Alphas for the Holidays

by Mandy M. Roth

  She shook his hand for the second time, feeling tiny in comparison. The man had a similar stature to Jameson and the rest of the guys, but for some reason, his aura dwarfed everyone around him.

  She needed to shake that kind of thing off if she ever wanted to advance to alpha.

  “You just met Jameson for the snooping gig, right?” Paulie asked, nonchalantly leaning against the counter.

  All eyes were on her, the room silent. She really hoped Sasha hurried up with that mimosa. “The intruder issue, yes.” She cleared her throat. “Is this the whole party?”

  “Yup.” Sasha looked around at everyone. “Oh. Emmy is out in the other room watching the kids while the child sitter changes diapers. But yeah, just family for the presents. More people will show up later for a big dinner.”

  Just a small bit of family. She stuck out like a sore thumb. Possibly this wasn’t a great idea.

  Selene gave that knowing smile again, making Addison feel a little insecure, which then immediately burned toward anger.

  Addison took a step back, trying to get back under control. The guys in the room shifted a little, more centered, looking wary. Danger radiated through the room. The smile dripped off Selene’s face.

  The guys on edge weren’t helping Addison’s rage issue.

  Actually, coming here might’ve been a terrible idea.

  Chapter 9

  “Look at all this.” Charles shook his head, reaching in for a few presents. “Too much, bro. You always go way overboard.”

  “I only got things that would make the most racket,” Jameson said, waiting for Charles to get out of the way so he could get a bunch. He wanted to hurry. To get back to Addison. Something about her made him want to stick around and bask in her smiles. Or her flashing eyes. Or her smell.

  “You into her, then?” Jonas asked, looking up at the windows of the neighbor’s house. “Those damn neighbors got a staring problem. I’ve half a mind to go put them to bed.”

  “Leave it, bro.” Charles hopped from foot to foot. “They’ve stopped calling the cops. Leave it alone.”

  “We made them stop calling the cops,” Jonas growled, making a pile of gifts. “This better not be a drum set.”

  “Guilty,” Jameson said, laughing. “It’s a child’s version. Way more irritating.”

  Charles stopped hopping, and Jonas’s head jerked around.

  “Well look who just needed to get laid in order to find his sense of humor.” Charles went back to hopping back and forth. “No, Jonas, I wasn’t talking about you. You wouldn’t laugh at a joke if a clown fucked you with it.”

  “Because that shit wouldn’t be funny,” Jonas growled.

  “See?” Charles said.

  “Quit dancing around like an idiot.” Jonas stepped back with a pile of presents.

  “I’m cold.”

  “She’s here to keep you off my back with holding your kids.” Jameson pushed down the hatch and bent for his share of gifts. “As a friend,” he added. “I haven’t known her long.”

  “I’ve heard about her from Anne,” Charles said. “All the guys are trying to get some and she isn’t having it. She’s kind of a loner. She has some really strong magic, though. Anne thinks she could take Tim.”

  “She’s intense, but she’s not nearly as big or strong as Tim,” Jameson said, crossing the street.

  “No, but she’s not as big or strong as three other guys she beat into the ground to get to beta. I heard she is something fierce. Crazy style. Anne doesn’t feel totally comfortable around her, which I would expect out of an alpha. That’s how I feel around the Boss.”

  Jameson did, too. Everyone did, except Sasha. Charles was right: that was what a good alpha did—exude dominance and force, so no one would think of trying to rise above and take the post, thereby upsetting the balance of the people. Tim was good at what he did, but he didn’t inspire that kind of spine bowing. Jameson hadn’t realized it until this conversation.

  “Have you taken blood from her?” Charles asked, bouncing by the door.

  “I haven’t touched her,” Jameson lied. His voice came out rough and vicious.

  “Hey, bro, that’s cool. Simmer down. I wasn’t implying anything. Just wondering if your magical power raises like mine does with Anne.”

  When one of his kind ingested magic of someone with a higher power level, the person’s power who ingested would raise as well, boosting their effectiveness. Their people didn’t share blood with each other very often for that reason. Charles discovered that shifters, their blood having magic, could also raise power.

  Emmy stuck her head out the door. “Guys, you need to get in here. Jameson’s woman is making things…dicey.”

  Fear washed through Jameson. He loved Addison’s fire, but the others might see it as a threat, and act out without thinking.

  He pushed into the door and dropped the presents to the side. The Boss and Sasha’s twins were there immediately, having been told to go back inside, and now gleefully carrying the packages toward the tree. He ran past, Charles and Jonas right behind him.

  “It’s fine,” Sasha was saying, standing in between the Boss and Addison. Selene had backed away to the side with Paulie next to her, and Anne stood near Addison, clearly uncomfortable but pulled toward her pack authority. “Let’s all calm down. Nothing was meant by…whatever happened to make this happen.”

  “Hey,” Jameson said, slowing down as he got close and putting his hand on Addison’s back. He felt her shaking.

  She turned to him, the wildness crouching in her eyes. Just as clear was the fear. The desperation to be anywhere but where she stood. “Hey,” she said, her voice quivering. She released her breath, looking into his eyes. “Hi. I was just terrorizing a room full of killers. How are you?”

  Sasha and Charles laughed. Jonas leaned nonchalantly against the doorframe.

  “Oh good, she’s crazy like me. Well, at least I have a partner in crime.” Sasha patted Addison on the arm, making her jump. “I’ll get that mimosa.”

  The Boss warily looked at Jameson with a silent question. Was Addison dangerous? Because if so, she couldn’t be allowed around pregnant females.

  Jameson had no idea. But without even thinking about it, he knew that if she had to leave, he’d leave with her. When she’d left his SUV earlier that day, without an answer or so much as a goodbye from him, something had tugged at his middle painfully. He’d wanted to get out and go with her. After, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Couldn’t wait until he could see her again. Whatever it was he felt for her, it was strong. He didn’t want to deny it.

  “Want to take a walk?” Jameson asked quietly.

  “No.” She threaded her hand around his middle and sighed when he put his arm around her back. “No. I’m fine. I’ll just hang near you, if that’s okay, and awkwardly avoid holding children.”

  “You’re one of those!” Sasha pointed at her and laughed. She handed over a mimosa. “Who am I going to palm my kids off on?”

  “Not me.” Selene put up her hands, edging forward with a smile. “I have my own.” The Boss shifted, still wary. Paulie shadowed his mate. The males weren’t letting the females defuse the tension.

  Addison tightened up again, clutching Jameson and trying to step back. Trying to get out of the scene.

  “Sorry about that.” Sasha hooked a thumb at the males around Selene. “These guys go crazy when a pregnant female is around. Bonkers, seriously. Charles and Jonas used to try and carry me places.”

  “Until you shocked me,” Charles said.

  “If you’d stopped touching me, I would’ve stopped shocking you, now wouldn’t I? Remember that? Cause and effect. We went through it often enough.”

  “Moody,” Charles muttered.

  “Blockhead,” Sasha retorted. “Anyway, those guys can’t see that their behavior is making things worse. But I get it.” She started pushing Jameson and Addison out of the kitchen. “If I was a crazy predator like you, Addy, instead of a crazy magical
person, I would be very nervous around huge guys with a killer’s edge. It’s only natural. Which is, of course, why they are stressing out. You give off a sort of…vibe. Like…unlit dynamite. It’s exciting. I’d love to have you by my side in battle. But for now, let’s go open presents. When the pregnant woman is out of the picture, things will be fine. You can be as absolutely violent as you want to be, and everyone will think that’s just great. Especially if you pick a fight with Charles. He wallows in it when he bleeds.”

  “I couldn’t. That would be a direct affront to Anne,” Addison said, letting Sasha direct her to a place on the couch facing the tree.

  “Oh. Well, Jonas, then. He is enraged by bleeding. If he smiles at you directly after, be on your guard, because he knows something you don’t. It’s definitely not because he has a sense of humor.”

  Addison laughed.

  “Mom! Mom! Can we open presents now?” “Where’s my dad? Can we open presents?” “Presents!” the kids clamored at once.

  “Yes, fine, go, fine.” Sasha waved them all away. “Pass them out first!” she yelled as the kids swarmed. “Watch the baby! She is only just walking.” Focused back on Jameson and Addison, she said, “Do not rush into having kids. Seriously. Anyway, chill out for a moment, make sure no one kills anyone else over the presents, and I’ll make sure all the parents have liquor. Jameson, that includes you. Your…friend is drinking, so you will be drinking. It’ll loosen you up some.”

  Sasha winked before walking away.

  Addison shook her head and leaned into Jameson. “I’m sorry. I’m supposed to be covering you, and here I am getting everyone ready for battle.”

  “What happened?”

  “Nothing. Selene just smiled in a way that threw me off-kilter. I was trying to get it under control when all the guys tensed, which set off alarm bells. I should have told you. This is why I don’t go to functions. I’m good with people, until I’m not. I just… I haven’t been totally right since my brother. It was so long ago, and that’s not an excuse, it just is the way it is.”

  “Hey, shhh.” He ran his finger under her jaw, tilting her head up. Not thinking, just going with it, he touched his lips to hers, feeling the zing of electricity. “I completely understand. As you clearly know, I lost a parent to a demon when I was younger. The shifters that were supposed to help fled. The Boss lost both his parents. Jonas one. Me one. We blamed it on the shifters, on ourselves…”

  She nodded knowingly. Tim had taken great pains to show they could be trustworthy. He’d surely passed down that knowledge to her so she would keep up the practice.

  “I know that shifters—your pack of shifters—are good in battle,” Jameson went on. “I know that they are trustworthy, but the past dies hard. I’m proof. You’re proof. But look, here I am, lost in a shifter I just met. In you.” Her eyes widened, making him smile. “We both feel it. This is one thing that doesn’t make sense any way I look at it, but I don’t care. I want you, Addison. I want you around. I want your smiles directed at me. I want you here, with people I consider my family. And that might change, and we might hate each other in a week, but for now, I don’t want you out of my sight, and I’ll kill anyone that puts their hands on you.”

  Heat filled her eyes and a smile crossed her face. “Wow. That went from sweet to insane really quickly.” She pulled his face close and nibbled his lips, making him painfully hard. “I agree with everything you just said, including the crazy jealousy. But also”—her voice lowered to a whisper, for his ears alone—“I want to fuck you so hard you forget your name.”

  “Let’s open presents, kids,” Jameson said, his cock throbbing.

  “We can?” someone asked.

  “Yup. Go for it. All at once. As fast as you can.” Jameson covered Addison’s lips with his, not caring that the others were coming into the room. He stroked her tongue with his before backing off and licking her bottom lip. He deepened the kiss again, losing himself like he had after dealing with the intruders, and as he did when he looked into her eyes.

  “Children, presents,” Sasha hollered.

  “They’re not even paying attention,” Charles said, settling on a seat across the room.

  “I was talking about you,” Sasha said.

  Jameson backed off, looking down into her intelligent, fiery eyes, full of longing. “We’ll resume after presents.”

  “I’m curious to see if I can power up your blood to higher levels than Anne can Charles.”

  Jameson groaned and put his arm around her, pulling her into him. “Only one way to find out.”

  Chapter 10

  “Thank you, Mama and Dada,” a little boy—Paulie’s, Addison thought—said as he clutched his new game console.

  “That’s from Santa,” Selene said.

  “No, that was from us. The other one that you said you’re welcome for was from Santa.” Paulie patted her thigh.

  “Oh.” Selene shrugged. Clearly she wasn’t hellbent on keeping the magic alive. Though, not really living in human society, Addison doubted it really mattered.

  The bigger kids ran off as Charles walked closer with his kid. “Okay, which one of you wants to hold her? She’s got a shitty diaper, so she smells great.”

  “That…sounds horrible,” Addison said, waving him away. “Don’t you have a daycare person wandering around? I just saw her.” Addison pointed to the rest of the house.

  “Oh yeah, she’s around, but she’s changing Jonas’s kid’s diaper. For some reason.” Charles raised his voice. “Our fearless leaders only thought to ask one child minder to come.”

  “Having one is a luxury, Charles,” Sasha yelled as she came out of the kitchen. “Watch your kid. It’s not that big of a deal. Especially because she is the tamest thing I’ve ever seen. How that is, with her parents, I don’t know.”

  “It’s a really big deal when she craps herself like a trucker, Sasha,” Charles said, still standing in front of Addison and Jameson. “So anyway, what are you guys going to do? Jameson has a serious case of the blue-ball sweats.”

  “Do you have a death wish, man?” Jonas asked, passing by.

  “Why? I can take Jameson.”

  “I wasn’t talking about Jameson. I was talking about his woman. She’d leave claw marks on your back.”

  “Are you seriously standing here, having a chat, when your daughter is sitting in her filthy diaper?” Anne demanded, descending on them. She only had eyes for Charles, though. “Change her diaper!”

  “Clearly she doesn’t mind sitting in her own smell,” Charles said, getting on his way. “She’s not crying.”

  “She takes after you, clearly,” Anne said, giving Addison a stiff nod. She hurried away.

  “She doesn’t stick around you for long,” Jameson said, standing.

  Addison let him help her up while she watched Anne disappear into the kitchen. “I told her I was off duty here. I’m not sure what the problem is.”

  “Where are you guys going?” Sasha asked with a grin. She waggled her eyebrows.

  “I have to go change a shitty diaper,” Addison said. Sasha burst out laughing.

  “When there was that…misunderstanding in the kitchen,” Jameson said when they were out of earshot, leading her toward a staircase. Excited tingles spread through her body. “Anne chose you. She drifted closer to you when the others were going toward Selene. By the look on her face, she wasn’t one hundred percent sure if that was the right move. That she should pick her pack leader—”

  “Beta,” Addison corrected.

  “—over her mate’s chosen family. Yet she stayed there. By you.”

  “So?”

  Jameson chuckled. “That’s how the Boss would answer. And while I’d lay down my life for that male, and I would woo a beautiful female in his home, and hang out with him in the off time, he’s always my leader. He’s always the boss. Anne hasn’t come to grips with that yet. She’ll need time, it looks like.”

  Addison shrugged, because her brain was getting slip
pery with the loud hum in her body. His heat seared her side and her core pounded, wanting fulfillment. Breathing heavily, she let him direct her into a spare room at the end of the hall. A random toy was lying in the middle of the floor and the queen-sized bed had wrinkles in the duvet.

  “The kids terrorize the whole house,” Jameson said with a smile. He picked up the toy and put it into the hall. “In case someone comes looking for it.”

  “By this point, they have probably forgotten they even own it.”

  “True.” He closed the door, and Addison’s stomach twisted. After locking it, he glanced at the light, and then her face. His small smile made her heart flutter. “Let me run down the hall really quick. I want a little light, but this is too bright.”

  Heart hammering and palms sweaty, Addison made herself busy by messing with the shades. They were already down, but she made sure they were hanging just right. The door closed again and a match was struck before the room plunged into darkness.

  The flicker of a candle made shadows dance along the walls. “Better.”

  “You can see in the dark, right?” she asked, still facing the shade. Butterflies swarmed her belly, she was so nervous. She had no idea why.

  “Yes,” he said softly right before his arms came around her waist. “You can, too, it seems.”

  “A little bit. My animal is nocturnal, and that affects my human side.”

  “Which is good, since my kind are nocturnal.”

  She sighed as his lips trailed across her shoulder. Her zipper whizzed, loosening her top. A moment later, helped by his warm palms, the fabric of the dress slid down her skin.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked softly, his lips against her ear.

  “Nervous,” she admitted.

  He spun her around until she was facing him, looking up into his eyes. Soft, brown, and so deep; she fell into his gaze, weightless. His lips brushed hers, spreading warmth through her body.

  “Why nervous?” he whispered, his lips slowly applying pressure to hers.