The Alpha's Justice

by Michelle Fox

  “I didn’t shoot this. I swear. Here, I’ll show you.” The man scurried off to where a laptop sat connected to a projector. He tapped at the keys, waited and then tapped them a bit more forcefully, finally resorting to banging them. “What the hell? Where did it go?” Sweat beaded his forehead and the spicy scent of frustration emanated from him in waves.

  “Jeb, are you okay?” asked another human. His t-shirt had a profile of Bigfoot with the words ‘reigning hide-and-seek champion.’

  Jeb ran his hands through his dark hair, his brow furrowed with a mix of confusion and panic. “Yeah, there’s just something wrong with the video.”

  “I’ll say there’s something wrong,” Talon snarled as he went over to Jeb. He grabbed the laptop and threw it to the ground, smashing it with his heel. Everyone flinched and people started backing away, some even leaving altogether.

  Gretchen was just grateful the movie had stopped as the one furry (ostensibly her) had kneeled down and started giving a blow job to the other furry. She could tell it wasn’t real, but the humans were taking everything at face value and she caught more than one speculative glance from the human men. When one of them actually leered at her, she stared him down. “I will slap that look right off your face, if you don’t stop it right now,” she hissed.

  The woman accompanying the man, her T-shirt sported a fiery phoenix, smacked the guy’s shoulder and gave him a dirty look. With a sheepish grin, he ducked his head and muttered an apology to his companion.

  Meanwhile, Talon was practically tap dancing on top of the laptop, crushing it into large chunks that he lobbed through the grass with sharp kicks. Jeb moved in a wary circle around him, his face twisted with fear and anxiety. His hands clenched into fists and then relaxed without taking a punch, obviously intimidated by the large stranger wearing a wolf suit.

  Gretchen looked to the rest of the shifters who were all cavorting through Jeb’s backyard, leaving a trail of destruction as they went. Chairs were overturned whether they had people in them or not, and someone had dumped out the cooler full of beer. Several shifters had snagged a bottle of beer, and casting off their costume heads, chugged it all in one long gulp. A few others had started a food fight with the cheese and meat tray. When they weren’t bonking people in the head with cheese cubes, they were tossing them into each other’s mouths. The few who weren’t drinking or gobbling up food, chased after the humans, howling, growling and pretending to swipe at them with their fake claws.

  The chaos served to quickly shut down the party. Within minutes, no one was left but a bunch of shifters pretending to be furries and Jeb. Talon had finished decimating the laptop and was now menacing Jeb, forcing him to stagger backward until he ran up against the siding of his house. Wrapping his hand around the man’s throat, Talon lifted him up.

  “Don’t ever film us again. What we do out in the woods is our business, not yours. If we catch you doing anything I don’t like, you will regret it. Understood?” He gave Jeb a little shake and the man’s feet danced in the air as he struggled to breathe.

  Talon shook him again, this time hard enough to bang the man’s head against his house. “Understood?” The question came out in a hair-raising roar, one that caused Gretchen to startle and set her heart racing.

  Jeb gurgled something that sounded like agreement and Talon let him go, causing the man to drop to the ground. His legs crumpled under him and he landed in a fetal position, gasping loudly as he filled his lungs with air.

  “I don’t know what happened to my video, but I saw what I saw. I know werewolves are real. Maybe that’s what you are,” Jeb managed to spit out. “Maybe that’s why you’re here. You’ve fucked everything up and who does that benefit? I’m not stupid.”

  Talon had been walking away, but at Jeb’s words, he spun around and squatted down next to the man. “You know what’s real? Me. That’s what. I don’t see any werewolves here, just a bunch of furries who want to protect their privacy. Maybe you should worry more about what we can do to you.” With that, he hauled back his fist and slammed it into Jeb’s face.

  The man whimpered as the force of Talon’s fury struck him, and then fell silent. Edging closer to the commotion, Gretchen saw he had passed out.

  “Are we done now?” she asked, impatient to move on. The level of violence and mayhem had rattled her. She was a quiet werewolf, one who preferred to curl up with a cookbook and a pan of warm brownies to keep her company as she browsed through recipes. Ass kicking was not her thing, and to be frank, she was a little concerned that the stray shifters she’d fallen in with were going to tear Jeb apart. He might be a threat to all shifter kind, but he didn’t deserve to be drawn and quartered like so much meat either.

  Talon whipped his head around to look at her and she instantly regretted opening her mouth. His eyes were full of a yellow fire that threatened to spill out and consume her. “Yeah, we’re done here,” he growled. Standing up, he stalked off and the rest of the shifters took off with him. Gretchen hesitated for a moment, concerned about the human’s condition, but Talon barked out a harsh, “Come on, Halbmond. Get a move on.”

  She hustled to catch up and they retraced their steps back to the van. Talon’s team melted away, running ahead and out of range from their angry alpha. She didn’t blame them and thought about following suit, but thanks to the mask she’d worn on the way in, she couldn’t get her bearings. She had no idea where the van was parked, which meant she had to keep Talon within her sights.

  With a sigh, she trudged after the sheriff’s wide shoulders. Her wolf chose that moment to surge back to the fore, her entire being focused on the sheriff. Gretchen ignored her. “Are you always such a badass?”

  Talon stopped short and fixed his gaze on her. She couldn’t quite see his eyes in the dark, but she could feel them boring into her. It was…electrifying. Enough to raise her hackles in a pleasurable way, as if he’d stroked her with just his gaze alone. Her wolf quivered, enjoying the sensation.

  “What do you mean by that?” His voice sounded like a thunderstorm, full of deep rumbles and ready to strike. His scent had deepened too, matching his mood. He was an alpha on the edge.

  Gretchen shrugged and took two more steps away from the sheriff, resisting her wolf’s interest in getting closer. “I…just wondered, that’s all. It looked like you were going to kill that guy. And all you do is growl at people, even your own crew.”

  “No one takes you seriously if you’re weak,” he said, his voice terse. “If you put up with shit, you get shit. I did what I had to. If that human’s smart, he’ll learn the lesson I gave him.”

  “What if he sees that shifter again? He filmed him in these woods, right?”

  He spun on his heel and resumed walking. “We moved the stray. They won’t be running in this area again.”

  She hurried to catch up, careful not to get too close. Between his growly bad temper and propensity for locking lips with her, she wanted to stay out of reach. Her wolf was just looking for an excuse to come over to the other side and show Talon her belly, which was the last thing she needed. Didn’t you see him manhandle that guy? Her wolf smiled at the question. Really, you liked that? To Talon, she said, “So that’s it? It’s over?”

  “Most likely. If not, we’ll start Jeb’s second lesson.”

  “Which would be what?” she asked, curious about how this all worked. While she knew about strays and that shifter law enforcement did things to protect all packs, she’d never seen the workings of it up close.

  “That’s need to know, Halbmond. Now, come on.” He waved her forward. “We’ve got to go see Axel Sharpe yet tonight and I don’t know about you, but I’m tired and would like to go to bed at a decent hour.” He picked up the pace, but Gretchen held back, not ready to run just yet. There was one more thing she wanted to get off her chest.

  “Listen, you have to stop kissing me,” she called after him.

  He slowed down and looked at her over his shoulder. “Says who?”

&nbs
p; She pointed to her chest. “Me! That’s who. No means no, sheriff.” Her own wolf growled at her. Sheesh. Seriously? Traitor much? Her wolf gave her a dirty look.

  “We’re fated mates. No doesn’t matter.” He stopped and whirled around to face her, closing the distance between them in a few quick steps. Wrapping his arms around her waist and squeezing her ass, he said, “You’re mine, Gretchen Halbmond. You just don’t understand that yet. I’m not going to force you, but whether you like it or not, your future includes me buried deep inside you, making you scream my name.”

  “I told you I don’t believe in that fated mates crap. It’s a lie.” She went through her options for self-defense. Kicking him in the balls again was out, he was pressed up against her like he was waiting for the glue to set. Same deal with his feet. She might get in a glancing blow, but she wouldn’t be able to pull her leg back enough to build up any real power. He’d pinned her hands against her hips, too. Which left her mouth as the only part of her body free from Talon’s control. She wondered how hard she’d have to bite the sheriff to get him to see reason.

  “You don’t believe in love?” He frowned down at her.

  “Ding-ding-ding, he gets a clue, ladies and gentleman.” Now her wolf was snarling at her.

  “What happened to you that you won’t let yourself feel what’s between us?” He gave her a little shake. “I know you melt when I kiss you, I can feel it at least. You get all soft and ready for me. I can hear the skip in your heartbeat. Your body doesn’t lie, sweetheart. You want to be under me, taking everything I have to give. I bet your wolf is dancing in your head, dying for that to happen. You can deny it all you want, but I can smell the truth.”

  “The truth is we are not going to happen, sheriff. I’m not yours and I never will be. Not even if you were the last shifter on earth.” With that she took a deep breath, and in a flash of desperate inspiration, head-butted him, groaning as the force of the hit split through her skull. It got him to let her go though. He staggered back with a groan of his own, holding his head.

  Gretchen didn’t stick around after that. Mindful of his earlier rage, she took off, not wanting to be there when he recovered. If he decided to strike back, she would be in a world of hurt because he was about a billion times stronger than her.

  She dropped her wolf head, refusing to lug the dratted thing around any longer and then she ran. Forget the van, she’d find another way back to the bar. The main thing now was to stay out of Talon’s way.

  The brush rustled behind her and she pushed herself to run faster. Nervous, she kept looking over her shoulder, which meant she started clipping trees. Thin branches swiped her face and then swept through her hair, pulling it out at the root. Clutching her hair flat against her skull, she tried to keep her eyes focused on what was in front of her, but the crashing and thrashing behind her was too alarming. She kept thinking Talon was ‘this’ close to tackling her like a football player.

  She looked back one more time and promptly ran right into one of the other strays. The force of her momentum dropped them both to the ground. Gretchen rolled into a tree trunk while whoever she hit landed in a bush. The sound of rustling leaves filled the air followed by swear words.

  “Keira, is that you?” She sniffed and was pretty sure the scent in the air came from the deputy.

  “Yes. What are you, deaf and dumb?” asked the woman crossly as she struggled to free herself from the bush she’d landed in. “You didn’t smell me standing there?”

  “Sorry, no.” Gretchen got her feet under her and hurried over to assist Keira. The bush’s thorns had grabbed onto the deputy’s costume. She yanked on the fabric, hissing as thorns bit into her hands. “It’s a good thing you’re still wearing this, it’s the only thing keeping you from getting torn up.”

  “What were you in such a hurry for?” asked Keira as she gave up on freeing herself and moved to discarding her wolf costume.

  “I was trying to get away from Talon. He seems to think we’re destined for true love or something.”

  Keira went still. “Are you serious? The sheriff thinks you’re his fated mate?” She snorted.

  “Yeah, I know. It’s crazy. I keep telling him no and he keeps refusing to listen.” Gretchen held Keira’s hand, steadying the deputy as she kicked off the last of the wolf costume.

  “It’s funny, but not crazy.” Keira shook her head and resumed trudging through the woods.

  “We’re not mates,” Gretchen said firmly, walking right behind the deputy. “One, I’m not looking for a mate, and two, he’s just horny. There’s no way we’re fated to be together.” Her wolf huffed at her, disagreeing. Shut it, she thought back with a snarl.

  Keira shrugged. “Maybe, but there’s one thing I do know for sure.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t mess up a shot at the real thing.”

  Gretchen frowned. After hearing Keira’s story earlier, the woman was the last shifter on Earth she thought would be endorsing fated mates. “But it didn’t work out so great for you.”

  “No, it didn’t, but the sheriff wasn’t my mate. He’s nothing like the bastard I was bound to.” Keira ducked under a low branch and kept going. “See, I know, from personal experience, the difference between a bad mate and a good one. The sheriff? He’s so good, he makes angels look bad.”

  Chapter Nine

  ~Talon~

  Talon drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he drove the van back to The Crescent. Even though his head throbbed from his latest tussle with Gretchen, he couldn’t wait to be alone with her again. The kiss at the human’s house had gone further than he’d ever intended and only reinforced his sense that they were mates. Somehow he had to convince her they were meant for each other. Or failing that, find a way to determine if she was pulling a fast one or not. However, the more time he spent with her, the more he was convinced she wasn’t faking him out. No one pretending to be a mate fought it tooth and nail, it wouldn’t serve the con.

  He just had to figure her out. Also, it would be nice to find a way to relieve the sexual frustration threatening to blow steam out of his ears. He’d been hard for the woman since she’d been in his office and it wasn’t going to stop, not until he could claim her as his.

  So he sped back to the bar that served as his home base, dropped everyone off and quickly escorted Gretchen to his car, an old school Dodge Charger. The van was too bulky and ate too much gas to use with just two people.

  “Nice car,” Gretchen commented as she slid into the passenger seat.

  “Thanks. I fixed it up.” He patted the dashboard. “It was a rust bucket when I first got it.”

  She took in the leather seats and the gleaming paintjob. “You did this all yourself?”

  “Yep.” He put the car in reverse and gunned the accelerator, twisting the steering wheel hard as the vehicle left its parking spot. “New engine, new paint, new interior. I did all of it.”

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “You like old cars?” He grinned at her, happy at the thought of a shared interest.

  “When they look like this I do.” She nodded back to where her little compact car sat. “I drive that little mouse out of necessity.”

  “It looks so meek,” Talon said with a grin. “Nothing like you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Maybe if you’d kept your lips and,” she waved a hand at him, “everything else to yourself, you’d have a different opinion.”

  “Yeah, about that,” he started.

  She held up a hand. “You don’t have to apologize.”

  “I wasn’t going to,” he said, his voice going a little growly. “What I was going to say is I still haven’t heard from your alpha or your police chief so I still can’t tell if you’re legit or not.” He tapped his nose. “You smell like we belong together, but you’ve fought me tooth and nail. So now’s the time to come clean if you’re hiding anything. Don’t make me walk into Axel Sharpe’s house blind.”

  She gave him a surprised look.
“Wait, we’re going to his house?”

  “It’s only ten thirty. Do you want to stay up until midnight or do you want to finish this now?”

  “By all means, let’s go now.” She waved toward the road. “I just didn’t realize you knew where he lived.”

  “I have my sources.” He left out the part about the shifter database and the microchips that had been installed in the more troublesome strays. All he’d had to do was ping the chip and the coordinates popped right up. The chip held home addresses as well as tracked a stray’s current location.

  “And you didn’t answer my question. Is there anything I need to know? Anything you haven’t told me?” His one worry was his fated mate might turn out to be a heap of trouble no sane wolf would want. Her pack hadn’t said boo to him, and while he believed that something was going on, the lack of details from Huntsville nagged at him. What if she didn’t want to be his mate, but did want to drag him into a political play?

  “I’ve told you everything.” She lifted her chin, revealing the long length of her neck and sniffed. “I don’t know why my pack hasn’t contacted you. In fact…” She whipped out her phone and tapped on the screen. “Let me send a text and have someone follow up on that for you. His neighbor is my cousin. I’ll ask her to pop over to the alpha’s house and let him know you’re waiting to hear from him. Because if he’s supposed to call, I’ll make sure he does.” She stabbed her phone’s screen with a finger and gave him a belligerent look, her rosebud lips puckered up tight.

  Talon shifted in his seat, fighting the need to pry those sweet lips open with his tongue and…no, he had to stop thinking about her that way. Through sheer force of will he focused his thoughts elsewhere. He needed to sort out what was going on and fast. Biting the inside of his cheek, he floored the accelerator and zoomed off into the night.

  Mind racing, he made some decisions. He wanted to help her, but the protocol was way off. So he had to improvise. “Okay, here’s the deal, if I don’t hear from your alpha or police chief by the time we get to Axel’s place, you’re going to owe me one more favor.”