In the Alpha’s Arms Novel

Truth or Drink

Lita’s stomach took that quiet moment between them to roar to life.

“And that, would be the sound of a hungry wolf,” he mused, pulling back to kiss her forehead, “Come on, dinner’s on the stove already.

“Shouldn’t L… you know… clothes? Lita motioned to her still naked body, covered in only a blanket.

“I for one, am not going to complain,” his wide, predatory grin made her flush, “And it’s only us anyway. But if you insist, there are some pajamas in the closet.”

She did insist because there was no way she was sitting at a dining room table butt naked. Lita made a show of dropping her blanket and dressing in Cole’s baggy pi bottoms and a t–shirt. Then she brought him a pair of sweatpants as he pulled out some plates.

“What do you normally

ly wear under these? I didn’t see any underwear…”

“Nothing.” he huffed, rolling his eyes over her long enough to make her nipples appear through the shirt. He tugged on the pants with absolute delight. Then got back to the plates.

They settled down with their dinner, an assortment of fried food takeout that had Lita’s mouth watering, not at the dining room table as she thought but before the fireplace over a soft rug.

“You’re rich?” She asked at last, shoveling food into her mouth. His grunt was answer enough.

“Your fathers money, I take it?” She lowered her voice a bit, suddenly finding the rug incredibly interesting.

Another grunt, “Blood money if you ask me. But yea. My inheritance was sizeable, I used a lot of it to buy the industrial park and few pieces of land like this… I make regular donations to youth fighting gyms in low income neighborhoods every year too. I guess I always think if I use it for good, it might take some of the guilt away.”

What was that emotion in his eyes? She wondered if it was shame. Lita knew he hated his father, hated what he stood for, and yet he’d accepted the money, made a life with it. And perhaps that was a betrayal of some part of his self–worth. Did she feel that about her own money? No, she didn’t. She had earned that money in every single piece of herself she sacrificed for those years. And the amount she had, would never come close to enough to even that scale.

Cole surprised her, though, in every sense of the word. When she looked at him, she could see the question he held close to his heart, the one he likely never said aloud to anyone. Was he like his father? That doubt, that nagging insecurity said more about his character and strength than anything anyone could have told her. It’s not like she’d ever considered him to be some mindless brute regardless of how he’d tried to seem when they first met. But she hadn’t known exactly how hard he’d worked to create that life she’d stumbled into. And he’d risked it all for her. Let her in despite the fact that she could have brought ruin to his doorstep. She considered it for a moment, what Brody had said. You are the only thing he ever put ahead of the pack.

nat first tor

Lita thought back to that first time she saw Cole. That hulking dark form standing in the doorway. His harsh gaze. The bite and heat of every glance, every word from those early days. But he’d let her join. He’d let her train. He’d taken that chance because she needed it and that was who he was. He would sacrifice himself for others because it was the right thing to do. And even at the words he’d said tonight, she found it difficult to remedy those two people. But she loved them both. The one who was gentle with her and the one who would tear down her enemies at the risk of dying himself. Even his own father. There were two of her as well, though she was still trying to figure out who that other half would be.

“You’re rich too, apparently, Brody told everybody he couldn’t even count the number of zeros, Cole snorted at the memory, cutting into the quiet thoughts Lita wore clearly on her sleeve. She was thinking of the danger he was putting himself in where she was concerned. It was true, between his father’s pack and her parents pack, they had a hell of a fight ahead. He prayed it wouldn’t be waged with blood but with words. He prayed there was reason to be had. The odds, though, leaned heavily away from their favor.

“Yea. Family inheritance… one I think my mother desperately hoped I’d never claim. Is that a common thing for wolves?”

“The upper class ones, Elitism at its finest, baby, keep the line strong.” His tone was grim. Lita knew elitism well, Elegant charity balls, social circles, dinner parties and private schools. Horrible, fake people with claws ready to strike at all times. But she had a terrible feeling that they were not talking about the same kind. She didn’t want to push him to explain more though, not yet.

They continued to eat in relative silence, enjoying the sound of the storm outside and the fake crackle of the fireplace. After they’d finished two plates of food and leaned onto their forearms, Lita carefully picked the conversation back up.

“You said your father’s money was blood money? In what way?” Cole got up roughly, pulling a bottle of liquor and two shot glasses from the closet. He returned to the rug. It wasn’t like she wanted to make him uncomfortable but she didn’t know much about him. Really, they were still strangers with

Truth or Drunk

tether of love between them. She wanted to know him, all of him, even the parts he thought made him terrible,

Alright, let’s play a game,” he tentatively placed a glass in front of her, “Truth or drink.

Lita raised a brow, grabbing her glass, “Like truth or dare?”

*Yea. When its your turn, you ask for a truth but the other person has the freedom to answer it or take a shot. Easy enough?”

“Easy enough,” she shrugged, pouring herself a shot and setting it to the side. She tried not to think of the questions he’d been waiting to ask. Perhaps the liquor wasn’t just an out to avoid painful answer but to steel himself for asking painful things as well. Things that perhaps he dreaded having the answer to. Her shudder was involuntary and that chill set heavy in her bones.

“Tll take the blood money as your first ask. The answer is… my father makes his money illegally. Always has. Trafficking, drugs, sex. He’s always taken advantage of people he deemed beneath him,” he swore, then swallowed down a shot as if to take the edge off, “And I’d rather drink than say more.”

“Okay, your turn then

Cole surveyed the room for minute, a devilish twinkle in his eyes, “How long have you wanted to get in my pants?”

“Someone thinks very highly of himself,” Lita glared, “First week.”

“Hmph, not the first day, huh?” his eyes simmered.

Cocky bastard,” she rolled her eyes, “Favorite color?”

“Red. Not like a dark red. A light one. Yours?”

“So… pink? You mean yo

you like pink?”

Lita could barely hold her snart.

“No I mean light red,” he glowered but his grumpy face gave way to a half smile. That damn smile. Lita lost her thought for a moment as she studied his handsome face like it was the first time all over Dark, unkempt locks of hair hanging at his lips. He could easily sweep them back but she was always happy he didn’t. That slightly wild, roughened look made her hot all over especially when he groaned her name like a prayer, when his dark, gleaming eyes found hers from under those straight strands. Even now, with the light from the fireplace glancing across his features, his hair seemed to shield his eyes from the light, making them dark and every bit predatory as they slipped to her mouth. As if he knew exactly where her mind had gone.

She cleared her throat, pouring herself another shot in preparation for his next question. As always he was clean shaven and she appreciated every dazzled inch of his strong, angular jaw. The one she liked to lick against with painfully slow strokes. The one that clenched whenever he first slid in, trying to bite back the curse of pleasure. Though he never succeeded.

“You’re going to drink instead of telling me your favorite color?” he mused, still watching the twitch of her lips.

Lita swore. “Mine is blue, icy blue, frosty,” she remembered at last what she was supposed to be doing. That had to be why his gaze dropped, how he knew exactly where her mind had gone. She’d never answered his question, “Do you have any siblings?” Shockingly, that question didn’t raise any painful panic in her. James memory just settled into her, a small, warm memory,

“Nope. Wish I did though. Ace was the closest thing I had to one growing up. Alex is like a brother to me now. James was too.” He swallowed a shot.

“You already answered the question…?” Lita cocked her head, “Why drink?”

And then he was upon her

Lisa’s Love for the Alpha

Truth or Drink (cont’d)

Cole’s lips weren’t gentle, but hungry and urgent, claiming, “Just a taste,” he breathed into her. Lita loved it, pulled in tighter as he pressed against her, the push and pull of space between them feeling like an erotic dance. He licked and bit at her soft lips, hands already pawing at the bit of midriff that opened to him as she tumbled back against the rug. “Fuck patience,” he growled low against the inside of her mouth, “Let’s finish what you started carlier…

Breathless, burning. Lith let him trail the curve of her chin with his mouth, “And what exactly did I start?”

“Oh I think you know well,” he nipped the column of her neck, tugging one shoulder of her shirt down to lick the bare skin, I nearly shifted at the sight of your bra.” He panted, licking the goosepimpled flesh of her shoulder once more, “Knowing you were there, hiding somewhere in nothing but underwear.” He moved lower, sending his hands pressing up her shirt, kneading at the taut muscles he found there. Cole felt his own muscles straining at the the need

“I could barely control myself,” His growl vibrated through her bones, “And the fucking scent of you, the goddamn scent on your underwear…” His lips ran over her nipple, once, twice, the sensation like pleasure and pain at the same time as electricity sizzled through her spine. Lita’s skin was so sensitive, just the press of lip on the pebbled nubs sent liquid straight through her. She didn’t even notice his fingers fumbling under the lip of her pants, probing and searching for the wetness he knew was there. And he found it.

A sharp intake of breath was all she heard before fabric tore. Hot, open–mouthed kisses on her stomach, her thighs, the crease of her hip bone. He tried to move lower but she grabbed his head, dragged him back up. “No. Shower. Dirty Lita’s chest heaved with the force of the words she had to say, trying to express a thought she could hardly keep track of in the swells of their bodies. It was so hard to think, with his bare torso pressed against her, with her shirt hardly covering anything at all, pants ripped from her trembling legs. Open. Everything so open and exposed between them.

He was so, so close to her. Cole’s dark eyes drank her in, surveyed the slickness on her thighs, the tension in her waist, the aching fullness of her chest. And if acting as a spell broken Lita’s words finally registered. They both remembered the run, the mud, the grass, the dirty rain water. Casting one last glance, as if to calm himself, Cole pushed up and took her hand, leading her to the upstairs bedroom.

“It’s better anyway,” Cole said, turning to drink her in as he threw open the bathroom door, “the waiting. The anticipation. The release is infinitely better… we’ve never done this before… His voice didn’t seem to match his words, as if he weren’t entirely convinced, but rather thick and dripping with hunger.

Right, Lita remembered, the game they were supposed to be playing. The game of patience. The game of chicken she inevitably started the second she ran naked through the forest. How long could they go before breaking? Not very long, if the heated events of the living room were anything to go on. It was a point for her. He broke first and she liked it, this new thing between them, seeing him so desperate and consumed with needing her.

The shower was on and hot before she could even put her head back on completely straight but she knew she wanted to keep playing with him. So once she’d tugged off her shirt, she gently pushed them apart to step into the glass enclosure of the shower. He stayed just on the other side of the glass, eyes darkened. Excitement thrummed through her as she made him watch. Lita washed herself slowly, savoring each scrub her bare skin. She spent exorbitant amounts of time on her breasts, between her thighs before she washed her hair. Cole’s face was practically savage, more animal than man ran

under the surface of his eyes.

As she rinsed under the stream of water, it was his tum to seduce her. He slipped his fingers under the waist band of his pajama bottoms until he’d stepped clear of them, eyes scalding as he watched her study his bare body. Then he was in the shower as well, stepping closer into her space until he was also under the stream. Lita backed away, gulping for air until her spine hit the slippery tile of the wall This was the moment he was going to give into his baser instincts and wreck her.

But to her surprise, he simply flashed her a knowing look and backed out of the water to begin his own torturous cleansing. And she was burning. Pure yearning and craving so deep it winded her as she observed the soap sliding doen each tight ridge of him. Her mouth watered. Her muscles clenched. Her heart was out of her chest. The scent of him, the look of those eyes seemed to tell her he knew exactly what she felt. She probably looked as half crazed as he did. Cale rinsed and reached out. Lita stilled, trembled in anticipation, as he closed the distance to her mouth. She couldn’t help it, her body just moved, crashing their lips together. But he only smirked, pulling back as he licked away her taste from his lower lip, and cut off the water before stepping back out of the shower. Shit. That was a point for him.

Ten minutes later he was coming back through the bedroom dour in a pair of boxer briefs and a new bottle of liquor. Lita sat on the bed in one of his large t–shirts, Bicking through the channels of the tv, “Should we go back and get all our stuff?” she asked, not bothering to look over.

“From the paintball place? Nah, they’re closed tomorrow. Lucky you,” he laughed, climbing into bed. Lita settled on an action movie she’d seen a million times for background noise and turned to Cole, finally noticing the bottle..

“We’re back to truth or drink?”

“We are,” he rolled his neck. “I got distracted earlier but I have my reasons for bringing you here, for starting the drinking game. His voice lowered. He

Was ACTVOM.

Truth or Drink (contd)

“You’re giving me anxiety, what’s up?” She bit the inside of her mouth, feeling more twitchy than usual,

“I have questions to ask… things I want to know… things I need to know… and you’ll probably want to be drunk for it.”

Lita’s stomach dropped. She didn’t need to ask what they were going to discuss, she merely snatched the bottle and untwisted the cap, “Well, I guess that makes two of us. She took two heavy gulps and watched as Cole did the same. Her body still felt warm from the shower and the tension between them but the alcohol made her feel like she was in a sauna. She didn’t care. That meant it was doing its joh

“Alright,” he said quietly, “Let’s start small… how old were you when you first started taking the medicine your mother gave you?”

Lita shrugged, “I don’t know exactly. It feels like forever. When I was maybe seven or eight I guess. I’d started to get pretty emotional around that time. Trying to make friends and failing, trying to make them proud of me. Trying to fit in. And my mom said it wasn’t good to be so volatile. So she just came home one day and said the pills would help.”

Cole nodded unhappily.

“How did

you get

et away from your L

Lather?”

“I wish I could say I ran away when I was young, after my first shift, or that I fought my way out when I was overwhelmed with everything I saw him do. I wish I could say I fought for the people he hurt,” he sighed, rubbing his neck before taking another swig of liquor, “But I didn’t. I was a coward. The reality is I was a grown man when I left.”

“You weren’t a coward Cole. You were a kid.”

“Anyway, I asked for my inheritance and said I wanted to build something on my own. My father was thrilled, thinking it was my chance to build something like what he had built. Start my own following, my own pack where I would further all the things I was taught. But I didn’t tell him where I was going, what I was doing. And by the time I’d started my new life he had no idea where I was. I hadn’t seen him in years when he popped up at the tournament.” His eyes glazed over.

Tm sure he’s known what city I’m in at least for a while, probably from Erica or from information gleaned at my matches. Either way, he never reached out and neither did I would have been happy to never see his face again. But I guess I’m not that lucky!” Lita kissed him. She didn’t know what else to do to pull a bit of that sadness and anger out of his eyes. It was just comfort. She was giving him comfort. She pulled back and watched his eyes soften.

Cole offered her the bottle, “Tell me about Brian.”