Alphas Unwrapped: 21 New Steamy Paranormal Tales of Shifters, Vampires, Werewolves, Dragons, Witches, Angels, Demons, Fey, and More

by Michele Bardsley

  “I like your Christmas-y thong. You got a present for me, Verena?”

  “Hell, yeah, I do.” Was it his imagination or was she different now, more alive, maybe more confident, definitely more wolf. Whatever the case, he loved it.

  She moved close and helped him out of his coat. She tugged his soft dark turtleneck out of his slacks and pulled it up and over his head. She then attacked his chest biting at his pecs and sucking on his nipples.

  She shoved him down on the bed. He fell so that he lay on his back and she was quick to straddle him. She wore only her bra and thong as she whipped his belt off.

  You like sitting on me? Holding me captive, Verena?

  She didn’t respond with words but with a heavy growl that made his cock stand up even straighter. When she’d said ‘wild’, she’d meant it.

  Once he was completely naked, she pushed his legs apart then used her nose to sniff his legs. She moved up and up until she reached his groin. She used her hands, her nose and her mouth and was all over every part of his sack and his cock.

  He could feel her snuffling and taking deep breaths. Drake, I love the way you smell, a vampire scent of dark night sky and burning stars.

  He loved the imagery, even if it didn’t make rational sense. But wolf’s saw and smelled the world differently.

  She licked him repeatedly up and down his stalk. Occasionally, she’d draw the head in her mouth and suck but mostly her wet tongue worked him over but good. He wanted to return the favor, to bury his face between her legs.

  “You’re going to make me come,” he said, still unable to move his arms.

  “Yes. I am.”

  She was so definitive that he grew very still. The woman had something specific in mind. The fur on her wrists had thickened and did he actually see some around her nipples? It was erotic as hell.

  All the licking had made his cock wet. She stroked with one hand, plunging down and flicked her tongue over the head of his cock.

  “Seriously, Verena. I’m going to come. I want to hold back for you. But if you keep this up...”

  Her nose wrinkled up and she bared her teeth. This is my show, Drake. Now give me what I want.

  Was this shy Verena, showing her teeth and making demands?

  He’d never been so turned on.

  Because she kept stroking, he was ready to fire one off.

  I’m going to suck you now, Drake, and I want your essence inside me and down my throat.

  The moment she began to take steady draws on the head of his cock, he let it all go and began to come. He’d been needing this with Verena for months and here she was sucking him dry.

  His throat opened up and a strange sound, like a howl, came out of his throat.

  Verena kept working him just right, as pleasure pulsed through his cock.

  Her voice in his head added to the sensation. That’s it, Baby, howl for me.

  When he opened up and howled again, his balls sent another round rushing through him. The intense pleasure had his back arching hard. The whole time, she kept stroking and sucking bringing every pulse into her mouth, until at last he was empty and his hips had settled down on the bed.

  When she lifted up, she touched the sides of her lips. She looked satisfied in a way he didn’t get.

  “Did you come, Verena?”

  “Not exactly. But my whole body could sense your release and it pleased me. I love the taste of you, Drake. And the howl you made sent a thrill between my legs. You part wolf now?”

  He might just be. “Looks like I am.”

  She leaned back on her knees and rose up enough to remove her bra. His gaze fell to her peaked nipples. He’d wanted to caress her breasts about every time he saw her in the snug t-shirt she wore at the Trib. He’d fantasized about this moment dozens of times.

  Now he was here.

  But something else was going on as well. Though the vampire in him wanted to attack the vein at her throat, his newly awakened wolf needed an entirely different experience.

  He drew in a deep breath, but when he released it a growl followed, deep-throated and husky. He caught a scent that poured off her.

  He jerked his head up and pulled his lips back. I’m going to wolf you down, Verena.

  He leaped at her and didn’t miss the cry of pleasure that left her mouth when he picked her up then threw her on her back on the bed.

  Aloud, he said, “My turn to feed.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Verena still tasted Drake in her mouth. She kept licking her lips. She wanted more. It was different with him. He tasted like a vampire yet more than that.

  She knew he was part wolf just as she was sharing some of his vampire qualities. She’d heard of this as well and seen it between Iris, a witch who worked as a Trib officer, and Connor, a vampire from Crescent. Each displayed powers the other possessed.

  She couldn’t believe how she’d gone after Drake’s genitals, demanding that he release into her mouth first. But her instincts had told her this was what she needed, so she’d gone with it.

  And that’s when she felt it, how much stronger she was in her bones and muscles. Something about taking his semen into her body had strengthened and changed her even more.

  Drake pulled her to the edge of the bed, dropped to his knees and used his tongue to enflame her. With long swipes, he seemed more wolf than man. He sucked on her, blowing air over her swollen parts, and licking until her back arched and a low moaning howl left her throat. She grabbed the sides of his head and pumped her hips, forcing her sex against his face. He took the hint and with his mouth ravaged her between her legs.

  Ecstasy built quickly until she was crying out in a long, rough sound. Pleasure spiraled through her in pulses, sending electrical jolts up through her abdomen until she lay trembling.

  As her body grew quiet, he began to slow and finally stopped. The orgasm had been perfect. Her eyes were closed, her arms spread out to the sides. “That was wonderful.”

  “Verena?”

  She opened her eyes and looked up. The vampire’s fangs sat low on his lips, but his eyes glowed the way a wolf’s would when he was after a mate.

  Holy shit.

  Her body responded in a very different way, however. She felt a primal need to create tension between them, so she spidered backward to get away from him. His wolf instinct would be to pursue and in the chase, he would release more of his erotic mating scent. In turn, she knew it would strengthen the connection between them.

  She rolled fast, sliding off the bed. But he was quick and caught her around the waist. He held her in a tight grip from behind with one arm. With his free hand, he massaged her breasts. An ache began to swell between her legs.

  “You running from me?” he whispered against her neck.

  She moaned. “I like when you chase me.” She leaned against him.

  “I like it, too.” He kissed her neck. “You’ve got me worked up. I’ve wanted to do this with you for such a damn long time, to feel your breasts, to pierce you between your legs.” He pumped his hips and she could feel that he was fully erect again.

  She was breathing hard and wanted him bad, but her new instincts fired up again. She used every muscle she had to wrench herself from his grasp.

  But he grabbed her hips and pulled her tight one more, which brought a high-keening howl from her throat. Her sex pulsed, trying to squeeze what wasn’t there yet.

  She sniffed the air, but he still hadn’t released the exact scent she needed. She had to get him fired up. “Are you strong enough to take me, vampire? Have you got enough juice to flood me the way I need my man to give it to me?”

  The part of her still reserved and human couldn’t believe how crude she was being. But the wolf part exulted.

  He pushed her onto the bed and growled over her back. “You’re mine, Verena, and I’m taking you as my mate.”

  And that’s when the scent arrived, full of his vampire and wolf musk combined. It went straight to her sex. She was in agony now as he climbed up
on the bed behind her and settled his body over hers. She could feel his arousal. He might have come once, but if he was experiencing some wolf abilities, he would have no problem with a second or a third release.

  The thought that he would fill her full of his seed once more ignited her primal need to resist and trigger more of the scent.

  She started to pull away out from under him.

  But again, he took hold of her hips and another wave hit her of wolf musk edged with vampire. It was intoxicating.

  She arched her back and howled again.

  “You can’t get away from me, Verena. You’re mine. Tonight, you’re all mine.”

  He let his weight take her down flat on the bed so that he was on top of her. Using a knee, he pushed her legs apart then rubbed his cock over her swollen sex. He shoved her hair away from her throat, then kissed and licked her neck.

  Without warning, he slid his open mouth over her throat and held on. He didn’t use his vampire fangs, but took as much of her flesh as he could in his mouth and bit down hard. Very wolf.

  Her whole body arched with pleasure.

  Careful to maintain hold of her neck, he slid his arm beneath her hips and in a smooth motion, lifted her up on all fours. She trembled in anticipation. Because he had a wolf hold on her throat, his scent poured over her in heavy waves. She pushed back against his mouth so that he could draw even more of her throat inside.

  I love this, Drake. You’ve possessed me like a wolf. But I need your cock and I need it now.

  A strange growling sound came out of his mouth, muffled because he held her tight. He moved his hips until his cock was pressed against her entrance.

  Yes!

  Still growling, he began to penetrate her, his thick stalk pushing inside her in strong thrusts. When he was seated deep within, he rose up and grabbed her hips in his hands and began to drive into her.

  Her wolf loved everything about the position.

  He continued to pump, but she felt a subtle change and sensed that his wolf was receding because his vampire was coming forward. She knew what he wanted and it was the same thing she needed to give him.

  She drew her long blond hair away from her neck, then angled her head to give him enough room.

  “How did you know?”

  “Just sensed it. Are your fangs low?”

  “Yes.”

  “Let me see them?” She craned her head and he turned his torso so that she could get a good look.

  She groaned heavily and using her internal muscles stroked his cock.

  His eyes rolled in his head. “God, that feels good.”

  He eased back into position and switched to telepathy. I’m going to strike now. Ready?

  More than you can know.

  It was a quick bite on her neck, a flash of pain that felt incredibly good then he formed a seal around the wounds.

  The moment her blood began leaving her body, a warmth suffused her from deep inside her sex and began flowing up through her abdomen. The same heat enveloped her heart.

  She closed her eyes. The moment felt mysterious to her in a way she’d never believed possible. She was at the center of a distant star, boiling with energy and heat and the love that had made the world in the first place.

  She didn’t know how long he took from her, because she didn’t feel of this world anymore.

  His voice in her head drew her back to earth. Your blood has powered me, Verena. And now it’s time to go the distance.

  He sealed the small wounds with swipes of his tongue and lifted back, but remained on his knees and connected to her.

  He started pumping again, driving the hard length of his cock all the way, then pulling slowly out. The sensation worked her up fast. Because she’d already come, each thrust felt like heaven.

  He moved faster, building passion between them, erotic and hot.

  Faster he went.

  She shoved her hips against him over and over, deepening the thrusts. Her whole body was hot, desperate with the need to feel him release and at the same time to ride the waves of passion.

  Finally, he moved vampire fast, a rapid pulse that took her the rest of the way. I’m coming. A cry left her throat.

  Ecstasy once more began racing through her, rising in her flesh and flooding her veins.

  Drake began to roar as he continued to drive into her.

  Pleasure soared through her sex, her abdomen and invaded her heart. Her veins lit on fire at the howls that Drake released into the air. The sound was like a symphony to her sensitive wolf’s ears. She could hear a dozen different resonances, each one calling to her soul.

  Ecstasy flowed and peaked, cascading waves of pleasure through her body. Finally, the sensations began to ease down and after a moment a warm emotion invaded her, swirling through her and easing the suffering of the past two years.

  She loved him.

  She loved him.

  Drake had come to mean so much to her and now he’d become her lover, part vampire, part wolf.

  She felt changed in a way she didn’t understand. So much had happened in the past few hours, that she no longer felt like Verena trapped in a small room in Joy’s house, held prisoner by her fear of the shifter packs in Savage Territory, or by Mellet who had killed her husband because he’d wanted her for his own.

  Now she was fully wolf as she’d never been before, and knew she had more power than she’d ever expected to experience.

  Drake was still positioned behind her and connected deep inside her sex. He rubbed her back. “That was beautiful, Verena.”

  “It was.”

  He drew out of her slowly.

  “Hand me some tissues?” she asked.

  She watched him pluck them from the box on the nightstand. Handing them to her, she stuffed them between her legs. Drake had released a lot of his seed inside her and her wolf loved it.

  He then stretched out beside her and continued to rub her back. She remained on her stomach and looked at him. He drew close and kissed her.

  “You can tell me anything, Verena. Anything.”

  She wanted to share her thoughts, but wasn’t sure how. “I feel different now, Drake. I can’t explain it. I’m amazed at the powers you’ve been sharing with me, but you’ve given me something else as well, a kind of drive I’ve never known before.”

  “I get it. I’m feeling a similar shift in focus. Something that feels more wolf”

  “You are?”

  He nodded.

  She reached over and gripped his arm. “I know this is going to seem really strange, but there’s something I want to do desperately right now and I don’t mean here, in bed, with you.”

  He frowned slightly. “What’s that?”

  “I want to get Mellet and I want to get him tonight.”

  Chapter Three

  DRAKE STARED INTO a pair of light blue eyes lit with a fervor he’d never seen before. Verena looked more warrior than Tribunal help-line operator.

  And she wanted to go after Mellet.

  Drake didn’t know what to think.

  He had a strange current running through his bones, his blood, his skin. He knew what it was: Wolf energy. He’d even marked Verena as a wolf by taking hold of her neck, a sign of mating dominance.

  But what he saw in Verena right now was more of an essential vampire drive. Like her levitation skills, she must have gotten her sudden focus from him. Just as he’d gained some wolfness from her.

  He’d suspected something like this could happen. He’d seen the sharing of powers more than once, especially in Fergus who had taken a Revel fae woman as his wolf-mate.

  He doubted he’d ever be able to shift. He didn’t think that was exactly how the sharing of powers worked. But he could feel the wolf energy of it and how it was definitely hierarchal in nature: Every wolf would know his or her betters.

  Yet it felt fluid as well, as though with diligence a wolf could improve in those qualities that would make for strong leadership. Most sand-pit dominance fights came o
ut of the need each wolf had to move up in the pack.

  Having been a Crescent Territory Border Patrol officer for three relatively short years, he’d resisted taking on a leadership role. Vampires weren’t pack-oriented. If anything, the basic nature of his kind tended to go it alone.

  Yet in this moment, Verena felt like his pack, like he belonged.

  But he had to think through what Verena wanted to do. Going after Mellet wouldn’t be simple especially if he was backed by the cartels. From the beginning, he’d known how important it was to steer clear of any of the drug lords.

  He turned onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. He’d been an architect before he became an alter vampire. The transition to a new life in Five Bridges, with bizarre blood-sucking needs had sent him into a cavern of despair.

  Brannick had been the one to talk to him and help him through. He’d even encouraged him to join the force. He’d never seen himself in law enforcement before, but he’d been built for it in many ways, including physically. He was a big man and his vampire transformation had added muscle.

  What hadn’t changed was his ability to connect with people, even the five species of their province. He didn’t share the essential animosity found among the different types. Instead, each had intrigued him.

  It was probably the reason he’d so easily gotten hooked by Verena. He turned his head to look at her. “I’m not ignoring what you said.”

  “I get it. You’re doing a Drake.”

  He chuckled. “What does that mean?”

  “It’s a compliment. You’re thinking things through. It’s a quality you have. I’ve been paying attention, you know, all the times we talked. After all, my mating instincts turned red hot the moment I watched you yell at Donaldson. I knew here was a man I could fall for and the reason I’ve allowed you to get close. Since then, however, you’ve added to the list.”

  He frowned. “Sounds like you’ve been keeping score.”

  “I’ll admit I’ve been careful.”

  “So did you actually make a list?”

  “Mentally. Yeah. I wasn’t about to get involved with any man unless I trusted him going in. This is Five Bridges, a horrible, violent place and I plan on staying alive as long as I can so I’m cautious. However, right now, all I want is Mellet off the streets.”