Choosing Her Alpha

by Isoellen

  "All this beauty, mine. All of it. Every hole," he told her, then kissed her mound while his finger pumped deep and deeper, rubbing against walls until he found a small little nodule unique to breeders.

  His touch there inflicted an instant hard climax, a button that led straight to shattering rapture. Her mouth opened, her eyes rolled back in her head, and darkness took her.

  Chapter 18

  Kane’s head was still between her legs when she woke, lapping at the new mess he had caused with long, hungry strokes of his tongue.

  When he realized she was awake, he dipped fingers between her legs as if he were dipping them into a jar of honey and fed her their combined essence, her slick and the sperm that would be dripping from her for days, raw and earthy. She sucked at his fingers unthinkingly.

  Again and again he fed her this way, until he decided to move so that he could keep at his lapping and she could in turn feed from him. He didn't forget her breasts, returning to nurse even though her nipples were sore and damaged.

  She suspected in the back of her mind that Kane was not going to give up. He was going to work at her breasts until she was fully lactating, until every two hours she had to pump the milk or seek him for relief.

  There was no following how many times Kane gave her his knot, how many times her body twitched and tightened at the extreme pleasure.

  The end of her estrous felt like this gradual thing where her core craved less cock and more rest, and her body hurt more than it was pleasured. Some of Kane's fierce demand lightened, becoming cooing praise. He used his teeth less, his lips more.

  She heard a voice in the room asking questions and attempted to croak a demand that the intruder leave. Kane moved, tucking her beneath him and under bedding, shushing her and answering the questions himself.

  It felt like he was knotting her less now and feeding her more. He fed her from his cock as if it was a nutritious potion nothing could compare to.

  She was spent; her eyes refused to open.

  Until she startled into wakefulness upon realizing Kane wasn't in the bed.

  Before she could scream for him, he was there, wet and fresh from a shower. Sasha climbed into his arms, pressing her cum-covered, filthy body against him while sipping at the water still on his skin.

  "I want to wash too," she whispered. It seemed like Kane had been pushing her to fewer screaming heights in the last few hours, or days, and her voice was healing.

  "No. Later. I like how you smell."

  "Hmm, I smell like you, but my scalp itches. Wash me."

  "No." The answer was final.

  She did not like that he got to do that, just decide, without reason or explanation. There were going to be great battles ahead at some point if he asked her for something she could not give. But Sasha had learned to pick her battles.

  A shower right this minute was not worth the effort when she could be licking at his gorgeous skin. And she loved pleasing him. It didn't just feel easy to obey him; it was a visceral pleasure that made her insides glow. His happiness was her happiness.

  He had bullied her and controlled her for days, putting her where he wanted her, and there were so many places on him she had yet to explore. She sat up to lap the beads of water trickling down his neck from his hair over the deep, scabbed bite she had given him. She kissed it, wanting to bite again and taste his blood.

  He cupped her bottom in one hand, spread her cheeks, and squeezed, then slipped up her waist where his fingers overlapped and pulled her away before she could set her teeth in him again. He kissed his own mark on her neck at the disgruntled noise she made and fingered the chain that rested at the base of her throat.

  "Later," he said.

  Someone had brought more water and a thin soup, which Kane made her eat while he dressed in one of his fine, white shirts and black pants. She watched him dreamily, thinking that now she would have a chance to live out the fun of undressing him.

  "I liked you in the skirt thing," she said with a smile behind her spoon.

  "Do you? I couldn't stand my raw cock being confined anymore. That kilt is for the rut. I hope I never have to wear it again."

  "How long—"

  He cut off her question. "Later. Have you finished the soup?"

  He bent down, putting on socks and shoes. Loose-legged and relaxed, all his self-control in place again, he went to get his sword and harness from a hook where it was hanging by the bedroom door. The gun belt followed, his weapons settling on his hips. She wondered if he already had the small knife strapped to his ankle.

  Sasha realized that his eyes were brown—a beautiful, calm brown again.

  Her own were probably darkening with anger. Tone dripping with warning, she asked, "Are you leaving?"

  The corner of one lip curled. "Soup finished?"

  She threw her legs over the side of the bed and set the bowl on the floor with a clatter. Her breasts bobbed, jutting out in front of her in a way she was still not accustomed to, nipples peaked and wet with milk.

  "Finished." She answered his question, but it was a dare. She would attack him if he tried to leave, no matter the consequences. This was a battle she would fight. She was done with him leaving her behind for weeks on end.

  "Good." Instead of leaving, he sorted through the bedding until he found the dirtiest, most stained sheet, all spotted and puddled with blood, semen, breast milk, slick, and perspiration. Then he wrapped her in it and picked her up.

  She knew she must look like the sheet. A black and blue dirty, tangled mess. Was she going to wash now?

  But instead he opened the door and left the room altogether, carrying Sasha into the hall and out of his wing.

  In the main hall, lining up against the walls, were his most prominent alphas and respected betas, faces she had come to recognize and faces she had only glimpsed. But they were all dressed and polished like he was, looking at her.

  "Kane!" Sasha shrieked in distress.

  "No." He made the bark-cough noise and gave her a swat. Cradled in his arms and wrapped in excessive mounds of sheet, she barely felt it. Nonetheless, she got the message. She had forgotten that most of these same men had seen her brazenly storm the training pit and stake her claim, and that Kane had stripped her there for all to see.

  He carried her through the house, and everywhere they went, the house's occupants lined the walls, watching them. As they passed, drone and breed fell in line behind them, creating a long procession.

  Their destination was another large room Sasha had never been to before, and it was full of people.

  Administrators in their grand, gaudy robes, officials, and regally dressed people watched them. The faces of these strangers seemed judgmental and cold, save for the one familiar face in the crowd—King's Mate Queen Annalise.

  She was dressed in layers of silk, standing in front of a large, gray-haired alpha prime whose massive palms rested on her shoulders. He was as tall as Kane, his face was craggy and scared, and he was missing half an ear. The man exuded the powerful presence of an alpha not yet ready to end his reign.

  Around them were more people who all bore the same physical stamp in one way or another of their parentage—Annalise's eyes, the king's chin, and so forth.

  These, Sasha realized, were members of Kane's family.

  And Kane had brought her wrapped in a sheet, sex drenched and dirty in front of them all. She tried to hide her face.

  He jostled her and growled low, "Know your worth, Beauty."

  His command made her slick, but she straightened her shoulders, choosing frustration at her commanding mate instead of embarrassment.

  He stood in the center of them all. Everyone was silent and waiting.

  A deep, thunderous voice rang out. It was the king’s.

  "Breeder, do you choose this male, Alpha Warlord Constantine Kane, as your husband-mate?"

  Not even registering her tone, or who it was speaking to her, Sasha answered as if she'd been challenged. "I have chosen. He is mine."
r />   There was male laughter in the room. She thought they doubted her ability to hold what she had chosen. Sasha felt like she could call a furious storm into the room to prove it. How dare they think to take what was hers?

  Kane's purr surrounded her. He tipped his head over hers and nuzzled at her affectionately in front of the entire assembly.

  "Settle down, Beauty. They envy me. All know whose bite I wear."

  "And you, Kane," the king began. "Do you accept this breeder's claim?"

  "I have," Kane boomed.

  "Sasha Dover, will you give my son your full bond and blessing?" Queen Annalise asked.

  Sasha thought she had, but the moment the queen mentioned it, she realized the bond she had hoped for all her life wasn't fully formed. Something was in the way.

  She reached up to Kane, holding his shaved jaw and searching his face with a sudden panic that she didn't have a strong blessing to give a man who deserved it more than any other.

  "Yes," she told the room. As soon as she figured out how.

  "Then do so," the queen commanded. Sasha felt a sucking vacuum of air—silent, ghostly, magical—as the queen released her own blessing to make way for Sasha's.

  No one had told her this.

  And there were no stories of it.

  Kane's arms shook at the loss; he felt it. The absence of his mother's blessing made way for all the years and weight of his life. Sasha saw that weight descend like blacksmith anvils. But now she could see what to do.

  Drawing his lips to hers, she kissed him, pouring herself into him with an endless resource of love and power. It was heady electricity; there was no end to it.

  He drank from their kiss, rejuvenated, renewed, and she felt the change come over his being and body as if his blood was boiling like an eighteen-year-old’s. The kiss grew ravenous, and he started to shift her in his arms.

  A hand clapped him on the shoulder—his father’s. Kane snapped and showed his teeth at the interruption.

  "Now you're ready to challenge me, but do you really want my job and yours too?" The king said with a jovial laugh, reminding Kane of who he was. "Take her back to your rooms, but don’t take too much time. This is a celebration long overdue, and I want to meet the girl formally."

  They left the room to cheers that followed them all the way back to the nest.

  Kane took her to the shower, removed his clothes while she soaped her hair, and joined her. He pulled at creaking metal tubing and adjusted nozzles she hadn't known could move. His face and body radiated a surging hunger reminiscent of his rut.

  Before Sasha could complain, he had her up and seated on his cock. She yelled with the force of it. The out facing position made it feel as if he’d seated his member behind her ribs.

  Hands on her hips, he lifted her up and down in quick, starved repetition. He grabbed that shower nozzle, centering the hard spray of water on the place they were joined.

  Throwing her head back into the cradle of his chest, her nails digging into his forearms, Sasha came hard from the unrelenting stimulation. Before she could catch her breath, Kane turned her to face him, pushing her down until her bottom met his balls and grunting in pleasure while he came, his knot locking them together.

  Nose against his shoulder, Sasha moaned long and low.

  Kane found a cake of soap and finished the job of washing her while they were sealed together.

  "We have to return to the celebration of our joining, so don't fall asleep, Sasha. I would give you more time, but it is traditional to present our bond after the heat has broken. I put it off an extra day as it was, but some of the Administrators were squeaking and I wanted this done," he explained. "I want you to eat as much as you can while you are there. My mother will help you."

  "Someone is always shoving food in my face," she grumbled.

  His hands were on her breasts, squeezing them in response. "You are breeding now. Soon I won't be able to knot you, your scent will change, and your womb close for our child. You need to eat if you are to nourish an alpha and a babe."

  "You have turned me into a milk goat."

  "You’re a beautiful woman," he countered.

  "You think I am pregnant?"

  "That is usually why a cycle ends. Yours was four days." She tipped her head back to see a smile on his face that curled her toes. It was just for her, wolfish and appreciative at the same time. "It's not like you didn't make me work for it."

  "A child," she said in wonder. "Where are your other children?"

  "What other children?"

  "You have been alive for so long. Wait, they are in the children's wing, yes?"

  "No."

  "Well, you are responsible for your own betas and drones, aren't you?"

  A disgruntled sound of annoyance rumbled through his chest.

  "Why are you angry?" She bit at his pectoral muscle in reprimand. Then again, just because she wanted to bite him.

  "There is no child but the one growing in your belly, girl." His knot shrank enough that he could pull her off him. That knot felt like it lasted forever before. Could he hurry it along?

  Kane made her stand for a moment so he could service her breasts, sucking until she felt drained. It was a curious pleasure. The act itself—still on the edge of pain where his mouth met her inflamed nipples, the well-loved skin raw—but his deep, hard sucking made her womb flutter and kick with mini-orgasms. She hoped it wouldn’t happen every time she had to nurse a child.

  "You have been alive for a long time. Alpha seed is too potent for any type of birth control. It's well known. And the stronger the alpha, the more randy he is. So where are the children? You had a harem."

  He gave her a baleful look. When he stood, he dwarfed her. He was so much larger in size and personality than any male alive. He turned off the shower, wrapping a hand around the base of her neck.

  "I am not a male to leave a trail of children behind him. And the women of my harem, as you call it, were always sterile, either from the virus or for another reason."

  "You are an honorable man."

  Kane grunted.

  Epilogue – Part 1

  KANE

  She was his.

  Her breeder's blessing, her love, was a live wire twitching under his skin, not simply a direct connection to her heart and feelings, but an unending power source. She made him stronger in every way. He had known she would.

  It had been no small thing for her to disguise herself and sneak into his compound. He'd had to severely punish his men for their failures. Kane ordered more training, but he doubted it would have changed anything. He'd sensed the special in her that first day when he lifted her little sobbing body into his arms and took her to his office. She'd proven it time and time again.

  She was unusually gifted at hiding, almost able to disguise her scent and mask herself in a way he’d never seen matched. He'd seen surveillance recordings of her in line at the checkpoint. Despite her delicious smell the day she tried to leave him, she would have been able to pass through if she hadn't panicked, Kane was certain of it.

  She didn't know she had the ability, and he wasn't going to be the one to tell her. Her unpredictability was already legendary among his men, and there was no reason to give her more fuel with which to terrify them.

  On that first day, it wasn't until she started weeping that she smelled like anything other than a drone child. He'd noticed the change when he opened the door to Holding One immediately. Sweet, sweet breeder innocence overwhelmed him in waves—the smell, and the emotion triggering his protective instincts.

  When he asked to see her mark, and she'd removed her clothes to do it, Kane had to keep himself from tearing about his office and demanding to know everyone who had been involved in setting the mark there. His self-control had been threatened by a compulsive need to be a shield and sword to the breakable little girl with the big, twilight eyes.

  Then he found the Administration Registration Clerk who'd handled that tattoo. The man was dead now. They didn't li
ve long without their hands.

  He was glad she didn't know how many people had lost their lives for their crimes against a breeder—crimes against her—but when the number reached double digits, he started getting calls from his family wanting to know why he was on a rampage.

  He couldn't have her mother killed again. Already more dead than alive when his men got to her, her end was quick. Unfortunately, the father, Edin Dover—that weasely bastard—had already been killed.

  If his bones hadn't been burned, Kane had been more than prepared to dig them up and burn them again. The man was the kind of monster Kane hated most—one who preyed on those weaker than himself and used subterfuge to stab those stronger in the back.

  If he could find Merrick, who had been searching for Sasha when his men went to her pub, he would string him up by his toes a thousand times and peel the skin from his dick and balls himself.

  Merrick, whose real name was Merdion, was a King's Army deserter, youngest son of Rhineholth the King of the 12 Sectors and Kane's baby brother. He had known the boy was in the slums, fucking betas left and right and making deals to establish himself outside of Kane's reach. He had ignored him because of their mother's pleading. He hadn't gotten around to telling Sasha of the connection.

  There would be time for those conversations, as well as time to go through her father's chest and examine the depth of Edin Dover's machinations against his daughter and her breeder mother, who he had raped and stolen. Kane knew there were record books and savored the thought of hunting down each and every drone slaver he could get his hands on.

  The man's need to keep records would be evidence that Kane could take before the king. He would have to tell Sasha that her father set up Maura and her previous husband to be killed, though.

  He suspected Edin was the reason two of Maura's sons had died in an ambush while on duty as well. Kane knew for a fact the male had raped Maura repeatedly before getting her pregnant and taking her to the Administration to claim a marriage bond.