Page 17 of Alpha Bond

“Security,” I call back. “And some go out looking for things we might need here. Then there are those tasked with the city trips.”

“Your people go to the city?” Again, she seems surprised.

“When it’s necessary. Don’t yours?”

“Never. We have everything we need back…” Her voice trails off, and once more, I’m left feeling that she’s hiding details of her home from me. I half wonder why she’s so secretive about the place, but then again, she probably hasn’t let her guard down around me yet. Makes sense. I wouldn’t either.

I shut the door and strip off, then climb into the shower. The water is still running hot, which is appropriate because so am I.

“Jagger?” she calls again.

Dammit.

It’s unsettling having her talking to me while I’m standing naked in the shower. Too…intimate.

“Yeah?” I keep my tone neutral.

“What kind of place is this?” She pauses. “I mean…I can see you have a pack, but it’s not like anything I’ve ever heard of before.”

I stay silent for a while as I soap myself, wondering how much to tell her. If she’s keeping secrets, I probably should, too. There’s no telling where she’s come from. Who might be coming after her.

“Hello?” She’s not letting this drop.

“Used to be an old steel town,” I finally respond. “The mill is where we have our headquarters.” I continue washing, roughly soaping my crotch to ignore the fact that I’m sporting a semi. Morning wood. That’s all it is. But the thought of her right outside…I palm my thickening shaft and fight away the image of the way my shirt clung to her tits.

“But your people are different,” she presses. “So many alphas. Or have I got that wrong?”

“Nope, you’re on the money.” I turn the water to cold and stand beneath the icy blast, watching the suds run down the drain as the water beats down on the back of my head.

“But how?”

I step out of the cubicle and reach for a towel. “We make do,” I tell her. “Got our customs. Our rules. It works.”

“Hmm…” She’s humming on the other side of the door. Mulling this over. The sound makes my dick stiffen again. What the fuck? I think of that alpha scent to make it go down. “But how did you all end up together?”

“Just worked out that way, I guess.” I dry off briskly, then wrap the towel around my waist. “We’re mainly outcasts.”

“Outcasts?” she repeats. She jumps back abruptly when I open the bathroom door and walk out. She’d been hovering just beyond it. Now, her eyes widen as they take me in. And I’ll be damned if those eyes don’t rake a path down my chest, to the towel, and then back before meeting mine. Her cheeks are pink.

“Yeah,” I say, stepping around her and heading to my clothes rack. “Those who were unwanted by their own people. The rejects.” The word tastes bitter on my tongue. “Alphas who couldn’t fit in anywhere else.”

“So, they ended up here?” She’s tugging the hem of my T-shirt down, though I’m making a point of not looking.

“Yep.” I reach for a shirt and a clean pair of cargo pants. “You might wanna catch another shower before we go out. There’s still…” I wave a hand in the air. “Scent.” I try to be polite. It’s not really in my nature.

She raises her forearm and gives it a sniff. “Shit.” Her expression darkens, and I suspect that there’s a lot more involved than a simple dislike for the smell of urine.

“What’s that about, anyhow?” I ask as I grab a pair of socks and pull out my boots. I jerk my chin at her. “Why’d you do that…bathe in alpha piss?”

“I…” Her cheeks are flaming now. She turns to retrieve the sweatpants I gave her that she’s folded on the end of the bed. She’s trying not to make eye contact, but I have no intention of letting her get away with not answering. She started this game, after all.

“You…?” I press.

“I was hiding.” She pinches her lips together. “The scent masked me.”

“Hiding from them?” I tilt my head, not moving to get dressed – I’d have to drop the towel. Aside from being inappropriate to do this in front of her, even after the cold shower, I don’t trust my dick to behave. Which is fucking ridiculous. I haven’t looked at a female for as long as I can remember; it makes no sense that I’d respond to this one.

But here I am, fighting down a boner.