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Chapter 8 - Rocky
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2024-10-29 19:42:56I swagger up the grand hall in the stronghold. My booted legs echo on the wooden ground. Massive windows at the side let in the bluish-gray light of the day. The room is packed with leaders who belonged to Alter’s Council. I pass close to one of them, and he steps aside. When I turn to meet his look, he lowers his head. The stink of tension reinforces the air, and the hair on the nape of my neck rises. They are afraid of me. Good. I sense their look following me, yet not one of them tries to stop me. The losers have come to watch the entertainment for today, provided courtesy of me. A low chuckle rips out of me.
I stride toward the platform at the front of the room.
John moves forward as if to climb onto the dais alongside me.
I raise a hand.
He halts and wrinkles his forehead. “You know the protocol, Rocky.” His sound is cold. “As the interim second to Alter, I am supposed to introduce you to the Council and its associates.”
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ALPHAS COMMAND Chapter 9 - Rocky
“Brother?” Cold sensing grips my chest. “I don’t have siblings.”“You are right, technically.” The stranger props his arms on his hips. “We are half-brothers.”My pulse thuds at my temples.There’s too much confidence in his gait, too much arrogance in his demeanor… He reminds me of… myself. I push away the thought almost as soon as it occurs. No, no way. He can’t have gone through what I have to get here. He isn’t my mother’s son, that’s for sure.Which only leaves one conclusion, and I had thought of it almost as soon as he had stalked up the hall, only I hadn’t wanted to believe it, not really.“Alter, the idiot, stuck his dick in almost every dominion who came his way.” I drum my fingers on my chest. Best to keep talking, until I figure out a plan. My mind races ahead. Alter is out. I am… was the only blood descend
ALPHAS COMMAND Chapter 10 - Rocky
“Boo!” I bare my teeth.The soldier cringes, and sweat beads his forehead.“Really, Z?” My second-in-command narrows his gaze.I raise my shoulders then let them drop. “Okay, a bit over the top.” But, cut me some slack, okay? I like to play with my prey.Besides, I have a flair for the dramatic, one of the few redeeming features I inherited from my bastard of a father. Except, oh, wait, I was the bastard in that relationship, given he’d never acknowledged me…not until I had my fingers around Golan’s neck and recognition had dawned in his eyes. Too late, Pater. Thirty years too late.The soldier’s skin is stretched so tight over his cheekbones that I expect it to crack any moment. The reek of piss stinks up the warehouse. The fool, clearly a beta by the way his shoulders are hunched, has wet himself.I yawn aloud. The sound of my jaws cracking seems to sn
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I lift my chin, then farther up, then all the way up, to meet his gaze. To call the General massive is an understatement. He is a monster. A man-mountain, the biggest, most powerful leader I have ever seen.His blue eyes blaze at me.A ripple of fear mixed with something else—lust? Anticipation? — tightens my stomach.His face is all hard planes and dark angles. Long black hair flows to his shoulders. His lower lip is full, obscenely so. It should soften his looks; instead, it only heightens the sense of danger that clings to him like a rich coat.It’s the exact opposite of the faded vest that embraces his torso.His clothes strike a jarring note in the middle of the most prosperous pocket of this city, which is where we are, but it suits this leader. Declares exactly what he is: an asshole who doesn’t give a damn about anyone else.Who takes pleasure in surprising his friends and outwitting his enemies
ALPHAS COMMAND Rocky
The double doors swing open, and she races through, leaving behind the sugary scent of her slick. The spicy scent of her fear leaks into the air, laced with that spoor of the rain on cool dawn air that is so uniquely her.My cock throbs, straining against my pants. Adrenaline pumps through my blood. I walk after her, my pace leisurely, yet everything inside pushes me to hurry. Hurry. Go after her, claim her, take her.I’ve never felt such a powerful need as this to have an dominion. Never felt this overwhelming urge to shield her from the gaze of other leaders, to hide her from sight until I have had my way with her. I speed up my steps and walk out into the wilderness surrounding the warehouse.Ethan and Sol stand on either side of the doors, their gaze trained on the figure weaving through the trees.One of the other leaders breaks formation to run after her.“Stop.”He halts and, his shoulders
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The leader of leaders had all but fucked me right here in the open, and I had let him.Not that it should come as a surprise, him trying to take me right here in the open without finesse. It’s exactly what I’d expect of a brute like him.But my response to him, the way I had opened my mouth, my legs…my heart…no, not that, not yet, but if I let him, he could get under my skin, and what am I thinking about?He’s treating me like I am a caged animal. To him I am another dominion he can drag off to his lair and rut and—my belly tightens—I want him to do it.I want him to reach down and place his lips where his hand had been between my legs. I need to feel his tongue thrust inside me, feel that thick shaft whose length had throbbed against my waist, fill me, take me, knot me. “Fuck.” I scream more to hear the sound of my own voice, so I can try to shake off this sexual haze that has gripped me. This need
ALPHAS COMMAND Rocky
Her gaze widens, and then her body begins to fall. My heart slams against my rib cage. I leap across the distance that covers us and, leaning over, grab at her hand. I close my fingers around her wrist.The weight of her body pulls me over the side. I hook my foot under the space at the bottom of the wall for leverage. She is not very heavy, yet my arm feels like it’s being pulled out of my socket. Sweat beads my forehead. Her body sways in the breeze. Her features tighten, and the color slides from her face. Still, she doesn’t scream, doesn’t panic. That surprises me and turns me on. She’s fucking strong, doesn’t scare easily, and I can’t wait to break her.It’s even more important that I save her.I strengthen my stance and then take a step back. Flexing my biceps, I heave her up. All the while, I hold her gaze. Those green eyes of hers stare at me; in their depths is a grim determination.She actually thought s
ALPHAS COMMAND Cathy
Bastard! He knows that pronouncement while not exactly a surprise is only going to alarm me, and that is his intention: to frighten me so that I’ll submit to him like a nice docile dominion. Well, he’s got that so wrong. I am not going down, not without a fight. The leader-hole can go screw himself if he thinks I am going to make this easy on him.He shrugs out of his vest, then places it over the chair near the bed.The arrogance of the brute! He turns his back on me. I bare my lips, then lean low to charge him.He tears off his tunic to reveal his naked back.My breath catches, and my thigh muscles freeze.Without his clothes, this leader is overpowering.I swallow, and my heart hammers.Nothing has prepared me for those shoulders that seem hewn out of stone. His biceps flex, and I don’t need to touch them to know they’ll be hard and ungiving, like the rest of that body he is so ca
ALPHAS COMMAND Rocky
“Don’t challenge me.” I keep my voice casual when every part of me aches to cover her body with mine.Waves of fear roll from her. Yet she holds up her fists in front of her.The skin stretches white over her knuckles.Standing on the bed that is on a raised platform, she is still not at eye level with me.I frown. “You are tiny.”Her chest rises and falls; her thick hair curls over her face and around her neck. Red highlights gleam in it. How will it feel to have those locks wrapped around my palm as I yank back her head and close my mouth around those delectable lips?“My looks are deceptive.” She raises her head and meets my gaze.“I said tiny…not fragile,” I smirk. “Your will is strong enough that you walked into my turf and took me on, not to mention facing down a crowd of leaders. Clearly, you are also stupid.”“Stup
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THE LOCAL SHERIFF and his deputy arrived first. I was still a little lightheaded from the gunshot, or maybe from discovering I was a shifter, but years of protocol pushed to the forefront.“Agent Johnson?”“Yes, sir.”After I’d shifted back, I’d called Vaughn and tried to convince him to send backup, so we could catch whoever showed up with the empty trailer for the cows and drugs, but he wouldn’t have it—especially after he heard I’d already been shot at. He’d notified the sheriff to get there immediately, and the sheriff had arrived with lights flashing, which prockyably meant whoever was responsible for driving the drugs across the border would keep right on driving past.I kept my hand over the wound at my side as I reached out to shake his hand.John and Jenny had brought me a change of clothes, which I’d stained a little with blood from
ALPHAS COMMAND Rocky
CATHY STRUGGLED, rolling to her side, then emitting a yip of pain. She was panicking, her amber eyes wild and almost feral. This hadn’t been one of her secrets. I was sure of it. She hadn’t known she was a wolf—or part wolf— because she sure as hell had smelled like a human before.Which meant… she’d never shifted before and only did so now because of the pain of being shot. Her biology kicked in to save her life. No one had seen her like this before. No one knew how perfect she was… human or wolf.I stroked my hand over her soft fur. “Shh… settle.” I put alpha command in my voice. “It’s all right. There’s nothing to be afraid of. You’re a shifter, like me. That’s why my wolf chose you.” I smiled down at her. “I know you hurt, but shifting is a good thing. You’ll heal and quickly. Your body knows what to do. Don’t be afraid, you’re go
ALPHAS COMMAND Rocky
I KNEW IMMEDIATELY GRACE—CATHY—WASN’T in the house. I would’veheard her breathing. Hell, even her pulse. Now that I’d made the choice that she was to be mine… officially, my wolf was attuned to her. Or the lack of her.Her scent was in the air around the exterior of the house but not strong. There was a distinct path of the scent. She rarely used the front door. My wolf picked her up going in and out of the back door more. I followed across the back porch and back down the steps, across the grass and toward—“Fuck,” I said, cutting through the night. She was at Sam’s.I knew it. My wolf knew it. It was after eleven. Unless she was at his place to fuck, she was there for work. I didn’t even give the first any thought. I’d satisfied her. She didn’t need Sam for that. Besides, now that I could see past my anger at her secrets, I knew she wo
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I WATCHED Sam’s place from the master bedroom window all evening. His fancy pickup truck had been gone all afternoon. My guess was he’d gone to pick up the drugs from wherever Murrieta dropped them. I didn’t take Sam for the kind of guy to go pick up drugs. It was beneath a billionaire to get his hands dirty. But he was the minion now. Murrieta’s mule. Literally. Unfortunately, we didn’t know about that angle of the operation, but if we got Sam in cuffs and in an interrogation room, we’d be able to get the details. Especially if we had him with the drugs. To Murrieta, Sam was a little fish. As for Sam, he only cared about himself, and if he could finagle any kind of deal with the DEA, I figured he’d squeal like a pig.I kicked myself for not seeing him leave, so I could tail him, but so long as I got him with the drugs now, we were in business.It was eleven o’clock when I heard the crunch of t
ALPHAS COMMAND Rocky
THE SHAKING of my bed made me groan.“Get up, asshole.”“What the fuck?” I growled.“You’ve had two days.”Seth.“I’ve never known you to drink yourself into a fucking stupor.” John.I blinked, tried not to have sharp spikes drill into my skull as I did so. My bed was soft. Warm. I didn’t want to move. I was pretty sure I’d been in it for twenty-four hours straight.“I’m keeping away the moon madness,” I muttered. “And thoughts about Grace. I mean, Cathy. Whatever the fuck her name is.”One of them kicked the bed.My stomach flip flopped.“You smell like the floor at Cody’s after closing.” Again, Seth.“Are you still wearing the same clothes as at the picnic?” Fucking John. Groaning, I sat up facing the window. It was dark
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I MARCHED to the end of the property and split the barbed wire to step between it.Rocky and I had repaired the fence where the bull came through, but I had yet to confront Sam about it. I’d been saving it as an excuse to be on his property at some point. And truthfully? I’d been too wrapped up in spending time with Rocky for the last week to use that excuse.Now? It was time.I’d wasted a week, but now I was back on the job.Except the time hadn’t been wasted. It had been everything I needed to live. Now it was all gone. Returning to the life I had before Rocky felt like jumping in a lake with cement shoes on.Nothing could be done about that.I’d hurt him. He wasn’t going to forgive me. Even if he did, I couldn’t stay. I had a job back in Phoenix. Or wherever I went on assignment next.Except that thought made the brick in the pit of my s
ALPHAS COMMAND Rocky
WHAT THE FUCK was I going to do? In the past eighteen years as alpha, I’d never come across such a fucking mess. I was used to working out prockylems for other people. Handling disputes. Leading mating ceremonies. Funerals. But this?It was all about me.I stood stiff and still as the she-wolf was brought to me for introductions. My pack wanted to match me to this alpha’s daughter. I’d balked at the idea because Grace was to be mine.But what in the fuck did it matter?Grace wasn’t Grace. The whole thing had been a lie.I didn’t have a mate.And my pack needed me to take one.Maybe they were right. Maybe I had no fucking sense of what a mate was.That had been proven, loud and clear, when John had helped suss out the truth.How long would she have faked it with me?Unlike Cathy, this pack princess was a shifter. She would ease the minds of assholes like Nat
ALPHAS COMMAND Cathy
I STOOD ROOTED to the ground, staring at the beautiful alpha wolf meant for Rocky. The one Layla had told me about.Oh God.This was the train wreck I saw coming.Rocky wasn’t looking at her, though. He was looking at me—the pain of betrayal burning in his gaze. I’d made him look at me that way. It was my own doing.I scrambled into the car and rushed to start it. I had to get away. Leave him to get on with his life. I backed up fast, tires skidding the dirt, then took off for home.Home. Ha. What a joke.I tried to stay strong, but halfway back to the house, I broke down and cried the whole rest of the short drive. It was any wonder I didn’t end up in a ditch. Everything I’d thought would happen, had. Rocky learned the truth and felt slighted. No, that wasn’t the right word. Betrayed.He’d bared his soul, and that of his community, to me
ALPHAS COMMAND Rocky
WE WERE NEARING the full moon, but this wasn’t a get together to shift and run in the moonlight. Instead, it was an afternoon picnic. By five o’clock, about twenty pack members were in the field behind the house. Usually, we met in the barn, so there was some shade and a roof in case it rained, but the construction project wasn’t finished. Sawhorses with boards across were set up as tables for the hefty quantity of food everyone brought. From Layla’s and Jenny’s potato salad to peach pie, hamburgers and even homemade ice cream had been devoured. The Barn Cats were tuning their instruments and setting chairs beneath a tree where they’d perform. Some laid out blankets, so they could sit and listen. Others had brought fold-up chairs.Grace sat beside me in a pretty green sundress that matched her eyes and had me wanting to slip the little straps off her shoulders and devour what was beneath. I’d kept as close as I could to her since she
