Alpha's Bane

Chapter One-3

Trey

Sheridan Green glares up at me, looking like she stepped out of my dreams—wet dreams—and into my life. My wolf presses against my skin, clawing to touch her. I don’t know whether to yell at her, slam the door in her face, or pull her into the office and reacquaint myself with every inch of her body.

My d**k is not so ambivalent. It’d be easy, so easy, too easy, to yank her to me, hike up her skirt, and have her against the wall.

Then she opens her mouth. “Get your hands off me,” she spits, her green eyes sparking.

“f**k,” I rasp, and let go of her as if burned. “What’s going on?” I ask Grizz without taking my eyes from Sheridan’s angry face.

The grizzly shrugs. “She came in looking to talk to Garrett. I figured you’d want to know.”

“Garrett?” I cross my arms over my chest, mirroring Sheridan’s stance. She’s got her hackles up. As if she has a right to be mad at me after what she did. “Your cousin isn’t here.”

“I learned that,” she snaps. “Right before I ran into a freaking vampire.”

A growl rises at my chest. Not at her. I’m not happy about the leeches.

“Come in.” I step back, holding the office door open. She marches in and turns in a circle, hands on her hips. For a moment I see the office through her eyes. The messy stacks of paper, the dim light broken by the glow of an ancient desktop computer. The empty cans of beer overflowing from the trash can. Not exactly a professional work environment.

Whatever. It’s my business and I get s**t done when I want, how I want. I’m done trying to please her. Those days are over. She killed any tie we ever had to each other.

A little voice in the back of my head whispers, You had it coming. I have to admit, I snuffed out the feelings we had for each other as efficiently as I could. Our relationship was on life support by the time I was through with it. But Sheridan was the one who plunged a knife into my heart, and twisted it until there was nothing left. No love, no feelings. I’ve been an empty shell ever since.

“Vampire, Robson, really? What the heck is going on?”

Heck. She still doesn’t swear. Still the perfect pack princess, working so hard to please everyone. Her family, her pack, her alpha—everybody but me. She doesn’t have a problem treating me like dirt.

Right now she’s looking down her nose like I’m dogshit on her designer shoe. Her fancy-pants high heels that make her legs under her skirt look long and sexy as f**k.

My eyebrows snap together and I glare right back. Who the f**k wears high heels to an underground fight club?

“What are you doing here, Sheridan?”

A perfectly polished fingernail stabs me in the chest. “You answer me first, wolf. Why is there a leech out there? This is pack territory. Why haven’t you thrown him out and staked him as an example?”

“I can’t. He belongs to Lucius. We have a deal.”

Sheridan sucks in a breath. “You’re dealing with vampires?”

“Fuck.” I turn away, scrubbing my hand through my hair. I hate leeches more than anyone. They’ve turned my dream into a nightmare. “It’s complicated.”

“Explain.”

I whirl back on her with a snarl. “I’m not your wolf.” I was once. But never again. That’s why this is so hard. “I don’t answer to you.”

She straightens, her chin going up in the stubborn stance I know so well. “I’m here on behalf of the Phoenix pack.”

“Garrett’s dad? You should talk to Garrett.”

“I thought he’d be here.”

“This isn’t pack territory. Not anymore.” I swallow to stop my wolf growling in my chest. He hates the leeches as much as I do. “We made a deal with the new kingpin.”

“I can’t believe this. The wolves I know would never ever deal with vampires—”

“The Sheridan I knew would never choose her own glory over her friends. Oh wait, she did.”

She pales. “That was years ago,” she whispers. “I thought you’d be over it.”

Never. I’ll never be over you. If I talk, I’ll beg like a dog. For her to come back, forgive me, anything. Instead of answering, I raise a mocking eyebrow. Cruel, but she deserves it.

She looks away, color returning to her cheeks with a flush. A tendril of hair curls around the perfect shell of her ear. I tighten my hand into a fist to keep from touching it.

After a minute, Sheridan turns back, her face a cool mask. “I’m here representing the Phoenix pack. We’ve heard Fight Club was attracting trouble. Alpha Green sent me to figure out what’s going on.”

“Spy on us, you mean.” I c**k my head and bare my teeth in a nasty semblance of a grin. “Just like old times.”

She flinches at that. Points to me. “I’d like a sit down with Garrett, to talk about this new vampire presence and what it means.”

“Then call him. I’m sure your cousin will be happy to hear from you. Or are you not on speaking terms with him?”

She presses her lips together and gives a small shake of her head.

“Imagine that. It’s almost like no one trusts you anymore, since you betrayed us.”

“Are you ever going to let that go?”

“Nope.” I grin to hide the flash of pain. She’s so beautiful. So perfect. So out of reach. An ant has a better chance of dating the sun.

Her father was right. I never should’ve put my dirty paws on her.

“Look.” Her voice softens. “I’m not the bad guy here. Fight Club”—she flicks her fingers at the door—“You’re attracting attention. Cops, FBI, CIA—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I raise a hand to stop her, mentally cursing Agent Dune and his damn midlife crisis. “That business with the CIA wasn’t us.”

She shakes her head. “You were involved. And now the heat’s on and you’re taunting the humans under their noses. Gambling. Illegal fights. Drugs.”

“Hey”—I spread my hands—“I have nothing to do with drugs.”

She leans forward and sniffs my clothes pointedly. “Last time I checked, recreational pot wasn’t legal.”

I roll my eyes. “Maybe I have a prescription.”

“I don’t care about the pot. I care about the harder stuff. Sucre sang.” She rattles off something French-sounding. “Sugar blood. It’s a new drug on the streets, and it’s deadly.” She pauses, her eyes faraway for a moment. “That’s why the vampires are here,” she says to herself, as if she’s just figured it out.

I stay quiet, drinking in the sight of her in a sleek suit. She looks good. More makeup than she used to wear, and her hair is pulled back tight, but the stuffy suit she’s wearing doesn’t hide her perfect curves.

Sheridan. f**k. She’s catnip to my wolf. Not catnip—wolfbane. Sweetness and poison in one perfectly made up package.

As if to prove it, she faces me. "This little turf war with the leeches makes it clear that you guys can't stand alone. You need our protection. Maybe even become part of the Phoenix pack again."

"What the f**k?” I can’t keep my voice down. “We've been on our own for years, ever since you—"

"You only exist because we allow it,” she says, cool as a judge pronouncing an execution sentence. “Shut Fight Club down, Trey. Or I will."