Master Alpha
Chapter 2

Rhea grunted as her opponent shoved her face into the wall. Her long, auburn hair had been pulled into a tight ponytail. She wore a black sports bra with a pair of blue basketball shorts. Her opponent pressed his body into hers from behind. She growled and thrust all of her strength behind her. Her opponent stumbled backward, and she quickly slipped out of his grasp.

Rhea whirled around and faced Nathan. His gold eyes met her red ones, a cocky grin on his face. He was slightly taller than she was. His blonde hair was tied in a loose ponytail, his tan chest defined with muscles. He wore blue basketball shorts to match hers. His leg raised to connect with her body, but she was quicker. She grabbed his leg and slammed him face first into the wall behind her. She quickly pinned his arms behind his back while she pressed her body against his. “I like it when you take control,” Nathan purred playfully.

“Someone has to,” Rhea whispered against his shoulders.

A low growl bubbled in Nathan’s throat, which caused Rhea to grin. They were both natural flirts, and half of the fun of sparring with him was getting the other one worked up to fight back harder. She could not deny some sort of attraction to him, either. Nathan was sexy as hell, and his beast allured her to him. She was thankful that interracial affairs were no longer prohibited; she much preferred sparring with Decants and preferred them to Nantas in bed. Her and Nathan had both decided to not indulge in the other, however. Neither one of them was blind to how protective Lincoln was of Rhea, and the last thing that either of them needed was the wrath of a man with two beasts under his control to let loose when he found out that his two best friends had slept together. That did not stop the two of them from flirting, though.

“Don’t tempt me,” Nathan said.

“Tempt you?” Rhea asked. “You need to be tempted to show your dominance? Pathetic.” Nathan snarled and shoved his chest into the wall, then thrust his back into her. Rhea lost her grip on his wrists and quickly ducked as a he swung a fist behind him. He turned around to face her and her fist quickly connected with his face. She smirked at the annoyance that crossed his eyes. His gold eyes grew darker as he studied her. He attempted a few more punches, but her speed assisted her in dodge him.

“Cheater,” Nathan grunted.

“No such thing. I have to keep you on your toes,” Rhea replied. She issued another punch, but he caught her fist. He swung his leg and connected with her calves. Rhea dropped to her knees and growled softly. Nathan issued a punch to her face while he gripped her wrist tightly. Rhea quickly sprung to her feet and punched Nathan square in the chest. Rhea went to attack again when a pair of arms encircled her from behind and trapped her arms to her sides.

“Always observe your surroundings,” Lincoln’s deep voice purred in her ear. Rhea grinned as Nathan’s fist connected with her face. She jumped and kicked her feet into Nathan’s chest hard. The force of her kick thrust her backwards into Lincoln’s chest. His arms tightened around her as they hit the ground, her back molded into his chest. She snapped her head

backwards and connected with his nose. Lincoln instantly loosened his grasp, which allowed Rhea to escape. She quickly jumped to her feet and connected a kick to Nathan’s kneecaps. He snarled as his back hit the floor with the momentum of the kick. Before either man could react, Rhea allowed her speed to free itself. She grabbed two sets of handcuffs and rolled Nathan on to his stomach. She pulled his arms behind his back and clasped the handcuffs firmly against his wrists. She turned to approach Lincoln and a hand encircled her throat.

Lincoln squeezed his hand on Rhea’s throat softly and pinned her against the wall. His orange eyes flared brightly as his muscles tensed tightly with his restraint. He always holds back with me, she thought. The muscles in his arms and chest rippled, the hand on her throat gentle. He squeezed her throat softly and lifted her to meet his eyes. His large, six-foot frame consumed her small, five-foot frame made sparring more enjoyable. Her small size coupled with her Nanta speed helped her fight more efficiently, but Lincoln refused to allow his large size to slow him down. She had never fought the wolf in him like she did with Nathan, but even just Lincoln’s Nanta side was a challenge. One of these days, I want to fight him as both, she thought.

Lincoln grinned at her and allowed his Nanta fangs to descend. She noticed his jaw twitch at the repression of his canines. He reminded her of a god, both physically and internally. His body was perfectly chiseled with muscles as if carved from marble, harboring more muscles than anyone else in their village. She may replace Nathan attractive, but the man did not compare at all to Lincoln. Lincoln was absolutely gorgeous, as if he were created out of pure sexual imagination and brought to life. His two different beasts enhanced Rhea’s captivation for him. She had seen Lincoln feed before and was left mesmerized when she saw both sets of his canines and his fangs on display. He was beautiful in every way, his mere presence radiated power, and yet she would always protect hm. She witnessed his nightmares firsthand as children, she had even fought beside him a handful of times. Despite his large and powerful nature, he was a very gentle soul.

“I’m faster than you are, pet,” Lincoln growled softly.

“Dammit, Ray!” Nathan yelled as time returned. She laughed as she watched Nathan roll back and forth with his arms secured behind his back. The handcuffs were plastic, she would never use real silver on him, but it was entertaining to watch, nonetheless. The plastic snapped suddenly, and Nathan rose to his feet. Rhea’s eyes shifted back to Lincoln’s as Nathan rubbed his wrists. “I let you win, Linc,” she teased.

“Did you now?” Lincoln asked. He squeezed her throat lightly as he cocked his head curiously.

Rhea kneed Lincoln in the stomach, but he did not move. He smirked at her as his free hand grabbed her small waist and pinned the lower half of her body against the wall. She attempted to punch his arms, but his muscles were so large that he did not even flinch at the contact. “It doesn’t look like you have control over anything that I do. I’m not as weak as Nate,” Lincoln said.

“Fuck you, Linc. I don’t have the best of both worlds like you do,” Nathan shot back.

“I don’t have to use both against Ray, and I still win,” Lincoln said to Nathan, his eyes still trained on Rhea’s.

“One of these days, I want you to use both,” Rhea said.

“No, you don’t,” Lincoln responded tightly.

“I don’t fear your beasts.”

“I know, but I won’t hurt you like that. If you want to see that you can watch me kick Nate’s ass,” Lincoln said. He loosened his grip on her throat but kept her pinned against the wall.

“As entertaining as that it, it doesn’t change my desire to face them both,” Rhea replied as she rested a hand on Lincoln’s arm. His eyes softened at her touch and his electric blue eyes extinguished his orange ones. She had learned years ago that she appeared to be the only person who could truly calm him down. She knew as soon as she had seen his orange eyes that he had suffered from another nightmare last night. Lincoln typically took great control of himself when he fought her. He brought his face close to hers, a playful grin spread across his lips. “Pet, the only way that you would face them both is the day that I fuck you senseless,” he whispered. His wolf growled deeply. Rhea grinned at him and shook her head, attempting to mask the shudder of arousal that spread down her back. “Honey, they can’t handle me.”

“Linc, are we fighting or not? Quit touching your girlfriend so I can kick your ass,” Nathan baited. Lincoln’s eyes flickered orange briefly at Rhea in response to her challenge. She bit her lip playfully as she smiled at him. Lincoln was a flirt like Nathan, but Rhea always seemed to leave Lincoln speechless when she flirted back. She knew that her and Lincoln would never act on the attraction between them that sparked their flirting. She cared about Lincoln a lot, and she saw how women had hurt him in the past. She would never hurt him, but she valued their friendship too much to even to try to ask for a chance to prove that she was different. She felt more than friendship for him but forced herself to make peace with being just his friend years ago.

Rhea nodded her head to Nathan. “Go get him, tiger. I could use a break anyway.”

“You’re just saying that so that you can watch me beat the shit out of him,” Lincoln grinned.

“Conceited jackass,” Nathan retorted.

“Proven conceited jackass,” Lincoln corrected.

“Hey, you offered the fight. You’re damn sure that I’m going to watch it,” Rhea told Lincoln.

Rhea smiled again as Lincoln’s eyes flashed back to orange fire again. A playful glint reflected in his eyes and he removed his grasp from Rhea’s body. He gently placed her on her feet as he lowered her. Her eyes flickered past Lincoln as she saw Nathan prowl toward them. Lincoln grinned and whirled around. He sprinted at Nathan and threw him into the wall. She watched him roll his shoulders slowly as she heard a loud crack come from his body.

Both sets of Lincoln’s canines emerged from his jaws, as well as his Nanta fangs. With his eyes ablaze of orange fire, the man looked terrifying. And he has not even brandished his claws yet, Rhea thought. Another loud crack shifted her eyes to Nathan, his canines on display in response to Lincoln. Rhea moved to the doorway of the room and crossed her arms. While she did want to watch the two wolves play, she did not want to be in the crossfire.

Nathan charged at Lincoln, who used his Nanta speed to pin Nathan from behind. Rhea chucked as Nathan’s frustration grew into a snarl. Each time that he tried to best Lincoln, he would fail. Aside from his Nanta advantage, Lincoln’s strength greatly surpassed Nathan’s. Each hit that Lincoln issued would cause Nathan to stumble, whereas Lincoln was never phased by Nathan’s attempts. Rhea understood why Lincoln built his physique so extensively, but she knew that he did not have to. Decants and Nantas were strong on their own, they did not need physical muscle. Rhea knew that the day that Lincoln learned how to fight by combining both the strength of his beasts and his muscles rendered him victorious. Adding in extreme muscle building, the man became damn near invincible.

Rhea laughed as Nathan was tossed over Lincoln’s shoulder and fell on to his back. Nathan growled lowly and jumped to his feet. Rhea spoke as Nathan readied himself to attack again. “I have enjoyed Nathan getting his ass kicked, but I need to take off.”

“And miss us? What’s up?” Lincoln asked as he shoved Nathan aside. Nathan punched Lincoln’s shoulder in response.

“Contrary to your inflated ego, you are not the center of my universe, pet,” Rhea teased.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Lincoln grinned. Rhea shook her head and exited the room with a smile on her face. He is not wrong, she thought. She was one of his guards, her thoughts always defaulted back to Lincoln. He does not need to know that though, she thought. I would never hear the end of it.