Rebecca Royce: Alpha Wolf

She opened her mouth to speak, but she had no idea even where to start. Had he killed all three of them? She’d been terrified they would destroy him. How was it possible? He’d been all alone. Then there was the complete novelty of someone saying they were going to take care of her. What was she supposed to say to that?

“Thank you.”

He nodded, his smile indicating he was satisfied with that answer.

“Um … are they all dead?”

“No, they live to be idiots another day.” He shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“They suffered, though. Let’s say I gave them what they gave you and if there are any others out there who were involved, I want you to tell me because I’ll do the same to them.”

There were tons of others and she was sure she would never tell who they were. Not ever. Michael’s good luck at besting Seamus, Barge and Todd couldn’t be relied upon to last. No, she would protect him.

Michael crossed the room to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Seconds later, the water in the bathroom turned on. Scarlett swallowed as something that should have occurred to her earlier dawned on her at once. He was probably going to want to have sex with her. Tonight.

She pulled the covers up tightly till they touched her chin. Oh. Gods. She did not want to do that again. And Michael was so big. All of him would be that way. Suddenly, all of his masculine beauty scared the hell out of her. She realized her hands shook and she hid them underneath the sheet.

Would he discard her like so much garbage afterwards? If they had sex did he have to keep her as his mate?

She heard the water turn off. Seconds later, Michael bounded out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. His hair was wet, the curls, for the moment, looking straight and plastered to his head. He hadn’t shaved and the whiskers she’d seen earlier were still there.

His chest and abdomen were muscular, but also angular at the same time. He didn’t have the look of what she thought of as a “shifter gym rat”. Still, he was obviously an athlete.

He opened one of the drawers and pulled out a pair of boxer shorts. Dropping the towel for a second gave her a view of his tight ass. Strange warmth pooled between her legs.

His body was so spectacular, at least as it was viewed from a safe space. She wasn’t sure how she’d feel with it pushing down on top of her while it assaulted her insides.

“Alright.” He smiled as he turned around and walked to the bed. “Let’s have a look at your wounds.”

“You really don’t have to.” She wasn’t sure she wanted to start the touching the process. The more skin-to-skin contact they made, the more he would decide he was entitled to. Nothing good was going to come from that.

He narrowed his eyes. “I do have to.”

As she watched, he pulled out two ice packs and manipulated them until she heard a crack. “There, that should work now.”

He climbed onto the bed and scooted up next to her. This close she could feel the warmth that radiated off him all the way to her bones. “Was it a hot shower?”

“That’s the best kind.”

Gently, which surprised her, he placed one of the ice packs up against her jaw. She flinched. Gods, it hurt. Anything touching her face was almost beyond bearable. For days and days, they’d taken turns giving her pain. She closed her eyes. If she had endured that, she could make it through this.

“I don’t mean to cause you pain.”

She laughed, it was better than crying. Besides, she had her eyes closed. It was always easier to say what you wanted with your eyes closed. “No one ever means to.”

“I don’t think that’s true. I think most people who cause pain mean to do it. At least my father always did.”

Opening her eyes, she regarded him. He was looking at her cheek as he held the icepack to her. His expression seemed pinched, pained. It did appear as though he cared a great deal about the fact that she had discomfort.

“Your dad is Kendrick Kane, right? He’s famous.”

His eyes found hers again. “For many reasons, I imagine.”

“Angel was hidden in New Orleans with us from the time she was a baby to keep her safe from him.”

“And now I’ve come to take her, and you, back with me.”

Her heart stuttered. “You want me to leave with you?”

“Of course, I do. You’re my mate. You go where I go.”

“I can come with you. Angel can’t.”

Damn . She closed her eyes again. Two minutes talking to Michael and she’d gone and done what Cole specifically told her not to do.

“Why can’t she?”

He didn’t sound angry. Just sort of curious so she opened her eyes again. At this rate, opening and closing her lids she was going to get dizzy.

“I’m not supposed to tell you.”

“Oh no?” He removed the ice from her cheek. “We’ll leave that off for a moment or two and then put it back on. I want to examine your cuts. You need disinfectant.”

He opened up a tube of antibacterial ointment and starting applying it to her open wounds. She wasn’t currently bleeding anywhere. Some of the more recent ones hadn’t completely scabbed up yet.

“Who told you not to tell me?” His hands stayed gentle as he bandaged her up. But maybe he was one of those men who got all of a sudden mad. There was no build up.

There was just explosion.

“Cole.”

“I’m going to meet Cole first thing tomorrow morning.”

That was probably for the best. If they showed up first thing in the morning, Cole would be less mad. Yes, that made sense.

“Okay.”

“Listen,” Michael started speaking and she almost blanched. This was it. She knew it was coming. He was done with her. He’d done his duty, fixed her up and now they were through. “I need you to explain your pack to me, okay? I’m confused.”

So was she. That had not been what she thought he was going to say. Not at all.

“What’s causing the confusion?”

“Where I’m from we have an Alpha. Shifters meet and they fall in love, mostly with another shifter but sometimes with a non-shifter. They mate. It’s for life and beyond. We almost always travel together to the Great Beyond. When the Alpha passes on, someone steps up to be the next Alpha. In my long lifetime, that’s only ever happened once. Our Alpha, Tristan, wasn’t ready to take control so I held the pack for him until he could. If there’s a challenge, it’s one wolf against another, fight to the death.”

When he’d spoken, he moved closer to her until he was so close she could feel his warm breath against her face. He smelled sweet, like mint and shifter and man.

She rubbed her nose, which gave her a twinge of pain. “For a long time, Nero was our Alpha. My whole life, actually. But he didn’t hold us together very well and men have always had a choice in the women they get mated to. No one would want a mate like me, for example. I’m going to pollute the bloodline of any children I might have.”

Michael sucked in his breath. “Not true. My great-grandmother was latent. Her children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren are all pretty damn talented.”

Really? Michael was making her head spin with all the things he said. In his pack everyone accepted and loved their mates? The Alpha held everything together?

“Your pack sounds pretty fantastic, Michael.”

He nodded. “I’m not going to lie to you ever. It was fantastic and then it wasn’t and now it’s struggling but it will be again.”

“Something happened with your dad?”

Michael stood up and pulled the covers back on the bed, removing the top bedspread.

She had no idea what he was doing. Did he not like to sleep with sheets? Without realizing it, she must have given him a questioning look and he smiled.