"We go back home, and plan and wait."
"Doesn't sound like a very fun time," I teased.
Luke smiled, and the expression was full of pleasurable promises. "I'll make sure to keep you occupied."
Alpha Conspiracy
Alpha Blood, Book 2
1
My heart pounded furiously in my chest and my breathing came out in sharp, short rasps. I writhed and squirmed, trying to free myself from this torture. Above me was a world of dazzling stars, beautiful forests, and wet, stinking fur. Yeah, that last part really stank, and it was all Luke's fault. He was my Creator, my mate, and right then he was a thorn in my side. We weren't haven't the wild and rowdy sex I desperately wanted at that moment. Actually, I wanted to be doing practically anything else than what we were doing at that moment.
Luke and I were out on his property along the creek practicing my tracking skills, speed, and werewolf transformation, and how to control all that raw power that rippled beneath my lovely, modest exterior. But enough about me, back to the heinous torture Luke was afflicting on me that led to my getting soaked.
"I'm not going to do it," I refused.
"You have to. All wolves do," Luke insisted.
I turned away from him and crossed my arms. "Well, maybe I've decided to go vegan."
"As I've told you twenty times before, you can't go vegan. The Beast won't let you," he reminded me. The Beast was the wolf within us, a lustful, blood-thirsty creature who craved violence and the hunt. Kind of like a tax collector with fangs.
"Maybe my Beast is nicer than yours," I argued.
Luke snorted, but kept his serious expression. "You have to hunt rabbits, Becky. The deer in this area might be too large for you to take without getting yourself hurt."
I glared at him. "Do you know what you're asking me to do?" I wondered.
He sighed and rolled his eyes. "No, what am I asking you to do?"
"You're asking me to kill Thumper."
"I'm asking you to satiate your Beast's desire to hunt and eat-"
"-a harmless bunny," I finished.
"Have you ever been bitten by a rabbit?" he asked me.
"No, why?"
"They're not harmless, and they have some very large claws," he told me. "These are dangerous creatures. You may not even make it out alive after capturing your first one."
I rolled my eyes. "You're just trying to make me think they're vicious monster rabbits so I'll hunt one, but there's no way-" Luke stepped up to me and wrapped his arms around me. He leaned in and I shivered when I felt his warm breath against my neck.
"If you catch one we can go back to the house. Don't you hear our bed calling?" he whispered.
"W-why can't we go back now?" I suggested.
Luke chuckled and leaned down to plant a soft kiss against the quivering flesh of my neck. His voice was low and sultry. "Because you haven't caught a rabbit yet," he teased.
"T-this is cheating," I protested.
"But don't you smell the delicious scent of rabbit? Doesn't it make your mouth water?" he cooed. At his bidding my nostrils flared and my nose picked up on the fresh trail of an innocent bunny. My heart rate picked up as my sniffer tracked the smell to a mess of bushes along the creek bed. Meanwhile, Luke blazed a trail of hot kisses down my neck while his hands slid in teasing circles around my hips. I squirmed and bit my lip, trying desperately not to whimper and failing to keep my body temperature below a feverish level.
"Y-you know you're evil, don't you?" I asked him.
There was that creepy, evil chuckle of his. "Yep, and you know you want to get that-" Before he finished the said rabbit darted out from the bushes.
Me in my feral, lustful mindset couldn't fight the urge to chase after the running prey. I pulled myself from Luke's arms and raced after the spry, zig-zagging bunny. He sent me on a merry chase over the uneven, root-littered creek path and perilously close to the creek itself. One slip and I'd be done for, swallowed up by the moss-covered rocks and frigid water. My right foot decided to do that slipping, and in one fell swoop my dreams and nightmares of a rabbit stew went up with the first splash of water as I crashed into the creek.
I sputtered and swallowed about half the annual runoff of the local mountains before I pulled my head out of the water and heard a booming laugh from the bank. I whipped my head in that direction and glared at my laughing mate. He was doubled over from his cackling and was making no attempt at dragging me out of the cold water. Adding insult to injury, in my eagerness to capture the rabbit my arms, legs, and face were partially transformed, leaving me with the disgustingly wet fur of which I'd earlier mentioned.
I tried to stand, but slipped on the wet rocks beneath me and crashed back into the cold water. "I'd hate to interrupt your fun," I called out to Luke, "but could you help me out of here before I become a pup-sicle?"
Luke choked out a few more laughs and gathered himself. "Sure thing." He carefully stepped onto some rocks close to me and held out his hand to me. There was a smirk on his face and a mischievous look in his eyes. "But might I say, you look stunning as a drowned rat."
I sweetly smiled at him and grabbed his hand. "And you'll look all wet." I yanked hard toward me, and in his precarious footing he slipped and tumbled into the drink. Unfortunately, his crash wasn't beside me, but on top of me. I got dunked again, and our arms and legs flailed in the water, each trying to free ourselves from the grasp of the frigid creek.
After a few wild moments Luke managed to find his footing and dragged us both from the creek. We were soaked and I with my arms crossed stood shivering on the bank. "T-that'll t-teach y-you to l-laugh at m-me," I stuttered.
Luke bared the cold much better as he stood there letting his clothes drip on the path. We could have made a new creek with how much water dripped off us. "I think that's enough practice tonight," he announced.
"Or for the next year," I grumbled. I shuffled down the path toward the house, but yelped when I was swept up into a pair of strong, wet arms.
Luke grinned down at me with that evil twinkle in his eyes. "The faster we get back the faster we can get out of these clothes," he told me.
"And the faster we can get into some dry ones," I finished.
He grinned. "Who said anything about getting back into clothes?"
I smiled and leaned my head against his chest while he shot off down the trail toward home. It was nice having my own private handler, especially in the bedroom. "Be careful not to run into a tree, Jeeves," I teased.
Luke chuckled. "I'll try, but I have been meaning to get a crew in here to clean up some of these overgrown trees," he returned.
I rolled my eyes and snuggled his shirt. "I'm sure you'll do fine."
2
Luke raced along the woodland path, and we soon burst out of the trees and onto the well-manicured back lawn of the elegant house that I now called home. Our adventures at Sanctuary were a not-so-distant memory of four weeks past, but those had been a, usually, wonderful four weeks. Lots of sleeping in after rowdy nights of love-making followed by delicious meals cooked by Alistair, Luke's manservant. He made a mean plate of scrambled eggs and toast that I wolfed down every morning and sometimes in the evenings.
The sweet life was interrupted occasionally by Luke's insistence on my werewolf training. To be honest I didn't need much training. I just had a few problems with transforming that ended up with partial changes, my nose couldn't follow a track to save my life, and on occasion during my speed practice I ran into one or five trees. All right, so I needed a lot of training, but I was trying and slowly improving. It was a good thing werewolves lived a long time because I was going to need all those centuries to get good at being one.
Anyway, Luke sprinted across the lawn and we met Alistair at the back door. Above us the sun cast its last rays and was replaced with the darkness of night. Luke set me down, and by this time I was a mass of quivering flesh and chattering teeth. The corners of Alistair's mouth twitched and beneath his stoic exterior
I detected a hint of humor. When I first came into Luke's life Alistair hadn't approved of me, but now we were at least chummy. He'd torture me and I'd try to torture him, but it was hard to tease someone as impassive as a statue. "Problems?" Alistair asked us.
"Just a few, but could you make some cocoa for Becky?" Luke asked his servant.
"Very well, sir," Alistair replied. He bowed and left to attend to the new duties.
"Let's get you upstairs and out of those things," Luke told me. He led me inside the house and along the hardwood floors upstairs to our shared bedroom. No more white room for me, I'd upgraded to the master suite with the master included in the package deal. Speaking of packages, I was looking forward to watching Luke strip off his wet clothes and show off his wet, strong muscles. It made me wet just thinking about it. Well, wetter than I already was.
We slipped into the bedroom, and I hurriedly slipped out of my clinging clothes. Luke watched me from a few yards off with the patience of a saint and the intentions of an incubus. His eyes heated up every part of my body that was revealed to him which was most every part of me as I pulled off my damp shirt and pants. All that remained was my bra, underwear, and soggy socks, all of which were white and very much transparent. I paused in my undressing and glared at him. "Aren't you going to join me?" I scolded him.
He shrugged and grinned. "I was just enjoying the show," he replied.
I crossed my arms and tapped my foot on the floor. "This isn't a spectator's sport. We're both supposed to be participating," I argued.
Luke stepped over to me and wrapped his arms around me so he could pin my nearly naked body against his damp clothes. His chilled lips captured mine in a deep, lustful kiss that took my breath away along with the chill in my bones. He broke our pleasurable contact and grinned down at my red cheeks. "I have just the sport we can play, but you have to take off all your clothes," he teased. The Beast inside me yipped for joy, and the human part of me was squealing like a fangirl. I was fully prepared to take him up on his offer and strip, but something interrupted our fun time.
That something was a blast from a horn. The noise came from the woods in back of the house. Luke let me go and rushed out of the room, leaving me flustered and mostly naked. I grabbed his favorite bathrobe and hurried after him, but fell behind. His speed was a lot better than mine, and by the time I made it to the back door Alistair and he were far out on the lawn near the edge of the forest. I was in time to see a large gray wolf burst from the trees with two smaller ones close behind.
Alistair and Luke rushed the pursuers who, seeing the tables turned on them and they now being the pursued, turned tail and ran back into the woods. Luke looked like wanted to run after them, but Alistair grabbed his shoulder and stopped him before he dove into the trees. Alistair nodded over his shoulder at the gray wolf who had collapsed on the lawn. The pair hurried over to it, and I rushed out barefoot to them.
Luke knelt by the side of the wolf who lay on the ground panting heavily with its eyes closed. He lay a hand on the thick matting of fur on the wolf's side, and cringed when his fingers dipped into a thick, red liquid. The poor beast was injured and bleeding. Luke leaned forward and looked the creature in the face. "Zeke? Zeke, can you hear me?"
"Zeke?" I repeated. That name was the same for the guy who lived in a hut in the woods and watched over the house.
The wolf's eyes fluttered open and it groaned. Luke smiled grimly and looked him over. "Can you change back or do we have to carry you like this?"
The wolf growled, then closed its eyes again and ground its teeth together. I stepped back when its body began to change. The fur slipped into pale skin and the sharp claws became short, bony fingers. I slipped off my bathrobe and covered their wrinkled old body. The long snout pulled back into the gruff old face of Zeke the grounds keeper who grimaced in pain. "Damn that hurt," he growled. I could see why. There was a long, deep gash along his side that coated his rags and the ground with blood.
"Alistair, help me get him inside," Luke commanded. Alistair and Luke each took a side and hefted him into their arms. They were as careful as possible, but Zeke still winced and glared at them.
"Watch what yer doing," he growled.
"What we're doing is saving your life," Alistair shot back.
"That's enough, both of you," Luke scolded. I followed after them into the back hall and to the living room where they lay Zeke on the couch. Luke took another look at the wound, and the rest of Zeke's body. "Any internals?" he asked the old man.
Zeke should his head. "Nothing but my pride for them sneaking up on me."
"It's not hard to wonder why. I couldn't smell a single scent from them," Luke commented. "If Alistair wouldn't have stopped me from going into the woods I might have been another victim of their sneak attack. Where'd you pick them up?"
"Along the creek. Heard 'em splashing through the water, but they smelled me before I could hide myself. Got a few licks in, but two against an old man isn't much of a fight. I thought I'd get some help here and ran along, but they caught me on the side," Zeke explained to us.
"And nearly caught you on the lawn," Luke replied. He turned to Alistair. "Bandages and antiseptics." Alistair nodded and left to fetch the supplies.
I stepped up beside Luke and tried not to look at the horrible gash. "Is he going to be all right?" I whispered to him.
Zeke overheard me and scoffed at my question. "Ah'll be just fine, just gonna need some time to rest up."
I smiled. "Let me guess, just a day?" I asked him.
Zeke grinned. "About that long."
I turned to Luke and sighed. "Is anyone you know not a werewolf?" I wondered.
Not many," he admitted.
"Enough blabbing about me, it ain't natural for them guys not to have a scent," Zeke grumbled.
"No, and it puts us at a disadvantage," Luke agreed.
"How are we supposed to fight against something even werewolves can't sense sneaking up on them?" I asked the pair.
"With superior fighting skills and a lot of luck," Luke replied.
"So I'm doomed?" I guessed.
He grinned and patted me on the shoulder. "Not quite. Your skills as a fighter are improving."
"So I'll last a minute instead of a few seconds?"
"Something like that."
"Thanks, makes me feel a lot better," I grumbled. He nuzzled my hair, and I playfully pushed him away. "Knock that off, I'm trying to brood here."
"I would rather we be doing something more productive," he replied.
"You mean reproductive?" I guessed.
"Can't you two get a room?" Zeke spoke up. He glanced down at my wet wardrobe and raised an eyebrow. "Or did my horn blowing interrupt somethin'?"
I looked down at myself and blushed. My clothes were still transparent. "Um, I'll be right back," I told them, and slipped out of Luke's clutches so he could attend to his patient and I could attend to my wardrobe.
I passed Alistair returning with the necessary medical supplies. The boys had fun playing doctor while I played chef in the kitchen. It was past dinner time and after my chilling adventure I was hungry enough to eat the whole the rabbit I'd failed in catching, cute, fluffy tail and all. As some compensation I found a steak ready to cook and did my best to make it into a pile of burned ashes.
At the sound of the fire alarm Alistair came in and glanced through the faint wisps of smoke that wafted through the air. "Did you care for some help?" he asked me.
I turned to him with a smoking pan in one hand and an empty glass formerly filled with water. The water had been used to douse the flames in the pan. I sheepishly smiled at him. "I think I might need a little bit of a hand," I admitted.
Alistair took charge of the food and I took charge of warming up one of the stools around the kitchen island. "So how's the patient?" I wondered.
"Zeke will be fine," he curtly replied.
I frowned. "I get the feeling you and him don't get along. Is there a story behind that?"
&nb
sp; "Yes."
"And?" I persisted.
"And it's a long story," he assured me.
I leaned my elbows on the island, cupped my head in my hands, and smiled at him. "I think I've got time."
"I'm sure it would bore you," he insisted.
"What would bore you?" Luke interrupted my inquisition as he stepped into the room.
"Alistair's long and sordid history with Zeke," I told him.
Luke chuckled and sat himself down in the stool beside me. "That's a long story."
"So I've been told, but I've got time," I replied.
He grinned and leaned toward me. "Even if that means waiting for food?" He pointed at Alistair who had already salvaged the dinner and had the meat on plates.
My eyes widened and I wiped the drool from my lips. "On second thought, it can wait."
3
We scarfed down our dinner, and Luke took food to Zeke. I went upstairs to take a quick shower, and came back down to find the pair in the living room deep in conversation about our newest unwelcome guests. "Did you see any identifying marks on them?" Luke asked him.
Zeke shook his head. "Not a sign. They didn't even have a handkerchief on 'em," he replied.
Luke leaned back in his chair set before the couch and frowned. "And you thought they were watching the house?"
"Or at least trespassin', but they weren't too interested in tellin' me their life story," Zeke quipped.
I sat down in another chair close beside Luke. "I'd say they were more interested in ending your life story," I spoke up.
"And I'd say even without knowing who they were we know who they're working for," Luke added.
"Lance?" I guessed.
"Lance," he agreed.
"And how are ya gonna prove that to anybody?" Zeke wondered.
"We can't, and even if we could I don't know who we'd turn to. His accomplice Simpling controls the High Lordship and Lance has most of the other lords in his pocket," Luke reminded us.
"Except Baker, Stevens and you, and I don't know if those other two would help us," I added.
"We shouldn't count on anyone but ourselves and those we've agreed to communicate with," Luke replied.