In the Alpha’s Arms

Introductions

f the ringing in her ears and flushing up her neck was any sign, Lita was ninety percent sure she would murder one of these men.

Andres‘ eyes flashed bright green the second he touched her hand, strands of hair slipping forward over his brow. And still his handsome face would not pare him the violent rage building under her skin.

Jp close, she could recognize him from his social media, and she begrudgingly accepted he looked even better in real life. Warm–toned white skin, ntense brown eyes that seemed to catch the lights when he smiled. He’d been the first to stand up and properly introduce himself after they all aughed in a way that scratched down her insides like blades. Did they think it was funny she had to beg to be allowed to join the gym? Did they think was all in good fun that she’d had to rip out a piece of her heart by bringing James‘ name up? And for what? All it had done was convince them she vas a desperate stalker with a kink for dead fighters.

der stomach rebelled at the idea, something toxic springing up in the back of her mind. How dare she get angry enough to fight with these strangers when she couldn’t muster anything to fight off Brian? What did it say about her if all her fight left as soon as he turned those cool blue eyes on her? Did it say that she wanted it, that she liked the way he treated her? Lita wanted to vomit. She felt it churning at the base of her throat as the warm lush of anger spread everywhere, her fingertips throbbing and itching, her toes curling in her tennis until they hurt. It had only been sheer willpower hat kept her rooted in place while they laughed at her expense. The skin on her tattooed wrist was rane from how she scratched it, weighing the ikelihood of making it to her pills before she exploded.

Was she expecting a rave reaction? No, not exactly. They didn’t know her, and she didn’t know them. And truthfully, Lita knew she still looked like hell physically, but some part of her expected they’d find her at least decent enough not to laugh. That was the bare minimum bar to set for men, wasn’t it?

Lita had never been too clear on her own beauty. Outside of Brian, no one really gave her a second look and since all of his looks meant misery for her, Lita wasn’t entirely convinced he thought she was beautiful, either. Maybe he just found her attainable or a necessary means to an end with her parents.

And as Andres reached for a handshake, Lita reminded herself that she wasn’t actually here to be a bunny, so it didn’t matter what they thought of her or how pathetic they must have found her. She blew out a shaky breath, her misplaced rage was not new, and it hadn’t killed her yet, so it wouldn’t kill her now, His warm brown eyes Eashed emerald for a moment as he studied her face. Andres‘ brows knit together, and he frowned.

“Are you alright?” he asked quietly. She counted one, two, three, four…

Certain she wasn’t going to explode the second she opened her mouth, Lits blinked, looking up at the neon gym lights, the only reasonable explanation for his strange eyes.

“Perfectly peachy, considering I’m just one big joke here. I never seem to forget how ridiculous you all find me.” Lita didn’t know what to make of the light trick that changed his eye color, but she just shrugged. It didn’t matter.

“You’re not a joke and it’s nothing but a pleasure to meet you,” he said, leaning in to place a delicate kiss on her check, his heavy accent making her stomach do somersaults against her will. “I think you misunderstood our laughter, sweetheart.” When he released her cheek, Andres stepped back enough for Lita to look at him and see the guilty expression on his face.

“Looking at it from your perspective,” he pondered, “I can see why you would think something negative, and for that I sincerely apologize, but we weren’t laughing at you lovely. We were laughing at Alex. As if his own words conjured up more humor, his cheeks turned pink, and he laughed all over again. “We’re just thinking of how badly we’re going to tease him for calling you- he gave her a quick once–over-“a psycho bunny. Does he not have

“Learn to share, bro, Mark cut in, saving Lita from having to reply. Her mind swam with ways to take Andres comment as an insult, but she couldn’t Egure out how. He didn’t appear to be teasing her. Nor did Mark. His smirk had deepened, showing a hint of canines that made him look hungry rather than mean–spirited. He patted Andres‘ shoulder then shoved him out of the way. “You can’t hog the pretty newcomer, D.”

The nickname made little sense for Andres. Then she remembered they called him Delta, and she almost snorted. A nickname for a nickname? It seemed ridiculous. Then Lita’s mind seemed to catch up to what Mark had said. Pretty. It shouldn’t have made her chest swell, but it did. When was the last time someone other than Brian gave her a compliment?

Mark took up the hand Andres let go of and leaned down to plant a kiss on it. The second his lips touched her skin, his forest green eyes fluttered up to meet hers and sparkled a bright amber for a split second. Lita inhaled, her insides turning to liquid heat at that gaze. She was definitely losing her mind when it came to those eye colors, but damn if she cared.

–

“Babe, it’s positively a sin that we haven’t met before today,” he smiled, continuing to hold and caress her hand with those warm, calloused fingers. “If 1 wasn’t sure that Alex was a stick in the mud, I’d swear he was keeping you for himself, Mark admitted, his eyes stuck on a point just below her collarbones. Was she blushing?

Hveductions

Lita, shoving her elbow into his side.

“Brody! Go say hi, dammit, you’re being rude,” faz demanded quietly and practically dragged him up to Lita,

wasn’t anywhere near finished with her. The goosebumps breaking out over her arms were a strange feeling. She hadn’t felt excitement or desire in so long, Lita didn’t know what to do with it. Had she really changed so much with a month of workouts

in front of her like the runt of the litter, Lita watched Brody swallow and blink, a muscle

thought his breakup was that big of a deal, Lita could see the damage. She’d bet money that it had been a toxic relationship and he

pulled him into an embrace. For the first second or two, he didn’t move, holding his arms out like he was being attacked. But she didn’t move or press for more. She just continued with the calm embrace. And eventually, when he realized she

shrugged like the hug wasn’t a big deal, “Don’t read too much into it, kay?” He gulped, nodding

left a lot to be desired, but Lita leaned into it, throwing a wave up over her head. He chuckled, “You don’t look like absolute shit today, so I’m assuming Stace gave you the

giving him the finger as she stepped back from Brody. His eyes lit with a spark of blue, but Instead of a temper, a grin spread

fat into his chest as his eyes watered. “She’s got balls,

Andres crossed his arms,

But trust me, as far

–

Mark snapped, laughing huskily as he stared at Lita’s blush. Then he turned back to Alex, “You should let the doc check you, bro, it’s no way someone should be so uptight he can’t see pretty when he’s looking at it. Might be a medical issue. Something

hand over her mouth and took a couple steps back to give herself room. Her back collided with a wall. A wall that oddly enough had hands that slid onto her waist and held her still. Like her body had a supernatural awareness of him, Lita suddenly remembered the moment with Cole in the parking lot and knew exactly whose body was plastered to

waist. His voice had a direct line to her chest, shooting heat and flutters throughout her. Did she know anyone with a voice so pleasantly rough? So deep and satisfying to her ears? Embarrassingly, she shook her head at her own question, and he cocked

going to eat something tonight if the hallucinations were getting this out of control. Maybe the changing lights were

and joined

this is

radiating off him, and it made no sense. She hadn’t done anything

a flick of her hair, trying to ignore Cole’s eyes on her. She became increasingly aware of the sliver of skin showing between her top and

to run,” Cole

their spandes bottoms. Stace merely stripped off her

Introductions

Or some extreme form of competition preparation? Cole had said “we” and he was

Stace called over

first and Lita followed close behind, digging through her bag in the passenger seat. The tightness in her shoulders and chest told her she needed her meds. Cole seemed to always get her emotions

sound stupid until it was used to describe him? Her face flushed as she thought about the way his hands caressed her waist. No, he hadn’t caressed her. He’d just held her still, kept her in place so she didn’t murder his feet. Where were the damn meds in this bag? When she still didn’t find them, Lita made a frustrated sound and pulled over. Dumping half the bag out on the seat, she realized the little bottle wasn’t there. Shir. She’d have to go back to the gym and look for it. She didn’t have another appointment with her therapist until the end of the week to

Slamming the door a little harder than she needed to and leaving the SUV running. Lita stomped toward

so far under her skin? They hadn’t said more than a handful of words to each other, but it was like every time she saw him, her body couldn’t help but respond. It had to be pent up attraction. She could admit that he was as hell, but so were the

and disorganized. It was damn dangerous. Hormones made her

boxing mats. Getting on her knees, she finally found the pill bottle that had rolled underneath the bench. Hulling, she swiped it up and spun around to find four naked people clutching their rumpled clothes to their most private parts. Stace, Mark, Brody and Andres

you still doing here? We saw you leave!” Stace barked suddenly, her cheeks turning

to be embarrassed at all. Totally normal.” Lita playfully covered her eyes and lightly jogged back to the front door. She was sure she’d feel flustered too if they caught

stop her, even letting go of her clothes to grab for Lita before she

fine, I’m not judging, okay? Just let me get out of your hair, Lita insisted, pushing open the front door only to come face to face with two large red

a primal, desperate

in height, towering over her. Those red eyes burned her skin as the beast drew closer, eyes as intense as the neon gom lights. Watching the animal blow steam through its nose, Lita pretended it wasn’t

the thought as soon as she had it. Then another wolf appeared in a blur of gray fur with bright blue eyes, tackling the Erst one to the ground. The ground shook, the air

each other. The black one seemed to want to kill her. Even as the other clawed and bit at it, the black wolf only bared its teeth and