Alpha´s Desire

by Jasmine Wylder

  Chapter Three

  Sienna stumbled sloppily as she made her way from her friend Theresa’s Mustang up the walkway to her condo. She’d been out celebrating the end of another successful assignment with the closest thing she could call a friend. Theresa knew nothing about shifters or the world that Sienna came from, but she’d been a lot of fun to party with when they both worked at the dive bar together, so Sienna had kept in touch with her after quitting.

  Theresa didn’t really know what the hell Sienna was celebrating, but if Sienna kept buying the tequila shots, she’d been game.

  Theresa zoomed down the road and Sienna squinted at her phone. 3:42 in the morning?

  “Shit,” she said with a slur. “Tomorrow’s gonna hurt like a bissssh...”

  Her head was already swimming. Alcohol wasn’t good for shifters. Their metabolism could burn through it relatively fast, but too much (like the amount Sienna had pounded back tonight) would make for an extra painful hangover in the morning.

  It took Sienna four times to get the right key in the lock and when she turned it, she pulled a little too hard on the key to remove it from the knob. The key broke in two, leaving half of it still in the lock.

  “Motherfucker,” she cursed, looking at the nub of a key left on her keychain. With a shrug, she kicked the door closed behind her and stumbled back into it, trying desperately to steady herself against it before attempting the journey to her bedroom in her four-inch heels.

  She looked down at her feet in the darkness and frowned. Heels were a bad idea. Bending over and swaying terribly so that she had to grab the door before toppling over, Sienna pulled the strappy stilettos off with a grunt, snapping the straps in two.

  “Hated those shoes anyway,” she murmured before letting out a long, overdue sigh when her feet flattened out against the cool tile. “Feeeeeels soooo much better.”

  Her newly freed feet felt so good to Sienna, she figured that getting out of her skin-tight jeans would probably feel twice as nice as losing her shoes did. She fiddled with the button on her zipper and hissed as it slid down, freeing her curves from the punishing denim.

  “Yassss,” she moaned as she kicked her feet out of the jeans. Moving slowly down the hallway, knowing she was leaving a trail of shoes, broken keys, her wallet and phone, and now her jeans, Sienna began singing to herself as she rounded the corner to her kitchen in search of a preemptive Gatorade to help combat tomorrow’s shame and hangover.

  “I stay out too late…got nothing in my brain…that’s what people say…mhh hmm…yeah, that’s what people say…mhh hmm…”

  Sienna forgot the next line, so she skipped ahead to the part of the Taylor Swift song that she did remember. Bouncing her hips along to the music in her head, Sienna kept at it.

  “…’cause the players gonna play play play play play…and the haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate…baby, I’m just gonna shake shake shake shake shake…shake it off…shake it OFF!”

  She made a face as the refrigerator light blasted her eyes with harsh light.

  “Shit, bro. No need to blind a girl…settle down…settle down,” she muttered at the appliance before grabbing the drink she was looking for. As she stood and put her hand on the handle of the door to shut it, Sienna froze. There was a new scent in her condo—two, no three new scents. How’d she miss that? Out of instinct her claws shot out of her fingertips and the hand that’d been holding the Orange Gatorade punctured the bottle, sending the sticky liquid all over her arm and the floor below.

  Damnit. That was her last full bottle.

  She closed her eyes and took in the scents again and relaxed just a fraction when she recognized one of them as her brother Sage. But who were the other two?

  Before she could form another thought, the living room light flew on and she found her brother staring at her, standing a few feet in front of the couch. Worse, two strange men were standing on either side of him looking at her like they’d just seen an alien. Lucky for Sienna, she was too drunk to cringe just yet. Instead, she frowned.

  “Sage?”

  He took in her appearance and immediately looked down, apparently wanting nothing to do with seeing his sister in her lacy underwear and half-unlaced black corset top. The two massive shifters with him weren’t so obliging or easily shamed. The blonde one with the gorgeous surfer tan and careless curls smiled openly at her and waggled his eyebrows. The dark-haired wolf opposite him stared at Sienna with narrowed, assessing eyes that were a deep and bottomless shade of velvet. When her eyes met his, it felt like the bottom of Sienna’s stomach dropped to her feet. Not wanting to back down from whatever just happened, she tried to keep her eyes on his. Until Sage’s voice broke through her stupor, of course.

  “Where the hell are your pants, Sienna?!” Sage thundered at her, his cheeks redder as the seconds passed.

  She gave a goofy grin and broke the staring contest with Grumpy Wolf before looking over at her brother, the fear of being attacked by intruders in her underwear long since passed. With the hand free of the dead Gatorade bottle, she vaguely motioned down the hallway.

  “Over there with my shoes. And my eyelashes,” she slurred. “I broke the key in the door, too. My bad.”

  The blonde shifter stifled a laugh. Sienna blinked a few times as the floor beneath her started to sway.

  “So, are you guys staying the night?”

  Sage nodded and before he could say anything, Sienna spoke over him.

  “Yeah, whatever. Blah, blah, blah…and all that,” she said as she walked out of the kitchen and toward the living room. Sage backed up. “I need to go to bed, like, right now. I can chew your ass out tomorrow after I’m done puking. Don’t wake me up, motherfuckers, or I’ll gut you.”

  With that, Sienna marched past the three males in her living room and stumbled toward her bedroom, slamming the door and falling face first onto her bed.

  Sienna was snoring before her third breath.

  ***

  She didn’t remember hiring a jackhammer to work in her bedroom this morning. And yet, there was a violent hammering happening in her skull making her grit her teeth and pull her pillow tighter over her head.

  Groaning, Sienna rolled over and exhaled slowly.

  Penance. That was what this was. Images of what she’d done last night flashed through her foggy brain. Massive amounts of tequila. A couple arm-wrestling matches with some annoying frat boys. A body shot...maybe? Her nose scrunched at the familiar scent of her brother.

  Oh, shit. Sage. He’d been in her condo last night with two other wolf shifters. She swayed to her feet and tiptoed to her bedroom door, pressing her ear against it. Sure enough, she heard the low timbre of male voices on the other side. She was almost certain her brother hadn’t mentioned why he was in her house last night and the chances were good that they were waiting on her to explain themselves.

  Sienna groaned a second time when she looked down and saw her disheveled corset and lace panties. Fan-freaking-tastic.

  With a sigh, she pulled what remained of her dignity together and made her way to the master bathroom just off her walk-in closet. She took her time showering and praying that the ibuprofen she’d taken with tap water (gross!) would kick in sooner or later. She was already dreading the day ahead with the pounding in her skull.

  Washed and dried, Sienna pulled her wet hair up into a messy bun and put on the most basic of makeup. Her outfit was her standard fare of ripped jeans, ballet flats, and a worn-out t-shirt in some version of black or gray. Sienna stood silent for a second with her hand on the doorknob steeling herself for whatever lay on the other side. If her brother Sage brought shifters to her door, something was definitely wrong.

  Making her way to her kitchen, Sienna did her best to ignore the sudden nerves she felt with these two strangers in her house. Sage was sitting at her island counter eating a sandwich and spared her only a passing glance as she approached. The blonde Adonis shifter had his head in her fridge, giving her a free show of his behind i
n the tight jeans he was wearing.

  Not bad, she thought to herself with a shrug.

  There was one missing. Where was the scary wolf? A quick glance around and she found him sitting on her sofa, scrolling through her phone. He managed to look impatient, annoyed, and sexy and dark as hell all at once.

  Adonis shifter stood when he sensed her and turned to face her with a goofy grin.

  “Dang,” he drawled. “You’re dressed. I was hoping for a repeat performance, Swifty.”

  Sage groaned and took a huge bite out of his sandwich.

  Sienna gave a weak smile. Swifty? She suddenly remembered singing snippets of “Shake it Off” in her underwear last night.

  “In town for one night only. Sorry,” she said. At the same time, she noticed her entryway was littered with her belongings.

  Never. Drinking. Again.

  She repeated the mantra over and over as she dashed over to pick up her jeans, shoes, false eyelashes, and her broken keys.

  “You plan on telling me what’s going on sometime this morning?” She directed the question at Sage when she returned to the kitchen after throwing her things on her bed and slamming the door shut.

  “Afternoon,” the dark-haired shifter said from behind her. She turned and raised her eyebrow at him in question.

  “It’s almost 1 p.m.,” he said dryly. “It’s afternoon.”

  She held his gaze a moment and gave a slight eyeroll.

  “Who’s the school marm?” She asked Sage, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder at the grumpy shifter giving her shit. Blondie snorted the milk he’d been drinking.

  Sage stiffened at Sienna’s tone and he shot her a warning glare.

  “That’s Brody McAllister,” Sage bit out. “My Alpha.”

  She shot another unimpressed glance over her shoulder at the simmering man who looked like he could barely contain his disdain. She looked back at her brother who was shooting her daggers with his eyes.

  “Stop looking like that at me,” she snapped at Sage. “He’s not my Alpha.”

  Brody stood and stalked toward the kitchen.

  “That’s right,” he said, his voice sharp like steel. “You’re a loner. No Alpha. No pack. No one.”

  Sienna sucked in a breath and her wolf pushed toward the edge of their internal boundary, not liking the insult at all. Lone wolves weren’t respected by many in the shifter world, least of all Alphas.

  “Nice to meet you Brooding Brody,” she snapped back. “Now get the fuck out of my house.”

  Sienna whirled on her heel and stalked to her bedroom, slamming the door shut.

  “Fuck,” Sage said, letting out a breath. “That could have gone much, much better.”

  Chapter Four

  What kind of shit show had Sage gotten him into? Sienna Blaine was a nightmare—everything he stood against. Wild. Undisciplined. Out of control. Mouthy.

  And the fact that he still couldn’t scrub from his mind the delicious image of her standing in just her underwear last night irked him to no end. Damn this woman. And damn Sage for suggesting she could possibly help. She can hardly take care of herself, let along assist an Alpha in a rescue mission.

  “This was a mistake,” Brody growled to Dane. Sage had just followed Sienna into her bedroom and he could tell from their raised voices, the mission to get Sienna to come out and apologize to Brody wasn’t going well.

  “She’s hot, bro,” Dane said, wagging his eyebrows.

  Brody just shook his head.

  “She’s a pain in the ass,” he replied.

  Dane smiled even wider.

  “Oh, what sweet agony a woman that beautiful would be,” he said, placing a hand over his heart, hamming it up.

  Despite the fact that Brody didn’t like Sienna much, his wolf was unhappy that Dane was even considering anything with her. Without meaning to, Brody let a low growl escape from deep in his throat. Dane stopped with the antics, but he raised an eyebrow in Brody’s direction before turning to the bag of chips he had opened.

  Almost a half an hour later, just when Brody was ready to round up his wolves and scour Las Vegas himself, Sage and Sienna emerged from her room.

  “Let’s just start over,” Sage said, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. Brody could tell Sage was nervous this was all going to go to hell in a handbasket. Chances were good that it was.

  “Sienna, this is Brody McAllister,” Sage said as he dragged his sister behind him to stand in front of Brody. He took her in. She was tall, only a few inches shorter than him. She had curves in all the right places, as he well remembered, too. Auburn hair piled on her head with strands flying loose. Her eyes were a rich honey brown and when his eyes rested on her lush, pouty lips, Brody felt his wolf jump in response. The tug was almost a physical blow to his chest. What the fuck?

  Almost begrudgingly, Sienna stuck her hand out. Her beautiful lips had a slight curl to them and her eyes burned into his. Brody was almost amused at her display—it was clear she was a dominant wolf and not afraid of much.

  Just because he could, Brody stood when he took her hand in his and met her challenging glare with a blast of Alpha vibes. He could feel her palm squeeze in his as she and her wolf battled the wave of dominance he was sending out. It was clear they affected her, he was far more dominant than she was, but he was almost impressed with how she withstood them enough not to break their gaze.

  “It’s been a pleasure so far,” Brody drawled with just enough sarcasm to make Sienna’s nostrils flare. She yanked her hand out of his and turned when Sage made the introductions with Dane.

  “Dane Cordren,” Sage said, pointing at the blonde wolf. “Dane’s a sentinel and works as our de facto intel guy. He’s kind of a genius with computers and hacking.”

  “I’m also really good in the sack,” Dane said with a grin as he took Sienna’s hand.

  Damned if Brody didn’t hate the way she laughed at Dane’s idiotic line.

  “I’m sure you’re a legend in your own mind,” Sienna laughed.

  “Give me a chance and I’ll be a legend in your mind, too,” Dane said, refusing to let go of Sienna’s hand.

  “Knock it off,” Brody growled and got down to business. He caught Sienna up as to why they were in her condo.

  To her credit, Sienna listened carefully and took in all the details he offered. Sage leaned against the counter behind his sister, filling in odds and ends along the way so that she understood the workings of the Boulder pack and why they were certain that Liesel hadn’t gone anywhere willingly.

  “She was a rescue,” Sage said, giving Sienna a look that Brody couldn’t quite read. “She would never leave our pack willingly. Our little makeshift family was the only one she’d ever had.”

  Sienna’s reaction was even more telling. Her lips set into a hard line and her eyes narrowed. She rubbed the skin along her inner forearm on her right arm as she considered everything and Brody noticed a large pink scar running the length of her arm. It was pale and obviously old, but parts of the skin were puckered and rough—it’d been an atrocious wound that even her shifter abilities could fix and it hadn’t healed cleanly.

  She seemed to feel his eyes on her. Sienna caught him looking at her and immediately pulled her sleeve down to cover the scar before tucking her arm behind her back.

  Interesting.

  Brody could ask Sage about the scar and he’d probably tell him, but it’d be way more interesting to learn about it from Sienna herself.

  “I’ll help,” Sienna said quietly. Her voice low but resolute. “I actually think I might know of a few leads to get us started. Some bear shifters have been turning up in big-stakes games lately and playing dirty. They’re not going to be able to stay under the radar for long.”

  “Games?” Brody asked.

  He didn’t miss the surge of pride on Sage’s face as he spoke for his sister.

  “She’s an amazing poker player,” he said, putting his hand on Sienna’s shoulder. “So good that, coupled with her shifter
senses, big casinos hire her to sniff out cheaters. It’s how she can afford her own place here in Vegas.”

  “Pays that well, does it?” Brody posed the question to Sienna who just shrugged.

  “I drive a 12-year-old Civic with an expired inspection,” she said quickly. “Don’t get the idea that I’m rich or anything. It just means that I don’t have to sling beer at the local dive anymore.”

  Again, interesting.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Dane asked as he stretched his arms overhead. He’d just eaten most of Sienna’s sandwich supplies, which meant they had about two hours tops till he had to eat again. And he’d have to eat again, no doubt. He was like a giant teenager, constantly eating all the available food in the lodge if they weren’t careful.

  Sienna had her phone out of her back pocket and was furiously typing. Her fingers were flying across the screen and Brody couldn’t ignore the sense of dread that washed over him.

  “Wait,” he said, quickly snatching the phone from her hand. He didn’t miss the low snarl that came from Sienna—she’d apparently not liked him grabbing her phone like that. Well, tough. There were bigger issues at stake than her attachment to the device. “I need you to understand a few things before we start. First, you can’t tell anyone what we’re doing or why you’re looking for the bear den. Nobody can know that I’m here in Vegas while the rest of my pack is back in Colorado without its Alpha.”

  To his great relief, Sienna just nodded, agreeing to the condition.

  “Second,” he continued. “We don’t have a lot of time. You’ve got a week to get what you can and then we part ways. If you can’t help us by then, you’ve wasted our time.”

  Sage inhaled quickly and Sienna narrowed her eyes at him.

  “Just when you were starting to seem like you weren’t a complete asshole,” she gritted out. “You had to go and ruin it. You’d be lucky to get a week of my time, McAllister. Don’t flatter yourself.”

  Not acknowledging her little tantrum, Brody gave a dismissive wave and started toward her busted door, making a mental note to call someone local to fix the damn thing. Knowing this woman, she’d make do without a deadbolt for months before remembering she broke the lock.