Beta’s Challenge (2 page)

Tara knew she had the look of a college student infatuated with her professor in her eyes when she finally reached the bar and her friends.

“Girl, what the hell? You were so close to that man you couldn’t tell where he ended and you started.”

“Who, Gabriel? He is nice, isn’t he?”

“
Nice
!
Tara,” Tia said, snapping her fingers in front of Tara’s face. 

They continued to talk and drink for the rest of the evening and every now and then, Tara would glance over to where Gabriel was sitting, catching him watching her. The night was coming to an end and the bartender announced last call.

“Ladies, it has been another fun evening ending with the same result. Going home alone,” Tara remarked as she picked up her bag.

“It doesn’t have to end that way. You have the hottest man in this place practically drooling all over you. Do your thang, girl,” Tia said, grabbing her bag and slipping her feet back into her pumps.

“I am NOT like you and you know it. I can’t just drop my drawers at the drop of a dime. I need to get to know someone before I let them put their hands in the cookie jar,” Tara quipped.

“At the rate you’re going, the cookies in that jar will be old, stale and brittle as hell before anyone gets close enough to think about putting their hands in it,” Tia replied.

“Fuck you, too, Tia,” Tara threw back over her shoulder as all three reached the door.

“You guys be careful going home and don’t call me until in the morning. I think I had too much to drink and I’m going home to crash,” Tara told Toya and Tia as she headed in the direction of her vehicle.

“You be careful, too, Tara,” Tia said heading toward her own vehicle.

“Are you sure you are okay to drive, Tara? It would be pretty shitty for one of the top lawyers in this town to get a DUI on her way home from the club,” Toya, always the levelheaded one, asked.

“I’m fine, Toya. Go home and dream about the dick you won’t be getting tonight. I know I am,” Tara shot back. The both laughed and walked on.

As Tara crossed the lot to her car, a familiar scent hit her nose as a strong gust of wind rose out of nowhere. She felt light-headed and started to sway. Strong hands caught her waist, steadying her.

“Thank you. I don’t know what…”

“I think maybe you’ve had too much to drink. Are you sure you are okay to drive home?” Gabriel said as he slowly turned her toward him. He stared at her as if he could eat her alive, right there in the parking lot.

“Yes, Gabriel. I am fine. Just a strong wind and a smell… Wait! Are you following me?”

“Yes. I wanted to make sure you go to your car safely,” Gabriel said as he slowly released Tara’s waist, making sure she was steady on her feet as he did.

“Right! Or did you just want to see what kind of car I drive?” Tara inquired.

“Okay, there is that, too,” Gabriel chuckled.

Shaking her head chuckling to herself, Tara placed her key in the lock then looked back up at Gabriel. “Thank you again for catching me. Don’t want to think about what my face would have looked like if it had met the gravel in this parking lot.”

“Goodnight, beautiful Tara. I
will
see you again.”

Tara didn’t know what to make of that comment so she got in her car, closed the door, started the ignition and headed home.

Gabriel stood there and watched as Tara pulled out onto the road. He could feel his two companions walking up behind him, but never took his eyes off Tara’s car until the taillights were no longer visible.

“Did you tell her Gabriel?” Tomas, Gabriel’s second-in-command, asked as he walked up to Gabriel’s right side.

“No, Tomas, I didn’t. However, she is my Prima. She verified that when she scented me on the breeze. I think it’s best for me to take my time. I will go to her tomorrow and let her get to know me a little better before I tell her anything. It won’t matter much. She is my Prima and now that I have found her, I won’t let her get away.”

Adrian said, “We better get out of here. We don’t know if Mikal or any of his flunkies have figured out where we are so we still can’t afford to be out in the open.”

“You’re right, of course,” Gabriel said as he, Tomas and Adrian walked toward Gabriel’s Audi Q7, got in and drove off.

On the way back to their temporary residence, Gabriel began thinking about the day he left the pack. The events of that devastating day still weighed heavily on his mind. Gabriel realized Mikal, the alpha of his former pack, had lost most of the packs respect due to their altercation. He could not believe the mandates Mikal put into place to “preserve the pack” as he called it. More members of the pack had tried to leave, only a few of them making it out—Tomas and Adrian being two of the ones successful.

Reaching ‘home’, Gabriel, Tomas, and Adrian walked into their house after carefully scenting the surrounding area for any potential threats. Noting nothing out of the ordinary, they went in.

Gabriel’s mind continued to replay that fateful day and the events he’d heard about since then. He’d heard the females were being raped on a daily basis and beaten if they fought back. The men who would not take part in the rapings and beatings were raped and beaten themselves. The young were witnesses to all this and were threatened with the knowledge they would receive the same if they refused when their time came.

Gabriel also heard that because of the escalating violence, Mikal had placed the blame on Gabriel’s head and had issued a bounty for his capture. He was to be brought back to the pack’s grand meeting room where he would be ‘dominated’ by Mikal before the entire pack. Domination was Mikal’s only form of power. He felt that if he could dominate, in any way possible but especially sexually, he had the power to rule. Gabriel had not known this about his longtime friend until he became alpha.

Gabriel removed his clothes and took a long shower. The heat of the water cascading off his toned body did little to soothe him. He should have been elated that he had found his Prima, the one person fated for him, his perfect match, and his soul mate. Instead, Gabriel lay in bed, ‘seeing’ the same scene over and over.

He had been so proud of Mikal for becoming alpha and choosing him to be his beta. They had been friends since they were five-year-old cubs wrestling in the fields and chasing their parents’ tails. They were inseparable. Wherever you saw one, the other was not far behind. However, he could not believe his childhood friend would rationalize the treatment of their females in such a way. Mikal had always been one to run around and fuck any female that would spread her legs for him, be it in human or wolf form, but to make it mandatory was beyond all rational and humane thought.

Exhausted and defeated, Gabriel turned his thoughts to his Prima.

He lay there thinking of Tara. Her smile lit up the room like an early spring morning sunrise. Her mocha skin looked like the silkiest, richest, most expensive chocolate he’d ever tasted and it was as soft as a baby’s blanket. She smelled of strong alpha female—feisty and opinionated, yet with a subtle hint of ultra femininity that would set any man’s soul on fire. Her light brown eyes, almost catlike, reminded him of creamy caramel. Her voice rolled over his skin like the thickest honey and her hips, good lawd, the woman’s hips had a sway that would put any siren’s song to shame. She had long muscular legs that showed she was no stranger to the gym. Her C-cup breasts were high and firm and when they’d danced, her taut nipples poked his chest through their clothes. She fit his body like a well-tailored suit, one he was dying to get into.

His dick was hard enough to hammer nails into a brick wall now. Thinking of her had worked him into a frenzy of need Gabriel wasn’t sure he would be able to extinguish. Slowly, he moved his hand down his torso, paying extra special attention to his now equally hard nipples. He grabbed the base of his member and began stroking himself. Thoughts of Tara writhing beneath him, a light sheen of sweat covering her body, played and replayed in his head. His stroking became faster and faster. He moved his free hand down and stroked his sac. He would not last much longer and the visions were becoming more and more vivid. A few more strokes and Gabriel arched off the bed, a tight grip on his dick, and spilled his seed on his belly. A few jets even reached his chin.

After a few moments of aftershocks and some leisurely strokes, Gabriel was able to get his breathing back under control. He rolled out of the bed and went to the bathroom to clean up. Returning to the bed, he lay back. Thoughts of Tara danced through is now lazy, semi-satiated mind.

“The next seed I spill will be inside of you, my Prima,” Gabriel promised himself as he released his mind and drifted into a fitful sleep.

Chapter Two

 “Have you located Gabriel, Tomas and Adrian yet?” Mikal Mitchell, alpha of the Seeley Lake, Montana pack, asked as he sat back in his chair with his fingers steepled in front of his nose.

“No, Mikal. We have looked everywhere, we’ve had sightings of them, but have not pinpointed their exact location.”

“That’s not what I wanted to hear, Valeen. You are my beta since Gabriel decided he couldn’t deal with my rules concerning the pack. I expect more of you. Don’t make me regret my decision in making you my second. Now, go out and don’t come back unless you’ve either located them or have them with you. Remember,
no
one
touches Gabriel other than to subdue him. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Mikal,” Valeen said and hurried out the door.

As Mikal sat there, his thoughts went back to the day when his childhood friend and second in command betrayed him before the entire pack.

The entire pack was assembled in the great hall of the alpha’s house. There was so much despair among the pack Mikal could feel it in the air. He had just informed the pack of his new plan to increase the packs size and strength when Gabriel, outraged to no end, stepped forward.

“I do not agree with your mandates for the pack. Females are to be cherished and honored above all others. We must not treat our women as subordinates if we are to survive and become a stronger pack,” Gabriel had proclaimed much to Mikal’s disbelief. He went on to say, “This isn’t right and I can’t go along with this.”

The other pack members watched the altercation, eyes full of fear, nodding their heads in consent.

“You don’t have the authority to question me on this or any other mandate I proclaim, Gabriel. I am the pack alpha.  I say our pack will grow and become a force to be reckoned with as our numbers increase and our strengths grow. Our women’s purpose is to birth and rear our young. Doing away with that ancient concept of every male having his one true Prima allows for stronger relationships amongst the pack because there is no clear fraternal parentage established, thus the males would protect the young as well as the females with their lives because the young could very well be his own,” Mikal roared back at Gabriel.

“But at what cost, Mikal? Loyalty by fear? Our women have no choice in the matter. All they will become are objects to be used and/or misused as the men see fit. Is this your idea of strengthening the pack?” Gabriel retorted in disgust.

“If you disagree with my mandates, you are free to leave, Gabriel. Just remember, if you choose to leave, there is no forgiveness should you change your mind. This will be considered an act of treason and you will never be welcomed in the pack again. You will be without pack companionship or protection. I will also ensure you will not be welcome in any other pack either. This I promise you,” Mikal stated standing now in front of Gabriel, gaze burning a hole thru him.

Gabriel looked Mikal straight in the eyes, sighed, shook his head, then simply said, “As you wish, Mikal.”

Gabriel turned, looked at every face in the meeting hall, bowed his head and walked out never looking back.