Alpha's Strength

  Lilliana nodded. “Well, I certainly know how it is to live with an Alpha male who occasionally has dominance issues. Travis can get possessive to the point of my eyes crossing.” Her sister sighed. “Look, I guess I know we technically met only today, and we don’t know each other, but you have family, okay? And somewhere to go if you don’t want to stay here.”

  “Thanks.” Betsy liked the warm feeling Lilliana’s words created. She didn’t fear Cyrus, and the thought of leaving him actually made her kind of nauseous. Not because she was his mate—that word still felt foreign—but because she belonged to him. He’d shifted for her, brought her back to her human self, cared for her, and now he was working to solve her problems. Even if he ignored her when she’d rather he paid attention, that didn’t warrant abandoning his care.

  But it had been a long time since she’d known she had somewhere to go if she needed help—that was a gift unto itself.

  She exchanged numbers with her sister and headed toward Mitchell, who waited at the entrance for her. If she hadn’t seen Cyrus endlessly texting, she’d think the other wolves could communicate with him telepathically. Nathan had given her a phone for the sole purpose of allowing him to reach her. Her sister’s number was the first one she’d ever gotten to enter.

  She walked out onto the street toward Mitchell. He stood by a blue Town Car and held a door open. Once she was inside, he climbed in after her. Betsy could have easily taken the subway, but if someone wanted to take her downtown another way, she wasn’t going to complain. Besides, if Cyrus had ordered the car, that’s how they’d be going. Mitchell would never contradict him and she’d never be able to convince the driver to turn around if Mitchell didn’t agree

  “Anything I can do for you, ma’am?” Mitchell leaned back, stretching his long legs when he did.

  She laughed. “You can never call me ma’am again.”

  Her companion furrowed his eyebrows. “But you are the Alpha’s mate. You deserve the term.”

  “Right.” Were people really going to ma’am her from now on? She sighed and stared out the window. Maybe it was her exhaustion from the day, the emotional upheaval, or the fact that she tended to be spacey when she was this worn out, but it took her five minutes before she realized the numbers were going in the wrong direction.

  “Mitchell, I live in the other direction. Brooklyn is downtown from here.”

  “Brooklyn?” Mitchell shook his head. “I’m bringing you home, ma’am. To Cyrus’ uptown apartment. By the park.”

  “You’re what?” Oh hell. She’d really not seen this coming.

  Chapter Seven

  “You know she’s basically still human. You’re going to have to do better than that.” Travis shook his head and walked to the window. “It’s not that I don’t sympathize with the problem. I dated Lilliana for weeks, holding back the instinct to flip her over my shoulder, bite her, claim her, and make her mine.”

  “The ring was like a thorn in my side all day. I couldn’t look at it anymore.” Cyrus rubbed his head. Part of him couldn’t believe he was even having this conversation with the wolf that less than a year earlier he’d been on the brink of war with. “And the moron in the basement shouldn’t get to show any possession over her. Not in this lifetime or any other.”

  What he really wanted to do was tear the asshole’s throat to shreds. Short of that, removing the ring had been the best possible solution. “Do you think I scared her?”

  Travis shrugged. “I think you pissed off my mate, who dug her fingers into my knee.”

  If he’d done damage to his relationship already, this whole thing might be fruitless. Why had he been given a true mate? He didn’t have the slightest idea what to do with one. She consumed his whole existence. How could he function if it stayed like this?

  “Listen, here’s the deal. Betsy’s parents did something bad. I’m not going into the details, but if what I suspect happened, happened, then it would at least explain where Lilliana came from and how she didn’t know of her wolf heritage. Until Lake messed with her, Betsy was the same damn way.”

  Travis turned around, shaking his head. “Going to do something about your sister and her inability to leave the latents alone?”

  “Man, if I had any idea what do about Lake, I’d have done it a long time ago.” His sister had slunk out some time after Travis arrived. What she did with her nights was her own business, but lately she’d been moping because she couldn’t work in human hospitals because it risked discovery. This wasn’t a new thing for her, and why it had suddenly flared up, he had no idea. Another thing he couldn’t focus on.

  “You think Betsy’s parents have done something that may affect my mate, and you aren’t going to tell me what it is?”

  Cyrus shrugged and pretended indifference. Truth was he’d be pissed as hell if he were in Travis’ position. But he wasn’t going to share until he was damn well ready, which was why he always tried to know what was going on, at all times.

  “Cyrus…”

  He rubbed his nose. “This isn’t up for discussion. I assume you have your mate properly protected. She’s not at risk. Nothing I’m going to do in Montana can touch her anymore. Feel lucky I let you know Betsy existed so quickly at all.”

  He’d done that for Betsy, not Travis or Lilliana. Seeing her sister, a changed latent wolf who now functioned as a fully transformed werewolf, mated to an Alpha, had to help Betsy in some way adjust herself. Not to mention having family went a long way to making things easier. Or harder, depending on the day.

  “You weren’t always like this.”

  Cyrus swung around. He needed to collect his stuff and get out of there. His mate waited for him in his apartment. If he’d frightened her, he needed to undo that. He hadn’t scented fear, but maybe he’d missed it because of all his turmoil.

  “All Alexei wanted to do was reminisce too. Something in the water making everyone want to talk about our summers with Lucian? I was a fifteen-year-old kid. Who cares how I behaved back then? This is who I am now.”

  “The three of us share very little history except those few summers. I think it would be natural for us to want to talk about whatever we do have in common.” Travis paused. “Which now I suppose includes our being mated to sisters.”

  “Feels a little coincidental, doesn’t it?”

  Travis shook his head. “Are you seeing some sort of divine plan all of a sudden? You don’t even believe in any of the old stories. No truth to the myth, isn’t that what you say when asked? You told my mate it was all bullshit.”

  “It is. Bunch of wolves praying to be human to save a raped girl. It’s a sick story if you break it down to its parts.” Why was he always sucked into these conversations?

  “You have a problem.”

  That was it. Cyrus snarled. “I don’t have a problem. If I chose not to believe in the bedtime story you prefer to subscribe your life to, then it’s my business, not my problem.”

  He stalked into Travis’ space. If the man wanted a fight, he could have one. A rip-roaring fight. Forget their treaty. He’d take him, take Philadelphia. Then Travis could see what kind of problem he had.

  “Down boy.” Travis shook his head. “Shit, I forgot how tense I was before I got things straight with Lilliana. You’re lucky I’m in such a forgiving mood.”

  “Stop patronizing me.” In another second, he was going to shove him. Right to the ground. He’d hit with a giant thump…

  “You have a problem with Montana.”

  Travis’ words penetrated the anger haze that threatened to take over his existence. He took a deep breath. “Montana.”

  “Right. With Montana.” Travis patted him on the shoulder. “There’s no Alpha there.”

  Travis’ words floated around in Cyrus’ mind for a second before they made sense. “Shit.”

  “Yep. Shit.” Travis laughed. “You know what? I’m happy not to know what Betsy’s parents are involved in. I wouldn’t want anything to do with going to Montana right now.
You have fun with that, buddy.”

  “Are you telling me that there isn’t one Alpha in the whole state? Whom did Lucian deal with?”

  “None of the lone wolves in Montana ever dealt with Lucian, as far as I know. And since the Alpha Prime’s death, there hasn’t been any communication.”

  The elevator dinged, and Lilliana stormed into the room. She walked straight to Cyrus, bypassing Travis altogether. Cyrus had a moment to realize how strange that was before she jammed her pointer finger straight into his shoulder.

  It didn’t hurt, but the intention behind it startled him. Lilliana always seemed so docile. “If you hurt her, I’ll rip out your eyes. Or I won’t. I’ll have Travis do it. But the meaning is the same. Get nicer. I found my sister, and she seems lost, fragile, and confused. Don’t be such a bully. There must be a kind man inside of you somewhere.”

  “Yeah.” He nodded, forcing himself to take a deep breath. Lilliana’s newly discovered relationship with Betsy didn’t grant her the right to order him around “You’d think that, wouldn’t you?”

  ****

  Mitchell nodded to Cyrus when he approached the door. He hadn’t asked his pack member to stay and watch his mate, only to deliver her inside his apartment, but it didn’t bother him in the least that Mitchell had.

  He stopped to regard the wolf for a moment. Did his pack member like him? Did it matter if he did? Mitchell would step in front of traffic for him, go to war for him, and stand outside his door to keep his brand-new mate safe.

  Cyrus knew a lot about Mitchell’s life. He knew the man’s family history. He’d been there when his parents had been shot dead by hunters before Cyrus had taken over as Alpha and made their full-moon shifts safer. He’d presided over the ceremony where Mitchell’s sister had taken a true mate and then moved to the other man’s pack in Canada. But he had no idea if Mitchell had a girlfriend, no idea if the man had dreams or aspirations he hadn’t fulfilled.

  Did he need to know these things about his pack mates? Alphas were leaders, warriors, protectors, not nursemaids, mothers, or best friends.

  He’d bet Travis knew all about his pack members. They probably called him when they stubbed their toes. Alexei, by contrast, would probably drown himself in the ocean before he sat around listening to pack members’ problems.

  Cyrus shook his head. He had a mate to woo. Why was he pondering life problems he’d never considered before?

  “How are things?”

  Mitchell stepped away from the door. “It’s quiet inside, my Alpha. I showed her around and then left her to her own devices. I didn’t want to invade her space.”

  “Thanks.” He nodded. “But, uh, I meant with you. How are things with you?”

  “Sir?” Mitchell shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

  “Oh damn it.” He threw his arms in the air. “I’m asking how you are. How is everything with you?”

  Mitchell stared at him for a second before answering. “I’m fine. How are you?”

  “Good.” Well, this was awkward. Maybe this was why he didn’t do this kind of thing. He’d clearly made Mitchell uncomfortable with this nonsense. “Thanks for the help. I do appreciate it.”

  “You don’t have to thank me, Cyrus. You know it is my duty and pleasure. You’re my Alpha.”

  That was the first time he’d heard Mitchell use his name. Asking how he was had produced a result. He kind of liked it.

  “Good night.”

  Mitchell stepped toward the elevator. “’Night.”

  Cyrus walked into his apartment. He took a deep breath. Already Betsy’s scent had permeated the room. He loved the way it drifted into his skin, attaching to his pores, entering his blood stream until he could practically exist on her scent alone.

  He dropped his briefcase on the floor next to the door. Tension pulled on the muscles at the back of his neck, but Betsy’s presence in his place helped a lot. She might not like it here. Someday, when she was officially his, if she wanted to move he’d let her pick any place in the city she wanted. Anything to make her happy.

  Of course if he told her that, he’d fuck it up and she’d probably refuse to live with him altogether.

  He wandered through the place, knowing she was in the guest room with the door closed. Her scent was strongest there. She could have gone anywhere she desired, and the guest room with the door closed certainly spoke volumes. Go away. Don’t bother me.

  Cyrus walked into his room and let out the growl he needed to release. His mate was in his apartment. Beautiful and untouchable—at least to him. He could break down the door if he wanted to. With very little effort, he could yank the door off its hinges, throw it to the side, and be in there.

  Could he make her want him as he did her? Could he show her with his body what he’d never be able to say with his words? That the years of doubting, even that such a thing as a true mate existed, had turned his soul into a hardened shell. It had been a long time since he’d even paid attention to it.

  But he wanted her to. She’d stood up for him against Lake—and against Alexei. Would she do it again? He sat down on the edge of his bed and rubbed his shoulder where Lilliana had jabbed at him. It didn’t hurt of course, but the guilt he’d felt at Lilliana’s words had burned him like a branding iron.

  Thinking of her brought on another memory he’d not dwelled on for a while. When Travis had first mated her, he’d given her a necklace, a totem of a female wolf. It was meant to be Lily, the first female werewolf, the woman who, legend said, all Alpha werewolves descended from. She’d been tough, been a survivor through horrendous circumstances.

  The whole story always brought a sour taste to his mouth, but the necklace had been passed from female werewolves to their offspring for generations. At some point, it had gone from his great grandmother to an aunt and then eventually to Travis’ mother. He and Travis were very distant cousins.

  It had bugged him immensely. With one choice, one aunt takes the necklace, and somehow his sister ultimately gets screwed out of a legacy she should have had. The necklace, however, rightfully belonged to Lake. Lake had never wanted for anything. He’d seen to that once his parents had been gone. Strangely enough, Lilliana had turned the necklace over to him. She’d said he needed it. Whatever that meant.

  He’d tried to give it to Lake, and she’d refused it, something about not liking old things. It had been sitting in his sock drawer ever since.

  Without another thought, he retrieved it. Betsy needed to have it. It should belong to her now. And, if nothing else, giving it to her would give him an excuse to talk to her tonight, and that was what he really needed. To speak to Betsy one more time before he lay down for the night and stared at his ceiling, which was all he did lately.

  Totem in hand, he knocked on the guest room door.

  “Come in,” Betsy called, and he turned the door handle.

  He walked into his spare bedroom wondering when he had last gone in. The room was consistently cleaned, thanks to the staff he employed, but he never had any reason to enter himself. No one came to his apartment. Ever.

  Betsy sat in a chair next to the window, knees pulled up, and seeming very, very small. Her bed appeared untouched, completely unwrinkled as though the housekeeper had made it. The glow from small lamp next to the bed cast the room in shadows.

  “Are you okay?”

  She sniffed and wiped at her eyes. Hell, had she been crying?

  “I guess so. I mean, why shouldn’t I be fine? I’m a werewolf, which before today I didn’t even know existed outside of horror movies. My parents are locked away. I’m so angry with them I can’t even express it. And I’m basically at your mercy, which actually feels okay, probably because of the wolf thing, and that alone scares me to death.” She sniffed again. “So, yeah, I’m fine.”

  “Betsy.” He breathed out her name as he walked slowly toward her. If he could have taken all of her fears and stored them away inside of himself where she never had to face them again, he would in a hea
rtbeat. When he got to the chair, he dropped to his knees in front of her. “I am at your mercy, not the other way around.”

  “Please.” She shook her head. “Look, I don’t blame you for this. You went to get coffee, and ended up with a mate who didn’t know she was a werewolf, had no idea how to be a mate and inherited all the problems that came with her. I’m sorry for my tears.”

  “You were exactly what I was looking for.” When she snorted, he continued talking. “Do you know that it’s possible to be surrounded by people and yet totally alone?”

  Cyrus didn’t do this easily. Talking about his feelings had never been part of his training.

  “I don’t actually. I’m almost always alone.” She shrugged. “I guess I understand why now. I was really a werewolf among humans. And I guess my parents aren’t really my biological parents either.”

  “I’m responsible for a pack full of souls, and I don’t think any of them know me at all. I needed you so completely, and I was too dumb to even know it. Your scent drew me to the Starbucks. I scented you on the street and followed it inside.”

  She raised her eyebrows in shock. “You did?”

  “Absolutely. And then I thought you were Lilliana, which drove me crazy, because no way was I going to cross a street to follow her. She’s nice, but she’s not mine.”

  “Thank you for bringing her here tonight.”

  He touched her knee, needing any kind of connection. “You’re welcome.” Anything, Betsy. Anything at all.

  “I’m not sure what you expect. I mean you know I’m attracted to you. You’d have to be dumb to not know that, and I know you can even smell it. But I’m not ready. My head, it’s all over the place.”

  “I have no expectations.” All he wanted was to spend a few minutes in her presence. “Not sexual ones anyway. Actually, I have a gift for you.”

  “You do?” She sat a little forward in her chair. That had to be a good thing. She wasn’t leaning away from him.