1302 The Alpha (The 13th Floor) (3 page)

No one from directly below could see her, but there were people and cars all along the street. In the distance, she saw smoke from a fire. Hopefully that drew enough attention, so no one would notice a woman climbing up the side of a billboard.

The wood wasn’t in the greatest of shape. She might be able to do it without extending her claws, but she wasn’t going to take the chance. She managed the climb, sneakered feet slipping a few times. Running over the roof, the next building was apartments and had a fire escape connecting to the one she was on. She jumped and climbed, feeling like those kids who played that new urban sport. Like gymnastics outside with cars and fences.

On the roof of the apartments, she paused to take a breath. Continue up or dare to go down? The door into the building was propped open with a beer can.

Then she saw a crouched figure on the ledge at the other side. He was all in black, hood of his sweatshirt up. Sniffing, she realized it wasn’t one of the pack. Was some guy going to commit suicide?

Not her problem. She had her own hide to save.

He leaned over, looking like he was ready to dive.

“Hey! Don’t do it!” Stefanie shouted, sprinting toward him, cursing herself all the way.

The guy startled and nearly slipped. He caught himself just as she snatched the back of his shirt. Her adrenaline was flowing, and she yanked a little too hard. He flew back and knocked her down with him.

“What do you think you’re doing? Killing yourself is stupid.” Stefanie got to her feet in a crouching position and gasped when she saw his face. “James?”

“Stefanie?” No glasses or argyle, but it was him. He rose to his knees, his shock plain on his face.

“What the hell?”

“It’s not what it looks like.” James brushed his hands off on his pants. “I wasn’t going to jump. I wouldn’t have fallen. I was just, uh, watching. Did you know the pack that was chasing you is down there?”

“Yes.” Stefanie stayed crouched. “I don’t usually run around on rooftops. Do you?”

His cheeks flushed, and he pushed back his hood to slide a hand through his hair as he stood.

“You do. You hang around on rooftops. And do what?”

“Well,” he said and crossed his legs. He started hesitantly and then gained more confidence. “Okay. I watch over the city. You know, see what’s going on and maybe help out when I can.”

“What? Like Batman?” She snorted.

“Kinda, yeah.” James flashed her a dimpled smile. “Batman has cool gadgets and a costume. I figured I’d be too memorable in a costume. So I just wear a hoodie, sometimes with a scarf over my lower face. People are less likely to remember what I look like that way. I figure since I have all these powers, why not use them to help people? Nothing big to draw major attention. Just muggers or bullies or whatever.”

“Shit. You think you’re Batman.” Stefanie couldn’t stop herself from laughing. She’d never been into superhero worship and definitely wouldn’t do anything to draw attention to the fact she wasn’t human. People would flip if they knew there were things like werewolves and vampires in the world.

“Not Batman, but I want to help.” James rose up onto his knees. His expression was amazingly earnest. “I know I can’t let anyone know what I am. Yet it feels like a waste if I don’t use my gifts. Carmine has problems. I can help. Is that such a bad thing? At least I didn’t go the other way and become a villain. Imagine the destruction one wolf could do before he was stopped.”

Humor fled her face.
That
she could imagine. Wyatt and the pack had done their share of bad things, and they weren’t afraid to use their strengths to their advantage. Speaking of which.

“Hey, look over and see if the pack is still there.” She bet they were, but she needed to make sure.

“Sure.” James hopped up and peered over the ledge. It didn’t take but a few seconds before he nodded.

It wouldn’t take the pack long to realize where she went. She might be upwind, but seeing she didn’t come down anywhere, they’d figure out she went across the rooftops. Gritting her teeth, she considered continuing farther along the tops of the buildings until the end of the next block.

“I can help you.” James offered and pointed to the door.

“I can’t risk going down right now. And, sorry, I don’t think you’d stand a chance against the pack. Not even Batman would have much of a chance against Wyatt.” Then she added, “The Alpha.”

“I might fare better than you think. I’m a brown belt in jujitsu and I’m studying two other forms of martial arts. But I wasn’t suggesting I help you fight. I know a way down to the basement and into the sewers. We could get away right under their feet and they’d never know.”

Stefanie raised her brows. Well now, he was a clever wolf despite his ridiculous desire to be a superhero. She nodded. “Let’s get going then. Lead the way.”

CHAPTER 4

Stefanie would never get that stench out of her clothes, and maybe not even her nose. Well, the more atrocious the stink, the less likely the pack could track her. She still wasn’t going to take any chances. They went a good ten blocks before coming out, and then she took him back to her apartment.

No, she didn’t know him, but there was something about him she trusted. Besides, he’d never get on the 13th floor if he were a threat. The door swung open for him just as it had for her when she first found it. Now she was even more certain she could trust him.

“The thirteenth floor. That’s so cool. I didn’t think many of the older buildings like yours had one.” James said.

“It doesn’t.” Stefanie peered down the hall to make sure no one else was around. Her neighbors liked their privacy as much as she did. She pushed open her door. “Go on in.”

“You don’t lock it?” James stepped in. His nose twitched as he breathed in his new surroundings. He didn’t walk farther than the entry until she closed the door and went in ahead of him.

“I lost my key. No one’s going to break in here.” She walked over to the fridge and retrieved a pair of soda cans. She tossed one at James without asking if he wanted one. It was the only thing she had to drink other than water, and she needed to wash out that foul taste from her mouth. The sewer stench lingered with a fetid tang.

Stefanie popped open her can and drank nearly half before pausing to swish the cola around her mouth. It was good to concentrate on the stink rather than the fact there was someone in her apartment. Her den. And not just someone, a male wolf.

“Yeah, okay, but what if some man breaks in while you’re sleeping and—” James stopped and then shook his head. “That man would then be toast.” He tapped the bottom of his can and then opened it. Taking a swig, he surveyed her place. “So, this is cool. Retro artist. Even though I saw you at the store looking at supplies, I didn’t peg you to be the artistic type.”

“Why not?” She narrowed her eyes.

“Well, uh,” he stumbled with his words, head bowing down under her glare. “You’re a tough woman. Quite fit, for obvious reasons. Obvious to us anyway. And you’re a little bit country.”

“What? I’m not a little bit country.” Stefanie snorted and finished off the rest of her soda. It helped a tiny bit, but she needed to get out of her clothes and into a shower.

“It’s the northern accent and the cowgirl attitude.” This time James grinned as she glared at him. “You can’t deny it. You’re in charge and you won’t let anyone forget it.”

All right. She did have a bit of a Wisconsin accent, but no one else ever commented on it. But a cowgirl attitude? Where did he come up with these things? “You read too many comic books.” She tossed her can into the garbage pail. “I am in charge of my life. No one controls me and I mean to keep it that way. But that’s all I’m in charge of.”

Now. It hurt to say it. She was meant to lead a pack not stay hidden away in a little apartment in the city alone.

“You’re a natural leader. I find myself following you and I can’t help it.” James took another swig as he regarded her. His brows slowly rose. “That’s your pack chasing you. You were the Alpha. But something happened and now you’re not. They’re hunting you far from your territory, which says something about what you did.” He nodded, excitement building. “Okay, let me guess. You must’ve done something pretty bad.”

Stefanie was across the room and nearly chest to chest with him within a second. “I didn’t do anything. Don’t you start thinking I’m some big villain for you to battle. You don’t know me or anything that’s happened. My life isn’t a party game. Shut up, don’t sit on anything, and don’t you dare touch my paintings.”

Stefanie stalked off into the bathroom and slammed the door. She grabbed the edge of the sink and took several deep breaths. So James guessed she was an Alpha. There really was no hiding that from another wolf. She didn’t want him making her life into some superhero story, though. It was far from it. She’d lost and she’d fled. Nothing heroic about that.

He was already involved way too much. But then didn’t he deserve the full story? Yes. No. Maybe. Stefanie shook her head and stripped off her clothes.

Long hot shower first. She turned it on and hopped in, washing her hair three times. Much better, but the smell of the sewer still was there. All the shampoo and body wash in the city probably couldn’t help her now.

Drying off, she wrapped the towel around herself and scooped up her clothes, deciding not to throw them into the hamper lest they make the basket itself stink. She dropped them in the corner of the hall as she stepped out.

“You.” Stefanie motioned to James as she walked into the living room. “Wash up. I’ll find you something to wear while I get our clothes cleaned.”

James was standing where she left him, frozen in mid-motion of taking a drink. His lips were slightly parted with eyes wide and dilated. Good as he was at hiding his scent, and even with the sewer stench, she smelled arousal on him. But she didn’t need to smell it to know.

Her hands rested on her hips. She had a healthy appetite for all things, especially a good romp, and she’d been celibate for months. The idea of throwing him onto the couch and having her way with him sent a surge of heat through her. She wanted to kiss that hot mouth and make him plead for more.

A deep flush crept up from his neck to his face. Damn, now he could smell she was turned on. No, this wasn’t going to happen. She wasn’t the type to screw a guy over just so she could release some tension. And he was screwed enough having met her.

“Go have your shower. Leave your clothes there with mine so I can take them downstairs to wash them.” She turned and went into her bedroom, shutting the door with her foot behind her.

She dropped the towel, feeling suddenly too hot. A cold shower would be really good right now. Even better, about five minutes on her bed to relieve herself. But he’d smell it. And she’d really prefer him to do it.

Not good. Stefanie had planned on them hiding out for a while and learning how to hide her scent, but now there was this tension between them. She’d always been in control of herself, but it’d been so long since she’d been with a man, and a wolf was even better. James would be so easy to get into her bed, and that was exactly why she wasn’t going to do it.

Looking at herself in her mirror, she waggled a finger. “You aren’t going to do it.”

She mentally repeated it as she dressed and picked out something for James to wear. A big black T-shirt splattered with a bit of paint and men’s cut off jean shorts. They were big on her, so they should fit him. None of her pants had the length his legs needed, and she didn’t own a bathrobe.

Brushing out her hair, it still dripped as it flopped against her shoulder blades. Stefanie exited her bedroom and quietly opened the bathroom door to put the clean clothes for James on the inside knob. The shower was running, but he didn’t say anything if he noticed.

He had obediently put his soiled clothes in the hall with hers. Stefanie picked them up, grabbed her laundry basket with what she needed along with a roll of quarters, and hurried down to the basement. A lot of floors to go down, but she never noticed.

When she came back to the apartment, the shower had stopped and James emerged dressed in her clothes. He gave her a shy smile as he ran his hands through his wet hair. Sexy.

“Food.” Yes, food. Had to feed at least one of her appetites. “I can make you a sandwich if you want. I stack ’em high.”

“Sounds good.” James walked from the hall into the living room. She motioned for him to sit, and he sat on the edge of a chair.

They were silent as she made sandwiches. She piled them high with meat and cheese and a healthy dose of mayo. Hopefully he wouldn’t notice she didn’t have any plates that matched. Everything she had here was bought second-hand. She had left a whole house of possessions with her sister in Wisconsin. Her sister and Matt. God how she hated him.

Stefanie handed him his sandwich, sat on the couch, and proceeded to eat hers. He took a big bite and nodded.

“It’s good. Really good.”

“I work, no, I guess I
worked
at the best butcher shop in Carmine. Can’t go back now.” She sighed and continued eating. Damn Wyatt. He ruined her life over and over again.

Quiet settled upon them. James ate faster than her, which pleased her. She made a wicked sandwich.

“Your paintings, you’re really good. They’re original. You’re particularly good with color and shading.” His voice was hushed as if he wasn’t really sure he should talk. Her smile made the tension in his shoulders release.

“Thanks. I like playing with textures and color. Particularly color.” She finished the last bite of her sandwich and swallowed. “Many wolves are colorblind. Did you know that?”

“I didn’t know. Interesting.”

She licked at her lips, still tasting the creamy mayo. At least that said he wasn’t colorblind. Must be because he was bitten rather than born. Stefanie had a hundred questions for him about that, but she needed to talk to him first. She’d tell him enough so he could understand she wasn’t the villain and that he could run from this if he wanted. If he was smart, he would.

“So, since you’re already involved, I might as well tell you what’s going on.” She sat back on the couch and then shifted forward again with her elbows on her knees. “I didn’t do anything bad. Know that. I just lost the right to lead my pack.”