Alpha Trio: Vol. 1 - Cats & Dogs (3 page)

They made it five blocks before the vamps caught up. Four of them, like Grig had said. Three were regular vamps, males with slightly pale skin, dark smudges under their eyes, and lank hair. Most of the vampires they came in contact with looked like that. As if they spent a little too much time in the basement playing Call of Duty. A little spindly and unwell. But looks were deceiving. Even a vamp without the toy surprise was fast and strong and vicious.

“Em,” Drei spun on his feel to face the vampires, eyes blazing as he studied the gaunt visage of the leader. A too wide, too toothy smile split the white skin of the vamp’s face. Drei cracked his knuckles. “Get her the fuck out of here.”

“Drei--”

“We got this, big brother,” Grig shot back. He flexed his hands. Em saw the skin of Grig’s forearms begin to ripple and cursed under his breath.

“Hold on,” he muttered to Cat.

“What now?” she asked, but her arms slid up to wrap around his neck.

Em wanted to stay and fight with his brothers, but Drei was right. He needed to get her away. She was Mundane, and she’d already seen too much. His car was only a few blocks  south of where they were, but it would be quicker on foot. Especially for him. Saturday night in the city meant a clusterfuck of traffic.

He could make it to his apartment in half the time cutting through alleys and side streets. Em didn’t even glance back. He knew his brothers would be fine. Or, he wouldn’t let any other possibility enter his mind, anyway. He heard the ripping roar that meant Drei had shifted and heard Cat gasp. Shit. He prayed it was too dark for her to see much.

“It’ll be fine,” he assured her as he picked up his pace. “Just hold on to me.” She had a death grip on his neck, the soft flesh of her biceps pressed to his throat and her forehead tucked against his collarbone. Em ran.

***

The second the door of his apartment closed behind them, Cat squirmed to get down. He set her on her feet. She tugged at her suit jacket and scowled at him.

“Okay. What. The. Fuck? Was
that
?”

Em shoved a hand through his hair. “Nothing. Just... some gang members. My brothers and I are part of... a task force.”

She snorted. “I’m sorry, do I look like an idiot?” She looked like a walking wet dream. Her hair was straggling around her heart-shaped face and her feet were bare. Her toenails were painted blue. She put her hands on her hips and tapped those painted toes against the carpet.

“Let’s rewind. I get a call to meet a guy who says he’s got information about the story I’m working on. Only when I get there, he’s got sharp ass teeth and he tries to fucking
bite
me. Crazy, right?” She threw her hands up in the air. “Except, when I tell you I think he’s a
vampire
, you go all cave man and haul me off to your apartment. Meanwhile, your two brothers? Turned into fucking wolves!” Cat panted, her breasts heaving.

He couldn’t help chuckling. She was sexy as hell all riled up. Em gritted his teeth. He needed to get his shit together. Hot or not, the chick was a Mundane. Now, if he could just think of something to say that would explain away what she’d seen. Fuck. He was not good at the suave wordplay. That was all Grig.

“Fuck it.”

“Excuse me?” Her dark brows curved upward.

Em pushed past her into the kitchen and made a beeline for the refrigerator. He yanked out two beers and tossed one to her. She gasped in surprise, but caught the can in her small hands. He popped the cap on his own can and downed half of it in one gulp. “It’s not crazy,” he said finally, swiping at his mouth. “He was a vampire. They... we... do turn into wolves.”

He was breaking almost every rule they learned to live by, to survive by. But what the hell was he supposed to tell her? She wasn’t stupid. She knew what she’d seen. And despite that fact, she wasn’t panicking. So, Em decided to lay it all out there for her and let the chips fall where they may.

She tapped one fingernail, she bit them, he noticed, on top of the beer can. “Is that it?” Her eyes narrowed at him. Em shrugged and collapsed on the sofa. He didn’t spend much time in the apartment, but it was clean and well kept. The sofa was dark brown, the carpet beige. He’d even put some paintings up. They were his mother’s work. Not much furniture aside from the couch. Just a low coffee table and the enormous plasma screen. He’d spent a little more time on the bedroom, since when he was here that’s mostly where he spent his time.

Thinking about his big, king size bed and Cat had his cock hard in an instant. He shifted, adjusting himself absently. “What do you want? You already know what you saw. If you’re looking for confirmation, I just gave it to you.” He sipped his beer, leaning back against the sofa cushions and meeting her intense gaze.

After studying him for a long moment, she gracefully lowered herself to the other end of the couch, tucking her legs up beneath her. Em admired the smooth, round flesh of her thigh as her skirt rode up a bit. His cock twitched again. Fuck if this girl didn’t turn him to steel without even trying.

“So you’re a werewolf?” She chewed her lip, the expression on her face caught somewhere between intrigue and uncertainty. Em toasted her.

“Guilty as charged.” He heel-and-toed off his boots, peeled off his socks, and put his feet up on the coffee table, crossed at the ankles. There was something sort of liberating about not beating around the bush.

Cat wiped at the side of her neck. Sweat beaded along her skin. He kept the temperature in his apartment pretty high. It felt pleasant to him, but heat affected humans differently. She fanned a hand at her face. “Were you bitten? I mean... is it like in the movies?”

“No.” He eyed a single drop of sweat that snaked down between her breasts and contemplated licking it up. His cock throbbed. If he didn’t get out of these jeans soon, he’d end up castrating himself. “We’re born, not made. Drei, Grig, and I are all from the same litter.”

“Your poor mother,” she gasped. Em snorted laughter.

“Human woman have triplets all the time.”

She pressed the cold can of beer to her cheek. “Yeah, I guess. Jesus, this is all insane. You know that right?”

“I’m sure it seems that way to you. This is a pretty normal night for me.” Apart from the chatting to a human woman about Shifters and vampires part. She finally relented and pulled off her suit jacket, laying it aside. Em took the time to ogle the full curves of her breasts through the soft white cotton of her shirt. Cat had gorgeous tits.

“That’s right. You said you and your brothers are part of a task force. You’re the supernatural police?” She cracked her knuckles, fingers flexing as if she was getting ready to sit in front of a keyboard. Several things she’d said earlier clicked into place. Em swung his legs down and cursed.

“Shit, you’re a fucking reporter?” He was dead. If Drei didn’t kill him, their mother would. He was telling Shifter secrets to a fucking Mundane reporter.

Cat bristled. “Yes.” Then, seeing his tense posture, she rolled her eyes. “Relax. If I tried to publish anything about this, people would just think I was a crackpot. At best. I mean, sure, some conspiracy nuts would probably become my fanboys, but no one would take me serious as a journalist.”

“Were you being a serious journalist tonight when you met a strange man in an alley?” he shot back.

“Yes, actually. I’m working on a story about a string of deaths. The police haven’t connected them and I swear they’re missing something. So, when I get a call from someone who says they know for a fact the police are purposefully overlooking evidence...” She trailed off, shrugging. The motion made those magnificent tits sway. Em drained the last of his beer.

“You’re investigating what you think is a string of serial murders and when someone tells you they have information and asks to meet you... alone... after dark... you just go? Weren’t you in the least bit suspicious?” he growled.

Cat extended her unopened beer to him. “Of course I was! I’m not an idiot. I brought pepper spray.”

“Against a possible serial killer.” Em snorted. “A
vampire
serial killer.” He shook his head, snatching the beer from her hand.

She crossed her arms beneath her ample breasts, pushing them against the soft fabric of her blouse. He popped the beer open, enjoying the deep V of cleavage visible. Emilian liked his girls with some flesh on their bones. Another reason he liked human girls. Shifter chicks were all lean as a whipcord. It was in their DNA. Cat, on the other hand, was soft and round and delicious.

He shifted, adjusting his aching cock again. Cat gasped. As Em watched, her nipples went hard, poking at the silky fabric of her top. He pulled his gaze reluctantly from her luscious tits to look at her face. Her round cheeks were flushed pink and her eyes were wide. She was staring at his crotch. Em’s lips curled in a smirk.

When Cat realized he was looking at her, her eyes darted to his, and then away. The pink on her cheeks deepened to scarlet. “I didn’t know he was a vampire then. Frankly, I’m still...” She rubbed at her forehead. “This is all crazy. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes... I mean, I did see it and I’m still having trouble with it. Like, I could have had a psychotic break or something. Maybe I’m in a psych ward somewhere and you’re not even real.”

She sounded so pleased with the idea. Em reacted without even thinking. He set down the beer and was pressed against her in a flash. She gasped, flinching backward into the couch cushions. They were chest to chest. Her bent knee was less than an inch from his throbbing erection. Her stuttering breath washed across his cheek.

Em looked into her eyes for a long moment before reaching for her hand. He pressed it against the rock hard wall of his chest.

“Does that feel fake to you, Cat?” he murmured. Her plump lips were mere inches from his. When her tongue came out to wet the bottom one, he almost groaned. Her small fingers traced the outline of his pectoral muscle.

“N-no. But...”

“It’s all real. The sooner you accept that, the safer you’ll be. If you delude yourself into thinking this is some drug induced dream, that skeletal fucker is going to get you and you won’t even see it coming.” A sweet little treat like Cat definitely didn’t deserve what those monsters would do to her.

Cat squeezed her eyes shut, but she nodded. “Fine. I know. I
know
it’s real. I just... don’t know what that means for the rest of my life. It changes... everything.”

“It changes nothing, really. We’ve always been there. The only difference is, now you know. You hang out here until Grig and Drei get back from wasting the bloodsuckers and then you can trot back to your life. My only word of advice would be drop that story.” 

Em shrugged and moved back from her a few inches. Her hand dropped slowly from his chest. As much as he might want to fuck this girl, and christ did he, she was a Mundane. He didn’t do Mundanes. Too fucking complicated. The fact that it took her about half a second to rile him more than a platoon of vamps in a blood frenzy was irrelevant.

“Oh, right. Trot back to my life? How... I mean what... I can’t just forget all of this!” She swirled her fingers in the air, indicating him and the world around him. This is why it was a no-no to clue in the Mundanes.

Em caught her chin between his fingers and leaned in close, forcing her to meet his gaze. “This is not something that leaves this apartment, Cat. Promise me. Once you leave here, everything is back to normal for you. No vampires, no Shifters. Nothing. Not a word.”

Her purple-blue eyes were wide as she stared into his face. Her lips trembled. But she didn’t smell like fear. Em frowned as she remained silent. “Promise me!”

“I pr-promise!” she pulled out of his grip, jumping to her feet and rubbing at her arms. “I promise, okay? Your secret is safe with me.” She began pacing in front of him, stepping over his crossed legs. The move lifted her leg high, baring a considerable swatch of creamy thigh. Em sat back and enjoyed the view, picking the beer back up and letting her work through whatever she was turning over in her head.