“Raithbhertiagh!”
“O...” Callon started to correct him. Lifting his head, he saw the Major peering over the file tower Gunny had piled on his desk. Well, it wasn’t exactly his desk. It was the platoon commander’s, but since they were short a platoon commander, his desk. Not that anyone would explain what happened to the previous platoon commander except that he left in tears. That, Callon could imagine. He realized that the Major was still talking.
With a smile that was more bared teeth than sweet lips, Vuk glared at every wolf, bear, cat, and whatever that fawned over his mate's hand. They said smile. He was smiling. It wasn’t his fault if the other shifters took his toothy smile as a threat. And he wasn't looming… definitely wasn’t appearing intimidating at a party he was hosting. Nope. Vuk was just... practicing perfect posture. That growl was simply clearing his throat.
Snippets were posted for Rainbow Snippets
The full office scene from Counfounded including parts not posted previously on here.
Alasdair pulled on his tee shirt. He just wasn’t sure about this.
“You look fine, babe.”
“I’m not used to being an Alpha Mate.”
“I should hope not. Come on. My office is this way.” Dash opened the door and slammed it shut. “Now I’ll show you where …”
“I want to see the office.”
“We can do that later.”
“No, we can’t.” He brushed past Dash and threw the door open.
A naked Wayne lay on the couch. Alasdair half-shifted. His clothes strained to contain him.
“Babe. Don’t.”
“Get him away from me!” Wayne jumped behind the couch.
“Shut up, Wayne.” Dash stepped between them again.
“He doesn’t belong here!” The screech hurt his ears.
Dash roared at the nitwit, “He damn well belongs here. He’s my Alpha Mate.”
“You love me!”
“Wayne. You give me a headache.”
Alasdair shifted back. He sat on the desk watching the fireworks.
“Dash…”
Gods, he whined. How the hell did his mate ever manage to fuck him… shit, wrong thought. Damn it, there went the eyes again.
“Get out, Wayne. Get out of my office. Get out of my house. In fact, get out of my pack.”
“You can’t do this to me after all we meant to each other! I’ll petition the pack. You love me.”
“Damn it, Wayne. It was a fuck. That’s all it was.”
“Noooo! I was going to be your mate. We were…”
“Wayne. Shut up. I never ever mentioned you being my mate. And how the hell did you get into my office? I know Harley wouldn’t let you in.”
The man glanced involuntarily at the window.
“Oh fuck no.” Dash pulled the curtains aside. “Son of a bitch. You broke the fucking window!”
“It was the only way I could get in and I knew…”
That was one determined beta. His mate wasn’t interested. Alasdair’s nose told him that. Damn it. He could use some popcorn.
“Wayne, you don’t know shit. And put your damn pants on.”
“I can’t.”
“What the fuck do you mean, you can’t?”
“I threw them out the window after I took them off.”
“Oh for… Why the hell did you do that?”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“You damn well did that.” He strode to the door. “Harley!”
“Can you tell him to bring popcorn?” Alasdair called to Dash.
“What?” Confusion stopped Dash dead.
“I need popcorn for the rest of this. And maybe a candy bar or two.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Dash, honey…” Wayne didn’t like being ignored.
“I am not your honey.”
“Dash?” Alasdair stood.
“What?”
“Let me handle this.”
“I…”
“Let me handle this.”
“If you can get through to him, fine.”
Alasdair drummed up his alpha power. Wayne backed up. “Now let me make this perfectly clear. My mate is not interested in you. At all. In the least. Nope. Taken.”
He let his eyes shift and the blue glow backed Wayne into the wall.
“But… But you’re an alpha!”
“Kind of you to notice.”
“Dash, babe.” Wayne didn’t move but he ignored Alasdair’s growl. “You can’t want an alpha for a mate.”
“He’s my mate!” Dash roared. “My True Mate picked for me by the Fates.”
“No.”
Gods, Wayne was dense. Cute, but fucking dense. Beyond fucking dense actually. He put out a restraining hand and stopped his mate from shifting. “So, Wayne was it? Yes, Wayne. I am the Alpha Mate and an alpha. I have only one thing to say to you.”
“What?”
The pout didn’t faze him. “Get out, and this time stay out!”
Wayne got out, almost knocking down Harley, who was coming in.
“See him out.” Alasdair barked at Harley.
“Yes, sir.” Harley saluted. “Ah, his clothes?”
“Try the bushes below this window.”
“Okay.” The door shut behind him.
Alasdair turned to his mate. “Did you have to pick one that redefined the term third grade?”
“It was just friends with benefits.”
“Friends?”
“Okay. Mainly the benefits.”
“Um hum. Because I can’t see much of a conversation with Mr. Benefit.”
Dash shrugged. “It’s over anyway, mate. It was over the minute I smelled you.”
“Do you have any more in the woodwork to creep out?”
Dash mumbled.
“What?”
“No?”
“No?”
“Yeah. No.”
Why did Alasdair think there were going to be a few more scenes like this one? Damn alphas.
For Rainbow Snippets.
Alasdair finally decides he's the one who needs to get through to Wayne because Dash is making such a mess of it.
For Rainbow Snippets
The only thing missing as far as Alasdair can see is the popcorn and the candy.
“Wayne, you don’t know shit. And put your damn pants on.”
“I can’t.”
“What the fuck do you mean, you can’t?”
“I threw them out the window after I took them off.”
“Oh for… Why the hell did you do that?”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“You damn well did that.” He strode to the door. “Harley!”
“Can you tell him to bring popcorn?” Alasdair called to Dash.
“What?” Confusion stopped Dash dead.
“I need popcorn for the rest of this. And maybe a candy bar or two.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Dash, honey…” Wayne didn’t like being ignored.
George stared at the stocked trout stream. Annoying, that’s what the fuck it was. Totally annoying. He hated fish. Couldn’t stand the taste, broke out in hives. Let a wild and woolly moment happen and now he was hunting a damn fish for supper. Worse, he craved it. He glared at the stream.
He itched. Everywhere. At least he wasn’t allergic to fur. That would be royally fucked. At least he had made it into the woods before he lost it. Damn it. He had better control than this. Or not. With a mental sigh, he took a half-hearted swat at the trout grinning at him. Bastard. He hated fish.
The itching intensified. Giving up on the trout, George walked back toward the woods to the tree prime for good old bear back scratch. It looked sturdy enough to handle him. Rubbing against it, he was pleased to discover it held up to his massive weight. Ah, tree felt good. Damn he itched. Welcome to spring. Everything itched in the spring. Not only craving fish, but allergic to pollen too.
Branches snapped, leaves swished and crunched. Something or someone ran toward him. Combination of strawberries, cardamom and cream reached his nose. It put him in mind of the Strawberry and cream cake with cardamom syrup he loved. One more slow long knee bend, he stopped scratching to listen.
“Help!” A male voice called.
Okay, that didn’t sound good; the smell was coming from that direction. The crashing stopped and sounds of a struggle grew.
A different male voice, hot with anger and passion, snapped. “Bitch, you want it. You fuck Dan, you can fuck me.
George lumbered toward the sound.
A man had someone pinned under him. He threw a punch, knocking the fight out of the other man. “You better be a good lay.”
“I didn’t fuck Dan and I don’t want you.” Pinned, the other tried to push him off. “Let me fucking go.”
“You think I hired you just to cook. You need to learn to bend over when I want it and it starts today.” He grabbed the man’s shirt and tore it.
“No.” The one pinned tried to buck himself free.
They didn’t notice as George crept up behind them. Okay so not crept. It’s freakin’ hard to creep when you weighed 1500 pounds. Yep, the cake smell came from the one trying to escape. The manhandling pissed George off. That was cake he was damaging.
George barked.
The guy on top shot up. “Oh Jesus God. It’s a fucking Grizzly.”
He ran.
The cake laid there, blue eyes wide. Dark wavy hair had fallen in his face. A classic. Cake plus a Greek statue. George noted he needed a shave. He also looked as terrified as only a man who had a 1500 pound grizzly standing over him could... which made sense, George figured. He had one standing over him.
George lowered his head for a sniff, curious if he tasted like he smelled, and all the poor guy saw was teeth. He closed his eyes. A wet tongue licked his face. He did what any sane person would do when licked by a grizzly, he fainted.
Concerned George nuzzled him. Getting no response, he pawed him. No movement. He shifted into his human form. “Hello beautiful. How did you get in this fix?”
A large lump formed on the back of Cake’s head. Shit, he didn’t have a damn cell phone with him. Hell, he didn’t have clothes, either. He searched the Cake’s pockets. Luck. One cell phone. He dialed. “Hey Frank? I need you and Jeri. No I’m not hurt. No, I didn’t hurt anyone. Yes, someone is hurt. I found him. Yes, I need clothes. I’ll meet you at the park”
The Cake was still out cold. George picked him up cradling him against his chest. When he reached the edge of the park, he laid the Cake down on a bed of leaves. Jeri got out of her car with her medical pack. He waved her over.
For Rainbow Snippets
And the saga continues. Alasdair isn't worried about Wayne any more and is finding the whole thing entertaining. He also figures his mate got himself into the situation and needs to get himself out.
For Rainbow Snippets Gunny headed for Sick Bay. Gunny leaned over the desk. “I’m looking for Cato.” The corpsman looked up. Noting Gunny’s ...
