Chapter three - Calista

"Cal, he's done, meet you there." The unexpected sound of Briella's voice has me jumping off my bed and hurrying to my wardrobe.

"Already? That was fast." I assumed he'd want to waffle on, asserting his new found power and dominance for hours yet, I've not even thought about what I would wear.

All the other Alpha's I've met have relished in the opportunity to celebrate themselves, but this guy's barely kept them there for a couple of hours.

What's he playing at? 

"Yep! See you there in twenty!" She cuts the mindlink and I pull out the first thing I see that looks suitable, a pretty blue dress, and throw it on, glad I decided to shower straight after training earlier.

My hair has dried against my pillow, giving me a sexy bed head look, which I don't try to alter and, after doing my makeup, I grab my shoes and rush out of the door, keeping to a gentle jog so I get there in time but also don't get all sweaty.

Briella is already waiting at the entrance to the club when I get there, she's with Mariah, Olivia, Ed and Oscar, all of them are buzzing with excitable energy.

"Where's Sarah?" I ask, scanning the doorway to see if she's flirting with the bouncers or something.

"The Alpha took her away. Hopefully she'll make it out later." Mariah says and my neck clicks with the speed I spin to look at her. 

"Please tell me that's not why he ended things quickly?" I gape at her, horrified that the new Alpha is already working his way through the women of the pack like some creepy Lothario.

"Pot, kettle."

Kendra giggles inside my head.

"I don't mess around with pack members. Whose side are you on? Traitor."

I huff back, my outrage towards this new Alpha increasing even more.

"... doubt it, her dad sent her home and he looked furious." Mariah shifts her eyes towards the others. They know something they don't want to tell me and now I regret not going. 

"I told you." Kendra gloats from inside my head.

"I bet you anything she's grounded for at least a week." Olivia avoids my gaze, stepping towards the queue and the others quickly follow, pulling me along with them.

"Ronan's a teddy bear. She'll be out as soon as she's apologised." They exchange another look and I can't wait for them to get around to telling me, I need to know now. "Ok, what is it? What did she do wrong?"

"She just misspoke… about you taking over the pack... To the new Alpha." I feel the blood drain from my face at Briella's words. I knew this was a possibility, but combined with my no-show this evening and there's no doubt the new Alpha will be pissed off. "He took her into a side room, I don't know what she'll have told him in private but she wouldn't look at us when she left."

"Oh crap. He's going to want to assert his authority over us." Kendra mutters. "I told you we should have gone."

"Don't think about it until tomorrow. We'll enjoy tonight and deal with whatever he's going to throw at us tomorrow." I reply to her, resigned to the fact I'll get to see what sort of man he is much earlier than I anticipated.

"She'll be ok, if Ronan sent her home then it'll be him punishing her, not the new Alpha." Turning my attention back to my friends, I see the tension leaving them now that they've told me and know I'll solve whatever problem they think might have been coming our way.

Soon the talk goes back to the new Alpha and even the guys seem impressed with him which is annoying.

"He's breathtaking." Olivia coos as we reach the front of the queue. I roll my eyes, nodding at the familiar bouncer who waves us straight in with a wink.

"And unmated." Mariah adds, a sly grin forming on her face. "Imagine being mated to Alpha Zachariah."

"I'd be first in line. Actually, I'd knock everyone out of my way to be the first and only one in line." Briella giggles, deftly sliding in front of us all as we go through the door.

I glance at Ed and Oscar, but they've already gotten bored of the discussion about how amazing and pretty the new Alpha is and are making their way towards a group of girls. 

That's the last we'll see of them tonight.

"The new Alpha…" Olivia starts.

"Drinks?" I interrupt, needing something to take the edge off if they're going to carry on like this all night long. 

He can't be that attractive!

Mate talk is unavoidable living in a pack but it still makes me uncomfortable. I've been focused on running the pack for so long and, because it's always been a male position, I knew that whoever I ended up with would automatically assume they would take the Alpha role from me, so I was always unsure about whether I actually wanted to meet my mate.

But now it's been taken from me anyway. I knew it would happen, but I still wasn't ready for it and I'm no closer to being ready to meet my mate either, I've got to figure out what to do with my life now that I'm not going to be running a pack.

Not tonight though, tonight I will forget all my problems, just for one night, so, while they carry on discussing the apparently numerous attractive qualities of our new Alpha, I head to the bar, ordering a round of drinks and two shots each for us all. 

By the time I get back to the table, they've thankfully ceased their talk about him and are instead surveying the room for potential dance partners for the evening.

The club is outside anyone's territory, which means there's a mix of creatures, including several humans. None of whom have any inkling as to what we are, although most sense something about us, confusing it for drunken desire and therefore are often the prime target for a partner when you need someone easy to entertain yourself for an evening. 

I spot a cute blonde guy dancing with his friends and he smiles when our eyes meet, beckoning me over with a flick of his hand. 

I've been caught out by this before, so I keep my eye on him for a few minutes, waiting to see if he's with another girl, but when there doesn't seem to be anyone with him, I finish my drink and head his way.

His smile is blinding when he sees me stand up and he takes a few steps away from his friends, giving me a knowing wink.

Humans, they're so much fun! 

I smile back at him as my friends follow me towards the dancefloor, all of us swaying to the music and parting in odd directions, each dancing their way towards a selected partner. 

My eyes are locked with those of the cute blonde and we make our way towards one another as though there's no one else around.

We're only a couple of feet apart when a firm pair of hands grip around my waist and I'm enveloped in the pleasant homely scent of freshly cut grass.

"New werewolf."

Kendra states the obvious as we're tugged back against a hard chest which is swaying perfectly to the music.

The cute blonde stops in his tracks and I can only imagine the look on the werewolf's face because the blonde scurries away without another glance in my direction.

Great! There go my plans for the night!

I turn to face him, ready to tell him off and my breath catches. He's extraordinary. Jet black hair sits scruffily on his head, as though it's too dominant to be tamed, his green eyes swirl with a deep mahogany and his body is gigantic, hard and muscular. The edge of a tattoo peeks out from the neck of his black shirt and the tingles increase as I wonder what it is and how much of his body is covered. 

He's obviously important but he's reining in his aura so I can't quite tell what rank, at the very least a Gamma, he's not the Beta we met earlier although he could easily be the Beta from another pack, which is much more appealing. 

I don't have to shut this down if he's from a different pack.

"He's delicious." Kendra murmurs, her ears flicking forward with interest.

"He is." I agree, stepping closer to him and feeling his arms tighten around my waist.

"Please tell me you're not with the new Alpha that's just moved into the East River Pack?" I say in his ear. He leans back, his eyes fixed on mine again as he nods slowly, holding me close as he moves us to the music. Reluctantly, I shake my head and try to pull away, feeling his arms tense to keep me against him. "Shit, I don't do pack members, sorry."

"Make an exception." He almost purrs in my ear, his voice is lower than any I've heard before, more of a rumble in his stomach and the hairs on the back of my neck raise with it. 

"Make an exception!" Kendra almost drools in my ear, effectively removing the last shred of willpower to extricate myself from the solid, ample arms of the beautiful creature in front of me.

"What's your name?" He growls seductively and my body wants to melt into his.

"Fine, but if this goes wrong, I'm blaming you!" I attempt to snap at Kendra, but she just chuckles at how easily my resolve has crumpled.

"Cally." I tell the man.

A flicker of recognition passes across his face, his eyebrows drawing down into a frown. They've obviously been told about the work I did for my dad when he was sick. I'm not sure if that's good or bad with a new Alpha coming in to take over, but this guy doesn't look impressed.

"Cally." He repeats, his lips and tongue wrapping around the individual syllables as he enunciates my name slowly. "I'm Zac."

"Hi." Pulling me against him again, his breath tickles my hair and caresses my skin as he inhales my scent and I wonder if I'm as appealing to him as he is to me.  

"How old are you Cally?" His irises swirl deeper with the mahogany, as though his wolf is trying to come out and he's fighting to keep him at bay.

"Twenty, you?" I try to pull back a little to give him space to get under control but he clasps me tightly to his chest and breathes me in again.

"Twenty? So you're unmated still and unaware of who your mate will be." He says, although it feels like he's talking more to himself than me and when he focuses on me again, his eyes are back to green.  Briefly I'm not so upset that a new Alpha has moved in if it brings men like this into the area. "Interesting."

"How old are you?" I repeat the question after we've been silently swaying to the music for a few minutes. 

"Twenty-three."

"Ok." Is all I can think to reply and he chuckles, another low rumble in his stomach.

"Are you not going to ask if I'm mated?" He asks and I shake my head. "Why not?"

"I don't think I could deal with either answer right now." I admit and then blush instantly, horrified that I said the words aloud.

He chuckles again. If he's mated I'd be gutted, if not, well, that opens up a lot more possibilities for this evening, ones I swore to myself I wouldn't do with any pack member since we all live in such close proximity. 

He brings his mouth to my ear, nipping it gently and I freeze.

"I'm not." He follows his words with a kiss to my neck that makes my toes curl. I squeeze my legs together, a dampness starting between them that will alert him, and everyone else in the room, to my desire for him, if they breathe in deeply enough.

"Ok, cool. Do you want a drink?" I say, stretching my neck so his lips can travel further but shuffling my feet away, fighting to take back control of myself.

"No and nor do you." He growls, suddenly lifting me and with inhuman speed, he pushes open a door to an office nearby. Carrying me into the darkened room, he kicks it closed, pushing the desk in front of it one handed, before crushing me against the wall and pressing his body tightly against mine.

"Oh yes!"

Kendra cheers in my head.

"Oh my Goddess." I exclaim at the same time, running my hands over his hard muscular back. 

"He's wonderful, can we keep him forever?"

Kendra asks, skipping around in my mind while Zac's hands roam around my body. 

"You never want to keep them, you'll be bored of him too by the end of the night." I laugh at her, aware that Zac seems to be watching me, waiting, knowing I'm not entirely present with him.

"Would you look at the man! I'll never get bored of him."

She sighs like a love struck puppy. I shake my head at her and feel Zac pull back, his eyes on me silently questioning if i want to continue. Kendra growls to get my attention. "Focus on him, idiot, don't mess this up."

Grabbing his collar, I pull him against me again, our mouths meeting in desperate hungry kisses and part of me thinks Kendra might be right, I can't ever imagine getting bored of this guy. I never lose control with anyone, but with this guy, the passion is all consuming and I'm running purely on desperate instinct.

His lips move from my mouth, along my jaw and down my neck and at the exact moment he nips at my skin, I flinch and he pushes his knee between my legs. There's no hiding the scent of my arousal.

"Fuck, you smell so good." He mutters, inhaling deeply and the green in his eyes is almost entirely consumed by the golden brown, his canines pushing against his lips as they lengthen. "Fuck, fuck."

His hands grab my thighs, pushing them further apart as he steps between them, his erection hard against my leg.

"What are you doing?" I ask Kendra when I feel my own canines lengthening. She never forces the change like this and certainly never a half change. This is getting rapidly out of control, but instead of trying to stop it, I feel myself dragging him closer.

A moan, coupled with Kendra's encouraging growl, escapes my mouth when his fingers get bolder, moving up until he's stroking the line of my panties.

My hands move to the button of his jeans, popping it open and tugging the zip down. Lost in the moment, I pull him closer, moaning in both pleasure and complaint when he pulls his mouth from mine, peppering kisses along my jawline.

"So you said you're a part of my pack?" He whispers directly into my ear, the gravel of his voice captivating so I don't register his words initially, although I'm vaguely aware of Kendra bristling.

"Stupid sexist werewolves, stupid new Alpha. He's been here a matter of hours and it's already his pack." Kendra grumbles in my mind. "Let's go back to the blonde outside."

"Two seconds ago you were telling me you wanted this one forever." I remind her softly, enjoying the sensations running through my body. 

Her reticence is from pride, she still wants this man but won't admit it, so instead she flops down in a sulk and I chuckle before returning my attention to the wonderful Adonis still nibbling on my earlobe.

"Yes. Although it's my pack." I breathe out my reply, feeling Kendra's satisfaction that we've at least made our point. 

"Then why weren't you at the welcome this evening?" His voice is like a caress, but the words make me pause my exploration of the tattooed chest beneath his shirt. 

He's tense, his face still millimetres from mine but he's stopped kissing me, studying me and waiting for my answer. My body tenses, Kendra's ears flick up, suddenly alert and I'm suddenly very aware we're locked in a room alone, with no one knowing I'm here. 

Shit! 

"What if the new Alpha sent someone out here to get rid of us?" Kendra asks and by the danger emanating from the man in front of me, I'd say that's a very real possibility.

"I was there." I squeak and he steps away from me, leaving his trousers undone but crossing his arms over his chest. I would laugh at the absurdity of it all except the atmosphere of the room suddenly feels deadly. Clearly my throat, I meet his gaze and force a calm almost bored inflection into my tone. "There's so many new people for you all to meet, perhaps you just didn't notice me."

"We're dead. I told you we should have gone. Why do you never listen to me?" Kendra complains, keeping her full attention on the guy in front of me.

"Shut up, we'll be fine." I snap back at her, although I'm actually in no way certain that we will be fine. The man in front of me is exuding carefully controlled rage in huge terrifying waves, letting his powerful aura slip through and although I can fight, I've heard about the way his old pack trains and I'm pretty sure even if I do manage to beat him, I'll be hunted by the other men in the pack, my friends too.

"Who am I?" He growls, his eyes getting darker with his anger.

"Um… Zac?" My eyes dart around the room, but there's only one door in and out, which is currently locked and guarded by a hulking, furious man-beast.

"I specifically told everyone to come. Why didn't you? Where were you?" He snarls, allowing the full force of his aura to fill the room.

"Oh crap."

Kendra gasps in my head, but I don't have time to listen to her since it looks like we're about to be killed.

"I was there." I lie, badly. My pulse starts to race, panic setting in. "Just because you didn't see me doesn't mean…"

"Sit down Cally!" The authoritative command thunders through the room and automatically I scramble into the chair beside me. The realisation of who he is falling into place seconds later. 

Who would have thought the Alpha would come clubbing, all alone and drag me into a room under the pretense of seducing me, just to punish me. It's a shame he's about to kill me, he's suddenly become a lot more interesting.

"Shit, I'm sorry, you're right, we're dead." I tell Kendra, but she's already buzzing with adrenaline.

"I can fight him, I don't think I'll win, but at least we'll die fighting."

She answers, snapping her attention back to Alpha Zachariah.

He's standing in front of me, his anger almost palpable in the room, staring at me with so much power and aggression that I think it's unwise to even squirm without his say so. 

He strides across to me, leaning down until we're face to face, our bodies only inches apart.

"Did you think I'd take one look at your pretty face and ignore the blatant disregard of my very first order?" His nostrils flare like he's inhaling my scent and the anger in his eyes fades just a little bit. They flicker down to my lips momentarily before he shakes his head as though trying to clear fog from his brain.

"He thinks you're pretty at least?" Kendra jokes, strangely calm in the face of our impending death, but the atmosphere seems to have changed, although he's still furious, I don't actually think he's going to kill me. 

He's just super pissed I'm disobeying him, as though he expected me to just step down without issue.

"No." I shake my head, standing up and forcing him to take a step back to let me.

"No, what?" He snarls, likely realising what he's done because he moves closer again, our chests touching but I'm no longer afraid of him.

"No, Alpha." I smile and his lips twitch with the effort of not smiling back. 

He's pissed, but he's not a monster.

"Enlighten me." He says, taking a few steps away from me and leaning against the door, his arms across his chest once again and his eyes never leaving my face. It feels like this is a practiced pose and he's relying on looking intimidating rather than really feeling it. "Why didn't you come?"

"I just decided not to." I shrug, waiting to see what his reaction will be.

"I understand." He says, standing upright, his eyes still raking over my face as though he's trying to work something out.

"That makes one of us." Kendra adds. I can feel her relief that he's not about to kill us, but I can feel her worry that that means there's something else in store, something worse. We'll discuss it later, but I'm now almost a hundred percent certain that this Alpha is no threat to us.

"You will report to my office at six am tomorrow for your punishment." He says, turning and sliding the desk back into place. "Go home now and get some rest."

"Why do I have to leave now?" He visibly tenses in front of me, the muscles of his back straining through his shirt.

"Why?" Kendra howls miserably in my head. "Why could you not just do what you were told?"

"The blonde might still be around." That silences her pitiful howls and she's fully on board with poking the angry Alpha now.

"What?" He snaps, his back still to me. I hear the threatening tone, but apparently it no longer has any effect on me.

"I'll be at your office at six, like a good little girl. I just don't understand why I have to leave now? I'm out with my friends."

I'm swiftly pinned against the wall behind me. Alpha Zachariah's face an inch from mine, breathing heavily, his green eyes swirling darker as he suppresses his wolf, who is obviously fighting to emerge and dominate me. 

A shiver of desire runs through me at the thought and Kendra is obviously feeling the same because she is begging for me to kiss him again. 

"You dare to question my orders? Again?" He growls, his gaze lowering to my mouth when I lick my lips.

"He wants you, he just won't allow himself to give in while you're being disrespectful. Behave and we can have him." Kendra preens vainly inside my head, loving the fact that this angry Alpha can't resist us, even though he wants us to submit and we won't.

I, on the other hand, am less impressed now I know who he is and am more than ready to be away from him.

"No, I was just asking." I look him directly in the eyes, showing him I've no intention of submitting to him and he shoves himself away from me.

"Get back to your house. Now. I will check periodically to ensure compliance." He growls as I stroll towards the door. "Cally. Do not test me again."

"Zac." His eyes meet mine when I call his name, the mahogany swirling around the green. I gesture towards his jeans that are still undone, a prominent bulge coming from his underwear. "You might want to fix that before you leave the room."

Chuckling to myself as I leave, I scan the room for the blonde, but he's already sucking face with another girl and the only guy Kendra is now interested in, is the one in the room we've just left. I need to go before she convinces me to go back in there and annoy him until he ravishes me.

"I've got to leave. Upset Alpha rage-a-lot. Have a good night and see you tomorrow." I send to my friends, before I change my mind.

"He's here? Where?" Olivia gasps, the excitement bubbling into my head.

"Got to admit he's attractive though, isn't he?" Briella chimes in and I can practically see the grin she'd be wearing.

"Try upsetting him and then see what you think. He's over by the manager's office Liv." I giggle, looking back to see he's standing in the doorway of the room, his glowering gaze following my every movement. 

"It was good before we knew who he was though."

Kendra says, happier now she's seen him again and felt his attention on us.

"What do you think the punishment will be tomorrow though?" He raises his eyebrows at me, and I smile, thinking that actually the terrifying look on his face isn't anywhere near as terrifying as he would want it to be.

"Goddess knows. Maybe he'll spank you." She's reverted to her usual excitable self, scanning the room for anyone else to enjoy but coming up with nothing. "Can I run home please? I need to get rid of some of this energy and it won't be the way I'd prefer."

I nip around the back of the club, stripping off and bundling my clothes into a ball, just as Zachariah turns the corner and glares at me, presumably thinking I'm disobeying him again. 

Quickly shifting into Kendra's wolf form, I sprint off as quickly as I can towards home.

A sense of relief fills me as my tiny house comes into view, thankful for the first time that I chose to move out of the pack house and live alone on the outer edge of the territory. 

I tumble through the front door, locking it behind me and shifting back into my human form.

"Very nice." The now all too familiar voice comes from behind me and I jump, spinning around to see Alpha Zachariah lounging on my sofa. "Not hugely fast though."

"What are you doing in my house?" I snap. He fixes his eyes on mine, watching as I walk towards the sofa to grab a blanket and cover myself.

"You forgot these outside of the club." In seconds he's standing in front of me, dropping my bundled up clothing so I have to reach out to grab them. 

Without warning, he reaches out, running his finger along the exposed skin of my shoulders and down my arm.

"Get out of my house." I growl, anger and desire mixing in a deep blush that spreads over my face and chest.

"You keep saying that, but it's not true." He smirks, stepping even closer to me, clearly unhappy with me getting the last word in at the club, he's decided to try again. I'd feel in a much strong position if I wasn't naked right now.

I step back and he follows, another step and another, until I'm against the door with nowhere to go and he's pressed against me. 

"Everything here is mine, Cally. Every inch of land, every house, every wolf. Including you." He tugs at the blanket, losing it around my chest. "If I wanted to, I could take you, right where you stand."

"Like to see you try." I mutter and in a flash, his mouth is on my neck, his hips pushing against mine.

"Don't you dare Kendra."

I warn, feeling her encouragement brewing inside my head, but it's too late. A whine of pleasure escapes my lips, she takes over, pushing my body against his. He grabs my legs, wrapping them around his waist and pressing me tighter against the door, his hard erection rubbing between my legs.

Fight it Cally. 

I tell myself, since Kendra seems to be working against me and intentionally spurring him on.

Lifting me like a ragdoll, he carries me to the sofa, kissing his way down my neck and along my shoulders. 

Hating myself for enjoying it so much, I final give in to Kendra and my hormones. Grabbing his shoulders to pull him closer to me, and arching my  back to press against him. 

He grabs the blanket, tossing it across the room while I push down his shorts, desperate to release his cock.

Suddenly, he's standing up, breathing hard and looking down at me with a satisfied, smug grin.

"Like I said." With another glance at my spread-eagled form beneath him, he turns and walks to the door. "Six am, Cally." 

And then he's gone, the door slamming shut behind him.

"Well, that was different."

Kendra giggles. 

"It was awful."

I reply, dwelling on the deep humiliation of giving in so easily. I should have controlled myself. 

"You can't lie to me, idiot. I feel what you feel and that felt good."

She makes some appreciative noises in my head and I know she's thinking about him. "Come on, go to bed. Six am. I can't wait!"