Alphas & Allies

by Maz Maddox

  Cash barreled forward into a run as they neared, spotting the bastards riding in on horseback. They fanned, aiming to surround the town, but Cash wasn’t about to let that happen. Even with the moon shining light all around them, Cash’s fur was ash gray and hard to spot at night. His back paws and clawed hands were silent as he ran, trying to make sense of what was atop the horses.

  They almost looked like humans, but their backs were bowed, their shoulders hunched, and their smell all wrong. It wasn’t until he got close enough to tackle one off their horse did he realize what he was up against.

  Cash sank his teeth into the hide of the rider he had attacked, snapping bone with his jaws and tearing at furred flesh. A primal scream burst from the ape shifter, the face eeriely near human but maw filled with dagger teeth. With surprising strength, the ape slammed a fist down into Cash’s temple, ringing his ears and causing the earth to tilt sideways.

  Hollers and screaming erupted from the surrounding troupe, screeching into the night air. Gunfire began littering the sky as they started circling the outstretches of the town, trying to cause chaos and fear. Cash shook his head free of the dizziness and quickly dispatched the foe in his grasp, locking his jaws around his neck and giving it a vicious jerk. With a wet snap, the ape went still.

  Cash took flight for the next rider. The horse it was riding on whinnied and panicked at the smell of wolves. The beast reacted to his flank attack, spinning and kicking viciously as its rider laughed and fired shots his way. A slice of pain lanced his arm but didn’t puncture, the burn of the silver all too familiar. There were so many, riding so quickly, and the smell of fear was starting to drift from the town. The music of the Sunday night had long died, and Cash knew it was only a matter of time before they sent out help.

  There were only a couple young men in the town, and most of the women who could fight or shoot had young children. He couldn’t let any of his pack jump into harm’s way.

  Not because of him. Not like this.

  Cash snapped his jaws at the horse, causing the upset mare to buck her rider into the air. The agile shifter landed with a quick roll and aimed a well-trained barrel straight for him. The night seemed to shift to life as a black shadow hurled itself into the armed ape, knocking him off his feet and sending him tumbling.

  The ape screamed, bones snapped, and the gun slid across the dirt. The shadow rose and turned, catching Cash’s yellow eyes with his own. Before him stood a black wolf, much smaller than himself but powerful in his own right. A splash of white fur covered his chest, and his shoulder bore a bullet wound scar.

  The scent was almost like feeling a ghost walk across his grave.

  “You,” Cash said around a sniff, drinking in the former alpha’s smell.

  “They’re surrounding the town,” the black wolf said quickly. “I’ll take the east wall. You take west.”

  “They have silver,” Cash warned, and the black wolf nodded.

  Though he was smaller, he was bullet fast. Cash barely stayed on his heels as they ran, splitting off to fight the screaming bandits. The black wolf fought like a cautious viper, darting around and striking whatever weak points he could find. He used the darkness and their obvious arrogance and mockery against them.

  Cash had strength and force. If the black wolf was a viper, Cash was a sledgehammer. He was too big to dart around and wait for openings; he created his own. Bounding up easily over the height of the horses, Cash ripped into the apes like they were paper and littered the outside walls with blood and carnage.

  A yelp of pain caught his attention, and Cash turned in time to see the black wolf being thrown into the dirt by a rather furious-looking bandit. Before Cash could bolt into action, a small rock hurled through the air out of seemingly nowhere. The ape barked a sound of pain and cupped his wounded head as the rock struck him in the temple, leaving himself open for the black wolf to tackle him down and finish him off.

  Cash breathed in the sound of the other members of the troupe, all two that were left alive, turning tail to flee. They were no doubt riding back toward their base in the hills with their nonexistent tails tucked between their legs.

  The night air stilled around them as the chaos drifted away, leaving the smell of death, apprehension, and small traces of fear. The black wolf exhaled and flattened his ears once the sound of the bandits died away, and his attention pivoted to Cash.

  “I know what you’re going to say--”

  “Then I don’t need to say it.” Cash pushed ahead of where the conversation was going. “You can just be on your way.”

  “Who were they?” the former alpha insisted.

  “That’s none of your concern.”

  “I just saved your ass!” the young man snapped, baring his teeth slightly as he did.

  “You did,” Cash conceded, then lifted his chin toward the horizon. “That’s why I’m letting you leave here unscathed.”

  The black wolf snarled a lip and sniffed the air, his ears lifting slightly.

  “You’re hurt.”

  As if the comment reminded his body it was cut, pain pulsed through the bullet graze across his upper arm. Blood had tinged the fur and glistened in the moonlight, but it was far from fatal.

  “Silver cut. Nothing horrible.”

  “Señorita Angelina has herbs that can help with the pain and heal you faster.”

  Cash hid the sneer that wanted to surface. That woman had made it clear years ago she wasn’t about to use anything worthwhile on him unless he was dead or dying. It almost hurt as much as the wound knowing the town behind him hadn’t even bothered to come see if he was dead or not.

  Two small pinpricks of scent caught his attention, and he flicked his ears up slightly.

  Young.

  Male.

  Nonthreatening.

  Coyotes.

  “Friends of yours?” Cash asked, his eyes on the moonlit forms hiding well from the arguing. The black wolf let out a small grunt and followed his gaze.

  “What the hell are you two doing here?” the young wolf asked, his voice pitched low and commanding. The two coyotes, both mottled brown and white with amber eyes and matching looks of guilt slinked from the shadows. They stayed close together, their forms similar to wolf shifters in body and face, but so much smaller and lithe.

  “We wanted to see where you always go,” one said in a whine.

  “Every full moon,” the other one finished.

  The black wolf’s shoulders tensed, and he glanced back Cash’s way.

  This little shit had been coming here every full moon? A growl rumbled through him. He was a threat, coming back to take what was won from him. Cash’s hackles rose, and he bore his teeth.

  But the young man didn’t mirror his threat.

  The black wolf shifted to his human form and met Cash’s gaze. He was most definitely the young man Cash had shot three years prior, but he was no longer the lanky teenager with too much responsibility placed on his shoulders. What stood in his place was a grown man, all lean muscle and grit wrapped up in cocoa skin and midnight black hair.

  As if the display of humility and diffusion wasn’t surprising enough, when the young man spoke, his voice was smooth and strong like morning coffee.

  “I didn’t come here to fight you,” the young wolf explained. “I just missed my family.”

  Damn if that wasn’t a punch in the gut.

  Chapter Four

  Antonio wasn’t sure what the hell was about to happen.

  The last thing he had been expecting on his monthly visit back home was to be fighting a pack of bandits trying to attack the town. And he sure as shit didn’t expect to be doing so alongside this asshole. The whole thing just happened so damn fast.

  Warm night air kissed his naked skin as he waited to see what the stranger would do with his confession. Luke and Logan had unknowingly tossed him to the wolf, and he had hoped his honesty would pay off. He wasn’t there to fight him.

  Not yet.

  The stranger was
in his wolf form for a long time, sniffing the air and weighing his options. The man moved like a thundercloud in battle, all flash and fury with no mercy. For a moment, Antonio was worried the storm was about to roll his way when the stranger grunted and shifted back himself.

  Damnit if he wasn’t still striking, even after all that had transpired.

  Big broad shoulders rolled back as he stood in human form, his skin lighter than Antonio’s by multiple shades. His brown hair was to those shoulders now, swept back and a little wild, but his stubble was still across his cheeks. The man was in a perpetual state of needing to shave it seemed.

  Strong muscle covered every inch, and hair peppered down his chest to his navel. His sharp eyes were gray and as hard as his scowl.

  “Wow,” Luke whispered, his brother nodding quickly in agreement. They both had shifted back to their human form but had slung their ponchos on while they admired the view.

  “Big,” Logan whispered, Luke nodding.

  “You done?” Antonio shot them a disappointed look, and they both nodded, but their eyes were still glued to the stranger.

  The stranger went to speak, but a voice pierced through the dark. Antonio knew that voice so well it nearly stole the breath right out of him.

  Luis.

  His cousin was yelling his name, running for him in his wolf form. He was a mess of black and white, looking more like a wild dog than a wolf. When he got close enough, he tackled Antonio to the ground in a hug so fierce his air really did escape him.

  Antonio laughed and hugged him around the neck, accepting the nuzzling and licks he got while his cousin’s tail wagged and wagged.

  “I can’t believe you’re here!” Luis whined happily, his giant form practically smothering him. Luis perked his ears up and looked him over curiously. “Why are you here?”

  The stranger cleared his throat, and Luis flattened his ears again, looking over his shoulder at his alpha.

  No. Not stranger. Their alpha.

  Cash. His name is Cash.

  “Let me up, Luis,” Antonio pushed at him, climbing to his feet once his cousin allowed it.

  “I smelled blood,” Luis explained, glancing around finally at the shifter bodies that were evidence of what had happened. “I came to see if you needed help when I smelled Antonio.”

  “I told you all to stay within the town if you smelled trouble.” Cash crossed his arms. “You should've stayed put.”

  “Seems like you could’ve used the help, Cash.” Luis mirrored his crossed arms, still in his wolf form. “You really suck at this whole “pack” part of the job.”

  Cash growled a response and switched his eyes back to Antonio. “If Luis smelled you, I’m sure the rest of them have by now too.”

  “I’m not here to fight you,” Antonio repeated. “But I’d like to help.”

  Cash inhaled slowly and glanced back toward the town.

  “Cash,” Antonio said, earning a scowl and a glare from the man. “They’re my family. Whatever you and I have to do to hash it out later, that’s fine. But right now...all I wanna do is help you protect them.”

  Cash’s alpha rose at that, his eyes flashing yellow.

  Antonio swallowed the knot of pride in his chest. The bandits hadn’t been a random attack, not moving the way they did around the perimeter. It didn’t take a genius to realize that. There was no point in calling out the fact that Cash clearly needed extra hands as he stood there bleeding and defiant.

  Taking a breath, Antonio stepped closer cautiously and met the man’s gaze as level as he could. Cash stood almost a head taller than he did, and even though Antonio had been training for years, Cash still outweighed him quite a bit.

  A nonthreatening loner would have bared his neck and showed submission.

  Antonio wasn’t a loner. He was an alpha.

  So was Cash.

  “We got a lot to settle,” Antonio started carefully, keeping his brown gaze locked with Cash’s gray eyes. Slowly, he held up his hand. “But right now, we got bigger things to deal with. Truce?”

  The air moved between them like a breath, heightening the fact that the three onlookers were holding theirs.

  Cash set his jaw, reached out, and took Antonio’s hand in his. “Truce. For now.”

  * * *

  The twins were not happy that Antonio sent them home. They insisted they could help, claiming that a certain rock being thrown at just the right time may have been the reason Antonio was still standing. After a lot of pouting, a lot of whining and sulking, the twins shifted back into their coyote forms and swore to go right back home.

  Antonio had expected the warm welcome home but thought he would have held it together better than he did. As soon as tears began to spill from his family members, his quickly followed. He was surrounded by the familiar warmth and smells of home, of family, after so long of being without them. No one had asked if he was alpha again, not when Cash was the one who led him back into town.

  They had barely even regarded him when he moved past them, not glancing back to watch the parade of welcome flooding over Antonio.

  Even though the bandits had disrupted the party, there was still plenty of food and drink to go around. Once Antonio was sitting with them, the music struck back up, and food was dished out. Luis caught him up on everything that had happened: who had gotten married, new babies, those that had passed away of old age, and so on.

  A shimmer of guilt and jealousy bled through Antonio at hearing how well everyone was doing. In his private, shameful thoughts, Antonio had secretly wanted Guarida to be doing badly without him. He wanted to be the glue that held everyone together, kept everyone safe, healthy and happy.

  But they were getting along just fine -- if not better -- without him.

  “This beef tasted better than it did when I was a kid,” Antonio said between bites, smiling up at Rosa. “By the gods, I missed your cooking.”

  “That’s one thing that jackass did right, I guess,” Rosa scoffed.

  Antonio cocked his head in question as he took another bite.

  “Somehow you know who got old Draton to trade cattle for dry goods.” Rosa turned his nose up. “It’s very good meat; I’ll give Draton that. Man’s mean as spit, but he raises a good cow.”

  “Are you serious?” Antonio said around a mouth of food, getting a scolding look from his aunt. He finished his bite before he continued. “That asshole wouldn’t give me the time of day.”

  “Guess it took an asshole to convince the other.”

  It didn’t escape Antonio that Cash wasn’t eating with them, nor was there a seat saved at the head of the table. The town moved around, smiling and singing, without a care their alpha was missing.

  “Does he not come eat with you?” Antonio asked as Luis paused to take a drink. His cousin had grown into a rakish man, handsome and fit, midnight curls tied back loose and comfortable.

  Luis snorted and glanced at him sideways. “He hasn’t tried since the first time.”

  Antonio’s face twisted into offence. “Why the hell not?”

  “Because he’s not welcome at our table,” Rosa barked, putting more spiced beef onto his plate. “He may be our alpha, but he’s not one of us.”

  “That’s not how that works…” Antonio trailed off, not sure if he really believed it. Cash was alpha. Of course he was one of them.

  “He stole you from us and took your place.” Luis stole a piece of meat from his plate and shrugged. “Doesn’t make him family. Just the protector.”

  “Does he come to any dinner? Any births?” Antonio glanced around at the full table of people who only laughed or spit curses bitterly.

  “Never.”

  “Not welcome.”

  “Not one of us.”

  A razor-thin cut of sympathy quietly began to bleed, but it was hidden under a mountain of family, food, and Luis gossiping.

  Cash looked toward his front door in confusion at the sound of someone knocking. It was such a foreign sound that it took him a
moment to realize what he had heard. Typically when Matias brings his dinner, he waits for him outside before Cash even gets home.

  Setting down his rolled cigarette he was about to light, Cash moved to answer who it was knocking so late into the evening.

  Before he even reached the door, he knew who it was.

  “Hey,” Antonio said, holding a plate of heaven. Rosa’s spiced beef was a symphony for the pallet, but he never got it fresh. It was always cold from being brought to him as an afterthought. Steam was curling off the food, dancing in the moonlight in seductive wisps.

  By the grace of the gods, Antonio was clothed as he stood there with the divine food.

  “That for me?” Cash asked, unable to take his eyes off the plate.

  “Yeah.”

  “Matias usually brings the food…”

  “Luis told me he does, but I didn’t see him.” Antonio raised his eyebrows. “Mind if I come in?”

  Cash moved aside to let him in and nearly snatched the plate out of his hands as he passed by. There were fresh tortillas on the plate too.

  The rumble of his stomach was a beastly thing, making Antonio’s lips quirk into a grin. The faintest dimple punched into his cheek, and Cash almost yelled at him for how cute it was.

  Once the plate was in his hands, Cash sat at the simple table to began devouring the savory beef like it was the last thing he’d ever eat.

  “Can I ask you something?” Antonio took a seat across from him, leaning his elbows on the table. Cash grunted as he ate, so Antonio continued. “How did you get Draton to trade with you? That man wouldn’t give me the time of day.”

  “I wouldn’t imagine he would have.” Cash finished, sitting back in his chair. The thing squeaked like the added weight of his dinner was going to be the last straw for its stability.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” The young man’s tone was a bit sharp, but not outright angry.

  “Meaning that old fart only agreed to trade after I told him he was being a stubborn idiot. Men like Draton need to be matched in their aggression, or they won’t take you seriously. I assume you probably went to him as a reasonable man asking for reasonable things, and he just saw you as a kid.”