Chapter 8

One battle at a time?  One battle at a time!  Alise was fuming but said nothing as the bed creaked.  Without looking, she knew Chief had gotten up even before his heavy footsteps paced toward the door.

“I’m gonna go make that call.  You should get some rest.  It’s late, and it’s been a long ass day.”

She didn’t turn from the window when she said, “I’ll take the couch.”  Wouldn’t want this lowly human keeping you from your bed.

“No.  You won’t.”

Pissed, she whipped her head around and shot him a dark look over her shoulder.

“Sweetheart, I gotta have my beast between you and the world.  That means me taking the couch while you’re safe up here.  Besides,” he pointed at her gown.  “You tore your dress.” 

Gesturing toward the dressers, he directed, “Help yourself to whatever clothes you want.  There are fresh towels in the bathroom if you wanna shower.  I’ll be downstairs.” 

Annoyed as she was, Alise couldn’t help feeling a little grateful when Chief’s expression softened as he said, “Us being alone together in the same cabin should be enough, but if it’s not, if you need me, just give a holler.”

Alise watched Chief exit the room and cursed herself for the perusal of admiration her eyes took down his large frame.  Devouring him with her eyes, that’s what she was doing, and it was ridiculous. 

When the door closed, she fisted her hands hard, shook her arms, and did an internal shriek of frustration.  Eyes jerking down, she looked to see where she’d torn her dress, and her cheeks flamed at the rip at the seam near her ribs that ran down and back leaving a gaping hole over one panty-clad butt cheek.  And of course, she couldn’t be wearing a sexy red thong or pink lacey number.  Nope!  To look good in the dress, she’d gone for her old reliable nude-colored Spanx.  Any man would assume she was wearing granny panties because guys didn’t know about things like shapewear.

“Fuck my life,” she muttered as she rolled her eyes and headed for the bathroom. 

When she got inside the bathroom, she slammed to a halt in front of the mirror, her eyes bugging out. 

“Great, great!  Thanks, God!”  She threw a peace sign up to the heavens and shook her head in dismay as she eyed her reflection.  Her eyeliner and mascara were smeared all down her cheeks from where she’d been crying, and her bright red lipstick was smudged.  She looked like the Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad.  Worse, there were branches and twigs and…  Squinting, she leaned in closer to the mirror and picked something out of her hair before pulling it down to study it. 

“Yuuuup!”  She popped on the ‘p’ as she eyed the pinecone she’d just plucked from her tangled mess of locks.  Dead eyes lifting to her reflection again she turned to the side and eyed her exposed backside. 

“Yeah!  You’re a real fucking siren, Alessandra.”

***

Downstairs, Chief crossed to the phone on the table, but his feet slowed to a halt when he saw the bits and pieces it was in. 

“Shhhhhit!” 

Yeah, his temper often got the better of him, and he’d wrecked his fair share of shit and paid the consequences later.  Now though it super sucked because he didn’t even have a cell phone.  He didn’t need one.  He had zero family, zero friends, and zero pack. 

Eying the door, he knew he couldn’t leave to go hunt down a phone either because putting distance between himself and Alise would hurt her. 

Fuck!

Glancing upstairs, he wondered if Alise had a cell phone.  Thinking about her sexy-as-fuck dress though, he knew there was really no place for her to keep one unless it was tucked into her bra.  Her bra. That got him thinking about that tattoo of hers that he’d traced with his finger.  Fuck, her skin had been so soft.  The softest thing he’d ever touched.  Ever!  Wondering if all her skin was that soft had his cock straining against his zipper.

“Shhhhhit!”  Scrubbing a hand down his face, Chief lowered his gaze and stared hard at the wall.  If this wasn’t a true stricken, it sure as shit felt like one.  Well, he assumed it did.  He hadn’t ever been stricken and wasn’t close with anyone who had been, but right now the need to go up to the loft and bury himself between Alise’s thighs was beating inside him like a damn war drum.  Worse, he’d been sporting a boner since he’d carried her up to the room.  His inner wolf had gotten the wrong idea about them taking her up and hell if the man wasn’t on board with his beast’s train of thought.  Which was odd.  A she-wolf was what his beast had been demanding.  Hell, his animal hadn’t even held one ounce of interest in Grace during the pack battles, but he’d been unwilling to step down when he’d realized she was human.  He’d tried to save face and look where that had gotten him.  Here!

Sucking his bottom lip into his mouth, he lifted his head and narrowed his eyes on the doorway at the top of the stairs.  He was practically drooling over Alise.

Turning from the stairs, he stalked to the sofa and dropped onto it.  Concentrating, he poured his energy into something more useful.  Attempting to contact Dell BlackBird through pack ties would be epically hard. Still, it wouldn’t be as hard as the erection throbbing in his jeans. 

Shifting uncomfortably, Chief adjusted himself as he narrowed his focus and attempted something he’d never done before.  He sought out a connection with another wolf-shifter.

Dell’s snarl carried to him weakly through the pack ties, and though it was extremely faint, it was something. 

“Who in the fuck is this?”

Feeling sheepish and a lot out of his element, Chief rushed out, “Dell, it’s me, Chief SpeaksThunder.  I’m at StoneCrow, and I’ve got a problem.”

“Chief?  Jesus fuck man, how the hell are you coming through my pack ties?

“Dunno, I wasn’t even sure it’d work.”

There was a snort before Dell stated, “Probably only working because I’m close to you.  My mate and I are in Great Falls, it’s just a short jaunt from StoneCrow.  We’re here for a weekend getaway, so this had better be good!  What the hell do you want?”

“I’ve been stricken.”

There was a pulse of silence before Dell drawled, “Aaaaand?”

“I need to know if Monroe StoneCrow can make it happen.  I don’t know if this is real or one of his fucking games.”

“Who’s the woman?  A Skin Walker?”

“No,” Chief answered.  “She’s human.  Alessandra Marie Crane.  Alise,” he clarified.

“Why in the hell do you think Monroe would intentionally bind you to a human?”

“I don’t know.  Something he said when it happened.  Plus the convenience of it all after I was just in the pack battles.  I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around why he wanted me here at StoneCrow.  I don’t like games and I sure as fuck don’t play ‘em.  I got no idea what the fuck is going on or why, but Alise is caught in the middle and Beast ain’t happy.”    

A chuffed laugh carried across the ties before Dell said, “Sounds real to me.  You’re already protective of her.  How long has it been?  When were you stricken?”

Chief glanced at the window.  “A few hours.”

“Fuck,” Dell sounded tired when he answered.  “I don’t know if Monroe’s capable of initiating a bond.  I’m sure if he could, he’d use it to his advantage, but it seems like shit timing to me.  Our alliance is in its infancy, Chief.  Him betraying us now doesn’t fit with the calculating prick we all know him to be.”

“Then what?” Chief asked.

“Maybe it’s real.  Have you considered that?”

“She’s human,” Chief muttered looking to the top of the stairs to ensure Alise wasn’t standing there.  While the conversation was happening telepathically, he was worried about Alise knowing he was once again berating her for something beyond her control.

“There are worse things,” Dell growled across the ties.  “My Chloe was human, man.”

“Yeah, but you’re not…”

“Not what?” Dell asked.  “Not Alpha enough?  Not fierce enough?  Or just not like you?”

Yeah, that.  But Chief didn’t say it.

“I know your wolf has other ideas on what it wants, but you gotta understand that the animal is terrified of possessing something so beautiful and delicate.  Beasts don’t believe they’re meant for beauty.  They’re wrong.  And this is where you need to start teaching him that.  If it is real, you’ll know it, and you’ll have to convince your wolf that it’s okay to believe it.  Hell, he probably already believes it but is holding back because he thinks he’s protecting you.  You need to get on board.  Christ, just trust each other!  Don’t keep yourself from having this.”  He chuckled, “As if you could.  Like I said, if it’s real, you’ll know it.  You’ll both know it.  Have faith, brother.  Give Alise a chance.  She could fix you from the inside out if you let her.  It’s what mates do.  They make us into the shifters we were meant to be.  Don’t go throwing that away just because you have it in your head that your beast could only handle a she-wolf.   You’ll regret it if you let your true mate walk, I promise you that.  Trust, Chief.  Do that, and the rest will come in time.”

This was really starting to sound like some Kumbaya bullshit, and it wasn’t why he’d contacted Dell.  With a growl, Chief clipped out, “Thanks.” 

Severing the tie, he glared at the wall and tagged on, “For nothing.”  He didn’t want relationship advice.  He wanted to know if Monroe StoneCrow was capable of fucking with a wolf shifter’s mating.  Now all he could think about was what Dell had said about not letting Alise slip through his fingers.  He had to think about it because whether he’d admit it or not, he respected the hell out of Dell BlackBird.  The Alpha of the great northwest pack was as good as they came, and Dell had done more than merely mate a human woman.  Dell and his mate, Chloe, started out as enemies.  Chloe hated Dell, and their relationship hadn’t been easy.  It was rumored that Dell was stricken while Chloe blamed him and his family for the death of her brother.  Still, they’d somehow managed to make it work. 

That had Chief thinking that he and Alise’s little issue of not knowing each other wasn’t that big of a deal after all, especially if he could get himself to accept the fact that she was human.

Leaning forward, he braced his elbows on his knees and stared down at his hands. Could it be?  Was it possible he’d finally found her?

Inside his chest, his heart started an erratic hammering that was borne of…  Holy shit!  Was that…was that actual fucking legitimate hope? 

Fucking hell!

Watching as his fingers began to tremble, he fisted his hands and drew in a deep breath to calm himself.  He couldn’t afford to get ahead of himself right now.  Alise deserved for him to investigate this thoroughly.  Still, it didn’t stop him from thinking about Dell’s words. 

“Sounds real to me.  You’re already protective of her. Don’t keep yourself from having this.   As if you could.  Like I said, if it’s real, you’ll know it.  You’ll both know it.”

Did he know it?

Sitting alone, he thought about Alise.  He thought about how small she was, how beautiful she was, how damn good she smelled.  His gut tightened with the memories, and his palms started sweating.  He thought on her words earlier.  He thought about how she’d been afraid of him.  He shook his head at the realization that he was just as terrified of her.  Big bad, out-of-control, Alpha shifter was fucking terrified of a fragile little human. 

Scrubbing  hand down his face, he breathed, “Ffffffuck!”