Alpha’s Sun

by Rose, Renee

  It hurts but I hardly register the pain. It’s the opposite of an out-of-body experience. I’m so in my body I’m awash with sensation. There’s a rightness to the experience—like his teeth belong in my shoulder at the moment of orgasm. Like it’s some ritual I’ve secretly known my entire existence but it only bloomed into my consciousness right now.

  I climax, my eyes rolling back, pussy clenching and releasing around his cock.

  And then I drift off—surfing the edge of consciousness and awareness of so many dimensions.

  * * *

  Titus

  The sharp tang of blood on my tongue brings me fully back.

  Oh fuck.

  What have I done?

  “Baby?” I murmur softly, lapping at Sunny’s wound with my tongue to speed the healing.

  Thank fuck—I don’t think I hit an artery. The blood loss is minimal and the wound doesn’t appear too deep.

  But I just violated pack law. First, I let a human see me shift, then I marked her. Both acts are forbidden. And the oldest of laws would require me to kill any human who knows about our kind.

  Which obviously isn’t going to happen.

  But damn. I really screwed up. My alpha is going to have my head. I could lose my place in the pack—again.

  Again, over a female.

  But my self-flagellation has no place here right now. I need to take care of my female. She’s injured and probably scared and confused.

  “Was that a love bite?” she mumbles.

  “What?” A choked laugh tumbles from my lips. My crazy, brilliant female. She doesn’t even know what she knows.

  “A love bite? Or am I going to turn into a werewolf now?”

  I muffle a laugh, dropping my face into the crook of her neck and kissing along her hairline. “It doesn’t work that way. We’re a separate species. Not diseased.”

  “I feel so stupid,” Sunny groans. “I kept seeing wolves and the whole time I thought they were spirit animals. Like the guys in motorcycle clubs share a similar spirit animal and that’s what drives them together.”

  “Not stupid.” I kiss her some more. “Incredibly intuitive. You saw what we try to hide.”

  She gasps and pushes me back so she can look at me. “Foxfire?”

  I nod. “Half fox. It didn’t manifest until she met Tank.”

  She covers her mouth with her hand. “Oh goddess! How could I not know this about my own child?”

  “Not know?” Disbelief tinges my words. “You named her Foxfire. You definitely knew on some level. It just didn’t fit into this reality so you didn’t know how to categorize it.”

  Her eyes brighten with a sheen of tears and I stroke my thumb over her cheek, kiss her forehead. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, sunshine. It’s forbidden.”

  She nods and gulps. “I see. Yes. I understand.” She blinks and I can practically see her mind whirring over everything that passed tonight. “And those other wolves tonight?”

  My shoulders tense. “Shifters. I caught their scent earlier so I came back to sniff around in wolf form. There was a whole pack of them running around. My wolf went wild with the need to protect you.”

  Her eyes soften and the corners of her mouth lift for a moment before they drop again. “Do you think they meant me harm?”

  I roll to my side, pulling her soft body against mine. Spartacus springs to attention like he’s preparing for the Olympics. Down, boy. “No. I thought they did, but as soon as they saw I was protecting you, they backed off. And they definitely could’ve taken me. It was four to one and they had youth and alpha command on their side.”

  “You don’t know them?”

  I shake my head. “There hasn’t been a pack in these parts of New Mexico in twenty years. I know of one lone wolf in the area and I’ve been trying to scout him out. For whatever reason, the pack we just met is not public.”

  “So, what—there’s like a public registry of packs or something?”

  I can’t stop the chuckle that bubbles up. It seems to be a recurring event since I marked Sunny. Like my wolf can calm down and enjoy himself now.

  Dumb fuck doesn’t even know we’re long past mating age and he just marked a human, not a wolf.

  “No, but the community is small. Packs convene with others in their region and hold annual runs to promote breeding. If we didn’t, our species wouldn’t survive. There simply aren’t enough of us. So finding out there’s some off-the-radar pack up here is suspicious.”

  Sunny touches the place I marked her and winces.

  “I’m sorry for that. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

  “Was it the full moon?” She blinks those wide, starry eyes at me.

  I force a smile. “Yeah. A full moon thing.” It’s only a half lie. The full moon definitely contributed to me losing control of my wolf. I just don’t need to tell her what the bite meant.

  But that’s stupid. If she mentions it to Foxfire, her daughter will be sure to explain. The mating bite embedded my scent into her skin. Permanently. She’s marked as mine, and once a female is marked, her mate will follow her to the ends of Earth to be near her. To protect and provide for her. Whether she wants him to or not.

  And in Sunny’s case, I already know that’s a not.

  Plus, she’s not a wolf, and I didn’t have permission from my alpha to mate a human. The best thing I can do is pretend it didn’t happen. Sunny would never want to be bound—she’s far too independent for that. And mating her is a violation of pack code.

  So if Sunny finds out what it means, she and I can discuss it then. But I’m not going to bring it up sooner.

  “Titus?”

  “Yeah?” I brush her hair back from her face. Her skin glows pale in the moonlight shining through the window.

  She’s like some kind of moon goddess. Lovely, delicate, ethereal. Not really of this world.

  “Will you show me the wolf again? Please?”

  I smile at the excitement in her voice. It’s impossible to deny her this.

  Still, I have to explain the laws. “You’re not supposed to know, sunshine. It’s forbidden to shift in front of humans.”

  “Please? Just one more time? He’s so beautiful. I want to see the magic in motion.”

  I climb off the bed, shaking my head. “It’s not magic. Just a different biology.” I crack my neck and shift, dropping to all fours.

  Her gasp does something to my pleasure centers. My wolf preens.

  She sits up, her nudity glorious. My scent all over her, glorious. “Titus,” she breathes. I put my paws up on the bed and lay my chin on her thigh.

  “Oh goddess, you’re beautiful.” She strokes my ears, rubs my scruff. “Incredible.”

  I shift back and flop on the bed beside her. “Now you’ve seen. You must swear to never speak of it with another human.”

  “I swear,” she breathes.

  “Do you think you can refrain from letting on with the pack that you know? Even with Foxfire?”

  “Oh!” She doesn’t like that. I’m sure she wants to call Foxfire up right away to discuss it. “Well, of course I don’t want you to get into trouble. I’ll wait until she reveals it to me herself, then. I won’t ever tell that I saw you shift. Pinky promise.” She wiggles her pinky.

  I chuckle and nip her finger instead of linking mine with it. “How’s that broken arm of yours? I didn’t hurt you during sex, did I?”

  “Nope.” She loops the casted arm around my neck and pulls me down onto her. My mouth mates with hers and I sink once more into pleasure.

  * * *

  Rafe

  Interesting.

  A lone wolf running in our territory.

  Facing off with four of us to defend a human female. I lead the pack back to our camp at the base of Taos Mountain.

  A herd of deer lying between the school bus and the tent camp scramble up and bolt away, their fawns following on spindly legs.

  Crazy fucking deer. They shouldn’t be hanging around a wolf den. But A
llison, the Snow White of misfit shifters, attracts every form of wildlife imaginable to our camp.

  We shift in the mudroom, pulling on jeans and t-shirts before we step into a large but rustic cabin. At one time this was someone’s winter retreat. Nestled just beyond Arroyo Seco on the way up to the ski valley, it’s prime real estate. But we found it even more perfect to set up our operations here, and with our mercenary income, we could afford it.

  “Who the hell was that?” my brother Lance voices the obvious question.

  “Fuck if I know. Tourist, maybe,” I venture.

  “What’s he doing with a human?” Deke spits. He’s half feral. Killing comes a little too easily for him. I’m always watching him in case he loses his shit and becomes dangerous.

  “I don’t know, but I want you and Lance to keep an eye on him. I want to know why he’s here and when he’s leaving. Who the female is. Anything you can find out.”

  “Want me to rough him up?” Deke offers hopefully.

  I shake my head. “Nah. Stay in the shadows for now. We don’t want word getting out that we have a presence here. Especially with our current menagerie.”

  “Roger that, boss.”

  Chapter 7

  Sunny

  I wake up to the sound of clanging metal outside the Airstream. The soreness between my legs and the wound on my shoulder brings it all back.

  Titus.

  My wolf.

  I slip on a short, thin robe covered with roses and step outside. The air still has the bite of morning chill and the smell of pine and sage fills my nostrils.

  Titus has my bus jacked up and the tires off.

  “Good morning.” My voice is still rusty, which gives it a husky quality.

  He looks over, his expression softer than I’ve ever seen it. “Morning to you, sunshine.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Rotating your tires. One of them needs a little air. I can fill it for you next time we’re in town.”

  “I know how to—” I start to say, but he silences me with a frown.

  I smile. Okay, he wants to help. Let him help. It’s nice to have someone else to shoulder the burden for a change. I just don’t want to get too used to it. Because Titus has already become someone I care about very much.

  Someone it would hurt to leave.

  Don’t leave, then.

  That’s the whisper I hear in my head.

  Last time I knew Titus wasn’t ready for a relationship. And when we first bumped into each other at the bridge I still didn’t think he was. But now?

  After last night, now that he sees I’ve accepted him for who he is? Maybe things really could work between us.

  Except… wait. It’s forbidden for him to reveal himself to me. That probably means it’s forbidden to be in a relationship, too. I open my mouth to ask, but stop myself.

  I’m too happy this morning, still warm and glowy from having him in my bed. I don’t want to ruin the moment and call an end to this thing we have going.

  I’m sure it will come to its own natural conclusion. I don’t need to rush things.

  Except I don’t want to lose my heart in the process.

  Already lost, the whisper tells me. Well, better to have loved and lost than never have fucked at all. Never loved at all. Whatever.

  I bang my hip on the doorframe as I head back into the Airstream to make Titus breakfast. Gluten-free banana walnut pancakes with fresh berries and cream. Unfortunately I don’t have any meat in the fridge, but if I make enough pancakes it might satisfy him.

  I chuckle out loud thinking about his appetite. No wonder he eats so much—a wolf’s metabolism must be off the charts.

  Forty minutes later, I set the picnic table with a pretty cloth and a jar of fresh wildflowers, then serve up breakfast. Titus shovels the food into his mouth enthusiastically. “This is good,” he says between bites. “Real good.”

  “So are you really here on wolf business?” I ask.

  He wipes his mouth with a napkin. “Yes.”

  “You were sent to find other wolves?”

  “Not exactly, but yeah, sort of.” He considers me for a moment, and I can read his thoughts clearly. He wants to tell me, but he’s struggling with his sense of honor. Things are pretty black and white for this guy.

  “You’ve already let me in on this much, you might as well tell me the whole story,” I encourage.

  “Foxfire’s dad Johnny became part of a government research project on shifters. He died in captivity.”

  “What?” My mouth drops open with horror.

  “They came after Foxfire two years ago when they figured out he had a child. Who knows, maybe they were interested in half-breed genetics. Those guys who trashed your Airstream weren’t mafia. They were men looking to capture Foxfire.”

  Icy prickles race down my arms and up my spine. “But Tank protected her.” I flip back to the memories from two years ago and see the pieces explode and rearrange.

  “That’s right. The packs have been searching out these labs and destroying them. We had word there might be one up this way so my alpha sent me on a fact-finding mission. To see if I could ferret anything out.”

  I generally try not to get too polarized over anything. Right and wrong, good and bad are all subjective, really. I want to be in allowance of all things. To be one with nature and the Universe.

  But fuck that. These men killed a man I cared about and came after my child.

  They’re definitely wrong.

  And the only right I see here is to do everything I can to help seek justice and rescue any other shifters who might be in danger.

  I fold my fingers together and lean forward. “Okay, so what are we looking for?”

  “We?”

  I sit straighter. “That’s right. These people killed the father of my child and tried to take her prisoner. Damn straight I’m going to help find them.”

  Titus nods. “I have to respect that. All right. Well, all the labs have been located in remote locations—government owned wilderness areas. The actual laboratories are concrete bunkers. They are inside fenced grounds with guard towers and security cameras.

  Something about that sounds familiar. I’ve heard of a place like that in the Carson Forest. Who was telling me?

  My eyes fly wide. “I’ve got it!” I stand up so quickly from the picnic table I hit the tops of my thighs on the wood. “Ouch.”

  “Slow down there, sunshine.” Titus catches my casted elbow and steadies me. “What is it?”

  “I had a date with this guy—”

  Titus growls so loud it scares me. I mean, I know he would never hurt me, but my body reacts instinctively, freezing me in my tracks. The wound on my neck throbs.

  “Stop it,” I scold, recovering. “He was an idiot and I left early. You’re not listening.”

  “Sorry.” Titus shakes his head as if to recover his senses. He walks around the table, picks me up by the waist and lifts me away from the picnic table like I weigh nothing. “Tell me.”

  “Um… wow. I guess you have superhuman strength, too?”

  “Yep. Go on.”

  I lick my lips, turned on by that show of strength and momentarily losing the thread of my thoughts. “Oh yeah—he was telling me how he got lost out in the Carson National Forest and he came upon this government looking building. He was sure they were housing aliens there. Government conspiracy crap. I thought he was a total nut-job and purged the whole story until now.”

  “Do you know where exactly?”

  “No, but we could ask him. He works at the ski boot shop in town.”

  Titus’ forehead wrinkles. “Who buys ski boots in the summer?”

  I laugh. “Exactly! I don’t know why they don’t close for summer. I guess they sell enough t-shirts and other touristy stuff to make it work. Anyway, let’s go!” I quickly stack our dishes and grab the tablecloth and flowers all in one armful.

  Titus promptly removes everything from my hands and carries them inside.
When I see him standing at my sink washing dishes, I want to jump him, but there’s no time.

  “Leave the dishes, wolf-man. Let’s find this lab!”

  Titus turns and frowns, looking down the length of my body. “I hate to complain, but I think clothes might be a good idea.”

  “Oh yeah!” I skitter past him and he slaps my ass, hard. “Ouch! That was shifter strength!” I toss over my shoulder as I head to the back of the Airstream to change.

  “No it wasn’t.” There’s laughter in his voice. “Baby, I would never use shifter strength on you.”

  “You just did!” I call out as I scramble into a pair of shorts and a halter top. “I mean outside. You picked me up.”

  “I mean I would never hurt you.” He stomps down the center aisle, his brows drawn together like he’s not sure if I know.

  I place my hands—well, one full hand, one half-casted hand on his chest. “I know, wolf-man. I’m teasing. You should try it some time. Brighten… I mean, lighten up.”

  He’s still frowning but he drops a kiss on the bridge of my nose. “I’ve got sunshine. I got all the light I need.” He picks me up by the waist again, lifts me and sets me down on his other side.

  “Now you’re just showing off.”

  I love the low rumble of his chuckle. “You’re onto me.”

  * * *

  Titus

  We ride into town on the Harley, mainly because I need to keep Sunny’s body close to mine. She wraps her arms around my waist and presses her chest against my back, humming softly. At least I think she’s humming. It’s hard to hear over the roar of the motor, but that’s what it feels like. A soft reverberation that goes straight to my dick.

  I’ve been riding a motorcycle since I was eight years old, but it’s totally different with Sunny on the bike. She’s a human. Fragile as fuck. One accident and she could be taken from me. I had the fear of that put into me with her crash earlier this week.

  Not that I’ve ever had an accident in my life. My reflexes are sharp and my nerves steady. But I drive differently knowing I have precious cargo on the bike. Double-check my mirrors, keep my speed down.