Bride to the Alpha (The Wolf's Pet Book Two) (8 page)

This. Yes. This is what I want. This is what I need.

I’d said that I was here for peace, but I was truly here for
him.
Alekk. I needed him. My hands came up and touched him, uncertainly at first, then with an insistent need that I could not control, no, not even if I wanted to. And I didn’t want to. I wanted it, plain and simple. I wanted sex.

I wanted him.

His cock slid down and paused at my entrance. I could feel him, hard as steel, waiting, teasing me. I was soaked with desire, and my fingers clawed at his chest.

“Please,” I gasped. I couldn’t think anymore; the world was a dizzy mess. Inside the tent the lantern flickered and sent strange shadows up onto the side of the tent. It looked like a monster, but it was only the shadow of Alekk and I combined, our bodies twisted together.

“Oh, Kinaya,” Alekk moaned, and then he pushed himself into me.

The world disappeared. Everything was color and light, the sensations flashing through my mind in bright succession. I could feel Alekk inside of me, his cock tearing through my body in pleasure that burned as bright as a bonfire inside of me.

I’d forgotten to breathe, but when he pressed his lips again to mine I remembered and gasped out for air. My eyes opened and I saw his eyes bright and blue above my face. Sweat beaded his upper lip. I could sense that he was trying to control himself, to take it easy on me.

“Kinaya,” he murmured. I gripped his hips and pulled, and then he was thrusting deep into me, piercing me over and over again. I cried out, my legs wrapped around him, empty of everything except the delicious ecstasy of his fullness swelling inside of me and his hands caressing my breasts, my body, my hips.

“Kinaya, Kinaya,” he repeated, and rolled his hips to thrust once more. I cried out as he rocked into me, penetrating even farther. I twisted and matched his rhythm, rocking back to meet him. His arms wrapped around me, then, pinning me down hard on the pelts.

“I can’t control it,” he said, breathing hard above me. “I want you. Kinaya.”

“I’m here,” I said helplessly. I ached for him to thrust into me again, but my fingers tore uselessly at his arms. “Please. Alekk—”

“The guards are away,” he whispered. “You can shift now, if you want. There’s nobody around to smell you.”

I stared up into his face, terrified.

“Kinaya,” he whispered. “Be more than human. Let me see your other side.”

I had been clinging to my human form so tightly that it was hard for me to let any part of me unwind. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to let myself enter my shifter state without giving away too much of my scent.

There!

“Oh, God!” I cried out. The fierce desire that had burned inside of me suddenly flared up, ten times as sharp as before. In my shifter form, I could sense Alekk’s animal desire. I could sense too his strength, his need to protect, every emotion that I’d been blocking from him.

He rolled his hips, his thick cock filling me. In the blaze of my desire, I orgasmed instantly. My body shuddered and clenched around him, and I cried out incoherent gasps of pleasure. He was mine. Mine. Mine—

“
Ahhh!
”

Alekk felt it too. If I hadn’t been sure of it, I knew it then. He fell on top of me, his mouth tearing kiss after kiss from my lips. As he kissed me, he thrust harder and harder, working his swollen cock deep inside of me. It would never be deep enough. I wanted him to take me apart, to rip me to pieces and undo me.

I arched against him and he went wild, jackhammering his cock over and over again. Our bodies crashed together in desperate need, and our moans rose in the small tent. His hands were all over my body and I was gripping the pelts for dear life as he slammed into me, eyes wilder than a wolf’s.

The waves of my first orgasm had not receded yet before I felt his cock stretching me and felt his need pulsing through me as though it were my own. I focused my attention on his sensation, on the building pressure that was coming closer and closer with every rocking thrust of his. His breath came in thick pants, and I kissed his throat, licking the salt off of his skin. He growled and pinned me back at the hip.

“Alekk,” I moaned.

The pressure was too much. I felt the orgasm come through him, and it passed from his body to mine, shuddering me again and again in impossibly high waves of pleasure. Inside of my core I felt a burst of heat, and then the thrills of his orgasm made me spasm, my body tight around his shaft, milking him for every drop of what he had left. It was a white burst of pleasure through my nerves that left me trembling.

Alekk pressed a soft kiss on my forehead. His arms were shaky, and when he lay on top of me, I pulled him close. I wanted the pressure of his body on mine. We were one. He was mine, and I—I was completely his.

My head snapped up. I heard footsteps coming. Before he could say a word, I had pulled my wolf away, back deep into myself.

As a human, I couldn’t hear anything.

“It’s alright,” Alekk said. His heart was racing. I could feel the hard thuds against his chest. But the footsteps must have been far away.

“It’s alright, Kinaya” he repeated, and rolled over, pulling me into his embrace. I let myself curl against his chest, but I felt an emptiness now. Without my wolf side, I did not know his emotions. I could not sense the other side of him, not like I had been able to sense him when we were making love.

I wanted to ask him then if he had felt the Calling. If he was as bound to me as I was to him. But I couldn’t make myself say the words. If I had been able to shift, we would have been able to speak without words. Now, though, all I could do was press myself against him for warmth.

He pulled a furred pelt up over our bodies and turned down the lantern so that it was dark. Already I could sense him drawing away from me. He wasn’t the Alekk I had been with a moment ago. He was farther away. Distant. And yet from his gentle touches, I thought that he might feel the same way about me. I reached out and touched him at the neck, my fingers feeling the raised seam of his scar in the darkness.

We lay there under the pelt for a few minutes before he spoke. I was already half-asleep when he whispered my name.

“Kinaya?”

“Yes?” I couldn’t see him in the darkness, but I knew that his eyes were open. I nestled against his warm, strong body.

“You asked me if I would stop them. My soldiers. If I would make peace for you.”

My heart swelled, pressing against my ribcage as I waited for him to continue. Then three words—only three words, but they were better than any other three he could have given me.

“I will try,” Alekk said.

“Thank you,” I murmured. And that night I slept without any dreams at all.

Chapter Eleven

I woke up to the sound of a growl.

“Blaise!”

I sat up quickly. Alekk was half-kneeling. Blaise had a wolfbone blade at his throat.

“Don’t move,” my brother warned.

“Blaise, stop,” I said, speaking slowly. I felt as though I was in a dream, like I couldn’t move as quickly as normal. Blaise’s face was angry, and there was already blood on the knife’s blade. Had he cut Alekk already? A wolfbone blade was the most dangerous weapon to a shifter. It cut deep and shredded flesh, with no hope of healing.

“Kinaya, get up. Get dressed. We’re getting you out of here.”

“Stop it, Blaise,” I said. I swallowed, trying to get my senses. “You don’t need to do this.”

“Me? It’s you who doesn’t need to do this. You don’t need to sacrifice yourself to this beast, Kinaya.”

He put the wolfbone blade under Alekk’s chin and lifted his face up. His face was full of shocked recognition.

“It’s… it’s you.”

Alekk nodded once, slowly, his eyes tracking the blade.

“Yes.”

“Are you a messenger? Or an alpha?”

“One can be both,” Alekk said.

“The Scarred Prince? Going out to be a mere messenger? Do you think I’ll believe you when you say that?”

“It’s the most dangerous job in war. And I’m not scared of your pack,” Alekk growled.

“No? Maybe you should be. I got by your drunk guards without a problem. Only had to kill one of them.”

Alekk’s lip curled. I breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn’t him who had been cut.

“Come on, Kinaya,” Blaise said, pulling back the pelt. I stood up, pulling my clothes back on.

Then he saw the blood on the sheets. I could see the wheels in his mind turning, understanding. He turned back to Alekk with hate in his eyes.

“I’ll kill you for what you’ve done to her. I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

“I agree,” Alekk said calmly.

“Kinaya, go. I’ll handle him.” My brother gripped the wolfbone blade with white fingers.

“No,” I cried. “Blaise—”

“I don’t think you can handle me,” Alekk said. His words had a low growl running underneath them. He was trying to draw Blaise out into striking at him with anger. A wild strike. I could see how it would happen and I could not do anything.

“I can handle you just fine, you brute,” Blaise said. His anger was growing. I realized then that I didn’t need to stay human. If Blaise was here, there was no reason to try and hide my true nature. If we were going to run, it would be as wolves.

I let my shifter side ease back into my body. Immediately my senses confirmed what I had thought was true. Blaise was shaking mad, and Alekk was only trying to draw him out.

“You’re wrong. I’ll rip you to shreds, and I’ll do it without a knife,” Alekk taunted.

“I’d love to see you try.”

“Stop, Blaise, don’t!” I reached out to my brother’s wrist.

“Kinaya, stay back! I’ll save you from him.”

Blaise darted a quick glance over at me. It was enough of a distraction for Alekk to jump forward.

“Ah!” Blaise cried. Alekk’s hand came down on his wrist. The wolfbone blade clattered to the ground of the tent. I picked it up, not knowing what I would do with it. I certainly wasn’t going to attack Alekk. But there was no way I could use a knife against my brother. I held the knife uselessly at my side.

Alekk held Blaise fast around the neck, raising him off of the ground so that he tiptoed in the air.

“I could break your neck, you whelp.”

My brother writhed in his grip, his hands beating uselessly at Alekk’s strong arms.

“I’ll kill you. I swear!” Blaise choked out. “I’ll kill you!”

“Stop. Alekk, he’s my brother!”

Alekk tossed Blaise down to the ground. I immediately grabbed Blaise’s arm to stop him from trying to fight again.

“Don’t,” I said.

“Kinaya, run!” He shoved me toward the tent opening.

“No!”

I stepped back, the wolfbone blade at my side. I stood next to Alekk, looking back and forth at the two men who both held claim to my loyalty.

“Why are you doing this?” Blaise hissed.

“He’s my mate!”

Blaise stared at me. His jaw dropped.

“Your… your…”

“Yes,” I said. Now that I had all the powers of my shifter self back, I sensed Alekk’s agreement. He looked at me, and I could sense his desire. Not just to have me, but to protect me.

A warmth blossomed in my chest. “Blaise, he’s my mate and I’m his. It’s meant to be.”

“But—”

“There’s no time to argue about this. Can you get Dad to agree to a negotiation? If he can come, we’ll prevent a war between the packs. Neither of us want to fight,” I said.

Alekk looked warily at Blaise. He was already shaking his head. I saw a flash of fear pass over his face.

“What?” I frowned. My brother was not easily scared. “Blaise, what is it?”

“The rest of the pack is already here,” he said blankly. “They’re going to attack the back of the army. It was going to be a distraction so I could help you escape. Kinaya—”

“My men—” Alekk started to say.

Then, from outside, I heard shouting.

Alekk’s eyes darkened.

“No!” I cried.

“Come with me,” he said. He grabbed my arm and we ran, the three of us.

Chapter Twelve

All through the camp there were howls as men changed into wolves and fought. I saw a few of the guards from my pack leaping into the fray.

“Stop!” I cried out.

“There’s more in the back!” Blaise called. “Hurry!”

As we ran, my heart pounded in my chest. A prayer rose from my lips, unbidden.

“May the gods take those who fall.”

Those were the words Granny Dee had taught me, for a fight that would shed blood.

“May the gods take those who fall.”

Alekk’s wolves had scattered drunkenly into the woods, and from all around we could hear the howls and barks of shifters fighting.

“Stop!” he cried out. He grabbed a nearby captain by the scruff and shouted into his face. “Tell them to pull back! Retreat back into camp!”

“Your sisters said—”

“I don’t care what they said. Pull back!”

“Blaise, can you get them to stop attacking?” I asked breathlessly.

“I don’t know,” he said.

We raced to the back of the tents. Down the hill a hundred yards or so, Alekk’s sisters were leading the attack. I saw their pure black coats surrounded by the gray and brown of other wolves. They were too strong, I knew. My heart sank. His sisters would kill all of our wolves if they were allowed to attack.

And then I saw her.

“Dee!” I cried out, but she was too far away to hear. Her white pelt shone brightly against the dark trees. I saw her coming toward the two sisters. She snapped at them, and they jumped back, circling and snarling.

No.
She couldn’t fight them. She couldn’t. She was strong, yes, but she was old. There was no way her reflexes could match theirs.

“DEE!”

I yelled at the top of my lungs, but to no avail. I couldn’t stop our wolves from attacking. Only the alpha could. And my dad was nowhere to be seen.

Other wolves were fighting all around us. I saw Francis locked in a scuffle with one of the guards. There was blood everywhere on the snow. I screamed again and again, but nobody would listen. I turned to Alekk for help.