Alphas Prefer Curves

by Unknown

  I’m alone in a room with Damien Blackthorn, she dimly realized. No guards, no parents here to act as a buffer. All alone.

  Damien turned slowly to face her. The sun had completely set now, and the only light in the room was provided by the fireplace. The dancing flames made his hair gleam like spun gold, and his grey eyes turn to quicksilver. Dressed in black slacks and a white silk shirt, it was hard not to see him as an attractive, successful man. A shiver of awareness – part fear, part disgust, and yes, part thrill – traveled down her spine as she watched him undress her with his eyes.

  “Even in disarray, you’re beautiful,” he murmured, taking a step forward. Sonya instinctively backed up, but the door handle pressing into the base of her spine told her she had nowhere to go.

  Damien’s eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t think to move any further, Sonya.” He closed the distance between them, pressing her more firmly into the door. The handle dug painfully into her lower back, and she gritted her teeth. “You’ve already spent quite a bit of time running from me, and where has it gotten you?” he asked. He ran his thumb along her jawline, tilting her head back to expose her neck. Sonya’s entire body stiffened; predators, by nature, hated exposing their throats.

  “It seems to have gotten me a whole lot of blue and gold and dark wood,” she snapped, the compromising position putting her on edge. She knew she should just remain quiet, but she couldn’t help it. She despised everything about the man.

  “Are you making fun of my interior decorating?” he asked, running his tongue along her trachea. Twin shivers of desire and disgust wracked her; how she hated herself! “I would take offense to that, but I can smell your arousal, and it pleases me. Maybe I should take you right now.”

  Shock crashed over her like a bucket of ice, and she shoved him away violently. “I’m never going to sleep with you,” she snarled, trying to stop herself from trembling. She hadn’t meant to shove him away like that; it was an instinctive move, born of her deep hatred for him. “Not unless you tie me down and rape me.”

  “I’m not above doing that,” Damien warned, his eyes hard as he stalked back over to her. He gripped her jaw hard in his hand now, the uncomfortable pressure squeezing her face. “If I wanted to, I’d bend you over my desk and fuck you right now, and you wouldn’t be able to do a goddamn thing about it.” There was a sick glee in his eyes as he said it that made her want to vomit. “But for some reason, I actually want you willing. I want you wet and on your knees, begging for me to stick my cock in you.”

  Sonya would have spat in his face if he hadn’t been squishing her jaw. She kicked his chin instead and was rewarded with a curse as his grip slackened on her face. She tried to follow up with an uppercut, but he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her back against the door again. Stars swam in her eyes as she clawed at his hand, desperate for air.

  “That fiery red hair of yours isn’t just for show,” Damien observed nonchalantly, as if he wasn’t choking the life out of her. “You’re too feisty for your own good. I should have had you broken when you were younger, but it’s alright; everyone has something they can be controlled with.” He released Sonya abruptly then yanked her aside to open the door. “Come with me now.”

  Sonya didn’t have time to catch her breath; Damien dragged her up the hallway and down the stairs. She followed him into the kitchen, where a door stood in the far left corner, heavily padlocked. An ominous feeling stirred in her heart as she watched him unlock the door, revealing rickety wooden steps that led down into darkness. A mixture of foul scents assailed her nostrils – blood and sweat and excrement mixed with a healthy dose of fear. Bile rose in her throat.

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked, her voice coming out higher-pitched than she’d intended. Dark, enclosed spaces weren’t really her thing.

  “You’ll see.”

  He flicked a switch on the inside wall, and a lone light bulb hanging from the ceiling flickered on, illuminating their path. She followed him down, the foul odor increasing. Her feet touched packed earth when she reached the bottom, and she blinked in the darkness, trying to adjust her eyesight. More scents wafted toward her, familiar ones this time – tears welled up in her eyes as she recognized them.

  “Mom? Dad? What are you doing in here?”

  Damien flicked on another switch, and Sonya swallowed back a scream at the sight of her parents. They were both chained, naked and bloody, to the basement walls. Their naked bodies were covered with dirt and lacerations – the cuts had to be fresh since were-bears healed so quickly. Her father raised his head slightly, his eyes an eerie green – the eyes of his bear. They were dull, lacking their usual feral gleam, and the sight of her father so spiritless caused a rush of tears to well up in Sonya’s eyes.

  “You animal!” She rounded on Damien, the thirst for his blood so strong, she barely held herself back from ripping his throat out. “How dare you do this to my parents! Release them now!”

  Damien laughed. “Even in the face of disaster, you feel you have the right to make demands of me?” His lip curled, and he struck her across the face, a hard blow that knocked her sideways into the staircase railing. It rattled as she steadied herself on it, the old wood nearly snapping off in her hands. “Your audacity knows no bounds, Sonya. And the truth is, you have no real reason to be angry with me. I’m not the one who did this to them.”

  “Liar!” Sonya railed at him. “They’re chained here in your cellar! If you didn’t do this to them, who did?”

  “You, of course.” Damien shook his head as if he were disappointed in her. “What a selfish little girl you are, Sonya. Did you really think that you could just run off and start a new life without facing any consequences? This never would have happened to your parents if you’d stayed home with them like a dutiful daughter.”

  “You’re a monster,” Sonya whispered, but guilt rose up to smother her as she looked over at her parents. Damien was right; this was her fault. Her parents had warned her of Damien’s wrath, but she hadn’t listened, hadn’t taken them seriously when she’d packed her bags and walked out of their lives. And now they were paying the price for it.

  “I haven’t broken any major bones,” Damien said, his voice almost soothing, as if he were trying to reassure her. “Nor subjected them to extreme torture methods. They’ll be able to go back to their lives, just like normal.”

  “In exchange for what?” Sonya asked, her voice as brittle as her breaking heart.

  Damien lifted her chin with his fingers so she was staring up at her. A small smile curved on his lips. “I think you already know.”

  “We’re here,” Caleb announced, snapping Sonya out of her reverie. She looked out the windshield to see that they were pulling into the parking lot of small warehouse building in what must have been the industrial area of Blackwater.

  “What is this place?” she asked as Caleb parked the car. His was far from the only truck in the lot – quite a few of the spots were filled with vehicles from the Blackwater clan.

  “The arena,” Rick explained as everyone started taking off their seatbelts. “Usually the Blackwater bears use it as a training ground, but all duels and death matches are held here as well.”

  Death matches. Sweat broke out across the top of her forehead as the significance of that term sunk in. “So the fight is happening here?”

  “That’s right.”

  They entered the building single file, with Caleb taking point and Rick behind him. Sam, Caleb’s third, brought up the rear, leaving Sonya with a buffer on either side of her. The loud hum of a variety of voices met Sonya’s ears, along with the smell of sweat and bear and food. A large wall ran around the length of the room, obscuring the arena from view aside from a small opening guarded by a fierce-looking bear dressed in black.

  “Caleb.” The bear’s gaze softened a little, his broad shoulders relaxing fractionally.

  “Marty,” Caleb returned, no inflection in his voice whatsoever. Marty flinched a little bit at the
cold reception, and Sonya thought she caught a flash of guilt in the bear’s eyes. What was going on here? The tension in the room ratcheted up as the two bears stared at each other, and she heard Sam shift behind her.

  Finally Marty stepped aside. “Good luck,” he said, sounding resigned. There was a strange note to his voice, though, as if he couldn’t quite decide whether or not to be hopeful or hopeless.

  “Thanks.”

  They passed into the arena, a million questions whirling through Sonya’s mind, but there was no time to get answers for any of them. The noise level increased as they walked past rows of bleachers to get to the lower wall that marked the arena proper, the crowd clearly recognizing that the challenger had entered. Damien was already there, his naked body oiled and gleaming in the light. He sneered at Caleb, who returned the gesture before stepping up to the referee.

  “Wait.” Sonya grabbed Caleb’s arm.

  He turned to face her, and her heart plummeted a little at the closed expression on his face. “What is it?” he asked.

  Sonya hesitated, but she saw Damien looking at him out of the corner of her eye and knew she couldn’t back down. “I love you,” she said, flinging her arms around him and kissing him for all she was worth. The crowd erupted around them; she didn’t know if their reaction was good or bad, and quite frankly, she didn’t care. She poured all of her love and desperation into the kiss, knowing that this might well be the very last one she gave him. His arms tightened around her as he kissed her back, and the edge of fear eased off a little as he reassured her with his answering love.

  Pulling back, she gazed up at his flushed face, marveling at the passion blazing in his eyes. “Go get him, honey,” she said, slapping him on the ass.

  She turned and waved at Damien, who was white-faced with fury, then sauntered up into the stands.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Caleb felt like he could fly as he stepped into the arena. Now that’s the right way to start off a death match, he thought as he stripped down. The crowd was still in an uproar over the scorching kiss Sonya had given him, but he paid them no mind; his eyes stayed on Sonya as she headed up to the VIP area. Two bears, an older man and woman, stood up, and Sonya ran to them with her arms outstretched. Must be her parents, he thought. He was glad that she was reunited safely with them.

  Finished removing his clothes, he folded them up and placed them by the bench built into the arena wall before making his way to the center of the ring. Damien and the referee both stood there, waiting for him.

  “About time,” Damien said, attempting to sound haughty, but it didn’t come out quite right through his clenched teeth. “Thought you were going to take forever to get ready. Did your mother teach you how to fold your clothes like that?”

  “My mother taught me how to do a lot of things,” Caleb said, arching a brow. “Like how to treat a were-bear, for example. Maybe if yours had taught you the same thing, Sonya would have been kissing you instead of me.”

  Damien roared, his eyes flaring bright silver as his fangs elongated. He launched himself at Caleb and was instantly intercepted by the referee and two other bears that were assisting during the match. Caleb folded his arms, taunting Damien with a smug smile as he was pushed back. It was several minutes before he was calm enough for the referee to let go.

  “That’s going to be a warning,” the referee panted, backing away. Caleb fought back a sneer; even the ref was scared of Damien. “If it happens again, I’m going to have to disqualify you.”

  “Just start the fucking match already,” Damien snarled, his eyes fastened on Caleb. His face was red, his chest heaving from his earlier exertions, and his fangs were dripping saliva.

  “You look like an animal.” Caleb curled his lip in disgust.

  “Enough!” the referee roared, apparently recovering his gonads. He glowered at Caleb, who simply shrugged. “The rules to this match are simple,” he continued, pitching his voice so the audience could hear him. “This is a death match, which means both parties must fight until the other is dead. No weapons or items are allowed; you may only win by tooth and claw and brawn. If you exit the taped area –” he pointed to the red lines that marked off a large square of the arena “- you automatically forfeit the match. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” both bears said simultaneously.

  “Good. Then let the match begin!”

  Damien launched himself across the arena, but Caleb was already moving out of the way, his muscles ripping fluidly as he changed. Thick fur sprang up across his arms and chest; his face elongated and his ears changed shape and position. Claws sprang out of his hands as they morphed into paws, and his spine stretched another three feet. Within seconds the transformation was complete and Caleb stood tall, an 8-foot Kodiak bear with blue-white eyes. He swiveled around to face Damien, but the other bear was already plowing into him, sending him to the ground.

  “Caleb!” He dimly heard Sonya screaming his name from the stands, but he couldn’t focus on that; he batted Damien’s head away from his throat and rolled over, pushing the other bear into the ground. They wrestled, each bear vying for dominance. Caleb roared as Damien sank his teeth into his shoulder, and his grip loosened enough that Damien was able to roll Caleb onto his back.

  I’ve got you, you filthy cum rag, Damien’s voice echoed in his ear. Now I’ll rip your throat out, so I can have Sonya beneath me instead of you.

  Like hell! Caleb roared. A surge of adrenaline rushed through him and he tried to push back, but Damien was too strong. Fear choked him as Damien leaned in, his jaws opening wide to clamp down on his throat.

  It was over. He was going to die.

  * * *

  “Mom! Dad!” Sonya rushed over to her parents, the mingling joy and relief in her heart making her lightheaded. They both turned to face her, her mother rising from her seat to welcome her with open arms.

  “Oh Sonya,” she said, tears in her voice. She hugged Sonya tightly, enveloping her in a cloud of potpourri. Sonya allowed her own tears to spill over her cheeks as she returned the hug. “I’m so glad to see you.”

  Sonya pulled back to offer her father a hug, but he made no move to welcome her. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said curtly, returning to his seat. He motioned for Sonya to sit in the chair to his right. “Now we can get this over with.”

  Warily, Sonya lowered herself into the chair, glancing sideways at her father. He was never particularly affectionate with her, but even she thought he’d greet her with a warmer reception after not seeing her for over a year. “I agree,” she started to say, but the crowd erupted, cutting off her words. She looked over at the arena to see the referee and his assistants restraining Damien, who looked like he was trying to kill Caleb. Her heart started beating faster; Damien looked as if he was going to break free and rip Caleb’s throat out. But they managed to calm him down, Caleb standing calmly all the while. He’s goading him, Sonya realized, trying to cloud his head so that he’ll fight irrationally.

  “I don’t know why you had to involve that boy, Sonya,” her father said, his eyes remaining firmly focused on the arena. “He narrowly escaped death from Damien once; he won’t do it a second time.”

  “What do you mean?” An uneasy feeling began unraveling in the pit of her stomach but she kept her eyes on the arena, watching as the referee went over the rules. “Caleb has just as good of a chance at winning as Damien does.”

  “Not with the drugs I pumped Damien full of, he doesn’t.”

  “What?” Sonya gasped. She turned to face her father fully. “You gave Damien steroids? What were you thinking? I need Caleb to win this match! I don’t want to mate with Damien!”

  “Charles.” Her mother laid a hand on her husband’s arm, eyes pleading. “Don’t do this now.”

  “Why not?” Her father’s eyes were like solid ice chips now. He brushed his mate’s hand away, not even bothering to look down at her. “Sonya may as well know the truth.”

  “And what is that truth?”
Sonya demanded.

  “I’ve been using you as a bargaining chip, daughter.” Her father gestured down at the arena, where Caleb and Damien were now locked in full combat. “Bran, the former clan alpha, broke a business agreement I had with him a few years back. He was providing me with a cut of the profits his clan gets from the mining caves at the base of these mountains but decided to back out, telling me he’d been paying me long enough. I needed that money to fund my other ventures, and Bran’s backstabbing antics were unacceptable to me, so I did what I needed to do. I got rid of him.”

  Sonya simply stared at him, her mouth agape as she put the pieces together. “You put Damien up to challenging Bran?”

  Her father nodded. “Damien didn’t really want to do it. He’s a loner by nature. But he’s getting old and hasn’t sired any cubs yet. When I promised you to him, it was an offer he simply couldn’t refuse. With the right combination of training and drugs, I’ve made Damien the strongest were-bear for miles around. No bear in his right mind would be foolhardy enough to challenge him.” A grimace crossed his handsome features. “Not until your little knight in shining armor came along, anyway. Love makes fools of all of us, I suppose,” he sighed.

  Rage suffused Sonya’s cheeks with color; her hands started to shake with the need to wrap them around her father’s throat. She settled for clenching them into fists instead. “And that scene in the basement?” she asked, feeling like an utter fool. “When you and mom were chained naked and bleeding to the walls?”

  “A clever act.” The corners of her father’s lips turned up slightly. “It was Damien’s idea, and I must say it was quite effective.”

  Sonya stood up so fast, she accidentally knocked her father sideways with her elbow. “I’ve heard enough,” she said, teeth clenched so hard her jaw started to ache. She moved away, but her father caught her by the elbow.