The Betas: Rene' (Werewolves of Manhattan Book 8) Read online

  Colin Callahan, Jason Jones. Alpha Mate is literary, and Alpha Thierry is technical… opposites attract.

  “Frankie…” Alpha Thierry stuck out his hand. Frankie began to see a pattern. The Alphas were seated in order of precedence.

  “My Fourth is Alpha Martin, Chief Technology Officer. Alpha Martin’s territory is small, Atlanta Metro and the Southeast, but he is charged with bringing the North American, and now the European and Russian Councils, into the twenty-first century. Considering that he is dealing with wolves, this is the most difficult job on the Council.” Frankie furrowed his brow.

  Alpha Martin laughed. “The only one who can out stubborn a wolf is another wolf. I drag them kicking and screaming, but they will come.”

  Kane Brady, the rape. If it weren’t for loup garou law, those bastards would never have made it to prison. Frankie was happy that he wasn’t on the other end of that kind of determination.

  The Alpha continued, “Then we have Alpha Davidoff, recently arrived from Russia, our Director of Research and Development. The State of Colorado is his territory. He is Fifth, and he handles all our Research and Development. Alpha Davidoff has degrees in geology, chemistry, physics, and biology.”

  Davidoff answered The Alpha in a thick Russian accent. “I have no degree in technology, which is why I fit so well with Alpha Martin. He fills in where I am not adequately schooled. Russia is still in the last century with computers except for the government hackers. However, that is a conversation for another day. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Ferone.” Alpha Davidoff gave him a slight nod.

  Holy shit, Donal Berne, now Davidoff. This man had Apuso taken out by Dante. Dante seems to have touched all of their lives in one way or another.

  The Alpha continued around the u-shaped table. “Alpha Daurensbourg is my Sixth, my Director of Public Relations and Advertising. His territory includes Chicago and the Midwest. Public Relations and Advertising is not an easy portfolio to manage with Garou. We are naturally secretive because of what we are and have to devise public relations and advertising campaigns that keep our products and charitable donations in the public eye, but us, out of it. The last time Garou got publicity was my marriage, and we only did that because the alternative would have been tabloid reporters digging in our business.”

  “I can see that, Alpha.” Frankie shook Alpha Daurensbourg’s hand. Daurensbourg, Julio. It was at his house that Dante demanded the million from The Alpha for guarding Richard.

  “You know Alpha Bellaire. He is Seventh. Alpha Bellaire takes care of Garou’s Production and Quality Assurance. His territory is the Pacific Northwest.”

  “Nice to see you’ve joined us, Frankie. Congratulations on your mating.”

  “Alpha, I have you to thank you for introducing us.”

  “Actually, you have young Vitas to thank, Alpha Giraud’s Mate. One of Alpha Mate Giraud’s Omega gifts is foretelling. He predicted that you would go to René.” Julien shook his hand with enthusiasm.

  “Alpha Giraud is our Eighth and the Director of our security. He holds Alaska and the Yukon Territories,” The Alpha said.

  Henri stood. “Good to see you again and even better to have you join us.” Henri put out his hand. Frankie shook it, and all the Alphas took their seats.

  Henri’s Vitas can see the future and, according to René, can tell the truth from lies. René says that Vitas had two Betas that guard him, Mathieu and Valery. With such a valuable talent, he’s a target for other Alphas. I don’t envy those two Betas their jobs. Talk about vigilance.

  “Alphas, Beta Mate Ferone brings us a unique talent. He remembers everything that he hears and sees. This will be of great use to us, in fact, it already has been. He brings us a solution to the current Russian problem.” Those present spoke in undertones.

  The Alpha called the meeting to order. He stood at the lectern at the head of the table. “I’ve made all of you aware, individually, of the new Russian problem. The former Russian Second, Klim Leontiy Prokhor, and the former Fifth, Boris Pyotr Mikhailov, escaped European Enforcer custody at the Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow. They are now staying in the Khamovniki District, the wealthiest district in Moscow. They are holed up in one of the properties owned by the Russian Oligarch and international arms dealer, Arkady Viktor Kuznetsov.”

  “Yes, you told us, Alpha, the question remains, what are we going to do about it?” Alpha Giraud, frowned. “I asked that the European Enforcers who escorted the Russians back to Moscow be replaced with North American personnel and was refused for political reasons.”

  The Alpha’s expression appeared pinched, steely gazed and a bit more than a bit irritated that the subject of the European Enforcers had been brought up as part of the larger discussion.

  The Alpha cleared his throat, patently ignoring Henri who still looked pained. Frankie smothered a chuckle. The Alpha continued, “We were presented with a solution from our new Beta Mate. As it happens, Kuznetsov set up a meeting with Don Ferone. He asked for a safe house downtown, as near to the Village as could be arranged, for two Russian associates he was bringing with him. Don Ferone’s Russians are our Russians. As suspected, they are coming to New York to challenge me for the packs and to dissolve the Council. As the gods sentenced them to the gulag, I have no choice but to send them back to the gulag.”

  The room broke out in a chaos of murmurs and gasps until Henri stood up. “They’ll just keep coming, Alpha. They will keep coming at us until either the whole Council is dead or they are.”

  The Alpha threw up his hands. “I can only do what the gods permit, and they specified the gulag, not a beheading. We can’t go up against the g—”

  A booming voice spoke that had Frankie wanting to scramble over to René. If this was a wolf, he sounded bigger than The Alpha and that did not bode well. He had no desire to experience watching the Alphas take to the pit in his lifetime. Frankie scanned the room. He couldn’t see anyone who hadn’t been there since Martin locked the door at the beginning of the meeting.

  “We, the four, decree that former Alphas Klim Leontiy Prokhor and Boris Pyotr Mikhailov be sentenced to death at our hands for disobeying our decree. It is up to you, as our Council to find the Russians and bring them back to us for disposition. So, declare the four.”

  Obviously, The Alpha Mate wasn’t necessary for the gods to speak.

  Frankie felt his knees go weak and grabbed onto the table. The Alpha glanced at Frankie, then René and nodded. René walked over to his Mate, grabbed his elbow, allowing him time to recover. Frankie looked around, scouting out the room. He didn’t want the other Alphas to see how disconcerted he felt.

  “It’s okay, Ma Vie, it’s okay.” His Mate reassured him as Frankie moved backward into his arms.

  He gazed up at René. “Shit, they’re real. I can barely speak, I’m in so much shock. Your and, now, I guess, my gods are real.” Frankie, still unsteady on his feet grabbed on to René’s arm.

  “I think I told you about the gods. Believe this, Ma Vie, I will never knowingly lie to you.”

  “You did tell me. I didn’t believe you. But disbelief in the paranormal makes no sense in present circumstances. Thank you for not taking offense at my skepticism.”

  Alpha Clavier spoke up, the first to recover, and seemingly unaware of the little drama that took place behind The Alpha. “How do we use Don Ferone to accomplish our ends?”

  “I’m asking him for a favor and giving him four favors in return.”

  “Four favors!” Alpha Clavier slapped the table. Now that Frankie had regained his composure, he watched the proceedings with great interest.

  Obviously, Alpha Clavier didn’t like dealing with Dante. Clavier…oh… that’s why. Understandable, his Mate, Ian, was the one Sal was after. Now that he experienced what having a Mate felt like, he knew that if someone started chasing his René, he’d be pissed, too. The man seemed to have a temper and Sal had disrespected his Betas. They stood behind him stone-faced when The Alpha mentioned Frankie’s la
st name. He’d have some work to do there.

  “Now, Alpha Clavier, we’re asking that Don Ferone jeopardize a valuable business relationship for our convenience. My original plan called for us to have our Enforcers jump Kuznetsov’s so-called guests at LaGuardia. Kuznetsov would have been immobilized by Don Ferone’s men while we took the Russians. Kuznetsov would be offered sufficient compensation for his inconvenience and the affront to his dignity. The Russians would be bundled off to the company jet by our Enforcers and shipped back to Russia with our loup garou,” the Alpha shot a pointed look back at Alpha Giraud, “to the same Russian gulag where La Farge has taken residence. Now, I must consider what the gods want. I need a method of transporting the Russians to Garou without it appearing to the authorities that they have been kidnapped.”

  “Horse tranquilizers.” Frankie said. The Alpha peered at him, and René kicked him under the table.

  “Speak up,” The Alpha encouraged.

  “I know that a loup garou can’t be felled by a normal, easily obtainable human drug, but what about horse tranquilizers, twice or three times the dosage as what a vet would give to a horse. A horse can weigh up to twenty-two hundred pounds. Even a strong, fit, loup garou can only weigh at the utmost two hundred and thirty pounds. If he were any heavier, he couldn’t fight effectively. Two or three times the dose as that of a twenty-two-hundred-pound horse should either kill them or put them out and since, as I understand it, there is no penalty for loup garou killing loup garou, problem solved.”

  Alpha Clavier rubbed his chin. At last, he spoke, “I’m impressed. That might work. I have veterinarians who practice at the racetrack in Saratoga in upstate New York. You say they’re coming in a week from today? I can get a tray full of horse tranquilizers by then.”

  “Alpha Thierry?” The Alpha asked.

  “I agree with Alpha Clavier, I like it.”

  “I think it’s a great idea. Having the stepson of Don Ferone with us has its advantages,” Alpha Martin said in a wry voice. Frankie scanned the room. The rest of the Betas seemed a little less cold after his acceptance by Alphas Clavier and Thierry and Martin.

  Davidoff nodded and said, “Agreed.”

  “I also agree,” Julien added.

  “And I, but only if we use our people to deal with our Russians. Don Ferone can deal with Kuznetsov.” Henri shot daggers at The Alpha, making it clear to anyone at the table that this wouldn’t have been fucked up, to begin with, if The Alpha had followed the suggestions of his Director of Security.

  “It’s settled then. I’ll meet with Don Ferone on Monday. Alphas Clavier and Giraud will be with me as will Martin, Roland, and Regis.” The Alpha stood. “I had a late night, gentleman, as did my Betas. I’m going home after we pick up Sean. The boys should be finished with lunch. I hope that with two Enforcers each, someone will ferret out what trouble they intend to get into next. Etienne,” The Alpha relaxed into the less formal address, “I thought Julio would be a moderating influence. They’re worse. The demonstration was his idea.”

  Etienne smiled. “I’ll speak to him, Armand.”

  “Please… Sean gets into enough trouble on his own without help.” The Alpha smiled softly.

  His eyes and mouth always went soft when he spoke of his Mate, Frankie thought. Do I appear that sappy when I think about René? He glanced over at his wolf. Definitely, I am so sappy. The Alpha rose and it was time to leave.

  This business with Dante was perilous. Frankie swallowed hard. What if his stepfather didn’t want to help them?

  Chapter Eighteen

  René and Frankie’s Bedroom

  Saturday Morning

  Frankie opened his eyes to find René, propped up on his elbow, staring at him. “Good morning, Ma Vie. I love to watch you when you sleep. You are so beautiful. The light plays over your skin and the planes of your face. When you wake and see me, those emerald eyes light up, and you smile. I want to see those eyes and that smile every day for the rest of our very long lives. You make me so happy. Today is a special day. Today you will become my husband, and we will belong to each other by both loup garou and human law.”

  Frankie blinked, then chuckled. “You love me because I wake up smiling?”

  “No, because you’re who you are, my smart, sophisticated, handsome Mate, whose innate goodness wasn’t corrupted by his stepfather’s nefarious business. Yet you found room in your heart to finally call Dante Ferone Dad, to please your mother and reassure her she still has a place in your heart even as you move away from their world into mine. I would defy even The Alpha to be with you.”

  “You don’t have to defy anyone, I’m yours.” Frankie pulled René down into his arms. His wolf took control of the kiss and plundered his mouth. René extended his tongue, and it dueled with Frankie’s. He traced Frankie’s lips then laved and kissed his neck. Frankie shivered.

  “Aha…a hot spot.” René repeatedly worried the same spot with his tongue and teeth. He moved his mouth over to his mark and went over it lightly with his lips. Frankie reacted, shuddering, as if his fingers were connected to an electrical socket.

  “What did you just do? It felt so good, I almost came,” Frankie panted.

  “You are so responsive. I tongued your mark. Martin told me yesterday that your mark would be sensitive, I had no idea how much it would affect you.” René smiled and kissed Frankie deeply.

  “Feel free to do that again any time you wish,” Frankie murmured against his wolf’s lips.

  “It’s eight now, we marry at noon. We can make love or eat,” René teased.

  “I vote for a quickie, then breakfast.”

  “Now I know what the expression have your cake and eat it, too means.” René chuckled.

  Frankie shrugged. “The offer is on the table…”

  “How about I give you a blow job?”

  “No, how about I give you one. I got one yesterday in the shower. It’s your turn.”

  “Talk about making me an offer I can’t refuse.”

  “Exactly.” Frankie traced the light trail of hair over René’s pecs to his nubs. He took them into his mouth one at a time, alternating between laving and biting. His Mate moaned his name. Frankie’s lips traveled down René’s happy trail to his navel. His tongue began circling until he dipped into the well of precum that had accumulated in the indent. René tittered.

  “You’re ticklish!” Frankie said, full of glee. He laughed and started tickling his Mate.

  “Stop, stop…you’re supposed to be giving me a blow job. No tickling.” René panted as if he’d ran ten miles.

  Frankie giggled. “Who would have thought that the big bad wolf was ticklish.”

  René flushed. “So now you know.”

  “Now I know exactly how to get you out of a bad mood. Now I know how to insert some whimsy into our lovemaking. However, I’m not ticklish.”

  “Oh no…?” René used his wolf’s strength to pull Frankie up into his arms. He tickled his side.

  Frankie screamed, “Stop! I cry uncle, I promise, I’ll never tickle you again.”

  “What about whimsy and bad moods?” René’s eyes were still shining with the tears he shed from being tickled. Frankie tried to get out of bed. His strong wolf grabbed his arm, and he tumbled down into the covers. “What about my blow job?”

  Frankie laughed. “About your blow job…” He swiftly kissed and traveled back down to René’s shaft, and he wrapped his tongue around the head. Pulling back the foreskin, he moved his lips delicately until his whole mouth was full of René’s cock.

  “Argh…” René made insensible noises. If Frankie could have laughed with a cock in his mouth, he would have.

  “I heard that, my Mate. I heard you laughing at me.” René chuckled.

  “Let’s get down to business, or I’ll never get my breakfast,” Frankie complained.

  With that thought, he moved his mouth in conjunction with his hand. He kneaded René’s balls and took him deeper. Frankie massaged René’s cock with his th
roat. He picked up the rhythm. René moaned louder. Frankie sucked harder, and his wolf shot his load into Frankie’s waiting mouth.

  Frankie swallowed and peered at his lover over his pecs. “Good breakfast.”

  § § §

  The Alpha’s Ballroom

  Noon

  Frankie sighed as Henri fussed with his tie. He shook with nerves. To calm him down, Julien had told him stories about the Mates while he dressed in The Alpha and The Alpha Mate’s suite. One that particularly amused him concerned Julio and Etienne’s wedding. Frankie could easily visualize the scene having heard so much about the Mates from René.

  Julio entered into major pout mode after lunch, because he hadn’t been asked to help pick out the tux. He considered himself the arbitrator of fashion for the Mates. He didn’t care whether they were Alpha or Beta. Etienne had to take him aside and patiently explain the reasons that Betas and Alpha Mates didn’t socialize.

  “We should change that, right now. That’s an unfair class system,” Julio yelled.

  “If you’re a Beta, it’s not unfair. As much as Adrien, Sebastian, and Gilbert may like us, we are still their job. They have a life away from work, as it should be.”

  Sean got to play the hero. “Armand explained it to me, and I finally understand. If you told me you can’t go there, I wouldn’t listen to you, or I’d try to cajole you into letting me go. When René tells me the same thing, I listen, because René protects me and would face Armand’s wrath if something happens. I care about René, and he is my friend, but the fact that he’s also my bodyguard puts certain limits on the relationship.”

  Julio still pouted but admitted that he could see The Alpha’s point.

  At the end of the story, Frankie was able to relax, and Julien straightened his tie and Henri attached one of the cymbidium orchid boutonnieres they’d picked out on Friday afternoon. The three of them came down the stairs and met Edward on the landing.

  “Are you nervous? I know I was. This is a complete change of direction in your life, and you made the decision in only a few days.”