BETWEEN TWO ALPHAS

Chapter 2: Taking the Case

Standing by my office window, wrapped in shadows, was six feet of solid muscle topped with shaggy black hair and wrapped in a nice leather jacket. The kind people wear when riding motorcycles. Even in the dark, his black eyes smoldered like embers in a fire, broad shoulders tensing when I stepped in.

Under his musky, virile scent, I caught a whiff of gasoline, exhaust, and oil. He probably had ridden a motorcycle to my office.

I could tell he was an Alpha. It wasn't just the bulging muscles that tested the seams of his leather jacket or the air of entitlement that wafted off of him like smoke. Only an Alpha would be bold enough to break into my office and wait for me, then not even be courteous enough to turn and face me.

“Can I help you?" I asked, letting the door swing shut behind me.

For a moment, we were both trapped in darkness, only headlights and streetlights flashing in the window brought any light. I turned my desk light on and got comfortable in my leather chair, leaning back and putting my feet up on my desk.

“Genevieve McTyrne?" he asked in a velvety, smooth voice that made my bones tremble.

“That's me," I said with a sharp nod.

I should have just kicked him out. Getting involved in any official pack business, and this couldn't be anything else with an Alpha standing across from me, was dangerous. I helped an odd wolf here and there, but only for personal issues. If I got too entangled in any pack, I might as well just put up a “bat signal" to my location. With the gifts that were being dropped around town for me…

“I'm Alpha Loki Everette," the Alpha said, tongue flicking out and licking his plush, inviting lips. “You come highly recommended and I need your help finding something."

“I can't get involved in pack business," I jumped in.

Better to get rid of him as amicably as possible. I'd heard of Loki, Alpha of the Crimson Moon pack. With his connections and reputation, he'd be too much of a threat if I didn't let him down easy.

“This isn't for the pack," he said, lips twitching as the corners quirked up in a coy smile. He pulled his leather jacket off and draped it over my client chair. He grabbed the back of the chair and leaned on it.

Sighing, I tilted my head to the side to fully take him in. Taught, sun-soaked skin over a thick neck and arms that could strangle a gorilla. His black t-shirt might as well have been painted on, each curve of the muscles down his chest and abs outlined against the fabric.

“Okay," I said, drawing the word out. I motioned to the chair. “I'll hear you out."

Loki sat, his back rigid and straight. “My twin sister, Persephone, disappeared a few months ago," he explained.

“Months?" I asked. I fluffed my red, pixie hair, scratching my scalp deliciously with my fingernails.

“I thought the pack resources would be enough to track her down. Every lead we've found has come up empty," he continued, anger ebbing into his voice as his tone dropped to an even lower octave, if that was possible.

“This sounds like it is for your pack," I ventured, arching a slender eyebrow.

Loki smirked and relaxed, finally. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, stretching his long legs out casually. “The pack isn't involved anymore. I'm outsourcing, you'll only have to deal with me."

“Right," I muttered.

Like just dealing with Loki was any better than dealing with his pack. I rubbed my forehead then grabbed my notepad and a pen. I might as well get into this. Loki didn't strike me as the type to take my refusal lightly. I needed to keep him placated if I was going to stay on his good side – assuming he had one.

“Okay, start from the beginning," I said, tapping the point of my pen on the paper.

“Does this mean you're taking the case?" Loki asked, smirking smugly.

My stomach twisted and exploded with butterflies. No, not butterflies, bats. I bit my lower lip and looked away from those smoldering eyes that heated my skin as if he could literally project heat with them.

“I can't promise anything, Loki. A trail that is several months cold, even I might have trouble catching it up," I laid out honestly and bluntly.

“Alpha Loki," the Alpha corrected with a small growl.

I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes. “I'm not affiliated with a pack and I don't need to adhere to their propriety," I challenged.

Loki glared back, which should have stopped the flutters in my stomach. Instead, a shiver ran down my spine, and for a moment I envisioned him pushing me up against the wall in a heated rage.

My breath caught and I swallowed quickly to try and mask it. I cast my eyes down to my notepad, willing the swell of heat in my low abdomen to cool. It had been so long since I'd been around a wolf male, let alone an Alpha.

Sure, wolves and humans could have relationships. The intensity was never the same and I'd made it a point not to get emotionally attached, or intimately involved, with anyone. There was always the chance I'd have to turn tail and run at a moment's notice. I couldn't have that kind of weight dragging me down.

Loki's glare softened, eyes brightening like they'd burst into flames at any moment. Apparently, he knew exactly what he was doing to me.

“Genevieve," he purred my name like melted chocolate.

“Tell me about your sister," I said, tapping my notepad again.

“Very well. Three months ago, Persephone went to meet a… friend… of hers. She never connected with him and hasn't been seen since," he said, reverting to a more professional demeanor.

“Where was she going to meet this… friend?" I asked. What a delicate way for him to describe it. Like any over-protective Alpha, he didn't want to think about his sister's s****l exploits.

“She was supposed to meet him on 5th Avenue. The last confirmed sighting I have of her is getting off a bus on 3rd," the Alpha said.

I scribbled down my notes. Questions raced through my mind, questions that I doubted Loki had had the mindset to ask. I'd mastered the art of investigation. All his pack resources and connections weren't a substitute.

“Why was she on a bus? Doesn't your pack have a car service?" I asked.

“A driver brought her into the city and she got on a bus from there," he said.

I creased my brow and looked up at Loki. His eyes were shifted to my office window. Now that he wasn't trying to intimidate me, or evoke a reaction, I could see how soft the lines of his face were. His mouth in a firm line, eyes distant with memories he was holding back.

Well, if I really was going to take this case, he'd have to get used to dredging those up. I wouldn't be able to track Persephone without the full story.

“There are bus stops on 5th Avenue," I pointed out, drawing Loki's attention back.

Loki nodded slowly. “The name she gave me for the friend she was meeting was a fake. I tracked the guy down and he'd never heard of her."

“He wasn't lying?" I asked, doodling nameless shapes in the margins of my notes.

Loki chuckled, a dark low resonance that sent a shiver down my spine. “No human would dare lie to me, given the circumstances."

“Right," I said. I believed that.

Loki had a reputation for being a “zero tolerance" Alpha. Wolves in the city whispered his name if they'd ever met him in person. I'd heard rumors of how rogues that trespassed on his territory had a habit of disappearing and how he'd do anything to get his way, making other Alphas fear dealings with him.

And this was the male I'd just agreed to help.