Alpha's Ultimatum

by Charlee Garden

  I wasn’t panicking at all. I was pissed. I stormed after them, intending to tell them both off, when I bumped into Tess. In my furious state, I forgot that she was picking me up from school to go shopping. In a way that was uniquely Tessa, she talked me down—the same way she had after I found out about my dad’s heart attack. She told me to calm down and bottle it up—to hold in my emotions until I got home so no one else saw the angry tears that had already begun falling down my cheeks. I did what she said and it worked... kind of.

  Every time I bottled up my feelings like Tessa instructed, it worked but it was like I could only hold it in for so long before I cracked. Once I let the proverbial cat out of the bag, I suffered through panic attacks for quite some time after. Sometimes the emotional instability lasted for days. Sometimes it lasted much longer. The more feelings I held in, the worse the fall out was but I couldn’t deny the effectiveness of her technique. I would have never have made it back to Knoxville after my brother’s call without it.

  “There you are!” I exclaimed as my fingers wrapped around the cool surface of my phone. Quickly turning the flashlight on, I shone it around the room. I felt the tension drain from my body as I realized I was in my new apartment. Now that I had light and some semblance of clarity of mind, I recognized my surroundings.

  I stood up, stretching my stiff limbs, as a yawn wracked my body.

  Another glance at my phone told me that it was nearly nine o’clock at night. Tess would want to hit the town soon, no doubt. With another yawn, I resigned myself to a shower in the hopes that it would wake me up.

  It felt as if I was moving on autopilot as I made my way to the bathroom, stopping to snag a few necessities from my suitcase on the way. Sleep still clung to the edges of my consciousness, refusing to release its hold. I washed up quickly before blasting myself with cold water to shock my senses. After the veritable ice bath, I was officially awake.

  I rushed through blow drying my hair after I received a text from Tessa saying she’d meet me at Ruby’s at eleven. Ruby’s was the best bar in town—locals only. The tourists that frequented Knoxville rarely found the place. The bar didn’t have any online presence whatsoever which lent to its anonymity.

  “Make it 11:30,” I messaged back while shooing Eleanor away from my makeup brushes. The cat had a thing for the fibers and had destroyed more of my brushes than I cared to count.

  Normally, I’d skip makeup because I was running late but I made time for my cosmetic routine instead. If I was honest with myself, I’d admit that I was putting extra effort into my appearance on the offhand chance I ran into Sam but, per usual, I had both of my feet firmly planted in Denial Land.

  By a quarter to eleven, my hair fell in beach waves down my back and my winged eyeliner was so sharp it could cut a bitch... but I was still in my bathrobe. After what felt like an eternity, but was actually only about ten minutes, of digging through my suitcases and random boxes marked “skankalicious” courtesy of Tess, I found my outfit.

  May weather in the valley was way warmer than the temperatures we had back in Chicago but even Tennessee got a crisp chill once the sun set. Still I was committed to the outfit. As my grandma had always told me, you’ve got to suffer to be beautiful. Granted she meant that I had to shut up and sit there while she tugged a brush through my thick knotty hair as a child but same principle really. I was probably going to freeze my ass off, but I was still committed to wearing the little black dress I’d chosen.

  After another twenty minutes, I stood in front of a full-length mirror to take in the final product. The dress had spaghetti straps with a plunging neckline that showed off the girls just enough. Perks of being a B-cup, I could do a deep V without looking like a super hoe. The bodice was fitted while the skirt flared out into an A-line that reached mid-thigh. The dress would have paired well with the black stilettos Tessa had given me for Christmas last year but, much to my bestie’s dismay, that wasn’t my style. Instead, I slipped on a pair of red high tops that matched the red lipstick I wore. I took in my appearance one more, pleased with the outcome, before making my way outside to meet my cab. I was going to have a blast with Tess, whether I ran into Sam or not.

  11

  Liliana

  “About time!” Tessa’s shout came from across the room.

  She was leaning against the bar with a beer in hand, her body language indicating that she had already begun flirting up a storm as she practically curled into the guy. Mr. Plaid Shirt didn’t seem to mind being her newest victim. He didn’t even turn to look behind him at her basically yelling in his face in her haste to greet me. The same couldn’t be said for the group of people perched up against the bar behind her. The entire group turned in unison, looking me up and down. My cheeks began to flame red as I looked at the ground, my body automatically curling in on itself to make my visage smaller and indistinct. I may know how to dress like a bad bitch but I definitely didn’t know how to act like one.

  I made my way over to Tess quickly, pausing awkwardly once I had reached her side. Shy wasn’t a word I’d use to describe myself most days but I was basically awful with strangers. There were only two things that made me even moderately okay with strangers: alcohol and caffeine. Since the latter wasn’t something my bestie would find even moderately acceptable for me to order, unless mixed with whiskey, on a girls’ night out, I ordered a beer.

  “I know you did not just say hello to the bartender before you said hi to me,” her voice full of mock hurt.

  “No, I didn’t,” making sure to pause dramatically, I smiled before continuing, “I asked him for a beer too. In fact, I still haven’t greeted you. Deal with it.”

  Sassing Tessa came natural, and it helped the blush that still colored my face to fade.

  “I hate you. Why do I deal with you again?” her words accompanied a shove to my shoulder, causing me to laugh as I stumbled sideways. I smacked into another body. All humor drained from me as I turned to apologize.

  The guy I’d bumped into was huge. I had to look up and then up some more. He had to be at least six foot five. Hazel eyes met mine, a soft smile tugging at the stranger’s lips as he reached out to steady me. My poor face had returned to its normal hue just in time to turn fire engine red one more.

  “You just walked in. Don’t tell me it’s time to cut you off already,” his voice was deep and had a growly undertone that made my heart beat faster. His face broke into a wide grin. He had a thick beard and laugh lines around his eyes that for some reason made me think of a sexy lumberjack.

  “I’m so sorry!” I managed to squeak out as Tess chortled behind me. She’d neglected all pretense of talking to Plaid Shirt and was openly amused by my embarrassment and subsequent attraction.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m tougher than I look. I can handle you plowing into me,” he said, arms still gripping my biceps gently. There was only an inch of space between our torsos, a fact that made itself abundantly clear at his words. No man that sexy should be able to use the word plowing in a sentence.

  I had no response so I introduced myself after laughing awkwardly. Seriously? Plowing? Who says that?

  “Sorry again. Let me buy you a drink to make up for my accidental abuse. I’m Liliana, by the way.” All my words came out stutter free, which I was proud of because, ya’ know, dude was hot as sin.

  “That’s my girl,” Tess cheered behind me before returning to Plaid Shirt. I tried to ignore her but the blush that had not entirely faded flared back up at her words. Bitch.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Liliana, abuse aside. I’m Ben.” Ben. He even had a hot lumberjack name. It wasn’t a fantasy I knew I had until that moment but damn, I wouldn’t mind seeing his log splitter.

  The thought brought on a bout of laughter that I tried to hold in. I failed and launched into a coughing fit instead. I yanked myself out of Ben’s grip as I turned to alternate coughing into my arm and gasping for breath.

  Thankfully, the bartender chose to return with my beer which
I gulped down to try and calm my fit. It worked but when I turned back to Ben, he was grinning down at me in amusement.

  I said the first thing that came to mind, “I’m so awkwardly embarrassing. Sorry.”

  “You apologize a lot. How about, instead of saying sorry, you dance with me?”

  “I’m pretty embarrassing on the dance floor, too.”

  “LIAR,” Tess shouted behind me. She popped her head over my shoulder and met Ben’s gaze, “Lil is a great dancer. She’s just embarrassed right now so she’s trying to blow you off. Don’t let her.”

  I whipped my head around and glared at my traitorous best friend as I practically hissed, “What is wrong with you?”

  She just laughed maniacally, her response cut off by Ben, “Well, in that case, I have to insist on a dance. Come on--I don’t bite.”

  I must have visibly wavered because he grinned down at me as he offered his hand, “I mean, you kind of owe me. You did practically body slam me.”

  I rolled my eyes at his dramatic response but a smile tugged at the edge of my lips and I finally assented to the dance. That dance turned into four dances, some phone number swappage, and the promise of a date in the near future. Ben was great but it was supposed to be a girls’ night out so I excused myself and returned to Tess.

  12

  Sam

  “What?” I growled into my phone. To say I was pissed at being woken up was an understatement. It felt like no matter what I did, I couldn’t get a decent night’s sleep anymore.

  “Uh... hey beta. It’s Nate.” His voice was hesitant.

  Not that I blamed the dude. I damn near attacked him earlier. As much as I wanted to snap at him for waking me up, I smothered my agitation.

  “Sorry man,” I paused to pull the phone from my ear and check the time. It was a little after one in the morning which meant I’d slept a whopping forty-five minutes.

  After letting out a huge yawn, I continued in a nicer tone, “I just got off watch an hour ago. I was sleeping. What’s up?”

  “Uh...,” he paused awkwardly, “It’s your mate. David knows her, too. He said he saw her at Ruby’s with a guy. They looked like they were together. I thought you’d like to know.”

  My wolf felt like he was trying to rip out of my chest and take my heart with him. Lily was with another man. As much as I’d warred with myself about staying away from her over the years, I knew I couldn’t. She was my mate, my perfect mate. I’d sacrificed our relationship, our happiness, in the past for the good of the pack but I couldn’t let her go again.

  “Thanks. Have a good night,” my voice strained with repressed rage and heartache. I hung up before my packmate had a chance to respond. A howl tore its way out of my throat immediately after. How could she? My wolf was inconsolable and, in all honesty, so was I.

  My covers went flying across the bed as I ripped them off. Within seconds, I was out of bed. My human form began slowly shifting into my animal as I stripped off the boxers I’d been sleeping in.

  My body shook with rage as I ripped open the front door to my townhouse. Fur coated my body as I slammed it shut behind me. I couldn’t hold onto my human form long enough to lock up behind myself.

  She was out with another guy.

  I hit all fours and took off running. My lupine form was even more unstable than my human mind. My wolf wanted to go to Ruby’s and rip the man--who dared to move in on my mate--to shreds.

  I paused as both sides of myself internally struggled. It was an emotional tug-of-war. I knew I couldn’t go around killing humans, especially just because they dared to socialize with Lily, but I really wanted to.

  After a solid five minutes of standing in one place, I let out a howl before dashing in the opposite direction of Ruby’s. My human consciousness overruled my wolf this time. It wasn’t like she was cheating or anything. We weren’t together—we hadn’t even seen each other since the hospital—but my animal spirit didn’t understand that.

  I wasn’t sure if I could calm my beast if this happened again. I had to take a chance with Liliana--before it was too late. I just had to figure out how to get her back, how to tell her about my world, and how to hide her existence from Jameson’s pack. No big deal. I was so fucked.

  Hours of running later, I made my way back to my house and shifted back. Sweat coated my naked body as I collapsed face down on the couch. I didn’t have the energy to shower or even make it up the stairs to my bed. Running past the point of exhaustion was the only way to calm my wolf--to distract him from killing Lily’s companion.

  I needed to rest and get through my weekend watches. Once Monday came around, Operation: Get the Love of My Life Back was in full effect.

  13

  Liliana

  “What the hell is your problem, woman?” Tess screeched once we met up again. I frowned. I knew it was rude to ditch her for so long when I was only supposed to go for one dance but, since she’d all but threw me at Ben, I assumed she wouldn’t care. Guess not.

  “Sorry! I know it was supposed to be one dance but I guess we got carried away. It’s a girls’ night from here on out.”

  “That’s not why I’m mad, you little idiot. I’m mad that you left that sexy hunk of man cake to come back by me.”

  A sigh escaped as I responded, “I should have known... But seriously? Sexy hunk of man cake?”

  “I said what I said. He was hot as shit and not Sam. I endorse this, one hundred percent.”

  The mention of Sam’s name was like a bucket of ice water being dumped over my head. The smile that had split my face faded away as my thoughts moved off of Ben and onto my ex.

  “No. No. No. Stop. No. Forget I said his name. Tell me about Ben. Did you get his number?” she plowed on, trying to get me out of my Sam funk. I understood her trying. I hadn’t really been interested in anyone since I’d joined her in Chicago three years ago. Getting over Sam was harder than I had thought it would be. In all honesty, I probably wasn’t even over him yet. Okay. Fine. I definitely wasn’t over him yet. That boy had snatched my heart years ago and had yet to return it.

  With an attempt to shake off all thoughts of Sam, I forced a smile, “He’s really funny and has great rhythm--super sarcastic too which is obviously essential.”

  “And he’s fine as a motha’,” she interrupted.

  “Yeah, that too. We’re going to make plans to go out once I figure out my schedule. He’s going to text me to hammer out the details.”

  “Sounds like he would rather hammer out your,” Tess paused dramatically before finishing her sentence and I rushed to cut her off before she finished it.

  “Tessa Anne Warren! Shut up!” I hissed, my hand reaching out to cover her mouth as I looked down the length of the mahogany bar to where Ben stood. Well he couldn’t hear her which was a plus but, from the grin on his face, he knew we were talking about him. He inclined his beer in a mock cheers before turning back to his group of friends.

  I had never been so thankful for Tessa’s inability to stand still for too long than I was in that moment. If she hadn’t migrated down to the opposite end of the bar, we would have no doubt had this conversation with Ben and his friends standing right behind us. Home girl gave no fucks about who overheard her. If anything, she would have relished in the embarrassment she would have surely caused for me.

  Tess threw her head back and laughed at Ben’s beer salute before mercifully taking pity on me. She dragged me back to the sticky, overcrowded corner that Ruby’s called a dance floor before she continued her interrogation. She had wanted a play by play of my interaction with Ben--verbatim.

  In the spirit of true multitasking, she managed to dance, throw enticing looks at Plaid Shirt from across the room, and still absorbed all the details of my interaction with Ben.

  “Get it, girl!” She shouted as I finished supplying the 4-1-1, pumping her fist in the air excitedly, “About time you hop back up on the dating horse... Or at least hop up on top of Ben.”

  “You definitely just
butchered that cliché in order to set up a sex pun.”

  “I totally did,” she admitted before grabbing my hands and twirling me around, “but that’s why you love me.”

  “I honestly hate you.”

  “Liar.”

  Laughter bubbled out of me but I still felt a tinge of sadness. The excitement of meeting someone that I could vibe with was overshadowed by thoughts of Sam. It was so stupid. He’d been so untrustworthy. I’d caught him in lies dozens of times before I had seen him with Chelsea and decided enough was enough but, for some reason, I also couldn’t forget what a great boyfriend he’d been besides that. He always treated me great and had this way of making me feel like the most important person in the world. Sam and I had always just clicked.

  “Stop thinking about him. You deserve more than him and his lies,” Tess said as she pulled me in for a hug.

  We both ignored the fact that we were embracing in the middle of a crowded dance floor as I responded, “You’re right. I have to let him go and move on. I’m going to try to give Ben a real chance. Even if it’s a total bust, I need to forget about Sam and start dating again.”

  My heart pinched in my chest as I spoke the words but I knew I had to stick to them. It was for the best.

  14

  Sam

  “Sam! Wake up! It’s me! Sam!” a shout echoed from outside my front door, scaring the crap out of me.

  I jumped up, my heart hammering in my chest as yanked on a pair of shorts I’d discarded on the living room floor the day before as I recognized the voice. I dashed to the door as soon as I was decent and yanked it open.