Her Sweet Alpha

Chapter Six

As she rushed through her shower and hurried to don her pajamas and slide into bed so that she could be available for Dade’s call, it occurred to Halle that over the course of a week she’d come to do more than simply accept his phone calls. She’d begun to anticipate them. Talking to him was easily the best part of her day.

It was nice to have someone listen to her and be genuinely interested in what she had to say.

As she settled back against her pillows, her phone rang. She pulled her comforter up over her legs and answered his call. “Hello, Dade.”

“Hi, Halle. How was your day?”

She closed her eyes and held in a sigh at the sound of his voice. There was something so sexy about the way he said her name. Well, Dade would sound sexy reciting the alphabet. He had a deep baritone that many a man would envy. But she especially enjoyed the way he said her name. It was filled with longing and desire and…something more.

“Pretty good. Your friends are really generous tippers.”

“They had better be,” he growled. “Baxter said that you walked to work today and that you wouldn’t accept a ride home. It was freezing out. Why didn’t you drive your car?”

She really should be irritated that his friends were spying on her and reporting back to him. But she wasn’t surprised. She’d suspected that they were doing such from the beginning. “The check engine light is on and I’m not ready to deal with it.”

“I’ll pay to have it fixed,” he offered.

“I don’t need your money, Dade. I can pay for it.”

“But—”

Halle expelled an exasperated huff of air. “Dade, I will handle it.”

“I want to take care of you.”

She bit her lip. Man, he really knew what to say to make her melt. She’d been taking care of herself since she could remember. Even when her parents had been alive, she’d been independent. She’d worked summers and after school to save up money for college and for her first car. “That’s really sweet, but I can take care of this.”

He grumbled but finally he relented. “Okay. I won’t pay for it.”

“Thank you.”

“You shouldn’t be thanking me for not providing for you.”

“So, I take it that werewolves are a bit…archaic.”

“I’d call it chivalrous.”

“And female werewolves put up with this? What are they like?”

“There’s no real way to answer that. Werewolves are just like humans. We’re individuals. No two are exactly the same.”

She got the impression that she’d offended him and she when she thought back over her statement, she couldn’t blame him. “I’m sorry. That was…rather species insensitive of me.”

He emitted a short laugh. “I don’t think I’ve heard that term before, but I appreciate the apology.”

“You’re welcome. Can I ask another potentially stupid question?”

“Ask away.”

“Does it hurt…when you shift into a wolf?”

“Not really. It’s like when you stretch. There’s a moment of pleasure that’s sweeter for the edge of discomfort. And then it’s nothing but pure…freedom. It’s like sprouting a pair of wings.”

“You make it sound beautiful.”

“It is.” He didn’t say more, but she knew what he was thinking. If things went the way he wanted, she’d gain firsthand knowledge of shifting. He did have her wondering what it would be like.

“What does your wolf look like?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

He sounded so certain that she would be seeing his wolf. “Should I be afraid?” She didn’t mean of his wolf. Dade sounded so sure about them as well. It was one hell of a mind trick because she was beginning to believe that they could make this work.

“I have excellent control of my wolf side, but even if I didn’t, I’d never harm you.”

Halle straightened her feet and snuggled deeper into bed. She was tired but she didn’t want to end their call so quickly. Try as she might to stop it, a yawn escaped.

“You’re sleepy. I’ll call you again tomorrow night.”

She wanted to argue, but he was probably tired as well. He’d been working nonstop to finish the remodel on the cabin. “Goodnight, Dade.”

“’Night, Halle. I miss you.” It was weird, but she missed him, too. She felt the ache of anticipation at seeing him again. “You’ll have dinner with me when I return.”

“Maybe.”

“That wasn’t a question, baby.”

***

Dade removed the lettuce and tomato from his burger before taking a big bite. And gagged. He’d ordered it rare. This patty was decidedly well done. He chugged down half his glass of water to wash down the dry meat. Unfortunately, their dining choices were extremely limited and none of them wanted to cook after a hard day of work. Sighing, he glanced up…and found his pack staring at him and ignoring their own meals. “What?” He ran a self-conscious hand over his face, his palm meeting bristly beard. His facial hair was thick because he often didn’t bother to shave when they were on a job. Even if he’d begun to wolf out in anger over the improperly cooked burger, he doubted it’d be noticeable.

“We just can’t believe you’re sitting here instead of with your girl,” Travis said.

“Yeah. If it was me, I’d be balls deep in—oomph!” Jack glared at his cousin. “Don’t kick me. If you want me to shut up, just say so.”

Travis rolled his eyes. “Shut up. That’s his mate you’re talking about. Do you want him to rearrange your face?”

“Still…why are you with us instead of her?” Mitch asked.

“She’s human,” Dade explained with more patience than he felt. What he wanted to say was that it was none of their damned business. But in a way, it was. He was their leader and who he chose as his mate affected them as well. “She needs time to grow accustomed to me. I couldn’t give her that if I was too close. She feels the mating pull, but you know how humans are. They ignore their natural instincts.”

Mitch shook his head as he picked up his knife and fork to cut into his steak. “I admire your patience.” He held up a bite of meat and glared at it. “This is what they call rare?”

“I’m renting a grill,” Travis declared.

Jack bit into his burger. “Why bother?” he mumbled around a mouthful of food. “We’re almost finished here. All that pent-up sexual energy has Dade working day and night.”

Dade’s growl was cut off by the waitress coming over to check on them. Rather than complain about the overcooked meat, they all said they were doing fine. She lingered longer than necessary, asking if they needed refills or if they had other requests. Dade figured she was attracted to Jack, Travis or Mitch. They were all very popular with women. The faint scent of the waitress’s pheromones reached him. He kept his gaze on his plate as the yellow of his irises tended to freak people out. Combined with the fact that he’d stopped shaving while working this job, he looked more feral than usual.

As soon as she was gone, Dade leaned forward. He was nicer than most alphas and Jack was a good friend. “There will be no more discussion of what Halle and I are or aren’t doing.”

Being away from her was a growing ache. He’d committed to this job and he would see it through. But once it was completed, he would devote one hundred percent of his focus on making Halle his. She already thought he was persuasive. She hadn’t seen half of what he was capable of.

His friends believed him to be patient. He knew they were beginning to doubt that he’d found his true mate. Many a male werewolf was driven insane with lust from the first scenting of his mate. Rational thinking went out the window. It wasn’t that he didn’t have the urge to put Halle on her knees, mount her, bite her, make her his forever. But he was more determined that his mate wouldn’t fear him. Nothing would taint their union. He wouldn’t allow it.

Jack lowered his gaze in subservience. “Yes, Alpha.”

Dade rarely exerted the power of his position, therefore, when he did so, his commands held weight. Some pack leaders dictated much of their member’s everyday lives. Like his father before him, Dade believed in individual freedoms. A happy pack was a peaceful pack. His pack would only get better, stronger, when he claimed Halle as his mate.

Mitch held his hands out as though trying to calm him. Dade couldn’t blame him a many Alphas were known for their volatile tempers. Still, he found it irritating. He would never cause a public scene. “Okay, last time I’m going to ask this—are you sure she’s your mate?”

He glared at Mitch. “I’m thirty. What do you think?” The messages from his body couldn’t be misconstrued. Before meeting Halle, he was dying below the waist. His libido had come roaring back. Halle was his last thought before he closed his eyes at night and his first upon waking. In his intervening hours, he dreamt of her.

They ate as much of the overcooked food as they could before paying the bill. “Travis, heads up.” Jack tossed his keys to his cousin. “I’m going to hit the bathroom. Wait for me?”

Jack had driven them in his SUV. Travis unlocked the doors and they all piled in. Dade sat in the back with Mitch and Travis hopped into the passenger seat. “I swear I’ve dropped fifteen pounds since we hit this town,” Travis complained as he buckled his seatbelt. Normally, his friend wasn’t a whiner. Travis had two weaknesses: redheads and food. In Travis’s defense, food was important to shifters. They burned thousands of calories when they changed forms.

“Man up. We’re all suffering,” Mitch said. “We’ve all lost weight.”

Though Dade hadn’t been joining the others for their nightly runs, he’d lost weight as well. He wasn’t eating as much as he should. Travis grumbled but he didn’t say more. Jack climbed behind the wheel chuckling to himself. He started up the car and spun in his seat to hand Dade a napkin. Scowling in the dark interior of the SUV, Dade shoved it back at him. “I don’t need a—”

“It’s the waitress’s phone number. She asked me to give it to you.”

Dade passed the napkin on to Mitch. “She didn’t mean me.”

“Oh, she meant you.” Jack buckled his seatbelt. “She said to give it to the big shy one,” he added with a smirk.

“I’m not shy.”

“She thought you were because you wouldn’t look at her and you barely spoke to her.”

Dade growled in annoyance. “You should have told her I’m taken instead of accepting her number. I’m never going to call.”

“I told her, but she insisted.”

It was Dade’s turn to grumble. Though he was now functioning below the waist, the only woman he wanted was Halle. He wanted her so damned much, he hoped he had enough restraint to prevent himself from mauling her at the first opportunity. Lately, his erotic dreams of Halle were so vivid that most mornings he woke with sticky underwear and a dick that wouldn’t go down. He could be extremely patient when the situation called for it, but for the first time in his life, he found his patience fraying. He wanted—no, he needed Halle. And soon.

***

“Who are you and what are you doing in my car?” Halle had just stepped out of her house. Her car was idling with the driver side door wide open. Behind the wheel was a big guy with close-cropped dark curly hair. He climbed out. Despite the cold, he wore only a short sleeved white t-shirt covered in grease and oil stains. Halle zipped her coat up to her chin and glanced at the closed door behind her. She’d already locked up, but she didn’t want to get too far away in case she needed to duck back inside. She fingered her cell phone in her pocket. She’d once seen a martial artist using a cell as a weapon. Though, considering this man’s size, she wasn’t sure if a blow to the temple was going to be enough. She’d probably end up cracking her cell phone case.

He smiled at her as though he could read her thoughts. He held up his hands in a non-threatening manner. “I’m Rick. Dade sent me to fix your car. She’s all ready for you.”

“What?” She jogged down the steps and over to her car. She peeped inside. The check engine indicator light was dark. She was glad to have her car repaired, but she was angry with Dade for ignoring her wishes. “I told Dade I would handle this and he agreed.”

Rick shrugged.

“How much do I owe you?”

“Nothing. Dade is my pack leader.”

Meaning he was a werewolf. She should have known. “Yes, but I’m not and I can’t take favors from a stranger.”

He grinned revealing ordinary straight white teeth. “We won’t be strangers for long. Welcome to the pack.” He backed away from her. A black Dodge truck waited for him at the end of her driveway. A pretty woman with a short pixie cut sat in the passenger seat.

Halle watched him drive away. She was slightly irritated with Dade. She’d been very clear with him on the subject. But as she climbed into her car and drove to work, she appreciated not having to arrive at work with her face numbed from the cold and a runny nose. She appreciated it even more that night when she didn’t have to walk home in the dark.

Still, when he called, she let him have it. “I said I would handle it. It’s just disrespectful and dishonest to agree with me and then go behind my back and—”

“I never agreed. I said I wouldn’t pay for it. I didn’t. Rick was returning a favor. He didn’t charge me anything.”

Halle sputtered. She was careful not to step on the hem of her pajama pants as she paced her bedroom. She’d dressed for bed but hadn’t settled down because she wanted to be alert for this conversation. “But you led me to believe—”

Dade’s growl cut her off. “I stopped arguing with you. I don’t like knowing that you’re unhappy. Your car was making you unhappy. So, I had it fixed.”

She inhaled, trying to calm down. “You don’t even see what you did wrong, do you?”

“Halle, I will always take care of you—even if you fight me on it.”

Halle blinked, trying to digest that one. “I don’t know what to say to that.”

“I’m an Alpha, Halle. I can only suppress it so much.”

“So…you’re not going to apologize?”

“I’m not sorry.” At her outraged gasp, he continued. “I’d be lying if I said I was sorry. I’m not going to apologize for seeing to your needs or for keeping you safe and happy. Besides, it would be pointless as something like this is bound to happen again. I will always do whatever I feel is best for you.”

One the one hand, she longed to argue that she wasn’t a child. She didn’t need him making decisions for her. Even before her parents died, she’d been independent. Her father had worked in coal mines right after high school and had suffered from chronic lung disease. Her mother had been devoted to him. That left Halle to take care of herself. Chores such as cooking and cleaning had often fallen onto her too young shoulders. Perhaps that was the reason that she didn’t like cooking or cleaning. She lived mostly on salads and dinner leftovers. She tried to keep her place neat so that it required less cleaning.

Yet…she couldn’t deny that she liked the feeling of someone taking care of her for a change. It made her feel…loved. And relieved. And less alone.

She also couldn’t help but appreciate his honesty. In her experience, men lied and used sweet talk to get a woman into bed. She’d never had one give her an honest answer when he knew it wasn’t what she wanted to hear. So, his telling her up front that he’d do this again was crazy…and totally honest.

There was just one more question that had been in the back of her mind all day. “How did he get keys to my car?”

“I ordered Baxter and Davy to make copies of all your keys.”

Halle held onto her temper with no small amount of effort. “Why would you do that?”

“It was for your protection.”

“Protection from what?”

“Baxter and Davy told me that Lamar has still been sniffing around. They’ve had to…discourage him from entering your restaurant several times.”

She huffed out an exasperated breath. She ignored for a moment that his pack was scaring off customers. Emmett would be livid if he found out. “Lamar is harmless. And it’s not like he’s spoiled for choice in this town. His eating at Millie’s has nothing to do with me.”

“He wants you, Halle.”

“I know that. I’m not interested and I’ve told him so.”

“Then he needs to listen better. Baxter has overheard him talking about you. Lamar believes he can win you back.”

“Men,” she muttered, disgusted with both of them in that moment. “Lamar isn’t as suave as he thinks. I’m completely over him.”

“I’m not worried about you having feelings for him. You’re mine. He needs to respect that.” She could argue that statement with him. They hadn’t even gone on a date or shared a real kiss. But before she could contradict him, he continued. “I can hear you thinking, Halle. I’ll be back for you—very soon. It’s time we discussed our first date.”

“There’s Millie’s,” she said, even though it was the last place she wanted to go. She spent enough time at Millie’s that she didn’t want to have a date at her place of work while her co-workers looked on.

“No. I’m afraid you’d automatically start fetching coffee refills for the customers.”

“Well, as I mentioned, there aren’t many options. I don’t cook.”

“Lucky for you, I do. I’ll make dinner for us at your place.”

She thought about it for a moment. Was this a good idea? Having him in her home? He wasn’t a physical threat to her. She’d sooner invite Dade than Lamar. Dade made her feel respected and cherished.

There was also the local grapevine to consider. If they went out, the entire town would know within half an hour. The local regard toward werewolves remained uncertain at best. Going out in public with Dade could be risky. “Okay.”

He emitted a soft, satisfied growl. “I was expecting to have to work harder to get you to agree. I’m glad I didn’t. I can’t wait to see you, baby.”

“Me, too. I mean…I can’t wait to see you either.”