Who's Your Alpha? (4 page)

Stunned, Sunny stepped inside. Everything had been destroyed. “There’s nothing left.”

“Then you need to go shopping,” Mack said. He glanced at his watch. “Unfortunately, we have to wait for the cops and the mall closes in an hour. Let me make some phone calls and see what I can do. Come, you can wait in my rooms.”

“Mall? Rooms?” Sunny felt like a dodo bird.

“They built a mall about fifteen miles downriver.” He took her arm and led her down the hall to a door farthest from the elevator. He opened the door and ushered her into a suite of rooms that were definitely not generic. They looked like something from
Architectural Digest
. And there was more than one. Actually, there were three. A sitting room and two bedrooms. And two bathrooms. And a balcony with a clear view of the mountain and no parking lot in sight.

“Wow.” She wandered through the living room, touching the leather sofa, eyeing the flat-screen TV that took up almost as much wall space as the picture window.

“You’re welcome to stay here,” Mack said. “You can have the guest room.”

Before she could make any decisions, a man in a police uniform showed up, and right behind him was David.

“Sunny? What happened? Are you all right?”

“She’s fine.” Mack stepped in front of her, blocking off David. Sunny glared at his back. Enough was enough. She pulled him back and pointed at the couch. “You, sit.” The finger moved to David. “You, back off.” Next was the cop. “You, with me.”

Head high, she led the way back down the hall to her room and escorted the cop in. Then she got her first good look at him. “Tony? Tony Waters?”

“Yeah. Welcome back, Sunny.” He studied the room. “Although this isn’t much of a welcome. Was anything stolen?”

“No, just destroyed.”

“Any ideas who’d do this?”

Sunny laughed. “Take a guess.”

“But no proof.”

“No.”

“Her fingerprints are going to be all over the place because she’s the manager here. I’m sorry.”

Sunny shrugged. “The hotel is going to pay for everything, so no worries.”

“When you’ve got the cost for everything, let me know and I’ll file the report for you. Come into the office tomorrow.” He looked around the room. “Where will you stay tonight?”

“She’ll stay with me.” David stood in the doorway.

“She can stay with me.” Mack shouldered in next to him.

Sunny shoved her ruined things into a pile on the floor. “I can stay here. There’s nothing wrong with the room. And nothing else is going to happen, is it Ruby?”

Ruby jumped but nodded. “She’ll be undisturbed.”

“If you’re sure?” Tony asked.

“I’m sure. I’m fine. Thank you. You can go.” She glared at David and Mack. “You can all go. Now. Out!” She actually shoved David and Mack out, slammed the door shut on all of them, and leaned back against it. “What the hell is going on here?”

Chapter 4

David glared at Mack who glared right back at him. “Just because you own the hotel doesn’t mean you run everything in this town.”

Mack leaned against the wall and studied David. “You’re not the alpha anymore, Davey-boy. There’s a new bitch in town, and I intend to make her mine.”

David glared at him. “I’d say that’s up to her. You don’t know Sunny as well as you think you do. She was mine before you were even in the picture.”

“Yeah, but she’s not now.”

“But she will be.” He grinned. “Go ahead and keep plying her with expensive food and gifts and see how far you get.”

“She deserves the best.”

“On that, we’re both in agreement. In this case, the best is me.” He turned and strode away. An itch between his shoulder blades let him know Mack was still watching. Let him. David was the better of the two of them. Sunny would choose him. He knew it. She had to.

* * * *

Sunny waited until well after dark to venture out of her room. A quick check showed the hall empty. She’d half expected David or Mack, or both, to be sitting out there keeping an eye on her. She pushed open the door to the stairs and listened. All was quiet. Blood pumping, she raced down the steps. In college and grad school, people had always been amazed someone “her size” could move so quickly. So what if she wasn’t a size two? Or twelve? Just because she wasn’t thin didn’t mean she wasn’t in shape.

At the bottom floor, she paused. She didn’t think any alarms would go off if she went out, but would she be able to get back in? A sign next to the door eased her fears. As long as she had her key card, there was no problem. She pushed through the door and quickly sought the shadows. She wasn’t doing anything illegal, but at the same time, she didn’t want to announce to the world she was out.

She’d parked her car along the hedgerow separating the parking lot from the road. The tall plants offered a modicum of protection and she kept to the shadows. When she reached her car, she opened the passenger side wide enough to be able to stuff her clothes and key card in. With the security pad, she didn’t need her key to get in, so she didn’t have to carry anything with her. She shivered as the cold air blew over her bare skin, relishing the free feeling. A minute later, her fur warmed her and she felt even freer as she headed for the mountain.

She raced over familiar paths, lapped water from clear streams, rolled in a fern-filled glade, relishing the abject independence of being a dog. This was freedom beyond freedom. Like her ancestors hundreds of years ago, she sat up and howled her joy to the stars. An answering howl from her left surprised her, cutting off the sound in her throat. Then another from her right. And more. Within minutes, dogs of all shapes and sizes emerged from the surrounding woods and converged on the clearing. Sunny leaped to her feet, hackles raised, but she had nowhere to go. A large, silky Afghan approached from in front, growling low in her throat. Before Sunny could react, two males, one a husky like her and the other a golden retriever, raced in from her left to stand in front of her, facing the Afghan. A third dog, a beagle bitch, ran up behind her. Sunny recognized Rommy and ignored her.

Instinct took over and Sunny nipped at the hindquarters of both males, and then stepped forward. The Afghan met her, teeth bared. All the years of being put down, of being the wallflower, the nerd, one of the unpopular crowd waiting at home for the phone to ring, came crashing down. Being a teen had been bad enough, but when she hit sixteen, she’d started changing. Shifting. She’d kept it hidden for nearly a year, afraid she was some sort of freak. Then her mother had caught Sunny, and the emerging scream had brought her father running. But what Sunny thought had been a scream of fear and horror had actually been joy. From that moment on, Sunny’s life had changed. Her mother was a shifter and she’d feared the gene had skipped Sunny. Her father had the gene, but had never developed the ability. By the time they found out Sunny could shift, she’d already become adept at hiding.

No more.

Sunny bared her teeth and growled low in her throat, a threat for the Afghan to back off. Though the Afghan was taller, Sunny was the more powerful of the two. The fight took only long enough for Sunny to dash under the Afghan’s legs and bite her soft underbelly, and then dash out and rake her teeth along the long hindquarters. Sunny didn’t seek to kill, but to hinder and humiliate. Howling in pain and frustration, the Afghan whirled, but Sunny was too fast. A minute later, the Afghan cowered at her feet, her throat and belly exposed. Sunny yipped her victory to the others. Nobody else opposed her. The Afghan slunk off into the forest, and Sunny spun around to deal with the two males. To her surprise, the husky stood over the retriever. Both looked a little worse for the wear. She figured they’d had their own battle while she fought hers.

She sniffed at the husky. He smelled familiar, and yet not. She wasn’t very adept at sniffing out others in their alternative forms. But something in the husky drew her. He wanted her, and she wanted him. But she’d never mated as a dog and wasn’t sure she wanted to start now. Her mother had told her to make sure when she did, that she was with a shifter and not a true animal. Problems could occur. What those problems were, her mom had never told her, but the rule had been burned into her.

With a sigh of regret, she backed away, and then turned and ran. She didn’t stop until she reached her car and shifted back into human form. Though it was still dark, dawn couldn’t be far away and she needed at least a little sleep before David picked her up.

She dressed quickly in the cold air, wincing at the soreness and scratches from the fight. A hot shower helped some, but she grimaced when she saw the long scratch on her arm where the Afghan had raked her. Fortunately, her first aid kit, though scattered, was mostly intact. She jumped when someone knocked at her door.

“Whoever it is, go away.”

“Sun? It’s me. Rom.”

Sunny opened the door, checking the hall behind Rommy before opening it wide. “Come on in.”

“What the hell is going on?” Her friend plopped down on the bed. “I get back from a family picnic, hear about a rumble and find you in the middle of it. Honey, when I told you to come back to town, I didn’t mean as the alpha bitch.”

“I don’t know what’s going on. It just sort of happened.” She told Rommy about the break-in and showed her the trashcan full of her clothes. “The guys were acting like a bunch of idiots, and I wanted to get away. Next thing I know, the Afghan is challenging me. I just got tired of it all and decided to let her know I’m not the shy little nerd I once was.”

“I’ll say. That was some fighting there. Good show. ’Bout time you showed some gumption. You do know who the Afghan is, don’t you?”

“Ruby?”

“Yep. Queen bitch herself.”

“So what does being the alpha mean?”

Rommy chuckled. “It means you’re the leader of the pack, honey. Kind of like being mayor. You’ve got power and influence, but it’s not absolute. At least, not with us. There are some packs where the alphas are everything. Here, we’re a little looser, but the alpha is still the leader. I always knew you had it in you. Especially with your mom being who she is.”

“My mom? What’s she got to do with this?”

“She was the alpha before she decided to marry your dad and take off for the unknown. So it’s kind of in your blood.”

She gaped at Rommy for a second before asking, “Why didn’t she tell me? Is everyone in this town a shifter?” Shaking her head, she struggled to apply some first-aid salve to her cuts.

“Give me that.” Rommy took the tin and salved and bandaged Sunny’s cuts. “I can’t tell you who is and isn’t. I just know a few. If you remember, I’m sort of like you. I came into my shape later than the others and was never one of the in-crowd. But I have my ideas.” She handed the first aid stuff back. “There. All done. So what are you going to do for a nightie?” Rommy grinned and winked.

“Sleep in the buff, of course.” She smiled right back. “I know you had a long day. Go home and get some sleep. I’ll see you and Sam tomorrow.”

“You done fighting for the night?”

“You know it.” She hugged Rommy. “I’m glad you’re here. See you tomorrow.”

* * * *

David and his assistant pulled out rolls of bandages and tubes of antibiotic salves. He faced the two people standing in the clinic, lab coats covering their nude bodies. “You can use the sinks in the surgery room to wash up, and then Mary will bandage you.”

“David—”

“It’s over, Mack. I have nothing against you personally, but stay away from her.”

“She could still choose me.”

“Maybe, but don’t be surprised if she doesn’t.”

He went to his apartment and took a hot shower, washing off the dirt and blood. Fortunately, none of the scratches were more than superficial. A few dabs of antibiotic salve and a couple bandage strips and he was good to go. He set his alarm to give him a couple hours of rest, and then went to sleep smiling.

* * * *

The next morning, at exactly eight, there was a knock at Sunny’s door. She opened it to find David standing there. No surprise. What was surprising were the scratches on his face and the bandage on his hand. There were circles under his eyes like he’d not gotten much sleep.

“David? What happened?”

He frowned at her. “As if you don’t know. Are you ready to go?”

“Uh, sure.” She grabbed her bag. “What do you mean, I should know?” She thought she did, but wasn’t certain. And if she was right, which one was he? The retriever or the husky? And which one was Mack? She followed David to his truck and climbed in, waiting for his answer.

“You really don’t know, do you?”

“Let’s say I suspect, but I’d like to hear it in words.”

“First, tell me what your parents told you and how they explained your abilities to you.”

“My abilities? That’s a laugh. They never explained anything. I freaked out the first time it happened and kept it to myself for almost a year. When they finally found out, they celebrated. But they never told me much of anything. They were too busy with their research. Can you shift?”

“Shift? Of course I can. Three quarters of this town can. The correct term is animagus.”

“You mean like in the Harry Potter books? I thought that was…” She stopped.

“Fiction? Welcome to the real world.” He glanced at her as he drove up the mountain. “How can you not understand? Didn’t your folks teach you anything?” He couldn’t help the tone of his voice.

“No. Not really. They were so busy studying others, they never saw me.”

David shook his head and blew out a sigh. “We exist. There are pockets of us all over the world.”

“That’s why my folks went to South America. To study another group.”

“Probably. Most of us develop the ability when we hit puberty. You took a little longer. Any idea why?”

“My dad. He has the gene but can’t shift.” She stared out the windshield as David stopped the truck in front of a large log cabin. To call the structure a cabin, though, would be to do the dwelling a great disservice. It consisted of two-plus stories surrounded on three sides by a wide, covered porch. The side overlooking a steep bluff above the river was all glass. Towering hemlocks, maples, and oaks surrounded it on the other three sides. As soon as she stepped out of the truck, she felt at home. At peace. This was a place to raise a family.