Blue Moon III: Call of the Alpha (2 page)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Epilogue

About the Author

Also by A.E. Via

CALL

Call crouched low and pressed his back against the rough bark of the tall Spruce tree and trained his ears to any possible movement in his vicinity. It was too damn dark to see anything.
What I wouldn’t do for some night vision goggles right now.
But he didn’t have that luxury. He refocused on using his natural senses. He took in a deep but silent breath. Held it and closed his eyes. He heard the suave, lightly accented voice in his head.

Don’t underestimate man’s ability to use the Earth as his cover, his weapon, and his shield.
Call glided back into the indent in the dense bushes and hunkered down, practically belly crawling to lower ground. He had to stay out of sight. Had to wait for the perfect opportunity to switch from being the hunted to the hunter. Right now, he was the prey. He’d taken a different, jagged route into the vast acres of protected wilderness in hopes of throwing his hunter off his game.

He heard the echoes of the Thompson River. Its smooth trickling sounds, different from those of other rivers.
Damn. Have I already gone this far? Fuck
. Call stilled, his eyes widened at the sound of movement to his left.
Goddamnit
.
Could be an animal.
It was fall and there were plenty of deer, bears, and various other wildlife in the Jocassee Georges. He wished those clouds would break so he could get a little moonlight.

His heart beat frantically and he slowly pulled his Ka-Bar from the sheath strapped onto the side of his camouflage fatigues. He listened some more. The sound of crackling leaves on the wilderness floor reached his ears. Snaps and crunches of fallen twigs. The steps were measured. Calculated. They were not the steps of a four-legged beast… they were those of a two-legged man. A stealthy man.
Fuck
.

Call was up on his feet in a millisecond and sprinting back towards the river. He’d only gotten a few feet when a searing pain hit his left leg. The feeling didn’t have a chance to register in his brain, allowing him to realize that he’d been caught, because a split second later another shot struck him in his back. An organ shot. He’d bleed out in five minutes or less. “Fuck!” Call screamed to the wildlife flittering above him. He was so close to making it this time.

He turned around and looked down at his leg then back up at the dark forest behind him. He didn’t see his hunter. He squatted down and pulled the canteen from his tactical backpack. He took a long swig of the water and listened to the sounds of the night. He didn’t hear his approach, but he heard the smooth voice.

“You’re dead, Commander.”

“No shit, Alpha. How’d you do it this time?”

Alpha stood directly behind him, squatted and put his arms around Call’s strong body. “I can smell you,” he whispered.

Call chuckled deeply. “Get the fuck outta here.” He could feel Alpha’s sexy grin against the base of his throat.

“Seriously. You’re wearing my favorite aftershave. It’s spicy and strong. A scent like nothing else out here.” Alpha gently kissed Call’s pulse, now evenly beating under the damp skin on his neck.

Call pulled Alpha around to his front and the sleek man didn’t hesitate to straddle Call’s large lap. He gripped the back of Alpha’s head. The black, wool skullcap he wore kept him from running his hands through the dark strands of his lover’s hair. Call gently kissed Alpha’s soft lips. They placed languid kisses on each other’s faces. Call knew Alpha loved him more than anything in this world. He never knew such a love could exist, especially for a damaged man like him. The way he looked. He shouldn’t be with a man as beautiful as Alpha.

“I can taste your thoughts, John,” Alpha murmured in his Persian accent against Call’s scared cheek. “Why do you think these things when I’m touching you? Licking you. Fucking you.”

Call leaned back and rested his elbows in the soft soil, staring up at his partner. The moon had emerged from behind the dark clouds, just in time for him to feast on Alpha’s beauty. He shook his head. He had to stop doing this to Alpha. They’d been together two years now. How many times did he need to be reassured that Alpha wasn’t in love with the marred skin which covered the entire left side of his body? He was in love with the man within.

When the almost mythical, legendary assassin breached Call’s headquarters and showed himself to him and his team, Call had thought he’d never seen anything more stunning. But just like there was more to his lethal assassin than his outward appearance, the same applied to him. Call was one of the Navy’s most decorated SEALs. Commanding the country’s elite team, The Beastmasters, for fifteen years. He had dedicated his life to his country, just like his assassin’s had been dedicated to his Order. They both fought for justice and equality, sometimes pitting them against the same criminals and terrorists. But Alpha did it a little differently. He had only the laws of his Order to follow. Call had the laws of his country and the orders of his own Commander-in-Chief to follow. So when they encountered each other face-to-face for the first time two years ago while Call and his team were backing up Pierce’s – code name Backhander – mission, Alpha had showed himself to Call. No one had ever before laid eyes on the world’s deadliest man… and lived to give a description. 

Alpha had put his trust in Call before the man even knew him. Only knew of Call’s reputation. That’d been enough back then. Alpha’s words and actions should be enough for Call now, certainly after all this time. Call snapped upright and gripped Alpha’s forearms and yanked him into his solid chest.

“Yes,” Alpha growled, letting himself be handled by the big soldier. “That’s right. I’m all yours.”

Call rolled them and positioned himself on Alpha’s hard body. The man might be three inches shorter than Call’s 6’4” and under weigh him by almost fifty pounds, but his lover was all firm muscle. A body trained almost from birth by the Order of Imuma Aga Khan. He dug his hands inside Alphas thin, black pants that enabled him to move so freely, it sure as fuck was a convenience when Call quickly needed to get to Alpha’s thick cock. He was already hard for him. Aching and throbbing. Damn, they had it bad for each other. Alpha tilted his head to the side and let Call bite his throat. A surge of power rolled through Call anytime he had Alpha pinned under him. Fuck, the man’s name alone was an aphrodisiac to a man like Call.

“Let’s go to the Wright Falls,” Alpha hissed as Call continued his assault on the man’s finely tuned senses. “The temperature will be dropping soon, not much time left to swim.”

“Can’t.” Call licked his way to Alpha’s ear, chuckling softly. “You shot me in the leg.”

Alpha grinned back at him. “How many times do I have to tell you to stay down? Stand your position. I knew I was close to you, but I didn’t know exactly where you were.” Alpha nipped Call’s lip. “Until you got up and ran.”

“If the enemy is closing in, then you….”

“You make him come to you,” Alpha cut off Call’s standard military rules of engagement. “Pull him
in
to your trap. You’re thinking like you’re out here with your team and you have eight men watching your back. Hawk and Shot are not in a tree one hundred yards away ready to snipe anyone getting close to you. It’s me and you. One-on-one. Skill against skill. Mind against mind.”

“You’re too smart, Alpha. I wasn’t trained like you. You’ll always best me.” Call looked down at Alpha admirably.

“Only a wise man can understand wisdom.”

“Oh no. You’re talking in proverbs again. Come on, let’s go.” Call laughed and got up, reaching to pull Alpha with him.

“Fuck you.” Alpha chuckled, waiting for Call to pick up his backpack. “I’m just saying. You’re just as smart as I am in many aspects… smarter in some.”

“You’re stroking my ego now?”

“That’s one part of you that doesn’t need stroking. I’m saying I’ve only had myself to keep alive. You had an entire team to command. Assassins are groomed to work alone. They only put me with my brother when they noticed how well he responded to my presence. He could mimic me, almost anticipate my moves and follow them. We did more good together than separate.”

“So your brother worked alone at one point? All I ever heard were stories or theories on Alpha and Omega, never of you two apart.” Call’s footsteps were heavy as he trudged through the dark woods, since they were no longer playing their game. Alpha, always silent. He knew no other way to move.

“Yes. He did work alone for—”

Alpha’s mouth snapped shut, both men stopping at the sound of leaves rustling behind them. Silence. Call went for his knife, but Alpha’s glare told him not to move.
You never make a sound, never a movement.
Until you absolutely must
. Call remembered Alpha’s teaching. He could pull his knife or his weapon fast, but since he’d been learning from Alpha… he was even faster. After another few seconds of standing motionless, Alpha released a soft sigh.

“It’s a deer.”

“Where?”

“About three hundred twenty feet,” Alpha said coolly, continuing their journey.

“Jesus.” Call shook his head. He could see about a quarter of that distance in front of him in the darkness, even with the moon’s help.

“Night vision goggles spoiled you. You never had to use your natural sight that way.” Alpha reached back for Call’s hand, pulling him closer behind him as they walked.

“Very true. But I’m making another alteration to our game,” Call offered. “I’m getting rid of the rock salt shells. Those hurt, babe. Especially if you’re only twenty feet away.”

Alpha laughed at him. “I don’t even like guns. But you insisted. Soon it won’t be an issue anyway. You’re getting better every time, Commander. It’s taking me longer and longer to track you.”

Call didn’t say anything, but that was a helluva compliment. The first time they’d played their hunting game, Alpha had caught him in less than five minutes. Now they were up to three-and-a-half hours. They called it a game, but Alpha was serious when he hunted. He told Call to take it as seriously as if Alpha were really his enemy. It was one of Call’s favorite activities to do together – among other things.

It was nothing but beautiful, mountainous landscape around their secluded house on Lake Jocassee. Only accessible by boat. Their spacious home sat on five acres, tucked into a private cove. They were in their own environment. Separated from the world the way his lover needed to be right now. Call was more than fine with it. His entire team had retired after their last, near-fatal mission with Backhander. If it weren’t for Alpha, he’d be dead. He’d led men for over half his life. Now, he was happy to follow Alpha anywhere in the world. When Alpha had taken one look at him two years ago and told Call that he could see his weariness, he’d been right. Call was tired of the wars and strife. Now he had the best of both worlds. Trying to elude Alpha on the days they played kept his skills sharp and helped him cope with his new, calmer lifestyle without fully losing himself.

Call dropped his backpack on the ground and stared up at the waterfall a mile from their home. The four-hundred-foot portion of the falls was only accessible to them.

“Strip.”

Call quirked one side of his mouth. Damn, his man was something. Call pulled off his fleece, which was caked with dirt and grime from crawling on the forest ground. His army-green t-shirt was drenched from his sweat. Once he was bare-chested, he watched as Alpha’s mouth watered at the sight of the thick hair that lay slicked to his skin. Call slowly unbuttoned his fatigues and pushed them down to his knees, along with his briefs. “Come take off my boots,” he ordered in a husky tone.

Alpha was in front of him on his knees before Call could blink. He watched him unlace his boots and pull them off one at a time. Like he had the highest level of respect for this menial act. Alpha removed his pants for him and looked up at Call in all of his naked glory. His cock was right there, pointed at those pretty, tan lips. God how he wanted to thrust forward, but he’d wait – wait until they were in their spot. Alpha stood and removed his own clothes. Neither of them speaking. He turned Alpha and led him to the edge of the water. It was already chilly, but they were going to heat up pretty quickly. Once fully submerged in the rippling water, Alpha trembled in Call’s arms.