Alphy's Challenge (11 page)

“A bit.
The property is extensive and she isn’t
living on the edge of it, but it shouldn’t take you too long,”

Gale heard the refined male voice swear.
“This equipment is fragile. Please tell me the road gets better, not worse.”

Alphy was standing by the side of the bed
buttoning his pants. He zipped them before he answered. “She didn’t use the
road often, so it isn’t as bad as a dirt road would normally be, so
be
thankful it isn’t worse. What equipment are you talking
about?”

“Well, Ryker informed me when
Kace’s
and Slate’s flights would land, and they weren’t
that much longer to wait. So after I landed, I contacted the local coven in
Toronto and asked for their help obtaining some equipment and supplies. I don’t
magically wave my wand and poof, the patient is cured, so I got all that I
could get while I waited for these two Neanderthals.”

“Just how much equipment are we talking
about?” Alphy carefully asked.

The southern drawl came through the line. “He
rented a fourteen-foot U-Haul truck. And just to add, mine and Slate’s bags had
to be wedged in there.”

Alphy grabbed Gale’s hand and the cell and
headed downstairs, shirtless. She felt her core heat up, watching his skin
glide over his muscles with his movements. She ran into his back when he
stopped suddenly.

“I’ll see you when you get here,” he growled.
He hung up the phone, and then turning, he pinned her against the wall and
buried his nose in her neck. He hummed out a breath that teased her flesh
causing bumps to zing up her spine and down her arms, and her butterflies were
armed again. “
Mmm
,” he groaned into her neck, “what
you do to me, mate. I can’t concentrate when you smell like that.” His voice
was smooth and almost tortured.

Gale was breathless with belly-flops. “S-smell
l-like what?” she managed to get out.

Alphy nipped her neck causing her to sharply
inhale and arch her back as her sore entrance heated up with need. Her nipples
hardened and pushed through the fabric of her shirt, scraping his chest. She
felt his heated hands grab her ass-cheeks, and pleasure bloomed in her core as
he squeezed. A throat cleared, dragging her from her lust haze, but she whined
when he pulled away.

Her stepdad stood there with one raised brow.
Alphy didn’t look at all sorry, “Hey, you have a mate. You know what it’s
like.”

Tom looked slightly uncomfortable but nodded.
“I can hear a vehicle coming.”

“Yeah, that’s a few of my friends. They said
they rented a U-Haul loaded with medical equipment. Where’s Betty?”

“I’m here,”
came
an
approaching voice from the kitchen.

Alphy turned to face the woman. “One of them
is a doctor. He’s brought medical equipment and supplies, so we’ll need a space
he can set it up.”

She opened the door and looked at the
approaching vehicle as the headlights lit the front of the home. She raised her
brows. “Huh, he sure came prepared, didn’t he? Well, it’s probably best to use
the apartment above the garage for now.”

Gale saw Alphy grimace before he led her onto
the porch. She couldn’t see the driver right away, but the two passengers were
coming out of the front of the truck. They looked like they had been scrunched
inside, and sure enough, as they got out, they groaned when they stretched
their legs. They both were tall and full of muscles that strained their jeans
and shirts.

The first one out wore cowboy boots and held
a cowboy hat in his hands. His skin was bronzed, and his hair was a medium
length variant colored from blond to black. It was unusual but seemed natural
and looked good on him.

Alphy, while still holding her hand,
approached him and gave him a one-armed hug, “Slate, good to see you again,
man.”

The other passenger came into view. His tribal
tattooed skin was darkly tanned, and he had crew-cut auburn hair. He stood as
tall as Alphy with an athletic build. Alphy gave him the same embrace as the
other. “
Kace
, thanks for
comin
’.”

Kace’s
southern accent identified him as the flirty
troublemaker.
“Wouldn’t miss your party if my life depended
on it.
Was
gettin
’ bored where
I was.”

Around the front of the van came a tall
swimmer’s built strawberry blond man who stood shorter than the other three at
about six foot. Alphy gave him a tight one-armed squeeze and pulled back. “I
said med-kit, not the whole damn hospital.” Alphy playfully teased the doctor.

“I have a reason. I’ll tell you about it
later, but it never hurts to be prepared for anything.”

Gale lightly laughed at the doctor’s casual
comment. Alphy tugged lightly on her hand and brought her forward. “This is my
mate, Gale Brooks. Honey-bear, this is Slate,
Kace
,
and Seamus, but everyone calls him Sea or Sea-man.”

“Or you can be like his brother, Ryker, and
call him Sea-salt,” added
Kace
.

Gale nodded her head and smiled.
“Nice to meet you.”

Alphy looked to Seamus. “Her brother is Paul,
and he’s in Betty’s room right now. You can check him out, and the rest of the
stuff will have to be temporarily set up in the apartment over the garage. Let’s
get this thing unloaded and get to bed. We can catch up tomorrow.”

“Of course you want to get to bed,” drawled
Kace
, which got him a growl from Alphy.
Kace
chuckled and walked to the back of the truck. She heard the sound of the metal
latch being opened and the roll of the door being lifted up.

Gale looked around and saw everyone,
including her mother, was standing on the porch. They started walking down the
steps and headed to the back of the truck where Alphy led her to at the same
time. He let go of her hand and handed a couple of bags to her, took a large
box himself, and looked to Seamus. Seamus grabbed some boxes and started
sounding off instructions about what he wanted immediately and what could be
placed in the apartment.

Gale’s bags were what he wanted, so she led
him into the house and to the room her brother was in. Her brother was actually
awake and looking freshly bathed. Her mother and stepfather usually helped with
that. His ribs were what hindered him more than his arms, but he couldn’t do much
on his own.

Gale put the bags down on the top of a dresser
and walked over to her brother. “Hey there, Paul, it’s good to see you awake.
This is Dr. Seamus … uh—” She looked at the doctor, as she hadn’t gotten his
last name.

“Hi, Paul, I’m Dr. Seamus Rossi, but you can
call me Sea. I’d like to look you over, if that’s ok.” Seamus looked as if he
would offer Paul a hand but could see both arms in splints.

When Paul nodded, Seamus smiled warmly. “Good.”
He turned and grabbed some bags and told everyone to wait outside the room,
with the exception of the parents. Gale and the others left to help continue offloading
the truck.

There were some big pieces of equipment that
took teamwork from the men to lift and maneuver to the upstairs apartment. She had
to be careful not to watch the extreme working muscles on her mate or she would
undoubtedly get turned on, and if her mate smelled it, he would lose
concentration. She smiled to herself at how much pleasure it caused to have
that kind of power over him.

It was two in the morning by the time
everyone was done and they were able to head to bed. Gale’s body ached, and she
didn’t remember her head hitting her pillow.

When everyone woke, late the next morning,
they gathered around the table eating. The men had been laughing and catching
up when they heard a car pull up. Everyone quieted and headed to the front
door.

A wiry, bright redheaded man jumped out of
the passenger door and raced to Seamus and threw his arms around him. They
embraced.

“Hey, little brother,” the doctor laughed.

“
Pff
,
little?
Like by two
minutes.” The redhead sounded indignant.

Another man exited the driver’s side. He was
dark Hispanic skinned with short black hair and had a very short, kind of
scruffy well-trimmed, beard and mustache. He walked over and extended his hand
to Alphy.
“Alphy, good to see you again.”

“Good to have you here, thank you for
coming.”

Another car drove up and parked on the other
side of the first car. An
athleticly
built light
skinned African-American man stepped out of the passenger side, and a man as
tall as Alphy, with a body-builder physique, stepped out of the driver’s side.

Alphy embraced the smaller man first as he
arrived first, then turned to the larger man and gave him a full on hug. He
turned to everyone who gathered on the porch. “Guys, this is my mate, Gale.
My great-aunt Betty.”
Betty waved her spatula as she was
introduced. “Those are Gale’s parents, Tom and Connie, and my sister and
brother, Havana and Reese.” Alphy turned to his newly arrived friends. He started
with the largest with the body-builder body. “That’s Enzo.” He pointed to the
man who had come with Enzo. “Phoenix, but we all call him ‘Nix’. That’s Matteo,”
he pointed at the darker skinned Hispanic looking man, then turned to the wiry red-head,
“and Sea’s twin brother, Ryker.”

Betty pointed her spatula at Alphy. “Just you
remember what I told you,
Alpha.”
She
emphasized his title, than turned and walked back inside.

 
Alphy
grabbed Gale’s hand. “Let’s go inside and eat some breakfast before we get down
to why we are all here.”

Breakfast had been loud moments before, but
now it was nearly more than Gale could bear. She didn’t know anyone and felt
very uncomfortable around them. She was a stranger in the middle of a large
family. It gave her a claustrophobic feeling, and she felt ready to scream. Gale
decided to give herself a reason to separate from the group, so she gathered
some scrambled eggs and orange juice and took them to her brother.

Knocking lightly on the door, she only waited
for a moment before opening it up. Inside, her brother was sitting up against
the headboard, watching a movie on a laptop. He looked up as she entered and
smiled.

“Hey, big
guy,
thought you would like something to eat.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Gale put the items on a dresser and helped
him sit up further. He flinched from the discomfort but succeeded. Placing a
bed table over his legs, she transferred the plate and glass over. He insisted
on trying to feed himself, so she just put the fork next to the plate and sat
in a chair next to him.

He dove in and hummed. “So who are you
running away from?”

Gale shrugged one shoulder.
“
Alphy’s
buddies.
They’re all big
and loud, and I just felt crowded.”

He slowed his food for a moment and pondered
her, then swallowed and asked, “Mom says he’s your mate. How you taking it? Is
he good to you? Has he even claimed you yet?”

Gale was slouched on the chair, and she
looked down at her hands. “Yeah, he’s the hottest man on the planet, and I
can’t seem to get enough of him.” She rubbed her neck where he’d marked her,
multiple times. “If you ever get a chance to get a mating bite, don’t pass it
up.” She blew out a long breath.

“That good, huh?”

She glanced up at him but was too embarrassed
to keep eye contact. “Yeah, nothing ever
like
it.”

“So why’re you in here instead of out there
with him?”

“I’d like to know the same thing.” A familiar
deep voice behind her startled her. She looked back to see Alphy slowly open
the door wider. He didn’t sound angry or look it even, but Gale suddenly felt
like she’d just gotten caught doing something she shouldn’t. She’d been
stressed so much these past few weeks that she was getting tired of fighting
her tears. She turned back around and leaned back in her chair. She didn’t know
how to answer him and didn’t want to have to battle her emotions. She kept her
eyes on her hands as she picked at some non-existent lint on the bottom of her
shirt.

Darkness shadowed her as he came around the
chair and squatted down in front of her. He put his hands on hers, causing her
tummy to flip.
Stupid stomach
.

“Look at me, honey-bear.” His voice was
gentle,
and caring even.

Gale couldn’t fight it any longer, and her
face scrunched up as she lost her battle with her emotions. She didn’t know why
she felt like she was sad. It wasn’t logical; her emotions just wouldn’t get
under control.

Alphy knelt in front of her and took her into
his arms. She started to calm, but he didn’t let her go. He was making soothing
sounds and stroking her hair. She felt him press a kiss on her temple. “I’m
sorry,” she said. “I really don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Alphy leaned back and looked her in the face
as she wiped away her tears. “You’ve been through a lot of stress these past
few weeks. Life is a bit out-of-control for you right now, and you are
perfectly normal. Everything will be all right.”