Taming the Alphas: Part One: Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance (5 page)

I was feeling pretty nervous when I pushed open the door to the class I took with Todd. For a minute, I had felt like staying home just to avoid him. But, I couldn’t flunk out of class just because Todd had seen Dave giving me head … and it hadn’t bothered Dave any. He had even told me to invite Todd over for drinks again! I would just have to suck up my embarrassment. Determined, I squared my shoulders and walked inside. I glanced around the room and realized Todd wasn’t there yet. I found a seat and sat down.

Todd walked in a few minutes later and plunked his sexy ass in the chair next to mine. I glanced over at him. He looked exceptionally hot today. Despite the chill, he wasn’t wearing a jacket, just a forest green tee that barely restrained his pecs, and butt hugging stonewashed denims that cupped and outlined his package nicely. I swallowed hard and tried not to look at him.

Todd glanced over and grimaced at me. He started to say something, but before we had a chance to talk the professor began speaking. There was no way we could risk pissing the professor off again. Throughout the lecture we exchanged glances, and I could feel the intensity coming from him. I knew he couldn’t wait to say what was on his mind. After what seemed like forever, the class ended and we got up to leave.

Todd grasped my arm and pulled me towards him, his handsome face apologetic. “Bev, I am so sorry for walking in on you and Dave. As you know, I forgot my cell and I just wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s ok. I was a bit embarrassed, but I’ll get over it.” I gave him a little smile. I could see he felt bad.

“I mean, that was a mess,” he blurted.

“Oh gee, thanks Todd,” I said. Wow, did he think I looked bad? Now I felt like crap.

“I mean … I don’t mean you were a mess. You looked fucking hot! I mean God! … Oh shit, I just need to shut my mouth.”

I burst into giggles. I couldn’t help it, he was trying so hard to apologize and he looked so serious, his baby blues eyeing me intently.

“You just hush Todd, and don’t worry about it,” I put my finger to his lips and shushed him. “Dave and I loved spending time with you and we want to get together again—soon. Dave feels like he’s known you all his life.”

Todd grinned sheepishly. “That sounds awesome! The feeling’s mutual. I just feel this bond with the two of you, and it goes much deeper than just being at Camp Vickers together.”

“Yeah,” I didn’t have to say any more. We both knew we had all felt a deep closeness and connection, like we had known each other forever.

“Thank you for forgiving me, my lady,” Todd joked, making a little bow. He took my hand in his, giving it a light kiss. As his lips brushed the back of my hand, a little quiver rushed through me again. It was so odd having these feelings about him when I cared so much about Dave.

“Dave’s a lucky guy to have you,” Todd said. I could tell by the look on his face, he wasn’t just talking about my pink pussy, which had practically been smack dab in his face—he was talking about me, Beverly Collingswood, the person.

“Thanks Todd. I feel lucky to have Dave. He is a great guy.”

“How is your ankle?”

“It’s almost like new, just a twinge now and then.”

“That’s good. Just make sure to go easy on it—no running or jumping for a while. You don’t want to set it off again.”

“Ha! Are you Dr. Todd Becker now?”

“Well, not exactly, though I did have to take first aid, wellness, and physiology courses for my major. Just do what I say and take it easy. Can I give you a ride home? My car is in the parking lot right around the corner from here.”

“I don’t know—is the battery working, or am I going to end up stranded somewhere?”

Todd laughed. “So far, so good—I haven’t had it break down on me since the night I drove you home from Slice of the Pie.”

I paused for a moment, looking at him. “Well alright, that sounds good.” Actually, I didn’t mind if the car did break down. It would be great to talk to him some more.

We walked to Todd’s car, enjoying the cool breeze and the colorful leaves. As we neared the car, a gust of wind blew several papers towards us, and there were many more littering the ground.

“Looks like someone dropped the flyers they were distributing,” Todd said.

“I hate it when people do that and don’t bother to pick them up,” I said. “Litter is such a nasty blight on our landscape—and unnecessary.” I cringed as I thought of the paperwork Kristen had been working on.  She was one of the counselors at Camp Rocky. The last night of camp she had been filling out the camper reports and when she went to the bathroom, I had knocked them off the picnic table just to give her a hard time. I don’t even know why I did it. Maybe I was jealous that she seemed to have it all together, when inside I could be such an emotional wreck. But even so, that was no excuse. I was so immature back then. It seemed like a lifetime ago. I had learned a lot this past summer. Well, I couldn’t go back, but I could go forward and do the right thing here…

“I love that you are so passionate about the environment.”

“Yep, and I am going to pick all of this up!” I dropped my book bag by a tree and started circling the area, running after the papers as they blew.

Todd didn’t hesitate as he jumped in to help. It felt good to enjoy the breeze, and we laughed as we chased after the papers and tried to gather them up before they blew away.

“I think the rest are lost to us,” Todd said, pointing at some of the flyers that had blown off well into the distance.

“Well, we can recycle these.” I clenched the papers in one hand as we walked towards Todd’s car. “There’s a recycling container near my apartment building, we can put them in there. Did you know the average person generates over four pounds of trash a day, and most of that is paper. The more we recycle, the more we save trees, pollution, jobs…”

“Got it Bev,” Todd grinned. “Come on, let’s go recycle…”

We climbed in Todd’s car and Todd drove the short distance to my apartment building. Todd pulled into the back lot near the recycle bin and parked.

“You don’t need to get out. I’ll do it and then I will park closer to the building so you won’t have to walk so far on that ankle.”

“Ah, Todd you are such a sweetheart.”

Todd grinned broadly at me as he took the papers from my hands. Glancing down at them, his wide smile quickly turned into a frown.  “Fuck! Beverly, did you even look at these?”

“No, I was too busy picking them up to read them, and we talked the whole way back here. Why?”

Todd shoved one of the papers in my hands.

A blurry picture of a werewolf looked back at me. Underneath the picture were the words ‘WHO—Werewolf Haters Organization: Join us for a meeting to take back our country and declare war on the wolves. Enjoy free food, music and BEER!’

“Oh my God!” They really are organizing,” I whispered. I was scared shitless.

“Free food and beer—they are bound to get a crowd,” Todd muttered.

From what we had seen on the news, the WHO group seemed pretty small. But with free food and beer, most likely bought by Calvin Peet, the man Trevor had mentioned was supporting them back in the coffee shop, it was unlikely to stay that way.

“I think we are going to need to talk to our liaison,” I said. “I mean, what else do we do—wait for them to attack or kill us?” Our liaison, Margaret Redson, was a long-time government employee, an attractive woman who looked to be in her forties. We were told to contact her if we had any issues or problems assimilating back into our former lives as they were before Camp Vickers. I would have called her with concerns before, but she just didn’t seem all that interested in anything we had to say. It seemed she just wanted to collect an early pension and retire somewhere in Key West. But this time, I would have to force her to take an interest. Our lives could depend on it!

“Would you and Dave be interested in having pizza with me for dinner … on me, of course?” Todd asked.

I thought about it for a moment. I knew Dave would be up for it, but I had some work to do. “I don’t know, I have a sucky paper to write.”

“When’s it due?”

“Well … next week … I just don’t know what I’m going to write about.”

“Easy peasy,” Todd said. “We’ll discuss over pizza and Dave and I can help you decide.”

“That sounds good!” The idea of what to write my paper on had been bothering me—maybe they could help me with it.

“Let me order a couple pies and we’ll pick them up. Then we can go back to your place, call Margaret Redson, eat some pizza, and talk about your paper.”

Todd ordered the pies from Slice of the Pie and we drove over to pick them up. As I walked with him to the cash register, I looked around the restaurant. Thankfully, Jerry, the guy who had looked at my checkbook, was nowhere in sight. There were a few waitresses with ‘Slice of the Pie’ emblazoned across their chests, walking around and sticking their ta-tas out. Todd went behind the counter.

“We sell beer mostly, but we have wine also. Do you like wine?”

I nodded excitedly. I hadn’t had the money to buy wine in ages. Todd reached in the cooler and grabbed two bottles, one red and one white, and held them up. He cocked his brow at me.

“Red. It’ll go good with the pizza!” I smiled at him.

“How about both—I have a good discount here.” He paid for the food and drinks and we walked out the door. As we left, a tall, skinny blonde walked in. I recognized her from the coffee shop and on the news, where they had said her name was Karen. Thankfully, she was engrossed in conversation with another girl and didn’t notice us, but it made me nervous. The WHO members seemed to be everywhere.

I elbowed Todd.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“That girl back there. The tall, skinny one, have you seen her before?”

“Yeah, she’s been in here before. Why?”

“She’s in the WHO group.”

“Ugh.”

“She probably didn’t recognize you with the shorter hair and tats. You look different in the photo on the news.”

Todd shook his head but didn’t say anything. We didn’t speak much on the way back. This whole situation was getting freaky. What if she, or another one of them, recognized him or me in the future? What would they do to us?

When we returned to the apartment, Todd showed Dave the flyer. I could see the concern etched in Dave’s eyes. So far, the WHO group had seemed pretty harmless. But with talks of guns, weapons, and organizing even more students, the possibility of something way beyond harmless did not seem to be far off in the future.

Todd dialed Margaret Redson while Dave and I listened in on speakerphone. Even though we had a direct line to her, she wasn’t picking up, so Todd left her a message explaining everything.

“Look guys, we’ve done what we can. Let’s chow on some pizza and chill.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Dave said. “Let’s forget about the WHO group for now and try to relax.” Dave poured three glasses of red wine and handed each of us one. He took a glass for himself and sank down next to me on the sofa, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. It felt good to be in his arms, yet something inside me also wanted Todd, the man in the chair next to us. I tried to divert my thoughts by talking about my classes.

“So guys, as you know, I have been thinking about my paper for my writing class. I have been having a terrible time deciding what to write about.”

“Yeah, did you finally come up with something?” Todd asked.

“Well, it is supposed to be a non-fiction piece about anything that impacts the world. I figure most will be writing about the economy or environment. Normally, I would do a bio piece, but right now, I want to do something different.”

Dave gave my shoulder an affectionate squeeze. “What do you have in mind?”

“I thought I’d sound you two out on this idea.”

“Shoot,” Todd said. “We’ll let you know if it’s a good idea or not.”

“I’ve been thinking about writing the paper on government conspiracies. I mean, if the government is lying about us, imagine what else they have lied, or are lying, about?” I toyed with my glass. “It interests me. I might learn something, and I think I can do a good job on it.”

“I don’t know,” Dave pondered, swallowing a sip of wine. “You’d have to tread lightly there. No sense opening up a can of worms with your essay. People already suspect the government is lying, and think you and Todd are shifters. If you write about other theories, they may bring up the situation in the discussion portion when you share your paper.”

“Personally, I like the idea,” Todd said thoughtfully. “It will solve the problem of what to write about. And, it may help the class realize that if she is a shifter, maybe the government is forcing her to be silent about it. And…” he added, “I am sure Beverly can handle herself in any class discussion.”

“Thanks Todd,” I said gratefully. It felt good to know he believed in me, even though the results of my last exam had shattered my confidence.

“So guys, I think I am going to do it. Let me ask you, what conspiracies come to mind when I say ‘government cover up?’ What famous conspiracies can you think of?”

“Some people believe that man’s first landing on the moon was a fake.” Todd grinned as he reached for the bottle of wine, pouring himself another glass.

“Now, that is just plain crazy!” I shook my head at Todd.

“Project Blue Book is the first thing I think of,” Dave said.

“Project Blue Book?” Todd tilted his head quizzically.

“Yeah. Some years ago, the U.S. Air Force investigated a bunch of UFO sightings, and they called it Project Blue Book. They shut it down because they said there was no evidence to support UFOs,” Dave said.

“Ha! No evidence to support UFOs? Just look at Roswell!” I cried.

“Are you talking about Roswell, New Mexico, where a UFO supposedly crashed and aliens were found?” Todd asked.

I nodded.

“But Beverly, no one knows if that really happened.”

“Todd, there were eye witnesses. Plus, I saw a show where someone had filmed an alien autopsy. It was an alien from the crash site.” I shuddered as I thought of the skinny, pale alien creature with the big head from the television show. “It was so creepy!”

“Beverly,” Dave laughed. “That wasn’t real. Fox TV admitted those were actors.”

“Oh! Ha ha, I didn’t really believe the show, but I didn’t realize they actually admitted it was fake.”

Todd laughed. “Yeah, well they did. It had a lot of people going for a while though.”

“To support your paper,” Dave said, “It will help to reveal actual government cover ups that have been proven. Don’t focus on the crap stuff.”

“Ok, I know one for sure. It was my first experience learning about government cover ups and I was about thirteen.”

Dave and Todd looked at me quizzically.

“My stepfather, Bob, attended a convention at the Greenbrier Hotel, and my mother and I tagged along.”

“The Greenbrier Hotel—that’s a fancy resort in West Virginia, right?” Dave asked.

I nodded. “It is super expensive and very luxurious—massages, horseback riding, golf... We should all go sometime—when we get some money.”

Dave nodded, his head caressing my shoulder. “That sounds real good baby.”

“Anyway, you would never dream that hidden underneath the hotel’s West Virginia Wing is a secret bunker. While my stepdad was at one of his meetings, mom and I explored the hotel and they gave us a tour of the underground facility.

“Oh yeah, I remember hearing something about that place,” Todd said.

“The Greenbrier is elegant and gorgeous. It’s crazy that underneath the building there is this—this gigantic emergency place in case of a war.”

“What was it like?” Todd asked.

“Well, the Greenbrier is just magnificent, very beautiful and so classy, and the bunker underground is fascinating. It was built during the cold war as an emergency shelter to house the U.S. Congress in case of an attack. No one was supposed to know about it, but the tour guide admitted that almost everyone did. The locals and many others knew about it before ‘The Washington Post’ exposed it. When we toured it, I wondered how the Government could ever have expected to keep such an enormous facility with dormitories, a pharmacy, medical unit, cafeteria, meeting halls, and more a secret.”

“Ok, I get that they try to cover things up Beverly … and in the case of the bunker, it sounds like they tried to keep it secret so they would have a safe place for members of Congress to hole up in. They would be needed to make decisions in case of a war.”

“But Todd, the tour guide told us they kept the bunker fully supplied in case of an emergency for thirty years! Then they declassified the place after it was exposed. What a waste of tax dollars. They never used it! It doesn’t add up.”

“But Beverly, what if they had needed to use the facility? You have to look at both sides of the picture here. Sure, the government covers things up, but they try to do it in the people’s best interest. And yeah, maybe they covered up some aliens. But do you blame them?” Todd cleared his throat. “How would you feel if you knew there were a bunch of aliens running around out there—possibly abducting people?”

I grimaced as Todd continued. “So, maybe they are trying to cover up that werewolves actually exist, but … let’s face it. You can’t blame them for being nervous about letting the American public know about us. I mean, how would you feel about us if you weren’t a werewolf yourself?”

“Hmm, I guess if I was still a ‘regular’ woman and not a werewoman … I guess I would be pretty upset knowing there was such a thing as werewolves.”

Todd nodded, “And what if you found out werewolves were being assimilated into the population?”

“Well, maybe I would not like it very much.”

“Try not to get all fired up about something before you think it through,” Todd said gently.

I squinted, furrowing my forehead. “Are you trying to tell me what to do, Todd Becker?”

Todd laughed, waving his hand, that sexy, dimpled grin reappearing. “Relax, Bev. You act like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

“Yeah Todd, but I just know that when people finally find out werewolves are real it’s going to be a lot harder for us then. If the government had just fessed up and educated people, maybe we would have a chance!”

Dave put his arm around me. “Hey girlie, you should include Sasquatch in your report. There have been plenty of sightings and the gov won’t fess up.”

“Sasquatch?”

“Yeah, everyone knows Sasquatch—that’s Big Foot.”  Todd said.

“Oh yeah, Big Foot—that huge, hairy beast. What a load of bull crap!” I shouted. “Who could believe some ginormous monster is lurking around in the forest?”

“Come on, Bev. You can’t believe in Big Foot, but you know werewolves exist?” Todd questioned, his face puzzled.

“I got me a super big foot,” Dave leered. “Hey babes, it’s bedtime.” He grabbed me by the hand. ”It’s time to take my sexy bitch to bed.”

“Geez, Dave.” I was annoyed that Dave would be so obvious in front of Todd, especially after he’d walked in on us. I was trying to put that incident behind me.

I glanced over at Todd. He was staring at me, and once again the sheer desire on his face was palpable. As I caught his eyes, he looked away, but it was too late. I knew he wanted me … and I knew I wanted him too.

“Come on, Bev. Let’s hit the sack,” Dave said. He pulled me off the couch and guided me towards the bedroom.

Just as I was feeling ashamed about leaving Todd that way, Dave added something that shocked the hell out of me.

“Care to join us, Todd?”

The sexy love story continues in

TAMING THE ALPHAS: PART TWO