Chapter 5

To say I was a bit distracted was an understatement, but it was the reason I was the last wolf to realize we had company.  Sure, I was vaguely aware of the cloying scent of cedar and sandalwood, the crunch of gravel outside, a howl carried on the wind, but I was still entranced by the Alpha before me and the things he was doing to my body. I hated myself for this weakness, for not being able to control the wetness spreading between my legs, the tautness of my nipples, the burn where his mouth touched against my skin. But it felt so damn good. And the bastard knew exactly the effects he was having on me alright.

“Rand!” cried out Lily, increasing her grip on her mate.

“Maybe we’ll have better luck making him understand,” soothed Rand as he stroked her cheek, “I’ll relinquish my place in the pack and my allegiance to my Alpha, Lil if that’s what it takes for us to be together.”

“He has to understand! He’ll give you a place and protection among our pack,” the hope in Lily’s voice nearly broke me.

She was young and sheltered and had probably spent her life mostly on packlands. It wouldn’t be that simple, and deep down she knew it too. Otherwise these lunarcrossed mates would have never tried to run in the first place.

Alpha Roam let a rumble loose deep from his chest, likely from both his nephew’s words of his willingness to turn his back on his pack, and a warning to the threat of the rival wolf crossing my threshold. The power of his timbre only made my lady bits weep more. I was in trouble. Note to self, have more sex to avoid this situation in the future. If I hadn’t been denying myself so much, suppressing my inner wolf, I wouldn’t be acting like a horny teenager in the back row of a dark movie theater right about now. Even though it was a fine, ass specimen in my view.

While I could see the tells in his hard body that the Alpha was gearing up for a fight, his expression told me he was looking forward to it. A way to release the tension, and it seemed personal. A smile cut through the granite jaw of his. He welcomed this fight about to come.

Alpha Roam’s teeth nipped my ear, “To be continued. I have something to take care of first.”

I lost whatever amount of dignity and self-respect I’d managed to cling to when a needy moan escaped my lips. His playful bite had sent a jolt of electricity coursing through me and I nearly orgasmed then and there. I couldn’t even bear to look over in the mates’ direction again in my shame. Shit was about to go down in the middle of my diner and all I could think about was getting some action.  W.T.F. was wrong with me.

The Alpha stalked towards the door to lie and wait for his rival. It hadn’t been a howl of love out in the parking lot. I was not an expert on all wolf calls, but I knew enough to understand these wolves weren’t allies. Things were about to get bloody and messy. And I doubted my poor diner would survive the carnage.

 I sprinted to the counter and reached behind it. There I found my trusty flask and I took a swig of wolfsbane for myself to make my wolf heel, and then I spritzed some extra down the barrel of my gun. I was just about to grab liquid of another variety to steady my nerves, when the wood of my stoop creaked, and my senses were overwhelmed with another wave of that heady wolf essence.

Like humans had fingerprints, all wolf’s had distinctive aromas, half of their scent came from the wolf who sired them, while the other half was unique to their progeny. It made it a hell of a lot easier to determine paternity, like nature’s own version of The Maury Show.

In the animal kingdom, this was critical to survival of their species, to ignite those parental instincts, and keep cubs protected and cared for by those who sired them. While even Lycans had come a long way, their bloody history was peppered with tragic tales of males killing off offspring sired by others, to claim another’s mate, or take out future rivals, or to further their own bloodline. Packs tended to be more progressive these days, but it and other atrocities still did happen.  The weak, sick, old were often left behind to die in the more feral packs that roamed the world. It was sickening.

But there was nothing weak about the new werewolf who now prowled my homeland. In fact, I’d bet my bottom dollar he too was an Alpha. His aroma was too strong, and Alphas tended to have a natural magnetism towards them. And I was not immune to his pull either, even before I laid eyes on him. Even though my body was still wet and wanting from Alpha Roam, this newcomer, made my heart beat faster in my chest, and my apex flooded with fresh heat.

Like his enemy from Stonemountain Pack, his very essence radiated with strength. Those meant to be Alphas, were born with Alpha traits, rarely were they made. It was a natural thing and male wolves were either born an Alpha with dominate qualities- which were honed over time-or they were destined to be betas, and less frequently omegas.

 She-wolfs were born to be Lunas or breeders or both, rarely were they omegas like me. If a she-wolf was an omega, it was likely because she had been abandoned by her pack or banished, rather than by a personal choice. Omega females, also known as lone wolfs, often didn’t survive long in the wilds or outside the protection of a pack. They were easy pickings by hunters and other predators.

 Turned females like myself had even fewer opportunities inside the pack hierarchy, and it was practically unheard of for us non-pures to be Omegas or Lunas. We were turned, either by choice or nonconsensual, to serve a specific purpose. Once-human women like me were created to be brood mares to expand the pack. By werewolf law, only Alphas and elder councils had the power to decide if a human could or could not be turned. Wolves could plead their cases before the Alpha and the council to turn a potential mate, or to strengthen pack numbers with new warriors, but their Alphas had the final say on the matter.

 But this law was often disregarded, especially when it came to turning females for the cause to repopulate. Nomadic or feral packs, who had laxer respect for the laws of wolfkind, were often the worst offenders, but it also happened in modern and established packs as well. Too many turned a blind eye to the crimes committed against women who were either turned by coercion or against their will. That could be said of women in general too though, as the patriarchy of this world was still far too strong and oppressive to females of all species.

But my thoughts had gotten far too carried away on these tangents again, and I needed to refocus on the problems at hand. On the now two Alphas locked in a battle of wills in the middle of my diner. The Alpha of what I assumed to be the Timberland Pack, made my mouth water and left my pheromones in just as much of a tizzy as his sworn enemy had. He was equally appealing to the eye and looked just as delectably fuckable.

He wasn’t as brawny and broad as Alpha Roam, but his body was still rippled with taut muscles, looking like he’d just stepped off the cover of an erotic novel. Alpha Roam looked more like he’d escaped from a dark romance book. But this grey eyed Alpha still reeked of masculinity, tight and hard in all the yummy places. His hair was dark and thick, the kind perfect for a girl to get her hands tangled up in, his cheeks clean shaven to give an unobstructed view of his chiseled jaw. His eyes were a familiar shade of moon grey, a trait he shared with Lily I figured out. It seemed likely he was more than just her Alpha, but also a blood relative. He looked like my next, favorite mistake.

The gravity of the situation had yet to fully hit me, because my hormones were going into overdrive again, as I undressed this fresh meat with my eyes. I watched him like a predator, his movements lithe, his grey gaze taking in all, while also impressively not taking his eyes off the enemy Alpha. Rule uno in the animal kingdom, never take your eyes off your foe or turn your back on them. Both could prove to be a fatal mistake.

Lily’s Alpha bared his teeth, “If you harmed one hair on her head, I’ll fucking tear you apart.”

I thought his statement was directed at both Randon and Alpha Roam. She was clearly still in one piece, but emotions were high, and tension was so tight, it could have been cut with a knife. My knuckles turned white as I clenched Old Faithful.

“Your she-wolf is unharmed. But I can’t say the same fate will befall you,” snarled Alpha Roam.

The waring Alphas stalked in circles of each other, neither daring to be distracted or divert their gaze. Both were assessing each other, looking for weakness and openings to use to their advantage to make their move. This fight had already begun from the moment the Timberland Alpha stepped foot on my land. No, this fight had begun long before that, generations ago in fact.

“Grey! I’m not hurt. Please Grey, you have to let Randon join our pack! We’re true mates. He’ll swear his allegiance to you. Please, Grey I love him. And I won’t live without him!” proclaimed Lily.

Fresh tracks of tears cut down her flushed cheeks. Rand pulled her tighter into his embrace. I saw a brief flicker of regret, then the tense of Alpha Grey’s jaw. I was surprised Lily had addressed him so informally. But I knew his answer even before the words left his mouth.

“You know our laws, Lily. Those of Stonemountain Blood cannot live on Timberland packlands. It is our way as it has always been.”

“I don’t care about some stupid old laws! He’s my mate! I won’t go back without him Grey, I swear it on The Moon!”

Venom dripped from Alpha Roam’s voice, “And my nephew will never swear allegiance to The Timberland Pack and its pathetic Alpha. I’ll see him returned to the ground to spare his kin such a dishonor before I’ll allow him to mate with a Timberland whore!”

He spat on the floor near Alpha Grey’s feet. His disrespect towards Lily and the pack, her Alpha, was the gas on the fire that caused the explosion. A growl tore from his throat as Alpha Grey made the first move. He charged and where a man stood seconds before, a frosted grey wolf took his place, the tatters of his shredded clothing flitted through the air. Alpha Roam shifted much in the same way, his fur dark like the night, with a tearing of clothing, and his snout to the air to let out a fierce war cry.

Rand dragged Lily back far away from the fray as the Alphas collided. A chaotic tangle of claws and teeth and soon the tangy scent of wolfblood perfumed the air. The Alphas moved and struck with such quick and deadly precision, it was hard to follow with my nearly human eyes. It was a beautiful but savage dance. And I was enthralled. I couldn’t look away. I could barely fucking breathe.

I should have been terrified. I should have had my shotgun at the ready aimed towards the fighting and snarling beasts. I should have been furious at the sound of splintered wood as a table was crushed when the grey Alpha was thrown into it. As mugs fell off tables and shattered into pieces joining in the violent song of claws against the tiled floor, snarls in the air, flesh meeting flesh, of silverware clattering, and Lily’s anguished screams.

As I watched the two Alphas fight to the death, I was anything but afraid. I was alive. I was aroused. I came in my panties as release tore through me in shattering waves that made my knees weak. I grabbed the counter to hold myself up. I had never come so hard in my life as I did watching them locked in a fanged embrace. As they battled for honor and dominance.

These Alphas were going to be the death of me.