Alpha Initiation (Alpha Blood #1) (Werewolf Romance)
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Authors: Mac Flynn
Alpha Initiation (Alpha Blood #1)
MAC FLYNN
Text copyright 2015 by Mac Flynn
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission in writing from the author.
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Chapter 1
I had no idea my life would lead me to this captivity, or to this beast of a man. That week ended so normally, too. It was a typical Friday night where a bunch of my girlfriends and I would hang out at the club until we dragged each other home. Usually I was the designated driver because I was less likely to get a guy to buy me drinks. Most men were into the thinner girls, and there were enough of those in the bars they didn't have to stoop down to my short height to get some. We wandered into one of the popular bars, and I took my usual seat at the table while my girlfriends took the arms of men. Nothing weird, creepy, or abnormal.
Nothing until I spotted him.
It wasn't that he was creepy-looking or anything. Actually he was incredibly cute, what with his dark black hair and those dazzling, crystal-clear blue eyes. He was average height and a little older than me, maybe thirty. He wore a pair of faded jeans and a white polo shirt. There was an old air about him, like you'd expect him to hold the door open or watch him sweep off his hat for you.
None of that was really weird, not when I saw piercings and mohawks all around me. What was really weird was the way he was staring at just
me
. He wasn't looking around and just passing me over, he was staring straight at me without blinking. I glanced back to see if there was something exciting behind the table I was sitting at, but there was just the usual crowd laughing, drinking, and having fun.
I was even more surprised when he got up off his seat and went over to me. "Mind if I sit here?" he asked, and indicated the chair beside me at the small, round table.
My friend had vacated the seat a few minutes ago, and from the way she was wrapped around a guy across the room it didn't look like she was coming back any time soon. "Sure," I replied.
He got comfortable on the chair and looked at my glass that was mostly empty. "Can I buy you a drink?"
I shook my head. "No, but thanks, anyway." My girlfriends and I made it a habit not to take drinks from strange men. It was safer that way in case they wanted to spike our drink.
"That's fine. You can never be too cautious," he agreed. I blushed because he'd seen so well through my refusal, but he didn't seem to notice my embarrassment. Instead he glanced around the room. "A lot of people here. Any of them your friends?"
That was a good question. While I had come to the club with half a dozen girls, in that big of a crowd I had a hard time finding any of them. Some had slunk out of the club with their regular boy toys and others were dancing on the floor. Glancing for them made me look away from the stranger, and when I stared back at him I swore he'd moved his chair closer to me.
"So what's your name?" he asked me, ignoring the fact that I hadn't answered his earlier question.
"Oh, Becky." Last names were never given out until I approved of the guy. So far this one was just friendly. "What's yours?"
He smiled. "Luke." Apparently he didn't believe in last names, either.
"Well, Luke, I don't think I've seen you here before. You just move into the neighborhood?"
Luke shook his head. "No, I'm just a little out of my hunting grounds."
I blinked. That sounded weird. "Hunting grounds?" I repeated.
He laughed at my expression. "Yes, and I'll let you in on a secret." He leaned over toward me. I would have leaned back, but then I couldn't have heard what he was saying because he spoke so low. "I'm actually a millionaire looking for a prospective mate."
I smiled, thinking he was playing with me, though I had to admit this was a new pickup line. "That's a strange way of putting it. If you're a millionaire don't you have women falling over each other trying to get at you?" I teased.
He leaned back and gave me some breather room. "Yes, but they don't suit me. I want one that's real and feisty, and has the right scent. Those types of women would walk naked through Grand Central Station if it would mean marrying me."
I wasn't sure I believed his story about being rich, but I decided to humor him. I put on a mockingly serious face and looked around the room. "I don't know if you're going to find any real women here, either. There's a lot of makeup on them, and I think most of the breasts are on mortgage."
Luke barked out a laugh. "Now that's what I'm talking about. A natural wit and humor about you."
Stranger or no stranger, I blushed at the compliment. "I think maybe you're just easy to make laugh," I teased.
He shrugged his shoulders, but looked me over with that careful stare of his. "Maybe, but that wasn't too bad of a joke. Your boyfriend must be madly in love with you."
I smiled and shook my head. "If I had one he might be, but I don't." I took a sip of my drink and wrinkled my nose. There was a funny flavor to it. "Besides, I don't really have that good of luck with men. They always seem to want a one-night stand and be off to the next girl."
"Sounds like they don't stick around to get to know you," he pointed out.
"More like they go for the stick women first, and me never."
Luke leaned forward, and his voice dropped low and deep. I detected a faint tinge of sultry need in his tone. "Maybe if you and I got together for a bite to eat then we could get to the night part."
"I don't know, we only just met and-" I jumped when I felt something prick my hip. I glanced down and saw his hand disappear into his pocket. "What did you just-" I swooned and clutched at my head. I felt very dizzy; the room around me spun.
Luke gently took a hold of my shoulders to steady me. Suddenly his smile didn't look so friendly. "Are you all right?" he asked me. "You look ill."
"I-I think I need to go." One of my friends just stepped outside. If I could catch her I could have her drive me home.
I slipped off the stool, but standing only made things worse. Luke caught me before I dropped to the ground. "Whoa there, I don't think you need to be going anywhere," he scolded me. I waved my hand at him to brush him off, but he only tightened his grip around my arms. "Let's get you some fresh air."
He half dragged me through the crowds and to a side door that led to an alley. If he meant really fresh air this wasn't it because a dumpster stood nearby and had all the smells for creating life out of rotten meat and empty beer bottles. Luke set me up against the wall opposite the door, but I still didn't feel any better. To the contrary, I felt a lot worse. My vision was blurred and I had trouble staying awake. The only two things that stood out was the mostly-full moon in the sky and Luke's face hovering over me.
His voice was soft and sounded as though it came from far away. "The drug won't take much longer to travel through your system. Then you'll sleep," he told me.
That scared the hell out of me enough to give me one last push of adrenaline and energy. I tried to push past him and run toward the opening to the alley. He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back against the wall. The bricks dug into my back, but my body was growing numb. My vision was leaving me, too, and all I could see now were distorted lights and shadows. His face loomed up from the shadows and his bright eyes stared at me with that hungry look. I blacked out.
Chapter 2
The next thing I knew I woke up with one hell of a hangover. My head throbbed and my body was stiff. I popped open my eyes and took in an eye full of a bright light hanging over me. With a groan I rolled over and grabbed at the covers to my bed. My fingers clasped a pillow, then another. I flailed around and only found the edges of countless pillows. That's when I realized this wasn't my bed, and I remembered that guy standing over me with that look on his face.
I shot up on my arms and looked wildly around myself. I was in a large, square room with tall, white walls. I lay on a mountain of soft pillows, and the wood floor of the room was covered with soft, expensive oriental rugs. In front of me was a large bed against the wall, placed between two tall, narrow windows that were boarded up and blacked out with paint. To my right was a small table with two chairs, and to my left was a wooden door.
Confused and terrified, I ran for the door. I saw there was a slot at the bottom where food could be delivered, but I jumped at the knob. I tried to turn it, but the door was locked. In my panic I wouldn't give up that easily, and so I pounded my fists against the door. "Help! Help!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "Somebody please help me!"
I paused when I heard a noise on the other side. They were footsteps. My eyes caught movement at the knob, and since the door swung inside I stepped back to avoid being hit when it opened. I was so happy to see a short, older man of fifty with silver, slicked-back hair, a stranger, standing there and not that man that kidnapped me that I practically lunged at them and wrapped my arms around their shoulders.
"Thank god!" I sobbed out. Clinging as I was to the stranger, I could see over him and into the hall. The floor and walls were much the same as the room, and the place made itself out to be a normal, albeit large and fancy, home. However, my mind wasn't thinking about that at the moment so much as about the man that stood at the end near a winding staircase that led downstairs. It was the same man from the bar, Luke. "Please save me from him!" I pleaded with the stranger.
The older man gently extracted my hands from his clothes with a strength I wouldn't have given him credit to own, and he didn't let go of my hands. The stranger held me close beside him, and that's when I realized he wasn't going to help me. He was holding me still while Luke walked closer and closer toward us. I thrashed and pulled trying to break his hold and dash down the hall, but nothing worked.
Luke came up to us and smiled down at me. "Good morning," he greeted.
I glared at him. "Fuck off," was my dainty reply.
Luke only chuckled, which was probably better for me. I couldn't have defended myself if he got mad and struck me. "Such a feisty personality, don't you think so, Alistair?"
"Very feisty, sir," replied the man who held me.
"I'll take this young woman, and could you make breakfast for two?"
"Certainly, sir," Alistair agreed.
Luke reached out for one of my hands while Alistair released his hold. In their trade-off I pulled my arms against me, eluding Luke's hand, and shoved my shoulder first into Alistair and then Luke. The force of my push and their surprise meant I was able to knock them into opposing walls and dash down the hall. Their pounding feet chased me to the winding, circular stairs where I took the steps three at a time as it wound its way downstairs. At the bottom I slipped on a rug and toppled to the ground, knocking my shoulder hard on the wood floor. Pain shot through my arm and I cried out.
The two men were on me at once, but they didn't haul me to my feet. Instead Alistair held me still while Luke tore open my shirt and looked over my shoulder. "Nothing broken, but it's bruised. This will take a day or two to heal."