Chapter 6: Alpha’s Prize: Chapter 6

Carlos

I sit in my mother’s bedroom and watch her move around the breakfast food on the tray in front of her. Her eyes are glassy, face pale. It’s been three interminable days since Sedona left. Three days, one hour and forty-three minutes, to be exact.

Maria Jose, Juanito’s mother, pours me a fresh cup of coffee, milky and smooth. I love the coffee grown here on our mountain. I’ve been drinking it since I was a pup. It’s mild enough I can drink it all day long.

“When is your father coming in?” my mother asks me.

My chest tightens, as it always does when she forgets he’s dead.

“He’s gone, Mamá. It’s just me now.”

I see a flicker of terror in her eyes before it fades and she bends her head to her buttered bread.

“I… found a female, Mamá.” I surprise myself. I didn’t expect to talk about Sedona, but she’s occupying every part of my mind. My mother doesn’t understand what I’m saying half the time, but she does now.

She lifts her head and stares at me.

“She’s American. Her name is Sedona. Very beautiful.” Beautiful doesn’t do her justice. Exquisite. Mind-blowing. A perfect ten. She’s magical.

My mother stands up as if Sedona is here and I jump to my feet and put a hand on her shoulder, gently pressing her back into her chair. “She’s not here now, Mamá.” I sit again and pick up my coffee cup, staring into it as I swirl the contents. “I don’t know if she’ll come back, actually.” There. I admitted it. The dreadful truth I don’t want to even look at. “She didn’t want to be mated.”

To my horror, tears spring into my mother’s eyes and her lips begin to tremble. “I didn’t want to, either,” she says.

Oh fates. Why did I open this can of worms?

“I know, Mamá. That’s why I would never ask her to stay if she doesn’t want to be here.”

Tears fall freely from my mother’s chocolate brown eyes onto the breakfast tray. “Why can’t I go home?” she wails.

“Mamá.” I reach across the little table and cover her hand with mine. “Because we can take better care of you here. And I need you—your son,” I say, in case she’s forgotten who I am. “Carlos needs you.”

She breaks into a sob. Fuck. I shove my chair back and walk around to put my arm across her shoulders. “Carlitos.” She moans my name like a lament. “My only son.”

My mother had five other pregnancies, but no others came to term. And I’ve been gone all these years., leaving her alone with a pack she never felt was hers. I’m a terrible son.

I look over at Maria Jose for help and she immediately comes forward. “It’s all right Doña Carmelita. You’re just sad because you haven’t had your pills yet today.” She picks up a little cup of prescription medications from the tray and shakes them so they rattle around. “Take these and you’ll feel better.”

My mother shoves them away, scattering the pills on the floor and Maria Jose drops to her knees to collect them. I help her.

“Does she usually take them willingly?”

Maria Jose shrugs. “Sometimes. I never know how she will be.”

“What happens when she won’t take them?”

“I hide them in her food if I can. If not, they have shots I can give her, but she hates that.”

I drop the pills I collected back in the cup Maria Jose holds. “Thank you.” I catch her eye and hold it. “You’ve taken care of her for all these years. I am grateful to you.”

“Don Carlos…” Maria Jose glances toward the door, then back to me.

“Yes?”

“What if…” She draws in a breath. The fingers gripping the cup of pills turn white with tension. “What if these aren’t what she needs?”

I stare at her, trying to understand what she’s saying. “You think they’re the wrong meds for her? They do more harm than good?”

She bobs her head. “Maybe there’s a way… you could check?” She darts a glance at the door again.

“I’ll ask Don Santiago,” I say, moving toward the door. Don Santiago, my grandfather’s brother, has a Ph.D. in biochemistry. He’s not exactly a doctor, but he acts as the medical consultant to the pack.

“No!” Maria Jose grabs my arm, the whites of her eyes flash with panic. She immediately releases my arm, no doubt realizing how inappropriate it is for her to grab an alpha. Ducking her head, she tilts the cup of pills back and forth with a shaky hand. ‘Someone else,’ she whispers. ‘Not from the pack. Take her to the city. To America. Don’t ask Don Santiago.’

My skin prickles with what she’s not saying. It’s my turn to grip her. I grasp both her upper arms and squeeze until she looks up. ‘Why shouldn’t I ask Don Santiago?’ There’s menace in my voice. I don’t mean it toward her, but my aggression comes out at the suggestion that the wolf treating my mother might not be trustworthy.

Poor Maria Jose twists in my grasp. ‘Please, señor. It’s nothing. Forget what I said. I beg you.’

‘No, Maria Jose. Tell me. You think I should ask someone besides Don Santiago. Why?’

Maria Jose blinks rapidly, still shifting against my grasp on her. I ease my clenched fingers, fearing I bruised her. ‘I am stupid,’ she mutters, but it sounds more to herself than to me. ‘I meant nothing by it. Do not consider the words of an idiot servant.’ She yanks again against my grasp and this time I let her go.

Ropes of unease twist in my stomach. There’s something going on here I don’t like. Not at all.

I watch, my mind whirling as Maria Jose coaxes my mother, docile now, into taking her pills. I consider my options. Wolves don’t generally require a doctor’s care, as we heal quickly and rarely suffer disease, but there may be some kind of shifter physician in the United States. I just don’t know.

I kiss my mother on the head and leave for my room, which doubles as my office. In the days since Sedona left, I’ve been making lists and rearranging the plans and ideas I had for the growth and modernization of Monte Lobo. Most of it requires money, which means I need to investigate the finances of the pack, figure out what we have available to spend. The trouble is, I’ve asked the council for the accounting five times and have yet to receive anything.

I also haven’t decided what to do about the damn council. I need to strip them of some of their power, punish their actions against me. But before I do that, I need to truly understand all the dynamics afoot here. I don’t have any support from the pack members, and why should I? I haven’t been here to lead them. And without the pack, with the council calling me as crazy as my mother, I could easily wind up in that fucking cell again. Or dead. But that part doesn’t worry me. It’s thoughts of my mother’s safety that has me cautious. The council can be vicious—I’ve seen it before.

I remember once, as a boy, smelling the blood from their meeting room as they called pack members in for untold crimes. There was secrecy and fear to the proceedings. Whispers and terror. My father had been away. When he came back, I remember him shouting at the council, arguing with them for hours, but nothing happened.

Had he been as ineffectual as I am against them? Why? How long has this form of pack rule been in place on Monte Lobo? Because it sure as hell isn’t wolf nature. No other packs in the world are run this way, as far as I know.

But just because things have always been this way doesn’t mean I can’t change them. I just need to be smart. Have a plan.

I rub my face as I walk to my room. It’s the master suite of the hacienda, the room that used to belong to my parents. They gave it to me when I returned as an empty symbol of my alpha status.

I stand at the window and stare out. It’s hard to get my brain to focus on anything besides Sedona. I still imagine I smell her on my fingers, taste her on my tongue. The image of her smile, her lovely long legs, that perfect body, plays in front of my eyes over and over again.

I hear her husky voice. Dream of claiming her over and over again, all night long. My days are an endless torture of Sedona memories.

And I can’t stand that I haven’t even spoken to her since she left. I don’t even know her last name. Her phone number. Her address. But it’s better this way. What would I say, after all? I’m sorry my pack held you prisoner. I never want to do that to you, so have a nice life?

I sigh and stab my fingers through my hair.

A knock sounds at my door. “Come in.”

Don Santiago opens the door and saunters in.

I turn back to the window. “When will you produce the traffickers?”

“I can’t get them by phone. It’s possible the Americans already took care of them. I have the address of their warehouse if you want to check it out.”

I’m both surprised and suspicious by this offer. Why wasn’t it made initially?

“Where is it?”

“In el D.F.” Mexico City. That tracks with what Sedona told me.

“When will you look in on your female?”

I jerk around, surprised by the assumption in the question.

“If she’s pregnant, you’ll have to take responsibility for the child.”

Pregnant. I’m sure the blood drains from my face. Why hadn’t I considered the possibility? Sedona could be carrying my pup right now. She may need me. These past few days I thought I was doing her a favor by staying away, but what if I’m actually not owning up to my duty to her? If she’s carrying my child, I owe her my support, my protection.

Sedona, pregnant. Oh fates. The thought makes me want to run and howl, whether from joy or desperation, I’m not sure. All the itchiness to be near Sedona comes screaming to the surface. I’ve been fighting it, but now, with this thought of my beautiful female alone, abandoned and pregnant, I can’t stay still.

I fly into motion, packing a suitcase before I’ve even admitted to myself what I’m doing.

“I will take you into el D.F., I have an errand there,” Don Santiago says casually. “You can check out the warehouse before you go.”

I’ve just been played and I don’t give a shit. I can’t think of anything except getting to Sedona. I need to find her, verify she’s safe, and make her every promise she deserves. I will be there for her. I will provide. Protect.

Whether she wants it or not.

~.~

Sedona

I park my Jeep outside Garrett’s apartment building and get out. It’s a Friday night, so Garrett should be working at his nightclub, but with a new mate, he might be home. I’m not here to see him, though. That’s the point of coming on a Friday night. I want to talk to Amber, his mate. Because in addition to my mind twisting around and around what happened between Carlos and me, I have a new anxiety. A huge one. A looming question I would have to wait a week or two to get an answer on… unless I were psychic.

I enter the building and take the elevator up to the fourth floor. I know Amber’s apartment is next door to Garrett’s. I’m assuming they’re staying there, since Garrett lives with Trey and Jared, and I doubt Amber wanted in on that frat party.

I scent Amber inside the door to the left of Garrett’s and I knock. I hear her on the other side and I don’t catch Garrett’s fresh scent. “Amber? It’s Sedona.”

The door swings wide. “Sedona.” Amber’s blonde hair is pulled up into a French twist and she’s still wearing her work clothes, looking sexy in a silk blouse and pencil skirt. Seeing her like this, it strikes me again how she’s not the kind of female I would have thought Garrett would pick. She’s sleek and refined where he’s all rough edges and brute force, but her warmth is real as she invites me in.

“Garrett’s not here, but he was going to try to come home early.”

“That’s okay. I came to see you, actually.”

She doesn’t seem surprised. I guess psychics know when you’re coming.

“Do you want something to drink?” She walks over to the refrigerator in her bare feet and pulls it open. “I don’t have much, but there’s some ginger ale Garrett brought over. And beer.” She looks quizzically over her shoulder.

“Ginger ale sounds great.” I accept the frosty bottle and Amber grabs an opener out of a drawer. She pops hers first and passes it to me and I trade her for the one in my hand.

I look around her apartment. It’s sparkly clean but not neat, if that makes sense. No dirt or dust, but there are papers scattered on the desk and a pair of high heels unceremoniously discarded by the front door.

“So, um… how are you feeling?” Amber asks.

Ugh. This is definitely not the conversation I want to have, even though I know she’s genuinely asking and seems to care about my response. I draw a breath and launch into why I’m here. “I know I didn’t want you to, um, use your abilities to tell me anything about Carlos, but…” I swallow. It’s harder to say than I expect. “I just wondered if—I mean, I started worrying—” I walk around her living room, not able to face her directly.

“Yes.” She whispers it, and it flips every hair on my arms.

But I don’t even know if she’s answering the right question. I whirl around and stare at her.

She flushes, uncertainty creeping over her expression, as if a direct mirror of my feelings.

“Yes, I’m pregnant?” I blurt.

She flushes deeper and nods. “That’s what I saw.”

I clutch a chair back to keep from falling over. The room spins around me and the floor possibly tilts as well. I don’t know what I think or feel, but my gut believes she’s right. My gut knew two days ago, I just didn’t allow myself to listen.

Crap!

“Are you sure?”

The doorknob turns and I curse inwardly as Garrett’s hulking form comes through, carrying a box of takeout food. “Sure about what?” His voice is sharp.

Of course he heard, he’s a shifter.

“Did you tell him?” I ask weakly, still holding onto the chair to stay upright.

Amber’s gaze darts from me to Garrett. “No.”

Garrett stalks over, crushing the box of takeout in his hand. Someone who didn’t know my brother is a giant teddy bear to the women he loves might be afraid. His pack members would straighten up to see the silver glint in his eyes. I’m not scared, though, and neither is Amber, although I sense her discomfort. She steps forward to salvage the box of food, shifting it swiftly to the counter before all the contents dump from the mangled cardboard.

“Tell me what?”

I force myself to breathe.

Amber doesn’t answer, probably respecting my right to tell him or not.

My hand moves to protect my lower abdomen and Garrett’s eyes widen.

“Oh fuck.” He falls back and drops onto the couch. “I need to sit down.”

“Me too,” I manage.

Garrett scrubs his face. “Oh kiddo. I should’ve thought of this possibility. I was just so worried about getting you free and your mental state.”

“I know,” I croak. “Me too.”

Garrett lifts his face from his hands and jumps to his feet, stalking over to me. He takes both my elbows. “I’ll stand by you, whatever you decide to do.”

I tug away from him, hating the close scrutiny. I appreciate what he’s saying, but my mama wolf growls at the suggestion I do anything but keep my pup.

But will I be able to keep him or her?

I moisten my lips. “Wh-what do you think Carlos will do if he finds out?”

My brother’s lips tighten and his chest expands and I know he’d do anything in his power to protect me or my pup from any threat. “If he even tries to take that pup from you—”

“You think he will?” I cut in.

Garrett’s lips tug downward. “Every mated male wolf needs to protect his female. Multiply that need by one hundred for an alpha male. And an alpha male with a pregnant female?” Garrett shakes his head. “It would take an entire pack to keep him away.”

I should have let Garrett hold onto me, because the floor tilts sideways again. My blood plummets to my feet. I can’t put Garrett’s or my father’s packs at danger. But maybe Carlos won’t find out. He hasn’t come looking for me yet—hasn’t made any attempt to contact me. Maybe I can keep the fact that I conceived a pup a secret from his pack.

“I’m moving you into this apartment building. It’s where I wanted you from the start,” Garrett declares.

I remember the argument. I’d begged him to let me stay in one of his buildings closer to campus—and further from his watchful eye. He’d relented, because even though he’s an overprotective alpha, he’s also a sweetheart.

“I—” I start to argue, then change my mind. Better not to tell him what I’m thinking. “Okay.”

Garrett’s shoulders sag. “I’ll get the pack over first thing tomorrow. Don’t worry—they’ll do everything. You don’t have to worry about a thing, okay, kiddo?”

I nod, but I’m already heading out the door. “Okay, thanks. Thank you, Amber.” I turn the doorknob.

“Maybe you should stay in my place tonight,” Garrett says.

I knew that was coming.

“No, I’ll be fine. Tomorrow is soon enough. Good night.” I leave before he can think about it any harder.

Carlos may come looking for me, and if he does, I need to be long gone from Tucson. In fact, I’m safer if no one knows where I am.

~.~

Carlos

I lurk in the shadows of Sedona’s apartment building like a thief.

I guess I am a thief waiting to steal—what? Sedona’s heart? Her body? Carajo, I’d settle for a few minutes of her time.

She isn’t home at the moment, though. Finding her took little effort. Rather than ask around in the shifter community, which would alert her brother’s pack to my presence, I searched for the word Sedona and University of Arizona art until I found a mention of an art show she participated in and discovered her last name. From there, I researched until I found an address, which I prayed was still current. Judging by her scent lingering around an upstairs apartment, it is.

Now, just being close to where she lives, close to seeing her, my flesh pricks with anticipation. I can’t get the image of her swollen, freshly kissed lips out of my head. Or the way her lashes fluttered just before she came. And oh, fates, her taste. I’m dying to get between those beautiful thighs again and lick her until she screams.

My Sedona.

A Jeep pulls up and I know before I even see the figure behind the wheel that it’s her. She climbs out, looking every inch the goddess of youth and fertility. Her chestnut hair is pulled back in a thick ponytail that swings when she walks. She’s wearing a pair of short shorts, her long legs tan and sleek. Oh hell, the curve of her ass almost shows in the back where they’re cut off. A low growl rumbles in my throat thinking of all the males who have seen her dressed this way.

I don’t think she heard me, but she tosses a glance over her shoulder and picks up her pace. I slink along the side of the building as she approaches the front door.

Fuck.

There’s a key card to get in. It must only be locked at night, because I’d walked right in earlier. She slips through and shuts the door, peering out into the darkness like she knows I’m here.

Dammit. I freeze, ducking back into the shadows. When she disappears, I creep closer to check out the door situation.

I’m in luck. A couple comes out, arguing about something and I move swiftly forward, walking like I own the place, and catch the door. There’s an elevator, but I take the stairs, calling on a little shifter power to mount them at full speed. I come out on the third floor at the same time the elevator opens. Sedona sees me and her eyes widen.

“Carlos.”

I start forward, but her next words stop me in my tracks.

“Did the council send you?”

“What?” I swallow a growl. “No. Of course not.” Even if Santiago mentioned it, the idea was already in my head. “They’re lucky to be alive, after the stunt they pulled. I came because I had to see you.” I spread my hands. “It’s just me, Sedona. I am alone.”

I wish I could report to her that I avenged her kidnapping, but when I arrived at the warehouse, I found the place cordoned off with yellow police tape, and steeped in the scent of shifter blood. Santiago was probably right, her family’s pack got there first.

Sedona nods slowly, but to my shock, she turns and bolts for her apartment like she thinks she can outrun me.

She should know better than to run from an alpha wolf. Stopping the impulse to chase is impossible for me. I’m on her before I can even send the impulse to my brain to hold back. I grab her at the door and band one arm around her waist, catch the wrist holding her key to the lock with the other.

Her scent doesn’t help me get my wolf in check. It’s like apples and sunshine, even better than I remembered. Intoxicating. I don’t pick up the scent of pregnancy, but it would be too early. I bury my face in her shoulder, drag my lips up the column of her neck. My cock, already heavy from the mere sight of her, stiffens in my pants.

“Sedona, beautiful she-wolf, why are you afraid of me?”

She is afraid—trembling even—and that’s the part that makes me a sick fuck for not letting go of her. But I can’t make myself, because now that she’s in my arms, I’m incapable of releasing her. Her back presses against my chest with each breath she takes, and I have the perfect view of her cleavage, rising and falling. I’m reassured by the fact that her nipples are hard, tenting her thin fitted t-shirt.

Her body remembers its master.

Drunk on the feel of her, I slide my palm inside her shirt, up to one hand-sized breast, which I squeeze and knead, memorizing the weight, the size, the softness.

Her breath whooshes out on an exhale. “G-get off me.” Her voice doesn’t match the words and my wolf doesn’t believe her.

“Do you think I would ever hurt you, beautiful?” I nip her earlobe.

The scent of her arousal reaches my nostrils and I breathe deep.

“N-no.”

“Did you just want to make me chase you?” I bring the fingers of my other hand to cup her mons, pressing my middle finger into the seam of her shorts.

Her head falls back and she lets out a breathy moan that goes straight to my cock.

Even through the material of her shorts and panties, I note her growing dampness as I press my fingers against her heat. “I will always give chase, ángel.” I scrape my teeth over her shoulder, over the place I marked her less than a week ago. “Because you belong to me.”

She stiffens and I realize immediately my colossal mistake. “I do not belong to you.” This time when she pulls away, I reluctantly release her. “Just because you marked me, doesn’t mean you own me. That’s why I ran.”

She shoves her key into the lock, but her fingers tremble too much to get it in the first time, giving me a few precious seconds to try to regain footing.

“Sedona. I’m sorry.” I slap my hand over the lock before she can try again. “That’s not what I meant. My wolf is growling to reclaim you, that’s all.” I lean my other hand against the door, caging her between my arms, crowding her against the door with the heat of my torso. “I’m not so stupid or chauvinistic to think I have any rights to you. I came because I wanted to make sure you were all right. I couldn’t stay away.”

“Well, you’re going to have to. I need space, Carlos.” She turns, her soft curves brushing against my clothes, setting flames ablaze everywhere she touches. She puts a hand on my chest and tries to shove. She’s an alpha she-wolf, so she’s strong, but I still don’t budge.

“Don’t make me call my brother, Carlos. One word from me and he’ll rip you apart.”

I hate the direction this is going. I fucked everything up. Her brother might try, but I’m certain no wolf could keep me away from Sedona, if I’m under challenge. But I don’t want to fight her family. “You could have sent him after me at Monte Lobo, but you didn’t.”

Her bravado cracks and pain flits over her face. “You let me go,” she whispers.

I can’t decide if she’s thanking me or admonishing me. The idea that she wouldn’t want to be released never occurred to me, and believing she might have been hurt by my actions makes me want to stab a knife through my chest. But she wouldn’t have wanted to stay. That’s impossible.

The agony of not knowing what she means makes me bold. Without touching her with my hands, I crush my mouth over hers, pushing until her head bumps the door. Once I have leverage, I lick into her lips, twisting mine and tilting my head for the best angle.

If she hadn’t kissed me back, I would have retreated—no matter what my wolf wanted—but she melts into the kiss, her tongue meeting mine, lips moving against mine. Until she bites my lower lip, hard enough to draw blood.

I freeze as she holds it fast, tugging backward. When she releases it, there’s a blaze of anger and defiance in her beautiful blue eyes. “Back off, Carlos.”

I immediately retreat, hands in the air.

Fuck. Stop thinking with your dick, asshole.

“Sedona, please. No claims on you. I just want”—I rack my brain for right thing to say— “A date with you. Let me take you to dinner—to breakfast—anything. Meet me in a public place. I won’t touch you, I just want a chance to be near you. To talk. Please?”

Sedona nods, but she’s ducking her head back to the door, not meeting my eye. “Yeah, okay. Tomorrow night. Seven o’clock.” She unlocks her door and steps into her apartment, clicking it shut without a backward glance.

My wolf fist pumps, but my brain knows better. She has no intention of meeting me tomorrow. She just said whatever it took to end the conversation.

I tunnel my fingers through my hair and stare at the tile floor of the hallway.

Carajo.

I won her body with the help of the full moon and a confined space. But how do I win her heart?