Alpha Awakening

by Diana DeRicci

  “Where’s Rush? Inside?”

  Sheridan twisted her hands over the wheel, her body taut. “No.” Her unblinking eyes were locked on the animal in front of them. “Rush is going to kill me,” she whispered again. “You shouldn’t be here, not yet.”

  Slipping from the car, Kay didn’t have a chance to ask her anything else. She followed behind the other woman, but instead of going inside, she went right up to Zoe and the dog. Only, the closer they got to the truck, the more Kay was convinced that wasn’t a dog beside her leg.

  “How are you, Zoe?” Sheridan asked gently.

  Thick tears trickled from her eyes. “He’s going to be all right? Please? I didn’t know the others weren’t family. I thought I’d been found.” Her voice wobbled with the weight of her tears.

  Slow breaths moved the ribs of the animal before them, slow and steady, but apparently unaware, his head lying comfortably on the young girl’s thigh. “I know, honey. He’s going to be fine. You’ve had a long day. Let’s go inside.”

  Sheridan held her arms open and Zoe slowly flowed into her embrace. She was long limbed and gangly, but Sheridan didn’t seem to have any problems with her in her arms.

  “Let me get her inside. Her parents probably think she’s curled up somewhere in the house. We’ll take him home in a minute.”

  “Him?” Kay croaked.

  Sheridan nodded, her own eyes glittering with unshed tears. “I’ve never seen him this beat up.” She swallowed, then seeming to remember the girl in her arms, tucked her against her shoulder and carried her inside without saying anything else.

  “Rush?” Kay murmured, gaping in shock at the dark, coffee-brown pelt of the animal in front of her. Even in the absence of strong light, she could see the bite wounds that tore into its rich coat, blood thickening the fur in spots to matted clumps. Several centered on his back and his front shoulder, like the other animals had tried to take him down by sheer force.

  It couldn’t be. Whipping to look over her shoulder, she stared hard at the house, praying, waiting for Rush to come limping out, or at worst, out with help, but he never did. Should she follow Sheridan? Where was Rush? Confused, she reached forward to the animal before her. It lay there, doing nothing but breathing. Thick fur slid beneath her fingers. She leaped back when its breathing changed.

  No. She was imagining this. He did not just sigh. None of what Sheridan had said on the drive over could be possible. It just couldn’t. It wasn’t logical. There was no such thing as shifters. But inarguably, a wolf lay before her, had been sleeping on Zoe’s leg. And Sheridan had every intention that Kay could tell of taking it home with them.

  “Rush?” she asked again, a little stronger, knowing there was not one thing sane in thinking this animal was him. A single eye dragged opened, a blue hazel eye. The world vanished, her entire being focused on the wolf in front of her as reality vacuumed on itself.

  Somehow, he lifted his head, fighting to rise to his feet. Kay froze, watching the struggle, every inch of the animal before her trembling with the effort.

  “No,” she whispered sharply, stopping his progress. He did, looking at her questioningly. “Oh my, God, Rush.” Hands that shook wildly lifted and palmed the furred face of the beast in front of her. As if that was all he’d been waiting for, his blue eyes closed and his entire length went slack, collapsing to the bed of the truck. Kay didn’t know how she stayed standing until Sheridan came out to find her staring in shock. When Rush collapsed, he’d wound a paw over one of the hands she’d held him with, tying them together even when he couldn’t be aware of the touch.

  Once home, Sheridan carried him easily from the pickup to his room and laid him on his bed. “It’s one of the benefits. We’re a bit stronger than most,” she explained. Even beneath the bruises, Kay was positive she was pale, watching and living this.

  “It’s really him, isn’t it?” Breathing was a torture.

  “It is,” Sheridan answered. “He will heal, but it’ll take some time.”

  “How?” She licked her lips, fighting to grasp reality, which was a fleeting memory at the moment.

  “It’s what I was doing such a bad job of explaining earlier. We’re born this way. The gene is male dominant, but any child born of a paternal wolf can shift. Both our parents were shifters.” Sheridan stroked the fur on his head in comfort as she spoke. Kay stood next to the bed, still in shock. He had a fair-sized bed, but the breadth and width of his slack body dwarfed it.

  Sheridan caught her gaze. “I know this is a shock. I’m positive it’s not how he wanted you to find out.”

  Kay nodded, dazed. “Everyone called him Alpha.” Just like in the dream. It hadn’t been a dream after all, if she was to believe the woman standing on the other side of the bed. Believing that the animal laying on Rush’s bed was actually him, Kay was dealing with it a moment at a time.

  Sheridan’s fingers never stopped furrowing through the thick pelt. “Because he is. In the human world, he is a man like any other, but within the pack, he is our leader, our judge and jury. He has earned the right to be Alpha, though he has his doubts.”

  “You don’t doubt him.” Kay was positive of it, watching his sister’s adoring expressions.

  “Never have.” Her smile was indulgent.

  Kay watched them both. The wolf lay as still as death on the bed, though the rise and fall of his ribs proved he was only unconscious. They lived with this secret their whole lives. And somehow she’d been tossed in the middle of their world.

  “What can I do?” she asked, her voice paper thin.

  Sheridan’s thoughtful face lifted, piercing the space separating the two women. “Do you mean it?”

  Kay met her intense gaze, the hurt and worry of a sister in the almost identical hazel eyes of the man—wolf—on the bed. “I do.”

  “You are his, and his healing will be faster if he doesn’t have to worry about your safety. Stay with him.”

  “His…what?”

  The indulgent smile was back. “Now that is one I know I can’t take from my brother. He’ll tell you when he’s ready.”

  Kay straightened her shoulders, becoming aware she’d been staring at the furred lump on the bed. She made up her mind, watching the slow rise and fall of his breathing. “If I give you a list and my keys, can you go to my place?”

  “I’d be happy to.”

  “Then let’s make sure he heals.”

  Sheridan’s smile was only outshined by the thankful tears in her eyes.

  Chapter Eleven

  Rush stretched, his fingers digging into blanket and a warm woman.

  Warm woman? His eyes snapped open. There right beneath his chin in the darkened room was a full head of espresso brown hair.

  It smelled like summer sunshine.

  “Kaisha?” He swallowed when he croaked her name. Her thinly covered breasts pressed into his bare stomach like she’d always been there. Her arms were snug around his torso, his hand resting easily on her hip. Hot breath warmed the base of his throat.

  She tilted her chin and he caught his breath at her sweet smile. Threading her fingers through his hair, she whispered sleepily, “Hi there.”

  He didn’t know where to start, with the fact that she’d removed most of her bandage, or just how good she looked to him. A lot of the swelling in her face was gone and the bruising had improved dramatically.

  A low, needy groan rose from within as he buried his nose into her neck and shoulder, holding her flush against him, so glad to be with her, to be skin to skin. Exactly how he’d wanted to be, how he’d imagined her next to him. Her body warmed his beneath the covers, sending heat to dispel any chill he may have felt.

  Slowly, it returned to him. The wolves he’d fought to regain Zoe, the damage and wounds he couldn’t avoid for the effort. Rush couldn’t even remember how he’d made it home. Or have any idea of how long he’d been laying in bed with this sweet woman holding him within her arms.

  He jerked up to see for himself what s
houldn’t be. A lot of the damage had healed.

  The pit of his stomach felt frozen solid. “How long?”

  “Not quite four days. You were really hurt when Tanner brought you back. You almost lost a leg in the fight.” Her fingers slipped through his hair, drifting over his shoulders to return.

  Rush rolled his shoulder, more memories returning in snips and flashes. “Yeah,” he mumbled. Then what she said registered. “What did you say?” He was almost scared to breathe, staring at her with unblinking eyes. How could she know what shape he’d been in? How long had she been there? The weekend he’d met her was a vague sleep-ridden blur at the moment, but hadn’t that just been yesterday? A day more, maybe? She had to be wrong. He couldn’t have been out for that long. Panic was settling in. Because that meant…

  She leaned up and pressed a warm kiss to the bottom of his jaw. “It’s okay, Rush. I know.” Her uncovered eye was sparkling up at him. “Although I’ve never slept with anything furrier than a bear, it wasn’t all that bad. At least you don’t dig in your sleep.” Her teasing laughter was beautiful.

  “You…slept…?” He wasn’t sure if he should shout with joy or pray in thankfulness.

  “The whole time.”

  She said that with such sweet, relaxed assurance that he couldn’t help the smile from pouring free. With gentle hands, he rolled her onto her back until he stretched over her. Her small frame was almost engulfed beneath his. “How much longer do you have the patch?”

  “I was supposed to go earlier today, but I didn’t want to leave you.”

  “So it can come off?”

  “Mm hm. Doctor Aimes said with the way things have progressed, it’s safe.”

  “Then why didn’t you?” he asked her, mildly confused.

  Her chest rose and fell beneath him, her breasts lightly meeting the wall of his body, a hint of uncertainty in her gaze. “Because I wanted you to be the one I see when I remove it.”

  All he could do was look in humbled awe at her, his eyes touching her where his hands wanted to be next. “You’re perfect,” he breathed. Emotions belted him one after another, and none were stronger than the love he felt for her. “Can I?” he asked, trembling with everything he was feeling.

  When she nodded her agreement, he lifted a hand. She caught him before he could touch her. The determined strength behind her slight hand around his wrist was surprising. “I better warn you. It’s not going to be pretty. I’ve seen it once already. I still look like road kill.”

  “Oh, honey. Kay,” he groaned. “There’s no one as beautiful, anywhere.” He lowered himself and pressed a tender kiss to her mouth. He didn’t demand more, exacting his own type of torture, enraptured with her scent as he drifted down her jaw. The fragrant silk of her skin sent jolts of need through his body.

  He almost vibrated with the growing hunger, with the emotional overload. He whispered into her ear. “You really slept in this bed with my wolf?”

  The answer he got was a breathy moan. Impatient fingers stroked at his shoulders. “For two days solid. You didn’t shift until the second night.” And there wasn’t a hint of fear anywhere on her, or in her voice.

  He couldn’t help himself. He had to touch and kiss her, the hunger for her so deep, he felt like he was drowning. Trailing hot kisses down her neck until he reached her shoulder, he clamped down with his teeth. He wasn’t sure who needed it more, him or his wolf, to mark her, to claim her. Her whole body arched like a bow, a keening cry slipping from her body. Her arousal was instant as her body flooded in preparation of the ecstasy to be received. Every sense was tuned to her body. Her scent between them, the taste of her on his tongue, the sound of her voice imbedded in his brain. There was nothing but Kay.

  “Mine,” he growled thickly, licking at the tender spot. “Now and forever.”

  Her answer was a mumbled purr. The teasing drag of her foot up his thigh made his synapses pop. Her hips rose and rubbed against his shaft to further tempt him. Sweeping a hand up her body, he captured her hands from their seductive meandering to hold them over her head beneath one palm.

  “Patience. This first,” he told her. Gently, he pried the tape from the side of her face, lifting the large circle of gauze covering her left eye. She lay perfectly still for him, only small quivers exposing her anticipation. “Now, let me see. Slowly.”

  Like the rise of a curtain, the excruciating wait to see her, for her to see him again, was over.

  “I told you. There’s still a lot of damage.”

  His shoulders tightened with surprise as he focused on her expression and not just the woman he couldn’t seem to get enough of, then the corner of his mouth lifted. “I didn’t even notice it. I was captured by the most gorgeous gray eyes I’ve ever seen.”

  A rose blush filled her cheeks, and those inky lashes, just like he remembered, lowered to hide her thunderhead eyes. It was a perfect color for her. She’d stolen into his life like a silent storm, only to blow him away with everything that was Kay.

  With her pinned beneath him, everything else vanished. “You smell so good.” The raw edge of his voice was only an echo of the raging hunger of his body. He dipped again and nuzzled beneath her ear. She turned easily, allowing him access to anything and everything. “Perfect,” he crooned. Then he began to lick and sip at the most delicious treat—her body.

  He knew she was two years older than he was because he’d filled out most of her paperwork at the hospital, but her body still carried the supple, limber ability of her years in gymnastics, as he soon found out when she lifted a leg over his hip, wrapping over his waist like a pole and hanging on. Holding fragile wrists in his palm, he slid his hand down her length, caressing every curve, every dip and valley.

  “I can’t say this enough. You are perfect.”

  Her moans were breathy, her eyes closed as he swept her down a river of pleasure. He learned her body with a leisurely hand, adoring her, holding her flesh in firm then gentle fingers, each discovery sending his blood pounding harder through his body. His cock strained as it filled, emphasizing his desires with a quickening throb.

  It took little effort to pull the shirt she wore over her head. Peaked nipples taunted him with their rouge rose color, and he knew they’d taste as good as they looked. She fit perfectly within his hand when he covered her breast, rolling the hardened tip beneath his palm. Her breath caught with low growled sobs that deepened when he gave each tip a light pinched twist.

  “Not too hard?” he asked, when her moan turned guttural.

  “No,” she gasped, shuddering beneath his weight. Rush wasn’t a rough lover, but when he made love to a woman, he pleasured her before anything else. He wanted to find out everything about Kay. What she liked, what made her moan, what would make her orgasm in ecstasy. Tonight, he wanted a piece of her soul as well as her pleasure. There was no doubt that Kay would own a little of his by morning as well. He wanted no one else’s.

  Still holding her, he licked at the peak to soothe the treatment he’d given her and she arched, silently begging for more. With each inhale, he could smell her arousal, making his mouth water. Her body undulated and molded to his, fitting and sliding over his chest and rubbing against him. She fit so well against him, he knew he could eat her in just one bite, like the big bad wolf and Red.

  The thought of her lying next to him, holding his wolf, maybe soothing him or caressing him in his sleep, made his dick solid as steel. The veracity that she wasn’t screaming in terror, but was still with him, in the same bed knowing the truth about his closest secret was almost more than he could comprehend. Rush had wallowed in his doubts about how to tell her. In order to have her completely, she had to know the truth, and she did.

  And she was still in his bed. Somewhere in the back of his brain, he knew there was something else he should tell her, but if there was a coherent thought to be found anywhere, he didn’t have it. The sweet essence of her hunger, of her body, embraced him, blocking out all other interruptions. Even those by
his conscience.

  Lingering over her nipple, he wrapped his tongue around the taut point, his hand drifting in languid patterns up and down her body. She bowed off the bed, seeking, following when he lifted, moaning again when he licked his way to the other delicious playground of her body.

  She tasted even better on his tongue, warm flesh and sweet breasts. “I could play with this,” he lipped her nipple, surrounding it with light tugs, “all day.”

  Her head thrashed to the side when he drew her into his mouth with a slow pull. It thrilled him that she was so sensitive.

  Dropping kisses upward to her collarbone, his hand slid down to her hip, cradling her, feeling her softer body along his. Without missing a beat, he shifted again, stroking her waist with his thumb, teasing the edge of her panties. “These have got to go,” he told her. With a twist and a pop, he ripped the waistband and flung them from her body, nothing but a scrap of worthless lace now.