Alpha's Ultimatum

by Charlee Garden

  I nodded. I snuggled deeper into the quilt I was given only to jump up from the couch as Sam came rushing into the house. The front door slammed against the wall, the knob leaving a hole in the drywall, but he didn’t pause to notice as he ran to me. The feel of his arms holding me made me relax in a way that nothing else had. I felt safe--finally.

  A soft kiss was pressed on top of my head as he held me close before addressing his father, “I’m going to take her back to my place. Don’t forget to send animal control.”

  My brows furrowed but I remained silent as he led me to his car. We didn’t speak throughout the five minute ride to his home. Once inside, he sat on the couch and pulled me into his lap.

  I curled into him, my face buried in his neck, as he whispered in my ear. “You’re safe now, love. I’m so sorry.”

  I pulled back and looked into his eyes, “How did you know animal control was necessary? Why are you sorry? What aren’t you telling me Sam?”

  He pressed his forehead against mine, “I can’t tell you that Lily. Not yet. One month, remember?”

  So the incident had something to do with his family’s secret. My thoughts began to run rampant as I struggled to keep my mouth shut. I wanted to ask him. I had suspicions that he could have been the wolf who saved me, but I felt like I was losing my mind just by thinking it. Not that questioning him would have done any good. He wasn’t giving up any information about whatever his family was hiding.

  I nodded. Too exhausted to push it.

  Burying my face into his neck once more, I closed my eyes and let his scent envelop me. One second he was holding me tightly, his hand stroking my back, and the next I was drifting to sleep.

  26

  Sam

  Seeing Liliana look so unraveled made my heart ache. She was so frightened and I couldn’t do anything to make her feel better. It was all my fault. If I had just stayed away, Jameson’s wolves would have never targeted her She would have been an ordinary human but I had to go and ruin everything.

  I looked down at her sleeping face, her body curled up into a ball on my lap. It was too late now. No amount of regret was going to make things better. I had to keep her safe. I pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head before standing. Keeping her cradled to my chest, I carried her bridal style up to my room.

  After I tucked her in, I turned to head for the door. She stopped me, her dainty hand grasping at my bicep.

  “Stay with me,” her words were a whisper rough from crying.

  There was no way I could leave her now. I nodded and crawled over her, sliding into bed. She turned immediately, resting her head on my chest. I held her in silence, running my fingers through her wavy hair as I stared at the wall in front of me absently. My mind worked for a solution to protect her.

  I had to tell her. It was a simple as that. There was no way I could protect her, get her to follow certain precautions, if she wasn’t in the loop.

  Once soft snores began to fall from her, I slid out of bed and placed a pillow under her head. I paused, making sure she was still asleep before heading downstairs.

  My office was located in the back of the house, right off of the kitchen. I shut myself inside and called my father.

  “How is she?” he answered with no preamble.

  “She’s in shock but she’ll be alright.”

  “I told you that you were being foolish. You’re lucky you got there in time. How would I be able to look Alessandro or Bianca in the eye knowing that my son got their daughter killed? You need to--”

  I cut him off, “I need to tell her is what I need to do. I’m not going to let her go again, Dad. I’m telling her.”

  “I commanded--”

  I cut him off again, my words coming out with a snap. “I’m telling her. Either lift your orders or lose your place as alpha.” I paused and took a deep breath to calm myself.

  He let out a shaky breath, followed only by silence. His solemn expression caused my heart to twinge with guilt as I continued. “I don’t want to challenge you, Dad, but I’m not going to let her get hurt because she’s ignorant of our world. You have until tomorrow to make a decision.”

  I hung up the phone and sighed. Holding the device to my lips, I leaned back in my office chair and let out a heaving sigh. I didn’t want to be alpha--I didn’t want to disgrace my father--but, if it meant keeping Lily safe, I would with no hesitation.

  My ears perked up, a soft sniffling noise alerting me that my girl was awake. I went back to the room and crawled into bed with her, pulling her into my arms. “It’s okay now love. You’re safe, I promise.”

  Her soft sniffling became sobs as I held her. Her words nearly indiscernible. “It’s not j-j-j-ust that… fight... And T-Tess-- and... and... and...”

  “Whoa, babe. Deep breath. I can’t understand a thing you’re saying,” I said as I wiped her tears.

  She inhaled and exhaled slowly a few times to steady herself before she told me of her fight with Tess. My wolf grew agitated at her words. I could feel him pacing in my chest, could see him in my mind’s eye. That fucking witch.

  She grew stronger as she told her story. The sadness she had been experiencing morphed into anger until she was practically yelling.

  “And after... Whatever the hell she did to me... That fucking bitch just left me laid out on the floor in my kitchen! I woke up freezing my balls off all kinds of disoriented. I am so fucking mad at her!” Her voice nearly reached glass shattering levels.

  “Relax, love,” I began, which was clearly the wrong thing to say.

  “Don’t tell me to relax. I don’t want to relax. I want to bitch slap her stupid face.”

  Women were scary when they were mad. I tucked her hair behind ear and smiled softly. “I meant relax because you’re hitting incredibly high decibels and are going to rupture my ear drums. You have every right to be mad at her.”

  She flipped me off but I could tell she was suppressing a smile.

  “That being said... Maybe you shouldn’t be so harsh on Tess.”

  The grin I saw her hiding died as she scowled, “You wouldn’t be saying that if you knew what she said about you. She called you a dog, an animal. She knew you didn’t cheat and let me hurt over your supposed betrayal. Best friends don’t do that.”

  I nodded, hating myself for my next words before I even spoke them. “It’s not her fault. She’s your best friend. She thought she was protecting you. Her family and mine we’re… different from you. Those differences led to a lot of prejudices. Our people hate each other. They have long before we were born. She was raised to hate me, to fear me. She lied but she thought she was protecting you.”

  I felt my throat close up as I spoke to prevent me from revealing any more information. My father’s orders taking hold as I grew too close to telling her I was a wolf. I stopped talking and waited for my airflow to regulate once more.

  “I can’t give you any details so please don’t ask. I have to talk to my dad tomorrow and then I’ll tell you everything--about me and Tess. I just need you to be patient, mi amor.”

  I could tell by the look on her face that she was annoyed but she nodded. “Fine. Tomorrow.”

  I pulled her close to me and kissed her gently, “Get some sleep.”

  “What if I don’t want to sleep?” she asked.

  I looked at her, confused, before my eyebrows shot up into my hair. She crawled across the bed and straddled my lap. “Sleep is the last thing on my mind.”

  27

  Liliana

  I twined my fingers in Sam’s thick hair, pulling his mouth to mine. His hands gripped my hips, fingertips biting into my flesh as our tongues battled. My heart began to race as my body awakened. I’d forgotten just how hot and bothered he could get me just from a kiss.

  I bit at his bottom lip, sucking it into my mouth, before he pushed me away gently. I was still sitting on his lap, my knees on either side of his body, but he held me a foot away from his face.

  “You’ve been through a lot t
oday, Lily. I don’t want you to regret,” he paused, his voice ragged with lust, “this.”

  “I’m not some blushing virgin. You made sure of that a long time ago.”

  I leaned back in and he shook his head. “You said you wanted to take things slow, remember? I don’t want you to wake up tomorrow and hate me for not saying no.”

  I huffed and grabbed his hands, ripping them from my hips. I didn’t move any closer to him but the feel of him holding me at a distance caused a twinge of sadness.

  “I almost died tonight Sam. I was attacked by my best friend and then I was almost eaten by a fucking wolf. I don’t want to take things slow. I want to enjoy life.”

  He was wavering, I could see it in his eyes. I was being honest. I wanted to live life to the fullest with no regrets. In the moment I had believed would be my last, I had thought about him. I didn’t want to keep him at arm's length anymore.

  “Lily... I,” he floundered for words as I stared at him.

  “I love you, Sam. Now love me.”

  Once second, I was on his lap. The next he was flipping me on my back and sliding up the length of my body. We were feverish in our need for one another. Clothes were torn, flesh was scratched and bitten--it was pure heaven.

  I woke up the following morning completely sated. I stretched my tender body, eyes still closed, and found nothing but an empty bed to greet me. After a few minutes of trying to convince myself to move, I finally got up.

  I needed a shower but the only clothes I had to wear were the ones I’d worn on my run. Weighing my options, I opened one of Sam’s drawers. I grabbed a large t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts with a draw string before heading into his en suite bathroom for a shower. We needed to talk about his secret, about Tess, and the wolves--but first, I needed to not smell like sex and sweat.

  Halfway into washing my body, the bathroom door opened and Sam spoke. “Hey I made breakfast.”

  “Okay, I’ll be out in five.”

  The shower curtain slid open and he reached in, pulling me in for a quick kiss. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”

  Temptation reared its head within me and I contemplated telling him to join me. In the end, I didn’t. A sexy shower with Sam sounded great but my gurgling stomach told me that food needed to take precedence.

  I finished up, dried and dressed in record time before heading to the kitchen. The smell of bacon caused my stomach to roar as I joined him at the kitchen table. Pancakes, bacon, hash browns, and coffee. It was a blissful sight. I dug in with reckless abandon after saying my thanks. Last night’s activities had left me starved.

  When we finished up breakfast, Sam reached across the table and held my hand in his gently. “No regrets?”

  “None.”

  “I hope you feel that way after I tell you,” he mumbled.

  I frowned even as I prompted him to continue.

  His hand reached back to scratch at his neck, a tell-tale sign that he was anxious, as he spoke. “I think you already know on some level. You were talking about it in your sleep.”

  I had a knee jerk reaction to insist that I didn’t sleep talk but I kept my mouth shut--not wanting to interrupt now that he was finally starting to spill his secret.

  “That black wolf,” he paused, “It was me. I’m a werewolf.”

  Even though I had considered it in my fear addled mind, I hadn’t truly believed it. The rational side of my mind wanted to tell him to quit fucking around and be honest but the other half of my brain, the fantasical portion, knew that he was. As insane as it made me feel to admit, I knew he was being sincere.

  “How?” I asked.

  “There are a lot of different legends that talk about how my people came to be. The one I like to believe tells us that our wolves were sacred, magical creatures. They were hunted by an evil clan of witches thousands of years ago who would use their bodies for spells and rituals. In order to save their pack, the wolves bonded with a tribe of humans. Their bodies merged with our human ones and, as a result, our souls became one. The wolf and the man are the different sides of the same coin. I cannot be one without the other,” he said, his voice reverent as he spoke of the sacred wolves.

  “So it’s genetic then?” I asked, trying to wrap my head around the craziness of his explanation.

  “Yes. My parents were wolves, and their parents before them. My family has been full of werewolves for as long as I can trace back.”

  I nodded but remained silent. I didn’t know what to ask or what to think really. It all seemed so impossible but what other answer could possibly make sense? I saw the wolves. They were too intelligent to be real animals. I’d seen Sam’s eyes as the wolf. There was no denying it. The man that I loved turned into a furry animal.

  A gasp escaped me as I exclaimed, “That’s why Tess called you a dog! Why she said you were an animal!”

  “Yeah, a dog is a derogatory word for a wolf in our world,” he paused, rubbing his neck once more. “Tess is descended from the witches that hunted the sacred wolves. Our people have hated each other since the inception of werewolves. That’s why she was always so against me. Wolves try to avoid witches and vice versa. Nothing good ever comes from us crossing paths.”

  28

  Sam

  “I get why your people hated each other before but that was a long, long time ago. Why should you hate each other based on what your ancestors did? Why not make amends and move forward?” Lily asked, her concern over her best friend and I being mortal enemies apparent in her tone.

  “It’s just the way things are, Lily. I don’t have a particular hate for the witches but I can’t say that I’m comfortable around them. For centuries, they attacked us. Their elders claim our wolf spirits are dangerous. They capture us and lock our wolves away,” I hesitated as I tried to find the perfect words, “When a Were is locked away from their wolf, their body starts to die. It’s like half of your soul has been ripped away. You’re left feeling empty and you can’t survive. They haven’t attacked us in a while but our truce is strenuous at best. It’s best if we avoid them all together but with pack’s like Jameson’s around...”

  “Jameson?” she interrupted.

  I’d completely forgotten that I hadn’t informed her about the rival pack and the danger she was in. There was so much she needed to know, so much I had previously been forbidden to tell her. Now that my father had decided to allow me to loop her into our world, I was botching the explanation.

  I quickly recapped who Jameson was, mine and my father’s place in the pack, and the danger she was currently in. Breathing was something I had apparently forgotten to do as I was huffing for oxygen when I finished speaking. The nerves were getting to me. She seemed to be accepting everything pretty well but I was still convinced I’d say something that would send her running. I knew I had to tell her everything though, regardless of my fear. I couldn’t keep her in the dark and put her at risk again.

  “So these wolves want to take me to get to you? But why? What would that achieve?” She asked, clearly perplexed.

  “Do you know how much you mean to me, Lil? I would do anything to keep you safe. I’d hand my pack lands over in a heartbeat if it meant keeping you safe and they know it,” my voice cracked with grief at the thought of Jameson and his mutts getting their hands on her.

  “Well that’s stupid. Even if they did get me, you shouldn’t risk your people over one person,” she said, pragmatically.

  “I love my pack but not one of them comes before you in my eyes. I let you go once and I was beyond miserable. I’m never doing that again. The best way to keep my wolves safe is to keep you safe because I will always choose you,” I reached out and gripped her hand in mine. Our entwined fingers laid in her lap as I continued. “When a wolf chooses his mate and the bond is sealed, it’s for life. There will never be another woman for me. My spirits, the wolf and the man, recognize you as theirs. You will always come first.”

  She squeezed my hand gently but when she met my gaze, the lo
ok in her eyes was hard, “That may be the way your people are but I’m not okay with people’s homes and futures being sacrificed for me. I’ll do what you say to remain safe but if something bad happens... You have to let me go. Promise me you’ll do the right thing.”

  I held her intense stare in silence for a few moments before responding, “I promise.” It wasn’t a lie. I would do the right thing--save her.

  We chatted for hours. I answered all of her questions about wolves. No, we didn’t need a full moon to shift. Yes, silver bullets hurt us--because they’re bullets. Not because they’re silver. No you can’t turn into a wolf by being bitten by one. Yes, I’m sure. The venom in our bite will just kill a human. Each question grew progressively more in depth until her final one caused me to choke on the coffee I had just sipped.

  “Can a werewolf and a human have children?”

  It felt like I had coffee in my lungs as I continued to hack. She smacked my back in an attempt to help me breathe. Once I finished nearly choking to death she asked again.

  It was strange. The thought of children had always freaked me out prior to my niece’s birth. Now the prospect sounded pleasant. I was still caught off guard by her question though. She went from wanting to take it slow to asking if it was possible for us to have children.

  “Sam? Relax. I’m not saying I want to make a baby now or anything. I’m just curious about the future,” she rolled her eyes at my extreme reaction.

  “Sorry I was just... Surprised. Yeah, we can have kids. The baby won’t shift or anything while you’re pregnant so it’s just as safe as any other conception. The child would begin to feel and understand their wolf spirit around five or six but they won’t be able to become their wolf until puberty. They get pulled out of school around then until about sixteen. There are some exceptions, like Alex and I, who can learn to shift and control their wolves before puberty, but that’s really rare. Sixteen is the usual time that wolf pups master control of their animal,” I explained in a rush, the line of questioning making me anxious. I wanted kids one day--definitely--but I was thinking that thirty or later sounded like a great time. I didn’t want to share Lily with anyone now that I had gotten her back. At least, not for a good long time.