Home / Werewolf / The Denver Alpha / Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

All Chapters of The Denver Alpha: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

43 Chapters

11

COLESqueezing my eyes closed, I try to focus. I’ve never had this problem before. It’s probably just stress. I’ve had a lot going on lately and I haven’t been sleeping well.Focus, Cole.I conjure up an image in my mind. Blonde hair, perky tits. An ass to die for. She’s a sweet little girl nextdoor type, my go-to fantasy. She sinks to her knees and stares up at me, batting her lashes and blinking her big blue eyes. Those eyes start to change though, beginning to look familiar. Her tongue darts out to wet her lips as they tip into a devious smirk, and suddenly she’s not just a random dream girl, but the vision of someone very, very real. Someone off-limits. Still, the thought of her is the only thing that has inspired any blood flow down south for the last twenty minutes, so I let myself picture Juliet, even though I shouldn’t be.“What’s going on with you tonight, baby?” Rosie’s voice breaks through the fantasy forming in my mind, shattering it in an instant.I heave an annoyed sigh,

12

The Denver Alpha/C.J. Primer

JULIETI’m just putting the finishing touches on my makeup- a sultry smoky eye look with winged liner- when my cell phone begins vibrating on the bathroom counter, the screen lit up with an incoming call. I pop the mascara wand back in the tube and glance down, expecting it to be Kylie calling since we made plans to go out to a club called Hydra tonight after we both interviewed for jobs at Jokers earlier. It’s not her name I see on the screen, though; it’s a number I don’t recognize. I don’t usually answer calls from unknown numbers, but since the first three digits are a Denver area code, I pick it up with a hesitant, “Hello?”“Is this Juliet Anderson?” a male voice asks on the other end of the line. Wherever he is, it’s loud. I can hear the roar of music and voices, clattering glass, and a cacophony of other sounds I can’t quite place.“This is Juliet,” I reply tentatively, not recognizing the voice of the caller.He breathes what sounds almost like a sigh of relief. “Juliet, this

13

The Denver Alpha/C.J. Primer

COLE I can endure a lot of things in the name of professionalism. Grating personalities, poor manners, terrible jokes. I’ve looked past all of those things when it comes to Gavin Holley, the new liquor distributor in town that has been courting me for my business, because regardless of whether he’s an obnoxious blowhard (which he is) his prices undercut all of the other local distributors, meaning better profit margins for my pack’s bars and clubs. I don’t have to like Gavin in order to do business with him. I do, however, have to tolerate the guy and maintain a cordial and amicable relationship, which is easier said than done as the night wears on and I’m forced to bear witness to the kind of man he really is. The kind who tosses money around like it’s endless, downs drinks like a sloppy frat boy, and shamelessly hits on a nineteen-year-old girl who’s just trying to do her job. A job that I’m not sure how she wound up with, but I’ll be having words with Jason before the night’s ove

14

The Denver Alpha/C.J. Primer

JULIETThe scent of Italian food wafts from the kitchen as I step through the doorway to enter, my stomach immediately responding with a loud grumble in protest. I skipped lunch today in favor of buckling down and getting some of my required reading out of the way before classes start. I’ve only got two weeks left to tackle all of it, and as interesting as I find the material, I’d like to get it done sooner rather than later so I can enjoy the last couple weeks of summer before diving into my studies.And yeah, maybe immersing myself in my textbooks was a distraction tactic, too. If my mind isn’t busy, it starts to wander back to last night and I either start overthinking everything that happened between Cole and me or I get hot and bothered all over again and end up rubbing one out.Seriously.I’ve already gotten myself off twice today thinking about what we did in that office, no shame. It was the hottest thing I’ve ever experienced. Not that I’ve done much to compare it to, but I’m

15

The Denver Alpha/C.J. Primer

COLEHeat lightning cracks across the sky in the distance, illuminating the canopy of leaves in the forest for a brief moment as I throw my head back and drag in a deep inhale. All I can scent is the rain. The earth beneath my paws is soft and wet from the downpour when the storm came through here, fast and furious, and I can feel mud squidging between the pads of my toes as I stalk through the dark woods, searching.The rain has slowed to a drizzle, my wolf’s thick coat wicking away the moisture as I creep through the foliage. I won’t be able to rely on my sense of smell, so I’m channeling my other senses, relying on my animal instincts and going with my gut to point me in the right direction. Despite my massive size in my shifted form, I’m quiet as I travel through the familiar woods on four paws. My wolf is adept at the hunt; silent but deadly.Small animals realize too late that I’m nearby, skittering away to conceal themselves in the thick brush as I pass. They have nothing to fe

16

The Denver Alpha/C.J. Primer

JULIETIt’s not like me to be nervous, but here I am, heart pounding, palms sweating as I approach Cole’s office in the packhouse. I can’t remember the last time I was ever this jittery. Maybe I shouldn’t have had that third cup of coffee this morning.Things weren’t weird between us after what happened in the office at Jokers, so why should they be now? I mean, that kiss last night was far more chaste than what we did in the office. Except for the fact that we were naked. And the kiss was crazy intense. And things were escalating so quickly that I’m pretty sure he was about to bang me right there before we were interrupted.Yeah, that’s totally grounds for things to be weird between us today.Damnit.Breathe, Jules.I pause just outside of Cole’s office door, drawing in a deep breath and steadying my composure. This is fine. People do this all the time. I can’t go in there like the blushing virgin that I am or he’ll pick up on it right away and I’m betting it’ll spook him. He already

17

The Denver Alpha/C.J. Primer

COLE “Stay here,” I say sternly, staring intently into those big baby blues. “I mean it, Juliet.” She flops back against the passenger seat with an exaggerated eyeroll. “Whatever, Sarge,” she snarks, dismissing me with the flippant wave of a hand. Such a fucking brat. I’ll address that later, because right now, I have business to attend to. Heaving an exasperated sigh, I climb out of the Camaro and start toward the dilapidated redbrick building where I’m to meet Gavin Holley to drop off the signed contracts. I still can’t shake the feeling that there’s something off about the guy, but I had our IT team run another background check and again, he came up squeaky clean. So without a good reason to pull out of this deal, I’m moving forward with it in spite of my own reservations. I throw one more glance in Juliet’s direction before pulling the door open and stepping into the dimly lit back entryway of the building. It’s not ideal to have her along with me on this errand, both becaus

18

The Denver Alpha/C.J. Primer

JULIET“Jules, you have to try this one!” Shay gushes, holding up a hanger with a white crochet bikini dangling from it.Ashlyn peeks her head around from the other side of the clothing rack. “Ooh, totally,” she agrees. “I’ll bet a white swimsuit looks amazing against your skintone.”I don’t need to be convinced- the bikini is totally my style. I eagerly grab the hanger from Shay and add it to the growing collection of swimwear already clutched in my hands. I still need to try them all on, but I have a feeling I’m going to be leaving with quite a few of these. The best part about shopping for swimsuits at the end of the season is that they’re all on sale- the boutique we’re at has three full racks of suits that are marked down to bargain prices.I pluck another swimsuit off the rack, holding it out in front of me and tilting my head in consideration as I examine it closer. It’s a classic triangle top in black shimmery fabric with bottoms that tie at the hips to match.“I’m not sure if

19

The Denver Alpha/C.J. Primer

COLEThe police chief greets me as soon as I step into the station as if he’s been waiting on pins and needles for me to arrive. His loafers squeak against the linoleum floor as he rushes over, looking a bit frazzled and panting for breath. The man is in his mid-fifties, a little thick around the beltline and sporting a combover that gets sparser each time I see him, a telltale sign that he’s struggling to come to terms with the fact that he’s balding. He’s a little squirrely and high-strung, but the two of us have developed a good rapport over the years.“Cole, nice to see you,” he breathes, sticking out a hand for me to shake. His palm is sweaty when I do. It’s probably my fault- the chief is anxious by nature, and I’m sure it didn’t help that I was a little harsher than normal when I got him on the phone. He also knows I don’t typically call in favors, which I assume is why he’s seeing to this one personally.I knew something was wrong by the tone of Sam’s voice when he picked up S

20

The Denver Alpha/C.J. Primer

JULIET True to his word, Cole somehow made the whole getting arrested thing just go away, like it never happened. He must be really well connected- none of the alphas from the six-pack have that kind of pull with local law enforcement. Then again, we’re so far off the beaten path that the only police activity we get on the fringes of our territory is a random visit from a sheriff at the alliance-owned ski resort or brewery from time to time. I thought for sure that word of my little shoplifting incident would’ve made it back to my brother by now, but it has been nearly forty-eight hours and so far, crickets. He's not the only one I haven’t heard a peep from. Since fooling around with Cole on the ride home, I haven’t seen or heard from him, either. It’s not unusual for the man to be busy- he’s Alpha of the largest pack in the state, after all- but considering how things have been escalating between us lately, the last thing I expected was radio silence. Especially after he had his dic

1 2 3 4 5