Lost Alpha: Collection (bbw werewolf/shifter romance) (22 page)

That part bothered Paige a bit; Bartoli was obviously some sort of mob boss. At the same time she’d learned that the lines between legal and illegal seemed to blur when dealing with the supernatural—they didn’t always follow man’s law.

She and Travis couldn’t have children until they were accepted into this community. If Travis turned down the offer, he could end up being removed from the area or even killed. She didn’t put it past that group to deal with shifters who didn’t fall in line with a strong hand.

Finally they pulled into their driveway, with Travis not even waiting for the car to stop before he jumped out and slammed his door.

Not another temper tantrum,
Paige thought. He had gotten much better at controlling his emotions recently, but every now and then he still had flare-ups like this.

She sighed and quickly parked the car, then chased him around to the back of the house. She found him standing on the beach, staring out at the water with his fists clenched.

“You need to talk to me about this!” she demanded, stomping up behind him. “I’m your mate, goddammit! You can’t bottle everything up!”

“Can’t I?” he asked, spinning around. “It’s obvious that you’re going to want this. You want a family, I know that. We can’t have a family unless I agree to this. I need to agree to be a pack alpha under the thumb of a goddamn vampire?”

“You don’t even know this vampire!” she said, poking Travis in the chest.

“I don’t need to know him,” he growled back. “He has fangs and he sucks blood. That’s all I need to know.”

“You can’t treat every vampire like Victor Dance,” she said, pulling his hand into her own. “Please, Travis, you have to think about this. I love it here in Florida. I get to see my parents all the time, and my nieces. Billy is finally back in the saddle, making a good go at life. You can’t uproot us because you can’t swallow your pride.”

Travis pulled away, staring out at the water again. “They know. They know everything about Bowshot. They want me to fall in line. How do I know this vampire doesn’t know Victor? What if he’s trying to force me to fall in line as some sort of sick game for Victor?”

“You’re being paranoid,” she said, putting her hands on his powerful shoulders. “Please. You’ve already sacrificed your pack for us. Now you have a chance to get it back and raise our family. Please.”

“I’ll think about it,” he said. “But I don’t think I’ll do it.”

“If you don’t,” she said, tears starting to form in her eyes, “then I don’t know if I can stay here with you. Dammit, Travis they’ll kill you if you don’t fall in line. I’m not going to sit around and wait for my mate to get murdered over his stubborn pride. Over something that happened a world away. They’ve offered you something great, and you refuse to take it because of who their partner is. You have more than just yourself to think about now, Travis Bowshot.”

“My name is Travis Strong,” he said, turning to look at her with defiance in his eyes.

“It won’t be for much longer,” she said, unable to meet his gaze. She turned and rushed away, trying to keep it together as she headed for the house.

Damn his pride,
she thought.
Damn it all.

Chapter 4

Travis sat on the beach, staring out at the sea that opened up in front of him. The sea was free—it did whatever it wanted. There was nobody to control it, to tell it when it could make hurricanes or when it could spit out something new. It had dominion over itself.

Unfortunately, Travis was just a pawn in a larger game, with no control over what was coming. Paige had put him in a tough position: he had to fall in line and join up with the packs, or he’d be alone again.

I’ve spent too much time as a lost alpha,
he thought.
It’s time to pass on my legacy to my children.

What legacy did he have, though? He was a beta male who had lost his entire pack to a vampire’s greedy machinations. Now he lived in a beautiful place with an even more beautiful mate, but it would all be snatched from him if he didn’t step up and lead like his alpha position demanded.

“It’s not an easy decision, is it?” a familiar voice said behind him.

Travis turned slowly from where he was seated to find the head alpha Asher looking at him.

“I didn’t even hear you walk up,” Travis said flatly.

“Of course you didn’t,” Asher said, stopping behind Travis. “I didn’t want you to hear me.”

The older wolf was wearing a blue cabana shirt and khaki shorts, with his hands plunged deep into the pockets. He looked more tourist than alpha right now, like he didn’t have a care in the world.

‘You can sit down if you want,” Travis said, scooting over.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Asher said, flopping down beside Travis.

“Are you here to convince me?” Travis asked, pulling his knees in close. He didn’t make eye contact with Asher as he talked, he just stared out at the water.

“I wouldn’t say ‘convince’,” Asher said, picking up a rock off the beach and skipping it into the water with ease. “Just tell you it’d be a mistake if you didn’t accept.”

“That sounds like a threat,” Travis said.

“It’s not a threat,” replied. “It’s the truth.”

Travis finally turned and looked at Asher, his nostrils flaring with anger. “So I move out here and you threaten me and my family?”

“Nobody threatened your family,” Asher said. “Nobody threatened you.”

“Then what is it?” Travis asked.

“Wise up, buddy,” Asher said, leaning forward and putting his finger in Travis’ face. “You said it yourself earlier: you moved out here. You moved into our territory. I don’t know how you do things in Oklahoma, but we have a way of doing things out here in Miami that keeps the peace between packs.”

“We never had problems with pack war in Oklahoma,” Travis said, shaking his head.

“Probably because you were spread out,” Asher proposed. “Am I right?”

“Yes,” Travis said, looking down at the sand on the beach. He didn’t like where this conversation was going—he could already tell he was beaten.

“There’s eight thousand wolves in Miami-Dade County and twenty-seven packs,” Asher said. “How do you think things would work out, keeping ourselves from the humans, if we let every wolf living here do what they wanted? Sure, you may be a great guy. As a matter of fact, I don’t doubt you’re a great guy who wouldn’t do a thing to upset the peace.”

“I wouldn’t,” Travis vowed.

“Beside the point,” Asher said, his jaw clenched and his eyes opened wide. “We have rules. If we let every wolf in this area do what they wanted, then we’d have open warfare in the streets. Right now we have no territory beefs and no problems.”

“You want me to work with a vampire,” Travis said.

“So fucking what?” Asher asked, throwing his hands in the air. “This is unbelievable! You have a prime opportunity to move up the ranks here in Miami and you’re going to throw it all away?”

“You don’t know how I feel about vampires,” Travis said.

“The past is the past, Travis. I don’t care what happened before. Bartoli is not Charles Dance. He’ll treat you fairly and make your life perfect. If you defy him then your life will be a living hell.”

“So I just give myself up to a vampire? I just let him control me?”

“God damn you,” Asher said. “You don’t let him control you, you work with him.”

“Or for him.”

“Whatever, man,” Asher said. He started to walk off, then stopped. Slowly he turned and looked at Travis, pointing the whole time. “You know, Travis, there’s an old saying: if you want to get along, you need to go along. Do what’s right for your family and accept my offer. Your mate will thank you when she’s raising your pups and you’re a made wolf. I’ll be back at this time tomorrow night with Bartoli. You seem like a good kid. Don’t disappoint me.”

Travis buried his face in his hands and nearly screamed as Asher walked away, leaving him alone again.

After several minutes he stood up and screamed at the sky, kicking sand as he thrashed.

Did nobody care about his feelings? Everything he knew about life had been turned upside down because of a vampire. He had completely lost his homeland because of a vampire. Now, was he going to lose everything else because of a vampire?

Travis looked around. It was dark on the beach and he was the only one out there. Without hesitation he peeled off his clothes and shifted into his powerful alpha wolf form. He sniffed the air and howled before taking off down the beach, sand flying in the air behind him. He needed this—needed to run and clear his head.

There were a lot of exciting smells on the beach—it was a late night and there were people out barbequing on their back porches. As he ran, the smells from one house caught his nose and forced him to walk over.

The back of the house was poorly lit, giving him plenty of darkness to hide in. He was able to walk right up to a back window and peer in on the inhabitants of the house.

It looked like they were eating a smorgasbord of ribs, brisket and hot links. He could feel his mouth watering as his eyes darted from plate to plate. There was so much succulent meat, enough to fill his belly several times over.

His eyes drifted from the food to the people. They were a family of five—two adults and three children. There was a small boy and girl as well as an older boy. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they appeared to be having a good time together. The father kept playfully pulling the little girl’s ponytail when she wasn’t looking, causing her to spin around and blame her brother for it. The older brother and the mother kept laughing, loving the scene taking place around them.

God dammit,
Travis thought as he watched.
They’re really happy. Is this family life?

He had been miserable in Bowshot, always feeling the pressure of being a beta on his shoulders. The pressure of avenging his pack was even worse, but since he had been living with Paige, he had become more and more relaxed. The stress that he had felt had drifted away as the days and months wore on. Now he was right back where he’d started: stressed and alone.

I don’t have to be alone,
he thought.
I can have what these people have if I just go along.

Was it really worth compromising his principles and dignity, though? He would essentially be selling out.

Travis turned and trotted away from the house, wanting nothing more than to be home in his beautiful mate’s arms.

Chapter 5

Paige woke up with a start as Travis crawled into bed next to her. He was completely naked and as he tried to intertwine one leg with hers she felt the tell-tale scratchiness of sand stuck to his leg.

“You’ve been out roaming, haven’t you?” she asked, trying to shake the cobwebs of sleep away.

“Yes,” he said quietly, pulling her in close. “I had to clear my mind.”

“I haven’t changed my mind,” she said flatly. If he thought he could rub on her and flash his muscles at her to change her mind, he had another think coming.

“I know. I’ve changed
my
mind.”

“What?” she asked, sitting up and flipping her nightstand lamp on.

“Asher came to see me on the beach after you went inside,” he said, sitting up and looking her in the eyes. “He made a lot of sense, but there was something else tonight that made even more sense.”

“What was that?”

“I saw a family eating dinner while I was out running,” he said, pulling her hands into his. “They were so happy it was unbelievable. They really enjoyed one another’s company, like they didn’t need anyone else in the world.”

“Yeah, that’s a family,” she said, laughing.

“I realized I could never have that if I rejected this offer. I thought I’d be selling out and compromising some stupid principle if I agreed to it. But I realized that all I’d be compromising was our happiness. I wouldn’t be selling out myself, I’d be selling out
us
if I refused.”

Tears started to form in Paige’s eyes. She hadn’t expected Travis to lay it all out like that. He really did care about her—he really did love her.

“Paige, I want nothing more than to be your mate,” Travis said, resting his forehead against hers. “If that means taking this offer and working with a vampire, then so be it.”

“I love you,” she said, kissing him gently on the lips.

“I love you too,” he replied. Suddenly, his quick hands were on her, pulling her nightshirt over her head to reveal her naked breasts. ‘I also want to have a family with you. What better time to start than now?”

Paige smiled and turned her back to Travis, glancing over her shoulder seductively. “What are you waiting for?”

Travis was on her quickly, his lips traveling up and down her back and across her shoulders. Finally he stopped at her neck, his tongue darting out as it explored her skin. She took in a deep breath as his teeth sank into the side of her neck, the best love nip she could get.

Immediately she felt herself growing more and more aroused. There was a tingling in her golden flesh that immediately made her wetter than she had been in a long time.

She turned back to Travis, her eyes traveling down his perfect, rock-solid body to the pulsing staff that sat between his legs. The veins throbbed and the purple head filled with blood as she took it in one hand and squeezed.

“Oh, god,” Travis moaned as her hand took a firm grip and began to travel up and down his rigid staff. It was slow at first, but her tempo picked up as Travis’ breathing became heavier and heavier. Soon he was gripping the sheets as her hand pumped his penis hard, pulling the skin tight as she could feel him just on the cusp of orgasm.

“No,” he said, stopping her hand. “Not like this.”

“I just want to pleasure you,” she told him, looking into his eyes.

“The only thing that would please me now is to fill you with my seed,” he said, dead serious.

She almost giggled at the absurdity of his comment, but she knew he was serious. She wanted a baby as badly as he did and he was ready to give her everything he had.