Enslaved by the Alpha: Part Three
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Ginnifer began to sniffle. “How can I argue with you when you’re right? I am selfish, and I’m sorry.”
Astrid sat down beside her and sighed. “I can’t be mad at you if you keep apologizing.”
“Then don’t be mad,” her sister said, leaning against Astrid’s shoulder.
They sat together for a few minutes in quiet contemplation. Astrid felt completely deflated. A deep void was left where her anger had been, and in it, sorrow began to gather.
“You’re not going back, are you?” Astrid asked.
Ginnifer shook her head.
“Never?”
“Probably not, no.”
“Is he really worth it?” Astrid asked.
“Astrid…I was unhappy for a long time. But when I’m with Zane, I don’t feel like I’m just going through the motions anymore. I feel like I’m finally living my life, and baby or no baby, I couldn’t possibly go back to the way things were before.”
The way things were before?
Astrid couldn’t summon her anger back from the void. Instead, she felt tears begin to prick at her eyes. Within seconds, her eyes were burning, and she had to covertly swipe them with the back of her hand. If Ginnifer saw her cry, Astrid would go off on her again, only this time it would be a lot less yelling and whole lot of sobbing.
It made no sense to her, how Ginnifer could take so much for granted. While their parents had hefted responsibility on Astrid and expected her to be the dutiful daughter, they had decided early on that Ginnifer was too creative to be stifled. When Astrid had confessed to them that she wanted to go to a famous arts school to study fashion design, her parents had refused to pay for college unless she chose a more practical major. But when Ginnifer had dropped out of her liberal arts university one semester before she was due to get her degree in medieval literature, it was only a few weeks before their mom was buying her a three thousand dollar camera so she could follow her dream of becoming an indie filmmaker.
Aside from having unconditional love and support from their family, Ginnifer was also stunningly beautiful. She was a social butterfly who made friends easily and had men enamored with her everywhere she went.
If there was one thing Astrid hated about herself, it was how much she envied her sister. There were times in her life when she would have given anything to be Ginnifer, and yet here Ginnifer sat, claiming that nothing she’d had made her happy.
Astrid couldn’t stop herself from asking, “Do you really believe that this life is going to satisfy you when nothing else has?”
Ginnifer lifted her head. “I know how this must look to you, but there’s so much you don’t know about me. And that’s my fault; I should have opened up more to you. But you have to trust me when I tell you that this is where I belong.”
Astrid tried to think of more to say, but she couldn’t. So she nodded, and stood.
Ginnifer grabbed the hem of Astrid’s shirt. “You’ll tell mom and dad that I’m sorry and that I love them?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Do you need help getting home? Our numbers are pretty tight here, but I’m sure we can spare someone to take you to town.”
“Erik will take me home.”
Astrid knew that she’d probably regret saying this later, but at the moment, she couldn’t bear the thought of admitting the truth. It was too humiliating. She had come to Nunavut to rescue Ginnifer for the big bad wolf, and not only did Ginnifer not need or want saving, but Astrid had ended up in the claws of an even worse wolf.
And if her pride wasn’t enough to keep her from admitting the truth, there was also the added fact that Erik wasn’t likely to let her go without a fight. If she accepted Ginnifer’s help, it could cause further conflict between Siluit and Amarok. She’d already acted once without regard for the wolves, she couldn’t do it again. One way or another, she would find a way to save herself from Erik.
“What’s the deal with you two?” Ginnifer asked. “Didn’t you say that he killed your crew?”
“It was their own fault. They were planning on attacking his pack. Erik did what he had to do, and he spared me. I told him I was looking for you, and he offered to bring me to Siluit.”
Astrid was amazed at how well she sugarcoated the screwed up week that she’d had.
“Wow,” Ginnifer said with a smile. “I knew the others had to be exaggerating about him. No one can be that cruel.”
“Yeah… Anyway, you mind showing me back to the main room? Erik is probably waiting for me.”
“Sure, do you mind helping me up?” she asked, reaching out a hand. With considerable effort, Astrid pulled her up. Ginnifer patted her belly. “Thanks. I can’t wait for this kid to get out. I want my body back.”
Astrid gave a half-hearted smile. “Come on, let’s get moving.”
CHAPTER SIX
Erik and Zane stood with several other males by the far entrance to the main room. As soon as Astrid stepped into the room, she and Erik’s eyes met and locked. He seemed to look her over, assessing her condition, and for some reason it made her uncomfortable.
Children gravitated towards Ginnifer, crowding around her legs as she entered the room. They offered Astrid a welcome distraction, and she quickly looked away from Erik.
“There are so many kids here,” Astrid remarked.
It took Ginnifer a moment to respond, as she was being assaulted by tiny voices. “That was one of the hardest parts of filming. My agreement with Zane stipulated that I couldn’t tape any of the pups. He was afraid that if outsides knew how many little ones were here, they’d try to find the pack and,” she lowered her voice to a whisper, “poach them.”
It wasn’t the first time Astrid had heard about humans coming after werewolf pups, but it was still just as upsetting.
When they reached the men, Zane swatted at the air, ordering the children to disperse. He hooked an arm around Ginnifer’s waist, but she seemed to hardly notice him as she looked around, scanning the room.
“Where’s Tallow? I want to introduce her to my sister.”
“We’ve met,” Astrid said, cringing at the memory. “She’s not a fan.”
“Oh, nonsense,” said Ginnifer. “She’s a little rough around the edges, but she’ll warm up to you in no time.”
Zane pulled Ginnifer in close. “Tallow went for a run.”
“What? She just got back from hunting. By the way, when are we eating?”
“Gin…” Zane paused, giving his mate a pained look. “There was another attack today. Some of the wolves didn’t make it back.”
Ginnifer made a strangled noise and brought her hand up to her mouth. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“You were so excited to see your sister. I didn’t want to take that from you.”
“What happened? Who did they kill?”
Zane pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “We’ll talk in a bit. Why don’t you say goodbye to your sister?”
“Goodbye?” Ginnifer asked. If it were possible, she looked even sadder. “Why goodbye? Astrid should stay for a least a few nights.”
“No.” Erik and Astrid answered simultaneously. Up until that point, Astrid had been avoiding acknowledging his presence, even as she’d sensed him come to stand beside her. Now, they exchanged glances.
Astrid looked back at her sister. “We really have to get going. We have a lot of ground to cover.”
Ginnifer looked like she was about to break down. “But you only just got here. You can’t leave so—”
“Suddenly?” Astrid immediately felt bad. She reached out to pat Ginnifer on the shoulder. “I really do wish you the best.”
“Do want an escort across the inlet?” Zane asked, directing the question at Erik.
“That won’t be necessary,” Erik said. “My wolves will be here in a fortnight. Try not to die before then.”
He placed a hand on Astrid’s back and led her away. As they headed towards the exit, Astrid looked back to see Zane speaking softly to Ginnifer. She wat
ched as her sister put her head against his chest and began to cry.
Astrid turned to face the path ahead. She reminded herself that this was the life Ginnifer had chosen, and at great expense to those who loved her. Astrid couldn’t afford to focus on her sister’s problems; she had enough of her own.
“You and Zane seemed pretty civil,” Astrid said once they were farther down the tunnel. She was pleasantly surprised when Erik answered her.
“We made an alliance.”
Her brows rose. “An alliance? I thought you two were rivals?”
“Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.”
Astrid cracked a grin, unable to keep a straight face. “Do you even know what that means?”
Erik smirked. “No.”
“That sounds like something my sister would say.”
“She seems well,” he remarked.
She grimaced. “Just say it. I’m a complete idiot for coming here.”
Erik said nothing, and her words echoed in the silence, ricocheting off the tunnel walls. In a quiet moment of weakness, she reached out and squeezed Erik’s hand.
“Please don’t go back to ignoring me,” she said. “I really need someone to talk to.”
It embarrassed her to plead with him, but she had nowhere else to turn to. She needed to lean on someone, and Erik was the only one there.
If this isn’t Stockholm’s syndrome, I don’t know what is.
They reached the mouth of the cave. A storm was brewing outside. Wind tossed around the snow that lay on the ground, while fresh flurries fell from the sky. Erik turned to look down at her, his face shadowed in the dim evening light.
“Just because I am not speaking, does not mean I am not listening.”
Astrid was too choked up to answer. Erik pried her hand from his.
“I am going to shift now,” he said.
“Zane said you’re not supposed to shift in his territory,” she said, finding her voice.
Erik cast her a sly look. “If Zane wants to punish me, he’ll have to catch me first.
***
Once they were back on the mainland, Erik headed north towards a mountainous region that was sure to harbor suitable shelter. He didn’t bother looking for Sten and the others, for the same reason he hadn’t spent the night at the Siluit den.
He needed sleep.
During their journey, he’d put off sleeping for as long as he could. He’d rested for a few hours here and there, but had made sure to have his brother wake him before he’d descended into a truly deep sleep. Erik was wiped out, and fortunately for him, the human was accustomed to unusual sleeping patterns. She also slept for longer than the wolves, which meant that there was a good chance he’d be awake before her.
He searched the foothills of the mountains for over an hour, and nearly turned back to return to the Siluit den. He wouldn’t be able to sleep there, but he knew that the human could only withstand the winter storm for so long. He could feel her trembling on his back, and the memory of her pale and near-lifeless body still stuck with him.
As the storm began to pick up, he found a small cavern they could rest in. The opening was too narrow for his wolf form, and he had to shift to slip inside. During the brief interval between shifting and covering himself with his pelt, the icy wind felt like splinters on his body. He was quite tempered against the cold, and so he knew that it would be more than the human could handle. When they got inside, he went to inspect her, but she was already babbling away, a sure sign that she was fine.
“I can’t believe this weather,” she said, rubbing her hands together. “Are winters always this terrible? How do people live up here?”
Erik found a dry corner and laid down, relieved to stretch out his tired limbs. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.
“It’s so cold in here. Can we start a fire?”
He didn’t open his eyes, but he knew that if he didn’t answer her, she’d just keep talking. “With what?”
“Fair enough,” she said, coming to sit beside him. “But how are we going to see anything?”
“The only things you need to see are the backs of your eyelids, now go to sleep.”
“I can’t sleep, it’s too cold. I’ll probably die of hypothermia.”
Erik spread his pelt out so that it covered the both of them. It was wet from snow, but his body was already warming the inside. She sat quietly beside him for a few moments, and then finally gave in and pressed her body against his. Her clothes were worse off than his pelt, and he considered having her take them off, but was too tired to argue with her.
Despite his exhaustion, sleep eluded Erik. Being in such close quarters, with her body melded to his, he felt himself growing hard. Erik refused to indulge his desires, but couldn’t stop his fingers from idly stroking her hair. He could tell from the cadence of her breathing that she wasn’t sleeping either. He sniffed the air, trying to convince his restless wolf that she wasn’t aroused and wouldn’t be receptive to his advances. Instead, he caught a faint whiff of salt.
Tears had a scent that was distinctly different than sweat. It was a cleaner, purer scent, but was usually accompanied by the smell of mucous. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes to look down at her. He could only see the top of her head, and didn’t feel particularly motivated to investigate further. At least, not until a few sleepless moments later.
“Why are you crying?”
“I’m not crying,” she said in an unconvincing voice.
He should have left it at that.
“You were crying back at the Siluit den as well.”
When she’d emerged with her sister, her eyes had been red and puffy. It was only after he mentioned it that he realized how much it had been bothering him.
Why did he care?
“I was sad about having to leave,” she said. “I’m going to miss Ginnifer a lot.”
“Lie.”
“What? I’m not lying,” she said, sounding affronted. “She’s my sister. I’ll probably never see her again. Of course I’ll miss her.”
“Perhaps. But you did not want to stay and you did not smile at her once.”
“Oh, so now you’re the expert on smiling?”
She cast him an annoyed look and he held her gaze. He didn’t think it was light enough for her to see him with her weak human eyesight, yet as always, she seemed to know exactly where his eyes were.
He waited, unwilling to entertain her sarcasm with a serious response. The muscles in her face began to twitch, and he was confused, until her chin started to wobble. Then, his body tensed as she began to cry. Her mouth hung open and an endless stream of pitiful sounds flowed from it, as tears rolled down her face.
“What are you doing?” he asked, backing away from her until his back was pressed flat against the wall. “Stop that.”
She cried harder, her mouth now forming barely coherent words in between the sobs. “He loves her. I could tell from the way he looked at her that he really loves her.”
“Who?” Erik grunted.
“Zane,” she said, the name stretching out in a long whine. “He loves her and Ginnifer loves him and they’re going to have a baby together.”
Erik found it rather appalling as well, but it certainly wasn’t anything to cry over. He tried to tell her this, but she didn’t seem to hear him over her own sobbing.
“It’s just one more thing that she has over me,” she cried. “She’s prettier than me, funnier than me, and better at everything. She’s even better at getting kidnapped than me. How come she got kidnapped by a nice guy, and I got stuck with you? No offense, you’re just really mean.”
Erik was dumbfounded. He’d never in his life dealt with a crying female that he couldn’t walk away from, and this experience was exceptionally bizarre. He would not want anyone to think of him as nice, yet when she called him mean, he felt slightly insulted.
While he was trying to decide how to react, she confused him even further. Still crying, she reste
d her head on his chest and nuzzled against him. Everything in his head told him to push her off and order her to stop once again. However, his hand worked of its own accord, settling on her back and rubbing in a circular motion. It must have been guided by some innate instinct he was not aware of, because she soon settled, her cries becoming soft sniffles.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve been competing with her my whole life. When I got married and tried to have a family, I felt like I was finally doing my own thing, like I wasn’t orbiting around her for once. But here I am now, single and childless, and she’s in love and about to have a baby…”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “Why can’t I have that?”
“You want a mate and a pup?” Erik asked, trying to make sense of her stream of words.
“More than anything,” she whispered.
It was something Erik could not relate to. The tundra was harsh and unforgiving. Some years, prey was scarce. Others, the weather could be relentlessly brutal. Turf wars and poachers made stability near impossible to achieve. To produce offspring in such an environment had always seemed grossly negligent to Erik.
Pups were small and vulnerable things, and the world was large and dangerous. He saw the way Sten constantly worried over his daughter, and it had only reinforced his decision not to take a mate and have pups of his own. How could he be the alpha his pack needed, while spending his days sniffing after his wayward young?
The human was still lying against his chest, her eyes downcast and her expression dull. She was no longer crying, but he almost wished she was. He’d rather she be annoying than depressing.
Erik realized that he could make a strong case for taking her back to Siluit. In many ways, she was just as distracting as a pup, albeit, in different ways. She had no sense of smell or direction to keep her from getting lost without supervision. She couldn’t keep herself warm and she couldn’t hunt to feed herself. She relied on him for everything, and if he kept her, that fact would never change.
But while she might have been even more of a burden than a pup, he would not let her go. Erik wasn’t even sure he’d get bored with her. Aside from the fact that she could make him hard with the slightest touch, the thought of her taking another male made him want to draw blood.