Willing Sacrifice (6 page)

I shrugged, "Since the last time Jack helped with it." It seemed that since I was so dominant, Jack was the only one who had ever been able to draw the wolf from me, but now he was gone, and I didn't know yet how to do it on my own, and I didn't think I ever would. This exact cause had been responsible for the death of a lot of teenage werewolves in the beginning of the war. My parents had targeted Alphas leaving the untrained teenagers to suffer once they were ready to join the pack’s ranks.

Even the drug created when the war was at its worst had stopped working on me. It was a mild sedative with a bunch of other stuff thrown in. It had been made by the Born packs because of the fact that my parents were deliberately taking out pack Alphas, and it was the Alpha’s job to teach the young wolves how to make their first changes. I knew my wolf was there inside me, sleeping; but the only time I ever ran in my fur was in my dreams.

Sarah looked worried for a moment but then sobered. "If you were to have died from it, it would have been long ago." She ran her hands over her jeans nervously. "We will figure it out, okay? Just don't tell anyone else." She nodded her head awaiting my agreement in the matter.

I nodded and sat down next to her on the soft foam mattress then leaned over and rested my head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry I'm not the hero you guys need."

"Hero's are all messed up, Sugar." She patted my head in a mothering way. "You're going to need to change that outfit in order to meet the Alpha."

"Again, I don't see what the point is?" I held my hands out in frustration. I was getting tired of being called the ugly duckling.

"The point, sweet girl, is that you are a former Alpha, posturing as a prospective girlfriend. You need to look less utilitarian and a little more... like a hooker."

"How did you know about the undercover secret operation stuff?" I asked, surprised.

She poked herself in the forehead and gave me a frustrated face. "Do I look dumb to you?" I shook my head no quickly because she looked mad. "No, not dumb," I agreed.

"Good, go put on a mini skirt," She ordered with a serious expression.

"You don't think that seems a little desperate?"

"Honey, I am way beyond desperate." She tapped her chin and grabbed my hand. "I've got something you can wear."

Sarah was the type of girl who liked to shop even though most of her wardrobe never saw the light of day; she pretty much had it all. She disappeared inside her overflowing closet for a few minutes and I was about to send a search party into Narnia after her when she threw something through the portal, stuck her head out for a few good breathes of fresh air before going back in.

I looked at what she had thrown out. It was the color and texture of a strawberry fruit roll-up and about the same size as well.

She popped back out of her closet with an armload of clothes with the tags still on them.

I held up the fruit roll-up skirt and shook my head.

She snatched it away. "Oh, that's not for you, that’s for Kyle." She quirked her eyebrows and held it in front of herself. "I've been looking for this thing nearly as long as we've been looking for you."

I nodded. "So what did you find for me in there?"

She began sifting through the clothes, holding one ridiculous top after another under my chin. "Alright," she held up the white tube top and a pair of jean shorts that were wider than they were long, which was about five and a half inches but only if you counted the fringe.

I growled and narrowed my eyes. "I'll wear the top."

"You need to think outside the box."

"I don't want to look like a cheap slut."

"We don't care what you want." She snapped back and dove at me like a crazed maniac with the shorts in one hand and the top in the other.

When round one was over, Sarah was sitting against the far wall with the torn jeans shorts in one hand and a piece of my new shirt in the other. She was out of breath and seemed to have given up any hope of getting me into the shorts, but she could be sneaky so I still sat perched on the edge of her bed ready for a fight.

Kyle walked into the room and rolled up his sleeves. "Looks like round one went to Sugar. Need any help, my love?"

Sarah held up the shorts and looked at them. "She tore them down the middle. We're going to need another pair."

"You have more than one pair of those ugly things?" I said shocked. "I'm not wearing denim underwear."

Kyle pushed up his sleeves further. "We don't care what you want." He repeated his wife's earlier statement and surged forward.

After everything was said and done I was pushed out of the bedroom wearing the nasty shorts and a practically see through tube top. I looked like I was dressed for the Easy Miss Trailer Park Princess Pageant and I wasn't happy about it. "I look like a lot lizard!" I screamed, referring to the hookers that frequent truck stops and trade sexual favors for drugs and rides.

Gage was standing in the hall looking like he was about to laugh.

"Don't you dare." I snapped, pointing a finger in his face. "What are you doing here?"

"Kyle said he might need me as back-up. You must be out of practice."

The truth was, I was winning at one point but Kyle threatened that Gage was in the hall waiting to help if needed and since I wasn't about to let Gage see me in my new pink lacy underthings, I reluctantly let them win.

Sarah walked out into the hall straightening her hair and torn shirt. "You owe me a new shirt and a new pair of shorts."

"You owe me my dignity." I growled out.

"This is imported hand-dyed, hand-woven silk from India… we'll call it even." She snapped back.

"My pride is worth more than that shirt."

"I paid three hundred bucks for this top."

I shut my mouth and eyed the ruined shirt. "You paid three hundred bucks for a shirt?"

Kyle looked at the shirt. "You paid three hundred bucks for a shirt?" He repeated angrily and I grinned at Sarah openly as if to say, “huh!”

"It’s designer." She screamed, and everyone took a cautious step back from the crazy lady. I had an idea. "Sarah, I'll buy you a new one if I can change out of these shorts."

She considered the idea and though she knew she shouldn't fall for it, she looked down at her beautiful shirt and gave me a sharp nod in agreement. "But you’re still wearing that top."

I sighed in relief and snatched my jeans from Kyle. He didn't look happy but I don't think anyone was willing to mess with Sarah right now, least of all the man that shared her bed.

Gage followed me up the stairs with his duffle bag in tow. He was taking Jack's old room next to mine, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that, but I wasn't really speaking to him at the moment so I didn't say anything. We were going to see how he liked the silent treatment.

I slammed my door a little harder than I had intended but the gunshot sound of the solid wood cracking down the middle was a reassuring sign that Sugar was still somewhere inside me and I let a slow cruel smile spread over my face. This poor Alpha didn't know what he had coming. I only went downstairs again when the smell of roasting meat woke me from yet another nap. I was going to have a hard time trying to adjust back to nighttime sleeping.

I wasn't sure if the Alpha had returned yet or not but I wasn't going to appear too eager either. He had gorgeous women throwing themselves at him whenever his hands were empty; I didn't want to make it too easy for him for a couple of reasons. One, I didn't want him to figure out what I was up to and two, people only want what they can't have ... especially a man who has everything. I needed an edge and looking at the competition told me I wasn't getting by on looks alone.

I was going down the stairs quickly but it seems I was caught directly in back of Scarlet O'Hara and she was making her dinner time entrance for the said Alpha in question so we took one slow step at a time while she looked for him on the first floor with eager eyes.

He sat at the table and gave her an interested nod of approval, so I broke up their little moment and whistled sharply. "You think we could get a move on sister. I'd like to eat before I starve to death."

She turned abruptly and looked me over. "There aren't enough stairs in America for you to stave to death." She snapped back.

My wolf bristled from her nap and I smiled at the challenge. "We could make this an express flight if you'd like." I asked sweetly.

She spun back around and stomped down the last few stairs like T-Rex and I took my good old time to finish my own descent.

"Well this must be the famous Sugar Coon?" The Alpha looked at me but his expression didn't tell me squat.

"Alpha." I answered back.

His grin widened and he stood up to offer me his hand, "You may call me Robert."

I was glad I knew the rundown because I might have hopped into his lap right then and there. He had it all; sparkling blue eyes, a full head of lush brown hair, good height, a great build and a smile like a shark. Top it all off with strength and power that rolled off of him in waves, in a mixture of testosterone and sexual confidence and he was a sexual fantasy come to life.

I smiled back, "And you may call me Alpha."

He smiled brighter and took my hand gently. "Ah, a queen in her own right." He bent and kissed the back of my hand before releasing it and I resisted the impulse to wipe it off on my jeans.

He offered me a chair at the table and sat down beside me. "In truth I thought you would look... different." He added while taking a slab of roast off the center plate.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I was getting really sick of being called ugly today but I felt silence was my greatest option at the moment and went with it while the group of people who did know me waited with baited breath for me to fly off the handle. I was the new and improved Sugar 3.0 and she had the ability to retain vital information and save it for a later date.

"How so, Alpha?" The Scarlet O'Hara girl asked sweetly before cutting her eyes at me.

I felt like I was on an episode of,
The Bachelor
and I grinned sweetly back at her.

"Well, I thought Sugar was going to be a leggy blonde actually." He chuckled at this and it was met by the laughs of the other girls, three of whom were leggy blondes.

"But I can't say I'm disappointed at all." He added shutting them all up. "I've never seen eyes quite as beautiful as yours.” He turned his gaze on me with his brilliant smile in place.

"Who said I was here for you?" I asked.

"What other use would you be to me?" He responded, his voice warming slightly.

"I'm a hell of a fighter." I answered back, barely veiling the threat.

He turned fully in his seat and brushed his fingers through my hair, and it felt too intimate but my body reacted in response just the same with a flurry of warm fuzzies everywhere.

"I've held this post for a year now. The only way you can Challenge me for rights to the pack, is to wait ’til next June." His voice oozed out. "Why do you think I only invited you here after that point had passed? That would be such a waste... don't you think?"

Wow this guy was an evil genius... and that would have been a great piece of vital information no one bothered to tell me about.

I smiled back at him and nodded slowly in agreement while my stomach turned at the thought. I hadn't planned on fighting him, but I was banking on the fact that he didn't know that, and I was going to use that extra time to think of a better plan than hopping directly into his bed and turning the phrase, “’til death do us part” into a lifelong goal. Sure I could probably outlive him, but by that point I was pretty certain it wouldn't matter any more and I think Elder Coon wanted something to happen before the next turn of the century.

He turned to Gage and smiled brightly. "I hope you didn't come here in search of a Mate friend, because what you see here belongs to me until I've chosen what I want. Do we understand each other?"

It sounded disgusting when he said it like that, but I knew it was protection for the girls as well. I had lived in a bitten pack and there were no rules to govern the males against taking a mate whether she wanted it or not.

Gage gave a short nod and waited patiently for the Alpha to turn his attention elsewhere before he looked directly at me and then down at his plate, this was very complicated indeed.

It would seem that though the Alpha didn't directly ask his male pack to leave, they were doing it anyway. There wasn't much point in being in a younger pack like this one if you couldn't find a mate. When couples marry most times they move out of the Alpha's house, to make room for more young males who have come to join the pack’s ranks and find mates of their own, but the Alpha's home is the hub of a larger circle of smaller family packs. The girls enter the pack in a different manner all together, through the Challenges, this keeps the bloodlines clean... for the most part and keeps the strong packs strong and virtually eliminates the weaker packs all together. This was a dying race and there wasn't room for weakness, or for Alphas using their titles to run a personal dating service, and from the looks of it he wasn't ready to find a mate. It could take years for him to choose just one female to marry and it wouldn't take that long for this pack to crumble and fall, because there is always someone stronger and he could lose every single female in the pack in one year's Challenges. A pack without single males or females is not a healthy pack. The smaller family packs would find another stronger pack for their children's future, and if they didn't have children, well it’s still a slow death from a quick strike, and the pack would bleed out and die.

The only way we were going to cut short the Alpha's little charade was to wait and beat him in the Challenges, catch him breaking the rules, or force him to take a Mate... and there is only one way to do that if he doesn't fall in love, and that's by giving him an heir.

I felt my face growing red with anger and I pushed my chair back from the table and slapped down my fork. The quiet conversation that had been going on while I was deep in thought stopped suddenly.

Robert raised a hand and put it on my arm. "Have you been excused from the table, Sugar?"

I was so angry I was nearly crying and if it wasn't for the fact that I didn't want the others to see me like that, I would have sat there all night in stubborn vigilance, just to defy him.

"Alpha, may I please be excused from the table. The flight must have disrupted my stomach." I put a hand on my stomach, which really was pretty messed up at the moment.

"That's too bad; we've got cake for desert. It was a welcome home gift from me to you." He squeezed my arm gently and I sat down on shaky legs and forced a smile.

Sarah was watching me closely and I shook my head at her, indicating that we would speak in private later. She averted her gaze and picked at her meal quietly.

"Where's Brian?" I asked suddenly.

Sarah locked eyes with me again.

"The child?" The Alpha asked. "He eats when everyone else is finished. Until he is old enough to join the ranks, that's how it will be."

Again this wasn't breaking the rules, but it was an unnecessary show of force. Not only did he eradicate the other males but he was trying to get rid of Kyle and Sarah as well. Brian who had been the apple of Jack's eye as well as his chosen successor when the time came was currently sitting up in his room waiting patiently to be fed and Sarah wasn't picking at her food, she was saving it.

I almost lost it right there, and the old Sugar would have but it would have been to no avail because I couldn't beat him.

I counted to ten, then twenty, but by the time I reached three hundred I was almost sure my pulse had as well. I was pretty certain I had a mini stroke from the hazardous intensity of my blood pressure. I squeaked quietly before I flopped out of my chair and landed on the hardwood floor, unconscious.