# IN LOVE WITH THE ALPHA

### Full Moon Series

## Mia Rose

## Book 1

## Edited by Natasha Lind

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### Contents

My Gift to you

Art work

Prologue

1. The Towers

2. Running

3. Not This Day

4. Please

5. Staying Put

6. Next Door Mystery

7. Decision Time

8. Careful Now

9. Bullets

10. Mission

11. Explore

12. Watch Out

13. In Charge

14. Wolf

15. Declan

16. Choices

17. Pull

18. The Woods

19. My Voice

20. Predator

21. Luck

22. Justice

23. Remembering

24. Not Pleasure-Filled

Chasing the Alpha Book 2

About the Author

Afterword

Sci-fi Romance

Prologue

1. Tulloc

2. Amelia

3. Tulloc

4. Amelia

5. Tulloc

6. Amelia

7. Tulloc

8. Amelia

9. Tulloc

10. Amelia

11. Tulloc

12. Amelia

13. Tulloc

14. Amelia

Epilogue

# My Gift to you

Click here or type in the url above into your web browser

# Art work

# Prologue

_"Staying awake is hellish."_

The asphalt was still glossy from the storm, his sneakers plodded against the pools of rainwater that the potholes in the street had collected. The rain soaked through his waxed, canvas sneakers, but his shivering limbs and blue fingertips kept him caring. A winter in Colorado was a brutal thing to endure on your own.

He wondered how long it'd been since he passed a neighborhood with the kind of people inside warm homes, that would welcome him into their lives. His mind drifted into the home he imagined, where a mother put her kids to sleep and cozied up next to her husband. And where she would crack open her book to the second-to-last page and read about women that did extraordinary things when no one was watching.

Declan supposed that these women would get their thrills that way; reading about men and women that lived without caution, without concern over what they would tell their neighbors. Or worse, the story that they would have to conjure up and tell their husbands. In the morning, these wives would shake their children awake and prepare an extravagant breakfast, where the table would be overflowing with their choice of waffles, strawberries, toast, and bacon fresh off of the skillet. Her children would never have to wonder what their next meal was going to be, or scrape mold off of the end cap of a piece of bread. They would never have to tuck water bottles from the convenience store into their waistbands just to guarantee that they would have something to drink later.

Declan tucked his arms tighter around himself, and took slow steps along the sidewalk. A bus stop was up ahead; the lonely and faded bus station sign flapped in the wind. He cupped his hand over his ear, the skin was bright red from the cold. He approached the bench a few feet behind the bus stop sign faster than he thought. Declan didn't know whether he chose to sit down or if his chilled knees decided for him. He collapsed onto the bench, and the metal underneath him rested against his bony bottom the same way a pair of silver handcuffs rested against a crook's wrists.

He forced his eyes open, each time that they preferred to rest against his tired eyes, he shook himself awake. It was better to sleep during the day, most people preferred to leave you alone, to step around you, and pretend that you weren't a part of their narrative. At night, people seemed to be interested in why you were alone for all the wrong reasons.

Declan slipped his fingers into the holes on the bench, and rolled his shoulders back. Only six more hours until sunrise... only five more hours until sunrise... only four more hours until sunrise. Only three now, it would be idiotic to doze off now and risk it.

Declan's body slumped against the bench, and his chest tilted forward, forcing his head toward his knees. In the last hour, Declan's eyes snapped open and his blood had been set ablaze. Between rugged breaths, he lifted his watery eyes to the blurry form in front of him.

_"Staying awake is hellish."_

## Chapter 1

# The Towers

" _What's happening?!"_

Declan moved down the front steps of Clifton Towers and pushed open the doors that gave way outside. His skin was abused from the harsh rays of the sun. A leathery tan wrapped over his biceps which were always exposed when he wore his uniform shirt. Declan was the building superintendent for Deaver Towers; his days consisted of sliding underneath a blown sink faucet while the screams of a baby rang in his ears. There wasn't an opportunity to run out of work because his tenants always found a way to wreck their shower head, or rip the handle off of their refrigerator door.

Declan smiled to himself as he focused on his daily reward for dealing with the human world. With a dark chocolate mocha from the Arden Cafe, a quaint, family owned cafe that had been a spot for college kids and high school students. They could pile into on weeknights after they told their parents that they were in for a night of comparing notes, or receiving tutoring from their friends.

He pushed open the glass doors, and the bell above his head sang, snagging the attention of a group of kids nearby and the barista behind the counter. Her name was Emily, she'd started at the cafe recently and had taken a small interest in Declan's routines. She wore a warm smile, and waved him over as he headed toward the counter.

"Good Afternoon, Declan! Are we doing the usual today? Or can I finally convince you to try something else?" she laughed.

Declan shook his head and replied, "The usual is fine."

He reached into his wallet and spread it open; a thick layer of bills uncaringly crammed in between the pieces of cracked leather. Declan handed her a bill and she smiled, she hesitated before opening the register.

"Hey, it's on me today!"

"Are you sure?"

Emily nodded, her eyes flirtatiously running over Declan's body.

"Yeah. It's on the house." She held the bill out to him and he plucked it from between her fingers; he slipped it in the back pocket of his jeans.

Emily disappeared behind the massive contraption of an espresso machine and Declan leant against the coffee bar.

He was used to this, and the newer girls that started at the cafe always let him off with freebies and coy smiles on the first few occasions that they served him. Declan would come in with his mate, Cassidy, and soon after the winks and free treats would cease.

Cassidy was striking, her beauty was intimidating to regular human women. It was enough to derail the attention of an entire room, with her long, blonde hair that reached the small of her back, and her tall and lean form. The delicate slope of her nose and her heart shaped face could easily convince someone that her face had been hand sculpted, or even created by a renowned plastic surgeon. Cassidy was one of the few werewolves that Declan encountered that had the good fortune to already be attractive. He'd found her on the outskirts of town, it was a night that he decided to switch up his hunting grounds.

She was a camper, and she'd been separated from her group. Declan didn't arrive until a larger wolf was already standing over her, her blood splattered on its face. He'd rushed forward to check her, and her body pulsed as the werewolf's bite erased her human blood. He could still remember how he examined her face, and assumed that she was probably the daughter of someone important from town. Declan had stayed there, until the transformation was complete. Hers had been much faster and far less painful than Declan's. When she'd opened her eyes, and saw a young man standing over her, she shrieked and slapped him as hard as she could. Declan spent the night and most of the day after explaining her new abilities to her.

Feeling desperate and lost, she begged him to stay with her and teach her how to live as a werewolf. They returned to town, and she gathered her things. She left messages for her friends and left. Cassidy and her parents were estranged, so she had no one else to say goodbye to before she followed Declan back to his home in Clifton Towers.

Declan grabbed his coffee cup out of Emily's hands and headed toward the door, nodding at a curious college student that whipped her head around fast enough for the muscles in her neck to pop. He smirked, although none of Declan's priorities included romancing college girls. But a part of him loved to see the effect that he had on human women. Declan always knew, even back in high school, that he was not hard to look at.

His father hadn't given him much besides a few bruises and a knee-jerk reaction to authority. But on more than one occasion Declan counted himself lucky because of his lightning fast metabolism. When his father first threw him out as a teen, he survived on gas station noodles and donut shop bagels for weeks until he got his first job. He was charming enough and just handsome enough, to cleverly trick the manager of the run-down Huntington Cafe into hiring him on as a server. After his turning, he watched as women practically fell over themselves at the chance to serve him in restaurants. And they would tuck small slips with their phone numbers scrawled across them in between the folds of his receipt.

Declan walked down the sidewalk and headed back toward the thick doors of Clifton Towers. A young man and his girlfriend snaked past him as he opened the door. The girl was one of the more recent renters. Gabriel brought the girl to him after he went out on a hunt, and found her shivering on top of a bed of leaves with her mark on the underside of her chin.

Declan moved into his office, a small, square-shaped room with one table lamp that emitted a warm glow. His desk, with its flaking wood chips and broken drawers, took up about two thirds of the space in the room. He walked behind it and pulled his office chair out, sliding into his desk and turning his attention toward his monitor. He ran his fingers under the hard plastic, and waited as the company logo flashed across the screen.

_Let's see what everyone's up to today._ Declan narrowed his eyes and focused on the messages that had been waiting for him in his email. Email had been one of the most efficient ways for Declan to communicate with the pack without arousing suspicion from human tenants. Declan inherited his responsibilities as the building super from Max. He was an older man that took a chance on Declan and offered him an apprenticeship as a service person. This was once he saw that Declan had ripped off the metal guard on the dishwasher at Huntington Café, and tinkered inside of it before the manager finally called Max to give it a real tune up. For years, Declan managed to hide the truth about his abilities from Max, just long enough to inherit the rights to the building. He then began living a life that wasn't mostly in the shadows. Once he was the building super, Declan went out of his way to rent the apartments to freshly turned werewolves, a way to keep them safe from terrified humans, or from themselves.

As the years went on, Declan formed a solid pack. This included his mate, Cassie, who helped calm the brand-new werewolves, holding their hands through their cravings and involuntary transformations. Declan's fingers pecked across the worn-out letters on his keyboard, typing out a response to a newer werewolf that was requesting one on one training time with him instead of Gabriel or Cassie. While Gabriel and Cassie were skilled hunters, everyone in the pack longed for a chance to train directly under their alpha.

The door opened, catching on the raised blue and purple carpet underneath the floor, before popping open and rattling against the wall. Declan leaned back against his chair and looked toward the door.

"Do you have to make a mess of everything before you enter a room?" he asked.

Gabriel shrugged, and for a beta, Gabriel always carried an aloof disposition when it came to Declan. Declan concluded that it was probably from his need to show the pack that he was just as big and bad as Declan. However, Gabriel's complete lack of leadership skills and his true wolf form served as a constant reminder that he would never be quite as big as Declan.

"What is it?" Declan asked, running his hands over a scatter of papers on his desk.

Loose work orders and thirty day notices decorated his desk.

"We've got a bit of a problem," Gabriel announced as he walked around the desk; his thick work shoes sent a smacking sound bouncing off of the walls.

Declan sighed and said, "A new resident not wanting to be trained by you doesn't constitute a problem. I'm swamped, what do you need?"

Gabriel scoffed and leaned against Declan's desk, his jean-clad legs just barely touched the wall that Declan's chair rested against. Declan frowned, and moved his chair towards the left, fighting back his irritation at the small slice of room left between his legs and the desk.

Gabriel fished his cell phone out of one of the pocket in his jeans and scrolled down on the screen before flashing it in front of Declan. The basketball team captain photo of a recently turned werewolf smiled back at him.

Gabriel cleared his throat before saying, "I'm hearing rumors around town that this idiot," he paused and jostled his phone up and down, "got into a fight with a couple of goons from the football team at the high school. And that he sent him limping away with claw marks down his back."

Declan clenched his fists and took a deep inhale before replying, "And... where is he? What's his name again? Aster?"

Gabriel nodded, "Something like that. I thought that I saw him in the halls this morning before I found out but I don't know if he's still there."

Declan stood up, shoving his chair back against the wall. He whipped around and snatched a rusty brown key. The one that was dangling on one of the rungs on the cork key wall. The light just above their heads bounced off of the green of Declan's eyes, highlighting the hot rage behind them.

When he parted his lips, his voice echoed a savage growl, "Let's find out.

_"What's happening?!"_

## Chapter 2

# Running

_"At one with nature."_

Her feet pounded against the dirt, she grimaced, picturing the painstaking process of scraping the dirt off her boots that she would have to endure later. She had to look neat when she left for a hunt and when she returned from one. It was one of those traditions that still hung around because no one could be bothered to separate themselves from the official image long enough to question it.

Noelle's chest pounded, the air she inhaled was in short, rapid bursts and sent a shard of pain down the crease between her breasts. Strands of black hair clung to her lips as she threw her legs against the mud and dirt long enough to propel herself behind a thick shrub.

Noelle reached into the thin band that sat snug against her trim thigh and wrapped her fingers around the holster of her four-inch, long blade.

_I can't believe that they just run through here like this._

She kept her ears open and the distant sound of heavy paws pounding against the earth grew closer. Noelle raised her blade up toward her eyes, it gave off a metallic blue tint. A hint that the crushed bullet salve that she applied to it was still in place.

The wind shifted and lifted pieces of her hair. Her thick ponytail separated into thin pieces. When the wind sailed past her carefully positioned body, it brought the wolf with it. The massive paws emerged first, and Noelle tried to remember the first and previously sole moment that she'd seen a wolf of this size. A distant memory of dark gray eyes resurfaced in her mind, rising out from under hours of training and studies on various sub species.

When the low growl that slipped past the wolf's lips sent vibrations throughout her feet, Noelle focused all her energy into her legs. She took a deep breath, and clenched the handle of the blade until her knuckles were white. Noelle lunged, the wolf turned its head. Then, an outraged glare burned into Noelle's eyes as she dragged the blade down the wolf's back with all of her strength.

A savage howl erupted from the wolf. It jerked its body to the right of Noelle as she made a messy landing on her feet. _She was not going down._ Noelle pursed her lips and with her hand extended out in front of her like twiggy shields, and she took a timid step forward. The fierce intelligence behind the wise eyes of the wolf rattled Noelle to her core.

_I can't believe this used to be a person._

Sweat gathered on the edges of Noelle's forehead, her unblinking eyes were fixed on her target. She watched as the wolf's legs collapsed from underneath her and a low groan rose up to the sky. The dark gray eyes appraised Noelle as if to say, "You're just going to kill me? Where is _your_ humanity?"

Noelle raised her blade and brought it down. Just a hair before it connected with her own forehead. Then the wolf pushed against the ground and towered over her on its hind legs. It snapped its jaws together. Noelle shrieked, the breath escaping from her chest as her back roughly connected with the dirt. Her arms rose up to cover her face, and they shook as she waited for the loud tear of her skin which separated from the tendons underneath it.

The musky wave of heat that hung above her before disappeared, and she lifted her eyelids and lowered her arms. The wolf had vanished. She wrapped her arms around her body until her fingertips gripped the soft flesh underneath the band of her bra. Wild eyes scanned the trees and foliage, and she rose to her feet. Tucking her blade back into its holster, she turned on her heel and shuffled back towards the set of massive oak trees at the opening of the woods.

The screen door clanged against the frame as Noelle dragged her sweaty and dirt-plastered body through the walkway. The air was frigid inside. Noelle's mother, Abigail, kept the house at a cool seventy-two degrees; just the right temperature to walk into after a sweat inducing hunting session.

Noelle groaned, the muscles in her right bicep screamed in protest as she extended her arm toward her ponytail and tugged her hair loose. The thick, straight strands spilled out of the elastic band that secured them and fell around her shoulders. Noelle walked along the hard wood floors of the hall and made a left past the family room. Abigail, and Noelle's father Garrett, would have given up any illusions they had of having a peaceful night in front of the TV hours ago.

Noelle's eyes traveled downward and she winced. She had tracked dirt into the kitchen and Abigail wouldn't run out of things to say about it later.

_Of course, if I moved out like anyone else over twenty-two, I wouldn't have to worry about getting into fights with my mom._

But __ it had always been easier to be closer to home. Shortly after her twenty-first birthday, Garrett extended an invitation to pick up the family pastime. For years, a part of her suspected that he and her mother were taking part in some sort of white collar crime. As she grew older, they'd gotten relaxed about having ominous-sounding conversations around her.

"You missed a big one." She would overhear them talking from the next room, while Abigail rolled thick strands of dough intended for homemade pasta in between her hands.

"Well, he might have been too far gone. I thought I could take him back."

Noelle would assume it was about an employee since her parents also owned a small sporting goods store. Not even a full day after the candles had been blown out, and while Noelle was in the midst of considering going to a four-year university, they'd sat her down.

They padded her with wine that they'd purchased to celebrate her twenty-first birthday. Once the third glass had been poured, Abigail nervously looked at Garrett, who gave her his signal before she disappeared into their bedroom. She returned with a maroon and gold family album that Noelle hadn't previously laid eyes on. Abigail spent the next couple of hours pointing out family members that Noelle had never met.

"Talia, one of my oldest cousins, was devoured by werewolves. She wanted to clear out a pack that began to gather in the area that she normally hunted in, but she went in alone. That's not something we'll be doing," Abigail said.

It turned out that Garrett, while he was more of a serious and no-nonsense man, had come from a very superstitious family. His background coupled with Abigail's family pastime of hunting werewolves, created the perfect foundation for them to take on secondary careers as werewolf hunters.

In the week that would follow Abigail and Garrett's revelation, Noelle learned that other members of her family throughout Colorado were also werewolf hunters. Noelle hadn't had even the slightest bit of interest in taking on the family role of a werewolf hunter. That was until she observed a hunt gone awry with her parents.

They had insisted that she sit in on a hunt before she made the decision to completely opt out of any business with werewolves. Noelle watched her father pull his gun out of his holster and aim just as if he were going to shoot a home invader. He squared his shoulders and pointed the revolver straight ahead.

Abigail's hand covered Noelle's mouth as they watched a young, shirtless man stumble out of the forest. He was obviously petrified. His eyes were as big as saucers. Noelle shrieked and fought against her mother's hand.

"Drop your gun! Drop it, it's just a kid!"

Abigail instructed, "Sshh. Look closer."

Noelle's panicked gaze ran over the situation one more time. Thin scratches sat in the middle of his muscular chest, and an ethereal glow bounced off his eyes. Upon looking closer, she noticed that they were an eerie light gray.

Garrett raised the gun and pointed it at his face, "Just give in. It'll be quick."

The shirtless boy scowled, and hunched his shoulders. Noelle wondered if he was going to try to wrestle the gun from the forty-year-old man in front of him. It wasn't unlikely that he thought he could close the distance between them.

Noelle's mouth fell open as the boy's body appeared to vibrate and snarl. His shoulders fell into an even deeper hunch and his skin, as if he were a snake shedding its old layer. It fell to the wayside and revealed perfect white fur. His bones snapped and crackled and a six-foot tall wolf stood in front of Garrett.

The wolf growled, a thin trail of saliva hung from its jowls. Garrett fired his gun, and Noelle reflexively covered her ears. The wolf moved fast enough to evade the silver bullet and lunged toward Garrett.

Noelle's blood-curdling scream sliced through the air and Abigail threw her arm against her chest, holding her back and keeping her inside of the sedan. Abigail's opposite hand reached toward her own gun as they witnessed Garrett wrestle with the beast.

The wolf took big bites of air as Garrett fought it off from below. He guarded his face and pulled out a hunting knife that Noelle hadn't seen him grab when they'd left home earlier.

He dragged it across the wolf's face and as it recoiled, he got to his feet and drove it into the wolf's skull. With his chest heaving, Garrett returned to the car and lowered his head in front of the passenger window.

Abigail rolled it down and Garrett said, "That's what we're up against."

It was only two months later that Noelle put off her college loans and enrolled in the unofficial school of werewolf hunting. She trained with her parents, and spent weeks researching old literature on how to kill werewolves, whether it was using tried and true methods like silver bullets, or blades covered in the crushed residue of a silver bullet. There were other unique poisons that limited their abilities.

Now, four years and fifty kills later, Noelle was still learning.

She knocked on the door frame of her parent's bed room and called out, "I didn't get fifty-one today."

There was rustling from inside and Noelle grinned upon hearing Garrett reply, "Night will come again tomorrow, won't it?"

_"At one with nature."_

## Chapter 3

# Not This Day

_"I won't let them come for us. Not any of us."_

Declan and Gabriel waited outside of the high school. Declan's hands were tight around the wheel.

Gabriel looked over to him and commented, "I don't know what this kid is thinking."

Declan snorted and leaned back against the seat, "That's the thing, he isn't thinking. He's putting the entire pack at risk."

A group of boys filed out of the school carrying lacrosse equipment, they shoved each other back and forth as they moved about.

Declan pointed toward the group and turned to Gabriel, "Does he hang out with guys like those? I can't remember."

Whenever they found a new werewolf, Declan usually only had one opportunity to meet with them before he resumed his alpha duties. It was up to Gabriel to keep Declan in the loop about everyone's progress.

"He's a basketball guy. I think we should see if anyone spotted him back at Clifton Towers. Maybe he's spending the day in his room."

Declan extended his arm and grasped his phone, which had slipped in between the driver's seat and the center console. While Declan's fingers wiggled in between the small space, Gabriel sat up taller and leaned forward into the window.

"Declan," he said, "there he is."

Declan jerked his head up, and Aster stood in a group of his friends. And three other tall, athletic teenage boys circled around him. Aster jeered and goofed with them. Declan rolled down the window and focused, from where they sat in the car he could still make out their conversation if he blocked out everything else.

Aster could be heard saying, "I don't know, he thought he was some ultra-tough dude and I had to let him know that _I'm_ the tough dude, you know? He just thought that he could walk into that gym and talk to the basketball players however he wants."

Declan held back an irritated groan and his ears twitched upon hearing one of Aster's friends say, "But where did you get moves like _that?_ He had those huge scratches down his neck, like you are part cat or something?"

Declan eyes shifted over to Gabriel and he said, "We've got to do something about this. He's being completely brazen about it."

Declan felt a small bit of remorse at the idea of getting rid of Aster. He closely related to him because Aster was a fellow runaway. Gabriel had been the one to find him while on a solo hunt, and he presented him in front of Declan. He was a shivering, thin boy. It was typical of Aster, he couldn't get along with his new stepfather and ran away from home. He fell asleep at a bus stop one night, and woke up with an incredible bite mark on his left shoulder. Once Aster came to stay at Clifton Towers, Declan saw to it that he was trained well in hunting and scavenging. They helped him enroll in the local high school, and permanently welcomed him into the pack when he turned eighteen.

Gabriel nodded, "I thought he'd be smarter than to just use those abilities in public. I wonder where the kid is that he roughed up."

"Either dying or going through his first round of transformations. Damn it!"

Declan lifted his hand and slammed it down on top of the steering wheel. Gabriel observed as Declan narrowed his eyes and watched Aster separate from his friends and head to the student parking lot. Declan grasped the gear shift and slammed it into drive; the tires screeched and the smell of burnt rubber permeated the air. The he whipped his sedan into the student parking lot.

A few nervous teens held their backpacks closer to them and shuffled out of the lot. Aster slammed his car door shut and walked over to Declan's car.

He knelt in front of the driver's side window and said, "What's up? Is there some sort of pack meeting that I need to get to? Is it alright if I'm a little late?"

With a furious growl, Declan reached out of the window and dragged Aster's head inside of the car. His eyes turned into a dark, emerald green color.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Aster struggled against his grasp, his eyes were wide as he choked out.

"What? I didn't do anything, let me go."

Declan's fist closed around Aster's shirt even tighter and he moved toward him so that their noses were touching. Aster grimaced, and on the outside of the car, he squirmed. Then his legs danced awkwardly along the pavement.

"Not only did you get into an altercation with a human, but everyone knows about it. You've got the entire town alert to beastly creatures and you have endangered the rest of our pack," Declan spat.

"You're being ridiculous. I got into a scrape with that kid, it was hardly even a big deal."

Declan whispered, "People want to know what you are now, Aster. It starts with questions, and gossip. It ends with silver bullets and persecution. I would kill you right now, but unlike you I'm not an idiot and I don't want an entire human audience to watch. Get in the car!"

Declan released him, and Aster's hands limply grasped the straps of his backpack. He hovered at the car door for a moment, and Declan turned around to check and see what the holdup was.

Aster yanked the car open and Gabriel gave him a look that almost said he pitied him. Declan put the car in drive and headed towards Clifton Towers.

Less than twenty minutes later, Declan pulled up outside of Clifton Towers. Gabriel got out and waited on the sidewalk for Aster and Declan to join him. Aster slowly opened the door, and eons passed as he placed his foot on the ground. Declan gritted his teeth, watching Aster slowly step out of the car.

Once he had finally planted both feet on the asphalt, Declan said, "Great. Now get inside."

Aster nodded and wordlessly hurried into the apartment building. Gabriel and Declan lingered outside, waiting on the sidewalk.

Declan sighed and leaned against the edge of the car, "I think that I have to take care of him."

Gabriel turned to Declan with raised eyebrows and said, "That's extreme for you. We could drop him off in the woods somewhere."

Declan shook his head and raised his hand to wipe a bead of sweat off of his forehead.

"People will be searching the woods in a couple of weeks if we're not careful. We might not be able to hunt in the same place for a little while."

They usually hunted on the outskirts of town, where a small patch of woods were perfectly located. It was the closest source of wildlife, and Declan suspected that the humans would be there within days depending on what happened to the boy that Aster attacked.

"We'll have to eat grocery store meat."

Declan nodded at a couple that walked by, with a shopping bag in one hand and their hands holding each the other. He could just make out a few heads inside the café. And the barista's head bobbed up and down as she prepared a coffee. Near the window, a head covered in raven hair popped up, and he noticed that a lean woman was exiting the business.

She wore a navy-blue dress; it stopped just before her knees but her legs went on forever. She squinted against the sunlight, and her head tilted just slightly in Declan and Gabriel's direction. He watched her appraise them; first Gabriel, then Declan. Her eyes lingered on Declan's face and they slowly traveled down the rest of his body. She smirked, before turning on her heel and heading down the street.

Declan's eyes followed her for longer than he cared to admit, he only peeled his eyes off her backside once she finally rounded the corner.

Gabriel turned to him and chuckled, "I'm sorry, are you distracted? I thought that you were in the middle of delegating some official alpha business!"

"Shut it. I thought that I recognized her from somewhere. I don't know where though. Anyway, I'll have a chat with Cassidy and see what she thinks."

Declan dismissed any of Gabriel's follow up concerns and moved inside of the building. He walked up the old staircase, wincing at the whine of the stairs underneath his weight. He climbed the stairs until he reached the fourth floor.

The wallpaper on the fourth floor of the Clifton Towers was far more pleasant than any other floor in the building. It wasn't decorated with the older, tan wallpaper -littered with coffee stains and hand prints that covered all the other floors. Instead, it included a darker wallpaper with thinner stripes of silver.

Declan moved past the other apartments, and muffled sounds could be heard even without Declan's superior hearing. He approached the last door in the hall, and a gold plaque hung above his door. On the plaque, **SUPER** had been printed in a serious, black font.

He opened the door and the usual smell that came from leaving the bedroom window ajar was absent. The air felt stiff and stale, it clung to Declan as he moved past the living room and into his bedroom.

"Cassidy? Are you around? I've got some bad news."

A low moan escaped from the restroom and Cassidy stepped out. Her long, blonde hair was loose around her neck and her skin was drenched in sweat. Declan rushed to her side, and he scooped her legs out from underneath her and moved over to the bed.

"What's wrong? Are you sick? Did you eat something bad?"

Cassidy shook her head and rolled on her side. Her fingers were unsteady as they searched for the bottom of the thin, spaghetti strap, tank top that she wore. She rolled it up and a big, nasty gash sat on top of her back. Declan narrowed his eyes, noting that parts of the gash had already begun to heal.

"What happened?" he whispered.

Cassidy rolled over so that she could face him and parted her lips to say, "I went out for a hunt alone last night."

Declan's eyes widened, he'd been in his office all night the night before and remembered turning Cassidy down for a hunt and a romp upstairs after. He fought through the feelings of guilt that were trying to settle into his mind.

"Why didn't you tell me? I thought you came to bed late last night, I didn't think that you went out."

Cassidy shook her head, "I came to bed late because I spent an hour in the woods licking my wounds."

The saliva of a female alpha like Cassidy could speed up the healing process for injuries that weren't fatal. It was a trait that Declan admired, and one that his particular breed of wolf could not replicate.

"I was hunting, and I tried to run through a clearing, but a woman jumped out and cut me with her blade. Declan, I think that she was waiting for me."

Her eyes were wide and bright with fear.

Declan wrapped his arm around her neck and said, "I'm sorry. Was it just a regular human woman?" He kissed soft skin in between her neck and shoulder.

"She had to have been some sort of hunter. It seemed like she really knew how to track me. I didn't get a glimpse at her face because things would have turned ugly if I didn't run to tend to my wounds."

"Was she alone?"

Cassidy nodded, "That's what's even stranger. I know that most humans don't even believe in werewolves but here was someone that waited for who knows how long for a wolf to appear." She raised her bright blue eyes to Declan's face, "Are they hunting again?"

The question came out like a whisper, as if she was afraid that saying it any louder might make it too real. Thoughts of Aster's stupidity crept up in the back of Declan's mind and he batted it away.

_There's no reason to make her worry even more. I'm going to have to handle him on my own._

"I don't know," he said, carefully moving his arm underneath her body and pulling her close to him. Cassidy's natural smell had always been more soothing than a prescription chill-pill. He inhaled, running his hands through her hair.

_"I won't let them come for us. Not any of us."_

## Chapter 4

# Please

_"I need to, please..."_

Declan brushed past Gabriel in the hallways of Clifton Towers.

Gabriel whipped around and called after him, "Declan! I need to know what you need me to do about our problem."

Declan slowed his steps and sighed. "Right now? I've barely started my day."

Declan could hear the shit-eating grin that Gabriel wore as he said, "Are you too tied up in playing super to handle your alpha duties?"

_You're making me regret pulling you out of that ditch every day, Gabriel._

About five years ago, shortly after Cassidy joined Declan's rapidly growing pack, Gabriel had been recently turned and was wreaking havoc on the wildlife in the woods. He pawed through the thick nests of birds, devoured does and bucks, leaving their rotting corpses in his wake. As if daring someone to find him. However, fate would have it that Declan and Cassidy did try to find him. It took two days of nose to the ground searching, but they found him; he had fallen into a man-made ditch.

Declan suspected that humans must have driven out at one point and wanted to bury something that they didn't want anyone else to find, but then backed out after digging a sizable hole. At the time, Declan debated with Cassidy to decide whether he was just a common wolf with a big appetite, or a small threat that they would have to eliminate so that he didn't eat all the food available in the woods. Cassidy had been the one to jump inside of the hole, despite Declan's protests, and inspect him. When Gabriel opened his tired hazel eyes to see another wolf hovering over him, he snapped at her. Declan propelled himself into the hole as well, where both wolves had a stare down with Cassidy in between them.

Gabriel was the first to look away, and with a split-second of hesitation, Declan reverted to his human state. Gabriel's eyes widened upon realizing that not only were they werewolves, they were _superior_ werewolves. They were far more skilled, and more comfortable being a wolf and a human. Gabriel traveled back to Clifton Towers with them, and he'd been a pain in Declan's ass ever since. At the very least, Gabriel was a useful pain in the ass, being the second strongest male in their pack. And making him just right for the role of beta.

Most days, Declan was confident that everything would be fine if he were killed while out on a hunt. Gabriel would step up and protect the pack, protect Cassidy, and protect their secret. It was on days like today, where Gabriel's ambition was a niggling reminder that Declan was only one screw up away from losing control of his pack.

He turned around said, "I'm still thinking about it. I'm going to grab a coffee first, how about you wait in my office?"

Gabriel scowled, but nodded and replied, "I'll be down there in a bit."

Declan escaped the hallway before Gabriel could come up with another way to question him. Declan burst through the front doors of the Clifton Towers and braced himself for another day of relentless heat. He opened the doors of the cafe, and nodded at the barista from the other day. Declan had snatched a crumpled twenty off his end table before leaving; today's drink probably wouldn't be free.

He approached the counter and flashed the twenty at her, "It's on me today," he teased.

* * *

She blushed and said, "What are we having today?"

"The usual."

He handed over the bill and stretched as she cashed him out. He turned his head to the left, and then to the right; stretching the muscles on either side. Declan groaned and lowered his arms but not before having caught a glimpse of the woman from yesterday.

He hovered near the espresso bar but tried to keep his gaze anything but suspicious as he inspected her. One of her legs was neatly tucked underneath the other. She peeled the pages of an old magazine back as she sipped from an iced coffee that dangled precariously from her fingertips.

Everything about her was so perfectly poised. Not a single hair was out of place, and she seemed completely unaffected by the summer humidity. She brought her drink closer to her lips and took a long sip. A pair of plump, pinkish lips grasped the straw. Declan's mind went wild with ideas of how those lips would look wrapped around an erect shaft, or maybe as they planted butterfly kisses down his chest.

"Declan?"

Declan shook his head, shaking the thoughts loose.

_What's wrong with you? It's like you've never seen an attractive woman before._

He turned to the barista and took his drink, "Thank you."

He turned to leave, and that's when the mysterious woman rose out of her seat and walked toward him. He couldn't peel his gaze off her as she moved forward; her snug, yellow sundress highlighted every subtle curve that her lean frame possessed.

She smiled, her eyes connecting with his... as if she knew that he'd been staring the whole time. Maybe she did know. She chewed on her lip as she moved toward the counter, then fell in line behind a regular preparing to order their breakfast sandwich.

"Good Morning," she said.

He nodded at her, his hands tightening around his drink.

"Morning," Declan replied. He headed straight for the front door. He could feel her piercing blue eyes staring a hole into his back as he left.

Exactly twenty minutes from when Declan agreed to meet with Gabriel, Gabriel pushed the door open and barged inside of his office. Instead of walking around Declan's desk, he relaxed against the wall and folded his arms.

"So, who's going to do it?"

"I was thinking that I would. Why? Did you want to watch or something?" Declan remarked. He rotated his office chair so that he could extend his legs freely.

Gabriel considered that for a moment before replying, "I feel like it couldn't hurt. Being dismissed by the alpha and the beta of the pack."

Declan took a sip of his coffee, noting how it tasted a little sweeter today. The chocolate notes lingered on his tongue, similar to how the woman from the coffee shop still ran wild in his mind. He couldn't escape the way his mind replayed how her dress swished against her body. Her skin looked like it might feel like silk, and taste sweet, like a juicy strawberry or a dash of chocolate.

"Declan! Are you even listening? Or are you just letting me talk until I get bored?"

"You're welcome to do that, but I figured you might want to discuss Aster." Declan smirked upon watching Gabriel struggle to contain his frustrated groan.

_It's fun, being the boss._

"We'll take care of Aster, maybe we'll take him out to the woods and do what we need to do. Someone might think that a frighteningly large wolf just 'happened to die.'"

Gabriel sighed, and took out his phone. His thumb scrolled through bright-white pages on the internet before Declan spoke.

"What are you doing?"

Gabriel's eyes widened and he held up his phone, "Checking news alerts. Check this out."

Gabriel handed his phone over to Declan who read the headline.

**Local Teen Dies from Injuries Sustained in a Fight with a High School Student**

"If Aster had any chance of living before, it's completely gone now." Gabriel said.

Declan's eyes scanned the rest of the news posts, the reporter rehashed the grisly details of Aster's fight with the other boy. There were eyewitness accounts from other students, saying that it was like something they had never seen before. Fortunately, doctors at the local hospital surmised that the football player, Riley Howard, had died from some sensitive tissue being ravaged during the fight. That infection had spread because Riley didn't go to the hospital soon enough afterward.

"I can't believe this." Declan said, and Gabriel's angry eyes stared back at him. His nostrils flared, and his eyes darted all over the room, looking anywhere but Declan's face.

"I know that you want to do it now. We'll wait until later, meanwhile, I'll let everyone know that we need to lie low for the next week or so. No one can be seen leaving this building at night," Declan said, running ideas through his mind.

He tried to remember if he'd thought of a plan for this before, or for one member of the pack potentially compromising everyone else. Declan turned toward his monitor and logged onto his email client.

He sent a message to every member of the pack:

**Good Morning,**

**I'd like to express that we will be taking extra care in being unseen and unsuspected for the next few weeks. No one leave the building past midnight, it looks very suspicious.**

He pressed the send button and opened his mouth to tell Gabriel what he expected, and the door flung open and Cassidy collapsed in the doorway.

Gabriel slid his arms around her middle and pulled her up, then she rested against his shoulder and took big gulps of air.

"Declan, there's a bunch of press outside."

Declan stood up so fast that his office chair behind him was sent toppling to the floor.

"What?!"

He leaped across the desk and transferred Cassidy from Gabriel's arms to his. She blinked, then she lifted her eyebrows as if they both weighed ten pounds each.

"There's press outside because of the boy that died from the high school," she said.

"I know that, but you're getting worse."

Gabriel turned his head as Declan pulled up Cassidy's shirt and revealed a pulsing, angry, red welt. It was emanating in the center of her back. The wound that appeared to be healing the day before was leagues worse now, and the skin looked as if it could separate if Declan so much as flicked it too hard.

"Get her upstairs," Declan commanded and handed Cassidy over to Gabriel.

Gabriel nodded, and left the office with Cassidy in his arms. Declan hissed in pain and the crescent moon-shaped scar behind his ear burned.

His hand drifted up to the sensitive skin, and he rubbed it with the pad of his thumb. _This isn't good._ Declan took a deep breath, and headed toward the front entrance of the Clifton. A group of eight to twelve reporters were outside, shoving their microphones in Declan's face. News trucks were parked on the opposite side of the street, hoping to pick up snippets of the story.

Declan pushed the doors open and said, "I'm the building super, what are you doing here? You're blocking the entrance to the apartments. I'm going to have to call the police to clear things up if you guys don't clear out."

"Sir, do you know anything personal about the young man that killed Riley Howard? He's reported to live in this building."

Another reporter chimed, "Do you think that Aster's previous runaway status is part of why he savagely attacked that young man? From a life of living on the streets?"

_More like from a life of unpunished stupidity._

Declan waved his hands and said, "Clear off my property or I _will_ have each reporter here forcibly removed."

The crowd buzzed with protests, and the reporters did their best to elbow their way further up the steps and inside the Clifton Towers. Declan took his phone out of his pocket and held it out in front of the crowd.

"I'm calling the cops!"

The reporters dispersed in twos, a few stubborn journalists returned to their parked cars but didn't leave the building. That was part of what Declan expected but he at least could get them away from the front door. They had managed to stay in Clifton Towers for years without being discovered, and now everyone that was a werewolf in Declan's care was at risk.

_I don't know what I can do. We need to get all this attention off the building. I won't let them take my pack._

He scanned the area, and upon noting that most of the reports had cleared out, he sought out Gabriel.

"Gabriel! We're moving, now!" Declan shouted, as he moved up the steps and sprinted to the second floor.

Gabriel met him outside of Aster's door a moment later, and Declan gave him a nod of encouragement.

Gabriel lifted his muscled leg and forced it into the door. Aster's head popped out of a thick bundle of blankets and a terrified yelp escaped him as Gabriel rushed his bed. Declan hovered close behind, watching as Aster struggled against Gabriel's grasp.

Aster, while he was gifted with abilities that would give him more strength than the average teenage boy, he could not compare to the hulking mass of man that was Gabriel. Gabriel had been a werewolf for too long and was far too good at it to let Aster wriggle out of his grasp.

Gabriel brandished his claws and dragged them down Aster's face; the boy's eyes turned a fierce bright blue as his body attempted to become a wolf to preserve his life. His hands jumped at his sides, unable to reach any vulnerable spot on Gabriel. Declan walked forward as Aster's bloody face continued to fall apart. He sighed, extending his own hauntingly long claws.

"Please," passed Aster's lips and Declan shook his head.

"I've got more than you to think about. I can't let this one go, Aster."

Declan smiled before his face stretched, and then his jaw morphed into a pair of large wolf jaws. As Aster howled in fear, Declan leaned forward and captured Aster's head inside of his jaw. His teeth pressed into Aster's cheeks and Gabriel gripped the body.

Declan resurfaced with Aster's head between his teeth and tossed it on the ground. Within that same moment, Declan's face returned to his handsome human features.

He wiped his mouth clean and said, "Get someone from the pack in here to clean that up. I'll take care of the press."

_"I need to, please..."_

## Chapter 5

# Staying Put

_"We will not be going anywhere!"_

Noelle lifted a hot cup of coffee to her lips, her eyes were trained on the group outside. _So much excitement for this early in the day._ She looked over to everyone else in the coffee shop. Teens were gathered and obsessing over something on a pretty girl's phone screen. Their shrill voices were just a bit higher than the chatter coming from the espresso bar. Noelle shook her head. _I think that I've lost my taste for this kind of interaction._ She smoothed the folds of her pale, yellow sundress.

Although her parents weren't aware that she'd decided to plan her own stakeout, Noelle was impressed with herself. For two days now, she watched as men and women filed in and out of the apartment building a couple of doors down. Women with perfect bone structure, and healthy, shiny hair went into the building daily. And men that looked as if they stepped straight out a modeling campaign for the local mall usually followed behind them. _Normal people weren't this... alluring._

_There's either a pack of werewolves in there or they're running some sort of unisex brothel._ However, the attractiveness of the group wasn't her only hint. While Noelle pursued another wolf two nights ago, she glimpsed a car on the outskirts of the woods. It was parked far enough away from the woods that you could argue it. It might be that the car had been parked so that someone could stargaze on the cliff, just a few yards away. Noelle had encountered countless nights when she thought that she might snag an easy mark, and it turned out to be a couple trying to liven things up. As she finished scouring the woods that night, she watched a boy walk to his car and get inside.

She recalled a total absence of humans, other than herself; it was the night that she also mistook a doe for a werewolf. Then, and by the end of the night she realized that she had covered the entire woods. It had been an unremarkable night. So, eventually, Noelle climbed into her own car and followed him until she found Clifton Towers. An older apartment building that hardly even showed up on an internet search for apartments in the state of Colorado.

There was a part of her that couldn't let this go. On the one hand, her mother and father might find this new lead useful. On the other hand, she knew that neither one of them was willing to stake out a building that potentially held an entire pack of werewolves. The stakes were too high for any iota of a reward for them, but Noelle saw it as the kill of her career.

_I can't get them out of my mind. I need to know what the hell is on the inside of that building._

The arrival of the press had been the most promising thing to occur for the last two days, except for the burning stare of the handsome man that came in for his coffee around eight each morning. While he was just as unsettlingly handsome as the other men that went in and out of Clifton Towers, he had a unique pull about him. There was a regal ease about his manner, despite his thick work jeans and t-shirt cladded body. Noelle could envision the ripple of his muscles underneath the shirt, and she could see how he could effortlessly take down men twice his size.

The way that he inspected her spoke to an awareness that she hadn't noticed in the rest of his group. He moved as if he was always alert, being watchful of an unseen predator. However, if he was going to be watching so intently, Noelle was put at ease by the fact that she would already have had her eyes on him. She couldn't help it.

Declan scowled, the chatter of every wolf in the room filled his ears like the buzzing of a mosquito's wings in the middle of July. Members of the pack looked nervously at each other, asking silent questions of, "Am I next?"

_To be fair, this sort of thing had never happened before._ Previously, Declan's methods of punishment for wolves that committed idiotic mistakes weren't known. They would usually be left out of hunts for a week, or given a warning that their next offense would get them expelled from the pack. In the years that Declan sheltered the other wolves, he'd never had to kill one of his own.

Gabriel smacked his hands together and called everyone to attention, "Quiet! Quiet!"

They were in the basement of the apartment, a space that was easily hidden from the few human tenants that lived in the building. Declan made sure to secure the door so that no one could open it from the outside, but you had to be the building super to even know that it was there.

New residents weren't shown anything below the first floor, Declan instructed each non-werewolf tenant to go to the family owned laundromat around the corner if they wanted to take care of their laundry.

Declan squeezed Cassidy's hand before standing up to address the pack. She offered him a weak smile, and tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear. Cassidy fixed her posture, despite the blinding pain from the wound on her back, she stood up straight and looked out into the sea of faces that depended on her for leadership.

"Good Afternoon, everyone! I know that everyone is frightened and eager to be brought up to speed about what's going on. Aster was one of our own, and I had to take him down with Gabriel's help." He nodded to Gabriel and said, "Aster made a big segment of the human population aware of our presence the other day after he got into a fist fight at the high school. The human that he fought with died earlier today, and that's why we've been swarmed by the press."

The room was silent and Declan took in the expressions on everyone's faces. A couple of wolves frowned, preferring to look at their feet than to look at Declan. The uneasiness was contagious, and they shifted in their seats and peered around the room.

Declan announced, "None of you are in danger unless you don't abide by the rules I've set in place to keep this pack safe. I know that there are people here that loved and respected Aster..."

Gabriel snorted, and Cassidy sent a chilling glare in his direction.

"I need all of you to know that I will _not_ apologize for choosing my pack over one, hard-headed teen. I will _not_ apologize for keeping my pack and my mate safe from regular humans and hunters."

There were a few nods, and Declan grinned.

"Meanwhile, we will resume hunts a week from now. We'll get stronger, and we'll take down any threats against us."

A clap spread throughout the group, and within moments the whole room erupted into applause. Gabriel grinned, his eyes focused on Declan while facing the crowd. They were all wondering if they would be displaced from their home.

Declan shouted, "We're staying put!"

_"We will not be going anywhere!"_

## Chapter 6

# Next Door Mystery

_"Do you know anything about the apartment next door?"_

Noelle's eyes followed the handsome man as he walked up to the coffee shop and waved at the barista upon entering. She noted the way that his eyes rested on hers for a moment before he approached the counter. Noelle tugged her small purse tighter to her body and got off the small tangerine-colored sofa that was placed in the window of the cafe. She moved toward the growing line of people; the sound of the aeration wand hitting the milk and screeching throughout the cafe.

Declan opened his wallet and reached in for a bill. Noelle stepped forward and pulled her wallet out of her purse. She slipped her credit card out of it and handed it over to the barista.

Declan stared at her, his eyes were curious as he said, "Good Morning."

He had the kind of voice that Noelle usually only associated with movie stars. It was smooth; smoother than the espresso laden chocolate bars that they kept behind the counter.

She responded, "Good Morning."

"Were you performing a random act of kindness?" he asked, studying her expression.

The barista handed her card back and Noelle replied, "Yes and no. I see that you're here often, and I thought that you deserved to have someone else buy your coffee."

The barista looked from Noelle and then to Declan, and she handed him the coffee cup. Declan stepped to the left, and allowed the next person in line to move forward. He towered over.

He said, "What makes you say that?"

Noelle shrugged, "You're supporting a small business. I thought that I could make it worth your while."

He chuckled, his smile was surprisingly boyish for someone that came off so... _together._

"Thank you," he said, and moved past her and toward the door.

_Shit._

"Wait!" she called out.

A few college students raised their heads and looked between her and Declan. They grew bored with whatever was happening between them fast, and returned to their open textbooks.

Noelle took a few steps toward the door and pointed at Clifton Towers, "Do you know anything about the apartments next door?"

Declan opened the door and held it open for her. She stepped out into the sunlight and squinted, and then she faced him.

Declan shrugged, "What do you mean? It's a decent building, pretty old though."

"Yeah, it is. Is the rent pretty reasonable?"

Declan smiled and said, "I'm the super for Clifton Towers. I could show you a model apartment."

Noelle nodded and replied, "That would be fantastic. I just moved to Colorado and I'm staying with my parents; I could really use a great place to stay. You know how it is, right?"

Declan walked, heading to Clifton Towers with Noelle following close behind him.

"No, I don't. My mom has been dead for most of my life and my dad threw me out when I was fourteen."

He held the door open for her once more and they moved to Declan's office.

He flashed a smile at her and said, "It sounds like you've got it pretty good to me. But... I always welcome new business."

Noelle smiled at him. He was so beautiful to look at and listen to.

"Wait here, please." Declan instructed, and walked into his office.

He shut the door behind him and Noelle scanned the interior of the building. _He wasn't kidding. This place is ancient._ She took in the peeling wallpaper and the mothball smell of the building. It reminded her of the one trip that she took to the nursing home, when her Great Aunt Hazel had been permanently moved there by the rest of the family. _How could anyone live here unless they absolutely had to? Unless there was more to this?_

Declan stepped back into the hallway and waggled a set of keys at her, "Alright, let's go see that model, huh?"

Declan sipped his coffee as he let the woman from the cafe walk ahead of him. He fought with his mind, struggling to keep his eyes off the way that her thin, purple dress clung to her body. The material of the dress was thin enough that her dark blue underwear peeked out. The bikini-cut lace panties cupped her cheeks perfectly, they'd only look better if his hands were underneath them.

Declan felt himself stiffen and he sighed, hoping that she didn't turn around suddenly and notice. They arrived at the model apartment, and he maneuvered himself in front of her. He unlocked the door and swung his arm out for her to take a step inside first.

"Wow," she said. And he noticed the way that her tone betrayed that she was anything but impressed with the apartment.

"So, it's a pretty simple setup. It's a one bedroom, all the one bedroom apartments in this building follow this layout. It's perfect for one person, especially someone that doesn't have a lot of needs."

She nodded and pointed at the windows, "So, are these the only sources of natural light?"

Declan nodded, "Yes, it's a pretty simple place."

She nodded and turned around, her eyes focused on him, "Okay. What's your name again?"

He extended his hand out to her, "Declan. Yours?"

"I'm Noelle."

Noelle shook his hand; the inside of her palm was soft. He inhaled, and the smell that carried vaguely reminded him of Cassidy. However, it was sweeter than Cassidy's scent. More pungent. He dropped her hand and moved deeper into the apartment. Declan gestured at the bedroom. He opened the door, and the stale air from the bedroom crept out into the hall.

Noelle turned to him and replied, "I'd love to see a copy of the lease."

"Sure, follow me."

He led her out of the model apartment and locked it up, then he headed into his office. Noelle stepped inside and peered around. Declan moved behind his desk and rummaged through his drawers for a hard copy of the lease.

Noelle closed the door behind her and asked, "So, have you always been the super for this building?"

Declan shrugged, "Yes and no. I used to be the apprentice for Max, the original super. When he retired, I became the new building super and it's been that way for a while now."

Noelle nodded and asked, "Are your tenants happy here?"

Her eyes traveled down his body and Declan chewed on his bottom lip as he handed her a rental application. She moved closer to him, and took the application.

She gave it a brief scan and said, "Are you available all the time to discuss the lease?"

"Why?" he said, puzzled by her question.

They were standing closer to each other than Declan originally intended. He was confident that she could feel his breath on her neck.

"I just want to know when I can... have an opportunity to talk to you."

Declan narrowed his eyes and against his better judgment, leaned in close to her.

"Are you sure that's what you want? To talk?" He undressed her, moving from her breasts, down to her long legs.

With a heavy breath, Noelle replied, "No."

"I didn't think so." Declan said, and snaked an arm around her waist.

They took each other in, Noelle reached up and framed Declan's face with her hands. He brought his lips down on top of hers, and their tongues tangled together. With a growl, Declan slid his hands down and gripped the back of Noelle's thighs.

He hoisted her on top of the desk and said, "Did you actually want to see the apartment?"

Noelle pulled down her dress and exposed her breasts, two full perfect breasts looked back at Declan.

"I did," she said, and pressed her lips against his again. "But, I'm not concerned with it anymore."

Declan grinned, and undid the buckle on his jeans. They fell to the floor, and Noelle traced the outline of his cock through his briefs. She ran her hand over the tip and he groaned, letting her shimmy the waistband of the briefs off of his hips.

He reached into her dress and pulled down the blue underwear that had teased him earlier. His fingers toyed around in her folds, and a low moan escaped her as he delved inside of her. Declan's fingers brushed against her clitoris, and when he pulled them out of her, they were slick with wetness as she became breathless.

Declan groaned, sliding inside of her. His hips rocked so hard against the desk that it shook and rattled against the floor.

_I hope no one comes in,_ he thought.

She wrapped her legs tight around him and squeezed him closer to her. She gripped the strands of Declan's hair as he pounded into her. Noelle had experimented with her body plenty of times alone, but she'd never been pounded like _this_. She had never experienced an orgasm that made her body writhe and quake.

Declan pumped until he felt the pressure building up behind each thrust. With lightning speed, he pulled out of Noelle and watched as his cock sprayed her with come.

Noelle grinned, and said, "It's an old dress, so don't worry."

Declan nodded and handed her the panties that he'd hastily yanked off.

"So, I hope you like the apartments. I don't usually... I wouldn't normally..."

"I get it," she replied.

She'd felt a pull toward him that she didn't want to ignore. A part of her knew that she was only remotely interested in Clifton Towers for work, but a much more sensual part of her wanted to pursue this feeling.

Noelle had stared into the eyes of gigantic wolves, and she had outrun beasts to save her own life. But there was something so enticingly dangerous about Declan.

_"Do you know anything about the apartment next door?"_

## Chapter 7

# Decision Time

_"It was like my wolf made the decision for me."_

Noelle threw back the thick comforter on her bed. Her legs were instantly assaulted by the chill that constantly crept through her parent's house. Noelle's hair tickled her knees as she pulled them close to her and looked around the room. Sunlight streamed through the window and her dress from yesterday sat on top of the dresser across from her bed. She'd discarded the dress as soon as she got home and had a moment to herself, the stains that might have seeped into it made her blush.

_I've never done something like that before._

Noelle's sexual history was sparse, she went on a few good dates over the years but she had never been in a position where sex was something she readily had access to. She not only had sex while doing a stakeout, but she had sex in an apartment building that she suspected of housing werewolves.

_I don't even know him._

It didn't change how good it felt. She parted her legs and her hand wandered in between her thighs. The feeling of his warmth pressed up against her stayed with her the whole drive home. She sighed, and pulled her hand from between her legs. Noelle took a couple of steps onto the wood floor and swung her arm around in small circles until the muscle popped. She walked around her bed and planted her hands steadily on top of her oak dresser.

Noelle swatted the stained dress off of the dresser and onto the floor. The woman in the mirror above the dresser was exhausted. Dark shadows were underneath her eyes, and her skin that normally looked radiant and smooth was covered in dry patches. She lifted a hand to her face and traced the circular dry patch. While the woman in the mirror was exhausted, Noelle honestly felt better than she had in months. For several months, the only passion she'd felt was for killing werewolves. It wasn't like her to mix business and pleasure, but she could endure a little dehydrated skin and dark shadows under her eyes if it meant feeling alive for a little while. _He had done that_. And so did the thought of the kill.

Cassidy rolled over, and a small groan rose up from her side of the bed. Declan frowned, and he pulled the sheets tighter around his body. Cassidy wasn't showing signs of improvement. Normally, her abilities would allow her to heal the skin and it would hardly be discussed after three days or so. Today, the gash on her back turned an ugly green color.

_Where do we go for this? We can't go to a human hospital, she's obviously not going to get the treatment required to fix this._

He reached over to her and ran his hand along the raised skin on her back. The gash was hot, and his fingertips reddened upon touching it.

"What the hell?" Declan said, and gingerly angled her so that he could examine her wound.

He leaned into it and narrowed his eyes, _is that silver?_ He pressed his finger to it but Cassidy jerked away from him.

He raised his finger in front of his face and examined it. His skin had already begun to peel, revealing the raw layer of skin underneath. Declan jumped out of bed and sprinted into the bathroom. He flicked his wrist against the sink handle and let the water pour out, over his hand. The burning in his fingertip subsided and he turned off the faucet.

Declan held his fingertip up to the mirror and while the skin looked raw and abused, running it under the water definitely ceased whatever process had begun. He looked over to the shower and stepped across the tile. He turned on the shower and peeled off his boxer briefs. Declan's skin was still sticky from the day before. He stepped inside the shower, and raised his hand closer to the shower head.

_How could you do that? What about Cassidy?_

He grunted, and resisted the urge to bang his head against the cheap tile on the shower wall.

_It's like it wasn't even me. It was like my wolf made the decision for me. How could he tell Cassidy that? Or anyone?_

Gabriel would hold it over his head if he ever found out, and he would finally have an opportunity to prove to the rest of the pack that Declan was an unfit alpha. He growled, no one would be taking control of _his_ pack. He found the other wolves, and he decided to use the apartment building to shelter all of them.

As the water ran over his body, washing away yesterday's mistakes, he concluded that he wouldn't tell anyone in the pack about his treat from Noelle the day before.

_I don't even know if she actually wants the apartment. What kind of alpha sinks so low for a human woman?_

He stepped out of the shower and reminded himself. While Noelle was a human, she was obviously not normal. Human women had thrown themselves at him for years, and it never phased him. Most of them had been traditionally beautiful women at that; tall and thin, with silky hair and big eyes. They were the kind of women that Declan would have killed to be with before he turned. After his transformation, the only human woman that could ensnare him had been Cassidy, just moments before she turned herself.

It was a shame that when you were a mentor in something like this, you had no one to teach you the most minute details about it. If the person that turned Declan hadn't been such a coward, he would know what to do about Cassidy's injury. He would know why he acted so recklessly with that Noelle girl that had been hanging around.

_Why would she spend so much time next door if she just wanted to get an idea of the apartments?_

Declan shook his head and wrapped a towel around his midsection. He grabbed his phone from where it sat on the bedside table, and tried to tune out Cassidy's painful groans. He dialed Gabriel's number and rifled through his drawers while he waited for him to pick up.

When he finally answered, Declan said, "Gabriel, I need you to find out everything that you can about werewolves and silver."

Gabriel scoffed into the receiver and replied, "I thought you knew everything about werewolves and silver? They don't mix!"

"Thanks for the help, smartass. Just look into it. We have to get Cassidy some help."

He hung up and looked over his shoulder, Cassidy's eyes were opening, and her face was contorted in pain.

"Declan, I don't feel very good."

Declan sat on the edge of the bed and offered her his hand. She grasped it, and the muscles in her biceps bulged as she gripped his hand through an intense wave of pain.

"Declan, am I going to die?"

Declan took a deep breath and replied, "No. Don't even think about that. Don't even say it."

Three floors down, Gabriel moved throughout the halls of the apartment building. He clutched his phone in his hands, and the screen hadn't gone into power save mode yet; it was still glowing from the article that he just looked up on his phone.

Although he had his opinions on the assignment that Declan had given him, it was still an assignment given to him by his alpha. Gabriel ground his teeth together. While he generally didn't have a problem with being a beta to Declan, his life before his turning couldn't have been more opposite.

He came from a family of alpha males; his father and mother were stern leaders that immigrated from Italy. Gabriel had been raised to never play second fiddle to anyone, and he powered through high school and the first year of college with an alpha-male mindset. He dominated his college's lacrosse team until the night that the entire team decided to go camping.

Gabriel would never admit it to anyone, but he still woke up two nights a week. He'd been drenched in sweat and convulsing because of his nightmares. The night that he was turned was on constant repeat in his head, no matter how much time passed. The lacrosse team at his university had taken a camping trip to celebrate their big win against one of the biggest colleges in Michigan.

Gabriel had been the only person that had volunteered to get firewood. And while everyone else set up the tents and unpacked all of their food, it happened. He stepped over winding tree roots and collected fallen branches from the mud. He grabbed a handful of leaves for kindling and headed back to the camp site.

Upon returning, he heard his co-captain say, "I've been talking to Coach Phillips, and he might actually hear us out for next season."

_No one mentioned anything about next season to me._

Gabriel had braced himself against the base of a tree, tucked away from his teammate's line of sight.

"He might turn Gabe away next season. He agreed with me, and he's tired of Gabriel playing assistant coach instead of team captain. We could have a Gabe-free season!"

Jeers rose up from in between the trees and one teammate shouted, "I can drink to that!"

"Ssh! He'll be back any second."

The anger that Gabe felt was unbearable, and a cloud of fury expanded in his chest and he took off in the opposite direction. His athletic legs pounded against the ground until he couldn't run anymore. He bent over in a clearing to catch his breath, and envisioned ways of making Coach Phillips and his co-captain pay. Both for thinking that they could remove him from the team.

"I don't care," he mumbled, "I'll go play for Michigan and I'll pound them."

Behind him, a few bushes rustled and Gabriel whipped his head around.

"What the hell do you want?!" he roared.

His eyes searched the trees and bushes and he waited for Lee, the co-captain, to appear and share fake camaraderie with him.

"Lee, what the hell do you want?!"

The bushes were parted by the gargantuan body of a wolf.

Gabriel pressed his thighs together and held his arms out in front of him, "Shit!"

The wolf exhaled, blowing leaves away from it. It didn't look like any wolf that Gabriel had ever seen on TV, or while traveling in the mountains with his family. Those wolves were bony, and undernourished. Their ribs would usually be visible through their thin skin. This wolf was covered from head to toe in bright silver fur; its blue eyes were otherworldly and it stepped forward toward Gabriel.

This wolf did have one thing in common with the other wolves. It was hungry. That much was apparent by the way it snapped and clicked its jaws together. And it moved closer and closer the longer that Gabriel stood frozen in place.

A terrified scream escaped him and he scrambled to run from the beast. His already bruised and aching muscles wouldn't cooperate to propel him further away from the wolf's jaws.

"Help! Lee, anybody! Darren, Andrew!" Tears welled up in his eyes as he realized that this was it. This was how he would die.

Thoughts of his mother and father spurred him further, until muscles gave out. To his displeasure, the wolf enjoyed their game of chase. It circled around him as he curled into a ball, his last line of defense.

He shut his eyes tight as the wolf tore into him, it ripped apart the flesh on his arms and legs and Gabriel's screams rose up toward the sky. Gabriel tolerated as much as he could, trying to rely on hours of unforgiving training of lacrosse to give him a boost in pain tolerance. It wasn't much help. He blacked out from the pain. However, when he woke, his arms were healed and miraculously, he'd lived through the attack.

Confident that some sort of magic was at work, he tried to escape the woods as soon as possible. However, his wild chase with the wolf had left him in a part of the woods that he couldn't navigate. He ended up resting under a tree; coming to the conclusion that if the biggest, wildest wolf that he'd ever seen hadn't killed him, that there probably wasn't anything else in the forest that could. When the sun had completely disappeared, and the full moon hung high overhead, Gabriel's skin ripped and tore once more, and the wolf that had been tucked away reemerged.

Gabriel shook his head. I _t doesn't matter who's in charge. Someone or something got away with wounding one of our own the other night, and they were able to take down a female alpha._

Gabriel knitted his brows together and clenched his phone as he headed toward the front doors of the building. He stepped outside as the sun was working its way up in the sky. He squinted against the rays that bounced off of the glass windows of buildings near the Clifton Towers.

The Arden Cafe was bustling, men in suits and women in pencil skirts hustled in and out of the front doors. In the window, a woman dressed in a purple sun dress craned her neck to peer past the glass. She narrowed her eyes as Gabriel came into view, and he redirected his attention to one of the arm chairs that was positioned across from her.

Gabriel never cared for coffee the way that Declan did, drinking black sludge each morning just to get a little bit of work done felt too similar. It was like having to take a medication each morning. Crimson-colored loose threads stuck out of the arm chair, Gabriel's fingers toyed with them as he opened up a new website on his phone. The internet had always been a hit or miss-source of info for the pack. Because most websites that seriously discussed werewolves usually referred to myths. Gabriel rolled his eyes as he scrolled past a series of dense paragraphs that detailed the dangers of the 'Crazed Wolf Man.'

_Humans think that we really don't have anything better to do other than fantasize about ways to get pulpy pieces of their flesh in between our teeth._

The well-dressed woman across from him swept her thick, dark curtain of hair over her shoulders. She lifted her fingers up to the band that wrapped around her head, readjusting the paisley cloth. Gabriel's eyes flicked upward and met hers just as she tucked two, velvety smooth looking legs underneath her thighs.

She offered him a smile, her lips were plump and pink, "Good morning."

"Morning," Gabriel grunted, he held his phone closer to his face and his eyes flew across the screen.

The woman rolled her shoulders back and said, "Do you drink coffee? I thought that I might order a French press, but I'll have plenty leftover."

Gabriel lowered the text filled screen from his face and said, "No, I don't. I'm just here to do a little reading before work."

Her eyes lit up and Gabriel knew that any other man would stop what he was doing and offer this woman his time. It's not that he wasn't a fan of creamy skin, piercing blue eyes, and silky raven hair, but Gabriel had a history of wanting women that he couldn't have.

She jerked her thumb at Clifton Towers, "Do you work next door? I've noticed a lot of people going in and out of there. I think the manager or super or something comes in here a lot," she shrugged.

_One of Declan's groupies._

It wasn't the first time that a smitten girl made it her mission to wrangle information about Declan from him.

"I work next door, for my manager and his... fiancé."

Gabriel's suspicions were affirmed when her features were clouded with a mixture of dejection and irritation.

"Oh, that's cool. I was thinking about renting a place from you guys. Is it a pretty nice place to live?"

Gabriel sighed and said, "If you come by later either Declan or myself can give you a tour. I don't mean to be rude," _Not that I care if I am, "_ but I'm not on the clock right now and I'm just trying to relax."

She nodded and replied, "I'm sorry to bother you."

She tugged the strap of her small purse onto her left shoulder and slid off of the loveseat that she'd been sitting on.

"I hope that you have a good day."

Gabriel's eyes followed her as she pushed open the front doors of the cafe. _She had a lot of questions._ He shrugged, and logged onto another 'werewolf' site.

_"It was like my wolf made the decision for me."_

## Chapter 8

# Careful Now

_"Am I looking for trouble where there isn't any?"_

"I've looked through everything, and something is not adding up. Everything I've read is leading us to a dead end."

Gabriel slammed his hand on the wooden surface of Declan's desk. Declan frowned and lifted his hands away from his keyboard. He twisted his body around and laid his eyes on Gabriel.

"You're sure?" he asked.

Gabriel nodded and replied, "I've been at it for three days and none of her symptoms match up with anything that I've read."

Declan leaned back in his chair and scratched at the stubble growing on his chin. He and Gabriel had been searching for a clue as to how they could treat Cassidy, for the last seventy-two hours. They had only gotten two hours of sleep between them and each of them were long overdue for a hunt.

"I've never seen anything like it. Sometimes it looks like it's fading away into a nasty scar, and other times it just looks fresh. It looks like the tip of the blade just came out of her skin." Declan wet his lips and said, "We'll have to look deeper."

An irritated groan slipped past Gabriel's lips, "We can't look any deeper, Declan."

He straightened his back and stepped away from Declan's desk. His eyes searched along the walls of the small office, and he twisted his features into an angry glower.

"Declan, this might be beyond us. I think that we're screwed."

"Thinking like that is why you're not the alpha." Declan said. "It's not beyond us, we just need to look deeper, and think harder. We haven't exhausted every possible outlet."

Just outside of the door, a parade of footsteps sailed through the stairwell. _Who is that?_ Declan turned his head and squinted his eyes, looking for the time on his computer screen. It was twelve fifty-four am.

"I could not have been more crystal clear, in saying that I didn't want a single member of this pack leaving the building at night. That's how Cassidy got into this mess." Declan stood up, and Gabriel held a hand out to him.

"You're thinking like an angry boss," Gabriel smirked, "think of it on their level. They're used to going out at night and spreading their legs. They're also accustomed to nightly feedings. You know that human food doesn't hold anyone over for longer than a day."

Declan searched for a rebuttal but his sleep deprived brain came up short.

He sighed, and said, "They're deliberately disobeying me."

"It's harder for them to disobey their own nature. If you want them to stay in the building, put someone trustworthy by the front doors at night. I think that there's only a couple of rebels anyway."

Declan snickered, "When did you become Mr. Understanding?"

"You don't think rationally when it comes to Cassidy. You've got a one-track mind."

_You would too, if it was your mate._

Declan wished that he didn't have to wrestle with his wandering thoughts about Noelle as well as Cassidy's illness.

_I've brought this on myself._

If his mind wasn't occupied with how he and the pack could work together to get Cassidy back on her feet... then he relived his afternoon with Noelle. His brain played their hot session on a continuous loop, he could see her sweaty, bare skin every time that he closed his eyes.

"If we have members of the pack that are still going to go outside after dark, then I want to put them to work."

Gabriel crossed his arms and asked, "What did you have in mind?"

"Cassidy was injured in the woods, and she said that someone, maybe a hunter, cut her open with a blade. Maybe we can get a small group out in the woods to see if the hunter was sloppy enough to leave any clues behind."

"We haven't run into any humans that even believe in werewolves much less humans that hunt them. What if we're just going down a road with another dead end?"

Declan bit down on the inside of his cheek. Cassidy was rolling around in bed, moaning in pain that he couldn't relieve. The scar near his collarbone had been on fire all week, and he was confident that it was not a sign that things were getting better.

Declan swallowed the lump in his throat and said, "Gabriel, we can't afford to cut corners. Assemble a group of the best fighters that we have and go out into the woods. If you don't find anything, then fine. You've only lost a few hours."

Declan brushed past Gabriel and opened the door, a gust of cold air crawled in front the hallway.

"I'm going to check on Cassidy. You'll let me know what you've found when you get back?" Declan asked.

Gabriel blinked hard, trying to will the sleep out of his eyes, "I'll report as soon as I get back. We'll get going."

Declan nodded, "Good." He turned around and placed one foot on the first step of the staircase, "Be careful." He turned on his heel and bounded up the steps.

Gabriel wiped his face clean of the brave face he presented to Declan.

_There's something hiding in those woods, and I hope that we're not the ones that find it._

_A m I looking for trouble where there isn't any?_

Noelle blinked rapidly, wetting her dry eyes. She pulled her midnight-colored cardigan tighter around her shoulders, and turned up the late night talk show that was playing on the radio. Smooth voices filled her car, the conversation between the DJ and the caller made it feel as if someone had settled in beside her in the passenger's seat.

Clifton Towers was relatively quiet at night, and a little over twenty minutes before a group of young people walked into the building. Their raised voices told her that they were returning from a night of bar food and cheap drinks.

Noelle peered out of the driver's side window, and the world was still on the other side. No one stepped down the sidewalks, and no one sat on their stoops and chatted up their neighbors over a late-night cigarette. Nothing was amiss.

Noelle sighed, _I'm not sure if I came to investigate the werewolves that might live here or to see if Declan wandered out and left his fiancé behind._

Although her strained conversation with Declan's employee hadn't gotten her very far, she still left the Arden Cafe a few days ago with more information than she'd expected to learn. _Declan was a cheater._ Noelle wasn't in a place to judge, having compromised her duties and the safety of others for a romp with the hunky building super. And she was confident that Declan seemed like the kind of man that would never hop into bed with another woman.

_Or maybe that's just what I imagined him to be. I'm kidding myself._

The pull that she felt towards Declan was only magnified by the man that she'd dreamt up when she laid in bed at night. Noelle would picture Declan's hands running over her body, pressing her small form into a tangled mess of shapes and letting her ride out each wave of pleasure. Would it be such a bad thing if she created her own story surrounding Declan? It wasn't likely that their fun would last for long, or that it would even happen again. What was the harm in expanding on her fantasy?

_You never want the guy behind the counter, or the guy that waits the tables. Why do you always have to find the guy that complicates everything?_

Noelle smoothed her hair, and pulled the top half of her hair into a ponytail. She sighed, and readjusted herself so that her line of sight would line up with the front doors of the Clifton Towers. The bright-white light from her phone screen illuminated her face.

An article entitled, **Colorado Teen Viciously Mangled by Classmate,** had been left open. Noelle had spent the last two nights outside of Clifton Towers. She had decided that if the press was dying to get inside during the daylight hours, that she should increase her surveillance around the time that the tenants inside thought that no one was watching them.

Her eyes watered and her jaw fell slack as she yawned; she stretched her arms over her head and turned her neck to the right. On the left, a peek of white called to her from the corner of her eye. She lowered her body and kept her eyes raised toward the glass.

One by one, three brawny men stepped down the front steps of the building, each man wore a serious expression, as if they were about to march into battle. Loose, ragged clothes hung off them, the kind of clothing that would allow for a lot of movement. Noelle's eyes followed the last man to leave, the man that told her about Declan's fiancé in the Arden Cafe a couple of days ago. A black tank top clung to his muscular form, he strolled behind the rest of the group. He raised his arm and pointed to an alleyway in-between Clifton Towers and the building next to it.

Noelle could hear their faint footsteps as they disappeared into the darkness.

_What are they up to?_

She sucked in a breath, filling her lungs to their capacity, and slowly released it. Noelle threw one of her arms into the backseat and grabbed her backpack. The contents rattled inside, the metal of her hunting knife and pistol knocked against one another. With her eyes still glued to the alleyway, she twisted her key into the ignition and pressed her foot against the gas. The car inched forward and a couple of stray rays from the headlights provided a dim flashlight. The kind that uncovered the scene going on in the alley.

The group of men were running through the alley, to the parking lot that was located just behind the building. Noelle sat up straight and her fingers clenched around the wheel. She eased the car forward on the asphalt, and rounded the corner. Noelle's foot rested on the brake just as her car moved toward the lot. It was completely abandoned, except for a few parked cars.

The top row of Noelle's teeth ground against the bottom row. If she had the strength, her hands could have snapped the steering wheel in half.

_Did I lose them?_

The dull roar of an engine coming to life stole her attention, two twin beams of light extended from the far back of the parking lot. Noelle slid down in her seat and propped her head onto her elbow to look out of the window. The headlights whipped past her, and Noelle popped up in her seat. A small sedan was rolling down the road, then the car inched forward with caution, as if the driver was guiding the car carefully along the road so that they wouldn't arouse any suspicion. Noelle thrust the gear shift forward and drove three car lengths behind them. She followed them, easing forward as they drove along roads that would lead them far away from streets that were lined with apartment buildings, houses, and stores that kept their doors open past midnight.

Noelle chewed on her bottom lip, her left foot knocked against the inside of the driver's side door.

"Where are they going?" she questioned aloud.

It wasn't uncommon for people to leave their homes after dark, and the intense wave of embarrassment that she'd feel upon realizing that she'd just intruded on a few friends having a night out would be enough to make her pack it in. And retreat from hunting for the night, as well as any suspicions she had left about the tenants of Clifton Towers.

It was when she wheeled her car onto a dirt path, that she begun to consider that she may have stumbled onto something big.

_Why would they drive this far out if they're just going out for fun? Even the toughest men don't want to spend a night in the middle of the woods. Not unless they've got no reason to be afraid of anything waiting for them in the dark._

Further ahead, the four men hopped out of the car, slamming the doors shut. The cold man from the Arden Cafe looked over his shoulder and then quickly returned his attention to the group behind them. The other three men fell into a line, organizing themselves so that they could receive instructions from the larger man.

Noelle held her breath, and wrapped her fingers around the plastic, circular knob underneath the window. The wind carried their voices into her ears and she cleared her mind so that she could focus on their exchange.

"Maybe Declan has finally snapped, I don't get what he's expecting to find out here..."

Her thoughts raced.

"Cassidy is withering away right in front of him, you can't honestly expect him to hold off on this anymore. He was going to want a few pairs of eyes out looking eventually."

Their feet fell along the dirt as they walked towards the opening of the woods.

"Gabriel, what if whatever got Cassidy the other night is waiting for us?"

The cold man, who Noelle understood to be Gabriel, responded, "Then we'll be ready for it. Stay close behind me, don't go looking for food until we're done here."

Noelle's mouth fell open and she pressed the palm of her hand over the opening.

_It's true, they're..._

The other three men hustled inside of the woods and Gabriel looked to the right, and then to the left. He hunched his shoulders, and his limbs quivered. Gabriel's perfect skin ripped to shreds and thick, fur replaced it. He fell to his knees and his jaw split open to reveal a pair of massive teeth. Noelle's limbs were rigid, and the bright-white moon above them bounced off of Gabriel's dark red eyes. He scraped his claws against the dirt and sauntered into the clearing.

_All of them are wolves. Does that mean that...no, it doesn't mean that Declan knows anything about this._

Noelle pried her fingers off the steering wheel, and snatched her bag off the front seat. She shouldered her backpack and slowly pulled the driver's side door open. A cold breeze snaked between her legs as she set one leg down on the dirt road and then the other.

Noelle stepped into the woods, keeping her steps light as she moved behind them. The other three men had transformed, and there were now four wolves up ahead, sniffing along the roots of massive trees. Noelle reached into her backpack and shook her pistol out of it. She slid her finger into the small bit of space next to the trigger and followed behind them.

_Are they scavenging for animals? Or are they looking for campers to tear into?_

Noelle's shoulders trembled as she trailed the group, she looked at the lineup of wolves, and each one was bigger than the one that came before it. The beast that she'd seen Gabriel turn into was huge; he was larger than a normal wolf but smaller than a grizzly. The silver color of his fur separated him from the smaller wolves with fur that were shades of brown and black.

She followed them for over half an hour, and they pressed their snouts to the ground and clawed at the dirt, but none of them paid any mind to the animals that trotted by them. One wolf raised his head when a young rabbit bounced right in front of him as he knelt before an oak tree. Gabriel's low growl forced the submissive wolf's attention back to the present.

Noelle kept her eyes wide open, and had her pistol at the ready. There had to be some devious reason that they came out, if not to feed. She tapped her gun against her hand and sighed with relief when the barrel popped open and there was a silver bullet in each chamber.

_Now how do I separate them?_

Noelle raised her gun and pointed it to the left of her, she squeezed her eyes shut as she fired. The whistling sound sent nesting birds flying into the air; the leaves of an oak tree shook and fell on top of her.

Noelle swept her hands over her head, and sent loose leaves falling to the ground. Further down, the wolves swiveled their heads underneath the trees. Noelle raised her gun once more, and aimed for Gabriel's head.

Noelle pulled the trigger, and the bullet went sailing toward the pack. All the wolves scattered, haphazardly running about in twos. One of the black wolves rushed Gabriel and the impact vibrated through the dirt underneath them. Noelle dropped to the ground, and pressed her body against the dirt. Her fingers were stained with brown as she reached to her side and snatched her pistol off the ground.

Her heartbeat reverberated in her ears, and she watched as Gabriel raised his head off the ground and gazed at the bush that Noelle used for cover. A bead of sweat rolled down Noelle's forehead and fell into her eyes. She smashed her left eye closed and held her breath as Gabriel's paws moved along the dirt.

She clenched her gun, feeling reassured by the cold steel as she felt Gabriel's footsteps approach her. Just as Noelle tensed to spring off the ground and fire a round in between Gabriel's eyes, a man's voice cut through the darkness.

"Gabriel, there's something that you might want to look at here."

Gabriel halted, one silver paw hovered in the air. His eyes narrowed to dark red slits, and fury built inside of him at the thought of their assailant going free. Noelle released the breath that she was holding as Gabriel turned around and headed back to the oak tree.

_There's too many. It's good enough that I know the truth and where they are now._

Noelle stayed low to the ground and her eyes spun around in her head, seeking an inconspicuous pathway out of the woods. She twisted her neck over her shoulder, and Gabriel wore his human guise again. Now, his back was turned toward Noelle.

Noelle hopped to her feet and darted through trees, their voices rang in her ears as she headed fast back to her parked car. Noelle sprinted as fast as she could, leaving behind a potential fate of being stringy meat, stuck between the teeth of a hungry werewolf.

Her heart and lungs exploded under the pressure as her car finally came into view. She slid inside through the passenger side door, and maneuvered her sweaty limbs over the center console and into the driver's seat. Noelle exhaled, her unsteady breath clung to the steering wheel. She lifted her head off the wheel and put the car in drive.

Noelle checked over her shoulder for signs of the wolves or the men that they pretended to be, and peeled off down the road, kicking up a cloud of dirt in her wake.

_"Am I looking for trouble where there isn't any?"_

## Chapter 9

# Bullets

" _Who's going to carry the bullet?"_

Gabriel pulled his eyes away from the dark green bushes that rustled up until a moment ago.

_I told Declan that something might be waiting for us._

Gabriel pulled his lips back into a snarl and turned on his heel. Just ahead, Cole's black form drew long, violent lines down the tree trunk.

"What is it?"

Cole, Jackson, and Bryant began their transformations, and within moments, became men again. Cole stretched his lean arms over his head, and idly scratched at the mop of brown hair on top of his head. Cole was one of the only men in the pack that refused to crop his hair short as everyone else had done. Cole pointed at the tree trunk that he'd been clawing into a moment before.

"There's something in the tree. Whoever fired off that round isn't shooting a normal gun. I don't think that was a late-night hunter."

Gabriel's eyes looked between the concerned faces of three younger men in front of him and he nodded, "I'll look at it."

He stepped forward and laid one palm flat against the bumpy bark of the oak tree. He stretched his neck and peered into the hall that the bullet had carved into the tree. Gabriel twisted his face into a frown and his eyes widened.

The moonlight reflected off the exposed edge of the silver bullet, and the space surrounding the bullet hole had been disrupted. Although the rest of the oak tree had raised, there was tough bark covering it; the site where the bullet entered had cleared any loose pieces of bark from around it. Instead, a smooth, sanded surface was revealed, and the tawny colored patch stuck out like a sore thumb against the aged, nut-brown tree bark. Gabriel pulled his head back and looked at his pack mates.

"I think we missed a big one."

Gabriel's eyes rested on Cole, who at the last minute, shoved Gabriel out of the way. An inkling of fright rose up in Gabriel's chest, and he pictured the bullet tearing through his fur, bloodying the ground underneath him. His pack mates would have been left unprotected, and he might have bled out under this tree. Gabriel inhaled, then exhaled.

_Stop it. Don't let them see that you're shaken. How can they follow you if you crumble right now?_

Gabriel swallowed, and raised his index finger and thumb to the bullet. A gasp escaped from Cole as Gabriel reached inside of the cavity and tugged on the bullet. A howl erupted from Gabriel's throat, and his left hand flew upward and gripped his right forearm. Gabriel bared his teeth and yanked his arm and the bullet out of the oak tree. The bullet fell in between his feet and he examined the bullet. Like magic, a thin stream of smoke rose off of it.

Gabriel lifted his eyes towards Cole and said, "That wasn't a bullet from a big, game hunter."

His declaration hung between the four of them until Jackson cleared his throat and said, "Are you sure?"

Cole and Bryant glared at Jackson, and Gabriel's long legs took two steps along the dirt and he held his fingers up for Jackson to see. Jackson looked as if he wanted to curl up inside himself and die; the skin on Gabriel's fingers had been completely pulled back to reveal the bright pink, pulpy flesh underneath it. His fingers throbbed, and Gabriel pulled his hand back toward his own face and felt a stab of pain in his fingertips.

"We're going back. This is more than enough information for Declan to look over. Jackson, you're driving."

Jackson nodded and said, "Who's going to carry the bullet?"

Gabriel crouched down and wrapped his uninjured hand around a fallen tree branch resting on the roots of the tree. He pried one of the wide, green leaves off of the branch and wrapped it around the bullet.

"I've got it."

"Maybe Cassidy could take a look at your hand," Bryant commented.

Gabriel peeked at the silver bullet nestled inside of the leaf.

_I don't think that Cassidy will be able to look at much of anything for me, especially if she was attacked with anything like this._

Declan slid his arm from underneath Cassidy's snoring body. His face was caught in a tangle of her blonde hair, and his legs were entangled with hers. A faint, floral scent emanated from her pores, and Declan's hands danced over her skin. It had taken hours, but Cassidy had finally drifted off into sleep. While she didn't complain of as much physical pain, Declan didn't miss the way that her eyes would bulge out of their sockets, keeping herself alert to threats.

Two nights ago, Declan climbed the staircase and opened the door to reveal Cassidy in her wolf form, her head was pressed against the floor. She resembled a dog that had just been swatted on the nose, pressing itself onto the floor in a corner of the house. Cassidy had insisted that she just wanted to stretch her legs, but Declan could sense an involuntary transformation with little trouble. He'd seen too much happen with the new wolves that they welcomed into the pack, and Cassidy almost never revealed her wolf without the cover of acres upon acres of woods to cloak her.

_How could this have happened? She knows how to stay concealed, she knows how to protect herself from humans._

Declan rolled onto his back and stared at the small, paint covered bumps on top of the ceiling. The full moon had risen high in the sky and moved towards the east, and Declan still couldn't will himself to shut his eyes for more than twenty minutes at a time. If he didn't focus his thoughts on Cassidy, then he fought with his conscience about Noelle. Sleep was supposed to be his only salvation from his headaches, but each time he laid down to sleep he just worried over Cassidy, or thought of ways to eliminate whatever was waiting for his pack in the woods.

There was a dull thud against the door and Declan crept off the mattress and softly placed his feet against the floor. He pulled the door open, and Gabriel stood on the other side. Gabriel's eyes were wild, and his right hand was balled into a tight fist. The flickering, yellow light just above him in the hall was focused in on the crease between his eyebrows, and on the tension in his jaw. Declan looked over his shoulder and Cassidy was still frozen in place, snoring into her pillow. Declan stepped out into the hall and softly shut the door behind him.

"What is it?" he questioned as his eyes dipped downward. He knitted his brows together, "What's in your hand?"

Gabriel raised his palm in between them and flattened it. A dark green leaf unfurled and tucked inside was the small, silver bullet. Declan raised his eyebrows and lifted his hand to it.

"Don't touch it!" Gabriel hissed. "It's a goddamn silver bullet. An actual silver bullet, like in all of the myths."

Declan recalled the oil paintings he'd seen shortly after becoming a wolf. There were dozens of pictures of wolves with their bodies contorted in pain. And with their lips parted in a silent scream, and a hunter would stand behind them. Of course, these paintings were created somewhere in the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Declan had dismissed them as a myth and had never given any real consideration to the werewolf lore that he read after that.

"You were attacked?" Declan asked.

Gabriel nodded and said, "We were attacked, but they disappeared. Cole noticed the way that this," he held up his hand, "had torn an oak tree apart and we didn't pursue them."

"Damn it!" Declan said, he whirled around and smacked his hand into the wall.

A thin crack appeared along the wall and Declan swore underneath his breath.

He turned his attention back to Gabriel and said, "That was probably the person that attacked Cassidy. Why are they targeting us?"

Gabriel shifted his weight to one leg and said, "That's not all," he raised his burned fingers up and held them in front of Declan's eyes. "I touched it for less than five minutes. It almost spread up the rest of my hand but I was able to withdraw it in time."

Declan's face became contorted at the revelation of it all.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes and said, "Declan, if this is anything like what got Cassidy the other night, we might be in for more than we can handle."

Declan waved a hand in front of Gabriel and said, "There isn't a thing out there that we can't handle, even if it's some rogue human that's found out about us. We're going to switch up our hunting ground, and double our training in the basement."

Declan peered over Gabriel's head and down the hallway.

"For now, make sure that Cole, Bryant, and Jackson don't mention too much of this to the rest of the pack. They already take my orders as a suggestion, I don't need any of them acting impulsively and going on a manhunt."

Gabriel nodded and his eyelids drooped, the muscles in his jaw worked hard to keep his mouth closed, and to smother the scream building up inside of him.

Declan frowned and pointed at his hand, "It still hurts, even afterward?"

Gabriel's muscles relaxed and he opened his eyes. There was a dazed look in his eyes, and he slumped against the wall. His left hand shot toward the wall and he pressed most of his weight against it.

"Yes," he said, "it still hurts."

"I'll help you to your place."

Declan slid his arm underneath Gabriel's armpits and a faint thud echoed throughout the stairwell. Gabriel's muscles had gone slack and his foot fell heavy against the floor. Once Declan tucked Gabriel away and shut the door, he slid down against the wall.

_How does a werewolf combat their greatest enemy? How can I protect my pack from something I can't bring them back from?_

" _Who's going to carry the bullet?"_

## Chapter 10

# Mission

_"They've got their mission and I've got one of my own."_

Noelle spread out her tools in front of her, with her hunting knife, silver pistol, and loose bullets that rested on the hardwood floor. Noelle ran a hand through her hair and toyed with one of the dark strands. When Noelle went out on a hunt alone, these tools were all that she had as backup. She'd walked right into a werewolf den, expecting to find one or two, as they were rare. But she'd tumbled upon an entire pack. There was a part of her that fought for the rationality in this, that screamed from deep within that she could _not_ do this. She couldn't infiltrate the pack, and take them down, not on her own.

_I could get Mom and Dad involved._

Noelle sighed, and tucked her legs underneath her. She reached out and grabbed the hunting knife right off of the floor, and twirled the blade in front of her face.

_They'll go nuts. Shouldn't I be able to handle something like this now? Isn't that what a hunter is supposed to do? To complete the impossible by taking on a werewolf anyway?_

Noelle knew that it was more than the moral obligation that she felt to eradicate the werewolves. And that it was holding her back from forming a plan to slaughter every werewolf in Clifton Towers.

_What if Declan was a part of the pack?_

Her fingers traced the spot on her neck where his tongue had teased her. It felt like ages ago since he propped her up on his desk and pumped into her before anyone could interrupt them.

_There's no way._

The feeling that arose in her chest when she first saw him blossomed in between her breasts. She nestled her hand in between her breasts.

_There is nothing human about the way that he makes me feel._

Noelle jumped to her feet, the knife fell to the floor and clattered against the surface.

_What would she do if Declan was a werewolf?_

Plunge her knife into his chest and never speak of it again? Would she leave the rest of the pack to their devices just so that she could have a chance to roll around in bed with Declan? That is, if she ever made it to his bed.

Noelle smiled to herself. _You're a mess. If it's not screwed up enough that he's engaged and you helped him cheat the other day, he might also be a werewolf. And you don't even mind. God_ , _I want to mind. I don't want to feel drawn to him but..._

The door creaked, and Abigail's head came through the space in between the door.

Noelle scowled, "Yes?"

Abigail raised her eyebrows and asked, "Why are you sitting on the floor? What are you up to in here?"

"I thought that I was enjoying some quiet meditation in my room but you walked in. What is it?"

Abigail scanned Noelle's face, and Noelle rolled her eyes. Abigail had a way of trying to dip her toe into all of Noelle's private thoughts. She wouldn't be satisfied until Noelle informed her of every move she was going to make. Especially when she went to bed at night to when she planned on waking up.

"I was wondering if you were feeling up to sparring. I know that you were out pretty late last night, though so if you're going to... meditate today, I get it. Why were you out so late anyway? Did you have a little trouble?"

"I... I had a little stakeout."

"Okay, and?" Abigail deepened the crease in between her eyebrows.

"It took all night, and I didn't find anything useful. I'll have to try harder," Noelle replied.

Abigail nodded and Noelle watched as her eyes flew all over Noelle's room before she said, "Well, your father and I will be sparring, doing a bit of practicing. Let us know if you'd like to come out with us tonight."

"Will do," Noelle said, and her eyes burned into her mother's. Then Abigail sighed, and shut the door.

Noelle had forgone hunting with her parents a couple of years ago, and they knew that she hated when they watched her. She'd liked to be a little girl left to her own devices instead of watching out for the prey. Despite that, they still invited her to spar with them and to sit in on their hunts.

Noelle reached into her backpack and took out a burgundy colored cloth. It was raggedy, long, and with frayed pieces of thread that hung onto the rest of the square for dear life. Noelle folded the cloth over the blade, and ran her hand up and down the length of it. The last wolf left her blood all over it.

From the hallway, Noelle heard Abigail and Garrett shuffling through the hallways; the sound of the bolt being pulled back on a hunting rifle slid underneath her door.

Noelle smirked, _they've got their mission, and I've got one of my own._ She loaded her gun, and swept all of her tools back inside of her backpack.

Noelle willed her legs to take another step forward. She craned her neck back and looked at the building. There were four floors inside of Clifton Towers, and if she remembered correctly, there were at least ten doors on each one. If each apartment housed at least one werewolf, that was a minimum of forty werewolves that were prepared to take down a human. Especially one that was wielding a gun full of silver bullets.

A young man walked out of the building and headed straight for the Arden Café. He whipped his head around upon realizing that he'd walked right by Noelle. Noelle grinned and raised her hand in a polite wave. She reached her hands up and adjusted her headband. Sweat was gathering underneath the thick fabric and she knew that she'd feel cooler inside of the air-conditioned halls of the apartment building. Noelle walked up the front steps of the building and pulled the door open.

At the end of the hallway, she spotted a woman with waist length blonde hair, who was slipping yellow sheets underneath the doors. She raised her eyes toward Noelle as she stood up. Noelle's breath caught in her throat.

_She's beautiful._

The woman's light-colored eyes gave way to her high cheekbones and perfect lips. If Noelle had any interest in women, she knew that she would have been fantasizing about this woman just as she had over Declan.

Noelle cleared her throat and painted on a bright smile, "Good morning. Is your building manager in?"

The woman looked to the right of Noelle, the door to Declan's office was shut.

"I'm Cassidy," she said, "I'm the building manager's fiancé, and the assistant manager." She smiled, and a row of perfect, wolfish-teeth gleamed, "I'm sure that I can assist you."

Noelle recovered and found the words to say, "That's wonderful. I was looking at the units last week and I thought that I might rent one of them. Could you go over the rates with me?"

A look of annoyance flashed across Cassidy's face and her eyes shifted toward Declan's office.

She put on a smile and said, "Sure. Let's step in here for a moment."

Cassidy opened the door and led Noelle inside. She took a seat behind the desk that Declan had hoisted Noelle onto a week earlier.

Cassidy's finger drummed against the keyboard, and then she took out three papers and slid them over to Noelle.

"Okay, so these are all of our current specials and rates for some special units. Is it just you by yourself?" Cassidy paused, her eyes ran up and down Noelle; they lingered on the skin of exposed cleavage for a second before she raised them back to Noelle's eyes.

Noelle wrapped her arms around herself and said, "Just me, yes."

Cassidy nodded and typed something else in, then Noelle looked over her head. There was a thin crack in the wall behind her.

_Did a scuffle happen in here?_

The room wasn't very nice to start with, it was dated and the walls were yellow in some spots. It was beyond Noelle how the building super could let his office fall into disarray like this, especially since potential tenants would be the ones laying their eyes on it when they came in.

Cassidy handed over three copies of the lease and said, "These are an example of the leasing agreement for three different types of units. You're more than welcome to take these home with you and review them. Then you can always call and one of us will get you taken care of with a full-blown rental application. Do you have any questions for me?"

Noelle shook her head and replied, "No, that will be all."

_Where's Declan?_

Cassidy pushed back her chair and stood up; her body bent at the waist and her right hand flew up to rest on her back.

"Is everything okay?" Noelle asked.

Cassidy's eyes snapped open and she straightened herself out, "I'm fine, I just threw my back out the other day, and the damn thing won't work with me."

She punctuated this with a chuckle, but her smile didn't extend all the way to her eyes.

Cassidy ambled towards the door, and pulled it open, "It was very nice to meet you, Noelle."

"You too." Noelle extended her hand for Cassidy to shake and raised her opposite hand towards the stairwell, "Do you mind if I take a look at the halls upstairs? I like to see what the layout is on each floor."

Cassidy's hand tightened and she replied, "They're all the same. I'm afraid you can't get into a unit without a key."

Noelle smiled, "Oh, I know. It's just easier to dream and envision myself here if I can get a feel for the place."

Cassidy swept her hands out toward the staircase and said, "Have at it, then. Please don't take too long, though. I'd hate to disturb any of the tenants." She grinned, and stepped over to the left, giving Noelle plenty of space to climb up the staircase.

"Thank you!" Noelle said, and trudged up the staircase.

Cassidy watched her climb each step, the ends of her dress were picked up by the air conditioner that was positioned near the steps.

Cassidy narrowed her eyes and opened the door to Declan's office, before slamming it shut and locking the door.

_"They've got their mission and I've got one of my own."_

## Chapter 11

# Explore

_"We don't have to stop exploring whatever this is."_

Declan turned away from the bright monitor screen in front of him, a web page was left open on the screen, it contained a detailed document that outlined how the 'myth' of silver bullets and how werewolves came to be. Declan sighed, university students surrounded the computer section of the Arden Cafe. Towards the end of a row of computers, there was a young man slumped over his keyboard, with a thin stream of drool that leaked onto the desk.

Declan blinked, and wet his tired eyes. He'd been hunched for over a screen for the last twenty-four hours. He thought he was making the right call when he abandoned the perfectly good computer in his office to get some fresh air while he searched. But the calming atmosphere of the cafe and the smell of coffee wafting into his nose pulled his attention elsewhere. He slid off the chair and stretched his arms over his head, the stressed muscles in his shoulders and neck popped as he moved.

_At least the cafe is empty today._

Declan walked across the wood floor and navigated the new display that the baristas erected the night before, then he approached the counter. The barista behind the counter today was older than he was used to, and with a sigh she lifted her head up from her clipboard and pen. She walked over to the register.

She wore a tight-lipped smile, "Good morning, what can I get started for you today?"

"Morning. The other girls here usually know my usual..."

The barista chuckled and said, "I'm not obsessed with getting to know every pretty guy that comes in. I don't live in a romance novel unlike my employees. I'm happy to learn your order so that I can be in on the secret, though."

Declan chuckled and said, "That's fair. I'll take a Venti Mocha, nothing special added to it; make it as strong as you can."

She nodded and typed his order into the register, Declan handed her a bill and allowed his gaze to drift toward the window. It was another brilliantly sunny day, and it seemed out of place given the heavy that hung over Declan's days recently. The sky should have been dark, and rain should have been incessant. The thunder should have clapped above Clifton Towers. While he wished for a drop of rain, Noelle walked by the window. The snug fit of her dress stood out to him first. It was navy blue, and stopped just before her knees.

Declan reached over the knickknacks that were painstakingly arranged by the register, and grabbed his coffee.

"Thanks," he walked through the front door.

He squinted his eyes against the sun and looked over at the front steps of the apartment building, then locked his gaze onto Noelle. He took a few hurried steps forward and gripped her arm.

Noelle whipped around and twisted his arm the opposite way. Declan gasped.

Noelle's mouth fell open and she stuttered, "I... I'm so sorry, I've been catcalled by a couple of guys and I thought that you were getting handsy."

She released his arm and Declan rubbed the skin on his forearm, his body was already fighting against the bruise that threatened to form.

"I'm fine. Did you just come from the apartments?" He looked over his shoulder and then back to Noelle's face.

Her lips were painted a rosy color, the pop of pink complemented her pale skin well. Noelle nodded, and looked over his shoulder. Cassidy was nowhere in sight.

"I was taking a second look at the units," she smiled, "I thought that I might see you there."

The corners of Declan's lips began to turn up into a smile, but he quickly replaced it with a tight-lipped grimace.

"Listen, I'm not... I'm not the kind of guy that cheats, or sleeps with any woman that I want..."

"Despite the fact that you could have any woman that you wanted." Noelle smiled coyly and said, "I know that you're with someone. I just met her, actually. She's stunning."

Declan searched for the right words to say and came up with, "Thank you. So, is there any chance that we can forget what happened between us?" He gestured in between them and Noelle lifted her arms and placed both of her hands squarely on top of his.

She smirked, and said, "We don't have to stop exploring whatever this is." Her fingertips sent a jolt throughout his body.

Declan looked over his shoulder then turned back to Noelle. Her blue eyes stared into his so intensely, and the sunlight that hung overhead bounced off of them and highlighted her cheekbones. Declan's eyes ran over the cheekbones of her heart-shaped face, that sloped into her jaw. His mind created images of a sticky afternoon spent trailing kisses along that jawline.

He'd kiss her until he reached the small bit of space left between her cleavage, and trail them down her belly. Declan knew that women like Noelle were dangerous, and that they could bring some of the most powerful men to their knees with a glance.

"We shouldn't."

"There's no one outside, no one would see you leave. Even so, are you saying that it would arouse suspicion if you were seen taking a walk with someone who questions you about the apartment building?"

"I'm starting to think that you don't have any questions about the apartment," Declan said, and did a poor job of fighting off the urge to grin.

Noelle grinned and jerked her thumb over her shoulder, "There's another cafe down there, same stuff that you can get here, but further away from any wandering eyes."

Declan took a sip of his coffee and spun the cup around and raised it to Noelle's lips. She sipped from the cup, leaving a pink stain on the rim of the lid.

Declan licked his lips and said, "I'll treat!"

Declan usually treated women like they were pieces of fragile china, including some of the women that joined the pack and had enough strength to snap the railings off a stairwell. However, there was something about Noelle that told him that he didn't have to be careful. It could have been the cool stare she wore every time that she'd run into him in at the Arden Cafe, or it could have been the way she pressed her incisors down onto her bottom lip when she came. Hmm, or it could have been the presentation of it all. The perfection of a woman that would seem so together by anyone else's standards.

She wore expensive dresses, and playful heels; her long, perfectly layered hair that stopped just above the band of her bra was stunning. Declan had seen enough people trying to convince the rest of the world that they were happy, and he'd seen enough people do a piss-poor job of hiding it too.

He could smell how badly she craved adventures. He felt when he touched her, that if he slid his fingers in between the loose sections of her hair, it would tempt him. And he didn't miss the way that her eyes rolled into the back of her head, or how her sultry expression begged him to give those silky strands a tug. Declan concealed a growl as he hoisted Noelle against the brick that lined the wall of the alleyway in between the family owned cafe on the right, and the print store on the left.

Noelle exhaled, and a giggle fell past her lips as she wrapped her arms around Declan's neck.

"I don't know how we keep ending up here," Declan breathed.

His nails pinched the pale skin on her thighs, leaving small, pink indents just before the fabric of her dress stopped. Declan groaned, the heat that radiated off her made his cock as hard as the brick Noelle's back was pressed against.

His fingers scaled up her thighs and he hooked his fingers into the space between her panties and her skin. Declan shimmied them down her legs, and they fell to the ground. He pulled himself through his jeans and pressed himself against Noelle's wet center. The smell of her arousal lit his senses on fire, and he plunged himself deep inside of her.

Noelle cried out and buried her mouth into Declan's shoulder. She kissed it, and he rocked his hips in and out of her. Noelle lifted her head from Declan's shoulders and revealed a sultry grin, her lipstick was smeared against the edges of her lips. It was hotter than sex on a train.

Declan's low chuckle into her ear made her clench tighter around his cock, and Noelle squeezed her legs against him, urging him to slide himself in deeper.

Noelle's fingernails scraped against the back of his neck, and she knew that she drew blood upon hearing the low hiss that left his lips. Declan suckled on the soft skin on her neck until her body was done convulsing. One of her hands shot and curled into a claw, hovering just above the red brick beside them. Declan pulled himself out of her slit and a thin line of come dribbled off the tip of his cock.

She pulled her dress down and felt a sense of naughtiness creep over her upon seeing her underwear lying on the ground in between Declan's feet.

_It'll be a sexy surprise for the next person that uses this alley._

A lust-laced fog hung over her, she knelt on the ground and swept the strap of her backpack into her hand.

"Do you have to get back?"

Declan nodded, "We had a full day planned of... changing out all the filters in the apartments." He pressed his hand against the brick and captured Noelle between his arms.

"Will I see you again? I don't even know where you live, or if Noelle is even your real name."

Noelle chuckled and said, "It's my name, I promise, my parents gave it to me."

_That, and a crippling need to find out how many werewolves are hiding out in that building of yours._

She kissed Declan on the cheek and said, "I have to get going. I'll see you next time." She wiggled her fingers over her shoulder and walked down the alleyway and away from him.

"There'll be a next time then?" He called out to no one.

Declan sighed, he waited for the heavy feeling to fall over him, for his thoughts to start conjuring up justifications. There were none.

_I don't even feel bad about it this time, how wrong is that?_

The periwinkle panties underneath him caught his attention. He knelt to the ground and brushed a piece of the lace fabric out of the way, the shimmering pellet underneath it caught his eye. Declan narrowed his eyes and raised one finger to the bullet, he pressed his index finger against it.

He gritted his teeth, leaving his skin pressed against the bullet felt like dipping his arm in a ring of fire. Declan held up his opposite arm and buried his mouth into it, he caught his breath before screaming into his shirt. His eyes flew around the alley, searching for anyone that might have stuck their heads out of the businesses on either side of him, and he slowly lowered his arm to his side.

"Another fucking bullet," he said, and kicked the panties off to the side. Declan grabbed a torn ad off the asphalt and pinched the bullet in between his fingers. He raised it up to his eyes and his hands began to tremble.

_The hunter._

_"We don't have to stop exploring whatever this is."_

## Chapter 12

# Watch Out

_"What if all of us are killed by this hunter?"_

Cassidy watched the woman leave, she leaned against the railing on the second floor and her eyes followed her out of the door. Cassidy hadn't felt comfortable leaving the woman to her devices. The way that she insisted on lingering inside of the building made Cassidy's nose curl. Something funny was going on. The wound on her back gave her hours of pain to endure, and she hadn't seen much of anything that was outside of her apartment for days.

_How long had this woman been hanging around the building?_

After that incident with the press a couple weeks ago, she thought that Declan and Gabriel were doing their best to keep anyone who didn't already live here or belong to the pack, as far away from the building as possible.

That woman had the chance to come here for an extended period not once, but twice? Cassidy pressed her hand against the throbbing gash on her back, and walked to the end of the floor. She walked up the steps and kept walking until she reached the fourth floor. As she took her foot off the stairwell and placed it on the carpet, the apartment across from her swung open. Gabriel stood in front of her, his hands tucked into his pockets and a gloomy expression colored his features.

"Gabriel," Cassidy said, "what is it?"

Gabriel blinked and locked eyes with Cassidy, "Nothing. I slept in longer than I would have liked. I bet that Declan has a mountain of work for me to sort through."

"Ah," she said, and looked over her shoulder. There wasn't anyone in the lobby beneath them. Cassidy frowned, "Have you noticed anything weird around here lately?"

Gabriel chuckled and replied, "Where do you want to start? The building filled with lupine creatures, your attack, or Aster's death?"

Cassidy shook her head, and moved closer to Gabriel. He stiffened, and watched her lean against the wall next to the door to his apartment.

"I mean, have you seen any weird people in here? Like, humans that are just hanging around?"

Gabriel considered her question for a moment before saying, "I think that you probably need to lie down, because that wound on your back is making you over-think things. Don't you think?"

He offered her one of his rare smiles, something that was usually reserved just for Cassidy anyhow, and lightly touched his fingers against the small of her back.

"Let's get you back to your place, huh?" Gabriel narrowed his eyes at Cassidy's turned back.

_Who is that woman that keeps hanging around? Has Declan seriously not noticed the way that she's been injecting herself into our day now?_

Cassidy twisted her head over her shoulder and said, "You're awfully quiet back there."

"I'm still a little rattled from last night. My hand hurts, not that it compares to whatever happened to you."

Cassidy nodded, and pushed open the door to her apartment. She held it open for Gabriel, but he lingered by the door.

Cassidy cocked her head and said, "Come on now, we can't hold onto those old fashion ideas forever. You're my friend, I'm inviting my friend inside of my apartment to take my mind off this thing on my back."

When Gabriel didn't respond, Cassidy smiled sweetly and placed her hand on his shoulder. She pulled him inside, and Gabriel found a place to sit at the table inside of the compact kitchen.

Gabriel always thought that it was a true hint of Declan's character that he didn't give himself the nicest apartment inside of the building. He could have had one of the spacious, open layout two bedroomed apartments on the third floor. Instead, he chose to cram he and Cassidy inside a six hundred square foot, basic one bedroom apartment.

Gabriel scratched at the brown paint that was peeling off on their kitchen table.

Cassidy shut the door and said, "Are you guys making any progress on this search for this rogue hunter? Are they with anyone? What's their endgame?"

Cassidy moved over to the sink and poured a cup of water into the back of her coffee machine. She leant against the counter and waited for Gabriel's reply. Just because she wasn't able to go on any of the hunts and collect the information herself, it didn't mean that she wanted to be kept out of the loop.

_I'm still an alpha,_ she thought.

Gabriel rotated in his chair and said, "The only thing that we found was a bullet. We don't know whose bullet it is, and we don't know who's been watching for werewolves around town. Declan wants us to switch up our hunting spots for now."

Cassidy nodded, "I'd have to agree there. It would be better if we could just take out whoever did this." She grabbed the coffee pot and set it on top of the burner, "You have no idea what it's like to deal with this every day," she gestured at her back, "and to know that it's not getting any better. Every day feels like a struggle, and my body won't heal itself."

Gabriel held up his hand, and pointed at the burnt mess on his index finger, "I think that I get what you mean now."

Cassidy gasped and abandoned the coffee pot, she took Gabriel's hand into hers and said, "What happened?!"

"I picked up a silver bullet, I wasn't thinking and touched it with my bare hand. Someone fired it at us last night. I couldn't chase them down because Cole distracted me."

Gabriel wanted to pull his hand away from Cassidy's, but her soft skin felt too good against his hand. He always wrestled with his attraction to Cassidy. And he knew that any man with a working cock would appreciate a woman like her. She was thin, with a striking face, and long, blonde hair. Blonde hair had always been his favorite. He usually buried his feelings for her deep inside. And the fallout that could result from actually falling in love with the alpha's mate could be deadly, not to mention that Declan would see it as a particularly personal betrayal.

Cassidy, as if reading his thoughts, let his hand slip between both of hers. Her face was sunken.

"Gabriel, what if it _never_ heals? What if I'm not able to live with this thing on my back?"

She raised her shimmering eyes to him and asked, "What if this is how all of it ends? What if all of us are killed by this hunter?"

Gabriel rose to his feet and companionably wrapped his arms around Cassidy's shoulders.

He held her close to him and said, "It won't. I promise." He pulled away and said, "We will figure out what's going on and I'll be the one to present that hunter's head to you on a platter. After we forced them to fix the wound on your back."

Cassidy laughed, but it was humorless.

She buried her face into Gabriel's shirt and said, "You always find a way to be so tough. Sometimes I think that you're Declan's backbone."

Gabriel separated from her and walked over to the pot of hot coffee that was waiting for them on the burner. He pulled a couple of mugs out of the cabinets and set them down onto the counter.

"None of us would be able to have a backbone without that bonehead."

He smirked and poured a hot, bubbling stream of black coffee into both mugs.

Gabriel handed a cup to Cassidy, "He'll know what to do."

_"What if all of us are killed by this hunter?"_

## Chapter 13

# In Charge

_"I'm the Alpha of the pack."_

Declan tried to slow his heartbeat but the sound pulsed in his ears. He braced himself against the brick wall and doubled over. His stomach lurched, and the contents of his stomach rushed up his throat. Declan cupped his hand over his mouth and willed the bile back down. Noelle had silver bullets. Noelle carried silver bullets around in that bag of hers, and she'd been walking in and out of Clifton Towers with _silver bullets_ in her possession. How long had she known about the wolves inside of the apartment building? Declan's trembling hands gripped his stomach; a bad taste sat on his tongue.

_How could he have fooled around with her? He let a killer right into the heart of his pack, did she do something to bewitch him? How did she know that I'd fall for her? That I would take the risk and stray from Cassidy? Maybe she knew about everything the whole time, maybe she followed one of us home that night._

Declan gasped, throwing his hand against the brick wall for not having put it together sooner.

"Idiot!" he shouted, and looked over his shoulder to make sure that no one was watching the scene from the end of the alleyway. He couldn't be sure of who was watching him any longer.

_What if she was the hunter waiting in the woods for Cassidy? Then Gabriel and his group?_

Before today, Declan would have discredited this idea altogether, and not just because of his wild, growing attraction to Noelle, but because she was so petite. In a million years, he wouldn't have thought that a regular human woman could get the best of his own powerful mate, his skilled beta, and himself. He underestimated Noelle, and if his eyes hadn't been so clouded with lust, his first hint would have been the way that she twisted his arm when she thought he was a catcaller getting handsy.

_What normal woman could hold her own against a man Declan's size the way that she did?_

Not only was she likely to be a hunter, she was a well-trained one.

_Were there more? Was there an entire group of hunters waiting for them somewhere? I've put the entire pack at risk. I almost sent Gabriel to his death the other night._

Declan shook his head, he couldn't let himself get stuck on what would have happened if Cole hadn't been there. What if Gabriel had been shot, instead of the oak tree? What if it had been fired into his back. Declan's beta would have been dead by sunrise.

_Or his back would look like Cassidy's._

Declan rose to his feet, and inspected his clothes for anything that would stand out to Cassidy and Gabriel. He walked down the alleyway, and blended in with the people moving along on the sidewalk.

Declan parked his car just outside of the opening to the woods. He cut the headlights, and left the keys in the ignition.

_I don't have car thieves to worry about, I'll be more concerned if I come back and see Noelle and her group leaning against the car, ready to fire a few dozen rounds of silver bullets inside of me._

Declan shook out his limbs; his right leg, then his left, and he twisted both arms into a cross body stretch. It had been a while since Declan ran out into the woods. He'd spent such a long time away from it with the intention of keeping himself safe, while unknowingly falling into the hunter's trap. Declan walked into the clearing, and his eyes shifted from left to right, hoping to catch a glance of an ambitious hunter.

He'd decided earlier that afternoon that if Noelle was the hunter that had been terrorizing his pack, he could put a quiet end to things in her favorite spot to hunt prey. Declan crouched down, and his body morphed into his wolf form with ease. He stretched his front paws, then moved deeper into the woods.

There was a family of deer not too far from him, he could hear their hooves clopping through the mud, and he could smell the youngest fawn. All the meat tasted the same, but Declan had never been opposed to an easy kill. Declan lowered his snout to the ground and inhaled, searching for a whiff of anything that might be out of place in the woods. He continued on like that for the next hour, stopping at the base of trees to sniff around the perimeter of it.

Two hours had passed, and the full moon hung high in the sky when Declan decided to take a small detour to his plan. The family of deer were closer, and they'd been moving closer and closer to him the longer he stayed in the woods. He raised his head off of the ground and followed their trail. Deer were some of his favorite prey, always easy to take down and they led you straight to their herd.

Declan picked up the pace, his paws pounded against the ground faster than he remembered ever moving before. The flash of white of a doe's tail stuck out against the backdrop of the dark woods. Declan's long tongue flopped over his lips, and he lunged forward. A shrill scream erupted from the herd of deer, and Declan's body fell on top of the doe. His teeth pulled apart the tendons in her neck, and the buck readied his antlers to the left of them.

Declan smirked, and with a savage growl, lunged forward. His weight was too much for the buck to bear, and its feet collapsed underneath it. Declan tore into it, it's bloody flesh between his teeth was eagerly welcomed. Declan had spent the past two weeks surviving off unsatisfying human food.

Declan jerked his head forward, and a bullet whizzed by his left ear.

He snapped his jaws together and commanded, "Come out here! Come face me!"

From behind the cover of an oak tree, Noelle slid into view. There was still a thin stream of smoke flowing into the air from her pistol. Her eyes widened and she ground her heels into the dirt. Declan narrowed his eyes as he watched her raise her pistol and aim for the space in between his eyes.

"I figured out what you've been up to, Noelle!"

Noelle lowered her gun and whispered, "Declan?"

"Don't act like you didn't know," Declan growled, he took two steps forward and Noelle raised her gun.

"Wait! I didn't know, I thought that you were the only human in the building out of a bunch of werewolves! Don't move or I'll fill your brain with silver."

"I haven't been human for an extremely long time," Declan said, watching the news settle in on her face.

"You not only attempted to assault three members of my pack, you're the one that maimed Cassidy, aren't you?"

Noelle's expression contorted into a mask of confusion and she said, "Your fiancé. She's not your fiancé at all, is she? She's your mate."

"Tell me what you did to her and how we can fix it."

Noelle slid her finger onto the trigger and replied, "It's not that simple."

Declan snarled and scraped his claws against the dirt, "What's so difficult about it? I'll spare your life if I _never_ see you in these woods again, and if you tell me how we can save Cassidy."

"You didn't care about Cassidy this afternoon, or that day in your office..."

"Shut up!" Declan roared. He pressed his limbs against the ground and lurched forward. Noelle yelped and fired her gun, the bullets were sprayed above Declan's head and in between his legs. Noelle turned around to duck for cover, but tripped over her ankles. Declan landed on top of her, the hot saliva oozing from his jaws splattered onto Noelle's face.

Noelle stuffed a scream deep inside of her and said, "You don't want to do this. You'll die."

Declan's body hummed, he pressed his heavy paw into the center of her chest.

"I don't think that you're the one who should be making threats. Tell me how to heal Cassidy's wound."

His large, bulging, olive-colored eyes reflected off of the moonlight. For a moment, Noelle dared to remember the kind, green eyes of the man that she had fooled around with that same afternoon.

"You. You were always one of them? You were always a part of that pack?" she asked.

Declan leaned down, and pressed his wet nose into hers. She cried out and her legs quaked underneath him.

_"I'm the Alpha of the pack."_

## Chapter 14

# Wolf

_"Why is it that your wolf isn't as bad as the others?"_

Noelle's fingers twitched, she slid her thighs against the dirt and tried to raise them. It was no use as Declan's heavy, warm, wolf body wouldn't allow for her fingers to reach more than an inch of above the handle of her blade. She swallowed a lump of spit, and smoothed away the shocked expression she wore at Declan's admission. She'd spent years training for a moment like this, a moment to face off with an alpha of an entire pack. It could potentially weaken the whole group.

_I could save so many humans if I can take him down._

She smirked, and said, "I'm not feeling generous enough to tell you how to help Cassidy if you're going to treat me like this."

Noelle wore a blank face as Declan leaned down; his giant tongue rolled out of his mouth and he ran it along her left cheek, leaving a dribbling trail of slobber.

He snapped his jaws and said, "You have two seconds to start being helpful or I'm going to start with your face first."

"That's a lot of talk for an alpha that couldn't even recognize a hunter amongst his pack," Noelle teased. Declan glowered, pressing the weight of his body down on top of her frozen form.

It felt like someone dropped a bag of bricks on her lower leg, the sickening crack that rose up from the impact made Noelle smash her teeth down on top of her bottom lip. She inhaled deep, hoping to send a fresh burst of oxygen to her abused bones. Noelle erupted into a primal scream. Her shoulders acted as a lever, and she gathered any strength left in her upper body. She propelled her forehead straight into Declan's snout.

Cool liquid ran down the valley carved into Noelle's face by her nose and cheekbones, and a scowl screwed up her pretty features as Declan fell backward. Two quarter-sized drops of blood hit the dirt beside her and she pressed her hand to the bloody wound on her forehead. Noelle pressed her palms against the dirt and used the tight muscles in her abdomen to scramble to her feet.

She ripped the knife attached to her thigh out of the holster and said, "I told you that you were a little too sure of yourself."

Declan shook his head from left to right, and drops of Noelle's blood splattered against his fur.

"You got one lucky hit in. What will you say when my entire pack has hunted you down, Noelle? Do you honestly think that I haven't memorized your scent by now?"

The wind shifted, and carried the smell of dirt and sweat into Noelle's nostrils.

She raised her blade and said, "You can either come at me or we can talk like adults." Noelle touched two of her fingertips to her face and when she pulled them away they were bright red.

"Or I can rush you, I could take you down right here. Your legs are already trembling from the blood loss."

Declan scraped his claws against the dirt and his wide eyes followed her as she moved forward. Noelle let the blood fall freely, a droplet hung onto her upper lip; a bright red stain on top of lush, pink lips.

"Noelle!" Declan growled.

Noelle raised her hands into the air palm side up, and the blood-stained knife fell to the ground.

She dropped to her knees less than a foot away from Declan and said, "I know that if you're serious about half of the things you're threatening, you'll just let me bleed out here." Her eyelids closed over her watery, electric-blue eyes.

_What is she planning?_

He was close enough to rip apart the tendons in her neck and chest with little resistance. And the pale skin on her neck rose and fell slowly, and Noelle's eyes fluttered open. She wore a small smirk, and raised her hand toward him.

"What the hell are you doing, Noelle?"

A gust of wind passed her lips, her chest flattened and her bloody fingers twitched in his direction. Declan's paws stiffened, his body was frozen in his place as Noelle's fingertips grazed the underside of his chin.

"You're soft," she mumbled.

A modest puddle of blood had gathered underneath Noelle's head and she closed her eyes again. Declan lifted one heavy paw into the air, poised to bring it crashing down onto her rib cage.

"Why is it that your wolf... isn't as bad as the others?"

She drew small circles underneath his chin, and her fingers danced along on his silken fur and she said, "I don't want to make an enemy out of you."

Declan backpedaled, stepping just out of her reach and away from the warmth that radiated from her fingers.

"What are you doing?"

Noelle raised her head, "I don't want to fight against _you_." She pulled herself up into a sitting position and said, "I don't think that we're meant to be on opposite sides... do you?"

Her face had been wiped clean of the fury or outrage that she felt a moment before.

She repeated, "You don't think that we're meant to be on opposite sides. If you really thought that way, you would have killed me the moment that you took me down."

Noelle shivered, the woods had settled on a nighttime temperature of forty-two degrees. Declan lifted one of his feet off the ground. Then he walked toward Noelle, and straight through the rushing current of thoughts telling him to do the exact opposite. He was split down the middle, he craved to taste her blood in between his teeth in retribution for what she'd done to Cassidy... and what she planned to do to the rest of the pack. The other half of him, something softer that he hadn't struggled with much before, demanded that he sweep Noelle off of the ground. All so he could see to her wounds. It demanded that he didn't let whatever bubbled up between them sizzle out, and that he shouldn't ignore his gut instinct to be near her.

As the wind sighed through the treetops. Declan's long, fiendish wolf face gave way to his flawless features came into view. Noelle's eyes followed him like two spotlights, waiting for him to deliver a crushing blow while he stood above her in his human skin, or to offer a hand. Declan knelt next to Noelle with his eyes narrowed, he chewed on his lip as his emerald eyes walked up and down the length of Noelle's body.

"I should have killed you," he said, it hung in the air between them and neither of them wanted to touch it.

"I'm glad that you didn't."

She reached out and stroked his cheek with the back of her hand. Declan flinched, but allowed her to caress him. Noelle leaned forward and placed a soft kiss onto Declan's lips.

Declan's wolf raged, and he balled his fists together and said, "Get yourself together and get out of the woods."

He shrugged off Noelle's hand and rose to his feet, he stepped around her and didn't stop walking until he reached the entrance to the woods.

_"Why is it that your wolf isn't as bad as the others?"_

## Chapter 15

# Declan

_"What are you up to, Declan?"_

Cassidy pulled herself off of her wrinkled, sweat-soaked sheets. Her right hand drifted up toward the window beside her bed. It chilled the inside of her palm; a small source of relief for the near-constant fever that raged through her body. Cassidy's cheeks were flushed, and damp clumps of hair stuck to her forehead. A flash of gray against the black of the asphalt became visible from the corner of her eye.

Cassidy knitted her brows together, she looked four floors down and watched Declan slam the door to their modest sedan and head inside of the building. She frowned, and lifted her phone off the windowsill. It was just after two am.

_I thought that everyone was holding off on hunts for now. Why is Declan going alone, especially without any backup like Gabriel?_

Cassidy folded her arms across her chest, and focused her gaze to the bedroom door. If she possessed the ability to, she would have burned holes into the peeling, cheap wood of the door. Her ears, with the soft skin now a bright red, twitched to listen. Her finely tuned hearing caught the whisper of the floorboards creaking, and the soft steps of a longtime pack member sneaking into the bedroom of a new pack mate.

Cassidy and Declan came to the conclusion years ago that it was probably better if members of the pack slept with each other, instead of impregnating a human that would be clueless as to why their baby was born with a pair of bright, luminous eyes. This, a common trademark of a dormant werewolf. However, she and Declan had never created a rule that prohibited the wolves in their pack from getting together with a human. They especially hadn't made any such rule that would apply to the alpha of the pack.

Cassidy had been reluctant to accept that she was being left out of major decisions for the pack because of her illness, but Declan had become more and more reclusive over the last few weeks. He sat behind his desk downstairs until late, and never approached any subject that strayed outside of whether the wound on her back had acquired any new, or much more terrifying features. She held her breath and kept her ears open for a second step of footsteps; for Declan's heavy footfalls as he pounded up the steps.

The sound of the rusted bolts turning at the front door never came. Cassidy turned back toward the window, the empty streets were illuminated by one, orange glowing street light that hung just above the gray sedan.

_What are you up to, Declan?_

With her eyes narrowed into slits, she shook out the thin blanket that had slid into a crumpled ball at the end of the mattress. She pulled it up the length of her body, and held it tight against her chest.

Cassidy closed her eyes, and fell into the curve of the pillow beneath her. She pressed her ear against it, waiting for the creak of the floorboards to rise up and through the pillow.

The door clicked softly against the frame, and Declan hovered in front of his desk. A small chime sounded from his computer, and he knew that underneath the wreck of papers on his desk, there was a couple of completed rental applications. They were from people that were genuinely interested in renting an apartment in Clifton Towers. Declan's back rested against the cracked white wall by the door and his eyes fell shut. When he opened them, the sound of another email flying into his inbox rang in his ears. A growl rose up from deep within his chest, and he raked his arm across the packed, pile of mess on top of his desk.

His jaw seized between the chiseled, smaller bone of his human features, and the elongated, powerful bones of the wolf that was buried inside. His mind ran wild with thoughts of his pack, now that he'd let Noelle go relatively unscathed. And how was he supposed to keep them safe from her?

_Cassidy..._ he'd let the woman that very well could have been responsible for Cassidy's early demise go. His chest heaved, and his face burned as he sat on top of his desk. A flurry of white papers fell to the floor. It wasn't like him to let a woman leave his mind like this. It was a furious, foggy mess. Years ago, he wouldn't have let the possibility of rolling around in the sheets with a raven-haired beauty come between him and Cassidy.

Declan slid off his desk and walked around it, he jostled his chair from the space behind his desk. He slammed his body into it; his hands hung loosely in between his thighs. His shoulders were heavy, pressing down onto his sullen form.

_What's wrong with you? You're an... Alpha._

With a heavy sigh, Declan gripped the edges of his desk and pulled himself closer to his computer monitor. On the screen, a bevy of emails and his daily schedule was reflected back to him. For today's date, he was scheduled to fasten doors on their hinges and run drills with Gabriel and the rest of the pack. Declan minimized his schedule and typed, "Colorado Real Estate" into the search bar. Thousands of results appeared. Including older houses, manors, abandoned apartment buildings, as well as a couple of hotels. He narrowed his eyes, and dragged the mouse down the screen. While he'd probably have more luck expanding his search outside of Colorado, the forested areas in some parts of the state were a necessity for hunts. He refused to move his pack to a bustling city outside of Colorado and encourage them to eat frozen sections of raw beef. A pack wouldn't thrive and blend in with humans if their base desires weren't being satisfied.

_Maybe there was something inside of me that wasn't being satisfied._

Declan shook his head, and strained his eyes for the next three hours, sorting through pages upon pages of ads; each building or location was less likely to work than the last. When birds flew overhead, signaling that the day had begun for any being that wasn't nocturnal, Declan dimmed his glowing screen with a single click. He rotated his stiff neck and his muscles popped in resistance. It had been several months since he last had to hold his own in a fight. Declan stood up, and pushed his chair back. Light footsteps were moving along the old, creaky floorboards outside.

_Maybe that's where I went wrong._

Reflecting on all the times in previous months that he chose paperwork and upholding the front that was managing Clifton Towers. He'd done it instead of supervising hunts, and sparring with new pack mates. Even knocking Gabriel back into line every so often so that he always knew who was the alpha.

Declan stepped into the hall, and pulled the door to his office shut. The sound of the wood scraping against the floor snagged the attention of a young woman that was walking along the apartment. She turned her head, and Declan remembered the long nose with the pointed end, and the sandy brown hair that she always wore in a ponytail. _Aria, was her name._

His fingers massaged his eyeballs, and he pulled a smile out of his reserve.

"Good Morning, Aria." His eyes flicked toward the large windows that faced the sidewalk in front of the building.

The sunlight hadn't reached them yet.

Declan turned his head back to her and said, "Were you out for a jog?"

Aria blinked new life into her serious features and grinned, "No, I was just coming from upstairs. Cassidy is an early bird, and I am trying to keep her company."

Declan nodded and moved toward the stairwell.

Aria's soft voice fell into his ears, "It would be kind of terrible if the alpha of a pack had to be lonely."

Declan's right foot hovered above the next step and he tilted his head slightly towards Aria. Her eyes didn't betray that she knew anything in particular.

She offered him another appeasing smile and said, "But I know that she won't have to worry about that for long. You're going upstairs for breakfast, right?"

Declan imagined Cassidy leaning over a hot skillet with a sizzling pair of eggs inside.

He smiled and said, "Yes, I am. Take it easy, Aria. Cassidy's a big girl, she doesn't need you worrying over her."

He didn't lift his searing gaze off Aria's face until she broke their eye contact.

She pointed toward the stairwell and said, "After you, Declan."

He didn't like being told what to do.

_"What are you up to, Declan?"_

## Chapter 16

# Choices

_"I can't always decide."_

A set of three, heavy knocks sent tremors through the wood floor and under the door of Declan's bedroom. Declan lifted his head off the pillow and rolled to the edge of the bed.

He swung his feet out on the floor, and called out, "Cassidy, what's going on?" His voice came out as an exhausted croak, and Cassidy's footsteps padded toward the door.

She pulled it open and said, "Gabriel is at the front door." A frown was spread across her lips, "He seems.... upset. Did something happen last night?"

She punctuated this with one raised eyebrow and Declan shook his head.

He rose to his feet and said, "No, everything's fine." He brushed past her, leaving the skeptical glance she wore in the bedroom.

Declan walked through the living room and spotted Gabriel leaning against the front door. Gabriel had never been an entirely pleasant person in the morning, but he was especially disturbed _this_ morning. His arms were crossed over his broad chest, and Declan cut to the chase.

"What's wrong?"

Gabriel parted his lips, and Declan watched as his eyes moved about, searching for the right words.

Finally, he settled on, "Come with me."

Gabriel turned on his heel and sped off down the hallway, Declan's questions fell on deaf ears. He reached back to the close the door behind him and his hand grazed Cassidy's thigh.

She was propped against the door, with her face screwed up in a look of confusion and said, "What is it? What's going on with Gabriel?"

Her tone was urgent, and her eyes focused on Declan in a way that told him that she was not going to tolerate being left out of the loop anymore.

Declan sighed and replied, "I don't know yet. Just wait here, I'll fill you in later."

"Later!" Cassidy repeated. "I'm an alpha too, why can't I find out with you?"

Declan inhaled, "You have enough on your plate."

"An injury on my back doesn't fill up my whole plate, Declan."

She brushed past him, and Declan held his breath as he watched her stroll towards Gabriel's room, but walk right past it. Declan shut the door, and shuffled across the hallway. He stopped midway and wrapped his hands around the splintering banister of the stairwell.

"Cassidy! What are you doing?"

"Going out!" Her words flowed up the stairwell and into Declan's ears as he gritted his teeth together upon feeling the slam of the front doors rumble through the wood.

_Now, the whole pack would be alerted to their disagreement._

The door to Gabriel's apartment swung open and he said, "Declan, _come on_."

Declan whipped his head in his direction and said, "I'm coming. I was checking on Cassidy."

Declan peeled his hands off the banister and stepped toward Gabriel's place. Gabriel had thrusted his arm against the door to hold it open, Declan breezed inside. Sunlight only touched a small corner of the living room; the rest of the light had been shut out by thick, black curtains that Gabriel had to have bought and installed himself.

A strong, sterile smell floated into Declan's nostrils and he wrinkled his nose, "What the hell is that smell?"

"Cleaning solution."

Gabriel stepped inside, and shut the door behind him. Gabriel had always been particularly neat for a werewolf, and even his kills were far more... surprisingly clean.

Declan turned to Gabriel and said, "What's so important that you had to drag me out of bed and disrupt my morning?"

Gabriel grunted, for once, and Declan's tone was clipped and detached, like a supervisor checking in with his irresponsible staff.

Gabriel thought _, I wouldn't have had to pull you out of bed if you didn't have your head stuck too far up your ass these last few weeks to notice all of the stuff going on around town._

Gabriel raised his arm and pointed at the dim light radiating from his flat screen television. He scooped the remote off of the coffee table and pointed it at the screen.

"Look at this news report."

On the screen, a woman with thick, perfectly shaped, auburn hair appeared on the screen and made a show of shaking out the papers in front of her.

She set them down on her desk and said, "Good morning, Cripple Creek. We're awaiting details from our correspondents outside of the Laney Fields Grocer, but in the meantime, let's review what we do now."

The screen transitioned and wiped the polished newscaster off the picture. The camera zoomed in on the open doors of Laney Fields Grocer, an independent health foods grocer in the heart of downtown Cripple Creek. A cluster of police cruisers remained parked outside of the store, and the field reporter stood to the left of the screen in a sun-yellow parka.

"I'm still awaiting details from police on the young man that they found in the frozen section of the Laney Fields Grocer. And the store owner, Carl Laney, believes that he may have been on drugs."

Declan watched as the camera panned to the left of the field reporter, and a balding Carl Laney stood next to her.

His moustache bounced along his upper lip as he said, "I think that young man was certainly on drugs. I've had kids try to shoplift from me before, you know, condoms and such... but I've never seen a kid that looked as normal as him come in and start eating meat from the frozen section."

The field reporter nodded and said, "Yes, this is a bizarre turn of events for sure. Everyone please stay tuned as we find out more about the young man that was arrested early this morning and taken to Cripple Creek County Jail."

Gabriel turned to him and said, "He could be some sort of strung out dope fiend, but what are the odds that this isn't related to us?"

Declan chewed on his lip, images that flashed by on the television were reflected in his eyes.

"If that's the case, that means that there's someone in Cripple Creek that's turning people. Shit!"

Gabriel looked serious and nodded in agreement.

Declan narrowed his eyes and commanded, "Clear your schedule. We're going to be busy." He wrapped his hand around the loose doorknob of Gabriel's door and let the dim, flickering lights in the hall illuminate the apartment.

"What about Cassidy?" Gabriel asked.

Declan sighed and said, "Let me know if she doesn't come back after a while. I don't want her too far away from the building while she's healing." Without waiting for a response, Declan stomped back to his apartment.

Less than an hour later, Gabriel and Declan stood outside of the Cripple Creek County Jail. The worn soles of Declan's work boots pressed into a puddle underneath his feet, and Gabriel raised one arm over his head beside him. There was a light drizzle leftover from the brief rain shower that swept over most of the town a couple of hours before.

Gabriel turned his head to Declan and asked, "Do you think that they'll ask any questions?"

Declan shrugged, "Only if we leave them wondering. As far as they're concerned, we're a couple of old friends of this kid. I just want to find out if he's what we think he might be. Otherwise, I'm happy to send him on his way so that he can eat every piece of frozen meat in town."

"Fair," Gabriel mumbled, and they moved up the front steps, toward the front doors of the jail.

An older, quite rotund, police officer hustled out of the building with a petite officer on his heels.

He craned his head over his shoulders and raised one arm, "Good morning, gentlemen!"

Declan nodded at the officer, and winked at the young woman that lingered behind them. She grinned, and a light blush painted her cheeks. Once they disappeared down the stairs and into the parking lot, Declan looked at Gabriel.

He turned to Gabriel and said, "I think this will be easy enough, staff seem pretty easy going."

Declan pushed the front doors open and stepped into the bustling police station. Officers strolled throughout the department, with steaming cups of coffee in their hands and deep shadows underneath their eyes. Gabriel followed behind Declan as he approached the front desk.

"Good Morning," Declan said, and placed his elbows on top of the desk and grinned at the front desk receptionist. The woman lifted her tired eyes from the stack of paperwork in between her arms and her face brightened upon seeing Declan.

She cleared her throat and said, "Good morning, Sir. What can I do for you? Are you here to file a report?"

Declan chuckled and replied, "Oh, no, Ma'am, we're staying out of trouble."

He reached behind him and jovially tapped Gabriel on the shoulder.

Gabriel nodded and grinned, "No trouble today!"

The receptionist grinned and tucked a stray piece of silver hair behind her ear, "That's good to hear."

"We're not in trouble, but a friend of ours got into a bit of a mess this morning." Declan reached into his pocket and took out his cell phone, he held it out in front of her and asked, "Has this guy been giving you any trouble today?"

The receptionist gasped, and her eyes flicked up from the photo of the young man that was caught devouring raw meat to Declan's awaiting eyes.

"Are you that young man's lawyer? I figured that some rich-guy type would be coming in here in no time, threatening to sue the whole station up and down."

Declan stole a glance at Gabriel, who had begun to rotate his gaze around the station. His nostrils flared, and he squared his jaw.

Declan guffawed, "Rich guys? No, sorry, we don't have it as good as some of these Colorado socialites. No, he's a buddy of ours. I manage Clifton Towers apartment buildings, and we were talking over some business details. Mind if I know what his bail is?"

The receptionist pushed her glasses up further on the bridge of her nose and turned her body away from Declan and Gabriel. She pecked away at the keyboard and leaned in close to the screen.

She wheeled her chair around and said, "Looks like he's got a two-thousand-dollar bail. It's a fairly petty crime, eating all of that meat like that, but it might cost Carl Laney about that much to replace what he ate."

Declan smiled, "Got it. It's rough being a small business owner, but my friend and I could go on for days. I'd love to pay his bail."

Declan reached into his pocket and slapped the platinum credit card he used for the Clifton's expenses onto the desk.

"Let him know that his friends are here."

The receptionist quickly recovered from the look of shock that flooded her features a moment before, "I'll get started on the paperwork."

Declan moved over to a couple of wooden benches that were placed a few feet from the receptionist's desk and eased himself onto them. His shoulders slumped forward, and exhaustion tugged at his limbs. He sighed, and stretched his arm over his head.

Gabriel sat beside him asked, "Have you been sleeping in your office? That's got to be a shitty way to rest."

Declan grinned and replied, "Not sleeping in it, just staying up late. I've got... a lot on my plate."

Gabriel nodded before asking, "Like what? I know that there's the whole deal with Cassidy but what else is going on?"

Declan's eyes shifted toward Gabriel's and the lights above them bounced off of them.

"A lot."

Cassidy had stormed out of the building earlier, while Gabriel showed him the news. And on the drive down to the station, Declan had been tormented by thoughts of Noelle. She traipsed through his mind, and a part of him replayed the way that she slammed her forehead into his. If he found himself dwelling on it for too long, he'd feel the sting underneath his skin, where a bruise would have formed on a human.

He wondered how she was holding up, or if she'd made it out of the woods without running into anything. _How did she explain the injury on her forehead to anyone that she ran into?_ Or, anyone else that knew about her profession? What if she alerted her entire group that she earned that injury from throwing herself at the alpha of a werewolf pack?

_She said that she didn't want to make an enemy out of me... she has to know that ambushing my pack would be the fastest way to do it._

He scowled, with the flowery images of Noelle that ran through his mind.

_What will it take for me to let go of this curiosity that I feel toward her? Will she have to gun down Cassidy and Gabriel in front of me, and fill them both with silver?_

The clinking of handcuffs rubbing together pulled Declan out of his thoughts. Three feet away from them, a uniformed police officer wrangled the handcuffs off of the wide-eyed young man. Declan's breath hitched as his eyes landed on the startling, fluorescent-gray eyes of the boy in front of him. He was dressed in a pair of dark gray jeans, and a loose-fitting band t-shirt. He was petite, and he reminded Declan of himself in his late teen years. Completely gangly and bug-eyed. If he was a wolf like Declan and Gabriel suspected, he wouldn't be twiggy for much longer.

The boy looked over his shoulder at the officer, who sneered in response.

He looked past the boy and into Declan's eyes, "Here's your buddy. Tell him to stay out of the grocery store the next time that he wants to cause trouble. I've got better things to do."

Declan rose to his feet, he easily towered over the officer, "Will do, Sir." Declan smirked and waved at the boy, "Come on, let's go. Let's get something to eat."

He cast a nervous glance in the officer's direction then toward the hulking forms that were Declan and Gabriel. Declan chuckled to himself.

_He doesn't know whether he wants to go back in or follow the two complete strangers that just posted his bail._

They led him to the parking lot and Declan pulled the driver side door of the sedan open.

The boy's strained voice stopped them in their tracks, "Thank you for bailing me out of jail and all, but who are you guys?"

Gabriel paused with his fingers underneath the car door handle. Declan moved away from the driver's seat and stepped around the car until he was standing just a couple of inches away from the young man.

Declan smirked and said, "What do you remember about last night? Do you remember anything leading up to eating the meat out of the freezers?"

He looked down and mumbled, "My head kind of hurts when I try to remember. Are you guys just trying to find out more about the weirdo that started eating raw steaks?" He gave each of them a once over, and an exasperated look crossed his face, "Are you reporters?"

Declan looked over to Gabriel then said, "No, we're not reporters. We're just trying to figure out what you might be going through, and we think that we could help. Right, Gabriel?"

"Right," Gabriel grunted.

Declan gestured at the young man and asked, "What's your name?"

There was a brief moment of hesitation before the young man offered up his name, "Keith."

"Keith, do you recall feeling the most powerful hunger that you've ever felt in your life?"

While Keith searched for the words to reply, Declan went on, "Did it feel like your blood had been lit on fire? Like your skin was going to be rip itself apart?"

Keith crossed his arms over his chest and glanced around the parking lot. There were few cars around, most of the department was heading out to lunch or completing their patrol rounds.

"I think so. Everyone thinks that I was drunk, but I just needed... _something_. I ran into the grocery store, and I just lunged at the frozen meat."

"You certainly don't have to, but I promise that you'll be better off if you come with us."

"Who _are_ you?"

Declan chuckled and replied, "I'm Declan, and he's Gabriel."

Declan stuck his hand out for Keith to shake, and Keith slowly raised his hand up to meet Declan's.

"I manage Clifton Towers, it's an apartment building about fifteen minutes heading east from here. I focus on people like you who find themselves in situations like this, with little recollection of how they got there."

"Are you a lawyer?" Keith asked.

Declan stuffed his hands into his pockets and pulled out a business card. He handed it over to Keith.

"Here, you seem like you'll need some time to think things over. But, when you decide that you want our help, we'll be there."

Declan turned on his heel, and walked around to the driver's side of the car. Keith stepped away from the car, twiddling Declan's business card in between his fingers.

While Declan started the car, Gabriel turned to him and said, "You're just going to let him go?"

Declan put the car in drive and caught Keith's dumbfounded expression in the rear-view mirror.

"I'm going to let this one come to us. We'll need to keep an eye on him." _So that we know whether Noelle's got her eyes on him too._

The engine of the sedan came to life, Delcan steered the car towards the end of the parking lot.

_"I can't always decide."_

## Chapter 17

# Pull

_"Have you ever felt like this for anyone?"_

Noelle dragged the pad of her thumb across the scab on her forehead. She'd been able to take the bandages off as of last week. It was something that had finally broken up the routine that she started last week. Each day, she'd pull herself out of bed, ignore the way her muscles seized in pain as she moved about the house, and hand write a list of errands that she'd complete by the end of the day. Noelle had made more trips than necessary to the grocery and hardware stores, and taken on more mundane projects around their four-bedroom ranch home than she had in years.

Her daily errands and invented tasks kept her away from the questioning gazes of Abigail and Garrett. They had been relentless in showing their concern since the night that she learned that Declan was one of them. Late that night, she had walked through the door, bloodied and dirt covered, and Abigail and Garrett had chosen that night to stay up past their eleven-pm bedtime to re-watch a couple of old movies. She'd walked past the family room, pressing her hand against the center of forehead with a thin trail of blood winding around her arm. Garrett and Abigail tripped over themselves to meet her before she could reach her bedroom.

She'd fought with it until her vision blurred, and she could hardly make out their faces. Noelle fed them a story that she was suffering from a brutal run in with a buck, and that she'd mistaken it for the massive form of a werewolf in the dark. Her protests fell on deaf ears, and Noelle spent the second half of the night in the ER.

Noelle eased onto her bed, her hands clenched around the edge of the mattress. Her legs felt like heavy, wooden logs. She'd never gone more than a weekend without going out to the woods, and searching for werewolves. Due to the ever-watchful gazes of Abigail and Garrett, she refused to risk the possibility that they might tail her, and that she'd lead them right into Declan's hunting grounds.

_I don't know if I could forgive myself if Declan were there. However, I also can't stand by and let an entire pack run wild for much longer._

Noelle sighed, and rose to her feet. She pulled out her most convincing smile and stepped into the hallway.

"Mom? Dad? Do you guys need anything?" Her feet slid across the floor as she headed toward the kitchen.

She stepped into the kitchen, Abigail and Garrett sat across from each other at the kitchen table. The bright, glowing screen of the laptop between them caught her eyes.

Garrett sat back against his chair and looked at her over his glasses, "You're awake. No, we don't need anything today, you've been doing so much around the house lately while you recover. How are you feeling?"

"Better every day," Noelle reassured him.

"Good," Abigail said, and gestured at the laptop screen, "we're going over some details for the family reunion next week. Why don't you grab a cup of coffee and chat with us?"

Noelle walked around Garrett's chair and pulled out the third chair that faced the silver back cover of the laptop.

"What family reunion?"

"We're hosting a couple of family members next week as part of it, just some members of the family that were concerned about a few... odd things happening in Cripple Creek and other parts of Colorado."

Noelle tapped her fingers against the back of the laptop and said, "Other hunters. What's the big deal? We've been careful about this region."

Abigail shook her head and said, "You can't honestly believe that the three of us alone are doing a fine job of eliminating every werewolf in the area?"

_I can promise you that we're not. I even let one go last week._

"Of course not, but I didn't think that things were that bad."

"It's just to kind of touch base," Garrett interjected, "to share ideas about any suspicious happenings going on. Then, we're going to be going on a group hunt while everyone is in town."

Noelle's heart fell into her stomach and she smiled at her father, "A group hunt? That should be fun, hopefully I'm feeling up to it by then. Where were you guys thinking?"

Abigail pushed her chair back and walked over to the counter. The espresso machine hummed with new life, and she returned with a steaming cup of black espresso.

She pressed the cup into her daughter's palm and said, "You're going to need this. So, we thought we'd start in some of the more rural areas, definitely on the outskirts of a few farms..."

"They're tearing into livestock, costing farmers thousands in lost wages," Garrett said. He shook his head and commented, "We'll just have to clean everything up, if they're going to run around, causing a complete mess."

Noelle tried to picture Declan, 'causing a complete mess' and she couldn't imagine seeing his graceful form stoop down to all fours, and wreaking havoc on a local farm. If only the rest of the werewolf population could follow his lead. However, that's what was so special about Declan, besides his ability to make her feel more insane and love struck than she'd ever felt before; he operated as if he were a man. For years, her family had referred to werewolves as, "Beasts in masks made of human skin at best," but it felt like the beast was secondary for Declan. A beautiful man, plagued by his werewolf abilities.

Noelle took a long sip of her espresso, and the caffeine smacked her sleeping neurons into action.

She placed her elbows on top of the table and said, "So, what else are we thinking?"

Abigail smiled and replied, "Well, we'd like to scout the area that you like to hunt in," she placed her hand on top of Noelle's arm and said, "I know that you're confident that it was a buck, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. We know that once you're back on your feet, you're going to be out there again."

Noelle nodded and smothered the scream welling up inside of her with another sip of espresso.

_I have to warn Declan._

Her last encounter with Declan still sent an uncomfortable shiver down her spine if she thought of it for too long. The menacing way that he snapped his jaws together on top of her, and turned back into the man that she'd found herself falling for these last few weeks.

"Sounds like a good plan, guys. Do you need any help preparing the house for guests?"

Garrett scoffed, "If they want a luxury stay, they're more than welcome to throw in a little elbow grease." He placed his hand on Noelle's shoulders, "You've done more than enough these last few months."

Noelle looked into the dark depths of her mug and smiled.

Declan tore his eyes away from the computer screen, and leaned back against the chair. He'd been scanning news sites all afternoon, hoping to catch a valuable snippet of info about the new wolf that he and Gabriel bailed out two days ago. He sighed, the news of this new wolf had kept him distracted from everything else that swam around his head. His efforts to bury himself in his work had been completely shattered, and his problems with Noelle were going to have to be faced.

He struggled with himself, knowing that if he chose to, he could drive back to the woods and wait for her. He could take her down, and wrangle the cure for Cassidy's injury out of her in no time. Declan wanted to keep her relatively unharmed, because the head wound that she inflicted upon herself was enough to make him shy away from the idea of attacking her. There was a part of him that didn't want to see her hurt.

The piercing sound of the phone ringing snapped Declan out of his thoughts. It was the Clifton Towers' business line, and not his cell phone. Declan narrowed his eyes and reached to the phone.

A moment of silence passed as he lifted the headset to his ear, he spoke into the receiver, "This is Cliffton Towers, Declan speaking, what can I do for you?"

"Declan!"

Declan froze, the phone hovered in place but her voice came through its speakers; crystal clear like perfection.

Noelle cleared her throat and said, "Declan, it's me. Noelle."

Declan clenched the phone tighter in between his hands and said, "I know. What the hell are you calling here for? What do you want?"

On Noelle's end, the sound of a door shutting could be heard.

"I need to see you."

"You can't honestly believe that I'm going to keep doing... whatever we're doing, after last week? I'm not playing any games. If you want to come after my pack, then you'll have to come after me first."

"I don't want to come after you. Listen to me, _you're in danger._ I can't go over everything right now, they might be listening."

_They? The rest of the hunters?_

Declan's eyes flicked towards the door before he said, "Don't waste my time, Noelle."

"Declan, I'm serious. Meet me on the south side of town. I'll be near the Crawford Hotel, waiting for you later today."

"I'm not coming, Noelle."

"If you care about the lives of your pack mates, you will be."

The line disconnected and Declan was left to listen to the rhythmic sound of the dial tone. He set the phone back on the hook.

_My pack mates? What the hell has she got planned?_

Declan slammed his fist on top of the desk. He propped his elbow on the desk and allowed his head to rest on his closed fist. The door opened, and Cassidy stepped inside. She leaned against the wall, the length of her thin body was stretched against the wall. She'd been losing more and more weight recently, and while she'd always been slender, the drastic weight loss probably had more to do with the silver wound on her back.

"What do you need?" Declan asked, pretending to have plenty of work to attend to.

Cassidy shrugged, and said, "I thought that you'd like some company. You won't let me hunt, or do much of anything, so I figured that I could at least be of use that way."

Declan sighed and said, "I don't need any company. I'm just sorting through some bills for the building."

"It takes you all day to sort through bills? Maybe you could use some help."

Cassidy walked around the desk, and stood over Declan's pile of work. She reached into it, plucking out a receipt from a cleaning service. Declan's hand shot out and grasped her arm.

He narrowed his eyes, "Cassidy, I don't need any help with the bills."

Cassidy wrenched her arm free and replied, "You don't need help? Then why is this the only thing that you care about lately? Are you so fascinated with your work all of a sudden, because I'm dying?"

"You're not dying, don't say that."

Declan looked down at the stack of papers in front of him, and picked one up. He pretended to read the small print on the page but Cassidy snatched it out of his hand.

"Wake _up,_ Declan! When have you ever seen an injury like this and knew that everything was going to be alright?" Her voice cracked and she said, "Nothing is going to be alright! My own mate won't talk to me, my pack members won't stop giving me sympathetic glances, like I'm not even Alpha anymore."

Her shoulders shook, and tears rolled down her cheeks. Cassidy had never been one for public displays of emotion, she'd always been insistent upon proving to herself and anyone else that she could hold it together because their pack needed solid leaders.

Declan sighed, and wrapped his arms around Cassidy's waist. He pulled her onto his lap, her small body fell onto it with little resistance.

He buried his face into her shoulder and said, "It's okay. I promise you that everything _is_ fine."

He pressed his lips into her skin and in between sobs, she said, "How can you be sure? This thing is rotting my skin, Declan."

Declan frowned and pulled his arms tighter around his waist. The silver bullets reappeared in his mind. Four identical death sentences.

Declan ran his fingers against the wound on her back and mumbled, "We're going to be fine. I've got Gabriel looking into what we can do for you. I'm looking into some things too." He looked over at the phone, and rubbed small circles on Cassidy's back.

"Everything is fine. I'll make sure of it." He reached down by her side and squeezed her hand.

_Crawford Hotel._

Declan pulled up across the street from the Crawford Hotel. People moved about on the sidewalk, and traffic thrived beside him. He sighed, and turned his car off. Declan leaned back against the seat and scanned the crowd moving along on either side of the street. There had been no sign of Noelle yet, and a part of him wanted to put the car back into drive and head back to the apartments before he spotted her.

_What are the odds that she actually has any information that could help my pack? Is this what it means to be Alpha? Screwing everything up just to try and make it right again?_

He peered across the street and watched Noelle get out of a taxi. The wind whipped around strands of her hair, and she shielded her eyes from the sunlight that bounced off of the windshield of the taxi. Declan slid his phone out of his pocket and checked the time, it was just after two. Declan opened the door and navigated cars and bikes in the street. He made it over to the other side where Noelle waited outside of the Crawford Hotel. She peered ahead, and then behind her. She held her purse strap close to her, hoping to fade away from the bustling scene going on around her.

Declan maneuvered a group of mothers pushing their children in strollers, and reached out to Noelle.

Noelle whipped around and her eyes widened upon seeing him. "Declan," she said.

Declan watched her appraise him, running her eyes over his arms and legs. She wouldn't find any bruises from last week, but the scab on her forehead told him that her injury had been worse than he thought. He resisted the impulse to raise his finger, and touch the scab. He couldn't afford to show her any tenderness, and he couldn't give into the impulse. Noelle gestured at the glass double doors behind her that led to the lobby.

"Let's go inside. I have a couple of friends around here, and they've given me a room."

Declan followed behind her, he kept close to her and whispered, "We didn't need a whole room together. I just came to find out whether or not you would tell me anything about a cure for Cassidy."

Noelle ignored him as she approached the front desk.

She waved hello to the receptionist behind the counter and said, "Noelle Scott. I called ahead."

The receptionist pecked away at her keyboard and said, "Ah, Miss Scott, you are good to go. Here's your key card."

Noelle took the key card and she and Declan moved to the elevator. While Noelle watched the light move lower on the elevator, she turned head to Declan and said, "Did you tell your pack that you were coming?"

"What?"

"Does your pack know about me? Are you going to tell them?"

The elevator doors opened and Declan said, "They don't need to know unless they're going to be coming after you."

They stepped inside and the doors shut. Noelle leaned against the wall of the elevator.

Her voice cut through the tense silence between them, "I was serious when I said that I wanted to help you. I don't want us to be against one another."

She turned to him and took a step forward. Declan tensed and she took his hands in hers. His skin was warm, and she gripped it tighter to savor the way that his skin felt.

"Declan, have you ever felt like this for anyone else?"

The elevator doors opened and Declan snatched his hands out of Noelle's. He stepped into the hall first, and Noelle followed. Her feet moved quickly across the forest-green carpet. They stopped in front of a door that had been painted white, and slid her key card into the slot. The door opened, and Declan stepped into the hotel room; it had been modeled to look like an ordinary apartment.

Noelle set her bag down in the foyer, and moved into the kitchen. There was a quick succession of thuds as she opened the cabinets and let them fall shut. Declan leaned against the wall next to the kitchen. He watched her take out two glasses and fill each one with water.

"Glass of water?" Noelle asked, holding the cup in his direction.

"Noelle." Declan said, and stepped into the kitchen.

He snatched both of her petite wrists in between his hands and the glass was sent clattering to the floor. She winced, feeling a stray piece of glass fly into her leg.

"What do you have to tell me?"

Noelle wriggled her wrists in Declan's grip, but it was to no avail.

She sighed, and said, "My family is a family of hunters."

"Keep talking."

"The rest of my family is coming to town, soon. I didn't want them to get to you."

Declan released her hand and moved into the living room. He eased onto the sofa and said, "So what do you plan to do? Are they suddenly going to have a change of heart about werewolves?"

Noelle rubbed her wrists and moved over to the sofa. She sat down next to him, and leaned against him. Declan craned his neck towards her and said, "What are you doing?"

Noelle ignored his question and said, "No, no one is going to stop hunting werewolves. We can't. But I can tell _you_ to stay clear of the woods that you normally go to. I can keep you safe for now."

"I don't know if I can trust you. How do I know that you won't ambush the apartment building?"

She shrugged and turned toward Declan with a cool look in her eye, "Because I can't catch a fish that big right now. And for now, no one needs to know that I know about a new pack."

Declan turned toward Noelle and bit down on his lip. His eyes traced the curve of her cheekbones, and he leaned in closer to her. She parted her pink lips, pressing herself closer to him.

"I need to know what I can do for Cassidy," he whispered.

"I can look into that," Noelle said, and relaxed against Declan's chest.

"I can help, for a little while. Until we have to put a stop to everything."

Declan sighed, and slid his arms around Noelle's waist, "It's going to have to stop now..."

Noelle raised her hand and pressed her finger to his lips, "Let's not talk about it right now, Declan. I know that this whole thing is crazy to begin with, but let's just enjoy the ride until we can't anymore."

"The ride?" Declan repeated.

Noelle smoothed her finger over his lips, she wrapped her arms around Declan's neck.

"Let's deal with the rest when we have to." She pressed her lips against his, and Declan froze in place.

He pulled away and said, "What kind of person would i be if I kept this up?"

"You'd be human."

She rested against his chest, and her breasts pressed into him as well. Declan avoided looking at her cleavage; the dress that she wore had a small cutout just above her breasts, enough to give him a tease for what he'd have to give up soon.

"Human?"

Noelle nodded, "You'd be human. Just like any person that needs something that's just for themselves. Isn't this the first time in a long time that you've done something for yourself?"

She placed her hand in the center of his chest and pushed him backward until his back touched the sofa. Noelle lifted herself up and tucked both of her legs on either side of Declan. Declan inhaled, the heat that rolled off Noelle lit his senses on fire. And he could smell the perfume that she dabbed on either side of her neck. It was surreal that he could already taste her.

He licked his lips and said, "This is your idea of doing something for ourselves?"

Noelle placed a feathery soft kiss on his lips, then on his neck, "Yes. This isn't about werewolves, or obligations. It's just what it has always been between us."

"What's that?" Declan asked, unsure as to how either of them could make sense of this whirlwind that they'd fallen into.

Declan had run out of ways to describe how he felt drawn to her, no matter how much he reminded himself of his loyalties.

Noelle's thighs squeezed Declan's as she leaned forward and gripped the bottom of her dress. She pulled it over her head, then it fell toward the floor in a blur of blue. Her breasts were cradled by her magenta bra, the hills resting perfectly and billowing out. Noelle lifted Declan's hand and led it to the underside of her panties. She grinned, watching the wince go across Declan's face.

"Touch me," she said.

Declan lifted one finger and it grazed against the outline of her lips. Noelle sucked in a breath as her body tensed, waiting for Declan to deliver more. Declan's finger pulled back the edge of her panties. The skin on her mound was soft. Before today, he didn't have a chance to explore her body properly.

He slid his finger inside, his fingertips grazed against her bud and Noelle groaned. Declan growled, and pressed his thumbs into her abdomen. He flipped her over onto the couch, and both of his arms framed her flushed face.

"Why can't I stay away from you?" he mused, running his tongue along her belly.

He began making swirls from her bikini line until his nose was pressed into her. Declan inhaled; she had a sweet smell. Then he parted her lips and his tongue dived inside. He flicked his tongue over her clit while Noelle gripped the tan cushions of the couch, and her legs trembled. Declan's tongue traveled deep inside of her, his hands gripped either side of her thighs as he tasted her.

"Declan!"

"Shut up. Don't talk."

Her wetness covered his mouth as he ran his tongue over his lips. He withheld a groan, his cock was hard and wanting, pressing against the couch. Declan reached up and hooked his fingers inside the edges of her panties. Next, he pulled them down, and tossed them to the floor.

Noelle's eyes followed him, she parted her legs for him as he positioned himself in front of her.

Adrenaline coursed through her veins and she said, "Come on. Do it."

"Shut up." Declan plunged himself deep inside of her, his hips rocked back and forth expertly.

Noelle's cries built up slowly, growing louder as Declan slammed into her. Declan's hands traveled to her breasts, and he gripped them in between his large hands. It was sublime as he felt her sweat covered skin through the fabric of her bra. Noelle wrapped her legs around him, drawing him closer and deeper.

A warm, aboding feeling spread throughout her chest and Noelle tossed her head back, her curtain of dark hair fell over the other side of the couch, and grazed the floor. Declan groaned, Noelle's muscles squeezed around him, her walls contracted and he pulled himself out.

Noelle was silent as Declan slid his hands underneath her thighs, and pressed them as far as they would go over her head. He slid himself back into Noelle's swollen, moist pussy. Noelle cried out as Declan slammed into her, he pushed himself deep inside of her. Every part of her shook, and trembled.

Before long, Declan pulled himself out of her and exploded. A hot, perfect stream of come splattered across her belly and he watched the way that her chest rose and fell.

Noelle pulled herself into a sitting position and said, "See? We can let things be for a little while."

She reached down, and wiped his sticky come off her skin as she smiled, satisfied by him. Declan dove in between her legs, and rested his head on her breasts. He kissed the skin that was exposed by her bra.

Noelle drew small circles around one of his tawny shoulders and said, "We don't have to give this up just yet."

_"Have you ever felt like this for anyone?"_

## Chapter 18

# The Woods

_"You're the scariest damn thing that could be waiting in those woods."_

Declan walked through the front doors of Clifton Towers, a barrage of unfamiliar scents attacked his nose at once. He grimaced and placed his hand on top of his nose. As he wandered, he nodded at a tenant that was heading toward the front door, and then opened the door to his office.

His eyes widened upon stepping inside. Gabriel was sat behind his desk and his fingers were on Declan's keyboard. Then across from him, Keith was sat in a chair, curled into himself.

"What's going on here?" Declan asked.

Gabriel pointed at Keith and said, "Look who came to see us."

Keith raised his head to Declan and said, "I still feel weird. I just wanted to see if you guys might know anything about it. A few weird things are going on."

Declan chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest, "Like what?"

Keith raised his hand to them and among his four normal fingers, his index finger had sprouted a claw. It was long, and perfectly sharpened at the tip. Keith trembled as Declan leaned closer, inspecting it closely.

Declan turned toward Gabriel and said, "What's the verdict? Has he turned?"

Gabriel nodded and said, "Keith, why don't you tell Declan what happened when you went home to your apartment on the other side of town?"

Keith nodded and placed his hands in his lap, shielding his hands from Declan's gaze.

"I went home that night, and tried to go about everything like normal. I made myself a good dinner, and went to bed. Around midnight, I woke up because that feeling was back again. It felt like my skin was on fire, it was so painful. Before I knew it, I fell out of my bed and my skin had completely peeled back and I had..." Keith stopped and took a deep breath, "Fur. I had fur running down my arms, and then I fell on my hands and knees. I saw myself in the mirror. I looked like some sort of, um..."

"Wolf?" Declan suggested.

Keith looked between Gabriel and Declan and nodded, "Like a huge wolf."

"I'm going to cut to the chase here, Keith. We," Declan gestured between himself and Gabriel, "are in the business of taking in brand new werewolves."

Declan raised his hand toward Keith, and Keith flinched as Declan's shiny, sharpened claw elongated in front of him.

"Now, obviously, you won't have control over your claws like this for some time, but Gabriel and I have been this way for a long time."

"I don't understand how I'm suddenly a werewolf. I don't even remember anything else from the night that I stole from Laney's Grocer."

"That's common, a lot of us are unsure of how our turnings happened. I personally don't remember too much from mine, and Gabriel remembers his perfectly. Every wolf is different. I'll tell you this though," Declan kneeled in front of Keith's chair and said, "there are people out there that would love to pump you full of hot lead because they think that they're saving their families. What they don't know, is that they're ruining ours. The pack is family."

Keith looked over to Gabriel and tightened his hands around the arms of his chair.

"Does that mean that this is a werewolf pack?"

Gabriel nodded, and Declan said, "I'm the alpha, Gabriel is my beta. My mate, Cassidy, is the female alpha of our pack." Declan swung his arms out and gestured at the office, "This is how we keep the pack safe. We're happy to offer you the same safety, and we'll teach you how to hone your new abilities."

"What's the catch? What do you guys get out of helping me?"

Gabriel sat up in the chair and said, "We get a new member to the pack; someone to help make us stronger. We get the ability to keep one of our own off the street."

Declan rose to his feet and walked around to his desk, "I'll have my seat back, thanks."

Gabriel pushed the chair back and moved back around the desk to Keith.

"Keith, I'm willing to offer you the shelter of this building in exchange for your loyalty. Can you do that for me?"

Keith chuckled through his nerves and said, "My loyalty? Like the godfather?"

Declan smirked and replied, "I'm far more terrifying than the godfather of any mafia. Listen, we'll treat you like family. You'll be around people that understand you, and I just ask that you don't expose our presence here. You could jeopardize the safety of my entire pack, and I would have to personally take care of you if that were to happen. Right, Gabriel?"

Gabriel nodded, "Aster was a bright boy. It sucks that he... brought too many questions to the surface."

Keith asked, "What do I have to do to be a part of your pack?"

Declan's fingers flew across his keyboard and said, "Rent an apartment from Clifton Towers, obviously, it's free. We'll do our best to make sure that you can blend in with humans."

Keith nodded and said, "Am I allowed to leave?"

Declan's gaze flicked towards Gabriel, who shrugged, "No one has ever wanted to leave before, of course you can eventually, but we'd probably go out of our way to prevent it if you wanted to leave at this point."

Declan diverted his gaze away from Keith, and opened his email client. A new message just synced with the rest of his inbox, and the name of the sender was displayed in bold, black letters. **Noelle Scott** was at the top of the subject line.

Declan cleared his throat and said, "Gabriel will help you pick out a room, he'll go over the finer details with you. I have some... partners that I need to sort some things out with."

Gabriel rapped his knuckles against Keith's shoulder. "This is what happens when you can't decide between being a building super and being the alpha of a pack." He chuckled and opened the door for Keith, "I'll show you around."

Declan watched both men leave, Gabriel shut the door behind him.

_Gabriel will get him situated, and I'll prepare him for his hunts._

He narrowed his eyes and opened the email with Noelle's name on it; in front of him, the screen expanded and a large document became visible. Declan hovered his mouse over the attachment, and clicked the preview button before downloading it.

In front of him, a list of local woods and national parks populated the screen. At the bottom of the document, a line of text read: "Steer clear these next few weeks. Everywhere else is fair game. Will follow up in a few days on Cassidy."

Declan saved the document to his desktop and reclined into his chair. His extended claws scraped against the worn leather arms of it. A small, wolfish smile spread across his lips. Noelle was pure heaven. A new addiction he'd not planned for.

The thick tires of the sedan crunched over a trail of pebbles just outside of the woods. In the back seat, Keith peered out of the window and turned his worried gaze on Declan and Gabriel. He gripped the backs of their seats and leaned forward, his face hovered in between the two of them.

"We're going to go in there?"

Declan turned off the engine and put the car in park, "How else would you learn how to hunt? By staring at the walls in your apartment?"

"I just thought that we might start small. I thought that we might go over what's safe to eat, or how to safely go through the woods..."

Declan's harsh laugh cut through Keith's voice, "This isn't boy scouts, Keith. There's a certain level of instinct that you'll have to give yourself over to." Declan rotated his body so that he could look at Keith's face and said, "Abandon your human impulse to research, and react. The only reason that humans do those things is because they're afraid of beasts that might be lurking in the dark. Once you turn, the key difference to keep in mind is that _you're_ the beast. And, you're the scariest damn thing that could be waiting in those woods."

Keith swallowed a lump of spit, and vigorously nodded his head. "Absolutely, I'm the scariest thing in the woods."

Gabriel chuckled from the passenger's seat, "Well, _you're_ probably not the scariest thing in the woods. Not yet, anyway!"

Declan swatted him across his shoulders and said, "He will be in no time. Let's get moving."

They got out of the car, and Declan looked over his shoulder for any other headlights before following Gabriel and Keith into the woods. It had been a little over a week since Keith had come to Clifton Towers in search of their help, and in that week, they got his living quarters situated with a third-floor apartment. Gabriel had spent half of the week going over the particulars of being a new werewolf.

Cassidy had been insistent upon being involved in Keith's training, and she swore up and down that she was feeling better this week. She even said that the wound was finally starting to succumb to her natural ability to heal her injuries.

Gabriel and Cassidy had spent chunks of their afternoon in the basement, reviewing information that Declan insisted each incoming werewolf should know.

If it had been up to Declan, he would personally train each werewolf that walked through the front doors of Clifton Towers. But the more that their pack grew, the more it seemed that there was less time available to put in the footwork in the woods, and in the basements. Years ago, Declan would spend days sparring with his new pack members, preparing them for anything that they might encounter on a hunt or on their mission to blend in with humans.

They stepped into the woods and Declan rolled his wrists in small circles. Beside him, Gabriel took off his jacket and tied it around his waist.

Gabriel nodded to Keith, "It's not like I'll be able to feel how chilly the woods can get through my fur."

Keith nodded and asked, "Will my fur be anything like a real wolf's?"

"It'll be thicker, you're not a normal wolf, you're a much bigger one. It's one of the only ways that hunters can distinguish between us and a woodland creature."

Declan stepped deeper into the woods and with a quick glance, kneeled on all fours and transformed into his wolf. Keith's eyes widened as Declan's massive paws settled into the dirt. Then the wind rustled long strands of his dark fur.

He turned his brilliant emerald eyes onto Keith and said, "Go ahead. You can shift here."

Keith's eyes widened and he turned to Gabriel, "He can still talk like that?"

"It's an alpha or I guess, an experienced wolf trait. I can talk some while I'm on all fours, but not fluently like Declan."

Declan peeled his black lined lips back into a smile and said, "Come on. Show me your wolf!"

Keith raised his hand and extended his claws, "How?"

Gabriel slapped him in between his shoulder blades and said, "Focus. Deep inside of you, your wolf is calling out to you. You just need to indulge it."

Behind him, the leaves of a thick oak tree rustled. A pair of dark yellow eyes stood out against the darkness, and Declan raised his nose to the trees. His eyes closed, as his black nose sniffed about for any unfamiliar scents. The smell of pine and deer droppings filled his nostrils, and he reopened his eyes and focused on Keith.

"Go ahead, Keith. Indulge, just as Gabriel said."

Keith closed his eyes, and placed his hands by his side. The wind shifted around him, passing in between his legs. His lips curled into a snarl and the other two massive wolves next to him stepped forward, bracing themselves against the power that radiated from the man in front of them.

Keith cried out as the snap of the bones of his legs rang throughout the clearing; he fell to his knees and dug his claws deep into the dry dirt beneath him.

"What is this?" Keith managed, through gritted teeth.

"Get through it," Declan commanded, and circled around Keith.

Another piercing cry echoed off of the treetops, and the skin on Keith's face peeled back to reveal a wild patch of dark gray fur. Declan grinned, watching the enormous wolf emerge from Keith's skin. When his bones settled, and his paws were pressed into the ground, he lifted his eyes open and revealed an even brighter gray. More luminescent than Declan remembered seeing when they first met him. Questions that he couldn't ask sat in his eyes, and Declan stepped forward and nudged him with his head.

"Don't worry," he instructed. Declan turned toward Gabriel and said, "Did you find something to eat?"

Gabriel blew a gust of air out of his nose and led them further into the forest. Keith's legs were glued to the ground beneath him. Declan didn't miss the faint tremble rolling throughout his body.

"Keith, you're the biggest thing in the woods. _You_ are the worst thing that you could encounter in here."

Keith raised his head and lowered it in an awkward nod, and followed Declan and Gabriel deep into the woods. Gabriel kept his nose low to the ground, hoping to catch the scent of wandering deer or a bear cub.

The only sound that passed between them for an hour was the snapping of twigs and the wind whistling in between their legs.

Declan was the first to break the silence, "There's a family of deer nearby." He took a deep breath, and said, "Two does, one buck. Easy."

Declan took off toward the family of deer, his legs pumped through the blur of bushes and tree trunks. Gabriel ran just behind him, and Keith trailed on Gabriel's tail. Declan dug his paws into the dirt and came to a stop as the deer became visible. Just ahead, the doe leaned down and lapped up some rain water from an impression in the dirt.

The buck was distracted, sniffing near the other doe and scanning the area. Declan was more than confident that they could take all three of them down. However, the least amount of trouble that they ran into while training with Keith, the better. In the back of his mind, Declan still worried that they could be under the surveillance of a hunter.

Declan bent his knees, and sprang forward. His jaws connected with the thick neck of the doe, and tore the skin clean open. The buck reared up on its hind legs next to him, and readied his antlers to attack.

"Got it!" Gabriel said, and dragged his claws across the abdomen of the buck. The buck collapsed, and a pool of blood quickly covered the dirt. Gabriel pressed his paw into the buck's neck and waited for the snap.

Declan knelt next to his kill and gestured to Keith with his head. "There's one left for you."

The young doe stared at the three wolves in front of her, with a traditional 'deer caught in the headlights' expression. Keith stepped forward, and cautiously glanced between Declan and Gabriel.

Gabriel pulled his lips back and bared his bloody fangs, "Go!"

Keith charged the doe, and although she tried to scramble away, her gangly legs flew about. Keith landed on top of the doe in a slippery mess, and underneath him the doe's legs twitched and seized.

Declan commanded, "Put her out of her misery."

Keith brought his paw down on top of the doe's neck, and the sound of the snap rang through his ears. He raised his eyes to Declan and Gabriel, questioning if he was supposed to dig in.

"It's your kill. Go ahead, this will fill you for days," Declan said.

Keith knelt down and lapped at the blood underneath the deer, he took a hesitant bite out of the freshly separated skin. He took another bite, now savoring the taste of the remains.

"Human food will never taste the same," Declan remarked, and Gabriel raised his head from his meal and nodded.

"Every piece of human food that you eat will never compare to this; there will never be anything more flavorful, or more satisfying than the blood of your kill in between your teeth," Declan said.

Keith raised his head, his fur was splattered with blood. Declan nodded in his direction... _indulge your wolf._

Just as Keith lowered his teeth to the deer, an arrow whistled through the air and landed in Keith's abdomen. Gabriel broke into a distressed howl, and Declan's furious growl tore through the air.

Declan's grave voice rolled into Gabriel's ears, "Get him out of here. I'm going after them."

"Alone?" Gabriel questioned.

" _Go_!" Declan screeched, and blew past Keith, running so fast that he could feel the blood welling up in between the cracks of his paws.

Declan's claws dug into the earth as massive pine trees, low hanging branches, and resting animals flew by in a blur. A vicious snarl parted Declan's black lined lips, and his eyes moved from left to right. His eyes were wide, hoping to see a conspicuous human hunter lumbering away. If he found them, he would have their limbs in between his teeth within minutes.

He used what little air he had left in his lungs to send his booming voice throughout the woods, "Come out here! If you want a wolf, you've found one!"

Declan braced himself for the distinctive sound of an arrow tip sailing into the trunk of a tree. He rushed forward, moving toward a tree log that had fallen in the middle of a clearing further ahead. Declan narrowed his eyes, and a flash of color moved up ahead.

With a fierce growl, he pounced on top of the tree log and sunk his claws into the dying bark. He whipped his head to the left, then to the right. There was no rustling from the trees above his head, and the dirt that surrounded him was soundless. There wasn't anything that tried to creep or slither past him.

Declan's ears perked at the sound of metal tapping against the ground. He took a deep inhale, hoping to catch the scent of the unlucky hunter that would be lurking behind the bushes. Declan walked around a separate branch, and lowered his nose to the dirt. The smell of metal drove him toward a patch of fallen leaves. He raised his paw high in the air, and swept it across the bundle.

Reflected in his emerald eyes, was a six-inch-long arrow. The wooden shaft smelled faintly of cedar, and the recently shined tip gleamed underneath the moonlight overhead.

Declan closed his eyes, and the massive paws that rested on the dirt transformed into his human skin, he readjusted himself and swept his legs underneath him. Declan curled his fist around the shaft of the arrow and held it in front of his eyes.

_This is all that's left of them._

With a clenched jaw, his fist tightened so tightly around the wood that it threatened to snap underneath the pressure. He stood up, and heard the faint sound of Gabriel's voice bouncing off the treetops.

He held the arrow at his side, and walked toward Gabriel's booming screams. I thought we would be safe.

_"You're the scariest damn thing that could be waiting in those woods."_

## Chapter 19

# My Voice

_"I would think that you'd remember the sound of my voice by now."_

Declan's heavy footfalls snapped a twig in half as he approached Gabriel's slumped form. Gabriel's shoulders were drawn together, his hands were drenched in Keith's bright-red blood. Declan filled his lungs with air and raised a trembling hand at Keith's still body, the top half of the massive wolf was spread out on Gabriel's lap.

"How is he?"

Gabriel raised his eyes to Declan, his gaze revealed the fire that had been lit in his belly.

"He won't turn back."

Declan nodded and stepped around Gabriel, brushing past his beta. He kneeled in front of Keith and ran his fingers over the blood-stained fur on his neck.

Declan turned to Gabriel and asked, "Is he healing?"

Gabriel shook his head, "I thought that he was for a moment, but then he collapsed." Gabriel narrowed his eyes, "Why isn't he healing? Why isn't anyone healing?"

"I don't know. Do you have the arrow?"

"It's still inside."

Declan sighed and pressed his palm against Keith's body until Keith's body rolled off of Gabriel's lap and onto the dirt beside him. Declan caught the glimmer of the arrowhead, the tip was lodged just underneath his rib cage. Gabriel stood by as Declan pressed his foot into Keith and stuck his hand inside of the cavity created by the arrow.

Specks of blood splattered on Declan's cheek, and a couple of drops fell just below his right eye. He didn't raise the back of his hand to wipe it off. Instead, he held the arrow tip to his narrowed eyes.

"Gabriel!"

"What?"

Declan held out both arrows to Gabriel and said, "Have you seen arrows like these before? Wasn't your father a big game hunter before you turned?"

Gabriel nodded and held his hand over the arrows, "Can I?

A humorless chuckle fell out of Declan's mouth and he said, "Feel free. I'm not in a hurry to hold onto a potential murder weapon."

He knelt down and peered into Keith's face, his eyes were sealed shut, as if he was still bracing himself from the impact.

Declan turned his head to one side and said, "I think that he's still alive."

Gabriel jerked his head up and away from the arrows that rested in his palms, "What?"

Declan reached around and rolled Keith's neck the opposite way. He flicked his thumb against the damp surface of Keith's snout.

"There's a little bit of breath coming out of his nose. I think that his body is starting to heal him now I've removed the arrow."

Gabriel set the arrows onto the ground beside him, "Should we carry him like this? We can get him back to the building, and we can see if he comes to." He tilted his head down and took in the arrows beside him, "Are these arrows from a hunter?"

Declan shrugged, "Either from a hunter or a big game hunter. I don't care about that right now."

He bent his knees and scooped his muscular arms underneath Keith's body. Declan groaned as he heaved Keith onto his right shoulder. He turned his eyes over to Gabriel's wide-eyed stare, and thrust his arm forward.

"Move. We've got to get him back to the building so that we can keep an eye on him," he said, in between shallow breaths.

He forced one foot in front of the other, his heavy footfalls thumped against the matted earth as he led Gabriel to the opening of the woods.

The sun shined overhead, the bright rays felt like a much-needed wash over Declan's skin. His skin soaked in the sunlight, a drastic difference from the dried blood that soaked his shoulders only twelve hours before. Declan tugged the bottom of his plain white t-shirt down over the back of his navy-blue jeans. He'd uncurled himself from Cassidy around eight that morning, and spent an hour standing under the hot spray of the shower. There were constant reminders of the night before appearing everywhere. It didn't seem real. Whether it was the small pattern of blood spatter that he'd missed in the shower and noticed while shaving, or the dirt and blood-caked bottoms of his shoes.

While his initial instinct told him to either glue his ass to his desk chair or to go stand over Keith, he knew that he would never be able to step back and examine what had happened last night. Especially, if he didn't at least get out of Clifton Towers for a few hours. Whenever he stood in between the aged walls of the apartment building, his mind scrambled his thoughts. He couldn't piece together who made rent on time this month, much less who could have been lurking in the woods.

Declan hoped that going along with his normal morning routine might allow him some sort of breakthrough. He pushed the door of the Arden Cafe open and kept his eyes low as he approached the counter. Declan had hardly uttered a word to Cassidy or Gabriel before leaving that morning. Small talk with the flirty barista behind the counter couldn't have been more off the table. He _did_ know, that one person in particular could bend his ear after last night and get more than three words out of him.

Noelle's face, her smell, and the sound of her voice had been on his mind since he stepped out of the shower. Declan couldn't help but feel that the mess of a situation that he hoped to lead his pack through... would at least feel like a tightly contained mess if he could speak to Noelle.

_You have her email. I bet that her number is on the caller ID from the other day, too._

Declan stepped forward in line and manufactured his best fake smile, "Good Morning. I'll have a mocha; make it strong, please." He flashed an innocuous smile at the barista, "I'm in for a long day."

He paid and wandered to the edge of the cafe while he waited for one of the baristas to call his name. Declan slid his phone out of his pocket and dangled his thumb above the email icon on the screen.

_I can spend all day moping about what I've done to Cassidy or I can at least use whatever this is to my advantage._

"Declan!" The nasally sound from behind the counter shook Declan out of his thoughts.

He slid his phone back in his pocket and lifted his drink off of the counter. The blended smells of milk chocolate and vanilla filled him with some relief.

Declan walked back out into the sunlight and dragged his feet as he made his way back to Clifton Towers. He pushed open the front door and stepped into the thick, stale air of the main floor. He tipped his head back and peered up the staircase. The walkways above him were completely abandoned. The renters and pack members had already filed out for the day, finding ways to take advantage of the brilliant sunshine outside. The muscles in the back of Declan's neck stiffened when he reminded himself that Gabriel was still inside of the building, watching over Keith. Cassidy was still upstairs, probably peeling the wallpaper in an attempt to keep herself busy.

Declan took a long sip of coffee and made his way upstairs. He climbed up to the fourth floor, and paused in front of Gabriel's apartment.

_Right, he didn't want to get Keith's blood all over the carpet in his place._

Declan reached down to the belt loops on his jeans and unhooked his set of keys; the keys that gave him access to every apartment inside of Clifton Towers. He stopped in front of a recently repainted door; the forest-green paint on the wooden door didn't carry the same unsightly chips as many of the other apartments in the building. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, wrinkling his nose at the smell of oxidized blood.

Declan called out, "Gabriel?"

When he was met with silence, he opened his mouth to call out to Gabriel again but the sound of fast paced footsteps stopped him in his tracks.

Gabriel came stomping through the empty apartment, Declan took in his grim expression once he stood across from him.

"What's wrong?" Declan asked.

"The wound from the arrow is healing, I think that he's going to live, at least."

Declan brushed past Gabriel and walked across the newly installed carpet and into the bedroom. Keith was in the center of the room, lying on top of a blue tarp. One of his paws lifelessly dangled off of the edge of it.

Declan turned toward Gabriel and asked, "Has he been like this all morning? He hasn't changed back?"

Gabriel shook his head, "No, he's been like this for hours. I've seen the wound start to sew itself shut but I think that he's stuck like this until it's healed." Gabriel fell back against the wall and asked, "Do you think that this is another run in with silver?"

Declan shook his head. While Keith's injury was gruesome, it still didn't compare to the nasty gash on Cassidy's back.

"I think that if that arrow tip were made of the right kind of silver, we wouldn't have been able to bring him home last night." Declan clapped his hand on Gabriel's shoulder, "Get some rest. We've had a wild night."

Gabriel pointed at Keith, the faint sound of Keith's snores not missed by Declan and Gabriel's sharp hearing.

"What about him? Who's going to watch him?"

"Leave him. If he can snore, he probably doesn't need to be watched anymore. I'm going to work on some paperwork downstairs and try to figure out what we're going to do about the hunters." Declan left the bedroom, and Gabriel followed him as he moved toward the front door.

"So, we're going to do something about this then? We're going to go after them?"

Declan pressed his fingers against either side of his forehead, "Not quite. We don't have enough information and I'm not risking the pack on a whim and a thirst for revenge."

They paused outside of Gabriel's apartment and Declan waved him forward, "Rest. You've done more than enough." Declan offered Gabriel a genuine smile, and headed downstairs.

Once he made it to the main floor, he pushed open the door to his office and stepped inside. His eyes landed on his desk phone; he imagined himself picking up the tan colored headset and casually dialing the number of a huntress.

_It doesn't matter that she's a hunter if she can help, Declan._

He sighed, his intentions were mostly pure, to see if she could offer any information. However, a wave of embarrassment passed over him at the realization that he desperately wanted to see. He wouldn't mind if she decided to lie in his arms for the afternoon.

Declan walked around his desk and eased himself into his chair.

_When did I become the type of man that pines over anyone? I can't say that I look forward to sliding into bed with Cassidy._

Declan scanned the caller ID, flying past a bevy of 1-800 numbers from possible vendors or one-time callers that sought to check the availability of the apartments. Declan skipped past it at first, but pressed down on the opaque colored down arrow that would make the screen glow with a contact's info from two days ago.

The words **Scott, Noelle** were in big, blocky letters on the screen, with a ten-digit number was just underneath it. Declan pressed the flat, gray, redial button and lifted the phone to his ear. He drummed his fingers across the desk while the phone rang in his ear. After the fifth ring, he lowered the phone from his ear.

A voice squeaked from the speaker, "Hello?"

Declan pressed the phone to his ear, "Noelle?"

"This is Noelle, who is this?"

Declan smirked and said, "I would think that you'd remember the sound of my voice by now."

There was a small gasp that passed through the speaker, "Declan? I didn't think that you'd call."

Declan cleared his throat and said, "I wouldn't have to if I didn't run into something a little... weird last night. I was thinking about how you said that we don't have to end what's going on with us, and that you'd stay out of our way."

There was a brief pause before Noelle replied, "As much as I can, yes."

Her voice had taken on a clipped tone, he pictured her tucking her phone in between her neck and shoulder, searching for a place to talk. Somewhere she wouldn't be heard.

Declan looked toward the door, and strained his ears to try and capture the sound of Cassidy's soft footsteps against the floor.

"I need to see you. Is there anywhere that we can meet?"

"My family won't be hunting near the nature preserve on the other side of town. I could meet you there this evening."

Declan nodded, "I have to wrap up a few things here, but I'll be there."

He could hear Noelle smiling through the phone, "I'll be waiting."

_"I would think that you'd remember the sound of my voice by now."_

## Chapter 20

# Predator

_"I'm learning all about a much more frightening type of wolf these days."_

Wide, flat stones were pressed into the lush, vibrant grass of the Cripple Creek nature preserve. The paw prints of the deer, birds, and large animals that hid deep within the four-acre wide nature setting had been sealed into each of the stones. A woeful grin spread across Noelle's lips as she walked across the paw print of the gray wolf that could be seen sauntering through the preserve. Usually in the spring and fall. Noelle remembered learning about the gray wolf as a little girl, and the park ranger told her third-grade class that the lone, gray wolf was an apex predator. And that it usually scouted the area for newborn deer calves.

_I'm learning all about a much more frightening type of wolf these days._

Noelle stopped just before the tattered boards of a broken fence. The other half of the wooden fence had been preserved, but it looked like something massive (maybe a truck), had blown through the other half of it. She leaned against the half that was still intact, and peered down the road. There was a dirt road just before you reached the stones at the front of the nature preserve, and her dark colored sedan was parked at the end of the road. She listened for the sound of Declan's car rolling over the dirt; the only sound that filled the air was the creak of the broken fence.

Noelle reached into the back pocket of her jeans and took out her phone. She dragged her finger across the screen and the screen read, **10:54 PM.** Noelle slid her phone into her back pocket and raised her eyes to see Declan standing at the end of the path.

She grinned, "You decided to show up? I didn't think you'd keep me waiting."

Declan shuffled across the stones and said, "I'm not used to people complaining about my punctuality." He smirked, and Noelle tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"Because you're the boss!"

"That's right!"

Noelle stepped forward and rested her hands against the thin cotton of his t-shirt.

The muscles underneath his shirt flexed underneath her fingertips, and she said, "Why did you want to meet? Just business?"

Declan shook his head and held up his right hand. He gripped two arrows in between his fingers.

Noelle's eyes widened and she asked, "Where did you find this?"

Declan's palm fell open and he held the arrows out to her, "One of these sailed right into one of my pack members. A newer wolf, he was hardly a threat to himself much less a human."

"Shit. Can I see that?" She plucked the arrows out of his hand and held them a few inches away from her face. "These are from a crossbow."

_Who went out last night? I could have sworn that Mom and Dad were asleep by the time I went to bed last night._

Noelle shook her head and handed the arrows over to Declan, "I don't know anything about those."

A shiver ran down her spine as she watched Declan's eyes carefully scan her face for any tell-tale signs that she could be lying. His nostrils flared, and she knew that he was breathing in her scent... more than likely checking for a change in her, or smelling the air for the scent of any hunters that might be lurking nearby.

Noelle cleared her throat and took a step forward, she checked to the left of her before wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Declan. I don't know anything, _honest_. I told you that I didn't want to make an enemy out of you, and I meant it."

The muscles in Declan's face tightened and he allowed his hands to hang limply at his sides while she embraced him.

He sighed and said, "Okay. If you're serious about staying out of our way, I'll drop it."

"You'll drop it?"

Declan nodded, "I'll just have to look into it some other way." He raised his arms and circled them around her small waist.

A brief flash of nervousness decorated Noelle's face before she shook herself out of it. She allowed her mind to come back to the present moment, and to feel the heat of Declan's skin against her arms.

"I'm sorry that I can't be more help," her breath was hot against his ear, "maybe there's something that I can do to take your mind off of everything."

Declan wrinkled his nose, "everything" had been tugging at the back of his mind all afternoon, it tortured him on the drive from Clifton Towers to the nature preserve. The only time that his mind granted him a reprieve was when he spotted Noelle leaning against the fence, looking more delicious than any kind of meat that he'd ever snagged in between his teeth.

"What did you have in mind?" Declan asked smiling.

Noelle kissed the soft, sun-kissed skin on Declan's neck. Her fingers danced in the ends of his slick, black hair. She inhaled, waiting for Declan's usual cedarwood and shower-fresh scent to hit her senses.

Noelle pulled away from him with a sexy grin on her face, "I've been thinking about you, and not just because of all of this werewolf business. Have you been thinking about me?"

Declan nestled his nose into the crook of Noelle's sweetly scented neck and mumbled, "Constantly."

A wave of pleasure spread through Noelle's chest and she disentangled herself from him. She snaked her hand down the length of his arm and interlaced his fingers with hers.

"Come on."

She tugged him toward two dirt paths that led to the bird watching and pond area. Noelle pulled the large man behind her to the pond area, she looked over her shoulder with a cheeky grin on her face.

"Follow me."

Declan chuckled, "How could I get myself into trouble by following a huntress into the woods? I feel like we've done this before."

"Shush," she replied.

They stomped through a patch of trees and many unique plant species. Noelle led him down two rows of blue and yellow flowers; the long stems were stretched until they fell over, and the petals at the end of the stem grazed against the dirt.

"Do I even get a hint of where you're taking me?" Declan questioned.

His question was answered when Noelle's footsteps slowed underneath the base of a sequoia tree. The leaves that dangled from the branches above them provided a cool shade from the bright moonlight. Noelle pulled him close to her and pressed her body against his chest.

Her breasts rested against him and she said, "You can let go. Stop thinking."

She released his hands and tucked her fingers underneath the ends of her shirt. Noelle pulled it over her head, freeing the pale skin underneath. Her eyes connected with Declan's.

He said, "I already have."

He pressed his fingers into her skin until his fingernails left half-moon-shaped marks. Declan ran his tongue over the skin on Noelle's collarbone. With a soft moan, she tipped her head back and gave him the freedom to explore her body. His tongue roamed in the crook of her neck, and in between her bare, soft breasts. Declan lifted his face up from Noelle's skin to reveal a smirk.

"You must have been thinking about this for a while." He flicked one of her stiff nipples and shoved her against the trunk of the tree.

Noelle hissed, the hard bark of the tree scraped against her back. The sting began to spread throughout her skin.

"Oh no, I don't want to hear any whimpering."

He slipped his hands underneath her jean-clad thighs. Noelle smashed her teeth down on her bottom lip as Declan carefully shredded the fabric of her jeans. She sucked in a short breath upon seeing the fierce claws where his fingers had been. He ripped the seat of her jeans open as well as the damp fabric of the white panties that she wore.

His husky voice traveled into her ears, "You've got a few things to learn about being with an alpha."

Noelle's fingers fumbled against the trunk of the tree, hoping to snag any loose bit of bark to hold onto. She tightened her legs around Declan's waist and he freed his hard cock from inside of his jeans. She groaned, the weight of his warm cock pressing against her thighs. It lit her blood on fire.

With a growl, she squeezed against him, "Come on, Declan. Fuck me."

"Shut up!" he instructed. And a wave of pleasure passed over him as the blood rushed into his cock.

Declan eased himself inside of her, and slapped a hand over her mouth as a loud moan ripped out of her throat. She giggled as he pumped his hips inside of her, the flaming red skin on her lower back and thighs scraped against the bark of the sequoia.

Her walls tightened around him, trapping him as he rammed himself deeper still. His cock pressed against the back of her pussy, and her lips wandered over his neck and shoulders in lust and breathlessness.

Drops of sweat fell off of Declan's forehead, and dribbled onto Noelle's skin. Noelle took a sharp inhale as her legs quivered around him. Her muffled cries rose up and into the treetops until the moon moved from its position directly overhead, to reveal the black, star-lit sky above them.

_"I'm learning all about a much more frightening type of wolf these days."_

## Chapter 21

# Luck

_"I like to be lucky."_

Noelle threw her arms over her thighs as she stepped in the open patio door of her parent's home. She let out a sigh of relief upon realizing that the television and surrounding lamps had been shut off for the night. Noelle assumed that her parents had finally resumed their old habits of creeping up to bed around nine, remaining unseen until the sun rose over the rooftops of the other colonial style houses nearby.

She crept through the dark living room and took careful footsteps down the hall toward her bedroom. Noelle steadied her hands as she twisted the doorknob to her bedroom. She stepped inside and quietly shut the door behind her. Noelle ran her palms over the light scratches on her thighs, and a coy smile rested at the edges of her lips.

_I should get changed._

Noelle peeled off the shredded remains of her blue jeans, a casualty that she would have mourned over months before. But the strips of denim would serve as a cheeky souvenir of a night with Declan. She pulled open her dresser drawer and changed into a pair of red and black flannel pajama pants. Then she easily slipped on a faded t-shirt from high school over her shoulders. Exhausted, she flopped down onto her creaking bed frame.

She chuckled, upon hearing the rumble of her belly. She'd been so focused on savoring every moment of her time with Declan that she'd passed on the dinner that her father had made. Noelle pushed herself off of the bed and opened her bedroom door, she crept down the hall toward the kitchen.

Her eyes widened, every light in the kitchen was on and the raised voices of her parents passed through the walls. She paused, and pressed herself against the wall upon hearing her name.

Abigail's weary voice said, "I just don't know how much longer she can keep doing this."

Garrett scoffed and replied, "Could you hand me that polish? I don't want the guns to wear."

The sound of Abigail lifting a metal tin off of the table rang in Noelle's ears, and she listened as she heard her mother say, "I don't know, Garrett. I just don't know if we made the right decision when we told her everything. Did you see the look on her face when we told her that the rest of the family would be coming to town?"

"She's probably just not looking forward to entertaining her aunts and uncles, and the cousins that she never sees. Ask any twenty-something, they don't exactly look forward to prying questions from relatives."

"Noelle isn't like that, though. She's always been a good girl, always done what she's told. I wonder if this is too much for her. I wonder if she wishes that she had a normal life and could just come home from university on the weekends. I feel like we took that away from her."

_I can make my own decisions. Why doesn't she ever think that I can think for myself?_

Noelle shook her head and lifted her head away from the wall, and readied herself to walk into the kitchen.

"I'm less concerned with that and more concerned with that mysterious cut she came home with a little while ago. What kind of experienced hunter injures their forehead like that? She must have been in la-la land for days before she went on that hunt!"

Noelle's cheeks burned bright red and she curled her fingers into a fist against the wall.

_Or I was headbutting a four-hundred-pound beast so that I could scramble free. No one needs to bring my hunting ability into question._

Noelle recalled her first few hunts, and how she'd outdone her father by far in wrangling a small pack that had taken up in the woods at night. She remembered the way that the female in the pack wrestled in her grip, and the bite that she narrowly missed upon sliding underneath the wolf. Her father's face had been burned into her memory that night, the wide-eyed stare he wore as Noelle dragged her blade down the belly of the wolf then rose to her feet, soaked in blood.

_No one gets to question_ my _ability. They were the ones that were doing such a piss-poor job of getting anything done, so much so that they had to recruit their own twenty-one year-old daughter._

Noelle gritted her teeth together to contain a yell and pushed away from the wall. She slinked away from the kitchen, under the darkness of the living room.

Gabriel eased into Declan's computer chair, rolling his eyes at the cold stare he might soon receive from Declan once he made it to his office.

_Staying up all night just to figure out where the hell these arrows came from earns me a little time in this chair. I don't see him making any progress for the pack... just slipping off to be alone and wandering throughout the night._

Gabriel shook his head and pecked his fingers across Declan's keyboard. On the screen, a long, complicated list of hunting equipment was displayed. A local blogger had put together where one could find some of the best bows, arrows, and guns for big game hunting in the dense woods spread throughout Cripple Creek. Gabriel hoped that if he studied the preferences of big game hunters long enough, it would at least bring him closer to finding out what they were up against the other night.

In his palm, were the two arrows that Declan recovered the night of Keith's attack. His eyes passed over a passage describing the different types of arrows that you could find in Colorado.

He read aloud, "You could always go with a simple bow and arrow to take down things like an ornery buck or lost deer, but you're going to get the neatest kill with a premium crossbow. It's more powerful than a traditional bow, and far easier to load and fire."

There was an image beneath the passage of a long, crossbow arrow. The arrow in the photo was much darker than the ones inside of his hand, but the length and style were similar. Gabriel squinted and leaned closer to the monitor, cursing Declan for being too cheap to upgrade to a monitor with a higher resolution.

"One of Julianne Jack's arrows that you can purchase on the edge of Cripple Creek. Julianne and her husband Miles hand make each arrow. The arrow pictured here is an older one, made of walnut wood."

Gabriel snatched a green and blue note pad off of the edge of Declan's desk and scribbled Julianne Jack onto it. In a separate tab, he typed the name of the shop owner into the search bar. Within seconds, an address and a local business page appeared. The outside of the shop looked like a small shack, the area around it was free of any grass or shrubbery. The dark, red roof stuck out like a sore thumb in an area that was mostly residential. And if you looked far enough into the photo you could spot the gray rooves of the neighborhood nearby.

"Right under our noses," Gabriel mumbled, and lifted his head as the door to Declan's office creaked open, and Declan poked his head inside.

"I knew that you were sitting behind my desk, I could smell you from the other side. What are you doing?"

He slipped into the room and shut the door behind him. Gabriel raised his eyebrows at Declan's disheveled appearance, he looked as if he just spent the last hour tumbling around in the dirt. His emerald eyes were alert, and he smelled of pine.

Gabriel redirected his attention to the matter at hand, "I've been doing some research, for Keith."

Declan leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. His eyes were sunken, and he inhaled deeply, as if he were trying to find a reason to keep himself awake.

"Well, what did you find?"

Gabriel ripped off a page of the notepad and held it up, "It turns out that the arrows you found are from a local distributor. It's a couple, called Julianne and Miles, and they make handmade weapons like the arrow."

Declan nodded, "Interesting, so now we know who makes arrows for crossbows that are strong enough to take down a fully transformed werewolf. We've got a lot of work on our hands for tomorrow."

Gabriel nodded then swiveled his head around.

He cocked his head to one side and said, "How did you know it was from a crossbow?"

"What?"

"How did you know?" Gabriel repeated.

Declan shrugged and said, "My shitbag of a dad used to hunt on the weekends, it was a nice break for him. What are you worried about that for?" Declan waved his hands in an 'up' motion and commanded, "Get out of my chair."

Gabriel scowled and said, "I just didn't know you to be so updated on all of the newest hunting equipment, that's all." Gabriel rose out of the chair and brushed past Declan.

"So, what are we going to do about this?"

Declan eased into his chair and leaned back until it touched the wall.

"I think that we should pay Julianne and Miles a visit, and figure out who likes to hunt with crossbows. I'm hoping that it'll take us less than a week to narrow it down, and a few expertly placed pack members."

Gabriel scoffed and added, "And a whole lot of luck!"

Declan yawned, "Yeah, you got that right."

_"I like to be lucky."_

## Chapter 22

# Justice

_"This won't go unpunished."_

Declan wheeled the car in between the lines of a parking space just outside of Julianne Jack's Hunting Gear. He cut the engine and lifted his steaming mocha to his lips, his wide eyes were trained on the front doors of the small outlet. His plan was to hang out for a little bit each day this week and see if he could find any recurring shoppers that chose a crossbow as their weapon of choice. Declan knew that simply catching someone leaving the hunting gear store with brand new arrows for their crossbow didn't mean that he'd found their attacker. But it was a start to potentially eliminating the threat of any hunters.

Declan licked his lips clean of the blended flavors of mocha and espresso, and set his cup into one of the beat-up cup holders beside him. With Noelle on the lookout for him, he knew that scaring off or getting rid of a small group of hunters would be an easy feat for himself and Gabriel. He looked to the right of him and frowned. The only sound in the car was the soft patter of a few raindrops pelting against the windshield. Normally, Declan would have brought Gabriel along for this excursion, but his beta was already getting a little bit too big for his britches.

An inkling of irritation was stirred up in Declan's chest when he remembered the way that Gabriel had questioned him the night before. Of course, Declan was a little angry with himself for letting the information about the arrow slip, but Gabriel knew better than to question the alpha.

Declan shook his head and tightened his fingers around the steering wheel. He watched an older couple step out of their burgundy SUV and head inside of the store.

_I can deal with Gabriel once this is all over, right now I need to focus on the hunters and press Noelle on how we can help Cassidy._

His mind teased him with images of Cassidy lying in bed, asking him for ten more minutes in bed before he left this morning. He sighed, and leaned back against the seat while he scanned the parking lot.

"This could take a lot longer than I thought," he mumbled, and flicked the dial on the radio.

There was a flurry of static, before the airwaves cleared and the smooth voice of the DJ oozed through the speakers.

"Good morning, Cripple Creek! I hope that you guys are enjoying these surprise rain showers during lunch hour. Before we left for the break, I was discussing a few of our strangest events around town with our guest, Sheriff Houghton. Mr. Houghton, what do you make of everything going on? Are the local teens out of control, or is there just something in the water?" He punctuated his question with a hoarse laugh, a sound that could have only been formed from a lifetime of chewing tobacco.

Declan scowled as the grave voice of the Sheriff rolled into the microphone, "Well, I don't know what to tell you, we've got kids tearing each other to literal pieces in the school yard, and we've got kids getting drunk and rummaging around in meat freezers. It's a crazy string of events that we've got going on lately."

The DJ replied, "Absolutely, Mr. Houghton. How would you advise the citizens of Cripple Creek on how to stay out of harm's way?"

"Lock your doors, check up on your children and family members. And when you know that they're going to be out, then just be careful of your surroundings. We want to prevent any more incidences like this from happening. Please give your Cripple Creek police station a call if you see anything out of the ordinary."

Declan's fingers slipped from around the wheel and formed a fist.

He slammed his hand onto the dashboard, "Fuck!"

_Every cop in town is going to be looking for 'strange' things, I can't afford even the smallest slip ups or we're all going to go down._

"Damn it!"

Declan's shot bounced off of the windows of the car, and from the corner of his eye he spotted a middle-aged woman that was doing a terrible job of trying to make it look like she wasn't looking into the car.

Declan took in a deep breath, and turned his head toward the window. The woman snapped her head forward and moved inside of Julianne Jack's. Declan's eyes traveled behind her, a group of four other women, all of them couldn't have been a day younger than forty, filed into the store as well.

He raised his eyebrows as the flow of traffic suddenly picked up, and bodies moved in and out of the hunting goods store at a steady rate.

_I didn't expect them to have such a strong flow of business._

Declan opened the driver's side door and stepped into the muggy air surrounding Julianne Jack's. Declan's boots scraped against the damp asphalt, and he pushed open the door to take a step inside of the pine-scented hunting haven.

Bows, hunting knives, and rifles hung on the walls that surrounded him. There was a gray-haired woman at the front counter, and she handed over a box of bullets and a pack of hunting traps.

She waved goodbye at the older man in front of her and chirped, "Happy Hunting!"

Declan shoved his hands inside of his pockets and wandered through the aisles, weaving through every variation of weaponry available to the average citizen. He knew that a lot of people liked to hunt for sport, and some just felt comforted by having weapons like these around. But he couldn't imagine relying on any other weapon but his teeth and claws. Since his turning, he never thought that he'd worry about him, or someone that he cared for... standing on the other end of a crossbow or a rifle. But that was before the bullets were made of silver that would rot them from the inside out. Now, the crossbows were being wielded by adept hunters.

Declan's fingers toyed with a pack of pellets that would fill up a young boy's bb gun. He could hear the woman that he assumed to be Julianne humming up front. She was wheezing while she lifted a heavy box of weaponry onto the counter. He turned his head just as the door chimed, and the sound echoed under his high frequency hearing. Declan winced and tucked himself behind a wide display of camouflage sweatshirts, as another small group of people filed into the store.

_Why are there so many together? Are they in some sort of hunting club?_

Julianne's voice could be heard from the counter, "Good morning, Garrett! It's been a little while, and you've brought me some company!"

The man named Garrett replied, "I've been a little busy besides I've had Noelle here picking up the slack and hunting dinner on her own. It builds character," Garrett and Julianne shared a hearty laugh.

Declan's fingers curled around the box of pellets that he was holding, the cardboard folded underneath his grip. The pellets inside began to feel the weight of Declan's rage.

_She pretended not to know anything about that arrow, I stumbled upon her and her family's weapon of choice and I was stupid enough to_

If he could have done so without drawing attention to himself, Declan would have rammed his head into the display to disrupt the flow of the scene that was on constant replay in his head. The way that he followed her deeper into the nature preserve the night before, and dropped all of the business with the arrow made his blood boil, now.

_You idiot. I should have dropped this when I realized what she was. I shouldn't have started this to begin with._

Declan stood on his toes and watched as Noelle and the other people behind her moved down the aisles, pausing to examine the artillery. Declan waited until they were far enough down the aisle, and strode toward the door.

Julianne called out, "Have a great day, sorry that we didn't have what you were looking for!"

Declan pushed the door open and almost missed the small crack in the glass that his palm had created. He ripped open the car door and jammed his key in the ignition. As the engine roared to life, Declan peeled out of the parking space he'd been waiting in earlier, and the momentum tossed his lukewarm coffee to the floor of the car.

"Fuck!" he screeched, and pressed his foot on the gas until the odometer read fifteen miles over the speed limit.

Declan sailed down the street, barely pausing for stop lights. It wasn't until he was most of the way home that his anger fell to the wayside and the alpha in him took over.

His phone buzzed at a stoplight, and a quick glance at the screen told him that Noelle had sent him a text. Declan chuckled to himself, moving one hand over the other as he drove toward Clifton Towers.

_It doesn't matter._

_"This won't go unpunished."_

## Chapter 23

# Remembering

_"It'll be just like before."_

Declan burst through the front doors of the apartment building and hustled up the staircase. On the second level, Cassidy raised her head from a loose doorknob that she was screwing into place.

"Declan! What's wrong?"

Declan paused and turned to Cassidy, "I've found the hunters that shot Keith with that arrow, and I might have found the hunter that hurt you that night."

He slid his hands along the railing as he hurried toward Cassidy, looking over his shoulder for any human tenants that might have been wandering in the halls.

Cassidy rose from the floor and wiped her hands free of rust residue.

Dark orange smears ran down the thigh of her jeans and she said, "Are you sure?"

She held her arm out to Declan, clutching his arm so tightly that he thought she might snap the bone. Declan nodded, and pulled Cassidy into him. Cassidy gasped, and fell against Declan's chest. She wrapped her arms around his waist.

She said, "All of this stress and worry that you've put yourself through these last few weeks could finally be over." Cassidy tilted her head back and her eyes burned into Declan's, "Everything could return to how it was."

Declan smiled and cradled her cheek in one of his hands.

"We might be able to get you the help that we need."

He wrapped his arms around her and allowed his head to fall on top of hers. Cassidy smelled fresh, like she'd just rolled around in a tub filled with rose petals before she started working on the loose doorknob.

The muscles in Declan's jaw clenched together, the teeth in the bottom row toward the back of his mouth ground against the teeth on the top.

"Everything will be how it's supposed to be," he whispered. He freed himself from Cassidy and said, "I'm going to go and get Gabriel. I want everyone to gather in the basement tonight, and I want them to be ready for anything."

Cassidy narrowed her eyes, "What do you have planned?"

Declan shook his head and placed a finger over Cassidy's lips, "Later. I need to find Gabriel."

Declan turned on his heel, and headed to the staircase. He stomped up to the height of the fourth floor, with Cassidy's wary eyes following him as he disappeared.

Declan clapped his hands together, the sound cut through the low murmur that spread throughout the room. Pack members sat against their folded chairs with defeated expressions, a couple of them were still wearing their uniforms from the burger joint two blocks from the apartment.

Cassidy and Gabriel stood on either side of them, and Cassidy wore a grave expression. Gabriel made his best attempt to look like he had everything under control.

The chatter died down and Declan held up his hands, "Good Evening, everyone! Thanks for making the time to attend the pack meeting, I know that a lot of you lead busy lives. I want to get down to business. A few weeks ago, your alpha female was attacked while on a hunt. Cassidy, could you show them, please?"

Cassidy turned around and peeled the back of her tangerine-colored blouse off of her skin. The bright-red scar elicited a round of gasps and Declan waved his hands through the air.

"Cassidy was struck with a blade that had been doused in a very particular type of silver, and we're still working on how we're going to care for this injury. However, the other night, one of our newer pack mates was impaled by the arrow of a crossbow. These hunters have targeted our pack, and they have put us into a corner."

A few of the pack mates shifted in their seats, and at the back of the room, Keith jumped to his feet.

He cleared his throat and said, "What are we going to do?"

Gabriel nodded at Keith, "I'm glad to see you're well enough to make the meeting."

Declan looked at the pack, "Yes, we're happy that Keith is still with us. However, we need to keep in mind that those hunters almost took down two of our pack members. We can't let this threat persist. So, anyone who is able bodied will attend a hunt with Cassidy, Gabriel, and myself tonight. We're on the lookout for hunters, do not hesitate to take them down."

A heavy silence hung over the group as they slumped in their chairs, and some exchanged nervous glances with one another and Cassidy slapped her hands together. Every wolf in the room jerked their heads toward the front of the room.

Cassidy grinned before saying, "I know that Declan has a way of making things sound super scary, but we're going to be fine. A group of humans think they're a bunch of saviors, and we're just going to teach them a very deadly lesson."

Gabriel chimed in, "We have the utmost faith that all of you can handle a fight like this one. I've seen half of you take down grizzlies and salvage most of the meat within an hour."

There were a few chuckles from the center of the room before Declan said, "Alright then! So, we're going to take care of the hunters tonight. I look forward to fighting alongside you." The sound of the metal folding chairs scraping against the floor commenced, and Declan pulled Cassidy close to him.

His worried voice flowed into her ear, "Are you sure that you can fight?"

Cassidy patted him on one of his sinewy arms and said, "I'm sure. Don't worry about me, worry about these hunters that have been trying to screw up our lives."

Declan nodded, "Understood."

He pressed his lips onto the skin on Cassidy's forehead, and pulled away to catch the million-dollar smile on her face. Declan smiled to himself, and moved upstairs along with the rest of the pack.

_Maybe things_ can _return to normal after everything's said and done. After... Noelle is gone. It'll be just like before._

Declan walked through the cobweb-covered entrance that led to the main floor of Clifton Towers and walked straight across to his office. He stepped inside and pressed his weight against the door to shut it. He released a heavy, shuddering breath. He sat in his chair, he slid his phone out of his pocket and tapped the contact that read... **Noelle Scott**. Declan pressed the phone to his ear, his heart pounded in his chest as his eyes stayed glued to the door.

After the third ring, Noelle answered, sounding breathless, "Hello?"

Declan forced a smile, "Hey!"

Noelle chuckled into the speaker and said, "You're calling me a lot lately. Won't your mate hear?"

"She's fine. Listen, I've got some hungry wolves over here... where is your family planning to hunt tonight so that we can steer clear? I don't want to deal with any crap."

"Ah," Noelle replied, "well, we're steering clear of areas like the nature preserve tonight. You might want to head there. I'm pretty sure that we're going to be at your usual hunting grounds."

Declan smirked.

Noelle said, "Declan? Is everything alright?"

He leaned back in his chair, and there was a dark glint in his eyes, "Everything is just fine."

Noelle flexed her hands into claws and scooped any loose, wet strands of hair into a sleek ponytail. The voices of her mother, father, aunts, and cousins carried through the walls of her bathroom. She dropped her robe and stood in front of the mirror, running her eyes over the newest love marks that she'd acquired from her last rendezvous with Declan.

_How long until I can feel his skin again?_

She smiled to herself, thinking of how outraged the people on the other side of the bathroom door would be, to learn that she'd been carrying on a relationship with the alpha of a wolf pack.

Noelle was confident that their heads would explode, Garrett and Abigail would possibly disown her. She shrugged, maybe it was time to get from under her parent's thumb anyway.

Noelle crouched onto the floor and collected her robe. Down the hall, the rest of the family gathered in the kitchen, eating a home-cooked meal courtesy of Abigail. Noelle slipped into her bedroom without being noticed.

Everyone in that kitchen would need all of the strength that they could muster from that meal, because Noelle was more than confident that she'd dance circles around her distant relatives.

_Aunt Petra could hardly hold her knife correctly the other night, and Mom and Dad are worried about_ my _abilities?_

Noelle shook her head, letting go of all of the thoughts that swirled around in her head from the other night.

She sat on the edge of her bed and pulled open her dresser drawer, her black leggings and tight-fitting tank top were neatly folded inside. Noelle slipped into her clothes, feeling the same rush of adrenaline that she always felt when she prepared for a hunt. A pair of soft footsteps had just stopped outside of her door.

Without waiting for her visitor to knock, Noelle called out, "Yes?"

Garrett pushed the door open and said, "We need to stay alert tonight. Anything could be waiting in those woods for us, you know?"

Noelle walked over to the door and stuffed her feet inside of her boots.

"You don't have to tell me twice, Dad."

She tugged at the skinny, black laces on her boots until they left a red, crisscrossed imprint on her foot.

"No matter what's in those woods, we'll be waiting for them."

She was content that she told Declan to steer clear.

_"It'll be just like before."_

## Chapter 24

# Not Pleasure-Filled

_"When you choose pleasure over pack."_

Declan parked the car at the entrance to the woods, and turned to Cassidy who sat in the passenger seat beside him. He reached across her and squeezed her hand in between his.

Cassidy offered him a smile before she said, "Are you alright? You've never been this nervous before a hunt before."

Declan sighed and looked over his shoulder, the other wolves had already parked their cars and were shuffling into the woods.

He turned to back to her and said, "I'm just worried. I'm putting my whole pack at risk just to catch a couple of hunters."

Cassidy traced small circles along the skin between Declan's thumb and index finger.

"It's not just to catch a couple of hunters, it's to catch an entire group that has werewolf-deadly silver at their disposal. How could you live with yourself as an alpha if you didn't take a risk to protect your pack?"

Declan felt at a sting at Cassidy's innocent comment.

_I'm so glad that you never had to find out._

He nodded, and placed a small kiss on her lips. When he pulled away, Cassidy's eyes were clouded with lust.

"That's the first time that you've kissed me in weeks."

"I know. I was hoping things could finally go back to normal, especially when our lives aren't being threatened anymore."

Cassidy nodded and jerked her thumb at the crow that stood outside of the woods, "We should get going."

Declan nodded and got out of the car, he walked around and checked over both shoulders before his paws emerged under the cover of darkness. Then, his luminescent emerald eyes shined bright. Beside him, Cassidy transformed into her wolf, and a paw covered in brilliant white fur pressed into the ground.

Her wide, dark-gray eyes turned to Declan and he instructed, "Forward!"

In the heart of the woods, the rest of the wolves gathered under Gabriel's watch. A group of fifteen wolves sat in wait, and Declan and Cassidy strode past a sea of black, brown, and red coats of fur.

Declan snapped his jaws together and said, "We're a family, just like any other time. If you see one of your pack mates go off looking for a hunter, go after him. I want every wolf to make it out of this alive."

The wolves howled in agreement, Cassidy nudged her massive head into Declan's torso before following Gabriel into the woods. The scar on her back was even more prevalent when she was in the form that initially took the hit. The mangled, red skin was Cassidy's personal battle scar. What Declan told himself was... that he would always use that as a reminder of what happens when you choose pleasure over your pack.

The wind shifted, and it rustled the loose hairs of each wolf moving into the woods. Declan kept his nostrils open for Noelle's scent; he knew that others would be with here but he'd be lying to himself if he didn't admit that he'd like to tear her skin apart first.

They scouted the woods for over an hour, and agitation spread throughout the pack like wildfire. Just a bit ahead, Cassidy strolled beside Gabriel. Her neck hanging low and her snout close to the ground, hoping to catch the smell of a human.

_She's exhausted already._

Declan noted, and brushed past a couple of the other wolves and inserted himself between Gabriel and Cassidy.

"Cass, we can call this off. We can turn around and try another night. You look exhausted." Declan kept his eyes from straying to the pulpy mass on her back and said, "It's okay."

Cassidy raised her weary eyes to her mate and replied, "I'm okay, Declan."

Each wolf pressed themselves against the dirt as the thick arrow of a crossbow sailed into a tree, just inches above Cassidy's head. Declan whipped his head in that direction, and ground himself into the dirt as Noelle and her troop became visible. Her father led the group, waving his crossbow in the air like a four-year-old boy that had recently been allowed to hold Daddy's gun.

The growl that emanated from Declan's body vibrated through the dirt, and he ordered, "Gabriel! Cover Cassidy!"

Shocked gasps rose from Noelle's party and a red-headed woman that he hadn't seen before said, "They can talk! Like humans, Garrett, what the hell did you get us into?"

Garrett smirked and notched another arrow into his bow, "I found some good practice for you."

He waved his crossbow and pointed toward the skull of a dark brown wolf in the front of the pack. Before he had an opportunity to let the arrow fly, Declan thrust himself forward and toppled Garrett to the dirt with ease.

Terrified screams erupted from Noelle's group, and the wolves surrounding Declan moved forward, brandishing their teeth. The woman that Declan assumed to be Noelle's mother took out her gun and raised it to Declan.

Her arms trembled and she said, "If you let him go, I won't hurt you. We will turn around, and we will leave you to your hunt."

A dark laugh fell past Declan's black lined lips, "That would be great except that we were in the mood for some human hunters."

Declan pressed his paw into Garrett's collarbone and the resounding snap was music to his ears.

"That's what you are, right? Werewolf hunters? Gutsy humans that have taken it upon themselves to terrorize us?"

"Don't let him intimidate you, Abigail," Garrett managed, before sucking in a deep breath, trying to capture the little bit of air that he could.

Declan raised his paw and dragged his heavy claws across Garrett's torso. A sickening scream pierced the air.

Abigail wailed, "Garrett!"

Declan raised his head upon hearing the sound of footsteps desperately pounding against the dirt. Noelle took up the rear, wielding a shotgun. Declan watched her heart fall into her stomach upon seeing Declan standing over her father's bloody form.

She turned to her mother and kept her gun pointed towards Declan and his pack, "Is he still alive?"

"Noelle..."

" _Is he still breathing?!"_ said Noelle.

Abigail shrieked, "I think so, oh my God, there's so much blood."

Noelle pressed her lips together and cocked her gun, the sound that it made echoed throughout the woods. It was a warning for every wolf that stood in front of her.

"You," she spat, "get off of my father or die!"

Declan grinned and lowered his lips to Garrett, he tasted his blood, and made a show of licking his lips.

"I'd be a lot more worried about him if I were you. If you shoot me, I'll see the bullet coming and I'll rip out his god-damn jugular. If you don't shoot me, I might finish my meal in front of you and move over to your mother here. Then, every so-called hunter standing behind you."

Noelle narrowed her eyes and quieted her mind, a storm of emotions raged inside of her. The rustling coming from all corners... from the wolves and the hunters. It lit her brain on fire.

With a ferocious scream, she yelled, " _Get off!_"

Declan narrowed his eyes and rolled his tongue along Garrett's open wound, the man beneath him had finally lost consciousness. He pulled his snout back with a wide grin on his face, and the tip of his tongue became drenched in red.

"Your call!"

The sound of a bullet shredding through skin, rang out into the night and throughout the woods, along with the howl of despair that would pierce the ears of any living being present... werewolves and hunters alike.

The sound of pain reverberated like a nightmare. Who had been taken now?

_"When you choose pleasure over pack."_

# Chasing the Alpha Book 2

> Declan Hall has got everything covered this time around. He is going to make sure that being Alpha is easy; with or without help from anyone.
> 
> * * *
> 
> No one's going to tell this guy how to handle anything; not Gabriel, or anybody else, for that matter. This time he is in charge. No arguments, ifs or buts. That's certain!
> 
> * * *
> 
> That is until... he meets a woman werewolf who wants to have her own way. Headstrong about absolutely, positively everything. She's the alpha type and she leads by full coercion. A no-holds-barred kind of feminine... a persuasive, narcissistic force to be reckoned with. Declan definitely did not see her coming.
> 
> * * *
> 
> So, why isn't Noelle talking to him? Everything was sweet as... before. Relationships should never be this damn hard. Werewolves are pack animals, aren't they? Let's go hunting... it's anyone's game...

* * *

Chasing the Alpha full moon series book 2

# About the Author

Mia Rose currently resides in Naperville, IL with her husband and daughter. Mia has been writing for over half of her life, and has an extensive catalog of steamy ideas that she has yet to write. She predominately enjoys writing paranormal romance, but she has spent a great deal of her career writing romance. When she's not writing or dreaming up another racy plot, she likes to spend her free time binge watching old sitcoms and traveling with her family.

I adore my readers and love connecting with them socially.

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# Afterword

Hey, everyone!! Thank you so much for reading my book! Did you know that other readers might be interested to hear your thoughts, too?

If you loved it as much as I enjoyed plotting and planning it for you, I would ask that you leave me a wicked-good review here, if you don't mind! That would be awesome. I would be ever so grateful!

Additionally, if you have any super-awesome ideas for my other works, or if you want to send me some feedback good or bad, then you can drop me a line at my email here newsletter@author-miarose.com all your feedback helps me improve my books for you! the readers :)

P.S if you haven't already grabbed your free book "ALPHA" here is the link to do so :) ALPHA

Thanking you all so very much as always, for reading and helping me with my dreams as an author!

I'm sending all of my love to you all. Lots of love and gratitude, Mia Rose x

# Sci-fi Romance

### The Perfect Specimen

> As we continue our journey exploring the vastness of space, we hover above the natural Zorg planet, known on the data map, as Zunov. After entering the coordinates into the main computer, the specimens are collected easily. In fact, the scanners have moved effortlessly to lock them in. But unbelievably, one of the specimens was not a geological one! 
> 
> * * *
> 
> Actually, he is every bit alien, and I mean that, in every sense of the word. A large, muscular male was accidentally scanned aboard, and there is no way to send him home... yet! We are a month's trek from home and the other crew members are getting slightly restless, it seems. The alien Zorg from the planet has been experiencing an all-out war with the Darenoids. The Darenoids will do anything to take hold of our ship, which remains simply in the wrong place at the wrong time! 
> 
> * * *
> 
> I find that he is an extraordinary green male, with eyes that would light up any room. His outset is well-defined and his demeanor is well, very cultural, to say the least. It seems that his attraction to me is a chemically based one, and I find that his advances start to grow on me, over time. But how will we get back to Earth? His impact on me grows more each day, and I don't know that he'll be able to protect me from everything, and I can't imagine falling for him... or can I? Um... oh God!

# Prologue

_"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."_

On planet Zunov, times are peaceful. The Zorg alien species enables itself through its trade with the other close by planet nations. Their democratic world has five billion Zorgs who live on mostly well farmed landed, and in a natural landscape environment.

As a species, they have lived through seven thousand years, warring only with a species known as the Darenoids. The Darenoids are humanoid pirates who look very aged, due to a mutated, genetic trait that was passed down to them through the generations. The Darenoids live a few light years away on the large planet called Fargon.

Spending many years as pirates, the Darenoids steal whatever they can get their hands on: technology, food, other aliens, money and whatever else they can plunder, at the expense of all other species.

The Zorg species has built a battalion in one closed section of Zunov, with many smaller stations camouflaged in the thick, wooded forests all around. The entire battalion is made up of over nine hundred and fifty space fighters, and at last count the ground soldier crew was nearly two million female warriors.

At war, the Darenoids employ an array of tactics to fight both in the air, and on the ground. Maintaining a use of a special drone forces to spy and kill targets easily and effectively, with poisonous arrows, and lasers.

The Darenoids do not see a need for peace with any other species, because a treaty would not allow them to plunder riches or other technologies without payment. They are led by a leader known as The Almighty Engor, who leads without any conscience at all.

The tactics are not easy to understand, and usually involve trickery and barbaric treatment. They take no hostages, except for females, which they use as slaves. Every other threat is killed immediately when sighted, unless they are only spying for a greater plunder to be taken later on.

The Zorgs have continued to live peacefully, in their democratic and natural settlements. Recently, the barrier shielding protecting the planet was infiltrated by a stolen technology, and used successfully by the Darenoids. So, now they can attack and plunder easily from the skies above. There are no shields protecting the enormous Zunov planet.

The Zorgs use male and female fighters to fight in the skies and on the ground. Most of the fighter's volunteer as they have a great interest in keeping their land safe, for the needs of trade. It is how they make their living.

The female fighters are fierce and study the tactical necessities, to better understand the trickery used in the war with the Darenoids. The males are genius in the fighter craft, and are very tactical for battles in the skies.

The Zorg species have natural capabilities that allow them to see, with heat and x-ray vision. Their skin, called a hide is green in color, and made up of healing capabilities. They live healthy, well-maintained lives. Their knowledge of nutrition and the ability to take care of their bodies has been handed down to them, for many generations. They do not wish to fight with any other species, but will stop at nothing to protect their fruitful lands.

With war always overshadowing and daunting their survival as a species, they leave the crops with skeleton crews, so that they are still sustained for sale. At present, the most important thing is to destroy the Darenoids as fast as possible, so that the crops are not destroyed, and because the survival of the Zorg species is unfortunately very compromised by their constant threats and plunder.

The Zorg females use tactics and are undergoing fitness training. They are also using their skills to host meetings and gain extra volunteers to help with the cause.

The male Zorgs congregate in the hangars to man and maintain the fighter craft. The Zorgs are a definite force to be reckoned with, that's for sure. Their strength and tactical operations are second to no-one.

The landscape is full of many hilly terrains, and plains. The hangars are located in hidden places throughout the large forests, and cannot be detected easily by the Darenoids who are in space above, waiting to be ordered in.

The Darenoids have a fleet of all kinds of craft, usually stolen from all different species, that they use when plundering, during their pirating. The skies are full of Darenoid hostile vessels, full of fighters. They ready themselves, and the swarm is growing larger, now that the shield defences have broken down.

One major attack by the Darenoids was employed less than a week ago, where a thousand Darenoid hostiles were destroyed by the tactical Zorgs, with their super high technological spacecraft, and with their laser arrays, located in hot spots over the natural planet.

The Zorgs know the Darenoids are biding their time, and that they wait patiently for reinforcements to arrive. This will be one of the most mammoth wars in over a century, with the Zorgs at a definite weakness, as the attack comes from the skies.

As the Zorg engineering bots continually try to place the planet's shields back online, the Zorgs must be ready for war at any time. The general feeling is of anger and anticipation as the Darenoids continually wait for more spacecraft reinforcements.

They could attack without warning, and the Zorgs ready their fighters in every hotspot around the enormous planet. If the Darenoids succeed, they will wipe out the entire Zorg species, and take planet Zunov for themselves.

The Zorgs are great fighters and understand the necessity to fight, if pushed. They maintain barbarism in war, only to succeed for their future generations. It is with great sadness that they continue the fight, as they are a peace-loving species that allows everyone their rights, which are maintained in their much-loved democratic society.

Without the Darenoid threat, the Zorgs thrive and intermingle with many other peaceful species, through their continuous trade. The war must be won, for the survival of the green, alien species. As the Darenoids continue their threat, the mammoth war will effectively take hold as soon as the reinforcements in space arrive. Never before has a battle been so important to the survival of a species, than now...

_"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."_

## Chapter 1

# Tulloc

_"Wonderful fighters are hard to find."_

We've left our land to go to the central hot spot to ready the space fighters, and Chollo and I are grateful that our King has enabled our planet with so many well-equipped craft. It has been a long time since we faced such a harsh threat, with no shields defending Zunov.

At the hangar, the usual crews are there, where each fighter craft has a two Zorg male crew. An engineer and a fighter. The fighter deploys weapons, tactics and air control, and the engineer maintains the navigation, coolers, thrusters and scouts for hostiles as well.

We're still waiting to get our instructions from Garion the Lead Fighter, but we have arrived early, so there are about five hundred or so Zorg male teams waiting to hear the tactical speech before we are deployed.

Chollo and I have been friends for many years, and we are assigned to Farrion 5 for this mission. Farrion 5 is one of the newer craft, which has a very high technology enabling it to self -evade hostile enemies. We have familiarized ourselves with our craft in many simulations, which we have been learning five times a week, after our crop work.

For now, we can hear that the Darenoids are waiting for more craft, before placing Zunov under a major attack. The pirates will stop at nothing to steal from us and take our lands.

The female Zorgs are led by Leader Tarenka, who is in charge of Lead Ground Support, and she will be giving the females their instructions for this locality on our planet. The Zorg females fight well on the ground, as we males take to the skies in our fighter craft.

Garion walks to the podium of the hangar now, to address the two hundred and fifty teams.

"Welcome my male Zorg friends. We are to deploy now with teams one, nine, five and eighteen, then rotate with teams three, seventeen, eighty-one and two. The times and teams are given on the notice board, make sure you leave on time, so we can bombard the Darenoids without pausing. They will not be expecting our deployment this soon. The pattern for this fight is elton, bera, silio and darention. The first teams leave in ten minutes."

Chollo and I race to our ship, the Farrion 5. She sits fuelled and ready to go in bay forty-eight. We know we are first to go, and the hour will seem like days, up in hostile skies. We wait for communication, as the hatches open and we are ready for deployment. The sky slowly unfolds above to the beautiful orange of the afternoon. It changes every hour, and this color is my favorite.

The comms are signaling time to go, and the thrusters are ready. First teams push in, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two and up we go. The push is zero-g.

Chollo sits beside me and smiles at me.

"Let's give them everything we've got!" he says.

I concentrate on locating the hostiles with my laser sensors, and on screen are over forty dots surrounding us. We get into position to maintain the pattern for this run. Every pattern is given in a zig-zag shape, and because each space fighter is deployed at a different spot from the hangar, it covers every inch of space in the sky.

"We are in position in five, four, three, two and, go!" says Chollo, maintaining the input codes as we go.

I lock onto everything manually. Any hostile fighter or craft that is not from Zunov, is targeted upon. The blue lasers are sent out willingly by me as I push and fire at will. The pattern is very curvatious and risky from our perspective, and I cannot afford to miss the shots, as the Darenoids try to laser back with an array of torpedo fire. They use bunting lasers and arownian pulses, which try to steer us off of our course.

Thankfully the Farrion 5 sees the arrays before they get to us, and moves and weaves the ship quickly as we evade hundreds of beams and pulses that try and hit us on our way.

I estimate that we have destroyed over fifty craft as we get close to the center of our pattern. My green hide, is feeling exhausted from the concentration of the close-range battling. The sky is lit up in orange from the vast array of explosions occurring in the normally calm skies above Zunov.

The pattern seems like a zig-zag as we go left, right then up or down, according to the pre-emptive pattern. It is an amazing feat that we have not been hit from a Darenoid hostile, actually.

The Darenoids have an array of stolen craft, and although not very well maintained by them, some of them have technology that is superior to ours on Zunov.

Our computer talks to us within the ship, and tells us a running account of what is happening, as we go. There is no time for talking between Chollo and myself. We are totally reliant upon one another. He navigates and maintains us, while I lock and fire with an unending supply of lasers.

The computer's current account, "Pattern engaged, and target approaching. Sensors locking, ready, aim and fire. Target destroyed, more hostiles approaching, sensors locking, ready aim, fire. Target destroyed," says the female Zorg voice.

The voice is simulated to be Princess Burgoy's voice to give the crews a feeling of encouragement. It is a sweet, but husky tone, that is perfect for war in our fighter craft.

Our pattern is about three quarters complete and the targets become less and less. I see through the window that the other Zorg fighters are having much success with their lasers too. We can't be complacent, because we know that the Darenoids use trickery and disguise. Without our sensors' knowledge, there could be another five hundred ships cloaked around. For now, it seems we are winning the battle, using our patterning tactics.

"Tactical engagers deployed," says the computer.

Our ship moves to the left and then to the far right as lasers flick past us through the air, it is a Perigian fighter craft, stolen from the Gerrs.

"Hold on," says Chollo allowing the automatic sensors full control. The ship moves like a crazed drone, that has no control over itself. There is no way we can take over manually, because a Perigian fighter craft is superior to ours.

I use everything I have to lock onto the fighter, but it seems to be one step ahead of my lasers every time, it has only hit the back edge of our craft, which thankfully has done nothing significant. Only minor beautification affected.

I know I can't lock on, because the movements of the craft are too quick, so I change my tactic and lock on to where I feel it will move to next.

"Ready, aim, fire," says the computer.

The Perigian fighter lost part of its wing, and is still persuing the Farrion 5.

I lock onto another guessed move, "Ready, aim, fire. Target destroyed," says the computer.

My breath becomes easier now, as we destroy more simple craft, that cannot outrun our technology. Chollo is still locked in intense concentration as he changes from manual overrides to allowing full automated control.

Our pattern is nearly coming to an end, and I can only imagine the devastation of space junk littering the ground. Right now, there is no more movement from space craft in our designated zone, but there are an array of drones filtering out now.

The black drones have been deployed from the mothership higher up in the atmosphere, and I know that they are sent to spy, and see what the Darenoids have lost. Most of them will go down and take data on the destroyed battle craft, and others will be used to survey our lands.

The female Zorgs are well-equipped to take care of the drones, using laser equipment and erton arrays to destroy them on the ground. Chollo and I can't believe how many float past us, as we look for other hostiles in the skies.

Our pattern has come to an end, and we are now docking back inside the hangar. We are greeted by the next team who will use the Farrion 5, after some refuelling and minor repairs. Also, the data will be saved, and taken to the tactical support team for revision, before she leaves for battle again.

Chollo and I make our way to the Food Hall to replenish ourselves. We want to go and see the drones as soon as we're done. There must have been two million of them passing us while we were in our pattern, and flying through the sky.

The other Zorg fighters look as exhausted as us, and they fuel their bodies with green and red nutritious food, and drink spring water to place back much needed electrolytes into their life stream for replenishment.

We hear them talking about the drones, and we are all taken by the sheer immensity of their presence. Outside the hangar, you can hear them, buzzing around to gain information.

There are many types of drones used by the Darenoids, and these ones are the spying kind. The cannot harm or kill us like the other types are made to do.

Chollo and I make our way outside after filling up our bellies with good, refreshing foods. We look out along the plains and there are millions of them. The purple lasers are constantly beaming and destroying them. The Zorg females, have got a lot of work to do, as we watch the unusual phenomenon take place.

We know it will be only twenty -four hours until our next pattern, so we must get some rest in the hangar. The Zorg females have a well-armed ground crew that spans over the entire planet. They are tactically capable to outwit and outlast any drone attacks, and would negate any help from Zorg males.

Actually, the Zorg females are superior to the males on Zunov, and use us for pleasure. The Zorg males are open to that idea, and offer themselves freely on a social scale. The Zorg females are extremely good looking and appealing to the eye, but they are also harsh with their words and do not see us as very helpful beings. We are used primarily for our space fighting skills, sexual prowess and mating capabilities only.

We live separately from the female communities, who approach us only when they need us for something, and at their leisure.

Many Zorg males delight in being used for sex and are turned on by the dominance of the female species. Sometimes I find that my body is over used, especially by a few of the local women, who like to share my manhood at the same time.

Chollo also has a few regular Zorg's that take up much of his time after the working hours are done.

Together we run our fields and sell the crops locally, and in our trade with other species. I don't know what we'll have left after this attack. We might be lucky, though. Our fields are a fair distance away from the hangar location. There may be just some shrapnel and destroyed drones needed to be removed. We will worry about that when we get time off, tomorrow. One more attack and then some time off.

Thankfully our military is arranged well, so that our green hides don't become too exhausted. The rotation allows us all to check on our crops and get much needed rest before we are called to battle.

_"Wonderful fighters are hard to find."_

## Chapter 2

# Amelia

_"This should be fun!"_

"Amelia, Amelia, come quickly to the bridge," says Rhys excitedly.

I move from the center of the dial in the engineering platform to see what he needs. As I walk through the wide berth I can see that the electronics are flashing wildly. There is a constant array of beeping and the computers are picking up something large on their sensors.

"We are picking up life from the planet Zunov, and there are billions of life forms being scanned by the computer," says Rhys. His large, brown eyes widening in excitement.

"Rhys, we are to take just geological specimens back to Earth. They may be hostile, and our company states we are to get the specimens because they are important for our research," I say feeling the anticipation.

Getting close to alien life is always a bit scary, and our vessel was built to withstand any attack. Sometimes I wondered if the job was worth it, actually. I missed my cat and my apartment back in Florida, sometimes. But the scientific part was worth it, and the discoveries were endless out here. Ten light years from Earth, and ready to scan some particles and other technology from an unsuspecting alien planet.

Rhys works with Allen on the bridge of the ship to scan only natural life forms. The computers can determine the makeup, density and weight, and even send pictures to our database. The dial needs my attention in the center again. I must manually override the fuel engager so we can stay anchored in position when we scan the specimens into the labs.

So far, we have collected three hundred and fifty species for study on Earth at my father's company, _Specimenz_. Our technology has been heightened by some of the aliens we have met during our travels. They willingly share their knowledge. But studying many different species of plants and animals is my passion as a botanist.

This ship was built from the knowledge base of the Gerrs, from Planet Radon. I doubt the Zorg's will have much to teach us about technology, because they still seem to travel by shuttle on roads, and from the pictures we've scanned, they look very much like primitive, green cavemen. Maybe they will one day see that space crafts are the only way to travel.

"10 minutes until we are in position, Rhys. Open up the anchoring ducts," I say reading my data on the screen in front of me.

Rhys nods at me in concentration, and then looks through the pictures of females that are filtering into the data base at a thrilling speed. He does it every trip. Looks at the females, and saves pictures. I move to go and pick the specimens I want, after placing the codes in the dial, we are nearly ready for the anchored position. The ship must be precisely stationed for retrieval.

"So many to choose from, and they have fur on their heads, in different colors," says Rhys jokingly about the females he has scanned into his database.

"Yes, much different to our smooth, rounded bodies. They are colored green and look like they would have their way with you in a heartbeat. I wonder if they will date you on Tinder?" I say, smiling.

"Well I am going for this one with long, black hair," he says locking her picture into the saving portal.

I am taking my time in choosing, because I will be responsible for the study. There are many geological and plant based forms to enter into the computer.

"Yes, there are gargon rocks and juck berries, oh my goodness, they have juck berries!" I say, as the computer clicks to lock onto them now. The one hundred specimens are all from the large planet, and in different locations from within the hilly terrain.

The ship moves into anchoring position, and the codes work to gain our position, as we sit light years away from our blue planet, called Earth. The sensors have full strength as I look into my comms computer. The targets are being scanned and it will take just a few moments to lock onto them.

Rhys looks less than excited and waits behind the paned glass down the center of the wide berth, for the specimens to appear. Allen sits on the bridge checking the computer as it scans everything into manifestation. I never get tired of the magic!

I walk to my glass window as my chosen specimens appear suddenly in front of me. Rocks, juck berries, sand, fruity shrubs, small buntions, and an alien Zorg male.

"Damn, Allen, you scanned an alien again. How do you keep doing that? Send him back," I say, not expecting a life form to appear in my science bay.

He is looking around in a confused way, and then sees me looking at him. Okay now he is coming towards me on the other side of the glass, completely naked except for some organic made underpants, that look hessian in their material. He has large yellow eyes, and a very human looking mouth. I try to look away but his muscular body is firmly pressed on the glass, and hessian package is growing larger.

Now the tongue is moving wildly around his mouth, like he is licking a candy on a stick. We have seen this before, many times in other species, and Rhys and I wait patiently for his ritualistic behaviour to stop. Some species can't help but be chemically attracted to humans, and they exhibit sexually explicit behaviour, without always meaning to. The chemical attraction excites them, to a point where they are just sex crazed!

"Okay, Rhys this alien guy seems to really like me! Can you tell Allen to get a move on teleporting him back to his planet, because I'm sure the girls are missing him! Maybe he can have a cold bath to sort himself out when he gets home," I say, as I am slightly turned on by the green male's attraction to me.

Rhys laughs loudly as he works with Allen to lock onto the Zorg, who is still showing his affection with the immensity of his cock, and sexy, wanting eyes. He would definitely know how to pleasure a female, and I can now hear him giving moans to me, as he touches his manhood. I secretly imagine myself being in the lab, while Allen and Rhys are sleeping soundly in their beds, conveniently.

"Amelia, I can't lock onto him, the scanners are malfunctioning, you are going to have to talk to him, while Rhys goes to the core to check the scanning ray for problems. I am trying to work it out here too, sorry," says Allen, concentrating on the screen that flashes wildly in front of him.

"Thanks Allen, I will do my best," I say looking at the wild male.

The Zorg has an expressive want in his eyes for me, and his hands are pressing on the glass. I signal to him through my hands with an awkward wave, which excites him more as his eyes look at my body, from head to toe. I try to stay calm but the holes in the glass allow him to smell my body, and he can't help but want me. I race over the desk and grab a chair to place in front of the glass, and he watches me like a hawk watching prey.

"My name is Amelia, and I am a scientist from planet Earth," I say looking at his bright yellow eyes, that follow me with tremendous anticipation.

"My name is Tulloc, and I am a Zorg from planet Zunov. I have heard about you. You humans live far away from here."

"You speak English too? Is that your native language?" I say, trying to ignore the hard cock that is still pressed on the glass, and noticeably pulsating for me.

"I speak many dialects. I need clothes. My clothes were removed when I came here and I am naked. Get me clothes and food. Then we may talk more, female one."

"Oh, I am sorry, I didn't know, I thought you were a naked species. Our scanners must have dumped the clothing, because it wasn't organic. I'll get you some clothes and some bread and soup," I say nervously, as I get up to walk and find clothing and heat the food.

As I get to the kitchen Rhys is making himself some bacon and eggs.

"Sorry, Amelia he's coming with us back to Earth for this trip. The cylinders need replacing, and we need to get them from home. I guess you're stuck with your new alien friend for a while," he says cheekily.

I stick out my tongue and slap his back, thinking of my revenge when I will raid his closet for clothes. We have been friends for many years, and I know he thinks the whole mistake is hilarious. Although, I know that I have to look after the alien all the way home, so that will definitely be an interesting journey. I continue down the short hall of the hull to find some clothes, as the soup and bread warms up for our new, Zorg friend.

As I walk back to the lab, the alien is seated at the table, in the center of the room. He seems calmer now, and I know from reading that they are not known to be violent, so I open the door and place the food and clothes down gently on the table.

"There you go, I will come and see you in a little while," I say smiling and a slight bit nervous.

I could smell the mustiness of his breath.

"Thank you, Melia, I will see you soon," he says as he puts on the tracksuit pants and gray sweater.

I go to Allen to see how everything is going on the bridge, and he gives me a smirk. I can see that Rhys and Allen will be laughing the whole way home about the attraction from our new male. I think it is a bit sexy myself. A very muscular alien having an animalistic attraction to me. It is surprisingly, a unique turn on, and the eyes, they melt me away. They look like lizard's eyes with eyelids that sweep across them sideways as he blinks. The pupils get incredibly large as he gets a hard on. Oh dear, I must stop thinking about it. I find the whole thing very strange, and exciting.

I turn to my comms screen at my computer on the bridge. I sift through the checklist to make sure all the geological samples are there. I then swap pages and look at the Zorg information we have on our database.

I read, " _Green alien life forms with a heightened ability to perceive intuitive feelings from other species. Intellectually, they are clever and maintain a natural way of life to help them live longer. Feeding on plant based foods, and living in a democratic society. Economically they are agriculturalists, who trade with the Terrons, the Synes and the Fariguns on the neighbouring planets. The total population in 2109 was three billion. The species can also heal themselves through nutrition and meditation of a shamanic nature. The technology is mainstream air dynamics for farming and healing solaruiums for health."_

"Damn that bloody cooker, it always burns my eggs!" says Rhys as he sits next to me at his computer.

Allen looks at me and we laugh a great belly laugh together. We both know that Rhys is a bad cook, even with all the amazing technology. We all continue looking at our computers, now. There is a definite bond between the three of us, as we've spent months together, living in close quarters on _The Specimenion,_ our large __ space craft. Allen continues his research searches on macro engineering, and Rhys is still looking at alien females on his computer. He is such a dag!

I decide to see how my new friend is doing behind the glass wall of the science lab. I walk slowly toward the paned glass to see him. He is lying on the small sofa in the right corner of the room. Asleep soundly after eating his food.

He lays on his side with large eyelids closing over the bright yellow eyes. The green skin is creamy as the tight clothes hug his muscular features. His oval green head is moving slightly up and down, and his tongue flicks out of his mouth as he breathes calmly. He is definitely one of the more pleasing looking aliens. He looks kind and peaceful as he sleeps. I really hope I can learn more about him in the coming days, because there is something about him that I find very interesting, but I can't put my finger on what that is, just yet. Maybe it is a chemical thing, I am not sure.

_"This should be fun!"_

## Chapter 3

# Tulloc

_"Friends are forever."_

"We will have a fine crop this year my dear friend," says Chollo as he looks over the seeds in the greenery shed.

"Yes, we will. The trade will be significantly higher for our exports too," I say as I pot them into germinating cups.

I have worked with Chollo on these fields for ten pion years. He is my dearest friend, and together we own a parcel of land that is about sixty ariums wide and eighty long. It is a beautiful sun filled day as we share it together preparing the seeds and the soil. We were both fighters before, but now we enjoy our business trade.

We take our freshly planted cups outside to enjoy the sun, and we have a semi-flat crop to plant over the next few days. Chollo is an irrigation specialist and he now walks over to check the pump and the organic matter sprays. I am planting the cups I have prepared for many days, and it is a very calm day, without wind and in a sky of aqua-marine, with orange sunlight to light our crop. I place my germination spray down on the soil and then the siren blurts out.

"wheeeeeeeee, wheeeeeeeeeeee, wheeeeeeeeeeeee," it sounds loudly over the entire planet.

"Take cover Chollo, it must be the Darenoids attacking again." We run to our shuttle and zoom over the fields quickly. The beams of red laser light are penetrating the ground from above. I am flicking the thrusters hard - to shuttle us to the safety sanction. A camoflauged underground tunnel was built for Zorg's to hide in, and it is what we race to right now. Damn those Darenoids they have spoiled our crops too many times.

We enter the large tunnel with about ten other shuttles who are already stationed on the holo pads. The other Zorg's are talking loudly about the attack, and some Zorg fighters are getting ready for battle in the wider end of the tunnel. They have their tasers and are waiting for instructions from the Chief of Battle, named Kumlin Zorg. There is a massive berth of more than forty fighting ships armed and ready for battle. My ship was number 3109 and is still used in the fleet, and probably will if there is a big battle today.

"That was close," I say, looking at Chollo who has turned a lighter shade of green.

"They keep attacking our planet because they are not happy with the trade agreement," he says as we shut down the shuttle and make our way to the congregation, for a hot cup of mardana.

As we sit and listen to the Zorg's mutter about the raids, there is talk of war amongst the fighters. I can hear them saying that the Chief of Battle is organizing a huge attack in the skies above our planet. They will be recruiting as many Zorg's as they can to gain control, including farmers and engineers. I used to be a fighter and battle the Darenoids, so they may be getting me to help them soon. Chollo will help with the space craft down in the tunnel, and with his passion for peace he also understands that squashing these barbarian aliens is important for our survival.

The Darenoids are pirates that steal from other species and sell their spoils in the black market. They want our healing technology and our seeds. They will kill to get it, and take no prisoners. Their species is barbaric, violent and unbelievably rude.

I make my way to the line for one more... a hot cup of mardana, and I can see that many females are also wanting to join the cause. They have congregated together to discuss their availability to let the Chief know. I can hear that some will remain behind and some will stay here to keep the trade crops going. The females are great warriors and they have the same strength as us males. Their green head of fur can sense danger before it comes. Making them great assets in times of battle.

Chollo is talking to the fighters and loudly sharing his viewpoint, and I now make my way to a solitary table to gain some peace in my mind. I do not wish to fight but if I am called I will need to rest now. My hot cup of mardana is making me feel tired, so I walk to the shuttle to get some rest. The shuttle is very warm and I find myself falling to sleep easily, now...

I am suddenly in a strange room with a glass window, and I see a female and a male species looking at me through the glass pane. My body is cool and I notice that I am naked, and my manhood falls squarely between my limbs. All of a sudden, I feel electrified and start feeling an intense lust that I cannot control. She, the female, is intoxicating. I can smell her through the small holes in the glass...Where am I? I know I am in a spaceship but, oh, oh my cock is getting very hard. I can't explain what is happening.

The female is looking at me and her top limb moves up and is waving, and all I can smell is her intense body scent. She has a creamy milk face and a head full of fur. Black, long fur. She smells like the rain after the showers on our crop. I want her. I can't control it. I have to give her my manhood.

I am moving closer to the glass and my cock is so hard for this strange, creamy female. I want her like I have never wanted anything before. Oh, I now find myself pressed up against this glass and she stares at me while I lick my lips. I must have her, Oh! I can't stand the intensity. My equipment is throbbing and my eyes lock on. I close my eyes and calm my mind as she starts speaking to me in English. That must be her native tongue. My cock is still hard but I can make sense of her introduction.

Her voice is sweet with a musical tone. She is trying to help me, so I ask for food and clothes. She scurries away to get my requests. I am glad she is gone so I can try and contain my lust for her. I think she does not know that I can see under her garments. My x-ray vision is very accurate and I also see body warmth and heat placement.

Her bottom limbs had a hot spot that was increasing in temperature and moisture placement, as I was sprawled so lustfully against the window, wanting her. I think that must be her weakness, that space between her legs. I want her to show it to me when I finish eating my soup. I would like to touch it and see what it does. Maybe she does not know that she is leaking.

I am glad that the female one saw me act like that. I had no control over my body, and there was a feeling of complete intensity that I have not felt before from such an attraction. The females on our planet do not make me feel such a desired lust, to the point where I can't stop myself. She must think me very strong and highly attractive. It is a compliment to her that I acted in such a lustful way.

I can only explain my being here as an abduction, where they will obviously want to do experiments on me and my species. I must try to reason with the female one called Amelia, who will send me home if I ask. Maybe they are helping the Darenoids to attack us. Mmmm, I will let them take a few samples of my purple blood, and some of my biological DNA if they want, but that is all. I have eight crops of spirinta and twelve of rayana waiting to be planted. The harvest will be plentiful this coming year. I might also need to fight if asked.

The human female now brings clothes and soup. I'm very hungry and I'll eat now, Yes, I will put human clothes on and eat before I ask if she wants to mate with me. I want to put my cock in her before I leave, because that would be good manners. When you like a female Zorg on Zunov, you mate with her, as long as she is not sanctioned to another partner for life. That could be a problem. I'll make sure she is without a partner, and that she wants me too. The females on Zunov take the males to mate, and never the other way around.

The female is now leaving to let me eat. I watch her walk away from me with that fur on her head and creamy skin. It is not green like mine. I wonder if she thinks my green is good. Zorg's have powerful healing powers in their skin which allows us to grow big and strong, and maintain our health for a hundred and eighty years. We can touch anything at all and heal it very quickly. I want to heal her wet spots for her. I would just need to touch them for a small time underneath her garments. Then she can have my manhood, and I can leave.

This soup tastes amazing, and I can see it has a salty taste and the white "bread" is very filling to my needs. I'm still feeling tired from when I pressed myself up against the wall of the glass. I was acting completely out of lust. As long as she is not helping the Darenoids, it will be fine.

I must try to figure out what happened. I was in the field looking at the sandy soil. I had my germination spray ready to use and then the laser intercom was ringing from the outbuilding. I put my germination spray on the field soil and then we got attacked. So, me and Chollo race to the shuttle and get to the tunnel Then we are in the tunnel and I drink two cups of mardana. I go to the shuttle to lie down, and then I get zapped here by the transporter beam. But why? Why am I here?

My poor green head is tired from all of the thinking. I will take a big rest now and figure it all out later. Maybe the female one will help me figure it out. If she is not a fighter for the Darenoids then we can be friends, and she may have my manhood. I will think no more. That squishy long chair over there looks comfortable, so I will lay there now and see the female Melia, soon. It has been an interesting day.

_"Friends are forever."_

## Chapter 4

# Amelia

_"You can't help what you're attracted to!"_

I'm wondering if Tulloc has finished sleeping yet. I can't shake this weird feeling that I get when I am near him. It's like my whole body electrifies when I get close to him. Damn this computer screen. It always does this.

"Shit," I say, as the computer flashes it's warning for cleaning shutdown maintenance.

The stupid thing always does it after we get our specimens. I suppose I shouldn't complain about it. It did beam up every sample including a green alien male! I just can't seem to stop thinking about his green body, splatted all over our laboratory wall in a lustful presentation.

Seriously, it's like he's never seen a girl before. Plus, I don't consider myself to be "hot," apart from my long black hair and firm boobs, I am fairly plain looking really. I know the aliens can sometimes smell our chemical pheromones, but how could he smell me through the tiny holes in the glass? I don't know, I just hope he realizes that he has to come with us for a while. Without the parts to fix the ship, we can't send him or us anywhere. I better go and see him to explain. Earth will be glad to have a green visitor. Usually they are blue or gray, but this species is a light, bright green.

Oh God, what if he gets frisky again? Do I act calm, or tell him off?

I had better tell him off for being too forward, but he might take offense. Oh, crap I better go and see him. Ugh! Why can't I just be a scientist today? The plants and rocks don't need conversation. I am twenty-nine, and I am not a big talker.

I'm walking quickly down to the lab where Tulloc is sitting quietly on the sofa, and he is holding one of the rocks we brought up from the planet. As I go through the door I feel my body zapping as I sit across from him at the small lab table. He sits leaning forward just a meter away, on the sofa.

"Tulloc, how are you? I hope the soup was okay," I say, noticing my flushed body getting warmer.

"Melia, you are great sending me clothes and soup. I must know why I am here, though. Are you fighting with the Darenoids?" he says, blinking the lizard eyes.

"We accidentally locked onto you when we were getting the natural specimens. We can't send you back because a part of our ship is broken. I don't know who the Darenoids are," I say feeling my body temperature increase, more and more.

"I must go back and help my friends. We are under attack from the Darenoid's and they must be stopped. I will heal your wet spots and give you my manhood before I go, whenever you like. But we mustn't be too long," says Tulloc candidly with a generous smile.

"Um, okay. What?! You will fix my wet spots and let me have your cock!" I say in utter disbelief.

I don't really know if there is a miscommunication between us regarding our language. The wet spot term leaves me wondering, and I am hoping cock is a word that he thinks means something else. Like a chicken or rooster or something similar. My temperature increases more now as I get up and have a glass of water from the nearby tap in the lab.

"You also have a wet spot in between your bottom limbs...your legs I think they are called," he says firmly. "Before you send me home, I will fix it for you, then you may do what you wish with my large, green equipment. It will get hard if you look at it," he says calmly.

I'm finishing my water, and nearly choke on it as it flies out from my mouth and into the sink. He's talking about my body sweat, and how I get turned on by him. Shit. My clothes are now wet from the spitting out of water, and I am slightly amused by his connotations.

"Okay Mr. Zorg, or alien Tulloc, if that's your real name. I don't know what you are playing at here, but what goes on in between my limbs is really none of your concern. For Heaven's sake, why would I want your green cock? Are you flirting with me," I say angrily?

"Melia. You are getting very warm which is not good for your health. I must fix your wet spots to stop the leaks. On your forehead, under your arms and around your perineum. Then nothing can get in and make you sick. Plus, it is customary for Zorg's to offer their manhood for friendship with a female," he says informatively.

Tulloc is pulling his equipment out from the pants to show me, and I can't help but look at it as his green hands play and fondle it in front of me. It grows very large and is obviously pulsating.

My face has become warmer, and I am turned on by him very much. I can feel myself getting aroused more as I look at his cock.

"Your wet spots are getting worse Melia. We will have to fix it first, before you have my manhood," says Tulloc with a concerned look.

His bright yellow eyes are turning a burnt orange as the large green lids flick over them. He leans forward quickly to feel my vagina and the "wet spot," like a scientist touching a new specimen for the first time.

His hand touches the outside of my pants and I let him keep it there for a moment before speaking. It feels unbelievably good. His firm hand tickles to manouver the area.

"Tulloc don't put your hand there," I say not believing myself at all.

His hand grabs harder as he closes his eyes. I feel like I could have an orgasm.

"Wait Melia, I am nearly done scanning you," he says as the pressure intensifies erotically.

"Oh, dear God, hurry up will you, there is really nothing wrong," I say as my legs go to jelly, and my nipples harden firmly.

His hand sweeps away, as he realizes what the wet spot must be for. His eyes flick over back to yellow as my sexual infatuation grows without my consent. I have never felt like this before. I would never let a male just grab my wet spot, without at least a few dates, or some sort of prior communication!

"Melia, that place is where a cock enters you. The lubrication is for my equipment?" he says with his tongue starting to flicker. "My manhood would feel very warm in there," he says as his eyes flick over, and his hand moves into his track pants, as he fondles himself.

I feel like I am in some sort of time warp, where everything I ever knew has changed. How can I be attracted to a green man from a different planet? I have seen it happen on other planets, but usually humans don't like to intermingle. Oh! okay Melia, get a hold of yourself. Rhys could walk down any minute. Here is a green, alien. A muscly, horny, lizard eyed green alien, with an exceptionally large cock. Get yourself away from this nonsense...now would be good!

"I must go, Tulloc, I'll speak later," I say as I force my desires to be tamed, by leaving.

I feel like there is no shaking my attraction to him. Is it some weird alien spell?

I walk out and close the glass door behind me, and my body wants to stay in the room, desperately. I am still a bit angry with the forwardness of the alien. But it seems to be a cultural thing.

Walking quickly to the kitchen to make coffee, and cut myself a huge slice of chocolate cake. I'll feed my desire for food, instead. A green alien boyfriend. Ha! what a joke, Amelia. Get a hold of yourself, you silly, human woman. Yes, you are human, I tell myself. Think science, and plants and rocks - and anything but green alien space men, with large cocks, ready for your sexual pleasure and desire!

Rhys walks into the kitchen for a coffee, with his bright green mug that says, "Aliens are Cool!" I laugh to myself about the synchronicity of the mug and my recent desire, which seems to agree with the text on the mug.

"Hey Amelia. How's our new space friend?" Rhys says, as he winks cheekily at me knowing I am the caretaker of the alien, for the entire ride home.

"He is borrowing your clothes, your sweat pants and sweater!" I say smiling.

"Thanks friend, you could have lent Allen's stuff, but my clothes are way cooler so I guess you have great taste!" says Rhys adding two sugars to his coffee.

Rhys walks past and grabs my chocolate cake to take a bite.

"Yum, thanks heaps. I love it when you bake cakes in space. They taste sweeter up here," he says walking back to the bridge.

I sit and finish my cake, as I look into the large aquarium full of goldfish that sits in the center of the room. I wonder if they think I am an alien? I don't know what Tulloc really thinks about me. He wants to get home to fight the Darenoids after he gives me his manhood.

Huh, imagine human men saying that to women on Earth. They would get a big slap back to reality, with a hand on their face or they would just be ignored by females completely. I still don't get how he knew I was wet, maybe he has a sensor inbuilt or something. The mind boggles...

"Warning, Warning, enemy approaching and locking to fire. Evasive manouvers required," says the electronic computer we call Bob.

I run to the bridge where the alien, Rhys and Allen sit together. Tulloc has my chair, so I sit behind them all and watch.

"It is the Darenoid's," says Tulloc to Allen, who is flying the ship manually. Using evasive techniques to avoid the fire.

"Take that you bastards," says Rhys firing the lasers at the small, dark gray battlecraft.

The craft explodes on the large screen in front of us as Rhys hi-five's Allen, behind Tulloc, who sits in the middle on my chair.

"There are no more enemy crafts on the sensor, but I'm still changing our position and setting a course for Earth," says Allen as he concentrates on the code entering that will take us home.

The computer Bob says, "Enemy annihilated successfully. All systems are go."

I look at the three men together as they talk about the Darenoids. I mean the two men - and the green alien, who seems to like his spot at _my_ bridge seat.

They laugh together as if they have known each other for decades. But who gave Tulloc permission to leave the lab? Probably Rhys. He loves aliens, especially the females. He wants to marry one someday in the future. He goes on and on about it to Allen and me. We both listen to his talk, and find it very amusing.

Allen looks back and sees me watching them talking.

"Hey Amelia, where did you go? Did you see us take out the hostile ship?" Allen says, as he sees that I am impressed by their handy work with my clapping gesture.

"Yep, you guys rock!" I say smiling and feeling my temperature gauge rise again at the sight of green Tulloc.

"I'm going to go to the lab to look at the samples we have. I want to get them ready before we get home to Earth," I say trying to not obviously look at Tulloc. His eyes are wanting me again. He smiles at me, and probably senses my raised temperature.

As I walk away to the lab, I sense the alien's eyes penetrating my body. I feel Tulloc watching me go down the center of the ship, and left into the lab. He wants me, and I must stay away, for both of us.

_"You can't help what you're attracted to!"_

## Chapter 5

# Tulloc

_"Humans are nice."_

The female walks away to the lab, to check the specimens collected from our planet Zunov. I sit here with the male humans called Allen and Rhys, and I like them.

They are busy working on their codes for the journey home to their Earth, and they are good fighters destroying that Darenoid craft who is our enemy. I know they are good, these humans, because they give me food and clothes freely, without extra thought. What I don't know is why they want our rocks and plants and natural things from Zunov. The female knows. She seems to be in charge, which is unusual. On our planet, Zorg females are well respected, but are not allowed to be in charge. They get too bossy. Zorg females like to bicker about the males and the gossip is unwarranted at times. They are never in charge.

I gesture to Rhys that I will go to the lab. He smiles at me and looks at his pictures on his screen. I don't know when he got the time to take all of those pictures of female aliens. He seems to like the blue ones best. I am familiar with some of them, but not the metallic ones he has. He must be giving his cock to a lot of females after he takes their pictures. Or maybe he is just researching them.

I walk to the lab and knock on the glass, using my best smile. The female is wearing something over her hearing nodules. She can't hear my knock. I will wait and look at her. She is bending forward to see the cartan crystals that have been gathered from our planet. She has funny glass rings in front of her eyes, which are held on by blue plastic, that sit over her hearing nodules.

I try a wave, and she looks up at me now. Her core temperature has normalized. She smiles and takes the glass off her head that covers her eyes.

I walk into the lab and she touches my green top limb, called an arm in human terms, I believe.

"Tulloc, can you please tell me about these beautiful crystals?" she says with her sweet, smelling breath.

"Melia. This crystal heals illness and it is called a cartan crystal. You lay it at your feet when you sleep, and in the new day you will be well," I say looking at the creamy skin around her full mouth.

"So, it heals anything. What about skin problems, or diabetes?" she says eagerly. Her chest lumps are moving up and down gently as she speaks to me.

"Melia. It heals anything. I don't know what skin is, unless you mean the hide of a being. We have a green, thick hide. The Zorg's don't have illness or dia beeeteees. The crystals make us well," I say, still looking at the mesmerizing chest lumps.

"Tulloc, if this is true we need to test it. I have nothing wrong with me, but Allen has diabetes, and Rhys gets a skin problem called psoriasis," she says smiling at me.

Melia moves forward and wraps her arms around my body, very tightly. She is squeezing with all of her strength. I like it very much.

"I'm hugging you Tulloc, put your arms around me and hug me back," she says waiting.

"My limbs are hugging too," I say as I hold her middle. I want to touch her all over.

She keeps squeezing, and I give her a squeeze back. My manhood hardens as she pulls away after a short time.

"There Tulloc, now you can hug!" she says picking up two cartan crystals.

She grabs my hand and we race to the bridge where Allen and Rhys sit at their computers. My body is tingling from being next to her, and it seems she thinks I am her friend. The females on Zorg do not touch the males in affection, unless we give them our cock in gratitude. That is the only time we touch.

"Hey guys you've got to try something tonight. Tulloc told me these crystals heal anything, and any illness. You just have to lay them at your feet when you sleep every night," she says quickly.

The males get given a crystal each and they seem happy with the idea. Allen and Rhys look over them with intrigue.

"Well if my diabetes goes away and I don't need insulin, then we will become overnight millionaires," says Allen, as he places the crystal down.

"I will kiss you if my skin condition goes away Tulloc," says Rhys winking at me.

"That will be unnecessary," I say. "We don't get sick on Zunov and I don't want a kiss from you," I say.

I hope he understands. I like females only. My equipment won't get hard for males.

"It's a figure of speech Tulloc," says Rhys laughing.

Melia grabs my hand and we race back to the lab. I feel like we have been best friends for years. My body tingles as I smell her and watch her big, brown eyes light up in excitement. She smells like the rain on crops after sun showers. I am not used to the affection from a female kind. She is different to what I am used to. Zorg females are harsh, and do not like males, except when they use their cocks.

We get to the lab and Melia looks at me with her brown eyes. Her black head of fur is touching her chest lumps on the front of her garment. She wears a pink silk woven garment over them, with a lace lump holder that fits over the lumps. Then underneath I see the creamy, soft "skin," that she has. With a nobbly part in the center. Very unique indeed.

She pulls me to stand at the table of her samples, and she is still holding my hand. She lets go and points to the other samples.

"Tulloc what else is useful here on the table?" she says, placing the glass things back on her eyes again.

"Why do you wear glass on your eyes, Melia?" I say intrigued by her human beauty and smartness.

"I have a problem with my eyes, and I can't see close up very well. My glasses help me to see better," she says with hand sat firmly on my shoulder.

"Well, the crystals will fix it as you sleep tonight. You won't need them anymore," I say, looking at her cheeks that have dimply bits pressing in.

I look into her eyes as she blinks. Her sweet smell invites me in and I want to be close to her. I try to hold my cock from getting hard, but it is no use. I think it may stay erect forever, when I am in her presence.

"Tulloc, about before, I mean about earlier. I think it's nice that you offer your, ummm well your equipment. It's just that humans don't act like that. They go on dates and get to know each other first," she says in a lower, softer tone.

"Oh really? Why don't you like it? I know it is green and you must be used to creamy ones. Don't you like to sit on a well-equipped male and pleasure yourself," I say touching my large, protruding shaft.

"I am sure it's lovely, for Zorg females, and I know that it looks ummm, well inviting, but I would be acting selfishly to just have your, your umm cock," she says slightly nervous with the leakiness starting up between her bottom limbs, again.

"I give it as a gift, whenever you like. I would like to lick your chest lumps if that is alright," I say looking at her chest and licking my mouth in earnest anticipation.

"Tulloc, thank you. For now, let's just hug each other to show how much we like each other. Then you can help me sort the samples out. Okay?" she says with a kind and endearing smile.

"Yes Melia, for now we hug, and another time when you like - you can have my big, green manhood while I lick your chest lumps. That sounds agreeable," I say flicking my tongue in anticipation.

"Intruder, intruder," says the ship's computer.

Melia looks up at me grabbing my hand. We must be going to see Rhys and Allen again at the front of the spaceship. I run with her as her body temperature increases, and her breath gets quicker as we go.

The two males are on the computer and looking at some big dots on the screen.

"There are two unknown intruders in the cargo hold, at the back of the ship. They are armed and moving towards us quickly," says Rhys out of breath.

"I'm getting too bloody old for this," says Allen locking the doors from the cargo hold that lead into the rest of the ship.

"Let me kill them. If it's Darenoid's they'll be relentless, and bomb your ship with grenades," I say looking at the two high temperature males.

Melia nods her head and leads the way holding my hand again. There is no time for talking. They will be planting the bombs. We continue running, and we are at the end of the ship now, and I can sense Melia's wet spots. They are on her head, and under her top limbs. She is leaking a lot.

"Melia, run and tell Rhys to open the door," I say quickly.

Melia nods at me and continues back to the males on the bridge. I wait patiently as the door goes up swiftly in front of my eyes.

I move behind a small shuttle and hide to spy on the Darenoids. There are two mean fighters and they are looking to plant their bombs before they leave, and then set them off when they get back to their space craft.

I lock my eyes on to the first one. My eyes turn red and get ready for laser shooting - and I shoot deliberately to kill.

"Pow, pow," it's a direct hit, and the first one flops to the floor.

The other one has noticed me. I lock on again. My eyes continue with unlimited laser strikes.

"Pow, pow," I got him. Yes! clean on the torso.

I check around for bomb placement but there is nothing found around. I check the bags they carry and it seems they are all still inside. I can manually open the trash compartment, and I send the dead Darenoid's out into the vastness of space. Their blue bodies and bombs go out into the cold air around the humans' ship.

I lock the hatch and run back through to the bridge, where Melia, Rhys and Allen sit with coffee. They have made one for me in a cup that says, "Aliens are cool," and it is green just like the color of my hide.

"You rock, my alien friend," says Rhys smiling.

"Oh, thank God you're alright," says Melia, looking at my body up and down, and hugging me tightly.

"Thanks, Tulloc," says Allen looking relieved.

My friends are proud of my fighting work. Melia will get my hard, green cock and the other two my long-life friendship. This could be a fun ride to Earth.

We must be careful of the Darenoids as we travel back to the planet, they call Earth. These pirates will do anything to get what they want. I must look after Melia and the males. They seem to depend on my lasers. They might also need the crystals too.

"Ughhhhh, yuck," I say, taking the first sip of my coffee.

The other three laugh out, as loudly as they can. From the inside of their warm bellies.

_"Humans are nice."_

## Chapter 6

# Amelia

_"Um, is it supposed to do that?"_

Thank God, those Darenoid aliens were killed. I mean I don't want to hurt any living thing because I love animals and people...and even aliens that come on to me with flirtatious gestures. Seriously though, what gives those space creatures the right to jump on our ship and try to blow us up? The nerve of it all.

'm in my quarters looking at the cartan crystal at the end of my bed. It is glowing a bright yellow hue. The color is similar to Tulloc's eyes.

I still can't believe that he can change his eyes from yellow to burnt orange for "healing," and then they go red and shoot lasers out. Wow! whoever their Zorg God is, was definitely a creative one. Then there's the green hide skin and lizard eyelids that flick over the eyes. Oh, and there is the long, thin tongue that seems to belong more to a reptile. Ha, and then the green equipment that is there just for a female's pleasure. Oh my Lord!

Gee God, you certainly were boring with the human males. They just have normal eyes, a bad sense of humor and a simple piece of equipment that they use at their discretion. Especially when they take matters into their own hands.

I still can't imagine what the female Zorg's are like. Tulloc seems to look at my breasts and my vagina more than the 'normal' amount, that human males do. I wonder if their females are ugly, or have the same green skin. I hope to God they don't offer their vagina to a male everytime they want to thank them! The whole idea is really silly. Giving your sexual organs to someone else for their pleasure. Like prostitution without the monetary pay-off.

I should probably stop thinking about all of this cultural stuff, and get on with healing my eyesight when I sleep. Surely it won't really work, though. I must admit that Tulloc looks near perfect in his health. His muscular outset is very similar to the human male body, except for the large, lizard eyes, long tongue, green hide and very large, pulsating cock. His gift to me, whenever I want it!

Ugh seriously, I feel like I am in a movie. A male alien that wants to pleasure me without anything in return. Healing crystals that heal absolutely everything. Two of my best friends becoming friends with the alien, and reall-life space invaders coming to destroy our ship. Oh, yes, I definitely need some rest. It all seems very surreal. Normally we are very bored as we collect the samples. Unless we find some interesting minerals or plant life.

Okay, so I have got my electric blanket on, and my alarm is set with Bob the computer and now I just have to take off my dressing gown and brush my teeth.

As I walk down out of my room to the opposite bathroom, Rhys is coming out with towel around his waist and his bathroom bag.

"Night Amelia, Tulloc is sound asleep in the lab already. I gave him an extra blanket," so I'll see you tomorrow babe.

"Thanks Rhys, good on you. I have had enough of aliens for one day," I say smiling as he walks down the hall.

Oh, damn, I forgot my toothbrush and toothpaste. I need to go and get it. As I turn to my room Tulloc stands right in front of me. I walk straight into him as he hugs me tightly, in my silk nightie. His arms are giving the perfect amount of pressure, and I let my arms slide around his back too.

He continues the hug and says, "Melia I had to hug you goodnight. I know you do this before bed because Rhys told me."

Bloody Rhys, he's loving this. I am gonna get him back tomorrow. What else has he told him? I can't even begin to imagine!

"Thank you Tulloc," I say. "You Zorg males really love affection," I say exhausted and moving my arms away to look into his eyes.

Tulloc stands in the doorway without movement. Smiling with his huge yellow eyes, straight into mine. They are turning pink. A dark shade of rose pink.

"Tulloc your eyes are going dark pink," I say as I watch them in amazement. It's like the sunset sky.

"Yes Melia, they go that color when Zorg's are happy. I am happy that I found you here," he says with head tilted.

He looks like a little puppy that has seen a ball for the first time. Curious and excited at the same time.

"Can we have some milk before bed. I like milk and Rhys gave me some before," he says excitedly.

"Yes sure. Go to the kitchen and I'll be there in a minute," I say, still taken by the beautiful creamy color in his eyes.

Tulloc turns and walks down the hall into the kitchen, and he is wearing some of Rhys' Spiderman pyjamas. It looks so funny, really. A big alien child trapped in tight super hero pj's. I would love to take a picture and send it to Samantha back home. She would find it very amusing.

I go and grab my toothpaste and brush, and quickly brush my teeth. I make my way down the hall and see Tulloc looking at the goldfish in the aquarium in the center of the room.

As I pour the milk in the biggest glass I can find, Tulloc turns around to face me, and he bumps me in the chest with his shoulder. I put the milk away, and then I find myself being lifted to the chair. Tulloc's hands are firmly around my waist and I am being placed on the stool, in light speed movement.

"Melia are you alright? I was looking at the golden fish and I bumped you. I am sorry," he says sporting a guilty facial expression.

"I'm fine Tulloc, shit happens sometimes!" I say holding my left breast that is throbbing in extreme pain.

"I will heal you. Close your eyes," he says moving my hand and placing his there on my aching breast.

I close my eyes and the pain is really deep. His hand gets colder and colder, and I feel my nipple harden. I am about to open my eyes when this burst of electricity enters my chest, and right into the pain. I can feel tingling that is like a pulsating renewing the painful tissue.

I keep my eyes closed as Tulloc works his magic. The coldness starts turning to warmth and his hand moves away from my chest.

Opening my eyes, I can see that his eyes are green like crystals, glowing and sparkling with a beautiful glow. He looks at me peacefully, as they change back to the happy color of dark, rose pink.

"You are all better Melia. There would have been a blackish bruise," he says holding my hand firmly.

I am still in disbelief as the awful pain I was experiencing has literally melted away with a beautiful calming effect. It is a feeling that I have never felt before. We sit for a minute or so just enjoying the sensation of each other's energy.

It feels right to be near him, and I get lost in the moment of unbelievable bliss with him now. My entire body feels renewed inside, and Tulloc knows what he has done.

"Tulloc you are a great healer," I say softly, still enjoying the mystical calming effect of it all.

"Yes. I can heal but I am a farmer that grows crops," he says still holding my hand.

"Tulloc don't you know what you are capable of? The universe needs people like you. On Earth, there are so many people who are unwell," I say still feeling amazing.

"Everyone on Zunov tells me I am a great farmer. So, I farm. When it is time to fight, I fight too," he says passionately in the ancient Zunov accent.

"I guess there is no-one to heal if everyone is always well," I say, still in awe of the pain he has just removed.

Tulloc reaches for his milk and drinks it. Gulping every last bit, and holding the glass upside down above his mouth to get every last drop of it. I watch as his long tongue enters the glass and wriggles around to get any missed bits. I can see his muscular arms start to push out of the Spiderman pyjamas. They are way too small.

As his tongue continues to look for milk, I can't help but notice the large bulge in his pants. Even when it's not erect it takes up a lot of room. I laugh to myself about the fact that the alien I just met has already had his hand 'down there' on me. Now, this evening, he has also managed to touch one of my breasts. Ha, that's pretty funny when I think about it.

Tulloc has completely finished lapping up the milk now, and he smiles at me. He walks to the fridge to get another full glass and I smile back at him. Those pyjamas really look hilarious on him. It's kind of like the Incredible Hulk wearing super hero pyjamas.

I watch him gulp a second glass down as his eyes lock onto me. His eyes flick back to yellow again as he looks me up and down. I can feel that he wants me, and I am starting to think that the yellow eyes are for lust, or sexuality.

I can feel that I am turned on by watching him, as my nipples harden and my wet spot does its thing...yet again. Oh, God, get it together Amelia you are not in an alien movie. Or an alien porno movie, I might add!

Shit! I know that Tulloc can sense my arousal, because his equipment is getting harder as he drinks the glass of milk.

"Tulloc, I must ummm go to my bed now. I need to get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning, okay?" I say wishing the opposite, and secretly wanting him to ravage me.

"Alright Melia, sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite! – Rhys taught me that," he says smiling.

I turn to walk away, and I feel his hands around my waist from behind. I am being picked up into the air and squeezed firmly, with his rock-hard cock in my left buttock. I laugh as he sets me back down and I turn around to see him. His eyes are glowing, now.

"Rhys taught me that. It is a bear hug!" he says beaming from ear to ear and now with the dark pink eyes piercing through me again.

"Thanks, Tulloc, now go to bed and get some rest," I say in a motherly tone, that does not sound very convincing at all.

Tulloc heads back to the lab turning to see me every now and again, as he walks. Oh, dear God, my heart is still racing from the bear hug. I wasn't expecting it! Rhys is a terrible role model. Imagine he teaches him his jokes as well. I find myself laughing quite loudly as I make my way to my room, with my heart slowing down to normal pace. This alien sure is full of surprises.

My body feels completely peaceful as I lay down under the covers. I still can't believe how wonderful I am feeling after the healing. I must tell no-one else about his gift though. He is after all a farmer that grows crops. Fighting only when he has to.

Okay the cartan crystal is in position, and now all I need to do is get some sleep. Goodness only knows what tomorrow will bring. Tulloc is a very interesting specimen indeed. And I can learn a lot from his culture and the Zorg species. I hope he doesn't mind coming along for the ride. Spiderman pyjamas! God Rhys, you really do have a great sense of humor.

_"Um, is it supposed to do that?_

## Chapter 7

# Tulloc

_"Trust your senses, always."_

So, I seem to be awake earlier than the others and I sense that something is wrong. I move to the bedroom quarters and I see that Rhys, Allen and Melia are sleeping. I can feel that something is wrong on the ship, so I move to the bridge.

The computer called Bob is not sounding the alert, but I can sense something wrong from my sensory gland. My sensory gland is heating quickly, detecting something, and I sense that someone or something is on board.

In the kitchen, I think. I am moving there now, and hiding behind the metallic wall. I hear a buzzing sound, so I wait.

"BZZZZ, bzzzz," the sound is piercing my hearing glands. I don't know what it is. I peer into the room but I can't see anything really. I have heard this sound before. It is a Darenoid drone, that is unable to be picked up by the ship's sensors.

The technology of the drones is not extremely clever, except for the avoidance of being picked up by advanced computer systems like Bob's. I know he is hovering and I will have to be quick to destroy it with my lasers. Thankfully the drone does not sense me yet.

Usually, they flit around quickly from room to room, but this one remains in the kitchen. I can still hear the whirring of the motor. If it senses me, and it will poison me with ardastin arrows if it locks on. The tips are soaked in ardastin berry juice and are poisonous to Zorg's, and many other species. I must kill it before the others wake up.

I peek into the room and I see it near the space window. It seems to be stuck in the blind, called a venetian. Rhys told me that name. Its camera sensors are facing the window so it can't see me. I must move quickly and destroy it, now.

I move behind the golden fish aquarium, and change my eyes to red. I am locking on now. Target ready, aim...

"Pow, pow, pow, pow," the lasers hit the drone as it explodes onto the kitchen floor.

My aim has destroyed it well. I must now wake the others before the sending ship or ships, send more traps our way. I must protect the others and warn them about the immense danger we are in. Darenoids usually travel in a fleet of fighter crafts, so they can attack any prey they come into contact with. There could be as many as forty ships cloaked and undetected.

I wake the two males first. Rhys lays comfortably in his bed with his golf pyjamas on. He smiles at me and alerts Allen who sleeps in the next-door bedroom quarters.

"Go and wake Melia," says Rhys as he changes into other garments.

I run down the hall toward Melia's room, but she is not there. I see that the bathing room is shut, so I bang and alert her of the hostile enemies.

"Melia, we need you to come out, I have killed a Darenoid drone and we may be under attack," I say with sensors on.

Melia calls out, "I will be right there Tulloc," she says as a sweet watery scent fills my smelling glands.

She must be putting her garments on. So, I race back to the bridge to help Allen and Rhys. They have started scanning but nothing is showing up. These Darenoids are clever.

"Allen scan for asteroid particle beams," I say knowing how the Darenoids hide under their cloaks.

"Yes Tulloc, the beams are coming on main screen now. They are pink and yellow," says Allen pointing to the large screen.

There is a swirl of beams that are circular and should be straight. They would normally point horizontally and vertically in all directions. When they hit a Darenoid ship, they are not able to penetrate their cloaking shields. They leave circles of black, which signal ships that are cloaked.

"I see eight circles there Allen," I say.

"Tulloc you're a genius," says Rhys as he locks onto the hostile ships' co-ordinates.

"You must do it now," I say, "before they lock and fire on us. They seem to be scanning us now," I say, looking at the green color emanating from the circles on the big screen.

"Pachew, pachew, pachew, pachew," goes the bright blue argon lasers.

The beams from the asteroid particle beams go back to normal. They are now horizontal and vertical. The ships uncloak as they explode in the front of screen.

"Right on Tulloc!" says Rhys as he hits Allen's hand.

"You are amazing, Tulloc. Thank you, again you have saved our lives," says Allen scanning for more beams.

"You must always scan the asteroid beams," I say to the males.

I continue looking at the main screen to see if there are more hostile ships. I sense something behind me, now. It is Melia, and she smells like rangarberry flowers.

"So, what did I miss my brilliant three boys," she says placing her hand on my back.

She smells so unbelievably euphoric. I want to touch her and give her my cock.

"We killed some bad ass Darenoid alien dudes," says Rhys smiling.

"If it wasn't for Tulloc we would be annihilated," says Allen walking to get coffee.

Melia looks at me, and my eyes are still glowing red, because I am in fighter mode. I place my arms around her and lift her up in a bear hug to celebrate. She is wearing a dress garment with colored flowers, and she has put her fur up in a "pony tail," I think it is called.

"Tulloc, put me down, you're ticking my ribs, you cheeky thing!" she says laughing and giggling at me.

I leave her in the air for just a bit longer because she giggles and it makes me feel happy. The female Zorg's don't do that. They never really laugh at anything. They are too busy trying to outsmart us males with their fighting plans.

"Melia, you look very flowery," I say, licking my lips and feeling my eyes change back to dark pink again.

"Thanks, Tulloc, you look very, well... handsomely green," she says still giggling from my bear hug.

"Thank you, Melia," I say happily.

"Let's go to the lab and you can tell me more, after breakfast. We should eat first," she says taking my hand, and leading me to the kitchen.

I wonder why these human females are so affectionate in terms of touch. I am not used to being handled, unless it's for sexual interaction. Which usually lasts about five minutes, and then the Zorg female nods the head in gratitude. There is no hand holding or hugs.

I like Melia touching me, and I know when she wants me from the moistness of her wet spot and her chest lump nipples, that get erect when touched.

The Zorg females have one sexual duct that opens for the male cock. It does not get lubricated at all. It is large when aroused, then clings onto the manhood during the intercourse session, with little nodes pulsating for pleasure.

I want to ask Melia about sex in the human way. That way when she uses my manhood for her pleasure I know what to do so she feels good.

Actually, I might ask Rhys instead.

"Melia, I need to see Rhys. I meet with you in the lab later," I say, excited to learn more about pleasuring a female human.

"Okay, sure thing Tulloc," says Melia cooking her bread, and making stinky coffee.

I make my way hurriedly to the bridge where I sit next to Rhys. Allen is in the cargo bay doing a check.

Rhys is looking at his vast array of alien pictures, and he smiles at me. He pats me on the arm and is glad to have my company.

"Rhys, tell me how to pleasure a human female," I say eagerly.

"Hey Tulloc, can you read our language well?" he says, smirking at me with his cheeky grin.

"Yes, I can read it very well," I say waiting for more information.

Rhys leans over to the computer I sit at, and types into it, "Google," then he clicks the words "sexual intercourse" and clicks into an education page.

"There you are my green friend," he says, getting back to his pictures of female aliens.

As I read the information through, I speed read, hundreds of pages of information. The intercourse is similar to ours on Zunov, except the vagina needs to be lubricated, and there is a distinct mechanism called the clitoris. According to many pages, I must find the clitoris to give my female human a pleasure that is called an orgasm.

On Zunov, the same pleasure is called a serenta, and occurs for the male and the female. The Zorg male lets color fly into the female when mating only. That color mechanism can be switched off when no offspring is required.

Rhys leans over and clicks on, "images" to show me explicit photographs of the human interaction called sexual intercourse. He is still smiling and smirking. Sometimes, he looks behind us to make sure, "the coast is clear." I don't really know what that phrasing means, but I think he doesn't want Amelia to see us looking at sex pictures.

I look at many videos of the sex taking place "online." The Google page seems to have a lot of information on the topic, and YouTube as well. For the videos, I am wearing, "headphones," so I can only hear the sounds of the video.

I find that my green cock rises a lot when I watch the videos, and I get very "horny," is what Rhys calls it. There are many very beautiful female humans on the pages, and in the videos. Some of them doing lots of different movements to get pleasure from the males and their manhood.

Some of the females like to pleasure the males with their mouth and hands. That does not happen on Zunov, because the males are only there to pleasure the females. Unless we are partnered for life, then something might be arranged. Actually, to hava a serenta, we usually touch ourselves without female help at all.

As I continue to watch the videos, I wonder what Melia likes to do. I wonder if I should touch her clitoris, and find the G-spot? I will try to surprise her when she least expects it. I might be lucky enough to get some "action" from her. Rhys calls it that. He likes getting action.

Rhys flicks my page off as Melia comes up behind us on the bridge. Rhys has done lots of secret looking on Google and YouTube, and he knows how to, "not get caught."

My cock is very hard from all the looking at female humans having sex. Melia walks and holds my shoulder, leaning over to look at her computer in front of me.

"Excuse me Tulloc, I just need to check my inventory spreadsheet," she says, as she leans against me, her chest lumps wobble next to my eyes.

"It's okay Melia," I say, obviously erect at her presence.

She continues looking through the spreadsheet as I continue to smell her body. My permanent, "erection" is always there when she is around. I want to have sex with her so she can have my green equipment, and then I can find the clitoris and the G-spot. I see that her nipples are hard, and her wet spot is leaking again, right now. Is it the spreadsheet that turns her on?

"Thank you Tulloc," she says standing upright again.

She hugs me tightly and I hug her back, feeling my erection harden even more. I wonder when she will ask for it? She moves away and turns back to the lab. I am sure she wants to pleasure herself with my warm cock.

I am "checking her out," as she walks in her sexy way.

_"Trust your senses, always."_

## Chapter 8

# Amelia

_"Beautiful. Just beautiful."_

I really need to look at the ardant crystals, and see the similarity in them compared to the cartan ones. The cartan crystals seem to have everything in them which seems the same as far as geological chemical formation, but wait. Oh, there, they have added properties that look just like diamonds. Diamonds! Oh, yes, they are beautiful, wow, these are really rare if they're real.

I need to place them under the sherington microscope to be sure. As I move to the microscope, I hear a loud thud. The ship has been hit by something, and it is hard. I feel my body move and sway from left to right, with the ship.

I race to the bridge to see what's going on. My high heels are getting in the way, and becoming more than annoying. I toss them off and run as the ship moves a hard left and the computer, we call "Bob" sounds the alarm.

"Warning, warning, asteroid belt fast approaching," says Bob in his deep male computerized tone.

I get to the bridge and see the screen is full of asteroids coming straight for us. Tulloc sits between Rhys on the left and Allen sits in concentration on the right.

"Rhys, evasive manouvers," says Allen, demanding movement from the ship.

"The shifter is stuck, and I can't move us from our coded course. The engineering bay is our only hope," says Rhys in his worried and unusually scared sounding tone.

"I'll go, it's in the fargon shaft that needs the placer to be put back, which is under the left portal tank," says Tulloc informatively.

"Yes, Tulloc, like I showed you yesterday. Hurry or our ship will not be saved," says Rhys in a deep concentration.

I sit behind and dare not speak a word, as Allen and Rhys try everything to move the ship from harm. The noise is deafening as some of the smaller asteroids are hitting the ship. I go forward to the comms screen and check the live video feed. I watch Tulloc as he crawls through the small space to get to the fargon shaft. The live video feed is continual.

He moves with light speed through the shaft, and uses a blue beam of light to push the placer back into correct position.

I see that Rhys gains control of the ship again and sends us to another locality through more codes that he enters, very quickly.

I continue to watch Tulloc as he crawls back out of the fargon shaft. His eyes are still a penetrating deep blue. I can't help but notice his strong muscles as he manouvers backwards down and back onto the engineering bay floor. He is covered in dust that makes him look like a powder puff, as he looks around the rest of the engineering bay.

He goes to re-enter the ship but the door is jammed. He waves his hand over the electronic sensor but it won't budge. I see his eyes turn a light purple shade, and the beams penetrate the door lock.

It opens easily, and he is about to walk through the gap.

"Oh, God...nooooo," I say shouting in desperation.

I can't bear to watch as Tulloc is hit in the shoulder with an arrow. There is a drone in engineering that has obviously been placed there by the Darenoids.

Rhys comes to my screen and sees what's happened.

"Follow me Amelia," he says grapping his taser laser.

I run alongside him until we reach the engineering bay. He enters quietly as I wait in the doorway, looking at Tulloc's body on the ground.

There is no movement at all from the green alien. The drone is down the shaft, and Rhys shoots it down before it creates more damage.

"Damn, that's gonna be a real fun mess to pick up," says Rhys walking over to me as I crouch over Tulloc's lifeless body.

"Rhys he's not moving," I say in a panic.

"Go and get Allen, and we can move him to the lounge area. He'll be alright, don't worry," says Rhys as he checks for breath.

I meet Allen halfway down the corridor as he runs to help Rhys with Tulloc. Everyone's mood is sad, like we've lost a part of the crew we've known for years. I race to the front computer on the bridge to look up natural remedies to help him with a cure.

I see pages and pages of information coming up, and then I see the article, "Darenoid Drone Poisoning for Zorg Recovery."

As I read through, I get to the recipe for the poultice I need to make. Ten raren berries, eight cartan crystals and three fardent leaves. Yes, yes I have all of those in the lab so I can make the poultice. Thank God.

I race past Allen and Rhys in the lounge who are sitting exhausted, drinking coffee. Tulloc lies nearby on the sofa, where they have placed him.

"I can fix him guys, be back in a jiffy," I say, still with no high heels on, and running.

I grab everything I need and add two spoons of water to mix it all up. It smells earthy and musty like the leaves decaying in a rainforest.

Tulloc is laying near the other two men, who look like someone has been lost forever. Allen is close to tears.

I gently pull the small arrow out from Tulloc's shoulder where it pierced in about an inch into his green hide. I rip the shirt he wears and put poultice on the wound. As I do, I notice the peaceful way he breathes. He is such a gentle giant, that would do anything to help us. A very noble Zorg.

I finish the poultice and tape it on with medical tape, and I go to the bathroom to get some water and a bath cloth to wash his face and torso, as his temperature increases from fighting the poison. But still, there is no movement in our green, alien friend. So, I sit and I wait next to him while the poultice enters his blood stream.

Allen and Rhys go back to the bridge to make sure there are no more alien threats to our ship. We can't afford anymore hostility, and the Darenoids obviously mean business when they do their handy work.

As I drink my fifth cup of hot coffee and start to drift to sleep, I hear a moan from Tulloc, who wakens with dull, yellow eyes. The green hide is also pale compared to normal, as he tries to sit himself up on the sofa, now.

"Tulloc, you're alright," I say smiling - but still concerned.

"Melia, I can't see you. There is only a blurry outline," says Tulloc reaching for me.

I hold his hands and edge my body closer to him, and he holds me hugging as tight as he can. I am taken by his affection which seems very genuine and unexpected. We hold each other close, for the longest time.

"Melia, did you kill the drone, or do I need to find it?" says the green, unwell alien, still trying to be the hero.

"Rhys shot it and it went into a million pieces," I say squeezing his torso in a hug.

My body starts to go all melty again, because he is very attractive. It's not just the physical aspects, but the emotional caring he takes to ensure our well-being is very much a turn on to me. I just can't help but think he is amazing.

"Melia, the poison will kill me soon" he says as he lies back down.

"Oh no it will not, I read all about it and the poultice will make you well again," I say, determined in my thinking.

Tulloc tries a smile as he holds my hand. His green head lies down and he falls to sleep, because he is still overcome by the poison.

I walk to the linen cupboard and get a light blanket to place over him. I still can't believe he is alive, and I know I must go to the bridge to see the other two men. They will be ecstatic that Tulloc is alright. Especially Rhys who has been showing him porn on my work computer!

When I get to the bridge, Allen and Rhys are sitting at their computers.

"He's alright, "I say, "he's exhausted but alright," I continue as I pick up their empty coffee cups.

"Awesome, says Rhys, "I'd love a coffee, thanks Amelia!" he continues on with a thumbs up.

"Amelia, I have reconfigured the scanners to detect the asteroid beams so they give warning if they change to circular streams. We should avoid more trouble that way," he says pointing to the large bridge, computer screen.

"Great, I'll get you boys a coffee refill," I say, making my way back to the large kitchen.

As I make my way to the kitchen, I decide to look in the fridge for more cake. The boys could use a slice of my pavlova to lift their exhaustion. We never like being invaded by aliens, and it's so terrifying because their technologies and capabilities are always different and usually unexpected.

I still can't get my head around Tulloc. He acts like a hero so easily, but his affection seems so far from the image of a fighter. He is strong, brave and definitely a super hero, but he lacks that cocky, I'm so good attitude that most fighters and soldiers usually have. The kind where the ego takes over and all the good elements turn crappy. You know, when they act like Gods.

"Oh God, this pavlova is so good," I say licking the cream off of my fingers as I cut three slices.

I think about Tulloc so far, and what he has said to me. In the scheme of things, he is not really unlike a kind human being, really. Ha! I am still laughing about his gift of the green cock which I may use anytime for my own pleasure! Mmmm actually, that doesn't sound too bad, really. I have never had such an offer.

I think more now about his hard equipment that he touches so easily in innocence. He likes me and tells me that by his physical and emotional attraction. The males on Earth aren't always in touch with their emotional side, so this is a breath of fresh air for me.

I have dated a few guys on Earth, but they all want to take care of their needs, mostly. None of them really wanted to care for me, emotionally. It's not that I want much, just a friend and lover who wants to be around me. I really love the idea of falling for a guy that wants me physically and emotionally as well.

I finish my piece of pavlova and sip my yummy coffee. I imagine myself in Tulloc's arms as my imagination allows him to enter me. We kiss passionately as I moan in pleasure. My body rocks as he moves inside holding me firmly as he lays on top. He is so warm and allows me to feel every thrust that goes deeper inside me.

Wow, it has been a really long time since I, well since I had sex, and my body tingles as I think about his strong, muscular physique.

Mmmm, shit! I better take the boys their coffee and cake!

_"Beautiful. Just beautiful."_

## Chapter 9

# Tulloc

_"They don't understand."_

I am waking after being shot in the shoulder by the Darenoid drone. The other three humans do not understand how desperate the Darenoids are to pirate foreign space craft. I am angry at all of them for their stupidity.

How can they come so far from their home on planet Earth without thinking about alien hostiles? If I smell anymore of that coffee, I will have to confiscate it from the inbreeds. These humans look like a cross between the Gerrs and the Runtars. They have no fighting skills and take natural resources from other planets. How dare they!

I still can't explain my attraction to the black furry headed one. Melia is a hopeless fighter that lets males do all the work. She is more interested in natural specimens and painting her face with "make-up" to care about me.

I have offered her my large green cock, which is one of the finest specimens on our planet, but still she denies it. She is the first female to ever say "no" to such a unique piece of pleasuring equipment. She is hiding something from me.

Only Zorg's are truly honest about their real feelings, and humans are sly and sneaky. They don't tell you the truth. Their physical body screams out for pleasure but still they pretend that there is no impact. I must find a way back to my home and help Chollo with our fighting cause, against the evil Darenoids.

The female enters the room now. Her fur dangling over her chest lumps and wearing another "dress" colored in blue. I will see when she can get me home. She shames me by not utilizing my offered manhood, so now I will use her to get my needs met. To get home as quickly as possible, and back to planet Zunov.

"Tulloc, how are you feeling?" she says smiling that fake smile.

I look at her with contempt, as she leans in to touch me.

"Melia, take me home, I do not wish to be on this ship any longer," I say angrily.

"Tulloc, what is the matter with you," she says looking puzzled.

"Your ship is not equipped to fight the Darenoids, and you humans cannot fight. Take me home, and do it quickly," I say raising my voice to get the point across to the mere human.

"Tulloc, I don't know what has gotten into you, but yelling at me is not necessary. We need to get a part from Earth, remember?" she says sneakily, still avoiding my request.

"Get out of here until you can tell me I am going home!" I say.

She has a wet spot draining from her eye and she walks out of the room, leaking.

I don't know why these humans leak so much, it is very unusual. There must have been some fault in the planning. Their God creator must have not been thinking straight when he designed them, or maybe he was unfinished when he started.

Now let me get these garments off, they are restricting my body from healing.

She'd better come back with the news that I can go home soon, otherwise I will tip out their coffee and eat the golden fish in the kitchen. Then there will be some more darn leaking out from their eyes.

I can see Melia is coming back down the hall with a bowl of food for me. I am hungry but I don't want to accept anything from these inferior humans that cannot fight. She can't even use my cock when offered. I mean who do they think they are? Ungrateful humans.

"Tulloc I have some suntin soup for you, and I made it like they do on Zunov," says Melia, smiling.

"I bet it tastes like burrins, without flavor and without any salt," I say sniffing it.

She sits near me as I eat it. It tastes alright but needs more salt.

"Get me salt, woman," I say waiting.

She runs out of the room and comes back with a salting stick. I add it now, and eat it up quickly. There is also bread, to dip into it and I eat that too.

"More," I say, passing my bowl to her.

Melia says nothing and walks out of the lab with my bowl. I wait and she comes back with more and there is also more bread, too.

I eat the entire serving which is in an enormous plastic bowl. I am looking at the human female as she watches me eat, and without conversation.

"Now get out," I say laying down to sleep.

The female human takes my plate from the bread, and my bowl, and leaves me alone to rest. There are no leaking spots on her now. Maybe she "Googled" it and worked out a way to fix it up.

I am resting now for a bit, from the fullness of my belly. My shoulder pain is nearly healed.

Waking up after a time, I feel quite different to before. Well, where is everyone? The last time I saw Melia was when she...oh shit! as the humans would say. Was I really that rude to her? It seems like an unreal dream.

I hope she knows the reason for it, I must find her and explain. Oh, no, she must hate me.

I walk down the corridor and look down to the bridge. Rhys and Allen are busy on their computers. I take a left turn and find Melia in the kitchen. She is cooking eggs and bacon for breakfast. It smells yummy.

As she walks to the fridge she spots me and smiles.

"Feeling better grumpy pants?" she says with one hand on her hip.

"Melia, I am sorry for my rudeness. The poison changes the behavior of Zorg's," I say leaning toward her.

"Yes, I know, I read up on it after you were rude the first time. Don't worry about it now," she says turning the bacon over.

"Can I have some too?" I ask with a rumbling belly.

"Yes of course, I have done Rhys and Allen's, and this lot is for us," she says flipping the eggs over in the hot frying pan.

I sit and watch as Melia cooks breakfast for us. I wonder how she can be so forgiving to me after I treated her so terribly. She really is different to the Zorg females. They would still hold a grudge, for an eternity, and then use it as emotional ammunition to control us.

Actually, not many Zorg's partner for life because of the behavior gap between the genders. The Zorg females prefer to live in a community of other females.

Melia treats me the same, despite my gender. I mean Rhys definitely sees females as pretty things to look at, but he still treats Melia nicely. I like this equal gender idea. We need to learn and use it on our planet.

"Eggs and bacon is up, my fine friend," says Melia serving my plate to me.

"Thank you," I say shaking my head to the offered coffee.

Melia laughs, as she knows I don't like it. It is far too smelly and acidic for my liking. She opens the fridge and pours me a huge glass of white milk, then she adds two big spoons of "Milo" to it. Yum, I love the way she makes it especially for me.

I continue watching her as she eats her breakfast and sips her coffee. Her fur that sits on her head wiggles near her chest lumps, as she eats and speaks to me about the samples.

"The cartan crystals have healed us all, Tulloc," she says with big, brown eyes beaming at me.

"They are so wonderful, and they grow out of control on Zunov," I say, explaining more.

We sit and fill our bellies with the magic called bacon and eggs. Melia tells me that the bacon is not from the animal called a pig, but a modified version that tastes the same. She tells me how humans used to kill animals for meat, but then they came up with a technology to synthesize the flavors. The animals did not have to suffer for food necessities any longer.

I listened to how they used to drive on roads and listened to music that was called rock and R and B. Everything sounded so different from our way of life on Zunov.

Actually, Zunov was purposely left natural so it could be farmed for generations to come. The technology and science is allocated to one part of the planet, so the rest of it can sustain itself naturally. Ensuring it for generations to come.

Also, our democracy allows everyone to succeed in business. It is not taxed, and we may earn as much as we like from trade with other planets. We save our money made from trade and spend it on travel to other planets, garments or luxurious food delicacies from other alien traders. We live in peace, except for the Darenoids and our Zorg women, who like to criticize us for the mere sake of it.

Melia places our dirty dishes into the spacewasher that cleans all of them for us, it is easily done and without any effort. I look at her backside and imagine it sitting on my hard, green equipment. Rhys tells me this is a favored position that is enjoyed by many women. It allows the cock to go deeper into the wetness, and enhances stimulation for their pleasure.

The other favorite is called "the missionary," but Rhys still has to explain this. We got interrupted when we were discussing this one sitting at the bridge. Rhys knows everything there is to know about sex and positioning. He studies it every day.

"Melia what is your favorite sex position?" I say in curiosity.

Melia walks over to me and kisses my cheek.

"Wouldn't you like to know!" she says, as she laughs at me.

Mmmm, I watch her cleaning up the bench and think of her being pleasured more by me. I must remember to find the clitoris and not forget the G-spot, when we finally get together for some "action," as Rhys calls it.

I think she would like many things from me, but I must wait until she asks for it. I have offered my cock, and now I must politely wait for her wanting of it. I hope it's soon, because I know I can do many of the things shown on Google and YouTube. Yes, I can definitely make her do the moaning that happens from sexual pleasure.

"Tulloc, you mustn't listen to everything Rhys says," she explains wiping the bench.

She is trying to give me kind advice, as her eyes are glistening with genuine meaning.

"Okay Melia. Is he not telling the truth?" I question.

"Yes, he tells the truth, but he will also show you cheeky things which are a bit naughty. You don't have to look at anything you don't want to see," she says smiling her pink lips at me.

I nod my head and realize that she knows I am a "sex maniac," like Rhys calls himself.

"I am just learning," I say smiling at her, glowing my dark pink, happy eyes.

She looks at me with hands on hips.

"Okay Tulloc, I hope you understand," she says in sincerity.

"Oh yes Melia, I am not a sex maniac like Rhys. I am just learning how to pleasure you when you ask for my manhood," I say in honesty.

I see her look at me, and her mouth opens a little more widely. Her temperature is increasing by a few degrees, and she has a definite leak in the wet spot between her legs.

"Umm. I don't know what to say to that, Tulloc. You'll be the first to know when or if I want it though, okay?" she says as her nipples become obviously erect through her dress.

"Sure thing," I say smiling, knowing she wants me by her physical symptoms.

I walk over to the beautiful Melia, and we hug each other firmly for the longest time. My cock wants to enter her, as it protrudes firmly outwards. She is my dearest human friend.

_"Beautiful. Just beautiful."_

## Chapter 10

# Amelia

_"I have a heart."_

So, thankfully Tulloc's behavior wore off quickly. I am glad I researched the side effects of the poison, though. My feelings were quite hurt by his unusual mean communications with me.

I wonder if Rhys had any luck contacting Chollo back on Zunov. Last night during dinner, Tulloc seemed quite worried about him. Well, I will just finish feeding the goldfish and go and see. I am looking forward to seeing Rhys turn the porn off as I enter the bridge! It's hilarious, and makes me giggle every time.

As I sneak through the corridor, Rhys and Allen laugh with each other and they don't see me coming. I run behind them...

"Gaaaa," I shout as they jump in fright.

Rhys has female porn on his screen, and he flicks it over quickly.

"Still researching, Rhys?" I say smiling.

Allen lets out a belly laugh, at him being caught out by me.

"Sucked in, you finally got caught," says Allen, as his laughter belts through the words.

"Yes, and I hear you've been teaching Tulloc how to research too!" I say, patting Rhys on the back in jest.

Rhys smirks at both Allen and me, and goes to make himself a coffee. He is still shocked and a bit embarrassed about getting caught. Surfing porn of the alien and female kind is his favorite pastime, but he'd never admit that, at least not to me.

Allen looks at me as he eats his nuts. Peanuts are his favorite snack. He crunches on them, swallows the mouthful and speaks to me.

"Amelia, we sent a message to Chollo on Tulloc's behalf, but their comms system seems to be down. The Darenoids probably destroyed the Zunov's tower during hostile attacks," he says picking up more nuts.

"Okay thanks Allen. Tulloc is having a shower now. When he is finished, I will play some table tennis with him," I say grinning.

Allen laughs as he imagines the green alien playing such a primitive human game. He and Rhys think Tulloc is a great friend, but they still laugh when he does "human" things.

I go to the gym to meet Tulloc there. This should actually be a lot of fun!

I look through the glass and see that Tulloc is reading the instruction booklet to table tennis. He has a smile on his green alien face as he reads. I wait a few moments as I watch him closely. He doesn't see me looking, and I feel like a teenager, hiding secretly from the boy that I have a crush on.

I can't believe an alien, let alone a green one could have such an impact on me. I feel slightly dizzy from the whole scenario. I am stuck on a space ship with a male who turns me on. Every time he gets near to me, I feel it. My whole body wants him, and I feel like I get tongue tied when I speak.

Actually, it makes it so much worse because I know he likes me back...in a big way. I have seen his cock get hard for me, and he offers himself freely, in every way. Then, he is nice. He wants to talk, to discuss, and to learn. Is this like the nicest guy ever? I mean I don't know many men that are like this on Earth, and I feel like our encounter has been completely honest and genuine.

I mean on a physical level, he looks like a human male in most aspects. He has a body that is generally the same. With muscles and great "equipment," and the major difference is he's green. Then the eyes are larger, and change colors wildly, with eyelids that cross over sideways. Which is more reptilian. The tongue is somewhat longer as well. Ugh Lord, give me strength.

I walk into the gym, and see Tulloc who looks very cute wearing a Rhys inspired Nike tracksuit. His eyes are dark pink for happy.

"Melia, I read the book and I know how to beat you at the table tennis game," he says excitedly.

"Oh good," I say placing my hair up in a ponytail.

We are both set on beating each other as I serve and we play. Tulloc has exceptional skills and uses his eyes to see well as he plays. They have turned a pale brown, which must be for concentration. I wish my eyes would do that!

We play for a long time, until I get out of breath and pause the game to have a cold drink of water. As I stand next to the water cooler, Tulloc leans in to get a cup for himself, and his arm touches the back of my waist. I feel like I am in a weird, romantic movie.

"Sorry, Melia," he says as he fills his cup.

His eyes have changed to a bright red, and he drinks his water. His eyes keep following me as I drink too. The sweat on my brow and my body trickles down over me.

"Melia, your wet spots are always leaking," he says wiping my brow with a towel and smiling.

His breath smells very sweet, and I lean in and kiss his mouth. I cannot help it. The beautiful alien reciprocates and holds my body close to his, and his wet tongue enters my mouth wilfully.

The intoxication from our chemistry is a very euphoric feeling, and my knees weaken as we kiss...French kiss. His arms move over by body in an intense wanting and embrace.

He sweeps me up in his arms and lays me down on the sofa, as his eyes pierce my body with a passion and intensity I have never felt before.

I am under him now as he moves down and unbuttons my white silky shirt. His tongue moves and is licking my nipples in lust. I feel his equipment harden as it presses against me, and I am extremely turned on as he teases my breasts.

His large fingers slide my lace panties aside, and he lets his fingers enter me. He continues kissing my nipples and breasts, while he pleasures me deep inside.

"Oh, Tulloc," I say not believing the intensity as he touches and presses all the right places, inside and out.

His large fingers continue pressing inside me, in and out, and I touch his hard cock as I am pleasured to a point of unbelievable ecstasy.

His fingers go inside and then tease my clitoris wildly and with a definite want and purpose. I can't control my moans as the intensity heightens.

He keeps his fingers inside me as he kisses my lips passionately, I want him to enter me, but I can't help my orgasm from arriving now.

"Oh, oh, God yes," I moan in pleasure, as my body explodes from his servicing.

I am completely in awe of what I have felt, as Tulloc wraps his strong arms around me and holds me in tight.

"You are beautiful, Melia and you had a good orgasm I hope," he says in a genuine tone.

"Yes, you did a great job, that's the best game of table tennis I ever had!" I say laughing at him and blushing.

As I button up my white shirt, I look into Tulloc's eyes. They are glowing a deep ocean blue. I can't help but wonder why they have changed. Does he...

"Tulloc," I say, "your eyes are deep blue," I question as I smile at him.

"It means I am in love with you," he says as he blushes and smiles at me.

"I love you too, Tulloc. Very much," I say earnestly.

As we move into each other's space again, we hold tight in our euphoric state. I am in love with an alien, and I don't care what anyone else thinks of me. He is beautiful and caring, and I am desperately in love.

Tulloc and I make our way to the bridge after getting some food and a coffee. Tulloc has a big glass of cold milk, and I think he is fantastic. He still licked every last bit out with his long tongue. I think it is hilarious. Like a big, green kid he is sometimes.

As we get to the bridge Allen and Rhys are in deep conversation. They seem very serious, and I can't help but feel amazing about my encounter with Tulloc. I listen intently to them now.

"Yes, I know - but Allen, without the caron drivers it's impossible to get into the right position," says Rhys in an argumentative tone.

"Well go and fix them because I want to get home soon. I don't want to wait a lifetime. There will be an extra three months of travel," says Allen impatiently.

As Tulloc and I listen in the background, I feel the intensity in the room. The caron drivers are the thrusters that allow light speed and warp speed to work. Without them our manoeuvring ability is compromised. Allen has a lovely wife and three gorgeous children on Earth, so I can understand his need to get home, quickly.

I sit and look at the silence between Rhys and Allen. They seem to be angry and I hate seeing them like that.

I wink at Tulloc, as I go to the kitchen to get pavlova. After all, who can fight after eating pavlova?

I am a little bit head over heels. No actually, a lot! My brain seems to be disconnected from my body. I don't care if it takes us ages to come home. I have everything I need right here on the ship. Great friends, great food, awesome samples, and a new alien lover!

I cut huge slices of cake and make fresh coffee. Rhys comes in and helps me carry the plates and cups out.

"This will cheer Allen up," says Rhys smiling at me.

We walk carefully to the coffee table and sofa that is located in the center of the bridge. Allen seems calmer as he eyes off the cake and thanks me.

Tulloc loves pavlova too, and his eyes are still illuminated in blue, which signifies his love for me. He continues to look at me with wanting eyes, and I know his feelings are genuine.

Tulloc, eats the pavlova like a true gentleman. He watches us all use a spoon and copies us to create a bond, both consciously and subconsciously. I love how he wants to fit in with us, and I am so glad he didn't die from the Darenoid poison in the drone.

God, I couldn't be happier as I sit with my best friends and my lover, eating pavlova and sipping coffee. Well, Tulloc has a glass of milk, but hey he can't like everything we like!

"Warning, warning. The cake stores have run out," says Bob the computer.

We all burst out in laughter as Rhys enters the code to tell Bob we have heard the message. Even the computer thinks our cake is important. It definitely is, and keeps us sane, as we travel through the coldness and vastness of space.

Tulloc helps me clear the dishes and allows me to show him how to make pavlova. We both wear aprons that match. Mine says, "Lost in the Kitchen," and his says, "Lost in Space!"

As we get through the baking, Tulloc and I kiss and fondle each other like any new lovers would do. We are so happy to spend time together and the feeling is sublime. We talk about our cultural differences, history and his Zorg alien species. We are taken with each other, physically, emotionally and intellectually.

Tulloc looks gorgeous as he places our ready-made pavlova into the cooker, and he senses that I can't keep my eyes off of him. I still imagine the passion we shared so lustfully in the gym. Oh, God it was so damn good. Table tennis is definitely my favorite game!

_"I have a heart."_

## Chapter 11

# Tulloc

_"I love being in love."_

My friends on the ship are very wonderful. My lover Amelia is definitely my best friend. Our encounter in the gym was exciting and very fulfilling. It seems that I am in love, and like the humans, Zorg's cannot help but be changed by true love.

Every waking moment I think about her, and want to kiss her, but we have not told Rhys or Allen. So, it is hard to act "normally" around her, when they are around us.

Pleasuring Melia was better than Google or YouTube, or anything my mind could have manifested. Every inch of her body moved and jolted as I pleasured her. I found the clitoris and the G-spot, which was very satisfying indeed.

I was going to share my knowledge with Rhys, but Melia said that Rhys would learn those things for himself. Apparently, humans don't tell of their encounters, which is unusual. Zorg women tell all the other females in their community about being pleasured. Actually, it is the only time they "sing our praises," as the humans say. It is expected that the Zorg females share their encounters of a sexual nature.

Sometimes I wonder how humans don't burst out their sexual encounters to everyone they know. After all, it is a happy and joyous occasion to feel pleasured by another. The Zorg men do not speak about their encounters, because that is done by the females only. The bragging helps us to enjoy many females. Sometimes we can have eight females in a week, or even more.

If I was going to tell Rhys, I would explain to him that the clitoris is located above the vagina, and that it is very sensitive. I would also explain that the breasts like being fondled and caressed. Licking the nipples is very helpful. I can't explain the feeling of the passion except to say that I feel a chemical bonding that is in human terms called, "euphoric."

Scientifically, the attraction felt is definitely chemical in nature. This affects the "soul" and "heart" of a being, and makes you need and want them, more and more. It is also true for Zorg's, but very rare.

Unbelievably, it is hard to understand why Zorg's don't want to be in love. Really, the body is mostly used as a means to an end. For the distinctive need for female pleasuring, and for mating purposes.

Actually, this is the first time my eyes have turned blue for love. The kind that sometimes never happens to male or female Zorg's in their entire lifetime. I have been with over fifty Zorg females, and none of them were for love. They just used me for pleasure, which is the culture on Zunov.

I would love to mate with my Melia for life, and researching the elements of physicality, it seems we can create life together. I don't exactly know what we would create, but the alien offspring would be loved by us, nevertheless.

I think it would be called a Zuman or a Horg, being a cross between a human and a Zorg. It may be the first of its kind. I will need to discuss it at length with my beautiful Melia. She may not want children, and I am unsure what her needs are for the future.

"Warning, warning," says Bob the computer.

I am sitting in the lab, and the others are located on the bridge. I get up and run through the corridor to find them looking at the screen. The ship is halted and we are next to a worm hole, which has a gravitational pull that signifies the enormity of it.

The atmosphere around it is swirling wildly in purples and blues, and it seems that stars and asteroids have been taken into it without warning. We are close and are slowly being pulled in its direction.

"Shit," cries Rhys trying to place codes into the console.

"I'll do it manually," says Allen, as he takes the manual sensory console.

Melia stands next to me, and I sense her fear. Worm holes are hard to detect by even the newest technology, and they suck in everything that gets too close. Some planets have even been taken and no-one really knows where the matter goes. Entire civilizations have been lost to these strange phenomena.

Allen keeps placing the ship in reverse and we seem to be reversing, slowly but surely.

Rhys is nervous and makes himself a coffee. He does not even talk to Allen who is using every ounce of his concentration.

"Oh God," says Melia as she grasps my hand. Her palms are leaking on mine, as she anticipates the worst.

I have learned mind techniques as an extra curricular subject that was offered as a fighter. With the use of the mind you can achieve and manifest anything that you so wish.

I look at Melia and sit on the sofa in the center of the bridge. She knows I am planning something, as we are very close, emotionally. She lets me move away as she can see I am needed, now.

I close my blue eyes and focus on the imagery of the worm hole. I then imagine Allen using his expertise to reverse the ship, out and away from danger. There can be no doubting that it will happen, and I see the future of us all shouting in happiness. The move is successful in my mind.

I play the winning scenario over and over again. My mind seeing the victory unfold, multiple times.

"It's working," shouts Rhys.

"Yes, yes, good ship," says Allen smiling.

The ship reverses back and everyone shouts, "Hooray!" just as I saw it in my mind.

Melia hugs me tightly, knowing that I was involved. My eyes still brown from the concentration, as Rhys changes our course with manual coding. Allen is leaking from his brow. He takes a deep breath signifying the relief.

Melia decides to get us all some cake to celebrate. This one is called, "Death by Chocolate," where Melia ensures me it is just a name. Actually, it is a sarcastic insinuation denoting the amount of chocolate it contains.

Some of the cultural differences and words have been interesting to me. I find that I laugh at a lot of different phrases that humans use. From Rhys, there is "making out," and "getting some action." Allen says that, "Bob the computer is my home boy" and Rhys is, "a nymphomaniac addicted to porn."

Melia's are, "bloody hell" and, "Oh, God." She likes to use those. Oh, actually all my friends also like to say these too, "shit," "dick head" and "what's up?"

I like the human language called English. It has some funny sayings that make me laugh. The swearing is funny too. Zorg's don't swear at all, and our native language is called Zunovian. Most Zorg's speak over one hundred languages, for trade purposes and because it's easy to master.

Fighters can learn about three hundred different languages, including the differing dialects too. I am surprised at the slang in human English, which I was never taught during my learning timetable, though.

Melia wants me to teach her Zunovian, which she says sounds a little bit German in pronunciation.

Oh, God I definitely love her, but I wonder why she doesn't ask for my cock yet? Mmmm, maybe she is waiting for me to offer it again, or she might be afraid of becoming pregnant. Either way, I would like to discuss it with her, because every time I see her it stands to attention. She arouses my chemical sensations, even during dinner time.

Tonight, we are having pot roast and Melia will get me to help her cook. Rhys and Allen do not seem to have any interest in helping to cook. But they do love eating.

Rhys says when he finds the alien female of his dreams then he'll make sure she knows how to cook. He will, "give her action," and she will cook. Rhys is so funny. I would like to see him try and make a Zorg female cook for him. There would be a cooking pan hitting him directly on his head, and vegetables placed down the front of his pants! The Zorg females hate to be bossed around. They are very self-centered actually.

The thought of him offering his manhood to a female Zorg is really very hilarious. He would get worn out and become very tired. They can last for hours until orgasm, and they make the male do all of the hard work, in terms of movement.

Actually, I can picture it now in my mind. His exhausted face whines at the female, who prolongs his duties further. Ha! He may want to fall for another alien species that is not so demanding. Maybe a Gerr or Fargonian might suit his needs better. Those alien females love to pleasure their males.

As Melia brings us all, "Death by Chocolate" cake, I think of how lucky I am to have met these humans. We all eat, joke and laugh together as we enjoy being together. Rhys tells lots of funny jokes that sometimes Melia must explain to me. Sometimes they are quite naughty and rude. Allen talks about his children back home on Earth. He shares funny stories of their life together back home. One time he changed his son's nappy, and got a face full of urine.

Melia shows me pictures of Earth including the landscape and people. The whole idea of going there seems like a crazy dream. I have nearly forgotten about the Darenoids and Zunov, although I miss my dear friend Chollo, very much.

I am taken by the oceans and the beautiful trees that are on Earth. Melia shows me pigs, sheep, dogs, cats and other animals that can be found on Earth. The wild animals are very beautiful, particularly the colorful birds that fly south for the Winter.

We spend some time looking at Google pictures, and then she shows me funny dogs and cats on YouTube. There are so many cats and dogs running and doing hilarious things!

I picture myself living on Earth in an apartment, with my Melia and some animals of our own. We could be married and I could pleasure her whenever she needs me to. When she is ready we can create some offspring of our own.

We could live in the country and enjoy our own farm. I could grow many fruits and vegetables for trade. She could research for the company, and I could do anything she needs me to do.

This love thing has really hit me very hard. I want to make her happy forever. Even if we must roam the skies together on this ship, that's alright too. As long as I can pleasure her and make her happy, that suits me just fine.

My Melia has creamy skin and dark hair, not fur as I used to call it. She has large breasts and a sensitive vagina. I want to pleasure her for the rest of my life. I can keep looking at Google and YouTube to find out more ideas. Because when you are in love that's all you can think about. How to make the other one very happy.

I will do anything for my Melia, and we will have a wonderful life together, full of laughter, sexual pleasure and animals too. I can be, "her number one man!"

_"I love being in love."_

## Chapter 12

# Amelia

_"Home is anywhere with him!"_

As we edge slightly closer to home, I can't help but think what Samantha will say about Tulloc. We've been best friends for ages and I miss her presence on the ship. Normally she comes along to help with the cooking and to act as our nurse, if we feel unwell.

For this trip, she stayed home because her brother was moving house and needed her to pack and organize the whole thing. He only lost his job recently and she felt like she should be there. Actually, it has been three months since we left Earth, and we like to go home after that time. Space travel is alright, but the natural landscapes are sorely missed.

Every morning before breakfast, Tulloc and I go to the gym. We workout together and sometimes I can beat him at table tennis. He does not know it yet, but today I have decided to let him enter the hologram story room with me.

The hologram story room allows the user to choose a scenario to enter into, as a relaxation or just for fun. Some of the stories available include: a trip to the zoo, a western cowboy theme, an alien planet, a trip on the Florence canal and about fifty more.

Tulloc does not know we have the room at all, and today I will treat him with a holo story that he will surely love. A trip to the zoo.

On planet Zunov, there are very few animals to see, and after talking and watching them online, Tulloc seems to be taken by them.

I make my way to the gym, and Tulloc is already there. Wearing a gray tracksuit lent to him by Rhys. I have told Allen and Rhys about our morning, and they are excited for Tulloc to see the zoo and the animals.

The holo story will also allow him to touch the animals and not get hurt in any way. The program is designed that way. Even the food and drinks can be eaten at the zoo. Like hot dogs, popcorn or even a milkshake.

All the characters are holograms, but can be touched. They feel real and act like real people or animals, too. The whole story is always believable, and even the smells seem real.

I open the door and Tulloc runs over to me, embracing me with his muscly arms. He is turned on by me as his cock hardens through the sweat pants. It presses against me and I am lost in love with him again. We kiss for some time and I squeeze his arm, signalling my need to talk to him.

The beautiful green male pulls away and smiles at me, with genuine want for my body.

"Tulloc, I have a big surprise for you," I say winking at him.

"All I want is you," he says, looking at my body.

I hold his hand and walk over to the room, and give instructions to Bob the computer.

"Story four five nine, Bob," I say, still smiling with excitement.

"Four five nine story, loaded and ready," says Bob.

I gesture to Tulloc to open the metal door. He swipes his hand and the door swiftly opens. There is the smell of zoo poo, mixed with vendors' hot dogs, popcorn and cotton candy.

We are at the entrance to the zoo. The tickets magically appear in Tulloc's hand, and his eyes light up in magnificent anticipation. They have turned a beautiful emerald green.

We walk hand in hand to the ticket stand, and Tulloc passes them through the small opening in the ticket window. A large man with a moustache smiles and opens the bar rail so we can enter.

We walk through the bar rail and Tulloc looks around. There are children and parents everywhere. A large sign has directional arrows pointing out that has signaling words, "Lions," "Monkeys," "Reptiles," and many more.

Tulloc is in complete awe of the surroundings, and holds me in a warm hug.

"Thank you, Melia, this is beyond my wildest dreams."

He pulls me in and holds me, then runs me to the sign post.

"Oh, I want to see the lions, then the monkeys," he says like a child that is over excited.

"We can see all of them!" I say smiling and over excited with him.

On our way to the lions we grab a hot dog and some soda. Tulloc thinks he is in food and animal heaven as we move past all the enclosures.

He reads every park information stand about every animal we see. When we get to the monkeys he laughs out loud. They are running around and teasing each other, looking with big cheesy grins. We see the children laugh as they watch them too. It is a very gratifying experience, and I am so glad I am sharing it with him.

I explain to Tulloc that many years ago on Earth, the animals were nearly extinct. Some were wiped out altogether, until the humans changed. I told him about the exploitation of the rainforests that diminished many animal habitats. I tell him everything as we sit drinking milkshakes at the zoo canteen.

Tulloc loves to look at the humans at the zoo too. He seems to like the children, and is intrigued by their behavior.

Our next stop will be the water animals. Seals, dolphins and some rhinos and hippos.

We walk hand in hand to the watery animal section, and Tulloc looks so happy to be with me. He is full of way too much junk food, and his eyes are still emerald green.

We sit at the huge grandstand and watch then dolphin show. They jump up and out of the water, and do sneaky things to their trainers. Tulloc is laughing like a young child at the fun the dolphins have while they perform. There is a beautiful albino dolphin jumping and getting all the tricks wrong. The crowd is in a fit of laughter, watching the show.

The pool is a large natural enclosure, with rocks and boulders all around. The animals are well loved and enjoy doing the show. Sometimes, it's hard to remember that everything is just a hologram.

Tulloc is taken by the gorgeous dolphins, and I ask him to wait in the stand.

I move to the ticket counter and ask for a place in the feeding arena. Tulloc is now booked in for it by me, and it is just moments away. I can't wait to let him enjoy it.

I race up to him and hand him the ticket, "Admit One – Feed the Dolphins," says the ticket.

His eyes glow a deep, deep blue for his love for me, and I can't wipe the smile off his face.

"I love you my Melia" he says plainly.

"And I love you, very much, my Tulloc," I say kissing his green cheek.

We sit and wait for the trainer to call the feeders to help feed the dolphins. Tulloc goes racing down and stands excitedly in the oceanic blue water. I watch as the trainer hands him a bucket of fish. He is looking all around like a child on Christmas morning!

I realize now that I have found the love of my life, and I know that I want to spend my life with him. A sense of deep knowing rises within me as I watch the dolphins swim around him. He is the one. I love an alien. A green and muscly alien from the planet Zunov!

My heart fills with an intense love as he signals me to join him. He has asked the trainer who smiles up at me to come down. I race as fast as I can to go and meet my love. My skirt is just dipping in the water as I wade in, to just above my knees.

There is all manner of dolphins swimming around my legs and in between Tulloc and I. It is picture perfect, and our smiles are definitely real.

The albino dolphin seems to like us and it stops between our legs, cleverly reaching its beautiful nose out for a pat. The gorgeous dolphin squirts out water and it lands in Tulloc's face, unexpectedly.

He laughs out loudly, and the dolphin swims through his legs. We are in a magical land that seems so real, but is actually just a great holographic show.

We finish feeding all of the dolphins and get dried by the side of the pool. Tulloc speaks to the children who have enjoyed the feeding too. He shows great interest in their accounts of fun. I know deeply now that Tulloc will be the father to my future children. His compassion, humble attitude and loving ways are the perfect combination for parenting.

I wait as he talks liberally with the families who are amazed by the beautiful dolphins, too.

We are now making our way to the bird aviaries to see many birds. Tulloc has never seen them before, as there are no birds on Zunov, at all.

"Melia, this is my most favorite day ever," he says as we stand at the lorikeets.

"I'm so glad," I say with my arm around his waist.

We walk through the aviaries and come to the butterfly enclosure. Tulloc's eyes light up the beautiful emerald green again, denoting passion and wonder. We are ushered through the beautiful enclosure and butterflies are around us everywhere.

Tulloc and I stand in a field of millions of butterflies, and he gets down on one knee.

"Amelia Fallon, will you do me the honor of marrying me," he says holding my hand.

"Yes, yes," I say excited by the beauty and magic of it all.

We hold each other and kiss for the longest time. Tulloc's cock grows hard and pushes into me. We both laugh about it, casually.

I have met the love of my life, and I am in the most beautiful place imaginable. I have come here before and experienced this holo story with Rhys. He was like a big kid the whole time. I never dreamed that I'd enjoy it again with the love of my life.

The butterflies magically fly around is, as if they are signifying their agreeance to Tulloc's beautiful marriage proposal.

On Earth, there are many interspecies marriages. They are mostly with the Atlantians, Gerrs and Terentians, though. I can't wait to take my alien man to Earth and show him the other great stuff there. I can see him enjoying so many different things and especially the foods that we have back home.

I walk with him now, to the gates of the zoo, and we talk about our future together. We are both willing to compromise on everything, so long as we can be together.

We only have about five hundred meters left to reach the gate. We will then tell the computer Bob to turn the story mode off, and go to the bridge and share the wonderful news of our engagement.

Actually, I can't wait to see Rhys' face, because he has always wanted me to be happy. Many times, he has joked to me about hooking up with an alien male!

Allen will be happy to see us happy, because he really respects Tulloc a lot. His own marriage has stood the test of time, even with all of the traveling, away from home.

As we enter the gym and leave our zoo story, we are filled with an unbelievable love that is genuine and very beautiful. It is a story that every woman dreams about, whether with an alien or a human does not matter. Actually, the real turn-on is true love that goes beyond any sexual encounter, addiction or feeling. It is love that lasts throughout time, and brings with it immense passion, drive and a yearning to go on in life.

Tulloc holds me now in the gym, and I know that my world is going to change forever. Actually, I can't wait to change Rhys' world first, by telling him. That will definitely be a real hoot!

_"Home is anywhere with him!"_

## Chapter 13

# Tulloc

_"I love Cloud Nine!"_

After the most wonderful day yesterday, I find myself on "cloud nine." I like that saying, it is very clever. It seems that we are not too far from Melia's Earth planet, and we will see lots of new things together there, when we arrive.

I think I would like to see how they farm, and how they use technology. I would also like to see how they learn at many different things. At university or college, I would like to sit and listen. Their history and their English language ignites my interests very much.

Melia is taking a shower and Allen has decided to cook omelettes and hash browns for breakfast. I like Allen, because he is very smart, and teaches me about many things. He has studied many years at university, and his mind is very logical, unlike Rhys who has, "a one-track mind," according to Allen.

Today Rhys is going to show me more in the Engineering Bay. He likes to "tinker" and make sure everything is, "aok." Some of the workings are good and logical, but sometimes they can be too technical. There are many manuals in the manual cupboard, and I read them while Rhys tinkers and checks that everything is running well.

Today, he will look at the hyper drive and make sure that no coils need replacing. Rhys is very organized when he looks after the maintenance of the ship, and sometimes Bob the computer helps him to find problems or solutions too.

On Zunov, we don't use very much technology except in our fighters and for our crops. We understand that nature has to be number one for the survival of a species, over time. I think the humans are starting to get that idea, but it has taken many thousands of years to evolve. They used to take everything from the land for profit, and then realized how it impacted the environment, negatively.

In fact, the Zorg's on my planet have always treated the land with the utmost respect. I cannot remember a time when this was not so.

"Warrning, warning," says Bob, "thruster power diminishing," alerts the computer.

I run from my spot on the sofa in the lab. Rhys and Allen look at the big screen to see if there is anything around.

"There's nothing," says Allen, with hands in the air.

"Scan for gallium bursts," I say looking at Rhys.

"Gallium bursts! What are you on about my green friend?" he says entering the code into the console.

"Gallium bursts are small bursts of gas which the Darenoids use to damage other ships. Then they can board them because they have no power," I say.

"Shit, yes!" the bursts are damaging the thrusters at an alarming speed. I will have to shield us with nustic arrays," says Rhys looking at me for more direction.

"That might actually work," I say checking the scanners.

I sit at Melia's computer and get more information data on the bursts, because they seem to be coming from directly behind our ship. They are dissipating at a rate of ten per second, and the nustic arrays seem to be working well to defend us with shielding.

"It's working," I say, sensing Melia watching from behind us.

The screen comes on, and flashes blue.

"A message incoming from hostile ship," it says flashing.

Allen looks at me and Rhys, as he clicks to let the hostile live feed appear.

On screen is a drone hovering and looking at us, videoing our every move through the comm link screen.

"We are the Darenoids, place shields down and let us board your vessel," it says in a deep, robotic tone.

"Stuff that," blurts out Rhys as he looks at Allen.

"We will not remove our shields. Our crew member was attacked by you, last week," says Allen angrily.

"We were trying to kill the Zorg, and he is at war with our kind," says the drone loudly.

"We are not at war with you, and the Zorg is taken as a research specimen for our mission," says Allen, getting frustrated.

"The Zorg male is dangerous and cannot be trusted," says the drone.

I look at Allen and walk to the side of the screen, so the drone can't see me anymore. I seem to be annoying it more and more. The drones are programmed to see hostiles, and the green hide on me is a very unpleasing sight to the Darenoid, who is operating the drone. They use remote control and link their speech to it via a micro voicer.

"We want to go in peace, and we only have natural specimens on board. There is nothing of material value on board," says Allen.

"Yes, there is, the female. We want your female," says the drone.

"She is not available to you, and she is unwell," lies Allen.

I look at Melia who stands tall in front of the screen, she has a look of steel in her eyes, and there is no way the Darenoids will get her.

Darenoids use females as slaves, to cook and do menial tasks like washing their treasure stolen from other vessels. They are only valuable as cleaners, and they are not fed properly or allowed to bathe. Their inhumane ways are truly barbaric.

"You have two of your hours to change your mind," says the drone.

The screen flashes back to the normal home screen, and we all start discussing our plans to get away from the pirate aliens. Honestly, I find it hard to think how they got this far out into space, maybe they have stolen a ship with better technology. I have a very bad feeling about all of this, and I must help Allen and Rhys get us away from them. If they capture Melia there is no way we'll be able to get her back, easily.

As Rhys and Allen discuss their plans, I sit and listen while I hold Melia's hand. We haven't had time to tell the others about our love and feelings for each other. It will have to wait. The sneaky Darenoids are definitely cunning, and we need to think about our tactical position. I send Melia to the kitchen, telling her to get us all a piece of cake. I need to speak to the other two privately.

Melia goes to the kitchen, and I watch and make sure she can't hear my words. The other two males are listening intently.

"The Darenoids will chain her up and treat her barbarically if they catch her. They use torture to make them work. Cooking and cleaning for twenty hours a day," I say still checking that Melia is out of range.

"Shit, we can't let them get her," says Rhys.

Allen nods his head in agreeance and Melia holds cake and coffee in her hands. She goes back to the kitchen to get the other plates, and a milk for me.

"We musn't speak of this to Melia," I say sensing her second return.

The other males agree and start talking tactics together. I listen to their arguments for and against certain ideas that come to, "the table."

Rhys seems to think we can disappear with a stunting manouver, and Allen thinks we should try and fight them with our weapons.

I finish my cake and walk to the console. I need to see the type of space craft we up against. If it's a Zorg fighter craft, then I know exactly what we can do. I enter the codes and wait for the scans to appear on the large screen. Yes, the ship they are in is a Zorg fighter, so I know what they can do. I am glad that's the ship they stole.

I move back to the coffee table at the center of the room, and Rhys and Allen are looking at me, hoping for some answers. It seems that they cannot agree on their own methodologies.

"Alright they are in a Zorg fighter called the Falzon Carrier. This ship is primarily used for medical transport, and there are no weapons on it, except for the yelsen ray. The yelsen ray only targets the shields, but cannot damage the ship very much at all," I say excitedly.

"But don't they know that?" says Rhys, questioning the boldness of the Darenoids.

"No, they don't," I say knowing the limited knowledgeability of the pirate barbarians.

We take the to the bridge and Rhys smiles a wide smile. He can't wait to blow the Darenoids, "to smitherines," as he calls it.

Allen waits for the rest of the scans to be completed so that the human ship can lock on the targets successfully, before taking any unnecessary chances.

My beautiful Melia stands behind us, looking on with pride.

"Targets scanned and locked," says Allen.

"Ready, aim and fire," says Rhys clicking the execution.

Allen moves us into medium speed as the lasers blow up the ship behind. The force of the explosion rocks the ship as we coast forward. The explosion is onscreen and there are shouts from everyone as the hostiles are destroyed.

There is a sense of relief as we all breathe easier, knowing what could have happened if they were in another ship.

"Oh thank God," says Melia, "have you read about what they do to female prisoners they have captured?" she says looking annoyed.

We all burst out laughing knowing just how much Melia knows about every subject. She loves to read and learn about other species and their culture. There was no need for my whispering after all.

This time she goes to the kitchen for biscuits and crackers. I like this kind of platter and there is some dip, cabana and carrot sticks, usually. Melia loves to feed us all, when she is not doing her research work.

I feel so lucky to have found her out here in space. It was totally by accident that I came to be here. On planet Zunov we believe that things are fated, and that the universe and its makers know exactly what will happen.

We do not worship Gods and there is no religion to be spoken of. We do have a code of living that represents freedom for everyone, and that says we should work together for the common good. Actually, there is no point in having conflict on our planet, because there is enough of everything for everyone. Anyone who cannot work due to older age, is looked after by special keepers.

Maybe some of these concepts would do well in the human world, on Earth. I would like to discuss our Zorg ideas with some of the leaders there, and see if I can make a difference for the generations to come. Humans seem to care about each other greatly, but sometimes I sense that the need to get rich overshadows their humanity, in terms of kindness.

I hope I can help to make a change on the beautiful planet Earth, because it seems by their history that they are really trying to change for the better.

Melia also loves animals and sees their value on Earth. Together we can use our passion and caring to help more and more humans see that a bright future is possible, for the long term. The beautiful children and families on Earth deserve to live on a beautiful planet, that is loved and taken care of by its many future generations.

I sit with my friends eating the last piece of cabana, and I am truly content in my mind and my heart. For to find such loyal and trustworthy friends is always a very special treat. This is true no matter where you are from.

As a green alien male from the beautiful planet Zunov, I am definitely one of the luckiest of my kind. Not only do I have friends for life, but I have also met and fallen in love with my Melia. She is so beautiful, and I find my love growing for her, more and more.

_"I love Cloud Nine!"_

## Chapter 14

# Amelia

_"Mhm, yum!"_

As I sit with Tulloc in the lab, I notice how beautifully his muscular features are as he holds more specimens up in the laboratory fluorescent light. His arms and shoulders burst out of his shirt.

He is a remarkable alien. He shows kindness, compassion and love to me, throughout every day that passes us by.

We are less than four days from home, from "my Earth," and I can't wait to show him as much as I can. I know he loves nature and I want to take him to the National Park, the Zoo, the waterfalls and so many other places, too.

"Tulloc," I say. I can't wait for you to see Earth, for real. Not as a holo story.

"I know Melia, it will be so exciting to see it for the first time," he smiles placing a geological sample back down on the table.

"I love you, my green one," I say turned on by the wanting look in his eye.

"I love you, my creamy thing," he replies moving towards me now.

Tulloc holds my head of hair and kisses me, groping my behind firmly, and with a desperate desire.

"Oh Tulloc," I say, holding his muscly arms.

"I want you to bear my children," he says as his eyes glow fiery red, with an intensified passion.

"Yes, yes," I say smiling as he sweeps me into his arms.

He carries me to the laboratory sofa, and gestures with his hand for me to stay put, where he's placed me down.

"Sssh," he whispers.

I lay watching him as he pulls down the blinds to cover the glass windows, and then cheekily locks the lab door.

I can't explain how dreamy he makes me feel. Less than a fortnight ago, he arrived here unexpectedly on our ship. As a specimen, he was scanned up by mere accident, by the ship's scanners. Now, I find myself madly in love with the green alien male, who's eyes pierce through me in a powerful love and sexual desire.

I have never been made to feel so special, by anyone else in my life. I've dated before, but none of them could make me feel content in every aspect of my life.

Tulloc and I have not been "melded together" yet, as the Zorgs call it. That is how they explain it, sexually. He wanted to wait until the time seemed right. That time I feel, is right about now.

He walks over to me unbuttoning his shirt, and I also unbutton mine. He lays beside me kissing and licking my neck. His breath turning my body to jelly, as I wait for the passion to erupt over us, like a volcano filling the earth below.

His hand pulls down my skirt and panties as he stands to show me himself, erect and ready to enter me.

I wait for him to lie on top of me, expecting the feeling to be more than I can bear. He holds himself over me, with a firm arm's length. His long tongue licking my nipples in a wet, erotic pleasure.

"Oh, Tulloc," I say touching his green member, as it pulsates lightly.

He places it inside me with a gentle thrust, and it vibrates more as it adjusts to my size.

"I am so horny for you," he says kissing my neck.

The intensity of his thrusting is more and more unbelievable. My body is tingling from the vibration of his cock. It moves in and out at a regular speed, touching high inside me, as I brace for it each time.

I feel his kisses turn to love bites on my neck, as he moans with a loud, breathy tone.

My legs wobble as my orgasm gets closer, and he pushes inside me, more wantingly now.

"Oh, God," I say, coming quickly over his cock, in exquisite passion.

He continues thrusting as I feel my orgasm continue on, relentlessly so.

"Oh Amelia," he says letting his seed enter into me.

He flops down in his exhausted state, still holding me tight.

I know that I have finally met the man of my dreams. He fills me up, in every way.

After an hour's sleep, Tulloc wakes me with a kiss to my forehead, and smiles at me lovingly.

"What shall we prepare for dinner, tonight? We should tell Allen and Rhys," he says excitedly.

"Yes, yes. I think I'll do a roast and some Death by Chocolate cake," I say, still dreaming of the encounter we just shared.

We move to put our clothes on, and head directly to the kitchen to make a start on dinner. Tulloc joins the other two on the bridge, and checks on our estimated arrival time, to Earth.

I pull out a large piece of synthesized lamb from the freezer, and thaw it ready for cooking. I choose an array of vegetables like pumpkin, carrots, potatoes and parsnips. I prepare them in excitement for our "coming out" dinner.

Tulloc returns and puts his apron on, getting a start on the Death by Chocolate cake for our yummy dessert.

"Remember to whip the cream," I say reminding him.

"Yes dear," he says smiling.

We both laugh out as loud as we can, thinking how funny we must seem. Rhys has watched T.V with Rhys, and has picked up some of the slang, and sayings as well.

He is of course joking, and I really like his cheeky side. It is funny to see him emulating Rhys, who thinks he's hilarious!

Dinner looks amazing and we both feel the anticipation of telling the other two. Just a few hours and we will, "spill the beans" and tell the other two about our love and engagement. Sometimes, I wish I could have seen Zunov, because it sounds so beautiful. Maybe on our passage back again, in a few weeks from now.

Samantha may want to come too this time, and I am sure she will. Tulloc tells me the sky color changes every single hour on Zunov, and I want to see it when the background is green, and take a photo of Tulloc, then. Likewise, he wants to take a picture of me, when the sky is cream, and I think they will look fantastic. They are our most favorite colors. So, it seems fitting that that's the pictures we'll take.

As we sit down with Rhys and Allen for dinner, Rhys cuts the roast and Tulloc offers vegetables to everyone. The normal banter starts with Rhys telling us about the beautiful aliens he likes, from around the galaxy.

"Next trip we must go to Dasex, because the alien females are lavender and love meeting other men from different planets!" he says with his cheeky grin.

A sound of laughter billows from the table as we listen to his in-depth description of the Dasectians from Dasex. He could essentially be a sales person for products, and his descriptions make the females sound so exotic.

"The lavender skin is made up of crystalline particles, that glimmer in the sun. The females enjoy pleasuring their male companions with food, massage and singing," he goes on.

"That sounds perfect for you Rhys, and maybe the Dasectian female's singing will shut you up for a while," Allen says as he laughs.

The whole table roars with laughter, including Rhys who still tries to convince us that Dasex is the next planet we need to see.

"Tulloc, and I have something to tell you," I say smiling.

"Oh, yes," says Rhys. "You are in love and want to partner for life!" he says jokingly.

"Yes, that's right my friend," says Tulloc grinning.

"And we are going to have a baby," I add, holding Tulloc's hand.

Rhys and Allen's faces open in sheer disbelief. Then they look at each other and give a high five.

"Well you certainly kept that a secret," says Allen standing up to congratulate us.

"You're the man, I mean the alien, Tulloc," says Rhys patting Tulloc on the back.

We continue on with dinner and fill ourselves with the delights we made earlier. Content in the sharing of it all, with such great friends.

We talk about lots of things and Rhys talks of how he knows for sure that he will also fall for an alien, eventually. Especially, if I let him choose the right planets to get our samples from!

Tulloc and I clear the plates, and unbelievably Rhys and Allen offer to clean the kitchen tonight.

"Go and make out with each other, you love birds," says Rhys smiling.

"Me and Rhys have got this in the bag," says Allen.

Tulloc and I go to my bedroom, and lay together in delight. Our bellies are full and we enjoy the time together. From the kitchen, there is banging and clanging from the other two who are not very domesticated, at all. Every time we hear a thud, we laugh together.

Last night Tulloc managed to get in touch with Chollo, finally. He told Tulloc that they had fought and won the war against the Darenoids, for now at least.

Apparently, the patterns continued daily for six days, and the technology of the Zorgs far outweighed the technology of the Darenoids in the air war.

He continued to let Tulloc know that the female Zorgs also managed to destroy the millions of spy drones, and some extras that were sent to kill as well. The main task for the planet is the dumping of the drones as the metal parts were strewn all over Zunov. They will have to be recycled and broken down to smaller pieces over time.

As for the shields, the bots got them back up and running, and were gifted with a new technology as an addition, from the Gerr species, who trade with the Zorgs all the time.

I could see that Tulloc was desperately happy to see that Chollo was fine, and Chollo was also very happy to see that Tulloc was safe as well. Actually, Chollo thought that Tulloc had been kidnapped or killed by the Darenoids, and was not sure what to do.

It seems the vast array of drones continued for about four days and nights, leaving the comms systems unable to send messages in and out of Zunov, easily.

Many of the Zorgs believe that it was a ploy to weaken the entire comms system, leaving them at a weakness to get in touch with other planets for help, in their time of crisis.

The other news was that Chollo had become very friendly with a Zorg female, and told Tulloc that they have decided to partner for life. She is pregnant with a baby, and her name is Dewa.

Tulloc decided to wait to tell Chollo about his love affair with me, on our return. He also wants to bring Chollo and Dewa back to Earth for a longer trip, to show them what it's like. Chollo seemed very excited to tell Dewa, and our future as friends will grow easily over time, I can tell.

As I watch my alien fall to sleep in my arms, I laugh at the beauty and messiness of it all. Of a love that seems to choose people, and aliens...drawing them close without any consideration of culture, species or preference. You see, it is obvious to me that love has no bounds, and it brought Tulloc and I together. For a definite purpose, so we could see that our cultures are something to be embraced, loved...and most of all, cared for.

At the very least, this beautiful love story has shown me that everyone deserves a love that sets them free, that gives them wings, in all aspects of their life. The species, color, culture and location are unimportant when love finds you...because there is only love after all, and love sees only itself. It has no bounds.

_"Mhm, yum!"_

# Epilogue

_"With you I'm fine!"_

As the two lovers drift through space, they arrive at Earth over the next day or so. Rhys and Allen wave goodbye, and Tulloc and Amelia will see them soon for the next trip.

Tulloc enjoys seeing the human culture and finds he has a very special affinity to both the animals and the children on Earth. Actually, Amelia's cat won't stop kneading his legs at night when they watch T.V.

Tulloc likes to help Amelia get the apartment ready for their new baby too. They use the color yellow to paint the nursery, not knowing if it will be a boy or a girl.

Looking on Google one evening, Tulloc realizes that the baby would be called a Zuman, and their's was not the first to be conceived.

The babies he sees online are gorgeous, and have a lovely colored skin, a lighter green than his own. The color of a lettuce leaf, in a salad!

Tulloc and Amelia share their love and wait patiently for their newborn baby to arrive. The gestation period is only one month, from conception to birth. The labor is said to be quick, and relatively easy.

The month passes by quickly, and Amelia decides to have the baby at home. A midwife is called to make the process a success, and Tulloc can't wait for his offspring to arrive.

During the labor, Tulloc waits patiently outside the bedroom door, and then swiftly hears the cries from the room. The next few minutes are spent in anticipation, as the nurse eventually opens the door.

Amelia is with a beautiful baby boy in her arms, swaddled in a white cotton blanket, and cradled in her arms.

He moves over to the bed to see his beautiful baby, who looks just like him in every way. The only difference is the nose. He has Amelia's nose, and it is a cute, button nose.

The baby also has beautiful light blue eyes, which means contentedness, and of course they will change as his moods and feelings do, just like Tulloc's.

The two lovers look upon one another and delight in their beautiful baby, who is the representation of their love, manifested into reality.

The ship leaves again in three more weeks, and it is decided that the baby will also go along for the ride. Samantha will be there too, and she can help out with the babysitting, when required.

The beautiful baby is named Zoron, after Tulloc's grandfather. Amelia also gives him a middle name of Tate. The whole name becoming, "Zoron Tate Rexin." Rexin being Tulloc's family name.

As they enjoy the next few weeks together as a family, the baby starts to speak after just one short week. He can also laugh and watch any program on T.V. and understand the languages spoken. His physical ability also allows him to walk and hold items easily.

In a matter of days, he can hold a conversation with his parents Amelia and Tulloc.

Tulloc is proud of his son's abilities, and he helps him grow mentally, by speaking other languages with him. He learns his native Zorgan and then about four more.

Amelia is in awe of the development of their beautiful baby, and learns to speak Zorgan words. Like the ones used generally, such as "hello," "goodbye" and "what is your name?"

The next week is filled with relaxing in the apartment before they load onto the ship for the next voyage.

Rhys and Allen arrive early on departure day, and can't believe just how gorgeous the Zuman baby is.

When settled on the ship, the co-ordinates will take them to Arion, Mercata, Butres, Zunov and finally Dasex, the planet Rhys wants to visit.

"Can we go to Dasex first?" he asks Allen, with prayer hands, begging.

Allen looks at him and laughs a huge roar of laughter.

"No, work before pleasure, and patience is a virtue," he says with a smirk.

Samantha sits in the lounge with Tulloc and Amelia, and plays peek-a-boo with their son.

"Oh Amelia," he is the most gorgeous boy ever!

Rhys is listening in, and likes to joke with Samantha a lot.

"Would you be interested in making one of those with me?" he says cheekily.

Samantha blushes and looks back to him sitting at his bridge computer.

"Only if you clean all the dirty bottoms and treat me like a Queen," she says smiling.

Amelia and Tulloc can see that Rhys and Samantha are finally flirting with each other. They definitely like each other loads and loads.

Allen rolls his eyes at the flirtations, and picks up the Zuman baby, letting him use Google and see pictures of Zunov.

The ship is ready to go after a few more systems checks. The crew are all on board together, as great long-time friends.

There is a feeling of anticipation as the ship moves out of its dock, and into the vastness of space. A new love affair seems to be brewing between Samantha and Rhys, and it will develop in its own good timing.

Amelia and Tulloc can't wait to see Zunov for the first time as a family. The skies changing upon the hour, will surely be a sight to see.

Finally, Tulloc will get to see Chollo and his beautiful family, who will also have their own child.

The ship moves onward to its planned co-ordinates, and Amelia bakes the first cake for the trip into space. She has learned some new recipes which she surprises everyone with, this trip.

The old favorites are still going to make an impact, the pavlova and Death by Chocolate Cake.

Bob the computer sounds refreshed with a new, younger voice chip.

Off the ship continues, with its great friends on board. We may only wonder what this next trip will bring to them all. Love, family and lots of great stories to remember for a lifetime. On they go... into the vastness of space.

_"With you I'm fine!"_
