by Lexi C. Foss
“Fuck you,” she snapped, not even fazed by her inferior position.
“Poor choice of words,” I said, pressing my very aroused cock into her slick folds. Not inside. Just against. Enough to demonstrate my dominance and warn her of my intent should she push me too far.
She bit her lower lip, her cheeks flushed in glorious fury. And when I tried to hold her gaze, she looked away.
The first sign of submission.
And a very telling one.
While her body might be wet and willing beneath mine, her mind was nowhere near ready. If I took her now, I would only confirm to her that I was a monster. As we had several centuries ahead of us, I preferred not to start off on the wrong paw.
I sighed, shaking my head. “I really hope you enjoyed whatever pup you allowed between your legs, little mate, because it’s the last time someone other than me will ever please you.” I released her and leapt off her before she could get another swipe in.
She sprung expertly to her feet, assuming the fighting position. “I didn’t yield.”
I grinned, amused by her determination. “No. Not with your words, anyway. But your body definitely did.” I glanced pointedly at my slick cock, and then back at her. “I should make you suck it off. Just to prove my point.”
Although, I strongly suspected she’d bite me instead. Her clenching jaw verified that to be an accurate assessment. It should have pissed me off. Instead, all it did was please me greatly.
I’d definitely chosen right with this one.
The wolves of my experience were just so damn submissive. I desired a female with fight. One who wasn’t afraid to challenge me.
Like Luna did now with her eyes.
I grabbed her chin and wrapped my opposite arm around her back when she tried to strike me again. I’d gone easy on her, and I allowed her to feel that in the way I held her now. She couldn’t squirm, could barely even breathe. That was how hard I held her as I took in every detail of her beautiful face.
“No one will touch you here,” I said softly. “Not when they all know you’re mine.” It served as a warning while also confirming her security in the pack. Because she didn’t need to fear anyone. But she also couldn’t fuck anyone but me.
“Let go of me,” she demanded, a note of fear finally tinging that sweet voice of hers.
I ignored her request while making her hold my gaze. “Don’t worry, little mate. I’ll never force you, and there is plenty of willing pussy on these grounds.”
I allowed that to sink in, compelling her to see the truth of my statement. Then I released her with a shove, sending her back several steps so she couldn’t physically retaliate.
“I strongly suggest you consider our circumstances, Luna. You’re here because I require an heir. And I will have one.” Because I had no doubt she would one day succumb to me. They always did. “What you have to decide is whether you want to end up alone after fulfilling your purpose or by my side. Because I mean it. None of my wolves will touch you. Ever.”
“While you can fuck whoever you want,” she replied, giving a harsh laugh. “Yes, I’m very aware of society’s rules, Alpha.”
So disrespectful.
So fucking hot.
My cock pulsed, eager to put her on her back again. But I refrained, instead staring her down with one of my infamous alpha glares. “Keep me satisfied and maybe I won’t desire anyone else.” Cruel words, but true. Lycan society encouraged the males to take a harem, even when mated. But the females, no. Once mated, they were to remain faithful.
Those who weren’t died. Badly.
Luna had to know that.
She laughed, but it lacked humor. And she slowly shook her head. “Go fuck whoever you want, Alpha.”
I narrowed my gaze, displeased with her easy dismissal. Most in my position would have already mounted her and forced her submission. I offered to play first.
Still, she denied me.
Even with her body ripe and willing.
“Fine,” I replied. “This is my house. Pick whatever bed you want. Just not mine. I may have company later.”
I didn’t wait for a reply, my inner wolf raging at me to either fuck or run. And I chose the latter.
Her arousal was even more potent as I shifted, my nose picking up the trace of liquid heat rolling down her inner thighs. It took considerable effort to back away and not pounce on the one my wolf recognized as his intended.
She didn’t want me. Not yet.
I darted toward the tree line, a growl vibrating in my throat.
The bolder females of the pack would track me down, demand I allow them to satisfy the lust burning inside me.
And maybe I’d let them.
I wasn’t mated yet. Nor did I have a mate who wanted me. So why shouldn’t I indulge in another?
Luna’s snarl gave me pause just inside the tree line, her dark head bowing as she fell to her knees.
“Fuck,” she growled. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!”
My lips pulled back at her display of rage. It seemed my intended did care. She cared very much. But there was also a note of cunning in her scent, a plan taking root in that mind of hers. A mind I very much wanted to get to know.
What are you thinking, little mate? I wondered, an image of her trying to escape our grounds flashing behind my eyes. Was that telegraphed through our subtle link? Or something else entirely?
Regardless, it intrigued me.
I rather hoped she would try to run.
Because I always did enjoy a good chase.
3
Silas
This task is bullshit, I thought, kicking a stone with my paw.
Every day, they sent me out here to “guard” the perimeter. Right. Because the nearest territory was hundreds of miles away in each direction, which meant there were other patrols out there doing the same thing and stopping anything that could get this close.
They’ll probably send me there next. The only reason I’d been allowed to stay this close to the heart of the pack was because of my supposed need for training. Not that anyone had bothered to explain a damn thing to me.
No.
All they did was tell me to patrol. Like maybe I could learn something by sniffing grass and dirt in wolf form. I snorted. Right.
The only scent I continued to pick up out here was a sweet orange blossom aroma that belonged to Edon’s intended mate. She seemed to enjoy running the perimeter. Alone.
Everyone stayed clear of her, including me. But I couldn’t help wondering what she was up to out here.
I trailed her scent along the creek, following at a distance. As we were on the boundaries, it still qualified as me doing my job. It just gave me something a little more exciting to do.
Something about her intrigued me. She smelled different from the pack, but my interest went deeper than that. Her presence boasted a hint of pride that the other women around here seemed to lack. Perhaps because Luna was an alpha—a rare designation for female lycans.
Hmm, no, it was the way she moved so gracefully through the bayou, her long legs dancing across the ground with liquid ease.
I nearly approached her twice this week, just to make myself known, but I sensed that would break a myriad of rules.
For one, I was the omega of the pack. A new wolf. A weakling.
At least in the eyes of everyone else.
But I certainly didn’t feel all that weak. If anything, I felt restless. Like I needed to be doing something more important than wandering—
Death.
My nose twitched.
Another breeze ruffled my fur with the foul stench, stirring my instincts to high alert.
Where is it coming from?
I tracked a pungent tendril through the creek and to the other side. These lands still belonged to Clemente Clan but were just outside of the primary grounds housing the pack hierarchy.
And something was very off.
My lips pulled back in a low snarl, the reek of violence unsettling my insides.
Something or someone had died out here in the worst kind of way.
Torture.
Innards.
Blood.
I lifted my muzzle, scenting for the source.
There. I bounded through the moss-covered trees, my pads silent over the grass-covered stones below.
A corpse lay demolished in the grass.
The head rested a few feet away, leaving a nasty stump of a neck behind.
Vampire.
Pack scent rioted with the stench of decay, naming the clear murderer as someone from Clemente Clan. But who would do this? It broke one of the most sacred laws among the Blood Alliance—no exterminating of immortal life without higher order.
And this vampire’s death clearly wasn’t sanctioned.
Unless Walter approved it.
Or whomever this vampire belonged to.
But then again a whole ceremony would have been performed.
No. Definitely an unsanctioned kill.
I lifted my head back in a howl to alert my fellow sentries, uncertain of how else to proceed since no one had actually given me details on proper protocol.
What is it? a deep voice asked in my head, causing me to stumble on my four legs.
What the hell? I thought, glancing this way and that. No one in Clemente Clan had telepathic abilities that I knew of. Or maybe they did. Because how the fuck would I know? No one told me shit.
Silas, the voice growled. Report.
Who is this? I demanded, spinning again, confused as fuck and slightly paranoid that I might be hearing things.
Edon, your alpha, came the voice, a hint of irritation underlining his now recognizably arrogant tone. Report.
How are you in my head? I asked. Wait, can all of us do this?
Oh, fuck. That would be bad. Very, very bad. I didn’t want anyone in my head. A lot of private and very rebellious thoughts formed up there, thoughts that, if voiced out loud, could get me killed.
Like my interest in Luna’s exquisite scent.
And my overall hatred for this new life.
A long-suffering sigh that didn’t belong to me—in my own fucking head—caused my fur to stand on end.
Calm down, Silas. I made you. It’s the link between a sire and his progeny. It exists within the pack psyche but can only be accessed by us. Now can you tell me what the fuck is going on over there?
It was the most the alpha heir had said to me since he turned me all those weeks ago. And yet this link had existed the entire time?
Fuck.
And what the hell is a pack psyche?
Silas, he growled. Focus before I come out there myself.
The threat in his tone had me swallowing a whimper. I did not want to see him out here. Or really at all. Especially after the hell he inflicted on me during the change.
Edon was not a kind lycan. That, I knew for certain. Even if he seemed to be allowing his mate to roam freely over the grounds.
Silas! You are severely testing my patience, something I strongly encourage you not to do.
I sat several feet away from the corpse, grimacing even in wolf form. There’s a dead vampire on the outskirts of the property, and it reeks of pack.
Silence.
Edon? I wasn’t sure if he heard me or not.
I’m on my way. Don’t let anyone fucking touch the scene, or I’ll have your hide.
I growled in response to the threat, hating him even more. But as the sounds of paws approaching tickled my ears, I took guard as he demanded. I shifted back into my human form, something that hurt the first several times I’d done it, but now felt second nature, and stood with my arms crossed.
Three wolves with silky white coats appeared, all males, all purebreds in the pack—meaning they were born as lycans. As long as one parent had a wolf gene, the child was born a lycan. Hence the need for the breeding farms.
Where Willow is being held, I thought, flinching. She’d been part of my class, one of my best friends. On Blood Day, the Magistrate sent her to the breeding farms to create either more humans or more lycans.
I really hoped it was the former.
At least Rae is okay, I consoled myself, thinking of my other best friend. It’d been a welcome shock seeing her at the alpha ceremonies. When I heard Kylan, the infamous harem-slaying royal, had taken her as a mate, I’d worried about her well-being. But she’d seemed fine. Happy, even.
Well, that makes one of us, I thought as the approaching wolves shifted into human form.
“What’d you do?” the stockiest of them demanded. What was his name? Edwin? Ethan? Goliath?
Fuck if I knew.
None of them wanted to be friends with the human turned lycan, so I’d returned the favor.
“I asked you a question, mutt,” Goliath—he looked like a Goliath, anyway—growled.
“I found a dead vampire,” I drawled, stating the obvious.
Three matching unamused expressions stared back at me.
“Edon says not to touch him until he gets here,” I added.
That seemed to grab their interest.
“Edon, huh?” The redheaded one scratched the stubble along his jaw. “Do we take orders from Edon yet, Barry?”
“No, we don’t, Glenn,” the third—Barry—replied, his lanky body the least threatening of the trio.
“Didn’t think so.” Glenn smiled, the expression one of evil intent.
This is going to end badly, I sighed to myself. “He may not be your alpha yet, but he’s the heir. Best to do what he says.”
Glenn’s gaze lit up with wicked determination. “Nah, I didn’t hear any orders, mutt. I think we’ll do whatever the fuck we want. Isn’t that right, boys?”
“Yep,” the minions beside him said in unison.
Part of me wanted to welcome them to their funeral with open arms and allow them to do whatever the hell they wanted. But the obedient part of me—one beat into me over years of submission in the university—caused me to fold my arms and stand my ground in front of the corpse. “No.”
I didn’t elaborate.
Didn’t lay down a threat.
Just merely enforced the fact that they would not be fucking with this vampire corpse until Edon gave his approval.
Barry chuckled, shaking his head. “Allow me.”
I saw his punch as it formed, noted the way his body angled for a fight before he even took a step. And I deftly dodged the throw while landing one of my own against the flat planes of his abdomen.
“Oomph,” he breathed, hunching over from the strike I knew would leave him winded for at least thirty seconds.
Unfortunately, my instinctual reaction caused his buddies to charge me at once.
I caught Glenn’s fist, twisted his arm, and sent him to his knees. Which left my right side open for Goliath’s brutal attack.
One crack to my ribs, the other to my back, in quick succession, sent me tumbling back. But I’d endured much, much worse. I’d survived the fucking Immortal Cup. I knew how this worked, and I used his temporary victory to my advantage.
Because he didn’t try to hit me again.
He merely stood there smirking like a dumbass, assuming I wouldn’t get back up.
The disbelief in his gaze was a gorgeous sight as I kicked out my legs not even seconds later, landing on my feet, and sent my palm into his nose.
Crunch.
My other hand slammed into his sternum.
Snap.
And my knee sailed into his side.
Pop.
His howl as he fell to the ground was music to my ears.
Movement in my peripheral vision had me kicking out sideways into Glenn’s abdomen, then my fist crashed into his skull with a deafening blow. He whimpered, falling on top of his friend, as Barry stood and held out his hands in defeat.
I narrowed my gaze at him. “Are we done?”
“Yes,” a low voice snarled from the woods.
Edon.
He strode forward on two feet, shirtless, and in a pair of
jeans that slung low across his hips. An indication that the bastard had jogged here on two legs instead of shifting into the faster form of four.
In other words, the jackass had taken his time on purpose.
“What happened?” he demanded, taking in the scene of his two wounded wolves and Barry’s contrite stance.
“Just fucking around, boss,” the idiot said.
Yeah, fucking around, my ass, I thought.
Edon arched a brow at me. Care to say that out loud.
I folded my arms instead, staring him down.
A beat of silence passed.
Snitching wasn’t my thing. Besides, it was pretty damn obvious what happened. They attacked; I defended. No one touched the body, I added mentally. Your Highness.
Edon snorted. “Barry, get the jackass twins back to central. I’ll deal with you all later. Silas, you stay.”
Woof woof, I thought. Oh, it was entirely stupid to challenge an alpha. I knew that. But I had nothing to lose other than my life, and that could only be taken with due cause. Edon would sooner throw me to the rogues of the world, a place where I suspected I might actually be happier.
Maybe then I could find an old bed to sleep on instead of curling up under a random tree on the ground.
Although, likely not.
But a wolf could dream.
Dumb, Dumber, and Dipshit all took their leave, hobbling away under the careful eye of their future alpha. When he glanced back at me, I said nothing. If he thought I intended to apologize for putting those assholes in their places, then he had another think coming.
“They threatened to touch the corpse, didn’t they?” he asked once they were too far to hear.
I didn’t confirm or deny it, just continued to stare at him.
“Defying an alpha is a dangerous game,” he warned.
“Try telling those three idiots that,” I suggested.
“Those three idiots, as you call them, are purebreds and far higher in the pack than you.”
Like I didn’t know that. It was why they lived on the main grounds. Why they had a roof over their heads when I didn’t. Why they could talk to someone of Edon’s status while I was expected to bow and grovel.
Well, fuck that.
Edon took my measure, his smoldering irises running over each exposed inch of my skin. Nudity never bothered me. I’d spent many, many years being appraised by immortals, evaluated for my looks, my agility, my intelligence. I knew where I stood on every measure. My becoming a lycan just heightened all those attributes. Whereas wolves like the idiot trio never had to fight for anything in their lives. They were born into their positions. Just like Edon.