The Alpha Gender Ch. 12

Nina pulls herself to her hands and knees, slowly shaking her head from side to side, waiting for her senses to fully clear. Her neck is sore, and her head is throbbing, feeling like it had been used as an implement to tenderize beef or something. She grabs the sofa back for support as she rises to her feet. Her cheek is tender on the right side, and there is a clicking when she opens her jaw wide, but no apparent fracture. Touching the back of her head, she feels a good-sized bump, but no blood. Turning around to inspect the wall behind her, she loses her balance slightly and has to steady herself on the furniture again.

The drywall is damaged where one of her elbows and her head collided hard with it. A little bending of the arm reveals slight pain and bruising at the joint. She stands over splinters of wood from the entry door on the carpet and a piece of twisted steel that had been the doorlatch strike-plate, where the bitch had smashed through to steal her property.

"Plus-sized model, mon derrière curviligne!" She spits, rubbing her sore jaw.

She feels a rage bubble up inside her, of an intensity she's never felt before. Before, when Brian was simply a cheater, he seemed expendable, and not worth a whole lot of extra effort to keep. She was more driven by a vengeful desire to punish him for his betrayal than anything else. Now though, he's been stolen from her. That crosses the line, and she can't let it stand.

Pulling out her phone, she calls a general contractor. "Jim Presley please. Hi Jim? It's Nina Jaeger. We met about a remodel in Benedict Canyon. Yeah that's me. Look I know it's late in the day and we don't have a signed contract yet, but I have an emergency and need a favor. My front door's just been smashed in and I need a replacement tonight. I'm okay, thanks. No I don't think so, the latch is destroyed, and there's wood splinters from both the door and the jamb. Really? That would be great! You're a dear. I'll send photos now"

The sky was darkening. She switches on the entry lights and takes a few shots of the door and wall damage and texts them with a short message. She then texts to a group labeled Girls: "Anyone have problems if our mtg starts an hour late tonight?"

After a couple minutes, a response appears.

Terry: Yeah sorry can't do any later, at least this time

Nina: OK I've got some issues. Can't be at my place. Can anyone else host?

Karmen: I can if no one's got a problem with my daughter sitting in. I think she's ready. I'll kick Henry out for the night. Everyone has my address

A few affirmative responses appear as Nina replies.

Nina: Maybe. Going to be late but have a BURNING issue. Don't plan to hold back. Rage, salty language, sex issues, very RAW. How old?

Karmen: 18, starting USC in Fall. PERFECT - honestly I want 2 expose her fully & she keeps asking about our mtgs

Nina: OK, if you're fine with it. Thanks 4 hosting! I'll be a half hour or so late. See you later ladies!

She sets her phone down and pours herself a scotch at the wet bar. Glaring into her own eyes in the mirror, she narrows her brow and clenches her jaw muscles. Veins throb in her neck and forehead. Raising her right fist, she tightens it, cracking some knuckles. "Fucking cunt!"

She swallows some scotch, relaxes her fist and stretches her fingers out. Her hand is shaking, but she wills herself to calm, and it steadies. She takes a smaller sip and sets the glass down.

She spends some time straightening up the house. There are some things visible that would be a challenge to explain to visiting repairmen, if not downright embarrassing. Nina had decided that Jim was the best contractor to remodel her new property and didn't want any strange stories getting back to him that might cause him to decide against doing business with her. She folds up the rolling cot, storing it in the garage along with the big tray and plastic sheeting. After unhooking the restraining cable from the ceiling, she stows it along with the paddle and diapers in the desk drawers.

After moving her car to the garage, she comes back up to change out of her business attire in favor of blue jeans, a white, gold-embossed t-shirt and her leather boots. She washes her face and brushes out her hair. As she was examining the bruise on her cheek and beginning to apply concealing makeup, she hears the squeak of brakes at the end of the cul-de-sac, probably a truck carrying Jim's contractors. She speeds up applying concealer and is just finishing as she hears a polite knock on her open front door.

"Ms. Jagger? It's Russell and Jamie from Presley Construction?"

Nina steps out to the entry with a smile and hand extended. Russell is a very tall, tanned older man with a buzz cut. Jamie is mid-twenties with dyed red hair and a van dyke beard and blue Dodgers cap. Both wear company polo shirts. She shakes their hands, which are very rough.

"It's Yay-ger. German pronunciation. Pleasure! Thanks for getting here so quickly. Well, all the damage is right behind you. The door is the urgent part. If you can't get to the wall repair tonight, it's no problem."

They examine the door, frame and wall. Russell whistles. "Someone hit this door with a battering ram? They completely devastated a heavy solid core door and took out a big chunk of the jamb entirely. Wow. Lot of force. Okay, for tonight we can repair your door and frame enough so they'll be secure and functional, and start the wall repair, probably all but the paint. Shouldn't take more than an hour. We'll have to order you a replacement door. Offhand I don't know how long that will take, but we can let you know tomorrow morning. When it comes in we'll do a permanent repair and it'll look good as new. Any special requests with the door, or just a straight replacement?"

"Perfect. Straight replacement is fine. I think we have that paint in the garage, my boyfriend was very organized like that. Will I need a new key tonight?"

Jamie had the lock in his hand and was examining it. "Lock and deadbolt seem to be fine, Ma'am. Your house key should still work." His eyes lingered on her neck and breasts for a few moments. Nina never wore a bra anymore and enjoyed being desired when men looked at her.

"Great, well I'd like to leave in 10 minutes if possible. Are you guys okay if I leave you here to finish up, and you can call or text me if there are any problems?"

Russell bites his lip. "Shhhould be alright, as long as we can reach you."

She hands them each a fifty-dollar bill and a business card with her cell number. "I know Presley will bill me, but this is unusual. I really appreciate your coming out here so late on short notice. Please call me for any reason." She makes eye contact with Jamie when she says this, shakes their hands again, and turns back to finish up in the bathroom.

Jamie calls out "We'll be sure and call you when we finish, Ms. Jaeger. Thank you."

Nina finishes putting on her makeup, and then heads out to grab a bite to eat on the way to her meeting, saying goodnight to the guys as she leaves.

As she's pulling off the 405 her cellphone rings, an unfamiliar number. "Hello?"

A man's voice. "Ms. Jaeger? It's Jamie from Presley Construction."

She smiles. "Please boy... call me Nina."

There's a long pause, and she hears Jamie swallow. "Sorry... Nina. Thank you. I just wanted to let you know that your door is secure and working now and we're about to lock up and leave. Wall is patched but needs to dry before it can be painted. If you have the paint, I can come by tomorrow to finish it and let you know when we should have the new door."

"You're such a sweetheart. I hate to be a bother, but I'm busy until late tomorrow. I feel like I'm taking advantage of you, but is there any way you can come by at 8pm? I promise I'll make it worth your while."

Another swallow. "It's no trouble at all Ma'am... Nina. Anything for a client. What do you like?"

Nina laughs softly. "Good boy. I like dry whites. Preferably a Chardonnay or an older Pinot Grigio from Austria or Hungary. And cock. Bring some cock."

"Yes Ma'am I will." There is a slight quiver in his voice.

"Looking forward to it. Goodbye." She ends the call as she pulls onto Karmen's street.

Nina parks a few doors down, walks up and rings the bell. After a moment the door opens and a lovely young Latina girl with hair tied back in a ponytail opens the door. "Welcome, Ms. Jaeger." She steps aside to let her in.

"Please call me Nina dear. We met about a year ago, Mariel" They shake hands. Nina heard familiar voices and laughter from another room.

"Yes, I remember. Nice to see you again, Nina. Can I get you anything to drink? My mom made gin martinis, but some of the ladies are drinking gin and tonic."

"Thanks Mariel, can I get gin on the rocks? Skip the tonic."

"Certainly. Right this way." She leads Nina into the living room. Six attractive women, ranging in age from mid-twenties to late thirties, were seated around the room. A dark-haired woman in a green dress and comfortable flats stood and crossed the room to greet her. "Here's the woman with the plan!"

She was one of the older women, about 5'7" tall, dark-skinned and very muscular, with strong legs and a powerful chest. They embrace like sisters.

"Thanks again for coming to my rescue Karmen. God, Mariel's gotten tall in a year, and filled out across the chest, like Mom!"

She laughs. "With all the Jiu Jitsu training, she's strong as hell too! Henry doesn't know what to do. She's so headstrong now, and he can't do shit. When she says no, she means no. He's walking softly around her, and I think he'll be glad when she's got her head in books again."

"I'll bet! How's he with you?"

"Adapting, I guess. Still thinks I'm going to replace him with a stud or two, but I'm good for now. You know me."

Nina laughs. "You'll come around. What about those cute boys at your gym?"

"Oh, don't remind me! Maybe once Mariel's got a semester under her belt. We'll see."

Some of the women called out greetings to Nina. She turned to them. "Hey ladies! Aubrey, how's the store?"

A young woman with copper colored hair responds in a light southern accent, "No complaints! But it's the online book sales and digital content of course that are making the profits. Physical direct sales barely cover overhead. How's your cutie? I hope I didn't go too far with him the other night."

Nina's face darkens. Mariel hands her a glass. She thanks her and takes a sip, nodding her head. "Ha! Well you're about to find out. Your touch was just right though. It's just gotten... complicated."

She makes eye contact with Karmen and a few of the other ladies and raises her voice. "Ladies? Ladies I'm sorry I've fouled up the meeting by not being able to host and coming late... thanks again Karmen for letting us disrupt your home tonight... and thanks Mariel for your help. I'm sure Mom has you doing everything but recording the minutes and keeping a guest book..."

The ladies laugh. Mariel and Karmen, sitting together, smile.

"I know you normally look to me to lead these meetings. What I planned for tonight will have to wait until next week though. I've got to tell you about my experience over the last few days since it's completely relevant, and in fact critical, to our purpose here."

Nina took a swallow of gin and continued. "Many of us have challenges in reaching our goals of polyandry due to an existing husband or long-time boyfriend. In most cases where children aren't involved the best solution is divorce or dumping the boy when they're simply inadequate. This clears the path to building a successful and fulfilling harem. But for myself, as with a few of you, it makes sense to keep the existing boy and build from there. The challenge is how to transition him to the new paradigm... one in which he's neither dominant or even an equal, but one of several boys you maintain relationships with for emotional and sexual fulfillment, and an... expansion of other traditional marital duties."

Several of the women were nodding and making approving comments.

Nina accepted a chair brought in from another room by Mariel, sat with legs crossed, and looked down into her glass as she swirled the melting ice cubes around. "Since Brian was extremely well-endowed and possessed of, I thought, enough basic intelligence and emotional maturity to grasp the obvious benefits of staying with me in a polyandric group compared with his other options... I chose to preserve my relationship with him. As it stands now, I'm open to the possibility that this may have been a mistake." She looked up and made eye contact with several of the women. They nodded.

"The main obstacle was that, by happenstance really, he hadn't had any... personal experiences that showed him how limited those options were. That, and as you all know, I'm impatient!" All the women laughed, with Karmen throwing in "Definitely an understatement!".

Nina smiled. "After discussing strategy with Aubrey," She nodded at Aubrey, who reciprocated. "we... arranged a personal experience to open his eyes and expedite acceptance."

Terry from the back called "Mmm-mmmm! I've seen Brian! Wish it were me!" The room, including Nina, erupted in laughter.

"Thanks Terry. I'll keep that in mind for the future." Nina offered. More laughter from the ladies. "But just to clarify, it was not a... complete experience. Just meant to hasten his understanding of the new reality." She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward.

"And it probably would have worked. But an element was introduced that changed the dynamic. Another woman got her hooks into him. An outsider."

Some gasps were heard around the room. Most of the women could imagine how they'd feel in Nina's position.

"Yeah, right? Brian and I had a mutual separation for a couple days last week, into the weekend. He stayed at a hotel. Same basic reason that's given Karmen problems with Henry, as we all discussed a couple weeks ago. This woman had just moved in from out of state, gotten a position as Brian's boss. I don't really blame him... not that I'd tell him that."

She was shaking with rage. She swallowed the rest of her gin. "Her pheromones just swamped him I think. She owned him. He came back... but he was scared. Heart rate and breathing way out of whack... and he was tainted. Some of you know what I mean, but she'd fucked him, took him inside. My scent just made him vomit."

Terry said "Shit."

Nina looked at her and nodded. "That's what happens. But I didn't know it could happen so quickly. We've talked about detox, and I was following a modified purge protocol. He was restrained. But I had to go into the office. Gone all day. She came, smashed my door."

"So sorry Nina!" Said a voice from the back.

Nina looked up, nodded and continued. "I knew something was wrong. Sped home. Caught her just as she was about to leave with him. We had words. I attacked her, but she's good, very good. I had no chance. Woke up on the floor ten minutes later, both of them gone. You see my cheek."

Aubrey said, "I noticed the swelling."

Nina stood up with fists clenched and glanced around the room. "I'll be honest, I want to rip the cunt's head off. Pound her into paste, burn it, and bury it six feet in the ground! He's mine!" Her face reddened, and veins stood out on her neck.

Several women nodded and made supportive comments. "She took your property!"

"But I need to train. We all should. I've come around on that, and started myself. Some of you have understood this from the start... Karmen and Emma... and I'm sorry I didn't take you seriously."

She raised her voice. "In this group we have an agreement. We watch each other's backs... we joke, but we respect each other's guys, whether a woman has one, or a full harem. But there are other groups, other lone women. We need to prepare for challenges from outside the group. We knew this would happen. But now it's time to strategize. I'm not asking you to go to war with me. I don't really know anything about her. Hell, I don't even know if he's worth it."

Someone snorted.

"But we need to prepare strategies for how to approach situations like this. Her training and her resources seem to be beyond any individual woman in this group. Start thinking about these kinds of threats and how to prepare for them. We'll discuss this next week. Anyway, that's all I've got ladies. Thanks for listening, and for being supportive."

The women clapped, and most began to stand. Some individual discussions began. Aubrey approached Nina and hugged her. "I'm so sorry, hon. Anything you need, or if you just want to talk, let me know."

"Thanks sweetie, that's kind. I actually do have some questions for you."

"Fire away."

"It's about Amélie. You have the longest relationship with her, and spent more time with her than even me. Have you had any contact with her recently?"

"Not for about four weeks. Just after the video study group ended I had one or two calls with her, but they were short, mostly about book distribution."

"Okay. Now the study group sessions were encrypted, and she never showed live video, though we could see each other. But have you ever seen her on video?"

"No. I just know what she looks like from the backflap pictures on her books, same as you."

Nina bit her lip and frowned. "Hmm. I know that privacy and security were important to her, but it's strange there's no video of her anywhere on the net, and only a few curated still pictures. Did you record any audio of her?"

"I do have a couple recorded sessions. She's explaining some of her concepts from Femme Supérieur, en français. What's going on - does this have to do with Brian? I'll get them to you."

Nina put her hands on Aubrey's shoulders. "Thanks. I don't know really, probably nothing. A paranoid hunch."