Enslaved by the Alpha: Part Three

by Rivard, Viola

  “You don’t speak like that to anyone in my pack,” he ground out. Sten appeared at his side, presumably to mediate, but it was ultimately unnecessary. Tallow immediately backed off, lowering her head to glare at the ground. Apparently, an alpha’s authority transcended pack lines.

  Dark figures appeared in the distance, stemming any further conversation. Tallow backed away, and Erik made no move to stop her as she shifted and went to join the others.

  Astrid counted fourteen Siluit wolves, not including Zane. The Siluit alpha approached in his human form, riding on the back of a large white beta wolf.

  Astrid probably knew more about Zane than she did about Erik. She’d watched The Wolves of Nunavut several times before leaving the states, determined to know what she was up against. On the surface, Zane was a smooth, charming male with a pretty face and an easy smile. But beneath his façade, he was vain, arrogant, and manipulative. So in many ways, he was exactly like Ginnifer.

  “I should kill you right now,” Zane said, staring at Erik with open hostility.

  Erik glanced around the battlefield, with a bored look. “Why? Because I didn’t come sooner?”

  A muscle in Zane’s jaw ticked, but he didn’t argue. He jumped down from the wolf to stand a few feet away from Erik. In spite of his pretty boy appearance, Zane was actually quite intimidating when he was angry. Still, Erik had a few inches and several pounds of muscle mass on the other alpha, and Erik’s calm demeanor was infinitely more frightening.

  Zane looked between Erik’s wolves, his gaze falling and sticking on Astrid. She saw his nostrils flare and confusion pass over his features.

  “Who are you?” He asked.

  Erik answered for her. “My mate. And she is here to see her sister.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Mate?

  “Astrid?” Zane asked, brows rising with surprise.

  He called me his mate…

  “Huh, what—uh, yeah, that’s me.”

  Real smooth, Astrid.

  The voices in her head were having a field day with this situation. She’d been planning out her confrontation with Zane for days. She had a speech prepared, in which she demanded he return her sister, or else. But what Erik said had thrown her completely off her game. She looked at Erik, eyes wide. He stared back at her, expression perfectly blank.

  He’s just working some sort of angle, she told herself.

  She didn’t have time to figure out what Erik was playing at; she had to stay on target. She turned her attention back to Zane.

  “Where’s Ginnifer? I know you have her.”

  Zane visibly tensed. “I’m sorry, but she’s not here.”

  “If you’re going to lie, at least don’t be smelling like her when you do. It’s insulting to my intelligence,” said Erik.

  “What are you doing with him?” Zane asked Astrid. “Is he holding you against your will?”

  “No,” Astrid said. She wasn’t about to turn herself over to become Zane’s captive instead. “I’m here of my own volition. Now please, I want to see my sister.”

  Zane exchanged a look with Tallow, and then scratched his beard. “Fine, you can come see her. But the rest of them aren’t going anywhere near my den.”

  Erik’s composure vanished as he began to growl. “She is not going anywhere without me.”

  Zane matched his growl. Under any other circumstances, it would have seemed ridiculous for two grown men to be growling at one another, but tension between the two alphas was palpable and unnerving. Astrid stepped forward, coming to stand beside Erik.

  “Just let Erik come with me.” She decided to appeal to his pride. “It’s not like he’s going to attack you or your pack mates in the middle of your own den. And if he does try something that utterly stupid, I’d bet you could kill him pretty easily.”

  Erik was still scowling at her an hour later, when they were on their way to the Siluit den. Zane agreed to bring them to see Ginnifer, under the conditions that Erik not shift, and that Sten and the others stay behind.

  Without Erik’s back to ride on, Astrid’s short legs quickly grew weak. When she began to lag behind, Erik scooped her up into his arms to carry her. She was way too tired to protest.

  The Siluit den was located on an icy peninsula. Rather than go around, they crowded onto two wooden boats to cross the water. This wasn’t a surprise to Astrid, as she’d seen Ginnifer make the journey across the inlet several times in the documentary.

  The sun was already starting to set when they neared the peninsula. Neither alpha spoke on the boat ride, though they both looked like they had a great deal to say to one another. Astrid suspected they were waiting until they didn’t have an audience. Erik had wrapped Astrid up in his pelt to keep her warm, and she was still conflicted over the way he was treating her. What if he really did think that they were mates? She wanted to ask him about it so badly, but couldn’t risk exposing the lie in Zane’s presence.

  Erik didn’t carry Astrid the rest of the way, but the path to the den was well worn and it made for an easy walk. The den was only a mile in from the shore. With the natural water barriers around it, they hadn’t bothered hiding the entrance to the large cave system that was their den.

  The inside of their den felt much warmer than the Amarok den, though it could have just been Astrid’s imagination. After all, she’d spent nearly a week out on the tundra. At this point, the inside of a refrigerator would probably feel warm to her.

  Astrid recognized the main room. In the documentary, it was where the pack had congregated during their waking hours. The giant bonfire in the middle of the room was familiar, though looking around, it seemed more sparsely populated than before. One thing that struck her was how many children there were. She counted at least a dozen kids of all different ages, which was strange because there had been no pups in the documentary.

  Her eyes fell on Ginnifer almost instantly, despite the fact that her sister was barely recognizable. She wore a dress made of dark leather and fur, and her angular face was free of makeup. Two little girls were styling her long dark hair, tying it into loose, uneven braids. When she saw them arrive, Ginnifer had the girls help her up. Astrid stopped dead in her tracks, her throat tightening. Her sister was visibly pregnant.

  “What happened?” Ginnifer asked, scuttling over to Zane. She cupped his cheek. “Is everything all right? Were you hurt?”

  “I’m fine,” Zane said, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. “But not everyone made it back…”

  Ginnifer’s eyes scanned the group. When she noticed Astrid she gasped, her hand flying to her chest. “Oh my gosh!”

  She brushed past Zane, running up to envelop Astrid in a big hug. Astrid rigidly accepted it.

  “What are you doing here?” Ginnifer drew back, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. She tugged at the pelt Astrid wore. “My God, look at you, you’re all…”

  Ginnifer trailed off as she noticed Erik standing just a few feet away. “What’s he doing here?”

  “He’s with me,” Astrid said. She stopped Ginnifer before she could continue her questioning. “Look, can we talk, in private?”

  Ginnifer didn’t need to be asked twice. She was already pulling Astrid away as she said, “Yes, of course. Come on, I’ll show you my room.”

  “Take Tallow with you,” Zane ordered.

  Ginnifer narrowed her eyes on Tallow. “Not a chance. This is my sister. Buzz off.”

  ***

  Erik felt intensely uncomfortable watching the human disappear with her sister. He’d wanted badly to intervene and stop her from leaving without him, but even his wolf knew that it was a bad idea. This was not his den. Here, he would have to play by Siluit rules, at least, for now.

  There had been a great deal of blood shed between Amarok and Siluit, and although Erik had saved Zane’s wolves today, he had no doubt that the alpha would have taken the opportunity to kill Erik, had he not presented himself as the human’s mate. And just as Erik had suspected, Zane had clai
med her sister as his own.

  Zane headed back towards the entrance of the den, motioning for Erik to join him. His beta female tried to follow, but Zane stopped her with a hard look.

  Outside, the faint glow of golden sunlight could still be seen over the western hills. A soft flurry of snow had begun to fall, blanketing the region in winter silence. Zane leaned back against the wall.

  “Just so you know, if Astrid lays a finger on my mate, she’s dead.”

  Erik said nothing, but couldn’t stop from clenching his fists. This didn’t go unnoticed by Zane, who regarded him with an arched brow.

  “Huh. I thought you were bullshitting when you said she was your mate.”

  Erik ignored the comment. “My pack will be using your hunting grounds this winter.”

  Zane laughed out loud. “Over my dead body.”

  “Don’t tempt me.”

  “This is a one-time exception,” Zane said, crossing and uncrossing his arms. “If I catch your wolves hunting in my territory, I’ll kill them myself.”

  It was not lost on Erik that that statement bothered him less than when Zane had threatened the human.

  “So you will allow your mate’s sister to starve?”

  “You’ve never had trouble providing for your pack before.”

  “I never said I couldn’t provide for them,” Erik said, with a sly look that was completely forced. He would never starve the human. At least, not intentionally.

  Zane took the bait. “Don’t you dare threaten her.”

  “Weren’t you just saying you’d kill her if she touched your mate?”

  “I was just—ugh, never mind.” Zane ran a hand through his thick brown hair. “I’m not going to hurt Astrid. And if you honestly plan on depriving her of food just because I won’t let you hunt in my territory, I’ll just keep her here.”

  Erik’s wolf saw red, but he remained composed as he said, “Go ahead. That is, if you’re in a position to go to war with Amarok. But I get the impression that is not the case.”

  The more Erik considered it, the more he realized how dire Zane’s position actually was. From what he’d seen in the den, the Siluit pack was dwindling. With a pregnant mate and the bears closing in, their alpha was backed into a corner. If Erik wanted to, he could probably launch a successful takeover of the pack. Of course, then he’d be dealing with the bears himself.

  “If what just happened out on the tundra was any indication,” Erik said. “Then you need me more than you need the hunting grounds.”

  Zane appeared guarded. “You’re proposing an alliance?”

  Am I?

  Perhaps it would be in his best interests to ally with Zane. After all, if Siluit fell, it would only be a matter of time before the bears looked towards Amarok. Erik had always been more the conqueror than the diplomat, but even he could see how such an arrangement could be beneficial for both parties.

  “What if I am?” he asked, the question sounding strange to his own ears. He’d come to Siluit planning on making demands, not forging an alliance.

  Zane did not share Erik’s reticence. “Then you’d have my attention.”

  Erik hadn’t anticipated Zane would be so open to allying Siluit and Amarok. Their packs had been at odds with one another for years, and under Erik’s rule, Amarok had overthrown many of Zane’s former allies.

  “My pack has free rein over your hunting grounds,” Erik said. “In exchange, I’ll send you six of my best fighters, with reinforcements as needed.”

  If someone had made Erik the same offer, he would not have thought twice about rejecting it. Six additional mouths to feed, while another pack tore apart his hunting grounds? Absurd.

  “You have a deal.”

  “Just like that?” Erik asked, suddenly suspicious.

  It felt too easy. Zane had overlooked years of bad blood with just minutes of conversation and an agreement that overwhelmingly favored Erik’s pack. Was he really that desperate?

  “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows,” Zane said with a sigh. “I won’t insult your intelligence by pretending I don’t need this. I was hoping you actually needed my hunting grounds and didn’t just come here to be an asshole, but I can see that’s not the case. If you’re really willing to help, I can’t really say no.”

  Zane turned to look out over the western horizon. “That attack today, it makes thirteen wolves I’ve lost in just the past two months. The bears are going to whittle us down to nothing if I don’t do something soon.” He paused, before saying, “If it weren’t for my sisters, I’d just take Ginnifer and leave without looking back…”

  “You’re making a better case for me to side with the bears,” Erik grunted.

  Zane turned back to face Erik, his open demeanor gone. “Your wolves stick to the western edge of the hunting grounds, I’ll order mine to keep to the east. There should be more than enough muskox to get us both through the winter. And don’t even think about betraying me.”

  “Or you’ll do what?”

  He had no intention of betraying Zane, but it amused Erik to finally have him backed into a corner. While Erik had fought tooth and nail for each centimeter of his territory, Zane had been handed everything from his father. At long last, justice had prevailed.

  “Don’t fuck with me, Erik,” Zane said. “My scouts have tracked the bears back to where they’re coming from. There are too many of them, even for you.”

  “I doubt that.”

  Zane spat at the ground. “How can you be so self-centered? You have a mate now, you’ll have a family soon—”

  Erik cut him off. “And that is exactly why you are failing as an alpha. If you were as dedicated to your pack as you were to your mate, your wolves wouldn’t be dead. If anyone is self-centered, it is you. I would never so much as think of abandoning my pack to elope with a human, mate or not. The pack always comes first.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “Pardon the mess,” Ginnifer said, as she led Astrid into her room. “You know how I am. If I clean, I won’t be able to find anything.”

  Although she’d never seen the room before, Astrid could have easily identified it as Ginnifer’s. Clothes were strewn about from corner to corner and the shelves were unevenly crammed with books and loose sheets of notebook paper. Ginnifer picked up a chair that had fallen over and kicked dirty laundry out of the way to clear a path to the bed.

  “I’m pretty sure Zane has given up entirely on ever having a clean room.”

  Astrid recognized her sister’s habit of making small talk when she was nervous, something they’d both inherited from their grandmother. She remained silent and solemn, waiting for an opening to speak.

  “So, details please. What the hell are you doing with Erik? Do you have any idea how dangerous that guy is?”

  And there it was. “Yeah, I do. He and his wolves killed the rescue crew I came here with.”

  Ginnifer’s eyes widened. “Rescue crew?”

  “Did you think I came up here to ‘immerse myself in werewolf culture’?” she asked, using the very words her sister had used before she’d left on her first expedition to Nunavut. “I came to bring you home.”

  “Astrid, I…” she motioned down to her belly, which looked ready to pop.

  “Is that why you came back here, because he got you pregnant? And my God, is that some sort of werewolf thing, because you weren’t pregnant when I saw you two months ago.”

  “It’s been almost three months since I left, and I was pregnant. I was hiding it. And I didn’t come back because I was pregnant, I came back because I love Zane.”

  “You love him?” Astrid asked. She put her hands on her hips, knowing full well that it made her look like their mother. “I saw the documentary. When you first met Zane, he held you against your will. He threatened to kill you. How could you possibly fall in love with him?”

  That would be as stupid as Astrid falling in love with Erik.

  “He didn’t know me then, but we spent a lot of time togethe
r while I was filming. Yes, you saw him being a bit of a jerk in the beginning, but you also saw him come around towards the end. You know he’s a good guy.”

  In The Wolves of Nunavut, Zane had eventually let Ginnifer go and he agreed to let her film the pack. From there, Ginnifer had shadowed the pack for weeks, though the film had become increasingly focused on Zane. He had opened up to Ginnifer about his struggles as an alpha and his aspirations for the future. By the end, it had felt like there was a connection between the two of them, but Astrid had believed it was purely the work of good editing and Ginnifer’s desire to make a compelling documentary. After all, Ginnifer had hardly mentioned the alpha when she returned and she hadn’t seemed at all like she was pining over him.

  “No, Ginnifer, I don’t know anything about him because you haven’t told me anything about him. Hell, you spent a whole week with me in Miami and you didn’t even think to mention that you were pregnant.”

  Ginnifer put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to upset you. I know how hard you and Neil tried. I figured the last thing you wanted to hear was that I accidentally got pregnant with the first man I slept with in years.”

  “Accidentally?” Astrid repeated. “How do you accidentally get pregnant? Why did you have sex without birth control? You’re always so careless.”

  Ginnifer flopped down onto her bed and put her head in her hands. “See? I knew you’d be upset.”

  “I’m not upset that you’re pregnant, I’m upset that you threw away your life—your very awesome and successful life—to come live in a cave and have a baby in the middle of the tundra. I’m upset that you lied to me for months and then just disappeared, leaving me to deal with mom and dad. They gave you everything, and you just left them without so much as a goodbye. You’re so selfish!”

  By the time she finished ranting, Astrid was on the brink of hyperventilating. Her face was hot with anger and she was barely able to catch her breath.

  Ginnifer just looked up at her, tears in her big, brown eyes. “I know. I’m sorry.”

  Astrid tugged at her hair. “Don’t do that, I hate when you do that. Can’t you please just argue with me?”