Claimed by the Alphas: Part Four

by Viola Rivard

  What had come over her? Asch had gone from zero to sixty in an instant, and she had been right there with him.

  Sounding disgruntled, Caim said, “It is time for us to leave.”

  Mila glanced back up. “Leave?”

  “We’re going to head out to the den,” Asch told her, his posture relaxing somewhat. He seemed to have cooled off a little, though his fingers were still tightly gripping her hips.

  “What den? We’re already in the den.”

  “No,” Asch said. He brought a hand up to smooth out her hair. “We’re going to go somewhere where we can continue this in private.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Near the edge of the valley, where the land met the mountain range, thick trees sprung from the ground and gathered in obstructive clusters. No path had been worn into the carpet of moldering leaves, but Caim’s brisk pace never faltered as he deftly navigated the night forest.

  The scenery blew by at a dizzying speed, and after a little while Mila closed her eyes and leaned back into Asch. He kept his arms firmly banded around her, though his hands could not stay still. Restlessly, they squeezed her hips and kneaded on her thighs. Combined with his hot breath on the nape of her neck and his relentless erection pressed against her backside, Mila found herself struggling to maintain the sobriety she desperately needed.

  The ride to the den wouldn’t last forever, and it was very unlikely that either alpha was going to be feeling conversational when they stopped. It would be up to her to act as the voice of reason. There were important things they needed to discuss.

  Realistically, she didn’t think she was going to be able to convince either of them to wait until she was ready to be a mom. She was still going to try, and if that didn’t work, they could at least lay down some ground rules.

  For one, she was not going to be cattle. She knew from the sparse details in Wolves of the Cordilleras that the first mating thrall was the strongest, and that in the future the males would have at least some level of control over their biological urges. She was going to make sure they were all in agreement about how many children she was going to have, which was two. She’d have the first one, and in a few years she’d have another with whichever alpha didn’t father the first one.

  For two, they needed to explain to her what exactly they planned to do about her giving birth. If they thought she was going to have a baby in a cave without doctors or drugs, they were out of their freaking minds.

  And for three, Caim was done with his ‘favorites.’ This one troubled her the most, because it seemed selfish of her to expect him to stay faithful to her when she was also sharing her bed with Asch. They were the ones that brought her into this situation though, and if Caim expected her to have his child then the least he could do was not screw Lotus and Sable.

  All she could hope was that she’d be able to keep her hormones in check long enough to get through the discussion.

  The den was much smaller than Mila had anticipated. Three large oaks stood sentry in front of the entrance, which was carved into the mountainside. It was much smaller than she’d anticipated. Neither man would be able to get in without ducking, and they definitely wouldn’t be able to enter in their wolf forms.

  Asch dismounted, pulling Mila down with him. Holding onto her hips, he turned her so that they were face to face.

  Nodding towards the den, he said, “This is where we’ll be staying for the next few days.”

  Her eyes bulged. “Days?”

  “I am tired. You should scout the perimeter before we retire.” Caim had shifted behind them. He draped an arm over Mila’s shoulders. “I will get her settled in.”

  Asch’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Haven’t you taken care of it already?” He sniffed at the air. “Your scent is all over the area.”

  Caim pulled Mila against his chest. She felt him shrug before he said, “I must have passed through while hunting.”

  “Fine,” Asch said, his upper lip curling with displeasure.

  Despite his disgruntlement, he leaned down to press a kiss to Mila’s cheek. His mouth brushed against the corner of her lips, sending an unexpected bolt of desire down her spine.

  Eyes lingering on her lips, he said, “I’ll be back soon.”

  Backing away, he shifted into a tall, coppery wolf and set out into the woods. Mila watched after him, but his large form quickly disappeared behind the trees.

  Caim entered the den first, lowering his head as he entered the narrow passageway. Mila followed closely behind. Rather than going in a straight line, the passage dipped and curved, growing increasingly darker as she descended. She put her hand on Caim’s back, allowing him to guide her as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

  Mostly to make conversation, she remarked, “I don’t see why he has to go scouting the area when we’re still in the valley.”

  Offhandedly, he replied, “He is making sure there are no cats.”

  Mila laughed to herself, mentally picturing the giant wolf running around the forest, chasing house cats up a tree. She knew that Caim had a sense of humor, but he didn’t usually joke with her.

  “That’s just silly,” she said as they came to a stop. The walls around her had opened up, and she presumed they were in some sort of small cavern, but she still couldn’t see well enough to make any anything more than dark shapes.

  She moved to feel her way around the room, but Caim’s hands shot out, grasping her hips. Before she could complete a thought, Mila found herself pressed up against the stone wall, trapped by Caim’s muscular body.

  “What are you—”

  Caim’s mouth came down on hers, hard and demanding. Responding without thinking, she immediately opened her mouth. He let out a grunt of pleasure and thrust his tongue deep inside her mouth.

  She was only vaguely aware of the jagged wall biting into her back, or the dull pain of Caim’s teeth as he handled her lips none too gently. Her physical perception expanded in the darkness, and she felt him in ways she never had before. The heat that radiated off of his body and into hers. The scratch of his facial hair as his mouth moved over hers. The sound of his powerful heart pounding against his ribcage.

  Caim pushed her legs apart with his knee, settling his throbbing arousal between her legs. She let go of the pelt, her greedy hands seeking out the bulging muscles of his chest. With his huge body, he made her feel small and delicate in a way that was both frightening and addicting.

  Most nights, Caim lavished attention on her breasts. He loved squeezing them in his hands, pinching and tugging at her nipples. He could take her nipple into his mouth, sucking and nipping until she was so tender that a single flick of his tongue could send her spiraling over the edge.

  Tonight, he made no move for her breasts. Instead his hands went to the fly of her jeans. She let out a small sound of protest as she felt him pop the button open. He ignored her, unzipping her pants and then moving to tug them down past her hips.

  Mila pushed at his chest, and when that didn’t work, brought her hands up to his neck. So far it was the only way she had learned to stop him when he became too overbearing.

  Caim pulled back from her face, letting out a sharp breath through his nostrils. “What?” he seethed.

  Still breathing heavily, she told him, “You’ve gotta slow down. There’s stuff we have to talk about.”

  “I do not have the patience for you games.”

  She clicked her tongue impatiently. “I’m not messing with you. Asch will be back soon, and then we can all sit down like three civilized adults that are about to commence in a life-long commitment to one another.”

  Releasing her from his hold, Caim took a few steps back. She staggered forward, letting out a sigh of relief. Her respite didn’t last long. Grabbing her by the arm, Caim pulled her farther into the room. She felt something soft between her toes before her pushed her back onto a bed of furs.

  With his usual air of entitlement, Caim said, “I need to be inside of you. We will talk later.”
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br />   He came down on the bed, moving to straddle her. Mila kicked her feet up, bracing them against his chest. It was enough to give him pause.

  “I said no.”

  “You said we needed to talk. We will talk. Later.”

  Stamping her foot against him for emphasis, she said, “I make the rules, and I say we talk first.”

  “Talking will serve to do nothing but delay the inevitable.”

  As always, he was right, but that didn’t mean she had to agree with him. She cursed and kicked at him as he removed her pants, seemingly oblivious to her struggle. Once her pants were off, he restrained her unruly legs with one heavily muscled thigh and then removed her top and bra.

  Once she was naked, Caim blanketed her body with his, pinning her to the floor. At the feel of his bare skin against hers, the lust that she’d tried to shake off came back in full-force. Liquid heat pooled between her thighs, and her body began to throb with anticipation.

  No matter how much her mind rebelled, her body was hoping that he ignored her protests. She needed to feel him, thick and hard and moving inside of her. When his mouth covered hers, Mila realized that everything else could wait, because the only thing she did know for certain was that she couldn’t deny him.

  Caim positioned himself between her legs, but made no move to enter her. On some level, she recognized that he was holding back, his control hanging by a thread. Maybe he was waiting for Asch to return or he was trying to be considerate of the fact that she had more or less told him to stop, she wasn’t sure.

  She hooked her legs around his waist and reached between them to grasp his cock, guiding him to her entrance. A feral growl burst out of him, and without hesitation he surged forward, burying himself to the hilt inside of her.

  She could feel the desperation in his hard thrusts, and it spurred her on. Rational thoughts fled her mind as she capitulated to a lust that was more potent than any she had yet experienced.

  Caim needed her. He needed her. None of the other females in the pack could satisfy his needs, could do for him what she could.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Since the moment he had thrown Mila against the wall and pressed her soft body against his, Caim’s only thought was that he needed to be inside of her.

  While he had never experienced the thrall firsthand, he understood what it entailed, and had fully prepared himself for the inevitable loss of control. Part of him had even anticipated it, exciting at the prospect of fully surrendering to his baser urges.

  But once he was finally inside of her, he was faced with a new need, one which eluded him and pushed him to the brink of madness.

  The need for release.

  The desire consumed him, and his cock strained within her as it swelled to the point of pain. Thrusting inside of her should have brought him at least a modicum of relief, but it only built the pressure. The pain and sensitivity grew with each thrust, but as if he were possessed, he couldn’t stop himself. Before long he was pounding into her, snarling each time his swollen crown slammed against the back of her hot sheath.

  He had never taken the human with such ferocity, but she gave no indication that he was harming her. If anything, she seemed to feed off his need, her inhibitions burning away under the searing heat of the mating thrall.

  She thrashed and writhed beneath him, her nails scoring his back as she cried out in ecstasy. Somehow, she was able to match his furious pace, her hips meeting his blow for blow.

  At the height of her pleasure she screamed his name and bit down hard on his neck. It was what he had needed. His eyes flew open, and he ground his cock into her one last time as every muscle in his body clenched.

  Caim roared with the force of his release. His body became wracked with spasms as he poured his seed into her in waves. A deep-seated relief suffused him. It was more than pleasure, and more than liberation from the pain. He felt fulfilled.

  He stayed on top of her for a few moments, both of them panting. The air around them was warm and thick with the scent of their mating. He could smell sweat mingled with blood—his blood—from where his enthralled little mate had bitten him. His lips twitched at the thought of her bite leaving a mark, one that he could taunt her with long after the thrall had passed.

  She squirmed beneath him, giving his chest a weak shove. He acquiesced to her unspoken demand, maneuvering their bodies so that they lay side by side. Too greedy to give up any part of her, he made sure that he stayed firmly planted inside of her wet depths.

  In a throaty voice, she said, “I bit you.” He heard her swallow. “Am going crazy?”

  Caim pulled her tighter against him, burying his nose in her hair. “It is the thrall.”

  “Oh,” she croaked.

  Seemingly of their own accord, his hips began moving again. Caim groaned. He had not even completely softened, and his cock was already hardening again. The walls of her sex tightened around him as he became fuller, and soon the pressure was building inside of him again.

  It was more bearable this time, though he still could not have stopped himself if he wanted to. His mate was more subdued as well. She moaned and whimpered as her rocked inside of her at an achingly slow pace. He took his time, running his hands over her supple body.

  In that moment, everything about her was perfect to Caim. He gave her thick thigh an appreciative squeeze before moving to the curve of her hips. On the way to her breasts his hand stopped, lingering on her fleshy stomach. With atavistic conviction, he knew that after tonight she would be carrying his pup, and the knowledge filled him with renewed purpose.

  She came just before him, her body trembling in his hold. His second release came, but was no less powerful. When his body finally stopped shuddering, Caim buried his nose in her hair once more, filling his lungs with her sweet scent.

  He was already hardening again when he heard the sound of footsteps coming from the den entrance. He knew it was Asch, and that he wouldn’t be pleased that Caim had taken their mate without him. It was Asch’s fault for naively trusting in him though, and Caim was fully prepared to point this out.

  But when he got his first glimpse at Asch, with his fangs bared and his face contorted in rage, Caim realized that what he hadn’t been prepared for was a fight.

  ~~~

  Throughout most of the time that she was acting like a dog in heat, Mila was loosely aware of the fact that Asch would be back at any moment. He had been gone for a lot longer than she’d anticipated though, and it was incredibly difficult to think about anything when her body felt like it was on fire. At one point, she was pretty sure that if someone had asked her if she’d rather climax or keep breathing, well, she would have died rapturously.

  By the time Caim abruptly pulled out of her, she could hardly be bothered to remember her own name. That was why it was particularly jarring when she turned around just in time to see Caim slamming his body into Asch’s.

  Mila struggled to take in the scene unfolding in the dark room. They snarled at one another as Caim grappled with Asch, pinning him against the wall. He had one large hand banding Asch’s wrists together, while the other was wrapped around his throat. Gasping, she jumped up, ignoring the ache between her thighs.

  Her mind racing, she grabbed Caim’s shoulder, desperately trying to pull him off. “Stop it! What are you doing? You’re going to hurt him!”

  “Get back, Mila,” Caim growled in response. She immediately complied, releasing him and taking a step back. He never said her name.

  Asch snarled, kicking at Caim’s legs. She couldn’t see Caim’s face, but she could tell from the tension in his body that he was straining to hold Asch at bay.

  “Please don’t hurt him.”

  “He is not in control and he could harm you. He needs to calm down,” Caim said, directing the last part at Asch.

  Mila realized that she’d automatically assumed Caim was fighting Asch for her, when in reality he was just trying to protect her. She took a step forward again, this time resting her hand on Asch�
��s arm. His skin was chilled from the night air.

  She wet her lips, and then said, “Asch, do you want me to warm you up?”

  Asch eased in his resistance, still breathing heavily. Mila trailed her hand up his arm and past his broad shoulders, placing her palm on the side of his face. She brushed her fingers across his hairline, lightly stroking him. He leaned his head into her touch.

  “You’re mine,” he rasped.

  She kept her voice low and placating. “That’s right, but I’m also Caim’s, remember?” She traced her finger around the shell of his ear, and then down his strong jawline. “I need you. Both of you.”

  Mila could feel the rigidity leave his body at her words. He leaned his head back against the wall, his shoulders slumping. With obvious reluctance, Caim released him, but made no move to step back. After a tense moment, Asch shouldered past him, taking Mila in his arms.

  His hold was tight and possessive, and Mila could feel his erection straining against her belly. She wanted to touch it, to take him into her hand as she had Caim, but before she could reach for him, Asch lifted her up. She gasped as he tossed her over his shoulder, hauling her over to the fur pallet.

  She could see Caim’s shadowed form still standing by the wall. He watched silently, making no move to join them as Asch lowered their bodies onto the furs.

  Mila was grateful for Caim’s restraint, because Asch was not in a compromising mood and she was in no position to mediate between them. The moment they were on the pallet, Asch flipped Mila onto her knees, sinking into her slick passage. When he was fully inside of her, he groaned, sounding almost pained. He needed her just as much as Caim had, and his desire was intoxicating.

  As Asch began wildly thrusting into her from behind, Mila began to lose herself to the thrall once more. Entrusting her mates with her care, she didn’t bother trying to find herself again.

  CHAPTER SIX