Alex back from her lips and grabbed both her hands, pinning them over her head. She cried out and bucked her hips up at him. He shook his head and he put his finger on her lips to indicate silence, then she went still. The hand moved lower, down her stomach, until it disappeared under her sleep shorts.
He teased her at first, his fingers skimming over her clit as he moved up and down her pussy. She grew wetter at his touch, and he spread her juices all over her sweet little cunt. Her smell became overpowering and but he knew he had to focus on this task. He slipped a finger inside her, making her clench involuntarily around him.
Alynna gasped aloud as he began to work her pussy, pushing in a second digit. Her hips bucked up, moving against him, seeking him out.
“Alynna,” he whispered as his fingers moved faster. “Let go…”
“I’m scared,” she cried. “I might…the last time…I still can’t control it!”
“I’m here…I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said before claiming her mouth in another kiss. She moaned against him and lifted her hips one last time. Her sweet pussy squeezed his fingers and he almost lost control himself, imagining being inside her and feeling her gripping him. Her back arched off the bed and her orgasm shot through her body, flooding her pussy while her sweet scent burst through the still air, filling his nostrils. He was rock hard, his penis straining against his pants. He had to have her now. He lost control, his need driving him to tear at her clothes and his own.
“Alex, Alex!” a voice rang through the room.
Shit! Fuck. The hazy cloud of desire that filled him seemed to slowly ebb away. He dropped his hands from her body and sat up on her bed.
“Alex, Goddamnit, answer me or I’m calling Vrost!” the panicked voice said.
Alex fished the small walkie-talkie from his pocket. “Heath, I’m here,” he answered. He took a deep breath, calming himself. His heart was racing still and his hands shook slightly.
“Thank God. What’s going on in there?”
The young man sighed and looked at Alynna, who had scooted up to the top of her bed, covers pulled up. She had a wild, yet confused look on her face.
“Heath, call Mr. Vrost. And the Regal as well. He’ll want to be here.”
“What’s going on? What happened?”
Alex sighed. “There was someone in here. A Lycan. I can’t recognize the scent, but I don’t think it was a social call.”
“Alright, I’ll let you know what they say. But, you know the Beta will probably want to call you directly,” Heath said, before the radio clicked off in silence.
“What’s going on?” Alynna asked.
Alex could smell the terror laced into her scent. “There was someone in here.”
“What?” her eyes went wide. “You came in here…you saw them?”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t know how…but I had this gut feeling…and as soon as I came into your living room, I scented him. It was a Lycan, someone not familiar to me.”
Alynna gasped. “How did they get in? I mean, I know you guys keep tabs on me, right?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “But I’m going to find out.”
***
It turned out, not only did Nick Vrost contact him directly, but he came himself, with the Alpha in tow.
“Anyone you recognize?” Grant asked as they stood in Alynna’s living room.
Nick shook his head. “I’m afraid not,” he said. “There’s an unauthorized Lycan in New York.”
“And he broke into my sister’s apartment!” Grant cursed. His eyes glowed and shimmered, and he had to take a deep breath to get a hold of his rage. “How is she?” he asked, turning to Alex.
“She’s…scared,” Alex said. “She didn’t know what was going on. I believe she may have still been asleep when he came in, but I must have scared the guy away.”
Grant sighed. “Thank you, Alex, I owe you a great debt,” he said.
Alex bowed his head. “It’s my job, Primul, to keep you and yours safe.”
“Nonetheless, you have great instinct, which worked in your favor,” Grant said. “Where is she now?”
“I advised her to stay in her room, Primul,” Alex explained. “The intruder’s scent is still here. I wanted to preserve it so Mr. Vrost would be able to scent it, but with her untrained senses, I was afraid it might overwhelm her.”
“Good call,” Grant nodded.
“It’s not safe for her to be here,” Nick interrupted. “But she can’t go to The Enclave yet, not with so many other Lycans unfamiliar with her and not knowing about her.”
“Right,” Grant agreed. “Can you fetch Cady, please, Alex? She’ll know what to do. Apologize on my behalf for waking her this late.”
“Perhaps I should go?” Nick suggested. “I’ll call her on the way. Alex is more familiar with the situation here and he can stay and find out exactly what happened.”
“Alright, just fetch her, please.”
Nick gave him a curt nod and left.
“I’m going to see to Alynna. Go and grab Heath and start looking into exactly what happened.”
Alex nodded. “Yes, Primul.”
***
“Alynna, may I come in?”
Alynna heard the familiar voice from the other side of the room. “Give me a minute!” she said, bolting up to run to her cabinet. She grabbed her robe and took a deep breath, grateful that Alex had opened a window. It was only 20 minutes ago and she wasn’t sure if it was enough to get the reek of sex from her room. Pushing those thoughts away, she sat on her bed. “Come in!”
The door creaked open, and Grant entered. “Are you alright, Alynna?” he asked in a soft voice.
“Yes, I’m fine, Grant,” she assured him. “I was just spooked.”
“With good reason. If Alex hadn’t come in time…it was a good thing he was here,” his voice drifted and his fists clenched at his sides.
Oh Grant, if you only knew. “Did someone really break in here?”
He nodded. “Yes, there were signs of a break-in and your room reeked of his scent.”
“How can you be sure…what did he want?”
“I don’t know Alynna. We’re going to find out.”
Those words rang through her and she thought of the last time she heard those words. Alex had stood in the moonlight, gritting his teeth and his golden eyes glowing with rage. “What do I do now?”
“You’re not safe here, Alynna. We’re going to figure out what to do with you. Cady is on her way and she’ll figure it out.”
“I’m not leaving my home,” she said defiantly. “You can put guards on me 24 hours, but I want to stay here.”
He shook his head. “No, Alynna, I can’t let you stay here. Obviously, someone outside the clan knows about you and they want to scare you. Or worse.”
“How can you be sure of that?” she asked. “What if he just wanted my stuff? What if it was just break in?”
“Could be a coincidence, a Lycan breaking into your apartment, but I can’t take that chance,” he said. “Please don’t make this difficult.”
“But I don’t want to go!” she protested, sounding like a petulant child. “I want to stay here and have a normal life!”
“You don’t have a normal life!” he shouted at her, his anger rising.
The silence in the room was deafening. He calmed himself again. “Look, Alynna, I’ve been trying to give you a wide berth, but this is your safety! Your life! And if I have to choose between your freedom and your life, then I’m going to damn well lock you up in the dungeon room at The Enclave before I let anything happen to you!”
Alynna was speechless, torn between her feelings of anger and this strange, familial feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time. She swallowed a gulp. “I’ll go,” she said quietly. “For now, I’ll go with you…Could you give me some privacy and let me pack?”
Grant nodded and watched her retreat towards the bathroom.
***
Cady arrived 30 minu
tes later, looking slightly disheveled, but still professional in her hastily put together outfit of black slacks, white blouse, and a blazer. In the time that Nick woke her up with a curt phone call (in her job, she wasn’t unused to 3 am calls) and during the drive to Alynna’s place, she had already figured out what to do.
“I’ve booked her a room at the Hamilton Hotel,” she said. “It’s a block away from Fenrir so we can keep an eye on her almost 24/7 and I’ve booked the rooms across, beside, above and below hers as well, just in case,” she turned to Nick. “You can post your guys in any of the rooms, and secure the others and keep them locked up in case you’re spread too thin. Just tell the Operations Manager, Luke Evans, whatever you need. I’ve already sent his number to your phone. He’s not aware of Lycans, but he’s an old friend of mine and will accommodate any requests.”
“Thank you, Cady,” Grant turned to his security team. “What did we find out about how he got in here?”
“He was hiding in one of the empty apartments, Primul,” Heath explained. “The owners were on vacation and he snuck in there. Must have been there for hours, perhaps during the day when he knew there would be no surveillance.”
“She’ll be moved to The Enclave after the ball. We’ll have to move the date as early as we can. Until then, I want 24/7 surveillance at the hotel as well, but keep as many people in the dark about her identity as possible,” Grant ordered. “Cady, have her entire floor bought out and have the hotel bypass access to all elevators except for those with a keycard. No housekeeping unless one of our guys are there with them and only when Alynna’s away, even then, limited access, including room service. Back exit or private exit only. The only people who will have access to her floor will be me, you, Nick, and Alex. Everyone else will have to get clearance from me or Nick to get through.”
“Will do,” Cady said as she fished out her phone from her purse and left the apartment to make another phone call.
“Why Alex?” Nick asked curiously.
Grant turned to Nick. “I want him temporarily posted to her security full time at least until she can be moved to The Enclave,” he explained. “He will take all his shifts with her. Choose only the most senior members to swap out with him when he’s off duty, but only he gets direct access to her.”
Nick nodded. “Of course, Primul.”
“Thank you for your trust, Primul,” Alex said. “I won’t let you down.”
He dismissed Heath and turned to Alex. “Make sure she gets to the hotel. Nick, let’s head back to The Enclave and regroup in the morning.”
“Would you not rather escort Ms. Chase personally to the Hamilton?” Nick asked.
“I’m not exactly her favorite person right now,” he rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “She’ll probably feel safer with Alex and Cady anyway.”
Alex watched them leave the apartment. The Primul trusted his sister with him, but Alex wasn’t sure if he could trust himself alone with her. He groaned. He’d be alone with her all the time now. It was going to be a long couple of weeks.
CHAPTER NINE
“So no one really knows why Lycans have trouble producing offspring?” Alynna asked Dr. Faulkner as they sat in his office. She liked the kindly old Lycan, and it was a good thing he was the one giving her “the talk” so to speak. His office was surprisingly comfortable, with lots of knickknacks and photos from his various trips all over the world with his wife, Eileen. Though he was technically retired as Beta, he still served on the Board of Fenrir and was the clan’s designated doctor. “And you can’t really ‘make’ more Lycans by scratching or biting humans?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Oh no, my dear. Pure fiction, I’m afraid, but to answer your first question, yes. Biologically speaking, Lycans reproduce just like humans and only do so in human form. Sperm and egg, fertilization and gestation. However, it’s just very difficult for the actual conception to happen. The Lycan community has done some research into it, but for the most part, it’s just always been the case and few people want to mess with nature. We haven’t yet approved IVF to specifically produce Lycan pups, but after years of studying it, many Lycan scientists agree that it probably won’t will be viable.”
“Why not?”
“Well,” he put down his glasses and massaged his temples. “It could just be the law of nature. Evolution and such. Humans are meant to be the dominant species on earth. Having too many Lycans around might not be a good thing,” he paused.
“Oh,” Alynna said, her eyes dropping. She went quiet.
“My dear, are you ok?” the doctor asked in a concerned voice.
She sighed. “Well, I never really thought…it’s just that…” she hesitated. “I’m young and all, which is why I haven’t decided about kids and such. But now that there’s a chance I can’t…” she trailed off.
Dr. Faulkner looked at her with concern in his eyes. “Alynna…I apologize, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Oh no. I mean it’s not your fault. Or anyone’s I suppose.”
“Yes, well, I could have put it more…gently or prepared you for it. I mean, growing up as a Lycan, I’ve heard it my whole life and for me, that’s just the way it is. I had few Lycans friends growing up and I don’t recall many of them having brothers or sisters.”
Alynna bit her tongue, her throat suddenly closing up. She thought of Grant, how nice it was to have dinner with him at the park and how bad things had ended up now. She decided mentally to at least not be so cold to him next time she saw him. “I guess that makes sense. It must be easier for you then?”
“Perhaps.” Alynna saw him glance briefly at his wife’s smiling picture, sitting right beside his desk. The look in his eyes was wistful and slightly sad. “Well, let’s move on to other things? What else do we need to cover?” He glanced at his notebook, where he had made a list. He cleared his throat. “So, since you’ll be learning about shifting next, we should talk about that.”
“Right,” Alynna agreed. She wanted to write everything down, but Dr. Faulkner assured her she didn’t have to and he’d send her books to read anyway. This session was just so she could have an actual Lycan doctor to go over the basics and more important, answer her questions.
“So,” Dr. Faulkner continued. “Lycans have the ability to shift between human and Lycan form at will. In Lycan form, you’ll be able to control yourself and retain memories from your time as a wolf. You’ve experienced the shift twice now – and it sounds just like when a teen goes through his or first couple of shifts. Uncontrollable, blackouts, throwing up afterwards. Soon, that won’t be the case as you learn to shift. But this has to be developed, usually around the age of puberty. The first change is usually triggered by intense emotion – anger, usually, but not always the case. Most likely, it’s the uncontrollable hormones associated with puberty that trigger it.”
“What do Lycan parents do for their kids?”
“Well, it depends. Lycan parents have to explain everything to their children from early on, so as to prepare them. There are very few families who live outside Lycan society so there’s always support. All children must attend after-school activities that teach them about Lycan life and what happens during a shift. And if they are taught that if they start to feel the change is coming, to immediately call their parents or run home. Safety of others is the first priority here and with the measures we have in place, we have yet to have any public incidents in the last hundred years or so. Once the first shift happens, then kids have to go to special schools or programs, like summer camp.”
“And is it easy to gain control?”
“With the practice, yes. It’s an instinct, but you do have to develop it. And shifting to wolf form should only be done in special circumstances, like protecting yourself, protecting other Lycans or humans, but only if there’s no other choice. You don’t do it to show off or as a party trick,” his voice was serious and grave as he spoke. “For hundred of years, we have kept our existence a secret.”
> “Then how do stories and movies of werewolves get written?” she asked.
“Well,” the old man put his glasses back on. “Back in the dark ages, we couldn’t quite control everyone as we do now and there were a few bad ones or a couple of public incidents. Perhaps a few writers had heard of the stories and since there are few humans who really know about Lycans, they had to fill in the details themselves, like werewolves only turning during the full moon or that only silver bullets can kill us.”
“So silver bullets can’t kill us?”
“I’m afraid they can – rather, any bullet can. We’re not invincible or immortal. In wolf form, you’ll be stronger and faster, and as a Lycan, you do have a faster healing process, but any mortal wound will kill you,” he said in a serious voice. “Speaking of the full moon, there is one instance when Lycans have no control over their shifts – the Blood Moon or total lunar eclipse. And it happens quite frequently enough that we have protocols put into place. Lycan homes have to be built with special rooms to contain the occupants during the shift, even if it’s just a reinforced bathroom or closet. For example, every apartment in the Enclave has one and there are Blood Moon safe houses all over the world just in case. The problem is, when you enter the Blood Moon shift, you don’t have complete control of yourself, like the first few times you shift.”
“And I’ll know when the Blood Moon is coming?”
He nodded. “We set up alerts and everything. Here in New York, we have a system in place and as technology changes, we’ve adapted. We know when a Blood Moon is coming weeks and even months in advanced and we’ll send out reminders via email, text and phone calls. I’m told we’re even developing an app. But, you must know that anyone who willfully disobeys a Blood Moon warning is severely punished and for my entire life, there have only been a handful of incidents when a Lycan gets stuck outside during the Blood Moon, usually not by his or her own doing.”
Alynna sighed in relief. “Well, thank god for that!”
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