Reparation (Sundown Wolves Book 2)

by Aria Chase

  Jared shook his head, his confusion evident. “What the hell are you rambling about?”

  Orion turned to stare at Alyra, pointing his finger. “Her. How can you take an Omega as mate? Surely, you know the pack won’t answer to her as Lupina, and she has neither the status nor strength to demand their respect. She weakens you, and if our Alpha’s weak, the entire pack is destabilized.”

  “That’s crazy. My mate has nothing to do with my position of Alpha.”

  “Don’t be naïve. Of course she does. We follow you and your mate. I won’t defer to an Omega.”

  Orion’s shoulders slumped, but Alyra felt no pity for the awkwardness of his situation. All she could feel was a cold ball of anger burning in her stomach, coupled with a sinking sensation of dread.

  “But I don’t want to challenge you over this, Jared. I still think you’re the best person to lead us. Becoming Alpha would mean making changes in my own life I’m not yet ready to undertake, but I will if I have to.”

  With narrowed eyes, Jared said, “We’re at an impasse, for it’s already done.”

  “Yes, to ensure your Ascension.” Orion waved a hand around the circle. “It’s no secret Elise broke her word and ran off with an Omega.” He spat the word with such disdain that Alyra’s skin crawled.

  “You know nothing—”

  “Assure me you will sever your mating, and I will stand down from my challenge.”

  A growl issued from Jared before he managed to speak any words that were intelligible. “Go to hell.”

  His friend looked sad as his eyes skimmed the circle, passing over Alyra without even a flicker of his eyelashes. “It’s what the pack wants. Return the Omega to her rightful position, and we’ll overlook the fact you aren’t mated.”

  “But I am mated, and no one will tell me to part with her. You don’t dictate my personal life, Orion. None of you do.”

  “Jared, don’t be stubborn.” Charlotte rushed forward. “Tell them about the contract.”

  “Mother, stay out of this.”

  “What contract?” Orion asked at the same time.

  Charlotte ignored Jared, turning to his challenger. “The marriage is only for two years. As you said, he only married her because he needed a mate. You must understand his position.”

  “I do understand.” Orion’s stance relaxed. “In light of that, I withdraw my challenge.” As he turned to go back to the circle, Jared took another step toward him.

  “Don’t be so quick to back down, friend. I have no intention of honoring that stupid contract. Alyra is the mate I have chosen, the mate of my heart.” His eyes focused on Alyra for just a second, and she thought she saw love in his gaze. “If you can’t accept her, then you can’t accept me either, and the challenge stands.”

  With a single nod, Orion turned back to Jared. “Very well.”

  Alyra examined Jared, noting his ebbing strength, and the profuse bleeding of the wounds on his chest and left leg. He walked with a limp. In top shape, he might have been an equal match for Orion. As he was now, she didn’t think he would last long, and it seemed impossible he could win.

  Her mouth firmed, and she thought of how her mother had ended up in a similar situation, turned out of the Rodesia pack after her father lost to a challenger. She had been alone in the world, pregnant with twins, and forced to find another pack that would accept her. With new admiration for her mother’s strength, Alyra stepped forward, swallowing the bitter taste in her mouth. “I’ll leave the pack.”

  “What?” Jared surged forward, only drawing up short when his leg started shaking, appearing near collapsing. “You don’t mean that, Alyra.”

  She couldn’t look at him, instead choosing to focus on Orion’s shoulder. “I will bow to the wishes of the pack and walk away from the mating. I never wanted to be Lupina.” Her eyes blurred, and she tried to force away thoughts of the unfairness of what she was doing. Would her children ever forgive her for taking them from their birthright? Could they ever understand she had done it to save their father’s life, not just his position as Alpha? “I only wanted to be his.” That, not the ancient ways of the pack, had been why she agreed to the sham of the marriage. Any other reason had been convenient justification to avoid acknowledging the pathetic truth that she wanted him any way she could have him.

  The assemblage was silent when Alyra turned her back to walk away. She had gone only a few steps when a hand fell on her shoulder. She recognized Jared by his touch and scent, and it took every ounce of strength not to turn around and bury her face against his chest, despite the bloody wound.

  “If that’s how the pack feels, so be it. I renounce my claim to ascend as the next Alpha.”

  She whirled so quickly a wave of dizziness assailed her. “You can’t do that. You’re meant to be the Alpha, Jared. You’ve been raised for this.”

  He stared down into her face, his expression solemn. “It’s true I’ve expected this all my life, but I find it means nothing without you. How I could be so blind to your presence for so long is a mystery, but now that I have you, I won’t let you go.” He turned his back on Orion and his sobbing mother, grasping her upper arms. “You’re the most important thing in my life now.”

  Her resolve weakened under the sincerity in his eyes and voice, and she leaned forward, resting her weight lightly against him. “Can you live with this? Will you one day hate me for costing you the position of Alpha?”

  “I can live with it, and quite easily, because I’ll have you. This is my choice, and the choice of the pack. You have nothing for which to feel blame.”

  When Jared claimed her mouth in a passionate kiss, Alyra gave no thought to refusing. Instead, her heart sang with joy, even as the urge to weep got the best of her. Tears flowed from her eyes, but she ignored them, lost in the moment with Jared, assured of how much she meant to him.

  When he lifted his head, Jared pulled her close to his side, and together, they turned to face Orion. Jared inclined his head slightly. “Congratulations, Orion. I hope the pack prospers under your leadership.”

  Alyra remained tense, knowing it still wasn’t over. If the pack accepted Orion as the new Alpha, he had the option of ordering the death of all the Sundowns, or at least their banishment from the island.

  In a surprising gesture, Orion bowed at the waist to Jared. “I withdraw my challenge. I thought you had made an impulsive decision that would lead the pack to ruin. I didn’t realize she was what your heart truly wanted. You’re the same man you’ve always been, Jared, and the one who should lead us.”

  Jared seemed on the verge of declining, but then nodded, a soft sigh escaping him. “You will treat my wife with all the respect she deserves. That goes for every member of the pack. If you can’t accept Alyra as Lupina, either challenge me or speak as one and tell us to leave. Make your choice.”

  Deep silence filled the clearing, stretching interminably. Alyra held her breath as the pack appeared to think over his ultimatum. Her tension grew until the first members of the pack bent into bows. Cries of, “Lupina,” issued from the crowd, and she realized with a start that the bows were for her, not Jared. A sensation of panic swept through her, and she took a deep breath to fight it back. Mimicking the nod Jared had issued to his vanquished challengers, hoping it was an appropriate response, she tried to project an air of confidence. Her mate’s arm around her waist bolstered her, and she was almost positive she wasn’t visibly trembling.

  Orion had just returned to his place in the circle when Jared spoke up again. “You’re wrong about one thing, Orion.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’m not the same man. I’m a better man, because of Alyra.”

  Perhaps it wasn’t dignified for the newly acknowledged Lupina to hug her husband so vigorously, but she couldn’t restrain herself. Alyra pressed kisses to his chest, careful to avoid the wound that still bled too freely. Countless emotions whirled through her, chief among them joy at knowing Jared loved her, that she wasn’t what he had
settled for. Her children would grow up secure in their birthright, and all was right with her world. He had given her the precious gift of his support and acceptance, and later tonight, after the Ascension was complete, she would tell him about the future arrival of the three gifts they had created together.

  “I love you, Alyra.” The words were whispered, meant only for her ears.

  “I love you too, Jared.” It was amazing to be able to freely utter the words she had buried in her secret heart for years, and even more amazing to have heard them from his lips first.

  As she kissed him again, she reminded herself to thank Elijah and Elise the next time she saw them. Without their love, hers and Jared’s wouldn’t have come to fruition. If Elijah and Elise hadn’t been brave enough to defy convention, Jared never would have been forced to do so either.

  Thanks to her brother, she was getting her longed-for happy ending.

  Bonus Excerpt: Distraction

  Orion seethed with jealousy. He wasn’t accustomed to feeling that way, especially for a woman to whom he had no claim. Why it bothered him to see one of the other partners talking so intently to his new personal assistant was a question best left unexamined. He had no right to be annoyed with the way Graham leaned in close to Natalie, or of the way his hand brushed against her side in a way that could have been accidental, but wasn’t.

  She didn’t seem to mind Graham’s attention. Just because Orion wasn’t sleeping with Natalie didn’t mean another man wasn’t, or that she wasn’t looking for one.

  That was the part that had him on the verge of stalking forward to shove Graham a few steps farther from Natalie to impose some much-needed distance between the couple. They didn’t seem too intimate, but that could change.

  Orion knew Graham didn’t share his conviction that interoffice romances were a bad idea. Knowing Graham’s history set him even more on-edge. It seemed likely that his partner would sweet-talk Natalie into his bed in no time. The other man had slept with most of the women who had worked at Garner, Taylor & Bosley, except for the high school interns and Mary, Orion’s recently retired PA. Only the fact she had been old enough to be Graham and Orion’s mother when she came to work for GT&B had spared her from his attentions.

  If Natalie was going to sleep with anyone in the company, it should be him. Orion gnashed his teeth in a futile attempt to push back the unwanted emotions assailing him. It had been like this since she started working for him last month. When Orion had interviewed her, he had found her womanly curves attractive, but didn’t let that influence his decision to hire her. He had found women attractive in the past and resisted their lure successfully.

  Yet Natalie was different. He spent half the day thinking about her soft body when he should focus on the stock market. The other half of the day he spent denying he was thinking about her, or staring at her, or inhaling her scent with his wolfish senses—and she smelled way too good to his wolf side. She haunted his dreams, leaving him aching with need and waking up drenched with sweat, his cock so hard it might explode if he had spent even one more minute dreaming of her.

  To be infatuated with a woman to this extent, at the age of thirty-eight, was frankly embarrassing. He hadn’t been so captivated since Patty Smyth, way back in eleventh grade. Despite the similarities to that teen crush, this was also completely different. He wanted Natalie with a mature passion. Where he had once dreamed of mysterious actions with Patty, his adult self knew the myriad ways he could enjoy Natalie’s voluptuous figure.

  It was torturous to deny himself the opportunity to explore that heavenly body, to bury his hands in her mane of wheat-blonde hair. He longed to rake his fingers through her wavy curls and wrap strands around his hands as he thrust into her, taking possession of her sweet body. All the valid reasons he’d had for not getting involved with his subordinates were thin as water when used to keep him from Natalie.

  As if his thoughts had conjured her gaze, she looked up from Graham, her eyes homing in on his immediately. A blush stained her cheeks, and he knew he didn’t imagine the spark of heat in her brown eyes. When she turned back to Graham, her posture suggested she was trying to withdraw from the conversation. Orion waited with bated breath, wondering if she would come to him.

  Instead, Natalie walked right past Orion, flashing him a brief, impersonal smile, as she made her way into her office. Though he had just left his office with the intent of meeting a client for lunch before allowing the cozy scene with Graham and Natalie to distract him, he followed her.

  Her office led to his, and he had every right to be there, but couldn’t seem to think of a reason when he walked in to find such a tempting sight. He bit back a groan and tried to ignore the jolt in his groin when he saw Natalie bent over to pick up something off the floor. Her buttocks were soft and shapely, displayed to best advantage by the cut of her gray skirt. She often wore shapeless skirts and dresses, so it was a rare pleasure to see part of her body so prominently.

  She stood up and started visibly when she saw him standing there. Orion wondered if he had hidden his hunger quickly enough. Judging by the heat suffusing her cheeks, and the way she smoothed her hair, probably not.

  “Did you need something, Mr. Taylor?”

  He shook his head, barely tramping down the urge to tell her explicitly what he needed. Orion reveled in her obvious nervousness. Much as it should have shamed him, he enjoyed throwing her off-balance. Any sort of reaction that indicated she shared the attraction pleased him.

  “I…um, did you forget something?”

  Without speaking, Orion turned and left the office. Part of his rushed exit had to do with seeing the clock and realizing he was about to be late to meet his client. The rest was in reaction to his impulse to jump on Natalie, tear off her clothes, and fuck her until they were both senseless.

  The animal impulse was at odds with his City persona. While in Seattle, he conducted himself in a manner that was strictly human. He was the consummate investor, wine aficionado, and sophisticate. It was only on Evergreen Island that he let his wolf side take over at all, and it had been years since he’d had to struggle to keep the two halves of his life separate. Until Natalie.

  As soon as she was certain Orion had truly left, Natalie collapsed into her leather office chair. Her heart was racing, and she found it difficult to breathe. Absently, she lifted the Childers file to fan herself. It wasn’t hot at all in the office. The air conditioning kept the temperature an efficient seventy-two degrees. His expression was what had left her overheated. She had stood up from retrieving her pen to find him staring so intently at her that she had been flustered. Before he had been able to hide it, his face had betrayed his desire for her. She definitely wasn’t imagining it.

  Ruefully, Natalie looked at her chest. Her breasts were large and surprisingly perky for their size, but that was her only socially acceptable feature. She was too plump and short to be fashion-plate material. More importantly, she liked food too much to attempt to become a “perfect” size two. A life spent subsisting on celery sticks didn’t appeal.

  Her hair was a boring blonde shade, and she knew no man would ever lose himself in her dull brown eyes. In short, she was average, and the kind of men she attracted were average too. Why would a man like Orion be interested in her?

  He was certainly gorgeous enough to have any woman. Well over six feet, he towered over most people and easily controlled any situation. Natalie knew instinctively he would still have the same effect had he been a foot shorter. He was solid and commanding, with an air of dominance that came from somewhere other than his physical height.

  Regular trips to the company gym ensured he maintained a trim, muscular physique his expertly tailored suits couldn’t disguise. His bold features and dark hair were arresting, even if they didn’t meet the classical definition of male beauty.

  Natalie had seen a number of women throw themselves at him—subtly and not so subtly—in the month she had worked for him. All of them had been incredibly beautiful,
elegant creatures who clearly had no trouble finding desirable mates. To her knowledge, not one of them had succeeded. He didn’t seem like Graham, who gave off a predatory air that told her he pursued every woman that might let him into her bed. Natalie wasn’t just a potential notch on Orion’s bedpost, so what did he want from her? Added all together, the equation still left her puzzled as to why Orion would desire her.

  Her face grew hotter when her brain supplied several interesting possibilities. Her nipples beaded, pressing against the silk bra as she pictured Orion naked, kneeling between her thighs, and prepared to enter her. She imagined his cock was as big and impressive as the rest of him. Her hand clenched as she anticipated what it would be like to hold the length in her palm, to pump his cock in her hand. Saliva flooded her mouth when she imagined taking his cock inside it, sucking on the thick shaft and pronounced head as he moaned and thrust deep into the back of her throat.

  A bead of perspiration dotted Natalie’s forehead, and she wiped it away. The file fell to the desk with a clatter as she balled her hand into a fist below the desk. Try as she might to push away the erotic images crowding her mind, she couldn’t seem to focus on anything else. The numbers on the spreadsheet before her blurred, and she closed her eyes. That increased the clarity of her imagination.

  Orion’s hand was on her thigh, pushing up the hem of her skirt. Without thought, Natalie’s hand mimicked the motion, sliding under her skirt. As the fantasy Orion reached her panties, she paused. He traced a finger down her slit through the silk, and she touched herself the same way. Her pussy was wet and throbbing, and she could feel the moisture through the scrap of underwear. Orion pushed aside her panties, and she did the same in real life. Part of her brain warned her she wasn’t acting rationally or responsibly. Anyone could enter the office at any time.