Her Alphas (5 page)

Jeremiah slid in and out of her, varying his pace and
seeming to concentrate as much on Jenny’s pleasure as his own. She felt herself
climbing and he quickened his thrusts. At the ideal moment, one of the women
reached down and massaged Jenny’s clit. She came undone and bucked hard against
shaman until he jerked inside her and she felt his cum seep onto the leather
table.

Alex was next and he did not meet Jenny’s gaze as entered
her. When he closed his eyes and pumped away like some robot, she supposed he was
thinking about that fucking human, Gwen. Alex finished quickly and stepped
aside.

Jenny lifted her head and saw the line of more than a dozen
men waiting to have their turn at her. Sergei was at the end, and the thought
of his enormous cock finishing her off made her forget all about Alex’s slight.
She wriggled with anticipation as the next man took his position.

Though Jeremiah had instructed that each male must only
enter her once and then retreat, every one of them made his moment last. They
rubbed their cock heads over her slippery opening and teased her throbbing clit
before pushing slowly into her. Once inside, each one ground against her pelvis
and—with the ministrations of the females—Jenny flowed from one climax to the
next.

At first Jenny looked down as each man approached and opened
his robe, comparing long, thin cocks to the short, thick ones. But soon she
untethered herself from rational thought, closed her eyes, and let herself
float above the ceremony. She had never experienced such ecstasy. Until this
moment, she hadn’t even known it was possible.

Sergei fought to hide his excitement. The wolf within him
writhed beneath his skin, but shifting before the ceremony was complete would
be unthinkable.

Seeing Jenny sprawled out on the altar, bound hand and foot,
was almost more than he could bear. So many times he’d tried to cajole her into
submitting to him and just as many times she’d violently refused.

With three pack members in front of him, and Jenny’s body
glistening with sweat and sex, Sergei was overwhelmed by pride. Their hunger
for her was apparent and most nodded their approval to him as they filed away
from the writhing initiate.

He wasn’t jealous of the others touching her—even mated
pairs were free to share their bodies as they saw fit. In this world, unions were
rarely exclusive. Most often they were established as practical partnerships.

Like all other werewolves, his instinct was to protect his
mate. They would share food and shelter and defend each other to the death
against attack. The behavior was hardwired—developed over centuries to survive
on the fringes of human society.

Sergei suspected that his other urges were less common. He
longed for a mate who would defer to him, obey him in all things and allow him
to lovingly punish her when he saw fit. The big Russian was ashamed of his
proclivities—believing they were a weakness best left to mortals.

He shook away his dark fantasies and focused on the black cloak
of the male in front of him. The fabric swayed as he ground into Jenny. When he
stepped away, Sergei swept his gaze over Jenny’s body. His cock ached as he
approached her.

The tension in the cave was palpable as each individual
fought against the relentless pull of the rising moon. None would find release
until Sergei had his. He stepped between Jenny’s spread legs and reached up for
the button that fastened his cloak. Saliva flooded his mouth as he let the
garment fall to the floor and readied to enter her.

A familiar scent pulled Jenny back to earth. She opened her
eyes and saw an impossibly tall, hooded figure standing between her quivering
thighs. Though she knew it was Sergei, she still gasped when he unbuttoned his
robe and let it fall to the ground. He was magnificent and he was all hers.

A wicked smile crossed Jenny’s lips when she saw his
beautiful cock poised just outside her throbbing pussy. “Can I touch
him
?”
she asked one of the females attending her. The woman nodded and Jenny let go
of the straps. Her fingers were stiff from grasping them so tightly, but she
closed them around his hard shaft and guided him into her. Sergei eased her
legs from the stirrups and wrapped them around his narrow waist, then slid his
big hands behind her back and lifted her against his broad chest.

Grabbing Jenny’s ass, Sergei slid her up and down on his
enormous rod. She clung to his shoulders and let him impale her again and
again. The crowd closed in around them and the intensity of their stares was
exhilarating. It fed her lust and this time when her orgasm came, she threw
back her head and bayed. An instant later, Sergei filled her with his cum and
joined her call. Soon the howls of the entire pack were bouncing off the stone
walls. Jenny bathed in their energy and knew she was destined to lead them.

Present

Sergei didn’t stop to unload the livestock trailer at his
barn. Instead he drove directly to his house. The phone conversation with Alex had
set Sergei on edge. Since becoming alpha, Alex had become more adept at
shielding his thoughts, but his worry was clear. Sergei had his own reasons to
be concerned. After hanging up with Alex, Sergei had tried to reach Jenny, but
she wasn’t answering her cell either.

The big Russian leapt onto the front porch and burst through
the door. He didn’t bother calling out for Jenny. He could sense she wasn’t
there. Following his nose through the house, he stopped in the kitchen. Her
scent was strongest at the back door. Before he stepped outside, he pulled his
cell phone from his pocket and hit redial. Sergei wheeled around and followed
the rhythmic buzzing. He found his mate’s phone on the counter under a stack of
mail.

“Dammit, Jenny,” he muttered.

He had hoped that she would become more responsible once
she’d been inducted into the pack, but it seemed she was even more willful and
wild. And her mood swings were frightening. One moment she was professing her
undying love for him and begging him to fuck her, and the next she was flying
into a rage, coming at him as if intent on clawing out his eyes. At her worst,
Jenny had a razor-sharp tongue and showed no respect for Sergei—either as her
mate or a senior wolf.

Though Alex had assured him that Jenny had done very well
during her final stay in the fledgling cave, Sergei had begun to wonder if it had
all been an act. Could she have figured out a way to suppress her wildness long
enough to pass the human consort’s test?

Sergei had fallen hard for the little woman the instant he
laid eyes on her. She’d wandered into the enclave, newly bitten and dazed, soon
after Alex had unseated Sergei as alpha. Before Jenny had spent her first night
in the fledgling cave, Sergei had petitioned the new leader for her. To his
credit, Alex harbored no resentment and graciously consented to the match.

For all of her raging and tantrums, Sergei was determined to
make the pairing work. He was certain that things would improve as she matured.
Her physical strength had advanced faster than any other werewolf Sergei had
encountered. It was her lack of self-control and her underdeveloped psychic
abilities that concerned him the most.

He had tried many times to communicate with her
telepathically, but he couldn’t seem to break through to her. When he attempted
to probe her thoughts, he was met with a kind of white noise. Alex thought it
might have something to do with all the recreational drugs Jenny had taken and
he encouraged Sergei to be patient until her brain healed itself.

Sergei had even toyed with the idea that she was willfully
blocking him. He knew it was a foolish notion, but he was desperate for
answers. There were times when she seemed more animal than human. A sickening
thought rose into Sergei’s consciousness. Gwen Chaney was safe among werewolves
because she was protected under pack law. But the law was meaningless to one
who made her own rules.

Stuffing his cell into his jeans pocket, Sergei flung open
the back door and bolted through the yard. He quickly located a fresh scent
trail at the edge of the tree line and followed it into the woods.

After finding the pile of bloody carcasses near a brush
pile, Sergei bolted through the forest and was on Gwen’s porch in a matter of
minutes. It was against pack policy to run full speed during the daylight, lest
they attract unwanted attention, but given what he’d smelled in the clearing,
he knew he’d have to risk it.

The unique fragrances of Jenny, Gwen and the pet dogs would
be clear to any werewolf. It was the more subtle scents of fear, rage, and
murderous intent that made Sergei’s heart thunder in his chest.

* * * * *

Even with refueling stops to feed the Stingray’s whirring
engine, Alex still made the three-hundred mile trip from Minneapolis to Talbot
in half the usual time. An hour from home, Sergei had called to say that he was
at Gwen’s cabin and she was safe and sound.

“All is well, friend.” That’s what the big Russian had said.
But it didn’t take a telepath to understand that the words were empty. The
strain in Sergei’s voice was apparent and even over the hum of the motor, Alex
could hear his panicked heartbeat. He’d asked Sergei to pass the phone to Gwen.

“I’m fine, Alex,” she’d insisted. “I just had a little scare.
Sergei is going to hang out with me until you get here.”

A little scare?

He’d have to leave it at that for now. They never discussed
pack business on the phone. It was impossible to tell who might be listening.
There were too many monster-hunters out there trying to prove the existence of
supernaturals. Some of them even had TV series on the same network as Alex’s
show.

A thousand scenarios raced through Alex’s mind. None of them
was pleasant. Something had spooked Gwen and he’d have to wait until they were
face-to-face to find out if it was animal, human, or something in between.

For all of his concern, Alex felt oddly vindicated to learn
he wasn’t just overreacting to his nightmare. Alex was great at interpreting
animal behavior, but he sucked at dream analysis. He wished he could get Jeremiah
on the phone. The old shaman could see the hidden omens better than anyone
else. Well, almost anyone.

The idea came to Alex like a bolt of lightning. “Call Tommy
Longtree,” he instructed the wireless.

The leader of the Cat People picked up on the third ring.
“What’s up, Alex?”

“Hey Tommy, I’m on the way back to Talbot. I’ll be passing
your place in about ten minutes and I was wondering if you’d like to take a
ride. I want to pick your brain about a dream I had.”

“You don’t want to do it by phone?” Tommy asked.

“Not this one,” Alex said. He knew he didn’t have to explain
any further. Tommy’s people had the same interest in secrecy that the
werewolves had.

Tommy laughed. “Oh, got it. Yeah, I’m down at the docks
doing a little fishing. I’ll start hoofing it toward the highway and meet you
in ten at the County C turnoff. I’m happy to help, but, Alex…man, I’m sure you
haven’t forgotten what a royal fuckup my last interpretation turned out to be.”

No, he hadn’t forgotten the last time Longtree had read a
dream. The action he’d taken based on that misunderstanding had formed the
basis for Alex and Gwen’s relationship.

“See you in ten,” Alex said and ended the call.

* * * * *

A Year Earlier

Alex should have known from how it began that his relationship
with Gwen would never be ordinary. They’d met on a forest trail in the
aftermath of a cougar attack. He’d found her and her dog, Jezebel, squaring off
against the big cat. By the time Alex had arrived on the scene and scared off
the cougar with a warning shot, Jezebel had almost had her furry head ripped
off and Gwen had earned a sprained ankle in the bargain.

He’d brought both of them back to the clinic, sewn up the
dog’s neck and bandaged the woman’s leg. As far Gwen was concerned, Alex had
saved her life and he’d let her go on believing that.

She had just moved into the cabin her late grandfather had
bequeathed to her and still had no idea that he’d left her a lot more than real
estate. In the days to come, she would not only learn that werewolves existed,
she’d find out that her family legacy made her next in line to serve the Moon
People as their human consort.

Alex had almost convinced himself that he hadn’t told her
about the other shifters because that information was on a need-to-know basis
and, at that point, she already had plenty on her plate. Deep down, he supposed
he kind of liked having her think of him as her knight in shining armor.

His connection with Gwen had been immediate and intense.
He’d known from the moment she was within his range of sight and smell that he had
to have her. And, if she thought the woods were full of wild animals that could
harm her, all the better. Her fear would keep her safe until she understood
exactly how dangerous the shadow world really was.

The cougar that had jumped out of the underbrush and
attacked her dog wasn’t like anything found in the zoo. It wasn’t even like the
werewolves—not exactly. Tommy Longtree and the rest of his clan were an
entirely different breed of cat. They were shifters in the true sense of the
word. Werewolves merged man and beast—retaining the physical characteristics of
both when they were in supernatural form. Shifters retained their human
sensibilities, but in all other ways became their totem animal.

Werewolves were made, but shifters were born. Their
supernatural powers were in their DNA. Among all shifters, the Cat People were
the most ancient and gifted. They read minds and could see auras of light
around humans and supernatural beings.

Tommy had explained that the glowing clouds that surrounded
every intelligent being were more telling than their thoughts or actions. They
revealed the true nature of individual.

“You know that saying, ‘Show your true colors’?” Tommy had
asked one night over drinks. “People think that’s referring to the flags of
nations or warships. Uh-uh. That’s ours. My people were reading ‘true colors’
long before the first nation—or the first fucking warship for that matter—was
ever dreamed up.”

The instant Alex had stumbled upon Gwen and Jezebel facing
off with the cougar, he knew he wasn’t dealing with a wild animal. He could smell
Tommy’s unique mystical essence and hear the frantic thoughts from the man
within the beast.

Protect!

The Cat People had their own set of rules, but one law
reigned supreme among shifters—human consorts were not only off limits, they were
sacred and to be protected. Even as Tommy Longtree’s razor-sharp claws were
slashing away at the golden retriever, Alex knew his intent was to save Gwen,
not harm her.

The rifle blast hadn’t scared Tommy away, it had stopped the
attack long enough for him to realize that Alex had arrived and that he would
take over from there. No matter what had driven Tommy to attack, Gwen was
ultimately tied to the werewolf pack, and—all things being equal—those were lines
no other supernatural being could cross.

Alex had crossed lines himself that night. After he had
brought Gwen home, he had been overcome by his attraction to her. When she had
reciprocated, they’d been writhing around on her couch, lost in passion, when
Alex had felt himself start to shift. He had been out of control and it had
scared the hell out of him. Before they could finish the act, he’d bolted into
the night and run to Sergei’s home.

Sergei had eventually calmed Alex down and sent him on his
way. It had been the middle of the night, and Alex was so shaken that he’d
dialed up the Cat People’s leader—not caring if he woke him.

“What the hell, Longtree?” Alex had screamed into the phone.

“Listen man, I was just working with the information I had.
Markov told me the new human consort was in town, and I had this dream—”

“You scared the hell out of her and almost decapitated her
pet, Tommy!”

“I’m sorry, Alex. I thought she was in danger. My bad.”

“Your bad? Stay the fuck out of our territory, Longtree!”

Alex had hung up before letting the man-cougar explain.

* * * * *

Present

The tall, lean leader of the Cat People was exactly where
he’d said he would be—standing at the junction of the two-lane highway and the
rutted county road. Alex swung the ‘Vette onto the gravel shoulder and reached
across the passenger seat to push open the door.

“Where should I put these?” Tommy asked, holding out a
stringer heavy with sunfish.

“Throw ’em in the ditch,” Alex muttered.

Tommy glanced at his catch. “No fucking way, man. This is
dinner.”

Alex rolled his eyes.
Fucking cats.

“I heard that, dude,” Tommy said, then folded his long body
into the sports car and laid the still-flopping fish on the floor mat between
his boots.

“Where’s your rod?” Alex asked.

Tommy grabbed the inside of his upper thigh. “Right here,
motherfucker!”

Alex chuckled in spite of himself. The leader of the Cat
People had been walking the earth for centuries, but he still looked and acted
like a college kid.

“Your
fishing
rod, moron.”

Tommy smoothed back his silky waist-length black hair. “Oh,
that. I left my rod and tackle down at the docks. Nobody will take it. And if
they do, it just means they needed it more than me.”

“What’s that, some kind of ancient Indian wisdom?”

“That’s
Native American
wisdom to you, dog breath.”

Alex shook his head and grinned. The tension that had
consumed him since he’d woken up in a cold sweat from his dream seemed to drain
away in Tommy’s presence. The Cat King always had a calming effect on Alex.
He’d been introduced to Tommy soon after his induction into the wolf pack.

Sergei had told Alex about the bears and other shifters, and
explained that they mostly kept to themselves. But the Cat People, he’d said, were
unlike any other supernatural beings. Their hierarchy wasn’t determined by
challenges or even lineage. There was just a cosmic understanding as to who
their leaders were. It was preordained and undeniable.

The U.S. population was divided by the Mississippi River and
Tommy Longtree was the undisputed leader of the eastern clan.

The two men rode in silence for a few miles and Tommy didn’t
flinch when the speedometer hovered around one-hundred-twenty. Finally the Cat
King spoke.

“So, this dream…”

Alex ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah, I’ll get to that.
First tell me about yours—the one you had before the…incident…with Gwen and her
dog.”

Tommy paused and cleared his throat. “About that, man, like
I said, I just misread the signs.”