Page 2 of The Reluctant Alpha

“Danny.” Kasim smiled as he came out dressed in shorts. His chest was still bare, and I managed to hold in the sigh. Not that I blamed Danny. Kasim was maybe two inches shorter than me, but he was lean with muscles in all the right places. Not that I didn’t have muscles, it was just they were covered with padding. A lot of padding. Too much padding compared to the wolves.

“Hi, Kasim,” Danny said shyly.

Kasim smiled back then turned to me. “Anything I need to know?”

“No. Everything’s been quiet. Danny is my first visitor.”

Kasim frowned. “He can’t—”

“He knows,” I interrupted.

Danny looked from one to the other. “So, this is a shift change?” Kasim looked at me blankly, but I nodded.

“Yes,” I confirmed. “I’ve been here since dawn.”

Danny’s eyes widened. “And I thought I’d had a long day.”

“Are you going for a run?” Kasim asked, assuming I would leave the gate post the same way he’d arrived, like most wolves.

I hesitated, feeling Danny’s stare, and shrugged. “I think I might head to Esther’s to see if she needs anything.” Neighbors had been leaving them food while she cared for her sister.

Phoenix had originally intended to hold a pack meeting today, but Emery going into heat had taken them all by surprise, and I was temporarily out of a home. I needed my own place, but I had no idea what to do. I had a derelict pack area with a dozen empty cabins if I wanted, except every one of them had strings attached.

Danny sighed heavily, and it caught my attention. Not that it ever wandered far when he was here. “Want a coffee?” We could go to my sister’s if Danny didn't want to see Esther. I knew everyone was out, and Matthew had already told me to make myself at home. Not that I would.

“Want a ride?” Danny retorted, almost a challenge in his voice, and I looked over at him.

“Did I do or say something to you that was offensive?”

His eyes widened, clearly taken aback by my bluntness. “What?”

“You heard me,” I said, sick of him blowing hot and cold. He’d seen the interest the wolf Trust had shown in me at Emery’s baby shower, and while it wasn’t mutual, it had been obvious Danny hadn’t liked it. He’d been all over me in the kitchen that day, then treated me like a leper afterwards. “What is it? You’re not interested, but you don’t want anyone else to have me?”

Danny gaped, his hand going white-knuckled on the car door. “That’s not true.”

I shrugged and let go of the door. I would walk. Shifters were simple. They recognized their mate instantly. Humans, not so much.

“Bayer?”

I didn’t stop.

“Bayer!” His voice was shrill and accompanied by a foot stamp. I turned.

“Emery always counted you as his friend,” I said before he got a chance to speak, “so I thought you were a good human. I wonder if he’d be as disappointed as I am?” I turned back, shifted, uncaring of my clothes, and lumbered into the forest.

The monster opened his eyes. It took him a moment for his eyes to see in the small box he was buried in. Not that he needed any light. He had a brief second of surprise that the thought of being buried alive didn’t send him into a tailspin of human panic. Then he laughed. He had been buried, but the new power and strength that ran through his body definitely challenged the modifier “alive.”

The crazy vampire had been full of glee as his fangs had punctured the monster’s neck. His human thoughts after that had been fuzzy, but his mind was crystal-sharp now.

This was the fault of the shifters. No, the bears were ultimately responsible, and he smiled as he remembered the pathetic so-called alpha who had ruled with intimidation and cruelty.

And he smiled. He would show him just what pure cruelty was like and wipe out every single bear that might still live.

He punched a hole in the wood above him and laughed again as earth rained down on him. He didn’t need oxygen. He needed vengeance.

And it was coming soon.

Chapter two