Filthy Fae: A Dirty Alphas Novel (Heartland Forest Book 2) Read online

  Filthy Fae

  Heartland Forest

  Book Two

  Alexa B. James

  Filthy Fae

  Copyright © 2019 Alexa B. James

  First Edition

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher, except in cases of a reviewer quoting brief passages in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, and events are entirely coincidental. Use of any copyrighted, trademarked, or brand names in this work of fiction does not imply endorsement of that brand.

  Published in the United States by Alexa B. James and Speak Now.

  ISBN-13: 978-1-945780-60-8

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chasing Her Cats (excerpt)

  Chapter One

  Scarlet

  Whoever invented the saying life happens while you’re busy making other plans probably worked in an apartment complex for supernaturals.

  Freezing rain dripped down my face, funneled into my collar, and soaked the brand-new shirt I just bought for my first-ever date with Darrel Knight. To be honest, it was my first date ever. I'd just escaped a two-year relationship with a mega controlling jerk whose idea of a date was calling out for his favorite pizza and having me pay for it. Rain pounded against my back while I balanced on a ladder two stories up. As I furiously attempted to staple down a flapping, plastic tarp over a shattered window, I was starting to suspect that I might be under a dating curse.

  I pushed down the corner of the slick tarp with numb fingers, lined up the staple-gun, and fired the last thick, metal staple as my ladder wiggled under me. Shading my eyes against the rain, I did a quick once-over of my handy work

  The ladder shook again. Grabbing onto the metal rungs, I squinted down to see a figure directly below me. The guy was muscular, taller than a human, and pale, with a crooked back and bulging arms, but it was hard to make out more details. The figure looked as if he could be entirely naked. Unfortunately, this could be any number of my tenants ignoring the unpopular “clothing mandatory in all public areas” rule. I’d recently posted the new regulation after one of the dragon sisters nearly decapitated a troll for accidentally touching her bare backside.

  “I got it—no need to spot me,” I yelled just as the rain took on a new thundering volume. I descended the rungs fast, my heart racing and gaze fixed down.

  The naked guy grabbed my ladder and yanked me away from the wall. I cried out and reached toward the side of the building. “Let go, asshole!”

  The man made a high-pitched sound that sent a chill through me that had nothing to do with the freezing rain. “No laws.” His whispery voice made my hair stand on end. “No earthly masters.”

  The ladder swayed back and forth as I scrambled down faster.

  “Hey! Set her down, right fucking now,” a familiar voice called, sending a pulse of relief through my body. I continued descending the icy, slick rungs as fast as I could. Darrel’s massive figure was just visible through the gray sheet of rain as he sprinted toward us from around the corner of the building, but he wasn’t fast enough.

  The creature flung me sideways. My stomach plummeted as I flew through the air, contemplating the best way to hit the ground. Midair, I kicked the ladder away from me and braced for impact and rolled. Instead, I collided with a giant body, and strong arms wrapped around me.

  Darrel’s face was inches from mine.

  “Scarlet, you okay?” he asked, setting me down.

  “Fine.”

  His midnight blue eyes swept over my body in one glance. Seeing that I was unharmed, he turned and charged after the pale guy. I sprang after them. The bent-backed creature rounded the side of the building, his high-pitched laughter carrying over the rain and thunder. The reek of death and rotting corpses invaded my nostrils, making acid shoot up my throat and burn my nose. I gagged. “What the hell is that smell?”

  “Something dead,” Darrel called back.

  We rounded the side of the building to find the creature sprinting between cars in our complex lot. His figure stood out, bright white against the dark gray rain cover. He was about the size of a troll, seven to eight feet, but so bent-backed that he should have toppled over rather than leading us on a full-speed chase.

  Darrel got within fifteen feet of the guy, leapt onto one of the cars’ hoods, and crouched to launch himself at the creature.

  “Not that car!” I yelled.

  Darrel hopped back down, losing precious momentum, and the figure darted around the far side of the building.

  “Sorry,” I breathed as Darrel caught up to me. “That’s Gretel’s car. She was let go from her job as a plumber by some asshat and can’t seem to get another one. She’s on rent-control and goblin-assistance. She has to jump through all these hoops.”

  Darrel nodded at my flurry of explanations as we rounded the building. The creature giggled and hopped over the railings to our front stoop.

  “What the fuck is that thing?”

  “I don’t know, but he seems to be running in circles around the building. Can you keep on his tail?” Darrel asked.

  “On it.”

  Darrel fell behind, disappearing from sight as I picked up speed.

  “We’re going to get you, you creep!” I yelled, receiving another bout of cackling in return. Around the next corner, I got a moment of reprieve from the downpour as the pavement ended in a long strip of mud and mulch surrounding our property’s sole redwood. The creature ran across the top of the mulch, not sinking in at all. When I followed, my boots sank into the mud, squelching and sliding. My heart thudded in my ears as the creature vanished before I was even halfway around the redwood. The ground fell away into a deep puddle, and I threw all my weight into propelling myself forward. My right foot caught on a root, and a sharp pain radiated through my ankle.

  “Shit!” I yelled, barely catching my balance. I kept running, my ankle screaming out with my every step. The low-hanging, dripping needles smacked me in the face before I veered around the building to where my ladder lay discarded.

  The creature was to the other side when Darrel lunged out.

  “Get down, and I won’t kill you,” Darrel ye
lled, as razor-sharp claws extended from his fingers.

  The naked giant didn’t even slow. He leapt at my mate, his tongue lashing out and whipping Darrel across the face. While the creature was mid-lunge, Darrel sliced out with his claws, tearing across the being’s neck with brutal efficiency.

  The figure collapsed, crumpling to the ground and twitching as it oozed green liquid from its pale neck. He twitched twice and then stilled.

  “What the hell is it?” I asked Darrel. I slowed near the creature but kept my distance. Who knew if it was going to pop back up and attack us? The smell was even worse now, a cloying combination of rotting eggs, fish, and vegetables mixed with shit. I pinched my nose, but it did nothing to block the odor.

  The being’s body was built like a Roman statue and similar in color. Where his eyes should be, he had only dark pits. He had no nose either, only two slits on smooth skin. His most prominent feature—aside from the one between his legs which I was studiously ignoring, was a circular, lipless mouth and engorged red tongue.

  “Is it a ghoul?” Darrel asked as he leaned in to inspect the being’s corpse. After a moment, he also pinched his nose. “Smells like it's been dead for a while.”

  “Are ghouls supposed to have that?” I pointed toward the creature’s massive genitals, keeping my gaze well above the border.

  “I don’t know, but I got the distinct impression that it was trying to latch onto me with that mouth.” He gestured down to the dead thing’s grotesque, gaping maw.

  Just thinking about it made acid shoot up my throat again. The taste was almost better than the reek of the creature.

  “I don’t think anyone will doubt the fairness of this kill. But...” I took a step toward Darrel. “I should call emergency services to see if they can identify the next of kin, if ghouls, or whatever he is, have next of kin. All we need is—”

  There was a loud gurgling sound, and then the figure exploded. Slimy green liquid sprayed in every direction, showering my jeans, boots, and jacket. Immediately, I felt a hot burning sensation where it hit.

  “Acid! Get your clothes off!” Darrel cried, at my side in a heartbeat, yanking at my belt.

  “You do yours,” I called back as I worked at my jeans button with numb fingers. I managed to kick off my boots, accidentally flinging them into the slime puddle. My skin burned and boiled where the acid had eaten through. It felt like bugs made of hot coals were burrowing into my flesh. My button gave way, and I peeled off the material.

  Darrel had ignored my plea for him to take care of himself first, and he had my jacket open enough that I could quickly pull my arms through.

  “Seriously, Darrel, your shirt,” I said, frantically, yanking at the half-eaten material and ripping the remaining scraps of his shirt off of him. Burn marks spread over his abdomen. “And your pants!”

  They were even worse, the acid having hit dangerously close to his fly and still spreading, eating up the material. My wolf came roaring to the forefront, panic thrumming through us. I attempted to keep my fingers from sharpening to claws while fumbling at the button to his fly. We popped it open and shoved down his pants and boxers. It was impossible for my wolf and me to untangle his pants from his boots, so my claws elongated, and I shredded the remaining material.

  “Scarlet,” Darrel said, leaning down. “Scarlet, I’m fine.”

  To our amazement, there was the slightest trace of laughter in his voice. My gaze met his, and slowly, my wolf retreated. My voice still came out a little growly as I asked, “What’s so funny?”

  He grabbed my hands and pulled me up. “You seemed worried.”

  “I was worried about you. You focused on helping me while the acid was burning into your skin.”

  He kicked off his boots as a slow smile spread over his face. “It just seemed like you were… Extra worried about certain parts of me.”

  Against my will, my gaze dipped, but I forced it back up. When I looked into Darrel’s face, he was almost smiling. It was something he’d done more and more in the month and a half we’d been quasi-dating. And by quasi-dating, I mean getting crazy about each other without actually dating.

  “I care about every part of you equally,” I said, running my hands over the newly healed skin on his chest.

  He covered my hands with his. “How are you feeling? Anything still burning?”

  A loud scraping sound came from a few floors above, and a head popped out, which should have been impossible as there was supposed to be a screen there. Sara, one of the dragon shifter sisters, glared down at me from her third-floor window. The rain-slicked down her shimmering blue hair, but she didn’t seem to notice. She pointed out at me in clear condemnation. “So, clearly the new clothing mandatory in public spaces rule doesn’t apply to everyone. I see you, Scarlet Riley.”

  “Sara,” I said on a sigh as I gestured to the acid-scorched grass. “Some ghoul attacked us and exploded, dousing us in acid. The rules remain the same.”

  “That’s such bullshit,” Sara’s sister, Tara, said as she too stuck her head out the window. “We have a right to be naked in our own complex. We will not let the man tell us what to do.”

  I turned fully toward them. “I’m definitely not ‘the man,’ but I am telling you the rules, and you’re going to follow them. Walking around naked in the public areas is not your right—it’s a privilege. You lost that privilege when you almost decapitated Fred. You should just be grateful that the doctors could reattach his head, there’s no lasting damage, and he’s probably not going to sue you. This is a Haven House, and I really don’t want to have to evict you for breaking policy.”

  “This isn’t over,” Sara said as both the dragon shifters pulled their heads back. “You have no idea what pains-in-your-asses we can be.”

  “Oh, trust me, I know,” I called after them, getting only a slammed window in response.

  When I spun back, thrumming with irritation, Darrel was standing over the splatter. Water dripped from his dark hair and beard, running down his sculpted body. His dark-blue gaze met mine, and he tilted his head. “Are those dragon shifters a threat I need to be worried about?”

  “Not unless you’re afraid of strongly worded social media posts or online petitions signed by their university friends.” I leaned in beside him. “Is it just me, or is the smell better?” The only scent left resembled body odor mixed with fresh cut onion.

  “Lance will probably have some better insight into this,” Darrel said. “He’ll want to move up his flight. Meanwhile, we should get inside.”

  “Oh.” There was a sinking sensation in me. Leaning down, I gathered the clothing on the ground which still held my wallet and keys, touching the acid-free areas. “So… No date, then. That’s fine.”

  He furrowed his brow and stared at me in that way that still gave me a glimmer of suspicion that he was psychic, even though he claimed he wasn’t. “You still want to go?”

  “It’s just that if we’re really fast, we could still make our reservation. It’s a casual place, but it only has ten tables, so reservations are a little hard to come by. It doesn’t matter. This…” I gestured to the scorched grass. “This is more important. Let’s head upstairs and call Lance.”

  We didn’t talk all the way up to the Knight Brothers’ apartment or as we climbed into the shower and scrubbed each other off, making sure there was no lingering acid anywhere. When we were out, and our bodies were steaming and smelling a whole lot fresher, Darrel’s hands came down and squeezed my shoulders. “We can wait until Lance gets here tomorrow to tell him about it.”

  I laid my head on his chest and groaned. “But that’s such a reckless, irresponsible thing for us to do. Some creature came to the complex and attacked me before exploding, and we have no idea what it is or where it came from. We don’t know if it attacked me at random or if someone sent it.”

  “And tomorrow morning, all those things will still be true, and there will still be an acid burn on the grass. I think making your reservation is more im
portant right now.”

  Damn it, why did I feel like crying? Darrel always did this to me.

  His hand slid behind my neck, his thumb gently massaging along my hairline, and I leaned back into his fingers. Gazing into my eyes, he smiled a little. “This whole mating thing was thrown on all of us. You and I never really had the time to do the get-to-know-you stuff. We just jumped into a routine right off the bat, and we both deserve more than that.”

  It was like he read the thoughts I hadn’t been able to form. “I feel like the Universe threw me into three celestial arranged marriages at once.”

  “I feel a little like that, too. I’m happy about it, but I’m not completely sure on the best way to go about all of this.”

  “Me, neither. Not at all. So, are you sure we’re making the right decision about dinner?” I asked, because I flat-out knew that we weren’t.

  He nodded, looking worlds more confident than I felt. “Should I call the restaurant and see if they can give us a little more time?”

  “No, let’s just go,” I said, happiness bubbling inside me. “It can be really loud in there, and I don’t want them to cancel our reservation by mistake. I’ll be at most five minutes.” Before I was finished speaking, I dashed off toward Aaron’s room—or the room I shared with Aaron. In the month and a half since I’d caught my boyfriend of two years screwing my sister, I’d moved in my stuff and taken up half of his dresser, closet, desk, and bed.

  It took me only four minutes to dress in a black silk shirt, high-waisted jeans, and waterproof boots. I covered it all up with a raincoat that was a trace musty and was rushing out toward Darrel when his phone rang.

  “You going to see who that is?” I asked as his arm slung around my back.

  He winced, and I felt a pang of guilt, knowing that I was going to cause him to be in hot water with his infuriating triplet.

  Reaching into his pocket, Darrel extracted his phone and checked the screen. His brow puckered. “It’s your dad. I didn’t even know he had this number.”

  “Crap!” I skidded to a stop. “Mine is still downstairs in my desk.”