Cravings: Alpha City 2 (3 page)

Finally, she had enough of Jena telling her what a low life she was. Tonight was the last night she would ever take shit from Jena Carnes again. She heard Jena make her move and was prepared for her. Zoey turned around and blocked the punch Jena was throwing. Jena thought that she could hit her with her back turned, but Zoey had continued her training and flipped Jena, launching her against the door, knocking it down in the process. The noise was loud as Jena and the door flung against the outside wall.

Zoey could hear people running toward the bathrooms. Apparently, the noise was louder than she thought. Looking back, Jena’s friend was wide-eyed and stepped back away from her.

“Oops.” Zoey showed the wolf her teeth then walked out.

Stepping over the moaning Jena, Zoey walked down the hallway with a half smile on her face. London, Ryder, and the entire table of Alphas were looking down the hallway as she walked toward them. Kayden’s eyes were wild-looking as she approached him.

“Kayden, your date is lying on the floor. You might want to go and pick her up.” With that statement said, she continued to walk back to the table where Brody was still sitting with his hands crossed over his chest. She could see the smile widened as she sat down.

“You know Brody, I think we need to go back to Pier’s Point soon and go swimming. Would you be up for that?” Brody laughed and stood up from the table.

“I think that is a wonderful idea, sweetheart. Let’s blow this joint and go get breakfast somewhere. I think you did all the damage you can do tonight,” Brody suggested. Donnie ran back to the table as Zoey picked up her purse.

“I’m coming with you guys. I think the party is over here,” Donnie muttered, then turned and looked down the hallway snickering.

“Let’s go eat. I’m starving,” Zoey sang in a giddy voice as she took Brody’s arm and walked out of the bar.

The next day, Kayden watched from his office as Zoey pulled up in her SUV. He loved to watch her when she thought nobody was looking. She was beautiful, sweet, and she would never be his. Before his father left for Africa to start a new pride, he told Kayden to keep the species alive by finding a member of his own pride to mate with and have many cubs.

It has been drilled into his head since he was a cub to mate with his own species, but nobody touched his heart like Zoey. He knew the moment he saw her face in the tenth grade that she was the one. His father stressed that if he didn’t mate among his own kind then the family would die out. He was the only hope to keep his family pride alive and going strong.

It didn’t matter to his father about love. His father loved his mother, but it was an arranged marriage and love wasn’t even a thought in the beginning. Duty was all his father spoke about.

He remembered the day he asked his father why he shouldn’t mate for love. His response was harsh and cruel. He grabbed Kayden up and told him that he had an obligation to his family and not to love. All he needed to worry about was finding a suitable mate he approved of so the family could continue to grow.

Since he had taken over, his pride had thrived. He had ten families who were having babies. Two more panthers petitioned his pride this week wanting to join. Their reason was they were tired of the solitary life. They wanted companionship and sought him out. They explained that they had heard about the Alpha Panther in Alpha City who had new ideas that spoke of working together. Both were hardworking men who now thrived in the city.

His father would never understand how he ran the pride. He ran it with an iron fist, but Kayden wanted to be different and allow members to have a voice. He would always be the Alpha, but allowing others to have a role would allow his members to feel they belonged and part of the growing process. The members had never been happier, and he wanted to keep it that way.

“Alpha, you wanted to see me?” Thorn Russell walked into the office. He was a big shifter. Every time he saw the man, he couldn’t believe he was actually a panther. He looked more like a bear. Thorn was six foot five inches tall and weighed about two hundred and seventy pounds of pure muscle. His thighs were massive. Most of his pride was big, but nobody, including him, was bigger.

“Yeah, tell Marty and Phillip that Ryder needs some help on his crew with building a greenhouse on his property. His crew is on another job, and this seems to be urgent for his mate, London. She wants to grow herbs and stuff.” Thorn smiled at Kayden’s explanation. “Hell, I don’t know what she wants to grow. Something dealing with magic. I didn’t ask and don’t care. It’s a job for our members, and that’s all I needed to know.”

“You got it, boss. They will be grateful. With all the work they have been getting, they both have saved enough money to build their own house,” Thorn explained.

“That is great. Have they found any prospects yet for a mate?” Kayden asked. He kept up with all his members and wanted to help them in any way he could.

“Nope, not yet, but like all of us, it hasn’t stopped them from testing out all the women.” Thorn and Kayden both laughed. His thoughts were drawn to Zoey when the talk of mates were discussed.

“You okay, Alpha?” Thorn’s eyebrow was arched, as he looked at him, concerned.

“Yes. Why?” Kayden hadn’t meant to be sharp with his second, but he couldn’t get Zoey off his mind.

“Well, I heard that you got a little crazy last night when you saw Zoey. What’s up with that?” Thorn asked with a teasing smile on his face.

Kayden was staring out the window when it finally registered what Thorn said.

“I didn’t get crazy. She had on a short dress and every man in the bar was looking at her,” Kayden tried to explain.

“Dude, Zoey is hot and that’s what hot women do. They torture us with those short dresses that make you wonder what they’re hiding underneath it, and Zoey’s…” Thorn didn’t have time to say anything else because Kayden was up and out of the chair before he could finish. He had his hand wrapped around Thorn’s shirt and pulling him up to his face.

“Nobody will touch her, ever. Do I make myself clear?” Kayden’s eyes were bright emerald green as he growled out his threat.

“Alpha, calm down. We all know how you feel about her, and nobody will touch her. That I can promise.” Thorn didn’t fight back against his Alpha. Kayden drew a breath. His breathing was chaotic as he tried to calm down. His nostrils flared at the thought of someone else touching Zoey.
His Zoey. What the hell was he saying? Zoey wasn’t his,
Kayden thought.

Slowly, nodding his head, Kayden released his second and backed up. Sitting down hard in the chair, Kayden knew he needed to go for a run to get rid of this frustration he had before he snapped on someone else.

“Sorry, Thorn. I don’t know why I reacted like that,” Kayden responded frustrated. “I need to go for a run. It has been a week since I last shifted, and I think it is pissing my boy off.” Thorn got up and ran his fingers through his hair. “Can you take care of this stuff for me?” As an Alpha there were complaints coming in all the time. Members needed jobs, as well as help with one thing or another. He knew Thorn could handle most of it.

“You got it, Alpha. Go run. I got this.” Thorn looked up at him and smiled. Kayden knew his second and trusted him completely, or he wouldn’t consider him one of his best friends and family.

Kayden didn’t waste any time as he got up and left the office. He looked over at where Zoey parked, but her SUV was gone now. She must have left while he was talking to Thorn. Pulling out of the parking space, Kayden turned the music up and rolled his window down. He needed to think about anything other than Zoey. He needed to run her out of his system and get her out of his head. Unfortunately, he craved her all the time. She was like a piece of chocolate that tasted divine. He could never get enough of her. He thought about her at work, at home, and even at night, he pictured her as he pleasured himself.

Flying down the dirt road, Kayden slowed down as the cabin came into sight. Just being here made him smile. This place was everything to him that said comfort and safe. Thoughts of Zoey drifted away even if it was just for a few minutes.

Turning the knob, Kayden pushed the door open. He was blasted with a musty smell from being shut up for too long. He needed to do some spring-cleaning. He opened all the windows allowing the breeze to blow inside the cabin. It was too stuffy and dusty inside for him. No matter how much he loved this cabin, he loved the forest surrounding it more. Kayden went to the window and inhaled deeply. It smelled wonderful outside as the breeze blew through the window. He couldn’t wait to hunt then lay beside the waterfall at Pier’s Point. It always calmed him lying down in the grass while the sun dried his fur or underneath the waterfall lying on the cool rocks. Kayden couldn’t stand it anymore and started taking his clothes off. Shifting, Kayden jumped through the window and went in search of prey.

****

Zoey stood at the edge of Pier’s Point looking out over the forest. It was beautiful here. She hadn’t been here in so long that she had forgotten just how pretty it was. If she owned this land, she would put a house near here, so she could run and jump in the pool of water anytime she wanted. She laughed as she remembered the days when she was too chicken to jump. Zoey scanned the area one more time then jumped into the water below. Coming up from the water, Zoey knew something wasn’t right. The birds weren’t chirping and her wolf senses went up. Fading back under the waterfall, Zoey waited until she could see what or who was near the point.

“Zoey?” The voice scared her to death until she realized it was Kayden lying on top of the rocks. Twirling around, she gasped.

“I didn’t know you were back there. I would have never invaded your space,” Zoey sputtered, treading water.

“You’re not invading my space.” Kayden’s voice was strong but sweet as he sat up. He kept his hips down so she couldn’t see anything, but she could see the ‘V’ that a man had and Kayden’s was nothing but pure heat between her legs. The man was built with a great butt and thick thighs. He was just as tall as her brother, but had more bulk on him. His skin was golden brown, which made his bright green eyes shine brighter. She couldn’t stop staring at his body.

“You see something you like?” Kayden laughed softly when Zoey blushed.

“No, umm. No. I need to go,” Zoey muttered then started swimming out from underneath the waterfall.

“Hey, where are you going?” Zoey could hear Kayden jumping into the water, which made her swim harder to the other side. Before she could climb out, Kayden grabbed her arm and spun her around in the water.

“Hey! What are you doing?” Zoey yelled.

“You don’t have to go. We can share the Point. You know, swim a little and relax in the sun. That’s why you came, right?” Kayden questioned. His smile was filled with mischief as he stared down at her chest. His gaze made her jerk her hand away and cover her breasts.

“Hey now. You’re a shifter and nudity isn’t anything to us, so calm down and put your arm back down,” Kayden teased.

“Kayden Lynn!” Zoey jumped at him pushing his head under water. She knew she was in trouble when he came back up with that evil grin on his face.

“Now Kayden, you stop right there, buddy. Don’t you dare! I mean it, Kayden,” Zoey began inching backwards toward the side, but she wasn’t quick enough when Kayden’s big hand flew under the water and grabbed her foot, pulling her out to the deeper end. He was pulling her so fast that she went under water screaming. She could still hear Kayden laughing when he released her, so she could come up for air.

“You mutt,” Zoey screamed spitting water. She wasn’t mad because he was only playing. In reality, she loved every minute of it.

“Hey, I’m not a mutt, you are. I’m a cat and a pretty one at that,” Kayden emphasized, and then started beating himself on the chest like Tarzan did in the movies.

Zoey giggled at Kayden’s antics. That was what she loved most about him. His personality. His dad on the other hand was an overbearing ass who only wanted to control his pride. He got off on the power trip and control he placed on his members. Kayden was the total opposite, and she loved him for it.

“Let’s go sun ourselves,” Kayden offered. She saw the smile leave his face when she didn’t answer right away.

“Hey, I will turn my head if it means that much to you, and you can lie on your stomach, and I will too so you can’t stare down at my crotch anymore,” Kayden added, then grabbed her hand and started swimming to the side of the pond to get out. She couldn’t stop herself from letting him. She loved the feel of his hand wrapped around hers. His hands were huge and engulfed hers as they made it to the side.

Zoey waited and watched as Kayden started to get out, then turned around, and told her to turn around.
No, he didn’t just tell her to do that.

“Oh well, if you insist on looking then I shall give you what you want.” Kayden jumped out of the water, turned around, and looked down at her shocked face. His cock twitched as she gazed upon him.

Holy shit. Oh. He is huge
. Zoey could feel her face heating up as she shifted her eyes downward. When she glanced back up, Kayden wasn’t smiling. He gazed upon her as she stood in the water. Leaning down, he offered her his hand to help her out, but she was too shy to allow him to see her nudity and dipped down further under the water.

“Please turn around.” Zoey’s voice was timid and unsure. It was nothing for her to shift in front of her pack, but this was the man she had dreamed about since she was a little girl. What if she didn’t compare to the others. What if the other woman was built better? She hated the fact that she put her own self down.

Kayden turned around, walked over to a flat area, and got down on his stomach. He continued to divert his eyes as Zoey got out. Quickly she went and laid down on her stomach. “Okay, you can look now.”

“Do you do this with everybody you shift around or just me?” Kayden asked, as he propped his head up with his hand, smiling at her.

“No…I guess it’s just you.” Zoey felt uncomfortable now. Apparently, he thought she was crazy, and that angered her more. She couldn’t tell him how she felt. It would ruin their friendship if he knew how much she thought about him. He would avoid her more than he does now. Apparently, all of the Alphas knew how she felt about Kayden; however, they were mistaken about how he felt about her. If he felt different, he would tell her and show her. He was going out with Jena Carnes for God’s sake.

“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” Kayden asked as he watched her.

“Nothing,” Zoey replied. She couldn’t do this anymore.
It is too hard,
she thought.
He doesn’t love me.
What was she thinking? Of course he didn’t love her. He only thought about her because she was his best friend’s sister.

“I need to go. I’ll see you around.” Zoey was up and shifted and running toward her car before Kayden even moved. She needed to go to Las Vegas and meet with Johnny Ringo. He wanted their company to make a virtual reality game for him. He had heard about them, and since they were wolves, he wanted to do business with London and her. It was the perfect time to get away from Alpha City and thinking about him all the time. Work always took her mind off everything, and that was what she needed to do. Get as far away from Kayden Lynn as she could.