by Sam Hall
I came when he pushed his fingers into me, thrusting hard, stretching me for what was to come, and I was still twitching when he hauled me up and wrapped my legs around his waist before lowering me down onto him. I hung upon the cubicle wall, nails scratching the glass as he worked his way in, always a stretch at first, then stopping for just a second when he was buried deep.
He looked in pain then, my love, my mate, his face torn up with some complex emotion, but before I got to explore that, he moved. Slowly, that thick dick dragged where I needed the most, creating a terrible friction that just made me squirm. Then his thumb dropped to my clit, massaging it in glacially slow circles, ignoring my protests of sensitivity and powering through.
Then he got faster, deeper, unable to hold back for long, needing what I needed—the connection. I threw my arms around his neck, hugged him to me as he fucked into me, driving harder and harder.
My heart ached as my teeth did, looking down at the small section of skin I could see on his neck not covered by his wet hair. I needed it, to latch on, drive my fangs in as his cock did, close the loop. Not yet, not yet… I told my wolf breathlessly, but she thrashed inside me, her instincts pushing hard. She attacked me with teeth and claws, leaving my already bleeding heart in tatters, fighting her way free, shifting my eyes first, then my fangs right as…
“Fuck, Paige…” he gasped, jetting his cum inside me, my own body responding in kind, but it felt like a distant thing that happened to someone else. My wolf howled her dirge, at this missed opportunity. She knew, she knew we were making a mistake.
One I intended to rectify.
Just give me a little more time. There’s a way out of this, I’m sure.
All I got in return was a snarl and then a swish of her tail as she disappeared into my depths.
I found his lips as I was lowered to the floor, nipping, tasting, wanting what he wanted, something to take with him.
“I love you, babe,” he said between them, not waiting for an answering response. “So fucking much.”
I wanted to say the same, to share all that was within my heart, and I was glad I was wet because my tears just looked like water droplets when they came. I rested my head on his shoulder and held him close and made a silent vow before I was forced to get him out of the shower and wash all trace of him off me.
I’d grown up with a purpose, to find a mate and make him the next alpha of this pack, and I’d failed at that, but that was OK. I’d found a new one, many new ones since, but this one beat hard and deep inside me. I was going to find those I shared my heart with, and then I was going to work out a way to keep them, irrespective of what the good people of Lupindorf thought. I respected my mother and my father’s legacy, but now I needed to find my own.
Chapter 18
I filed in with my family to a packed auditorium filled with the townspeople of Lupindorf. Not all of them, obviously. We’d organised for the meeting to be livestreamed for those who couldn’t or didn’t want to make it. Mostly, it was contenders and their families, business owners, and people who had a vested interest in the transfer of power. There were several seats on the dais, but two were significant.
Both were beautifully carved from well-seasoned oak, brought across when our families came over from Prussia, escaping the changes being made as Germany became unified. One was the alpha female’s and now mine, and the other was my father’s or my mate’s. Which was perhaps why there were gasps of surprise when I sat down on it.
I’d thought it through on the way over, sitting in a car surrounded by my enforcers. Micah sat on my right again, watching me with those ghost-like eyes of his, studying me like a sacred text for clues or an indication of what I was thinking, I guessed. I hadn’t expected him to take my hand and give it a squeeze though.
Maybe he’d done it for comfort, maybe to get my attention, make him stand out from the rest of the enforcers. It worked. I’d just stared at him, so surprised by that small act of kindness, I couldn’t think of a response except to squeeze back. Mason watched us in the rear vision mirror so closely, it was a wonder we made it in one piece.
“So a decision has been made already? You’re our new alpha?” Aidan called out when I took my father’s seat. A chorus of titters followed his comment. Of all the possible contenders, he was likely to be the most problematic. My eyes took in the neatly pressed plaid shirt with the pearl buttons, the clean jeans. He’d made an effort before coming to this meeting, for me. That was how I was going to get through this—I was going to work out what they wanted, what they were doing, just as my family had trained me to do, and then I would do what I wanted with that information.
“No. I know it’s customary for one of my male relatives to negotiate for me in the absence of my father.” Alan and Bill shifted in their seats, no doubt pissed they’d been sidelined in all of this. “But 2020 and all that, I’ve decided to advocate for myself.”
That got some mutters and snorts. Lupindorf—ignoring feminism since 1845.
“To fill everyone in and hopefully reassure you, I had fully intended to do as I’d been raised—to take a mate at eighteen, and then the two of us would work with my father to learn all there was about governing the pack for its benefit. I had someone selected, and as is customary, I approached them before my birthday party to make sure they were OK with being selected as my mate.”
I had the attention of everyone in the great hall, their eyes trained on me. In the five years I’d been absent, there had to have been countless discussions about just this.
“That was Mason Klein.” Gasps, mumbles, mutters rising to outright discussions, voices growing sharper and clearer until I held out my hand for silence. “I thought until recently that he did not share my feelings, that I had been mistaken in my choice, and in an attempt to work out what was next for my life, I left for the city. I built a life there, a good life, until I was called back home.” For a moment, I could see it—my flat, the gym, the city… I shook my head and charged on. “Speaking to Mason recently, I’ve discovered that what I believed was not true, that he rejected my offer due to my father’s urging.”
Definitely a bigger response then.
“So you’ll take Mason as your mate and he’ll become alpha?” Mr Collins was head of the local chamber of commerce, and from memory, just wanted business as usual. This would be a popular choice. Mason was beta, waiting in the wings, in theory, to take my father’s place. If I was attracted to him, if I l—
I pushed that to one side, because there were more than a few obstacles to that.
“The question is, of course, why he didn’t want the man he trusted as beta to take his place, to become his daughter’s mate? Perhaps we’re secretly half siblings.” That got some chuckles. “There’s also the possibility Mason does not want the role.”
“I do.”
I jumped slightly at the rapid interjection. I knew what I was doing, putting everyone on the spot, but especially Mason, but damn, I was about due some public declarations. But knowing that and hearing those words, looking across the stage and seeing the man who broke my heart look back at me with longing in his eyes was a whole other thing. For a moment, the crowd, no one else existed. For several heartbeats, there was just Mason.
And there was just Zack in the shower and just Micah in the car. My wolf couldn’t understand my issue with this. Zack was worthy, Micah, Declan, Mason might be. Hell, maybe half the contenders might be. Surely it was up to them to prove themselves, not for me to worry about.
Yeah, right.
“Well, that’s settled then,” Mr Collins said, clapping his hands together.
“No, it’s not,” one of the guys from the forest said. “The heir agreed to a contest for the position as alpha. We could have settled things then, taken the heir, and set ourselves up as leader like they did in the old days. Instead, we held back, respected her need for time to grieve the old alpha, and waited. I dunno about the rest of you, but I’m done waiting.”
With the i
mplied threat that they could all fight this out here and now and come up with a much quicker, though bloodier solution. I sighed.
“I did, and you will get your chance. That’s why I’m here. We’ll take nominations” —voices rose again— “but you’ll need community support.” That turned the tone to a disgruntled one. I waved my hand. “Without it, you’re not going to get very far. You can’t just install yourself as alpha and expect to be followed. If the community doesn’t back you, you’ll just make a fool of yourself trying, or worse, hurt people trying to insist they do. Today, we’ll take nominations from anyone who thinks they should be alpha. They’ll stay up on the town noticeboard for over a week, and then we’ll have a vote. Those with the most support will go forward into the next round. We’ll work with the local gym to set up a standard MMA ring, and a set of rules and scoring strategies will be circulated to the contenders so they know what they’re getting themselves in for. He who comes out on top becomes alpha.”
“But what about you?” Aidan said. I didn’t think he’d even noticed me at school, being so much younger than him at the time, but those hazel eyes seemed to cut across the crowd and straight into me. “Any legacy any of us create as alpha depends on having a daughter with you.”
“What a romantic proposition,” I said, letting the sharp bite of anger that I felt rise. “Being a broodmare to your ambitions.” A chorus of ‘ooohs’ at that. “I haven’t made a commitment to any one man. I’m interested in finding out who I have a connection with and who I don’t.”
That seemed to placate people for a minute, but I was saving the best for last.
“But if you think I’m just going to take whoever wins this contest as mate, be a good little alpha female, bend over for the new alpha, and produce more daughters to keep this dysfunctional cycle going, you’ve got another thing coming. I don’t have to do this, any of this. You don’t have to do this. Some of the contenders already have mates. They could become the alpha female. You could win the contest and find a girl you like, and she can become it.”
“No.” The answer was decisive, coming from several sources in the crowd, all young men. “It has to be you.”
“Why?” I snapped. “This doesn’t make sense. Apart from hereditary privilege, there’s nothing special about me.”
“Of course,” Mr Collins said. “We’ll work with the heir to find a way forward, a peaceful way that preserves the prosperity of the town.”
“My Selma has volunteered to take the place as heir if Paige chooses to step down,” Nancy started to say, Mr Collins nodding along.
And then one of the men said something very revealing.
“No,” he said, “you’re the alpha female. It has to be you.”
My heart beat loudly in my ears, drowning out some of the chatter and turning the rest into meaningless noise. What he said, the way he said it… I was already the alpha female. The role didn’t pass to me when I chose my mate, and in choosing a man, I transferred that power to him. I held that thought tight, my first real clue as to what the hell was going on in this town. But I needed to pack it up and hold it safe for later.
“Very well, then we go through the nomination process,” I said.
“Any who wish to nominate themselves will do so using this form,” Mason said. I’d filled him in on the basics of my plan, and what a terse conversation that had been. “Once the nominations have been collected, you will have five minutes to have your say on why you think you’re the best candidate.”
He put the pencils and nomination sheets down on the stage, and I thought that’d be it. He’d said he and the enforcers would keep the process orderly, and that was all I’d expected of him. But he picked up the first sheet and a pencil, looking over at me when he did so, then he let his eyes linger for longer than polite, just openly staring. The other guys ambled in, taking the forms, then most of the enforcers, including Declan and Micah, and lastly?
Zack was keeping his distance, as directed by his brother, but he pushed away from the wall he was leaning on at the back of the room, whispers going up as he walked up the centre aisle. There were some growls from other men at the sight of the newcomer, but he just did what he always did when guys got caught up in dominance displays. He stared them down with eyes just a touch silvery, not breaking his stride for a second, and then grabbed himself a nomination. He looked up at me on the stage, gave me a wink, and then went to fill it out.
This didn’t make sense. I’d seen and participated in elections in the city, seen that most candidates were older, established men who had a track record of success, but all the men stepping forward were younger—twenties, thirties, or early forties at the latest. I needed to investigate this further, look at the historical records. How old was Granddad, my great grandfather, and so on when they’d been chosen by my forebears?
Somehow, I was a contestant on the worst dating show ever.
Mason had collected up all the ballots, because I’d realised this morning until an alpha was designated, he was my beta now. He’d walked over, put the sheaf of paper in my hands, watching me closely as our fingers grazed for a second, and then pulled back to stand by my chair. I hadn’t expected that, but it was where the beta stood.
“Um…can we have Riley Lang to the stage?”
I squinted a little as he approached. That was the problem with growing up in a small town, I had to work out where I knew everyone from. But as that tall frame unfolded, a longish sweep of blond hair and dark blue eyes that still twinkled with mischief, I knew who he was—one of Declan’s partners in crime.
There was something weird seeing the same expressions, the same movements you catalogued on childhood friends on the bodies of adults. I saw the boy who did trick shots on the basketball court, using his incredible height and skill to wow the lot of us, when he walked up to the stage and then jumped up on to it, all cocky swagger, until he got to me.
I caught the moment his smile faltered, just fell. His eyes silvered, he blinked, then swallowed hard.
“So, Riley, your speech?”
“Yeah, right.” I saw the effort it took for him to turn around and face the crowd and wondered what the hell that was about. I wasn’t hideous, but I wasn’t exactly ‘derail a guy’s train of thought’ attractive. “Look, you guys know me, know my family. We’ve been here for more generations than I can count. Well, like most people here, I guess.” His eyes slid sideways to look at me, for what? “You know the Lang’s are reliable, hardworking, and I’d bring the same to the alpha role. We own a lot of the farmland out on the east side of town, for those not familiar, so bringing that knowledge of farming I think would…”
His words trailed away as I observed his body language. Turned towards me, he was listing for me his virtues, not to the crowd, though they were the ones who would rule him in or out. He was stumbling in places, seeming to lose steam each time he met my eyes, sometimes leaving sentences hanging in the air, unfinished, until finally whatever was going on with him stopped him cold.
He looked…surprised, eyes wide, almost unfocussed as he took a step towards me, then another to the rising sound of Mason’s growl. When he kept on coming, Mason moved to block him, a large hand going to the other man’s shoulder.
“You’re getting in the way,” Riley snarled, his voice more his wolf than his. “She’s right there!”
“What the fuck…” I hissed.
“And you’re gonna sit your arse down. Now, Riley.”
The man came back to himself with a snap at the sound of Mason’s tone, his will beating down on the other man. Riley looked almost distraught, looking at the stage, me, Mason, the crowd, seeming to wonder how he got here. When he loped back to his seat, it wasn’t so confidently. A stiff, uncomfortable silence reigned as he sat down, and I broke it by calling the next name.
Something was up.
Mason stood at the left arm of my chair now, a boundary between me and the contenders. Some didn’t like that at all, their spines curving, the
ir fangs flashing as they fought to keep control of their beasts. Some mangled their speeches, one even just using the opportunity to shout his claim to me to the crowd. Silver eyes were the default.
But why?
I leaned back hard against my chair, tucking my legs up under me, remembering that run through the forest, the male wolves at my heels.
I needed to know what was going on.
Then I called Aidan up to deliver his speech.
He got to his feet with a shit-eating grin that had Mason growling before he even reached the stage. Like Riley, he leapt up onto it with a fluid grace, moving to the front of my chair rather than the side, trying to circumvent Mason, who wasn’t having that.
“Step back, Aidan.”
Where the other guys had postured, Aidan smiled, a glorious golden thing that made doing anything but what he wanted seem patently absurd. He looked to the crowd as if to say ‘can you believe this guy?’
“Thanks for letting me speak, Paige,” he said, ignoring my beta and turning to face the hall, all that cocky arrogance washing away. “I just want to say what a privilege it is to be given a platform to talk to you all. This hasn’t been the way we’ve done things before. Look, I know some of you are a little underwhelmed by the fate of the town leadership being placed in the hands of one girl. Where else in Australia does an eighteen-year-old have this much power, amirite? But we’ve all seen Paige develop from this beautiful girl to the accomplished woman before you. She’s had to deal with some tough stuff, the problems with the succession are obviously not hers, and I think this is a real opportunity for Lupindorf.”
I’d been watching the crowd during the speeches and saw people turning off. Arms crossed, expressions tight, or just frankly losing interest, eyes dropping down to phones, but he turned that around. He wasn’t dressed in a suit, making him look like he was putting on airs, but had a relaxed kind of confidence that seemed to put people at ease.