All Chapters of Worthless No More • Alpha's Treasure •: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

"What are you sniffing at, Alpha?" Donna had asked sharply through the phone. "It sounds like that nose is going to get you in trouble."Daniel wasn't aware he had his nose in the air, like a dog, or wolf, that came across something interesting, until Donna mentioned it. The wily bastard had locked on to a scent that was sweet and lightly citric.What the hell? He frowned as he traced it back to the woman with the sunglasses. He could feel his wolf's contented purr as the smell became stronger when she lifted her face up to the sun and shook her hair, letting the dark, loose waves fall behind her. His wolf was drunk on her pleasant fragrance, rolling around as it wrapped around them. Daniel leaned into his notepad on the table, exasperated at its antics.The woman looked radiant basking in the sun with her head tilted slightly back. He enjoyed the way a smile hinted at the corners of her mouth and wondered briefly what her lips tasted like as his eyes traced their curves. He admitted

The past several days blended in to each other as Samantha stayed close to the house. Her attempt to enter the boutique left her feeling broken, defeated and frustrated. She knew the feelings would persist as long as her eye was this fantastic shade of eggplant. It had been three days now and each day, the bruise darkened with no sign of abating any time soon.The only saving grace to any of this was Richard still hadn't come back home or reached out to her. The longer he stayed away, the more she dreaded seeing him again and the pit in her stomach grew heavier knowing they were going to have to have a very difficult talk eventually.The afternoon she came home from the restaurant, she had looked around the house, lost. She laid on her bed and cried. It didn't get her anywhere, nor did it help ease the dull ache inside. She ran a hot bath and added Himalayan sea salt to it, hoping the warmth would penetrate into her chilled core, but sat in the tub with her arms curled around her knee

Daniel's eyes popped open with a start. The soft tap on the door was just enough to rouse him from his deep slumber. He checked the clock on the nightstand and it read four pm. Dammit. He meant to be awake before now.He got up and threw a tee shirt on, over his dark jeans, as he opened the door and found Lucas lazily leaning against the opposite wall in the hallway with his arms crossed."Sorry to wake you from your beauty sleep," he drawled, not looking the least bit apologetic. “Donna sent me to get you so she could have a word with you before the cookout officially starts.""I'm surprised she didn't get me herself," Daniel mused as he left the door open and put his shoes on."Why would she when she knows she can get me to do it," Lucas grumbled good naturedly.Daniel followed Lucas down the stairway. As they descended, the smell of food became thicker in the air, making his stomach rumble and remind him it had been a long time since his last meal. He could hear Donna just outside,

Daniel lifted his face up to the full moon and let his wolf wash up through and over him. It wasn't a seamless transition, not even for an Alpha such as him. Being a werewolf was initially called a curse for a reason, but with his pack and full moon present, his shift came relatively easy and painlessly and he accepted it for the blessing it had become.There of course was the pain as his bones broke and reshaped, but by now it was one he was familiar with and barely gave it a thought. A lot of movies like to portray the lengthening of the jaw and snout as the transformation works its way down, but in reality, the change starts in the spine between the shoulders. The kinder way to describe it, without detail, would be to say it began at his shoulders and rippled out, like a rock tossed into a still pond.But it wasn't that simple or serene.

Samantha received the box and looked at it as she shut the door. Richard Covington. She set it in his study while she cursed herself for not putting sunglasses on before she opened the door. The delivery man's warning echoed in her ears.She knew he was right. She knew the pattern of abuse and how it escalated. At least when it happened to somebody else. Being in and living the situation makes it difficult to see. The chance for real change, from either party, was very slim once those patterns were established.She knew right now, she needed that change to keep from getting sucked into the vortex of misery. Her heart and body were bruised in ways she’d never felt before. If this wasn’t their breaking point, which it seemed to be with his continued absence and sile