Owned By The Alphas: Part Four (3 page)

T
he moon was
a few nights from full, shining brightly above them as the wolves ran through the valley together. Ali held onto Calt’s strong neck, her legs pressed into his ribcage. She wasn’t one for gyms, but the exercise of holding onto racing beasts was having a nice effect on her muscles. She felt stronger tonight.

The branches above them weren’t dense in this section of the forest; they let the light in beautifully. She could see the trees he sprinted past, the rivulets he covered in one leap, and the small animals that scurried, terrified, out of his path. She could see when she looked back seven wolves she could now call family, tearing through the forest with them. It was breathtaking.

Rushing water sounded in the distance, and she made a guess at their destination: the Tuolumne River. With her hair whipping freely behind her, Ali leaned down to whisper in his ear, “I know where we’re going.”

The pack knew the way, and Ali marveled at their bond as they turned as one without hesitancy. Flanked by Dak and Calus as they sprinted to catch up, Calt turned left. Ali gasped and shot up on his back, bouncing as he raced forward.

The greatest waterfall she’d ever seen loomed overhead, plummeting from nearly three-hundred-feet high. The wolves slowed, then stopped at the calm, glistening silver pool that spread at the bottom of the iridescent cascade. Piles of rocks contained the pool so that when it broke it was merely a stream, one that would ultimately join the river. It was framed with mossy rocks and ferns so perfectly it was as though an artist had placed them, long ago and let them grow long and wide.

Gazing at the glorious sight, Ali slid off his back as the wolves all shifted around her. For once Ali couldn’t hear the sound, the roar of the waterfall so cacophonous it cloaked their reshaping bones. Calt rose up to stand at Ali’s side, looking down at her with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes and bumped him with her hip. “Okay, so I didn’t know.”

He laughed, “I knew you did not.”

As Bloo walked up to Ali’s other side, a flock of birds exploded into the air. “Isn’t it incredible?”

Ali breathed, “Yes,” as she slipped her hand into Calt’s, their fingers intertwining.

Lorn bounced over to the other side of Bloo, and leaned forward to ask, “We’re going in, right?”

“Of course we are,” Dak shouted, flying into a jackknife dive. His body cut the argent surface with barely a splash.

“Fucking Viking heritage. Him and water is like…yellow on lemons.” Lucin then yelled through cupped hands to Dak, “Show off!” He turned to Lorn, “Coming?” He did a side dive where his stocky body bent like a U-turn, his legs flying up just before breaking the water. His dive created quite a splash and everyone laughed. Lorn did not need a better invitation. Grinning ear to ear, she threw her hands gracefully into the air and dove in.

Calus swatted Borhan’s shoulder and stepped back for a running start. “C’mon gimpy, let’s see who can dive farthest.”

Borhan laughed and ran while yelling, “Will you never learn? You’re too big to go far!”

They simultaneously leapt into the air and Ali grabbed both Calt’s and Bloo’s arms as she laughed. “He won!” Borhan’s splash was much farther out.

Bloo rested the side of her head on Ali’s shoulder, her shiny black hair blanketing it as she chuckled. “They do that every time. Look at Calus’s face! He can never believe it. Okay, I’m goin’ in!” She ran back for a heads start, held her nose and jumped in, screaming.

Shaynah stepped up and leaned in to whisper in Ali’s ear, “She doesn’t need to hold her nose like that. She’s messing with you.”

Ali grinned, shaking her head. “Fucking with the new girl. Nice. Are you going in?”

Shaynah cocked a slender eyebrow her way, the moonlight picking up her white hair beautifully. “I wouldn’t miss this.”

“It’s cold isn’t it?” Ali nervously glanced down to the twinkling water nearest her shoes. “Why don’t you go in, in your wolf forms. Wouldn’t that be warmer?” She enviously watched the others playing, shouting and laughing, their glowing eyes bright, the moonlight gleaming off their smiles.

Shaynah informed her, “No, with wet fur, the run home would be miserable.”

Calt’s deep voice boomed, “Snow is coming soon! This will be our last chance to play in water for months. Bite your teeth against the cold and go in.”

Ali stared at him.
This doesn’t have to be the last time.
He doesn’t know about the hot springs.
She bit her lip and nodded, fingering the buttons on her pelt and shaking her head. “It looks like fun. But realistically? My body heat isn’t like yours.”

“Enough.” He picked her up.

“DON’T YOU DARE!”

Her laughed, holding her up with one arm. “Shaynah, help.”

“No, Shaynah, DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!”

As Calt used both hands to roll Ali around in the air, Shaynah undid the thick buttons of the pelt, calling over the roaring water, “Now stop squirming. Boy, she really has some kick in her!”

“I hate you both!”

“Such a strong word,
hate
.” Shaynah cocked an eyebrow to Calt. “Don’t you agree?”

He nodded, eyes dancing. “Very strong.”

Ali kept shouting “No!” so over it, with her usual serenity, Shaynah suggested, “I think she needs to cool off.”

“I think you are right!” Calt threw Ali as far as his strength could throw her. She whizzed through the air, screaming obscenities at him and falling with a loud splash, fifty feet away. The water shot into her skin like icy needles prickling her flesh as it encased her from top to bottom. She struggled to swim to the surface, secretly impressed with her alpha’s strength. She broke through with a loud gasp, flinging her hair away from her eyes.

“I’m going to get you back!” she yelled to where he’d been standing, but he wasn’t there anymore. She searched and saw Shaynah appear a ways off in the water, her long hair flattened to her head as she swam peacefully away. Frowning, Ali paddled to turn around, searching all the wet faces for his, but he was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly a hand wrapped around her ankle and dragged her under. She closed her mouth in time and fought against him, but of course his strength dwarfed hers. Her heart melted as, in the dark depths of the pool, she felt his lips press against hers, his body enveloping her with warmth, his muscles so hard against her soft form. She’d never been kissed under water before, and it was so hot that she forgot she was cold. Kicking them to the surface, he pushed her up for air first, then exploded from the water, his straight teeth gleaming on a wide smile. “Did you say something about revenge?”

Speechless, she stared at him, blinking her lashes dry. The moon highlighted droplets flowing down his hair and face, and his eyes picked up the light more than any of theirs. He was superior in so many ways just by how he was created, the body he was put in and the birthright it gave him. Alpha.

She responded shyly, “Uh, nothing. I was just playing around.”

His smile became intimate and he held her look for a long while, causing nervous skipping in her heart. As he moved in to brush his lips lightly against hers, a chilling splash hit them hard from the side.

Calt and Ali burst out laughing as a mortified Bloo cried out, “Oh shit! Sorry. Bad timing!”

Lucin yelled, “WATER FIGHT! Females against the males!”

Sides were quickly swum to as the pack yelled and thrashed around. The male wolves played nice at first and the splashing was minimal, but then strategies formed with whispers exchanged, and lots of shouting things like: “Tell us what you’re going to do!” and “You wish!” The females turned up the heat, knowing they were in for it.

Ali had never seen Shaynah laugh like that before, her wrists pressed tightly together as she shoved a strong shower from her powerful hands. Lorn and Ali hooked arms and turned around, kicking a dual spray that kept Lucin and Calus at bay for an impressive amount of time. The two males crashed water in their direction in an attempt to penetrate the shield. Bloo and Shaynah succumbed first; both were dunked by Dak and Borhan and Calt, working together. Lorn and Ali screamed as all five males came after them next. Bloo and Shaynah yelled, “Swim! Swim for your lives!” Ali, not as fast as Lorn, soon she felt warm hands wrapping around her ankles again. Yanked backward, she miserably failed to kick herself free.

Lorn was overtaken last, and became a living, screaming football Dak and Calus tossed through the air. “Cut it out!” and “Haha! Very Funny! Ha fucking Ha!” She clearly loved every minute of it.

It was Calt who’d grabbed Ali and he brought her to him and finished the kiss he’d started, without the interruption of Bloo this time. Ali looped her arms around his neck and returned the long, slow kiss, telling him afterward, “I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun.”

“Is that true?”

She nodded and pressed her lips against his cheek, then his jawline, murmuring, “I feel like I’m a part of something now.”

He smiled. “You’re shivering.”

“Well, it’s fucking freezing in here,” she said on a laugh. The fight had warmed her blood, but now… “I’m sorry. I wish I were like you. I’m just not.”

He called to the others, “We’re going back. You stay.”

The pack groaned. Ali looked to Calt and whispered, tightening against him for warmth. “Can’t we make a fire or something? Stay here while they play? I’m still trying to fit in…nobody likes a party pooper.”

“I understand.” He called over to the others, “Ali says we should make a fire so we can go home with all of you miserable wolves.” Cheers from all around and Ali laughed. He looked at her. “That better?”

“That was really nice of you,” she smiled.

“Made you happy?”

“Yes.”

He beamed. “Good. That is all I want.”

W
hen they climbed
out of the water, Ali watched Calt lean down, grab up the abandoned pelt and cover her with it, thinking all the while that he was a very classy monster for giving her credit like he just did, making her look good to the pack. If people only knew what werewolves really were–just evolved human beings who’d left the mundane aspects of society behind, they wouldn’t be so afraid of them and make up stories about massacres and anarchy. Werewolves, turns out, lived in the moment, dealt with things as they happened, and didn’t worry too much about the future. Pretty Zen for creatures with supernatural powers. Or was that simply primitive? As she wiped her wet feet off on the moss-laced grass and slipped on her shoes, Ali watched him search for rocks to build a fireplace and decided she didn’t care.

“I want to help.”

He glanced over his shoulder, thought a moment and offered, “Look for dry wood.”

She left him, using the light of the bright moon to guide her. There were branches of varying sizes on the ground here and there, away from the water where the moistness did not touch them. She grabbed up a nice armful after a short time. Wanting to impress, she searched for more and reached down by some rocks to feel around. When her fingers wrapped around something smooth, slippery, and moving, she screamed and tossed it away, the eerie scales leaving a shiver in her fingers. A disturbing rattle made her scream, drop her gathered wood, and run back to Calt in terror. “Snake! I just grabbed a rattlesnake!” Alarmed, Calt dropped the three rocks he was carrying. “It’s a little to the right! Yes, right over there! Oh, be careful!”

Ducking down, he yelled, “Got it!” and lifted a diamondback rattlesnake in the air, holding it just behind its head as it writhed around, pissed. “You’re lucky you didn’t get bit. The rattling came after you grabbed it?”

“Yes!”

“Then it wasn’t coiled when you found it.”

The idea that she would have been miles away from medical attention was not something she liked thinking about. With a shake in her voice, she called over, “What are you going to do with it?”

“We’re going to eat it.”

“Oh God.” She held her stomach and rolled her eyes to the sky. “Okay, well, I’m going to see if I can forget
that
just happened and get back to finding
branches
. No more snakes, no scorpions, no tarantulas, no Great White sharks or Loch Ness monsters. Just branches. Please, God,” she muttered, searching the ground.

“There are no scorpions or tarantulas out here,” he told her, adding with a lower voice, “I don’t think.” He didn’t bother to address the imaginary fears, but there was amusement in his voice.

“Great. That makes me feel so much better.”

“You know, with your ass in the air like that, you are inspiring all kinds of ideas.”

She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Don’t hold that snake up at me when you say that.”

He laughed and hit the snake against a rock, the dull thud gruesome as he killed it with one strike. “There is probably only one of these.” He walked back to the pile of rocks and threw the dead thing on the ground so he could assemble them. “Unless it had babies.”

“WHAT?!!!”

He grinned, “I am kidding.”

“Not funny.” Ali grimaced, muttering “Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.” She found two more thick branches nearby. As she brought them back, she caught sight of the snake slithering as though having a seizure, a couple feet from her alpha. “Calt! Jump back! It’s alive!”

“No. It is dead.”

“But it’s moving!”

“Reflexes.”

“Oh.” Suspiciously, she eyeballed it. “When does it stop?”

“When it knows it is dead.”

She cut a look to him and saw the smile in his eyes. Chuckling and slightly annoyed, she informed him, “Okay, laugh all you want! But I won’t be eating that, just so we’re clear.”

“I want it!” Shaynah yelled over the waterfall. “I will use it for my lotions!”

Ali stared at the healer before shaking her head. “So much for your snack,” she threw at Calt as she went back for the pile of wood she’d dropped. She’d never been so scared to pick up twigs and sticks in her life. The faster she put distance between her and the rocks it had been next to, the better. She grabbed up every single piece of wood that had fallen, with her heart hammering in her chest, and the hairs on the back of her neck on end. Running back to him, she dropped one, and decided,
fuck it.
They’d live without it.

He lowered the last rock. “We take killing very seriously, Ali. We do not do it for sport. We eat or use every part that can be used, in any way we can, so that a life was not lost in vain. What we do not use, we burn.” She dropped the pile next to his makeshift fireplace and sat down with her legs crossed. He grabbed up some branches and set them on each other like a tee pee, finishing, “And we are always grateful.”

“I like that philosophy. It’s very Native American Indian, isn’t it?”

“It is what we have always done, because we maintain values and a respect for nature. Like the Native Americans, yes. One cannot just take what one wants without paying. Mother Nature receives as much as she gives. Living by a moral code is how we survive, in peace with the land, and with each other.” He rubbed two of the slimmer sticks together.

It was the first time she’d watched any of them light a fire, where she was paying attention. His hands moved with supernatural speed, so they were quicker than any she’d ever seen. Curious, she leaned forward. “How fast can you really go?”

He glanced to her then focused on the twigs, moving his hands at such a rate they soon became a blur containing a spark, then more sparks, then a flame. Using it to light the kindling, he said, “Fast.”

She chewed on her tongue, looking at the unused pile. Throwing him a sideway smile, she asked, “How about bigger ones? Like that one.” She pointed to the largest chunk of wood. “That’s a heavy one! Can you zip that one around in the air, with another? I don’t see any the same size but…”

He lifted it, along with another half its size. “We shall find out.” He threw her a smirk and honed in on the wood. Again his hands blurred into abstraction, like something you’d see on an acid trip. Sparks shot out. An enormous flame exploded and he laughed and threw it onto the fire, wiping his hands of the heat. “I have never tried that before.” He sucked on his thumb where he’d burned it.

With pure awe, Ali gazed at him. A bite of envy surprised her and she blinked toward the fire, watching the growing flames. To run after a dangerous snake and kill it before it killed you, rather than run from it, screaming…that was what she wanted to be like. To be able to play in the water no matter how cold it was, because little things like a fragile constitution didn’t get in the way. And how fragile was she, really? How much was perceived? Because when the snake had scared her, she wasn’t cold. Whenever she was excited or focused on anything she cared about, things like temperature were never an issue at all.

How much of my weaknesses and hindrances are in my head?

“Show off!” Lucin called from the water, then plugged his mouth and disappeared, leaving behind a splash.

Calt glanced over, then back to Ali. His smile faded as he stared at her. “I am glad I won, Ali. Are you?”

Her gaze drifted from her thoughts back to him. “Yes.”

“You hesitated.”

“No, I was thinking of something when you asked.”

He scratched his chin with his shoulder. “I will make you very happy. You will see.” She rose up and sat in front of him in between his legs, their bodies a train. “Warm now?”

“Mmhmm.” She watched the pack and tucked herself into him, her mind on other things. “Very.”

With their heads bobbing gently, Shaynah and Borhan were in a heated debate of some kind, their hushed voices cloaked by the waterfall’s roar. Ali jerked her chin toward them. “What’s going on with them?”

Calt kissed her head and shrugged. “Borhan likes to imagine the worst in any situation. Half the time, it is all precaution. That is his strength. But tonight, I want to let all of that go, and relax with you. We have earned it. They will tell me, if I need to know.”

“Alright.” Ali bent her head to receive a kiss and then let her gaze drift up to the clear sky. The stars were beautiful, just as they had been her first night. “Do you know the constellations?”

“I do not. Do you?”

She shook her head. “No, but I want to find out. Maybe when we go into town, I’ll get a book on it?”

He didn’t answer, and she attributed his silence to enjoying the view. Soon her attention traveled back to the werewolves playing in the pool. Calus and Bloo were doing handstands in a shallow section as Dak swam toward them. Ali scanned further and spied Lorn and Lucin close together. At first Ali thought it was sweet, but then she saw her friend was upset. Lucin, too. He glanced around in a conspiratorial way, as if worried they were being watched, his mouth moving quickly. Then Lorn disappeared, resurfacing a good distance away, and by herself.

Disturbed, Ali asked, “What is this rule you guys have about no favorites?”

He stiffened. “Why do you ask?”

She tried to hide her surprise at his tone, and lied, “No reason. I’m just trying to learn the rules.”

Like his chest weighed a thousand pounds, he took in a deep breath and reached over to throw more branches onto the fire, though it didn’t need it. His other arm he kept around her, and it seemed like a long time before he finally answered, “It is what we have always done.”

“Oh.” She didn’t add,
Seems like a lot of things are what you have always done
. But a glance back to the pool tugged at her heart as she caught Lorn wiping her cheek and disappearing beneath the surface again.
Is she hiding tears by going under?
Mustering up courage to help her friend, Ali ventured, “But what I don’t understand is, why?”

An impatient noise rumbled in his chest and Ali turned around to face him. He was annoyed, but she wondered if that was because he didn’t want to have to explain himself, or he didn’t really know the reason. She knew what he’d said to Tawny about
this is why we don’t have favorites
, but frankly, it hadn’t made a lot of sense to Ali, even when Lorn had reminded her that’s how things were. She touched his chest to calm him, about to suggest that maybe things didn’t always have to remain as they had been, that maybe life brings change, and that’s a good thing.

But Borhan interrupted by falling down beside them, the water rippling off his naked body as he said, “Fire feels good, but not as good as that water. You should go back in before…we head home.” His eyes were saying more than his words, and they were locked on Calt, demanding attention.

Then Ali heard them. Lucin and Dak were nosy now in a way that did not sound like play. Lucin shoved the larger wolf and Dak warned him he was about to regret that. Calus and Bloo stood in the shallow end, their eyes on the growing confrontation.

Uh oh. Ali had a good idea of what had happened now. But how were they going to get out of it? Her glance rushed to find Lorn, but the young she-wolf wasn’t visible. Shaynah’s face was grave, and they exchanged a look.

“I will be back,” Calt mumbled, rising. “Hey! What is going on here?”

“Why are they fighting?” Ali whispered to Borhan, but he didn’t answer her. He turned to the fire and held his hands out, water slipping down his thick fingers in slender drops.

Dak and Lucin adjusted to face their alpha, and red-haired Dak looked so much larger just by the breadth of his shoulders alone, that it looked like no match…except for the look on Lucin’s face. It was murderous. Calt stared down from the water’s edge, his back to Ali.

“He does not want me near Lorn,” Dak accused.

Lucin’s jaw clenched. He pursed his lips and glanced to the water. “She wasn’t in the mood for the type of play he wanted, and I told him to knock it off.”

“She can speak for herself,” Calt instructed in a tone laced with suspicion.

Lorn climbed out of the pool on the other side with bloodshot eyes. She shouted at Dak, “I did! You didn’t listen.”

“Now that is not fair!” Dak exploded. “You are acting as if I forced myself on you! I did not!” He turned to the alpha. “She is being very emotional.”

Calt’s face went red and Ali acted fast, calling out with a forced grin, “Lorn, come warm up by the fire. They just don’t understand us women, do they?” Borhan turned an all-knowing look to her, his lips flat. “What?”

“I would not butt in where you are not involved.”

She stole a nervous glance to Calt and answered in a voice loud enough to ensure she was heard by all. “I’m not trying to butt in, Borhan. It’s just fucking cold in there and we women like our sex hot. But hey, Dak probably didn’t know that, and it’s no biggie. We’re all just hungry, right? I know my temper gets short when I haven’t eaten. Lorn, come by the fire.” She patted the grass beside her. “Keep me warm, would ya?”

Lorn ran over, falling next to Ali and wrapping her arms around her.

Suspense thrilled the air but Ali kept her focus on untangling Lorn’s wet hair with trembling fingers, as though nothing was happening. Her body relaxed as Calt boomed with amusement, “The water
is
near freezing. How can you even get it up? You are a beast! Give it a rest.”

Dak grinned, calling back, “It comes from my ancestors!” He reached over and shoved Lucin, on his way out of the water. “Do not get in the middle again.”

Through gritted teeth, Lucin pushed Dak back and shouted, “Fine!”

Dak was shocked and about to retaliate, but Calt put a halt to it, beaming as he motioned to his protector to stand down. “Alright. Alright…that is enough. Well, Lucin, I think you are coming up in the world. That fire in your gut is glowing hot with Tawny gone. Is that it? Was she holding you back?”

Surprised, Lucin grinned, despite himself. “I don’t know. But thanks. You think so?”

“I do!”

Ali and Lorn exchanged a relieved look as all the tension left Lucin. The problem had been averted, and that was good. If there was a fight, it would not be the kinder wolf who would win, fire in his gut or no.