by Kit Tunstall
Through the dressing room, there was another door that led to her suite. Despite her turmoil, Alyra couldn’t contain the rush of pleasure when she saw the chamber. “It’s lovely.” The steel-gray and delicate pink should have been too harsh a contrast, but they melded together to form a solid, feminine space. The furniture was sturdy, but softened with elegant etchings, and an antique mirror in a black metal frame drew the eye, becoming the focal point of the area.
Jared ignored the praise, standing with his hands in his pockets. He seemed at a loss, and it was almost amusing to watch him. If she hadn’t felt the same uncertainty inside, she might have been able to dismiss him with a light remark. Instead, the silence deepened, until he abruptly straightened.
“This is ridiculous. You’re my wife. What kind of marriage can we have with you in one room, and me in the other?”
“The temporary kind.” Was that pain she saw flare in his eyes? No, surely not. It must be anger instead, that he wouldn’t get all the benefits out of his fake wife that he would from a real one.
His fingers seemed to shake when he ran them through his hair. “Dammit, why are you doing this? That was my parents’ idea. I had nothing to do with imposing a time limit.”
“That’s too bad, because I like the idea.” She forced a carelessness into her voice that she was far from feeling. “Really, you can’t expect me to spend the rest of my life paying for Mical running away with Elise, can you? At some point, I’ll want to marry a man I love.”
All emotion left his face, except for the tight grooves around his mouth that betrayed a hint of tension. “If you feel that way, I won’t try to change your mind.”
“I do.” The irony of repeating the words that had bound her to him such a short time ago to confirm she didn’t want to be with him forever didn’t escape her. It brought her that much closer to weeping, and she prayed he would leave quickly, so she could indulge in the tears threatening to fall.
He spun on his heels, issuing an aloof, “Sleep well,” over his shoulder as he strode from her room, slamming the door behind him. Alyra maintained her rigid posture for a long moment, until she was certain he wouldn’t reappear. Then she crumpled to the floor, allowing the tears to fall. The thick carpet muffled her sobs, and she allowed the grief to pour from her, already mourning a relationship that would never exist, had never existed, except for in her girlish fantasies.
Jared paced the balcony of his room, uncertain how to rid himself of his pent-up emotions. Frenetic energy thrummed through him, the kind that led to reckless actions -- like last night. He paused in his pacing, gripping the balcony rails in a white-knuckled grasp, and stared up at the night sky, hoping to find calm. The moonless night sky did little to soothe him though, and he turned away with a sound of disgust.
The cool November air blew into his room from the open door as he stripped off the white shirt he had worn to the wedding, having found no time to change. Alyra had been eager to rush through everything, and no wonder. The sooner she got it over with, the sooner she would be free.
A pang in his chest caused him to sink into a wingback chair near the fireplace. He rubbed the spot without thought, mulling over why her rejection stung so badly. He had what he needed from her, which was a mate. Why did it matter that she didn’t want to give their marriage a real try? He shouldn’t care that she wanted to put no effort into it. After all, as Alpha, he would be too busy with his new duties to spend time trying to woo her. It was much more practical to keep things as a business arrangement.
So why did his heart hurt each time he thought about Alyra leaving him, whether it be in a month or a year? It was disconcerting to realize he was developing feelings for her, when she clearly wanted nothing to do with him. Even last night, what he considered the most passionate night of his life, had been nothing but a mistake to her. She must think he had used it to trick her into agreeing to be his bride.
A long sigh escaped him, and he vowed he would act as she wished. If Alyra changed her mind and decided her bed was too cold and empty without him, she would come crawling to him, by God. He wasn’t about to sacrifice his pride for a woman who had only agreed to be his mate because her brother had wronged him. He didn’t want her because old customs of the pack demanded she accept the punishment in Mical’s stead. He only wanted her if she wanted him.
* * *
“Jared?”
He looked up from the stack of papers in front of him. His eyes had blurred from the hours spent reading the business documents, and it was a relief to take a break. A grin spread across his face when he saw Orion standing in front of his desk. In the past six days, since Charlotte told a select few about his marriage to Alyra, at least half the pack had tromped through his office, all wanting to know more, and most not bothering to hide their disapproval. It was good to see a friendly face for a change. “Hey, have a seat.” The other man settled his large frame into a normal-sized chair that looked like a kid’s under his frame. “What brings you by?” Casting his mind back, Jared realized it had been weeks since he had seen his best friend.
“I wanted to talk to you about…” Orion hesitated, looking uncomfortable. “About the rumors going around.”
Jared leaned forward, his fingers forming a steeple on the cherry desk. “You’re talking about those kids who plan to challenge me for leadership?” He shrugged. “I’m not worried. Not one of them does an honest day’s work on the island. All they do is sit around, play video games, and plot to overthrow me.” He laughed, expecting Orion to do the same, but his friend’s concerned expression lingered. “You aren’t worried about them, are you?”
With a shrug, he said, “Worried enough to have a talk with the three ringleaders.” His lip curled. “Did you know they planned to attack you together? Three against one… as if the pack would accept the leadership of an Alpha who gained it so underhandedly.”
“What did they say?”
“I think they’re going to back off.” He flexed a meaty hand, causing his biceps to contract. “I made them understand that their way is corrupt, and should they manage to defeat you, I would challenge them.”
Another laugh escaped Jared as he imagined that confrontation. “I bet that scared them straight.”
“Let’s hope.” Still appearing troubled, Orion leaned forward, dropping his voice. “But that wasn’t the rumor I was referring to.”
“Oh?” His stomach dropped, and he braced himself for the only other reason his friend would be here. Alyra. Now that word had reached the other islanders, he seemed to have seen almost every member of the pack the past few days. They dropped by for various reasons, but all subtly -- or not so subtly -- probed to see if it was really true.
“Is it true? Elise really ran away with an Omega?”
He nodded.
Orion shook his head. “What is the pack coming to?”
Jared held his tongue, knowing he couldn’t condemn his ex-fiancée’s actions without looking like a hypocrite, since he had married an Omega.
“Is it true that you’ve taken the Edwards woman as your mate?”
Without allowing a hint of doubt to appear in his expression, Jared nodded again.
“Why?”
A slew of answers waited to spring from his tongue, but Jared hesitated. As good a friend as Orion was, he wasn’t the person to confide in, at least not about what weighed on his mind. If he hadn’t sorted out his conflicting feelings for Alyra in almost a week, there was no way his friend could help him with the problem in just a few minutes. Instead, he gave a flip answer. “She was expedient.”
His friend blinked, seeming to take a moment to absorb the reply. “I see.” He frowned. “Have you thought about the pack’s reaction? They won’t want an Omega as their Lupina.”
Steel underscored his tone. “They’ll adjust.”
For a moment, Orion looked like he wanted to argue, but his tone was mild when he asked, “So, you think this is best for the pack?”
With a nod, Jared sa
id, “And for me.”
Slowly, Orion leaned back in preparation to stand. “Now I know all I need to.”
Jared stood with his friend to walk him to the door. When Orion stepped outside, he clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks for handling the situation with those kids.”
Orion wore a solemn expression. “I do what’s best for the pack, my friend.”
Alyra, standing naked on her balcony, stared up at the full moon, wondering if Jared stood on his balcony doing the same. The walls separating their rooms were thick, preventing any sound from transmitting to her, so she often lay in bed at night, curious about what he did all by himself in the room that was so close, but too far away.
She knew he must be nervous about the ascension ceremony. He had seemed increasingly tense the few times she had seen him in the past two weeks. Alyra spent most of her time in her room, but had heard from some of the servants that someone definitely planned to challenge Jared’s ascension. Each time she heard such talk, she had to resist the urge to go in search of Jared, to touch him and reassure herself he could defeat anyone who challenged him.
The moon was approaching apex, reaching its full tumescence tomorrow night, but it was nearly full enough now to allow easy transformation. When the moon wasn’t full, it took more energy to transform, and the process was painful. But with the moon in its current state, she would be in wolf-form in minutes and then loping through the forests of the island, seeking out a measure of serenity. She hoped changing would soothe the longings in her heart and body that urged her to ignore the stupid contract and try to make a go of her marriage with Jared. But knowing he wouldn’t have chosen her if Elise had kept her word always held her back. She refused to be second best, and she would always be a means to an end for him. How could he love her if he regarded her as an expedient solution, and how could they have a real marriage if he didn’t love her as much as she loved him?
Tingling started in her body, indicating the transformation was beginning. Alyra tossed back her head, letting her hair fall to her waist. She stood in the nude, in preparation for the change, ready to leap from the balcony and charge into the night as soon as she attained wolf-form.
The tingling of the conversion started like a mild itch, before progressing to a burning sensation. It was almost painful, but in a good way, like stretching muscles that had cramped. The process increased the awareness of her own body, and she could almost feel every cell growing, shifting, and changing. She enjoyed communing with herself on a cellular level and always marveled at the freedom of being in wolf-form. During the three days of the month when it was the easiest for their kind to transform, she tried to spend as much time as possible as a werewolf.
In the process of sinking into the heady sensation of alteration, Alyra paused, aware of a difference in her body, one she had never experienced before. She stilled her mind, forcing back the reckless pleasure that had been about to consume her, and focused on what was different. A gasp escaped her, and she reeled back a step when she recognized the spark -- two… no, three sparks of life within her. With a tentative hand, she touched her stomach, feeling the urge to transform fading away in the marvel of the moment.
In human-form, she wouldn’t have known for weeks to come, but as a wolf, her body told her she was pregnant, and there could be no mistake. The essences inside her were foreign, yet familiar at the same time. Her heart seemed to melt into a warm puddle, and tears blurred her eyes when she stumbled back into her bedroom to drop onto the bed.
Shock filled her, mingled with delight. It was a miracle that she and Jared had created these fragile lives with their single night of passion. Suddenly, the tears in her eyes threatened to become an onslaught when she remembered the circumstances of their conception. It had been magical, but had happened for all the wrong reasons.
Her babies deserved two parents who had a real marriage, and she knew then that she would go to Jared. Walking to the door that separated them, she hoped he hadn’t given in to the urge to transform, because her courage might falter if she had to wait for him to return.
Uncertainly, her hand hovered on the knob on the door to his room. Should she knock? No, she didn’t want to give him time to prepare himself. Maybe she could catch him off guard and seduce him. The news of the babies wanted to burst from her mouth, but she knew she would have to guard that secret for the time being, because he couldn’t afford any distractions tomorrow night. Hopefully, a night of lovemaking wouldn’t be too much of a disruption to his concentration. She needed a physical connection to him, to reinforce the emotional one that had formed despite her best efforts. Learning of her pregnancy made her yearn for him, made her want to be in his arms and know they were together because they both wanted it, not because he was angry over what Mical and Elise had done. In her mind, this was the act that she would associate with the conception of the children, not the first night, when they made love for all the wrong reasons.
She opened the door quietly, poking her head through to observe him for a moment without his awareness. He sat in a chair by the fireplace, reading from a leather-bound book that looked ancient. Reading glasses perched across his nose softened the furrows in his forehead, making him more approachable.
With her first step into the room, his head jerked up, his expression revealing surprise. “Alyra?”
She nodded, finding her feet not so bold at taking her forward now, and she had to force herself to keep moving toward him. When she reached his chair, he tilted his head back to look up at her, just as she knelt on the floor, laying her cheek on his leg. The submissiveness of the pose was deliberate. Had she been in wolf-form, she would have rolled onto her back, but that was over-the-top in her current state.
“What is it?”
“I need you tonight.” The request humbled her, even as his hand stroking her hair bolstered her.
There was a tinge of melancholy in his voice. “Just for tonight?”
“No.” She couldn’t be certain he heard her reply as he slid from the chair, joining her on the soft Persian rug, now her equal. Her hands trembled when she framed his face, and she leaned forward to kiss him before courage could desert her. His lips were pliant and eager against hers, meeting her with an intensity identical to her own. His tongue swept inside her mouth, probing her depths, while she attempted to catch it with her own. The passionate duel heightened her already charged nerve endings, and her pussy flooded with arousal, aching to once again experience his possession.
Tears burned in her eyes when he stroked her tongue gently, while cradling her against him. His embrace was a haven, and she felt cherished. Unlike the first time, his emotions seemed to come through with each touch. Was she imagining he was experiencing more than desire? If it was only in her mind, she didn’t want confirmation, preferring to exist in the fantasy, at least for the night.
Why had she spent so much time fighting this? It seemed stupid to have wasted the last two weeks because of her hurt feelings and sense of inadequacy. Yes, she was his second choice, but she should have been doing everything in her power to show him she was the right choice, rather than hiding from him and the emotions he inspired. It shocked her that she had been planning to passively drift through marriage to the man she had loved for years. That wasn’t her. She worked for what she wanted, and she should have been trying to get him to acknowledge she was more than a means to an end. How could he ever change his thinking if she gave him no reason to?
Rational thought fled when Jared cupped her breasts in his hands, kneading the soft globes with firm pressure. Her face flushed hot when she realized she had come to him naked, her need to reach him so great that she hadn’t even thought about practicalities, like a robe.
Her lack of dress emphasized that he was wearing too many clothes. His jeans chafed her thighs when he pulled her lower body closer to his, urging her legs around his waist. The soft cotton of his T-shirt did nothing to diffuse the heat of his skin when she pressed her palm to his chest, while gra
sping a handful of his hair with her other hand. Eagerly, she pulled his head closer to hers, anchoring him, wanting to melt into him.
He must have had other plans, because his mouth broke free from hers to wander down her chin and neck, where he nipped her. Alyra tossed back her head, squeezing her eyes shut as he sucked on the skin, while his fingers pulled gently on her nipples.
She was wet and ready for him. It seemed to be happening too quickly, but she had spent the last two weeks in a constant state of arousal, tense with anticipation each time she was near him, only to be let down when he never reached for her. “Jared, I want you. Now.”
“Soon, baby.”
Her hands sought out the hem of his T-shirt, and she pulled it up as far as she could with his hands still on her breast. She tugged insistently, and he relented long enough to let her rid him of the garment before his hands returned to her breasts.
Alyra allowed her hands to wander over his smooth, warm flesh, squeezing and stroking alternately. She arched her hips, bringing her pussy directly against the bulge in his jeans, and her hand traced a path from his stomach to his cock, which she stroked through the faded denim. “Now,” she said again, more demanding than ever. His teasing caresses and kisses weren’t inflaming her senses, because she was already hot to the point of boiling over. All he was doing was accentuating her frustrations.
In response, his mouth left her neck to slide down her body, pausing to draw in a plump nipple. He laved the bud at a leisurely pace, while one of his hands settled on her hip. Her stomach clenched with anticipation when he trailed his fingers over her skin, moving lower with the same slow pace his mouth applied to her breast. She arched against his hand when he reached her pussy, and she couldn’t keep from crying out his name when he nipped her nipple at the precise moment his thumb and forefinger tweaked her clit.