Luke smiled. “That’s all we can ask.” He turned to Brier. “And you’ll be our eyes and ears here. Keep us up to date on the investigation into this attack-”
“-if there is one,” I spoke up.
“-if there is one,” Luke agreed.
Brier bowed his head. “I’ll be glad to help.”
I clapped my hands together and glanced around at the dire faces. “So now that we’ve agreed to get ourselves collectively killed can we go home now?” My plea got a laugh out of Stacy and a chuckle out of Burnbaum.
Luke smiled and nodded his head. “Yes, and this time I won’t lock you in your room.”
“Not even if I’m naughty?” I teased him.
Luke raised an eyebrow. “In that case I might change my mind.”
Brier’s face flushed and he coughed into his hand. “Well, I must be getting back to my men.”
“And I’m sure Burnbaum and I have some planning to do with our allies before they leave Sanctuary,” Stacy spoke up with a knowing glint in her eye.
Burnbaum smiled and bowed. “I will send word when my train car is ready,” he told us. The three of them walked away, though Stacy paused and grabbed Alistair’s stiff arm. He intended to stay with us, but she didn’t need her wolf senses to know we wanted to be alone and dragged him along with them up to Sanctuary’s entrance.
I waited for them to be out of hearing and stepped up to Luke so I could run my hand in circles across his chest. “There never seems to be a dull moment around you,” I mused.
Luke’s teasing face fell and he pursed his lips. “And I can’t apologize enough for bringing you into this world when all this chaos-” I put my finger to his lips and shook my head.
“It’s not your fault, or at least according to Stacy it’s not your fault. Your Beast wanted me, and that’s that. Besides, who wants a boring life as an office worker when I could have werewolves chasing me and people threatening me with guns?” I teased.
Luke frowned and glanced around us. “Speaking of those, this may not be the safest place to continue our sweet talking.”
“Becky!” a familiar voice yelled.
I rolled my eyes and looked up the path to see Abby and her parents hurrying toward us after their energetic charge. The parents had their bags in their hands. “Or the most private,” I added.
Abby ran up and grabbed my hand. “Papa said you helped get the bad guys!” She looked at me and reminded me that I was still clothed in only a dirty blanket. “Did you lose your clothes?” she wondered.
I smiled and knelt down in front of her. “Just a little accident when I was helping beat the bad guys so they won’t be bothering you any time soon.” Or at least that’s what I hoped.
Mr. and Mrs. Stewart reached us and bowed their heads to Luke. “We heard the results of the vote, and we’re sorry you didn’t get the High Lordship,” Mr. Stewart apologized.
Luke shook his head. “I have a feeling the outcome would have been less desirable without your help.”
“Yes, Lance himself may have won,” Mrs. Stewart agreed.
“We’re heading back to our town, but if you ever need us here’s our address and number,” Mr. Stewart offered as he handed Luke a slip of paper.
“I’ll be sure to do that,” Luke promised.
“Come, Abby, we need to go,” her mother called her.
“Will I see you soon?” Abby asked me.
I smiled and squeezed her hands. “As soon as I can.”
Abby smile and allowed her parents to lead her away. I stood and sighed. “There’s a lot of mischief in that small frame, but I’m going to miss her.”
Luke came up to stand beside me and set a comforting hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure we’ll see her again. We can only hope it’ll be under better circumstances.”
I set my hand atop his, leaned against his strong body, and smiled up at him. “So what do we do now?”
“We go back home, and plan and wait.”
“Doesn’t sound like a very fun time,” I teased.
Luke smiled, and the expression was full of pleasurable promises. “I’ll make sure to keep you occupied.”
Alpha Conspiracy
Alpha Blood, Book 2
1
My heart pounded furiously in my chest and my breathing came out in sharp, short rasps. I writhed and squirmed, trying to free myself from this torture. Above me was a world of dazzling stars, beautiful forests, and wet, stinking fur. Yeah, that last part really stank, and it was all Luke’s fault. He was my Creator, my mate, and right then he was a thorn in my side. We weren’t haven’t the wild and rowdy sex I desperately wanted at that moment. Actually, I wanted to be doing practically anything else than what we were doing at that moment.
Luke and I were out on his property along the creek practicing my tracking skills, speed, and werewolf transformation, and how to control all that raw power that rippled beneath my lovely, modest exterior. But enough about me, back to the heinous torture Luke was afflicting on me that led to my getting soaked.
“I’m not going to do it,” I refused.
“You have to. All wolves do,” Luke insisted.
I turned away from him and crossed my arms. “Well, maybe I’ve decided to go vegan.”
“As I’ve told you twenty times before, you can’t go vegan. The Beast won’t let you,” he reminded me. The Beast was the wolf within us, a lustful, blood-thirsty creature who craved violence and the hunt. Kind of like a tax collector with fangs.
“Maybe my Beast is nicer than yours,” I argued.
Luke snorted, but kept his serious expression. “You have to hunt rabbits, Becky. The deer in this area might be too large for you to take without getting yourself hurt.”
I glared at him. “Do you know what you’re asking me to do?” I wondered.
He sighed and rolled his eyes. “No, what am I asking you to do?”
“You’re asking me to kill Thumper.”
“I’m asking you to satiate your Beast’s desire to hunt and eat-”
“-a harmless bunny,” I finished.
“Have you ever been bitten by a rabbit?” he asked me.
“No, why?”
“They’re not harmless, and they have some very large claws,” he told me. “These are dangerous creatures. You may not even make it out alive after capturing your first one.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re just trying to make me think they’re vicious monster rabbits so I’ll hunt one, but there’s no way-” Luke stepped up to me and wrapped his arms around me. He leaned in and I shivered when I felt his warm breath against my neck.
“If you catch one we can go back to the house. Don’t you hear our bed calling?” he whispered.
“W-why can’t we go back now?” I suggested.
Luke chuckled and leaned down to plant a soft kiss against the quivering flesh of my neck. His voice was low and sultry. “Because you haven’t caught a rabbit yet,” he teased.
“T-this is cheating,” I protested.
“But don’t you smell the delicious scent of rabbit? Doesn’t it make your mouth water?” he cooed. At his bidding my nostrils flared and my nose picked up on the fresh trail of an innocent bunny. My heart rate picked up as my sniffer tracked the smell to a mess of bushes along the creek bed. Meanwhile, Luke blazed a trail of hot kisses down my neck while his hands slid in teasing circles around my hips. I squirmed and bit my lip, trying desperately not to whimper and failing to keep my body temperature below a feverish level.
“Y-you know you’re evil, don’t you?” I asked him.
There was that creepy, evil chuckle of his. “Yep, and you know you want to get that-” Before he finished the said rabbit darted out from the bushes.
Me in my feral, lustful mindset couldn’t fight the urge to chase after the running prey. I pulled myself from Luke’s arms and raced after the spry, zig-zagging bunny. He sent me on a merry chase over the uneven, root-littered creek path and perilously close to the creek itself. One slip and I’d be done for, swallowed up by the moss-covered rocks and frigid water. My right foot decided to do that slipping, and in one fell swoop my dreams and nightmares of a rabbit stew went up with the first splash of water as I crashed into the creek.
I sputtered and swallowed about half the annual runoff of the local mountains before I pulled my head out of the water and heard a booming laugh from the bank. I whipped my head in that direction and glared at my laughing mate. He was doubled over from his cackling and was making no attempt at dragging me out of the cold water. Adding insult to injury, in my eagerness to capture the rabbit my arms, legs, and face were partially transformed, leaving me with the disgustingly wet fur of which I’d earlier mentioned.
I tried to stand, but slipped on the wet rocks beneath me and crashed back into the cold water. “I’d hate to interrupt your fun,” I called out to Luke, “but could you help me out of here before I become a pup-sicle?”
Luke choked out a few more laughs and gathered himself. “Sure thing.” He carefully stepped onto some rocks close to me and held out his hand to me. There was a smirk on his face and a mischievous look in his eyes. “But might I say, you look stunning as a drowned rat.”