“Alexander will explain everything to you when he feels the time is right. Shall we?” He gestured toward his car, which was a sleek black Mercedes.
“Please, Syd. Let us give you a lift to work, don’t make a scene.” Marie’s voice was soft and gentle but Sydney still felt slightly betrayed as Marie gave her a pleading look instead of standing up for her best friend. Guess the saying ‘chicks before dicks’ was irrelevant in this case. Sydney only gave in because she was going to be later than she already was and besides, she really wanted to see the inside of such a fancy car.
Five minutes later, she got out of the car rather reluctantly and headed into the school building. The day went by as normal as it possibly could go with the new influx of students. She heard a bit of a commotion a few times in the hallways as some of the new kids tried to cause trouble with some of the local children, but every time the new headmaster, Jason, was close by and nothing serious would start.
At the end of the day, Sydney was tired and the bump on her head, cleverly disguised with a bit of makeup and a smart hairdo, was causing a throbbing headache. All she yearned for at the moment was painkillers, her PJs, and her bed.
“Miss Steele. A moment, please?” Jason’s voice carried through the hallways and the few remaining students sniggered her way before rushing away at the look Jason gave them. She trudged into his office, too exhausted to even thank him when he held the door open for her; she only managed a small nod and weak smile.
“I regret to inform you that we are letting you go.”
The blood rushed straight to her head as she sat upright but she could still only stare at the man in absolute confusion.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“I went over the books and unfortunately the school’s finances had been grossly mismanaged, and a few budget cuts are in order—effective immediately.”
“Budget cuts? We just had a major influx of students. That’s a whole bunch of extra school fees and registration fees. No new personnel were appointed so there aren’t any extra expenses, so I don’t see the problem.”
“Yes, well, we have a sole investor and he went over the documentations and it was his call.”
Sydney could feel the hair rising at the back of her neck.
“Who is he?”
“That would be Mr. Alexander Moore.” Her temper started to spike again at the infuriating meddling and she was afraid she was going to lose it completely in front of Jason. Somehow, she had the idea that it wouldn’t be the best thing to happen right now.
“Of course it was.” She stood up abruptly.
“I really am sorry, Miss Steele, but my hands are tied.”
“Yeah, you look really torn up.” She gave him a deadly glare before leaving his office, making sure to slam the door extra hard in a vain attempt to get rid of her bristling anger.
“What did the door do to you?”
She swirled around at the sound of that deep and sinfully sexy voice.
“You!” Without thinking she marched up to Alexander and slapped him right in the face. Hard, so hard that an angry red imprint was left on his cheek immediately and the palm of her hand was burning. She opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind, but before a single sound could stumble past her lips, she was dragged forward and bent over the admin lady’s desk—which was thankfully unoccupied at the moment. The whole front office was deserted as it was after school hours already. Thank god for small mercies.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” She wanted her voice to sound firm, but it came out as a strangled, breathless whisper. Her humiliation at the sound of her voice only increased as Alex lifted her dress up and pulled down her panties.
“Excuse…” The door behind them opened and Sydney struggled in an attempt to get up from the table and cover her naked backside as Jason came out of his office.
“Alpha?” Sydney’s struggles were in vain as Alex used one hand to keep her down. She couldn’t see Jason’s face from the angle she was positioned in, but some silent conversation had to have taken place as Jason calmly walked over to the front door of the office and closed it before she heard the lock clicking.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Sydney demanded, followed shortly by an angry growl from behind her and Sydney whimpered at the animalistic sound before gasping as Jason took a hold of her wrists and pulled them straight in front of her, keeping her firmly in place. Before she could protest anymore a loud smack resonated through the room.
She gasped in shock and pain as it registered that Alex had just spanked her. His hand, large enough to strike a large surface across both her cheeks, came raining down on her pale skin, turning it a bright pink. Sydney bit down on her lip to keep from crying out when the truth was that she was wailing inside. Alex hit the same spot every time and the slight burn was turning into a raging fire.
To her utter, further embarrassment, the fire was spreading from her ass straight to her core, causing juices to coat her pussy lips. She clenched her legs together in the hope of hiding her arousal when suddenly she could feel Alex stiffen behind her. She dared to glance over her shoulder at him. His eyes were focused solely on her, taking a deep breath through his nose before his eyes turned pitch black. Jason let go of her wrists and she was faintly aware of him leaving the office without saying a word.
Sydney stood up on shaky legs and turned to face Alexander. It felt like her knees would buckle and give in at any moment and despite the degrading fact that her panties were still around her ankles, she raised her chin proudly and gave him the best glare she could muster despite the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves as she bent over to pull up her panties.
“Leave them.” His voice was a deep timbre and had her core clenching.
She didn’t listen to him and pulled her panties up with shaking hands.
“I think the extent of my humiliation has been reached for one day. Thank you, Mr. Moore.” She turned to walk away but a gentle hand on her arm stopped her.
“Sydney, I am not finished yet.”
“Tough shit. I am. You don’t know me, yet you act as though you own me? Firing me? Abusing me in front of someone else? Sorry, but I am done with… whatever this is.” She pointed between them.
“I didn’t abuse you. I punished you, for disrespecting me and for cursing. I did give you a fair warning regarding your manners last night.”
“Punish me? Who do you think you are? My father?”
“No, but if that’s what you want you may call me Daddy.”
“Yeah, I’d rather not. Nothing wrong with that kind of kink, but that doesn’t do it for me.” She rolled her eyes and took a nervous step back as he loomed over her.
“But a spanking does it for you?” She opened her mouth to protest but he shook his head slightly.
“Don’t deny it, I saw how wet you were. I smelled your arousal.” He took another deep breath through his nose. “I can still smell it lingering in the air. It’s becoming stronger, which tells me that you are getting more turned on the closer I am to you.”
She gaped at him. “You can smell it? What… what are you?” She’d had a strange feeling regarding this man and all the newcomers in town the second she saw them and the more she observed them, the more she felt sure that they were not who or what they claimed to be.
“You’ll learn soon enough. Now run along, before I change my mind.”
For some reason, her body obeyed, and she left the office in a hurry. Her mind was in a state of disarray and she needed space from him to sort through all the thoughts currently wreaking havoc on her insides.
What was Alexander Moore? Why did she react so strongly toward him? Why did she like it when he spanked her? And most of all… why did she have to ‘run along’ before he changed his mind? Changed his mind from what?
Chapter Three
Sydney was rolling around in her bed, her mind restless and her body heating up. It had been
one week since the spanking incident; one week of futilely looking for another job—any job at this point—but always receiving an unemotional shake of the head that no one was hiring at the moment. It was that damn Alexander Moore!
Everywhere she went, she heard people talking about him like he was worthy of worship. Even Marie was completely smitten. On the rare occasion when her best friend was at home, she was constantly talking about Scott and when she wasn’t raving about her incredible boyfriend, she was talking about Alexander and all the amazing things he was doing for the town and the community. Who died and elected him to be the mayor? He was acting like he was the damn president of the United States instead of a simple, wealthy businessman.
Groaning with frustration as her body heat spiked yet again, she pushed the covers off and stood up. Just thinking about the man had her blood pressure peaking. It certainly had nothing to do with the memories of his firm hand heating up her backside in such a humiliating way—and in front of someone else too! Nope. It was definitely not the thought of his strong and lean fingers seeking out her weeping core after a spanking that had her all hot and bothered. Definitely not.
She shook her head, tingles running down her spine as she got the feeling that someone was watching her. The whole week, she had felt a looming presence following her around, watching her from the distance, or at night, watching her from the dark. She was mostly used to it by now, writing it off as her overactive imagination combined with restless nerves thanks to being unemployed in a town where there were suddenly no vacancies.
She took a quick, cold shower in an attempt to cool off the heat radiating from her pores before dressing in a tank top and shorts. A nice walk in the cool night air was just what she needed right now to settle her nerves and wear herself out, hopefully enough to get a decent night’s sleep. The dark circles beneath her eyes were not flattering at all. She made her way outside and simply took off in a direction.
She didn’t want to think, she wanted to calm her mind and before she knew it she was deep in the forest bordering their little town. She came to a stop and looked around cautiously. She had never wandered into the forest. There were several trails for the adventurous people in town, but she wasn’t one of them and at the moment, it didn’t seem like she was on a trail.
She heard leaves rustle close by and held her breath. She didn’t know a lot about nature but she did know that there were all sorts of dangerous animals and poisonous plants in a forest like this. A twig snapped in a different direction and she turned toward the sound of noise nervously. What if it was a wolf or a bear out on a hunt for a juicy piece of fresh red meat? Oh, dear, how stupid could she be, walking off randomly to clear her mind and not paying attention to where she was going? A small bush rustled again and Sydney whimpered. This was it. She was going to die tonight and she never even got the chance to tell Alex that despite his arrogance, she found him intriguing and attractive.
“Miss Steele?” A voice behind her had her jumping in the air with a small scream before turning around and swinging her fist blindly. It made contact with a hard surface and she groaned at the pain shooting up from her fingers all the way to her shoulder.
“Jason?” She gaped at the unfazed man in front of her. “What the hell are you doing here?” Another shooting pain in her hand had her cradling her fist to her chest. “And what the hell is your face made of? I think I broke my hand.” His gaze immediately focused on her hand and he pulled it gently toward him, inspecting the slightly swollen area.
“It looks like a fracture, but Mark should take a look at it just to be safe. Alpha will kill me if you broke it.” He got a blank look in his eyes as Sydney frowned up at him.
“Why does everyone call him that?” Jason blinked and glanced down at her again.
“You’ll learn soon enough. He and Mark are on their way.” Sydney took a step back.
“What? How did they…” The bush behind her rustled again and she involuntarily stepped closer to Jason again. “What was that?” she whispered. Jason took a sniff of the air before stiffening and pulling Sydney behind him.
“When I say so, you turn around and run straight.”
“What… Jason…”
“Just keep going straight, Alpha is close by and he’ll find you. Just run and don’t look back. Got it?” A twig snapped and Jason let out a threatening growl that had Sydney clutching frantically onto his arm.
“You are trespassing on Black Blood Territory. Show yourself.”
Sydney didn’t understand what the hell he was talking about but she sure as hell didn’t want to be the person Jason was talking to. His voice was dark and threatening. The next moment a man appeared in front of them. Dirty and dressed in tattered clothes, his teeth stained yellow, and his hair knotted and grimy.
“Well, looky here. Seems like we hit the jackpot tonight, boys.” His voice was creepy and Sydney tried to hide herself behind Jason as three more men, similar in appearance made their way toward who she assumed was the little gang’s leader.
“Aw, don’t hide, sweetheart, we don’t bite. That much.” The other men guffawed like the man had made the best joke ever.
“Do not speak to her. She is taken.” Jason’s voice was even deeper and it settled some of Sydney’s terrified shaking.
“Really? By you?”
“She belongs to Alpha Moore.” That silenced the sniggering group.
“How interesting. He and I have a score to settle. I couldn’t think of a better way to do it than taking his mate.”
“You aren’t taking her anywhere.” Jason pushed her back slightly and glanced back at her, mouthing the word ‘go’ before turning back toward the group of bush dwellers, as Sydney decided to christen them. She took a hesitant step backwards and that brought five pairs of eyes straight to her and she froze again.
“Don’t leave yet, honey. We’re going to have some fun.” Jason growled and lunged toward the men and Sydney screamed as his clothes ripped midair and his skin disappeared. Time seemed to slow down as the man in front of her turned into a wolf. Not a normal wolf—a huge wolf! Holy shit! And now she sounded like Bella Swan… fucking great.
Shaking her head slightly as her mind decided to wander at such a critical moment, she looked around her frantically. She noticed one of the men making his way toward her as the rest also turned into horse-sized wolves. A fight broke out with snarls, growls, and snaps and it was enough to fill Sydney’s blood with adrenaline. She turned around and started running as fast as she could. She kept telling herself to keep going, don’t look back, run straight. Keep going, don’t look back, run straight.
She could hear the man gaining on her and she let out a terrified whimper as she pushed her legs even harder. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something running toward her from the side but she didn’t dare turn her head to see what it was. She felt a gust of air before she heard a loud thump behind her and she glanced over her shoulder quickly. Another wolf had tackled the bush dweller chasing her and was now busy trying to rip his head from his body with his strong, blood-drenched jaws.
She let out a scream as she continued to run and before she knew it, her small backyard came into view. She jumped the fence gracefully before rushing inside, locking the door behind her and every window on the bottom floor. She raced upstairs, pulled her suitcase out from beneath her bed, and started throwing things inside. Her movements were rushed and frantic and she didn’t pay attention to what she was packing; all she knew was that she was getting the hell out of Dodge as soon as possible.
She should have left as soon as she lost her job and didn’t get another one, but something had held her back. Every time she felt like picking up to leave, she’d talked herself right out of it again—she had Marie, who she couldn’t leave behind. She loved the peace and quiet of the town, she loved the nature surrounding the town but most of all, if she was absolutely, brutally honest with herself, she couldn’t see herself leaving Alexander, despite loathing him most of the time.<
br />
She heard the kitchen door rattle from downstairs and she took a quick breath. What if the bush dweller had killed the wolf and was there for her? She had read enough paranormal books to have put two and two together during her run and her frantic packing. Werewolves. There was no other explanation for it. All the people flooding town. All the important and influential roles in town filled with new people. The sheriff had to be a werewolf in case there was some pack trouble, the same with Jason as the headmaster. The head of the hospital had to be a werewolf so that he could treat them without raising suspicion from the humans. That explained why every one of the newcomers were so freakishly well built, and the teenagers’ bouts of fighting must be from the werewolf genes kicking in, causing them to be easily angered until they reach a more mature age.
And Alexander. Oh, shit! Of course! He was the alpha male of the pack, which was why he was calling all the shots and everyone obeyed him and respected him. All of them must be living in the castle, which would explain why she didn’t see a lot of the new people in the neighborhood. A crash from downstairs had her jolting out of her musing and rushing to push her vanity table in front of her door to barricade it. She rushed to her bedside and picked up her trusty lamp. It was of solid steel and quite heavy and would make the perfect self-defense weapon. Her door rattled and she made her way to the corner of the room, gripping the lamp tightly.
“Sydney!” A loud banging sounded as someone knocked on the door, but she was too terrified to recognize the voice. The next moment her window shattered as a figure jumped inside. She screamed, swinging the lamp with all the strength she could muster from her shaking arms. The base of the lamp made a thudding sound as it hit its target, but to her utter disappointment, the person didn’t crumple to the floor as was usually the case in the movies. He merely turned her way with a growl and she gasped as she stepped back, her back coming into contact with the wall. Alexander stood in front her, his clothes bloodstained, his eyes black and his hands… his hands had long claws instead of fingers. It was simply too much for her to take in and with a whimper she felt darkness creep up on her and she fainted.
The Alpha's Stubborn Mate Page 2