Who's Your Alpha? Page 3

  Mack held out his arm to her. “Shall we?”

  She refused his arm. As they went through the doors, Sunny glanced back at David. His face took on the look of someone who’d taken a drink of lemonade but forgotten the sugar.

  Chapter 3

  David raced over the familiar paths, his paws making little sound on the soft leaves. He ran until he gasped and his ribs ached with the effort to breathe. Finally he stopped and lay panting, overlooking the river far below, watching the sun set, his cabin behind him. Where had Mack come from? Why was he here now? And with Sunny? Sunny was his. The growl started low in his throat and grew to a long howl that echoed through the forest. He shifted back to his human form, determined he wouldn’t lose Sunny again. He quickly dressed and headed back down the mountain.

  * * * *

  Sunny stared at the plate in front of her. Unlike the diner’s heavy, plain china, this one was so thin as to be nearly translucent and rimmed in a navy, maroon, and gold design. But it wasn’t so much the setting that caught her attention as the food. Or the lack thereof.

  “Something wrong with your dinner?” Mack asked.

  “Huh? Oh. No. It looks wonderful.” And about as filling as cotton candy. The ridiculously expensive entrée consisted of a filet mignon the size of a fifty-cent piece atop a tiny mound of couscous and three—and only three—snow peas. This followed an appetizer of four shrimp in cocktail sauce. She sliced into the steak. The bite melted in her mouth and was perfectly seasoned, but she felt like she could eat another one—or ten.

  At least the company was filling. She and Mack talked and laughed, discussing their mutual past and the ensuing years.

  “I can’t believe you haven’t been back in all this time,” Mack said.

  “The opportunity never came up.”

  “It’s a four hour drive from Pittsburgh. That’s not exactly a huge journey.”

  “It’s not the distance in miles…”

  “It’s the distance in person.”

  “You’re not exactly a hometown boy anymore, either,” she pointed out.

  “But I manage to come back to visit every year, sometimes two or three times.”

  “That’s because your folks still live here. I have nothing to come back for.”

  “You don’t? I disagree.” He reached across the table and grasped her hand. “There’s more here for you than you know. Things are changing. The old guard isn’t so high on the power scale any more.”

  “You mean Ruby.”

  “Ruby. In case you hadn’t noticed, she’s not quite the force she once was. You are so much more than she ever was. And everyone knows it. You should too.”

  Sunny wondered if he’d be insulted if she pulled her hand back. Things were getting a little intense. What was going on here? It wasn’t like she’d changed that much. A week ago, her date had left her standing at her door with a brief handshake and no doubts whatsoever he never wanted to see her again.

  But this—this was too much. Too soon. And too weird. As she sat there, she heard something—or rather felt the sound—like a low rumble deep in her bones. She looked around, but nobody else seemed to notice it.

  “Is something wrong?”

  The sound stopped. She resisted the urge to shake her head. “No. I thought I heard something.”

  “Would you like to go to the movies or for a walk?” Mack asked.

  She wanted to, but not with him. Or anyone. She needed to be alone. To think. So much was happening in too short a time. The psychologist in her told her she needed to back off and regroup. “Would you mind terribly if I begged off? It’s been a long day and I’d like to get some rest.”

  A fleeting frown crossed his face but was quickly replaced with a smile—a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Sure. Maybe we can hook up later at the parade. If nothing else, I’ll see you at the banquet tomorrow night.”

  “Thanks.” Though she had been excited about the parade earlier, she had no intention of going now. She rose to leave and he stood with her.

  “I’ll walk you to your room.”

  “Oh, that’s not necessary. I’m on the fourth floor.”

  “What a coincidence. So am I. Come on.”

  The smile on her face needed an entire bottle of paste to stay there. All she wanted was to be alone. “Sure.”

  Ants crawled over her skin as she waited for the elevator to come to a stop and the doors to open. She hated small, enclosed spaces, but making Mack climb the stairs hadn’t seemed like a good idea.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yes. I guess elevators make me a little nervous.”

  He laughed. “Me too. You’re the psychologist. Why is that?”

  Before she could answer, the doors opened and she stepped out of the elevator. “Here I am.”

  He stared at her. “What? This isn’t even a room. It’s not fit for…for you.”

  “It’s fine, Mack. And it’s only for four nights.”

  “It is not okay. This is ridiculous. I’ve told her we only use this room if no others are available. I’m going to take care of this.”

  He took off down the steps before she could stop him. She wasn’t sure, but she thought he’d muttered something about owning the place. That couldn’t be right, could it?

  “Damn. Damn. Double damn.” She jammed her keycard into the slot and opened the door. And stopped. Her first thought was a freak tornado had targeted her room. Her things were scattered all over, her dress for tomorrow night as well as most of her other clothes in shreds. A deep sniff told her much—not only by the perfume, but also the underlying smell. She knew exactly who had been in her room.

  “Ruby.”

  “What? I told Mack we don’t have any other rooms. We’re full up.”

  Sunny spun around. The bland mask on Ruby’s face didn’t hide the smirk lurking in her eyes.

  “My, my. Not much for housekeeping, are you?”

  “Sunny?” Mack stared at the room.

  “Someone broke into my room while we were out.”

  Mack whipped out his cell phone, a top-of-the-line model. Figures, Sunny thought as she fingered her own bottom-of-the-line device in her pocket. She listened as he called the local police and told them what had happened.

  “That wasn’t necessary,” Ruby said after he hung up. “What are the police going to be able to do?”

  “Filing a report will allow her to collect on insurance. And I know the hotel will replace what was destroyed—and comp her room.” He glared at Ruby until she lowered her head.

  “Yes, sir. We’ll comp her room. And replace any articles that have been destroyed.”

  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 enou
gh. 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 o
f 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.”