Falling for an Alpha (3 page)

Chapter Three

Gabriel
heard a twig snapping. Since he’d woken up, his sense of smell and hearing had
grown sharper. He peeked around the edge of the tree and saw Sadie walking back
with a pink raincoat slung over her forearm.

Shit, just what I
needed to wear
,
 
he
thought, but beggars couldn’t be picky.

“Don’t
come any farther,” he said, holding up his hand and checking that all his bits
and pieces were well covered by the tree.
 
The lady was old enough to be his mom, but he still got embarrassed
about stuff like this. He held out his hand and she gave him the raincoat.

“Don’t
suppose you have it in another color?” he asked.

“Sorry,
I don’t. Pink’s my favorite color.”

Pity.
He slipped his
arms into it and wrapped the coat around him. Lucky for him, Sadie was on the
bonny side, but the coat was still a little snug. If he didn’t breathe out, he
should be just fine. He stepped out from behind the tree and held his hand out to
shake hers.

“Nice
to meet you, Sadie”

“I’m
glad I finally found you.”

“You
were looking for me? Hey, any of my buddies put you up to this?”

Sadie
shook her head. “Come on, I’ll drive you back to town and then we can talk.”

She
turned and headed toward the road. He followed her and the wolves walked with
them.
 
Until then, he’d had neutral
feelings about the creatures, but since last night, he felt like they’d had an
instant bond. Two of them brushed against him as they neared the edge of the
hill.

“Nice
meeting you guys, and nothing against you or anything, but I hope we don’t have
to do this again,” said Gabriel.

Both
wolves held their chins up into the air and howled.

Nice to have met
you, too, but we know we’ll see you again soon.

He’d
understood every single word of that. How had he understood everything they’d
said? Maybe he was turning into Dr. Doolittle.

Following
behind Sadie, he wrapped the raincoat tighter as they got closer to the road.
 
She opened the passenger door for him and he
slid in, making sure nothing was on show before she hopped in beside him. There
was a slight gap where the raincoat didn’t quite meet, so he quickly secured
the seat belt and then put his hands across his lap, hoping that would do the
trick.

Sadie
got in, turned on the ignition, and soon they were heading out of the canyon.

“You
going to tell me how you knew where to find me and who I was?”

“I
will, but maybe you should be sitting down when I do.”

“In
case you haven’t noticed, I
am
sitting.”

“I
mean somewhere familiar, just in case.”

“Just
in case of what?”

“I’d
prefer we wait until I get you back to town.”

He
looked at her but she avoided his eyes. Something was going on. Longest prank
he’d ever had played on him.
 
He wouldn’t
be surprised if his brother was behind it. He always said he’d get him back for
the time Gabriel moved his car and pretended it had been stolen from the mall
parking lot. Practical jokers were in the family’s DNA.

He
shivered,
suddenly feeling cold again, even though the
temperature outside was almost balmy. Maybe he was coming down with a bug. Sadie
reached for a button on the dashboard, pressed it, and suddenly warm air
drifted his way.

“That
raincoat never was my warmest jacket,” she said.

“You
like bubblegum pink?”

“Of course.
It’s the color
of my business cards.”

“So
you work in the fashion business?”

“No, something much better than that.
I’m in the ‘helping-you-find-true-love’
business.”

She
reached down by the gearbox and handed him a pink card. She wasn’t lying when
she said it was bubblegum pink. It matched the raincoat perfectly and was so
bright he had to squint to read it.
Speaking
of perfect match
, he thought—the name of her company was ironically called
Perfect Pairing.

“You
really think true love exists?” he asked. He hoped she’d heard the touch of
sarcasm in his voice.

“Of
course it does. I have couples who are living proof of it.”

He
raised his eyebrows, hoping she didn’t see him pulling a face. They might be
happy for now, but Gabriel knew that true love, if it existed, was a fleeting
venture. Or at least it had been for him.

“Have
you ever considered signing up with a matchmaker company?”

He
pulled another face. “Nope, I don’t have any trouble finding women.”

“So
you have a wife…or girlfriend, perhaps?”

“No,
but I’ve not been looking that hard.”

He
rested his head back on the seat, wishing they’d get to town soon so he could
take off this silly pink coat and not have to talk about his love life, or lack
thereof. Finding women was no problem, finding one who he might like to spend
the rest of his life with was the impossible bit.
 
The perfect woman didn’t exist, and he wasn’t
the type to settle for second best just because everyone was pressuring him to
settle down.

“How
about a complimentary trial membership?” asked
Sadie.

That
got his attention. Not only was she his mom’s age, but she sounded like her,
too—always trying to fix him up on dates with her friend’s recently divorced
daughters.

“No,
that’s fine. I’m not dating right now.”

“Any particular reason for that?”

“Has
anyone ever told you you’re nosy?”

She
turned to him and smiled. He felt compelled to smile too. He liked her, though he
didn’t know why since he had only known her all of twenty minutes.

“I’m
told I’m nosy just about every day of my life, but it doesn’t stop me.”

“I’m
sure it doesn’t.”

“You
haven’t answered my question.”

“Haven’t
I? Just too busy, I guess.”

“
Which is why I think you need the complimentary membership.
”

Thank
God they were in the outskirts of town. Strange thing was she was heading straight
for his townhouse and he never told her where he lived.

“You
are something to do with this prank, right?”

She
pulled into the driveway and turned off the ignition. “Come on, let’s go inside
and we can talk,” said Sadie.

While
she turned the other way and got out of the car, Gabriel carefully opened the
door and exited.
 
Hopefully, he didn’t
flash any of his neighbors who might be about. He walked beside Sadie and as he
got to the path leading to the front door, someone wolf-whistled him.

“That’s
just your color. I never knew you had such great legs.”

It
was the neighbor across the street. Gabriel was about to flip the bird to the
smart-ass, but he realized Sadie was watching. Instead, he quickly opened the
door.

“Go
ahead,” he said.

Sadie
stepped inside and Gabriel followed her.

“I’m
just going to get some proper clothes on and I’ll be right back. I’m more than
intrigued to hear what you have to say.”

He
walked into his bedroom, over to the closet, and pulled out a pair of sweats
and a T-shirt. He took off the raincoat, slipped them on, and then headed back
out to the living room where Sadie was looking at some photos on the wall.

“Thank
you for loaning that to me, even if it wasn’t quite my color.” He handed it to
her. “You want something to drink?
 
I’m
parched.”

“Oh,
I think your neighbor would disagree with that.” She smiled. “A soda would be
very welcome.”

“Sit
yourself down and I’ll be back in a second.”

Gabriel
headed for the kitchen. He pulled two sodas out of the fridge and got a glass
for Sadie,
then
he went back into the living room. He
handed her the glass and soda, sat down, and took a sip of his. His mouth was
happy again.

“So
you want to fill me in on what happened?
 
I know this must be some sort of prank.”

Sadie
shook her head and touched his hand.

 
“What happened to you last night will happen
again and continue to happen to you, but don’t worry because I’m here to help
you in any way I can.”

“You’re
going to help me when I have a little too much to drink and someone plays a
joke on me.”

“That’s
not what happened to you, Gabriel.”

“So
you were there, you know, right?”

He
liked her but she was beginning to irritate him because she wasn’t giving up on
this joke.

“Have
you heard of shape-shifters?”

He’d
wake up at any minute, thump the alarm on his clock, and realize this was all one
big, bad dream—waking up with wolves, the pink raincoat, Sadie…”

“Like
Twilight,
and all those werewolves?”

“Yes,
that’s it, wolves.”

“Sure,
I’ve heard of them.”

Sadie
tapped her fingers on her lap. If he didn’t know better he’d say she was
suddenly nervous. “I don’t know how to say this because I’ve never had to
deliver bad news to a mortal before, so I’m just going to come straight out
with it. You’re one of them.”

He
laughed so hard, he almost slipped off the couch. “I’m one of them. You mean a shape-shifter,
a wolf?”

She
nodded.

“And
I’ve been one all my life and I’ve never known about it until now…that’s what
you’re going to tell me, right?”

“No,
you were cursed into becoming one.”

“Oh,
this is getting better.”

He
should have guessed that only an escaped mental patient would wear a bright
bubble-pink raincoat.

“Please
believe me, and I’m here to help you.”

“Help
me?”

“Yes,
I’m a…”

“You’re
a what?”

“Mavis White.”

“You’re
a Mavis White.”

“No,
she’s the disgraced witch who cursed you. You must know her.”

“I’m
sorry, I don’t.”

White…
wait
a minute.
He’d met Mavis White in a bar last
month.

“Middle-aged woman with dark hair and a
reddish streak at the front.”

“That
would be Mavis,” said Sadie.

“She’s
the one who turned me into a shape-shifter?”

Sadie
was wrong. He didn’t need to be sitting down when he heard this, he needed to
stand up. Pace up and down to be precise, because now he remembered.
 

****

He’d stopped at
the bar for a drink. A buddy from school who he hadn’t seen for a while had
shown up.

“My baby
brother’s finishing up his deployment in Afghanistan.
His wife had a baby two months ago, cute little boy. Bryce hasn’t
even seen him yet. I just hope he makes it home okay,”
he’d told him.

“I can arrange
that.”

He remembered that
a woman had slid her stool next to him.

“Sorry, but I
couldn’t help overhearing what you said, and I can make sure your brother
returns home safely.”

“And I’m
guessing you’d need money,” Gabriel had told her, thinking she was a scam
artist
.
“Not at all, but if you agree, then you give me permission to turn you into
less than a man.”

“Look here…”

“Mavis, Mavis
White.”

He’d looked into
her eyes. Something was weird about them. He was sure they’d changed color.

“We have a
deal?” she asked, sticking out her hand.

He did want
Bryce home safe. He’d always looked after his baby brother. He’d always looked
up to Gabriel and followed in his footsteps, including joining the Marines
making Gabriel always feel more responsible for his safety while Bryce was
deployed. Maybe it would be bad luck if he didn’t shake—some sort of gypsy
tradition or something.

And with that at
the back of his mind, he’d slipped his hand into her palm. She’d had a firm
grip like a man, and when he’d looked up again, she was gone.

****

Gabriel
swallowed, sat back on the couch, and looked at Sadie. It all made sense now—the
weird feeling, waking up naked in the forest, and understanding everything the
wolves howled about.