The Alpha's Prize

  Copyright © 2014 by Krista Bella

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Erica Clayworth is a curvy, southern rich girl who has always got whatever she has desired, except one thing; her sexy and delectable childhood friend Connor Greyson. Tall, handsome and athletic, Connor is practically a chick magnet and the type that would never go for girls of Erica's size.

  When her father's special wolf pendant suddenly disappears, though, Connor is at the top of the list of suspects.

  But when Erica goes to Connor to inquire about the pendant, she finds out a startling secret that could change both of their lives forever!

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  "You go find that piece of shit and tell him to bring my father's God damn brooch back here right now, Erica!" her father yelled at her, his face purple with rage.

  Standing before her father's desk dressed in a pink, baby doll dress, Erica Clayworth rocked back on her heels, taken aback by her father's vicious outburst.

  For some reason, her father, Jerle, thought that Erica's friend Connor Greyson, had stolen a treasured family relic.

  It galled Erica, because if she knew one thing for sure, Connor wasn't a thief. He would never steal from her. Not ever.

  It was bad enough that her father had banished Connor from the Clayton estate for good when he found out that he was working for him at his daughter's request.

  It had been embarrassing, the way Jerle had laid into Connor. Erica had been impressed by Connor remaining calm and cool all through the ordeal seeing as how he had a temper himself.

  The cool way Connor had weathered her father's fury furthered convinced Erica that he could not have stole his brooch.

  "I blame you for this!' Jerle stabbed a finger at Erica's large breasts, continuing his tirade, his iron-grey hair reflecting a ray of sunlight coming in from the window behind his chair. "If you were not so damn desperate for dick, this would have never happened!"

  Erica's breath was nearly sucked from her lungs. Desperate for dick? What was her daddy talking about? Connor had been her childhood friend for ages. Though hot as-all-hell, he was like a brother to her and she was like a sister to him. There would never be anything more between them.

  I may have had feelings for Connor once, she thought, but that stopped once I seen all the skinny chicks that was after him.

  Besides that fact, Erica was practically a virgin. Ever since putting on weight in high school, her confidence had taken a big hit.

  "Do you know how important that piece is, Erica?" Her father's angry voice pierced her musings. "It's a family heirloom that has been passed down generation to generation for centuries! And it's gone now because you did not hire someone trustworthy to work on this house!"

  "Connor is as trustworthy as they come, daddy," Erica protested. "You just don't like him because you hate his dad and think all Greysons are liars and cheats." The Greyson family and Clayworth family had beef going back decades. Erica knew very little of what it was about, having not been alive when these sordid events had taken place, but she did not care. The past was the past. She had grown up with Connor through grade school and he was as honest as they came. There was no way he had stolen the brooch. Her father must have simply misplaced it. "And if you wanted someone else to do the job, you should have found them yourself instead of asking me to do it."

  Jerle paused, staring at his plus-sized daughter like she had lost her mind. "Found them myself?" he growled. "Do you have any idea how much work I do around here, girl, how busy I am?"

  Nope, because I do all the work.

  Her father waved his hairy knuckles at her face in exasperation. "How else do you expect to drive around in that tasteless, pink convertible that I bought you and wear the fat girl dress you have on right at this second?" Jerle snarled.

  God damn it, daddy! Erica shouted inwardly. It's too early in the morning for this shit!

  Erica held back her emotions as she studied her father's rage-filled face. It always came back to this. Her daddy never failed to remind her of his position and how much she should be grateful for it.

  Never mind the fact that she worked for him and that he worked her like a dog, having her run his antique shop in the middle of town, iron his clothes, schedule his appointments and whatever flirted his fancy at the moment.

  "Although I am grateful for everything you have done for me," Erica said evenly through gritted teeth, "that has nothing to do with subject at hand. Connor did not steal that brooch." Erica scratched at her arm and glanced out her father's office window. It was a beautiful morning and almost time to go into work, but her irritable father did not seem to care. "I think you just misplaced it."

  "I didn't misplace shit!" her father exploded, slamming his fist down on his desk with great force and nearly knocking the box of expensive cigars that sat next to his writing pad onto the floor. "And how dare you defend that little asshole!"

  Erica crossed her arms across her chest, fed up with her father's tantrum. She could no longer hold back. "You are being a total bastard, daddy!"

  Her father's eyes went wide. "I'm being a bastard? How about you are being an ass-kissing, backstabbing daughter?"

  This is why I eat so much, Erica thought. Because this old man stresses the hell out of me.

  Seeing the hurt and anger in his daughter's eyes, Jerle took a deep, calming breathe. "Look, Erica, I am sorry if you think I am being unreasonable. I just know for a fact that I did not misplace the brooch." He shook his head vigorously. "It's impossible."

  "How do you know that?" asked Erica, trying her best to keep her raging emotions in check. "Maybe one of the maids misplaced it when they were cleaning."

  Her father glared at her doubting expression. "Never, in the fifteen years they have been working here, have they dared touch my father's pendant." Her father nodded over to a bust of Erica's grandfather that sat to the right of his desk, perched on an expensive stand. "It's always been wrapped right around his neck, untouched by a soul, and now it's gone."

  Erica stared at the bust, thinking about how much it looked like her father. The proud nose, the strong brow, the heavy jaws. "I still don't think Connor did it," she insisted. "There would have been no reason for him to sneak into your office and steal it. I can't think of one good reason." She tore her eyes away from the bust and studied her father's scowling mug. "Besides, I watched him a lot when he was doing the repairs and I never once seen him acting suspicious." Erica hated to admit it, but when Connor had done the repair work, mostly with his shirt off, her eyes had been on his washboard abs, that were usually glistening with sweat most of the time.

  "I'm sure you watched him alright!" Her father growled sarcastically, his lips twisting into a feral scowl. "And the reason he stole it, silly girl, is that the brooch is of incalculable value!"

  Erica let out a frustrated sigh and glanced at the antique clock hanging on the wall above her father's head. "Look daddy, I don't have any more time for this. I have to go open up the shop in about half an hour." You know the boring, old shop you have me slaving in every day? "I'm sure if you give it time, the brooch will show back up on its own."

  Please just let the matter drop.

  Erica had no desire to continue to argue with her father. It would serve no purpose other than to sink Ericka deeper into a bad mood and cause hard feelings.

  At that moment, her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she also had not eaten breakfast yet.

  His eyes blazing with inner wrath, her
father leaned across his desk and snapped, "I don't give a damn what you have to do, you go find that God damn bastard and tell him to give my father's brooch back, or by God, I am calling the authorities on his worthless, Greyson ass!"

  Erica rocked back on her heels with surprise. She hadn't expected her father to go this far with his accusations. "Seriously, daddy? You don't have one shred of evidence, one shred of proof that he did that. You can't accuse him of something without knowing if he really did it or not."

  "Yes, I can!" Jerle roared, furious that Erica continued to defend her friend. "And I swear I will do it if you don't get it returned to me ASAP. He stabbed a hairy finger at the office door in a furious jabbing motion. "Now take your fat, dick-loving ass out there and get it back!"

  Powerful anger surged through Erica's breasts and she had to fight the overwhelming urge to rush forward, roll her big ass across her father's desk and claw his face like a wildcat. "Fine, you evil, old crusty bastard!" Erica yelled, trying to hold back the tears of hurt that pooled in her eyes as her large frame shook uncontrollably. "I'll go look for your stupid ass brooch if it will make you shut the hell up!"

  I see why mother left your ass and got a huge divorce settlement.

  Erica's mother, Martha, had recently divorced her father, winding up with a good part of his fortune. Erica probably would have moved out with her mother if not for the fact that Martha was twenty times more unbearable than Jerle.

  "How dare you speak that way to me!" Jerle shouted, his face twisting with rage despite the fact that he had just purposely hurt his daughter's feelings. "I'm your daddy and I paid for everything you own! Why, you'd be nothing without me!"

  But Erica was no longer listening.

  With a swirl of her pink dress, her large breasts heaving, she spun around and marched out of the room, slamming the door behind her as hard as she could.

  Chapter 2

  "How long do I have to work your shift for you?" Elizabeth whined in Erica's ears. "I have to go into work at the restaurant at eleven you know."

  Erica titled her head squeezing her cell against her ear with her shoulder as she pressed the gas pedal and came to a rolling stop at a red light. She was stopped at an intersection, a block away from the shopping center where Connor worked.

  When she had stormed out of the house, hurt by her father's callous words and nasty accusations, she had called Connor's cell to tell him about what happened. He hadn't answered. Realizing that he was probably on his way to work, Erica decided that she would stop by there to ask him about the brooch.

  In the meantime, she needed someone to open up her father's shop for her. Elizabeth Hamby, who was Erica's best girlfriend, had been the perfect candidate.

  "I know that, Liz," Erica replied, glancing in her rearview mirror. A red truck pulled up behind her with a young guy in it, his armed resting comfortably outside his window against the truck. Erica could not get a clear glimpse of him, but she thought he looked kinda cute.

  But not as cute as Connor, she thought.

  "But I need you really badly. You know that I would not be asking otherwise."

  I should have just not even bothered to get someone to open for me and just let the shop run itself, thought Erica bitterly. Then that would have showed daddy right.

  But then Erica would not have heard the end of that. Sometimes, she thought her father loved complaining just so he could hear the sound of his own voice.

  A breeze swept through Erica's pink convertible, ruffling her golden brown hair, and sending strands into her eyes. Erica smiled at the sensation. How she loved riding through the southern city of Karma, South Carolina in the summer with her sun roof down.

  It was always so refreshing and relaxing, and she needed it after that frustration conversation with her father.

  "How long?" Elizabeth repeated, her southern twang hitting a sour note.

  Erica glanced at her watch. She would at least talk to Connor for about five minutes and it would take another twenty to go across town where her father's antique shop was located. "About a half-hour."

  "God," Elizabeth growled with annoyance. "I think it's so stupid that your dad is making you hunt down Connor during his morning shift over some stupid pendant."

  Erica snorted in agreement. "You're telling me."

  "Why didn't you just tell him 'sure dad, I'll do it' but not really and then later tell him that you did anyway?"

  A car sped through the intersection, nearly running a biker over who had come from around a corner unexpectedly. "Because he said he'd call the cops on him if I don't," Erica replied, her eyes widening slightly at the near accident. The biker stopped in his tracks and yelled obscenities at the driver who was now long gone. "Connor was not answering his cell. I left a message, but I want to make sure he knows what's going on so he's not blindsided if the cops show up on his doorstep...or even worse, at his job."

  God, these people act like they are always in a rush to get somewhere, Erica thought with disgust. And they don't care that they might kill someone else by driving like morons to get to their destination.

  Another reason why Erica was so afraid for Connor was that her father knew the city's sheriff very well and Connor had already had more than a few runs in with this particular one. It would give Sheriff Jeffries great pleasure to have something to hound Connor about.

  Suddenly, a loud horn blared behind her, pulling her out of her reverie. "Come one lady, get a move on it!" the guy Erica thought that was cute yelled at her from his window.

  The bastard's not so cute anymore.

  "Kiss my fat ass!" Erica yelled back as she pressed the foot on the gas and sped up the block.

  "You're asking me to go open your shop for you, but then telling me to kiss your fat ass?" asked Elizabeth incredulously.

  "It was some asshole honking at me," Erica explained quickly. "You know I wouldn't want you to kiss my ass...unless of course you wanted to."

  "Ew," breathed Elizabeth. "Don't get all lezzy on me now."

  Erica laughed. "I'm just kidding." She tilted her head to the side to avoid the glare of the sun. "So will you do it for me Liz, please?"

  There was a long pause before Elizabeth sighed. "Okay, but you owe."

  Relief swept through Erica's stomach. "Oh thank you girl, you're the best."

  "But you owe me," Elizabeth reminded her sternly.

  "Gotcha."

  "Big time." Elizabeth growled.

  Then the line went dead just as Erica was pulling into Haven Shopping Center. The parking lot was packed with cars. She cruised around for about three minutes before she found a parking spot in front of Joe's Lumber & Emporium. Joe's, Erica felt, was just a rip of version of Home Depot.

  Erica had no idea why a guy with Connor's looks would want to work at such a crappy place when he could be making big bucks as a model, but it was something that he loved to do.

  Connor was a man's man, working at Joe's and doing construction jobs on the side. And boy could he fix up a house. Erica had seen pictures of houses that were in shambles before he worked on them and was amazed at what they looked like when he was done.

  It was another reason why her father's inane accusations irked her. Connor had offered to fix the damage on the Clayton roof for a steal. Hell, he would have done it for free had Erica let him. And her father repaid him by going ballistic on him and banishing him from the house.

  I'll be lucky if he wants to even talk to me again, thought Erica as she put the gear into park and shut off the car engine. Maybe that's why he didn't answer his phone.

  She flipped her visor to check her appearance in the vanity mirror. When she was sure her makeup looked fine, because she never let Connor see her without out it, she grabbed her Gucci sunglasses out of the glove compartment and climbed out of the car.

  Inside Joe's, the loud hum of an electric saw permeated the building and the smell of fresh wood tickled her nose. Gathering her bearings, Erica scanned the long line of cash registers for signs of Con
nor, but did not see him.

  Then she started walking down several isles, peeking around corners, hoping she would see Connor stocking shelves, before giving up. Joe's was a large store and it could take her ages to find Connor. It would be better to just ask someone about his whereabouts.

  She walked over to the customer service counter, where a young man wearing a blue and white uniform, probably just out of his teens, smiled at her.

  "How may I help you?" the boy asked. He had a nasty case of pimple-face and Erica found it hard not to stare.

  "Is Connor Greyson at work today?" asked Erica.

  The boy scratched at his shirt and peered behind her. "Yeah. He's in the back stocking wood. Want me to show you where?"

  "Nah, that's alright," Erica declined. "I think I can find my way."

  "Okay," said the boy with a grin, his eyes falling to Erica's large breasts for a moment before rising back to her face. "You have a nice day."

  "You too."

  Erica turned away, suspicious that the boy was having an inner joke at her expense.

  I know he's probably making fun of me in his head, she thought.

  But Erica did not care. She thought she looked good in her baby doll dress. If the boy was laughing at her boobs because they were big, double D'S in fact, then too bad for him.

  At least her boobs were real.

  It took Erica the better of ten minutes to locate Connor working in the back.

  She paused when she saw him, a strange feeling coming over her chest. Connor Greyson was handsome...the type of handsome that if you were passing him by in the street, you would have to look more than once to get a good look at him. He was the type of handsome that made your heart do a back flip of its own accord. He was the type of handsome that made you weak in the knees, like Erica was now, though she hated to admit it.

  Connor was currently picking up wood and loading it onto a fork lift, his well-defined muscles standing out from the strain. He had on jeans, an apron and large safety gloves, but even still, he looked extra handsome to Erica with his dirty-blonde hair, piercing green eyes and chiseled cheek bones and athlete's physique.