Alphy's Challenge Page 4

  His face was tight in concentration as he walked back around to her. “I can put your spare on, but all your tires need to be replaced. They aren’t safe for you to drive on, and I’m surprised the others aren’t flat as well.”

  Heat crept up Gale’s neck and spread into her cheeks. She looked down at the ground and fidgeted. She felt Alphy’s body-heat as he drew nearer and placed his hands on her shoulders rubbing her jaw-line with his thumbs. The act drew her sight back up, and she couldn’t stop herself from looking up into his face and falling into the soft brown depths of his eyes.

  “Do you need help paying for them?”

  The burn in her cheeks increased as she struggled with what to say. Of course she couldn’t pay, or she wouldn’t have gone this long without changing them. But admitting that to a stranger, whose opinion seems to matter a great deal to her, was more than embarrassing.

  He looked down at her with understanding showing on his face. “Let me pay for it,” he offered.

  She started to shake her head and opened her mouth to protest, but it died on her lips when he leaned down and kissed her. It wasn’t demanding or perverted in any way. It was just a light brush over hers, enough to feel his softened heat warm hers, and then he pulled away. But it was enough to take the strength from her legs, and heat erupted in her abdomen and shot down to the apex of her sex. Her knees gave way, but his strong arms held tight around her holding her securely against his hardened sculpted form. He gave a lopsided grin.

  “Let me do this for you, please.”

  That has to be the sexiest look I have ever seen. She dumbly nodded her head. “All right, since you said please.”

  Alphy gave a hearty laugh as he opened the passenger door. He carefully sat her down and brushed his lips lightly over hers again then started to work on the flat tire. Her eyes were glued to his muscles in motion as they flexed and moved. It was both erotic and beautiful. When he was done, he wiped his hands off on his pants and returned to her. She was turned on so much that she swore she left a wet spot on the seat.

  Alphy inhaled. Then his eyes turned heated, and he growled. She thought he would kiss her again, but he just led her to the driver’s side and pulled out his cell. After clicking on it a bit, he said, “Oh good, there’s a tire place right next to the store I was heading to. Would you be willing to go there, or is there another place you prefer?”

  She lightly shook her head. “I’m not from around here.”

  “Oh, neither am I. I just moved here myself. Hop in and follow me, and I’ll keep an eye out in my rear-view in case you have any more problems.” He gave her his number and headed back to his truck.

  Gale sat in her car, fighting to get her heart rate back under control. Things like this never happened to her. She was never the pretty one. She had a few more pounds on her than the popular girls. High school had sucked. She had enjoyed college, until they had had to escape a madman. And with that thought, she was face planted into the brick wall of reality. Nothing to kill one’s libido like a lunatic of an alpha and the worthless thugs he called enforcers. She pulled out onto the street and followed Alphy’s silver-grey pickup.

  Chapter Four

  Alphy could hardly contain his elation at finding his mate. Thanks to his superior eyesight, he had seen a woman leaning over her steering wheel and had thought she looked like she was crying. It had tugged hard at him, so he’d pulled over. As he approached, his heart had stuttered hard in his chest when he first scented her. He was way younger than average for a shifter to find his mate. But then again, his parents had been, too.

  He’d had a devil of a time not outright laughing at her expression. He knew he had attractive features, and he was pretty built, but he’d never cared what anyone thought of him before now. When she’d looked at him like she was a starving woman and he was a jelly donut, his dick jerked so hard, he swore it nearly tore a hole through the front of his pants, and he would bet the pattern of his zipper was imprinted into his dick. At least he was wearing his button-up shirt untucked, so it would hide the wet spot he was sure he had.

  He kept a close eye on the review mirror, making sure he didn’t lose her. He knew she was hiding something from him, and suspected she was in trouble somehow, but he needed to gain her trust, so he didn’t push. She’d tell him when she was ready.

  At a light, he adjusted himself. In his eyes, his little mate was a beauty. She had long dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes, and a curvy figure that made him want to grab hold and not let go. Ok, so that sounded corny. But dang it! He thumped his hard-on, trying to get it to go down. When the light turned green, he continued down the streets, watching the rearview mirror more than the road. It wasn’t a real problem as he was a pretty good driver.

  They reached a tire center, which was right next to the supermarket Betty had sent him to. He kept his senses up, more alert than ever with his mate near. He had learned that when you achieved a victory, that was when you were most vulnerable, so he knew to never let his guard down. His victory was finding his mate. No matter how much anyone would mean to him, no one would be more important to him than she was, so now would be the worst time to let his guard down.

  Alphy suppressed his giddy side as he parked his truck and got out. She pulled in next to him, so he helped her out of the car and arranged for new tires to be put on for her. He was eager to get to know her better. With the sun shining, they waited outside talking. He was keeping his conversation light, trying to draw a laugh from her. He found he greatly enjoyed her laugh. It was melodious to him, and her face lit up. He got the feeling it had been a long time since she had laughed, so he felt pride for being the one to give her that happy glow.

  The scent of another shifter invaded his nose, and he stiffened and looked around. He wasn’t aware other shifters were in the area. Betty would have told him of any, so that meant these shifters were here without permission.

  A sleek, athletic man with short light brown hair hurried for them. Alphy growled low, stopping the other shifter.

  The shifter turned to Gale and held out his hand. “Gale, honey, we need to go.” Gale looked for one moment at each of them, then ducked her head and scurried to the man. He pulled her behind him.

  “Who the hell are you?” Alphy bit out. He tried to keep the edge out of his tone, but he was an alpha, and there was another male standing between him and his yet to be claimed mate.

  The man backed up further but pulled Gale closer to his back with one arm. Before the man could answer, Gale’s shaky voice quietly carried to his sensitive ears. “Dad, what’s going on?”

  Alphy heard the rising alarm in her voice, and the look of fear was apparent on her face. He growled again. He’d had her happy, but now she was scared. The scent of her anxiety filled his nose, causing his bear to rise to the surface to protect what was theirs. His eyes started to change as he looked at the man before him. Alphy inhaled, taking in more of his and Gale’s scents. There was no mistaking that she was full human and he was full shifter.

  “Explain yourself,” Alphy ordered the man.

  “We’ll be out of your territory by morning. Please let us go.”

  He heard Gale intake her breath. “You’re a … a…”

  Alphy looked at her with concern. “You know about us?”

  “I taught her. Her mother is my mate.” The man answered for her.

  Alphy’s gaze returned to the man, but he heard Gale speak. “Dad, this is Ralph … uh—”

  “Kaska.” He finished for her.

  “Ralph Kaska, but everyone calls him Alphy. Alphy, this is my stepdad, Tom Elkins.”

  “Tom, I’d like to say it’s a pleasure, but you’re standing between me and my fated mate.”

  The man’s eyes grew big then narrowed. He drew closer. “Say it again, so I can smell you.”

  All shifters could scent a lie, usually. Alphy didn’t hesitate. He wanted the man to move. The sooner he moved, the sooner he could hold his mate. Her scent of fear was drawing out hi
s bear in a powerful way. He narrowed his eyes. “Gale is my mate, my destined mate, and if you don’t move, I may maul you.”

  Gale was shaking, and he saw tears streaming down her face. Damn! It turned his stomach knowing he was the one who’d put those there.

  Alphy nearly fist-pumped the air when he saw the man’s shoulders relax. Tom nodded and turned to Gale. “It’s all right. Calm down, honey. He’s telling the truth.” The man wiped some of the tears away. “He will move heaven and earth for you. Remember what I taught you about fated mates?”

  Gale gave an edgy nod. Alphy’s had to suppress a growl as Tom kissed the top of her head, but then he encouraged her to go closer to him. Alphy stepped forward, bringing his hands up and ringing his fingers behind her neck like he had done before. After using his thumbs to wipe away more of her tears, he pulled her to his chest and held her. He scented many emotions from her, so many that it was starting to give him a headache. “Calm down, Gale. I would never hurt you.” He kept his voice soothing. “I’ve never known a true mate to ever harm their other half, and that is what you are to me, my true mate and other half.”

  A throat cleared behind them, and he turned to see the middle aged man that had been working on her car, covered in black dust, no doubt from all the tires he dealt with, standing there. “Uh, forgive the interruption. I just wanted to let you know your car is ready.”

  “Thank you. Give me just a second and I’ll be in to settle the bill,” Alphy said. The man nodded and disappeared into the office part of the building. Alphy kissed the top of Gale’s head. “I’ll be right back.” He hated letting her go. It went against everything in him. His bear growled at him when he did, but he had to pay the bill. He promised his impatient bear they’d get more time, but he felt just as impatient as he trotted into the building.

  Alphy let out a relieved sigh, and the coil of worry that knotted in his stomach when he left his mate eased when he stepped back outside and saw Gale was still waiting for him. He eagerly trotted halfway then slowed to a fast walk. Reaching her, he pulled her close again and took in a deep breath of her wild berries and honey scent, reassuring his bear. But his bear paced impatiently. He didn’t like that she could disappear on him, and the urge to mate and claim her pushed through his body.

  Alphy felt it was fortunate his human mate already knew about shifters because he knew that was a big step for humans to overcome. He hoped it would shorten the time it took to convince her to complete the bond. He was still in a state of shock that he had found her so early on in life. “So, Tom, want to tell me why you think you’re leaving by morning? You know I can’t accept my mate going anywhere without me, and something tells me she needs you right now, too.”

  Tom was reticent. He looked reluctant, and his eyes darted around before he looked back to him. "It’s best we don’t talk about it out here. We’re staying just down the road. It’s an Inn you can see from the curb there.” Tom pointed in the direction, so Alphy agreed to follow them to the Inn and get the scoop on whom he needed to kill, and he was sure he needed to kill someone because no one caused that much stress and sadness on his mate and lived to tell about it. Alphy could tell it was something big. He’d been in battles enough to get a sense about these things.

  The trip to the Inn didn’t even take them a full sixty seconds once he pulled out onto the road. It really was close by.

  He got out of his truck and followed them to a room on the bottom floor on the far end. Tom stopped him. “Prepare yourself for what you are about to see. An alpha had my stepson attacked. He’s lucky to even be alive.”

  Alphy’s stomach went sick. If he was Tom’s stepson, then he was probably full human as well. This also meant if he took these people in, he was going to start a war with this alpha. Well, war was what he knew, and like Tom had said earlier, he would move heaven and earth for his mate.

  The smell of pain hit Alphy’s face as Tom opened the door. Alphy closed his eyes to get control over his bear. The scent was so thick that it nearly made him gag. He had been around this scent all the time when he was in the military, but it never got easier.

  The small room was a nice place, bright and well taken care of. Gale entered and walked over to the embrace of a slightly older woman who looked just like his mate and who also had the look of fear in her eyes. Two cubs, a boy and a girl, trotted around the living space playing with some toys.

  Tom gently closed the door behind them. “Honey, this is Ralph Kaska. Ralph, this is my mate, Connie.” Alphy murmured a greeting. Tom continued, “It turns out Gale is his destined mate.” Tom sounded a bit relieved, but he was still tense.

  Connie’s eyes grew big, and the scent of relief made its way to him. “Oh thank goodness.”

  Alphy carefully stepped around the tots as he was led to another room. The smell of pain was strongest in this room. Tom walked over to the bedside and leaned over to check the human sleeping there.

  Gale came up behind Alphy. “He sleeps a lot because of the pain meds.”

  He stepped aside so she could get through. She walked over to the other side and crawled up on the bed and cuddled with the unconscious male. He growled. He figured this was her brother, but he still hated seeing his mate with anyone else. He knew that would probably ebb a bit once he finally mated with her, but that knowledge didn’t do anything to help calm his bear.

  Alphy scrubbed his face with his hands; he needed to focus. He walked closer to get a better look at the family member. The young man in the bed couldn’t even be legal age yet, and Alphy could tell he was close to the same age as his own brother. The young man’s skin was pallid. His arms were in splints, and gauze was wrapped around part of his head.

  “What happened?” Alphy’s tone had gone cold. Someone was definitely going to die for this.

  “We were part of a herd in British Columbia. The alpha found out…” Tom paused. Alphy’s eyes knitted. Tom moved between him and the boy. Alphy suppressed his amusement at seeing the shifter step between him and yet another one of his stepkids. Tom tentatively continued. “He found out that Paul is gay.” He paused, no doubt waiting for Alphy’s reaction.

  Alphy sighed. He had gay friends, and he had a pretty good idea where this was going. First he needed to assure the protective stepfather. He had to hand it to the guy, though, as any man who gave his stepchildren this kind of devotion had to be given a good deal of respect. “You can relax, Tom. I have friends who are gay. I don’t have any problems with it. So what happened next?”

  Tom didn’t seem to ease as much as Alphy would have expected. “What about your alpha? We’ve had trouble with other alphas. The lack of shifters here was what drew us to come here. I didn’t know there were any shifters in the area or we would have avoided coming here.”

  Even though the thought of just how close he had come to missing out on meeting his mate nearly had his bear clawing his way out to stake claim to her right then and there, the fact the courageous yet fearful shifter were avoiding shifters, raised his hackles. “You can rest easy. I am the alpha.”

  Tom seemed to relax a bit, so he nodded and continued. “He ordered us to get rid of him, to send him away. So we secretly packed up our van and tried to make it look like he was being sent away, but the alpha’s enforcers grabbed him just before we were going to leave. They dragged him into the forest and beat him. I took a shotgun after them and fired one shot into the leg of one of them. They got the hint and ran.”

  Alphy paid close attention to what he said. If Tom had actually shot one of the enforcers, in spite of it being justified, it could cause further complications.

  Gale spoke up but kept her eyes on her brother. “The hospital did what they could, but after a few days, we couldn’t stay there any longer. Every time we move him, it slows his healing, but every time we find a place to stop and hide, they find us.”

  No doubt the stress was slowing his healing, Alphy thought. As Alphy thought about what he was learning, his bear was pacing and growling at her c
loseness to the boy. Damn, I’m already strongly possessive of her. He was having a difficult time trying not to growl, but then he saw more tears escape from her watery eyes as he stood there looking over the boy and the family who rallied behind him. Well damn. He felt like a heel now. He internally shook himself back to the current crisis. “You said you were packing everyone up and then they took him?”

  Tom nodded.

  Alphy rubbed his face in thought. “You were willing to go rogue and make your entire family rogue, for your human stepson?” The more Alphy thought about it, the more respect he had for this shifter.

  Tom bristled, and Alphy saw him starting to get his defenses up, so he held up his hands in a manner to convey to him to calm down. “Relax, Tom, I didn’t say it with malice. I’m merely trying to get it to sink in just how courageous you are. It goes without question that I’ll help. What you have endured is sick, but you’ve remained strong and I believe fate is smiling upon you for it. This alpha is a dead man.”

  Tom looked confused and a little bit disbelieving. “Thank you.” His shoulders slumped as if a huge burden just lifted from them as he was finally able to relax.

  In the military, Alphy had learned teamwork from the start. It was what made him stronger. Tom had been caring for his family by himself under a great deal of stress. The more Alphy thought about it, the more he respected the man.

  Alphy decided to move them to the house, but he needed to call Betty. He might be the alpha, but he wasn’t sure just yet if she was willing to back him on this and he could use her help. “Let me make a call.” He left the room and stepped outside and called his sister’s cell. As the ring tone buzzed in his ear, he made a mental note to get another cell phone later, to keep at the house and be used like a landline would have been.

  “Hey, big brother, I’ve got fish bones to pick with you. Why didn’t you wait for me or wake me? I wanted to scout around town.”