Free Claimed by Her Alpha by Alex Anders Page B

disheveled Torque looking around curiously.
    “Where you goin’?” She asked, ignoring Saki.
    “Remember the old wolf I told you about? We’re going to see him.”
    Torque look surprised. “Shouldn’t I come?”
    “No, I need you to stay here. Can you take care of the dog for me today?”
    Torque fell back onto her heels, disappointed, then glared over at Saki with resentment. “You know I wanted to meet him. You told me you would take me.”
    “This isn’t by choice, Torque. We’re going there to find out how to…” Lane stopped and looked at Saki for a moment. “We’ll explain it later. You just need to cover for me until I get back. Can you do that for me?”
    Saki watched as Lane stared at Torque intensely. He looked powerful. It was the first time she had seen him act like an alpha toward his pack. It filled her with a mix of emotions. She felt weaker in his presence, while simultaneously feeling more secure about their trip.
    “Yeah, I can do it. But don’t make this a regular thing,” she said, heading back toward her bedroom.
    Saki and Lane shared a look before he signaled for them to go. Entering the car, she took a look around to see who was watching. The street was empty. Sniffing deeply, all she could smell was Lane, the dogs, and the fresh morning air.
    Their first stop was at the food store. They collected a few more bottles of water and snacks for their trip. Parking at the dock, they loaded the boat and then set off toward the gas station dock.
    Lane removed a cap from the side of the boat and inserted the nozzle. The total was $300. Saki felt her chest clench, as she remembered she didn’t bring much money. But without a word, Lane pulled it out of his wallet and paid.
    “I can give you some money when we get back,” Saki offered.
    “Don’t worry about it. What? Do you think I take care of the dogs for free? How do you think I paid for this boat?”
    Saki hadn’t thought about it. But it did make sense. Everything Lane had was because he worked for it. It was Dax and his friends who were given stuff by their parents.
    “Last chance to change your mind,” Lane said with less of a smile then she would expect.
    “Let’s go,” she said unwaveringly.
    The water between Nassau and Paradise Island was always calm. Saki took the padded bench in front of the steering pedestal. Pulling a hair tie from her pocket, she pulled her hair back. Looking back at Lane, he was wearing sunglasses and was focused on the waves. Saki settled back into the ride.
    The homes on the eastern end of Paradise Island were astounding. They weren’t mansions, but they were exceptionally beautiful. Without her asking, Lane volunteered that one of the homes was owned by a Sheikh. They took the narrow channel between Paradise Island and the island directly next to it. Lane pointed back toward the island, indicating which of the homes was Oprah’s. Saki continued to stare at it until it became nothing but a small dot above a sea of blue.
    Once they had travelled 30 minutes northwest, Lane reached into his pocket and withdrew his phone. Turning it on, he navigated to his GPS map app.
    “What’s that?” Saki asked yelling over the sound of the engine and the wind.
    “It’s so we don’t get lost.”
    “So it’s important?” Saki asked with a smile.
    “Yeah, it’s important.”
    Saki who was now standing next to Lane, got a better look at his phone. It plotted a path from where they were to an island just south of the Florida Keys. Surprisingly, it was farther south than where they were now. She had always thought of the Bahamas as south of Florida.
    After a few course corrections around Grand Bahama Island, Lane again shut his phone off. “We have to conserve the battery,” he said, returning the phone to his pocket.
    “So what is this guy like?”
    “You ever heard the phrase, ‘lone wolf’?”
    “Yeah.”
    “He’s a lone wolf. He’s pretty old, maybe in his 60s. And he doesn’t like people. The