by Sam Crescent
EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2021 Sam Crescent
ISBN: 978-0-3695-0342-8
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: Audrey Bobak
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALPHA BEAST
The Alpha Shifter Collection, 10
Sam Crescent
Copyright © 2021
Chapter One
“She’s the weird one.”
Liam Wolf glared at his younger brother, Ben. He didn’t need his brothers to get involved. “I know who she is.”
“There’s no way you can let him marry her,” Gary, his youngest brother, said.
“I can do and say what I please,” their father said. “This family needs you to marry Jenny Luca.”
“I thought all wolves were supposed to wait to meet their true mate,” Liam said. At the age of thirty-nine, he was beginning to think true mates didn’t exist. Sure, he’d met many couples over the years who’d claimed to be mated, but he’d yet to see them act like true mates.
Rumor had it that when you found your true mate, there was no magic pill to undo it. They became your entire world. All you wanted was to be with them. He stared at his father and knew no matter what he said, his mother was not a true mate.
That was the curse of what they’d done.
Rather than run wild in the great outdoors, they had taken over cities instead. They became the true rulers, and they kept everyone who worked for them in check. Fear was rife within their world. Not a moment went by that he didn’t smell it from the humans who worked for them. All of them knew exactly who they were and what they could do if their tempers were raised.
“I don’t have time to wait for fairy tales. I’ve already spoken to Luca. He is willing to put aside all of our differences for you to marry his daughter.” His father stood up.
Liam looked a lot like him, had since he was a little boy. Out of all of the Wolf kids, he was the only one to truly resemble his father. He had the Alpha trait. They all knew it.
Staring at his father now, he wanted to disobey him, but instead, he kept his thoughts to himself and simply stared at the man before him.
“You don’t have a lot of time. I suggest you get ready and be in the dining hall within the hour. The Lucas are coming here.”
“Are you fucking crazy?” Ben asked. “Do you even know anything about her?”
Liam didn’t need to listen to any more. Even though Jenny was eighteen years younger than him, he’d heard about her. Seen her even. It was kind of hard not to considering she was the Lucas’ baby girl, but also because of the fact she didn’t look anything like them. Where her brothers all had dark hair to go with their gray eyes, Jenny had white hair. Pure, snow-colored hair. Gray eyes that seemed to sparkle, and the occasional weird fact that she talked to herself, often.
There were rumors that she could see the dead. Ghosts.
He’d never been alone with her long enough to know the truth, but if it was, then it meant a lot of people would struggle with that little detail. In their world, death painted the streets with blood.
They were the fucking Wolf mafia, owning half of the city while the Lucas owned the other half. They all had their part to play. He’d never had a single conversation with Jenny. Sure, he’d seen her at functions, but again, he was always so far away from her, it never counted. He didn’t know her.
Leaving his father’s office, he went to his old bedroom to take a quick shower and to be dressed and ready for their arrival.
He didn’t know exactly why it was so important for him to marry Jenny. Their families had been enemies for many years, and the bloodshed between them would continue. The only time they worked together was when they had a common enemy in the coyotes who liked to stir shit up from time to time.
With his suit in place, looking impeccable, he joined his father at the dining room table. He’d never seen the man so nervous.
“We don’t have to do this,” he said.
“Son, you have no idea what we have to do. I only hope things go … okay.”
“What does that mean?” he asked, noticing his father’s nervousness, his hands constantly twitching. The way he looked around almost as if he was afraid.
“Jenny … er … it’s complicated. Let’s just get this over with.” The doorbell rang and his two brothers arrived.
“You’re not seriously following this through, are you?” Ben asked.
“We have to do what our Alpha tells us.”
“Yeah, but come on. I heard that she talks to herself all the time, and I don’t mean just a few words either. She carries an entire conversation. Weird shit happens when she’s around. It’s why they call her a weirdo.”
“Enough,” he said. Liam didn’t exactly have all the facts, but in all his years, his father had never once let him down. Growing up with the Alpha as a father, and an entire mafia at his back, didn’t come without consequences. He’d been trained to hunt, to hurt, to kill. Where some sons were being read stories on their father’s knee, he was being trained to take a beating. To learn to calm his wolf.
Living in the city had its problems, and one of them was they had to have complete and total control over their wolf. There was no room for any weakness. Even though the humans knew of their existence within their world, civilians didn’t have a fucking clue that wolves walked amongst them.
Liam heard his father greeting their guests. Offering his brothers a glare once more, he moved around them, making his way toward the main hallway. He spotted Lionel Luca with his wife, Sherry. His two sons, Lewis and Danny. Then at the back, looking rather small in comparison to her family, was Jenny.
Her hair stood out first, the white locks seeming even more so in their dark home. She wore a black cocktail dress that clung to her curves.
He’d never seen her up close before. Her body… Fuck, he reacted. No doubt about it. Some of the wolves within their territory were a little on the thin side. He’d always enjoyed a woman with curves, and looking at Jenny, she was all woman.
She stared past his shoulder before returning her attention to him. She only glanced at him before moving on, not even caring to give him her full undivided attention.
He watched her push a stray curl back behind her ear just as his mother came downstairs.
“I hope I’m not late to the party,” Bianca said.
More introductions were given.
“My, what beautiful hair you have,” Bianca said when she got to Jenny. “Where did you get it colored?”
“My daughter inherited her hair from her mother. My late wife, Judy.”
“I am so sorry,” Bianca said.
Liam saw his dad was already pissed. Bianca had already insulted their guests. Liam Sr. grabbed his wife and moved the conversation toward the dining room.
“Well, what do you think?” Ben asked.
“I think you should go and sit down.”
He followed behind Jenny, watching the curves of her ass sway from side to side. Her hands kept clenching and unclenching like she was trying to keep control of something.
At the dinner table, they were sat opposite. Liam watched her, unable to take his gaze away. He’d never been this close to her before.
She put her hands across the cutlery and tilted her head to the side.
So far, he hadn’t seen her talk to herself.
Conversation started with traffic, the weather. All the while, Jenny seemed to ignore everyone and everything around her. She closed her eyes, breathing in deeply and expelling breath, until finally, she opened those beautiful grays and looked at him.
One.
Two.
Three seconds.
She looked away.
The wolf inside him was curious. He felt his beast close to the surface, which only ever happened when he was angry. More often than not, he could keep tight control on his leash, but today, for some reason, it was taking over.
He couldn’t control himself.
Touch her. Taste her. Claim her.
Liam stayed in his seat.
Silence rang around the table as the waitresses brought in their first course. Again, he watched Jenny.
Her brothers sat on either side of her, but they acted like she wasn’t there. Her father was seated at the end of the table, which was done to show their respect. Liam Sr. took the other head of the table. Their wives on their left-hand sides.
Liam couldn’t take his gaze away from Jenny. It was probably a good thing as he was the only one who noticed when her cutlery started moving all of its own accord. In the next second, it flew across the room and Jenny cleared her throat.
“There was something on it. I’m so sorry,” Jenny said.
“No, it’s perfectly all right. We don’t find dirty cutlery acceptable either,” Liam Sr. said.
Jenny looked toward him, but he knew what he’d seen. She hadn’t touched that cutlery, which meant if the rumors were true, right now, someone was trying to talk to Jenny, and from the looks on her face, she wasn’t enjoying it.
****
“You’ve got to tell them that Bordaux is lying. He’s feeding the coyotes the information!”
Jenny didn’t want to look at the man who only had half a face. At least, he’d had half a face the moment she entered the Wolfs’ house. In the past ten minutes, his face had started to grow back.
It occasionally happened, but as she looked straight ahead, she caught sight of Liam watching her again.
Her father had given her strict instructions: no funny business. No talking to people who didn’t exist, no arguing, nothing. Like she had much of a choice. She thanked the waitress for bringing her another fork and she gripped it tightly, hoping this guy would get the message.
The problem … his message was important and he’d died in a really bad way. Betrayal was a hard one to accept, and as she continued to ignore him, even though he knew who she was, what she could do, his anger sickened her.
She didn’t know why they were sitting with their enemies. After the latest massacre had killed nearly ten people, she learned three of them had been young civilians. She knew because they came to her.
Some people—spirits, ghosts, didn’t matter, they were dead people—didn’t accept that they were in fact, gone. Most did. Those that did liked to linger a lot, to watch. She’d see them looking over their loved ones, and they were nice to talk to. It was how she talked to her grandmother.
Her own mother… She cut that thought off immediately. Thinking of her mother always made her feel sad and lonely.
“Seriously, you fucking weirdo. Do you think I want to be talking to you when I could be keeping an eye on my wife and kid? I know about you. I even know that after tonight, you’re going to be engaged to Liam, so this is as much—”
“Wait, what?” She turned, looking at the spirit. The moment she focused on him, the damage to his face healed.
“You can see me. Thank God.”
“Honey, what is it that you didn’t hear?” her father asked.
She didn’t turn to look at him, instead, listening to the man no one else could see.
“I guess you didn’t know that this was an engagement party of sorts. It has all been decided by your dads. Liam is a great guy, by the way.”
“I can’t believe this,” she said.
“Believe what, honey?” her father asked.
“You’re going to marry me off?” She glared at her father, and from the deep crimson of his cheeks, she knew the dead man hadn’t been lying. Betrayal hit her hard.
“How do you know?” he asked.
“How do you think?” She glared at him. She couldn’t believe she had tried to ignore this damn spirit. A complete stranger to her in every single way and yet, he’d shown more compassion to her in a few seconds. “What do you need me to say?” she asked.
She was aware they were all looking at her strangely, but she didn’t care. From the time she was three, she’d been different. The weird one. When she was first born, there were pictures of her with deep-brown hair. Since she turned three, when she saw her first dead person, her hair got whiter. At first, streaks of it appeared. By the time she was ten, her entire head of hair was white, just like her mother’s.
“Mr. Wolf, have you ever heard of a man named Bordaux?” she asked.
“What is the meaning of this?” Liam Sr. asked.
This was going to get ugly fast, and she didn’t want it to escalate. “What’s your name?” she asked the stranger.
“Kenrick. He knows I died on the job. They buried me quietly.”
She took a deep breath as Kenrick started talking. “A guy who worked for you, Kenrick, died of a gunshot wound to the face. He said that he has discovered Bordaux has a direct communication to the coyotes. He’s feeding them information and your money in the hope of a takeover bid. He was killed trying to contact you.”
Kenrick stopped talking.
“Will you ask him to take care of my wife and kid?”
“Will you take care of his wife and his child? He misses them very much and knows they’re struggling with his death.”
She looked at Kenrick, seeing that was all he had to say. Wiping her mouth, she threw the napkin to the table and stood.
“Excuse me.” She rushed out of the dining room, going straight toward the front door. She needed to get some air.
Slamming the door closed, she took several deep breaths. It wasn’t long before she heard the front door opening. She could imagine Danny, her brother, the only one who never called her a freak to her face, watching her, waiting.
“I know he said to not embarrass him, but you saw what happened. I had no choice. Otherwise, that dickwad Kenrick was going to throw more than a damn fork.”
“I saw with my own eyes what happened.”
She spun around to find Liam Wolf, the son, the one known and whispered as Alpha Beast. That was what they called him.
He’d been watching her from the moment she entered his father’s home. All her life, she’d gotten used to the stares.
This man didn’t look at her like she was a weirdo, though. She’d become accustomed to those kinds of looks. No, these looks were something more. She’d seen so many men looking at women like that. Like they wanted to eat them, to ravish them.
Her reputation carried across the city. Everyone who was within the packs knew of the white-haired weird girl who talked to herself.
Never once had she been desired. Feared, all the time. Hated, even more so.
People didn’t understand her, and she was okay with that.
Her grandmother would often tell her—alive and dead—that it didn’t matter what other people thought, only what she did. She missed her grandmother so much.
“What are you doing out here?” she asked.
“I came to see if you were all right.”
“I don’t need an escort. I don’t need anything.” She spun back to look at the night sky. The spirits didn’t always come to her. She could go days or even weeks before she saw or heard anything. Like tonight. It had been an entire week since she last saw someone. She imagined that was why her father had arranged this dinner.
She’d been normal long enough for him to take her out in public as if she was some kind of … social leper. She probably was.
No one could stand her.
“You may not need anyone or anything, but I wanted to at least say thank you.”
This made her frown and she turned to look back at him. “What?”
“I was the one who had to handle Kenrick’s burial. We weren’t close, but I knew he had a child and a wife he loved dearly. He was one of the few truly mated men I knew of. Something never quite added up with his death. I asked my father to look into it, but Bordaux has been a right-hand man for many years.”
“And now he’s trying to find a way to be more than that. Greed has a way of ruining most men. I’ve seen it happen. I’m sorry about Kenrick. Will you be taking care of his family?” she asked. If not, she would find some way to help them. She’d done it many times over the years. Her grandmother’s training, in life and death, always taught her to help others. To never allow herself to close off from her gift, even though it always came with a curse.
“They will always be taken care of,” he said. “We look after our own.”
“Good to know.”
Liam took several steps down toward her.
She stood, waiting, wondering why he was getting closer when everyone in her life had always tried to get as far away from her as possible.
He stepped right up toward her. The tips of his toes brushing hers.
So many feared this man. His name whispered on the night as if afraid they would somehow bring his presence like magic.
The shit she’d seen. The stuff she knew. It took a great deal to scare her. Liam didn’t scare her. He was as much of a man as he was a wolf.
“You know what our parents have planned,” he said.
“Are you disappointed? Considering your reputation, you’re going to have to align yourself with the Luca weirdo?” she asked.
He surprised her then. “I’d actually consider it a pleasure to be married to you, Jenny.”
Chapter Two
After the first disastrous dinner, Liam wasn’t put off. The Lucas had left and they’d all been close to drawing their claws, but they hadn’t done that. Instead, while Jenny had literally walked off their property, he’d gone and dealt with the crap that had come from it. He'd put every single man in their place, and soon after, he had a deal with Lionel and Sherry, which was why he now stood on their property, waiting for Jenny to come to him.