Secret Alpha Wolf (Shifter League Book 2)

by Leela Ash

“You can read that later,” he stated when she turned to look at him in confusion. “I’m a bit hungry. I communicate better when I’m well fed.”

  Veronica rolled her eyes. “Isn’t that like a man?”

  She reached out to pull the notepad toward her, and Achilles stopped her abruptly by gripping her arm tenderly in his hand and pulling her close to his face. “And what do you know about men?”

  Veronica’s heart pounded hard in her chest. She could feel it in her ears. Was he going to kiss her? Right here? Like this? Were the burgers going to burn if she didn’t get out of this trap immediately?

  Achilles seemed to catch himself and released his grip on her quickly.

  “I don’t like ketchup,” he stated flatly.

  Veronica gazed at him, her face blank for a moment as she processed his words. No apology. No indication of the extreme sexual tension between them that was so thick it could have been sliced through with the knife she had laying on the counter between them. The man didn’t like ketchup.

  “Oh… okay.”

  She moved away from him as fast as she could, gripping the spatula to check their food. They were both incredibly quiet until, finally, Achilles cleared his throat.

  “We need to talk to Lester,” he stated. “I don’t know what he knows, but whatever it is could be very important. Do you think he’d talk to us?”

  Veronica couldn’t help but laugh. “I think he’s been waiting for this his whole life. I have no doubt at all that he would talk.”

  “Can you take me to him? He knows you. He might trust you more. I couldn’t help but notice he seemed a bit… paranoid… by his surroundings.”

  “Well, considering what happened to us on his property, can you blame him?”

  Achilles brooded silently for a moment. “No.”

  “It’s pretty late right now, but maybe we can make a trip out there tomorrow.”

  “All right.”

  The sizzling of the meat was extremely pronounced as they fell into another bout of silence. Veronica finally considered the food ready and served it meticulously, taking great care to focus on every single detail of the food’s presentation rather than allowing her gaze to betray her by looking at Achilles.

  But when everything was on the table, they were forced to face each other. Somehow, Achilles didn’t seem phased and gave her that irritatingly handsome smile of his. “It smells nice.”

  “It’s honestly just meat,” Veronica mumbled. She hadn’t done anything fancy to it. No spices. No ketchup.

  “Well. Thank you for the meal. I appreciate you being so hospitable. I know I must have intruded on you and I apologize for that.”

  “Well, I wasn’t expecting you, that’s for sure,” Veronica admitted, daring to look from her food to Achilles once more. Yep, he was still gorgeous. Damn it.

  “I know I should probably have waited until tomorrow to check on you, but I was worried something might have happened. That phone call really took me by surprise.”

  It seemed that the food was buttering him up, because he was speaking freely now as he ate. His body language had changed entirely, and he was lounging back, relaxed as could be, simply enjoying his meal and, it might seem, his company.

  But she was getting ahead of herself there. She didn’t want to let herself believe he was actually there because he liked her. And even if he did, he was bad news. She knew that. She had vowed to herself to stay away from any guy who might bring her trouble of any kind. And within three seconds of meeting Achilles, she had already encountered horrifyingly evil creatures who wanted to kill them. Yeah, better not to get too invested here.

  “I’m sure it was startling. Are you sure you can’t just tell me what happened? I know there’s nothing I can do to track the number from here but if you were that upset about it, we should really try and do something.”

  Achilles’ relaxed expression hardened again suddenly, and Veronica had to hold back her sigh of exasperation. Why couldn’t he just talk to her?

  “I told you already that this is dangerous and that I don’t want to see you hurt. If I wanted to see you hurt and it wasn’t dangerous, I wouldn’t be in your kitchen right now.”

  Veronica prickled. Despite his good looks, Achilles was still kind of an asshole.

  “I’m fully aware of the situation at hand, thank you,” she stated, letting her own face fall into a challenging glare. “And I think you know as well as I do that the resources at my disposal are crucial to your investigation and that we would probably do better together than individually.”

  Achilles said nothing.

  “Not only that,” Ronnie continued, “but I’ve dealt with dangerous situations for years. Maybe I don’t know everything that’s going on or where this particular danger comes from or what it is, but the best way for you to protect me is to inform me, not keep me in the dark. Okay?”

  Achilles’ face soured, and Veronica couldn’t help but feel a twinge of amusement. Was he sulking?

  “I know you’re used to being in charge and having all the power, but you have to acknowledge that I’m not completely helpless, okay? And it’s really insulting to me that you think I am.”

  Achilles opened his mouth to reply, then seemed to think better of it and clamped it shut again. Yes, he was definitely sulking.

  Finally, he took a deep breath and fixed his intense gaze upon her.

  “I know you’re not helpless,” Achilles stated. “I know you’re taking things the wrong way. What I believe is that, nobody, not you, not me, not anybody, can predict just how dangerous our situation is, and I do not want undue harm to come to you. I would feel better being nearby and protecting you from it because the humans here are certainly oblivious to the dangers as well and don’t have the same means as I do to protect you.”

  He looked so sincere that it was nearly uncomfortable to see, let alone dispute it. Maybe his intentions were pure enough. Maybe he was trustworthy after all. Ronnie considered the words and then slowly nodded.

  “I understand. And I’m really grateful for your consideration of me, though I would really appreciate it if you could stop acting like I need you or something. I’ve lived my whole life without you. I take care of myself now and always will. And for me to be treated like some helpless little girl isn’t going to help either one of us.”

  “I’m sorry,” Achilles said. His intense eyes bore into hers and, once again, a suffocating energy surrounded her. What was it about this man that caused her to feel this way? And what exactly was it that she was feeling, anyway? Some kind of connection? Just lust, maybe?

  Well, there was no denying the primal attraction Achilles seemed to invoke within her, with seemingly no effort on his part whatsoever. But that was something she was sure she could ignore. There was no way she was just going to accept it and demote herself to the role of a horny teenager. And besides that, there was something far more to it than that. Whatever that odd connection might be, it was there, and she felt it loud and clear. She just wondered if maybe he could feel it too. Or if he was causing her to feel it on purpose somehow…

  No, hadn’t she just told herself she could trust him? She was going to have to make up her mind if they were going to work together. So, she took a deep breath and tried to look at him as unwaveringly as she could muster.

  “Look, Achilles. We’re going to have to try, despite both of our reservations, to make this work. I don’t see what choice we have. We can’t recruit other people, or it would cause a panic. We can’t just magically figure out what’s going to happen. But we can at least try to rely on each other as partners in this. And partners don’t show a lack of confidence in each other.”

  “I have complete confidence that you will do everything within your capabilities,” Achilles said, clearly choosing his words carefully. It was annoying, but it was sweet in a way. He was walking on eggshells for her and she was certain it wasn’t something he was used to. The labored expression on his face really said it all. “And I will try no
t to insult you or your abilities. But I think both of us need to be realistic here.”

  His assertive tone was back, and he continued. “We each have individual strengths. Mine happens to be physical. I have an ability that you don’t have, and sources of information that are foreign to you. And you have abilities and strengths I don’t have. But when it comes to your life, I’m not going to pretend I don’t have the advantage just to spare your pride. I’m going to save your life. And whether you want to thank me for it or condemn me for it isn’t really up to me. If you choose to consider my protection a slight against you, that is up to you. But I don’t expect a thanks. I expect you to make the smart choices, so I don’t have to worry about your life in the first place.”

  Ronnie frowned and shifted uncomfortably. Her cat slipped into the room and rubbed against her legs and she decided to just let the conversation go. There was no use getting worked up over it. Besides, deep down, she knew he was right. He had saved her life from a threat she hadn’t even known was possible. He was able to shapeshift into a striking creature and then pretend like it had never happened; lead a normal life among the human population and continue to seek out and destroy monsters like the ones that had been near Lester’s place.

  “Why don’t we finish eating?” Veronica said, unsure of how to verbalize what she felt.

  Somehow, though, the expression on Achilles’ face told her he understood just exactly how she was feeling, and encouraged her to finish the rest of her meal unperturbed by whatever bizarre power struggle they were facing together.

  She was put at ease and the two finished their strange impromptu meal with a quiet peace between them. Eventually, Achilles had cleaned his plate and stood to go wash it at the sink.

  “No, you’re a guest,” Ronnie said, standing quickly to intercept him. “Please don’t do that.”

  “An unannounced guest, who you have been more than hospitable to,” Achilles stated, snatching her plate away and heading to the sink to wash it. “Besides, I like doing the dishes. It’s fun to play in the water.”

  “You really are kind of like a big dog, aren’t you?” Veronica said, laughing softly. She stopped suddenly, concerned that, perhaps, her observation might be offensive. But to her relief, Achilles broke out in a smile and shrugged lightly.

  “I have my interests, is all. And water happens to be a big one.”

  “Well, then, I guess it’s okay for you to do my dishes.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  Veronica hung back, a little overwhelmed by the easy way he took charge and was helping her out around the house. It was a far cry from the kind of man her father had been. Although she had been allowed to express herself in as masculine a way as possible to try and win his good graces, the fact of the matter was, he silently expected her to do a “woman’s work,” because he himself didn’t want to do it.

  From a very young age, she had been trained to clean and cook and take care of all manner of household things as he went to work and supported their family. And yet, he was as gruff with her as he would have been with a son and it never failed to make her feel a little less than worthy. Who was she supposed to be? What exactly did he expect of her? And how on Earth was she supposed to live up to such conflicting expectations?

  The end result was Ronnie. The girl who could go out and annihilate her peers at baseball, then come home and don her father’s socks in the evening. Who even donned socks anymore? Apparently, the Mitchells did. Well, the one Mitchell with two X chromosomes to her name. Her father had been strict, frugal, and uncompromising. But he was also a very intelligent man who had earned his place in society. He had kept the town safe for decades and had been able to pass a good reputation on to his daughter.

  What other woman could boast that she had been able to inherit the love and respect of an entire town just because of the good service of her father? What other woman could say she protected countless lives every single day because of the fortune of her upbringing? Not any woman that Veronica knew. But then again, she didn’t really have many opportunities to get out much.

  She had never been the type of girl to dream about escaping her oppressive country life. She had never dreamt about going off to college, far away, to better her life or pursue a degree in something random like other girls her age had constantly talked about. She also hadn’t had the same hopes of a perfect marriage to a high school sweetheart. Mainly because most of the boys thought of her more as dangerous competition than a dating option.

  Had she missed the male attention that most of her girlfriends had gotten while they were growing up? Maybe, maybe not. If she had, she hadn’t let herself think much about it. It wouldn’t do her any good to dwell on what she didn’t have and probably could never realistically obtain.

  Though, maybe that was what had led her to being so vulnerable when her ex had come into the picture. He had treated her in a way most other boys in the area would never dream of. He hadn’t seen her as competition. He saw her as a challenge. One he was happy to take on, even if it was for all the wrong reasons.

  Maybe that was what was attracting her to Achilles now. He wasn’t threatened by her. In fact, she wished he was MORE threatened of her so maybe she could feel like he took her seriously. But next to him, rather than feeling like one of the top dogs, the way she did with the guys she grew up with, she felt something strange and unexpected. A vulnerability.

  There was no doubt in her mind that Achilles was stronger than she was. He was probably much faster too. And whatever powers he had that she had witnessed were certainly nothing like what she had grown up with. They were entirely new and unfamiliar to her. And Achilles didn’t try and flaunt his power. He just wanted her to accept it. And know her own limitations.

  But being limited was something Ronnie had a real problem with. It wasn’t that she wanted to be bigger and stronger than Achilles. It was being told she couldn’t or shouldn’t do something that she really wanted to do. And in this case, it was things she needed to do. It was her job to make sure the people of her town were taken care of, and so that’s what she was going to do. Whether Achilles thought she was capable or not.

  And yet, he wasn’t afraid of her. He was challenging and annoying, but he seemed to genuinely have her best interest at heart. He didn’t want to see her hurt, which was actually kind of nice. No man had ever really been protective of her. Not even her father, who wanted her to be as independent as possible and fend for herself from a very early age. He had enough on his plate without being burdened by a daughter. Not that he was negligent. He just treated her like a son in a lot of ways and expected that she do her part to pull her weight.

  Now, that tendency she had of doing everything in her power to pull her weight was something that was really getting in the way of working together with Achilles, who was telling her the weight she had to pull was much lighter than what she originally would have thought. He wanted to keep her out of harm’s way, but she had already been in it once and made it through. What caused him to think she couldn’t handle anything worse?

  Probably the fact that he had been the one to save her life.

  Veronica sighed heavily and dared to look up at Achilles, who had just finished washing all the dishes and was drying them methodically with a fluffy white towel. He didn’t seem to be bothered at all by the supposed “woman’s work”. Not the way her father might have been. Why not just let herself relax and stop worrying so much about these stupid, pointless labels? She could get things done, and she could do them her way. She just had to be smart about it.

  If Achilles would let her.

  10.

  “Hey, that’s not looking too bad!”

  Achilles looked up from his project to give Apollo a noncommittal shrug. He had actually spent the majority of the night in his new workshop, trying to figure all the equipment out. He hadn’t been able to sleep after the odd night he’d had with Veronica. Whatever it was about her that drew him to her, he wished it would ju
st go away. It was annoying.

  “I thought I’d try a few things out,” Achilles stated, looking back to his task. “It’s actually kind of fun.”

  He could feel Apollo’s smile without even looking at him. The radiant pleasure of a dragon shifter was impossible to miss. Well, unless you were a human. Then those things could easily go over your head.

  But a human like Veronica, he wagered, would probably catch on. There was something different about her. But he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

  “I had a feeling that welding would suit you, Achilles. I heard you were good with your hands back in Stonybrooke. A star mechanic, even.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” Achilles muttered. “But I do have my little perks here and there.”

  “Oh, you have a lot of perks, man,” Apollo said, slapping Achilles hard on the back. The wolf shifter winced at the man’s strength. The movies that had been used to train the dragon shifters from Fiora had somehow managed to influence even a shifter who had been natively born on Earth. Those stupid back-slaps were a painful reminder of just how not-human they all really were. And yet, they thought it made them fit in.

  “I know you do,” Apollo said. “You have more than that. You are a crucial member of this team and I am lucky to work with you. Thank you for all you do.”

  A sudden twinge of guilt plagued Achilles. How crucial was it for him to hide so much from the other members of the Shifter League? He was hiding secrets. And big ones. He had disobeyed direct commands and potentially put all their lives at risk on a whim. He had endangered a civilian, who he had promptly spilled his guts to, and now, he was tethered to said civilian as her own personal bodyguard. And to make matters so much worse than they had to be, the same civilian was also incredibly fucking reckless. There wasn’t much about the situation that Achilles was proud of.

  Wait a minute, Achilles thought. Why was Apollo being so nice all of a sudden? Did he know something? Was he just toying with Achilles? That would be a really shitty way to try and get the truth to come out. But then again, he wouldn’t put it past the guy. He was known for being a hard-ass and getting whatever information he needed by whatever means necessary. Dragon shifters were kind of terrifying. But he had to shake off his concerns and managed a reply.