Annie Nicholas: The Beta

Or at least, they tried to. Rob left her in a bad way last night. Her vibrator finished the job, but she didn’t get the kind of satisfaction he could have provided. What the hell was going on? A man never drew this kind of attention from her, she didn’t believe in lust at first sight, but Rob proved her wrong. He wasn’t a man though, but a full-blown werewolf, a warrior werewolf.

Fanning herself with her hand, she cracked open the car window. She should have dragged him into the alley when she’d kissed him. They would both be happier, and maybe she would have had a dinner date tonight instead of being crammed in her sedan with the remains of Taco Hell on her passenger seat.

She sat in front of his beautiful brownstone with a lovely granite staircase, hoping to follow Rob to Daedalus’s lair. That’s how she explained this stakeout slash stalker thing to herself for the hundredth time. Focus on the Nosferatu, not the hottie werewolf.

A pretty blonde walked by her car, wavy hair hung past her shoulders, heels clicking on the pavement as she hurried in the evening’s fading light. If Esther had curves like that Rob would never have walked away.

The blonde climbed the steps to Rob’s home.

No fucking way. Esther’s heart took a nosedive as she sat up in her seat, clutching the steering wheel as if it were the edge of a cliff. Double-crossing bastard made a pass at her when he already had a nice piece of ass at home. The door to the house opened, and a gorgeous Asian woman with silky black hair past her waist stepped out. They exchanged a few words before continuing in opposite directions.

Esther checked her GPS. The address was correct. Could she have saved it wrong? She watched the Asian woman climb into a car, imaging Rob caressing her slim body as he’d done to her last night. She had the right place. Rob had a harem, and he’d played her like a finely tuned instrument with his geeky, innocent act. She knew he’d been too good to be true.

Her mind raced over all the painful things she would inflict on him once she caught his mangy werewolf ass. Contract or not, this trip just became personal.

Twisting in his bed, Robert tossed the sheet off. He dragged his fingers through his hair and didn’t need to look to know his cock tented his boxers. All afternoon he’d tried to sleep, but Esther kept intruding on his dreams.

Glaring at the bulge, he palmed it as he recalled the way her soft breast fit in his hand. Stroking his cock, he pictured her arching her back at his touch and releasing a little moan. She’d offered to be tied as he deserted her last night. A drop of dew spilled from his tip. He imagined her strapped to his bed, oiled, and really pissed off. His breaths quickened as he watched her writhe in his mind. He curled onto his side, pumping hard as he pictured climbing between her thighs and thrusting deep inside her wet pussy. In hot jets, he came into his sheets and moaned her name.

He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. How pathetic, he jacked off to a woman he’d turned down. She didn’t react like he’d expected when he found her with his wallet. Most women would have run screaming. She’d gotten intense and pulled out a gun, then shot at him.

What shocked him the most was the desire in her gaze as she assessed his body with a possessive eye. Her fear scent had faded and the smell of her arousal took over. She couldn’t fake that. He turned her on, and that fact set him on fire. Grinning, Robert rose from his bed and pulled the sheets off, tossing them in the laundry basket.

All things considering, he’d had an excellent night. Maybe next time he’d get to keep the girl. Esther was beautiful on the outside, but her deceitful nature left him cold. How could he trust a woman like that? His gaze passed over his wallet. She hadn’t taken anything from it.

Not like she had enough time to spend what little he carried. Still, she gave it back easy enough. He turned on the shower and stepped into the stinging spray.

The beast wanted a mate, or maybe he should say to mate . Every day, like clockwork, he woke to a hard-on. The other Vasi males in the house had admitted to similar problems, but they had access to release.

Eric had Spice, Tyler was with Katrina, and Sam took anyone willing to keep his bed warm. Robert needed a female in his life, someone to hang out with and give him direction. The pickings in the pack were slim though. Those who interested him were already taken, and getting involved with a human could be tricky. When did he confess to being a werewolf? On the first date?

After rinsing the soap from his body, he towel dried, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, then put his glasses on. Too bad shifters didn’t have an online dating service. Pack politics would make that difficult though. Alphas were territorial about females, they wouldn’t let anyone stroll into their area and take one. Even Eric, who Robert considered pretty sane for an alpha, wouldn’t let that happen.

Racing down the steps, he almost trampled Katrina as she crossed his path at the bottom of the staircase. She was on her way to the front door. “Oops, sorry.” He smiled at her. “Didn’t see you coming.”

She straightened his glasses and returned his smile. “I heard you did a good job with Talon last night. Have a fun evening.” She wore a black dress and heels with her hair loose down her back. Her outfit accentuated her Asian beauty.

“Date with Tyler tonight?”

“Yes, I am meeting him downtown for dinner.” She paused at the door. “Do you want to come?”

He shook his head. “I’ve got plans.” Lying was better than being a third wheel. He’d almost had a dinner date. Retreating to the kitchen before his pack mate asked any questions, Robert tossed a bagel in the toaster while he listened to the front door open and close. The click of heels in the hallway made him glance out the kitchen entrance. “Sugar, you’re home late.”

The petite blonde set her purse on the counter.

Sugar owned the brownstone they all lived in, the original Omegas pack—Eric, Tyler, Sam, Katrina, and himself—paid her rent. They’d been neighbors at first in an apartment complex. Then they started having troubles with the old pack of Chicago, the Ayumu. That was when they hired Daedalus, a badass Nosferatu vampire, to teach them how to fight. He and Sugar had fallen crazy in love. When Eric defeated the old alpha of the Ayumu, the Omegas absorbed them. Then Eric changed their name to Vasi, which meant Vanguards in the old language.

“I missed my bus. Is Daedalus awake yet?” Sugar straightened her skirt.

“I haven’t seen him, but I’ve only been awake a few minutes myself.”

Her smile turned sad as she examined his face. “You look exhausted. Don’t let him work you so hard, Robert.”

The him she referred to was the pack’s Nosferatu vampire warrior and her true love. “He’s only doing what’s best for us. Don’t worry, I can take it.” He slathered the bagel with peanut butter and poured a tall glass of milk.

Once Daedalus was ready they’d go running before hitting the all night gym. Yay.

“He told me you refused to kill Talon.”

Rob nodded while chewing on his meal.

“I’m glad. He wouldn’t agree with me—”

“Damn right, I don’t agree.” Daedalus stormed into the kitchen and blocked the entrance with his six-foot-two frame and crossed his arms over his chest. “Sugar, we discussed you placing ideas in their heads. I can’t have the boys hesitating on the field of battle.”

She confronted him with her five foot nothing, barely a hundred and ten pound body. “Field of battle? This is Chicago in the twenty-first century.”

If Rob had someone to place a bet with he’d put his money on Sugar winning. The little librarian had grown a backbone in the last year.