by K. S. Martin
Summer’s Alpha
By
K.S. Martin
Summer’s Alpha ©2013 by K.S. Martin All rights reserved.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 1
East Tennessee Hills 2013
I have no idea what he is up to now, but I watch him splashing around in the water anyway. He’s fun to watch and I’ve been doing it since I was maybe as young as two years old. He lives a few houses away and he thinks that he is something special. I never let him know that I think so too. We’ve been best friends since about the same time that I started watching him. He’s accused me of wanting him but I always make sure that I tell him it is a stupid thing to think. He always laughs and says ‘yeah right.’ I can’t admit it because he never has. “Yeah right doesn’t mean ‘it’s okay because I want you too’. It means you’re lying.’ Of all the times that he’s accused me of wanting him, he’s never once said I want you Summer or I love you Summer. He just likes to tease me and that’s okay. I get it that we are friends and that’s all. He doesn’t need to know about the dreams I started having a year ago either, they are none of his damn business even if he is the center of them. In one of them, he pushes me against a wall. I’m facing the wall and he’s pressed against my back, we are both naked and panting like we’ve just finished a run. His teeth graze my shoulder and I nearly orgasm in the dream, sometimes I really do in my sleep. Anyway, his voice has been getting deeper and deeper lately but in the dream, it is almost gravelly. It’s so sexy and just thinking about it now makes me shiver. I can feel his skin against mine and I can’t seem to catch my breath. My stomach is full of butterflies and my heart pounds. His hips are against my rear end and I can feel his erection against my lower back, it’s hot, hard, and throbbing. The deep gravelly voice comes out of warm sculptured lips against my ear. I’m shaking all over, all the muscles below my waist are clenching, and he says, “I’m going to bury myself so deep inside of you Summer that you won’t know where I end and you begin.” I always wake up then, sometimes I’ve climaxed, sometimes not but my heart is always pounding, I’m always sweaty and shaking with what I’ve realized lately is anticipation. I want him. I can’t have him but I want him. He’s supposed to mate my sister Autumn according to my father the alpha. Since I am an alpha, my dad thinks that I would be better to lure in an alliance with another pack. A pack looking to breed their alpha with another, so he will sell me like cattle. That’s not happening. I’m getting out of here. He won’t give to some jerk that I don’t even know. He used my sister Kelly the same way. She’s with an alpha more than fifty miles away and she is extremely unhappy. Every time I call her, she is crying. I tell her that I will come after her but every time that I say it, she says no. I think that Kelly will end up killing herself but my dad won’t listen. I worry about my sister. Her mate, Frank is older and from a pack set in the old ways. Backward ways that allow beating and women are property. If it were me that daddy had given him, I would’ve killed him already. However, we have the alliance that dad wanted. She has no say about anything, no rights, and he treats her terribly. Kelly has had more than one black eye, which I sincerely doubt she provoked. Kelly doesn’t argue, she isn’t sarcastic, and she is a real people pleaser. I know he hits her either because he’s mad about something else or because he’s just evil. Either way, one day, I may just rip his throat out no matter what Kelly says. He came sniffing around here wanting a submissive she wolf, and there is none more submissive than my big sis is. She didn’t even bat an eye when dad told her that she was going to mate Frank. She simply went and packed her things. Ten minutes later, she was ready with her duffle in her hand and her head bowed. It was pathetic and it was the moment that my dad and I both realized that I am alpha. I did not take it lying down. My dad could not subdue me that day. Jackson finally got me under control then dragged me into the woods to calm down. It was the first time he used his alpha tendencies on me and my wolf responded with these urges. I’ve always liked Jackson as a person but the day that I submitted to him my wolf decided that he was for us. He’d never acted alpha before that day, but he got me to show him my throat. The urges have been difficult to stifle since that day and it’s especially bad when I’m asleep. My wolf wants him very much. I do too but he’s Autumn’s mate, and it doesn’t matter that she is in love with the resident beta Tim. My dad won’t hear of it. Dad is a real stickler for pack hierarchy and since Tim is only a beta, he isn’t good enough for the alpha’s daughter. Jackson is an alpha and will lead this pack or will lead his own one day. My decision is easy, if I can’t have him, I’ll go. I won’t be a bargaining tool for the good of the pack. I’m sneaking out first thing tomorrow and I’m going to find my own life in the city. I’ve never been without a pack but I think that I can do it. I’m no push over. I will survive.
“Are you coming or not?” I look up into the honey amber eyes for probably the last time and I smile sweetly. “You haven’t been listening at all have you?” He rolls his eyes heavenward and I laugh. He’s getting so big lately. His shoulders are broad and he has this great chest, it’s smooth and nice. Wolves don’t stop developing their muscles until they are in their mid twenties then they will look the same until they are much older. Jackson is not finished growing but the most attractive thing about him though is the way he moves. He has that stalk like a predator thing down pat. He’s wet from splashing in the creek. I didn’t go in since I’d rather sun myself from my seat on the log beside the deep spot. Jackson tugs at my hand and pulls me up from my seat. “I said mom is grilling burgers, are you in?” I shake my head. I can’t bear to act as if everything is fine and then leave them all. “Why not?” He needs a haircut but his dark hair this long is still sexy.
“Don’t feel like it. I want to lie down.” I put my hand over my stomach but he’s dense sometimes and asks the inevitable follow up.
“Why?” He looks me over and his nose twitches.
“I have cramps.” I know that this will deter him from further questions. He makes a face and starts to walk. Thank you God, I have shut down the Jackson inquisition for the moment. Even he can’t smell what hasn’t started yet. Nobody’s nose is that good. He’s stalking away from me.
“You’re lying Summer.” He says over his shoulder. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to but don’t lie.” I don’t answer him but I follow. “I don’t know what’s up with you lately but I wish you would get over it. It’s getting boring.” I sigh knowing he’s right. I’ve had an attitude since dad said that Autumn would mate Jackson. I don’t know if Jackson knows and I want to know if he does so I take the plunge.
“Has anyone told you that you are to mate Autumn?” He whirls around to face me and I can see that he didn’t know. Jackson has gone all alpha and he is pissed. His eyes are pulsing amber with anger.
“Autumn?! Hell no. I’m not mating Autumn. Shit, she’ll probably break in half the first time I fuck her.” The smile on his face was empty and did not reach his eyes. My sister Autumn is a lot like Kelly. They are both petite, willowy and resemble my mother. They are both wafer thin, blonde, and fragile. My brother Freddy and I are more like dad. We are tall, strong, and darker with hazel eyes. Freddy’s hair is blue black, mine is dark brown. Freddy is already six and a half feet tall while I stand proud at five feet ten. I tower over my sisters.
“That’s what Dad has decided.” I start walking again.
“Oh yeah? Who has he decided that you’re ma
ting Summer?” I love it when he says my name. I get tingles in all the good places.
“He’s going to use me as a bargaining chip to draw an alliance from another pack. We can expand our hunting area and get help if and when we need it.” I made quotes in the air with my fingers. Jackson was horrified.
“Like what he did to Kelly? Doesn’t he see how well that worked out? He’s crazy. I’ll talk to him, you are not for sale, and I am not mating Autumn. Tim wants Autumn and she wants him, why not let them be happy? They’re good together.”
“He’s a beta, you’re an alpha, and that makes you a better choice for her. I am worth more to the good of the pack. He won’t change his mind Jackson and there is no use in trying.” I start jogging to my house that is in sight now. I don’t want him to see the tears that are starting to pool in my eyes. I won’t let him see weakness the last time he sees me. Dad wants me to stop hanging out with Jackson. He wants Autumn to spend time with him and it doesn’t matter that neither of them in interested in the other. Autumn thinks that Jackson is a jackass and instead of calling him by his name, she’d rather use the description. She doesn’t do it to his face and she knows that she can’t use it in front of me very often. Nevertheless, Autumn does not like Jackass but that’s okay because he can’t stand her either. He says she is too high maintenance for him and he calls her plastic girl. I have to agree most of the time. Autumn is shallow. She is interested in her hair, her makeup, and her cell phone. I love my sister but we don’t have much in common, not really. We don’t look alike, think alike, or care about the same things. Autumn is younger too but we get along and we talk sometimes, she is my sister. The only thing that we really share in common is our dislike for our father. Don’t get me wrong, he’s my dad and I love him, but neither of us really like him.
“Where have you been?” My father booms from the end of the kitchen table when I come in the patio door startling me. “I told you to stop seeing that boy.” The overhead lamp was reflecting on his baldhead. He was on the internet on his tablet again. Ever since he bought that thing, he hasn’t put it down. He doesn’t even look up when he’s talking to us anymore either. All you ever see is the top of his baldhead because he’s always lost in the tablet.
“I told him that he’s mating Autumn and that we can’t see each other again Dad. We’ve been best friends for eighteen years. I thought that I at least owed him an explanation. It was the honorable thing to do.” He would understand honor, I hoped. He did. He nodded.
“Get dinner started.” I nod and set about preparing the meal. My mother died giving birth to Freddy so we all do her chores. When Kelly left, meals became my chore. When I bolt, all of my chores will fall on Freddy and Autumn. I should take them with me and let him fix his own damn dinner. I don’t remember my mother that well but I remember that Dad changed when she left. It was he buried his heart with her and she left us with a hollow, empty, nasty shell.
My duffle is packed and at the foot of my bed waiting. I’m staring at the ceiling right now but first thing in the morning when I am supposed to be going to work, I will be hitting the highway in search of a new life. I would like to leave now but there is no way I will make it to the car with a house full of werewolves listening. I hope that I don’t have that dream again, okay maybe I do.
Chapter 2
“Get up.” Autumn shoves at my shoulder. “Summer, get up. You have to fix breakfast.” I stretch and look up into her almond shaped blue eyes. Her white blonde hair is up in a high ponytail. “Are you awake?” I nod. “Are you …?” She pointed at the duffle. I nod again. “Okay. I don’t blame you. This whole thing sucks. Daddy is being an ass.” I smirk. I refuse to talk with him in the house. He can hear everything we say. His ears are unbelievable. “He’s in the shower, your secret is safe.” She hugs me when I stand. “Where?” I shrug. “Okay. Keep in touch.” Autumn and I have discussed this whole mating with Jackson thing at length. She hates the idea because she is in love with Tim. I hate the idea because I know that they will both be miserable but mostly because with every fiber of my being I believe that he belongs to me. He is mine, even if he doesn’t feel the same. He can never belong to Autumn because I would rather die than know they are together. Daddy sucks.
“I will.” She turns and leaves.
Breakfast is uneventful. We aren’t big talkers in the morning. Autumn is busy with her cell texting someone. Freddy is eating his eggs with his eyes closed and dad is surfing the internet on his tablet. I look around at them, my family. I miss Kelly. Her eggs were better than mine are. Jackson is at the patio door. I motion for him to come in. “Breakfast if you haven’t eaten.” I point at the stove. He shakes his head.
“Sir? May I have a word when you’ve finished eating?” Dad closes the cover on the tablet and carries his plate to the sink. Dad thinks Jackson wants to talk about him mating Autumn. He probably thinks Jackson is ready to get started. Boy is he ever in for a surprise.
“My office.” He gestures at Jackson.
“I’ll clean up.” Autumn offers giving me a look, and I hurry to my bedroom. Normally I would listen to their conversation through the wall but not today. I know my dad. Jackson is about to suffer the wrath of my father, you don’t question a decision that he’s made and come away unscathed. I haul my duffle onto my shoulder and leave a note and my cell phone on my pillow. Nobody will find them until tonight when I don’t come home but I need the ten hours or so to escape. I’d like to kiss Jackson goodbye but he belongs to Autumn now. I can’t stay here and watch him with my sister. It will rip my heart out.
Out on the highway, I watch the signs go by. I’ve been on the road seven hours now. I only stopped for gas and to pee. I’m getting hungry and the sun is starting to dip lower in the sky. There is a town in ten miles and I wonder if there is a pack close by. I’ve never known anyone that switched packs but I know it must happen. I think it’s best to lay low for a while until I decide if I want to stay and so my dad doesn’t come after his bargaining chip. I’m further from Kelly since I went the other direction, Dad won’t expect that. I left my cell phone in my room because he can track it. It’s too hard to hide from GPS. I will need a new one if I want to get a job though. My boss knew two weeks ago that I was leaving the parts store, I gave my notice, and he paid me in cash to help me out. He isn’t pack but I can trust him. He said he would play dumb if my dad came around and he would give me a great reference if anyone called. He’s a nice human. My dad hates humans since a human killed his father. What did he expect to happen though while he was running around all wolfed out near the farmer’s sheep? Duh! Wolf or not, you have to be smart. Stay away from sheep and the business end of a rifle. Farmers are touchy about their livestock. I’ve stopped at a hotel that looks run down and cheap but I want to be easy with my cash. I have plenty on me but I don’t want to waste any of it, I still have to find a place to live. It seems like a nice town so far. It’s clean and I don’t see any of the crack heads or winos’ hanging around that Dad always harps on when he talks about the city. I get my key and go to my room. There is a payphone outside of my room so I call Autumn. I push the star and six seven so the number won’t show up on her phone. Dad is smart so, he’ll look for that and drag my ass home. “Autumn?”
“Hey Sissy! Where did you end up?”
“Not sure yet, I just wanted to let you know that I’m okay. I don’t know if I’ll settle here but I was tired so I stopped. Have I been missed?”
“Not yet. You should keep driving. He talked to Jackson this morning and they nearly came to blows. Jackson told him that he would not mate me. Thank God because eww.” I laughed at that. Jackson is far from eww. “I know you think that he’s hot and I guess he is good looking but Tim is ….” She took a deep breath and sighed.
“I know. You should mate him. Let him claim you. Just turn your tail up and let him take you Autumn. Then dad won’t have a choice.”
“Really? He won’t?” My sister’s a submissive wolf and is certainly
not strategically inclined.
“No.” I really hope that she does not mate with Jackson. I couldn’t bear it.
“Then why didn’t you do that with Jackson?” It’s not as if I haven’t wanted to forever.
“We aren’t like that. He doesn’t like me that way. We’re friends and that’s all. If he’d ever shown an interest, I would have. I hate the idea of Dad destroying yours and Jackson’s lives the way he did Kelly’s. Be happy Autumn, have Tim, make him yours. It may cost him pack position but you’ll both be happier for it.”
“Thanks Summer, I’ll talk to Tim tomorrow. For the record, you’re wrong about Jackson. I don’t know exactly what he said but he was putting up a good fight for you. Hey got to go, he’s coming.” She clicks the phone off. Neither of us wants dad to know that I’ve left yet or that she knows all about it. What did that mean? He put up a good fight for me. Yeah right.
I crawl under the quilt in my hotel room after a shower and food from the restaurant next door. I have a chair wedged under the doorknob just in case and fall asleep a lot faster than expected.
I have a dream about Jackson. He’s in the woods howling as if he’s mourning someone. I wonder who he’s lost. I can feel how empty he feels, how hollow his chest is and I wake up crying. I miss him, not in the sense that I haven’t seen him in a long time but in the sense that I know that I won’t see him again. It’s weird but it seems like the feelings are real not just a dream. I should’ve told him but knowing Jackson, he would’ve confronted my dad and told him that I would leave. After that, I would spend my days chained up in the basement until my dad and his council decided what to do with me. No thanks. Jackson may be an alpha but it’s recent. My dad has been an alpha for forty years and he is so much better at it than Jackson is. I shower and brush my teeth. Time for breakfast, I eat more fast food which is getting old. I drive around town and check it out. I see a few help wanted signs and an apartment building that rents month to month. I go into the places with the signs and the woman at the bookstore hired me on the spot. It was the third place that I applied and I’m thinking that this is fate. I explained that I was new in town and just striking out on my own. She said that I could rent the apartment over the bookstore if I was interested.
