Alpha Trio: Vol. 1 - Cats & Dogs (2 page)

But human pussy was hotter and wetter. At least, he thought so. He’d never discussed it with his brothers. He just figured they felt the same way, considering their preference for  Mundanes. They stuck to one-night-stands exclusively though. Can’t have a relationship with someone when you can’t explain where you go every day and why you get especially grouchy around the full moon.

Em had done the one-night-stand thing for awhile, but in the last year he’d grown increasingly bored. With human and Shifter girls alike. Not sex, god no. Just the bullshit that always seemed to accompany it. Even the one-night-stands. All the fucking pretense.

Of course, that meant he was horny as hell. He went around semi-hard most of the time, now. “Damn it.”

He stretched his arms over his head, trying to release some of the tension in his muscles. The kind that even a good fight or jerking off couldn’t relieve. He needed a woman.

She stumbled out of the alley, limping on one broken heel, and fell into his arms as if she were an answer to his wish. She was petite, at least compared to his 6’4, with chestnut brown hair in a messy twist on top of her head and curves for days. She looked up at him with soft eyes the purple-blue color of wolfsbane.

“Help,” she breathed, her plump pink lips trembling, and glanced back over her shoulder into the shadowy mouth of the alley. Emilian instinctively turned so his body was between her at the threat, whatever it was.

“Come with me.” He didn’t give her the chance to argue. He kept his arm curved around her lush waist and led her into the club, pushing past the waiting line of people. The bouncer opened his mouth to say something but Em shot him a fierce look, upper lip wrinkling slightly back from his teeth. The guy wisely subsided.

She had a streak of grease on one cheek and he could smell blood on her, though he wasn’t sure where it was coming from. He shouldered through the bumping, writhing crowd, stiff arming people out of the way as he ushered her toward the bathroom. He didn’t even stop to wonder why he gave a shit what this chick’s problem was. He was trained to react to danger and protect innocents. And this ripe little beauty reeked of innocence.

Actually, aside from the blood, grease, and the faint, acrid smell of her fear, he detected only a light sweat and... ink. He sniffed at her hair. The soft, dusty smell of old books hovered around her too. A librarian?

“Th-thank you,” she stuttered. “That man...” She pressed her lips so tightly together they turned white and shook her head. From the corner of his eye, Em saw her reach down and touch her knee. She winced and the smell of blood grew stronger. Skinned her knee when she fell, most likely.

“Don’t worry about him.” Whoever the guy was who’d been giving her a hard time, it was unlikely he’d be able to follow them into the club without waiting in line. And Em doubted he’d continue to pursue her into such a public setting. He’d get her cleaned up and put in a cab home.

She balked as he pushed into the ladies’ room, but he just shoved her through the door.  Gently, but it was still a shove. She narrowed her eyes at him. “Look, I appreciate you helping me get in here but I can take it from here, big guy.” She crossed her arms beneath her ample breasts.

Em didn’t even try and not look. The short suit jacket was hideous, but the white blouse underneath clung in all the right places. When he raised his eyes back to hers, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were snapping sparks. He quirked a dark brow, pushing the door closed as someone else tried to open it. They both heard a soft thump and a petulant, ‘What the fuck’. Em just pressed his palm flat and looked at her.

“Fine,” she groused. She spun on her unbroken heel and crossed to the sink. He watched her as she scrubbed at her cheek. She mumbled under her breath the whole time. “Should have known better. Stupid move, Cat. An alley, really? Jesus. What did you expect?”

Em’s lips twitched. Irony. “Your name’s Cat?”

She jerked. Her wide eyes met his in the mirror. “Um. Yes.” She bent over to dab at her scraped knee with a damp paper towel. Em admired the curve of her ass in the tweed skirt. Tweed? Who wore tweed?

“Are you going to tell me what happened out there?”

“No,” she replied quickly, through gritted teeth.

He leaned back against the door, crossing his arms over his chest. “Why not? If there’s some guy out there bothering women, shouldn’t you tell someone? He might move on to someone else now that you’re out of his reach.” He could tell from the way the color drained from her cheeks that she hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. But she still shook her head. She straightened, tossing the wadded up, blood-stained paper towel into the trash. 

“I don’t think that’s an issue.” Her tone was curt. She was trying to discourage him from asking any more questions. It wasn’t going to work.

“So you know the guy?” Em was good at figuring things out. Following clues. He was the best tracker the Alpha team had. And the fact that she was reasonably sure the guy who’d been hassling her would immediately go out and look for another victim meant she thought he’d targeted her specifically.

Cat reached up, tugged the clip from her hair, and began combing her fingers through the tangles. She didn’t meet his gaze, and her hands were shaking. She evaded the question. “What are you, a cop? Why do you care?”

“Something like that,” he responded, just as evasive. Her eyes grew wary as she watched him. She twisted her hair back up into a neat bun and refastened the clip.

“I don’t know what that means, mister. Now, I appreciate your help and all, but I need to get home. My boyfriend is waiting for me.” Her pupils dilated. Em could smell the spike in her adrenaline. She was lying. She was also terrified. It was coming off her in waves. He shrugged and moved aside. He wasn’t Grigore. Damsels weren’t his thing.

Her shoulders relaxed the tiniest bit. She reached for the door handle, her full lips curving up into a small smile. “Tha--”

Em put one hand back on the door, sliding his body in between her and it. This close to her, he could hear her heartbeat, smell the very faint traces of the soap she’d used that morning. He could feel the heat radiating off her smooth, creamy skin. Cat’s smile fell away immediately.

“I can help, you know. I’m not a cop, but... I can help, trust me. Just tell me what happened.” He was going to let her go, but there was something. Something he couldn’t put his finger on. Her resistance to telling him only made him want to know more.

Her eyes locked with his, as if she was trying to read something there. She was trying to  decide whether or not to trust him. Either way, she was probably in trouble. She bit the pillowy curve of her lower lip. “You wouldn’t believe me,” she murmured. “I don’t even...” She shook her head.

The nerves all along his spine tingled. Em shifted his weight, feeling the prickle of fur beneath his skin. He bit back the growl that jumped to his throat.

“Try me.”

She must have seen something in his face. Her mouth firmed. “The man... the one who chased me...” She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and met his eyes. “I think he was a vampire.”

***

Cat tugged against his grip as he dragged her through the club, her heels skidding on the floor. After stumbling a few steps she kicked the shoes off in exasperation. She tried to stop and retrieve them, but Em kept moving through the pulsing crowd.

“What are you... listen... mister... Will you
wait
?”

“Emilian.” He tossed his name back over his shoulder as he finally reached the rope for the VIP area. He vaulted it neatly, spun and scooped her up into his arms. He didn’t have time for niceties. 

She slapped at his chest. “Put me down! Psycho. What the hell?”

“Emilian,” he repeated.

“What are babbling about?” Cat squirmed against his chest halfheartedly.

“My name. Is Emilian.”

She opened her mouth to respond but Drei’s muttered, “Oh, what the fuck?” cut her off.

“Drei, Grig. Got a problem.” He jerked his head in the direction of the door. Neither of his brothers needed further explanation, thank god. Drei drained his beer in one gulp and got swiftly to his feet. Grig shrugged apologetically at Tanya and slid out of the booth as well.

“What’s with the skirt?” Drei’s mouth thinned to a hard line. His eyes moved quickly through the crowd.

Em gritted his teeth. “She’s got a tail.”

“
She’s
got a name. And two perfectly good legs!” Cat thumped him on the shoulder.

Grig was watching behind them, making sure no one was following them through the club. His nostrils flared. “More than one.”

“Shit.” Em tightened his arms around Cat. Drei moved in front of him, strong arming people out of the way to make a wide path to the door. There were quite a few curses and exclamations, but no one was stupid enough to challenge the three big, dark men as they barreled through the crowd.

“She’s bleeding,” Drei spat without looking over his shoulder. “The smell’s like a fucking homing device.”

“It’s just a scratch!” Cat protested. It was just a skinned knee. And yet, to a vampire who had her scent, it was as good as a beacon. Just like Drei said. He needed to get her away from her, fast. If there was a group of vamps and they fell into a frenzy... Well, there was no way just the three of them could hold them off.

A burst of impatience clogged Emilian’s throat. They’d made it all the way to the club door, but a snarl of people held them up. Urgency pumped through his veins with every beat of his heart. He needed to get out of the stuffy, confined club. The hair on the back of his neck prickled. If it came to a fight in here, it would be a slaughter. Too many Mundane casualties. They couldn’t chance it.

“Get out of the god damn way!” he roared. Really roared. Cat flinched in his arms and several woman screamed. But enough of the milling, sheep-like group in front of the doors scattered that Drei could shoulder his way through the last few feet.

Em felt some of the tension in his neck ease as the cool night air washed over his face. He glanced down at Cat. The smooth, round curves of her cheeks were pale. Her slender fingers were curled tightly in his t-shirt. She was chewing at her lower lip. When she realized he was looking at her, she met his eyes, her purple-blue gaze frightened. “What’s going on, Emilian?”

Hearing her say his name in her soft voice sent an immediate, hard spike of desire into his gut. But now was not the time to be thinking about his dick. He could smell the vamps, the powdery sweet scent of their cool skin making his nose itch.

“I see ‘em,” Grig growled. “There’s four coming through the back of the club. Fast. At least one is Icing.”

“Motherfuck,” Em spat. That was bad news. A ‘normal’ vamp was bad enough. But some of their race got the bonus pack when they turned. Special abilities. Like Icing. He flashed a look behind them and saw the tall, skeletal form of the vampire moving forward through the crowd. It appeared as if the creature was moving forward in jerky stop motion.

Icing, the ability to freeze time around them while they kept moving, was a common extra ability. It was only a few second bursts at a time, but sometimes that’s all it took to win a fight. Fucking vampires. Em’s only consolation came from how wiped it left them afterwards. This cadaverous fuck was using up all his juice in order to reach them.

They really wanted the woman. “Let’s go,” he snarled at Drei and Grig. They were completely free of the club, hustling down the alley. It was dark, pitch dark, and smelled of piss and garbage. Bile burned in the back of Em’s throat. The stench was overpowering to his sensitive nose. He tucked Cat’s head under his chin, tipping his face down to inhale the clean aroma of her.

He ran with her held to his chest, head down, legs pumping, as fast as he could through the dark. Her breathing was ragged with fear and her fingers were tugging at his chest hair as they curled into his shirt, but she didn’t cry or squirm. Pretty impressive, considering everything that had happened so far.