Rage-filled eyes peered down at me; pure, white-hot rage studied me through round, darkened depths. One minute I was doing something insanely stupid, like pissing Saint off, and the next, he’d flung my body to the floor. The air exploded from my lungs violently, and I crawled on my elbows, moving toward the drawer that held my gun. Hands grabbed my ankles, turning me over as he peered down at me, smiling cruelly.
Blood dripped from his chest, marring the utter perfection of it in the wake of my nails. Anger pulsed from within Saint, filling the room with his presence. My room was large before he’d entered it, but now it was filled with the sheer magnitude of him and his overwhelming presence. My body trembled, and the moment Saint released my ankles to get closer, I kicked out, taking his legs out from beneath him.
Instead of landing on the floor, Saint launched his body onto mine, grabbing my arms painfully to hold them above my head. I bucked wildly beneath him, screaming in frustration. His blood coated my breasts and my lip, seeping down my chin.
“Fuck you!” I snarled, fighting against Saint as he glared at me with a sinister expression burning in his gaze.
“I’m about to fuck you, Brat,” he chuckled, rocking his massive erection against my exposed core.
My body reacted, and I fucking hated it. My core clenched, and my wolf howled her need within me. Desire flared in Saint’s eyes, and his nostrils moved as he inhaled my arousal. Fucking savage asshole. I twisted my arms and my hips, forcefully trying to unseat him where he lay, holding me prisoner with his weight. The asshole weighed half a ton at a minimum.
He wasn’t even moving, just watching me realize how helpless I was. I tried twisting my wrists from his grasp, but he slammed them down against the hard floorboards. I whimpered, bucking against him to get free. His mouth lowered, and he bit softly into my lip, forcing a scream to bubble up from my throat as he held it between his teeth, threateningly.
His other hand slipped between our bodies, pushing against the bundle of nerves between my thighs. I moaned, slowly lifting to his touch. My hard nipples throbbed at the contact, and he released my lip, smiling into my gaze before pushing his fingers into my body, stretching me.
“Good girl,” he whispered. His nose rubbed against my cheek as he released his scent, filling the air with his enticing aroma.
The fight fled my mind, replaced by pleasure. Saint continued to hold my body against the floor while he slowly stroked the fire within me. His fingers parted inside my pussy, causing a soft cry to escape my throat. The moment he released my hands, I attacked anew.
Saint grabbed me up, shoving me forward against the wall before he slammed my hands behind my back, holding them at the base of my spine. His deep growl filled the room, and his scent exploded as if he’d been holding back.
As alpha, Saint could soothe an entire pack with his scent, but it rendered me helpless but to submit to the dominance in it, no matter how much I hated doing so. His other hand pushed through my hair, twisting it as he rubbed his body against my ass, forcing me to grind my need against it.
“You want to fight or fuck, Brae? I can’t tell which one you crave more right now. I can do both,” he chuckled, freeing my hair before his cock was against my ass.
I pushed my forehead against the wall, arching my ass for him to run his cock through the arousal between my legs. The deep rumble that escaped his throat created more, and my whole body pulsed with need. I could feel the thick tip he rubbed along my opening. He was using my arousal to coat his dick, intending to fuck me.
The tip had barely pushed into my body when the door burst open, and something slammed into Saint, causing him to curse as I remained against the wall, spread out. Voices entered the room as multiple scents assaulted my mind. Something crashed against the floor, and more curses sounded as I whimpered, rocking my hips, oblivious to what was happening behind me.
“Gods damn, that’s fucking hot,” Bowen’s voice met my ears, forcing air to get stuck in my throat.
“Don’t fucking touch her, asshole,” Saint growled in warning.
“She wouldn’t even know it wasn’t you, Saint,” Eryx’s voice sounded behind me, his hand slowly lowering to the dimples at my spine. “Who the fuck you got there?” he asked, and my mind fought to return through the lust driving it into the mating frenzy.
Fucking savage.
Saint had used his scent to drive me to the edge, and it was taking everything I had and more to fight against it. I growled loudly, pushing away from the wall, only to drop to my knees at their feet. My eyes slid to crimson, exposing the fact that I wasn’t a beta at all. Only three people knew that truth, and now these assholes knew it too.
“That’s unexpected, Princess. Didn’t see that one coming,” Eryx chuckled, lowering his body to push the hair away from my face.
Saint held Chaos in his arms, pushing him against the bed where he’d exposed himself to help me. Tears burned my eyes while Saint studied my face, noting the red eyes that teetered more toward purple from the intensity of their normal blue coloring.
“Leave him alone,” I hissed past the tensing of my jaw.
“You made babies, Brae?” Eryx asked, turning to take in the sea-green eyes of the child Saint held.
“He did,” I growled, pointing my finger at Saint.
The room went silent at my words, and Saint’s stare dropped to the son he’d left behind. Of course, he hadn’t known Chaos even existed. He’d gotten Cherry, his ex-girlfriend, pregnant before our link was cemented. She’d said nothing, choosing to abandon Saint’s son to the omegas. Right after that, she’d vanished.
“I didn’t fuck you,” Saint snorted, yet his eyes didn’t leave the matching ones that glared up at him.
“He’s not mine,” I ground out. “Fucking release me!”
“Not alpha enough to top me, huh?” Saint snorted, but he released the scent that unclenched my muscles, freeing me to sag to the floor. “Take the boy and get out. Don’t let him out of your sight,” he told Eryx.
When they were out of the room, I pushed off the floor to stand. Saint studied me, anger pulsing violently in the air between us. His jaw ticked, but he didn’t move toward me. Instead, he went to the chair once more, tilting his head toward the bed.
“Sit, now,” he ordered.
I did so, but only because my legs were a little more solid than pudding. Saint’s eyes examined me, and a smirk played on his mouth as I sat, pulling the sheet over my body to hide it from his prying eyes.
“Explain to me how you’re an alpha when I know you were a beta, Braelyn. After that, tell me how the fuck I have a son that you kept hidden from me.”
“I didn’t keep him hidden, Saint. You left, and I found him in the nursery. That’s not on me or my fault. You fucked Cherry and made Chaos.”
“You named him what we had intended to name our son?” he asked, dragging his attention over my bloodied face.
“It seemed fitting since I never intended to have a child,” I admitted. “I was born alpha, but it was latent. It occurred after you’d left.”
“You’re going to get into the bath and wash your body. After that, we’re going to walk out of this room together with you at my side. I’m going to fuck you in the mating tent in the courtyard and finish the claim to seal our mating rite, Braelyn.”
“I don’t think so, Saint. You see, I am protected from being forced into a mating.”
“That only works if you’re a virgin, and we both know you’re not. Your father made damn sure I knew what my sweet, docile mate was doing during my absence. He even brought me pictures to show me you’d not only betrayed me, but you’d become the pack’s whore. That was something I didn’t think possible. It goes to show how much I fucking knew the little bitch I’d been stuck with by the fickle gods.”
I laughed, glaring at Saint as I rolled my eyes. My fists clenched into the sheets, deflecting the look of loathing burning in his expression. The problem with my protection was
that it would work against everyone except my mate, which means it wouldn’t protect me from Saint. There was no denying the gods had created him for me, and I for him. It had kept me from being raped or bred by my father, who craved a son, intending to use my womb to achieve his goal of a male heir to the pack.
“I’m not mating with you, asshole. You came here to hurt me. So fucking do it, and get it over with already,” I challenged.
“Oh, it’s not that simple. I came back to take your pack from you. I returned to claim my rightful place at your side, even if I have to muzzle you to do so. You have connections I need and intend to use. Your punishment is a life dictated by me, never knowing when I’ll strike out and hurt you the most, just like you did to me. I fucking loved you. I let you see inside of me deeper than anyone else ever had. You were my fucking heart, and you ripped it out like it was nothing.
“You will walk out of this room and pretend you’re happy with this mating. Because if you don’t, Braelyn, I’ll unleash the boys on the pack,” he growled coldly, rising from the chair to kneel between my knees. “I’ll unleash the ones waiting in the woods, holding those men you were waiting to come save you. I’ll burn this place to the fucking ground, and then when you’ve lost everything, I’ll make sure you’re left in the fucking coals of this worthless fucking home you loved so much.”
Peering into his dark gaze, I knew he wasn’t playing. Saint had returned with a cold, calculated persona he hadn’t had before. The others, his crew, were the same now. They’d enjoyed the bloodshed, craving the kills as much as Saint had when he’d murdered my father and Carlson. Saint lifted his hands, placing them on my thighs as a victorious smile played on his full mouth.
“Smart girl. Go bathe because I’m impatient to fuck my mate. We have ten years to make up for.”
Chapter Five
I sat in my room, inhaling some herbs to calm my anxiety. Eryx watched me from where he leaned against the wall, his dark gaze sliding over the dress I now wore. It wasn’t sheer like a traditional mating gown, but then I hadn’t even owned one until yesterday. My mind whirled with how Saint and his men had infiltrated the compound, slipping past the other packs without detection. Either someone here had helped them, or they’d turned some packs around the mountain against us.
“Are you planning to hide out there until he returns for you?” Eryx asked, his voice coming from right behind me. I spun on my heel, stepping back against the railing of the balcony as he smiled coldly. He reached for my hand, pulling the herb stick away from me before holding it to his nose. “Does this shit help?”
“It calms my nerves and helps to hide what I was from my father.”
“A treacherous bitch?” he snorted, pulling a drag from it then slowly exhaling it.
I turned my attention back to the pack which had already started celebrating. In the middle of the vast, sprawling courtyard sat the mating tent. Unlike the last one that Saint had ripped apart during the fight, this one had black gauze that would offer a layer of privacy. Inside, candles were lit, and sage was burning.
A shiver rushed down my arm the moment Eryx touched his hand against my skin. I jerked away, staring at him before realizing he was handing me back the smoke. Accepting it, I peered at it silently.
“I don’t have fucking rabies, and if I did, you’d have them as soon as he shares you with us.”
“You’re so sure he will?” I asked cautiously.
“A lot has changed since you had us banished,” he snorted, watching as I lifted the smoke to my lips. “You should die for what you and your father did to us.”
I shivered, refusing to meet his stare. I could feel the hatred in the air. His eyes slid over my profile, and then he grabbed the smoke from my hand, inhaling deeply. Peeking at him, I watched the glowing end slowly move closer to his lips. He flicked it, withdrawing a tin from his pocket to produce another smoke.
“Did daddy know his princess was smoking herbs?” he asked, lighting it before handing it to me. I took a drag, coughing violently when it turned out to be marijuana instead of the soothing herbs I was expecting it to be. Eryx snorted, shaking his head. “Saint is going to hurt you. After he’s bored with you, Brae, you will be ours to play with when we want. Do try to let loose a little. No one likes a stuck-up bitch that thinks she’s better than everyone else. That will only make us play with you harder, and no one likes broken toys.”
Eryx’s words made my heart clench, but I didn’t think Saint would do that. He hated me, sure, but he’d always respected women. He loved his mother at one time. She’d raised him until she’d been unable to continue doing so, abandoning him here, vanishing into the night without telling him goodbye. She’d left Saint an orphan, and that had forced the pack to place him into the care of the omegas, where he’d met his crew.
“You shouldn’t have fucked Saint over. He let you in, and you broke him.”
“My father gave me two options—make him hate me or watch him die. My world didn’t exist without Saint in it, Eryx. If my father had told me to rip my heart from my chest or watch Saint die, I wouldn’t have hesitated. I’d have reached into my chest and pulled it out, still beating. You can think the worst of me and make me the villain, but glass houses hide the ugliest monsters. Careful throwing rocks because once you know the truth, you can’t ever go back from knowing it.”
“And what would a pampered princess of the pack know about monsters?” Saint’s voice caused me to jump.
I didn’t turn, choosing to grab the joint from Eryx, ignoring the asshole behind me. What would a spoiled princess know? I wouldn’t know that answer. I hadn’t felt love since my father killed my mother, not until I’d found out Saint was my mate. I’d worked endlessly to hide what my father had done to me, to hide what happened in the dark, to keep the pack fed. I’d been a child providing for a pack, assisted by many loyal followers who offered the details and suggestions for our daily living to my father as their ideas.
I’d known nothing other than the struggle to provide food, shelter, and everything else a pack needed to live on a mountain range that was impassable for months during winter. This left us rushing through most months, preparing for the roads to close and for us to live off the land. In another month, the snow would hit us, and we’d be stuck on the mountain until the spring thaw came. It was a blessing and a curse. The hunters couldn’t reach us, but we couldn’t escape the cold.
I felt both pairs of eyes on me as I exhaled slowly. Saint snorted, leaning on my other side to reach over, grabbing the joint from me. Peering over at him, I paused as he held it between his teeth, drawing the smoke into his mouth as it wafted around his face.
“You ready to party, Brat? You seem to have started without me,” Saint smirked, lifting his eyes over my head to stare at Eryx.
“Don’t blame me. Brae was out here smoking some weak-ass shit.”
“It wasn’t weak. It just wasn’t pot, asshole. It was herbs, which suppresses my anxiety and stops the alpha tendencies from being uncontrollable. It’s formulated, and we distribute it ourselves. Three people knew I was an alpha until you assholes came back here.”
Both men went silent at my words, and then Saint grabbed my waist. He held me over the edge as he sat me down. Eryx watched with a sinister look in his eyes, excited at the idea of Saint tossing me over the edge. I gripped Saint’s shoulders, but he quickly shrugged me off. His eyes were angry, and the tic was back hammering in his jaw.
“What else have you and your daddy grown up here?” Saint demanded, his eyes condemning me. “I asked you a fucking question,” he snapped, pushing me further over the edge to teeter precariously.
“Nothing!” I cried, turning to look at the drop which would kill even an immortal. “Nothing, Saint! My father didn’t know we grew it. My mother’s people brought the herbs with them from Norway, planting them all over the mountain to increase the alpha’s calmness. It simply suppressed his need to kill everything and the rage that drove it!�
�� I tore my eyes from the ground, looking back at his angry face.
“Why do they always look down? It only increases the fear they feel at dangling over such height,” Eryx asked, pulling off the joint while he enjoyed the show.
Saint jerked me over the railing and shoved me against the wall. His hand pushed against my throat before he turned to Eryx, grabbing the joint to inhale it deeply. Saint grinned and pressed his lips against mine, forcing the smoke into my lungs. He lifted his hand, holding it against my nose and mouth as my lungs burned.
When he finally released me, a deep cough clapped out of my throat, and I tapped my hand against my chest. He turned, nodding his chin to Eryx. “Let’s go. There’s whiskey calling our name, and my sweet, willing mate needs to show the pack she’s eager to be mounted like the whore she is.”
“You’re going to feel like such an asshole,” I muttered, watching as he turned to gaze at me over his shoulder. I smiled inwardly, slowly trailing after them.
Outside, the pack was already drinking, being rowdy, but still cautious for some reason. I lifted my nose, catching the scent of hunters and dark, wicked desire that screamed of demons. Saint grabbed me by the waist, walking me toward a group that stood away from the pack. His crew was there as well, observing as the pack drank and stared back at the hunters.
This was a catastrophe in the making. Hunters lived by strict codes, most of which included hunting down our kind. They didn’t care if we remained away from humans because they thought they were the superior race. Humans didn’t enjoy the fact that they weren’t at the top of the food chain, because more often than not, they were tasty with some added herbs.
Saint pulled me into his body the moment we were in front of his crew and the outsiders. They all looked at me, slowly taking in my features while I remained as still and stiff as a statue. No one spoke, making an awkward silence. I had to bite my tongue to keep from blabbing anything that would fill it since I didn’t do well with strangers or pretty much people in general.
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