by G. Bailey
"Tanner really messed you up, didn't he? You can't even let me get close, even though I can see you want to," I reply, though my voice is bitter and colder than I wanted it to be. I have to stop letting him get to me, because every time he does, it hurts a little bit deeper down in my chest.
"This isn't about my father," he growls.
"Don't you see, Alpha? It always is, and even though he is dead, he is still controlling you and ruining me," I whisper, and for the first time since I've met Alpha, I turn around and walk away.
Chapter 15
Elodie
I knock on the door a few times before lowering my hand, feeling more than nervous about what I'm doing. Last night, I went over the same thoughts again and again in my mind as I walked to the kitchen, got some food and then sat in my room all night, lost in my thoughts. Alpha will always be around, and even if we are at war with each other, I know he won't hurt me, well, not in the physical sense. He can sure break my heart all the same without a second thought. I have to talk to River before seeing Alaric today and get out all of the thoughts. We need to talk because ignoring each other and catching him staring at me strangely all the time isn’t working.
The door opens, and River gives me a surprised look as I try not to cough out my shock at seeing him shirtless. River’s chest is muscular, toned and his stomach is flat with deep ripples of muscle that I just want to reach out and touch. There is a faint line of black hair on his chest, and on his ribs are faint scars he no doubt got fighting. I have to open and close my mouth a few times before I’m even capable of words. This is hormones, it has to be. Though Alpha, Letric and Alaric all look just as incredible without their shirts on and even better with nothing on at all. That makes me instantly wonder what hides below River’s black low trousers, the top button of which is undone, teasing me, I’m sure.
"Morning, Elodie. What time is it? Did I sleep in?" River asks, though he looks amused when I finally snap out of it and meet his blue eyes. He totally caught me, and I don’t even know how to say sorry for it.
"It's four in the morning, so no, I just needed to talk to you. I couldn't sleep," I blurt out and look down before trying to talk again, but he speaks first.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, not at all," I say and shake my head, smiling up at him, seeing how his wavy black hair looks cute in the morning. "This isn't working out how I imagined."
"What isn't working out?" he asks, crossing his arms against his muscular chest.
"You know what? It doesn't matter," I say, going to turn around when River clamps a hand around my wrist and pulls me to his chest, his other arm sliding around my waist, and I feel like I've stopped breathing as I meet his eyes.
"Tell me what you were going to tell me, Elodie," he asks, keeping us close. "Or I can tell you how mad I am about you, and how sorry I am for pushing you away. I thought it was for the best, that the Alpha Brothers would make you happy, but they don't, do they?"
"They don't want me like a mate, and I don't know what they want anymore. At the moment, they push me away as much as you did," I admit. “Is there something about me that makes men want to sleep with me and then run?”
"I'm not fighting this anymore. There was always something different about you, and you have haunted my dreams for longer than I will admit," he says, his warm breath blowing against my face as he speaks. “Trust me, I don’t want to run. I want what is best for you. What will make you happy, and I know that could be me if we try this.”
"River, if they find out," I start off, “I don’t trust how they would react.”
"I will handle the brothers, and if they stop being idiots, you can handle us all," he tells me, and I don’t get to reply as, in the next moment, his lips are on mine. River groans as he kisses me, and I slide my hands into his hair, pulling and tugging him as close as he can get as his hands explore my back.
"Elodie," River groans against my lips as we walk backwards into his room, and he slams the door shut behind us. River picks me up, carrying me to the bed where he lays me down before crawling over me. The next few moments, we rip each other’s clothes off, both of us desperate to get as close to each other as possible. River smiles down at me the moment my dress slides off my legs, and very slowly runs his eyes up and down my body.
"I have to admit something before we go further," River whispers to me, his hands caressing up and down my stomach, teasing me with the slow movement. I keep my eyes locked onto River's as I reach closer, placing my hand on his cheek, rubbing my thumb over the dagger marks that feel indented almost.
"I've never done this. I told you I didn't find another mate after—" he stops and clears his throat. "Well, I never took a woman to bed either."
"Why did you wait?" I ask, trying to hide the smile that I will be his first.
"There was no one I ever wanted as a mate until you. Now there is just you, and I want you. I want every part of you, as a mate as well, if you will have me," he says, and I freeze, totally shocked he just said that to me. No one has ever said they wanted to be my mate before. As a child, I would beg, cry and plead for someone, anyone to claim me as their mate. It was all I ever wanted, and as I got older, I came to accept it never would happen. Now that it has, I don’t know how to process it.
"You want me as your mate?" I ask, stroking my fingers down the side of his face and over the marks on his cheek as I wait for his answer.
"I've already submitted to you and fell in love with you. Mating is something I want with you more than anything," he says.
"I want the same, I want you. I just am scared of the Alpha Brothers’ reaction," I admit. “I don’t think I could live without you in my life, River. Not anymore. You kidnapped every part of me, including my heart and soul that day we met.”
"Do you love them as they love you, Elodie?" he asks, thinking on my words.
"You know that answer, but loving them isn't enough for them to want forever at my side," I answer.
"They want you forever, they just don't realise it, but forget them for a moment. The choice is yours, Elodie. If you want me as your mate, you call your wolf and bite me. I will never reject you. My wolf is as much yours as I am," he tells me.
"How did I get lucky enough to meet you, River?" I ask, wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling myself closer.
"I kidnapped you, remember?" he replies, and I chuckle as I climb over him and kiss him. I moan against his lips as I feel his hard cock near my entrance, and his hands go to my hips, tightening.
"I'm yours, River," I whisper against his lips. River slowly lowers me onto him, filling me up as I moan out, digging my nails into his chest.
"Hell, this is perfect," River groans, burying himself all the way inside of me. River reaches up, kissing me as I slowly move my hips. “Show me what you like, Elodie.” I hesitate for only a moment at his words before taking one of his hands and placing his thumb on my clit, rubbing it in the way that sends me close to the edge. I moan as River flips us over on the bed, taking control and thrusting harshly into me. Every moment is perfect, filled with pleasure, and I can’t help the loud moans that escape my lips. Just as I get close to my climax, I call my wolf and reach forward. I bite down on River’s neck as I come, the pleasure being uncontrollable as River bites my shoulder too and finishes with a long growl that makes us both shiver. I instantly feel the difference of a mating bond between us as I lean back, seeing the bite mark on River’s neck heal and leave a white symbol behind. The mating symbol, covered in blood. River kisses me, and neither of us needs to say another word, this is perfect.
Chapter 16
Elodie
“I don’t want to let you go,” River says, tugging me back to his chest and kissing me once again.
“I promised Alaric I’d spend today with him, and I need to explain this,” I say, tapping a finger against my neck.
“No need to explain. Everything is quite clear,” Alaric says, making me jump and turn around to see him standing in the corrido
r, his body shaking with anger. It’s his eyes that scare me the most and make me want to rush to him, to hold him close. He looks destroyed, just before he turns and walks away.
"Alaric, wait!" I shout before I run after him down the corridor, through a pair of doors he throws open. I close the door behind me before watching Alaric stop right before the line of trees that spread into the forest behind the castle. He suddenly shifts, the sound of his shift and his ripping clothes filling the silent space before it stops, and Alaric’s large white wolf stands still. I don't have to speak to him to know he wants me to shift, to see my wolf for the first time. I walk further into the clearing and close my eyes. The shift feels like a ripple of pure power all over my skin, but it isn't painful like it was the first time I shifted. This is only the third time for me, but it feels so natural when my wolf takes over my mind. There is just calm peacefulness as the world blacks out for what feels like a long moment, but it can only be seconds in reality.
I open my eyes, seeing the world in such a vivid difference to how my normal eyes see the world. My wolf makes the world so much more alive. I run to Alaric's side, slowly rubbing my side against his and stopping next to him. Alaric's wolf turns its head to meet mine, our eyes locking together. Wolf or not, Alaric's emotions are reflected in his eyes either way. I hurt him with River earlier. There is no doubt I smell of River now, and he saw that kiss goodbye outside his room. I never wanted to hurt them, and I want to fix this, but I don't really know how.
Alaric suddenly shakes his head and runs off at full speed into the forest. I quickly chase him, following him around the trees and jumping over fallen branches. My paws dig into the moss as I run, and the snow falls lightly around us from where the trees let it fall through them. Eventually, Alaric comes to a stop at the bottom of a clearing, where a small lake sits frozen. Even the waterfall is frozen, and there is no sound of running water, only peaceful quiet. Alaric shifts back, standing completely naked in front of the lake, the cold air moving his hair around a little in the wind.
"You have a beautiful, strong wolf, Elodie, but come back to me. We need to talk," he says. My wolf practically purrs before I close my eyes and another ripple of power sweeps over my body, pulling me back to myself. I stand up in the clearing, wrapping my arms around my shoulders as the cold wind blows snow against me. Alaric walks to the side, picking up a hidden bag from behind a rock and pulling out two cloaks. He clips his over his shoulders before coming over and wrapping mine around me. He clips my cloak together, never once looking at me until it is done, and he places his hands on my shoulders. When he finally meets my eyes, my voice catches in my throat at everything I can see in them. Everything I can feel. Pain, worry, jealousy, and most of all love.
"Do you love him, Elodie?" he asks, his voice almost sounding detached.
"Yes," I reply. “He is my mate, and I didn’t mate with him without being sure he is forever in my life.”
"Do you love me?" he asks, and I can sense the doubt in his voice. He thinks I’ve chosen River over them.
"I always have done. Even when you never loved me back," I admit. “You saved me, showed me what it was like to be loved and alive. Even if you broke me in the end, I still can’t help but love you.”
"When I saw you with him, I realised for the first time that I could lose you. That you won't be coming back to our pack, sleeping in our beds and letting us love you," he says. “It never felt like sharing with my brothers, it never did, but with River..well, everything is different.”
"I am not going back there to a place where I was just your slave you slept with," I tell him. “Besides, this is my home, my father’s home, and I know this is the place I am meant to be.”
"You were never that to us, and you know it," he counters. “If you were just that to me, you would have been in and out of our bed after one night.”
"Then change your mind about submitting and taking a mate. That is your only way to prove to me everything you say is true! Can't you see that?" I say, feeling frustrated. “You get jealous about me, but you won’t commit to me.”
"Alpha, Letric and I made a promise to never take a mate when we were children. We agreed to never let a woman come between us and our fight for no claims and a world where you do not need to have a mate to exist fairly in," he explains. “We want a world in which wolves grow up in their own rights, choose their mates because of love, and have the option to be alone if they wish.”
"This isn't a fair world, Alaric," I reply. "Your old promise now only hurts one person: me. Even if I do agree with your ideas."
"We never wanted to hurt anyone, that was the whole point," he mutters.
"This is more messed up than any of us ever predicted it could be," I say, and Alaric moves an inch closer, leaning down and resting his forehead against mine for the simple contact. The need to be close to each other. We stand like this for a long time, neither of us moving or wanting to speak anymore because there is nothing to be said. They won't change their mind, and that will always hurt me.
"I will speak to my brothers, Elodie. If it is a choice between losing you and taking you as our mate, there really isn't a choice," he says. “I can’t lose you.”
"You mean that?" I ask, sliding my hands to his chest and staring up at him.
"I will do whatever it takes to make this right between us all," he says, placing his hand to my stomach. "We have a future to think about."
"I love you," I whisper, before reaching forward and kissing him. He pulls me close as he deepens the kiss, our bodies pressed tightly against each other. I pull back and start kissing down his neck, slowly lowering myself to my knees in the cold snow. I slowly rub my hand up and down his hard cock, and he lets out a long, deeply attractive groan. I move closer and slowly lick the end before sliding him all the way into my mouth, and his hands slide into my hair in response as he lets out a long, possessive growl.
"If this is what River has been teaching you, I might come and watch him teach you." I move faster after hearing his words, wondering how perfect that would be in my mind. Both of them, enjoying me. Alaric groans as he comes in my mouth, and I quickly swallow all that he gives me before standing up. He gently cups my face before kissing me and leaving me breathless.
"Now it is time I repay the favour, hmm?" he says before falling to his knees and opening my cloak. Alaric can repay the favour any day.
Chapter 17
Elodie
"I don't think a meal is going to make any of this situation better," River states, watching me as Angel finishes curling my hair, which she offered to do when I explained my slightly insane plan for tonight.
"They won't hurt you while I’m there, and it is best we just get this out of the way. They aren't leaving; you are my mate, therefore, you are not leaving either," I say and turn to look at him. "These babies are on the way, and I don't want them born into a war zone between you all." I glance down at my stomach, which is growing by the day. The healer believes I’m only four months along, so we have a while before the babies come.
"I'm not the problem, Elodie," River states.
"Good luck, El. You are one courageous woman,” Angel says, placing her hand on my shoulder and squeezing once. “I wanted to thank you for helping all the children get settled. Their new teachers also enjoyed your visit the other day also. Speaking of new, I must get back to my new mate. We would love for you to come over for dinner one afternoon.”
"It will be fine, and I’d love to meet your new mate," I say, shaking my head and standing up. I glance at myself in the mirror, seeing how lovely my hair is curled, thanks to Angel, and the purple dress which puffs out in different colours and is tighter around my little bump.
“Fine is a brave word to describe tonight,” River adds in.
"Not brave, just I want this to work for us all. We are so close to having it worked out," I say. Angel sadly smiles at me like she knows something I do not before she leaves the room, shutting the door behind her.
"
Except that Alpha wants me dead, Letric isn't speaking to you. It's only Alaric who is trying to talk his brothers down from the crazy ideas they are no doubt brewing up in that blood connection of theirs," River states, coming over to me and wrapping his arms around my waist.
"You know they can talk to each other like that?" I ask, not aware that many people know of their connection.
"Yes, it is a childhood gift. If you make a blood bond as a child, you are given that power," he explains it to me. No wonder I’ve never heard of it before the Alpha Brothers. That is a big burden to take on as a child.
"I wish it was the same for mates. I'd love to know what you are thinking," I say, knowing I can only feel his emotions when we are connected somehow, like usually during sex. River had explained the longer we are mated, the stronger the connection will be.
"I will always tell you what I'm thinking, and right now?" he moves his lips next to my neck, his warm breath sending shivers through me. "I'm thinking about ripping this dress off you and using my lips to make you moan in that sexy way I love."
"Maybe you can do just that but after dinner," I say, rolling my eyes at his attempt to get out of this meal. River takes my hand in his, letting out a long sigh as I walk with him to the door. We go down the corridor in silence, both of us nervous what this meal could bring.
“Elodie, my you look different these days,” Mary says, stepping out from a room and closing the door behind her as we walk to her. Mary doesn’t look like she has changed at all, though she has a bigger smile than I’m used to seeing. Mary surprises me by wrapping me in a tight hug and letting go, looking down at my bump.
“They need you, the stubborn fools. They will need the pureness of these babies in their lives as well. A light to banish the dark past,” she says, and bows her head before walking away.