by Zoe Ray
“What I saw in him was pure hatred. He should have been taken care of. This didn’t happen overnight.”
“I dealt with him how I saw fit at the time, Sam. I won’t let anything happen to you. Don’t worry.”
“I trust you to deal with this. You’re obviously the stronger wolf, and smarter. I just worry that Marcos is sneaky, and he doesn’t have empathy. You do. He will use that against you.”
“You let me worry about him. You just need to worry about your dream wedding.”
“I can do more than plan a wedding, Preston. I am supposed to help you lead the pack.”
“And you will.”
“I hope you don’t just expect me to be a glorified party planner.” He sensed that she was about to get upset, and he didn’t want that. He rolled his eyes and let out a deep breath. He never knew what would happen when Sam got mad or what would set her off.
“Of course not. You will oversee the women in the pack.”
“So, you want me to sit around drinking wine while the men pound the pavement?” She asked him.
“I didn’t say that Sam.”
“I want to be involved.”
“You can’t just walk in the door and be in charge, Samantha. You have to earn respect amongst the pack. That’s kind of hard to do when you’re not a wolf.”
Sam jerked her head back in surprise. “Really Preston. I’m sorry you got stuck with a mate that wasn’t a wolf. I must be a huge disappointment.”
“Samantha, you’re yelling. I’m not dealing with this today.”
“You’re not dealing with what?” Her neck was rolling. Her hands were waving. She was offended. He could sense her hurt and anger, but she wouldn’t listen.
“So, when you said I was smart, were you just trying to appease me.”
“No, I meant it, but that doesn’t mean you can just walk in the door and take charge.”
“I don’t want to just be a secretary for the rest of my life.”
“Calm down. It's hasn’t even been a week.”
“Now it’s only been a week.” Sam was getting angrier. “When you were all over me trying to get in my pants and mate me, you weren’t worried about the time frame.” Preston chuckled before catching himself. “Now you’re laughing at me.”
“No, baby.”
“You need to listen to me and take what I say seriously. I don’t have your experience, but I have pretty good instincts. Why don’t you trust me?”
“I do Sam and we will talk about the role you will play. I promise.”
“You’re damn right we will.”
“Watch how you talk to me.” Preston’s expression grew stern. Sam needed to know that he was not to be played with. “I’m still your alpha.” And with those words and the look in his eyes, Samantha’s arousal spiked. The scent made him harden. Sam looked down at him. He pulled her close and whispered in her ear. “Touch it,” and she did. She reached her hand behind her gripping him tightly rubbing her hand up and down his hardening length. “I know what you need, Samantha.”
“You can’t control me with sex, Preston.”
“Watch me.” As she lay on her side he slid his dick between her cheeks before searching for her opening. He pressed his erection against her ass before moving down to her center. He reached around the front and massaged. her. Her head leaned back into his chest. He pressed against her entrance. “Samantha. Didn’t we talk about this?” She remained silent. He pushed harder without entering her. She moaned as she moved her hands behind her to grab him. He grabbed her hand and placed it at her side. “You don’t touch me unless I say it’s okay. Understand?”
Sam nodded her head briefly before she caught on. She quickly answered him. “Yes.”
“That’s my girl.” He rubbed her hips.
“Preston,” she cried. He growled, and her moisture increased. He rubbed against her again.”
“As your alpha, you follow my lead. You don’t get to yell at me. That’s not how we do things baby.” He kissed her neck. “We will work this out, but ultimately what I say goes. Why is that, Sam?” he quizzed her.
“Because you’re my alpha.”
“I don’t want to have this conversation again, baby. I’m not going to deny you anything, but we have to go about it the right way. One mistake can cost me my pack, our pack. Okay.” Sam nodded. “Answer me.”
“Yes.”
“Are we good, my love?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want me to fuck this pussy, baby”
“Please.”
He pressed entered her in one thrust and she cried out. He growled in her ear as he made love to her, feeling relieved that he had calmed her down. He held her close as they came together. After a few minutes he went into the bathroom and came back with a warm towel. He cleaned Samantha off and laid next to her. She laid with her back to him.
“Are you mad at me?” He asked.
“No.” He knew she was lying.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not mad. I’ll get over it,” she snapped.
“Okay. Can you just trust me Sam?”
She looked at him and sighed, “okay.”
Twenty-Three
Samantha got up and grabbed a fresh pair of panties.
“What are you doing?” Preston asked.
“I’m having dinner with Lisa tonight.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“No, Preston. It’s just us girls tonight.”
“Not anymore.”
“I want to talk to my friend and tell her the good news, and I want to do it alone. This is important to me.”
“I want you safe. What if something happened, and I wasn’t there?”
“Nothing’s going to happen.”
“You said so yourself. We need to be careful.”
Sam rolled her eyes at the thought of him using her words when he had dismissed her input earlier. “We will be, and I’m not asking for permission. I’m still an adult.”
“You’re an adult that’s not going anywhere alone tonight.”
She was about to argue, but then stopped. “I know,” she said in defeat. Sam knew Preston was right, but she didn’t care. Her emotions were all over the place. It suddenly seemed like she was in over her head. Was she the best choice for Preston? As he stated earlier, she wasn’t a wolf. She wasn’t a business woman. She would have to prove herself. How was she supposed to do that? She was too embarrassed to ask.
“Stop panicking,” Preston said to her causing her to chuckle.
“I’m a mess,” she confessed. “Sorry for giving you a hard time.
Preston moved closer to Sam. “What’s bothering you?”
“I don’t want to ruin your life. I don’t want you to realize you made a mistake by choosing me.”
“You are my life Sam, and without you, nothing matters. We will face some trials, but we’ll face them together. Okay, baby.”
“If only it were that simple.”
“It is for me. This whole thing collapses if I don’t have you. Can’t you see that?”
“Yeah if you have me three steps behind and out of the way.”
“You will be by my side, Sam. Always.” He wrapped his arms around her.
“You must really love me.” She looked up at him. “I’m clearly crazy.”
Preston laughed. She always felt good when he laughed. “I just realized that you start acting like this when you get scared. I don’t like drama, and I don’t want to argue and fight with you, but I do want to love you, and I wish you would just accept that.” Sam tried to interrupt him, but he stopped her. “I am going to show you until you can’t deny it. You won’t be able to talk yourself out of it. Unfortunately, Sam, I’m stuck with you.” He shook his head in mock shame.
She laughed. “Was that a joke? I’m impressed.”
“I have some tricks up my sleeve.”
“You know that was risky, right. I could have taken that the wrong way.” She paused. “Let me be seri
ous for a moment.” She held his hands. “My love life has taught me to never have expectations, because I was tired of being disappointed. Then I met you, and you say all the right things, and you do all the right things, and I keep waiting for it to go horribly wrong. I think I’m guilty of trying to push it to go wrong, because if I’m going to be disappointed I’d rather it happen now. I’m sorry Preston. I haven’t been fair to you, and I don’t want to live my life that way. If you say we’ll get through it, then we will. Just promise me that you won’t sugarcoat anything for my sake. I need to face the truth head on. Okay.”
“I promise.”
“I love you.”
“I know you do.”
“Preston.”
“I love you too, Sam.” They kissed. “So where are we going?”
“We’re going to Harrison’s to meet my best friend, Lisa.”
“Okay. I think I’ve passed by there before.”
“It’s a nice place. You’ll like it, and you’ll love Lisa. She’s been encouraging me to get with you this whole time. Actually, I was supposed to get on my knees and pleasure you.”
“See that’s the problem. You should have been listening to Lisa. Clearly she gives great advice.”
“I knew you’d think so.” She shook her head.
After getting ready Preston drove as Sam called Lisa. The phone rang. “Hello,” Lisa said.
“Hey Lisa, are you on the way?” Sam asked.
“Yes, I’m almost there. Where are you?”
“I’m about fifteen minutes out. I’m bringing someone with me, okay.”
“Umm. Who are you bringing?”
“You remember my boss that I was telling you about.”
“That sexy piece of man candy.”
Preston laughed. Sam twitched. Hearing her best friend call Preston sexy made her angry. “Look, you don’t call him sexy. That’s my man now. Okay?” There was this rage burning inside that she couldn’t explain.
Preston touched her shoulder. “It’s okay Sam, calm down.”
“Okay, girl. My bad.”
“No. I’m sorry. I don’t know where that came from.”
“He must have really put it down. Girl. I ain’t mad at you.” Lisa was talking loud and laughing. “He got you threatening bitches.”
Preston laughed, and Sam blushed. “Lisa. I’m pretty sure he can hear you.”
“You tell him I said well done. You needed that.”
“Lisa. We will see you there.”
“Okay. I can’t wait.” They hung up.
Sam put her head in her hand. “This is a bad idea. I should have canceled.”
“Oh no,” Preston said. “I can’t wait for this.”
“I bet,” Sam said as she rolled her eyes. She had a feeling she would be embarrassed to no end tonight.
Twenty-Four
Preston held the door open for Sam as they entered the restaurant. They looked around the room, and Sam spotted her friend, Lisa, sitting at a booth in the back corner. It was the perfect location. Preston noted that he could see all of the exits and no one could approach them from behind. Lisa waved as she saw them. She stood to her feet waiting for them to approach. Sam’s face lit up. He knew Lisa meant a lot to her, but the smile on Preston’s face soon faded and he pulled out his cell phone to text Michael with their location.
Lisa was tall and thin with dark skin and long, straight hair, and although she was beautiful Preston only had eyes for Sam. She and Lisa squealed and hugged for what seemed like forever before Preston greeted her with a hug. Sam tugged at his shirt. “That’s enough,” she commanded. Preston found it funny, but he was in no mood to laugh.
“Baby I was just being nice to your friend.” He tried to calm her down. Sam sat down huffing. He knew her emotions were taking over because they had mated. She was not used to dealing with the jealous rage that she was experiencing. He had gotten better at controlling those urges that made him want to slam someone’s head into a wall for even looking at his mate.
“Sam girl,” Lisa looked Preston, up and down. “I get it.” She laughed. “If I was you, I’d lock him in a closet somewhere.” They laughed, but Preston was in no laughing mood. His mind was preoccupied.
Sam introduced them. “Lisa, this is Preston. Preston. Lisa.” They exchanged pleasantries. It was nice to see Sam so happy, but that happiness was not going to last long.
Lisa started, “Sam, tell me how the job is going.”
“So far, so good.”
“This guy was giving me a hard time, but I finally had to show him who’s boss.” Sam joked looking at Preston. His face remained expressionless. “Babe I was joking,” Sam shook his arm. “He’s so serious.” She dismissed his expression.
Lisa replied, Well I’m glad you got this girl to loosen up and live a little.”
Preston replied. “It took some work, but she’s coming around.” He studied Lisa trying to figure out what was going on with her.
Sam chuckled and shook her head. “Preston, it’s funny, if it were not for Lisa here, you and I would have never met.”
“Really?” That got Preston’s attention. “Who do you know at ASC?” He asked. And why do you smell like Marcos? He thought. He needed to get Sam out of there, but he needed as many answers as he could get first.
“Actually, I don’t know anyone there.”
“You don’t?” Sam asked surprised.
“Not that I know of.” Lisa said and shrugged. “Remember when you were talking about needing a change? I told you I would help you. Whenever I thought about it I would just asked around to see if anyone had connections or knew of an opening. I asked this guy and he said he knew someone at Alpha Security Corporation that could get you an entry level job. He said the guy owed him a favor.”
“What is this guy’s name?” Sam asked.
“Marcos.” Sam dropped her fork.
Preston pressed for answers. “How do you know Marcos?”
Samantha chimed in. “Are you dating him?”
“Whoa.” Lisa was clearly puzzled by their questions. Preston knew that she had no part in whatever Marcos was planning. She was an innocent bystander. “We’ve been seeing one another. I don’t know if I would call it dating.” Lisa used air quotes.
Sam composed herself. “Lisa. I think I know him. Where does he live?”
“He lives in Grand Forest.”
“Back by the wooded area?” Sam asked.
“Yeah,” Lisa replied. “Oh no, don’t tell me you dated him too.”
“No. I just went to a party at his house before. Small world.” Preston sent another text message to Michael with this new information.
“You went to a party without me?”
“You already had other plans.” Sam paused tapping the table. Then she held her stomach as if she was in pain. “Lisa, I don’t feel too good. I think I need to go home. Can we reschedule?”
Preston played along. “What’s wrong, Sam?”
“It’s my stomach. We need to go. I’m sorry Lisa. Let’s reschedule for next week. Just you and me, ok?”
“Okay Sam,” Lisa replied. “I hope you feel better. Take care of her Preston.”
He looked Lisa in the eyes. “Don’t worry. I always will.” He began to walk off.
She smiled at him. “Hey!” She called after him. “I’m glad she has you.”
He smiled at Lisa. “I’m glad to have her.”
They hurried out of the restaurant holding hands. Preston looked around and sniffed for Marcos. He could feel Sam’s nerves. “Don’t worry Sam.”
“I’m not.” She played it cool. They hurried to Preston’s car and drove off.
“I’m going to take you home Sam, and I’m going to deal with Marcos once and for all.”
“No. I’m not going home. Take me with you.”
“That’s out of the question.”
“Preston. I can handle myself.”
“How, Sam? How are you going to handle yourself with a pack of wolves?”
“Give me a gun. My dad taught me to shoot.”
“No. It’s too risky.”
“Preston. You have to allow me to make my own decisions. This is my choice.”
They argued back and forth until they pulled into the driveway. Preston thought he’d come up with a pretty good compromise. “Sam why don’t you stay here and keep an eye on my dad and sisters. I’ll give you a gun, and you can make sure nothing happens to them. If you can do that, then we’ll talk about your place in the pack.”
“You think I’m stupid?”
“No, but that’s my final offer.” As they got out of the car Preston smelled blood. “Actually, it looks like the party is already here.” Two men came up behind them holding guns to their heads.”
“Try anything and the girl dies.”
Twenty-Five
With a gun to her temple, Samantha decided not to panic. She took a deep breath. The two men motioned for them to move into the house. They walked into the foyer and found Preston’s father unconscious on the floor. Blood was coming from his head. “Percy!” Forgetting the man with the gun right behind her, Sam rushed to his side. She quickly checked to see if he had a pulse. He did. She let out a sigh of relief. At least he was alive.
“Hey! Get up!” One of the guys shouted. Sam rose to her feet, and walked over to the guy. Her blood was boiling. She breathed heavily.
“He will be okay Sam,” Preston tried to comfort her.
“He’d better be.” Sam looked into the eyes of the guy holding a gun on her.
The guy slapped Sam across the face. “Who told you to talk?”
Sam’s head flew to the side, “Son of a bitch!” She yelled enraged.
“Hey!” Preston’s eyes flashed red. His chest moved up and down. Suddenly Marcos appeared around the corner and grabbed the guy by the neck. “Somebody doesn’t know how to follow directions. I told you not to touch her.” Marcos took the gun from the guy and knocked him in the back of the head. The sound echoed throughout the room, he fell to the floor, and Marcos held the gun to Sam’s head
Preston growled at Marcos. “You come into my home, and threaten my family. Do you think you’re going to walk out of here alive?”