In the Alpha’s Arms

Sense of Taste

If there was one thing his father knew how to do, it was get under Cole’s skin so deep it was impossible to think straight. How could the man turn him straight into a ten year old child all over again with just a few sentences. He felt like his insides were burning, the taste in his mouth, bitter and thick.

We don’t mix with their kind.

He cringed as he replayed the words in his head. Cole felt the tape tearing as he clenched his fists so tight he thought they would bleed. It had been years, several good, long years where he tried to decompress and remove his father’s voice from his head. And still a ten minute conversation sank straight into his subconscious. Made him doubt himself and all the decisions he’d made up to this point. Was he everything he ever hated? Even as hard as he tried not to be…

His mind shifted to Erica. They both grew up together in the same community though in two separate packs. Ace too, though his pack was outside the community boundary. He didn’t grow up being spoon–fed the same toxic shit but he’d dealt with the shit by proxy. They all grew up under the same ideology. One that condemned anything that was different or other. Like werewolves weren’t the other in the grand scheme of the world. There were far less of them than there were of the humans. Hence, the need to keep it a secret.

Cole’s father was the most distinguished pack Alpha in the community. And he didn’t believe in mixing. Mixing religions, mixing breeds like human and werewolf, mixing bloodlines like Alphas and Betas, mixing races. Any of it. A bigoted traditionalist through and through. Purity had a dangerous undertone whenever he said it. His father’s voice sounding the way bleach tasted. How many times had Cole had to learn that lesson? How many punishments had he endured? His father used that Alpha tone like a blade, cutting at all the pieces of Cole that dissented. It had pushed Cole to shift sooner than most, still a kid in every way when his wolf broke free.

Shifting brought relief from his father’s manipulations but not the punishments. Those days were by far the darkest he could remember. And yet Cole had resolved the torture in his mind. The things his father had done to him didn’t stick in his soul nearly as deeply as the teachings. They etched themselves in a dark, almost unreachable place. That was the source of his self–hate. The fact that his kneejerk reaction to new people, places, and things, was always one that sided with his father.

He thought of Lita. Alex hadn’t understood what Cole meant when he said his father’s voice was a hard thing to push out. He could never really understand because he hadn’t been there. The thoughts were insidious and painful, excruciating to unlearn though he’d been trying his best. Lita was human and the breeds didn’t mix. And that wasn’t the only thing his father would have said about her.

Cole often thought Erica understood that he didn’t subscribe to that belief system. That he couldn’t make peace with that way of living. But he could see clearly now that she resented everything he held dear. He could see the way her comments seemed to belittle and judge. She’d never outright say anything but she’d plant the idea in his head, the grating, familiar suggestion that they were better than other people. She’d pretended to support him either because it suited her, or because his father had sent her to help bring him back to the fold. Regardless the reason, he had been stupid to trust

her.

“Bro, what’s going on?” Ace caught up with Cole just as he was throwing his leg over the ropes of the empty ring. Bedlam would be there any minute, “You’ve only had your mate for a few hours so I’ll assume you’re starting a fight because you’re pining for make up sex already?”

crouched down inside the ring, “Erica brought my

where is the body? I assume you killed him..” Ace flashed a smile but Cole could see his stress lines. This wasn’t good for anyone. The man was

Cole grunted, standing back up, “for now.

eye on Lita until you’re done. Then you have to tell

here,

‘I’m on it.

wrong inside of her. Pain. Her mouth was

enough to break the skin when Erica showed up. That woman had a special way of getting under Lita’s skin. Everything she did was passive aggressively insulting. Erica was talking to Jaz and it seemed heated but Lita couldn’t hear it. She could only hear the rush of her heartbeat. The

Sense of Taste

mouth, sliding it across the bottom lip to find the puncture. But she found nothing. She ran her finger through again, harder this time but again came up empty. It was definitely blood on her tongue but she hadn’t bit her

The heated conversation in front of her broke through

motherfucking factor. Take your rejection and go. Bow out with some fucking dignity,” Jaz put one hand on her hip, letting the other hang free like an invitation. Jazz’s voice had changed, dropping two octaves lower. Lita hissed as she moved her tongue over her canines. They were

talk to me any fucking kind of way! I used to make an exception because I was trying to play nice for Cole’s sake. I could have you disappeared without blinking,” What the fuck did that mean? Was it the fact that Jaz was a human too or the fact that she was

bitch because I’d prefer to know which one I’m beating your ass for?” Jaz pushed forward until she

pick…” Erica

arms, “Come on, fuck that bitter

door. In her heart, she didn’t want to give Erica the satisfaction or cause a scene at a

path, “So glad I don’t have to pretend not to anymore. I swear there’s

stole her man,” Lita laughed when Jaz spun