by Raven Willow
“Now Alistair, be calm; whether we know his intentions or not, what matters is that she has not been corrupted by him, and that she is here now, safe where she belongs.”
He thanked his friend after she completed her ritual, where she assured him that she would inform Ceardach to be on the lookout for Cinead’s scent. He saw her out, wanting to be alone with his mate, even if it meant just watching her sleep.
Alistair sat down next to her in his bed, where he observed her peaceful sleep. He noticed she would moan and curl up into a ball like a little cat. Occasionally, he smoothed her hair from her face, unable to stop playing with it. It was so soft, not a tangle that halted his fingers. He gently moved her head to one side to inspect his bite; it was bruising, and he imagined the cells in her body mutating. Her entire genetic makeup would change to accept the wolf he knew she would become, and their pups. Riona’s animal would be beautiful; he imagined a magnificent dark wolf, standing beside him before the pack. They would stare at her in awe the first time she ever shifted before them; his new bride, the start of a new beginning for his pack, his family.
But she was also his family too.
All mine. Only mine.
* * *
Her exhaustion was strong enough to keep her asleep until the next day, allowing her body to heal and begin her change. Alistair had been preparing food when he sensed her body slowly stirring. Slowly, he made his way to his bedroom, bracing himself for some sort of assault on her part. She was feisty, but he could easily subdue her, he had already proven that.
To his surprise, he was only greeted with Riona sitting up in his bed, confusedly looking around the unfamiliar room.
“Well, the little beauty has finally awoken. I was beginning to think you’d never open those eyes.” His booming voice startled her, as she seemed to jump several inches in the air when he spoke.
“Y-you? Why have you brought me here? What have you done to me?” She winced when she shifted her body, bringing a hand to the area between her thighs. She took it away as fast as she brought it there, the memories seeming to come back to her. The smell of her fear was even stronger than the day before.
“You are my mate now, little one, you have accepted my seed, and my bite—”
Alistair gestured to her throat, which still sported the wounds.
“And thus you have accepted me as alpha of this pack.”
“Pack...?”
“Do not tell me you have not heard the old lore of my kind, little one.” He chuckled as he pulled up a chair and sat by her side, but Riona backed away at his closeness.
“The stories your mother likely told you as a child at night to scare you out of venturing from your home when the moon rose high. The beasts that were rumored to be the cause of the slaughter that plagued your little town from the time you were a girl child.”
Riona’s eyes widened as Alistair recited exact key points from her childhood as if he had been there.
“I—but... how do you know these things?”
She clutched the heavy furs in front of her in an attempt to cover her form, despite being semi-clothed. Alistair smirked, as if that could keep him from gaining access to the delectable body beneath them.
“Because I was there, little one. I, as well as all of my kind have been living on this earth for many hundreds of years. I have lived here in this country with my pack since I was a pup and my uncle was in command. Your village was built shortly after we made ourselves a home here.”
“This is impossible...” Riona whispered as a lone tear raced down her cheek.
“Quite the contrary, love, very possible. What you are being told is real. Every story you were ever told, every rumor you heard...”
He reached out and cupped her chin to force her to make eye contact with him.
“That night in the darkness... when I caught you with your fingers playing with that sweet little cunt... the beast you saw leering at you that stormy night... oh, it was very real, my love.”
Alistair grinned and forced the furs from her now white knuckles with ease, keeping his fingers on her chin. He slipped a hand underneath the makeshift skirt and Riona froze.
“What possessed you that night, sweetling? What brought you so close to ecstasy that you had even half a mind to leave the safety of your home and stumble right into my grasp?”
His fingers made contact with her taken pussy, her slick lips beckoning him.
“Ohhh, I see, this excites you.” Riona shook her head, her wild curls bouncing across her face as she tried to back away, but his hold on her kept her from doing so.
“No! You are wrong!”
“Oh, yes, I think it does... I think you knew someone was out there lurking, searching for you... your body belonged to me from the moment you were revealed to be my predestined mate, something I never thought I could find in my lifetime...”
Riona began to whimper as her futile attempts to push him away failed. But he would not allow it. Not now, not ever.
“And now that I have finally found her, I will never let her go...” He gently touched the side of her throat where he’d bitten her, running his thumb over the punctures as he kissed it. He could still smell the blood underneath the surface of the healing flesh, causing a fire to burn deep in his belly. She gasped as he kissed her, but soon leaned into his gentleness.
“Understand that as my true mate, your body called to me and filled me with such desire... such hunger... that to be without you would almost surely have destroyed me had I waited for you any longer. It was only by pure luck that I found you in the storm all alone. Ohhh, it was so perfect... how you screamed for my seed to take root deep in your belly.”
His voice thickened with lust as he felt the urge to bite her again, only his small mate scampered from her place beneath him, moving from the bed to the corner of the room.
“No! No, no! This cannot be! I am a mere peasant girl. I-I am not a mate...” Riona closed her arms around herself self-consciously. No man had ever likely seen her in such an unkempt state.
“The faster you believe, little one, the easier it will be to accept it.” Alistair slowly rose from the bed, tying his long hair back with the ribbon from her bodice.
“This cannot be real...”
“Must I prove to you once more that this is real, love? Must I show myself to you in order to make you see?” Alistair stalked toward her as his whole body tensed and morphed. His bones were protruding and his face elongated until finally, the beast stood in his place.
“No! Nooo! Get away from me! Help me!” She moved away, horrified and banged on the window, hoping someone could hear her cries. But no one in the pack would come to her aid. Interfering with the alpha’s new mate would surely be perceived as a challenge, and was a punishable offense.
Riona stumbled away from her corner, tripping over a piece of furniture. Alistair smirked as her skirt slid up, revealing her shapely legs. She turned around and began to crawl away from him on the floor as he loomed over her.
“Is this enough? Or must I resort to more... persuasive means in order to make you see?”
Alistair exposed his shiny teeth, getting on all fours and grabbing onto her skirt, tearing through the bottom. She was jerked several inches toward him, gasping as the large beast tore what pitifully remained of her nightdress to shreds. Alistair crawled on top of her, shifting again.
“Oh, it looks like you’ll be needing new clothes.” He grinned as he leered at her heaving breasts, aching to take a pert little nipple in his mouth and suckle it as his mate writhed beneath him.
“Please... don’t do this...”
“It has already been done, my love.”
Chapter Five
Minutes later, Riona was being carried out of the home, a proud smirk on his face as she hid her face in his broad chest. Why did he smell so good? Riona shut her eyes and took in the musk of the man. In some way, it calmed her while he carried her through the crowd of strangers. They whispered to one another and took i
n the sight. Riona panicked and considered this was some form of a ritual; a sick perverted ceremony where they could feast on her blood. She almost swore she could hear her captor chuckle the second the thought entered her mind. Alistair squeezed her tighter in an attempt to ease her.
“Settle yourself, love. In less than a moment they will smell your fear as surely as I can. You wish to display your authority as the alpha mate, do you not?”
“I cannot be here, please. Just let me go!” He ignored her begging as he carried her to the large stone steps, which led to an equally large table. His booming voice alerted the pack of his presence.
“Everyone! Gather round!” Riona tensed up in his arms, attempting to bury her face further in his chest. If she tried to make herself appear any smaller she surely would have hurt herself. The muscles in his arms tensed as he squeezed her. The closeness should have made her cry out and scream, but Riona felt as if she could fall asleep in his embrace, if not for the circumstances. Here she was now in his arms holding onto him as if her life depended on it while a group of the wolf creatures of the mountains looked on.
Riona listened as he proudly held her in front of the crowd of people, if they could be called people. She searched her memory to remember the way back to her village. Surely if she could have but a minute away from him, she could slip past him and run away as fast as she could. But navigating her way home would be a challenge, as she had not a clue where she was or how to find her way back to the ravine where he took her.
Took her.
She ignored the rush of heat that spread across her body when her mind drifted back to the day before. Riona swallowed, pressing her thighs closer together in his arms. The backs of her knees were beginning to feel sore against his forearms, but upon looking up at him, she observed that he hadn’t broken a sweat. She felt no straining in his arms as he held her like the most precious of objects, like she weighed almost nothing. It made her uncomfortable to be so close to a man, not having spent much time with them in her life aside from the usual drunkards who passed through the tavern when she was tending to the tables. They were old and fat, and reeked of mead and unwashed clothing. Not to mention their wandering hands, which she would slap away.
But this man felt... different. Riona was unsure if she could even call him a man, let alone a human. Not after what she had seen. Monster? Beast? He had forced her body to accept his pleasure, taking her maidenhead and claiming it was his. That her innocence belonged to him. That she belonged to him.
“You do belong to me, sweetling...”
Riona jumped in his arms when she suddenly could hear his voice again, but his mouth did not utter such words, as he was still speaking to his ‘pack.’ He spoke the same words again, knowing she was staring at him trying to make sense of this newfound communication. It had dawned on Riona that his... bite had now enabled him to probe into her mind. She had read of such a happening in an old book she had found in the book shop of her village. But she had scoffed and put the book back where she had found it.
If only she had kept it.
“...Riona.” Her captor’s booming voice snapped her from her thoughts, and he gently set her down on the cold stone. It felt harsh on her bare feet, and she winced as his arm passed over a bruised area on the back of her thigh. He kept both hands firmly placed on her upper arms, effectively ruining any chance she would have taken in trying to run away. His grip was like a vise against her skin. Yet... warm.
His pack looked upon her, all seeming to be frozen in place until the man moved her hair away from her neck, exposing his angry bite. This sent them into a state of frenzy and awe as they tried to come closer, but the very audible growl that came from him behind her made them back down. He startled her by jerking her toward him, wrapping a large forearm around her chest and pulling her to his own. His cock had grown hard again, poking into her backside. In a faint whisper, the man lowered his mouth, nibbling at her ear before uttering one fatal word.
“Mine.”
Riona exhaled the long breath she had held, too frightened to move. Her hand had found its way to the hold he had on her, lightly touching him with the tips of her fingers. If she was his... mate as he had claimed, then she could perhaps calm him.
The pleasing sound that escaped his throat meant it had worked.
“You will not touch my female! She belongs to me now. Her mating marks prove it; therefore you will accept her into our home and our family. Am I understood?”
Everyone bowed their heads in respect. They did not cross a certain point, likely in fear of angering their alpha again. But the continued stares forced Riona to cover up.
Why are they behaving this way?
She had never seen such a spectacle. She was no one special.
“Because it has been so long since one has been mated into our pack, lovely.”
Riona closed her eyes and sighed at the echo in her mind. Another way he owned her, quite literally mind and body. She felt both his hands move from across her bust to her hip and the other gripping around her waist, his erection pressing against her ass as he dipped his mouth to her ear again.
“Say hello, lovely.”
Riona stood still as a statue, not daring to open her mouth and refusing to meet their eyes. She feared one wrong movement and they would rip her to pieces.
“It seems the alpha mate is quite shy, Alistair.”
Alistair. Yes, that was his name. She searched the crowd for the source of the comment, falling upon a large man standing in the front closest to them. He wore a necklace with a crystal pendant falling all the way down his chest, and his wavy red hair stood out.
“Quite shy indeed.” The man bowed his head. He had kind eyes and a friendly looking face.
“Yes, Ceardach, but worry not. She will come to accept the pack, for she bears my mark.” Alistair slowly turned her to face him, and she was met with a dark, possessive gaze, not unlike what she saw when he first took her.
“And whether she likes it or not, this den is her home now.”
Riona could not suppress her tears as he leaned forward again, hissing in her ear.
“Is this disrespect I see, Riona?”
She shut her eyes tight, refusing to look at him. Alistair responded by cupping her chin, forcing her to make eye contact.
“Turn around, and show your face to your new pack. Display yourself for them, and show them the beautiful alpha mate they have been waiting for, before I bend you over and take you once more in front of them.”
He would make good on that promise, she knew, only now she was realizing what distinctive features he had. His dark brown stubble framed his otherwise perfectly chiseled face, complete with an aristocratic nose and deep gold eyes that flashed as she tested his patience. It was hard to ignore such a handsome face.
“Please...” She wanted to beg, but he just as abruptly turned her around again to face the pack, still eagerly watching what was unfolding before them.
Riona felt his large hands come around to her cleavage, his fingers playing with the delicate sheet that was given to her to protect her from the cold, at least until this moment. She panicked and made a move to halt his intention, but remembered his threat. Anything more she did to disobey him would likely cause her great humiliation in the end, and anything she could do to lessen it, she would do. The uncomfortable soreness that lingered between her legs served as a reminder of what was definitely to come.
She clenched her teeth and felt the fabric being pried away from her fingers, sliding down her body with a soft rustle as the material pooled on the stone at her feet. The pack looked on, but not with the suggestive, lascivious stares she would have expected at the sight of a nude female.
They looked upon her in wonder, as if they were amazed that a woman could be so beautiful. Like they couldn’t believe she belonged to them. Riona had a feeling that as an ‘alpha mate’ they were fearful of her yet still enchanted by her very presence. She wondered how long it had really been since one had b
een accepted into the pack. Alistair then leaned down and whispered in her ear again.
“They like you.” He nipped at her jaw, making her gasp as his teeth grazed her neck. She tensed, afraid he would bite her again, but he seemed to sense it, as he chuckled and planted a soft kiss on the still red wound. His lips felt... soft.
“They wish to know you, to earn your respect as you will earn theirs.” Alistair ran his fingers through her tresses and she felt herself slowly relax in his arms. The scent of her own arousal was evident, and she was painfully aware of what happened when he allowed himself to succumb to it. If he could not control himself then he surely would take her again right there. But her discomfort was clear; she prayed he would sense it and carry her off soon.
Alistair tilted her head to face him, dipping his own down to kiss her. She gasped as her lover’s lips caressed her own.
Her lover.
No! She could not call him that... but something deep within her ached for him in that kiss. Something primal that forced her body to act on pure instinct as she brought one hand up to his face. She could feel him press against her lower stomach as he brought her closer to him, his thumb slowly moving back and forth.
He wants your love... He wants children... give them to him... deliver him the pups he has already placed inside you...
She felt a pang in her heart as she considered the thought that she may be heavy with his child very soon. And yet she was so lost in the moment that she briefly placed her hand above his own, encouraging him.
Alistair moaned into the kiss, but reluctantly separated. His expression told her he was pleased to hear a small whimper come from his new bride.
“Soon, love... very soon.”
Alistair bid the pack goodnight, carrying Riona off and leaving them to do as they pleased. She didn’t dare look back, but the sounds that slowly faded away gave her some comfort. Usual chatter seemed to resume, as if what had just occurred was nothing out of the ordinary for them. The strangers looked and behaved like regular people.