The Wolf's Prey (6 page)

My father decides
to speak directly to Lennox. "Apparently, he always has. Beta
Burnett was in charge for two months while Alpha was away in
Mackinaw City sorting out land contracts. During that time, I got
the job with you, sir. We moved here with Beta Burnett's
permission. Beta Burnett didn't know of Alpha Rhys' plans for
Jocelyn. Alpha Rhys lied about my sister being in a car accident.
He thought Jocelyn would come back with us and he was going to get
her to accept a claim from him or keep her until the challenge. He
didn't plan on you refusing the request to let her leave the
territory."

"She's mine."
Lennox growls so loudly I feel it vibrate from his chest. It causes
me to jump but he holds me against him tightly and rubs my back.
Even as he rubs my back I am still afraid of him. The earlier kiss
we shared forgotten momentarily. Alphas are known to be volatile
when they're angry, it can't be helped. When their tempers start to
show you should expect the worst. I've seen it first hand with
Alpha Rhys, that's why I am so afraid of big men. Especially,
Alphas.

-Flashback-

I was walking
home from school with my best friend Angela my sophomore year of
high school. We took a short cut deciding to take a run to the
local diner and getting a strawberry milkshake and fries.
Everything was fine, we even met up with a boy Angela liked and he
offered to walk us home. Knowing Angela wanted to be alone with
him, I told them to leave without me that I wanted to stop at the
library. After they left I went into the woods to run home. I felt
a presence behind me and turned to see Rodger Valiant. He was a
senior, the only reason I knew him was because he and Marta were
friends and he came over for dinner a lot. "Hey,
Rodger."

He doesn't
respond he only looks at me. I notice he doesn't have a shirt on. I
eye his muscled chest and the flexing of his arms as he clenches
and unclenches his fists. "Who were you with?" He demands to
know.

"Angela." I
answer, starting to feel uneasy.

"And Jim
Resinger."

"Yeah, Angela
likes him. Are you okay?" I ask, seeing that his arms are now
shaking.

"He was sitting
next to you."

"Yeah." I don't
know what to say to take away his anger. I don't understand why
he's even angry. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Don't talk to
another male again." He orders. Then seconds later he's on top of
me. I can feel his breath on my neck. "You're mine." He states. I
feel his tongue on my neck and I start whimpering.

"No! Stop!" I
scream at him clawing at his arms and back.

"Get off of her
now!" I hear Alpha Rhys command. Rodger stops immediately,
complying with the Alpha command. Alpha Rhys stomps closer, I see
his wolf surfacing. He backhands Rodger sending him into a tree. He
follows after him picking him up and punching him repeatedly. I
hear the crunch of his face being smashed. I look on horrified as
Alpha Rhys continues his beating, snapping his arms and legs. At
one point, I throw up and Beta Burnett lifts me up, walking away
with me.

I know without a
doubt Rodger is dead.

-End of
flashback-

"Jocelyn." I hear
in my ear.

"Huh?
Yes?"

"Why are you
shaking?"

"I was
remembering something."

"Tell
me."

I swallow, my
throat feeling like sandpaper. "Alpha Rhys killed a boy who
attacked me. I was thinking about his temper." I reply
truthfully.

"He won't touch
you. He won't even see you again."

"I still have
family in that pack. What if he hurts them?"

He looks away
from me and to my parents. "Your sister and other family members
are welcome to join the Blue Shore Pack. If they can get out of the
pack, they'll be protected here." He offers.

"Thank you, Alpha
Hall."

"You can go now."
Lennox says making it sound like an order. I watch as my parents
turn to leave.

"Alpha, would you
like to come over for dinner tonight?" My mom asks before
leaving.

"Yes. Thank you."
He replies. Smiling my mom walks after my father out of the
door.

"Should I go with
them?"

"Hell, no." He
growls and kisses me again. This kiss is more consuming, passionate
and demanding than the first. I'm shocked by his intensity. I can't
help but respond, my mouth is his. Until another knock on the door
interrupts us and he yells, "What?!"

"I have- your
ric-e crispy tr-eats." A woman stammers.

He leans his head
back and closes his eyes. I can't help but laugh. I think this is
the only time I've seen him not control his reaction. He opens his
eyes and looks at me. "This is not funny."

I giggle harder.
"Sorry." I apologize smothering a smile. He grins back.

"Come in." He
calls out. A woman comes in with a plate of rice crispy treats and
I see her hands shaking. I know exactly how she feels. I smile at
her but she has her head down. Placing them on the desk she waits
to be dismissed which Lennox eagerly does.

"Would you like
to swim?" He asks handing me a rice crispy treat.

"Okay, I'm sure
everyone is still at the falls."

"Not the falls.
I'm not letting anyone see you in that."

"My bathing
suit?"

"If that's what
you want to call it." He replies huskily looking over my
body.

I blush. "Okay,
where are we swimming?"

He stands up
carrying me to out of the room. I turn my head trying to see where
we're going. I see his living room and through the French doors is
an underground pool. He walks outside and sets me down on a patio
chair. He kisses my lips softly. "I need to change. I'll be right
back." I nod and watch the water. Thinking over the past half hour
I'm still a little shocked. I didn't even know my dad worked for
Lennox. I hear the doors open and my heart rate picks up at the
sight of him coming towards me in black board shorts and nothing
else.

I look away and
walk to the edge of the pool and dip my toe in. It's the perfect
temperature. I jump in and Lennox does the same. I surface and wipe
the hair out of my face.

"My dad works for
you?"

"Yes. Most of the
pack does."

"Do you like
being the Alpha?" He nods. I want to ask him why he's choosing to
claim me. I bite my lip and think of other things to ask him. "Why
did you choose me? You don't even know me." I blurt.

His expression
doesn't change as he looks at me. "I might not know everything
about you but I can tell you're different."

"I'm not
different."

"Yes, you are.
You're better." He states.

I shake my head.
This is what he comes up with? This is why he wants me? "I'm not
better than anyone." I disagree again. "You're going to be very
disappointed when you see that."

"You're perfect.
That statement alone tells me that."

I decide to drop
the subject. It could have been worse. At least he didn't say he
likes me because of my looks. "You're not at all concerned about
potentially having pups as small as I am?"

He growls lowly
in his throat. "No, the only concern I have about that is wanting
to claim you at this moment. Don't talk about making pups if you
want to leave here a virgin."

My mouth drops
open and I look away blushing. There's something about knowing he
wants me that makes my blood rush through my veins. I feel my
nipples tighten and I get even more embarrassed. I know he notices,
he never misses a thing. I start to back away from him.

"Don't move
another inch." I freeze. I can hear his breathing has changed; he's
fighting with his wolf. "Don't move away from me, it makes me think
of chasing you, mating you."

I nod. When he's
in control of himself I say, "I should go home. I need to shower
before dinner." He doesn't reply. He just gets out and pulls me out
after him. We walk to a lounge chair with towels on it and he wraps
a towel around my shoulders. He doesn't towel off but walks into
the house and I follow him.

We go out of the
front door and he lifts me up into his truck and drives me back
home. I know there's going to be a lot of questions. Good thing I
told Marta most of it or it would be even worse.

*************

Happy Birthday
!

Alpha Lennox
Hall

I glance at the
door one last time and pull away. Frustrated as hell. Three times
we were interrupted; twice I was on the verge of lifting my hips
and grinding myself against her. She is so small and perfect.
Holding her cemented the fact that I won't want another as badly as
I do her.

I was working my
way through her defenses then her parents showed up. Things
changed, she was more aware than the first time. She responded but
she was still wary of me. Taking her to the pool was another bad
idea. I couldn't stop staring at her. She has no idea what she can
do with one look. When she started talking about pups, I lost it.
My plan to make her feel safe with me evaporated. I saw the shock
when I told her she shouldn't talk about it if she wants to keep
her virginity. Dammit!

I need her to
trust me. Yet, I want her to know how badly I want her, too. I know
I have to take it slow but I doubt I can. The mark I left on her
neck is evidence enough. I almost marked her today and she would
have let me. I don't know if it’s her innocence, or if she trusts
me not to mark her until her birthday. I will mark and claim her as
mine, willing or not. I just rather she be willing. I think she
trusts me which makes her naïve and innocent. I can't guarantee
that I won't take it further the next time we’re
together.

Should I tell her
or let it happen naturally? Do I warn her not to let it go so far,
like I did about mentioning the pups? At home I go inside and smell
the revolting scent of vanilla immediately. "Wendy, what are you
doing here?" I ask without seeing her. I like how Jocelyn smells
like coconut, delicious. I can still smell her even under the
strong odor of vanilla.

"I wanted to talk
to you." She replies.

I hear her in the
living room and stand at the entrance. "Make it quick."

"Did you like the
brownies?"

"I said quickly."
I reply irritated.

She stands up and
walks towards me. She sees that I'm turned on and thinks it’s
because of her, I see it in her smile. "I was thinking maybe you
could come to dinner tonight?" She asks trying to sound sexy. She
only managed to annoy me more.

"I'm busy." I
turned and walked away. I hear her start to follow me. "Get out." I
order and her steps stop. When they start up again it’s in the
other direction. Wendy is a year younger than me; she tried
everything to get my attention. Playing the good girl and then
switching to party girl. She would try to get me jealous and then
play the victim. She never has held my interest or anything else
for that matter. I don't think I could touch her without
cringing.

I go into my room
wishing I would have gotten Jocelyn here. I shower and get dressed
for dinner. I leave the room and spot Liam walking towards
me.

"You have a phone
call from Alpha Rhys of the Redwolf Pack."

I growl and walk
past him to my office to take the phone call. "Alpha
Rhys."

"Alpha Hall. I
want to request that you lift the restricted leave on Jocelyn
Robinson."

"Request denied.
She's mine." I hang up the phone. It's only 4:40 p.m. but I walk to
the truck and drive to the Robinsons. They didn't mention a time
for dinner and I want to see Jocelyn again.

**************

Jocelyn
Robinson

As soon as I got
in the door I was besieged by questions from my parents, luckily
Marta told them everything she knows which is pretty much all of
it. "Do you want to mate with him?" My mom asks sitting at my desk
while I get ready.

"I don't know. I
like him sometimes but other times he scares me. He's just so
intense." Then I remember his smile and his laugh, my heat skips.
"He really is so beautiful when he smiles." I add
blushing.

"If you don't
want to be with him, you can find someone else to claim you before
the challenge."

The challenge, I
shudder thinking about it. It’s the one time a year when anyone can
challenge the Alpha for dominance. The winner gets to choose any
unmated female from the pack eighteen years old or older to mate.
Most years, I've heard Lennox doesn't get challenged but this year
Tom said he was going to challenge him. I wonder if anyone else
will. I’ve heard of the brutality of Lennox. I've seen Alpha Rhys
fight these fights, too. Winning so quickly in some cases, all I
did was blink and the other wolf was dead. I think about what
Lennox said. You wouldn't like what I'd do to him if I found
someone and shudder again.

"No. There's no
one else." Which is true, I don't want to have to rush and try to
start impressing males, hoping to get them to mark me. They'd only
end up hurt or worse by Lennox. I finish trying to curl my hair and
give up, it looks just a little wavy. I put it up in a ponytail and
gasp looking at my neck. Lennox left a sizeable purple mark on my
neck, he even broke the skin in two places. It must have been left
from his canines. I watch my mom smirk and walk out of the room. I
guess I'll have to wear my hair down for a while. Mom comes back in
with a bottle of foundation.