Taken By The Alpha (Timber Valley Pack)

by Georgette St. Clair

  He’d sent other wolves in to bring her breakfast, had other wolves guarding her while she was hanging out with the rest of the pack during the day.

  It didn’t help. He couldn’t stop thinking about that night a few days past, when he’d lain on top of her soft naked body and smelled the intoxicating scent of her aroma. The sound of her moans when he moved, when he bent down to kiss her…

  He realized that without even meaning too, he was headed over to her table.

  Well, that was okay. He had a matter he needed to discuss with her anyway.

  He saw Katrina tense up when he got close, a subtle change in body language that only he would notice. She sensed him when he was near, the same way that he did her.

  “Katrina,” he said, when he got to the table. “I need to talk to you.”

  When Katrina got up, Heather tried to follow her, but Katrina leaned down and said something to her. Heather looked unhappy.

  Katrina let him lead her away from the table into a dark area of the

  “Well, well, a rare sighting of the shifter species known as the common North American jackass. I gather that you’ve come to your senses and you’re letting me go?” she said.

  “Not happening, babe. Listen, Katrina, here’s the thing. Heather really likes you.”

  She shrugged. “Well, of course. I’m totally awesome and very likable. Lovable, some might even say.”

  “But she’s already lost her mother, she’s probably going to lose her father too, and you’re leaving in a few weeks.. And you’ve only been here a few days and she’s latched on to you like a barnacle.”

  Katrina grimaced. “You’re right. About this. You’re wrong about everything else in the universe, of course. I know It’s not fair to let her get too close and then leave. It’s a shame, I love spending time with her. She’s my perfect little craftsy helper.” She glanced up at him. “Her father’s not getting any better?”

  “Apparently not.”

  “I guess I should somehow avoid her, but I need to do it without hurting her feelings. Should I just stay in my room until after the Death Match?”

  Maddox felt a sharp twist inside him. Katrina was a decent enough person that she really would sit in her room by herself for the few weeks rather than hurt Heather.

  He shook his head. “No. I’ll just make sure that Heather stays on the other side of the property with one of the other families while you’re here. It’s best for her.”

  Katrina nodded. “I’ll tell her good night and then head back to my room,” she said, looking glum.

  Maddox paused. He couldn’t believe that he was about to ask her this, but what could it hurt…Peony had been looking miserable for the past few days.

  “Do you have any idea why the wedding was delayed?” he asked quietly.

  “Because Alexander’s mother is an overbearing bitch who constantly insults Peony and her family, and Alexander doesn’t do jack to stop it,” Katrina said, her tone heated. Then she looked at him speculatively. “Maybe you could talk to him. Try the angle that he’s failing to protect his mate to be. Or tell him to freaking wolf up and be a big boy. Something. Peony totally loves him, except for that.”

  Maddox nodded. If Katrina weren’t the stepdaughter of his mortal enemy, he’d think that his perfect mate had walked right in to the pack. She fit in with almost everyone, the pack members were already sharing confidences with her…and he had no doubt that sex with her would be the best he’d ever had.

  “I’ll deal with it,” he said, his tone more curt than he intended, but he ignored the flash of hurt on her face and walked away quickly.

  * * *

  “Note to self, ask for sleeping pills tomorrow,” Katrina muttered to no-one at 3 a.m. She felt irritable and tired and her fur itched under her skin and she was ready to explode. She’d shifted and paced the floor earlier. Hadn’t helped.

  She was sad that she couldn’t hang out with Heather any more, although she agreed with Maddox that it was for the best.

  And she was exhausted because every single night she lay awake in bed knowing that Maddox on the other side of her wall, and sleep eluded. She thought of them lying on that soft mossy forest floor, and imagined what would have happened if Maddox hadn’t stopped himself. She’d have let him take her any way he wanted. From behind. On all fours. Anything. She’d have taken him in her mouth, tasted his come…

  She heard a whistling sound, and then her window shuttled inward and exploded. A shower of glass rained inward, and she fell off the bed on to the floor. Her arms were bleeding from small cuts, and shards of glass clung to her pajamas. She plucked them of and tossed them aside, dazed.

  Smoke. The room was full of smoke. She crawled towards the door, which flew open before she reached it.

  “Katrina?” Maddox’ voice was panicked. He bent down and scooped her up in his arms. Shifters were running down the hall, cursing.

  “I’m fine, I’m fine.” Her ears were ringing. She leaned her head on his shoulder. “Wasn’t there a guard outside my window? Go check on him. I feel panic and pain – well, not too bad – he’s not dying. He’s calming down.”

  “There’ll be others checking on him,” he growled.

  He ran into his room and set her down on his bed, a big oak four-poster.

  Carver stuck his head in the door. “Maddox! You okay?” he yelled.

  “Go get the healer,” Maddox called out. “I’m fine.”

  He turned his attention back to Katrina. “What happened? It sounded like someone shot a grenade into your room using a grenade launcher.”

  “I’m not a weapons expert, but that sounds about right.” She shook her head. “Woo. Ringing ears. Oh crud, I’m bleeding on your bedspread.”

  He waved a hand in dismissal. “It’s not a problem.” A minute later, the pack’s healer, Robyn, rushed in.

  “All right, we’ll have you fixed up in no time.” She sat next to Katrina and put her hands on her, and closed her eyes. Katrina felt the pain begin to fade. Her cuts sealed up, and within a minute she was healed and her ears had stopped ringing.

  “I’m fine. That was perfect,” Katrina said. Robyn was slightly pale, but not too bad; Katrina’s wounds hadn’t drained too much power because they were minor. She nodded at Katrina and hurried out of the room.

  Maddox ran his hands over her arms, sending a little shiver through her. “You’re all right now?”

  She nodded.

  “Then I’m going to go find out who did this and rip their head off with my bare hands.”

  He called Michael in to watch her, and headed out.

  He was back in about two hours, looking frustrated. He waved Michael off, and settled down on the bed next to Katrina with a sound somewhere between a growl and a sigh.

  “No luck?” she said.

  He shook his head in exasperation. “I really thought that Lula was behind this but I had my men watching her all night. She went for a stroll by herself, went into the woods…she was far away when this attack happened. We found the grenade launcher; it had actually been taken from our armory. Opposite end of the property from where Lula was. Noscentium all over it, again. Thank God the grenade was a dud.”

  “First someone tries to bust me out of here, then someone tries to kill me. You’re right, Lula sounds like the most likely candidate for both of those incidents.” Katrina heaved a sigh and looked around the room. Deer head with antlers mounted on the wall, heavy, rough-hewn oak furniture, a woven Navajo style rug on the broad oak planked floor.

  “Whoa,” she said.

  “What? You going to insult my taste in decorating? Bring it.” Maddox had that maddening grin again. “I’ll try to take it like a man.”

  “No, no, not that. You and I. We’re alone in a room. Together. I’m sitting on a bed, next to you. Did you ever think you’d see the day?”

  “Can’t say I anticipated this happy accident.” His voice was husky and his breathing was quickening.

  “I, uh…I can’t go b
ack to my room.” Her voice was small. Desire sizzled through her body, and she felt slightly dizzy. “There’s glass on my bed.”

  “Nope. That’s true. And it seems like your room is a dangerous place these days. You’ll just have to sleep here.”

  “I…oh? You…think we can keep our hands off each other? Given the unfortunate…” he moved closer to her. He was sitting right next to her, pressed up against her. “Given the unfortunate fact that our wolves are very attracted to each other?” Blame it on her animal nature, she thought, because there was nothing rational about it.

  “No. I’m sure we can’t. See?” He ran his fingers along her arm and she whimpered, not even trying to hide it.

  “This is a bad idea, isn’t it?” She twisted around so she was facing him.

  “Terrible. And so is this.” He bent down and kissed her, his soft, warm mouth claiming hers.

  Chapter Nine

  Heat climbed into her cheeks and raced south to her suddenly tingling pussy. Maddox was dressed only in a pair of jeans, which he’d presumably pulled on in haste when he heard the blast. His naked chest was burning hot, and he pressed against her so that she could feel his heart hammering. Her pulse was racing too.

  His explored her mouth slowly, tentatively, almost as if despite his Alpha nature he was unsure of her response. And she could understand that. This was crazy. He was kissing the step-daughter of a rival Alpha who had just issued him with a Death Challenge. But the strength of his hands as he cradled her face between them and the firmness of his muscular chest pressed against her breasts spoke of his strength.

  Slowly, unable to resist, she wound her arms around his neck, curling her fingers into the soft hair at the nape of his neck. He took a ragged breath and suddenly he was bearing her down onto the bed, kissing her with wild ferocity, as if her unspoken acceptance had snapped the thread of his control.

  His tongue tangled with hers and he bit the side of her throat, drawing a gasp from her as he ran his big palm up to her breast and tweaked her nipple between his fingers. A thread of arousal ran from her nipple to her clitoris and she mewled into his mouth. Frantically, he pulled at her pajama top, groaning with impatience when she broke their kiss and brushed his hands away so she could deftly undo the buttons. His eyes were feral with need, half-lidded, and his lips were parted. A flush of color stained his high cheekbones.

  He growled when she exposed her breasts, and drew her into his arms, nipping at her lower lip and working his hips against her. She could feel the needy length of him against her pussy, even through her pajamas and the thick denim of his jeans, and she blushed again as a gush of moisture soaked the flimsy cotton and the scent of her own arousal reached her nostrils.

  Maddox nipped at her throat again, then worked his way down her body, trailing his lips over her collarbone before drawing one peaked nipple into his mouth and suckling on it. His hand cupped her other breast, traced the curve of her waist, and worked its way lower to finger the sodden material of her pajamas. She gave an undignified yelp, which turned into a long, low moan when he began to rub her with his fingers, in slow, smooth circles.

  He tore his mouth away from hers for a moment, still circling his fingers, then stilled with a shudder of effort. “You want this?” It wasn’t a question, nor was it a statement. It was a plea, and the heady sense of power that washed over Katrina had her heart racing and her pussy clenching against his fingers. The biggest, baddest Alpha on the block didn’t just want her – he was begging her to want him too.

  Beyond words, she squeezed her thighs around his hand, rolling her hips, and a look of primal satisfaction washed over his features – satisfaction tinged with relief.

  Then he was working his way down, kissing her belly, running his hands over her hips and thighs. He dipped his fingers beneath the waistband of her pajama bottoms and whisked them over her hips, leaving her naked and exposed to the cool night air.

  Katrina parted her thighs further as she felt his hot breath against the slick, swollen flesh of her pussy. She trembled with anticipation, but only for a moment before his mouth descended and he sucked on her clit, not letting up even when her hips arched up from the bed and she clutched handfuls of his long brown hair, crying out as the sensations built into a maelstrom of throbbing, shivering need that had her teetering on the brink of orgasm.

  He withdrew, teasingly, and placed sticky kisses on the insides of her thighs. Katrina whimpered, then moaned as he drew his tongue up the length of her slit, lapping up her juices. She thrashed her head back and forth on the pillow, unable even to beg as waves of sensation washed up and down her body.

  He flicked her clit rapidly with his tongue – delicate, fluttering motions that pushed her into an orgasm so fierce and intense that she almost howled with pleasure, writhing against his eager mouth as he gave a low growl of primal satisfaction.

  She was still spasming, still gasping for breath and control, when he positioned himself between her thighs, holding himself above her with one hand while he slid the head of his cock against her slippery entrance with the other.

  She gasped as he pushed inside. There was no hesitation, just one smooth, confident movement that had him lodged fully inside her as her pussy greedily clutched at him, squeezing him like a fist with the aftershocks of her orgasm. He froze above her, squeezing his eyes closed and giving a long growl. The expression on his face was halfway between bliss and pain. He stayed still inside her for long moments, his chest heaving with his labored breaths. He rhythmically clenched and unclenched his fists, his biceps swelling as he struggled for control.

  Katrina, feeling wicked, nipped his flat nipple between her teeth then, when he yelped with shock, caught him off-guard with a slow, deliberate flex of her hips.

  “Fuck.”

  His eyes went wolf and he thrust into her, desperately, furiously, shuddering and working his hips. She wrapped her arms around him, digging her fingernails into his back as the sensations built inside her again. The skin of his back was sweat-slick under her fingers, the muscles flexing smoothly as he pistoned into her.

  Her legs trembled and she parted her thighs as far as she could, then wrapped her legs around his waist, wanting to get closer to him, feeling as if she could never get close enough. She threw her head back, closing her eyes and allowing her lips to part on a prolonged whimper of need, and he nuzzled against her, hiding his face in the crook of her neck as the orgasm roared through her and she clutched his muscular buttocks, urging him to go faster, deeper.

  His howl of completion was muffled against her throat, and the pulsing of his cock set off a cascade of tumbling orgasms that left her writhing, blind and mindless with arousal and desire.

  It took long moments before she drifted back to herself. Maddox lay heavily on top of her, his face still pressed against her throat, his breath shuddering unevenly. His cock was still half-hard inside her; her thighs were sticky with her excitement and his cum. No wonder Lula was so desperate to fuck an Alpha.

  Of course, this particular Alpha was a sworn enemy of her step-father’s pack – and less than a month from now, one of them was going to die. Her heart lurched, and suddenly she was overcome by a feeling of low dread. She didn’t know whether she was worried that Maddox might win – or terrified that he might lose.

  Chapter Ten

  All right, time to get this out of his system.

  Carver stood in the parking lot outside the Bitter Brew. Bambi had called him because she was bored and needed distraction, and apparently none of her other guys were available this afternoon. Today they weren’t even going to go through the motions of hanging out at the bar first; they were going to take their lunch break at her place, and then he’d head back to pack property.

  He had to admit, he was just about ready to move on. He’d only seen Bambi for this long because she was always available, she wasn’t a member of his pack and she didn’t live on their grounds. Made it easier to keep it casual.

  Growing up with a f
ather who cheated constantly and finally walked out on his family when Carver was ten had made him question whether he even had it in him to have a real relationship. It didn’t seem to run in the genes.

  On the bright side, all those schoolyard taunts from his classmates, and the fights that resulted, had ensured that he’d toughened up very young.

  He scanned the parking lot, looking for any sign of any Mordhaus pack members. So far he didn’t see anyone. He’d stationed a number of his men in town, and the residents of Greenville would notify them if they saw anyone. There was no love lost between the townspeople and the Mordhaus pack these days.

  “There you are, sweetie pie!” Bambi trilled, hurrying eagerly towards him.

  He was having a hard time dredging up any excitement at all at the prospect of this afternoon’s bedtime activities, he realized.

  As she strolled towards him, he heard another voice call out.

  “Oh, hi, honey!” It was the stunning brunette from the other day – she’d just popped out from behind a Volvo parked in the lot. What the hell?

  She threw her arms around him. “I am SOOO sorry about our little lover’s quarrel the other day!” she cooed.

  He turned to Bambi, trying to push the brunette away.

  “Bambi, I swear to God I have no idea who -”

  The brunette pressed her full lips up against his, and kissed him. To his shock, he found himself responding. Oh dear God was he responding. His cock swelled in his pants, and he reached down and gripped her hair and plunged his tongue into her mouth, exploring the sweet, silky cave with increasing fervor.

  “You son of a bitch!” Bambi screamed. “Didn’t even know her? We are through, you bastard!”

  He pulled away to see Bambi storming off.

  Bewildered, he looked down at the stunning brunette. “Listen, beautiful, I know you think we know each other-ouch!”

  She kneed him in the groin, incredibly hard, and he doubled over in pain.

  “That’s for Katrina, you asshole! Cowardly bunch of kidnappers, grabbing a helpless woman! And if you mangy mutts hurt her, I will personally come back and chew your face off!”