Awakened Alpha

by Chloe Vincent

  Gwen’s cheeks warmed at that and she looked to Sam who smiled proudly and held her a little tighter, seemingly happy to let Gwen be called a guardian too. “Thanks, Olive,” Sam said. “Hey, if my house doesn’t burn down, I think I’ll have a little get together for all the shifters that just helped me take down Basil. But you can be our honorary human guest.”

  “I’ll take it,” Olive said with a wink. “Gotta get back now. Every time I leave the house, my daughter scratches up the sofa. They’re awful at this age.”

  They bid goodbye to Olive and as soon as she was gone, Gwen threw her arms around Sam’s neck again and kissed him firmly. “I like the sound of being a guardian. It sounds right to me.”

  “You know what sounds right to me,” Sam asked in his growly voice, “is a shower.”

  “Yes, please,” Gwen mumbled against his mouth.

  They took the shower together, according to Gwen’s request. It seemed a deserving reward that she should get to feel the relaxing heat of the water on her skin as she leaned back against the broad, muscular wall that was Sam’s chest. They took their time. Sam washed his hair and then washed Gwen’s. He seemed to luxuriate in tangling his thick fingers in Gwen’s mass of dark curly hair, working the shampoo through as it washed out the dirt and brambles of the hills.

  He was tender and gentle and she closed her eyes and sighed happily as he combed his conditioned fingers through her locks and then rinsed the conditioner all out again. Then his hands followed the path of the suds as they slid around her ears and down her throat. He kissed her there, licking her soaked skin, his hands slippery and soapy and sliding around to massage her breasts as she moaned, tipping her head back, giving him easier access. He was hard against her now and she pressed back, encouraging him, the promise of his erection making her clit seem to throb in anticipation. He reached around, his hand sliding down her taut stomach before his finger gently prodded at the dark little thatch of hair and then pressed into her clit. She clutched his formidable arm, wanting more, always wanting more of Sam. She didn’t think she could possibly ever get enough of Sam. He fingered her slowly, teasing out an orgasm until she was quivering with need.

  When she sighed his name and gazed up at him, pleading, he turned her around and picked her up as if she weighed nothing. He plunged his tongue into her mouth and she welcomed it as he braced her up against the shower wall and she looked down to his impressive cock, hard and pink where it jutted out. He clutched her thighs and their breath mingled as he slid into her. She cried out, feeling so perfectly and almost painfully full of him as he pinned her to the tiled wall. She threw her arms back. pressing the back of her hands to the tiles, enjoying the complete lack of control as he thrust into her again and again, claiming her as his own until all the pleasure was wrung from them.

  “Arthur!” Gwen grabbed the cocktail shaker off Sam’s kitchen counter and nodded hellos to the guests that crowded Sam’s house, some of them in lion form as they paced around, occasionally rubbing against the couch or a side-table, spreading their scent around because they enjoyed the place.

  Sam and Gwen’s party, an unofficial celebration of the survival of the mountain shifter race, was in full swing at Sam’s house, which had blessedly not burned down. It had been three weeks since the fire and outside of some brush and ash that had blown into the pool, Sam’s house was fine. Better than that, it was now much homelier. Gwen had declared Sam’s mansion a “work in progress,” but photos of Sam and his pride and Arthur and Gwen that now hung framed from every wall along with art of the city he had picked out himself, definitely made it more like Sam, as did the additions of more cuddly furniture that Gwen had helped him pick out. There were now some big, wooden armchairs with comfy cushions and shelves full of books and layered and colorful rugs. When she walked in, she felt like she was in a home, not the cold residence of a person still grieving.

  “If you are sad, Sam,” Gwen had told him once as they repainted his living room a warmer shade of taupe, “it’s okay. I’m not trying to force you to be happy.”

  “I am happy,” Sam had said, rolling his eyes, reaching over to paint a taupe blotch on her nose. “But thanks, sweetheart.”

  Now the mansion in the hills where the shifters roamed, was full of those very shifters. It seemed even more like a place where you’d want to spend time as white strings of lights twinkled in the backyard where some had shifted in human form to go swimming and the tequila was flowing as 70s rock played softly.

  But Gwen was making her way to Arthur who was begrudgingly sitting in one of those big wooden arm chairs, as he was on break for the night, by force. Gwen shook the cocktail shaker at Sam’s butler. It was only full of ice at the moment. “What are you drinking?”

  “Gin!” Arthur said. “And tonic. But I can mix it myself, Miss Felici-”

  “Absolutely not,” Gwen replied, wagging her finger. She was wearing a new black cocktail dress that Sam had bought her in Beverly Hills. He had insisted on taking her shopping and it had felt like a fairytale; her mate and her throwing money around on Rodeo. There was a diamond tennis bracelet on her wrist that he’d picked out himself at Tiffany’s. Annie had only stared at her silently for minutes on end when Gwen had shown it to her.

  Now Annie appeared, Emily at her side, drinks in hand. She handed Arthur a fresh drink and smiled proudly. “Got your gin and tonic here, buddy.”

  “Why thank you,” Arthur said. “I do like your friends, Miss Felici.”

  “He’s so cute,” Annie said fondly as she sat on the arm of his chair, Emily leaning into her as they canoodled. “He’s going to teach us how to make canapes.”

  “Exciting,” Gwen said, laughing.

  Emily piped up, “And Olive is gonna teach us how to cast spells!”

  “Wait a minute-”

  “I want to learn how to turn my hair pink on command,” She said dreamily. “Isn’t that called a glamour?”

  “Olive’s teaching you magic?” Gwen asked, her eyebrows shooting up.

  “She’s going to try,” Annie said wryly. “But I can’t even bend a spoon. I doubt I can do magic.”

  Gwen only shook her head at them and left them to talk amongst themselves, shuffling back through the crowd of partygoers that congregated in every room, all of whom seemed to know exactly who she was and wanted to shake her hand and reminisce for a moment on the night of the fire at the Observatory, and how it had brought so many shifters together. In fact, after that night some shifters had reached out to Sam and asked about becoming guardians. It warmed Gwen’s heart to see how excited Sam had become about the prospect of training them as well as her.

  She found her man sitting at a table by the pool, talking to two young men who upon seeing her and the look in Sam’s eye when he saw her, immediately got the picture and moved off to get drinks and leave them alone. Gwen strolled over and sat in his lap. He kissed her neck and nibbled on her ear until she giggled.

  “Arthur’s gonna be drunk soon,” Gwen reported.

  “Oh, I can’t wait for that,” Sam said. “I’ve never seen him drunk.”

  “Are you having a good time?” She asked, relaxing back into him.

  “I am,” he replied, looking relaxed and a little buzzed. “Are you having a good time, baby?”

  “I am,” she said, kissing him sweetly.

  “Are you going to eat that?” The question came from a pretty but tough looking woman all in black. She wore a leather jacket and boots and she stood by the table, hip cocked, eyes on a platter of shrimp that a server had left there.

  Sam and Gwen blinked at her. For the life of her, Gwen couldn’t place the woman. She didn’t smell like a shifter but Gwen wasn’t sure exactly what she did smell like. She was probably a crasher, Gwen decided. But that was fine. As long as she didn’t tell what she had seen. Though if she did, Gwen didn’t suppose anyone would believe her anyhow.

  “No,” Sam said. “Go ahead!”

  “Thanks, Sam,” the woman said brightly, a
nd took the entire platter of shrimp and walked off with it. They watched her go to the open bar and grab a bottle of vodka when the bartender wasn’t looking, and then disappear back inside the house.

  “Who the hell is that?” Sam said.

  “I have no idea,” Gwen said. “But she knew your name.”

  “Whatever,” Sam said. “I hope she doesn’t steal the silver. Now kiss me again, sweetheart. You taste like cherries and everything good.”

  So Gwen kissed him and the party seemed to disappear around them as they once again melted into each other.

  Epilogue

  Epilogue: Delilah

  Angelic Dimension

  “I figure if I’m going to get demoted,” Delilah said to the troll who sat next to her at the bar, “I should at least get some shrimp out of it.”

  She threw back her second shot and sighed, leaning her chin on her hand. The troll she’d become friends with over the course of the last half hour seemed understanding. He was only about five feet tall, which was short for a troll, and his nose was shaped something like an eggplant and just as big as it hung over his mouth. It slid to the side when he took a drink of beer. He wasn’t the most pleasant sort to look at but he had been a very good listener as Delilah had told him about her mission that had seemed easy but which had led to an impossible choice.

  The troll coughed politely into a cocktail napkin. He had a rakish lock of orange hair that curled over one eye. “So, ya’ gonna fired?” He asked in a voice that sounded like he had a trash can caught in his throat. He wasn’t pretty, but he was kind. He had been on the path of redemption himself for the last thousand years, she had heard. He said it had changed him and he meditated a lot now.

  “Yep. That’s what Katz told me. He’s like my supervisor,” Delilah said. For once, she dreaded seeing Katz again. She had not seen him since she’d returned from her mission and she hated how nervous she was about the whole thing. She never would have been nervous about a job back on Earth. And back then she had worked for some incredibly unsavory characters. Bad performance reviews with vampires usually involved torture. There was nothing so kind as a demotion dealing with them or with dark wizards or with the other nefarious sorts she had worked for in the underbelly of the magical world.

  Basil the wizard was dead, she thought vaguely. She wondered if he was going to be offered a path to redemption or if he would be put on a waiting list. There was also a level below waiting list. Delilah knew better than to even be curious about what kind of person didn’t even rate the waiting list.

  “Boy, that’s rough,” the troll said. He motioned for the bartender to come over. As always, Gwen had gone to Duke’s for a drink after her mission. But usually, it was celebratory. Gwen didn’t feel celebratory today. She couldn’t blame Katz. He had told her exactly what would happen if she freed Sam and Gwen and she knew it wasn’t his call to make. He was only the go-between for her and the Council of Three that oversaw her missions (not to mention keeping an eye on the goings-on of Earth). She also knew that Katz had fought her case before when she had bent or broken the rules. But she had to think the Council of Three was pretty annoyed at her at this point. If there was nothing more that Katz could do, well, that was too bad.

  The bartender was a very young and sulky vampire and he slid her a fresh cocktail. It looked like whiskey and smelled suspiciously like fire but she took a sip anyway. It burned awfully going down and Delilah yowled and pounded her chest before shaking her head and taking another sip.

  “So why’d ya’ do it?” The troll asked now. He had huge gray eyes that looked sad but they were alight with curiosity. “Why’d you help those lion shifters if ya’ knew it was gonna screw you over, huh?”

  That was a good question, Gwen thought. That was a question she had been asking herself since she’d unlocked that cell in the cave. It didn’t make any sense. It certainly wasn’t rational. If she did want to be logical about it, it had seemed like she was there on a mission to do something and this had seemed like the best way to accomplish the mission. Except that wasn’t logical either. Because the people who had charged her with the mission had said it was unacceptable… It made her head hurt to think about it. All she knew was that it had seemed like she had no choice in the matter, regardless of the consequences.

  “I don’t know,” Delilah said, frowning. “I just...wanted to help them. I felt like I had to help them. Not because it was my job, but just because… I guess I thought they needed it. And because I could. I mean if you can help somebody, you should, right? Even if it might cost you something?”

  She was staring into her drink as she said it. It seemed like a very simple kind of platitude. And yet it was an epiphany that she was now pondering just as the door blew open and Katz strolled in, looking neither happy nor sad. She blinked at him and sat on a stool between her and the troll. Katz greeted the troll and shook his hand and then nudged Delilah.

  “What are we drinking?” Katz asked.

  Delilah frowned into her drink. “I think it’s whiskey,” she muttered. “But I don’t really trust vampire bartenders.” The vampire shot her a dirty look, and she threw up her hands. “I’m kidding!”

  “Whiskey for me too then,” Katz said, gesturing to the sulky vampire in question. “So your mission was successful.”

  Delilah snorted at that. “Oh, really? Was it? Does that count as successful?”

  “Of course, it does,” Katz said, and she saw a funny expression in his eyes. “You brought those two together and they fell madly in love, no problem. And then you helped them defeat Basil the evil wizard. Good job!”

  “Katz…” She frowned, feeling a little sad. It felt as if he was mocking her. If it were anyone else, she could have blown it off. But Katz was...special. She didn’t like the idea that she was about to be terribly punished in irreparable ways and that he was mocking her for it. “Why are you making fun of me?” She sneered at him and shook her head. “I thought you were a good guy.” The whiskey was kicking in a little and she pouted, crouched over the bar, glaring at the bottles that lined the back counter. “I’m gonna be sent to escort people to the Underworld levels or worse and I won’t be redeemed for a million gazillion years and you’re making fun of me. Jerk.”

  “Delilah…” Katz smiled kindly at her and he threw an arm around her, squeezing her shoulders. “You’re not going to be sent to the Underworld. You’re not going to be punished at all. You’re not even going to get more time added to your quest for redemption.”

  Delilah just stared at him. “Are you messing with me?” She asked.

  “Of course not.” He looked serious now and she couldn’t doubt those deep brown eyes. They definitely weren’t mocking her at all. “I wouldn’t mess with you about something like this.”

  “Oh my God!” Delilah said, dropping her head into her hands. “Oh my… I’m so relieved!”

  “I’m sure you are,” Katz said, laughing.

  “Whoo!” Delilah pretended to wipe sweat off her brow and took another good slug of whiskey. “Wow. I was really freaked out. I can’t believe I got out of that! So what happened? You managed to talk them out of it?”

  “No,” Katz said simply. He didn’t explain himself any further. He only smirked and took a sip of whiskey himself, wincing as it went down and pounding his chest. “Wow. You know what, I am an immortal being, and that got to me.” He nodded at the vampire and said, “What is in this?” The vampire only shrugged.

  “Katz, never mind the vampire!” Delilah said, elbowing his side. “Tell me what happened! Did they just change their mind?”

  “No.”

  “Katz!”

  Katz laughed then and smiled fondly at her. “There was never a punishment. You were never going to get demoted or get behind on your redemption...not any of that. If anything, you’ve scored a whole lot of brownie points. Probably have some time taken off your redemption timeline. You did very well. Excellent job, Delilah.”

  Delilah only started at him,
utterly lost. “Wait, so then-”

  “It was a test,” Katz said, tipping his drink at her before taking another sip. He shook his head, shutting his eyes at the burn of the booze. “Damn, that is…a stiff drink. Anyway, it was a test. I’m sorry I had to lie to you, Delilah. I really do apologize. There was no other way.”

  Delilah found herself too relieved to be angry, though she couldn’t help being confused. “A test? What was the test for? How to give Delilah a heart attack? What on Earth was it supposed to prove?”

  Katz smiled at her with something that Delilah couldn’t help but read as admiration. But that couldn’t be right.

  “I think it says even more of how you’ve grown since you started that you don’t even see the point of the test,” Katz said. “It’s fairly obvious.”

  “Katz,” Delilah said.

  “I gave you an impossible choice,” Katz said, shrugging. “You could not help Sam and Gwen and let them die, or help them and know you’d be punished for it. The only possible reason you could have for choosing to help them anyway is that you have a much better sense of empathy now than back when you died on Earth. You genuinely cared about their wellbeing. You chose their lives over your own self-interest. That was the test. You passed it with flying colors.”

  He was looking at her with such pride that Delilah’s cheeks burned with embarrassment and she downed the rest of her drink. She cleared her throat, feeling it go pleasantly to her head and said, “Oh. Well then! Good for me!”

  “Yeah!” The troll said, nudging her, and holding up his glass. “Good for you.”

  “Thank you!” They clinked their glasses together in cheers and she laughed to herself.

  “I should say so,” Katz said, patting her back. “The Council of Three was very impressed.”

  Delilah smiled softly to herself. It was a new sensation to care one way or the other as to what Katz or anyone else thought of her, but she found herself happy that he was so proud and thought she was doing a good job. Yet quickly wanting to change the subject and a little mortified at how genuinely pleased she was, she sat up and tapped her glass, begging a refill from the vampire.