Free Her Alphas by Gabrielle Holly Page B

Sergei and the big Russian
shook his head. “We do not allow it,” he confirmed. “Jenny is new and still
wild. I will remind her tonight of the rules.”
    Gwen turned to Alex. “Exactly how wild? Should I be
worried?”
    Alex shrugged. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out.
Describe again the last cycle she spent in the fledgling cave. Can you remember
anything ‘off’ about it?”
    They’d already been over this—several times in fact. Alex’s
insistence on rehashing it yet again got on Gwen’s nerves. The rules were that
the human consort was to give the alpha her recommendation and he was to
respect it. Period. Gwen was beginning to feel like the star witness in a
murder trial and Alex was the prosecuting attorney.
    She chewed another mouthful of delectable fried sunfish then
washed it down with a healthy slug of chardonnay. “She was different, Alex.”
    “Different how?” he pressed.
    A cold knot of foreboding twisted in Gwen’s gut. Had she
missed something? She dropped her gaze to her plate and pushed little bits of
batter around with her fork. Different how?
    * * * * *
    Two Months Earlier
    The little blonde had been none too happy when Gwen hadn’t
given her a passing grade after the third moon week in the cave. Before Jenny,
Gwen had ushered two other fledglings through the change. Three didn’t make the
new human consort an expert, but she felt certain this one wasn’t ready. Jenny was
even more pissed when Gwen couldn’t give her a concrete reason—not that she was
required to—and Alex had admonished the new werewolf for even asking.
    There was no score card that Gwen filled out. Whether or not
a fledgling graduated from being a detainee to becoming one of the pack was
based on nothing more scientific than a gut feeling. Gwen had pored through the
journal her grandfather had left her, but every entry on the subject—going back
centuries—said about the same thing, You’ll just know.
    The behavior of the two fledglings before Jenny had been
shocking—frightening even—especially during the first few nights. But the first
had graduated after three cycles and the second after just two. She couldn’t
articulate exactly how she’d known they were ready. She just did.
    Gwen had carefully studied the notes, poring over
descriptions of snapping, snarling, supernatural beasts, in an effort to ready
herself for what was to come. But no amount of reading could have prepared her
for what she would see in that deep, dark cave. Fear and moon lust drove the
fledglings and their initial changes were violent. Overcome by pain and
confusion, they’d thrown themselves against the stone walls and spewed vile,
murderous threats at her.
    The instructions her predecessors had left on this point were
clear. She was to sit outside the iron-barred cell for seven nights—the evening
of the full moon and the three on either side of it—and bear witness to the
change. She could offer kind words and encouragement, but she was not to
interfere in any way with the process. Before Alex had explained her role as
protector, she hadn’t understood why she was there at all.
    Per her instructions, Gwen had told each of the fledglings
the same thing on their first night, “Nothing you can say or do will shock me,”
but that wasn’t quite true. Seeing their bodies contort and stretch into
something between human and beast was jarring, but it was the anger that scared
her the most. Their anger was so intense, it was almost palpable.
    Jenny had been the worst. Though the two before her had
settled down considerably after the first lunar cycle, Jenny had maintained her
hate-filled rage throughout three. During the third moon week, Jenny had
outdone herself, at one point threatening that she would “slice your belly wide
open and slide around on your guts, you fucking cow!”
    When the two women had headed into the cave on the fourth
week, Gwen wondered if Jenny would ever gain enough control to roam free under
the