The Alpha's Hunger

by Renee Rose

  Calm down. Exhale.

  Tears ran out of her eyes, not from the pain of the slap, but from her body’s response to not breathing. She managed to get some air out of her lungs and back in, but it didn’t feel like enough. The assholes had already walked away, which was a relief, because she wouldn’t have wanted them to see her cry. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the couch, schooling her heart rate to slow down.

  You can breathe through your nose. You can breathe through your nose…

  She didn’t know how long she’d sat there like that before the door opened. She unglued her eyelids to see Ben striding over to her, his expression dark and furious. She shrank down, not wanting to be the object of his anger.

  He peeled the tape off her mouth, which hurt like hell. She blinked to keep back the pathetic tears that had sprung up at her relief to have it off. Glowering, he put a finger on her chin and turned it, looking at her cheek, which still stung.

  He stood up. “Who hit her?” he demanded.

  The huge guy walked over and said without concern, “She kicked me in the nuts.”

  Ben emitted a snarl and tackled the man in a flash, rolling on the floor in a tangle of flying limbs and inhuman growls.

  She heard herself shriek and held her bound hands to her mouth to shut herself up. The other men gathered around, seeming largely unconcerned. Actually, they looked excited, like this was a cock fight and they had money riding on the winner.

  “Aren’t you going to stop them?” she demanded, looking at Stanley, their leader.

  He shrugged. “Not yet.”

  Ben’s fist emerged and he slammed it into Brian’s nose, sending blood spurting in all directions. As it leaked onto the floor, she realized, with a lurch of disgust, that all the dark stains on the plywood must be from blood.

  The men continued to roll and tumble, punching, and… yes, biting, slamming each other’s heads into the floor or against their own heads. Ben’s eyes glowed yellow, and his teeth seemed longer than human teeth.

  “All right, that’s enough,” Stanley cut in, still without any tone of urgency.

  Brian obeyed his leader, lumbering up to his feet.

  Ben had not surrendered, and he launched another attack, but the three wolves grabbed him and pinned his arms back. “Stanley said enough,” the pierced eyebrow growled.

  Ben stilled, but his muscles stood taut, face twisted in rage.

  Stanley held up his hand in a signal for Ben to stand down. “She wasn’t marked,” he said mildly.

  She wondered what the hell that meant.

  Ben shook off the men holding his arms and stalked toward her. In a smooth motion, he tossed her from the couch up over his shoulder and walked toward the door.

  “Yeah, you’re welcome, asshole,” Brian muttered.

  Ben didn’t stop or turn, he just walked out the door and out to her car, where he gently set her on the trunk.

  * * *

  He drew deep breaths to regain his temper. He hated himself for leaving Ashley to be mistreated like that. What had he been thinking? Those wolves were not his friends. They were not even his allies.

  “Close your eyes,” he muttered, realizing he shouldn’t have taken her out of there without the blindfold.

  By some miracle, she complied. He grabbed the blindfold and duct tape from the front seat and wrapped it on. She was shaking, and her expression was shell-shocked. He wasn’t sure if it was from fury or fear. Probably both. He knew he should apologize; hell, he should be begging for her forgiveness, but he couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out what to say. There was no excuse for what just happened to her. And it was all his fault. He was supposed to be protecting her and he had done nothing but terrify and traumatize the woman.

  Yes, she had left a bomb in his briefcase, but he couldn’t really blame her for that, could he? She hadn’t known what it was. And even if she had, it was natural she would choose her sister’s life over his. It was stupid to believe she might have some kind of attachment after working for him for only a week.

  So why did it still bother him so much?

  He was the one with the irrational attachment. And it was one that had already caused her a world of trouble. If he hadn’t asked Ashley to be his assistant, if he hadn’t been seen driving to her house and picking her up, moving her up to his floor, welcoming her into his life, she wouldn’t have been targeted as the best possible candidate to plant the bomb. Her sister would be safe right now, and she would be blissfully unaware of the wolf who couldn’t get her out of his blood.

  He cut the tape off her ankles and helped her into the car. Climbing in on his side, he buckled her seatbelt.

  She lowered her torso to the center, but seemed to purposely avoid placing her head on his lap this time. He didn’t blame her.

  He put the car in gear and started driving. Despite how abysmally this meetup had gone, there was one more wolf who might be able to help them, and Mark Ruhl had given Ben his address. Unfortunately, the computer hacker Jeff Zolla had left Stanley’s pack for the Boulder pack, which meant he may not be willing to do anything for Ben at all. He figured it was better to show up in person than to try to call. But first, he needed to stop and see his sister-in-law because he had a bad feeling about who was behind this attack.

  When he’d driven five miles, he pulled the blindfold off Ashley. “You may sit up now.”

  She sat up, looking out her window and blinking at the streetlights. “So… what? You just roll around and pop people in the nose every time you get pissed off?”

  He didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing. Thinking again of what that asshole Brian had done to Ashley, he ground his teeth.

  “I don’t know what you were so mad about. It’s not like they did anything different to me than you’ve already done. I mean, you brought me over in duct tape. So they put more on. And he slapped my face. Well, you’ve slapped my ass. More than once. I’m your prisoner here, right?”

  Her words hit him like a punch in the gut. She was right. He had treated her just as badly. Did it make it all right because he cared about her? Or because he believed he had a right to punish her for trying to kill him?

  Spanking females was part of their wolf culture, just like solving grievances physically between males. But it must have shocked Ashley to be spanked. He knew he hadn’t harmed her. He’d been careful only to use it as a show of dominance, not to cause her lasting pain. And from her scent, he thought she found it exciting. But to think she felt as abused by him as she did by them made him sick to his stomach.

  He was bad for her. Really bad. And while he had an obligation to save her sister and protect her from the men who may want to harm her, the selfish part of him didn’t want it to be at the expense of forever losing her esteem.

  He abruptly exited Sixth Avenue West and pulled in at a Motel 6. It wasn’t safe to take her home, but he could at least set her free if that’s what she wanted. She had her car and her phone. He could shift and go on foot. He got out of the car and walked around to her side. He cut her hands free and helped her to stand.

  “You’re not my prisoner. If you want to do this on your own, I will stay out of it.”

  Her eyes widened and then narrowed. She folded her arms across her chest. “Fuck that, Stone. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

  The wolf in him heard the challenge like some kind of mating call. Mad force took over and he pushed her back against the car, crushing her lips with his own. She tasted of berry lip gloss, her lips impossibly soft. He buried his fingers in her silky brown hair, made a fist and pulled. He wasn’t thinking, hadn’t even known he meant to kiss her, but when her tongue responded, licking into his mouth and tangling with his, the urge to mark her came on like a freight train.

  He ground his painfully hard cock against her flat belly. He kissed her as if he might devour her, her sweet lips opening to accept his thrusting tongue, her fingers reaching to clutch his shoulders.

  His skin pri
ckled with heat, his vision turned sharp, and his canines began to lengthen.

  Jesus Christ. He was about to mark her right there in the parking lot.

  But damn, if he lost control, it could be dangerous for her. Hell, he could even kill her. When a wolf had sex with a female, his canines lengthened and he sank his teeth into her neck or shoulder. Biting caused instant submission so the female relaxed and allowed his domination. In the case of mating, he left his permanent mark on her—breaking skin to permanently embed his scent in her epidermis.

  With a human, he shuddered to think what might happen—he could hit her jugular, and the pain he would cause her would be unforgivable. Especially because humans didn’t heal overnight like wolves did.

  Get off her.

  His body would not obey his mind. He pulled her head back and licked a line up her throat, nipping her neck. The act triggered the true instinct, and suddenly his teeth were out, fully extended.

  He jerked back, twisting to the side to get her neck out of the line of his jaws as they snapped closed. He turned his back on her and started walking swiftly away, needing to put distance between their bodies. He drew in deep breaths of the cool September air, gazing up at the moon as if it might somehow help him find his way back to sanity.

  “Ben?” she called out. Despite her tough guy act, he caught a note of vulnerability in her voice.

  “I’m coming,” he said, his voice deeper than normal. He walked a wide arc around the car, as his vision returned to human norm and his teeth receded. He hoped the tightness in his pants would soon ease, too. After a couple of circles around his bewildered employee and the car, he came back to the driver’s seat, climbed in, and slammed the door without looking at Ashley.

  She climbed in and buckled her seatbelt.

  “I’m sorry,” he said gruffly. “That won’t happen again.”

  She turned her head and stared at him, her expression a blank mask. What the hell did she think about all this?

  Her phone rang. She dived for her purse, batting the phone out so it came flying up toward her face. She caught it with shaking hands and turned it over, looking at the screen. “It’s them,” she whispered as if they might hear.

  “Answer it.”

  “H-hello?”

  “What happened?” the electronically altered male voice asked.

  “Where’s my sister?”

  “Your sister’s going to die if you don’t bring that laptop to us. What was that animal at the meeting place?”

  “I don’t know—it came after me, too. It chased me into my car and I drove off without seeing where it went.”

  A silence followed. Then, “Who have you talked to?”

  “No one! Not a soul. I still have the laptop and I want my sister.”

  “Be prepared to meet. We’ll call you with the location.”

  “Wait—when? What time?”

  “Tomorrow night.”

  The line clicked off.

  She looked up at him and exhaled. “Well, it sounds like she’s still alive.”

  Maybe. He wasn’t too sure. The fact that they hadn’t brought her sister out of the car made him think they had no intention of letting either woman walk away.

  She plugged her phone into the car charger. He was grateful she had one that worked on both their phones. “Do you think I should call my parents? I mean… they should know they might never see their daughter again.”

  “No,” he said, lacing his voice with authority. “That would only endanger your sister.”

  He half-expected resistance, but she just nodded. “Ben?”

  He liked that she used his first name, even though it was impertinent. “Yeah?” He braced himself for another heavy question.

  “I’m hungry.”

  His initial relief at this easy-to-solve problem was overshadowed by guilt. He should have known she was starving. What kind of provider was he that he let his mate go hungry?

  But no, she wasn’t his mate, nor could she be. He needed to stop thinking of her that way.

  “Are you okay with fast food?”

  “I’d be okay with dog food at this point,” she muttered.

  He saw a sign for a cluster of fast-food restaurants and he took the exit and went into the drive-thru. With her blouse ripped and covered in blood, he couldn’t very well bring her in anywhere.

  He ordered their food and paid for it, handing her the bag and getting back on the highway.

  She unwrapped her sandwich and took a huge bite. “Do you want me to open something for you?” she asked with her mouth full.

  Despite all the tension between them, he couldn’t help but find her cute. He experienced a flash of longing. This is what it would be like if Ashley was his girlfriend. Talking with their mouths full, laughing, comfortable with each other. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed with anyone. Definitely not since Leon and his father’s death. Not since he’d betrayed his family and left them to die.

  * * *

  Ashley stuffed herself, eating too fast. She leaned back against the seat, suddenly exhausted. “Where are we going?”

  “First to my sister-in-law’s, then to see a guy who might be able to help.”

  “Like those guys back there?”

  He gave her a dark look. “I made a mistake,” he said. “I shouldn’t have left you with them. I’m sorry.”

  For some reason, his apology hit her with a pang. She hadn’t expected any concessions from him, and it was easier to steel herself against his dark allure when he was being a jerk. Still, she’d known he was sorry. He wouldn’t have attacked that other guy if not. And while the display of violence had been somewhat nauseating, it also left her feeling more than vindicated.

  “Listen, Ashley… I should have warned you before we went in. Never get mouthy or disrespectful with a wolf. It’s taken as a challenge to the power structure, and swift, physical retaliation will always follow to re-establish order.”

  “Is that why you spank me?”

  “Yes.”

  “You enjoy it, don’t you?”

  His eyes slid sideways, the corners of his mouth turning up. “I might enjoy some of it, yeah.”

  She flushed, two parts angry and one part something else. Something slithery and fluttery that moved in her belly. “Heathen,” she muttered, moving her attention out the window.

  “Ashley,” he said, looking serious. “I mean it—don’t offend anyone else. I know Brian asked for it, but this is important. If one of them had left a serious mark on you, I might have killed him. And then I’d have the whole pack coming after me, and consequently you. So it’s a big deal.”

  I might have killed him. That piece of information made her slightly lightheaded. He did have a thing for her. She knew it.

  “Okay.”

  “Yes, sir,” he corrected.

  “Yes, sir,” she said, only slightly sarcastically.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  She considered how much their relationship had changed in less than twenty-four hours. If it didn’t go forward, could they go back? Working at Stone Tech seemed like a completely different world now.

  “Ben?” She didn’t know when she’d started calling him that. But considering she’d seen him naked and in wolf form, and he’d spanked her with her panties down, Mr. Stone didn’t seem right anymore. “Do you mind when I call you that?”

  She glanced at his chiseled face, the stubble growing on his jaw making him even sexier than when he was clean-shaven.

  “No.”

  Would the man ever give more than the monosyllabic answer? His little speech about being respectful to wolves might be the longest he’d uttered.

  “Do you think we’ll ever return to work?”

  “Yes.”

  “I mean… will I still be your assistant?” She held her breath. She wouldn’t blame the man for firing her. After all, she had stolen from him and planted a bomb that could have killed him.

  “Yeah,” he said, but his thr
oat sounded tight, as if he might be lying. Did he plan to fire her? Or worse… kill her? He had told the pack members that he would ‘take care of’ the fact that she knew about them. Was he just keeping her alive to arrange the meetup with the men who wanted him dead? Did he plan to kill her when it was all over? From what she could tell, he was a dangerous man.

  “Will you still spank me if I get out of line?” she asked, trying to lighten her own tension, if not his.

  It worked. Ben’s shadow-smile appeared, that little hint of amusement that crinkled his eyes and touched the corners of his lips. “You like talking about getting spanked,” he said.

  Her pussy clenched involuntarily at his words. She held her breath, trying to ward off the blush she felt creeping up her neck. She plowed forward, though. “Who else have you spanked? Have you spanked Karen?”

  “No,” he said, sounding surprised. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “Then who? Your girlfriends? Lovers? Were they wolves?”

  “You were my first,” he said.

  Why did that answer please her so much?

  “You were my first, too,” she said, knowing she sounded like a little fool.

  He actually smiled, which made her heart do strange things in her chest.

  “So spanking is a wolf thing?”

  He shrugged in the dark car. “It’s a common practice. It’s an easy show of dominance without causing any harm.”

  “So basically wolves are sexist pigs who think they’re better than women and deserve to spank them?” She held her breath, expecting his irritation, but he smiled.

  “No. I think some relationships fall more equally. But I’m a natural alpha. I don’t think I’m better than women. I just need to be on top.”

  She considered that, remembering the words that had been tossed around at the warehouse. “I thought they said you weren’t alpha.”

  It took him so long to answer she’d given up hope of a response, but at last he said, “I refused to lead my brother’s pack. I just didn’t have it in me.”