Healing The Alpha Collection

by Jessica Ryan

  "Unhand me, wolf trash!" the demon said. "She won't win this fight."

  Aster pulled her in close, kissing her lightly on the forehead before whispering in her ear. "Just fight it, baby. I love you and I'm here for you. Look at all the people who've come for you. There's so much love for you, baby, more than you can ever imagine. This isn't how our story ends, not by a long shot."

  "It's so hard," Leena said. "She's clawing at me, trying to destroy my soul."

  "She has no power here anymore," Aster whispered. "You have all the power. Expel her from you. All you need is love, my love. I love you, Leena, with all my heart and soul. It's always been you and nobody else."

  Leena screamed an ear-splitting, soul-shaking scream that rattled Aster's bones. He kept a tight grip on her, refusing to let her go. As the scream began to die down Aster noticed a black shadow beginning to form around them. Its black and purple tendrils reached out to grab him, but they couldn't touch him. The darkness enveloped them both, but he continued to hold her tight.

  "Aster, I'm scared," Leena moaned.

  He pulled back, his eyes locking with Leena's. For the first time in ten years he knew he saw his love in those eyes. A single tear rolled down Aster's cheek as he realized he was face to face with the beauty who had changed his life forever, not the demon who had tried to ruin it. Overcome with emotion he pulled Leena in close, kissing her with all his heart. Her arms quickly wrapped around him, holding him tight as she returned the kiss. Two lovers separated by ten years of torment were finally together again. The entire world froze and the darkness didn't register with Aster as he finally felt the love and compassion of Leena's kiss again. Together they stayed frozen in this moment in time, ignoring the world around them.

  Finally the passionate kiss was broken by a tap on Aster's shoulder. He pulled away from Leena and looked up at the figure that stood behind him. The sun was right behind the figure's head, making his face shadowy and obscure. For a second Aster sat confused before he realized he was looking at the sun—the darkness was gone.

  "You did it, buddy," Rowan said, dropping to his knees beside Aster and Leena. "You got my sister back."

  Aster pulled Rowan in for a hug and the three sat together, embracing one another in the warm afternoon sun as the birds chirped and the cool breeze blew. Aster looked up, his eye catching a bird on top of the house singing its song for the world.

  "What is it?" Rowan asked.

  "It's a beautiful day," Aster said, laughing. "It's just such a beautiful day."

  Rowan looked at the ground and smiled. "You can finally enjoy them again, buddy. You deserve it."

  Eva dropped to her knees beside them as well, putting her arm around Rowan and kissing him on the cheek. "Aren't you going to introduce your sister to your girlfriend, silly?"

  All four of them burst into laughter as Hawk and Ciara walked up behind them, joining in on the laughter. The nightmare was over; the demons were gone from their lives.

  "I guess we have a lot of catching up to do," Leena said.

  "A lot," Aster said, rising to his feet with everyone else. "But first let's get all these damn motorcycles out of my front yard."

  "I never want to see another motorcycle," Leena said.

  "Me either, baby," Aster said, pulling her in close again and kissing her on the top of the head before looking back up at the beautiful blue sky.

  Rowan was right; he could enjoy beautiful days again.

  Healing The Alpha Part 3

  Chapter 19

  Leena sat up in bed and stretched with her mouth hanging wide open in a monster yawn. She knew it wasn't the most attractive look, but something told her Aster didn't really care at this moment. Her recently returned lover was propped up on one elbow, his eyes narrowed as he watched her stretch and bend her body.

  "Does it feel like you're waking up from a long sleep?" he asked.

  "It's like I've been tied up for ten years and can just now move and stretch my body," she said. Casually she looked up and down each arm and then down the front of her tank top. "Luckily Empusa didn't damage my body or leave me any permanent marks."

  "Except for that giant tattoo of Abaddon on your back," Aster said.

  "What?" Leena asked, spinning to try to look at her back, but to no avail. She knew she looked silly, like a dog chasing its tail, but she was seriously freaking out.

  "Yeah, it's right between your shoulder blades. It was hard to look at while we were having sex last night."

  "Oh my god!" Leena said, reaching up and grabbing her hair. "That fucker!"

  She turned and looked at Aster, noticing the vibration under the sheets. She followed it from his legs to his chest, watching as his entire body spasmed with laughter. Finally she realized the joke was on her and lashed out, punching Aster in one meaty pec.

  "That's not funny!" she protested. "I seriously thought that demon had scarred me!"

  "No, baby," he said, running his rough fingers through her long, silky hair. "You're as perfect as the day you left me."

  "Except I've been through some shit," she said.

  "I know," Aster said, his voice changing to one of concern. Leena hated it when he did this. She remembered it as vividly as if the last time she had heard it was yesterday. He went from fun-loving guy to serious shoulder to cry on to angry alpha in the snap of a finger.

  "I don't think you know," she said. "I was a prisoner in my own body."

  "Could you see everything she did?" he asked.

  "Not all of the time," Leena said. "There were times that I was able to shut it all off and kind of retreat back into myself."

  "When did you do that?" he asked.

  She knew where this was going. He'd been wondering if Abaddon had touched her body the entire time they were gone. She'd watched as Empusa and Abaddon had made out and touched one another to further anger and torture Aster.

  "When they were getting their rocks off," she said quietly.

  "So they did use your bodies to fuck," Aster said bitterly.

  "Not exactly," Leena said. The surprise in his eyes was evident. "Demons don't really use our bodies to have sex like you'd think."

  "What do you mean?" he asked, sitting up and looking confused. "Do they not enjoy sex? Do they not enjoy the fornication and the sin of it all? I always thought demons were here to break every rule in the Bible."

  "Don't believe everything you see on television," she said, shaking her head. For someone so intelligent, Aster didn't use his head all the time. "If they can't feel pain, what makes you think they can feel pleasure?"

  "They couldn't feel pain?" he asked.

  "They could, but it was very dull. It was blunted by the fact that they were just possessing our bodies. The body is just a vessel. The possession happens on more of a soul level."

  "I never realized that," Aster said. "Abaddon seemed to react to pain when your father fought him and you reacted to pain when I tossed you across the room."

  "That's the bodies' reaction to the physical pain," she said. "The demons don't actually feel it."

  "So then how did they have sex?"

  "They didn't, really. They got their jollies from killing and maiming people. It did something to them. All the blood and destruction would cause them to connect on an elemental level, like two fires meeting at a center point. It was truly disturbing to watch them whenever they would murder someone. They didn't just kill people, Aster, they mutilated them."

  "That is truly frightening," he said. "I hope you don't have PTSD or something."

  "I'm a tough girl, babe," she said. "I think I can manage."

  "You know what you can manage," he said, lifting the sheets to show her his rock-hard erection.

  "Oh my god," she said, covering her mouth. "Here I am pouring my soul out to you and all you can think about is your damn boner."

  "What?" he asked. "I haven't been with you in ten years. You're all I can think about!"

  "Did
you even hear anything I said?"

  "Of course I did. I heard every word."

  Leena smiled at Aster before diving onto him. They had a lot of catching up to do.

  * * *

  Aster had wanted to spend the entire day in bed with Leena, but she had insisted that he get up and go to work. It was a Monday and the events of the weekend would surely create a panic. As Aster dressed, he kept looking over his shoulder at the beauty who had come back into his life. She was out cold in bed, completely naked.

  He couldn't get over how beautiful she still looked. It was like she was eternally eighteen years old. Every part of her body was amazing, from her long, slender neck down to her impossibly smooth legs. Her silky hair hung nearly to her waist, always teasing him and slapping him in the face. It always used to smell like lilac when she was younger and last night had been no exception. Leena had demanded a shower and the first thing Aster did was run to the store and buy her favorite shampoo. She'd nearly burst into tears when she'd seen the bag, but she held it together and let him wash every inch of her body and hair with his bare hands. It was the first action that led to a night of wild sex that left Aster's hip bones bruised and screaming at him as he cleaned up for work.

  It's a good pain, he thought as he looked himself over. Aster felt more refreshed than he ever had. Although he hadn't gotten much sleep due to the Olympic games being performed in his bed, what he had gotten had been the most restful he'd ever had. Everything was right with the world.

  Aster couldn't wipe the smile off his face, even as he put on the prison-like suit that he had been forced to wear for so long .It was even worse than his human skin in restricting him and making him feel cramped, but today he proudly wore it, knowing he was a complete wolf again.

  Unfortunately, all of his wonderful feelings came crashing to the ground when he pulled into the back parking lot of City Hall. He could barely make it to his parking spot due to the people all milling about and screaming.

  As he tried to nudge through them one turned and saw him. "Hey, it's Aster! It's the mayor! Get him!"

  Suddenly people were banging on the hood of his car and slapping the windows. Each one of them looked fit to be tied and their words reflected it as they assaulted his vehicle.

  "We deserve answers!"

  "Where the hell have you been?"

  "This is no way to run a town!"

  "We're not animals!"

  "Won't somebody please think of the children?"

  There was no getting through the sea of angry wolves. Aster had to be a man and stand up to face these people. Casually he put his car into park and turned it off, then opened the front door and shoved past a few people who stuck their fingers right in his face as they screamed. He acted like he didn't even know they were there as he climbed onto the top of his car, still trying to maintain his composure.

  The mob didn't shut up as he stood on top of the car. They continued to hurl insults and shake his car, making it hard for him to maintain his balance.

  "Silence!" he screamed. "Everyone shut up and listen!"

  This only served to further incite the crowd.

  "Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?"

  "I'm not your lap dog! Don't scream at me!"

  "You're the mayor! Act like it!"

  "This isn't the old days! You can't order us around!"

  Aster shook his head and then turned to look at the side door that led into City Hall. He could see Rowan at the door, barring it to keep the angry mob from breaking through into City Hall.

  I can't believe this is happening, Aster thought as he looked down at the people. You hide in your homes when you're threatened and then form a mob when we rescue your ungrateful asses? Unbelievable.

  Aster took a running start and jumped off the car, landing on some poor hapless wolf who had his back turned to him. That only served to further anger the crowd.

  "The mayor is attacking us!"

  "His bloodlust wasn't quenched last night!"

  "He's in league with the ones who attacked us!"

  "Get him!"

  Luckily Aster was already bolting through the crowd, shoving people aside as the angry sentiment washed towards him. Before any of them realized that they needed to stop him, he had reached the door. As he approached, he saw Rowan shaking his head, letting Aster know he wasn't going to open the door even for him.

  Aster looked to his right as he ran, noticing the fire escape not too far out of reach. As he reached the door he planted his foot onto the brick beside it and bounded up the wall, making it a good ten feet before gravity decided to catch up with him. But he was quicker than Mother Nature, using his last step to bounce off the wall and push himself sideways. With ease he flew through the air, hitting the fire escape and rolling across the metal grating before stopping. He quickly rose to his feet and looked down at the crowd that had now turned their attention to him.

  "So long, suckers," he muttered under his breath as he climbed the fire escape all the way to his top floor office window. As he started to climb into the window he looked back down at the crowd watching him. "I hope they don't get the same idea."

  To hedge his bet he immediately shut his window and then pushed his solid oak bookshelf against the window before reinforcing it with his heavy desk that made even him strain with all his might.

  “Fuck this shit,” Aster said, throwing his hands up. “I’m done with these nutcases. Are they wolves or humans? Whatever they are, they’re an ignorant, angry mob.”

  Aster wandered downstairs to find most of his city employees sitting nervously at their desks, waiting for him to make his grand entrance.

  “Are you all waiting for me?” he asked.

  “This is no time for jokes!” Jerrell Hawkins said. Jerrell was a beta member of the Blood Moon pack and the one most people had thought would ascend to the alpha position after Crow’s death. Instead he steadfastly remained in his position as deputy mayor and tried to ignore his pack. Then again, it wasn’t like most of them even stepped up and asked for help. They were just living their everyday lives.

  “Oh, I think it is, Jerrell,” Aster said, narrowing his eyes at the smaller wolf, who was trying to stand up and look big in front of everyone else at City Hall. “Let me tell you a joke. There was once a deputy mayor who was also the top beta in his pack. His alpha was murdered in cold blood, meaning he was supposed to take on the alpha position. Instead, he shunned it and ignored his pack. Then the one who murdered his alpha showed up in town and began to take over. Did he lead his pack against this usurper in vengeance or did he hide in his house?”

  “That’s not a very funny joke,” Athena Hawkins, Jerrell’s wife and secretary, said.

  “Oh, it’s very funny to me,” Aster said. “It’s hilarious that we have a wolf who claims to be big and bad who fucking hid under his bed when he was confronted with a situation where he had to fight. It’s fucking hilarious to me that you presume to even say one word to me about the way I handle things when it was me that saved this goddamn town.”

  Jerrell just looked at the ground, unable to meet the head alpha’s steely gaze. Finally Aster turned from the spineless wimp and looked at everyone else. Thorn and Hawk were there, even though they held no actual position at City Hall. Rowan had most of his deputies gathered, but even they looked nervous and confused.

  “What are you all looking at?” he yelled. “Of course these people are scared. They’re not wolves, they’re humans! They ceased being wolves a long time ago!”

  “What do you want us to do?” Rowan asked, stepping forward. He was the only one who didn’t look scared or shaken by the reaction of the people.

  “Put out the word, all of you,” Aster said, looking around the room. “I don’t care if you have to use a loudspeaker or hand out flyers to these idiots. There will be a town meeting tonight at the high school gymnasium. Everyone is required to attend. If they don't attend, then they don't care what
I have to say and they have no excuse if they don’t like the results of what I say.”

  “What are you going to say?” Rowan asked.

  “The truth,” Aster spat before turning and heading back to the stairs. “The whole fucking truth.”

  Chapter 20

  Eva hung up her cell phone and walked back into Rowan's living room where Ciara was watching Rowan's brand-new television.

  Looking at the sixty-three-inch monster, Eva sighed and shook her head. She had begged for Rowan to update his technology situation and buy something that would keep her entertained. Of course he had obliged and bought the biggest television he could find at the local store, but now it was all for naught. He wanted to return to the forest and live like his ancestors, completely forsaking modern convenience.

  Eva was fine with a lot of things as long as she had Rowan. She could stand to live in a cabin in the woods like she had heard Beorn did, but she didn't know if she could give up electricity, indoor plumbing, and central heat and air. Where would she bathe? A waterfall? Even in the winter?

  She reached up and felt her hair, grimacing as she thought about how greasy the fine blonde strands would be after living in the forest. And what about shaving? She was sure Rowan wouldn't be excited if she grew a hedge maze down below.