Alphas of Summer: A collection of shifter romances

by Lia Davis

  He lifted her against his body, and his kiss burned him into her soul. Deep inside her a fire lit and threatened to cause an inferno. His kiss proved to her he could keep up with any suitor. His hands gripped her ass, lifting her off her feet. “I’m young enough to give you all the babies you could possibly want. I want to see you large with my child, Jenny.”

  Those simple words sent heat rushing between her thighs and into her core. Under his cool exterior, the face he showed the world of the sexy but somewhat reserved scientist, simmered a passion which threatened to burn them both. “I want you.”

  He eased back and searched her eyes. “I want you, too, but not here and not yet.”

  How could she forget they stood on a hiking trail a few yards from the picnic area? “Yeah, not here.”

  He let her slide down his body to stand again. “There are things you don’t know yet about me, and I want to make sure you have all the facts before I make love to you.”

  In her current state, nothing he could say would alter her need for him. “So, we need to talk.”

  “Yes.”

  “When?”

  “As soon as possible.”

  “Tonight?”

  “Yes, in my office.”

  She spent the rest of the picnic in a haze of desire. She smiled and laughed with the others and even managed to ask Quinn how old Brutus was, but Quinn’s “a couple of hundred years old” comment didn’t help her in the least. Not until she passed Mammoth Springs on her way home did she remember she wanted to ask where the hell her friend lived. Back in her room, she forced herself to stop pacing the floor. She had to keep her mind occupied with something she could do on autopilot. Talk about the elk.

  The elk lay majestic and unaffected in the common, sunning themselves, oblivious to the humans who wanted to get as close as possible and get some selfies. She was speaking with a group of Boy Scouts when one of the cows rammed her from behind, sending her flailing to the ground before the female huffed and stomped across the street.

  Shaking off the attack, if attack it had been, she excused herself, limped back to her room, and lowered her pants and panties to check for damage. Her left butt check already showed the colorful signs of what promised to be a hell of a bruise. She replayed the event over and over in her mind, trying to figure out what set the animal off.

  Maybe the cow had sensed her nervousness about her meeting with Lars? If he thought the age difference might be an issue, whatever he planned to share must be a doozy. When she approached Lars’ office, his door ajar the sounds of voices wafted out.

  “Exactly what did you think would happen?” Though Lars’ voice remained calm, his tone conveyed his anger loud and clear.

  “I thought she would get the message and leave good enough alone,” The female whined. “You didn’t expect us to be happy about the situation did you?”

  “You’re out of line, Amanda. This isn’t going to happen again. Do I make myself clear?”

  “But, Alpha…”

  “Not again.” The rumble in his voice had her knees quaking.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Leave, now. Tell Erin I wish to speak to her as well.”

  The door opened, and she stared up in the tear-streaked face of a beautiful brunette with large doe eyes. “Sorry,” Jenny said, for lack of anything else.

  “You should be,” the other woman puffed before stomping down the hall.

  Jenny poked her head around the corner. “Should I come back later?”

  Lars stood in front of the large window looking out over the commons. He didn’t turn to her, only shook his head. “No, come in. How is your hip?”

  She paused, “How did you know about my hip?”

  “You’ll soon come to learn there is very little going on in the Mammoth area or within the elk herds I don’t know.” He approached her and sat in a big armchair. “Come here.” When she obeyed, hesitant, he pulled her between his legs and turned her away from him. “May I see your injury?”

  She nodded and eased the elastic waistband of her leggings down, exposing the hip and ass cheek which she knew sported a hideous purple discoloration. “I should have seen it coming.”

  “How could you see it coming? From the information I’ve been given, you were talking to some children and well away from the herd. The attack was unprovoked, but I’ve dealt with it.”

  She faced him again. “I’m fine. Don’t hurt her.” When an animal attacked a human they were sometimes put down.

  “This says to the contrary you aren’t.” He rubbed his thumb over the heated flesh. “Amanda is jealous and rammed you out of spite.”

  They had to be talking about two separate things. “Amanda? You mean the woman who left a few minutes ago?”

  “The very same.”

  “I think you’re confused. An elk attacked me, not a human.”

  “I’m very aware of who and what hurt you.” He stood and began pacing, “This is what I needed to explain to you.”

  “I feel I should sit.” Somehow, she knew whatever he had to say would rock her world.

  He waited until she eased into the chair before beginning. “Amanda the human and the elk are the same being.”

  “Right.” She judged the distance to the door and how many steps it would take to run down the hall.

  He didn’t say anything more, but a golden shimmer covered his body, and the image of an elk cast over him. As quickly as it appeared, it faded again. “I’m not the man you think I am.”

  “What the hell was that?”

  “That, my love, is my other half.”

  “Right.” For some reason her vocabulary left. Acid raced up her throat from deep in her stomach. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

  He pressed a wastebasket into her hands and eased her head down. “Breathe deep.”

  “Easy for you to say,” she managed between pants.

  The moment of queasiness passed, but she didn’t think she could face him yet. The animals she loved and cared for were also humans? Impossible. But true…she knew it was true. Anger infused her. “Do you laugh at us at the end of the day? Stupid rangers.”

  “No. Never. You protect us when we are at our most vulnerable. When our babies are too young and don’t understand the dangers.”

  “Why do you need us?”

  “Because there are humans in the park. If we are to save Yellowstone and the other parks for future generations, people have to come to them and love them. We are far outnumbered by mundanes.”

  “Mundanes?”

  “Those who aren’t shifters.”

  “Shifters?” she mumbled into the bin.

  “Humans who have the ability to become an animal.”

  Visions of horror movies rushed into her head. She needed to see his face to try and read his reaction to her questions. “Like werewolves.”

  “There are some werewolves in the park. But, obviously, my animal form isn’t wolf.”

  “Are all the animals shifters? That’s a stupid question.”

  He moved towards her, and she pulled back.

  “No, not a stupid question. Not all animals are shifters, and not all elk in the park can shift. Ninety-five percent can’t.”

  “But every one out on the common can?”

  “Yes the herd up here is made up of shifters, the ones on the western and southern edge of the parks are also shifters. There are about seventy-five of us in the park at any given time.”

  A horrifying thought came to her, and she jumped to her feet, regretting it as the queasiness returned. She pushed past it and remained standing. “The elk that were hunted.”

  “Were not shifters.” He squared his shoulders. “Although any killing within the park is despicable, had the deceased been our kind, there would have been no holding back Brutus and his bears.”

  “Did you say bears?” She eased back into the chair to discover it wasn’t low enough to the floor for her liking. Flat on her back might be the best option for a conversation of
this type. The utilitarian carpet offered no padding, but the drop ceiling panels gave her something to focus on. Of course, if elk could shift, so might others, but bears? And Brutus. Quinn had to know. She lifted her head. “Bears?”

  “Yes.”

  “Huh.” She pursed her lips. “Right. And you already said there werewolves?”

  “Yes, and coyotes.”

  “Of course coyotes.” As if the coyotes wouldn’t be part of the big secret party. She pinched the bridge of her nose. She didn’t often suffer from migraines, but this situation might bring one on. “Moose?”

  “A few.”

  “Marmots?”

  “Not any I am aware of,” he said lying on the floor next to her.

  “Rams?”

  “Yes, but they are really stupid.”

  She turned to him. “Seriously?”

  Their eyes met, and he smiled. “Seriously.”

  “Beavers.”

  “No, but I’ve heard rumors of otters.”

  Returning her focus to the ceiling, she asked, “I assume bison.”

  “Definitely.” After a moment, he added, “We aren’t as different from you as you might think.”

  “Except for turning into animals.”

  “Except that part.”

  They lay side by side in silence. He had a way of knowing what she needed before she needed it. Never in all her life had she imagined she would be having this kind of conversation. She hadn’t known what he had to tell her tonight. Perhaps that he had grandchildren. Had a breeder fetish. Lived in the park because he hid from the FBI. Anything would have seemed more plausible than that he could change into an animal.

  So many questions ran through her scattered brain, she decided on the first one to come to her. “What kind of bear?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “What kind of bear is Brutus?”

  “Grizzly.”

  “Now that makes a heck of a lot of sense.” He behaved much like a bear sometimes. “Is Quinn a bear now?”

  “Quinn will forever be human but, yes, before your brain gets moving, their son and any other children will all be shifters, too.”

  “Oh.” Minutes turned to hours, the sun set, and the moon glowed, casting a soft light over the two of them lying on the floor of his office. At one point he made the brave move to take her hand, and she didn’t fight the contact. “You could have kept all this a secret. You could have slept with me and never told me a thing.”

  “My kind is not into deception where we can help it. For obvious reasons, we don’t let the world know about us, but I cannot lie to my mate.”

  “Why do I feel there is another great reveal about to happen?” How much more did he expect her to take in one night? The world she knew, hell, the park she thought she knew, swarmed with half human half animals, and now she would forever wonder if an animal was simply an animal. Or if a man was only a man.

  “My people, the elk, are blessed with two mates, call them soul mates. These are the persons our souls search for. They are the ones we can procreate with. We can wait for years for them to come into our lives, sometimes centuries.”

  “Did you say centuries, as in hundreds of years?”

  “I did.”

  Sitting straight up, she turned on him. “Did you think you could simply sneak centuries in?”

  He sat up and cupped her face. “Do you think I haven’t wanted to tell you everything? Mate or not, I cannot risk the safety of my people. Telling you about us is a risk, one some of my people are not too happy about. But I’ve watched you protect those I call family for a year. You’ve watched our young and cared for them. Those are the attributes my people need from their alpha’s mate.”

  “You’re in charge of all the shifters.”

  “Can we move over to the sofa if we are going to have this conversation?” He didn’t wait for her to respond. Once on his feet, he picked her up, brought her over to the sofa, and positioned her on his lap. She would have fought, but his touch eased her. “I’m not in charge of all the shifters. I am the leader of the elk. I also act as guardian of our animal counterparts.”

  “So, I’m your mate, and the only way you can have more children? Is this why you are interested in me?”

  “No. My kind is not monogamous.” When she would have gotten off his lap, he held her tight to him. “We are polyamorous. Each male is granted two mates. Usually at the same time. Had my mate still been alive, both of us would have felt the desire to mate with you.”

  “Together?”

  “Perhaps.” His fingers through her hair eased some of her tension. “Unlike bears, bison, hell all the other shifters, bulls among my people are rare. The females have to wait a long time to find a mate. I think the fates knew this and allowed us two mates so more women could have children.”

  “So, are you telling me you have a lot more girls than the boys who work in the park?”

  “Our women give birth to girls three times as often as boys. My mate had two boys and eight girls.”

  “You have ten children?” Her voice cracked.

  “Over a hundred year time period. Liesel and I had been mated for one hundred and twelve years when a hunter’s bullet took her seventy years ago.”

  “But I’ll age, grow old. How will this work?”

  “Unlike other shifters, we bond but don’t intertwine our life forces…You’re confused. Okay. When Brutus and Quinn mated, their lives became one. She stopped aging, and their hearts now beat at the same speed and rhythm. She will age with him, and they will die within a short period of each other. Possibly hundreds of years from now.”

  “But you didn’t die when your wife did.”

  “No. Because there are two mates for every male, we don’t interlock our life force. I’m not sure we could. Our men go weeks without coming back to the herd, and most females prefer those absences. Quinn can’t go more than a day without being with her mate and vice versa. She needs to touch him, to connect to him, to feel secure. He needs her presence in the same way.”

  “I still don’t understand why you just didn’t keep it all a secret.”

  “Because when we make love, we become mates. The moment we connect intimately, we become one.”

  “You let me go once. Did you know last year I was your mate?”

  He nodded.

  “And you did nothing.”

  “You approached me. Everything changed when you did.”

  “You came to the restaurant.”

  “Because I couldn’t stay away. But I had no intention of talking to you.” His eyes flared with passion and frustration. “You can walk away. I can get you relocated to another area. Only my sons and the Mammoth herd know who you are. They will keep it to themselves should I ask them to. You’re lucky to have an elk mate. If you were mated to a bear or wolf, your scent would have brought out every shifter wanting a mate for miles.”

  Lucky? Right this minute, lucky didn’t quite say it. “I guess it’s something.”

  “I’m trying to tell you before you hear rumors. You, unlike Quinn, are free to leave me and live your life.”

  “And if I want to stay?” Every time he mentioned her leaving, her lungs seized.

  “We would need to work out the logistics, but it is completely your choice.”

  “Until we have sex.”

  “Yes. The fates will take our coupling as your agreement to mate with me.”

  “It’s a great deal to take in.”

  “It is.”

  He eased back on the sofa, and she curled into his arms. Content in the security of his embrace, she closed her eyes. Perhaps, in sleep, her life would return to normal, where men were simply men and animals only as they appeared.

  Chapter 4

  For six days, Jenny avoided Lars. She worked the commons less frequently. When calls came for extra help with bears on the road, she volunteered to go every time. The one afternoon he’d also been on the commons, she’d kept a wide berth. An hour ago, he’d slid a note
under her door. If she wanted to be moved, now would be the best time. He would meet with the superintendent along with Brutus Chintok, Otto the black bear alpha, and Darius in the morning. The ram and coyotes’ alphas were invited to attend this annual meeting, but they never did. They discussed what both sides needed and how best to help the park. He would also ask the others if they would be willing to take on his mate. He suspected Brutus would be the first one to say yes.

  The pile of papers on his desk grew larger, while he fought the desire to claim his mate. Nothing kept his focus. When someone knocked, he considered ignoring it, but one of his herd wouldn’t go away if he did. “Come in.”

  Clutching the sheet of paper he had slipped under her door, Jenny demanded, “Do you want me to leave?”

  “I merely wanted to give you the option.” He stared at her, drinking in her appearance. Blinking, he set his pencil down and indicated the empty seat on the other side of the desk. If he stood, she would get a full view of the cock-stand he fought to contain. “I meet with the park superintendent tomorrow. Should you want a new assignment away from me, tomorrow would be the most convenient time to get it approved.”

  “Do. You. Want. Me. To. Leave?” she repeated.

  Couldn’t she tell he held on to his sanity by a thread? Through gritted teeth, he answered, “No.”

  “You couldn’t prove it by this.” She shook the paper.

  “I’m trying to give you space. I’m desperate to give you what you need. Letting you go is detrimental to my sanity.”

  “Will you become impotent if I leave?”

  The pivot in conversation had him speechless for the moment. “Where did you hear that?”

  “Quinn. I went to visit her yesterday. I got a tour of the den, and she helped make sense of everything going on.”

  “So it all makes sense now?” He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

  “More than it did two days ago.”

  “And you couldn’t come to me with your questions?”

  “No.”

  “Why the hell not?”

  “You aren’t a woman, and you aren’t human,” she yelled as if he were too dense to hear her any other way. “So is it true?”

  “I don’t know? Perhaps. I suspect it is. I had no interest in anyone after Liesel died until I saw you last year.”