates. If they have jobs, they're secondary and devoting your life to a career is unheard of. That's okay for them, but it wasn't for me. I couldn't wait to leave the backwoods for the big city. When I met Charles and he offered me this job and a place in his pack, I thought it was a dream come true, though lately I've been wondering if I made the right choice." She waved her hand to indicate the surrounding area. "I miss this. The land, I mean. I miss the wild."

  "I like teaching," Kat admitted, "and I never planned to set it aside, but all I ever really wanted was a husband, a house in the suburbs and two point three children. You know; a normal, average, regular life."

  "Well, you sure ain't finding it here. We're not even normal by Wolver standards, though I think that might be about to change," Jo sat back in her chair and turned her eyes to Kat after the wounded wolver arose and limped after the pack that was now running toward the woods. "He doesn't have any money, you know."

  "Who? Charles?" Kat thought of the cars in the barn, the house and the renovations, not to mention the pool and hot tub.

  "Yes, Charles. Who else would I be talking about? Everything is held by Wolf's Head Enterprises except for this house and it's mortgaged to the hilt. Charles earns good money, but he likes the high life. If he lost his position as the Alpha, he'd lose everything."

  "Not everything," Kat said with quiet confidence and then realizing she'd spoken aloud, she blushed. More to cover her slip of the tongue than curiosity, she said, "I guess I don't understand the whole concept. I thought he was born to be the Alpha."

  Jo watched the trees where the wolves had run. "Every man out there is an alpha in his own right. Charles handpicked every one of them because they had those qualities. They're smart, aggressive, and strong. Hyatt is probably the weakest physically, but he makes up for it in intelligence. There are others, betas and below, who work for Wolf's Head. They also have strengths and talents, but not to the alpha degree. The Alpha, the leader with a capital A, normally has to earn that position through strength and cunning, but any alpha has the right to challenge for it at any time." She watched the women in the hot tub for a few moments and when she was sure they were busy with their own conversation she continued.

  "Charles was raised to be the Alpha, but he didn't fight for his position. He created it. He wanted to break from the old isolationist ways to form a new kind of pack based on business principles, one that functions more as a corporation than a pack. The corporation would grow through recruitment rather than mating. He sought out others who were dissatisfied with the traditional packs, others like myself who wanted to live independent lives without going rogue. Applying our pack mentality to the business world has worked well for almost ten years., but now it's falling apart. No one says much about it, but we all feel it."

  Kat shifted a bit to get a clearer view of Jo's face. "Why? What's happened to change things?"

  "That's the problem. We don't know, but the theories are driving us apart." Jo checked on the women in the hot tub again. "Most of us were really young when the pack was formed. We thought the old ways were outdated. We thought we knew better than our elders. Now, some of us think they were right. About some things, anyway."

  Kat thought of the many times she'd argued with Grams about how she went about planning her future and how things turned out. "That's nothing new. It's pretty common, isn't it? I've been guilty of it myself."

  Jo shrugged and made a wry face. "That's just it. It's common for you, not for us. Tradition is strong in the packs and we believed that's all
they were, traditions. Now, some of us are thinking it's more than that. The beast runs strong in all of us. We talk about our animal instincts that make us successful, but there are others instincts that we've tried to ignore; home, the family unit, mating, communal structure. Some of us believe those are instincts, too, and the beast within us is calling us to obey."

  "You miss it." Kat whispered the commiseration. "We're not so different, you and I. You miss your home and family. I miss mine, too, and I want one more than anything."

  "Some of us are beginning to feel that way, too."

  "Some of you, but not all of you," Kat filled in.

  Jo kept her voice low, barely above a whisper. "Some believe it's a matter of leadership."

  "You don't mean someone might challenge…?"

  "Yeah, I do."

  "But…"

  Jo's eyes flashed a warning. "Is there any wine left in that bottle?" she asked loudly, picking the bottle up and turning it upside down. "Guess not."

  The women in the hot tub rose as one. There was squealing and laughter from two of them as the cool night air hit their water warmed bodies.

  "I'm off to bed," said one as she wrapped herself in a heavy terrycloth robe. "When Tanner comes home, he always brings a bit of the beast with him. I want to be ready."

  "Fine for you, sharing a comfy room on the second floor. Stephanie and I have to make do with those stuffy little rooms on the third." The speaker was short, plump and curvaceous. Kat thought her name was Sylvia. The woman briskly wiped down with a towel and then wrapped it about her shoulders.

  Stephanie didn't bother with robe or towel, but struck a pose that showed off her perfect body to its best advantage. She stood so close to Jo's lounge, water dripped from her body onto Jo's bare legs. She didn't seem concerned with the chilly air and Kat thought, uncharitably, it was because of her cold heart.

  Kat had met Stephanie before or at least women just like her. There was one in every bar she worked. They sauntered in, sat at the bar with their legs crossed and their skirt riding high and issued some nonverbal command that had six guys at their side within minutes. They'd flirt, pout, laugh, and lightly touch, but you could tell they didn't give a damn about the men. It was the power they got off on. If they came in with another woman, it was usually one who gratefully accepted the siren's leavings.

  "Speak for yourself, Syl." Stephanie pulled away the plastic clip that held her hair above the water and shook her head. Her hair immediately took on that wind-blown look that other women took hours to achieve. "I have no intentions of sleeping on the third floor, like the hired help." She looked pointedly at Kat.

  "Then I guess you'll have to knock on doors until someone lets you in. Just don't knock on mine. It's the one next to the Alpha's."

  "Oh, give it up, Jo," Stephanie sneered. "We all know you're not Charles' type."

  "So true, Stephanie dear, so true." It was clear Joanne was enjoying herself. "What you failed to notice is neither are you."

  "We'll see about that, won't we?" Stephanie tossed her hair artfully over her shoulder and led her sisterly supporters into the house.

  "And on that note," Jo laughed, "I think I'd better hit the sack, too. If I wait too long, I'm liable to find my things thrown out in the hallway."

  "She wouldn't dare."

  "Oh yes she would. Don't ever underestimate Stephanie. She's an alpha through and through."

  This society was more complex than Kat had imagined. "I thought only men were alpha's."

  Jo laughed and poked her chin at the woods the way she had before. "That's what they think, but in every pack there are strong woman that folks turn to for wisdom and guidance and support. In a strong pack, there may be more than one. They're the glue that holds a pack together. No one calls them alpha's, but that's what they are. Stephanie's just a new breed of the old girl. Strength and power aren't always found in tooth and claw. Remember that." She yawned and stretched. "And now that I've probably said more than I should, I'm off to bed. Rhonda's right, when the men come home, they'll bring the wild with them. I want to be rested if I'm going to get me some of that." She smacked her lips and rubbed her flat stomach. "With the male/female ratio, I'll have my pick of the litter."

  "Anyone special?"

  Jo pretended to be offended. "Do I look like a girl who kisses and tells?"

  "Do you really want me to answer that?" Kat laughed. Plain spoken Jo was anything but reticent.

  "Fine. It's Ryker." Jo huffed, "But there's nothing to tell until after the kissing, so the juicy details will have to wait for tomorrow." Jo wiggled her ass suggestively and headed for the door. "You coming?"

  Kat laughed again and shook her head, wondering how she could have misjudged this open and forthright woman. "I think I'll sit here and ponder for a while. You've given me a lot to think about."

  Jo turned back, all smiles and laughter gone. "Then let me give you something else to think about. You might be the one who has the power to make this pack what it should be."

  Kat shook her head. "I'm no wolver and I'm sure as hell not an alpha."

  "But you could be the Alpha's Mate." Jo winked and continued on into the house.

  Kat turned off the propane heaters and added more wood to the fire before settling back into her lounge. She grabbed a towel to cover her legs, folded her arms over her chest and stared into the flames.

  Charles' mate? Could that even be possible? She was human, after all. She wanted him; wanted to talk with him; wanted to watch him as he listened to her. She wanted to spend time with him and work beside him, even if that meant clearing spiders and their webs from the corners of the room they were about to paint. His body and his touch called to her. Just the thought of him in her bed made her body burn with the memory.

  But a mate? And just what was that, anyway? A girlfriend? A lover? Or was it something more permanent? Was it the wolver term for spouse? She hadn't known him long enough to be any of those things, really. And yet, there was something powerful between them. One night in his bed had shown her that. He felt it too. Hadn't he told her she might be the one? Could one person fall in love with another that fast? Did she even know what love was?

  When Jo spoke of Charles establishing his new pack, Kat was filled with pride for his accomplishments. When Jo spoke of someone contesting his leadership, Kat was angered on his behalf. How dare they? And when Jo suggested she could be the Alpha's mate, Kat's insides fluttered excitedly at the possibility. Was that love?

  Kat told herself she was waiting and watching for the men to return so that she could watch the change, watch them coming home. In truth, she was only waiting for one wolver to come home. She'd missed him in the short time he'd been gone.

  Chapter 15

  Half asleep, her legs tucked up under her chin so the heavy towel covered her whole body, Kat heard them coming. In the dark's silence, she heard the faint pounding of their feet accentuated by a sharp yip, a quiet snarl of reprimand and then a long drawn out howl that echoed through the night.

  Opening her eyes, she saw them stop where they'd flung their clothes. They milled about and she could feel their excitement and then suddenly they stilled. Small flashes of light began with the outermost beasts, moving rapidly inward, lighting the whole area around them until the final blinding flash erupted from the center and the beasts became men.

  For a moment, Kat couldn't breathe. She'd felt the power of that final flare at the very center of her core. It stunned her and thrilled her. Charles had brought his wolvers home.

  The men laughed and pushed and shoved each other in playful camaraderie as they gathered their scattered belongings, tossing them about as each found their own. Only a few bothered redressing and those only in their jeans and shoes.

  Embarrassed to be caught peeping, Kat pulled the towel over her face and pretended sleep as they drew nearer the house. Sheltered from the breeze, the lounge was tucked back in the darkest corner of the patio and her towel covering was a dark navy blue. With any l
uck, they'd never know she was there.

  "That was ass crackin' fun!" Kat didn't recognize the voice.

  "What the hell does that mean?" She thought that might be Tanner; young, dark haired with a ready smile.

  "Bend over and I'll show ya."

  "Sorry, my ass is spoken for. Sweet Rhonda awaits." Hopefully Tanner.

  "Don't know what the girl sees in you, Tanner."

  "That's because I keep my drawers on whenever you're around. Wouldn't want to cause you any whatchamacallit, penis envy." Definitely Tanner.

  "Anyone know what room Becky's in?" said another unknown voice.

  "I do and if I find you anywhere near it, you'll be changing your name to Dick-less." That was Rawley of the silky smooth voice. That voice alone could bring a woman to the edge. Add it to that god-like body and… well… Becky was a lucky woman!

  "I thought Dickless was his name."

  "Nah. You're thinking of Dickhead."

  "Asshole."

  "That's his middle name."

  All this was interspersed with good natured laughter and Kat locked her lips between her teeth to hold back the giggles. These alpha wolvers were nothing more than overgrown boys. She'd heard the same type of conversations in the hall by the boy's locker room after a game. Kat's internal merriment was cut short by her sharp intake of breath when another voice spoke.

  "Time to put the beast to bed, boys, and there'll be no knocking on doors unless an invitation has already been issued. No invitation? You'll have to make do with a cold shower or your five fingered friend."

  There were more comments and laughter, but Kat was no longer paying attention. Charles was standing at the foot of her lounge. She could feel the residual power emanating from him and goosebumps arose on her skin.