Lost Alpha: Collection (bbw werewolf/shifter romance) (8 page)

“My mother,” he whispered. Nobody had ever asked him about his mother, but she had and she cared. Not even Jacob gave a damn about his past life and where he came from; he wanted to raise a worthy successor. Past human emotions were weakness; the alpha had to be strong.

Jacob always preached holding onto your human side, but it was the human side you had within the pack. Your past life was nothing if not a distraction; Travis’ real life didn’t begin until he joined the Bowshot pack.

Travis cursed loudly and spun around, kicking a tree hard. An angry squirrel chattered at him from a tree branch above, throwing an acorn down on his head. He spun around, baring his teeth at the furry creature. It wasn’t impressed, continuing its angry chatter.

“I can’t even scare a squirrel away,” he said, laughing. “What right did I have to treat her like that?’

It was true, humans were weak compared to wolves, but he didn’t need to broadcast it to the very human he wanted to be coupled with. She was obviously proud of who she was and where she came from; it did no good to make her feel badly about her station in life.

“I’m a fool,” he said, squatting down next to the tree and trying to gather his thoughts. He looked up at the sky, hoping Jacob was up there listening. “You were never arrogant, you never put others down. How could you let me be like this? Why did you never correct me? I may have thrown away my chance to repopulate the pack thanks to my arrogance.”

The overcast clouds remained; there was no divine response from Jacob. Travis was still alone with no answers. He had been foolish when dealing with Paige; he may have ruined his chance at mating for life with her.

“Can I really learn to live with these humans?” he asked, standing up and looking around at the forest. “I feel so at home here in the woods.”

Just like the clouds, no answer came from the trees around him. He had messed up pretty big with Paige and now he had to fix it.

He began stomping through the woods, heading for her trailer. Hopefully she would be waiting for his return, ready to accept his apology and move on. He could definitely use her help in getting some of the town people to trust him; it wouldn’t look good for a gigantic stranger to bust in on people, demanding answers.

Finally, after a tediously long walk, he found his way back to her trailer. Walking up the steps to the porch he took a deep breath, ready to swallow his pride. He was still an alpha, still royalty to these humans, but he had to be delicate when dealing with this one. If any other human dared to question him they would find themselves in a world of hurt, but he was going to compromise with this little flower.

“Paige, open up!” Travis called. “I need to talk to you!”

He banged on the door hard, rattling the entire wall as he went. No answer came from within. He put his ear to the door, listening intently. There was no movement from within, no sound and no fresh scent. She must have left for the day.

Where the hell is she?
he wondered. He stepped down off the porch, his eyes searching for any sign of her. Her red car was still sitting in the driveway, so she couldn’t have gone far. He looked down at the store, a light bulb going on inside his head.

“I bet she went down to her work,” he said aloud. He began walking confidently down the road that led to her store, hoping she wouldn’t cause a scene in public.

As he drew closer, the front of the store became visible. His eyes fell on a scene in the parking lot that made his blood boil. His lips curled into a snarl and he fought hard to keep himself from
shifting
out of pure instinct.

There was Paige in the parking lot; a large man had her by the air yanking her around while a skinny little woman stood beside him hurling insults. The man had a bandage on his nose, indicating he had been in a fight recently.

Travis exploded, running full speed down the trail for the store. If he wanted to fight someone then Travis was going to give him a fight.

Chapter 2

Paige pulled herself off the couch, sniffling and trying to stifle any tears. Travis had left her life as quickly as he joined it; there was no need to be so upset.

“I don’t need him,” she said to herself. She looked around her trailer, feeling the sting of disappointment as she looked at the mismatched furniture around her. “I need to make a change. I have to do something about my life.”

This was it; she was going to do something. She was barely scraping by working at the store and paying for her little trailer. Why couldn’t she just do the same thing in a bigger city?

I can move to Lawton or Oklahoma City,
she thought.
I’ll sell the trailer and use the money to rent an apartment, and then I can get a job somewhere else.

It wasn’t optimal: she still wouldn’t have spare money and would probably still be filling the place with her old furniture, but at least she wouldn’t be stuck in the middle of nowhere anymore.

Paige stood up, clenching her fists, determined that she would start making changes in her life immediately. No more sitting around and feeling sorry for herself, she was 23 and it was time to make something happen. As she stood there, proud of herself, her stomach rumbled and she began to feel lightheaded.

She reached over and grabbed the arm of the couch for support, trying to steady herself. She hadn’t eaten a thing yet today and she had taken a nasty bump on the head. After she composed herself she headed down the hallway to hop in the shower and prepare herself for the day.

“I have the whole weekend off,” she said to herself as she soaped her body up in the shower. “What will I do?”

She had no idea; maybe she should head back into Lawton or somewhere and just enjoy her Sunday with no responsibility.

A tight pair of jeans and a low-cut blue Oklahoma City Thunder top was enough to complete a sexy outfit. For the second time in two days Paige thought she looked damn good.

“That dumbass Randy doesn’t know what he’s missing,” she said, pushing her breasts up in front of the mirror and checking herself out. “I’m looking fucking hot and he threw it all away for that skinny bitch.”

Randy had always been a boob man. He loved to motorboat Paige any chance he got, sometimes in front of her brother which drew the most hateful looks Paige had ever seen. When they had sex he couldn’t get enough of her tits, he even got off a few times putting his cock between them and fucking them.

I wonder what it would be like if Travis did that?
she thought, her mind drifting back to her naked 24 hour visitor.
I bet I could lick the head each time it came through.

Randy was definitely not packing in that department, especially compared to Travis. She wondered how much Travis would have stretched her out and how rough he would have been in bed - she liked it rough.

I wonder if it would be like my dream?
she thought as she felt her vagina begin to tingle with the exciting thoughts racing through her head.
No, stop. He’s gone and good riddance. You don’t need to be dragged into that world. He’s probably off humping a human sized rat to death right now.

She smiled at herself in the mirror one more time, liking the beauty that stared back at her. The internet was filled with memes that said “Real Women Have Curves” and she definitely agreed with that, there was nothing fake about her.

It was a cloudy day, leaving her feeling lazy as she walked onto the front porch. She looked down at her red Mustang, thinking of getting inside and driving away. Maybe she would look for apartments in Lawton, but then the delicious smell of cooked meat hit her nose.

“That smells like Billy’s burgers,” she said, stepping down off the porch and walking down the dirt road in front of her trailer, trying to get a glimpse of the store.

Sure enough Billy was out back grilling burgers. On Sunday’s he liked to grill burgers for the late afternoon church crowd. They sold like mad and Billy made a tidy profit. Paige knew why: they were delicious. He must have driven up to see her about the clothes when he showed up to make his burgers. He was so lazy he couldn’t even walk up the hill to her house at this point.

Billy had been gifted as one of the best grillers Paige had ever been around, a good skill to have in Southwestern Oklahoma. In his younger days he’d load up his pull-behind smoker and travel to BBQ competitions. That was before his ex-wife, Tammy Faye, had left him and his two girls. Now his free time was split between raising them, running the store and yelling at Paige.

Fortunately for Billy the girls were getting older. Lily was fourteen and Lyric was twelve. Paige still didn’t understand why Tammy Faye had ever thought to name a little girl Lyric, it was a terrible name. Paige used to call her by her middle name, Ann, but now that she was older she demanded to be called Lyric.

Maybe the girls are inside,
Paige thought.
I haven’t seen them in a while.

Her nieces were one of the things that kept her in Wounded Bow all these years, but as they grew so did their independence, meaning she hardly saw them. Paige began walking down the hill behind the store, intent on grabbing one of those burgers and talking to her nieces.

“Hey there, Paige,” Billy said, glancing at her as she walked up. “Where’s your friend?”

“He had to leave,” she said, not wanting to linger on the subject of Travis. “I forgot you would be grilling burgers when you came by.”

“You thought I made an extra trip from home just to yell at you?” he asked, smirking at her.

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” she muttered.

“Hell, you’re right,” Billy said, looking down. “I’m sorry.”

This was unexpected; Billy rarely apologized to her for his behavior.

“Are you ok?” she asked.

He looked up, his eyes appearing a bit watery. “Hell yes I’m ok Paige. Can’t a brother apologize to his sister for being a jerk?”

“Well yeah,” she said. “You just never do it.”

“Awww, hell Paige,” he said, putting the spatula down and grabbing his face. “I know. I just realized I gotta start being good to you. We have to, we’re brother and sister. Family’s all you’ve got.”

Family is your pack,
she thought, remembering lessons she learned earlier in the day. 
What’s wrong with him? Is he thinking about Tammy Faye again?

It had been six years since she left him, but he had showed up on her doorstep more than once three sheets to the wind, crying about being alone.

“It’s ok,” she said, patting him on the back. “It really is. I love you too.”

“Thanks,” he said, still sniffling. “There’s some burgers already cooked inside. Have Duncan fix you one up.”

“Are the girls inside?” Paige asked hopefully.

“Lily is,” he said. “Lyric is off playing with that Lockhart girl. I can’t stand that family, they give me the creeps. But, I just can’t deny her friends. It’s hard growing up in a town this small.”

“Have you ever thought about getting out of here, Billy?” Paige asked, turning serious.

“Why would I do that?” Billy asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Mom and dad did it.”

“Mom and dad retired. They’d done their duty and were ready to relax.”

“Well why can’t you do your duty somewhere else?’ she asked. “Somewhere better than here? Somewhere where you can be selective about the girl’s friends?”

“And shut down the store?” he asked, his mouth hanging open.

“Why not?” she asked.

“You know granddaddy opened this store way back!” he said, his voice starting to rise. “I can’t just sell it off. It’s been in the family for forty years! It’s a landmark in Wounded Bow.”

“It’s the only landmark in Wounded Bow,” she said. “I understand, you have duties, but I don’t.”

She turned and walked into the store, leaving Billy alone at the grill. She couldn’t believe she had just said that, but she had to tell him what she was thinking eventually. Hopefully he read between the lines and this was an icebreaker. She waited just inside the backdoor, expecting Billy to burst through at any moment to ask her what she meant. Instead she heard the radio flip on and the sounds of Big and Rich began filling the air.

She rolled her eyes and continued into the store, finding Duncan behind the counter like he had been that morning.

“Hey Paige-turner,” he said, giggling at his pet name “You want a burger?” 

“Of course,” she said. “Where’s Lily?”

“Over here, Aunt Paige,” Lily said, turning around in her seat. The store was set up like a normal convenience store, but off to one side there were several diner style booths for people to eat. Most of the time the restaurant area was filled with regulars drinking coffee and talking about politics, but today, only Paige’s beautiful niece occupied the area.

“Hello, pretty girl,” Paige said, walking up and hugging her niece. She didn’t have to bend too far, Lily was growing fast. She was going to be tall just like her dad and aunt. She had long brown hair that she usually kept tied back and she wore thick glasses that just magnified her bright blue eyes. She was fair skinned, like everyone in the family, and she was starting to develop the same curves her aunt had.

“Dad said you had some big guy at your house earlier,” she said. “Is that your new boyfriend?”

“No,” Paige said. “He’s just a friend, but he went home.”

“So you’re not with that fat guy anymore?” Lily asked, her eyes narrowing.

“Why does everyone think he’s fat?” she asked.

“Because he is,” Duncan said, plopping a burger down in front of Paige.

“Everyone is fat compared to a beanpole like you,” Paige said, winking at him.

“Don’t knock it until you try it, girl!” Duncan yelled, heading back for the counter.

“No, we broke up,” Paige said. “Why is it so dead in here?” The store was usually a lot busier on Sundays, but today it was empty.

“I don’t know,” Lily said. “Guess nobody wanted a burger today. Guess what Aunt Paige?”

“What?” Paige asked, feeling the excitement in Lily’s voice.

“Our mom is dating a new guy that agreed to pay for her to drive down and pick us up for Christmas! We’re going to spend all Christmas break with our mom!”