by Sky Winters
Lexi screamed, watching as this new bear, one that was very familiar, leaned over the first and sank his teeth into his neck, giving a quick twist and snapping his spine.
Then he turned to Lexi, his white teeth stained with blood, and swung his head back.
It took her a moment to realize what he was saying—“Get behind me—now!”
She didn’t waste a second doing it. Lexi ran behind the bear, putting as much distance between her and the other two as possible.
Then she watched as the remaining bears closed in on the new one.
Lexi sniffed the air, picking up a scent she’d smelled before.
It was the scent of an alpha.
This new bear—it was Jason.
But she barely had time to process this information before the other two bears came in on a pincer attack, trying to get Jason at his flanks. He was bigger than them, however, obviously more powerful.
The bear on the left rushed in, but Jason was ready for him. Jason reared back on his hind legs and raised his paw, bringing it down hard on the snout of the bear and leaving red streaks across his face. The bear staggered back, and Jason didn’t waste any time running in and taking advantage.
He pounced on the third bear, bringing him to the ground with ease and quickly killing him in the same way as the first, with a hard bite down on the neck and a quick twist of his spine.
The third bear dead, Jason turned and attacked the remaining bear equally as mercilessly, pinning him to the ground and shoving his claws into his chest like knives, piercing the skin and carving into his organs. The second bear thrashed, trying to fight back, but Jason was too strong. Jason twisted his claws and the bear went limp.
Lexi was stunned. The fight hadn’t lasted more than five minutes, and Jason had effortlessly killed three bears.
She was safe.
Jason, still in his bear form, took a look around the scene of the battle and waited, making sure that none of the bears moved. But they didn’t, and when the bears shifted back to their human forms, Lexi knew that they were good and dead.
Jason did the same, shifting into his human form and running over to Lexi, putting his hands on her shoulders.
“Are you OK?” he asked. There was nothing friendly or sarcastic or anything else about his tone. At that moment, he was all alpha, all commanding.
“I’m fine.” Lexi was stunned, still processing what had happened.
“Good. We’re going home—now. Come on.”
Before she could react one way or another, Jason took her by the hand and led her down the street, back onto one of the busier roads and then finally to the street where the apartment was located. They ran, Jason not saying a word as they made their way to the apartment and hurried inside.
The trip upstairs to the loft passed in a daze, and the moment they were inside, Jason locked and bolted the door shut before running over to the windows and pulling the blinds.
“Sit down,” he said, still speaking in his commanding tone. He pointed to the couch.
Lexi did as he asked, watching as he made his way to the bar, poured two drinks, and brought them over to him and her. He gave Lexi one of the glasses, which appeared to be a small drink of vodka. She threw it back, desperate for something to calm her nerves.
“Tell me what happened. I was there for the second part, but tell me what happened before.”
“I...I met this guy.”
“You ‘met a guy?’” he asked, confused. “What do you mean?”
She gathered her nerves before going into it, telling him about the man she’d bumped into on the way to the coffee shop.
“And that’s where I came in,” he said. “After you left.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“You took longer than I was expecting, so I went to Blueprint. I got there just in time to see you go the wrong way back to the apartment.”
“I...I wanted to go for a walk.”
“Yeah,” he said. “You did the exact thing I told you not to do. So you went for this walk and this guy led you right into an ambush. You’re lucky as hell I was there watching you. What do you think would’ve happened if I hadn’t been there to protect you?”
She shuddered at the thought.
“This is exactly what I mean, Lexi. This city is dangerous. You think it’s going to be all fun, all seeing the sights and living in a cool apartment and working at some hip coffee shop. But those were shifters out there, and they were able to sniff out a new omega within a day of you showing up. They were low-level pricks, but I can promise you more will be coming for you.”
Lexi nodded.
“Then what do we do? Stay in the apartment?”
He shook his head. “We make connections, find ways to get protection from the other packs in the city. And I’m going to be protecting you, no matter what you have to say about it. You’re stubborn as hell, but there’s not a chance I’m going to let you come into harm’s way.”
Jason let out a relieved sigh before sitting down next to Lexi on the couch. He sipped his drink as if processing everything that had happened.
“You have to be careful out there,” he said. “This is no joke. And those guys weren’t even with Chad. God knows what would happen if he came to the city to try to find us.”
Lexi placed her hands on her legs and let herself calm down.
“Do...do you think they’ll know it was us?”
“‘They?’” asked Jason. “You mean the human cops? Doubtful. They’ll find those three dead and assume it was a robbery gone wrong. They’re not exactly hip to the world of shifters—they’d never think it was us.”
Lexi nodded, relieved.
“Jason?” she asked.
He turned to her without saying a word.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you?”
“Yes. You saved my life out there. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t shown up.”
He let out a snort of a laugh. “You’d probably be on your way to some low-rent bear pack den, stuck in front of some shithead alpha who’d be salivating at the idea of having an omega all of his own. I don’t know if you understand this, Lexi, but omegas are the prize of the shifter world. An alpha and omega together is how you make the most powerful offspring. Everyone’s going to want a piece of you. And Chad’s not going to sit back and let you slip out of his grasp.”
She nodded, understanding. “I know. And I didn’t want to just thank you for that. You saved me today, yeah, but you also saved me back there. From Chad.”
His eyes flicked up as if he’d forgotten about that until now.
“I was just doing the right thing. I saw what he said to you, how he acted. It was only a matter of time before he laid his hands on you. And if that would’ve happened...”
Anger took hold of his face. But Lexi considered “anger” an understatement. Jason looked as if he’d murder Chad just for thinking about hurting her.
“This is better,” he said. “You’ll be able to make a new life out here, and make decisions for yourself—decisions that don’t involve putting yourself in danger, that is.”
“Jason, I have to ask you something.”
“What’s that?”
“Why did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Take me away.”
He appeared confused. “I just told you—Chad was getting really fucking close to the line with you and I wanted to get you out of there before it happened.”
“No,” she said. “Not just that. Why did you do any of it? Why did you make fun of me when I was a kid? Why did you come back into my life as quickly as you could when you got back? Why did you run away with me?”
Jason said nothing at first, and Lexi knew she’d asked a hell of a series of questions.
He sat back and shook his head.
“Because...because you’re special, Lexi. Even when I was a kid, I could see it in you. There was something different about you, and more than the fact t
hat you were an omega. You were brilliant and brave and beautiful, and there was no doubt in my mind that you were destined for something special. At least, something more special than just cranking out kids for some shithead alpha.”
“You...you mean that?”
“I do. And I wanted the same thing for me. All my parents have ever wanted was for me to find some nice girl to marry and mate and have some kids with. Oh, and to serve my alpha like a good little boy. But I’m an alpha too, and Chad’s the last prick I’d ever want to serve.”
Lexi loved, as always, to see his passion.
“You’re different than I remember,” she said. “Really different.”
He grinned. “More than meets the eye with me.” He sat back again. “I don’t know what we’re going to do, Lexi. I don’t know what the future is going to hold. But all I can say for sure is whatever happens, I want you there with me at my side.”
Jason turned to her and looked deeply into her eyes. His stare, his presence, was so intense that Lexi didn’t know what to make of it. There was something magical between the two of them, something more than just sex.
“Kiss me,” she said. “Kiss me now.”
He grinned. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Jason leaned in and put his lips on hers, that now-familiar wave of hot pleasure rushing through her body and making her feel more alive than anything else. They kissed long and deep, their tongue meeting as quickly as possible and his intoxicating alpha taste filling her mouth.
He put his hands on her hips and brought her close, sitting her on his lap and caressing her breasts through her dress.
“Did I tell you how beautiful you look in this?” he asked, taking his mouth away from hers.
She smiled, loving when he talked to her like that. “Nope. But feel free to tell me whenever you want.”
“And I’m repeating myself.”
“What do you mean?”
“I got to see you in the wedding dress, and in this. I’m starting to get spoiled.”
“You’re right,” she said. “Maybe we ought to not do this. Don’t want you to start thinking you can just have whatever you want.”
He smirked. “I might believe that if I didn’t know you wanted me right back.”
“Guilty as charged.”
They kissed again, Jason moving his hands under the top of her dress and squeezing her breasts, rubbing her nipples and making them go hard. Lexi sighed as he touched her, heat and wetness forming between her legs and creating a desire in her so powerful, she couldn’t think straight.
And as if sensing this, sensing how badly she wanted his touch, Jason took one hand from her breasts and placed it between her legs, rubbing her pussy through her panties.
“You’re so wet for me,” he growled into her ear. “Tell me how much you want it.”
“I...I want it so fucking badly.”
He grinned, the answer apparently exactly what he wanted to hear. Jason rubbed her for a few moments longer, teasing her clit through her panties. Then he grabbed the hem of her dress and pulled it up, then took her panties down.
In a smooth motion, he dropped to the ground to his knees and spread her legs open. Lexi watched as he kissed her thighs, starting above her knees and moving up slowly, occasionally glancing up to make heated eye contact.
Soon he was at her lips, placing his mouth on them and flicking his tongue out over her clit, each press of his fingertip against her sending out a fresh wave of pleasure.
Then he glanced up at her one last time before giving Lexi exactly what she wanted. He started by kissing her lips slowly and sensually, letting his tongue slip out of his mouth and graze over her opening.
“You taste so fucking good,” he said, shaking his head as if unable to believe it. “Like honey.”
Lexi closed her eyes and sat back, running her hands through his hair and watching as he spread her open, exposing her inner lips, which glistened with her juices. He entered her with his fingers and licked her clit, making slow circles around it, occasionally pressing it with the flat part of his tongue.
“Fuck...” she moaned. “Eat me just like that.”
But she didn’t need to tell him. He ate her expertly as if he’d done it a million times before. Her breasts rose and fell, Lexi squeezing her tits as she stared down at him.
“Come for me,” he growled. “Come for me right now.”
Lexi loved it—he wasn’t asking. He was telling. And she did, obeying him, letting the pleasure explode from her pussy and race through her body.
She screamed and squirmed as she came, her vision blurring as the pleasure lit up her body, Jason eating her through it all.
And when she was done, when the orgasm faded, she watched as Jason slowly moved his tongue over her lips. True to his word, he licked up every last drop of her juices.
He rose with a grin, wiping his glistening lips with the back of his hand before moving in for another kiss. She could taste herself on his breath, and she still wanted more, more.
Lexi opened up his zipper and button, pulling them down and taking hold of his thick cock, stroking it, teasing the end, loving how heavy and hard it felt to her touch.
She finished taking off her dress and her bra and panties, Jason removing his own clothes as she did. When they were both naked, he pounced, holding her down by her wrists and covering her chest and neck and face in kisses.
Lexi, still holding his cock, brought it close and dragged it against her clit before placing it at her opening, her lips wrapping around it. Then, with a push, Jason entered her. She felt as though she might melt right there on the spot, right there on the couch.
His cock vanished inside of her, all of his many inches disappearing into her willing pussy. He pulled back and drove into her again, burying himself to the hilt. Her breasts shook back and forth, her pointy, pink nipples hard with arousal.
What Lexi said next, she couldn’t believe.
But the words came out of her mouth as if she had no control over them.
“Claim me.”
The moment she spoke them, Jason, still thrusting, stared down with an expression on his face that indicated he hadn’t been expecting her to say that.
“Are you sure?”
“Do you want to?”
“You know I do.”
“Tell me.”
“I want to claim you. I want to make you mine, body and spirit. I want you to submit to me as your alpha.”
He spoke the words in a clear, even tone, his voice deep and commanding and powerful, just like an alpha’s should be. And if there was any doubt it was what she wanted, his tone pushed that aside.
“Then do it.”
He stared deeply into her eyes.
“Say it,” he said. “Tell me you submit. Tell me you’re mine, that you’re my omega.”
Lexi bit down on her lower lip, having a hard time focusing through the pleasure. His thrusts and his words were unrelenting, bringing her closer and closer to another orgasm.
But the words were nothing small—they meant something serious, something she wouldn’t be able to take back.
She didn’t care. It was what she wanted.
“I’m...I’m yours,” she said. “I’m your omega. And you’re my alpha.”
That was all it took for another orgasm to rip through her body. She came hard, arching her back and wrapping her legs around his waist as he continued to pump into her.
The orgasm was like nothing else she’d ever experienced, warm and irresistible and pulsing.
Then Jason came, unloading his cock into her, Lexi taking further pleasure out of the sensation of his cock draining deep inside.
Their orgasms ended and Jason finished with one last pump, pushing himself into her as Lexi felt his seed drip down her thigh, warm and thick.
Jason moved down and kissed her again, slowly and passionately.
Then he withdrew, fell to her side, and wrapped his arm around her.
There was somethin
g different between them—Lexi could sense it at once.
He’d claimed her.
A bond had been formed between them, one that was unbreakable. Once an omega submitted to her alpha, there was no taking it back.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
“Good.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Not at all.”
“Neither do I.”
They kissed again, holding one another close, bathing in the afterglow of their lovemaking.
But Lexi knew, deep down, that there’d be consequences for what they’d done.
And she feared they might come sooner than she thought.
CHAPTER 14
LEXI
One month later...
“Two half-caf Americanos, one skinny latte, and one iced cold brew!”
Madeline, the owner of Blueprint Coffee, barked the order over her shoulder at Lexi. It was the morning rush and the place was packed, crowds of customers desperate for their first caffeine fix of the day crowding around the counter and jockeying for a place in line.
It was one of the big lessons Lexi had learned about life in the big city—everyone was always in a hurry, and everyone was certain that they were the most important person in the universe.
“Two half-caf Americanos, one skinny latte, and one iced cold brew! Heard!” Lexi shouted the order back, letting Madeline know it was in the works.
Lexi’s hands moved in a flurried blur of activity, as if she didn’t even need to think about what she was doing. The first couple of weeks at Blueprint had been rough as she learned the ropes, messing up more than a few orders.
But it hadn’t taken her long to figure it all out. And she loved it. Lexi loved the hiss of steam from the frother, the smell of coffee in the air, the flow she’d find herself in when she was buried in the work.
When the drinks were ready, Lexi placed them all on the counter next to where Madeline stood.
“Wow,” said Madeline, clearly impressed.
Lexi grinned. “Told you I was a fast learner.”
“So you are. Now get back to it, newbie—we just got an online order in for a dozen drinks.”
Madeline held up the piece of paper with the order on it. Lexi snatched it out of her hand, read it over, and went to work.