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Epilogue
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The Denver Alpha 1
COLEMy mind conjures up the memory of the stench of acrid smoke in the air as I thumb through the photographs of the charred, skeletal remains of the Sparrowhead apartment complex. Two months ago, a fire took down the entire building, blazing out of control until only ash and rubble remained. The destruction was so severe that the cause of the fire was only recently determined, and this file landed on my desk this morning courtesy of my connections with the local P.D.The police chief knows I like to keep a pulse on what goes on in the city, so he doesn’t question when I request files from him. Not that I would disclose the reasons behind my requests if he did. As long as I grease his palm with quarterly donations, he seems satisfied with our arrangement and doesn’t pry into my personal business. Why would he when I’m a respected figure in the community, the proprietor of a dozen bars and night clubs with a well-rounded real estate portfolio to boot?I didn’t amass all of this on my
The Denver Alpha 2
JULIETI drag in a deep lungful of fresh air as Shay leads me out the tall sliding glass door and onto the terrace, chattering away about the packhouse and all its amenities. The air smells different here in Denver. It smells like sweet, sweet freedom.“I mean, you grew up in a packhouse, so all of this is probably normal to you,” Shay tosses over her shoulder as she treads a path to the edge of the terrace. “But it was a huge change for me when I came here. It took some getting used to. And hey, if you-”“Holy shit,” I interrupt, pushing past Shay as a huge pool area comes into view. “There’s a pool?!”Her lips pull into a grin, her chin-length hair bouncing as she nods. “Yeah, girl. There’s a pool.”She starts to say something else, but her words are lost to me as I rush forward to get a closer look at the large swimming pool, the crystal-clear water beckoning me in the sweltering summer heat. I might’ve grown up in a packhouse, but the one in Westfield pales in comparison to this p
The Denver Alpha 3
COLENo matter what time I go to bed at night, I always wake up at seven a.m. to start my day. I value discipline and routine, and no matter what happens in a given day, each morning is like a reset. I never hit the snooze button when my alarm sounds, even if an extra ten minutes of sleep may seem tempting. It isn’t worth throwing off my whole day. Regardless of how exhausted I am, I haul my ass out of bed at seven on the dot, hit the gym for my daily workout, shower, then head to the kitchen for coffee and breakfast. The snooze button was more tempting than usual this morning, but I still dragged myself out of bed and went about my routine as normal. By the time I’ve finished my workout and showered, many of the warriors that reside at the packhouse are already crowded in the kitchen for breakfast, their voices carrying down the hall as the scent of fresh coffee beckons me closer.As always, Sam is seated at our usual table when I stride into the kitchen, a cup of coffee already po
The Denver Alpha 4
JULIET I could feel the shift in the atmosphere when I woke up this morning; the sense of liberation buzzing through my veins. I hadn’t stopped thinking about the pool since I laid eyes on it yesterday, so I started my day with a swim, immediately concluding that it’s the way I’ll start every day here until the weather turns. It was infinitely more relaxing than my usual morning runs- I must’ve been a mermaid in another life because I love being in the water. I’m pretty sure I left a lasting impression when I wandered into the kitchen for coffee afterwards. Cole’s jaw was clenched so tightly that it looked like he was about to blow a gasket, but I didn’t miss the way he looked at me. And yeah, I might’ve goaded him a little bit to gauge his interest. It’s there. He clearly likes to play his cards close to his chest, though, so if I have to push his buttons more to bring out that side of him, I’m more than up for the task. He disappeared afterwards, but Shay came by my room while I w
The Denver Alpha 5
COLE“Alpha,” Max greets, pushing open the back door to Jokers nightclub before I can even reach it and swinging it wide to allow me entry. The surveillance cameras must’ve alerted him to my presence when I parked in my spot behind the building, prompting him to come down to meet me. “Didn’t know you were stopping in tonight.”“Figured I’d swing by and see how Jason’s getting on,” I grumble, stepping past him and into the dingy concrete hallway. Ordinarily, I don’t often make personal visits to the establishments that our pack owns and runs in Denver. I trust my guys to keep the operations running smoothly and bring anything urgent to my attention, but since Jason was only promoted to manager of this club yesterday, I thought it’d be best to check in on things myself to ensure the transition has been seamless.I glance over at the concrete staircase to my left, pointing a finger upwards to indicate. “Is he upstairs?” The manager’s office here is on the second level, with a private ent
The Denver Alpha 6
JULIETThe smell of chlorine clings to my little sky-blue bikini as I pull it on, and I make a mental note to ask Shay if she’s up for a shopping trip soon so I can pick up some more swimsuits. I only tossed one into my suitcase while I was packing for Denver on the off chance that there was a swimming hole nearby; it never occurred to me that there’d be a whole ass swimming pool right outside my door. It’s late in the season so my pool days are probably numbered, but with the chance to swim every day until the weather turns, one suit just isn’t going to cut it.As I’m reaching behind my back to tie the strings of my bikini, my cell phone vibrates on the nightstand, my brother’s name flashing on the screen with an incoming video call. My gut twists and my heart plummets. What are the chances that word of my little excursion to the nightclub has already gotten back to my overbearing big bro?I snatch my phone up and flop forward on my bed, landing on my tummy and positioning the phone
The Denver Alpha 7
COLEBy the time I make it from the patio doors to the edge of the swimming pool, a bead of sweat is already rolling down my spine, the sun beating down brutally overhead like it is intent on scorching the earth before noon. This summer has been hot as hell, especially these last couple of weeks. Though I don’t swim often, that pool water is looking damn enticing right now- and not just because of the girl currently swimming in it.Juliet’s suntanned skin practically glows as her body sluices through the water, her arms carving a path in freestyle stroke and her round ass bobbing out of the water enticingly with every kick of her feet.My jaw ticks in irritation as she swims further away, suddenly focused on doing laps as if she didn’t realize I was headed straight for her when I came out here. Or maybe she did, and she’s just trying to piss me off by keeping me waiting.It’s working. Nobody keeps me waiting.I clear my throat loudly when Juliet surfaces at the other end of the pool,
The Denver Alpha 8
JULIETI’ve been learning something new with every day spent at the Denver packhouse. Like how if you arrive too late for meals, most of the good stuff will already be gone. And how there’s an entire dresser full of swimsuits of all sizes in one of the guest rooms for visitors, which explains why the one Tayla wore the other morning was so ill-fitting. And that most nights, the young, single guys that live at the packhouse congregate in the game room, shooting pool and watching sports highlights on TV to unwind from their day. Tobias told me about it at breakfast, so of course that’s where I head the following evening when boredom strikes, curious to check it out.It's a huge space on the upper floor of the packhouse that’s basically a bachelor’s paradise, chock full of all kinds of stuff that guys go crazy for. There’s a full-sized glass-front refrigerator stocked with beer, a massive flatscreen TV mounted on one wall, floor to ceiling windows that overlook the terrace lining another
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