Unscentable
Chapter 41

Bradley

POV

man was off to see Izzy.

He had still been up in the hotel suite last night when Eddie had strolled out his room, headed for the door to leave the room. It was nearly 2300 "Where are you going?" Brad asked the man, though by the look on his face, smiling at himself, Bradley was certain the "I'm going to sleep in Izzy's bed." He'd comment casually as he'd headed for the door.

"Eddie...no s*x, my son is down there." Heard Eddie snort "Yes Bradley."

Didn't like the tone, it implied he wasn't going to abide. "I mean it Edward, this hotel is not sound proofed like your room back at the Pack would be." "We'll be quiet." He opened the door to leave.

"Edward." Bradley snapped at him, "I bloody mean it. If Piper tells me you did, and she will hear regardless of how quiet you think you are. I will order you to stay in this room for the rest of the trip and then.." was silent to make his point for 15 seconds "I will refuse to let Izzy come here at all."

That got the man's undivided attention, he was now frowning right at Bradley from that doorway, clearly unhappy with his words. Bradley stared right at him, he did mean it. He would damned well Alpha Order him if he had to. "Is Piper aware and okay with you sleeping in her hotel room?"

"I don't know, but it is Izzy's room too."

"If she is unhappy about it. You will leave, do you understand me?"

"Yes Bradley." Eddie nodded, looked very unhappy about it but acknowledged it.

Bradley didn't much like it himself. He couldn't even mind-link to Piper to warn her or see if she was okay with it. Couldn't even call her. For that matter, didn't have her private number either. She could well be asleep for all he knew, and know nothing about Eddie going down there to sleep in Izzy's bed.

Gave it a full 15 minutes, nil complaint and the man did not return, either must be alright with Piper or she was asleep. He mind-linked to Cooper who was in the hotel lobby. Pulled him off of guard duty. If Eddie was going to be sleeping in that room, he'd pick up if Piper tried to leave, or if there was any sort of trouble. Eddie would be right there to sort it out or hold down the fort until Bradley could get there himself. Which allowed for the rest of them to get some sleep during the night.

Mind-link to the man 'Eddie, if you're sleeping there, Texpect you to be diligent in your duties as a Gamma, where my Mate and son are concerned.'

'Of course Bradley!' came his reply 'Piper is currently in the shower, Brandon is sleeping!' he was informed and then the link was cut.

Bradley sighed and shook his head, he did not need to know she was in the shower, that was just Eddie's way of trying to distract him from being annoyed with him. It was highly likely that Piper had no idea he was even there, this was not going to go down so well. He was going to beat that man if he screwed things up even worse than they already were.

But on the other hand, they would all be safe with Eddie in that room, and a part of him was actually glad his man was there. Wondered if he could get Piper to agree to Eddie staying in the room the whole time they were there, that would certainly ease his mind, and he and his men wouldn't have to rotate shifts either.

Guess he would have to ask her.

His men in Portland had finally been granted bail and been released from police custody. Though his father had not been able to get the moving van due to the fact that it did actually have some of Piper's belongings inside it. So it had been impounded and it was not going back to them until Piper cleared all this up with the police herself.

Something else he was going to have to talk to her about. He had been going to do it today but had gotten very way laid, with just trying to get her to talk to him.

And that was more important to him than a van. Worst comes to worst, he cut his losses and purchased a new one.

His father had also relieved his brother Hendrix from his Alpha position within the pack. Stepping back into the position himself, which had not gone down so well.

And Bradley had taken that irate phone call just a few hours ago. Had to explain to his brother why his father was taking over once more, about that contract and the actual implications and full seriousness of it. That, seeing as their father had made the contract, it should be he who is fully responsible to it.

Hendrix had been quiet for a long time, as he absorbed the fact that at any given moment another Alpha could come strolling in and demand an Alpha duel to the death. Then he had stated, somewhat annoyed, "Fine." and had just hung up. Likely he was more than unhappy about this authority being removed.

He was Alpha blooded and would likely have enjoyed being in charge, wouldn't have liked being removed by his father coming out of retirement after 11 years to do it either. Wouldn't have seen a need for it at all. He was well trained and though not in line for the pack himself, especially with Brad actually having a Mate and an Heir now.

Spend most of the evening after dinner with Piper attending to emails and the running of his companies from abroad. He was too restless to sleep. Didn't actually see sleep coming for quite a while if he got any at all. Too much in his mind, but he was currently distracting himself from Piper with work. Or she was going to find him at her door trying to get her to give him a chance, and he knew she needed time to absorb and come to terms with everything that was going on.

He had explained a lot to her about Whitlock's and that none of them had scents. But that there was a way for him to scent her with her family's help. Then finding out she was his actual Mate still. Having Eddie actually touch her something that was very clear she did not want, any wolf touching her. That made him more than a little sad.

Slept barely 4 hours and was up before dawn, was restless and needed to get it out of his system, had already woken both Cooper and Harry for morning training down in the hotel Gym and they were getting ready to leave when Eddie mind-link him that Piper and Brandon were going to go for a run, that he'd invited himself along, suggest to him it might be a good bonding experience for him, Piper and Brandon.

Bradley agreed with him on that one. Even managed to arrive ahead of them. They'd taken the stairs, and it had been quicker. Was mind-linked again by a fully amused comment, that Brandon reckoned he could out run Eddie, that Eddie had accepted the challenge. Watching Piper walk into the hotel gym, shocked him completely. He'd never seen her in anything but smart casual dress, and she was just wearing gym wear.

Had her hair pulled up in a ponytail, and was wearing a light green crop top that showed him just how ample her breasts actually were, and a pair of matching light green three-quarter tights that sat low across her h!ps, showed off her very well-defined abdomen she was sporting a nice v-line herself, it was very obvious that she worked out, you just couldn't tell from her usual attire and likely all the time. Or at least she ran often. Couldn't stop his eyes from sliding over her. He'd already had thoughts about putting his hands on her most of the night. Now how was he not supposed to think about it?

He was a little unhappy that she was showing so much skin around his unit. But did know she was dressed appropriately. Actually, he'd seen she-wolves in his pack wear a lot less for training.

She did not appear all that happy to see him and neither did Brandon, for that matter, the boy actually huffed in annoyance at seeing him here in the gym waiting on them. Likely this was something she and Brandon did together, a mother-and-son thing. The boy obviously thought he was intruding on their time.

Watched as Izzy walked away and took a seat against the wall, made herself comfortable 'Izzy doesn't want to run.' Eddie mind-linked him, seemed a bit disappointed by it.

'Not everyone likes running Eddie, human remember.'

Heard the man huff down the mind-link and stood and watched as Harry tried to interact with Brandon, even calling Eddie real slow. Which was not true at all.

The man was trying to get Brandon to see them in a different light. He already had pups himself and was a good dad.

Both Cooper and Harry had been informed of what had happened during his dinner with Piper. That Piper had openly admitted to rejecting him back then. That their Mate Bond was in fact in tact. They were all now trying to play nice, gain not just Piper's trust but Brandon's too. He'd never had a good interaction with his own kind. They were working on that now.

Cooper thought working on the boy, getting him to like them might be the easier option. He didn't know anything of his own kind or very little and so if they could show Brandon that not all wolves were mean and aggressive, the boy's natural curiosity about his own kind might shine through quicker and draw him to Bradley.

It wasn't a bad idea at all, though Bradley still didn't like the idea of using the boy as leverage. Was told it's not leverage, it would be just the two of them bonding and if Brandon chose on his own to talk happily or excitedly about Brad, that was his choice. They weren't going to be asking him to do that. But what Brandon did on his own was up to the boy himself.

He was listening to the conversation Piper was having with Brandon, about why they were all stretching.

He did note she did not and neither did his son. A part of him, his Alpha part, wanted to tell them to stretch, so their muscles wouldn't hurt afterwards.

Piper didn't seem to care, told Brandon she was a natural born runner and so was he. That gained his attention, he only ran actively once a week, when he was training others, the juniors usually. His training with his alpha unit was all targeted at strength, fighting and agility. He could run, all wolves could. Most actually enjoyed running, though in wolf form, not human.

Sounded as though Piper ran for enjoyment and so did Brandon. His eyes slid over her body as she stepped up onto the treadmill and he wondered just how often she ran and for how long, looking at her, it was likely that she ran daily. He wondered if he'd be able to get the boy to come and do some sparing with him after this run.

He really did love hearing Brandon so excited about this challenge and seeing him actively engaged.

Although the boy had not spoken to any of them willingly, he wanted to challenge all of them, it seemed.

The alpha blood in him, made Bradley smile. Benson was also excited to see what his own boy could do. They had not missed her asking if Aspen was awake. Piqued both their interests. Perhaps his wolf was not actually fully realised, slept a lot still being so young. And that's why they'd not sensed him back in Portland, could have been dormant that day they'd been trying to feel for his wolf.

Nearly laughed when he heard Izzy call out her money was on Piper. And Brandon call her a traitor.

Looked right at her, as she looked at all of them, 'a piece of cake. he'd heard Cooper state via the mind-link and smirked himself. No-one in his pack could out run he or his unit. Watched her roll her eyes right at all of them and only then actually really wondered if this was going to be more of a challenge than any of them thought it would be.

What was her game plan here in this room? They actually didn't know anything about her, not her strength or stamina, nothing at all about Harper herself. There was nothing in the pack's data base about her wolf, on training or strength, realised he didn't even know how big Harper was in wolf form, just had that handwritten statement, a very brief description and nothing at all on Harpers personality.

Hell, he did not even know anything about Piper's personality for that matter. So far, all he had seen was aggression and anger and that she was cold and dismissive. He knew they had to be strong in mind to survive all they had inside his pack, survive all she had gone through, sheer determination and will to survive it all. Had left and flourished even. A strong woman, in not just mind, but body as well, he could now see.

Put Eddie right next to Brandon, seeing as there was an active challenge going on between them, though Eddie's constant banter at Brandon didn't go down so well and he heard Brandon snarl at his Gamma to shut it, nearly laughed himself. It was very annoying Eddie had been actively annoying the boy, saw Piper snort and nearly laugh herself. It was good to see.

She did seem to be able to be happy around Brandon, could always smile at the boy, regardless of how annoyed she was with Bradley, she didn't seem to let that seep through to her bond with the boy. He enjoyed watching them, liked it when she smiled too. It would be nice if she could smile at him, even just once.

But he'd gotten nothing from her but frowns or impassiveness, or aggression.

Brandon was so excited to yell out. "You loose Eddie" that Bradley couldn't help but smile at his son.

Piper did actually chuckle this time, a soft half giggle, and not only did his heart rate quicken, he felt Benson really look at her, he too, it seemed, liked hearing her laugh. At least they knew she could be happy. Wasn't all anger and aggression all the time. Could hear clear amusement in her voice when she stated she hadn't done anything, but Bradley was pretty certain Piper had known what she was doing, likely also knew that Izzy would actively play along with her, smiled to himself, as he realised that Piper was actively tormenting his Alpha Unit, actively interacting with them all, it may only be in a small way.

But she was actively engaging with other wolves, it was a good start, any kind of bond between them at all was a welcome sight for him at the moment, considering she'd threatened just yesterday to rip their hands off.

Harry called it quits1 hour in. The damned woman and his son, it seemed, were natural runners after all, and this was all about running. There would be no sparing afterwards 'your mate is crazy fit. he heard Harry mutter down the mind-link.

Again, he smiled to himself, shot right back 'so is my son. Only 7 and beat you.' He was very proud of his boy. He really was having a good time. Eddie's suggestion was a good one.

Bradley could see Brandon was going to be one strong Alpha, just what the future of the pack needed, heard Brandon all excitedly yelling about winning again, looked right at his boy and actually felt pride roll right off Benson as well. The boy was grinning, and they both noted that Aspen was right there on the surface.

Thankfully, they were the only ones in the gym to see it.

Heard Eddie rib his bother about loosing to a kid, only to have Harry give it right back. Eddie stated he cheated out of his challenge and next time wouldn't be tricked into getting off the treadmill. Even heard Izzy snicker in amusement. They were all getting along, it seemed. Loved it.

Loved hearing Brandon's wolf snarl all angry and annoyed as he got off the treadmill, the alpha in him did not like to loose. No Alpha did that, he knew for sure.

Piper chuckled at him didn't seem offended at all. This was likely their normal, he realised. Cooper had told him the boys wolf had lost to her on their morning run in the woods back in Portland and had reacted just like now.

Heard his young gravelly voice for the fist time, "Only a matter of time." and both he and Benson knew without a doubt that it was Aspen who was annoyed, they'd not actually heard him speak before, growl and snarl yes, butactively push forward and talk, so very young, so very powerful already.

"A bit of a sore loser." Brad commented, even though he was happy to see and hear his boy like that. He was going to have to learn to keep that temper in check, even at just 7 he'd seen just how much aggression was in the boy's wolf, likely to do with needing to protect his tiny pack. Running was probably a good outlet, though as he got older it wasn't going to be enough.

Piper's honey brown eyes turned right on him, and raised an eyebrow right at him, then took a full shot at him "Probably takes after you, in that department."

Damned near missed a step at her comment, she was pretty much accusing him of being a sore loser himself. To his disbelief, he heard his whole unit snort in full amusement. Bradley did not consider himself a sore loser. Though he could at times be frustrated by not being the best at things, but that was just because he was the Alpha, the Pack's leader and needed to be the fastest, the strongest and the most feared and ferocious to protect his pack. Did they all think he was a sore loser too?

'Brad.' it was Cooper down the mind-link she's killing me man, look at her. a bloody machine, still so comfortable 'Bradley smiled' then let her win Coop, I'm still up for the challenge. 'Your on your own then. he heard his Beta mutter, then called it quits out loud and got off his treadmill.

Sustained running in human form, was not something they were trained in, his own body was aching, but he had Benson pushing him along, his wolf was not ready to give up yet. Though when Bradley looked at her, Cooper was right, though she had a full sheen of sweat covering her entire body, she looked very comfortable, didn't even see Harper on the surface. If this was just all Piper and Harper had yet to join in this challenge, he could well be in trouble. Benson had been assisting him for the past 40 minutes now. "Natural born runner." popped right into his mind and he heard Benson huff, he to seemed concerned that they might not actually win this challenge against her.

Though a part of him was actually really loving every second of this, Alpha on Luna showdown. She might not even be anywhere close to being his actual Luna, but he was going to hunt, annoy and cajole her until he won that game. She was his Mate and he wanted her, would find a way to scent her and attain her for himself.

Benson felt a change in her, and looked over at her, knew Harper had finally joined in the challenge. His muscles were screaming at him to stop, he drank down more water and Benson pushed more stamina at him.

Neither of them wanted to loose this battle against them. It was 2 hours and 40 minutes in and the woman and her wolf looked right at them. He knew they were assessing the situation, he was going to loose. They still looked so very comfortable. Harper only came on board when it was needed, saved all her wolf strength and stamina till it was actually needed it, it was very clear to him that Piper alone ran a lot, likely every day.

Hearing her issue a new challenge made Benson growl inside his mind. They were already just about at their human limit, they had never run this long in human form in all their lives. But it was obvious she did it all the time and was used to it. No one was catching her if she actively ran away from them.

"Edward, I'd like a real challenge," she stated calmly, as though this was nothing to her. "come and crank your bosses treadmill all the way up."

Bradley sighed internally at his new challenge. Her assessment of him and his status was not wrong, she was going to push him as hard as she could, as quickly as she could. She knew she wasn't even close to being done. It also angered him that she hadn't used his name yet again.

Eddie was only too happy to help her, appeared to be fully amused, Brad looked right at her. She paid him no attention whatsoever, she was a ball of determination, she was going to win and put him in his place, wanted to show him up. I'm stronger than you. Is what she was trying to state, likely also, trying to let him know he wasn't going to be able to push her around.

"On 5." he heard Eddie state, saw the man look right at her and laugh, damned woman was playing with him and not in a way he appreciated at all, was going to have him lose right in front of his entire Unit. Eddie seemed to know it, thought it was funny as fr*k. Heard his own son yell out "Kick his a*ss mum." no-one, it seemed, was on his side at all and that was more than annoying to him and his wolf. They were the Alpha here, where was the bloody respect.

"Oh I intend to." it was all Harper, there was no Piper in that statement at all. Her wolf looked very comfortable, this was their first real interaction with Harper. That was not pure aggression and she was outright challenging him and Benson and very smugly so at that.

Running at 20klms an hour, even with Benson giving him all he had, his human body couldn't take it, it was screaming in agony at him, and not just his lungs, but all his muscles, banged his hand down on the stop button and snapped a foot to either side of the treadmill and dragged in a few desperately needed breaths as he glared right at her wolf, his own Mate who was still running, Benson snarled all his annoyance at his own Mate for showing him up and then they stalked away from he.

Heard Piper snort "a bit of a sore loser." she and Harper sounded amused to his ear. His entire unit were smiling at him. Brandon was grinning, poked his tongue right out at him and then got up and ran right over to his mother, who had not gotten off her treadmill even after she won, had eased it down a bit by bit, over the next five minutes and showed him up just that little bit more, by letting him know she could still go on running if she wanted to.

"You're amazing." Brandon was beaming right up at her "You beat them all." he was so very proud of his mother, didn't even care anymore that he also had lost to her, likely realised he was not going to win against her.

Not in a long time.

"Breakfast." he practically ordered all of them. He needed food and his body was killing him. He and Benson had over done it trying to show her how strong they were, also trying to show her up, and now they were feeling it, they needed food and electrolytes to help his body recover, which meant that so did all of them, especially Piper. She was only half his size and would have expanded all her energy as well.

Eddie was still over by the treadmill, happy it seemed, really happy watching her and Brandon.

Obviously, her mood was good and that made his Gamma happy.

"Your boss is a sore loser, I see." her tone, still so fully amused about his annoyance at losing and his wolf's as well, grated on his nerves. They were all smiling about his defeat and his temper shot to the surface at her lack of using his name once more. "I have a name, Piper. Use it." he snapped and stalked off away from her.

Needed a hot shower and to calm the hell down. He took the stairs as exhausted as he was, being in that elevator with her and his unit and all her smugness at her winning and his losing to her, might not be a good idea at all, not with his temper on the surface. 'Brad calm down, it was all just a bit of fun, remember' Cooper's voice down the mind-link.

'Was it?' he muttered, 'or was she trying to put me in my place?

"likely a bit of both, we all went in there, thinking it was going to be a piece of cake to beat her. We were all wrong."

'She knew before going in.' he muttered yet again. Likely so. 'Cooper answered him Perhaps we need to get to know her better!

'Like I don't want to.' he snarled 'she's the one that doesn't want to."

'Has good reason to be afraid, remember. A lot of pain, you can suffer through one humiliation, for her can't you?"

Felt Benson snort inside his mind, as they stalked into their hotel room, they did not like loosing at all, found Cooper standing waiting on him, was looking right at him, he'd yet to answer the man's question, glared right at him for a long minute "Fine, order breakfast I'm starving." and then he headed for his shower.