Claimed by the Alpha

by Laxmi Hariharan

  “When you decide to call me by my name without my prompting you, and when we can speak without you losing your temper.” One side of his lips curls into a smile.

  I raise my fists, wanting very much to punch him, claw at him, throw myself at him, and lick the beads of perspiration that glimmer on his chest. “I hate you.”

  “No, you don’t. You are just getting to know me.”

  “So that’s what this is about?” I flatten my lips. “That’s why you brought me here away from everything and everyone, so we can have, what, some quality time?” My voice trembles.

  He angles his head and watches me with that brooding gaze I love…and which drives me a little crazy, for it’s so fucking sexy. And it shouldn’t be. The alpha can be charming when he puts his mind to it. When he isn’t getting all macho and over the top with his masculinity, which he is. Face it. He’s the most macho, most lethal man I have ever met. Every pore of his skin drips with danger, every glance of his is laced with the need to dominate. With the promise to take. My skin tightens. My fingers tingle. He keeps me guessing what he’s going to do next. My insides quiver. I want to throw myself at him and plead with him to have his way with me. Damn this alpha!

  The very fact that he’d actually thought this through and brought me here implies that he intends to follow through with this plan, and I so don’t want to fall in with whatever he has in mind. “You’re going to keep me a prisoner here until I decide to fall for your swoon-worthy charms.”

  “You noticed them?”

  “Noticed what?” I widen my gaze. Sure I have an inkling what he means but I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging it.

  "You know." He squares his shoulders. “My charms, my attributes, my rather larger-than-life features.”

  “You have a big ego.” I swipe my hair from my face.

  “It’s not the only thing that is big.” The bastard smirks. He actually smirks at me.

  “I hadn't noticed.” I mean that in the most sarcastic way possible, but it seems it’s completely lost on him.

  “You want a repeat, Squirrel? You just have to ask.”

  He drums his fingers over his chest, drawing my attention to that sculpted flesh. I can’t stop myself from admiring those beautiful pecs. I slide my gaze over that incredible eight-pack, farther down to where the drawstring pants dip low on his concave waist. No one has the right to be that perfect, that handsome. My mouth waters.

  Moisture pools in my core.

  I can’t blame him for my state of arousal. He hasn’t done anything. Nothing except smirking that wicked, drenched-in-sex look of his.

  He widens his stance just enough for my gaze to lower to that part of him I have been trying to ignore. Not that I haven’t seen it before, but ah! Hell, that massive bulge that tents the fabric over his crotch arouses me even more than seeing him bare. The dampness on the front is a clear sign of the precum dripping from his shaft. My womb contracts. My throat goes dry.

  He grabs my nape, and that’s when I realize that I’ve leaned into him. Dense heat spools off his chest and slams into me. I gasp.

  He yanks me up to my toes and pulls me close enough for our breaths to mingle.

  “And if you did that, you’d never forgive me, or yourself.” His voice, low and seductive, ripples over my skin.

  I shiver. “Is that what you want from me? My forgiveness?”

  4

  Zeus

  This is not how I had intended for this conversation to go. I’d wanted to find a way to put her at ease.

  Who am I kidding?

  I’d wanted to soothe her and get her to unwind. Hey, nothing altruistic about that. All a ploy to win her trust. I’d hoped a few words, a smile, a bit of tenderness, and she’d be falling into my arms. I mean, how difficult can it be, right? But the princess has completely turned the tables on me. She peers up at me with those mesmerizing green eyes.

  There’s a look in them I cannot understand.

  She’s waiting for me to tell her something.

  To give her a signal. To show her I meant it when I said I wanted her forgiveness.

  Am I ready for this, though?

  My plan had been simple. Bring her here, away from my men, away from Kayden and anyone who’d try to use her or distract me. Then fuck her and keep her high on the endorphins from our coupling. I wanted to keep her blissed out with the pleasure of sex until her next heat cycle rolls around. At which point I’d impregnate her, and then…yeah, return with her as my mate.

  The very omega who’d come to assassinate me, I’d planned to return with her and introduce her to the Council, as the woman who is going to stay with me by my side.

  It had seemed easy, plausible.

  I’d had long moments to think about it as she’d slept and recovered from her ordeal. I had looked at her sleeping face, relaxed, and known then I couldn’t afford to lose her again.

  I’d pushed her, and she’d tried to take her own life, and that…that had completely surprised me and yeah... scared me. Me the alpha of alphas, worried about an omega? Fuck me!

  But there's no denying that her actions had made me vulnerable to her in a way nothing and no one else ever has. Except perhaps my mother. But the relationship there was different.

  A fierce need to protect this omega grips me, and I cannot explain why. Sure, I am an alpha, and there’s a part of me that is drawn to protecting those less able than I am, but with her, it’s more.

  I want to own her and take care of her, break her and put her back together, mark her, knot her and take her again and again until she knows no other feeling, no other emotion, nothing except me. Only me. My blood surges and I can’t hold back the growl that reverberates up my throat. “Mine,” I snarl.

  She shakes her head. “No. Not after what you did to me. You took me from that warehouse.”

  “I gave you a chance to escape.” A vein throbs at my temple.

  “You mated me against my will.”

  “You asked me to.” A pulse ticks to life at my jaw.

  “I was in the middle of my heat cycle, of course, I was going to demand that you fuck me.”

  “So you expected me to turn my back on an omega who bares her cunt to me? Whose slick drizzles down her thighs to stain my bedroom floor, whose sugary arousal surrounds me and clings to me until it drives me out of my head with need?" My chest heaves, " You would have me leave that omega to writhe in pain?”

  The color drains from her face. Her green eyes narrow. “Yes.” She nods. “That’s exactly what I would have expected of you.”

  “Liar.” I lean in close enough for the heat from my body to envelop her, but I don’t touch her.

  She shivers and grips her fingers together in front of her. “See…this is what I mean. I thought we were finally talking, but you can’t keep your dick in your pants. All you want to do is fuck.”

  “Of course, woman,” I roar. “I am an alpha. I am driven by my needs. Of course, I want to fuck…just not anyone.”

  “Huh?” Her gaze widens. “Wha…what do you mean?”

  I really hadn’t meant for that to slip out. Hell, I hadn’t meant for any of this to happen. Too fucking late. I have no choice but to tell her now. Taking a step away, I pace. Back-forth-back in front of the bed.

  She doesn’t say anything. But I sense her gaze following me. And the omega is quiet. Another surprise. I’d have thought she’d throw more questions at me. After all, speaking is not something she is averse to, or fighting, for that matter. A low chuckle boils out of me. The great Zeus, alpha of alphas, General of London, rendered speechless by a little squirrel of an omega. Fuck. I rake my fingers through my hair, still liberally matted from the seawater, then turn to her. Dropping my arms to my sides, I raise my head and meet her gaze.

  “The omegas from the harem, I never fucked any of them.”

  “You didn’t?” Her eyes light up, and her features shine. She looks too damn pleased.

  I shift my weight from foot to f
oot. “Not that I am a virgin,” I smirk.

  “Not that I’d have mistaken you for one.” One side of her lips quirks in a smile, but her tone is soft.

  There. Something in her gaze—a kind of wary attention, bordering on seriousness, not a look I’ve seen before. But then how long have I known her? Less than a week, and here I am telling her my life story…yeah, a complete goner, that’s what I am. And strangely, it doesn’t matter. Not as important as it feels to finally come clean and tell her about my past.

  “I gave the omegas my word that they could choose the alphas with whom they mate.”

  Her eyes gleam. “You've made sure you keep them supplied with the pharmaceuticals needed to control their cycles?”

  “It's not a big deal.” I scratch my jaw. A tingling sweeps the back of my neck. Her approval means nothing to me. Nothing.

  “Heat suppressants are unavailable.” She purses her lips. “Their production was stopped years ago.”

  I stare at her.

  “Right.” She blows out a breath. “You are the alpha of alphas. It’s easy for you to get them produced again.”

  “Damn right.” I shift my weight from foot to foot. “I have them made to help the omegas in the harem.”

  “You took care of them, you were considerate enough to help them get through their difficult heat cycles without always needing to resort to an alpha to rut them.” She takes a step forward. Her green eyes shine.

  I move back, “Don’t mistake me for something I am not.”

  “Oh, and what is that?” Her chin trembles.

  What the fuck? Is she laughing at me? No way, she didn't just do that. Pinpricks of alarm flare over my skin, “I am not someone who does good.”

  "You had me fooled." She peers up at me from under hooded eyelids.

  Blood rushes to my cheeks, what the fuck is she doing to me? "Don't push it Omega."

  She bites her lip, then bobs her weight on the heels of her feet.

  "Well whatever is on your mind, say it." Now I am giving her a chance to speak? Do I still have my balls or did I leave those behind when I pulled her out of the river?

  Her features brighten and fuck if a wave of heat doesn't pool in my chest.

  She presses a finger to her chin, “Just, you know, your reputation being what it is…then the way you acted with me, rutting me, breaking my cycle…and you did admit to protecting the other omegas.” Her gaze sweeps over my features. “It’s confusing.”

  “I am not going to apologize for taking you the way I did.” I thrust out my chest. My scalp tingles, and my skin feels too tight. And why the fuck do I feel so defensive about what I’ve done?

  “You’ll never do it again with any other omega either.” She slaps a palm over her mouth.

  Every muscle in my body tenses, “Is that right?” I lower my hands to my hips.

  “Forget I said that.”

  “Nope. Na-a-h. No way.” A smile tugs at my lips. I know I’m smirking, but hey, I’m allowed. Maybe, just maybe having shared what I feel—and that had not been easy—has been worth it. Perhaps. But I’m not ever doing this again.

  “You are overbearing,” she huffs.

  “You bet.” I drum my fingers on my chest.

  “Only you would take that as a compliment,” she grinds her teeth.

  “Only you would stand there, without your underwear, on my bed, and parry words with me, when I’d rather be exchanging something else entirely.”

  She makes a noise suspiciously like a snarl and bares her teeth. “Is that all you think about? Sex?” She punches her fist into my shoulder.

  The jolt ripples all the way down to the tip of my cock.

  I cover her palm with my much bigger one, then drag it down and hold it flush over my heart.

  “This is where I need to come clean about something else. Or better still, show you.” I gaze down at where my cock tents my pants.

  She follows my gaze and her chest heaves. When she raises her face, twin spots of color burn on her cheeks, and her pupils have dilated again.

  Holy fuck. “You may have already guessed, but in the spirit of this new relationship we seem to have now, I need you to know that every time you hit me, you turn me on.”

  5

  Lucy

  I hear his words, and an illicit thrill grips me, and I don’t understand it.

  “No answer, little squirrel? For once, that smart mouth of yours is speechless?”

  “Ah…” My skin tingles with need, and there’s a scratch at the back of my throat. Don’t say it, don’t say it, don’t— “It turns me on when you’re rough with me, too.” I drop my head forward. “Did I just say that aloud?”

  He tilts his head. “Perhaps for the first time, you’re being honest with yourself?”

  “Or maybe it’s the impact your nearness has on me?” I set my jaw.

  Those blue eyes blaze.

  I clench my fingers into fists. I’ve gone and done it again, given him more ammunition with which to get back at me.

  “So you admit I affect you?” He moves closer, close enough that I have to tilt my head up, all the way up again to meet his gaze.

  “Not that it’s such a secret.” I jut out my chin. “And I am not going to say anything else to you. It will boost your already inflated ego if I do.”

  His lips widen. “You’re right. I think we have been talking too much.”

  “I think we have barely touched the tip of a myriad of things I want to ask you.” I hold my stance.

  “You had your chance to ask questions earlier, remember?”

  “You distracted me.”

  “Not as much as you are distracting me right now.” He stares at my mouth, then slides his gaze down my breasts to the space between my thighs.

  A tremor of heat runs down my spine and my knees quake. Moisture gathers between my legs, and I clamp down on the need to squeeze my thighs together. No, no, I am not going to acknowledge how turned on I am just by being near him. Not just as we are beginning to finally communicate…sort of.

  “I’ll make another deal with you.”

  “Ah…” I open my mouth to refuse his offer.

  He holds up his hand. “Hear me through, then think carefully before you refuse. There is no easy way out of here.” He swirls his finger.

  I look around the space, the clean, spacious but bare room, the fireplace in the corner, the single bed, the closet pushed up against the corner next to a table and chair, and through the window, I can see the sea not far away.

  It strikes me again how isolated we are and that I have no way out of here. I don’t know where we are, though I guess we are not far from Dover but I am not going to ask him. It would be a sign of weakness, and I don’t want him to use that against me. I don’t have a choice but to do as he tells me. The very fact that he is still talking to me instead of taking what he wants, well…perhaps it means that he’s making an effort? That he wants to find some semblance of a relationship here?

  “Fine.” I gesture to him, making sure to keep all emotions from my face. I guess all those years of discipline drilled into me by my nannies is finally coming into good use.

  He steps back and jerks his chin to the table. “After you?”

  “Huh?” I blink. So polite. His demeanor is such an about-turn from the alpha-hole I am coming to know. What is he up to? My pulse thuds and my mouth goes dry.

  “Better take a seat, before I change my mind.”

  I scoot past him. Walking to the table by the window, I plop into a chair.

  He drops into the other one, and our knees bump below the table. I instantly pull back, but he doesn’t say anything.

  Another surprise.

  Somehow, the more accommodating he is, the more I don’t trust him. Resisting the urge to draw up my leg—because, ah! No underwear—I cross one leg over the other. “I’m listening.”

  He leans forward and places his elbows on the table. “I think we should come to some kind of agreement.”

 
“Hmm?” The alpha who is used to just taking what is his wants to extend a deal? I wring my fingers together in my lap. “Whatever you’re offering, I am not buying.”

  His lips turn up in a smirk. “You haven’t heard what I have to say.”

  “You don’t have anything I want.” I square my shoulders.

  “Oh, we both know there is a lot I can offer that you need. What’s more, you’d beg for it, if you followed the true nature of what you are.”

  “If this is a lecture of how a good little omega should behave—”

  He holds up a hand. “That’s not it.”

  “No?”

  “If I wanted a compliant omega, I’d have found one in the harem or in the wider circles of my team.”

  “No doubt,” I mutter.

  A guts churn. My chest feels tight, and that is stupid.

  Why should it matter to me who he has slept with?

  The thought of his hands on anyone else, those lips kissing anyone else, bringing anyone else to climax, knotting any other omega, makes my stomach burn. I shove the hair out of my eye. Damn it, I don’t want to be jealous of all those females he has bedded.

  I can’t afford to be envious.

  Not when my family is still under Kayden’s control.

  The very Kayden who is no doubt hunting for me right now.

  I am running out of time, and I don’t know what to do about it. I need to get back, but just me on my own is not going to be much help to them.

  I need Zeus with me.

  I need to take him back to Kayden, then hand Zeus over to Kayden, and get out of there.

  Or I need to kill myself…no, I am not going to try that again. What I’d done the last time…it had been irresponsible, too instinctive.

  I had not been thinking straight then, but somehow seeing death so up close has clarified so much. I want to live. I want my clan to stay alive. The one person who does not belong here is him. So what if I am mated to him?

  The mating bond hasn’t been completely consummated. It takes weeks, months sometimes, for a newly mated couple to settle and for the bond to take root. I have a little more time to wrench the bond out, to take him back and release my family. But first, I need him to trust me again.