The Billionaire Shifter's True Alpha: Billionaire Shifters Club #5

by Diana Seere

  Sam’s eyes flew wide open. “Baby Fever? She has mating fever for you?”

  “She told me it came on suddenly and she can’t control it. That I have no choice and I have to give her a baby.” The look he gave her was intended to solidify the sheer absurdity of Sophia’s demand.

  “Of course she did. And you agreed?”

  “What? No! Why would I agree?”

  Sam sighed, pulling off her glasses and rubbing her right eye, starting to talk then stopping repeatedly, clearly struggling to find the right words. Finally she said quietly, “Because Sophia is right.”

  “She’s what?”

  Sam’s palm went up. “Not ‘right’ as in you should agree with her. No, no. Right as in that’s a simple biological fact of shifters. Female, mostly, but it can happen to the male. Baby Fever is a biological need to procreate. Sophia can’t curb the impulse any more than we can pretend we don’t feel the need to eat, or—”

  “Or any more than I can stop an uncontrolled shift.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Shit,” he muttered.

  “It’s a lot to take in.”

  “You are the queen of understatements, Sam.”

  She gave him a kind smile. “I came here for an urgent matter, Zach. Edward told Molly, who told me, that you can read the books in Asher’s office? You are fluent in the old language?”

  “I guess. They said it wasn’t English.” Zach shrugged.

  “You have brain activation we need to study in depth. What else?”

  “What else… what?”

  “What other special powers do you possess?”

  “I can roll my tongue and tie a cherry stem with it.”

  “That’s great for your Match.com profile but insignificant in terms of measurable scientific data, Zach,” she said dryly.

  “How am I supposed to know what my shifter powers are, Sam? I don’t know them until I exhibit them! My body’s changed, irrevocably. Look at me.”

  She did, her cheeks flushing as she took him at his word and combed him over, her approval obvious. “You’ve… changed.”

  “I’m seven inches taller, seventy pounds heavier, and my feet and… well, everything got bigger.”

  Her eyes darted to his crotch. He nearly exploded with laughter and leaned in to make a joke, enjoying the banter in a strangely freeing way, no tension. Just some lighthearted joking with the only human on this ranch who seemed to give a whit about him and his thoughts.

  Zach needed light right now. Easy.

  And most of all, human.

  “What in the bloody hell are you two doing alone up here?” boomed Asher Stanton from behind them just as Zach’s fingertips landed on Sam’s knee, her face cracking with a smile.

  “We’re— Wait!” Sam jumped to her feet. “What are you doing here?”

  “Keeping this animal from putting his hands all over you.”

  “Oh, Christ,” Sam said, giving Asher a look of withering frustration. “Zach and I were having a business meeting.”

  “I have never attended a business meeting in which I place my hands on a woman’s knees in a dimly lit, isolated boathouse. Is this some human protocol of which I am unaware? If so, I consider it disgustingly crass.”

  “I was about to tell her a joke,” Zach said, feeling defensive.

  “Your sense of humor leaves much to be desired.”

  “Are you here to insult me, or is there some other reason for finding us? Because I’m done being insulted. Your sister’s done a fabulous job of it today.”

  “What did you do to her?” Asher snapped.

  Zach knew older brothers could be protective, but this guy was over the top. “I said no to her demand to give her a baby.”

  Ah. Direct hit. Asher shook in place as if Zach had punched him with a right hook.

  “She what?”

  “She insisted I give her a baby.”

  “And you said no?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why on earth would you say no?”

  Zach started laughing.

  “You are king of the mindfuck, aren’t you, Asher?” Zach announced, folding in half, letting the hilarity of the situation wash over him, his emotions so high and bubbly he was afraid he might shift.

  “Asher, in the human world, people don’t have Baby Fever,” Sam tried to explain while Zach fell to pieces, her words making him chuckle harder.

  “They don’t? You mean you never want to have a child, Samantha?” Asher’s voice nearly broke as he lowered it.

  “What? Me? Um, well, I have my career, and I’ve never met someone who wanted what I want out of life, and you know…”

  “No,” Asher said. “I do not.”

  Two minds worked inside Zach’s body. One was fully engaged in hysterical laughter. The other cataloged the fact that Asher Stanton was not asking Sam about human behavior, in general.

  He was asking Sam about whether she wanted a baby.

  Sam drew herself up and found her lab voice. As Zach willed himself to pull it together, he listened. “My interest in children is none of your business. I’m merely trying to explain why Zach would say no to Sophia’s request.”

  “It isn’t a request. It’s a biological imperative. If Sophia—my God, Sophia? Really? Sophia asked you to give her a baby, Zach? I’ve never heard of a more absurd proposal!” Asher choked out, his hesitant speech pattern uncharacteristic.

  “Because Zach is human?”

  “Well, there’s that, but no,” Asher said, clearly flustered. The man was a statue, an emotionless robot, so seeing him animated made Zach pause and take a deep breath, not wanting to miss this.

  “It is because Sophia is Sophia! Have you any idea how many men she has cavorted with?”

  Zach’s temper flared, like someone threw phosphorus in his blood. “Shut the fuck up, Asher. You’ve crossed a line.”

  “Forgive me.” Asher drew back and seemed to tuck himself into the box where he put all of his feelings. “I did not intend to shine a light on her past but more to give insight into the rare nature of my sister’s request. She has never—not once—felt so bound to a lover as to even so much as mention a baby.”

  “See?” Sam said to Zach quietly. “It’s special.”

  “She keeps talking about this beat—”

  “Do you feel it?” Asher snapped, his chin jutting up, eyes widening as if challenging Zach.

  Telling the truth felt like betraying himself. Lying preserved what little freedom he still had.

  “No.”

  “Then Sophia is being ridiculous,” Asher said flatly. “Impulsive and childish, as usual. Perhaps she just wants attention after seeing Lilah and Gavin’s babies. Besides, we don’t know that you can give someone a baby.”

  “Excuse me?”

  Sam cleared her throat. “What he means is, we haven’t tested your sperm samples to look at procreation capacity.”

  “My sperm.”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you asking me for a sample?”

  “Not now—not here,” Sam said, looking around as if she’d hand him a cup and a phone with internet access to a streaming porn site if she could. “The ranch doesn’t have the lab facilities we have at LupiNex, back in Boston. But yes, we would like a sample.”

  “Are you quite finished? I’d prefer to talk about any topic other than Zach’s cock,” Asher interrupted.

  Zach burst out with braying amusement. “You’d prefer Sam talked about yours, eh?”

  The crack of knuckles against his jaw was like a lightning bolt in a hot summer thunderstorm.

  Chapter 14

  Being a shifter twin was like having embedded GPS; Sophia could always track down Derry if she really wanted to. After leaving the boathouse in a cloud of hurt and anger, Sophia found her twin brother curled up with Jess on a sofa in the family’s favorite room on the second floor of the main house. Within the elaborate, sprawling estate with its multiple buildings scattered about, the Stanton family had chosen this
airy room as a comfortable space to be together. Its panoramic view of the lake and mountains, and vaulted ceilings, made it just as luxurious as the rest of the house—Lilah and Gavin had been married there—but the room had a warm, private feel that the downstairs great room lacked.

  Sophia paused in the doorway when she saw that Jess seemed upset. Derry was stroking her hair, kissing her cheek, trying to distract her.

  “I can’t read it either,” he was saying. “None of us can. It must be something in that serum of Gavin’s.”

  “But I thought… I could read the book… now that I’m…” Jess hiccuped and buried her face in Derry’s shoulder.

  “Now that you’re sexier than ever?” he asked, effortlessly lifting her into his lap. “The loveliest, most brilliant creature ever to have existed?”

  “Now that I’m your wife,” she finished. “I thought I’d be able to read at least as much of that stupid book as Lilah can. But I can’t! Not a word!”

  “From the sound of it,” Derry said, “you’re not missing much. Archaic, aristocratic, dreary blathering.”

  “I can’t read it either,” Sophia said from the doorway.

  Jess looked up in surprise. Derry gave her a little wave, no doubt having sensed her presence already.

  “Have you ever tried?” Jess asked. “Ever sat down and really tried?”

  Sophia walked over and sat in a chair next to them. “Yes. I can’t even recognize letters.” She reached out and put a hand on Jess’ knee. “This isn’t about you. Derry’s right. There was something in Gavin’s serum that changed Zach. He has powers we don’t understand, like reading the book.”

  “And Lilah? She didn’t take any serum before she read it.”

  “Who knows? Science cannot answer everything, Jess. But it’s nothing to envy. She doesn’t have your power for healing, which seems a lot more useful, honestly. You and Lilah have different gifts. You should be grateful for who and what you are, a human and a healer who loves my brother and is now my sister-in-law.” Sophia patted her knee. “Zach, on the other hand, is—”

  Sophia had to cut herself off and pull away. Zach didn’t know what he was. He wasn’t human, he wasn’t shifter, and he didn’t—

  Didn’t know he loved her.

  “Is what?” Jess asked.

  Sophia shook her head. What could she say? That Zach was a mess but Sophia, ever the caretaker, was confident she could fix him?

  “I think he’d rather not be able to read that book,” Sophia said. She faced an unpleasant truth. “Or have anything to do with shifters.”

  Derry’s crafty gaze locked onto Sophia. “I’m quite sure there’s one shifter he wants more to do with.”

  “Tell him that,” she muttered, feeling herself flush.

  Derry jumped to his feet. Jess was still in his arms. “I will. Where is he?”

  Jess began to giggle. “Uh, Derry…”

  He looked into her face. “Yes, love?” he asked, kissing her on the lips.

  “You can put me down.”

  Derry frowned. “Why would I want to do that?”

  With a laugh, Jess kissed him on the jaw and wiggled her toes. “I love you.”

  Sophia froze, watching them together. She’d seen interactions like this dozens of times, far more than she’d wanted to see, but none had upset her. None had made her envious.

  But today she wanted to run out of the room crying at the unfairness of it all. How could her irresponsible playboy brother have gotten so lucky as to have found the Beat and lasting love with his One—and she couldn’t?

  “I was just kidding,” Sophia said. “I don’t want you to talk to him. For God’s sake, sit down. You look like that time you pulled her out of the lake and nearly spoiled Lilah’s wedding.”

  During their unlikely courtship, Jess had gone for a swim in the lake, and Derry had rushed in to pull her out. Unfortunately, both had been naked. Their antics had been in full view of countless wedding guests staying at the house for Lilah and Gavin’s wedding.

  Jess blushed and Derry grinned. “Damn, that was fun,” Derry said.

  “It really was.” Jess was laughing now.

  Sophia saw that her arrival seemed to have improved Jess’s mood, although not her own. In fact, she felt worse than she’d felt in a long time. Despair, that black dog, was chomping on her leg, dragging her down into a dark pit.

  Zach had never wanted to desire her, let alone love her. He was doing everything he could to free himself from her and the Stantons’ world. Once he’d gained control of his biological self, his emotional self would fall in line. With each moment, he was less likely to accept the bond that had formed between them, not more. She heard the Beat, but because he was a creation of the lab, maybe…

  Maybe he never would be able to. Lilah, Jess, and Molly had discovered some shifter DNA in their past that was triggered in adulthood. Zach was just a human damaged by a freak accident.

  For the first time, she realized fate might be quite different from what she’d supposed. It wasn’t everyone’s fate to be happy and loved. Some would suffer alone, without a mate, without a child. Without their One.

  But if she couldn’t have a life with Zach, she—

  She turned, shocked by the tears that threatened to start flowing again.

  She’d want to…

  To die.

  “Sophia?” It was Jess, her voice tender with concern.

  Sophia swallowed hard. Years ago, when she was still working regularly as a nurse, she’d formed a friendship with a patient. A funny, gregarious older woman with terrific tales about her life as a dancer in New York. Sophia would stay after her regular shift just to listen to the dancer’s wild, exciting stories. Every Sunday morning, when security at the hospital was loosest, Sophia had smuggled in the woman’s little dog to see her.

  And then she’d died. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, all by herself. Shattered, Sophia had quit nursing full time. In the years since, she’d continued to work for friends and acquaintances who needed help, but she’d walked away from what she’d known was certain heartbreak. Another loss like that would’ve killed her.

  She was in similar danger now. Too easily, too quickly, she’d become hopelessly attached to another human being. If she took it too seriously, she’d lose her grip, tumble into the darkness, and never recover.

  “Want me to kick some lab rat’s ass?” Derry asked, resting a massive hand on her shoulder. “I’m still bigger than him. Pretty sure I can take him.”

  Sophia choked out a laugh. Derry, for all his faults, had always been her favorite person in the world. What had happened to her? Since Zach, she’d become a blubbering idiot. This wasn’t who she was. She was Sophia Stanton, damn it. She was strong, she took what she wanted, she bent the world to her will. She took care of other people; she wasn’t weak herself.

  “I just came”—her voice hitched, and she had to clear her throat—“to say goodbye. I’m going back to Boston for a while.”

  It was the only way she could survive this.

  “Already?” Jess asked, climbing out of Derry’s lap.

  But Derry’s expression showed he understood more than Sophia wanted him to. “Are you sure?” he asked. “You haven’t given him much time.”

  “I didn’t have much time either,” Sophia said. “But the Beat— Well. Either you hear it or you don’t. After what he’s been through, torn up and barely put together, held against his will by those who hurt him, it would be a miracle to think he would ever be able to—or want to—form a lifelong bond with—”

  She stopped herself. She was saying much too much. They’d think she was too far gone to recover from this mess.

  “Sophia,” Jess said soothingly.

  The pity in her sister-in-law’s voice made Sophia more determined than ever. “I’m calling for the plane now. Did you guys want to hitch a ride with me? Get back to your honeymoon? You know how Asher thinks we should jetpool more.” She snorted. “As if we can’t afford a
few cross-country rides now and then.”

  “But the babies—” Jess began.

  “Please,” Sophia scoffed. “Babies aren’t any fun until you can take them out clubbing. I think I’ll have to wait a few years until they’re old enough to sneak out for that.” She gave Derry a friendly smack on the shoulder, hooked an arm around Jess for a loose hug and a peck on the cheek, and then made for the door. She couldn’t possibly admit that seeing the babies would make her ache, the physical tug growing stronger at the thought of smelling a newborn’s head.

  “Derry, do something,” Jess said behind her.

  Just as Sophia was walking into the hallway, she heard her twin say, “No point. Even I can’t stop her when she’s like this.”

  Asher Stanton clearly had taken boxing lessons back in Britain, wherever he’d gone to school. The hook nailed Zach just so, his neck twisting in agony, jaw muscles loosening to take the force, but pain was pain.

  That hurt like a motherfucker.

  Staying steady on his feet, Zach knew that staggering would show weakness. The copper penny taste of blood filled his senses.

  So did Asher’s preparation for another blow.

  “STOP!” Sam screamed, grabbing Asher’s punching arm, her fingers digging hard into the bulging biceps that raged under his suit jacket. “Stop it, you bully!”

  “Bully?” Asher looked at her with a queer expression but pulled the punch, unwilling to harm her even if it meant backing down. “How on earth am I a bully when I defend your honor?”

  “Who in hell asked you to defend my honor?” She gasped, letting go of him and getting in his face. She was a tall woman, but Asher was taller, Sam’s wagging finger an inch from his nose.

  “The man made a joke about you.”

  “You were the one who brought up Zach’s penis! Not Zach! Not me! Get a grip, Asher!” Sam’s mouth curled back in a near snarl. “You can’t use violence whenever you want just because you’re pissed other people don’t do exactly what you want them to, you brute! Now apologize to Zach.”

  “For what?” Asher was aghast.

  “For talking about his cock.”