Alphy's Challenge (8 page)

Alphy did want to hear what they had to say.
The more information he could get to incriminate the alpha and his enforcers,
the better. Alphy crossed his arms over his chest. “You have sixty seconds. Talk
fast.”

The enforcer looked like he was trying to get
moisture back into his now dry throat. Alphy watched him, but he kept an eye on
the other two as they came around and limped back over to the third enforcer.

“We’re chasing rogues. They attacked an
enforcer and stole from the alpha of our territory. They were part of our herd.
They’re here, so we’ll just take them and go.”

“No, you won’t. This is my territory, and
I
say when someone can come
and
go. What are you accusing them of
stealing?”

“You don’t want to do that, man. Our alpha is
pretty pissed, so it will cause a lot of problems for you if you don’t let us
take them back. You don’t want that. They aren’t worth it.”

One of the men, who was holding his stomach
and leaning against the wall, snorted. “Yeah, one of
them’s
gay.”

“Shut up, man,” the other
injured enforcer bit out through clenched teeth.

“Is that some kind of veiled threat?” Alphy
knew it was, and he nearly ground his teeth.

The “diplomatic” enforcer continued. “We’ll
just take them out of your territory. I’m sure whatever they told you
was
a lie. Our alpha would be grateful, and he’s willing to
compensate for any inconvenience.”

Alphy almost rolled his eyes. “I’m a shifter,
you half-witted dung-beetle. I could smell if they lied, and they aren’t lying.
You
, however, are. I can smell it.
They only shot your enforcer in self-defense. I would like to know what your
alpha claims they stole.”

The enforcer was clearly losing his patience,
and he glared at Alphy for being called out. Alphy gave a warning growl,
letting his bear show through his eyes and his canines cut through his gums,
showing themselves to the enforcers. The man looked down and tilted his head.
“Money.
They stole from the herd accounts.”

Alpha stalked over to the man and lifted him
up until he was standing on his tiptoes. The other two only backed up. “Pay
attention because I’m only telling you this once.” He glanced over at the other
two. “You two may want to help him remember, as I’m sure none of you alone
would have enough brain-power to remember this.” He looked back into the other
shifter’s eyes. “
One
, I can smell
your lie.
Two
, I
aready
spoke to them, and one is
my fated
mate. Which brings us to
three
, if
you or your alpha comes near my territory, if you or your alpha contracts or
orders an attack on anyone in my territory, or if
anyone,”
he growled, “lays a
finger
on my mate, or her family, when I get a hold of them, it will take them a very
long time to die! I will kill their family, slowly. I will kill their pets,
their lawyer, and their third grade school teacher, just for having a role in
their worthless miserable lives. I am not an alpha to fuck with.
Am I clear
?” He shouted at the last.
Alphy’s
rage burned in his chest. He growled as fiercely as
he dared to in public, to slam home his message.

Letting go of the terrified shifter, he
watched as the piece of shit didn’t quite catch
himself
and fell with a thump to the ground. All three enforcers whimpered from the
presence he projected. They stumbled and scurried to their vehicles and sped
out of the parking lot. Alphy took a look around to make sure everything was
clear. He didn’t want to be surprised by a lurking extra or some wandering
human. When he judged it safe, he signaled for Gale to come to him. She didn’t
hesitate. She sprinted across the small lot and into his arms. She had tears
pouring down her face, and as soon as she was in the safety of his arms, she
sobbed. He could smell her panic and pure distress. He rubbed her back and kept
telling her, over and over again, that she was all right.

Alphy looked up as the door opened. Tom
looked out and around, and he was holding a shotgun. They locked eyes, giving each
other a nod, and Tom dipped back inside,
then
returned
with a groggy Paul in his arms, followed by Connie, leading the twins behind her.
They loaded them into the van and climbed in.

Alphy didn’t want to let his mate out of his
reach, but he didn’t want her to leave her stuff in the lot either. He didn’t
want those idiots getting anything that belonged to her. Drawing back, he wiped
away her tears. “Are you all right?”

She drew in a shaking breath as she nodded.
He kissed her on her forehead. “Are you good enough to drive? I don’t want to
leave your car here.” She nodded her head again. He walked her to her vehicle
and helped her in, then jumped into his own. He sent a quick text to his sister
before leading his new family out onto the road. He stayed alert the entire
ride home, which made it feel so much longer than it was.

His aunt, sister, and brother were all on the
porch waiting for them when they arrived. His sister and brother quickly
trotted over to his truck to unload the groceries while his aunt stayed on the
porch and directed Tom as he carried in a moaning Paul. He briefly regarded his
mate as she was helping her mother with the twins, a desire to create his own
cubs with her thrumming through his heart. Scanning the area for potential
threats, he saw too many places they could be approached. He would need help
keeping his family safe, but for now, he didn’t see, hear, or smell anyone or
thing out of the ordinary. Deeming it safe for now, he grabbed some grocery
bags and started hauling them inside.

He heard his aunt in her room giving Tom
orders. Dropping off his load, he decided to check out what was going on. He
spotted his aunt leaning over Paul, trying to get him to drink down some tea.
“Come on now. I know it isn’t the best tasting stuff, but it will help you.
That’s it. Those lowlife monsters give all us shifters a bad name.” She fussed
over him, tucking him in and checking out his bandages.

Connie joined them, and Betty looked up at
the couple. “I’ll have him stay in here, and I’ll take the room across that
hall. It will be no trouble putting my stuff in the other room. Take your pick
of rooms, or even better, you can have the apartment in the basement or the
apartment over the garage. That will give you some personal space, and you can
finally unpack and unwind.”

Connie had a mix of emotion flutter across
her face. “Unpack? You want us to move in?”

Betty regarded the human. “If you don’t wish
to, then you don’t have to, but you’re family now and you are positively
welcome here.”

Before Connie could respond, Alphy spoke. “Remember,
I have offered you sanctuary in my territory, and if you wish to petition to
join us, then I will be happy to accept you as part of our pack.”

Tom squeezed his mate closer to him. “Thank
you, Alpha, we would like that.”

Connie nodded. Her face crumpled, and she
turned into her mate’s embrace and sobbed. Tom looked back at Alphy with barely
contained tears of relief himself. “I know it’s only been a few weeks, but it
has felt like an eternity since we were able to feel welcome and safe. You have
my loyalty.”

Nodding his head, Alphy turned and headed out
of the room. He found his mate sitting on a soft dark brown suede couch,
talking with his sister Havana, and watching the tots play and explore in the
living space near the wood stove. His brother, Reese, was down on the floor playing
gently with them.

Gale looked up as he drew near and smiled at
him. It was a tired smile, but it had no less effect to cause his heart to
stutter and his stomach to flip with desire and excitement. This was his family
now, and a sense of purpose and pride filled him. As he approached his mate, he
looked over at his brother, who looked up at him as he approached.

“We have cubs in the house now,” said Alphy. “No
more potty mouth or the next time you have to clean the chicken coop, you’ll do
it with your toothbrush.”

Their sister started to laugh, and he joined
in at his brother’s expression. Reese huffed
indignantly.
“Hey, it was a flipping spider! You can’t be
held accountable for what you say when you see a spider.”

That got everyone laughing, including
Alphy’s
mate.

He turned to Havana. “Would you mind watching
the cubs … all the cubs?” He gave an exaggerated look toward his brother.

Laughter filled the room as Havana eagerly
nodded, ignoring Reese’s protest, and Alphy led Gale up to his room. He smelt
her nervousness before they even reached his door, so he opened the door but
didn’t go in. He stood in the entryway and held her in his arms. “I’m not going
to force you to do anything you aren’t ready for. I want you to feel
comfortable coming to me about anything. That being said, I also want to be
upfront with you. You’ll be better able to make your choices that are best for
you without guessing what it is I want or expect. Are you ok with that?”

Gale nodded, and he could sense that her
nerves lessened, but were still there. He continued. “I want to move you into
my room, with me.”

Alphy expected he would have to explain more
about how fast shifters accepted their mates. Most humans had beliefs about how
long one should take to move in together and fall in love, but those things
happened fast with shifter mates. However she surprised him by nodding her
head.

“I trust you.”

Alphy closed his eyes tight, and he let out a
relieved breath. Inside, his bear settled a wee bit but not much. Not until
they had their mark on her would he totally be satisfied.

He opened his eyes and placed his forehead
against hers. “Thank you, Honey-bear.”

Alphy felt the skin on her forehead tug on
his as her eyebrows rose up.
“Honey-bear?
Does that
mean I get to give you a pet name? I was always kind of fond of ‘
poopsy
’.”

Alphy growled then chuckled. “You can call me
anything you want, just maybe keep the
poopsies
to a
minimum. I am an alpha and would hate to have to maul someone because they
didn’t take me seriously.”

Alphy felt like fireworks would explode out
his chest with his intense feelings for his mate. She may be afraid, but she
trusted him. That alone meant the world to him, and he loved her sense of
humor. He figured once this threat passed, she would be trouble, and he
couldn’t wait to be a part of it. His bear approved immensely when they watched
her start to haul her personal effects into their room and look for places to
put them. He may not have had the room long, but his bear had already claimed
the space. The rest of the morning was spent unloading.

Alphy had only had a brief look at the house
when he locked things up the night before, but he decided he needed to get
acquainted with the whole building and surroundings. He needed to keep his mate
and his pack safe, and he couldn’t do that if he didn’t know his way around or
wasn’t able to notice anything out of place. So while the others unloaded, he
explored.

He started with the basement that Tom and
Connie had decided to move in to. Taking a load down to the basement, he took a
quick looked around. It was a comfortable space that had three bedrooms and a
kitchen with a closet pantry. The living space was open, much like the main
house upstairs and had a wood stove also. To one side, there was a door that
led outside.

Alphy opened the outside door and looked
around. The porch was overhead, shading the area, but it was clean and neat
with a wooden bench against the wall and hooks and brackets to hang planters
on. However, though standing at the bottom of the cement stairs he could stand
up straight, the further up he went, the more he would have to crouch. Still, the
porch was high enough to allow easy movement, if a little hunched over,
underneath. He overheard Connie and Tom discuss adding shade-friendly plants,
more comfortable seating, and a perhaps a sandbox for the kids. They were
really excited about the space.

Alphy headed up the stairs and crouched under
the porch. He walked out into the sun and around the house to the garage. It was
time to find out what Betty kept in there. He had wondered since he arrived
what she had in there.

He opened the side door and cautiously walked
into the darkened space and let his eyes adjust. What he saw caught him totally
by surprise. In front of him, in the middle of the large space, was a boxing
ring. Around the ring were several different boxing bags, weights, all kinds of
protective gear in adult sizes and kid sizes, boxing gloves and tape, and sparring
gear. Alphy had spent loads of time in gyms strength training and sparring, and
he took in a breath and enjoyed the familiar scents. He knew this would be a
place he would escape
to
often, and seeing the kid
gear, he felt a twinge of excitement at the idea of training others, perhaps
even his own kids.

“When you open the garage doors, it opens it
up further. So you like it?”

Alphy didn’t jump as he’d smelled Betty was
near. “Yeah, the only place I spent more time than the gym, was in the field of
battle. This isn’t old equipment, yet I don’t smell you’ve been here recently.”