In the Alpha’s Arms Novel

Bonus Chapter- Where’s Cole?

Ligh, this is so stupid! Lita thought to herself, holding up yet another bodycon dress over her damp towel, hoping she’d see herself in a different light. Confidence was tricky like that, one minute she felt amazing, the next, her head was an ocean of self–doubt.

It was something g she and Elise had been working hard on but some days were better than others. For example, when they’d all arrived at the showcase earlier that day, Lita had been feeling strong and proud. The fancy dresses and five–star accomodations hadn’t made her nervous. Being in her home city hadn’t made her stomach sour. But now, imposter syndrome made her a nervous wreck. She couldn’t stop thinking about everything going terribly

Lita stretched the material in different directions, trying to find a silver lining for her new body. Muscles gave her a new shape, banishing the

the thin, undernourished girl she’d been. She normally loved her body. And Cole had absolutely no problem reminding her how beautiful she was whenever she forgot. But he wasn’t with her, and she was having a hard time seeing her own worth. When Lita looked in the mirror, she saw none of the improvements her body had made, only imagining herself as the bruised, sleep–deprived person that begged Alex for a chance to train. Or even, as the haunted. bandaged one that left Maxim’s compound with blood on her hands,

She hopelessly cast the dress aside and brushed her hands over her wet hair until it hugged her neck. She needed to calm down. Elise had taught her breathing exercises to control these spirals but sometimes, even that wasn’t enough. The bath had been so luxurious she’d hardly noticed anything outside of lavender scented bubbles and her relaxed muscles. What she wouldn’t give to go back to when she felt good.

But somewhere in that hot water, she started thinking of her parents and Brian. She started thinking of being back in her home city and how she might run into any of them. All of them. How many of the people downstairs knew her? How many had secretly laughed behind her back or called her wolf- less? How many had thought she deserved whatever Brian gave her?

Brian had buddies, she knew that, even though she’d only met them in passing, and never for long enough to talk. Were they Alpha wolves, too? Were they fighters? Would they be downstairs waiting to embarass her? Her chest grew tight as lightheadedness took over until she was forced from the warm water. The entire time she dried off, her mind whirled. What would they see when they looked at her? How could she show them how much she’d changed?

On some level, Lita knew this was a battle against herself and her own insecurities but it felt real. It felt like the minute she stepped out of the hotel room, everyone would know she had been Brian’s punching bag. A downtrodden wolf–less girl who had her life shattered so completely that the pieces still hadn’t come back together yet. A dead brother she’d only recently begun to moum. A biological father she didn’t know, A mother she couldn’t face, not yet, anyway. Rafi, who hadn’t done nearly enough to be forgiven for trying to use her. A wolf that had only been let out of her cage for a few months and still seemed hell bent on biting first, asking questions later.

Not fair, Nyx gruffed, I don’t try to bite people who have good energy. Only the ones that smell rotten

Not really much difference from the outside, Nuff Lita shook her head, trying to keep her smile in check.

Don’t call me off, you hairless human

That was uncalled for, Lita gasped, Only you could make the lack of fur sound like an insult. Mine was a cute aknasse, ours was meant to be mean you overgrow dag.

Nyx made a sound somewhere between a chuff and a growl, If I could bite you…

I would muzzle you. You no self–control having, drooling…

I’m chewing your shoes the next time I’m free. I’ll show you a damn dog

Lita mulled her eyes and dug through the tightly–packed layers of clothes for the fifth time, searching for something appropriate. She ignored the stream of discarded shirts and jeans leading from the bathroom mirror to the bed. Lita grupned, throwing yet another basic outfit over her shoulder. She had packed based on the tournament they’d attended; the one full of casual, if not underdressed, attendees and good energy. But this place was nothing like that… all this money… she hadn’t expected to feel like a small girl left alone at her mother’s banquet table again. She hadn’t expected to feel the way she had when Brian wooed her.

“I have literally” nothing to wear to this, she whined. Two quick taps at the hotel door were the only warning before someone came barging in, oblivious to the barely wrapped towel Lita still wore.

“Hey, what the hell,” Lita yelped, rushing to tuck away as much as she could

“Calm down, it’s just me,” Stace laughed. “And that, as nice as it is–Stace made a dramatic gesture in the direction of Lita’s body then froze on Lita’s hand, “Wait a damn minute, is that my dress?”

Bonus Chapter–Where’s Cole?

Quickly tossing the damned thing behind her, Lita arched a confused brow, “Is what your dress?”

“Wooow, a Luna who steals,” Stace clicked her tongue, hands on her hips, “Mice.”

Lita laughed, her frown breaking immediately, “Shut up. It was cute and you don’t wear half your clothes, Stacey Ramos. Alex has been demanding you donate more of your stuff, so consider me needy.”

There was nothing remotely lady like about the laugh that burst out of them both, bringing them to tears. Lita coughed, wiping her face, “Trust me when I say, you don’t want it back now, anyway. I wore it for date night.”

Stace pretended to vomit and shivered, “For the love of the moon goddess will you please keep things like that to yourself?”

Lita shrugged, tuming back to the suitcase of useless clothes. “Like I don’t have to hear about every new pack member you test drive?”

“Not the same. He’s- I just don’t want to visualize my Alpha doing anything, okay? My poor mind can’t take it. So, I never want you to remind me of you and Cole again, thank you very much.” Lita snorted as Stace walked around to point at the discarded dress. “You can keep it. Or burn it so I never have to think about it ever again.”

“My newest decree as Luna is that you are no longer allowed to tease me. Lita faked a serious face and stomped her foot. And if you’re not here to help, kindly get lost so I can figure out my life.”

“Butch” Stace was about to offer her two cents before she looked around the room, “Why does it look like a tornado in here? We’ve only been here for two hours.”

Lita shifted awkwardly and looked at the floce, “Because this place is really fancy and I didn’t expect–I mean what do I look like as the new Luna in a t- shirt and jeans? Even if it is one of my nice t shirts?” She managed a disparaging laugh as she held up a shirt that said Punch him, is before tossing it to the floor. She sighed as Stace picked up one of the other shirts Lita had tossed.

“No, don’t say it Stacey, I already know I’m being ridiculous. I know I’m just letting my nerves get the best of me but I used to live this life you know? I used to dress up and look like a rich beat but I was miserable. I was, god, I was so broken. And I didn’t think coming back would bother me. I don’t know, I just want to make a good impression. I want our pack to look successful and… and I want- Lita took a breath, brushing some of her damp strands out of her face,-If my parents were there, I’d want them to know that they didn’t win. I want to dress the part so they know I’m better than I was with them. I’m happy and successful and a Land all on my own and I didn’t need their love or their respect and 1-

fingers curled around the towel hard enough to scratch

Lita could feel her throat closing up, analety quickly barreling from mild to full bowl panic. Her fingers her chest

Stace grabbed Lita’s shoulders and shook forcefully, “Lita, LUNA, Tm going to tell you exactly why you’re going to put on one of these fancy t–shirts and your favorite ripped jeans to meet these entitled fuckers downstairs. First, because you don’t compromise what makes you happy for anyone. Not even Cole. I still remember the girl running around calling him an asshole to anyone who would listen. Our Alpha. And believe it or not, Alex went to bat for you and so did 1. Because you were right. You convinced us all you weren’t willing to compromise yourself for your own Alpha and mate. That’s major, Lita. You disrupted our whole pack and made it better. Don’t take that away from yourself.”

“And Second, you’re going to wear what makes you happy because you’re going to show all those pretentious people that you don’t owe them a thing. okay? Not a fancy outfit, not a fake smile. Marking Stace stared Lita down until she sair a small nod, “Yes, we’re here for the showcase to build our pack members and to show our strength. Obviously that’s our focus, but we wouldn’t even want the types of wolves that would flock to fake behavior. That would look for fancy clothes and wasted money. That’s not us.”

Lita sniffled, feeling incredibly silly and reassured at the same time.

now. Not on

Stace playfully shoved her shoulder, “My best friend hasn’t needed anyone else’s approval in a long ass time and she’s not going to start no my watch. We love you. We are proud of you as our Luna. You can’t embarrass the pack here, it’s impossible. We’re simple wolves. We like fighting and barbeque chicken, lake parties and brown tequila. We’re comfortable in our own skin whether we dress up or not. Nothing would represent our pack better than if you went downstairs being your most authentic sell”

“Okay, yea…” Lita said, fighting back the grateful tears that welled in her eyes. “So which one do I wear? Forget guns, get buns or Deadit this! Personally, I think the arrow pointed down is the best part of the shirt ta and Stace shared a look for all of two seconds before they were crying laughing. Lita could feel real relief working its way down her shoulders and over her back. She took a deeper breath.

“At this point, I’m going to assume Cole’s never seen any of these shirts. Stace squealed. “Please let me be there the first time he reads the deadlift

shirt

Litated, “Someone wise once told me that make up sex was worth the fight.”

Bonus Chapter Where’s Colp?

“Whoever told you that was nasty as hell and gives terrible advice.”

“You mean, you?” Lita grinned. “And Jaz agreed with your advice?

“Oh, well if I said it, it’s golden advice, baby, Just don’t tell Cole I gave you the idea,” Stace winked, reaching down to scoop up some of Lita’s mess. She dropped it on the bed and went back for more. “You’re not going to give this any more energy okay? Let’s make them grovel at our feet in our t–shirts and jeans. Cole will be issuing challenges all night for you, and then that’ll really show ‘em who’s boss.”

“Speaking of my mate, where is Cole? I haven’t seen him in… hours?” Lita suddenly realized Cole never met her in the bath like he insinuated. And she hadn’t even heard his voice through the door. If he had been here to help her… no, she couldn’t put her emotional baggage on him. It wasn’t his job to coddle her every time she felt badly,

“Uh, last I heard he had some Alpha shiff to handle.” Stace shrugged too quickly, looking at the door, “I can go ask Alex if you want?”

Lita quirked a brow, not believing a word of that lie, “Sure. Thanks.”

Stacey did an awkward shuffle to the door and slipped back out without a word. Strange. Lita dusted off one of the team shirts that she’d cut into a half tank and a pair of panties. She didn’t trust anything Stace would come back to tell her. The woman was good at a lot, but lying wasn’t one of those things. She had a twitch under her right eye that gave her away immediately. And her voice went too high. So something was definitely up.

As soon as she finished getting herself together, Lita would take the matters into her own hands and figure out exactly where her mate had gone.

Chanter C

Bonus Chapter- There Aren’t Enough Words

The elevator was too quiet on the way down to the lobby. Even the music did little to ease her irritation. If anything the gentle music only served to remind her of the hulking body a few inches away. He made her feel anything but gentle. Lita didn’t have to face him to know he was still wearing his tearing gain and that she wanted to punch it off his perfect face.

“Are we having our first fight?” Ace asked playfully from the other side of the elevator car, arms crossed and brows raised in mock disbelief. He’d been just outside the bedroom door when Lita emerged. One look between them, and he’d already known she planned to sneak out without telling anyone. There was no getting rid of him after that.

“I thought our first fight was when you lied to get me to go to dinner.”

“Okay, our second fight then. We’ve got to mark the occasion,” he teased.

“I don’t know, it depends,” Lita growled, “Are you still refusing to tell me where Cole is?”

“I just want to take this time to say, that it’s fucking adorable you can’t go a few hours without a man who has the personality of an elbow With a goofy grin, Ace shrank further back against the wall like he’d gotten the last laugh.

“That’s not true–wait, an elbow? I don’t even know what to do with that.” The ding of the elevator preceded the opening doors and Lita instinctually moved in front of Ace to make more room.

“Oh come on,” he said a little too loudly as people shuffled in, “You can’t tell me you don’t get it. They dig into your ribs and in general, I’ve never come into contact with an elbow I enjoyed.”

Lita turned around and scowled. “He’s your best friend. I’m one hundred percent going to tell him you said that.”

“And it’s still a body part I can’t remove, so what’s your point? Is comparing him to a kneecap better? It’s a little less accurate because there are some knees I’ve enjoyed.” His voice barely held all the self–satisfied hamor. “And please tell him. In fact, I’ll help you tell him so I can laugh at his reaction. He’s going to reach a god–level scowl. Do you think it’ll be steam or smoke that shoots from his ears?” Ace chuckled to himself and Lita fought her own grin.

“Steam and smoke are the same things.”

“Debatable.”

“Just stop talking, please,” Lita sighed, ignoring the breathy laughter of the others in the car. Of course, they were women who thought Ace probably hung the stars. She’d seen their thirsty eyes well enough as they’d filed in Normally, she would stay above such pettiness but these women were human, unaware of the secret world existing alongside their own. So Ace wouldn’t be able to say much if she teased him. Lita gave him a devilish smirk over her shoulder and Ace squinted at her.

“You know, if you feel inadequate alongside my spouse, you could just say that.” Ace opened his mouth to refute but she cut him off, “Don’t get me wrong, I totally get it.” Lita raised her hands, subtly drawing the eyes of the other women in the elevator. “When you see a fit fighter who isn’t using steroids to boost himself, you probably feel exposed. I’ve heard horror stories of what that stuff does to your most notable parts. She heard the quiet snorts as the women averted their eyes.

Ace radiated heat. Lita’s back was practically sweating under the force of his glare. She could imagine his jaw flexing, his hands balled to fists. “Lita…” he growled at her back. Lita had to fight to keep her face straight as if she were speaking the truth. “I’m just saying, what do elbows and knee caps have in common? They’re both hard… firm parts of the body. Envy is totally norm-“The elevator dinged and the women filed hack out on one of the lower floors. The doors had barely closed before Lita could hear them burst out into laughter.

She jumped to the other side.

e of the car before Ace could snatch her up.

“And I’m the childish one?” Ace said, looking like fire was liable to burst out of his eyes. “Now they’re going to go tell people what you just said.”

“Oops,” Lita gave a mock frown.“I hadn’t thought about that. At least now I don’t have to tell Jaz you’ve been flirting all weekend.” She played the world’s smallest violin and dared him to snap at her

“Give a girl a title and she just loses her fucking mind,” he grumbled. “You’re pissed because I won’t tell you. I get that. But I don’t know what you want. me to do about it. Take it up with your damn spouse.”

Lita grew serious, “Ten the Luna, 1 deserve to know what’s going on, Ace. If it’s something with another pack-

“It’s not pack business,” he said exasperatedly, throwing his hands up. “If it were, I would be inclined to share because you’re right, that’s your business

Bonus Chapter- There Aren’t Enough Words

too. But it’s not. What Cole’s doing… where he is… It’s personal, so no, I won’t be telling you. If that means you’re going to scream about my pretend erectile dysfunction from the rooftop, then so be it.”

Lita blew a breath as the doors opened to reveal the lobby. It was almost impossible to be angry at Ace. He was the most loyal person she’d ever met. He never lied. Did he ignore social protocols? Sure. Did he often refuse to call Cole Alpha while agreeing to call Lita Lima, just to piss Cole off? Absolutely. And did he stir up trouble just to watch the drama unfold? Yes. But he didn’t lie.

So if he said that Cole’s business was private, then she believed him. Obviously, the others agreed with that sentiment because when Lita had left the room, she found the suite completely empty. There was no way it had been a happy coincidence that everyone left at once. No, those wolves had run off so they wouldn’t have to tell her where Cole was either. And they left Ace behind, an Alpha who couldn’t be bullied by another Alpha.

If it was happening to anyone else, she would have called it a smart play, but as it was her own situation, Lita just wanted to scream. She groaned her frustration, rubbing her temple. She was going to have Cole’s ass when he finally showed back up. He would spend a very long night making it up to her.

“So I’ll take your shameful silence to mean you’re sorry and we have a truce?” Ace asked, slipping out of the elevator beside her. “Or is that glazed look a sign that I should make myself scarce tonight?” His smirk made her mad all over.

“Don’t push it,” Lita rolled her eyes, then turned her focus to the lobby. “You’ve been here before?” She reacclimated herself to the posh furnishings and tried her best to surmise where all the fighters were. Much like the tournament, she assumed the action was downstairs in the basement. There’s no way they’d keep all this crystal in one piece otherwise.

“Once before, but it was mostly a blur. I think Cole and I snuck in right after we’d decided to do this fighting thing for real.” Ace laughed, brushing his cropped hair like an old habit. “You should have seen the looks we got. Two scruffy wolves from rural Kansas, barely out of our first shifts, scuttling back and forth from the flea motel a few miles away.”

“Really? I didn’t realize you two came all the way here after escaping that hell hole.”

“Hell, it wasn’t our first stop, that’s for sure. We holed up at a lot of dead–end places between there and here just to get our minds right. Cole had his inheritance but neither of us knew what to do in the real world. We couldn’t even think about goals. All we thought about was fighting.”

50

Ace grew quiet, walking over to the glassed in pool area, “Growing up in a place like that made everything backward. Up was down. Left was right. We didn’t even know how to talk to other people without repeating all the foul shit we’d learned. And we were” Ace ran a hand over his mouth, damn angry. At the world. At our fathers. At everything. I know you grew up in the same kind of luxury as Cole and yea, there’s probably shady shit going on here too but Maxim’s compound… growing up there was like-” His voice trailed off, eyes growing distant.

“Yea,” Lita said, putting a hand on his forearm. She wasn’t even sure he realized he was shaking. She tightened her grip, pulling him back from whatever he was remembering.

Ace’s face went drawn and then he shuddered, “It wasn’t all bad though, we met James here. And he was looking for a fresh start same as us.” His voice took on a wistful quality. “James and Cole started dreaming up their wild plans, a pack unlike anything they’d ever had. Talking about what they’d do with their money. What they could build for other wolves like us. That’s how they decided to hit the west coast. Get away from everything any of us ever grew up around. I was listening, ya know. And yea, I was excited. But I wasn’t cut from the same cloth as the rest of you. I didn’t dream big and blow money.”

“You didn’t come from money back in Maxim’s pack?”

Ace smiled something unfriendly and cruel, “Nope.” He brushed her hand away, forceful but careful, effectively ending the conversation where it stood.

“Come on,” he forced a smile, putting on his playful persona even as Lita knew it was faked. “You’ve got to see downstairs. If you thought the tournament was large, you’ve no idea how big this showcase gets,”

Lita wanted to say something but much like how she felt when someone offered condolences about James, she knew there weren’t really words for it. Instead, she let him redirect the conversation, following him to the basement stairs.