The Merciless Alpha(erotica)

Susan stood and pulled her dress off, shifting into her slightly smaller wolf. She crawled back onto the couch, laying across his legs as he petted her chest and rubbed her stomach, making her tail whap against the cushion.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of, you know them both,” Makani said as she hugged Ricardo from behind. “Sit down and let her come to you.”

“You’re one of them too?”

“My whole life. I’m like you, but with the ability to change into a wolf at will. And like a wolf, I have a mate.”

Noelani had gotten Manuel back on the love seat by now. “And my mate is you, Manuel,” she said.

“And Ricardo, you are MY mate,” Makani said as she snuggled in. I walked over to the pairs, letting the guys touch me and convince themselves I was real. When they had calmed down, Emily held up the sheet so I could shift back behind it. I walked to the bathroom to get my clothes back on.

When I came back out, all of the girls were in their wolf forms. “How did you know, Hammer?”

“Your eyes. When you get emotional, they flare just a little. I’d seen it years ago, and I recognized it. After that, it was the little things that gave it away.”

“Like what?”

“Like how you were communicating without talking, and how your hearing and smell was so much better. Ian told me about what he could do when we were on a joint patrol with the Aussie Special Air Squadron lads.”

“When was this?”

“Summer of 2021, during an operation in the Sudanese Desert. We were pinned down in the desert by hundreds of rebels, and a haboob kept us from getting air support. I thought I was dead when I was down to my last magazine,” Hammer said. “Two of my men had already died, and Carl and I were both injured. Ian was the last of his unit still fighting. He tossed me his last magazine, shifted, and sprinted into their lines. I could hear their screams as they fired wildly, tracking his progress as he tore them apart. The rebels fled, and we survived.”

“What happened to Ian?”

“He stumbled back to us, naked and bleeding. He had four gunshot wounds and multiple shrapnel wounds; he looked like a horror movie. I talked to him as we waited for the medevac. He was medically retired after being awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery.”

It was a hell of a story. “None of you said anything?”

“Half of us were dead, and the rest of us were only alive because he’d wolfed out. He asked us to keep his secret, and we did.”

It was a hell of a story.

And as far as the Council knew, no werewolves lived in Australia.

***********

Emily and I left the four couples in the salon, giving Susan and the girls time to explain everything to their men. It was a good thing we had a long boat ride to and from Catalina plus Sunday because they would need every minute. Emily went up to the flying bridge to talk with Lynette, while I went to the kitchen to speak with Loretta about the party.

Loretta was going to handle all the food and drink and would hire local help as bartenders and waitresses. Given the number of people I expected, Lynette was bringing two extra crew members. “Don’t worry about anything but enjoying yourself,” Loretta told me. “I love this kind of thing. Sandwiches and snacks are the way to go since you don’t have room for everyone to sit at a table.”

“Your menu is fine,” I said. The staff would board the Good Times in Mission Beach, and Lynette would take us to the Marina just outside the base gates. The class got liberty at four and could come straight out. Linda would be there with her camera people, getting releases from those who agreed as they boarded. Once underway, we would head out of San Diego Bay and down off the Pacific side of Coronado to almost the Mexican border before we turn and head back to drop them off around midnight.

I wanted the guys to be partying and drinking just a few hundred yards from where they will be hauling logs around on Monday.

I left her to prepare breakfast and headed upstairs.

I’d linked with Kai as they were getting on board, letting him know the plan for the party. He was pretty sure most of his class would show, but less than half of them had wives or girlfriends in town. “Do you think you could help with the boy/girl ratio? It makes for a better party.”

It was Amy’s party, so I took out my phone and made a few calls. The Miesville and Three Sisters Packs had single young females friends of ours; it didn’t take much beyond “boatload of hot, single SEALs” to catch their interest. I invited a few single women from the Dojo, and a few models from Los Angeles I’d met at photoshoots. I told everyone to bring their bikinis and dancing shoes and meet at Fiddler’s Cove Marina at four. I also booked hotel rooms at the Hyatt Regency in Mission Bay for the out-of-town werewolves; they could ride back to the pier with us since they couldn’t stay in Coronado overnight.

Linda would love this; there would be lots of great party footage, with me ending up alone.

Again.

I grabbed a Diet Coke and spent the rest of the time learning about navigation and rules of the road while talking with Lynette. We anchored at Ripper’s Cove, a small inlet with a long sand beach only reachable by boat. We were lucky; since this was the off-season, no other boats were present. After lunch, we did some diving in the shallow areas before returning for dinner. The guys were taking it better than I expected; the twins finally had an explanation that made sense for the girlfriend switch. “You tell by the smell,” as Noelani explained.

One of the first questions that came up was whether they would become werewolves now. I’d asked the girls not to answer until we were all together; over dinner, I laid it out for them. “Changing a human into a werewolf isn’t without risk. Roughly half of the changes don’t work out, and we don’t know why.”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“We’re strong and determined, we’ll make it through anything,” Manuel said.

“And we’ve buried strong and determined mates before,” I said. “Just because your mates are here doesn’t mean you get a pass. Once bitten by her wolf, the change begins. Fevers, pain, finally the breaking of bones and reforming of your body. Hours of agony, followed by death, or a successful change.”

“What if we aren’t changed?”

“There are many pairs who do just that,” Susan said. “The bond between mates remains, but it is much weaker than between wolves. You can grow old together, have children who will be werewolves, and never have to take the chance of not making it.”

“You won’t decide now, either. I’m sure the girls explained the basics of Pack structure to you?” The three nodded at me. “Making the change isn’t the end of the process. You need to be under an Alpha to keep your wolf stable, and you need months of training in using your new form. You have to learn hunting, tracking, Pack history, government, and supernatural beings.”

“There are more?” Ricardo’s eyes got wide.

“Emily’s a vampire, and Lynette and Loretta are mermaids,” I said. “And that’s just on my boat.”

“Damn,” Manuel said as Emily flashed some fang.

I focused them back on me. “There’s a whole world out there you know nothing of, guys. It can wait, though. You two have SEAL training to complete first, and you need at least three weeks of leave before we could consider a change.”

“Can we do it here,” Hammer asked.

“No. You need Pack lands to run on, and I’m not an Alpha yet.” I could see his disappointment; he didn’t have Navy commitments, unlike the twins. “This isn’t a decision you should rush to make. It’s more dangerous than your jobs are.”

“And in the meantime?”

“The girls love you, and you love them. That’s enough for now, isn’t it?”

I hoped it was.

Hammer got me alone on the transit back, pulling me out to the dining table on the fantail. “Susan doesn’t want to change me,” he said.

“I don’t blame her,” I said as I handed him a beer out of the cooler. “Did she tell you of her past?”

“Some,” he said. “Susan said she used to be a Luna of your old Pack before she lost her mate.”

“I don’t remember many of the details since I was only five and was just coming into Pack life. My Uncle Leo was Alpha until he lost his mate; Susan and her mate took over the Pack. When Leo got back in the game and formed the Miesville Pack, Susan’s mate tried to kill us. He died, and losing your mate is the worst thing that can happen to a werewolf. She had a rough couple of years, followed by another decade of being alone. She doesn’t want to lose you.”

He leaned back and took a sip, composing his thoughts. “I understand, but it’s my job to protect Susan and our family. I can’t do that without my wolf, not the way I need to do it. I can’t take my place in the Pack, either.”

“Susan doesn’t care about that, and Leo doesn’t either.” I could see he was determined to make the change, not wanting to be weaker than his mate. They’d have to work that out between themselves. Long term, they couldn’t stay here; Susan would need her Alpha around. “Have you talked about where you will live?”