Page 4 of The Alpha's Bargain
“I thought a lot about it. I’m worried about you. I know you. You’re going to carry this around and drive yourself crazy to figure out a solution. You’re going to lose sleep and not eat because your stomach will be all twisted up in knots. You’re going to have to let your wolf run more and more because she won’t be able to take the stress. I want to help you; release you from this.” Her face was filled with a concern I hadn’t seen in a very long time. She really was scared for me, and I was scared for myself. In fact, I hadn’t been eating or sleeping, and my wolf was clawing to come out. It would only getworse.
The anger began to subside, and I inhaled a deepbreath.
“What is he goingtodo?”
She looked down at her feet. “That, I don’t know. I just told him what was going on, and he told me to call you. You’re here, and that’s allIknow.”
“If my father finds out about this, I’m dead.” Huffing out a breath, I closed my eyes and regained my self-control. I was here and needed to figure out what to do. Luca knew my situation. It was up to me to make thisright.
“I’m going to kill you,” I warned Sage, not that I actually would, but being pissed at her for a while was definitely in the cards. Even if it was out of pure concern. Confiding in her would be difficultnexttime.
She knocked on the door, the noise so loud it echoed down thehallway.
“Come in,” Luca’s deep baritone voice floated through the door like a melody. Over the years, it had changed so many times as he got older, but now, with its gruffness yet ease, it was the best. A sound that would arouse yet soothe. A very dangerouscombination.
Sage turned the handle, pushing the door open. Luca’s scent intensely hit me, and my attempts to not suck it in were lost. He smelled of fresh cut grass mixed in with freshly overturned dirt. Add in a huge splash of testosterone and his own unique flavor I hadn’t quite figured out, it wasdelicious.
The alpha waves he threw off were a heady combination. My wolf inside howled, spun around several times, then growled inappreciation.
Boy, did everyone know it, too. Every female wolf in a thousand-mile radius knew of Luca intimately. He never hid it, because there was no point. He didn’t have a mate and was a very strong alpha with a very high sexual appetite. There were many times I spent the night here with Sage, only to hear her brother with some female groaning in delight. It was one of the shittiest parts about having great hearing. If only it had an off switch when it came to blocking out that kind ofthing.
Luca had become alpha when his father had become ill. Luca’s father, Maximus, had stepped down, only to have Luca take his place. It was unheard of, but times were changing in the packworld.
Wolves were lucky in many areas, but with the mixing of shifter blood and human blood in some cultures, a very rare disease came into existence. It was a disease that shifting couldn’t help heal the body. The doctors named it deliation syndrome, which was delayed revitalization,and since very few wolves had it, there wasn’t much known about it. The pack doctors, though, had been researching it relentlessly and came up with a medication—another thing wolves were not used to taking—to help with the progression of thedisease.
Luca rose from his chair behind the mahogany desk and made his way around it as I stepped inside the door. He was a specimen of epic proportions, standing over six-foot-five, towering over me. His dark hair was cut short on the sides, but the top had this messy just-got-out-of-bed look to it. The way he ran his fingers through it over and over again proved he didn’t care much for it being styled in any particular way, only making ithotter.
His face was cut from granite with high cheekbones and a strong assertive jaw covered by a sexy dark beard. It was the eyes, though, the ones that made you feel as if he were looking down deep into your soul when he looked at you. They were a unique shade of brown, the irises gold that made them pop. At times, when he would turn, you’d swear they had a bit of green in them, too. I knew this because, growing up, I had spent a lot of time looking at this man, memorizingeverything.
“Caleigh, thank you for coming.” He propped his tight ass on the side of his desk, kicked out his feet, and crossed them at the ankle in front of him. His posture was relaxed and calm, allowing me to feel that way,aswell.
He always had that way about him. Sage called it the calm before the storm. She swore he had a temper, but he’d never once showed ittome.
“Right, what can I do for you?” I clasped my hands in front of me, waiting for him to lay whatever this was on me so I could figure out a way to save face withmypack.
His lips tipped up in a sexy smirk, then fell when he looked at his sister. “Go,Sage.”
“I want to stay.” Sage crossed her arms over her chest, trying to give off that don’t-mess-with-me vibe, but she never won. Not ever. Not once since I’dknownher.
“Go,” he ordered again, to which she huffed and turned toleave.
“I’ll be outside the door,” she told me, pulling thedooropen.
“No,” Luca called out. “Leave us be. I’ll have Cal come find you whenwe’redone.”
Sage narrowed her eyes at Luca, and his face became stern, his body giving off strong alpha vibes that had my wolf up on her feet, at attention. The bitch always liked thosewaves.
Sage lowered her head and left the room without another word. A room that now had Luca and I alone. Heavens, I lost my damn mind being in this confined space withthisman.
“Let’s cut right to the chase. I have a bargainforyou.”
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ChapterThree
My hands felt fidgety,so I stuffed them in my jean shorts pockets to try to tame them. That didn’t help much, just gave them a little bit ofcover.
A bargain. What in the world could this be? I had nothing to give Luca, so my bargaining chips were already spent. There was nothing tobargainwith.
