Her Alphas by Gabrielle Holly Read Free Book Online

reward.”
     
    The chamber below the cabin glowed with the light of
countless candles and long shadows danced across the rough stone walls. Jenny
realized that the Jeremiah’s home was built over an underground cave. At the
far end of the chamber was the mouth of a tunnel and Jenny guessed that was how
the guests had arrived. The entire pack—two dozen or more—was assembled in the
huge room—all dressed in long, black robes like Sergei’s. Everyone, that is,
except Alex. His robe was deep red and he wore a thick gold chain around his
neck with an amulet in the shape of the werewolf symbol hanging nearly to his
waist.
    None of the others wore jewelry. Jenny had met many of them,
but some of the faces were unfamiliar. Her body thrummed with anticipation and
she lifted her chin to sniff the air. There were only werewolves here and every
one of them was wired with sexual energy. Fear and excitement bombarded Jenny’s
mind and she was afraid she would faint from the power of it.
    Drawing in a deep breath, she glanced around the sparsely furnished
space. At its peak, the domed chamber was at least twelve feet tall. The stone
floors had been leveled and polished smooth. At the center of the room—atop a
low stage—was a padded table with adjustable leg rests and stirrups. Jenny
could only guess at its purpose but felt certain that she would be sprawled out
on it before the night was through.
    The hiss of whispers echoed through the space and the pack
members quickly formed a circle around the platform.
    “Let’s begin,” Jeremiah said quietly as he scooped up Jenny’s
hand and led her to the center of the group.
    Jeremiah let go of Jenny’s hand and took a few long strides
backward. A crackling surge of excitement raced up Jenny’s spine.
    “Show yourself to your pack, fledgling,” Jeremiah directed.
    Gracefully raising her arms above her head, Jenny slowly
rotated. All eyes were upon her and the feeling was exhilarating. Sergei
towered above the others and when she met his gaze, he gave her a slight nod of
encouragement.
    When she’d completed the circuit, two men emerged from the
group carrying a huge wooden armchair between them. They set it near Jenny and
quickly retreated. When she looked to Jeremiah for direction, he gestured for
her to sit. The men who had carried out the chair returned with a gleaming
copper vessel on a low wooden stand and positioned it to Jenny’s left. The bowl
was filled with black liquid.
    Jeremiah joined Jenny and extracted a short knife from a
drawer in the stand. He used the tip of the blade to prick his index finger and
squeezed a drop of blood into the bowl. Each member of the pack stepped forward
in turn and did the same.
    Alex was the last to add his blood to the mix and when he was
done, he passed the knife to Jeremiah, who licked the blade clean and placed it
back in the drawer. Two chairs were brought out and arranged opposite Jenny.
The alpha and the shaman took their seats. Jenny glanced nervously around the
chamber, not sure what she was supposed to do next. She was about to ask for
instructions when the group parted to let a tall, broad man pass.
    She recognized Tiny Wainwright from the motorcycle shop
where all the pack member’s got their bikes serviced. He carried a short stool
in one hand and a small box in the other. He set the box on the ground beside
the bowl-stand and flipped open the lid. While he settled on the stool beside
her, Jenny peered into the box and saw a tool with a wooden handle, slightly
longer than a pencil, and a toothed metal blade on the end. Next to it was a
small wooden hammer.
    Tiny reached out and positioned Jenny’s forearm on the chair,
then gave it a squeeze, as if to indicate that she was not to move. He grasped
her upper arm with both hands, stretched the skin tight with his thumbs then
cocked his head from side to side as if planning his next move. About the time
he let go and reached for his instruments, Jenny realized that she