Alpha Enticing

  Savage let his wolf loose. The thing a lot of his opponents didn’t understand was how tightly controlled he kept himself. Other than with his mate, he never had his guard down. He’d been born to fight and hardened by parents who hated him for being who he was. Lucian turned him into a weapon. He had no interest or time in being anything but the killer he’d been made to be.

  When he unleashed, death followed.

  He ran straight for the threatener and, wasting no time, tore at his throat. Stanley jumped, yelping, bleeding. Yes, the male hadn’t known. Warning. Mistake. He’d tried. Savage didn’t care. The Moon wanted strong males to lead, and there were none better fit for it. Stanley’s eyes were huge, he took two steps, and Savage struck again.

  He didn’t generally like to play with his food. This one was making it so easy. Pack. Mate. Mine. Die.

  If Stanley would have tried to make it to the elevator, Savage would never know. The second he had struck, his challenger was dead. With a loud growl, Savage tore the other wolf to pieces. Bit-by-bit, chomp-by-chomp, he didn’t pretend to not enjoy it. Stanley’s blood coated his body; by the end he’d be soaked in it.

  The haze of blood descended on Savage, and he gave in to the sensation.

  Death was his to take.

  No one threatened him and lived to tell the story.

  Only the howls of his pack, joyful, triumphant, blood-happy, brought him to himself. Around him, his pack mates panted, their mouths watering. He could smell their desire for the kill. Their Alpha had taken down an opponent and honored them.

  He had to pull back, couldn’t stay as he was, bathed in the blood of his dead opponent. There were things to do, human concerns. His body shook. He didn’t want to change. He wanted to stay as he was.

  Sydney rushed forward into the mess. She didn’t smell bothered; her scent was the same as everyone else’s. She was drunk on the power. Leaning down in the blood, she wrapped her arms around his fur.

  “You are so fantastic.” She kissed the side of his face, stroking her hand through the mess all over him. “My powerful mate. Enjoy this. You didn’t ask for this today. But it’s yours.”

  Savage howled to the ceiling, to the roof, to the moon, to everyone in the whole fucking universe who could hear him.

  ****

  Flat on his stomach, wearing only his boxer shorts, on top of the covers instead of under them, Savage snored. Sydney leaned against the doorframe and watched him, trying not to giggle. In their time together, she’d never heard him snore. Not really. He was pretty out of it.

  Two dominants hung by their front door, not even hiding, in case Stanley hadn’t come alone. Apparently, Savage had faced three in one day once. No one was getting in while he slept. If they wanted to challenge, they’d be lined up, and it could wait until morning.

  When Savage had finally shifted, what had followed would have shocked her mind only weeks earlier. Even having been in the club once, she’d never understood the word “orgy.” She certainly could claim knowledge after their day. Savage hadn’t let anyone else touch her, and they’d not had sex in front of the others. He knew her, understood she was always going to want privacy.

  But on top of his desk. Under it. Up against the wall. She’d be lucky if she could walk in the morning. By the time the night ended, there had to be three-hundred wolves in the club with them. The call had gone out, and killing Alpha challengers made everyone horny as hell.

  She’d never remember everyone’s names. Not right away. They were going to have to give her time to catch up.

  She was so glad the day had happened. Seeing Savage the way he was, the powerful, death-wielding creature he contained inside of him, explained the missing piece of her mate. Even when he’d been with the Garto he’d been controlled, tempered.

  Not the male she watched today.

  When it had become obvious he was dead on his feet and didn’t want the others to see it, she’d feigned exhaustion and dragged him home. Archie had driven them himself.

  Before they got out, he turned to Savage. “I have heard you give that speech six times. I have to say, my Alpha, you were never the male you’re describing. You saved us. The day you became Alpha was the best day of my life.”

  Savage had reached forward. “Thank you. You honor me with your words, Archie.”

  Sydney thought she might have seen tears before Archie quickly turned away.

  She’d cleaned Savage up. Blood remained on him, even after the shift, and the few minutes it had taken her to clean up the bathroom had apparently conked him out.

  Her beautiful, deadly, strong male. So in charge. She stroked her hand on his spine, and he didn’t move. Having not died at the hands of the Garto, she was living a life that wasn’t at all what she pictured for herself. It was so much better. She was a woman who could get off with the smells of group sex permeating around her. She was a woman who could revel in her Alpha mate’s decimating an opponent’s body. She was woman enough to love the most complicated male she’d ever met.

  Falling to her knees next to the bed, she gave in to the urge she’d repressed since her twenty-fourth birthday when she’d known she only had a year left to live. She thanked the Moon because she was so damned lucky.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Weeks could turn into months quite easily when he was happy. Savage sat in his chair and watched the city lights outside. His mate hummed to herself at the table, studying. She smiled and happily sighed. For two months, Sydney Chaucer filled his life. How had he ever lived without her?

  Between school, her social obligations, and the way she had seemingly started running the day care center the second the pack mate running it had gotten too pregnant to manage, she was busy all the time. And clearly happy.

  Even skyping with her mother that morning hadn’t doused her mood. Sydney’s mother was frail-looking; she’d aged ten years. Losing a true mate would age a person. Particularly because she had nineteen other children to take care of.

  Hayden’s reports told him the older boys would soon be ready to go out on their own. They’d stay nearby but live separately. His brother felt even Thaddeus was improving with time and help. Maybe a couple well-placed reprimands from Hayden had helped, too.

  “I never thought….” He quit speaking. She was studying math, which she was really good at. It was selfish to interrupt. She pushed the laptop away from her and stood.

  “You never thought what?” Sydney sauntered over to him.

  “Sorry. Go back to what you were doing. I’m being needy.”

  She laughed, running her hands through his hair. Most of the time she wore yoga pants and long floral tunics; they were what she felt the most comfortable in, and she looked perfect in them. Sexy, comfortable, in her element.

  “I’m done. So, please, give me needy.” She kissed his cheek. “Have you eaten?”

  “Three meals today.” His mate made him keep track of his eating schedule. “I never thought I’d be the kind of male who could keep a mate happy. You make me so unimaginably grateful.”

  “Oh, Savage.” She kissed him gently, and he felt tears on her cheeks. “They’re happy tears. Don’t worry.”

  “You move me, Sydney. Do you understand?”

  Her eyes held his gaze. “Only because I feel the same way.”

  His phone beeped, and he groaned. His pack mostly left him alone at night unless they had emergencies, a change since his mating. Also, the guest rooms on the first floor remained empty. He’d not had one middle-of-the-night visitor needing assistance and care in the wee hours of the morning. They were either a much more put-together group of people all of a sudden or Archie had given some kind of order they let him be.

  He wasn’t going to complain. Alone time with Sydney was so precious. Archie’s message awaited a response.

  Alex has brought in a True Believer. Basement?

  He answered fast. Yes. On my way.

  A True Believer was a reason to abandon his mate at night. She raised her eyebrows. ?
??Problem?”

  “True Believer.”

  Her nod before she stood told him she understood the seriousness. “Be careful.”

  “I always am.” He liked how she worried. Having lived so long without a single other person caring about his day-to-day wellbeing, he would never complain about how she fussed.

  “I’m going to look at more tattoos. I’m determined to get one soon. I want to look as fierce as my pack mates.”

  He shook his head, grabbing his wallet. “Not everyone in the pack is inked.”

  “I am going to be.” She kissed him one last time. “What do you think? Butterfly wings on my wrist?”

  “You’re not really a butterfly girl, Sydney.”

  “Hey.” Her laughter filled the room. “I am so a butterfly girl.”

  “Totally not.”

  ****

  Savage stared at Alex across the desk. He didn’t know the other male well. He was a younger pack mate, had come in when his brother joined. Alex’s brother Tim wasn’t a dominant, a real submissive male, frequently beaten and abused in lesser packs. Not in Savage’s. Alex had followed, and he was slowly working his way up the ranks.

  A move like the one he’d made to secure the True Believer at the bus stop would go a long way to advance his status. When he wasn’t patrolling, he was a manager at a bank. Smart, capable. Savage was going to have to pay better attention to him.

  “You were able to spot him from the picture alone?” Savage probed. Part of the reason he’d never noticed him before was because he so kept to himself. He’d need to check, but he didn’t think Alex had ever once participated in the heat night at the club. Maybe he preferred men. Either way, Savage needed to make sure the male was getting what he needed.

  “I did. The known True Believers list popped up in my email this morning, and I studied it. Then, boom, there he was.”

  Savage extended his hand and shook Alex’s. “I’m proud of you. Good work. Thank you. I think you did a great service to this pack. Don’t think it will go unnoticed.”

  Alex nodded. “I’m surprised to hear that. I thought for the most part you didn’t care if I was here or not, my Alpha.”

  “Open hostility after a compliment. Well, that is surprising.” Savage stood and moved around the other side of the desk. “Do you have a complaint you’d like addressed?”

  “No, sir. Never mind me. Long day. Lots of excitement. Archie let me put the prisoner in the cage. It was a first for me. I’m worked up.”

  Savage didn’t believe him for a second, but, with a True Believer in the basement, he didn’t have time for hurt feelings. They’d deal with him later. Savage would make Alex one of Archie’s priorities. Find out why he was so dissatisfied, and they’d fix it.

  In the basement, Savage regarded the True Believer silently. The human male was small. Maybe five feet if that. He had no hair and wore glasses. Their captive smiled at him.

  “Hi Savage. Here to torture me?”

  Another new experience for Savage. “Actually, yes.”

  It was going to be a long night. He looked at Archie and nodded. Time to get started.

  ****

  Sydney popped her head in Savage’s office to find him head down asleep on his desk. She shook her head before closing the door quietly. At least he was getting some rest. When he hadn’t come home, she’d forced herself not to worry. One of the guards outside would tell her if something had gone horribly wrong.

  Savage’s secretary, an older mated female named Hyacinth, smiled at her when she walked by. “He’s been out since I got here at seven. Archie is asleep down the hall, too. Max on one of the couches in the break room. This is fairly standard when they’re interrogating. They don’t let the True Believer sleep much so they don’t either. Quick cat naps followed by long, intense rounds of ‘what are you doing in my city?’”

  Sydney nodded. “If I drop off some food later, can you be sure he at least gets it?” She’d include something in there for the other dominants, too. The non-mated males needed sustenance as much as the mated.

  “Yes, thank you, Sydney. You’re such a gift to all of us.”

  She was never going to get used to being so adored by so many for doing so little. “You’re the gift. I don’t think Savage could function without you.”

  “You honor me.”

  Sydney made her way down to the day care and set down her stuff. The hours with the kids were always the top of her day. Although she loved her online courses, too. Movement in the hall caught her attention, and she looked up to see what she’d come to think of as her changing of the guard. Preacher, who had been on guard the night before, switched with George. He’d be there until noon when he went to work and then return again through dinner at four. Sydney worried they overworked him, but Savage told her any change in his hours would be taken as an indication he couldn’t preform his role. An insult. She didn’t want that so she kept her worries about his constant schedule to herself.

  George waved to her, and she waved back.

  Her phone beeped, and she looked as a message from Terry came in. Angel wings?

  They’d been working on her tattoo for weeks. Or at least in coming up with any sense of what she should have done. First they’d figure out what, then where on her body.

  Freda had called; they were having coffee later.

  Lots to do, but first the kids. They came in slowly, some of them enthusiastic and others not so happy. She never took it personally. Sometimes they had a long morning or a fight with someone at home before they arrived. It was her job to give them a great day while their parents worked. Her three assistants came in, all with smiles on their faces, and she greeted them.

  Gracie. The littlest one in her care. Since they didn’t take kids under two, those smaller ones had to stay in a nursery off-site in one of the pack member’s homes. Gracie raised her arms, and Sydney picked her up. The blonde cherubic-looking but not always angelic-behaving little girl grinned at her. They were going to have a good day.

  Hours passed in their normal routine. Toys. Playing. She wasn’t a teacher; the pups would move on when they were four to a nursery and pre-K routine where they would start to learn the things they needed for school. All so strange for her since she’d never learned outside of the home. But it worked for the pack, and she got to play all day. No complaints from her.

  Mid-day, a loud bang caught her attention. She looked at the women she worked with, and one of them shook her head. A second bang.

  Sydney stood up, setting Rodney, the boy she held in her lap, down on the floor to play with his truck. She walked over to the doorway. She’d no sooner made it there than George appeared in front of her.

  “We have a problem.” He took her arm. “True Believers are downstairs. I need to secure you, immediately.”

  “We have to get the children to safety. Forget me.” She tried to pull from his arm, but he held her tight.

  George’s eyes were cold, the wolf evident more than she’d ever seen in George except when he’d been shifted. “There is protocol for the kids.” He called into the room to her assistants. “Ladies. Code R. Do you understand? Code R.”

  A flurry of action around her as they grabbed the children and one by one helped them toward the stairs. George kept trying to get her to leave, but she wasn’t going to go until she’d seen each of the kids out first. Several dominants arrived and started grabbing the kids two-by-two. Finally, when they were clear, she couldn’t put off George any further. He was growling at her as he grabbed her arm. Her senses were on high alert. The central air conditioning shut off with a whoosh. A safety precaution. They could all smell better without it. Window fans whirled to life, better to keep them cooler when they were in an emergency. She could smell them in the building. They hadn’t made it to her floor yet.

  She growled before she could stop herself. “Where is Savage?”

  If he was still asleep at his desk, she had to get to him. No one could be allowed to harm her mate.
br />   “I don’t know, Sydney. My priority is you. My Alpha put your safety in my hands. I am to get you out of the building. We trained for this. You and I have discussed it. We will get you out, and then I will find out about the Alpha.”

  Yes, all of that was true. But that was when none of it had been real. She was not going to run from the building when everyone needed her and George couldn’t tell her where Savage was.

  But George was stronger than she was, and, unlike the time she’d been shifted and had Moon magic all around her, she wasn’t going to be able to bypass him. Nor did she want to make everything worse.

  What would Savage say if he were there? Trust the dominants to know what they’re doing.

  She let George lead her down the backstairs. Hidden and less visible than the elevators, they were the best way out. If that didn’t work, out the window or fighting for their lives.

  The lower they got down the stairs, the more screams she heard. Pain. Several pack mates had already descended in front of them down the stairs. She didn’t see the kids so they must have gotten out. What was happening?

  Lights in the stairway went off, and George growled louder.

  “Blocked ahead.” She knew Max’s voice. “We can’t get out the door. First floor. This is Code X. Do you hear me? For Pack and Alpha. We don’t look back.”

  Sydney had never been told about Code X. She was a werewolf. The howls around her told her enough. They were going to battle.

  George’s voice in her ear sounded fierce. “You stay behind me, Syd. I will get you out.”

  Her pack was in pain. She didn’t know where her mate was. George wanted her to cower behind him while he took all the risks.

  “George….”

  “No one in this pack doubts your bravery. I saw what you did with the Garto. This is not that. They are humans, and they have guns, knives, and intent to kill you. You will honor me by doing what I tell you. Then you can tell me off later.”

  She gritted her teeth. It would have to do.

  ****

  “They’re in the building.” Archie called to him. Alone in the basement with his second and the human prisoner singing to himself, Savage had no idea who was in the building, but he could smell the other wolf’s anger.