Racing The Alpha (Dirt Track Dogs #1) (2 page)

Her request sent Drake pacing again, his hand ripping through his hair with no regard to potential baldness.

“She could take the loft above the shop and I could move into the house with Surge,” Diz suggested. He’d been pretty quiet until now.

Drake stopped and stared at him.

“Yeah,” Surge said, “that could work.”

Drake turned his gaze on Blister.

He raised his hands. “Don’t look at me,” he said. “Even if I wanted to give up my tent, I doubt she’d want it.”

Tent? He lived in a
tent
? Huh. And she thought couch hopping was roughing it.

Drake nodded. “Yeah, okay.” He eyed her. “Above the shop sound good to you? We aren’t fancy out here, so it’s the best we got.” His voice was rough. He didn’t like any of this. And was probably pissed at her for beating him.

“Sounds perfect.”

“Great. Let’s go.”

He stalked off, and Ella was forced to follow.

The assault of emotions was confusing the hell out of Drake. He was angry for losing. He was frustrated for putting his boys in this situation—though they seemed to roll with it better than he’d expected. He was surprised and sad that Ella didn’t have a place to stay. That she was all alone in the world. His protective instincts were screaming over her, and that brought him to his most confusing feeling…

He wanted to bend her over his fucking car and mark the hell out of her. His wolf rumbled in agreement. She was
his
. His… fuck, she was his intended mate.

What would the guys say? They’d been celibate since forming a pack all those years ago. It wasn’t easy, and their wolves didn’t like it, but it had allowed them to focus their attention on things that mattered. Healing, for one. They’d each been through shit. But they were in a good place now. Well, mostly. The no female policy had served them all well.

But intended mates… that was a different thing entirely. Drake couldn’t—
wouldn’t
—deny his mate for the pack. Especially when she needed him.

“And now, you’ve seen the whole place.” His voice was gruff, but he was ready to be done with Tour de Dogs.

“What about Blister? He has a tent?”

Drake frowned. “Why do you wanna know where Blister stays?”

Ella shrugged. “You showed me where everyone else stays.”

“He lives past the holler, down by the creek. Stay away from there.” Drake turned and led her back to the shop.

“Listen,” she began, nearly running to catch up to him. “I’m sorry if I made you look bad in front of everyone. It wasn’t my intention. I just need the support of your club. I… I have goals.”

He spun, stopping so that she almost slammed into him. “Yeah? And what are they, your goals?”

She was tall, but the top of her head still fell level with his shoulders. She stared up at him with pale eyes that were still puffy from her post-race tears. Her dark hair blended into the black of the night, causing her sweet face to be center of attention.

Drake swallowed a growl.

“I… I want to win the Ark-La-Tex so I can buy myself a trailer. I could sell my car and get half of the money I need but… I can’t bear to part with it yet. I’d rather work for it. Win it.”

Well, damn. Some of the anger bled out of Drake. She was only trying to make it. To survive. What had happened to his mate that she was in this desperate position?

“You didn’t think twice about betting it in a race.”

Ella ducked her head. “It was risky.” She put a hand to her stomach and squeezed her eyes closed. “I don’t want to think about it anymore. I won. It’s all that matters. And I’ll win again. And again, until I have enough to buy a place to live.”

Silence spread between them. His mate was a fighter. A survivor. She fit in this club better than she knew.

“You have a place to live,” he said, trudging past the parked vehicles and throwing open the door to the shop. He held it for her and when she passed by, he breathed deep her scent.

She smelled dark and sultry. Like cinnamon and rum and something uniquely… wolfy.

Drake frowned.

Diz stomped down the stairs carrying several boxes. He gave Ella a lopsided grin. “It’s all yours, Tiger.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” she asked.

“Nah. Not even a little. You smoked Alph—er, Drake. You earned it.”

Drake glared at the wolf. They were going to have to be more careful with their words. Their actions. Everything. At least until he broke the news of what they were.

Yeah… how the hell to do that?

Diz shuffled past them, and Ella took the stairs. Drake followed her up but lost his footing when he got a look at what was in front of him.

Damn. His mate had a fiiiiiiine ass.

His knee hit the step with a bang, but his eyes never left her. He could watch her climb stairs from the fires of hell and not mind the burning.

She turned to find him knelt behind her. It was obvious he’d fallen. “Are you okay?” But then she followed his gaze to her own rear. “Wait, were you staring at my butt?” Her voice rose in surprise.

Drake scrambled to his feet. “Yes,” he groused, urging her up to the loft. Closer to her again, her unique scent assaulted him. She was fucking candy for his senses, but there was still that slight hint of shifter in the background. It confused the hell out of him since she also smelled human.

Inside, Ella took in the surroundings. “It’s much nicer than I expected. Huh, I was sure this would have bachelor pad written all over it.”

Drake shrugged. “Diz is a bit of a neat freak.”

“Well, I promise I’ll take good care of the place for him.” Her careful gaze slipped to his. “I won’t give you any trouble.”

Trouble. Yeah, he didn’t believe her for a second. But damn, he didn’t necessarily hate trouble. The right kind of trouble could be good for a person.

Desperate to imprint her scent, he bent close to her head, taking her in. To his surprise, she didn’t back away. Not even an inch. The door was still open. Maybe she didn’t feel threatened.

But she should. Unless…

“Why do you smell like a wolf?”

Could she be one of them? There hadn’t been female shifters in Cedar Valley since the forest fire twenty years ago. In fact, there were five shifters in total and they were all Dirt Track Dogs.

Ella’s cheeks flamed pink and she took a big step back, looking horrified and confused. “I uh…” She brought the neck of her shirt to her nose, sniffing. “Well, uh… Punk has a German shepherd? The dog and I shared the couch sometimes. Maybe… I guess that’s it.” Her mumbled reply sent a chill up his spine, but not because he thought she was a shifter.

“Who’s Punk?” he demanded.

The tips of Ella’s ears were on fire. “My friend.”

“What kind of friend?”

She tilted her head, her gaze narrowing on him. “How is it any of your business?”

Drake moved closer, crowding her until her back was against the wall. They were so close, her heavy breaths puffed against his chin and he could see her pupils dilating. His gaze fell to her slightly parted lips. He didn’t like her defying him. He wanted to kiss her mouth until she submitted and the answers flowed.

“What. Kind. Of friend, Ella?”

“Just a friend,” she rushed out. “She works with me at Red Cap. She let me stay on her couch when I couldn’t afford a hotel room anymore. She’s been kind to me.”

The tension left Drake. Relief. If Punk had been… more than a friend…

“You work at Red Cap?”

Ella nodded. “Now, can you back off? I don’t love that you think I stink and would prefer you weren’t close enough to smell me again.”

Drake pressed closer. Couldn’t help himself. She was a magnet, drawing him in.

“I never said you stink.” He bent until his nose grazed the skin below her ear. It was soft, and her hair danced around his face. Fuck, how long since he’d touched something soft? Since he’d smelled something so sweet? He breathed deep, expanding his lungs to full capacity and released a shaky breath. “You smell divine,” he whispered.

And like a rose unfurling, her scent intensified, blooming all around him until it resembled something else altogether. Something exquisite. Something that made his wolf crazy with want.

His mate was
aroused
.

If he didn’t pull away now, if he didn’t get the hell out of here and breathe the open air, he was going to chase her away. Aroused or not, he couldn’t risk scaring her before he could figure out what to tell her.

With a growl, he forced himself back, keeping his eyes on the floor, on the door, anywhere but her eyes.

“Breakfast,” he mumbled, digging in his pocket for his Bubblicious. He fumbled with the wrapper until he had a chunk free. “Surge cooks breakfast every morning in the big house. It’s his thing. Be there, and we’ll settle the schedule, figure out who’s doing what.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw her nod, her hands fluttering to her throat. “Yeah, okay. Thanks.”

He didn’t hang around for her to ask any questions. Instead, he beelined it outdoors. In the fresh air, his head cleared. Not enough, but the walk to the big house, putting distance between his wolf and Ella, helped.

Just as he suspected, the others were waiting for him when he got there. Their chatter went quiet when Drake slammed the door behind him.

“How’s our pet?” Surge asked, his eyebrows waggling.

“I personally, think this is a bad idea,” Beast said. “But clearly she needs us. We can’t very well throw her out.”

Diz threw a fry at Beast’s head. “Shut the fuck up, Beast. You know you’re as excited as the rest of us.”

Beast caught it before it hit, tossing a brutal glare at Diz. “How many fucking times do I have to tell you not to throw food at the dreads?” Beast was meticulous about his locks. He took great care to keep the dirt from the track out of them. Diz was always trying to fuck up his efforts with random shit.

“She’s not a pet,” Drake corrected.

Blister sat on a stool by the bar, his hands curved around a steaming mug. He stared into the cup, clearly avoiding the conversation.

“She’s my intended. And if any of you touch her, I’ll kill you.”

Blister’s head swung around to stare hard at Drake. In fact, all four of them looked at him like he’d grown another head.

Surge started laughing. It was like he couldn’t help it. Drake swore he’d laugh at a cricket rubbing its wings together.

“She’s… she’s your mate?” Beast’s voice was hard with unbelief. “Did you know? Did you let her win that race?”

“No,” Drake snapped. “I would never put you guys in that position. If I’d known what she was, I would’ve just left with her. She won on her own.”

“Wait,” Blister rose from his stool, “you would’ve
left
us?”

Drake sighed. Blister looked furious. Shit.

“What else could I have done? We don’t do females, and you think I’d bring mine into this camp, expecting you all to live with her. Should I have taunted you all with our relationship? Or should I have just forsaken her to remain alpha? What option makes you happy, Blister?”

The wolf hooked his hands on his hips, shaking his head. “Whichever option makes
you
happy, asshole.” He stalked off before Drake could muster a response.

“Blister’s right,” Diz said. “Isn’t that what we’ve been trying to accomplish here? All this resisting our instincts and urges is for a purpose, right? To get our heads straight so that one day we can have what’s meant for us. What makes you think we wouldn’t want to see our alpha happy? Like, what, we’d be jealous or resentful? For fuck’s sake, tell me you don’t think that little of us.”

“No. It’s not like that.”

“Look, we’re doing better, Drake. So much better. I hardly think about the fire anymore. And Surge doesn’t do that fucking nervous laugh when he sees things burn. And Beast is a tad less controlling and Blister… well, Blister still lives in a tent, but my point is we’re making progress. Why can’t one of us find happiness with a mate? Hell, maybe one day we all will.”

In the silence of the room, Drake had to admit it was a nice thought. That they might each somehow find a home for their heart. He wanted that. For himself and for the guys.

But mating wasn’t a one way street. And he was pretty sure it
never
came without complications.

Surge nodded, more serious than usual. “I know my cock hates me on a daily basis. I don’t know if it will ever forgive me for the deprivation.”

“Ditto,” Beast murmured. “Fucking Ditto.”

Drake had to laugh. Shit. Despite their training with the pack, would any of them even know what to do with a woman? This was going to be interesting.

He knew one thing, they’d treat Ella like a queen. These wolves had soft hearts even if he could only admit it in the secret places of his mind.

“Okay,” Drake said, shaking his head. “So I guess it’s time we take a step out of our comfort zone. But… cautiously. We need to stay level. We can’t afford to lose our way again. Hear me?”

The three wolves nodded in agreement.

The silence of the house was comforting. Something felt right about this decision. It felt natural. And his wolf was at peace knowing he wouldn’t have to choose between his mate and his pack.

Surge slapped his hand on the counter. “Alright, now that that’s all settled. Who wants me to tell them why our tiger smells like a wolf? Hmm?”