Chapter 4
Hillary walked into the Alpha’s house and immediately stalled at the door. Michael was there along with the pack Beta and several other high ranking pack males. In front of him stood, who she assumed was, the visiting Alpha of the Blood Lust pack. The women who’d served dinner last night were alight with excitement as they retrieved plates from the kitchen to deliver to the dining hall. A few had nearly gotten into actual fights arguing over who’d serve the sexy-as-sin Blood Lust Alpha. Hillary had been annoyed and a little disgusted by their behavior. Like, really, who put their boobs on display in hopes of drawing the attention of a man? Alpha or not, it’d be a cold day in hell before she ever threw herself at any man. It was one of the things she hated most about her pack and her Alpha. He had no qualms about using the pack females to get what he wanted in negotiations. Only she and Simone refused to be offered up in that manner. Regardless of how excited the other pack females were at the prospect of mating an Alpha, they weren’t looking to find their mates like that. Funny though, the giddy excitement of the other females didn’t last past the initial drinks. By the time Hillary had finished the main course, the females were begging each other to deliver food to the Alpha. She heard one of them say his name was Modess. When she’d asked Simone what all the fuss was about, she’d whispered, “The Blood Lust Alpha is terrifying!” She’d had to hurry out with dessert, so Hillary didn’t get the chance to question her further and then the remainder of the night was a flurry of cleaning up after the huge meal.
Now, staring at the wide expanse of the visiting Alpha’s back and his towering form, Hillary understood what Simone meant by terrifying. Even without him facing her, the man was intimidating. The room was full of weighty authority that was clearly making the lower ranking members uncomfortable. She didn’t even want to begin to dissect what the pressure was doing to her. Her belly flopped violently and she nearly gagged with the need to retch or flee.
“Here we go.” Michael motioned toward her. Modess slowly turned. At first his eyes hit the door over her head as if he were expecting someone much taller. Instantly, his face morphed into an even deeper frown than he’d been wearing as his eyes lowered to hers.
“What the fuck is this?” he asked.
If he was asking her, she had no idea what he was talking about. Even if she had, she wouldn’t have been able to answer him anyway. Was it even proper to consider a man this savagely virile as beautiful? His hair was so dark it looked like oil. It even had black and purple hints that only served to make his eyes pop, and oh those eyes. Once, she’d gone with the pack to Alaska to watch shifters compete in the Iditarod. It’d been the first time she’d seen the Northern Lights and the sight had been indescribably beautiful. Right now though, looking at Modess’ eyes, the churning emerald there reminded her of those lights. All she could think as she stared at the man with the sexy scruff on his jaw and thickly muscled form, was that he was unfairly attractive even if his lower lip was pregnant with a fat pinch of tobacco.
“This is her,” Michael said, breaking her trance.
Blinking, she realized she was staring directly into the eyes of an Alpha. Realizing her faux pas, she dropped her eyes to Michael’s knees and listened intently.
In front of her Modess snorted a displeased sound. “I didn’t expect a woman.”
In her periphery, she caught Michael’s shrug before he snapped. “Dalton and Lee, go collect her things.”
Collect my things? Suddenly, her palms were sweating. She flicked a glance up to her Alpha and asked quietly, “Michael?”
He didn’t even look at her. Instead he extended his hand to Modess who reluctantly accepted it. “It’s a deal then?” Michael asked excitedly.
Modess was quiet as he shook Michael’s hand before finally sighing. “Fine. Yeah. It’s a deal.”
Hillary’s stomach dropped out. She lifted her head to look at Michael and asked in a panic-laced tone, “What…what’s happening?”
He finally looked at her and beamed a proud grin. “Hillary, you’re going to Blood Lust.”
Uh, the fuck I am!
“This is Hillary?”
Modess question had her eyes narrowing on him suspiciously. How did he know her?
“Yes it is.” Michael turned his attention back to her. “It’s an honor, Hillary.” Michael dropped Modess’ hand and turned to grip both of her shoulders. “You’re helping the pack. Your former pack,” he amended and then beamed a smile at Modess. “Alpha Wilder is willing to loan several of his best fight trainers in exchange for you.”
Hillary jerked back from her Alpha’s hold and shot her gaze to his boots when his brows snapped down at the action. He knew she wouldn’t agree to that!
“It’s only temporary. Don’t make a scene.”
Don’t make a scene? What in the actual fuck! “Why me?” Any of the other unmated females would be more experienced and able to please a man like Modess. “I’m not looking to…” Her words trailed off as she thought on how to tactfully turn down Alpha Wilder. “I wouldn’t be compliant. You should find another female.”
Beside her Modess snorted an amused sound and Michael laughed. “You misunderstand. He’s not looking for a mate or a…distraction. He’s looking for a chef.” The asshole Michael actually chucked her in the shoulder like she was a ten-year-old tomboy. “I wouldn’t choose you for his carnal delights, Hillary.”
Well fuck you! But she tried to swallow down her anger at the slap to her ego because if Modess wasn’t looking to bed her, then maybe things weren’t as bad as they seemed. “A chef?” she asked, hoping for more clarification as she ignored the singe that was burning high on her cheeks.
“Yes. Your culinary skills have worked their magic and secured us an alliance, if this temporary exchange goes well.” He clapped Modess on the shoulder. “Alpha Wilder found all of our females lacking and we had no bargaining chip until you. Seems the way to a beast’s approval is through his belly. Like I said, it’s temporary. His fighters will stay here and train our men and you’ll go to Blood Lust and train his people on how to properly feed an Alpha male.”
She peeked up at Modess. His eyes were narrowed on her as he watched her a little too intently. Tearing her eyes from his she asked, “H-how long?”
Michael shrugged as if the answer didn’t really matter. “Until our men learn to fight like the Blood Lust wolves.”
Great. Never then!
Behind her the door opened. Dalton and Lee were back. They each held familiar suitcases and now she was good and pissed. She should have been allowed to pack herself. How would those two dip-shits know what she needed? Why was she getting the bum’s rush?
Modess jerked his chin and both of her suitcases were grabbed by one of the large members of his pack. Looking at them fully now, Hillary noted that every man with Modess was larger than any male in the Shadow Wolf pack. It was no wonder Michael wanted them to train his men.
Modess spoke, the deep timber of his voice sent chills blasting up her spine as he addressed Michael. “I’ll be in contact.”
“Yes,” Michael smiled. “Hillary will give you no problems and I’m sure if she does, you know how to handle her.”
She jerked her gaze to her Alpha and shot him a dark look because, well, fuck him, and what could he do if he was sloughing her off onto Modess. From here until who knew when, she was basically part of the Blood Lust pack.
Exiting the Alpha’s house, Hillary actually considered making a run for it, but just then, the Blood Lust member carrying her suitcases turned and looked at her over his shoulder. “Kitchen Help, you’re with us.”
Kitchen Help! Her fingers itched to flip-off his back, but Modess was somewhere behind her and she didn’t want to chance getting caught. Stupid jerk. Stupid muscled up Hercules. Stupid fucking Jercules! She hated that he’d summed her up so quickly because, well, to be honest, all she was at Shadow Wolf was well…kitchen help. She didn’t really have any friends other than Simone because the other females didn’t understand her lack of desire to mate a high-ranking pack member. The men all ignored her because she knew she wasn’t that pretty, at least, not compared to the busty stunners that filled the pack. Nope, she was a pancake while most of the other females were mouth watering waffles slathered with whipped cream, chocolate chips, and topped with giant juicy cherries. Twat waffles! She smirked to herself, but it vanished when a bout of loneliness swamped her. She may not have many friends, but she did have Simone and she should have been given the opportunity to say goodbye at least! Eying the area, she saw a group of women, but knew none of them would care that she was being sent off and they sure as hell wouldn’t pass on any message to Simone for her. She just couldn’t understand what the problem was. She grew up with the other women yet they still held her at arm’s length. Maybe it was because while they liked to shop, she liked to read or while they liked to drink, she liked to research new recipes. Most likely it was because while they enjoyed dolling themselves up to dangle their wares in front of the pack’s numerous bachelors, Hillary spent most of her time in the kitchen. Honestly, she enjoyed cooking and it felt great providing for the pack in manner that no one else could, not the way she did. Admittedly, she’d thought it was her culinary skills that had secured her a place with the pack. The fact that Michael had given her up so easily and without even discussing it with her chaffed like a mo-fo.
Jercules barked and drew her from her thoughts. “Today, Kitchen Aid.”
Kitchen Aid? Great. Now, she was a fucking appliance. Following the behemoth to a blacked out suburban, she looked back at her pack’s camp and waited for rescue. None came. No one even came to say goodbye. That stung. She knew Simone would be there if she knew, but Hillary hadn’t even known.
Jercules barked, “Get in.”
Nervously, she lifted herself into the back of the suburban and even though Jercules was on the other side of the vehicle in his own seat, she still plastered herself against her door once she closed it.
“Buckle up,” he ordered and then chuffed a laugh at her posture. “And relax Kitchen Aid. I’ve got standards.”
And that was it. This guy wasn’t Alpha and he obviously wasn’t even Beta because then he’d be riding with Modess and not with “the kitchen help.” No, he was just some regular member like her.
“Yeah? Well so do I, and you can’t even meet my minimum. Gave my standards a raise a long time ago, and now they’re working for me.” So there!
Jercules turned shocked eyes to her and as she waited for him to get pissed, she wondered if she should have kept her mouth shut. The guy, while not as large as Modess, was roughly the size of a barn.
To her relief, Jercules barked out a laugh and then leaned forward to slap the driver on the shoulder. “You hear that shit, Christian? She’s got a little sass.” Looking back at her, the driver’s eyes traveled up and down her frame as if just seeing her for the first time. Waggling his brows he crowed, “I like!”
“Well don’t.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she faced her window then tacked on for good measure. “I’m here for Modess. Period.” She saw Jercules’ expression in the reflection of her window and her words must have rung a little too true. He tore his eyes from her with a sigh and jerked his chin to Christian, who started the vehicle and took her away from her home.
The trip was long and after about an hour of too rigid posture and aching muscles, Hillary relaxed against the seat. Jercules, who she discovered through his banter with Christian, was actually called Henry, flirted with her a lot. Funny, considering he’d already declared that she wasn’t good enough for him. Douche!
When night fell, they finally stopped at a diner on the side of the highway. Hillary wondered if the other vehicles had stopped too. She didn’t have to wonder long because when the vehicle finally stopped and she went to open her door, it was jerked open from the outside almost causing her to tumble out. Catching herself just in time, she lifted her head to bitch at whoever had opened her door only to find Modess frowning down at her.