The Alpha King Call Boy
Chapter 140

Alexander

"Here to ask me to call off my dogs?"

I arched an eyebrow. "I just came here to talk. Are you telling me there are dogs that need to be called off?"

"Ah." James batted a hand through the air dramatically. "No, no. Listen, my guys know better than to mess with the King Pack. I told 'em the day I heard about this scuffle, just lay low. Let it go. They shouldn't have got themselves mixed up in whatever that started out as, in the first place. They're not gonna do nothing to your soldiers, Alpha Alexander, Sir. You got my word on that." "I'm glad to hear it."

"Yeah, they shouldn't have been laying hands on your guys, no matter who said or did what to who first." James shrugged, frowning. "I got nothing but respect for you, Sir. Nothing but. I do wish, though, that I could say the same for your pack, but you know, after what happened, I gotta wonder."

Passive aggression is not something that sits well with me.

"Tell me what you mean by that," I said calmly.

"I mean what I mean. My pack's already been told to stand down. We got no problem here, you and me, Sir. But you know, something did get started out there. And it wasn't my guys who started it."

"My pack is my responsibility. And I do regret their actions in regard to this incident. But you need to watch your tone with me right now."

"Hm. And maybe you need to remember where you are right now. Sir." He spat that last word out like venom.

Finally his stupid, lopsided smile melted away, and for the first time I got to see James's real face. "Are you threatening me?"

James leaned back in his chair and crossed one leg over the other, hands folded in his lap, and asked, sarcastically, "Am I? The way I see it, all I did was call you out maybe only a little bit as much as I could have. And you respond by telling me to sit down at your feet." His upper lip twitched into a snarl, giving me a good view of sharp, yellowed teeth.

"I've been nothing but a gracious host to you here in my house so far," he continued. He was talking wildly fast. "Maybe you could think about the situation you're in, why you came here in the first place and how many dogs I got outside that door before you start specifying the way you think I'm supposed to say the words that come out of my mouth."

Foamy white spit bubbles appeared at the corners of that mouth.

James was high on something. His pupils were dilated so wide, his eyes looked completely black.

"Yeah, I know who you are, Alpha Alexander. I didn't want to pick a fight with you. But maybe that's what you came here for, huh? Thinking all that, what-six-four, six-five? -big frame of yours gives you free range to come in here and size me down just to make a point."

"Six foot seven."

James laughed and shook his head. The hair on the back of his neck was standing on edge. His lopsided smile came back, uglier than ever.

"Six foot seven, huh. And all the power in the world. But you're not out in the real world right now, big guy. You're locked in a cage with a bunch of rabid dogs that do what I tell them to do."

My heart was beating at a steady drum-like clip, pumping hot blood through my veins.

I leaned forward, set my elbows on the table, and interlaced my fingers.

"If you really believe," I said slowly, "that you can threaten me one more time without getting seriously injured, you go ahead and try it."

I slid my chair back and loosened my tie. Took off my jacket, folded it in half, and set it down on the table. And returned to staring James down.

He went quiet, considering his options. He kept on smiling, but I did see his lips start shaking with fear.

Fiona

Alexander unleashed a vile smell into our bedroom when he returned from his visit to the prison. "Whoa." I rolled back in my desk chair and held a hand over my mouth and nose. "Oh, my god."

It smelled like putrid body odor, mold and rot, and who knows what else.

He slid his shoes off at the door. "Sorry. I'm going to get right into the shower."

"Thank you." I got up and went over to open the nearest window, letting some fresh, cool night air slip inside and start to ventilate out the stench. "Wow, is that what prison smells like?" Alexander gave me a tired half-smile. "No. Prison smells a lot worse." He pulled off his tie and started unbuttoning his shirt while he crossed the room.

"What happened to your jacket?" I couldn't help but notice that he was not wearing the jacket he'd had on this morning.

"I threw it out," he replied quickly. "Got something on it."

As if that were a normal thing to do with a custom tailored suit jacket. Throw it out. But I did not ask for further explanation.

"I'll be out in just a minute, sweetheart." He disappeared into the bathroom, leaving the door ajar, and had the shower running seconds later.

I closed up shop in my home office. Saved my work, powered down my computer, tidied the desktop. And then slipped into the bathroom to retrieve Alexander's dirty clothes from the floor.

He was in the shower running a bar of soap all over his body, and turned to watch me through the glass door.

I got the stinky clothes tied up in a laundry bag, breathing through my mouth while I worked. It didn't help, though. Maybe I smelled the smell a little less, but I also started tasting it on my tongue.

I tossed the laundry bag out into the hall then locked the bedroom door back up behind me.

I met Alexander as he was coming out of the bathroom, steamy, damp, wet-haired and barely clad in a towel.

"Thanks," he said, nodding at the door and running his fingers through his hair to comb out some tangles.

I shook my head. The message was: you don't need to thank me for taking care of you; it's my job.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. Everything's fine."

He closed the distance between us and his hand went to my neck. It was hot. It kind of shocked me a little, actually. I guess my skin had taken on a chill after I'd opened the window.

Alexander was looking down at me with some sort of heavy emotion in his honey-colored eyes. The hand on my neck began to stroke it. His other hand, damp from his own hair, pushed its way through mine. "You sure?"

"Yeah. How about you... how are you feeling? How was your day?"

"It was good. And I feel alright." I pressed my hands to his chest, making them tingle with another rush of warmth. "Better now that you're back. You ready for bed?"

He nodded, his lips curling into a slight smile.

I turned the lights out and Alexander ditched his towel in the bathroom after running it quickly through his hair one last time. We met under the covers.

He lay flat on his back and stretched, and I took the opportunity to slip into the crook of his shoulder and get comfortable there. Then he relaxed his body with one arm draped around me.

"So, how did the meeting go?" I felt okay to ask this, since he'd been open with me earlier about where he went today and why.

"Went as well as it could have, I think."

"Does that mean... everything's settled? No looming feud?"

"Yeah. The Hellhounds won't be giving us any trouble. Nothing to worry about. Can cross that off the list."

"What list?"

Alexander ran his free hand down his face, stalling for an answer.

He had not meant to say that to me.

"Just... one less thing to do," he finally said.

Seemed to me though, as I considered his earlier choice of words, that what he'd actually meant was a list of things to worry about. I had to wonder what other items were on that list. But, as usual, I did not press the matter.

He turned and wrapped his whole body around mine, kissed the top of my head and left his mouth and nose lingering there. Soon he started rubbing his face in my hair slowly, lazily soothing himself with the soft texture and breathing in my scent.

I felt some of the tension in his body melting away as he did this. My own body couldn't resist following suit.

It was late and we were both tired. Alexander passed his hands all over my body, but they moved slowly didn't seem to have any plans. I drifted off while he held me like that, too warm and comfortable not to.