38. Epilogue - The Thing about Alphas
It was another hour before the Holts and the Luptons finally left.
Victoria and Hugh said goodnight and climbed the stairs to their rooms.
Samuel sighed where he and I stood in the foyer.
“It’s late. Why don’t you just stay the night?”
I chewed my lip. There were many questions that still needed answers. What was Pearl’s power? How had my wolf known how to use the crystal skull? Where the hell had the dwarves hidden the axes they’d wielded in the ballroom and what was their beef with dragon newts?
I decided that those could all wait until later.
“Are you asking me to check out your bedroom?” I raised an eyebrow full of hope.
Samuel blinked, surprised. His eyes darkened behind his glasses, the flash of amber in their depths making my pulse quicken. “You sure you’re ready for what will happen if you do?”
His voice had dropped to an octave that made my wolf stand to attention and wag her tail.
“I think so,” I managed in a strangled voice. “How about you lead the way and we go find out?”
A chuckle left him. He offered me his hand. I took it, his touch scalding my skin.
We started for the stairs.
I realized Bo was following us.
“Go away,” I told my dog firmly.
Bo blinked innocently. “I promise I’ll be quiet as a?—”
Samuel pointed imperiously in the direction of Victoria’s study. “Why don’t you use this opportunity to spend some time with your bosom buddy Pearl?”
“I don’t think her basket is gonna be big enough for the two of us.”
“There’s a Persian rug in Victoria’s office,” I pointed out.
This piqued my dog’s interest. “I’ve never slept on one of those before.” He wagged his tail and disappeared in the direction of the study.
“Do you think he knows?” Samuel asked quietly.
“That he’s a supernatural creature?” I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t think so.”
It was the only explanation as to why Bo had fallen under the skull’s spell when I’d issued the command that had ended the battle.
Samuel and I climbed the stairs, the mate bond a live wire that made my nerves sing with anticipation. He stiffened when we reached his bedroom door, his expression that of a man who’d just recalled something vitally important.
“Er, give me a minute.”
He slipped inside his bedroom. I grinned when I heard frantic rustling and the sound of things being shoved into drawers. Samuel returned and opened the door, slightly breathless.
“Come in.”
I looked around curiously as I walked past him.
His quarters occupied the west wing of the mansion’s second floor. Like his office at Hawthorne & Associates, it was a perfect blend of old money and modern comfort. Antique furniture mixed with contemporary pieces, including a California king bed with an elaborately carved headboard that probably cost more than my new car. Floor-to-ceiling windows offered a view of the gardens and forest beyond, while built-in bookcases crammed with everything from ancient texts to modern business magazines lined one wall.
I spied a door leading to a walk-in closet that would make Claudette weep with joy and another opening into a private bathroom that looked like it belonged in a luxury spa. Everything was meticulously organized, though I caught glimpses of hastily hidden chaos in the closet where Samuel had done his emergency clean-up.
“Nice place,” I said, trying not to focus on the bed.
“Thanks.” Samuel adjusted his glasses a little self-consciously. “Though Mother keeps telling me to hire an interior decora?—”
I turned and twisted the lock with a decisive click.
“Er, Abby, why are you locking the door?” Samuel asked nervously.
I flashed him a predatory smile over my shoulder.
He gulped.
A loud thud woke me the next morning.
I opened my eyes, squinted at the bright sunlight streaming through the windows, and stretched languorously on luxurious Egyptian cotton sheets. I rolled over and found Samuel on his knees on the floor next to the bed, gloriously naked and groaning.
I licked my lips as I admired the teeth marks decorating his rather spectacular behind.
He sensed my stare and stiffened.
“What’s the matter?” I asked nonchalantly.
“I was trying to go to the bathroom,” he mumbled. “My back seized up.” He scowled at my heated look. “No, we’re not going for another around!”
“Why not?”
“Because apparently the famed Hawthorne stamina pales in comparison to a white wolf’s!” he snapped.
I had the decency to blush a little. It had indeed been a night of hitherto undiscovered delights. I doubted any luna had ever ridden her alpha like a bronco before.
I was trying to convince him another round might cure his back when a knock came at the door.
“Your morning coffee and paper, sir,” Bernard called out dutifully.
Samuel’s eyes widened in horror.
Bernard tried the handle in vain. A key turned in the lock from the outside. I threw a blanket on Samuel and yanked the bed sheet up to my neck just as the door opened.
Bernard stepped inside the room, froze, and mutely dropped the tray in his hands. It crashed at his feet and sent a newspaper skittering across the floor.
It hit Samuel’s ankle.
“Oh God.” My alpha buried his face in one hand.
The blanket slid off his back a little, exposing a buttock adorned with teeth marks.
“What was that?!” Hugh shouted in the distance.
Footsteps thundered in the corridor.
Hugh burst into view. He was closely followed by Victoria, Bo, and Pearl.
It was clear everyone was still nervous after last night’s events and revelations.
They all froze at the sight of Samuel kneeling naked on the floor.
I held the sheet to my chest and beamed at them from the bed. “Morning.”
Victoria’s face glazed over. “Oh. Hi, Abby.”
“What happened to Samuel?” Hugh asked warily.
Pearl wrinkled her nose. “It seems his stamina needs work. I must say I’m disappointed, Samuel. A proper alpha should be able to last more than one night.”
“Kill me now,” Samuel mumbled.
A strangled sound finally left Bernard.
Victoria patted the butler’s shoulder with a “There, there, why don’t I make you a drink?”
The blanket fell off Samuel.
Bo cocked his head. His eyes bulged. “Wow! Look at the size of his ding-a?—”
I threw a pillow at him before he could finish that sentence.
Abby and Bo’s adventures continue in How to Stake a Vampire. Coming soon!