“Dakota!” She looked around to see if Rhonda could hear him. “I am at work. I get off at five, I will come home then.” He nodded. “I have to work, please go before the boss comes in.” He leaned closer to kiss her neck and nibble her jaw.
“You are so beautiful right now with all of your lovely creamy skin flushed a hot glorious pink.” His fingers massaged her nape. “Are you sure that you don’t want to come home with me?” He coaxed. “You don’t have to work you know. I can support us. Come home with me Rae.” She turned slowly in her chair. His deep blue eyes were soft and so inviting, she felt herself slipping into that same haunting feeling that enveloped her when he’d walked into her kitchen the first time she saw him. Rae nearly lost herself in him again now.
“Excuse me, you can’t be in here. This room is off limits to the public.” Mr. Peterman had arrived and was already grouchy. “Rae, ask your friend to leave.” She felt Dakota stiffen. “Now Rae, or I will have you thrown out with him.” He really was a nasty little bastard. She had worked here since high school, had worked her way up to the back room from stocking shelves and this was how he spoke to her? Ordering her about like an errant child? He may be the owner’s nephew but that didn’t mean he had the right to behave like a tyrant.
“Last chance darling.” The word was a palpable caress. Dakota had her elbow but let the decision remain Rae’s. Rae got up from the chair.
“Mr. Peterman, this is my husband James.” She saw Rhonda’s mouth pop open and her eyes go wide with surprise as she spun in her chair to watch. Peterman stood taller and tried to puff himself up to appear larger, but his five and half foot frame was nothing in comparison to Dakota’s massive structure. “James needs me at home. Good bye Mr. Peterman.”
“Are you quitting?” His arms crossed over his chest. She nodded. “If you quit without notice Rae, I will keep your leave pay out.” Dakota growled deep in his chest.
“No, you won’t little man, you will pay her what she is owed in leave and salary and you will write the check right now.” Dakota said with chilling calm, his eyes brightened slightly becoming bluer. He would protect his mate from wrong doing. Peterman backed up, afraid, and hurried into his office hitting his shoulder hard on the door frame. Dakota waited calmly, Rae tugged on his sleeve. He put up his index finger asking her to wait a minute. He perched casually on her desk, his heavy booted feet crossed at the ankles.
“I hope you really can support us because I will never get a good reference out of him now.” Rae pouted.
“Don’t worry darling.” Dakota leaned over and kissed her cheek. Peterman hurried back in now and handed Rae a check. “Does that look like it’s correct?” She nodded biting her bottom lip. Dakota unfolded himself and stood up tall now. He put his hand out for Peterman to shake. Peterman shook it with much trepidation. “Have a nice day.” Dakota said as he hauled Rae against him and escorted her from the office. Dakota unlocked a large dark blue SUV. He lifted her easily and put her in the passenger seat.
“What about my car?” She looked over at the small red compact that she was still paying on.
“We’ll pick it up on our way back. I want to take you somewhere first, then to lunch.” He shut the door and walked around to the driver’s side. “Don’t do what you did today again. If you need to go somewhere, tell me. I don’t like to worry. I am a very old fashioned guy.”
“How old are you Dakota?” Rae glanced at him. Maybe this was none of her business.
“Of course it’s your business.” He answered the question only spoken inside her head as if she’d said it aloud. “I’m one hundred twenty three.” He laughed when her mouth gaped.
“You’re older than my dad.” Rae was incredulous.
“Yes, he’s a nice pup.” She giggled and he smiled. “I come from a very long uninterrupted line of werewolves. You are the first half werewolf in the family, but since the family has all been killed off, I really don’t have anyone to answer to. Since we are so pure blooded, we live to be very old.”
“You don’t look like a day over thirty. Daddy told me that you were a little younger than him, why does he think that?” Rae studied his profile, he was so beautiful.
“It’s what I told him. I was afraid when I met him that if I told him that I am European werewolf, he would have his pack kill me. I have been wandering across America since my pack was exterminated ninety years ago.” His eyes glowed bright blue as he studied her digesting the information. “My name wasn’t always Dakota, my birth name was Farkas, it’s Hungarian and it means wolf. When I arrived in America shortly after the war, I fell in with some Sioux Werewolves. They called me Dakota which means friend or ally.” He stopped at a red light and turned to face her. “It’s been my name ever since, but if you prefer, I can change it back, cante skuye .” She shook her head, she liked the name Dakota. It’s sexy. He grinned at her thoughts. She blushed.
“What does that mean ? Cante skuye? And the other thing you call me Drágám?
“They mean the same, cante skuye is Lakota for sweetheart, Drágám is Hungarian for sweetheart.” Her lips formed a perfectly adorable ‘O.’ “I know...” Horns were honking because the light had changed to green. “I know,” He continued as he drove, “that all of this is a lot to take in Rae. I understand your feelings, your confusion, and your apprehension. Know this, I am your mate. What that means is that nothing on Earth is more important to me than you. We just met and that’s hard for a human to accept because it’s not normal in your world, in mine though it is fact. Once two mate it is for life. If something would happen to you I would go on until I died alone, like your father.”
“But Daddy had two mates, Lauren’s mother and my mother.” Rae argued.
“Mate does not mean fuck Rae. Don’t confuse the two. A werewolf can only have one mate, but a werewolf can fuck whomever. Your dad was quite a philanderer in his time. I’m surprised he only has two children.” Her mouth formed the shape of another ‘O’. “Mate means union for life, one of a pair. We are each one of a pair.” Her head leaned to one side in understanding. “In werewolf biology, there is one individual out there for a female, uh humans say soul mate. It isn’t a conscious choice but more of a biological one for us, your body and soul know when the mate is found. It isn’t a choice that you could make by thinking. Your father wanted you to choose a mate from the pack, but your biology had already chosen me. It’s why I can call to you, feel you. What all this means is that we belong together, we are meant to make a family and to be together. I’ve waited a long time for you Rae. I don’t want you to feel like you need to keep secrets or for you to feel overwhelmed.” He squeezed her hand gently.
“I don’t mean to, it’s just that I saw you once and true I had a very physical and emotional reaction but where I come from that’s unusual. A week ago I didn’t know you existed and over the course of two days, I’ve moved, pretty much gotten married, and lost my virginity to the howls of a bunch of mystical creatures,” she flushed at the thought of ‘everyone’ listening to her have sex. Dakota grinned. “Now I don’t have a job and I’m living with someone that I just met. It’s not rational. I need time to think about all of it and I need to be able to think about it without you in my head. Is there any way that you cannot listen to my every thought?” With her mouth set in a thin line, she looked a lot like her father.
“You’re safe Rae. I am not going to judge your thoughts or your feelings. You can think about it all you like.” He smiled softly.
“But you’re listening! I want to think about you without you knowing what I am thinking.” She pouted.
“That’s not safe, not anymore, not since Alpha’s passing back to you.” He was stopping in front of a furniture store. Rae made a face.
“And that’s another thing. Lauren was only a year younger than I am, she was Alpha, where is her mate? If she was mated for life and I assume that she was since she was certainly old enough and found her mate very young, shouldn’t he be Alpha now no matter what happ
ened to her. She chose him right?”
“Lauren was killed by a drunk driver, she was in the passenger seat and her mother in the back seat, her mate was drunk and driving. He was crashed into by a tractor trailer; they were all killed instantly in the explosion. Her mate ran a red light.”
“Oh.” Rae felt a sudden incredible sense of loss. Her father must be very sad. She mourned the fact that she’d had a half sister that she did not have the chance to know.
“Hey. None of that has anything to do with you. Now, I would like to look at furniture for the empty rooms in our house. Come.”
“Dakota?” He stopped and turned to look at her. “Thank you.” He smiled gently and motioned her to get out.
Dakota purchased a bedroom suit, office furniture, two couches, end tables and a big screen TV. She fretted over the cost knowing that she couldn’t afford any of this. “Lunch?” He turned to her. She nodded.
“Do you have a job?” Rae asked once in the truck. He exhaled slowly.
“No. Whoa, calm down, its okay darling.” He tried to calm her feelings, her sudden rush of fear. “I have money to pay for what I just bought, in fact, if you’d been watching you would’ve seen that I used a debit card not a credit card. I can and will take care of you. Don’t worry. Now, what would you like for lunch? Do you like Mexican? I know a place that has great food.” She smiled at this, she loved Mexican food. Dakota pulled out of the parking lot and into traffic. Rae watched at his hands and forearms so strong on the wheel. She never knew hands and forearms could be sexy. She thought she saw a smile play about his lips but he turned his head out of her view. Desire raced through her unbidden as she watched his abdominal muscles flex and bunch under his tee shirt while he drove. Dakota pulled into another parking lot, this one at an office building that was under construction, but it looked abandoned. No one was working and plastic hung from some of the beams gently fluttering in the breeze. There were no cars or people anywhere to be seen. He put the truck in park and unfastened his seat belt and hers then pulled her into his lap as he slid across the bench seat toward the center. “Anytime, anywhere that you need me, I’m yours.” He growled against her ear nipping at the lobe. Rae’s heart pounded against her ribs as his hands caressed her skin under her sweater. Dakota’s mouth explored hers, his tongue dancing over hers and her breath came in weak shallow pants. Before she knew it her jeans and underwear were gone and she was in his lap sinking onto him, letting him thrust into her and her body was responding on its own. How had this become instinct in such a short time? He felt so good inside of her, stretching her, pleasing her, thrilling her. A delicious ache was growing deep in her groin, her muscles clenching gripping, holding and tugging at him. Oh God she needed him, needed this. A flush crept over her skin as her body bowed back arching to let him in deeper, to feel all of him. Suddenly she convulsed and the orgasm wracked through her and through her, Dakota’s head fell back and he growled loudly climaxing with her, burying his flesh as deeply as he could inside of her. Rae’s muscles seized then fluttered as she collapsed against his chest, trying to catch her breath.
“Wow.” Rae whispered. “Was that real?” His arms tightened around her and he held her close as their breaths and heartbeats returned to normal. His warm fingers stroked her spine soothing her. His nose was in her hair inhaling her scent. He was still inside of her and Rae felt him shift against her. She smiled at the power she had over him. Rae ground her hips against him and felt him grow inside of her again. “Anytime?” She whispered against his chest kissing him through his tee shirt. Rae heard the low satisfied growl. His hands gripped her hips rolling them forward so that he could thrust up into her again from a more intimate angle.
“Rae.” He murmured when they had both climaxed again. Her face was buried in his neck and she was breathing him in. Her swollen lips pressed against his pulse there. Dakota lifted her easing out of her. Rae frowned at the emptiness he left behind. “This is why we should’ve stayed home.” He said into her hair. “So we don’t have to stop.” He smiled down into her now upturned face. “You are the most captivating woman I’ve ever known.” Rae looked down but his fingers caught her chin and raised her face to brush a soft kiss across her lips. “Lunch now before I starve to death.” He playfully smacked her bare hip. “Get dressed.” Dakota pulled his jeans up and slid back over behind the wheel then waited for her to finish before pulling back out onto the road. The restaurant was not far away and they both needed to eat.
Chapter 6
The following morning dawned bright and sunny. Rae needed a run in the worst way. She did her best thinking with her iPod blaring while she jogged. “I need to go to the auto parts store. Do you want to come along?” Dakota asked Rae from the doorway. He had his boots in one hand and a tee shirt slung over his shoulder. He looked edible. She was bent over in a chair tying her sneakers. Rae shook her head and fished her IPod out of her jacket pocket.
“I was going to run the trail that circles the park this morning. I want check it out.” Rae smiled brightly.
“Stay on the path and I’ll be back in half an hour.” Rae nodded and put the ear buds in her ears. She leaned up on her toes and kissed him. He smiled softly at her. Rae stretched her calves and hamstrings then jogged out of the house ahead of him. She jogged across the street and cut between two houses that looked a lot like hers. Brenda was working in her flower bed at the house to the left and waved as she passed. Rae waved and smiled but did not stop. A man that she did not know nodded at her as he picked his newspaper up from the front yard. She nodded back and picked up her pace. All of the houses looked like hers. She suspected they only had one set of plans. Some of the houses had green or black shutters but the houses looked the same. Her father’s house was bigger and had more bedrooms. His basement was where pack meetings were held Dakota told her. All in all it was a pretty little community. She had counted 47 houses on the six streets that branched out like a tree from the main street. There was state park behind the community but the public entrance was on the opposite side of the park from where they were. The pack used it for hunting wild game during full moons. With only one road in and out of her new community, there wasn’t any traffic from the public or the humans as the werewolves called them. Sometimes that sounded like it was meant as an insult to her ears. Rae could feel Dakota watching her but she didn’t look back to see him shift into his wolf form and follow. The music blasted in her ears and she wondered if he could hear that and if he could if he could still hear her think. Rae continued down to the dirt path that was overhung heavily with tree branches, she was thankful for the shade. Rae was nearly a mile away when she was hit hard, tackled from behind. Her feet left the ground momentarily and the breath whooshed out of her as she hit the hard ground. She screamed until a dirty calloused hand closed over her mouth. Rae was dragged further off the path by a foul smelling man. She reached up to jerk the ear buds from her ears.
“What do you want?” Her arms and legs flailed wildly about. Rae stomped hard on the instep of his foot and sank her elbow into his gut. His boozy breath whooshed out of him but he tightened his grip with one arm and slapped her with the other. Rae screamed again. Still he dragged her further off the trail and into the thick brush. Rae scratched and tried to bite him until she saw the knife come into her vision. She stilled and went limp. Her heart pounded and she couldn’t catch her breath. All the fight went out of her. Dakota! She screamed inside of her head. Rae was suddenly spun around and flung to the ground. She was free. Rae scrambled to her feet and backed away stumbling in the thick brush, she didn’t know why he let her go, she was just glad that he did. Then she saw it, the biggest black wolf she’d ever seen. He had the man down that had accosted her and was tearing at his throat. When the wolf turned to look at her he had blue eyes, glowing blue eyes. Dakota. A chill swept through her and she relaxed, the tension visibly leaving her body. The dirty foul smelling man that had attacked her was limp and bleeding on the ground. He looked homeless and there w
ere track marks up one arm. Was he waiting for just anyone to happen by or was he was he camping out here? She saw a blanket and a dirty jacket lying further back in the brush. Rae wasn’t sure if he was dead or not. She walked toward him now and Dakota growled and showed her his teeth. “You won’t hurt me so quit it.” Rae lifted his wrist to check the man’s pulse finding nothing. He didn’t have one. His throat was a bloody mess. Dakota had done this and it frightened her. Ferocious, her mother said. He was protecting her. He said his job was to protect. Thank god he did, that man could’ve hurt her or worse. Rae felt nauseous. The man needed help, too many were homeless and a lot of them were addicts. Rae felt bad for them. She backed up now, spotting her IPod in the brush, she picked it up and turned it off then put it in her pocket. Dakota came to her and nudged his head up under her hand much like a dog would. She scratched him behind the ears and rubbed his head. “I’m okay.” His tongue lolled out panting. “Thank you. We should call the police.” Dakota growled and shook his head. “Not at all?” He shook his head again.
“Finish your run the pack is coming and they will take care of it. We must not draw attention to the pack and this would draw a lot of attention.” She heard inside her head. Rae made her way through the brush and back to the path only to see six more wolves headed her way. None of them as large as the one following behind her and none of them were black. They ranged in size and color from white to gray to silver. She didn’t feel threatened by them and smiled. Rae turned to finish her run. Dakota soon caught up to her and loped beside her. Rae sped up, Dakota stayed with her easily. When she opened the front door finally at home, he went inside. Rae followed him and locked the door. Turning around to face him, front paws landed heavily on her shoulders and she was face to face with him. Rae was a little surprised to have him that close. She watched him change. He got taller, longer, the hair disappearing quickly and beautifully tanned skin taking its place. The paws turned into hands, the elongated nose and mouth drew back into Dakota’s nose and mouth. She could hear bones cracking, she wondered if it hurt. Her father said that it could. His legs lengthened, his chest broadened and his shoulders drew back. He was a man again. Rae was fascinated.
Her Alpha Page 4