Alphas for the Holidays

by Mandy M. Roth

  Another sideways glance and he realized she was just sitting there, her breathing labored as she stared at him. He inhaled, his nostrils flaring as he caught another scent—she was aroused.

  “Belt.” He grunted. “Do up your belt.”

  She scrambled into hers, holding it against her chest when she was done.

  Hunter drove on, trying to ignore the woman—

  Mate.

  —woman seated beside him. The storm was still blowing strong. He pressed the radio button on his steering wheel, and loud music blasted out of the speakers.

  “Shit.” Quickly he adjusted the volume. What jerk left the sound that high when they turned in a rented vehicle? He changed stations until he found one that was giving the forecast. The announcer didn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know. Chicago was in for a record snowfall.

  It was even more critical that he find shelter now. He wasn’t alone. He scanned his surroundings, more than grateful for his wolf vision as he finally made out a mile marker on the side of the road. The small green marker was just barely peeking through a snowdrift. The interstate was soon going to become impassable.

  “Do you know where you’re going?” Her voice was small in the silence of the cab once he turned off the radio.

  “Yes.” No point in panicking her. They’d be damn lucky if they found somewhere warm to stay tonight. His parents’ house was too far away, and they’d already passed up the corporate offices. But he’d find somewhere.

  Why? Because his wolf was right. She wasn’t just a woman, she was his mate.

  Julie didn’t push the man for a stronger answer, not that it would do much good anyway. His standard answer for everything seemed to be a loud grunt. She realized the danger they were in and how lucky she was that he had come along when he did. She decided not to try and start a conversation. If she was going to be rescued by a wolf, she might as well take advantage of it and let him take complete control.

  No one had to tell her that the man sitting in the driver’s seat was a wolf shifter. He was too primal—too alpha—to be anything but. She’d been around shifters before. The men were usually assholes and the women bitches. She didn’t necessarily get that vibe from him. Controlling, yes. Arrogant, definitely yes. The security and safety she felt in his presence quickly overrode those other feelings.

  Leaning back in the seat, she snuggled against the leather, realizing for the first time that the seats were heated. She sighed in contentment.

  Hunter turned his head when his passenger stopped talking. She had settled against her seat, her eyes closed. He didn’t think she was asleep since her breathing was still somewhat shallow and irregular. The glow of his headlights lit up the next exit sign that indicated there was food and lodging. He debated whether he should take this one or continue for another mile or so. Up ahead was an exit that boasted a luxurious hotel chain that would provide them with more creature comforts as they waited out the storm.

  It was also the hotel he usually used when he was in the area and picked up a woman for a quick fuck. He never used the corporation’s suites then. Once a woman found out he was associated with McCall Holdings, he found it very difficult to get rid of them, and he didn’t want the women to stay long. One fuck a night was usually enough for Hunter. He rarely had sex with the same woman twice. He’d tried to do the whole casual relationship thing when he was younger, and it hadn’t ended well. She’d been picking out wedding dresses while he was deployed and he’d been sampling the local talent where he was stationed. Now, every time he invited a woman to his bed, he made damn sure she knew it was a one-time thing.

  He debated his options. He could take this exit where they would find shelter and food, both things that she needed. If he continued on, he was taking a risk.

  Protect, his wolf whispered in his ear. Protect mate. Fuck mate.

  He agreed wholeheartedly with his wolf on the last one.

  He shifted in his seat, the sooner they stopped, the sooner he could sink his length into her warmth. Using twisted logic, he took the exit.

  Taking the turn off slowly, he was grateful once again that he’d had Roberts call ahead and make sure the vehicle had snow tires and chains. They were the only things that were keeping him on the road now. Not a damn thing had been done to the ramp. Luckily, the exit wasn’t steep nor did it end abruptly. He had plenty of time to gear down and stop at the end.

  He and his passenger appeared to be the only two souls out tonight. Or the only two still dumb enough to be out. He had a feeling that the hotel would be booked with weary travelers. He had passed a convenience store and gas station and small diner before he saw the sign for the motel.

  “What’s your name?” His hand tightened on the gearshift.

  “Julie.”

  “Julie…?” He was uneasily aware of how much he liked the sound of her name on his tongue.

  “Julie Monroe. And yours?”

  “Hunter McCall.”

  He waited for the reaction to his family’s name. When none came, he threw a quick glance her way. That was a new one—a woman who didn’t go all goo-goo eyes when the name McCall was mentioned. Either she wasn’t from around here, or she didn’t follow Chicago society.

  This exit came complete with lights that cast a golden glow through the window. It turned her ordinary brown hair into an almost unearthly shade of dark gold. Most of the women he dated loved makeup and knew how to use it. Knew how to dress to attract a man’s attention. Julie’s face was fresh-scrubbed and makeup free. Her sweater was thick and functional even though the green color seemed to make her face glow.

  He pulled under the overhang at the front of the hotel, hoping they would have a vacant room. The parking lot wasn’t completely full, so he had hope they still had something available. “I’m going to see if they have a room.” He left the engine running.

  Before she could answer, he was out the door, walking into the frigid night without his coat. The cold felt good, dampening down his desire. He hoped the motel had two rooms so he wouldn’t be forced into a twenty-four/seven situation with her. A man could only stand so much before he gave into temptation.

  Yeah, like you aren’t going to claim your mate before the weekend was over. Blizzard or no blizzard.

  At times like this, he hated his smart-assed wolf. Because he was usually right. This time, Hunter intended to prove him wrong. He had no intention of claiming the brown haired woman as his mate. His life was too complicated, too dangerous to ask any woman to share it with him.

  He heard the animal’s laugh echo in his head as he powered through the snow that had accumulated on the sidewalk in front of the hotel. He pushed open the glass door, glad to see someone was still behind the desk.

  “Hello, how may I help you?” The woman gave him a coy smile. She was pleasant to look at Hunter had to admit, and in other circumstances, he might have answered the invitation in her eyes with a resounding yes.

  The circumstances being if you hadn’t found your mate. His wolf was full of wit—shit—and charm tonight.

  Yes, damn it, he answered the animal gruffly. If I hadn’t found my mate.

  Our mate.

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever.

  “I need a room for the night. Do you have one?” Because who the hell had he been trying to kid? There was no way he’d let Julie out of his sight tonight. Julie. A prim and proper name for a prim and proper woman. Fortunately, Hunter was good at uncovering a woman’s bad side.

  “I have several more. Is it just you?” She looked over his shoulder at the Hummer idling outside. She couldn’t see Julie through the tinted windows.

  “No.” He didn’t elaborate, just took the card she thrust toward him to fill out.

  “Will you need a room with two beds or one?” Again, she was fishing for answers. Another night, another time and he knew he could bunk with her tonight. Probably would have. Those days were over. He might not be willing to claim his mate, but he would be faithful to her.

>   “One room, one bed. Two guests.” He couldn’t make it any clearer. Taking out his wallet, he gave her his credit card.

  “Here are your keys and password to the internet.”

  Hunter pocketed the small packet she gave him with their room number on it. He looked around the lobby. The motel was small, with outside entrances to the rooms. It was clean and neat but didn’t offer any extras. He would wager to bet that truckers were its primary customers. There was nothing to indicate the hotel served any type of food, not even a continental breakfast. “Are there any vending machines?”

  The gas station and diner he’d passed had been closed. Hopefully, they would both open tomorrow. In the meantime, he needed to make sure he could provide for Julie.

  “Are you getting hungry?” She licked her lips, looking as if she’d like to gobble him up for a snack. The thought almost repulsed him, and he wanted to pound his head against the nearest wooden surface at how drastically his life had changed in the last couple of hours.

  Pound. Wood.

  Was everything to become a sexual innuendo until he had his mate? Because even though he might not be willing to claim his mate, he had every intention of tasting her.

  That earned him another long, rough growl from his wolf.

  When he just continued to stare at the desk clerk, she straightened her back and leaned away from him. “There are machines on all the floors in the stairwells.”

  “Thanks.” He started to walk away and then turned back. “You might want to tell the manager to empty them and start rationing them between the guests.”

  “I’ll be sure and pass that along to him.” She still looked at him with hungry eyes, but her tone had frosted over.

  From her vantage point in the Hummer, Julie watched the interaction between the woman behind the desk and the man who had rescued her. The thought of staying in the same hotel sent shivers of apprehension shooting through her. Not that they would be staying in the same room together. Or at least she hoped not. Well, the good girl side of her hoped so. The bad girl side would be more than happy to share.

  Surely, the hotel still had some empty rooms? She wrapped her arms around her middle as another blast of cold air made its way inside the vehicle. “Did they have rooms?”

  “Yeah.”

  When he didn’t elaborate, she sighed. Making conversation was definitely not his strong suit. She wouldn’t worry about giving him money yet, she’d simply pay for her own when they checked out. It didn’t matter if both rooms were in his name. No one was going to be looking for her.

  Hunter drove around the building, finding a parking place fairly close to the inside stairwell. Julie bit her lip as she looked out the window. Even if Hunter went first and cut a swath through the snow, it was still going to be deep, way over the tops of her shoes. Why she’d chosen to wear sneakers when she had a perfectly good pair of winter boots in the bottom of her closet, she didn’t know.

  She couldn’t complain. There was no way anyone could have kept up with the heavy snowfall to keep the sidewalks clear. Considering the number of cars in the parking lot, they were just lucky to get a couple of rooms. Fatigue pulled at her. A lot had happened since she’d left work.

  “Don’t try and get out on your own,” he ordered as she reached for her coat. “I’ll come around and get you.”

  He cut the engine and grabbed his coat, shrugging into it before opening the driver’s side door.

  Julie didn’t like the tone of voice he was using. She bet he’d used it many, many times in his life to get women to do exactly what he wanted them to do. Julie had to admit her insides got a little warm at his bossy—and dare she think—protective—attitude. She might have been more open to it if he was trying to steal a kiss, rather than boss her around. She blushed at the thought that she would be open to being kissed by him. Not that she’d ever been the kind of woman men tried to steal kisses from.

  Giving herself a mental shake, she opened her door. She was a big girl and had been taking care of herself for years. As he walked in front of the vehicle, she jumped out. Even though she’d been expecting it, she still squealed when the snow fell into the tops of her tennis shoes.

  “I told you to stay put.” The door she’d been holding for support was jerked out of her hand causing her to fall forward against Hunter’s big body. Without even a huff at the sudden extra weight, one of his arms caught her around the waist and hoisted her closer. “You don’t listen to orders very well, do you?” he growled into her ear. He turned around, closing the Hummer’s door. He made his way through the snow without any difficulty, still carrying her. She’d grabbed his shoulders in reflex, somehow knowing he wouldn’t drop her despite her heaviness.

  When he’d made it to the side entrance, Julie spoke, “You can put me down now.” She was still pressed against his front, her legs dangling several inches off the ground. Damn, but the man was big. And apparently wasn’t having any trouble carrying her at all.

  She felt him hesitate, but then he was lowering her to the ground. Slowly. Their bodies pressed against each other. Her gaze flew to his when she felt the bulge beneath his zipper. He wasn’t aroused, just big. Dang was he big. His eyelids were at half-mast, slumberous. Not for the first time she noticed how beautiful he was, in a strong, masculine way that was almost unearthly. Inhuman. She shivered, remembering she was in the arms of a wolf shifter.

  “We’re down here.” Hunter tugged her behind him as he walked, her small hand swallowed up in his larger one. She felt the hard press of his warm fingers and imagined what they would feel like against her bare skin. Stroking, squeezing…

  Oh, man, how was she going to control her hunger for this wolf while locked together with him in a tiny room?

  He’d gotten them a ground floor room for which she was grateful. He didn’t look like the type of man to wait for an elevator when there was a set of stairs he could transverse. Julie knew after about three sets of stairs, she’d be huffing and puffing like the wolf in the fairy tale.

  He quickly led the way to their room, clearing out a path for her to follow with his long strides. The wind had piled snow up against the railing just like it had on the guardrails on the side of the interstate. He opened the door with his coded keycard and ushered her just inside the room.

  “They only had one room?”

  “We were lucky to get this one.”

  “I guess so.” She drew her coat together.

  He motioned for her to wait as he moved further into the room, turning on the lights before allowing her to come completely inside. The warm air hit Julie as soon as she walked inside. She smiled in appreciation. The hotel wasn’t that luxurious, but she wasn’t complaining. They had heat and a roof over their heads for the night.

  Her eyes quickly scanned the room—a desk with chair, a fake oak cupboard that acted as a television stand and—well damn it. A bed. Singular. Granted, it looked like a king-sized mattress, but there was only one. She didn’t know if she wanted to cry, laugh or thank her guardian angel. Looked like she’d be sleeping with the wolf tonight.

  “You’re letting out all the warm air.”

  His words seemed to release her paralysis, and she stepped further into the room. The door closed behind her with a soft thud, making her jump. She watched as Hunter turned his attention to the heating unit beneath the window. The curtain on the window was open, letting in the glow from the parking lot lights as they reflected off the blanket of snow. It filled the room with a strange, white light. Suddenly, it seemed as if they were locked away from the rest of the world, completely on their own.

  “You realize we’re probably not going anywhere in the morning, don’t you?”

  Julie wanted to protest his prediction, but she knew what he said was true. Just how much snow were they calling for? In a panic, she grabbed the remote and turned on the television. The local station had preempted the primetime shows to bring continuing coverage of the storm. Ursula? Really, that’s the name they’d given it
? Wasn’t that the name of the sea witch in The Little Mermaid movie? She snorted. Maybe the name was appropriate after all. The storm was turning into a real bitch.

  She clicked off the television, having heard all she wanted to hear. Record snowfall. Curfew. Stay off the roads. Hunker down. “That’s that, I suppose.”

  “I’m going to get our bags.” He didn’t respond to her comments, simply turned around and left the room. In less than ten minutes, he was back carrying his green military issued duffle bag, her small suitcase, and her purse. She hadn’t intended to stay long after the wedding so she hadn’t packed very much. Thinking of exactly what was in the suitcase made her groan to herself. Because the bridesmaids’ dresses were low cut, she couldn’t wear a regular bra under it. She’d had to order a special deep cut one that would keep her breasts up and at’em so to speak. It was an emerald green piece of satin and lace that she absolutely adored. She’d worn it several times already to the office under her regular clothing.

  She felt sinfully decadent and sexy when she wore it.

  Looking at him beneath her lashes, she wondered what he’d do if she wore it—and nothing else. Well, and the matching green boy briefs she’d also brought. She loved those things, too. They had a built-in control panel that helped to flatten her stomach. Not that it would ever be truly flat. She was a big girl with the curvy body to match.

  Damn, the snow must be messing with her somehow. That was about the hundredth naughty thought she’d had since this man had rescued her. And she was not normally a naughty girl.

  He stood by the door, his broad shoulders covered in large, wet flakes of snow. He hadn’t bothered fastening his coat for the short trips to and from the car. Now the snowflakes were melting, causing damp patches to appear on his shirt in the most interesting of places—like right over his nipple. “Are you hungry?”