Alphy's Challenge (18 page)

Alphy’s
eyes softened as he smiled at the woman he
loved. “Yes, with all my heart. It happens fast with a paranormal’s fated mate.”
The smile that lit her face knocked the breath from his lungs. It spoke to him
of how much she cared for him back, and perhaps how much she needed to hear him
say it.

Gale threw her arms around his neck and
hugged him. He pulled her close and squeezed back. His cock jumped in his
pants.

“I love you, too,” she whispered in his hair.

Alphy’s
cock did another jerk, and he pulled back
and rested his lips over hers. He had to taste his mate. Suddenly his bear sat
up and demanded to reaffirm their mark on her. They wanted their scent on her,
in her, pouring from her. With another jerk from his dick, he felt pre-cum leak
from the tip and moisten his pants. He sank further into the kiss, making it demanding
and passionate. He left no doubt to how he felt and what he wanted.

Alphy reached down and flicked the button
through the button hole in his pants. His fingers pinched the cold metal of the
zipper’s pull tab when a knock on the door interrupted the moment. He let his
bear’s growl of disapproval be heard to the offending intrusion.

“Alpha Ralph, Alpha David is on the phone, and
he has an answer to your challenge.” Ryker’s business-like tone carried through
the closed door.

That was the second time this alpha had
interrupted
Alphy’s
time with his mate. There was no
doubt this guy was a dead man.

“I’m coming.” He stood up and looked at his
mate, who had a peculiar look on her face. She looked positively giddy. He gave
her a quizzical look. “You’re happy he interrupted us?”

She spread her smile wider and eagerly nodded
her head. “I’m looking forward to when you make it up to me, like you did last
time.”

 
Alphy
let out a full barrel laugh. He got control over himself and leaned in for a
small peck. “It’s good you can see the bright side of it. I’ll make it up to
you later, so you should head down and get something to eat … you’ll need your
strength.”

With that parting shot from him, she beat him
to the door and was halfway down the steps before his hand curled around the
phone.

He couldn’t hold back his smile or chuckle as
he answered the phone. “This is Alpha Ralph.”

Chapter Twelve

The challenge was to take place in two days
with alphas from other herds and packs as witnesses. Alpha David had chosen to
have the challenge in the
Kaska
pack’s territory. He
seemed confident he was going to win and wanted to immediately take it over
afterward. The pack worked hard long hours planning and preparing for
everything they could come up with that the
corruptalpha
might try to pull. And starting the each day with defensive training for all
the pack members became a requirement.

 
Enzo
stood on his right, and Tom stood beside Seamus, standing behind him, watching as
other alphas gathered around an arena they had set up. They chose a spot far
from the house, not wanting to invite so many to the pack house. It was a defensible
clearing, so Alphy had it put down as their official
Kaska
pack spot for challenges and other such events. He had it on the to-do list to
improve on it.

Sure the alpha was going to try
something,
they kept Nix in a great sniping position and set
with a communication device.
Kace
, Slate, and Matteo
were also positioned in key spots to detect anyone trying to go for the house
or sneak behind
Alphy’s
back. Seamus was prepared with
a med-kit, or rather more like two med duffle bags. No one could argue with the
vamp for wanting to be prepared for anything. As much as he and the others
teased him about it, Alphy and the rest always loved that about their doctor
friend.

Alphy ordered all the women, Reese and Paul,
and of course, the cubs, to stay at the house with Ryker there as guard. Ryker
may be a small computer geek, but he was a vampire. He had strength that
usually others underestimated, and he picked up on things really fast. At least
he could kill a teddy bear now. Of course, that tease was only enjoyed by
everyone else
but
Ryker. He didn’t
like it at all.

Alphy’s
brother and sister were not easy pickings either.
They both strong Kodiak bears and loved to wrestle and spar with each other and
were both pretty good in a fight. They had already started using the boxing
arena.

At the suggestion from Ryker, and backed up
with support from Seamus, Alphy had invited the coven from Toronto. He’d gotten
to speak with the coven leader over the phone and had a good feeling about him.
He sounded strong, and fair, just what Alphy needed to give an added watch over
the other packs. And at Enzo’s suggestion, Alphy had invited someone from the
council. It had turned out the council knew about Alpha David.
Apparently he called the council a great deal,
always demanding one thing or other abusing the system to his advantage. He
also complained his dues were too high, always short changing the council until
they had to threaten to visit him. They were starting to hear rumors and were
about to investigate when Alphy called about the challenge. Because of this,
the council was just fine with coming out and witnessing the event.

It helped ease Alphy just a smidgen to have
that much of an equalizer. So he stood before the large groups, with David on
the opposite side, as they waited for all the groups to finish arriving.

Alphy’s
bear paced in his mind.
He hated all these other alphas in his
territory. They really had no right to be here, but he felt he would get a
better feel for who was truly on David’s side and who may actually be decent. So
far, none of them struck him as decent.

****

Gale hated not being there with her mate. She
felt sick to her stomach and nervously paced the large living area. Gale’s eyes
darted around the living space. She was amused to watch Reese down on the floor
playing with the twins. He was always playing with them or helping with her
brother, and she felt Reese would probably make a great father one day. Havana
loved to give them a little bit of attention, but it was more in passing. Right
now, she was glued to her cell.

Gale’s brother, Paul, was sitting comfortably
in a chair with his feet lifted up on an ottoman. He was playing some game or
other on a tablet, but with his depth perception off, he wasn’t doing so well. Ryker
was sitting on the arm of the chair, looking over Paul’s shoulder “backseat
gaming
”. He and her brother had been getting along really
well.

Her mom and Betty were both in the kitchen
preparing a big feast. Betty didn’t seem to have any doubts who would win, and
Connie, well, Gale felt her mom was just nervous as she was, what with Tom out
there and not here, and she just wanted something to do. They were the only
ones not in the living space.

Gale turned and paced the other direction.
She didn’t feel like helping in the kitchen, she didn’t have any games or
movies she was interested in, and she didn’t have anything to keep her mind off
the worry. She reached the end of the space, turned, and followed the same path
the other way.

“He’ll be just fine, Gale.” She looked over
to see Ryker looking at her. He continued, “He’s been in all the Special Forces.”
She noted he said that like it was a bunch of magazines instead of the military.
“And haven’t you seen his bear?”

Gale shook her head. She’d been too afraid at
first, thinking it might attack her, but after he told her he couldn’t hurt her
even in bear form, she’d wanted to see his bear, but they had been so busy,
they hadn’t had the chance.

“There’s a
big
reason,” he emphasized “big”, “no other alpha wanted him in
there territory. It isn’t just because of his alpha tendencies.”

“But I know the other alpha. He’s tricky, and
cheats, and he’s just evil. He’s not going to play fair,” said Gale.

“Alphy knows how to prepare for anything, and
his pack has his back. They know what they are doing.”

Gale continued to pace. She knew he was
right, but she just couldn’t shake her nerves. Ryker went back to “backseat
gaming”.

An explosion of glass and
wood shot around them, sending fragments sliding across the hardwood floors.
The twins screamed and cried. Reese and
Havana were fast picking up the tots and sheltering them, but all Gale could do
was stand where she was, in a near state of shock, covering her ears with her
hands. Men thundered through the door and windows. She felt a breeze as Ryker
sped by her at an inhuman speed.

She heard Ryker hiss, baring his fangs, as he
stopped in front of one intruder and stabbed his elongated fingernails into the
man’s chest right where his heart would have been. Gale shut her eyes and
looked away. She heard more shouting and gurgling, and three thunderous roars that
shocked her enough to look up.

The twins were in Paul’s lap with her mother
sheltering them all. Filling the rest of the living space were three giant
Kodiak bears. Now she knew why the space was so open, as the bears crowded the
large space. Gale dove for the seat with her mother and siblings. She watched
as the three bears and a fast lethal vampire attacked the intruders.

Ryker’s eyes were entirely red, and his elongated
fingernails were dripping with blood. Gale saw one of the enforcers on the
floor, already dead, his sightless eyes staring open at the ceiling with four
deep slashes torn in his neck, down his chest, feeding the growing pool of blood
he lay in. Smoke filled the area, causing them to cough, and she tasted the
metallic tang of blood in the air. The final enforcer, the main instigator,
came into view, and Gale closed her eyes and turned away as one bear lunged at
his throat. She heard a gurgled grunt and tried to not picture what just
happened to him. Soon, the chaos quieted, leaving only the sounds of the
screaming tots. She looked up. Nine men lay dead or dying in giant pools of
blood on the floor. Above them stood Ryker, covered in blood and a feral look
on his face, and Betty, Havana, and Reese … naked. Gale gasped, slammed her
eyes shut, and turned her head.

“Enzo?
Yes, we were attacked, but I’m sorry to tell
you there aren’t any prisoners.”

Gale heard Ryker speaking into his cell. He said
it so matter of
factly
that it made her stomach sick.
She couldn’t hear what was said on the other side of the phone.

“Ok, got it. Oh! I’ll hold you to that.”

Gale heard Betty’s voice. “Reese, keep your
skin on, just in case more come.
You, too, Havana, better
safe than sorry.”

Gale cringed when she heard bones and
ligaments popping. It sounded so painful.

“OK, I’m dressed. Gale, why don’t you help me
clean up this glass?” Gale felt fur rub against her leg and looked up. A huge brown
bear snout sniffed in her face taking in her scent. It poked past her and did
quick little sniffs and puffs against the twins. Gale was frozen in place.
Alphy
had said he couldn’t hurt her, but he’d never said
anything about the others.

The tots stopped crying and started to giggle
with the wet nose tickling their sides. They threw themselves at the bear and
proceeded to use the giant bear as a jungle-gym.

“Come on, girls. They won’t hurt you. They are
just as cognizant in their bear forms as they are in the human forms,” said
Betty.

Gale’s mother was the first one to get up, but
Gale still didn’t want to get up until she saw the pain her brother was in. She
leaped up and away from him. She stood there for a second until Betty shoved a
broom in her face, “Snap out of it, girl. We need
ya
,
and we don’t want those tots getting cut on the glass.”

Gale shook her shock and went to work.

****

Alphy heard the phone call Enzo took. He had expected
the other alpha would try as much, but it still pissed the ever loving hell out
of him.

“That might not be his only attempt, so keep
your senses sharp,” Alphy told them. They nodded, so turning, he stepped into
the arena and made his way to the middle of.
“Alpha David.”
Everyone hushed. “You have attacked my family, twice now.”

Alpha David interrupted. “I object! That
first day at the hotel was a complete misunderstanding. We did not know you
were here or we would have respected your territory.”

Alphy continued, “I was not counting that
encounter. You sent your enforcers to kidnap my mate, my sister, and my mate’s
mother,”

Again, David interrupted.
“Lies!
I did no such thing. I had no knowledge of the goings on of my enforcers.”

Alphy raised a brow. “Who said it was your
enforcers? Then you knew they were still in the area? You knew it was your
enforcers and not rogues or perhaps another from your herd?”

David sputtered, and Alphy heard a few of the
other alphas show distaste in David’s direction.
Good
. He was losing support.