The Alpha Read online

  “If Katrina wins then I have to kill her to be Eric’s mate, Sugar.”

  “Then stay human, be his mistress and Tyler could be Katrina’s lover.” She jerked her head and sighted on Katrina. “You did tell Tyler, right?”

  “Of course not, he would never allow me to fight.”

  “Great.” Spice crossed her arms and tapped her foot. Eric would be elated if they managed to find a solution to stay together. If she tried to become werewolf she could die. Tyler might kill her anyway if Katrina got hurt challenging Clair in her stead. What if Katrina didn’t win?

  Clair would own Eric. The crunch of her teeth as they ground together snapped her out of her reverie.

  She’d have to become a werewolf and fight Clair as an Alpha. Either way she’d have to face death. Sweat trickled down her back. She had more faith in the tiny oriental werewolf’s knowledge than in her own fighting skill. Her best chance at survival probably lay in Katrina’s hand. When she faced Clair as a beast they would fight for dominance, not death. If she lost, then she had no one to blame but herself.

  She glanced at her little sister sitting on the couch, worry etched into her face. “Will you still love me if I became pack?” It was the only thing left that would stop her.

  “Spicy, nothing could ever change how I feel. You’re my twin, a piece of me.” Tears trickled from her eyes.

  “Then let’s do this. That stray humping bitch won’t get her claws into my man if I have anything to do with it.” She knew squat about werewolves and less about the Omegas but once she won this challenge they would be hers as well. “What do I have to do?” She rubbed her hands together and stared at Katrina.

  “Fight to survive.” She removed her clothes and folded them into a neat pile on the couch. Naked, Katrina kissed Sugar on the forehead, who cried in silence with her legs drawn to her chest just like when they were little girls and their father yelled at them.

  Spice was an expert at the art of surviving. Abusive parents, scum-sucking boyfriends, drugs, alcohol, none of them kept their hold on her. She fought back and won. This wouldn’t beat her either.

  Silky black fur grew from Katrina’s skin. Her face elongated, bones cracked, and joints snapped as the tiny woman grew into a magnificent, huge bipedal beast.

  Spice’s heart fled to hide in her shoes, and her courage followed.

  The beast swung its head in her direction.

  She stepped back but realized she had nowhere to run. It blocked the only exit from the room. She changed her mind. This wasn’t such a good plan. She opened her mouth to tell her to stop, but Katrina drew her thick muscled arm back and stabbed her long, sharp claws into Spice’s heart in one smooth motion.

  Sugar’s ear-piercing scream filled the room so her sister couldn’t tell if she screamed as well. The pain spread across her chest and stole her breath as she coughed up a splatter of blood. She raised her chin to stare at the beast. It had Katrina’s eyes and sorrow poured from them. If she could speak, Spice knew she’d say sorry.

  She wanted to tell her that everything would be all right, there was nothing to apologize for, but the room tilted and she grabbed onto Katrina’s furry arm. Her claws remained embedded in Spice’s body.

  The beast guided her to the ground and shredded her shirt open with the other claws. She stared with tunneling vision as it leaned its muzzle close to her chest and tore her wound wider.

  She cried out. It sounded weak even to her own ears. Blood pumped from her chest.

  Katrina opened her mouth and drool oozed from her canines to mix in with the blood. A steady stream of the clear slime came from her mouth until it coated the wound and the bleeding stopped.

  Concentration?She pondered to herself as the darkness closed in. Katrina spoke of it. Maybe werewolf drool contained more contaminant.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Spice recognized Tyler’s voice as he hollered. “Katrina, oh my God, what have you done?”

  “She’s changing Spice.” Sugar’s tear-filled words answered him.

  “Tyler, I know what I am doing.” Katrina must have returned to her human form to speak to him.

  They sounded farther away. Spice wanted to shout, to tell them she was still there, but her vocal cords wouldn’t work.

  “You must keep Eric away from here. Take him on a wild goose chase if you have to. If she survives this wound and if I mixed in enough of my saliva with her heart’s blood, she should change with the full moon tonight.”

  “That’s a lot of if’s Katrina,” he shouted.

  “I know.”

  Chapter 10

  Spice cracked open an eyelid and peeked around. A computer desk faced her. She was in Eric’s office on Robert’s thinking couch. Someone had placed a pillow under her head and a blanket over her body.

  How did she get here?

  The last thing she recalled, they’d been playing Monopoly, she’d been winning, and the dice were in her hands. Daedalus gave Eric a letter.

  Clair. The werewolf bitch wanted to steal Eric from her. With a swift kick of her legs, she flung the blanket off and sat up. Her feet landed on a sleeping Sugar who squeaked when stepped on.

  “What are you doing on the floor?”

  “What are you doing trying to leave?” Her little sister scrambled to her knees and proceeded to open Spice’s shirt. A bandage covered the area over her heart.

  She thought back to Katrina and the beast she’d grown into. Their plan. She touched the bloody bandage and expected to wince but no pain jarred her. Pulling on the edges, she gasped as she exposed healed new flesh. “How is that possible? I had a huge hole.”

  Sugar cupped her mouth with her hand and shouted, “Katrina, she’s awake.”

  “How long have I been out?” She rotated her left shoulder and arm. Nothing hurt, this was a definite perk.

  “All day. The sun’s setting, and Daedalus should be awake soon.”

  “The sun has set, and Daedalus is already here.” The vampire stormed into the room wearing a pair of black silk boxers. “What have you three brainless twits been doing? I could smell Spice’s blood from my coffin.”

  Spice had never seen him undressed before. His skin, so pale it seemed almost translucent, covered hard, sculpted muscles over his chest, arms, and abdomen. Her sister sure had a keen eye for scrumptious male flesh. She met Sugar’s gaze and gave her a mental high five.

  Katrina made her way around the vampire, carrying a tray of food, which she set in front of Spice.

  The smell made her stomach growl. She could discern the scent of beef and ham from the cheese and bread. Each little particle differed from the other. She passed her nose over the sandwich on the plate and inhaled deeply. Her mouth watered.

  “Spice?” Sugar quirked an eyebrow at her. “Are you going to eat it or inhale it?”

  She grinned. “Thank you, Katrina. I’m starved.”

  “That is normal.” Katrina eased onto the couch next to her.

  “Normal for what exactly?” Daedalus asked.

  The sandwich called her name and she took a huge bite from it. Layers upon layers of meat assaulted her taste buds, and she growled in tune with her stomach as she tore into another bite.

  “You might want to feed your sister more often.” Daedalus stepped closer to the couch, his eyes narrowing as he observed her eating.

  “Leave her be. We must deal with a greater hunger. Controlling it controls the beast within.” Katrina offered her a drink. “Try not to choke though.”

  “Beast?” He gasped. “You made her a werewolf?” He examined her while she gobbled her food. “I must be getting old because I sense she’s almost complete. How is this possible?”

  Spice swallowed a half-chewed lump. “What does he mean almost complete?”

  “You still need to make your first physical transformation.” The tiny oriental woman swiveled to face the vampire. “I made Spice part of the pack this morning. It was a dangerous risk, but neither of us could figure a different soluti
on.”

  “Thank you for not killing me, by the way,” Spice mumbled around another bite of sandwich.

  “Amazing, but how?” Daedalus crouched on the balls of his feet and watched her like a spectator at the zoo.

  Spice narrowed her eyes at him, and a rumble came from her chest. It stopped short as her sandwich fell onto the plate and she looked down at her body. “What the hell?” Something inside of her shifted as if trying to get comfortable. “Katrina?” She didn’t mind the note of panic in her voice, it was honest. What had she done?

  She gave up her humanity for the man she loved.

  When did Spice Monroe start making sacrifices?

  She sighed. The day Eric spit water on her and set her soul at ease.

  “Your beast responded to your emotions. It will take time for you to master these skills. You won’t be allowed to be by yourself for the next few weeks.”

  “And you plan to set a novice werewolf against a dominant alpha?” Daedalus gaped at the three of them. “This should have been set in motion weeks ago. Not tonight.”

  “Some people were kept in the dark.” Spice shoved the last of her meal in her mouth. He made a good point. She knew how to street fight but this took it to another level. Teeth and claw versus fist and feet, she pondered for moment and concluded maybe she could use it to her advantage. “Daedalus, if you’re not on board with the project, then bail. I don’t need anyone knocking my confidence right now. I’m more than capable of doing that on my own, thank you very much.”

  He studied her, then nodded. “I’m on board this crazy train.”

  She laughed and Sugar joined her. The skin under her sister’s eyes looked bruised. A twinge of guilt ran through Spice. Did she ever once consider what she was putting her little sister through? She remembered her tears. Sugar had sat on this couch and watched her best friend stab her twin in the heart. After that Spice passed out but her sister stayed by her side and cared for her.

  Gathering Sugar into a hug she whispered, “I love you.” She was about to put her sister through hell again by trying to fight for Eric.

  “Sister’s stick together.” Sugar patted her shoulder and they parted.

  Spice glanced at Katrina. “What do I do now?”

  “Is the moon out yet?”

  Daedalus moved to the window. “I don’t see it.”

  “Usually, we wait for the full moon. It helps draw out the beast.”

  “Great, I get to add getting furry once a month as well as getting my—”

  “Hey, hey, old-fashion vampire in the room. I don’t need to hear it.” Daedalus left the window and crossed the room to the door. “I’m going to get dressed.”

  Sugar rose to follow him. “You need to feed.”

  He stopped her. “You’re exhausted. I can wait. Sounds like tonight might provide some sport. I wouldn’t mind you washing my back though.”

  They left Spice alone with Katrina. She twisted to face the small woman.

  “We should discuss controlling your beast before you transform. Otherwise you will be seduced into allowing it to take over, to give up responsibility of your actions and ultimately part of your humanity. This happened to many of the Ayumu, some no better than beasts even in their human forms. We’ve cleared out those who didn’t wish to change, and taught better control to those who wanted to remain. But once you’ve crossed over that line it is almost impossible to regain those pieces of yourself.”

  “So the moral of the story is don’t cross over to the dark side.”

  Katrina leaned forward until their noses almost touched.

  “No, it is not to let the beast get control. Ever.”

  “You keep speaking like I have a creature living inside of me. Am I not the beast?”

  “Yes, you are but the animalistic side of your nature will be more prevalent. Instinctual urges will want to dominate, but you need to be in charge of them.”

  “Like what?”

  “Hunger, territory, sex, and pack will affect you.”

  Spice cleared her dry throat. “When you changed I could still see you in the beast’s eyes. How do you keep it under control?”

  “I always stay in the forefront of its mind. Never succumbing to the lure of oblivion.”

  “Oblivion? Why would you want that?”

  “You have to remember, most werewolves did not choose this path. They were made against their will. The fact you volunteered for it will give you a greater advantage since you will have less inner turmoil and a purpose to your existence.” Katrina took her hands. “Let us do an exercise.”

  She nodded. The noise in the shower, far below them in the basement, distracted her. Her new and improved hearing made it possible for her to hear that Sugar was doing more than just washing Daedalus’s back. She smirked until Katrina squeezed her hands.

  “I want you to close your eyes and focus inward. Try to…introduce yourself.”

  Crossing her legs, Spice tried to get comfortable. Meditation wasn’t on the list of things she liked to do. She closed her eyes. How did someone look inward? Roll their eyes back? Her parents always told her to quiet her mind and stop thinking, but there was no “off” button so how did—

  Something prowled in the darkness.

  Her eyes sprung open. “Oh, crap.”

  “Don’t be afraid. Remember it’s part of you.”

  “It’s a lot freakin’ bigger than me.” Her heart pitter-pattered at the thought of becoming that creature. Arnold Schwarzenegger,watch out. She took a deep breath. Nobody made her cringe without a fight. Did she always win? No, but boy did she try.

  Closing her eyes, she tried to remember what she did to get past the guard dogs to escape her last place of “employment” in Vegas. She pulled out a piece of imaginary meat and set it in front of her. Not a moment later the beast appeared and sniffed at the offering, then swallowed it in one bite. Covered in pure white fur, it eyed her with her own emerald green eyes. “Cool.” It approached and rubbed against her shoulder. She ran her fingers through its soft fur before it disappeared.

  The phone rang.

  Her eyes snapped open again. Katrina stood, then walked to the desk and answered it. “Where?” She nodded. “We’ll be there soon. Stall them, Tyler.” With a grim expression, Katrina considered her and hung up the phone. “It’s time. I know you’re not ready. It may still be best if I challenge Clair first.”

  Spice took a shaky breath. “No. It ends tonight.”

  Chapter 11

  If Eric ever saved enough money, he’d buy this abandoned warehouse and tear it down. Empty and worn, it symbolized his pack. The Alpha was the soul of his werewolves, but this pack didn’t reflect him. He sighed. They needed him to have a mate. She would be the heart, and then the real healing could begin.

  His people, his pack.

  He observed the large group as they gathered inside. Every lifestyle and race was represented in the mix of the people who mingled in front of him. They owned Chicago after all. Some chose to attend in their beast form, which he accepted. Not everyone wanted their human form to be known.

  After searching throughout the night and day for Clair so that he could confront and deny her, he’d decided to draw her out instead. She wouldn’t be able to resist the opportunity to try and claim him in front of everyone. If he succumbed to her, then they’d be mated in the eyes of the pack for life. His stomach rolled at the idea. It could never happen, not with Spice in his life, but the pack would remain damaged.

  Raising his arm as he stood on a dais constructed for such meetings, the room became silent. All eyes turned his way. It used to make him nervous to speak publicly. Not anymore, practice made perfect, and boy did Daedalus make him practice. He recalled his advice each time he needed to make a speech. A good leader must know how to sway his people to his way of thinking. Words are power.

  “My people,” he cried out. “My pack, some concerns have been burning in my mind. The foremost is the way I keep thinking of us.” He rested hi
s hands on his hips as he took a relaxed stance on the stage. “I don’t know if any of you do this, but I keep thinking of this pack as divided. There’s the original Ayumu, the Omegas…” He gestured to his friends standing on the dais with him, except Katrina who should be arriving soon. “And those who recently joined us in the past year.”

  Most in the group nodded their heads.

  “This is wrong. We should be united. A family, that’s what a pack is. When one of us falls down, we lift and support them. Do we fall upon them and rip out their throats? Are we Jackals?”

  A few cries of “no” answered him. Good, at least someone listened.

  “Of course not, our souls have been mixed with those of wolves. Strong predators who hunt together. Honesty, honor, and heart describe the wolf. Do they describe our pack?”

  A low mumble developed among his people. It was about time he made them think.

  Pacing the length of the dais, he waited a moment. “No, they don’t. Some may say those aren’t the true traits of a wolf, that wolves in their essence are vicious animals.”

  Someone shouted, “Yeah.” He made note of who and would deal with them personally later.

  “These characteristics come from us.” He gestured to himself. “The human part of the equation. Every time you allow your beast to consume your humanity, the less control you have over it.”

  Silence blanketed the room, and his people watched him expectantly.

  “As your Alpha I have decided we will no longer be known as the Omegas or as the Ayumu. We’re one pack.” He shouted the last sentence and paused as he waited for the echo of his voice to subside. “We’re Vasi. Guardians of the streets of Chicago, our territory.”

  Cheers began before he finished his announcement. It warmed his heart to hear them support his idea. For a year, he wracked his brain trying to figure out what to do with his pack. Spice inspired the protector in him and brought forth this concept. They would defend the city instead of prey on it.