Oh, ok, so at least she knows the guys. That’s not so bad.
“I don’t know who the fuck you are.”
Well, shit.
“But if you don’t back the hell off, right fucking now, you're going to be wearing your goddamned testicles as earrings. You got me, motherfucker?”
Chadwick turns enough to smirk at his packmates and they start to chuckle, but I don’t miss the anger in his eyes or how his pheromones ratchet up in aggression. His normally steely scent takes on a bitter edge of overheated metal. His head turns back to whoever’s in front of him, just as I reach out and grab his shoulder. Snapping his attention to me before he can agro any further on…a really short woman holding a weight bar like a club.
Oh yeah, that would hurt like hell.
I’ve banged my head on enough of those damned things.
She’s so tiny she barely comes up to his collarbones, but the fire in her dark eyes tells me already that she is not someone you wanna fuck with. All in all, she makes me think of a rabidchipmunk: cute but itwilltake a chunk out that you won’t soon forget.
My voice is a low, menacing snarl as I pull the growly alpha around and away from the feral beta girl. “Alright, Chadwick, that was your last warning. You’re out. Go clean out your locker and talk to Garret at the front if you want to attempt getting your deposit back. Good luck, though.” I push past him and insert myself between his group and the short woman, hoping like hell she doesn’t see this as a slight and take her anger out on me while my back is turned.
Brent, one of his packmates, tries to argue about how not fair it is, but I’ve put on my best resting bitch face and just stand there, waiting for them to get the message. Eventually, they wander back towards the men’s locker room. A few seconds later, I see Garret come out of the office and head that way as well. He should be able to take care of it. He’ll holler if he needs help.
Now that the threat seems to be gone, and the woman behind me hasn’t beaned me in the noggin with a metal rod, I turn around to give her my full attention, and holy fucking shit, she’s adorable. Ok, that’s rude, but it’s true. She’s so tiny. I mean, most betas only come up around shoulder height on me. But she wouldn’t even be at my nipples…wait. Why am I thinking about my nipples now?
Crap.
I’m not getting any scent from her, so she must be a beta, like Kelly. Unlike Kelly, her hair is deep brown, almost black, and in a short pixie cut—kinda like she got mad at it one day and just chopped it a couple of inches long all over. Her big eyes are a dark chocolatey color, staring up at me in awe. She’s wearing a sporty halter top and really tight shorts, which makes it painfully obvious that she’s jacked as hell. I mean, she’s still curvy as fuck, but her arm muscles are sculpted to perfection and she looks likeshe would have given Chadwick a run for his money. I bet she can kick like a fuckin’ mule.
I hold my hand out in an offer to shake.
That’s what you’re supposed to do in these situations, right?
Wait, is my hand sweaty?
Should I pull it back and wipe it on my pants first, just to make sure?
Wait, then she’ll know I offered her my sweaty hand, but if it’snotsweaty, then no harm done.
Shit, I wish Paul were here; he’d know the protocol on these things.
Nope, already started, just go with it.
But she doesn’t take my possibly sweaty paw; her big beautiful eyes are glaring behind me. Before I can turn around to rip Chadwick’s pack a new one, a high, fake giggle sends unpleasant shivers up my spine. Fuck me sideways, it’s Hope. “Oh, Spence, you’re here early. Are you as eager as I am to get our training session started?” Her voice sets my teeth on edge and the tiny beta in front of me flicks her eyes between my face—which I am trying, and failing, to keep neutral—and the touchy woman who just slid her hand down my back, going straight for my ass.
Fuck my life.
Hard.
In the ass.
With a sharp stick.
I step to the side, trying to escape the wandering touch, but she follows me. “Hope, I’m early because I wanted to get some work in for myself. Our time doesn’t start for another twenty minutes. So if you’ll excuse me…” I keep trying to strafe sideways to get her to stop touching me—intent on heading straight for the front desk to talk to Garret. I hope he’s not pissed at me that I’m costing them two memberships in less than an hour.Iknow it’s not my fault, but I really need them to see it that way. We justgot our mortgage and while it’s under Al’s name as pack leader—because his credit score is higher—I’m still attached to it as part of the pack and helping with the payments. So I need this fucking job.
The smaller woman starts growling as Hope moves closer. Her hand never leaves my skin as she circles around to push between me and the tiny beta. I wouldn’t be so close to this poor unknown woman if I wasn’t trying to escape the groping, anyway. I don’t know what the hell is going on. This little gym junkie is so pissed off, and she looks like she’ll take Hope’s head off if she doesn’t fucking get away from me. While I can’t say the attention isn’t flattering, it’s like being growled at by a kitten. Hope just scoffs, running her hand down my chest and lower than is appropriate for anybody that I’m not in an intimate relationship with.
Before I can ask her to stop, the beautiful little beta in front of me snarls, raising the weight bar back up, and brandishing it menacingly. “Take your skanky fucking hands off my alpha before I break the goddamned things off and shove them up your ass!” I have no idea who the hell this woman is, but my chest swells when she calls me her alpha.
Hope scoffs again, but it looks to be all bravado as she stares over the other woman’s head. “Like I care, you’re just another nasty alpha chaser like Kelly.” She huffs and turns, sauntering away quickly, as if she’s not taking this woman’s threats seriously. But she’s also moving faster than usual, so I don’t believe it.
When I look back down at the beta in front of me, I find her still holding the weight bar, standing it up on one end and passing it from hand to hand. It’s a 45-pound bar, so it’s not a huge shock, but it’s also taller than she is like this. Before I can ask if she needs help, she starts talking. “What’s your name again? Can I call you Moose? You look like Moose from those oldArchie comics! Damn, now I’m showing my age. But shit, you’rebig!”
