Alpha Blood Box Set (BBW Werewolf / Shifter Romance)

by Mac Flynn

  Luke joined him, but I stood to the side dreaming of those bathrooms. Alistair took a position close to one of the windows and glanced down on the crummy neighborhoods below. Luke turned to our hostess who was rummaging in the kitchen for food.

  “What’s this talk about Rick sending up messages? Does someone else know your address here?” Luke asked her.

  Stacy walked over to us with a platter of roasted meat which she placed on the marble coffee table. I took a handful and everyone followed suit. “A few of my people in my Underground know this address, and they send me info on the latest news from the streets.”

  “Underground? Like the criminal world?” I guessed.

  She smiled. “Some of my sources could be considered part of that group, but the messages are for me. They pass coded messages to me through a network of my informants. I can keep track of quite a bit in the city.”

  Luke chuckled. “So you’re a ringleader of a spy syndicate?” he wondered.

  Stacy crossed her arms and shrugged. “A girl has to have a hobby.”

  “This is all nice and good, but how does that help us deal with your father being controlled by Cranston?” Baker spoke up.

  “It might not, but I know someone who can: Callean,” Stacy suggested.

  Luke and Baker choked on their food, and I frowned. “But you said he didn’t want to get involved,” I pointed out.

  “Does anyone have a better idea?” she countered.

  “What about just walking out of the city?” Baker argued. “No fuss, and no one knowing where we are, especially someone as likely to turn us in as help us.”

  “We could, but escape from the city wasn’t what I planned. Since you’ve forgotten, my father happens to be a prisoner of our enemies, and I don’t plan on leaving until I know he’s safe” Stacy replied. “Callean can give us that safety. No one else has as much influence as my father except Callean.” Baker frowned, but didn’t argue.

  “But how are we going to meet this Mr. Callean?” Luke wondered. “He’s not an individual one can walk up to and have a private chat.”

  Stacy’s lips curled up into a mischievous smile. “I happened to look at my father’s mail the other day and saw an invitation to a masked ball tomorrow night,” she told us. “Callean never misses a chance to show off his expensive tastes and will probably have a mask made of gold for the occasion.”

  “Silver not good enough for him?” I quipped.

  “That was last year’s costume. This year he’ll outdo himself with gold,” Stacy replied.

  “So we find some costumes, but how do we get in? It’s an invitation-only affair, right?” Luke asked her.

  Stacy sheepishly smiled. “That’s something I haven’t quite figured out.”

  “Or whether or not Callean will help us or turn us over,” Baker persisted. He turned to Stacy. “I understand you wanting to help your father, but you’re taking a risk with all of us by leading us to this man who might call the patrols on us.”

  “He won’t do that. Callean doesn’t want to deal with the patrols any more than we do,” Stacy argued.

  “So the worst he could do is toss us out on the streets where the patrols will find us?” I guessed.

  “Exactly. Now isn’t my father work risking a bruised bum?” Stacy asked him.

  Baker sighed and stood. “I’ll answer that after I’ve had a shower.”

  “That’s the best suggestion someone’s made all morning,” I chimed in.

  “Not a bad idea,” Luke agreed.

  “You boys can use the bathrooms on the right. Put your clothes in the wash machine behind that door-” she pointed at a door at the front of the right-hand hall, “-and you can wrap yourselves in towels until they’re washed and dried.”

  We got down to the business of cleaning ourselves up, but my cleaning efforts were interrupted when the door to my bathroom opened. I was in the shower at the time and saw a figure standing beyond the fog. I wiped away some of the moisture on my side of the glass and saw Luke standing there wrapped only in a towel. I raised an eyebrow. “Can I help you?” I asked him.

  “I thought we might be able to scrub each others’ backs,” he suggested.

  I snorted. “I don’t think that’s the spot you want to scrub,” I countered.

  “You wouldn’t leave your mate out here in the cold, would you?” he playfully pleaded.

  The steam in the air was so thick I had to clean the glass again. “I’ve got this place warmed up to a hundred degrees. I don’t think you’ll catch a cold,” I reassured him. He dropped the towel and stepped over to me. I blushed and pulled back so the glass was fogged again. “You have to focus, Luke. We just got out of a life-or-death situation only an hour ago.”

  I saw his shadow pause outside the shower door. When he spoke his voice held a hint of doubt. “You think so?”

  “That we need to focus? Yeah,” I replied.

  “Not that. The part about the life-or-death situation.”

  “You don’t think Cranston or his goons were going to kill us?” I asked him.

  Luke moved away from the shower and I scrubbed the glass clean in time to see him put his towel back on. He sat down on the toilet and leaned back against the tank in a position very leisurely for a mostly-naked man. “I’m not so sure he intended to kill us. He certainly didn’t send enough guards after us to do the job.”

  I scoffed. “Six against five wasn’t enough?”

  Luke smiled. “Think about it. Alistair, Baker and I have a great deal of experience in fighting, and Stacy and you are werewolves yourselves and could have handled at least one between you.”

  “Maybe he slipped up?” I suggested.

  Luke tilted his head toward me. “Do you think a man like Cranston slips up that badly?”

  I sighed and shut off the water. “Then what are you getting at?”

  “I’m wondering if maybe he wanted us to escape. That maybe our troubles with him have just started.”

  “Well, they’d have to keep going because we need to save Stacy’s dad from his hypnosis or whatever it is,” I pointed out.

  He furrowed his brow and shook his head. “That won’t be easy, and to be honest I don’t think we’ll be able to do it.”

  “But we’ve got to try,” I insisted. I opened the shower door part way and scowled at him. “And you have to get up.”

  He raised an eyebrow and a mischievous smile slipped onto his face. “Why is that?”

  “You know perfectly well you’re sitting on my towel,” I growled. I’d put my towel on the closed toilet lid upon which he sat like a king.

  “We could always share a towel,” he suggested.

  “And you could always get off your throne and toss me the towel,” I countered.

  Luke sighed, tilted to one side, and pulled the towel out from under him. He tossed it at me, and I wrapped it around myself and stepped out. “You know you don’t have to be shy around me. I’ve seen you naked before.”

  “Every time I’m naked in front of you you get these wolfish ideas,” I pointed out.

  “I am a werewolf,” he argued.

  I grabbed his hand and yanked him off the toilet to the shower. “And a dirty werewolf at that, so get into that shower and clean off some of those dirty thoughts.” I don’t know why he was surprised by y pushiness, but I managed to drag him to the shower, shove him in, turn on the cold water, and shut the door. There was a horrendous howl from inside the shower, and soon there was a knock on the bathroom door.

  “Is everything all right?” Stacy called to me.

  “We’re fine. Luke’s just cooling off,” I called back.

  There was a tingle of laughter in her voice. “All right, but you hurry out. There’s something you and I have to do.”

  17

  I stepped out in my towel, and Stacy was standing there to whisk me away to her bedroom. She herself was dressed, and on her bed was laid out another fashionable skirt with a nice blouse top. “I think these will fit you.
I would offer you some pants to wear, but you’re a little too short to fit into mine.”

  “I’m sure these will work,” I assured her. I was just happy to have clothes.

  “Good, because we’re going to be going out and you’ll catch a lot of unwanted attention in that towel,” she told me.

  I whipped my head over to her and blinked. “Going out? What about the guys?”

  “They have to stay here. I don’t have clothes for them, and that’s one of the reasons we’re going out. We just need to get sizes and preferences, and then we can leave.”

  “But what if the patrols find us? You’re kind of known around here,” I pointed out.

  “It’ll only be for a while, and I’ll wear a nice, foppish hat with thick glasses that will cover most of my face,” she assured me. She stepped over to her nightstand and removed a few rolls of canine bills which she stuffed into her purse. “Besides, we have to start an early search for costumes for that ball tomorrow night. We’ll be lucky to find anything decent to wear.”

  We jumped when there was a knock on the door. “That sounds a little dangerous, don’t you think?” Luke called to us.

  Stacy frowned, stalked up to the door and swung it open to reveal Luke standing there dripping on the floor and clothed only in his towel. “Do you have a better idea than you walking down the street looking like that?”

  An evil smirk slowly spread across his face. “I might have something.” Luke pushed past her and strode over to the bed. He looked over the outfit on the covers, and turned back to Stacy. “Do you have these in a size thirteen?’

  Stacy blinked, and her mouth slowly dropped open. “You’re not serious, are you?” she asked him.

  “Deadly serious. If my mate is going out into a dangerous city I want to be accompanying her,” he insisted.

  I held up my hand. “Could you two bring me up-to-date on what you’re talking about.”

  Luke turned to me with a big grin on his face. “I’m coming with you, but in disguise.”

  “Disguise?” I repeated. My eyes wandered down to the feminine outfit on the bed. That’s when the bolt of lightning struck me, and I whipped my head back to him. “You’re not seriously coming with us dressed as a woman?” I exclaimed.

  “Exactly, and I’m sure I’ll pull the part of well.” He crossed his arms and his towel fell down to the floor, revealing his, ahem, not feminine parts.

  Stacy laughed as he hurriedly gathered up his towel. “I’m sure you’ll do fine, just tell everyone you had a freak accident and the doctors had to give you some permanent attachments.”

  Luke glanced over his shoulder and glared at her. “No one will know I’m a man after you’re done with me, and I am going.”

  Stacy, still with a smirk on her face, shrugged and wandered over to her closet. “All right, but don’t let me catch you looking at the women mannequins.”

  He swept his arm in front of him and bowed at the waist. “You have my word as a gentleman.”

  I scoffed. “We can sue you for false advertising.”

  “None of that now, children. We have to hurry or the stores will be filled with shoppers,” Stacy scolded us.

  I dressed, and then we hauled Luke to the center of the room for his transformation. It required a lot of makeup, pins, and prayers, but we finally managed to fit him into one of Stacy’s largest dresses with a bonnet over his head. When we finished there was a knock on the door. “Miss Stacy, is Master Luke in there?” Alistair called to us.

  “Mistress Luke will be out in a moment,” she replied.

  “You’re enjoying this far too much,” Luke commented.

  “There’s no such thing, now get strolling and show us how you move in those high heels,” she ordered him. Luke took a few wobbly steps forward and I caught him before his face kissed the floor.

  “Looks like me my first time walking in a pair of those,” I teased.

  Stacy sighed and shook her head. “It’ll have to do. Nothing else matches that dress. Come on, let’s show the world what a beautiful girl you are.” Stacy pushed him out the door and I followed behind with eager anticipation. We found Baker and Alistair in the living room, and they casually glanced in our direction. When they noticed Luke their eyes widened and Baker jumped up from his chair.

  “What have you done to him?” Baker exclaimed.

  “He wants to go shopping with us so we attired him appropriately,” Stacy replied.

  “And it was the only clothes Stacy had,” I chimed in.

  Alistair stepped up to Luke with a horrified expression on his face. “Master Luke-”

  “Mistress, Alistair. At least for now,” Luke corrected him.

  “Sir, I must protest. Your father-”

  “-isn’t here at the moment, so I can’t give him a heart attack,” Luke interrupted him. I noticed a warning glint in his eyes that cowed some of Alistair’s indignation.

  “But is this really necessary?” Alistair persisted.

  “Do you want to go in my place and protect the girls?” Luke wondered. Alistair straightened, and bowed his head.

  “I will defer to your judgment, sir.”

  “Then my judgment is for you two to remain here and wait for our return. We shouldn’t be long,” Luke told them.

  I walked up and slipped my arm into his and an evil grin onto my face. “You have no idea what a shopping trip is, do you?” I asked him.

  Luke’s face paled and he pulled a little away from me. “This will take long, won’t it?”

  “Half the day if we don’t get moving,” Stacy spoke up. She looked to the pair staying in the apartment. “If the phone rings it’s safe to answer it. Only Rick has the number and he might have info later from some of my sources.”

  “We’ll listen for it, Miss Stacy,” Alistair promised her.

  She turned to us and smiled. “Good. Now let’s get moving.”

  Stacy and I helped Luke walk down the treacherous stairs in his treacherous heels. “Easy there. Just one step at a time. Nice and gentle,” I encouraged him.

  Luke frowned at me. “These things aren’t that hard to-ah!” His heel slipped on the wood floor and he toppled backwards, sending me along with him. Stacy was ahead of us and turned to find us both sitting on the stairs.

  “If you two are done making out on the staircase then we should get on our way,” she scolded us.

  “He started it,” I argued.

  Luke whipped his head over to me and gave me a fine glare. “I started it? These dang heels started it!”

  “Don’t go blaming a wardrobe malfunction on the-well, wardrobe,” I teased.

  “Children, please. We don’t have much time,” Stacy spoke up.

  I smiled, helped my mate up, and we made it down the steps without another mishap. Stacy went over to the desk where sat Rick. I wondered if he was glued to the desk with an endless supply of newspaper to read. “I’m going out, Rick, but if there’s any news you can call the two fellows in the apartment. They can take any message you might have for me,” she told him.

  “All right, Miss Stacy. Ya have a fine day,” Rick promised.

  “The same to you, Rick,” Stacy replied.

  Stacy led the way outside into the bad neighborhood. Without our obvious male entourage we attracted a lot more attention from the neighborhood greeting committee. A few of the mugs-er, lugs sauntered over to the apartment building stoop and leaned against the bottom cement railing. One of them, a large man with werewolf eyes, leered at all three of us. I had to hide a snicker when his eyes fell on Luke. “Haven’t seen you around here, sweety. Want a tour of the place?” The three men around him laughed.

  “I’d rather not,” Luke replied in a high-pitched and squeaky voice. It was like listening to someone run a mouse’s voice through a helium balloon with a couple of cigarettes to give a little hoarseness to the whole thing.

  The guy jerked back in surprise, but the smirk reappeared quickly. Too quickly. He walked up the first few steps toward us with
his friends behind him. Their eyes were aglow with promises of pleasure for them and trouble for us. “Come on, ladies. Let’s all have some fun.”

  “I’m with Lucretia. I’d rather walk through a cat show,” Stacy spoke up. Luke snapped his head toward her and scowled, but she smiled and shrugged. The men kept coming, and Stacy and I backed up.

  Luke stepped forward, grabbed the leader by the upper arms, and smashed their heads together. I expected the noise to sound like coconuts, but it was a hard, heavy, painful knock. The leader stumbled back and collapsed atop his men. He was unconscious when they pushed him off them. Luke turned to us. “Come on, girls. Let’s go have some fun.” He strode past the shocked men in those fashionable high heels and down the street.

  Stacy and I looked at each other, smiled, and hurried after our new girlfriend.

  18

  We reached a busy street and Luke stopped at the edge of the sidewalk, unsure where to go. Stacy stepped up beside him and smiled. “Follow me, Lucretia, and let me show you how to have fun.”

  Stacy led the way down the busy boulevard and into every shop that was opened and had clothes. At least, I think some of those things were clothes. One of the shops had mannequins in their brightly lit windows that looked like they wore strips of cloth strapped on with double-sided tape. Stacy turned us into that bright shop. It was a large square with racks in the center of the floor and shelves that covered the walls. I had to contain my long-held desire to crawl under the racks and play hide-and-go-seek. The scents wafting from the clothes rack helped stifle that urge. It smelled like everyone in the city had pinched the clothes and left their mark.

  I noticed that while the werewolf fashions matched those in the human world almost exactly, there were some strange changes. The collars were only worn by kids and had names and addresses on tags in case the kids became lost and were found. Hair colors were dull, from brown to gray. The clothes themselves were thin and expandable. I walked over and tested a dress. It slightly resembled a diver’s wet suit and had more elasticity than a bouncing ball.

  “Do you like it?” a female employee asked me.