The Merciless Alpha(erotica)

“I am,” I said. “I have an extra ticket to the Rangers-Twins tonight and I thought you might want to go. Dinner at the Smokehouse, the game, you know, have some fun in a social way.”

“If we’re being social then call me Melanie,” she said. “This isn’t your way to ask me out on a date, is it? Your reputation precedes you, and I’m not interested in being another notch on your bedpost.”

I put my hand over my heart. “Sorry, I’m taken. I met my match, but she’s visiting her relatives in Wisconsin. This is strictly because I, and we, would enjoy your company. Rosalie is bringing her daughter, and Lindsey is bringing her boyfriend.” She didn’t look convinced. “Look, part of why I’m on this enforced vacation is because I was taking things too personal. This can’t be easy for anyone, and it’s only going to get worse. I’ll even buy you the first beer.”

“All right, I’ll go.”

“Need a ride?”

“Sure.” She gave me her address and I told her I’d pick her up in an hour. Leaving work, I went home and changed into casual clothes; sandals, cargo shorts and a Rangers logo patterned Hawaiian shirt. The summer nights are hot, and the long shirt would hide the badge and gun. I got in my Jeep and drove to her condominium tower, she was waiting outside in a light summer dress and flats. “Thanks for this, you were right. I need a night just to have fun again,” she said.

It took a while to navigate traffic, and we found a parking spot and walked to the Smokehouse. The place was full, but we managed to grab a table by the time Lindsey and her boyfriend Thad showed up. I had the meat platter, corn bread and beans with a tall lemonade, while the others had brisket sandwiches. “You sure you can eat that,” Lindsey teased.

“Yep, then I’ll finish your sandwich,” I said. “High metabolism from working out so much.” It was true, as a werewolf I had a large appetite and the hybrid needed even more calories. Thad was a good guy who treated Lindsey well. He spent a lot of time undercover, so he looked scraggly. Lindsey was dressed in a wifebeater and jean shorts to match.

The food was good and Rosalie hadn’t shown, so we paid and walked into the park. “Hey Valerie, did you save any ice cream for me?”

The raven-haired girl smiled as she looked up at me. “Nope! Last bite,” she said as she put the spoon in her mouth.

“Oh, then you don’t want this,” I said as I took the two chocolate sundaes in souvenir batting helmets out from behind my back. Her eyes lit up and she reached for it, but Rosalie pulled her back down.

“You’ve already had nachos, a pretzel and ice cream, maybe we need to make the fifth inning before we get you more,” she said. “Now Mom hasn’t had dessert yet.” I handed the sundae to her, and Valerie used her spoon to eat some with her. I sat next to Valerie, Melanie on my other side then Lindsey and Thad.

“This was a good idea,” Lindsey said after we’d watched the game go to 3-3 in the sixth inning. The game was fun, and I found it helped keep me distracted from the worry about the group in Colombia right now. Melanie was a real fan, keeping score along with a running commentary on the game.

Valeria had crashed after her sugar high in the early innings. Her eyes were closing as she was leaning against her Mom. “I think I need to get her home,” she said. She woke her up and said her goodbyes, which included her giving me a hug. She was a great kid, and that only made me think of having my own children, which made me think of Talia again. I had to force myself back into the game after they left.

The four of us stayed around a local bar for drinks before we split up after midnight. “Thanks for the tickets, it was fun,” Lindsey said. “When are you off vacation?”Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

“A week or so more ought to do it,” I said. “My girl should be back tomorrow and I’ll spend time with her.”

“Mystery girl, huh? Well, you can’t hide her forever.” She gave me a hug before they walked off, and I talked to Melanie about her about her family as we walked back to my car. The night was still warm, and she was pleasant company. A month ago, I would have taken her home and screwed the hell out of her in another meaningless one-night stand. Now I had no interest at all beyond friendship. I dropped her in front of her condominium tower and drove home.

The girls were not going to communicate with any of us until they were no longer traveling under their false identities, so I had no text messages or calls. I checked the international news; nothing was out yet. I took a cold shower and went to sleep, one of Talia’s shirts over the pillowcase so I could rest.

I woke up about nine and went for a run, trying to get some of the tension out of my body. After punishing the weight machines in the gym at my building, I made a phone call to my father. “Hey Dad, how are you doing?”

“Pretty good,” he said. “You know that place we liked to get those bags of donuts, the one in Miami? It closed down. Too bad.”

“Miami? Really?”

“Yeah, these chain stores and bakeries don’t know how to make it the way I like. They still train in the old way down there, at least they used to. Some friends stopped by to pick some up, and the place was dead. Out of business.”

“That’s too bad, I would have liked to have been there before it closed.” I almost wish I had done it, but it was better this way. “I have some time until her flight, so I’ll do some surfing and watch the news. Just keep me posted on things?”

“Of course.”

“Hey, can I talk to Mom?”

She got on, and I told her of my plans. In the werewolf world, the mating bond was a tie stronger than any human marriage ceremony, but we lived surrounded by humans. It was important to me that we be tied together in both worlds. More importantly, being married would mean I couldn’t be compelled to testify against my wife if things went south. She was thrilled with the idea and said she would talk to Teri Grissom, the La Crosse Pack Luna. “Their family is in Wisconsin, the wedding really should be up there,” she said. “This is so exciting! When are you going to propose?”

“Soon,” I said. “I’m pretty sure she’ll say yes.”

“Oh, Randall, of course she will. Now you just have to get Bobby on board.” We talked for a few more minutes about logistics; the ceremony could be held on Pack lands, the invitation list, who would officiate, she even started talking food and flowers. “Let me get engaged first,” I finally said. “I’ll see her tonight.”

“Do you know her ring size? What style she likes?”

“No, Mom. We’ll figure it out.” I made an appointment with a jeweler for a private showing tomorrow. The owner was a warlock who had helped me out on occasion, so he knew the specific needs of our kind. If I bought her a normal ring, it would fall off her claw when we shifted to our wolf forms. This jeweler could spell the rings, tying them to our human form only. The ring would disappear when we shift, reappearing when we shifted back. It was a neat piece of witchcraft, because rings and claws don’t work well together in the forest.

I ordered some Chinese delivery for lunch, then I surfed the web for news on the Sex Island or the training facility for slaves. Miami was not what I expected, but it made sense. Most of the slaves were sent overseas; many ended up in the Mideast or Far East, never to return. What Dad was saying in a coded way was that a Coven in Miami had worked with us to shut down the training facility.

And if the Packs and Vampires did it, they’d all be dead.

About one in the afternoon, I got the call I was expecting from the FBI Dallas Field Office. “Meechum, if I find out you were involved in this, I’ll throw your ass in jail,” Rosalie Martinez said.

“I’m eating sweet and sour chicken and watching Fox News in my underwear,” I said. “What could I possibly be involved in? You MADE me take vacation.”

“You aren’t on vacation anymore. Get your ass in here.” She hung up, so I finished lunch and got my suit on before driving in to the office.

The receptionist told me to go straight to the conference room. When I walked in, SAIC Martinez was looking at the crime scene photographs sent from Miami. “What happened,” I said as I looked at the scene. It was bloody, the vampires had taken advantage of the buffet, probably drank a little then hacked their throats with machetes to hide the marks.

“Warehouse in Miami near the docks,” my boss said. “Ten dead, all at close range and brutally done. Twenty-three girls were in there, it is, I mean it WAS a sex slave training facility. Fucking sick what they were doing there.”

“Is this the one Tania Stillwater told us about?”

“Maybe, it fits her description. I’ve got a call in to her lawyer, I want to have her look at the photos of the men and see if she recognizes any of them.” She looked around the room. “We cooperate fully with the Miami office. This is hitting the press, and it’s going to explode. Someone walked in there late last night, killed every staff member then locked all the girls in a room. The FBI office got an anonymous tip at eight this morning, they hit the place at ten and found this mess.”

“Pretty violent for a mob hit, and cutting throats is more a Cartel style kill,” I said. “Is this a turf war?”

“Miami office said they found a symbol of the Juarez cartel on the wall in blood, so yeah, they’re fighting. Drugs are just one thing you can smuggle, and the Cartels are becoming a diversified organization.” It was true; drug cartels smuggled people, guns, cigars, they even controlled huge agricultural areas. If you bought guacamole, it was harvested and controlled by the Cartels in Mexico. “Joey ‘Bag of Donuts’ disappeared a few days ago, and one of the dead men is tied to the Miami crime family. An operation this big must have organized crime backing. We may have Cartel moving in on American crime families. The Organized Crime Task Force out of New York and the DEA are heading down there to meet us.”

“Good, whoever these guys are who took them out, they did us all a favor,” I said. “The girls? Are they all right?”

“They have them with counselors, getting statements. Not all of them are in a good condition to speak. From what we know, these girls have been drugged, beaten and assaulted since they were abducted. It’s going to take a while to work through it all.” She moved to the head of the room. “Lindsey, Rebecca, you’re leaving tonight with me for Miami. We are merging our investigations. The Miami office is taking the lead. Randall, you are off vacation as of now. Tania knows you and I don’t want her freezing up when she sees these people. Get her in a room, interview her and send me the results.”

“Yes boss,” I said. She was gone an hour later, and I worked until five then went home. It all worked out perfectly for me; I would have to go up to Sulphur Creek, and I could manage the FBI response in some way. I went to my desk and moved the appointment to tonight; the three would be staying at my apartment tonight, so we may as well get the ring shopping done.

I had no doubt Bobby would jump at the chance to put a ring on Tania, and we’d have our double wedding soon.