Her Sweet Alpha

Chapter Two

Two Months Later…

“Two in your section, Halle,” Lizzy said in passing on her way to the kitchen.

Halle nodded. It was nearing closing time and she anticipated a warm bath and a cozy bed when she got home. It was sad, really, she thought to herself. She was only twenty-four and her evenings weren’t that different from that of her grandmother. Actually, her Grandma Annie got out more than Halle did as she was very active at the Senior Citizens Center in town. Halle’s social calendar was sadly lacking in events. Most nights she was simply too tired to make an effort. Take today for example. She’d pulled a double again and had been working since breakfast. Her feet ached and her shoulders felt tight. Heck, her entire body felt heavy with exhaustion.

She grabbed a couple of menus and headed for her section. Tonight, she was working the corner of booths near the windows to the left of the entrance. The menus weren’t really necessary. Emmett hadn’t changed the menu since Millie passed away fifteen years ago. Most people ordered the burger and fries. It was what Millie’s did best.

An adjacent booth obstructed her vision of the couple occupying her booth until she stood abreast of the first seat. “Hey, sexy,” Lamar said, smoothly with a slimy grin. Halle’s stomach dropped. She used to think his smile was hot and she’d told him so on numerous occasions. That was before he’d revealed himself to be a weak, cheating liar. Now just the sight of him made her want to throw up.

He didn’t frequent Millie’s Diner often. He’d moved away to attend trade school for a couple of years. And then he’d found work in another state. Last year he’d returned home. “Hello, Lamar. How’s your wife?” she asked pointedly.

Lamar laughed uproariously as though she’d said the funniest thing in the world. “Amy’s not my wife.” He held up his left hand and spun it to display the lack of a wedding ring. It was true. They never married. But they lived together and shared two children. Rumor had it that another baby was on the way. “Anyway, she’s out of town with the kids. She took them to see her mom.” He leaned forward, his gaze dropping to her chest. “That means I’ve got the house to myself.”

She made a noncommittal noise and handed him and his friend each a menu. She offered the latter a friendly smile. “What can I get for you this evening?”

Lamar grabbed her wrist, forcibly recapturing her attention. He licked his lips. “This place closes down in an hour or so, right? Why don’t you come over tonight? We could have drinks and catch up.”

“No,” she replied coolly. She tried to pull her arm away, but he only tightened his hold. Lamar persisted in his belief that she’d never gotten over him. It was true that she hadn’t had a serious relationship since they broke up, but it wasn’t because she continued to pine for Lamar. In truth, she found him repulsive and she couldn’t fathom what her teen self had ever seen in him. But then, maybe she was biased because of the pain he’d caused her. Now, she didn’t even like men who reminded her of him.

“Come on now, Halle. Remember when we—”

She glanced around to make sure no one was watching before she twisted her wrist sharply, wrenching out of his hold. “If I don’t place your order soon, the kitchen will close.”

“Even if they did, you’d go back there and make me something to eat, wouldn’t you sweet Halle? You used to like to bake for—”

“Lamar, cut,” his companion said gruffly. Halle had seen him around, but she didn’t know his name. “I’m hungry. I’ll have a burger, fries, and a Coke. I’d like the fries and burger with chili on top.” He handed Halle his menu.

“I’ll have the same,” Lamar said, returning his menu to Halle. When she took it, he stroked his fingers over hers.

Halle fought to hide a shudder of disgust. She nodded briskly and hurried off to the kitchen. She put in their orders and made their drinks.

“I’m so sorry,” Lizzy whispered, approaching the soda fountain. “I didn’t know who he was when he asked to be seated in your section.”

Halle glanced from Lizzy to Angela, who abandoning any pretense at work, sat in a booth gossiping with a friend. Lizzy was relatively new in town and probably the only person in the entire diner who didn’t know Lamar was her ex. It must have given Angela a thrill to have the opportunity to fill Lizzy in on her history with Lamar. It was just Halle’s luck that this was one of the rare nights when Angela had been unable to wriggle out of working the dinner shift.

“It’s okay, Lizzy.”

“If you like, I can serve their food if I’m available.” She nodded toward the glasses of soda. “I’ll take those drinks out,” she offered.

Halle smiled. Lizzy was truly sweet. “Thank you, Lizzy.” She handed over the sodas. “Do any of your tables need anything?”

“I’ve only the one remaining. They’ve paid and are having coffee. Give them a few minutes and check to see if they need refills.”

“Will do.”

***

Dade could not believe the lengths Mina had sunk to get him to mate her. She’d started small—showing up regularly whenever he went out. So, he cut back on his visits to Boyd’s Tavern. That’s when the “coincidental” run-ins started. He’d happen to see her at the grocery store or at the gas station. At the market, she’d inspected his cart, seen all the microwave dinners and frozen pizzas and offered to make him a homemade meal. While real food sounded good, he’d declined her offer. He was pretty sure she couldn’t cook and even if she could, having a homecooked dinner wasn’t worth it if he had to eat it with Mina.

Besides, he could cook. He just chose not to most nights. Why should he bother when he only had himself to feed?

Bumping into Mina every time he went out was damned annoying, but not nearly as irritating as her next step. She began popping up at his house. She brought him breakfast at five in the morning when he was still half-naked and half-awake. When that didn’t work, she’d been waiting on his porch with dinner when he returned from work. He’d grunted and walked right past Mina and her steaming pot of beef stew. His mother had raised him to never be rude or disrespectful to women. His mother would have been ashamed of his behavior of the last few weeks. Good thing she wasn’t in town. He’d slammed the door in Mina’s face even as she’d been talking.

Then the crazy bitch broke into his house. He’d come home to find Mina laying naked, masturbating in the center of his bed. Ordinarily, the scent of an aroused female would drive an unmated male wolf out of his mind with lust. Instead, it provided more proof of how far gone he was. His dick didn’t so much as twitch. And since she wasn’t his mate, he found the scent of her arousal offensive and infuriating. There was only one woman for him now and that wasn’t Mina.

Getting Mina out of there had been a nightmare. He’d wanted to toss her ass onto his front lawn—naked or not. He’d tried to reason with her. When that didn’t work, he’d attempted to dress her himself. That had resulted in her thoroughly groping him. When he lost patience, and feared he was on the verge of snapping her neck, he’d tossed her in the closet, blocked the door, and called Travis for help. Though Travis had near passed out with laughter, he’d arrived quickly with a couple of other pack members. They’d tossed a sheet over Mina and taken her home.

The final straw, the reason he was sitting here in this dinner, was when she broke into his house the second time. He’d sniffed her out in his bedroom closet. She’d come armed with silver handcuffs. He’d used them to lock her up while he called a meeting with the pack.

As Alpha, it was his job to discipline her, but there was no precedent for female shifter trying to force a mating. A male would have been reprimanded verbally and possibly physically if the offense was serious enough. As much as Mina had annoyed him, Dade couldn’t bring himself to hit a woman. He’d reprimanded her and threatened to expel her from the pack if there were any further incidents. The last threat was a final resort and unlikely to come to pass. Their pack was short on women and some of the other shifters were still interested. Shifters liked their women feisty. In this case, Dade thought that labeling Mina “feisty” was a kindness. He thought she was a fucking stalker.

Travis had suggested a construction job out of town—mainly to remove him from the situation. Dade had reluctantly agreed. This felt like running and he didn’t run from a fucking thing. He preferred to tackle his problems head-on. But he saw the sensibility in it. His leaving caused the least waves in the pack. Though Mina had been scolded, he’d seen the rebellious sparkle in her eyes. She had no intention of giving up. And since a verbal rebuke was as far as he could take her punishment without causing ripples of dissent, the best option at the moment was to remove himself from the situation. In a month when he turned thirty, Mina would give up.

So now he sat in a greasy spoon across from Travis on the way to some town up in the mountains to renovate some rich woman’s kitchen and bathroom. Jack was supposed to come with them, but he had a date he didn’t want to cancel. He’d meet up with them later. “I’m ready to leave,” Dade said.

“In a minute.” Travis leaned to the edge of their booth, craning his neck. Their waitress was a cute petite redhead and Travis had been tongue-tied at the sight of her. He’d always had a thing for gingers.

Dade sighed. “We’ve already had coffee. She’s ready for us to leave. If you wanted her number, you should have asked for it earlier.”

“I’m building up to it.”

Dade grunted. “Do you want me to ask for you?” They were only passing through this small town, but it was close enough to their town, only a few counties south. Technically, Dade was Alpha over any wolves who chose to settle in this area though none of his pack had done so. His territory ranged over five counties.

“No, I’ll do it when she comes back.”

“She’s not coming back. I heard her exchange tables with one of the other waitresses.” He hadn’t intentionally eavesdropped on their conversation, but werewolves had excellent hearing. “Her name is Lizzy. Go ask for her number so we can leave.”

Travis nodded and slid out of the booth. “Be back in a minute.”

Dade drained his coffee cup and winced at the bitterness of the brew. The waitress hadn’t been kidding when she said the only safe bets were the burgers and the fries. He’d thought coffee would be safe enough.

A hand appeared in his peripheral vision with a coffee pot. “Refill?”

He shook his head. And then he froze. Before he knew what he was doing, he’d grabbed her wrist and brought it to his nose. Notes of orange blossoms and vanilla. The scent was at once fresh and warmly sensual and arousing. Very arousing. Blood rushed to his long dormant cock. Dade growled.

Mate, his mind howled. This woman, this human, was his mate. Dade looked up at her. Stunned chocolate brown irises in a sweet cinnamon face stared back at him. She was girl next door pretty with a dash of sexy. Her eyes had an exotic catlike upward tilt at the corners. She’d secured her thick black hair into a ponytail at the base of her neck. A cute button nose topped a pouty mouth made for kissing. Her mouth wasn’t wide, but what it lacked in width, it made up for in plushness. He wasn’t a man who’d ever really enjoyed kissing, but he couldn’t wait to taste her mouth. Taste her everything. His gaze fell to the nametag she sported nicely on a rather plump set of tits. Halle, it said.

Keeping hold of her wrist, he stood, towering over her. He judged her to be of average height, but Alphas tended to be huge and he was no exception. That she was human was a bit of a surprise, but the draw that he felt toward her was so strong that he didn’t give a damn. He’d just have to be extremely gentle with her.

“C-could you let me go, please?” she asked, alarm seeping into her tone and facial expression.

“She has a boyfriend,” Travis said, coming up behind him.

“The hell she does,” Dade growled, backing Halle up against the nearest wall. “She’s mine.”

The coffeepot she held fell to the floor, shattering at their feet, and splashing them both with lukewarm coffee and shards of glass.

***

Halle knew her eyes had to be as wide as saucers. What the fuck? The question kept cycling over and over in her head though she wasn’t given to using profanity under ordinary circumstances. She would have been alarmed if any of their customers manhandled her this way, but this guy was no ordinary customer. The glowing gold eyes and rapidly growing facial hair were dead giveaways. He was a werewolf! And he thought she was his mate! That was impossible. He’d made a mistake.

Now to break it to him without making him so angry that he ripped her head off. Because, shit, he was ginormous. He could snap her like a twig without breaking a sweat. Not only was he tall, he was wide. Though she didn’t consider herself delicate by any means, she felt fragile in his hold. His broad plaid-covered chest and shoulders blocked out the rest of the world.

She shook her head. “I can’t be your mate,” she explained in what she hoped was a calm, soothing voice. “I’m not a werewolf,” she continued, though one glance at his handsome face was almost enough to make her wish that she could be his mate. His large yellow-gold eyes were surrounded by thick black lashes that intensified their bright color. A straight nose led to full, sensual lips. He had a square jaw under his recently sprouted stubble.

As if he didn’t hear her, he buried his face in her neck and inhaled deeply. Then he growled deep in his chest. The sound vibrated through her entire body. She squeaked when the sharp points of his teeth closed over her skin. His hot breath flowed down the neck of her shirt, over the curves of her breasts, making her nipples tighten. Damn, the feel of his teeth on such a vulnerable spot on her body should have been terrifying—not arousing. Yet, it was. It so was.

But that was insanity. She wasn’t going to become involved with a werewolf and it was best that she made that clear to him. She slapped her free hand on his chest and pushed to no avail. He moved closer until the space between their bodies disappeared.

“What the fuck is going on, D?” his friend asked, his tone an equal mix of surprise and confusion.

“Mate,” he ground out as though this explained everything.

And it seemed to for his friend. The cloud of uncertainty lifted from his face and was replaced with joyous wonder. “Dade, are you sure?”

Halle peered around her captor. Everyone in the diner watched them with varying degrees of shock, horror, and fear. For all their talk about what they’d do if confronted with werewolves, they’d frozen at the reality of meeting one. She’d receive no help on that front. His friend was her only hope.

“There seems to be some misunderstanding…. I’m not his mate. You see, I’m human.”

Dade sniffed her again, his nose pressed to her collarbone. His hips jerked, making her intimately aware of how aroused he was even before he groaned. She bit her lip to hold in a moan of her own. She was shocked at her body’s heated response to him. It had been a long time since she last dated, but that didn’t account for the way he made her feel. She’d never been this turned on. “She smells so fucking good.” His voice was like gravel. “Want to eat her….”

Well, that effectively put an end to her arousal. Did werewolves eat people? Halle whimpered and began to struggle. She tried to recall everything she’d heard and seen about werewolves. There wasn’t much. She’d been convinced that this would never happen. She did remember rumors that they liked their sex rough with lots of biting and scratching. There’d been a woman on television complaining about a dislocated hip after an encounter with a werewolf. At the time, Halle had scoffed, but the size of Dade had her reconsidering the feasibility of the woman’s claims. And he was strong. Despite her struggles, he held her easily.

“Dade, you’re scaring her,” his friend said. He turned to her. “He’s talking about eating your pussy.”

“Travis, don’t talk about my woman’s pussy,” Dade snapped.

Well aware of their rapt audience, Halle’s face grew hot. “Could you both, please, stop talking about it?”

Travis laughed, revealing strong white teeth, but unlike Dade, his looked perfectly normal. “I like her. Congratulations, Dade. Hey, this means we can go home.”

“That’s great,” Halle said. “You should go home,” she urged.

Dade stared down at her. His eyes glowed. He ran his tongue over his lips, his mouth parting enough that she glimpsed the sharp incisors that had almost pierced her skin. “You’re coming with me.”

His voice was deep and commanding and some part of her longed to obey him. But that was sheer madness and it would only lead to disappointment when he came to his senses.

“Um, no.”

“Yes,” he contradicted with a nod. He rolled his hips against hers. “I can’t fuck you here, Halle.” He finally released her wrist. Both of his hands cruised down her back until he cupped her bottom, pulling her more snuggly against his erection. Her knees weakened and her eyelids fluttered. “It’s going to be so good between us.”

“You’re not…we’re not—”

“Hey, man, let go of my girlfriend!” Lamar grabbed Dade’s shoulder and tugged. Halle didn’t appreciate Lamar calling her his girlfriend and she certainly didn’t want him in her business, but as he was the only person coming to her aid, she didn’t contradict him.

Dade growled but he didn’t budge. “Maybe she was your girlfriend, but she’s mine now.”

Travis held up his hands in a non-threating manner even as he stepped between Lamar and his friend. “Dude, you really don’t want to interfere in this. She’s fine. He’s not going to hurt her.”

“No, you stay out of this.” Lamar bumped into Travis, knocking him aside. Halle didn’t know if Lamar was motivated by bravery or stupidity. Travis wasn’t as big as Dade, but he was on equal footing with Lamar. Lamar shoved Dade in the middle of his back. Again, the man was like a mountain. The hard push didn’t move him an inch. “Look, mangy mutt, get your hands off of her. She’s human. Stick to your own kind.”

That finally got Dade’s attention. Handsome face rippling with anger, he turned to Lamar with a snarl. Gripping the lapels of Lamar’s suede coat in his hands, he lifted the smaller man to eye level. “She’s mine. You can forget she ever existed. From this moment on, you’re not to call her or see her or contact her in any way. Not by text, not through a friend, not even with a fucking carrier pigeon. You don’t fantasize about her or so much as utter her name. If you do any of these things, I’ll cut your fucking dick off and shove it down your fucking throat.”

Halle slid along the back wall, trying to unobtrusively extricate herself from this situation. She wasn’t worried about Lamar. It sounded like Dade was only giving him a warning. All Lamar had to do was be smart about this and agree to forget about her. She could go along with that plan. While she didn’t want him dead or injured, she’d be happy to never see her ex again.

“Fuck off!”

Halle rolled her eyes. Of course, Lamar wouldn’t do the sensible thing.

The intensity of Dade’s growls increased in volume. “Mine. My mate.” His voice was so thick that he was barely intelligible.

Travis caught her arm as she was making her escape. “He’s going to kill your boyfriend if you don’t do something. Tell him that you’re his and he’ll let him go.”

“But I’m not his! I don’t even know him and I’m human. I can’t possibly be his mate.”

“Tell him!”

Halle gasped as Dade shook Lamar like a ragdoll before swiveling and slamming him into the wall. Framed photos rattled at the impact, but thankfully none of them fell. “I-I’m not his girlfriend. Dade, I’m…I’m yours. Please, put him down.”

Dade paused mid-shake. “You’re mine and you’ll come with me?”

She glanced between Dade, who continued to focus on Lamar, and Travis. Travis gave her an encouraging nod. “I-I’m yours…but I-I can’t come with you right now. I have to finish work and—”

“You won’t have to work anymore. I’ll take care of you.”

While waitressing at Millie’s Diner wasn’t Halle’s dream job, she enjoyed supporting herself. She liked having her own money and not having to answer to anyone when she spent it. “I don’t need anyone to take care of me.” And she didn’t even know why she was arguing this with him.

Dade dropped Lamar as though he’d forgotten him and turned to her. Lamar’s legs gave out under him and he hit the floor. “We can debate it later. When do you get off?”

“Um…. We close at ten, but I have to help clean up—”

“I’ll be back at eleven.”

Halle allowed him to read her silence as acquiescence. She stood absolutely still as he ran the back of his fingers down her cheek and neck. She didn’t realize she was holding her breath until he turned from her. Her heart was slamming in her chest from a combination of fear and…some sort of sick excitement she couldn’t comprehend.

Dade and Travis retrieved their coats from their booth and headed for the door. Dade cast one last scorching look her way before heading out.

Silence reigned for ten seconds after the bell over the door signaled their exit. Then chaos broke out. Everyone began talking at once. Customers who’d paid their bill gathered their belongings and ran for the safety of home.

Halle helped Lamar off the floor. He rubbed the back of his head and stumbled before finding his footing. “Thanks for your help, Lamar.”

“No problem. Look, it would be safest for you if you weren’t here when he returned.”

“I have no intention of waiting for him.”

“Good. You should come home with me. I’ll keep you safe. I’ve got a rifle at my place.”

“No, thanks. I’ve got my own rifle.” It’d belonged to her father and it had been a lifetime since she’d fired it. Not that it mattered. She didn’t have silver bullets. At least she knew that much about werewolves.

“Halle, you don’t want to be alone tonight,” Lamar pressed.

Since he’d come to her rescue, Halle hated to act the ingrate, but she wasn’t going to allow him to turn this situation to his advantage. “Thank you, but I’ll be fine. Besides, I don’t want to bring trouble to your household.”

“Halle, are you okay?” Lizzy handed her a towel.

Halle surveyed the damage around her. Picture frames sat askew on the wall behind Lamar. Coffee and shattered glass glittered on the baseboards, the linoleum, and her pants. Nodding, she accepted the towel from Lizzy. She bent to wipe up the spill.

Lizzy stopped her with a hand to her shoulder. “No. I’ll get that.” She rolled the mop and bin forward. “The towel is for you. Why don’t you go to the bathroom and clean up?”

“Thank you, Lizzy.”

“Halle, wait.” Lamar dogged her footsteps all the way to the ladies’ room.

She paused at the swinging door, blocking his entrance in case he got any bright ideas about following her inside. “Lamar, I need to hurry if I’m going to get out of here before he returns.”

“Halle, I know how these guys operate. You come home with me, and we get you covered in my scent, he won’t want anything to do with you anymore. He’ll be disgusted and move on to some other girl.”

Jaw clenched, she barely hung on to her temper. “And how do you propose we get your scent on me?”

He smiled and licked his lips. His eyes swept her from head to toe. “Well, you know.”

“Good night, Lamar.” She pushed the door closed and ignored him as he continued to call her name. She lifted her pant leg to check for cuts. Though she found shards of glass in her cuffs and in her shoelaces, she’d escaped injury. She used the towel to sponge coffee out of the cheap cotton trousers. They were navy so she wasn’t worried about the material staining.

She pressed her ear to the door before exiting the bathroom. And then she peeked out. The hallway was empty so she headed for the kitchen. She started helping the kitchen staff clean up for the night.

“What are you doing in here?” Lizzy asked. “Go on home.”

“But my hours—”

“Emmett will understand. Besides you work more overtime than anyone. Go on home. I’ll cover for you.”

“If you’re sure….”

“Go! Unless you’re wanting some werewolf loving tonight.”

Halle laughed though the sound came out half hysterical. “Thanks, Lizzy.” She gathered her stuff from her cubby in the staff room. She waved goodbye to everyone and left via the rear exit. She’d walked to work today. The check engine light kept coming on in her car. Rather than risk a random break down, she’d decided to hoof it. Her house wasn’t that far and though it was cold out, the sky was clear.

As she left behind the streetlights of town, Halle easily picked out the constellation Orion—the only constellation she could correctly identify. She shivered in the sudden darkness. Her breath puffed out in front of her as she hurried along the side of the road. She quickened her steps and tried not to think about all that had transpired tonight. If she did, she’d be jumping at every shifting shadow and whisper of wind. Even as she thought this, she realized how stupid she was not to have asked for a ride home. It was only a fifteen-minute walk. However, fifteen minutes in the morning differed drastically from fifteen minutes in the dark while possibly being pursued by a werewolf.

Halle still couldn’t believe that he’d mistaken her for his mate. Did werewolves occasionally go insane and try to claim humans?

A breeze blew through the trees, causing them to wave ominously. Halle hastened her footsteps. Other than the wind, the night was silent. No cars had passed her thus far.

She breathed a sigh of relief as her house came into view. The porch light illuminated her front yard. Halle fished her keys out of her purse. She’d just inserted the key in the lock when she heard the crunch of dead leaves behind her.

Risking a swift glance over her shoulder, she didn’t see anything or anyone. No lights on the road or anywhere else for that matter. All was silent. The house across the street had been empty for over a year. After Mrs. Cole died, her children had removed her furniture and put the place up for sale. So far, there had been no interest and the once cozy home was beginning to show signs of neglect. At the moment, Halle thought it was downright creepy. The gutters sagged along the roof and grass sprouted at the corner. The bottom two porch steps bowed in the middle. In the front yard, overgrown weeds and grass obscured the stone birth bath Mrs. Cole had placed in the center of the lawn.

To the left, she could barely make out her next-door neighbor’s house through the trees that separated their two properties. An elderly married couple, they had probably been in bed since eight. To the right lay forest, unbroken until the clearing made for the gas station at the edge of town.

When she saw no movement beyond the swaying of limbs, she released a breath. Satisfied that she was suffering from her overactive imagination, she unlocked her door and slipped inside.