The Alpha's Choice

by Jacqueline Rhoades

  "You'll get your money," Charles laughed in answer. "I'll get it back in labor anyway, when I make you guys help me finish the job."

  "Aw, wait a minute, Boss, no one said anything about manual labor," complained a third voice. "I didn't become a lawyer to dirty my hands."

  "No, that's what you did to dirty your soul," a woman's voice laughed.

  A woman? That surprised Kat. For some reason she'd assumed Charles' pack would be all-male. She stepped through the doorway and into the room and glanced guiltily around. Mrs. Martin had obviously been busy. Not only had the housekeeper picked up Kat's clothes, she'd put away all the painting supplies and pulled the covers from the furniture.

  Charles, whose back was to her, turned at her entrance and to her great relief, smiled and held out his hand to her.

  "Ah, here's the someone I wanted you to meet. Katarina is the teacher who was hired for our children." He drew Kat to him and continued to hold her hand.

  "Our children? Good Lord, Charlie, those pups aren't mine. If they were, I'd seriously consider drowning them and then shooting myself for having the little beasts in the first place," the woman said and held out her hand to Kat, "Hi, I'm Joanne, Jo for short."

  "Jojo if you want to piss her off."

  Kat recognized the voice of the lawyer, a smooth, deep baritone that didn't fit the tall, skinny man giving her a two fingered salute. "Hyatt Thomas, Attorney for Wolf's Head Enterprises." He smoothed back his thinning hair with long, sticklike fingers.

  "Stop preening, Hyatt. She's not impressed. You're a tax attorney, for heaven's sake. It's as exciting as watching your six hairs grow."

  The woman wiggled her fingers at him and blew him a kiss. She was a stunning brunette, tall with a figure that would draw a man's eyes and those eyes wouldn't be disappointed when they reached her face. She wore a pair of jeans so tight they look painted on, a pair of ankle high boots with heels so long and sharp they could be declared lethal weapons and a tailored menswear shirt that only emphasized her femininity. Her shoulder length hair was held back with a plain silver clip that Kat was sure was the real thing.

  Her makeup looked professionally done and her attitude reminded Kat of the pampered and polished women who picked their children up from the Greenwood Preparatory Academy where until recently, Kat taught the spoiled children of people with too much money and not enough sense. Kat disliked her on the spot.

  "It's so much easier when you can sit them in the corner or send them to the principal, isn't it?" The man at the window, the one who'd won the bet, said of his bickering colleagues. "I've recommended firing them, but it's not my call. The boss is fond of them for some reason."

  "It couldn't be the hassle and money you save him." Joanne said to the tall, balding man who laughed and replied,

  "And it couldn't possibly be the millions you make over land deals."

  "Oh, Hyatt, do you think he loves us?" Joanne asked with false excitement. "Do you love us, Charlie?"

  Charles ignored their banter and introduced the man coming to join them from his place by the window. "Katarina, this is Alex, my Second and yes, it's a title."

  "Like The Alpha?"

  "No," Alex answered, extending his manicured hand. He was tall, fit, and too well groomed with every tiny spike of his salt and pepper hair perfectly gelled in place. "It doesn't carry near the power."

  Kat got the impression that Alex would like more.

  It was a power handshake, the kind where the right hand grasps your hand and the left hand grasps your elbow and draws you in. As they shook, Alex drew her toward him, past the comfort zone of personal space and shifted his eyes just a fraction to the right, glancing over her shoulder to question Charles with a bit of a frown before he smiled at her.

  "Katarina. It's a beautiful name. Welcome to… do we have a name for this place yet?"

  Kat tugged back from the unwelcome closeness. "Hell Hall," she said without thinking and then apologized to Charles with a laugh. "Sorry. That's what I called it the first time I saw it. The place was empty when I arrived and from the looks of the entry, I was sure I'd meet up with a ghost."

  "And met a Wolver instead." Charles rescued her from Alex by pulling her to him and tucking her under his arm.

  Kat heard her heart pound in the silence of the room and then a voice called from the front door.

  "We loaded this shit and dragged it all the way down here. I'll be damned if we carry it in, too. Get your asses out here and give us some help."

  * * *

  It was like the first day of class except Kat had no seating chart and would therefore never remember all these names. There were fifteen of them so far, ten men and five women, and more would be arriving later. They all worked for Wolf's Head Enterprises, an investment firm begun by Charles and Alex and they all lived two hours away in an upscale area of the city and by the time lunch was over, Kat's head was spinning with talk of interest rate risks and investment risks and rebalancing asset allocations and principles and principals which she'd only heard of in spelling lessons.

  They laughed and argued and shouted and called each other names sounding very much like the guys at the bar she used to work at after a big game. The only difference was she understood football.

  As soon as she could without seeming impolite, Kat escaped to the kitchen to help Mrs. Martin with the cleanup.

  "I've got this under control," the housekeeper objected when she started to load the dishwasher. "You should be in there with the guests, not in here with the likes of me. You don't belong in here."

  "I don't belong in there either. Frankly, I'm more comfortable in the kitchen serving lunch with the likes of you than eating it in there with the likes of them. They're all a couple of cuts above my pay grade and all that financial stuff is way beyond my education."

  "Nonsense. You're smart and you'll catch on quick enough and don't let the clothes and talk fool you. Most of them came from humble beginnings that I reckon they're working hard to forget. They're thinking that fancy talk and a fancy education makes them better than their raisin'. It don't. It just makes who they are sound prettier. There's not a one of them out there that can hold a candle to you and don't you forget it."

  "Thanks, Tilda, but I'm not so sure about that," Kat sighed, thinking about Joanne and the other two women who came in with the second wave. They were all dressed in expensive weekend casual. "Even in my best slacks and sweater I look cheap next to them."

  Tilda hmphed. "Clothes don't make the man, nor the woman neither. You've got something none of the rest of them do."

  "Yeah? What's that?"

  "You can make the Alpha smile the way nobody else can and I'm thinking he ain't done much genuine smiling in a long, long time." Tilda closed the dishwasher with a swing of her bony hip. "Now you get back in there and show 'em what you're made of."

  Chapter 13

  Kat had to admit the Wolf's Head Pack knew how to work. Right after lunch Charles set them to it, moving furniture, painting walls, and scrubbing floors and windows until the whole house shone. Granted, there was a lot of grumbling and complaining, but for the most part it was good-natured.

  Some of their initial hesitancy wore off as the afternoon continued and Kat worked with them side-by-side. She did lose points however, when she insisted the sunny parlor be used as her classroom.

  "Those children as you so lovingly refer to them aren't children at all. They're animals," Jo laughed without humor, "and I don't mean like us. I mean animals. There's not one ounce of civilization in the lot of them."

  "All the more reason to keep them here," Kat argued, "They're going to need examples of proper behavior and people around them to love them."

  "There you go, Jo," Hyatt laughed snidely, "The perfect chance to exercise all those maternal instincts you've got hidden somewhere."

  Another newcomer, a handsome young man with skin the color of rich, dark chocolate and golden flecked brown eyes that sparkled with amusement, sputtered a laugh. "The on
ly maternal instinct Jo has is the one that would compel her to eat her young."

  "All kidding aside, I think Jo might be right. Those pups should be kept isolated until they're presentable." This was Alex, Charles' right-hand man and the one who'd been the least friendly to Kat after the initial shock of a human woman knowing about their race. Every time he spoke it sounded like a news bulletin. "It would be best to follow the original plan. I don't know why Charles decided to alter his decision."

  "Alter what decision?" Charles entered the room carrying one end of a large flat box.

  "The one that allows the cubs to come here. I think we need to rethink this."

  The other end of Charles' box was supported by another man, older than the rest. His name was Ryker and his looks; square cut jaw, scarred face and military bearing made him perfect for the role of Security Chief. He frowned and grunted after Alex's comment, but Kat couldn't tell if the grunt was in reference to the comment or the huge flatscreen TV they were carrying.

  Seeing what they were carrying, Alex changed the subject. "That doesn't go in here. I thought we decided that would go across the hall."

  Charles glanced over at Kat and winked. "New plan. The lady doesn't want a television in her school room." He shrugged and laughed. "Damn, another decision altered." He pointed with is chin to the blank wall over the mantle. "The TV goes over the fireplace in here. The kids will be using the other room, and the lady should be happy."

  "The lady is very happy." This, more than anything else he could have said or done made her feel like Charles saw her as more than a casual bed partner. He wanted her here in his home, though how often he would be here to share that home with her and the children was another question to be answered.

  Alex looked like he sucked on something sour, Ryker grunted, and Jo eyed Kat speculatively. Charles assigned two of the younger men to help Kat find and arrange the furniture she wanted in her school room.

  * * *

  Everything seemed to go smoothly until after their supper of steaks on the grill where Charles and Alex shared duties as chef. Kat was in the kitchen helping Tilda with the clearing up along with a friendly, freckled faced redhead named Becky and a short, round woman who said little, but whose eyes took in everything.

  This far back in the house, Kat heard nothing, but the three other women in the kitchen did. Three heads turned as one to the door leading to the hallway. Their movement was followed a few moments later with someone hailing them from the front of the house.

  "Halloo-oo," a sing song voice called. "Where is everyone? We have bags here."

  Tilda, who was wiping her hands on a towel, started for the door, but was waved back by Jo who entered by the back door and must've heard the newcomer, too.

  "I've got it, Mrs. Martin," she said. She walked over to the door leading to the hall, opened it, and shouted, "We're back here. Carry your own damn bags," and more quietly but still in a voice that carried, she said to Mrs. Martin and Kat, "Don't let her push you around."

  Nothing happened for several minutes, but the women didn't take their eyes from the door. Charles came in, looked at the women, then at the door and laughed.

  "I guess the others have arrived."

  "The Queen and her entourage," Jo muttered to no one in particular.

  "Jo," Charles warned.

  "I know, I know. One for all and all for one and all the rest of that bullshit. You might mention it to her once in a while."

  "I have."

  "Then you might want to get her hearing checked because she's not getting the message."

  Charles started toward the swinging door and had to step back to avoid being smacked by it as a woman strode through followed by three men for whom she didn't bother to hold it open.

  "Charles, darling, all the guest rooms on the second floor are taken. Someone will have to move," was her greeting. She gave him a swift peck on the lips and patted his cheek with her long slender fingers. "There's a good boy. My bags are in the foyer." She pronounced it "foy-yay" and looked pointedly at Kat.

  "There are twenty of us and only one Mrs. Martin. Like I said you can carry your own damn bags, just like the rest of us. Damn prima donna," Jo muttered as she turned back to the dishes she was stacking on the island that ran down the center of the kitchen.

  "If you wanted one of those rooms, Stephanie, then maybe you should have arrived with everyone else as I asked," Charles told her pointedly, but gently.

  "Ah, so this is some kind of punishment for my disobedience," the woman said, pouting, "The Alpha spoke and I didn't listen. Consider me properly chastised." She patted Charles' cheek again. Her voice became sensually inviting. "Put me on the second floor, darling, and you can punish me later."

  "It's not a punishment, Stephanie. Simply a matter of first come first serve. I'm sure you'll make the best of it. You always do." He winked. "Let me get Buddy and we'll carry your bags up. What's still available?" Charles looked around.

  "There are several rooms on the third floor," Jo answered sweetly.

  "I will not sleep on the third floor," Stephanie declared.

  "Buddy and I will move," Mrs. Martin said quietly, as if that would settle it.

  "No, you won't," Kat said firmly. "Those are your rooms. The Alpha said so." It was none of her business, she knew, but Mrs. Martin had already moved once and it wasn't fair to ask her to move again. Besides, she didn't like this newcomer's rude behavior. She was, however, reassessing her opinion of Jo.

  The woman looked Kat up and down as if she was something distasteful found on the bottom of a shoe. "And who, may I ask, are you?"

  "I'm sorry, Stephanie. With all the fuss I forgot my manners." Charles held out his hand to Kat and she took it, mostly because she sensed it would tick the other woman off. "This is Katarina."

  "And the shit hits the fan," someone mumbled behind them. Becky was coughing into her hand so it had to be the quiet one who hadn't spoken before.

  Two of the men standing behind Stephanie had their lips pressed together as if they too, were suppressing smiles.

  Kat could almost see the wheels turning in Stephanie's head as she assessed the situation and Kat's position in it. Smiling an attractive yet predatory smile, the woman held out her hand to Kat forcing Kat to let go of Charles in order to shake. Stephanie smile became a little wider when Kat complied.

  They shook, but it wasn't a friendly greeting. It was a there, I've-done-my-duty-now-I can-ignore-her shake.

  Unlike Alex, Stephanie didn't pull her in with the handshake, though she did inhale deeply as the men did. It was subtle and Kat might not have noticed it if she hadn't seen the others do it. Were they marking her scent or did she stink? Stephanie's slight curl of the lip led Kat to consider the latter.

  "Everyone calls me Kat."

  "Meow." Stephanie gave the crowd a feral smile.

  "She's our new Kitty Kat," Buddy piped up and Kat half hoped he'd add a reminder about not eating them.

  "Great! We're all here," Alex said, entering the kitchen, too. "Come on, Stephanie, let's get you squared away so you can kick back and relax. We're all out on the patio, entertaining ourselves until it's dark and the fun can begin."

  Stephanie's eyes lit. "Are you taking us over the moon?" she asked Charles. It was a simple question, but from Stephanie, it sounded seductive. She watched Kat for her reaction. "You promised."

  "Sorry, Stephanie, only the men. Ryker thinks we need training. Plans have changed."

  "I guess they have," Stephanie said to Charles, but she was looking at Kat.

  * * *

  The wine and beer and hard liquor flowed, but no one got drunk. The night was clear and the patio was warm thanks to the propane heaters Charles had the men carry up from the barn. By the time the kitchen was set to rights, the group had gathered around their Alpha. Kat, Jo, and the other two women joined them to hear the tail end of Charles' story of Buddy and the trap and Kat's role in his rescue. He was laughing as he told it, but she could hear the pride i
n his voice.

  "Here she comes, charging across the field like an avenging angel holding that umbrella like a flaming sword. Scared the hell out of me, she did. Scared hell out of them, too. The girl's got a mouth on her, let me tell you."

  "It's a shame you weren't there in time."

  Alex's comment turned off the light shining in Charles' eyes. He nodded in agreement.

  "What do you mean he wasn't there in time? How can you say that?" Without thinking, Kat moved into position next to Charles. "You weren't there! You don't know!" Her voice shook and she didn't realize her whole body was shaking until Charles tucked her under his arm. "You don't know what they were going to do to Buddy, what that man was going to do to me. They wanted Buddy for dog fights. Dog fights! They were going to throw him in a pit! They were going to… to…"

  "Hey, shhh, it's all right now. It's all right," Charles whispered.

  It hadn't hit her until then how badly things could have turned out, how close Buddy had come to dying.

  "It isn't all right," she sniffed angrily, looking up at him. "You were in time. You were," she said as if he'd denied it. "He tried to shoot you. He would have killed you, too."

  "What's this?" Ryker asked.

  Charles told the rest, again playing up her role in fending off the attacker while playing down his own, but Kat wouldn't let it rest.

  "Buddy was dying and the Alpha used his magic to heal him and then he brought him home."

  "It could have been handled differently. I've spent a great deal of valuable time negotiating with them," Alex explained.

  "We spent a great deal of valuable time," Stephanie corrected. "And the one you were talking to wasn't the one in charge. He was a front."

  "I'm afraid this will bring attention to us," the Second warned, ignoring the interruption. He glared at Kat as if she was the cause of it all.

  "No it won't," Charles said. "The sheriff called this morning while we were still in bed. Mrs. Martin told him we were all indoors because of the rain. We heard nothing." He nodded to Stephanie in recognition. "I appreciate what you were trying to do, but there was no negotiating to be done out there. I made the call. I'll take the blame."