The Falcon Ridge Series Book 2 Not Just A Girl

(Chapter song ‘Paradise City’ by Guns ‘N Roses)

JAYSON

God, I love being in love and I love this town.

Sarah's my everything. I feel like I can do anything. Stand up to anything. Fight anything.

She gives me so much power.

Seeing her stand up to River like that had me beaming with pride. My Luna doesn't take crap from anyone. Not even Alphas. Especially when her home is involved.

Which us why I wish she was here with me while I meet with Alpha Andrews and River. Apparently, he called back up. That being the Alpha of Falcon Ridge.

I'm sitting in my office with these two pompous idiots across from me at the conference table.

Andrews folds his hands on the table. "Alpha Duke."

"Please. Call me Jay." I smile as I lean back in my chair. I'm probably cockier than I should be right now, but I don't care.

"Jay." He sighs. "You know you don't have a leg to stand on here."

"See. That's where you're wrong." I sit up. "Since I'm now the new Alpha in charge, I have full right to disrupt or destroy any agreements made by my father. Under the guise that his decision is not what's best for my pack. This..." I pull out River's agreement and hold it in my fingers. "… Is garbage." I tear it half and toss it at River. He looks at the paper and up at me. He grabs the pieces and pushes them aside. He's clearly not amused.

"Alpha." Andrews begins. "Your pack is virtually non-existent. You have nothing. No security, no commerce. Nothing. You can't survive relying on the Alliance. It doesn't work that way. If people wanted to move here, it would be different. But from what I've seen over the years, people can't wait to leave."

My jaw ticks at his words. "That's about to change. There's a new Alpha in town. The time of living under the thumb of the Alliance is over. We will be recognized as independent or I'll inform everyone I can about how the perfect Alliance tried to steal people homes." I flick my eyes between the men.

"No one would believe you." River smirks.

“Riv, I give you some leeway because I know most of what you say is your father talking, but I do have a whole town full of witnesses, if you'd like to ask them what they think." I point to my door. "You want to test that?

"Ok. Look. We can push and shove all day. Brass Tax, Falcon Ridge wants this territory. What's it going to take?" Andrews asks.

"Seriously? You seriously ask me that?" I lean on the table. "The only way you even step a foot over that border is if I'm dead."

"That can be arranged." River mumbles.

I slowly turn my head to him. "Bring it." I sneer.

I lean back. "You know, Riv. Since you took the council position, I started to question… What's White Rock got to do with this, anyway?"

He shrugs. "I'm a top leader in the Security Unit. These things are my concern and the council knows it."

I nod. "Hm. It wouldn't have anything to do with the shiny new Unit building they want to build and the new Head Alpha position, you’d most likely get, would it?"

"No. Not entirely." He shifts in his seat.

"You know my Luna. Sarah. You remember.” I smile.

He shifts more. “How could I forget.”

I lean on the table. “She loves Anna. Admires the shit out of her. She's a hero to my Sarah." I smile.

River smiles. "Yeah, Anna’s pretty great."

I lean toward him. "I wonder how Anna would feel if Sarah told her, her mate was stealing the homes of the elderly and children to further his career. How do you think she'd take that?"

I see concern fill his face. "You wouldn't."

I raise my brow. "Oh, but I would." I grin evilly.

He heaves a breath and stares me down. I can tell he's judging if he should test me.

After a solid minute of the battle of wills, he stands. "We're done here."

"Yes, we are." I lean back in my chair and place my hands behind my head.

Andrews stands. "We'll have to discuss the terms of your Alliance agreement at the next council meeting."

"I'll be there waiting to discuss." I grin.

I stand. "Give my regards to Anna, would you, River."

He glares at me, opens the door and allows Andrews out first. He follows right behind him.

Derek walks through the door, looking behind him. "They don’t look happy. I assume everything went according to plan?”

"I think things are going to get better for us." I shrug as I clean up the table and walking to my desk. “I told them how it was going to go and they had nowhere to go. Black Lake is ours.”

"Ok. Can we call people back now."

"Yep. Call everyone back." I nod.

"Good. Now, we have the reports on the rogue army. They're on your computer." He points to the computer on my desk.

I sit down and log in. I pull up the file and read it. "So, they're no longer a threat."

"No. They're no longer a threat for now. Unless, we find Desmond White, he'll always be a threat." Derek sits in the chair on the other side of my desk.

"I know where he is." Sarah walks through the open door. She’s wearing a little white dress and carrying a ton of shopping bags.

“Baby? What's all that?" I point to the bags.

"Well, I was having breakfast with your mother and I said I had to go home for my clothes. She asked me when's the last time I went shopping and I said I don't know when I was ten? She said we can't have that, darling, I said I don't want to bother you and she said...."

"Baby, get to the point." I nod and roll my hand in front of me.

"Your mother took me shopping." She quickly says.

"Ok." I smile. "Now. You were saying about White?"

She sits down on the couch and piles the shopping bags around her. "I know where he is." She says as she removes her heels.

"Ok."

"The Colorado mountains." She says matter-of-factly.

Derek looks at her. "How do you know that?"

She rubs her feet. "God, these shoes hurt."

"Sarah?" I try to get her attention.

"Right. Um... That's where Desmond was taking me. He told me." She shrugs

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I ask.

"You never asked." She shrugs nonchalantly .

Derek chuckles. "Aww, Sweetheart. You're the cutest thing ever."

"Thanks." She smiles.

I scratch my head and huff out a little frustrated laugh. I really want to be nice here. I get up, walk around my desk, step over the shopping bags and join her on the couch.

I take her hands in mine and pause to collect myself and find the right words.

"Baby, you know I love you, right?" I stroke her hands with my thumbs.

"Yes." She nods with an ear to ear grin.

I flick a little smile at her. "Keeping information like the location of the most sadistic wolf on the planet, to yourself… That’s a big no. You get that right?"

She stares at me. "I'm sorry, but like I said, you never asked. I just thought you didn't want to talk about it because it might upset you."

I look to Derek who makes an awe face. I shake my head.

"Sarah. I love that you want to protect my feelings, but we need that Intel and anything else you know." I give her hands a gentle squeeze and look into her eyes.

"I don't know anything else." She took her hands from me and crosses her legs. She leans on her knee and places her hand under her chin like she was thinking. “It was weird. He was actually really gentle with me, for the most part. Like I was a prize or something."

"Well, that's a good thing, I guess." I scowl. I can only thank God that White took her as a trophy instead of a sacrifice.

Derek smiles. "Not surprising. You're so tiny and sweet. Who'd want to hurt you? Apparently, you tame the ugliest of beasts. Isn't that right, Jay?" He chuckles.

I glare at him and growl.

He gets up and waves me off. "Relax, stud. You marked her. You can cool the whole possessive Alpha thing. I'll be in my office." He walks out.

"Is there anything else you need to talk about? Even if it upsets me. What you went through, Sarah, no kid your age should've gone through. If you need to talk about it, tell me." I hold her hands again and look into her eyes. “I promise. I won’t judge you in any way.”

She hesitates and draws in a nervous breath.

"I mean, at first. We were soldiers. Fighting for a cause, but at some point, my wolf took over. She demanded everything. Food, death, blood. Even sex. I had so much power. So much strength. I forgot what it meant to be human. Even when I was myself, my wolf was controlling me. Every step. Every decision. It wasn't me. It was pure animal instinct. Primal, brutal and barbaric. I felt like I was just watching. Does that make sense to you?" She looks at me confusion

My jaw went slack. "What do you mean sex?" The word was like a giant brick wall to everything else and I was stuck.

She swallows. "We. Um...We had just killed the second pack. At that point, we had been wolves for days. There was nothing left of us. Our wolves were calling the shots. Anyway. We stopped for the night and I was washing the blood and filth off me and Sean..."

I sucked in my upper lip. "Sean. You had sex with Sean."

"Jayson, please don't be mad. I thought we were over. I thought that I'd never see you again. I was so lonely and my wolf had so much control. She craved it like food. It meant nothing! I swear." She pleads with me.

I know she's right. The beast inside her skirts a very fine line between animal and human. I know how feral they got out there. It really isn't that surprising that she would give in to such a pure, basic instinct.

I scrub a hand down my face. "I'm not mad. I can't be. Technically we were done. I understand. Your wolf drove you to do things you'd never do as human. I can push this aside. The moon came through. You're mine and that's all that matters now."

I pull her into a hug and she hugs me back. "Thank you." She mumbles.

I push her back, moving a lock of hair from her face. "Thank you for telling me. I need you to know, you can always be honest with me, ok? There's nothing so bad, that we can't work through."

She nods.

I sit up. "Ok. That's enough talk for now. You need to put this stuff away."

We both stand and she gathers her things. Heading for the door, I stop her. "Sarah. Is… um… Sean... at the training camp right now?"

She thinks. "Uh. Yeah. I saw him when I walked in. Why?"

I shake my head. "No reason. I'll see you at lunch."

She smiles. "Ok."

When she leaves, I grab my keys, lock my office and head for the camp. I need to have a talk with a scrawny wolf.

I get to the field and Sean's sparing with Hayden. I don't even hesitate. I stride over with all my Alpha in my chest and surprise him by grabbing him by the throat. I lift him off his feet as he yelps and I slam his back into the ground with one arm. He groans and coughs as I kneel on one knee beside him. My eyes are on fire as they find his.

This really is pointless, but it feels good, so what the hell.

"Alpha?... What...." He's struggling against my hand as my lip quivers in a snarl.

Hayden steps closer to try to stop it, but I turn my head and glare at him. He raises his hands and backs off.

"She told me." I growl then turn my eyes back to Sean’s.

"Oh, shit... Jay, man..." His eyes fill with fear. His legs kick try to find grip.

"Save it!" My eyes flash blue. "You so much as even touch her again and I'll rip you to pieces. Do you understand?"

"Yeah... uh... yes...." He chokes.

I lean close to his face. "Yes... what?"

"Yes, Alpha." He says.

I let his throat go and give a light tap on his cheek. "Get back to practice."

I stand and walk away hearing Hayden demand to know what Sean did. I smile to myself as that felt damn good. I wasn't going to hurt him because I knew it wasn't really his fault either, I just needed to scare the shit out of him, if he ever decided to lay a hand on my mate again.

As I round the corner to the front of the house, I hear a motorcycle engine. I watch Luke pull into the driveway. He stops beside me and kills the bike.

"Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be at the camp by now." I eye him and the bike.

He glances at me. “I figured I should come and say goodbye on person before I take off.”

My brow furrows. "Goodbye?"

He adjusts his leather jacket and wipes at his bike. "Yeah. I turned in my resignation this morning. I'm going home, man. I'm too old for this shit. The Unit, these damn kids. I need to leave." He stuffs his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Oh. Damn. Well, if you need anything. Place to crash or whatever. You call me, ok." I clap his shoulder.

It's sad, but honestly, I'm surprised Luke stayed this long. Growing up, he was never a joiner. He was always off doing his own thing. It wasn't until his dad made him join the Unit to try and quell his anger, that he actually pinned himself down.

To be real, I've seen this coming for weeks now. Red Rocks been calling to him. I've seen it. I just hope he finds whatever he's looking for now.

He gives a little smile. "I will. I think it's time I get my home back, too."

Confusion sets in. "What's going on?"

"When I went home a few weeks back, the Lycans rolled in. It's not good. My dad's freaking out."

"Shit. Ok. Like I said. If you need anything. Help with anything. I'm there man." I eye him with concern as I cross my arms.

He grunts and starts his bike.

"Jayson?" I turn my head to the pack house. Sarah's standing on the porch.

I look back to Luke, giving him a side clap. "I'll miss you, man. Really. I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for Sarah and I."

"I'd do it again, brother. I'd do it again." He mumbles. "Ok. I got to go. Bye Sarah."

Sarah waves curiously as I walk up the steps.

I watch Luke rev the engine, circle around and drive off.

"What's he doing here?" Sarah asks.

"He quit. He's going home to Red Rock."

"Oh. I'm going to miss him" She wraps her arms around my waist as we watch him drive off into Black Lake toward the highway.