Alphas of Summer: A collection of shifter romances

by Lia Davis

  A lone, sick laugh escaped Julian's throat.

  The guard moved aside, bowing once more.

  "He needs to die," Julian mumbled.

  "Yes." Killing the guard would be fun for the three seconds it would take, but gratifying for years afterward.

  Once again, the girl glanced over the sides of the ramp and raised her foot.

  Porter found himself holding his breath. Would she make the move or not? What was wrong?

  "Are there life vests on board?" She crumpled the papers in her fist.

  "Help us all." He let loose a chuckle masking it with a cough. His chest ached from the exertion. Water, she was afraid of the water. Not convenient for a girl who lived on an island.

  The guard nodded.

  "Don't tell me I caught you abusing the Lykans."

  "Ms. Wilkinson." In an instant, the guard slipped his baton back into the holder on his belt. "They are not cooperating."

  "Don't you see they are ill?" She motioned toward them.

  Please, no. Porter pressed his fingers to his temple to stop the pounding. Maybe he was still delirious, he didn't want to remember the last female who took on such an attitude, it was better left in his memory. They couldn't have the girl defend them when they couldn't return the favor. In all likelihood, they would have to get rid of her once they made a plan.

  "They did it to themselves." Again, the guard offered his hand.

  "I saw you with the syringe." She swiped his hand aside. "I asked you to back away."

  No matter how sick, Porter swore he would find the strength to get rid of the guard if he touched the girl.

  Julian panted, no doubt trying to prime his body to react as well.

  "You are getting wet." The guard retreated. "Come aboard and I will personally make sure you stay warm and dry."

  Porter ground his teeth together.

  "I assure you I can take care of myself." She looked at the sails, over the side one more time, and rushed across the ramp.

  He tensed as she neared them, her heels clicking on the wood, but she ground to a halt on her own, only taking an extra step when her suitcase hit her in the back of the leg. She reminded him of an unorganized whirlwind.

  "Looks like you need a little help." The guard joined her. "I was just taking these two dogs down below and then I'll see where else I can be of service."

  He pushed himself up on his knees, as did Julian.

  Like the storm she was, the girl twisted around, almost losing her footing, before supporting herself on the suitcase. "I told you not to say another word. These two males may have come illegally, but they are sentient, advanced beings and abuse will not be tolerated."

  With the aches subsiding and the rain acting to cleanse him, he took the time to study her. Technically, her appearance and her knowledge were correct, but something about her was off. She was different, disheveled and a disaster. Her dark hair was combed back straight and secured with a barrette and pins, but it seemed as if it wanted to be let loose to curl and wave as it saw fit, frame her face. Unlike Lykan females, her features were tiny, almost breakable, matching her shorter stature. What didn’t match was the sharp makeup she caked on in contrast to her loose fitting shirt and pants. Strange, interesting, intriguing.

  He pulled his stare away from the girl and got a glimpse of Julian. The way he gazed at her, Porter would have thought she was the cure to the well-guarded swill they injected into the two of them.

  "Do you understand?" She lifted her head and stared down the bear. "I will not tolerate any further abuse."

  "Yes ma'am." The guard lowered his head.

  The boat moved.

  “Oh my God.” She lunged forward, right toward them.

  Reflex caused him to put his free arm out, but rather than catching her, she collided with one of the masts.

  “Ms. Wilkinson?” The guard shrugged.

  She dug her nails into the wood as if trying to grab on. “Are we expecting rough seas?”

  “It’s a little choppy, but once we go to our quarters we'll be fine.” The guard winked at them. "We've sailed through worse storms."

  Porter balled his hand into a fist.

  The boat rocked again. She pressed her forehead to the mast, squeezing her eyes shut. “I will be going down below with the Lykans.”

  Julian made a noise.

  “We have quarters on deck.”

  She opened one eye.

  Porter leaned back into her line of sight.

  “I never thought I would be able to meet a true Lykan. I want to continue my research.” She pushed away from the mast and held her arms out if she were trying to balance. “I will go with them.”

  “It's not often we get to be with a dignitary.” The guard moved in front of her.

  "My father was the dignitary." She took her suitcase and stuffed her papers under her arm. “Maybe it will be less choppy below.”

  The guard motioned in the direction for her to take.

  As she walked past them the sea breeze blew her damp shirt tight against her, showing off the curves she apparently tried to hide. Sweat broke out over his body, chilling his skin, but his core heated. Both he and Julian wiped their brows.

  He glanced up at the sky, but there were too many clouds to see the moon. No matter, he felt the pull, more powerful than the poison. Maybe she shouldn’t go down below with them.

  “I will be coming with you to make sure the prisoners behave.” The guard bumped into Alyssa as she made her way down the last step.

  She shuddered at having any part of his body touch hers and faced him. "I'm fine, they are chained and weak."

  "I can't leave you alone with them." He crossed his arms.

  "You will inhibit my research." She held up a paper. "There are laws governing interfering with my work."

  He leaned forward, touched her hair and smiled. "I said I can't leave you alone with them."

  "I said I can handle myself." She pushed his hand away, swallowing away the sour taste in her mouth at his touch, his breath, him in general. "I am asking you to leave, and I don't want to be disturbed."

  "Fine." He straightened up. "They will get their second dose in three hours. We can't have animals on the boat."

  "Best you remember that as well." She narrowed her eyes. While almost every person on Anthros seemed enamored with the bears, they always made her uneasy. They seemed to seep into every corner of the island watching everything. "As long as humans are aboard, our vessel is considered an extension of Anthros and there will be no shifting."

  He took a breath. "Once you're through maybe we can have a drink or something."

  Without acknowledging the vile sentence that spewed out of the bear's equally vile mouth, she closed the door and turned. The two males sat on a cot on far wall chained together, pale and slumped down. The only issue was the far wall wasn’t all that far away.

  In fact, as she got a good glimpse of the tiny space, nothing could ever be considered any distance away from her. “It is rather tight in here.” The two of them seemed to take up over half the available square footage alone. With her, her suitcase and her papers, there truly wasn't any open space remaining. She lifted her hand to her mouth and fought the urge to bite down on one of her nails.

  “Oh no.” The one named Porter shook his head.

  “What?” She peeked up at the ceiling. If she stood on her tiptoes, she could touch it. When her two captives entered, they needed to bend down to get inside.

  “Water and enclosed spaces?”

  “I’ll be fine.” In an attempt to slow her heartbeat and keep from running, she inhaled.

  Neither answered her. The one she dubbed as the nicer one, Julian, hadn’t spoken a word since she joined them on the deck. He simply sat back with his head resting on the wall behind him.

  It wasn’t only her dislike of water, vast open expanses of water, deep water, that made her come down below with them, but she had work to accomplish, namely fixing them. She opened the crumpled pages i
n her hand. “I'm going to help you.”

  No sooner was the sentence out of her mouth, than the boat swayed. She backed up against the wall. Boats floated, that’s what they did, if all went well. They must be leaving the dock.

  "Do we get even more presents?" Porter held his hand up. "We'll pass, thank you."

  "Maybe you can give me a chance." Once they got moving above deck they seemed a bit better. Several hours had passed since the administration of their injection, but the fact they were holding up as well as they were still surprised her. She tiptoed toward them, but the floor beneath her rolled. "It's okay."

  The boat lunged forward and tilted back and forth. “Help!” She jumped toward the only anchors in the room, landing across the laps of the Lykans. For several moments she froze, trying to choose her next action. Though she longed to grab on to one of them, she inhaled, put her hand on one of their legs and went to push herself up.

  "No, no, no, not so fast." Porter pressed his hand on the small of her back.

  The heat from his hand radiated through her and she bit her lip. Perhaps she needed to think twice before scheming to get down here with them. All her life any tale that mentioned the Lykans began with how they were irresistable to humans. Maybe the decades apart from the rest of those in the Federation made them even more savage. They told her they needed medicine, maybe they were sick and their illnesses killed humans. It wouldn't be the first time. "I don't want to hurt you. I want to help."

  “Strange, you called to us for help." He inched his fingers up her back. "What could you possibly have that we need?"

  "You need to give me a chance." The boat continued to toss and turn. Her heart sped up and she gave in, grabbing the leg closest to her hand.

  Julian groaned.

  “I’m sorry.” She loosened her grip. The turbulence of this trip matched the twisting in her stomach.

  “It’s fine.” His voice didn’t dance and play with her as it did in the Secretary’s office.

  “All right. You get one chance. Stay perfectly still.” Porter's hand trailed up her spine to her neck.

  "Oh God." She shut her eyes and lowered her face to what she assumed was Julian's leg. The aroma of the sea and something woodsy or earthy swirled in her nose, allowing her to take a breath. She did her best not to move an inch. They had been pushed to their limits. Maybe if she showed them she could be trusted, they would let her help. She risked everything to get down here with them. Her father would have insisted the Lykans be treated fairly, given their chance to speak.

  The boat bounced, and she attempted to stifle a whimper.

  "She's obedient." Porter wove his fingers into her hair. "Let's start by letting the animals loose."

  She shuddered at the shivers he created as he unfastened her barrette and let her hair loose, taking care to remove all the bobby pins. "What are you doing?"

  "Shh." He patted the top of her head.

  A click echoed throughout the room and one of the shackles fell to the ground, followed by a second click and the second shackle.

  "You used me." She gasped as she was pulled up and placed between them.

  Porter grabbed her arm. "Seems to me you used us to get away from the cuddly teddy bear upstairs."

  "You don't understand." Deep down she wanted to believe their story, wanted to make a difference, wanted to prove Secretary Girard wrong.

  "We won't be the subjects of any more research." He waved her away. "The quarters may be cramped but there's still a bit of room. Don't think you'll be leaving anytime soon, but if you're good, I won't reuse the shackles."

  With a shake of her head, she walked to the cot only a few feet away. On top of everything, she was solely responsible for freeing them, risking everything she worked for her whole life. One day she would learn to think ahead rather than make snap decisions.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Julian's wrist caked with dried blood from where they bound him. Porter's wrist wasn't as bad, but he still was cut open. She huffed.

  "Something the matter?" Porter stared her down.

  She refused to dignify his question with a response. If they didn't want the bandages in her suitcase, they could bleed out.

  The boat continued to sway. She sucked in her cheeks.

  "The big bad grizzly said we would get another dose in three hours, which means this should be wearing off soon." Porter laughed.

  Though not part of the conversation, she shrugged.

  "Is that plan not to your liking?" He raised his eyebrows.

  "What you don't know is a lot." The boat seemed to dip and she held onto the edge of the cot.

  "Enlighten me."

  "Go on with your plans." She tightened her hold on the makeshift bed. "Let me guess. After you kill me, you'll wait for the guard to come down, by then you'll be able to change form and you will take over the ship."

  "It's brilliant, if I do say so myself." He sat back.

  "Keep thinking that." At that moment the front of the boat rose up. Her cot moved down several inches, and she held her breath.

  "What should make me think different? You practically handed us the keys."

  "You stole them." She forced the words out.

  The boat came down with a crash. "Oh." She brought her knees to her chest and held on.

  "Porter." At last Julian spoke. "Leave her alone."

  "She's probably in cahoots with the rest of them."

  The boat rocked, she swore she heard wood cracking. She squeezed her eyes shut. Death at the hands of the shifters would be better than drowning.

  "Then why didn't she run for the door?"

  "Even in our state, she's knows we will catch her."

  "She said she wanted to help us." A growl laced Julian's voice.

  She bit her lip. The boat tilted at an extreme angle, knocking her off the cot. She landed hard on her shoulder, sharp pain shooting through her back. "Ah!"

  Before she had the chance to make another move, something grabbed her and dragged her across the floor.

  "Come here." Julian lifted her by her shirt, pulling her up and putting her in between the two of them.

  "Leave me alone." She rubbed her shoulder.

  Julian moved her hand and did the job for her. "You said you wanted to help, what do you mean?"

  She turned to him. Though he still appeared a wan and weak, everything about Julian spoke of being naughty. From the way his shoulder length black hair was a bit messy, to how only one side of his mouth was turned up, but his whole face lit up with a smile, to how his green eyes seemed to take everything in, including her, it was as if he recently was caught doing something bad, but no one would ever have the heart or the guts to punish him.

  "Are you really pirates?" she asked.

  "Well, Porter did steal your hair things." The other side of Julian's mouth lifted.

  "I have bandages for your wrist." She tensed, preparing for him lash out.

  "You brought bandages?" He continued to massage her shoulder.

  She nodded.

  "By any chance you didn't bring any water did you?" Porter tapped her.

  Against her better judgment and spun around to him causing her hair to hit her in her face.

  While Julian might be mischief and mayhem, Porter was precise and polished, with shorter brown hair combed back, razor sculpted facial features and golden eyes that either made one either want to cower, or embrace him tell him everything was going to be all right. "Are you going to tell me what's really wrong with your island?"

  "Are you going to tell us what else is in your bag?" He tilted his head.

  "Are you going to kill me?" No sooner were the words out of her mouth than the boat slammed down again, and she covered her eyes.

  Two sets of hands took hold of her, one on either side.

  "No matter what, she is trying to help," Julian said. "We are not going to kill her. In fact, since she called to us for help, we are going to do just that."

  She peeked through her fingers at
Porter.

  "We can't kill her if we're going to protect her from the big, bad storm." He exhaled as if he had come to terms with having an unwanted pet.

  "I brought a few other things as well." She upped the ante. Did she make allies with the enemy? No doubt her actions qualified as relations with Lykans, even if it wasn't mating.

  "I hope not another shot." Porter's eyes darkened to a deep brown.

  "I don't believe in chemical inhibition." She chewed her lower lip.

  "Did you hear that Porter? I told you humans weren't all monsters." Julian chuckled.

  Funny, that's what humans thought about Lykans. "Actually, I brought the antidote." She glanced between them. "Maybe I'm the pirate, since I actually stole the antidote." At her confession she stood. The ship heaved to one side, sending her back onto the cot and right onto Porter.

  He caught her. "Well, that was a bit unexpected."

  "That was bad." Her whole body shook. "Something is wrong." She waited for one of them to tell her everything would be fine.

  Julian slid closer to her and held out his hand. "It's part of the deal."

  "What deal?" Without thinking she placed her hand in his.

  "The one you made with the two devils." Julian gave her hand a squeeze.

  "You brought us the antidote." Porter tightened his hold on her. "In turn, you may hold our hands, lay on us, and we will keep you safe. If this cheap excuse for a ship falls apart, we'll just dog paddle to shore, there are more than sixty islands in the archipelago."

  She stared straight ahead. "You may paddle, but I can't swim."

  The boat tilted back and crashed down. Her suitcase fell over and tumbled in front of them.

  She took them up on their offer and hid her face in Porter's chest. "What happened to smooth sailing?"

  "Port." Julian rubbed her back.

  "She can't swim." Porter's words vibrated through her. "Do we have a deal?"

  Smooth sailing was nowhere in sight. The boat continued its turbulent trek. She nodded. "Yes."

  Julian vowed never to tell their little crusader, but he had sailed his entire life and never experienced such a trip. He was sure he found one point where he and Porter would agree.

  Once Alyssa got her trembling under control she opened her magic bag. She pulled out some more papers and administered them each an injection. In addition, they also received a bottle of water and even some snacks. Porter grumbled as he munched on the crackers, but Julian ate them with a smile even if they tasted like bland wood.