Torn Between Two Alphas: Howls Romance

by Marianne Morea

  Eli spat. “You fucking bastard! Killing you now will settle the issue once and for all!”

  Mikki screamed, and the echo rumbled on the mountaintop. She stood frozen in place, panic racing through her veins.

  In a blur, Nick vaulted over her, his body twisting in midair. Eli ran at him, his body shifting on the fly in a haze of energy.

  Her breath locked in her chest as the two men transformed in a flash. Bones snapped and reshaped, and sleek fur replaced skin. Her mind registered every second, but in slow motion.

  Nick was gone, and in his place stood a large black wolf clawing the ice with heavy paws. Teeth bared, he postured, growling at the sleek silver wolf that was Eli.

  Jaws snapping, the two wolves hurdled forward. Large, muscled bodies collided in a snarl of teeth. Bones crunched, and Mikki covered her ears at the sickening sound, watching as the snow smeared red with blood.

  Razor claws scored the black wolf’s flank, and he reared back. Thick haunches coiled and released, hurtling the beast in a frontal attack. His teeth sank into back of the silver wolf’s neck, his jaws sending him crashing into a tree.

  The wolf hit with a crack. A high-pitched whine echoed in the tense air, but he got to all fours again, his muscles twisting for a rebound. He lunged, but this time Mikki yelled, hurling herself between them.

  The wolf dug his claws into the frozen snow, but his momentum was too fast. He crashed into her headlong, sending Mikki’s body skittering ragdoll-like across the snow.

  Searing pain shattered across her cheek and down her side as the breath left her body. She rolled to a stop with a muffled oomph, blackness dulling everything.

  Nick howled, racing to her side. Heavy paws gouged chunks of icy snow as he slid to a stop, shifting in a panic back to human.

  “Mikki!” He knelt over her, his chest heaving. “Mikki! Can you hear me?” She wasn’t moving.

  Blood ribboned the snow from the fight as the silver wolf limped to where Mikki lay. His pitiful howl melted into a human cry as he shifted back.

  “Jesus. What the hell did we do? Is she—?”

  Mikki groaned and her eyes fluttered open.

  Nick slipped a hand under her head. “Thank, God. Mikki, can you hear me?”

  “Stop shouting.” Wincing, she sucked a sharp breath through her teeth.

  Nick tried to help her sit up, but hot, sharp pain burned across her side and down her arm. “Ow! Stop! I think my arm’s broken, and something’s wrong inside my chest.”

  Eli knelt on her opposite side. “It could be her ribs. We have to get her to a hospital.”

  “What about you? You okay?” Nick asked.

  “Fat lot you care. You fucking show off. So quiet and calm, until it’s showtime. I’m glad Mikki got to see your true colors. She already knew I was over the top.” Eli grimaced, holding his side.

  Nick got up to hike an arm under Eli’s shoulder. “You’re still hurt. Let me help.”

  “You did enough.” He shook him off. “Most of it healed when I shifted back, so save your worries for Mikki. How are we going to get her down the mountain?”

  Gritting her teeth, Mikki got to her feet cradling her arm, hunching to protect her side. “We aren’t getting me anywhere. How’s this for a plan? You two disappear into your pack territory and I never see you again.”

  She took a step, staggering a little before catching herself with a cry. Tears stung her eyes, but she wasn’t sure if it was from the pain, the cold or from being pissed.

  “Mikki, please.” Nick tried to stop her, but her eyes flashed gold and she growled low in her chest.

  “Oh my God,” Eli whispered.

  “That’s right.” She sniffed, trying to straighten. “It looks like you two idiots woke more than just my inner cat. The animal stirring now is eight feet tall with razor sharp claws. I think bear fits the feeling best, so unless you want to deal with an erratic first time shift, and a volatile injured bear, stay away from me!”

  “But you’re hurt,” Eli tried.

  “No shit, Sherlock. I’m hurt because of you two Neanderthals, and your insane need to claim me as some sort of prize.”

  She took another step, her knees nearly buckling.

  “Mikki, c’mon. We’re on a mountain. How far do you think you’ll get before you pass out?” Nick tried reasoning with her.

  “There are Uber drivers everywhere. I’m going to order a car and head back to the city. And don’t call me! Either of you. In fact, lose my number.”

  “You’re not thinking straight, love.” Nick took a chance, taking another step. “There’s no cell coverage, and even if there was, no Uber driver is going to scale the mountain to pick you up.”

  “Listen to the alpha dummy. He’s right for once,” Eli agreed grudgingly.

  “Fighting over a mountain…and me. Like you could reign over either.” She exhaled a grunt. “You’re both alpha dummies.”

  “You’re right. We’re idiots…and we’re sorry. Right?” Nick eyed Eli hard.

  “Idiots. Absolutely.” Eli nodded. “If you don’t want to see either of us again, we’ll respect your wishes, but let us get you to a doctor.”

  “EJ has his snowmobile, and I have an all-terrain Surgo. It’s a mountain rescue vehicle that can get you down the mountain with less bumps and bruises.”

  The pain in her arm and side nearly buckled her knees just standing. She didn’t have a choice.

  “Fine.” She winced, trying to turn. “Get me to the nearest hospital, but after that I’ll find my own way back to the city. You two didn’t give a rat’s ass, even when I told the truth about how I felt. Even then, I was something to be claimed. A means to an end. You two weren’t the only ones blindsided today.”

  She exhaled, holding out her hand for Nick. “Eli, I’m going to ride with Nick in his rescue truck. I’d pass out if I had to climb on the back of your death machine.”

  “Of course.” He gave her a soft smile. “You wouldn’t be able to hold on, anyway, and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry, too.”

  “C’mon. Eli and I can finish our mia culpas later. The temperature is dropping, and if my senses are correct, there’s a hell of a squall brewing near the summit, so we need to move.”

  Mikki let Nick help her to his all-terrain truck. There was a storm all right, but it wasn’t on the mountain.

  It was in her heart.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “You okay?” Carmela peeked into the bedroom. The lights were off, but the TV was on and it cast the room in a digital blue hue.

  Mikki rolled over, wincing. “Did I hear the phone ring?”

  “It was Marcus Styles’ office.” Mel came in to pull the curtains back, letting in the late morning sun. “His receptionist called to ask if you could meet this afternoon.”

  “What did you tell her?” Mikki struggled to sit up against the headboard.

  “I told her you had a snowmobiling accident yesterday, suffering a broken arm and bruised ribs, and was too banged up to meet with anyone today.”

  “Mel! You didn’t. I told you I wanted to meet with the man on my own terms. To pay him for the consult. Now he’s going to think I’m being petulant and spiteful.”

  “How is he going to know what happened yesterday?”

  Mikki snorted. “You don’t think Marcus Styles was the first phone call Nick Stanton placed this morning?”

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  She snorted. “That’s helpful.”

  Mel gathered up Mikki’s clothes from the night before and put them in the hamper. “Look, I’m not the one who showed up at three o’clock in the morning looking like a patched up crash dummy. Maybe Zoo-Guy had time to think after he dropped you off. Maybe he had time to realize what a jerk he and Apartment-Guy were in this business.”

  Mikki stifled a smirk. Leave it to Mel to find a way to cheer her up. “So we’re back to non-descript nicknames, huh.”

  “Seems to me you liked them bet
ter when they were too new for me to remember their names.”

  Even a soft chuckle left her holding her side. “Don’t make me laugh, please.”

  “Sorry, Miks. If I don’t laugh at the situation, I might punch something.”

  She grunted softly. “Get in line.”

  “Consider this, then. Maybe Zoo-Guy was too upset for rational thought the moment he found out the woman he thought was the one, was also seeing someone else. And not just some rando, but a lifelong rival. Maybe Apartment-Guy felt the same way. All that pent up frustration got twisted up with super-sized testosterone, and boom. Cage fight, wild kingdom-style.”

  “Mel, don’t. It’s done. Over.”

  Carmela shrugged it off. “I hear you, Miks, but in the hours since I was so rudely awakened by the shifter suicide squad, I’ve had your laptop all to myself. You know what I found on Google? Shifters are interesting creatures. Especially alphas and omegas. They share a special bond, even if that bond is stretched thin. It might be latent, maybe even forgotten, but there, nonetheless. Maybe, just maybe, that dormant bond is what drove your two to act like vigilante animals.”

  Chewing on her lip, Mikki considered her friend. “You’ve said the word maybe a whole hell of a lot this morning.”

  “It’s a good word,” Mel replied. “With the word perhaps running a close second. Gives people a way to consider the options without sounding indecisive. Opens the door to all kinds of possibilities. Possibilities like the appointment I made for you with Zoo-guy’s lawyer at four pm this afternoon.”

  A huge grin spread on Mikki scraped-up face. “Thanks, Mel.”

  “Don’t thank me yet.” She turned off the television. “You haven’t seen yourself in the mirror. It’s going to take all my glamazon skills to put humpty dumpty snow baby back together again.”

  “What would I do without you?”

  Carmela’s expression softened with a close-lipped smile. “I love you, too, Miks. Oh, and Zoo-Guy’s lawyer is sending a car at three pm.” She preened a bit. “I may have played up your injuries a skootch. You don’t need to be taking the subway on a day like today.”

  ***

  Mikki stood in front of the lawyer’s uptown address. With its brass revolving door and uniformed doorman, the building looked more like a hotel than place of business.

  Steam rose from intermittent grates in the sidewalk as cellphone-absorbed pedestrians ducked beneath steel scaffolding erected against the façade.

  Across the street it was another story. Crisp snow made Central Park seem fresh and unspoiled. A counterpoint to the grey slush gathering at the curb. Tourists waited for vintage carriage rides through the dreamy landscape, but today wasn’t the time for dreamy.

  At least not for her.

  Inside was the reality check she both wanted and dreaded. Drawing a cold breath, Mikki pushed through the revolving doors and headed straight for the lobby desk.

  The receptionist looked up from her daily log and smiled. “May I help you?”

  “Yes. Thanks. Mikki Townsend to see Marcus Styles.”

  “Of course.”

  She handed Mikki a small, manila-colored envelope, and then pointed to the second elevator bank. “Mr. Styles left a keycard for you. Security access is required for the tenth floor and above. They’re in Suite 1222. Twelfth floor. I’ll let them know you’re on your way up.”

  They’re? Them?

  The woman most likely meant the office staff in general. It wouldn’t surprise her if Marcus pawned her consult off to a team of paralegals. Either way, it didn’t matter. She would pay the going rate. She had her rainy day checkbook with her but prayed the going rate wouldn’t leave her eating cat food for the rest of the year.

  She snorted quietly. Cat food. Well, that fit. Unless there was bear food in a can somewhere.

  The elevator dinged and she stepped into the car. A prerecorded voice crackled from a speaker in the ceiling.

  “Security access required.”

  Pressing the keycard to the security sensor, she then pushed the button for the twelfth floor. What was the worst Marcus could say? Sorry, dear. I can’t help you. You either sign the new lease or have ninety days to vacate?

  A Muzak rendition of I am woman, hear me roar played as the elevator took its time.

  “This is fucking surreal,” she mumbled to her funhouse reflection in the lift’s chrome door.

  The elevator stopped, finally, and the doors slid open. Walking down the hall, she followed the suite markers until she stood outside 1222.

  Showtime.

  Eli had hurled that word at Nick after their testosterone-driven fight. It wasn’t exactly a compliment. She understood Eli’s frustration, but still. Staying calm in a crisis wasn’t a bad thing. Nor was a willingness to fight when necessary.

  Except that fight wasn’t necessary.

  Or was it?

  Whether her two knuckleheads realized it or not, they were a perfect counterbalance. A clear example why packs had alphas and omegas to begin with.

  Perfect.

  Not now.

  Fine. Just remember what Carmela said about alphas and omegas.

  Why?

  Silence. Why was it whenever she was close to a revelation, her inner compass clammed up?

  Mikki screwed up her courage and knocked on the door.

  “Come in,” a voice called from the other side.

  She opened the door to a carpeted hallway. No reception desk. No waiting room. Nothing.

  “Hello?” she tried again.

  “Come through. Straight down the hall.”

  This wasn’t like any law office she’d been to before. A warning bell went off in her head, but she wasn’t about to pull an about-face.

  The hall opened into a large, living-room style office, where a man stood waiting behind a polished desk.

  “Ms. Townsend. It’s a pleasure. Or should I say Ms. Townsend-York.” He waved her forward. “I’m Marcus Styles. Please, have a seat.”

  “It’s just Townsend. My full name makes me sound like a member of the royal family.”

  “Very well. May I call you Kayla, then?”

  “I prefer Mikki. Short for Makayla. Only my family calls me Kayla, and only because they know I hate it.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You’re a very hard person to track, young lady. In fact, it took me all weekend to puzzle the pieces together about you, and now that I have, there is much to be discussed.

  “About my landlord?”

  “That and a great deal more.”

  “Look, Mr. Styles. I want you to know I fully intend to pay for this consultation. Other than our initial introduction, Nick Stanton has nothing to do with this anymore. Things have changed since he and I first met.”

  “You’re right, Mikki. Things have changed.”

  Mikki’s head jerked toward the other voice in the room, only to see Nick sitting in a club chair on the opposite side of the large office. He had a whiskey tumbler in his hand, and sitting beside him, was Eli.

  “I knew it.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “My Spidey senses guessed something was up the moment I walked into the building.”

  Adrenaline spiked, muting whatever residual pain she had from the previous day. Anger and anxiety warred, but the only outward sign she allowed was the small frown tugging on her lips.

  She spared a look for Marcus still behind his desk. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Styles, but I think you know this meeting was over before it began.”

  “Ms. York, please.”

  “Mr. Styles, my name is Mikki Townsend, and why should I listen to anything you have to say when I was asked here under false pretenses?”

  “You’re very astute, Ms. Townsend, but in this case you’re mistaken. There is nothing false about this meeting. Only aspects you don’t yet know. I asked you here because this is my private office. What we need to discuss required a more confidential location.”

  Give a lawyer an inch…

  “I don�
�t appreciate the misinformation, and I don’t like being kept in the dark. It doesn’t instill trust. I came here in good faith but find myself ambushed.” She spared a glance for Eli and Nick.

  “Mikki, we know you’re still upset about yesterday. All we ask is you spare us a little time to hear us out.”

  “The way you and Hot Head Harry over there heard me, yesterday?”

  Eli grinned. “Now that’s a keeper.”

  “EJ, can it.”

  She shook her head. “What? Are you some kind of comedy duo now?”

  “Not at all.” Nick put his drink down, getting up from his chair. “Yesterday you pleaded with us to find another way to sort our differences. We didn’t listen, but we should have.”

  “Bruised ribs and a broken arm tell me it’s a little too late for that.”

  “I’m sorry, Mikki. I tried to stop my momentum, but the snow didn’t cooperate. I would never purposely hurt you,” Eli offered. “But I’m glad to see you’re healing quickly, the way a shifter should.”

  “That’s not my point.”

  Nick exchanged a look with Eli. “We get that, but things have changed since then. Things that concern you.”

  “Really.” She raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

  “Eli and I drew blood on each other.”

  “Old news.”

  Eli stood from his chair as well, moving to stand beside Nick. The two men rolled up their shirt sleeves, and on each of their forearms was a mark. Not a scar, but an intricate mark. Like a flesh colored tattoo.

  “Matching tattoos? I don’t understand how that concerns me.”

  Mikki stared at the intertwined swirls, and the ornate triangle denoting the center of each mark. It was clear the markings represented something intrinsically symbiotic.

  “They aren’t tattoos, Mikki,” Eli began. “They are the marks depicting the alpha and the omega of our pack.”

  Marcus cleared his throat. “Ms. Townsend, you know me as Nick’s attorney, but what you don’t know is I also represent the Red Oak pack. It is my job to follow the instructions of the alpha,” he motioned toward Nick, “but also to weigh those instructions against the good of the pack.

  “I’ve known Nick Stanton and EJ Hunt since they were pups. I’ve known their fathers and their grandfathers. I know the blood challenge their great-grandfathers fought, sowed a century-old rift through the pack. It was time to heal those old wounds and begin again. You, my dear, were the answer to that healing. I looked long and hard to find someone with your pedigree.”