The Reluctant Alpha

by K. S. Martin

  ‘If you hate it, I’ll buy it.” He gave her his best panty dropping smile, which should be a lot more effective without all of the facial hair hiding it.

  “I don’t need you to buy it. Some jackass left me a forty-six dollar tip last night. I’m loaded.” He grinned at that. “Thanks by the way. I’m hoping for an equally big tip when I finish the truck in my bay.” She smiled at him and he sighed. Actually sighed, god she was lovely and had beautiful canines. He wouldn’t last as long as a virgin pup the first time she was under him. She snapped her fingers in his face. Again. She was going to think he was mentally challenged the way he drifted away whenever she was around.

  “Sweetheart I’ll give you anything you want if you’ll let me take you out later.” His voice dropped, low and seductive like warm caramel it soothed over her nerves and her breath grew shallow while the pulse in her throat was light and frantically pulsing. There it was, that was the voice he needed to use on her, she would be his. “You need money? I’m your man. You need a place to stay? I’ll take care of it. You need satisfaction? Anytime, any…where.” She trembled. He had her. The burger came and snapped her out of the trance he’d had her in.

  “No.” Cami picked up her plate and milkshake. “Betty, I’ll bring the dishes back later, it’s too crowded in here for me.” Betty’s eyes widened but she nodded.

  “Don’t ever interrupt us again.” Dylan said quietly when Cami was gone.

  “Yes sir.” Betty hurried away. Dylan slid back over onto his stool and finished his cooling burger. That she-wolf had ruined two perfectly good meals for him.

  ***

  Cami sat down on one end of the mechanic’s creeper and put her food down on the board in front of her. “How do you eat all of that and not gain weight?” Turner asked from the door way. “All my wife eats is lettuce and lemon juice and she’s as big as a house.” She took a bite of the burger, heaven on a bun.

  “Good metabolism.” She said with her mouth full. “And it’s all I’m going to eat until tomorrow. Turner shook his head. He’d had one of those burgers once because they were all the rage in town. He thought it was gross, but Cami sure did like them. He went back to the counter and pulled his ham and cheese out of the brown paper sack the wife packed for him. There were cucumbers and carrot sticks too with salad dressing. He pitched them in the trash and got a bag of chips from the rack at the end of the counter and a soda from the cooler. He watched Dylan through the big windows at Betty’s diner. He was sitting at the counter watching the station and drinking a milkshake. Maybe he wasn’t a bad guy but Turner never wanted that guy near his wife again. Beatrix had a huge crush on Dylan since high school. But hell, what woman around here didn’t? Something about Dylan made females want to turn their tails up for him.

  “What are you looking at? You’ve been staring out of that window for a long time.” She craned her neck to see.

  “Dylan and I are having a staring contest.”

  “Urgh, not that guy again. He’s an asshole, don’t pay him any mind.” Turner sat up in his chair.

  “You don’t like him?” She scrunched her face up.

  “He won’t leave me alone.” She took another huge bite.

  “You don’t like him?” He asked again.

  “Uh no. Didn’t I just say that? I thought when I called him an asshole the part about me not liking him was implied. Where did he come from anyway? I’ve been here for like three months and he just showed up at Frankie’s last night now he’s in my business every time I turn around.”

  “He’s been hunting for Henry’s son. He just got back, he’s been gone four or five months now. It’s sad really. That was just one of a dozen trips searching for that kid. Poor old Henry is dying and wants is to see his kid once more but nobody can find him. Henry won’t last much longer. The cancer has nearly eaten him alive. You would think that three betas would’ve found him by now, especially Dylan, he’s a natural tracker.” Turner shook his head. “I feel bad for them. The wife says the pack is pretty torn up.” He suddenly noticed Cami’s face. Surprise? Curiosity? Confusion? Shit. Was he wrong? Was she not wolf? His wife was wolf and he was sure that Cami was. She had every sign that he could think of. He’d seen her scent the air like his wife, she had super long canines, too long for a human, and she could hear a gnat cough at fifty yards. She had to be wolf, didn’t she? Somehow though, he got the distinct impression he’d just screwed the pooch, royally. Shit. Shit. Shit. What should he do? Play dumb.

  “Why did you call Dylan? A beta? What does that mean? And what is the pack?”

  “Oh shoot girl, I’m sorry. Beta is slang for a really bad word that your pretty ears don’t need to hear and the pack is the bunch of idiots that he hangs around with, they’re just rednecks is all.”

  “You’re lying.” Her left eyebrow crept up her forehead. “I can tell Turner, your eye always twitches when you lie and it’s twitching like crazy right now.”

  “It is not. Get back to work, he’ll be back soon.” Turner looked away trying to hide the telling twitch.

  “You said he could wait.” She planted her fists on her hips.

  “Yeah for awhile, but not all day, finish the truck.” She made a face and went back out into the bay. There was nothing worse and nothing that she hated more than a liar. She climbed into the cab to start it and was struck by the scents in the cab. Her lungs and senses filled with him. She breathed deep and her eyes drifted closed as she inhaled. It was the sexiest and most arousing smell. Her core clenched and wept for him. She turned her head and rested her cheek on the head rest where his scent was the strongest. Her heart pounded with desire. Oh God not that. Not for him, not for the asshole. She curled against the seat with her face turned into the backrest. Her tongue wet her lips. She wanted him. So much. Cami had to snap herself out of it. This could be embarrassing if anyone saw her like this. Why did this happen? Her reaction to men was sometimes not…normal. Her friends had never reacted this way. Oh sure they would gush and say a guy was sooo cute but it never seemed like their entire bodies reacted like Cami’s did. Every cell in her body was…alive, hungry, and wanting, or at least it seemed that way. It only happened once in her life time before and it ended badly. This was so much more intense, this was like before amplified ten times over, it was mind shattering. She had to control herself, this guy was bad news. He was too well practiced on women for her and too big. When he stood up in the bar last night so closely to her, her insides quaked and trembled. She’d nearly melted at the sight of him, hairy monster or not. Today, when he’d finally stood up after she kicked him, her gut reaction was to wrap her arms around him and nuzzle his chest. That was not a normal reaction. Normal women did not hug and nuzzle strangers, but Cami always knew that she was not exactly normal. If she had been, there wouldn’t have been so many foster homes. She also wouldn’t have let Tommy Matthews take her virginity in the Lorraine’s basement in eleventh grade. Between her reaction to him and her curiosity about sex, no one could’ve stopped her. Mid way through the two minute ordeal, she knew she’d made a horrible mistake. Reluctantly she opened the door and crawled out of the cab of his truck to walk outside for fresh air. She took in deep gulping lung full’s of clean air that didn’t smell like Dylan. Jeez. If she’d been in there much longer, she would’ve had an orgasm. That was powerful stuff. What did Turner mean by beta? What was a beta? She’d never heard that slang before. Later on when she worked the evening shift shelving books at the library, she was going to look that up. Once his truck was finished, she left it in the bay. There was no way she was moving it, she may be overcome in there again and may end up rolling around naked on the bench seat. Somehow, she didn’t think he would mind if she did. She giggled and wiped her hands and face on a rag.

  “All done Turner, I’m heading to the library, see you Friday.” He waved as she ducked out of the front door and jogged down the sidewalk.

  Dylan was watching from Betty’s as he downed his second milkshake. Why was his mechani
c jogging away from the garage where she was supposed to be fixing his truck? He left money on the counter and crossed the street to Turner’s and pushed through the glass door. “Is my truck finished? I just saw Cami leaving.”

  “Yeah it’s done.” Turner pecked away on the cash register. “Look Dylan, I may have really screwed up a little while ago. I thought that she was wolf and I told her that you were the beta and I think I mentioned pack.” He grimaced knowing that Dylan could discipline him severely for breaking pack trust. Pack trust was one of the things that he had to agree to when he got married to a wolf, pack safety came first.

  “Oh yeah?” Dylan studied his face and thought it through. “It’ll be okay.” Turned exhaled heavily. “She’s wolf, Henry has been trying to research her and even though he hasn’t come up with anything, we’re sure that she’s wolf.”

  “I don’t think she shifts, I’ve never seen her eyes flash, but I’ve seen her scent the air. She works evenings at Frankie’s and Betty’s depending on the night but as far as I know, she hasn’t missed a night in the three months that she’s been in Fern Valley. It’s a small town. It would’ve gotten around if a new wolf showed up for a run.

  “I know. We don’t know why she doesn’t shift or why she doesn’t know. Henry says she was a foster kid but he’s still looking into it. Where does she live?”

  “At Frankie’s.” Dylan growled deep in his chest. That would not do. “Not with Frankie, but in the apartment over the bar.” Dylan nodded and looked down at the total on the cash register. He handed the money to Turner.

  “Give the rest to Cami. She said that she wanted a tip. She’s at the library now?” Turner nodded. “How long will she be there? Until her shift starts at Frankie’s?” Turner shrugged. “Thanks Turner. I’ll grab the truck out of the bay.” Turner sank back down into the chair where he spent most days. That was a close one, Dylan could’ve killed him for what he’d done and it would’ve been justified, but he didn’t use the perfectly good excuse to take out an old enemy. Maybe Turner had misjudged him, he certainly felt like he owed him now. Damn it.

  He scented her. She was all over the cab of his truck. He blew out a hiss of air. Their scents mixed on the seats and in the air. Heaven. His mate. His chest rumbled and his wolf stirred deep within him. He felt the beast’s desires, the urge to mate, and to claim her. The truck started and he headed back to Frankie’s bar. He pulled around the back and parked. An old red pickup was parked deep in the bushes by the dumpster like someone tried to throw it away but it wouldn’t fit inside the big green container. It had Virginia plates. It was Cami’s truck, he was sure. There were steep narrow steps leading upstairs to a door. Dylan always assumed that Frankie used it for storage. It never occurred to him that there was an apartment up there. Dylan took the steps two at a time and knocked just in case. No answer. He jiggled the doorknob, locked. Dylan tried the window beside it, it lifted easily, and he ducked inside. The scent of his mate overwhelmed him. He took a deep breath filling his lungs with her then sighed, again. He was turning into such a woman but this was so much better than the truck cab. Dylan flopped down on her bed and sniffed her pillow. Okay, bordering on creepy but he couldn’t help it. She was more exciting than any drug could ever be. Not that he did that shit, but if she were a drug, he would be high all of the time. He grinned and buried his face in it. “God she smells good.” There were neatly folded clothes in a laundry basket, more thrown in haphazardly in another. She was organized. There were no personal items, no knickknacks, no papers, and no mementos lying around. She’d come with one suitcase it seemed and that was all that she had to show for herself. There was one lonely dresser under a window at the other end of the room. It only contained a few pairs of socks and lovely lacy panties when he got up to look around. “Oh there will be dozens of pairs of these for you my love. There is nothing more lovely than a woman in lacy under things.” He held up a very plain cotton bra. “And no more of these ever, it’s going to be all silk and lace for you my sweet.” The room was the shape of the roof over the rectangular building beneath, long and straight from one end to the other. He wondered if she’d heard a thunderstorm under the red metal roof, he loved that sound and could listen to them for hours. Soon there would be plenty of summer storms to lie awake listening to. He could comfortably walk down the center of the room but that was all, anywhere else he had to duck. A small kitchenette with a small square table and two chairs were shoved against one wall, the bathroom door across from it. A tiny closet, if you could call it that was beside the bathroom, some jeans, shirts and a couple of old sweatshirts. Dylan was disappointed in the life his mate had and wanted to make it better. He opened her fridge. Orange juice, milk, a box of cereal, some fruit, a loaf of bread, bottle of mustard and a package of bologna. “That’s sad. This whole apartment is sad.” He thought of his own kitchen, he needed groceries, his fridge was sadder than this one if that was possible. It should be though. He hadn’t been home for four months. There was nothing here. No clues about her at all. He plucked a tee shirt out of the laundry basket and held it to his nose. It smelled like Frankie’s bar and Cami. He tossed it back onto the pile and let himself out the way he’d come in. Gathering information about her would have to done the old fashioned way. He would hack into her records as soon as he knew where she came from. Maybe Henry already knew that.

  ***

  “Henry!” Dylan called coming in the front door. He was eating, that was a good sign. “Did you find out where she came from?”

  “A place called Cedar Side Virginia, near North Carolina, why?”

  “Recon.” Henry nodded. He hated computers and never used them but Dylan was very good with them. Henry always appreciated Dylan’s knack for keeping the pack’s coffers full with his day trading. They’d struggled until Dylan finished college and took over pack finances. He’d received two degrees, computer science, and finance. Henry was very proud of his protégé, and was prouder only of Junior’s Master’s degree in political science. It would’ve been helpful leading the pack. Henry shook his head. Dylan told him he would see him later and left. Henry went back to watching Judge Judy, he loved feisty women.

  Chapter 3

  Dylan unloaded groceries and put them away. Real food and not a bag of chips in sight, he grabbed a beer and headed to his office. This was his favorite room, his den. Eggplant colored walls, thick heavy drapes over the one window to block out the hot setting sun, highly polished furniture, oak floors, and a long desk that dominated the corner. There were four computers here, all internet connected, all top of the line, all set up to dance through servers all over the world so he didn’t get caught. Hacking was illegal. He had a feeling though that infiltrating the child protective services of Cedar Side, Virginia was not only going to be easy but effortless. Dylan started tapping keys once they’d all booted up. He watched the screens. One was watching the stock market in Japan, one in China, one in New York. The last was searching the Cedar Side Department of Children’s services for Cami and was coming up blank. He tried every variation of her name and still nothing. He needed more information on her before he would make any progress. Once he’d bought, traded, and sold stocks for a few hours he shut it all down. He’d made a nice profit for the day. His bank account was better for his efforts and so was the pack’s. Dylan stripped his clothes off and walked through the house naked. He tossed his beer bottle into the trash, his clothes into the laundry basket and padded to the bathroom to clean up. Recon at Frankie’s may be more effective than hacking Hicksville USA after all.

  Dylan looked good in his pink polo shirt. Women love men in pink, this shirt always got ladies into his bed. His hair now combed neatly, he was fresh shaven, bathed, and wore musky cologne that drove women crazy. He sat in his corner half round booth that gave him a good view of the back door, the bar area and the kitchen. Anywhere she went tonight, she would be in his field of vision. Recon was information gathering and tonight his target was a very alluring female. Frankie said
she started at seven, two minutes to go. She came in the back door and focused on him immediately. He smiled at her, she stomped straight for him, and her eyes flashed. Her wolf? Uh-oh. This wasn’t good. She was angry. She climbed into the booth beside him up on her knees looking down at him, furious and trying to dominate him. Shit, she knew. “Why were you in my apartment? I don’t have anything for you to steal so why were you in there?”

  “What makes you think that I would steal from you?”

  “You obviously don’t work but you can tip me huge amounts of money, thanks by the way, Turner dropped it by the library. So you must do something illegal or steal.”

  “I don’t steal.” Who the hell was she to accuse him of shit?

  “Then you do something illegal. Turner said that you just got back from a four month trip, what were you doing buying drugs or selling them?”

  “Drugs? I don’t buy or sell drugs honey. I don’t have to and I wouldn’t anyway. I’m a stand up guy. I told you that I wanted to take you out but you turn me down every chance you get, I was just looking for a clue as to how to break through that ice queen exterior.” She gasped and her eyes flashed again. Dylan smirked igniting her anger further.

  “I am not an ice queen!” Her chest was heaving and her pulse was dancing wildly. His head cocked and the corner of his mouth lifted. “I am not!” She grabbed his head with her nimble hands burying her fingers in his hair and holding on. Tipping his head, she planted her lips on his and kissed him passionately, her body leaned into his, her chest crushing against his. Dylan pulled her down into his lap and shifted so he was kissing her now. His tongue explored her and she moaned into his mouth. He tilted his head in another direction and crushed her lips beneath his. Dylan’s hand wrapped the ponytail around itself and tipped her head the way he wanted and buried his tongue deeply in the heaven of her mouth. His skilled tongue danced over hers and she sighed.