Challenging the Alpha (Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance)

This is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons--living or dead--is entirely coincidental.

Challenging the Alpha copyright @ 2013 by Joanna Wilson. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Sequel to
Claimed by the Alpha
by Joanna Wilson

Challenging the Alpha

Chapter 1

"So, where are we?" Sin boomed as he entered the conference room.

Taking a breath to calm down, Sapphire followed after Sin, ignoring the pitying looks and inquisitive gazes. Mark's been kidnapped again
.
The thought buzzed around her head and agitated her.

The thought of him being kidnapped hadn't even passed Sapphire's mind when he'd left to go get the
thing
and return it to the Tsu Jai Organization.

"Still not willing to tell me what it was he stole?"
Sin purred softly through the link between himself and Sapphire. There was a dangerous edge to his voice.

"That's not important now. What's important is finding my brother."
Sapphire fired back and purposely sat away from him. She might have accepted that she was Sin’s mate, but she didn't have to put up with his alpha male bullshit when she was going through her own problems.

Within a second of sitting down, Sapphire was picked up and placed back on her usual seat: Sin’s lap. "This is where you belong, Mate. Christopher, Leon, James, what do we know?"

None of the wolves sitting in front of her even batted an eye at Sapphire’s place on Sin's lap.
Not that she was surprised by it. No one said anything after she’d animalistic sex with Sin in the foyer about two seconds after meeting him.
Sapphire fought back the memories of their first time and the blush that was fighting its way into her cheeks. Now was not the time for her to want Sin’s dick. She had other things to worry about.

"Iverson and McEvoy said that they were ambushed while retrieving the object with Mark. We're still not sure what it is, but Mark stole it from the Tsu Jai Organization." Christopher addressed his alphas.

Sapphire tried not to squirm in Sin’s lap as his hand traced soft circles on her stomach. Another reminder of her newly mated status. Soon she'd be pregnant if she wasn't already.

"Where was my brother kidnapped?" Sapphire asked Christopher, leaning forward to hear his response.

"Madam Blackwater, I'm not sure--" Christopher began, his voice a bit unsure as he looked behind her at Sin.

"Christopher, I asked you a question -- Your
Alpha
just asked you a question." Sapphire said silkily, placing her hands on the table and scraped her nails lightly on the glossy tabletop. She was definitely going to play the alpha card or Christopher was going to get real up and close to her wolf.

At that moment, Sapphire realized she was more than agitated; she was horny, angry, murderous, the list just kept going. If he decided he didn’t want to answer her, or that he was going to question her, Sin wouldn’t be able to stop her from tearing him apart.

Christopher looked down subserviently; "I apologize, Alpha. Mark hid the object in your mattress at your apartment. He was kidnapped there, and the place was ransacked."

Sapphire ignored Sin’s hold on her and hopped out of his lap, too riled up to sit down. The only had found him with the object, which meant they had what they wanted and were just keeping Mark to torture him.

Sapphire paced the length of the conference room, trying to think rationally past her fear and swirl of emotions. She knew people that could help, actually she knew one person in particular that had an in with the Tsu Jai organization and would be perfect. "I need to go back to the city. I have a friend who sometimes works for the Tsu Jai Organization. She can help me get in the organization and get my brother out." Sapphire said.

"Madam Alpha, I don't think that's safe--" James chimed, his words carefully enunciated.

"This is my brother we are talking about, James." Sapphire allowed some of the fear she was feeling to seep in her words. "I don't care if it's not safe. I only care about getting him back."

Sapphire looked at the three men in the room. They all knew the reputation the Tsu Jai organization had, and every second they wasted meant Mark was slipping further into danger. Sapphire grew frustrated, not just with her brother or his predicament, but with everything. She felt utterly useless, felt like no one was listening to her, and felt that everyone challenged her authority.
Aren’t I the Alpha? Aren’t Alphas supposed to get what they want when they want them?

She turned away from the pitying stares, unable to stand it a second longer.

Chapter 2

"Sapphire
." Sin chased after her. Entering their bedroom, she slammed the door behind her only to hear it open a second later.

"What, Sin? Are you going to tell me to stay here? Going to tell me that it's too dangerous, and that you'll handle it?" Sapphire whirled to face him, her emotions finally getting the better of her. "Because I don't want to hear it."

Sapphire paused: a dozen scenarios of their usual fights flitted through her mind. She got angry, he got angry, and they had angry sex. It seemed to be a pattern, and while she desired it for every other fight they had, at that moment she didn't even want him breathing the same air as her.

"You're scared, Sapphire. I understand that. But you have to think of your position now. You are an Alpha. You can't just go off and do whatever you want anymore, even if it is to save someone you love." Sin said quietly, not making a move towards her.

Sapphire knew he was right, as much as she hated to admit it. He'd been an alpha much longer than her, and he had a lot more experience than she did. The smart and logical thing to do was let Sin and his men handle it. They had money and resources, and what did she have?
Me, myself, and I.

"And you have to think," Sin began silkily and moved towards her. "If you are pregnant, you can't just go off and risk your life." He dropped to his knees in front of her and wrapped his arms around her torso, dragging her closer and punctuating his last word with a soft kiss on her stomach.

The chance of her being pregnant with his pups was as certain as the sun rising in the morning. Sapphire couldn't just go off into the sunset, guns cocked, and waiting for the bad guys. She had a pack now, a mate, and probably a new life growing inside of her. She couldn’t lose it all now because she wasn’t thinking clearly.
Dammit, Sin. Dammit all to hell and back.

"Did that help?" Sin asked. The words rumbled pleasantly against Sapphire’s stomach and sent a shot of desire through her.

"It did." Sapphire whispered, afraid to raise her voice just in case he might hear something she wasn’t ready for him to hear yet.

Slowly Sin rose from the floor, and the air in their bedroom suddenly changed. No longer charged with fear and worry but something else, something Sapphire wasn't exactly sure she was ready for.

But that’s how it usually was. One moment Sapphire could be raging at Sin, feeling completely out of her mind. The next she could be panting with him inside of her and thinking that she couldn't live without him.

"I need you." Sapphire said softly, her voice devoid of its usual hesitance and uncertainty. 

Pulling away from Sin, Sapphire dropped to her knees in front of him. She needed a distraction, and Sin was perfect for that.

"Sapphire…" Sin let out a growl as Sapphire slid his zipper down and reached inside the silk of his boxers to grip his erection.

"Don’t touch me, Sin. If you touch me, I’ll stop." Sapphire warned as she moistened her lips and looked up at Sin to make sure he understood her.

As soon as she saw him nod his head, Sapphire turned back to the thick length of him in her hand. It still amazed her that a man so controlled at all other times could allow her to take the reins.

With gentleness that Sapphire was surprised to find she still had, she grasped Sin at the base of his cock, reveling in the broken moan he tried to hide. It was strange, but the sound of Sin losing some of his natural inexhaustible control calmed her. Maybe it was the fact that Sin trusted her with something he had probably never trusted with anyone that allowed her to regain her control.

Sapphire lowered her head and slowly swiveled her tongue against the tip, tasting her mate in the most primal way. Gently but firmly, she begun to tug at the skin at the base of his cock, licking away the small drops of pre-cum as they sprung up to the tip. She held Sin there: teetering on the edge, held between this moment and the next, waiting, wondering, wishing.

All at once, Sapphire removed her mouth and exerted a gentle pressure at his base; "Not yet." The two words were whispered jaggedly. She relaxed her hand and released him.

She rose fluidly and stepped back until she felt the bed hit the backs of her knees. And then she fell, letting gravity take her and crush her into the mattress. "I want you, Mate. Come." Sapphire demanded, lifting her legs and pulling off her panties.

Sapphire felt him before she heard him, felt the strong, sure heat of his cock press into her. There was no more foreplay. He was too far gone and Sapphire wouldn't have had it any other way. She lifted her legs and wrapped them high around his waist and thrust up as he thrust down, slamming home inside her body.

Poised on the edge of the bed, Sapphire arched her neck, clenched down tight around Sin’s cock and came. Not a heartbeat later he was with her, flooding her body with heat; and it was perfect, just what she needed.

Sapphire tugged Sin down to her, burying her nose in the soft fragrance of his hair. "Thank you, Sin." She whispered, gripping him to her tightly.

"Sapphire, I--" She could hear him begin but she wasn't ready. She wasn't ready to say it, and certainly wasn't ready to hear it. "Sin, I-I can't. Please… I just--let me have this moment."

Sapphire felt Sin gently pull away from her, and Sapphire felt the moment was over. Even as he picked her up and gently stripped her, she felt a rift between them, one she had created.

In a matter of seconds, Sapphire found herself naked, lying against Sin's chest, covered by blankets at what was probably still only late afternoon. So much lay between them, not just about her brother, but so much more, and Sapphire just wasn't sure how to get through it.

"It's fine, Mate. We’ll talk about it later. Sleep now." Sin breathed into her hair.

Sapphire opened her mouth, a thousand things she could say buzzing through her mind, but she kept her mouth shut. Settling more firmly onto Sin, Sapphire closed her eyes and took the coward’s way out.

C
hapter 3

Sapphire slithered around a corner, feeling the sharp stones cut into her back and thighs. Before the guard could even sense her, she wrapped her hand around his throat in a choke hold and quietly set him down on the wall after he passed out.

A deep sigh of relief left her as she leaped off the wall and onto the back of the SUV she’d “borrowed” from the compound.

She slid in and put the key to the ignition. The engine awoke with a purr as Sapphire pulled out of the gate and away from her mate.
I’ll be back.
She reminded herself, reaching for the cellphone she had filched off the guard and punching in Maxine’s number.

Sapphire wiped at the tears in her corners of her eyes. Being separated from her mate felt like a physical blow with every mile she travelled. It was only a matter of time before Sin woke up and found out she was gone.

“Hello?” Sapphire heard Maxine suppress a yawn.

“Max?” Sapphire kept her voice neutral and soft.

“Fire? Is that you?” Max asked, the only one able to use that nickname for Sapphire, and that was only because Max had come up with it.

“The one and only.” Sapphire answered, forcing herself to smile. She was pissed off that she felt such a connection to a man she’d known less than a week and a half. But as Sin had reminded her time and time again, it was the mating pull.

“Fire, why the hell are you calling me at two in the fucking morning?” Maxine whined and Sapphire heard a rustle of sheets as her friend got up.

“I need a place to crash for the night. Also, I know you sometimes work for the Tsu Jai Organization; and I was wondering if you had any jobs with them coming up?” Sapphire asked.

“You’re kidding right? Fire, you don’t like what I do, and you certainly don’t ask about it. So, why do you really want to know if I’m working for the Tsu Jai Organization?” Max asked.

For once, Sapphire wished her friend wasn’t so damn perceptive. “They kidnapped Mark, Max. I need to get in and get him back.”

“What?” Max yelled over the phone and Sapphire yanked the phone away from her ear. “Don’t scream.”

“I’m sorry. I just--Oh my god, Fire. Are you okay, sweetie?” Max pulled at Sapphire’s heart strings.

Sapphire blinked through the tears, forcing herself to stare at the highway and stay alert instead of pulling off to the side and having a breakdown. “I’m dealing with it, Max. I just need to know if you're going to help me or not.”

Gripping the wheel tightly, Sapphire turned onto the highway as she waited for Max’s reply. For a few moments, Sapphire thought she might have lost the call. Her usually loud and boisterous friend was unusually quiet. “Max?”

“I’ll help as long as you can wear a G-string and nipple tassels.” Max finally replied like they were talking about the weather. It was Max’s way of helping and Sapphire appreciated it.

“Oh come on, Max. Is that really--” Sapphire rolled her eyes at the audacity of her friend and for a second forgot the feeling of separation and loss from both her mate and her brother.

“Necessary? Yeah, Fire. The only way you get in is if you can play the part. Take it or leave it.” Max said.

Sapphire was both grateful to her friend but also a little unsettled. She wasn’t surprised that it was the first idea that came to Max’s head. Though Sapphire could appreciate how much time, effort, and lady-balls it took to get up on stage and dance half naked, she had never actually wanted to do it. Then again, it was her only chance to rescue Mark.

“I swear, if that idiot wasn't blood related…” Sapphire bit her bottom lip. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Sapphire looked down the highway. The open road seemed to stretch forever. Finally, she said. “I’ll do it.’

Sapphire could practically feel Max’s smirk as she responded; “I’ll leave the door unlocked. You can crash in the guestroom. It’s clean. And don’t you fucking wake me up again or I’ll have you wearing nothing but a rain coat and scrunchie.” Max teased Sapphire before she hung up.

Sapphire threw the phone in the passenger seat and clicked on the radio, needing to hear something besides her own thoughts. The Proclaimers burst cheerfully through the radio, letting everyone know how far they would walk to see some chick.

Sapphire slapped the steering wheel. “How fucking appropriate.” She laughed to no one in particular.