Stealing the Alpha’s Heart

“Hey there, so what do you think of my shop?”

I looked up from the vests I was studying to see Mahlan’s sister bounce up to me. She certainly was bubbly, which was an interesting contrast to her brother.

“You’ve got a great range here,” I said diplomatically. I wasn’t about to go into a whole explanation of how the prices for some of her things were equivalent to what I lifted in four months. That was awkward and I didn’t need her pity.

“I try. I find most women don’t have a singular style but bounce between two or three for different events.”

“That makes sense.”

“Do you have any particular styles you like? Or color palettes?”

“I, uh, not really. I guess I never had much energy to spare for it.”

“Don’t worry! We can always get you a few basic wardrobe pieces so you can mix and match while you build your closet and establish your style!” She beamed at me, and I started to feel a little more relaxed. Being nonjudgmental must run in the Reese family because they seemed like pretty chill folks.

Granted, I hadn’t met their parents yet. I couldn’t help but wonder what they would think of their son force-biting a possible shifter/possible human who had absolutely no knowledge about wolf culture.

Wait, was I buying into the whole wolf thing? I supposed I was to the point where I couldn’t really deny it. Not with so much evidence and a near cadre of people who also acted as if it were true.

“Mahlan mentioned you needed some professional clothing too?”

“Yeah,” I murmured, fingers still gliding over the vest. “I think there’s something cool about a woman in a tailored suit. And like maybe, um, high-waisted pinstripe pants?” I was in completely uncharted territory, but I remembered seeing a billboard with several women dressed like that, and I admired how strong, confident, and put together they looked. Don’t get me wrong, I loved a sundress and flowy skirt like many ladies, but the image of those three women was burned into my mind.

“Oh. A classic and I can see you’ve got a long torso, so that kind of style will even out your proportions. Let’s see if we can put that together for you!”

Like a welcoming whirlwind, Emmaline led me around her shop, loading Mahlan’s arms with more clothes than it seemed physically possible for a single human to carry. I was going to be in for a real workout with all I was changing in and out of, but for once, I was excited.

I knew the whole thing would cost a pretty penny, but it didn’t make me as uncomfortable since it was from his family. I didn’t know if that made a lick of sense, but to me, family was always supposed to look out for each other, and clearly, Emmaline was doing just that for her big bro.

“By the way, if you see something you like but it’s in the wrong size or color, I have so much in storage in the back. I like my clothes presented in a certain way, but it doesn’t leave a ton of floor space. Plus, I have an online shop that gets some pretty consistent traffic.”

“Oh, that’s fine. This is plenty.”

“You sure?”

“Most definitely.”

I wasn’t nearly good enough to calculate the percentage that my wardrobe had suddenly increased, but it was exponential. I went from two pairs of pants, two dresses, some leggings, and shirts with maybe three days of underwear to… well, a whole lot more than that.

“Okay, let’s go to the dressing room and you can show me each outfit.”

It would be harder to lift anything with Emmaline watching, but I was in the mood for the challenge. Anything to get my mind off the building anxiety from everything else going on.

It wasn’t easy, that was for sure. I had managed to get plenty of jewelry packed into the jacket I’d put on. There were two pockets inside, which was half the reason I’d wanted it. There was nothing like hidden pockets to make my day.

But if I just stuffed other clothes under what I was wearing, Emma would notice. I needed to distract her if I wanted to shove clothes into my other bags while she was gone.

Luckily, I was pretty good at that.

I changed into one of the suits first. It was blue, with gray pinstripes, a fitted jacket, and a black button-up with gold detailing. I put it on, relishing fastening the gold buttons. It was the first time since our shopping spree started that I was actually excited about the clothes I was trying on.

When I finished, I looked in the mirror and didn’t see a lost little homeless girl. I saw a competent woman who looked like she could manage a full-time job in an office without batting her eyes.

And who also had a large bruise on her neck.

I knew it looked better than it had even that morning, but the ugly sight of fading yellow, green, and purple made my stomach twist. I may have been in the middle of a fairy-tale shopping spree, but at what cost?

I stared at my reflection for a long moment, feeling myself grow more and more nauseous until I cut myself off. It wasn’t like I could do anything about it in the middle of his sister’s dressing room, so I might as well focus on the task at hand.

Which was attempting to pseudo-rob his sister blind.

Stepping out, I did a few poses and she clapped her hands. I didn’t know where Mahlan was, but I was grateful for his absence. Not for nothing, but sometimes the way he looked at me made chills go up my spine in the most delicious way, and feeling like that wasn’t good for keeping my head clear. And I needed a clear head when lifting from his sister.

“Oh my God, you look so good! Real girl boss energy!”

“Does anyone even say that anymore?” I asked, laughing.

“Who cares if they don’t, I say it! But you look amazing.”

I beamed at my reflection, agreeing with her. “I feel amazing. Hey, you mentioned you had other colors in the back. Do you think you have a red version of this? Or a fully black one?”

“Oh, how bold! And I’m pretty sure I have nearly six different colors.” She clapped again and I almost felt guilty for tricking her. However, that was pretty much eased by the knowledge that Mahlan would pay for it anyway, so his sister was due to make a pretty penny off of my skill.

Because I was determined to win. If I was going to be surrounded by shifters who could do magical, impossible things, I needed one thing to cling to that just I could do. Otherwise, I’d feel even more powerless than I already did, and I hated feeling powerless.

“Be back in a few minutes!”

Emmaline rushed off, and I used what little time I did to roll the clothes into the tiniest, tightest cylinders I could, then tucked them into the clothes I came in with. My plan was to ask to wear a different outfit out, stuff as much as I could under that, then request a bag to put my old outfit in and use that to help carry even more items.

But I also had to rush to the closest racks and grab random items so the dressing room still looked pretty full. It was complicated, but I managed to get back and into the next outfit before Emmaline returned with her arms full.

“Oooh! I love that on you! The belt really makes a statement,” she said, setting a green version of the first suit down, followed by another red one, then a black one, and even a silver one. “The trumpet skirt is great too!”

“Is that what it’s called?” I asked, doing a little twirl. Despite the deception, I was feeling wonderful in the black and white striped dress shirt with the burgundy trumpet skirt that fit like a glove. “I like it a lot.”

Emmaline’s eyes practically shone. “You know… I’ve got a blue, a black, and a pink version of that in the back.”

I grinned cheekily at her, feeling bold enough to send her a wink. “Bring it on.”

---

I never knewthat it was possible to be completely and thoroughly exhausted by changing clothes. By the time Emmaline and I finished, I was ready to drop. Only the knowledge that I had a truly amazing haul kept me going.

The whole process had taken so long that I was pretty sure there was no way Mahlan could keep up with me. Even if he bought out the entire dressing room I had left, I had made sure that only the cheapest items remained.

“Are you ladies done in here?” Mahlan asked as I came out in the casual outfit that Emmaline said I could wear instead of my other clothes. Thankfully, that part of the plan had gone perfectly, especially since her shop’s bags were large and opaque, a literal jackpot.

But the real boon was when Emmaline started bringing me purses to try with my outfits. Naturally, when I asked her if she had a red and a pink one, I ripped the stuffing out of the bags only to fill them with more of my ill-gotten gains.

“That we are,” I said boldly. Mahlan’s eyebrows went up, and I knew he could feel my c0ckiness from across the dressing rooms. “You ready to make a dent in that spending account of yours?”

At least his responding smile was plenty cheeky. I liked when Mahlan got a little snarky with me. I got the impression that he was a fairly serious type, and not many people got to see him in such a way. “More than you would ever know. I’ll just collect everything in your yes pile.” His gaze grew sharp as he looked past me. “You do have a yes pile, don’t you?”

“Of course,” I said, batting my eyes at him. “Whyever wouldn’t I?”

“Yeah, that wouldn’t make sense, would it?” Now it was his turn to wink at me, except my legs nearly went out from under me. That kind of expression, dark eyes and tempting smile were too much for a woman!

Thankfully, I recovered as he picked up every item in the dressing room and hauled it to the register. He didn’t let on if he was surprised by how much there was. Probably because I’d already fooled him twice, and he knew better than to think that everything was as simple as it appeared.

Somehow, I managed to contain my prideful glee until we got to the register. Mahlan set everything down and started talking to his sister as she scanned things, knowing I was stewing in anticipation. He was a bit of a tease, wasn’t he? Well, I could take it.

Trying not to fidget, I watched the number on the register go up bit by bit. It was more than I could ever hope to spend on something as simple as clothing, but it wouldn’t compare to my haul.

“Wow, $789. That’s more than you’ve ever spent here before.” Emmaline said.

“Well, the occasion certainly calls for it.”

“I’m sure it does,” she said happily. “What are you going to do for the rest of the day?”

“Oh, we’re not quite done here,” Mahlan said with a chuckle. “I believe I’m about to have egg on my face.”

“…what do you mean?”

“How much did you get, Lyssa?”

It was finally my time to shine. “Oh, not much,” I murmured before reaching over to the purses and unzipping them. “Just some stuff there. And there.”

Then I took the bag Emmaline had given me for my old clothes and placed that on the counter too. “Plus, all of these.”

Then came the rather arduous task of pulling out everything I’d stuffed under my loose athletic clothes. “And then all of these.”

I batted my eyes at him and we both knew that he was beaten. Unfortunately, Emmaline wasn’t quite in the loop, and she stared at both of us as if we’d suddenly grown multiple heads. But who knew? Maybe that was also a thing that shifters could do.

“What the hell is going on here?” she asked, tone vacillating between terse and very confused.

“Don’t worry, I’m going to pay for everything.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t really explain it.”

“Lyssa is an incredibly skilled pickpocket, so you could say that this was her audition for a part in recovering our moonstone.”

“Oh… that does sound like a pretty big deal.”

“It is,” Mahlan answered, making me feel pretty important. “So, if you don’t mind totaling everything she managed to get without you noticing, that’d be great.”

Emmaline began to do just that, still seeming a little off center by the whole thing, but she didn’t say anything further. Mahlan, however, seemed to have plenty to say.

“You know, you might want to consider getting some security cameras or some attentive employees.”

“Excuse you, I do fine with just me. It’s not an everyday thing for my brother to rob me blind.”

“Is it technically robbing since we’re paying for everything?”

“Robbing roleplay, whatever.”

I hated to think that I made Emmaline sore after being so nice, but once she crested the thousand-dollar mark, she seemed to grow more amused than anything, looking at me with a wry smile.

“You’re bleeding him dry, aren’t you?”

I nodded eagerly. “Yes, indeedy.”

“Good. He deserves it. I should charge him a ten percent jerk markup.”

“As long as you charge it to both orders equally,” Mahlan teased. “We wouldn’t want to sway the results, would we?”

“Speak for yourself,” I retorted.

Emmaline cut off whatever Mahlan was going to say by clearing her throat. “Actually, you don’t need it, Lyssa. Your total is $1,707.98.”

“There’s no way I even came close to that with everything combined,” Mahlan said with a sigh. “Looks like I lost.”

“It was inevitable, really,” I said, doing nothing to hide my c0ckiness. I figure I’d earned it.

“You know, I was pissed at first, but I gotta say that this is pretty amazing. Now, pay up for this second half, Mahlan, before I kick you out of my store.”

“Aww, we both know you love me too much for that.”

“Yeah, against my better judgment,” she huffed but I could tell that this was more brother and sister ribbing. The two were fun, I had to admit. I wondered what my life would have been like if I had siblings. Would they have been on the run with me? Would they have been able to stay? Yeah, it was probably better that I was on my own.

“Hey, I’m sorry for fooling you. I didn’t mean anything by it.” I murmured, not wanting to get on her bad side.

“Don’t worry, I’m impressed by what you can do, and I’m happy that my brother has someone so competent to help him get the moonstone back. I was just a little surprised, that’s all.”

“Well, you were a very gracious host, and I am genuinely excited by all this clothing.” Actually, it was still pretty surreal. I didn’t think I’d come to terms that I’d just gotten over two thousand dollars’ worth of professional and leisure clothing. It seemed more outside of the realm of possibility than werewolves themselves.

“And I can’t wait to see you in them. Like, when you come to our family’s home for dinner.”

“Down, Emmaline,” Mahlan quickly cut in, saving me from an awkward response. “We’re not there yet.”

“Can’t blame a girl for trying, can you?”

“I suppose it’s in a little sister’s nature to be a busybody.”

Emmaline took the comment in stride, beaming mischievously. “Just like it’s in a big brother’s nature to be a jerk.”

“Hah, all right then. Come give this jerk a hug so we can go home.”

My heart did a weird thing as the two of them embraced. I didn’t feel the usual wistfulness or jealousy that I usually did whenever I interacted with functional, loving families. Instead, I felt a contented sort of warmth. With a start, I realized that I liked seeing Mahlan be happy and treated with kindness.

Weird.

Lost in thought, I didn’t say much through the goodbyes, and my body automatically tailed Mahlan out of the store. But I snapped back to the moment when I realized he’d asked me something.

“Pardon?” I asked, blinking like I’d just come out of a sound sleep.

“I was just asking if you’d like to have dinner with me tonight?”

Goodness, the way he looked at me while saying that, and the low timbre of his voice… well, it was easy to get swept up in the romance of it all. What girl didn’t occasionally dream of a Prince Charming with a loaded wallet sweeping her off her feet?

But then the cold bite of reality swept in, reminding me of the much less metaphorical bite on my neck, and all that romance turned to ash.

“Do I even have a choice?” I asked brusquely. We were having such a nice day, I hated to bring the mood down, but what else was I expected to do? I was essentially a prisoner, a really spoiled one.

Mahlan looked outright taken aback by my comment, and I felt a curl of guilt in my stomach, but I quickly stomped it down.

“Huh, I suppose not really. But if it bothers you that much, I can eat in the kitchen while you eat in the dining room.”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

Ugh, what gave him the right to look so hurt, and why was I so affected by it? I wanted to k!ss him until all the upset was gone from his eyes and he never had to worry again. Which was moronic, ill-advised, and a whole bunch of other negative adjectives.

“It’s whatever,” I said begrudgingly, feeling nauseous again from the rush of emotions churning through me simultaneously.

“I could have groceries delivered later if you’d like to cook together?”

As cross as I was feeling, I had enjoyed watching Mahlan cook breakfast for me, and the idea of him making me dinner while wearing that svelte apron wasn’t exactly objectionable.

“I guess that would be okay.”

“Thank you,” he said like I was doing him a huge favor by allowing him to make my food.

Whatever.

Although I wanted to dismiss it, I had to be honest with myself. After fending for myself for so long, it was nice to have someone tend to my meal. To have someone who cared if I’d eaten or not. Even though I wanted to fight my growing attachment to him tooth and nail, it was difficult to do when he was so nice.

“It’s no big deal.”

Except it was a big deal.

I was so into my thoughts that I didn’t realize we were at the car, and Mahlan had finished putting my bags away. Where was I supposed to put all that stuff once we got home? It seemed like a lot.

He opened the car door for me and I slid in. The first time he’d done it, I had been tempted to object, but I got a solid feeling that it meant a lot more to him than it bothered me. Besides, I’d kinda grown to like it.

“I hope you had at least a little fun with me today,” Mahlan murmured as he pulled onto the road.

“I did,” I admitted. Despite myself, I had enjoyed the shenanigans.

“Good. I’m glad to hear that.”

And I was sure he was. For being my kidnapper, Mahlan had always been completely honest with me.

Leaning my head against the window, my exhaustion hit even harder as Mahlan drove us toward his home. It was rather relaxing, especially considering how sore I was from trying on so many clothes, which was a wild thing to experience. Before I knew it, my eyelids fluttered and I drifted in and out of consciousness.

More than once, I jolted awake after my chin hit my chest, and it wasn’t until we pulled to a complete stop that I could kind of shake myself out of it.

“Come inside, sleepyhead. I think someone needs a nap.”

“That’s meeee,” I answered, drawing out the last word while rubbing my eyes. “I’m gonna be so sore tomorrow.”

“Well, let’s get some protein into you to help those muscles heal.”

I nodded, politely not pointing out the double entendre, and let him lead me inside. We were barely a step in when he gently took my hand.

“Here, come take a nap while I work a little. You’ve more than earned it.”

“But the clothes…” Letting him pay for everything was one thing, but I should at least bring everything in if they were mine.

“Don’t worry about it. Just get some rest.”

Well, I certainly wasn’t going to argue with that. Yawning, I let him guide me to the room and lay down. For a moment, I was worried he’d get in with me, but instead, he just tucked me into his fluffy, warm blankets.

Goodness, when was the last time I’d been tucked in? When I was ten? Maybe eleven? It would have choked me up if I wasn’t so exhausted that I was already almost off to la-la land.

“Sweet dreams, Lyssa.”

I gave him a little half-wave before succumbing to slumber, sinking into blissful nothingness.

---

“Lyssa? Can you hear me, Lyssa?”

I g*****d, opening my eyes to see Mahlan leaning over me. “Hmm?”

“I’m sorry to wake you, but I need to meet with my pack members. There’s been a dispute.”

Dispute? That sounded like drama, but I was far too sleepy to be interested. How long had I even been out? Probably not more than an hour or so.

“The groceries should be here in an hour or so if you want to bring them in. Feel free to eat whatever you want.”

“Okies dokies, artichokies,” I answered blearily. “Can you set an alarm?”

His expression was weirdly soft as he answered like I was an especially cute puppy or something. “Yeah, I can do that. I’ll be home as quick as I can.”

“Sounds good.”

After that, the world faded out. But it seemed like barely a minute before I was stirred again by a shrill beeping.

“What the hell?”

Sitting up, I saw that I was alone, and the sun was considerably lower in the sky. Geez, I’d had a long day.

With an especially egregious yawn, I reached for the source of the noise, turned off the alarm on the digital clock beside the bed and sat up. After everything that had happened, my muscles demanded a nice, first-thing-in-the-morning stretch, and I complied, hands over my head and everything. It was a good one, relaxing me enough that I almost wanted to crawl under the cover again. But I didn’t want my nap to turn into a full-on sleep, so I tried to get my wits about me only to hear the doorbell ring.

Who could that be?

Wait, I was expecting the groceries. Right.

Shaking my head, I headed to the front door and opened it to find another ridiculously large order of food. Although it was pretty silly, I also was flattered by it. Mahlan did seem to care about feeding me. And not just cheap, filling things, but nice things that had been out of my scope for years.

I thought about trying to haul as many bags as I could at once, as I used to do when I was a kid, but considering how tired I was, I opted for just two bags at a time. Once the whole order was in, I dutifully started putting things away. Some of it was difficult, considering I wasn’t sure where everything’s spot was, but some were more straightforward since there were other items of their type lying around.

It took me a good twenty minutes or so to finish, and I was ready to sit down when I noticed a bunch of other bags beside the door that hadn’t been there when we entered.

“What’s this?” I murmured, snooping in them. I was surprised to see all sorts of hygienic supplies, like shower supplies, feminine products, brushes, combs, hairpins, scrunchies and hair ties. It was like he’d bought out an entire beauty store!

I couldn’t help but smile softly as I perused them, feeling that soft and fuzzy warmth spreading through me again. It was nice, feeling cared for… looked after. And even though I knew I shouldn’t get used to it, I could feel my walls coming down inch by inch.

Which was stupid. And dangerous. But I was getting tired of fighting it.

Heading to the bathroom, I began to meticulously put my things away. Huh, my things. What a crazy idea. I bet if I asked Mahlan to buy me a grand worth of makeup at Sephora, he’d do so without even breaking a sweat. The idea was brain-melting to me, so I shoved it away to think about probably never.

It wasn’t until I was done that I realized he might not even want me to stay in his room. It wasn’t like I’d toured his place. But at the same time, the whole mate talk implied that we would sleep in the same room.

Oh, well, I could always move it later.

But as I stepped out of the room, I grew curious about what else could possibly be in his spacious residence, so I did some investigating of my own. Nothing was locked, so I easily moved about and discovered another two bedrooms, an office, the dining room he’d mentioned earlier, and even a fully decked-out home gym.

I whistled in appreciation as I looked around the expensive-looking equipment. At least I knew how Mahlan got his chiseled physique. Although my memory was hazy from when he’d been pressed against me, I remember feeling some washboard abs under his clothing.

Strolling back to the kitchen, I admired how nicely decorated the place was. Had Mahlan done it himself or hired someone? He certainly was wealthy enough to hire an entire team of designers. He really did have everything, didn’t he?

Well, maybe not a private jet. As far as I knew, at least. Then again, it wasn’t like private jets were kept in people’s driveways.

… I should ask him if he had a private jet when he got home.

I yawned yet again, but the sound was interrupted by my stomach grumbling angrily. I guess I was a little hungry. Looking at the clock on the chrome oven, I saw that it was past 7:00 p.m.

“He did tell me I could eat if I got hungry….”

Despite that, I still debated if I should wait for him or start making something to eat. It wasn’t like I was a total noob. I took culinary arts at school in the hopes of getting free meals, and while I learned a lot, it wasn’t like I’d memorized many recipes.

“Maybe he’ll be home soon.”

Deciding to wait a bit, I gathered my clothing bags and started to de-tag and organize them into different piles. I figured professional, formal, athleisure, casualwear, and intimates were enough, then busied myself with them.

Once I was finished, I couldn’t help but marvel at how big each folded pile was. We had gone hog wild. I would never have allowed him to spend that much if it wasn’t a competition, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d known that and tricked me.

“Cheeky,” I muttered to myself, standing and stretching. I wanted to put the clothes away so I could finish the chore, but since I had no idea where Mahlan wanted them, I couldn’t. It irritated me more than it probably should have, so I busied myself with going back to the kitchen and searching for a cookbook. Surely, Mr. Rich-Wolfy-Fancy-Pants had some classic tomes full of yummies.

I didn’t find any in the kitchen, but thankfully I spotted them on a shelf in the pantry. Looking over the titles, I picked one geared toward simple dinners.

“Easy meals for the modern family? I can do easy,” I muttered, taking it to the kitchen. After everything Mahlan had bought for me, I wanted to do something nice for him. Maybe our situation didn’t have to be all bad and aggression. Perhaps we could work something out where I didn’t feel backed into a corner with no choice.

And maybe pigs would fly. Who knew?

Determined, I leafed through the book until I found a recipe that seemed doable, then headed to the fridge to gather the ingredients. But before I could so much as grab a stick of butter, the door suddenly flung open.

“Holy sh!t!” I cried, whirling around and half expecting a burglar or attacker.

Except it wasn’t either of those things. Instead, I was greeted by Mahlan, covered from head to toe in b***d.