The Alpha's Reluctant Mate (12 page)

“You have a relationship?” That was interesting news.

Epenie scowled. “If by relationship you mean does he boss me around and try to control my every movement, I guess so.”

“Do you like him?”

She chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. “I do, I like him a lot.”

“But?”

“I just don't see how it could work long-term.”

I frowned. “Why not?”

“Look at him. Look at you for that matter and every other werewolf. You could all be poster children for Stepford. All of you are perfect. I'm just me.”

“What you are is gorgeous and pretty great yourself!” I said firmly.

“Let's not worry about it until I know for sure he even wants me.”

“But…”

She held up a hand to halt my speech. “Enough of that for now, let's see what you can do.”

Topic apparently closed for discussion, I sat back down on the floor to experiment with my body-altering abilities.

It worked! I found if I concentrated on my hand, first my fingers lengthened and broadened, then sharp dagger-like claws sprang from the ends of all my fingers.

Stopping the process there, I held up my hand for Epenie to see.

“That is wicked! You could really do some damage with that thing,” she said, studying my hand closely.

As she held my hand, I shifted it back to its human form.

“Ewwwww! Don't do that again while I'm touching you! I could feel all the bones in your hand shifting and popping back into shape.”

I laughed, “Sorry, I just wanted to see your reaction.”

“Grossed out!”

As the afternoon continued I found a partial shape between woman and wolf, in which I could still walk but looked more wolf than human. My face elongated with rows of razor-sharp teeth, and wolf ears poked out from beneath my long hair.

My body was more wolf, with a powerfully built torso and big fully formed hands and feet still human in shape but tipped with lethal-looking claws.

I was in that form when Tera walked in.

“That is your best form for fighting,” she said matter-of-factly as she seated herself on the floor at Epenie's feet. “You are almost as strong as the wolf but you still have the flexibility and dexterity of a human. Of course thumbs are pretty useful too.”

Shifting back to my human form, I nodded. “Are you going to teach me to fight?”

“In a few days, when you have completely mastered your new form.”

“What's left to master?”

Tera laughed. “Quite a bit really. You have to get used to your new senses or you could become overwhelmed in the heat of battle and lose focus.”

“I don't feel like my senses are overwhelmed.”

“You're in a controlled environment. Out in the world, new scents and sounds bombard you. You have to be able to sense everything without being overwhelmed to truly be effective outside the community; effective and safe without one of us around.”

“So basically you plan to keep me here indefinitely,” I said flatly.

“No, just a little longer,” Tera said softly.

Irritated, I stood and walked to my dresser, pulling out underwear and a short set. I was done with show and tell for the moment, reality having taken all the fun out of it.

Once dressed complete with socks and shoes, I looked at Epenie and Tera. “I'm going for a walk. Will you watch Dizzy?”

“Sure,” Epenie said, getting up from the chair and calling Dizzy as I walked out the front door.

Tera didn't try to stop me or give me any warnings about staying on the compound. I guess she knew I needed some space.

As I walked, I began to get even more irritated by the highhanded way I was being treated. I wasn't a child; I'd been on my own and able to make my own decisions for quite some time.

I decided that I needed my car and some more things from my apartment. Why shouldn't I go get them?

With my new body I could be all the way to my apartment in less than an hour and I wasn't going to ask the big kahuna for permission either.

Thus decided, I made short work of leaping the compound wall and flew across the grounds of the surrounding neighborhood.

When I came to the even higher wall surrounding the subdivision, I hesitated a moment, looking back toward the compound.

“Why should I feel guilty?” I muttered the question to myself. They were keeping me prisoner, not the other way around.

Taking a deep breath, I leapt for the top of the wall.

“Alexandria!” Connor's voice barked to me from where he stood at the base of the wall.

I frowned down at him from the top of the wall. “I'm going to town to get some things from my apartment and I want my car.”

“Now is not the time…”

“Now is the perfect time. If I am going to learn to control my new senses I can't stay in a bubble. That doesn't make sense.” After stating my intentions. I jumped neatly from the wall to land lightly on the street that led away from Wolf Creek.

Before I got more than a few steps, Connor was standing next to me. “I told you no.”

I studied the tightness of his jaw; he was really trying hard not to just order me back to the compound. I appreciated the effort, but he needed to understand that I was never going to be able to follow orders blindly. “I wasn't asking.”

“In this pack and in my home, my word is law. You will obey me, young lady.” His tone was stern and while part of me wanted nothing more than to sink to my knees in front of him in submission, the other part of me wanted to rip his throat out for daring to try to put me on a leash.

I growled low in my throat before I could even form a rational response.

In an instant Connor was on one knee and I was over the other as his hand fell hard and fast on my upturned bottom.

I yowled in response to the fierce sting; for a child's punishment, this really hurt! “Stop this instant! You've no right to treat me this way!”

In response he reached beneath me and unfastened my jeans, jerking both them and my panties to my knees in one smooth motion. I tried to hold on to my pants but even with my new strength I was no match for Connor. “Please, not on my bare bottom!” I wailed.

“You've earned this by your defiant behavior, young lady! I'm only trying to keep you safe,” he said firmly as his hand began to fall on my bare backside.

I quickly learned that my clothing had cushioned a lot more of the blows than I'd realized. In a matter of minutes after a quick barrage of spanks I was howling in a combination of outrage and pain.

Connor ignored me and continued to pepper my bottom until I felt tears springing to my eyes; the intense burning heat in my bottom seemed to grow to epic proportions with each new swat. My shoulders slumped in submission; not defeat, but I was definitely conceding this particular skirmish.

My submission must have been all he was waiting on because as soon as my shoulders slumped, the spanking ended and he flipped me upright to sit rather gingerly on his knee.

I sniffed and tried to hide my wet face in his shirtfront, but Connor forced my face up to his by placing a finger firmly beneath my chin.

“I didn't want to have to spank you so soon in our relationship, Xandie, but you will obey me, especially where your safety is concerned.”

I felt my back stiffen once more and I glared into his eyes. “So anytime I don't agree with you, I can expect to be beaten? You make mating sound so very attractive.”

“Xandie, I didn't beat you and you know it. Life in a pack has a definite pecking order and I'm at the top of the heap. My pack and my mate all follow my orders. There is room to question but it should always be respectfully. I'm an alpha and I won't tolerate anything less, and yes, mate, I will spank you if you disobey me. Next time, however, this spanking will seem like child's play. I went easy on you because this was your first taste of discipline,” he told me, never releasing my eyes from his hypnotic gaze.

“This is barbaric! I feel like a prisoner,” I whispered softly. It was strange to feel so comforted by his embrace yet be so angry with him and the whole situation. I was glad he was ignoring the scent of arousal surely telling him I wasn't as opposed to his discipline as I was saying I was. Shaking my head with a shuddering sigh, I realized I wasn't quite ready to take any of this out of its box and examine it. It was better saved for another day.

Connor's features softened and he sighed, “If this is that important to you, I'll take you.”

He gently lifted me to my feet and righted my clothing for me. I winced as my pants came up over my tender bottom.

As I watched, he turned to the gate guard and ordered his car brought around. It seemed only a matter of minutes before we were in his Ford Explorer and headed into the city.

“This is against my better judgment,” he said, breaking the silence.

“I won't be kept prisoner, Connor.” I frowned at him as I shifted in the seat trying to find a more comfortable position for my still burning behind.

“I have no desire to keep you prisoner, I just want you safe,” he said with an unbending tone.

“You can't be with me every moment of every day. The sooner I learn to use my new senses, the sooner I can be trained to defend myself and the rest of the pack,” I reasoned.

He growled under his breath, “You shouldn't have to defend yourself or anyone else. It's my job to keep you safe. You're my…”

“Please don't say it.” I held up a hand to emphasize my words. “If it ever has a chance of working between us, it has to be given room to develop normally. Like a normal couple, we may have met under extraordinary circumstances but does that mean we can't date and get to know each other before we commit to anything?”

“I was committed to you from the moment I first laid eyes on you in that coffee shop; of course you didn't give me the time of day,” Connor said ruefully, giving me a meaningful glance.

Blushing, I looked away from him. “I don't remember meeting you before coming to the compound.”

“So I've been told; so much for my ego.”

I smirked, “Somehow I don't think your ego has suffered that much.”

“I don't know; you seem determined to hammer me down to size.”

“No, I don't! Just because I want time and a normal courtship doesn't mean anything against you.”

He nodded and pulled up to my apartment building, watching as I undid my seatbelt. “In the interest of our relationship, how about lunch?”

I only hesitated for a moment before agreeing.

“Good, can you get what you need and meet me at the Chinese place up the road by one?”

“That shouldn't be a problem,” I said, relieved to be given some time to myself. Connor watched from his car until I was safely inside the building.

My apartment seemed a little alien to me instead of like the home it had been for the last five years. It was a little deflating to realize that I no longer belonged here.

Whether or not I belonged at the compound remained to be seen, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt this was no longer my home.

As I walked into the kitchen, I was surprised to see the walls freshly painted and a new smoke detector installed where the old one had been. All evidence of my little broom episode had been erased.

I wondered how long it would take for my old identity to be erased from the rest of the world once I left.

It took less time than expected to gather up the things I wanted at the cottage and load them in my car. I would arrange to have the rest packed up and put in storage until I had a place for them.

Locking the apartment door behind me as I left, I knew I would never be back. My life here was over and the unknown stretched ahead of me an adventure waiting to unfold.

It was too early to go to the restaurant, so I decided to do a little window-shopping. The street was lined with restaurants and specialty stores in an old town main street design. There should be plenty to see and keep me busy until one o'clock.

I paused for a moment after getting out of my car to absorb all the intense sounds and smells. They were right; it would take a while to be able to filter through all the sensory information bombarding me. I swear I heard an ant walking across the road four blocks away and could smell an apple pie being baked in the next city. Underlying everything was a scent I couldn't quite put my finger on… familiar but faintly repellent. Frowning, I lightly sniffed the air, trying to single it out to identify the smell. Giving up, I shook my head and resumed window-shopping.

At the pet shop I stopped to look in the window at all the puppies. Looking up at me, they went crazy yapping and growling fiercely. I couldn't help but laugh at their antics, but knew I couldn't risk going into the store.

Stepping away from the window, I froze; a man was standing close behind me, leaning in to sniff my hair.

He was a wolf, but not pack and something about his scent raised every hair on the back of my neck to full attention. I shivered, afraid and unsure exactly why.

Then he pressed himself tightly against my back, lips brushing the side of my neck. “Mmmmm, what a delicious little she-wolf you turned out to be.”

A rough tongue swept out to lick the side of my neck and up to my face. I tried to spring away, horrified, but he held me fast.

“Mmm, you taste as sweet as I remembered. I'm glad I didn't kill you; it would have been such a waste. Once Connor is out of the way, you'll be mine.”

“No!” I cried hoarsely, causing him to laugh, the sound like rusty nails on a chalkboard.

I was suddenly overwhelmed by memories of the night I was attacked, every little detail suddenly crystal clear. I remembered seeing the monster come out of the fog in the park; he was huge, worse than any movie werewolf I'd ever seen, stringy blond hairs sticking out in every direction on his big head, the massive teeth filling his elongated mouth as he sneered at me, spittle dripping from his gaping maw.