fate of the alpha - episode 2 (5 page)

The moon pulsed and madly pulled at her , even though the sun diluted its light. Ainsley was frantic with worry about how she was going to make it through the full moon without mating, but she pressed that feeling down, putting the pack’s needs first.

Just as she was ready to reach for Cressida through her bond as alpha, there was a clattering at the gate.

“Ainsley?”

“Hi, Cressida.” Ainsley turned back to the growing leaf pile. “Javier, please come talk with us.”

The young man laid down his rake immediately and jogged up to the porch to oblige her.

Ainsley sat on the bench of the picnic table. Cressida trotted up the porch stairs and stood, leaning against one of the porch columns. Javier stood respectfully in front of the other.

“I need your help tonight,” Ainsley said.

“Yes, my alpha,” Javier said quickly.

Cressida started to smirk, but then thought better of it and nodded coolly.

“One of our packmates, Sadie Epstein-Walker, is in the hospital in a coma. We need to get her out of there before the full moon tonight. We can’t have her changing in front of human doctors and nurses.”

“That sounds...difficult,” Javier said carefully. “What do you need from us?”

“Ophelia is expecting me to meet her tonight to run. I need a distraction,” Ainsley replied.

Cressida rolled her eyes. “Why am I always the distraction?”

Ainsley gave Cressida a stern look, then turned to Javier. “I need you two to meet Ophelia before she leaves Erik’s place and keep her occupied as long as possible.”

“Keep her occupied?” Javier asked.

“By fucking her, Einstein,” Cressida said.

“Oh,” Javier replied. “Wait... which one of us needs to do that part?”

“I’m not sure,” Ainsley said. “That’s why I need you both to go. I know she likes guys, but she seemed into you last night, Cress. She might choose either one of you.”

“Or both,” Cressida said lightly. Ainsley knew Cressida well enough to know that although she’d said it in a nonchalant way, it was wholly intended to make Javier nervous.

“Both?” Javier asked, trying hard not to sound surprised and failing.

“Oh, I’ve heard she’s a freak,” Cressida continued. “She might just get off on watching us do each other while she rubs one out in the corner. I’ll bet she packed the whips and nipple clamps for her little visit. Or maybe even a big-“

“
Thank you
, Cressida,” Ainsley interrupted, seeing no reason to put Javier any further off his game. Assuming he had one. Hopefully Ophelia would be so taken with his good looks and bountiful muscles, she wouldn’t care that much about his technique. “Are you up to the task?”

“
Yes!”
Cressida said immediately.

Javier studied Cressida with his serious eyes for a moment.

“Yes,” he said at length. “I think I’ll manage.”

For once, Cressida seemed to be caught off-guard. Ainsley tried to hide her smile as she turned to Javier.

“You’ve done this before?”

He blushed furiously and looked down at his hands, nodding once.

“Good. I will give you one piece of advice,” Ainsley said quietly. She waited, needing to know he was paying attention.

He looked up immediately with solemn eyes.

“The thing to remember with Ophelia,” she continued, “is that it’s
all about Ophelia
. Concentrate on making her happy, and it won’t matter how much or how little experience you have. Okay?”

He nodded again and she couldn’t resist tousling his hair affectionately.

“Good boy.” She smiled gently at him. “Thank you for helping me.”

His face was suddenly brighter and he managed to smile back.

“Come on, new meat,” Cressida said, jostling him slightly.

Ainsley smiled as the two of them ambled off in the direction of the gate. She wasn’t sure how much time they could buy her, but she planned to use every minute of it.

She slipped her phone out of her pocket and texted Grace to tell her the game was afoot.

CHAPTER 9

C 
ressida normally loved the full moon but tonight it was cramping her style. They weren’t at Erik’s house yet, and the ache in her pussy was already radiating out into her whole pelvis. They hadn’t even fooled around.

By this point in any other full moon, Cressida would have found someone to pound the life out of her until they were both satisfied half a dozen times over.

Fucking Ainsley Connor.

Cressida loved Ainsley.

Also she hated her.

The position of importance Cressida now held in the pack was awesome. Cressida especially liked having one over all those college weirdos.

But having to do stuff when she didn’t feel like it, or not do things when she did, sucked.

It didn’t help that the new kid was joined at her hip. Emotions were hard to ignore when you were a wolf, and feelings were rippling off of Javier. His chest was thundering with fear. But the heartless moon affected him anyway, and the scent of his lust poured off him in waves, pushing Cressida’s own need to the breaking point.

She gritted her teeth and looked over at him.

He met her gaze bravely. His chocolate brown eyes were luminous. Yes, he was afraid, but there was something else in his eyes too.

She winked at him and grabbed his hand.

“Ainsley was right, just concentrate on Ophelia and you’ll be fine.”

His hand was warm and dry and he squeezed hers back hard enough not to be a pussy, but not so hard that he seemed like he had something to prove. He nodded, but there was still something about the way he was looking at her. He turned away before she had a chance to think too much about it.

They were at Erik’s anyway. The grassy field by his house glowed with moonlight as they made their final approach.

Game time.

Cressida was suddenly at a loss about what would happen next. She handled it like she did every crisis - pounding up the porch steps two at a time to confront it.

Javier followed like a good puppy, his fingers still entwined with hers.

She let go of his hand to knock on the door.

No answer.

Cressida banged on the door again.

She waited three heartbeats, then strode on in. Ainsley wasn’t in there so she wasn’t worried about the knocking.

“Councilman Winter?” she called.

There was a sound of running water upstairs, and the whole house smelled like steak and some kind of perfume.

“I’m upstairs, come on up and get comfortable.”

Cressida shrugged and headed for the stairs. She could feel Javier following behind her. Though he was a liability, it helped a little to feel that she outranked someone here.

The smell of the perfume increased as they climbed the stairs. Once they reached Erik’s room, Cressida immediately began to undress. She was down to just a black lace thong & matching bra when she sensed that Javier wasn’t moving anymore.

She turned to catch him staring at her, deer-in-the-headlights style. He hadn’t removed a stitch of his own clothing yet.

Great.

She waved a hand in front of his eyes and he blinked, then she gestured to indicate his clothing. He blinked again, then shook his head and pulled the-shirt over his head.

Cressida hadn’t been planning to check him out, at least not until they got down to business. But now that she had to babysit him, she couldn’t help but notice his six pack abs and the shadow of silky black hair between his chiseled pecs. The tattoos on his arms drew your eye right to the widest part of his bicep. Nice.

He unbuttoned his fly. Then he pushed the jeans down his narrow hips. A pair of black boxer briefs peeked out.

Before Cressida could wonder about what was underneath, he looked up at her inquiringly.

She shook her head to tell him not to remove the boxers.

He straightened and held eye contact with her. There was an intensity in his gaze. His posture had changed from that of an earnest young boy to a man in charge.

Shit.

The air between them was crackling. The moon took no prisoners.

Cressida knew that if she fucked him, Ophelia would know it, which wouldn’t be good.

That knowledge sealed her decision to do it anyway.

Suddenly, the water that had been running in Erik’s bathroom turned off.

Crap.

There was a bang as the door flew open and hit the wall, and then Ophelia was framed in the threshold.

She was completely naked. Water ran off her muscular frame in rivulets. She was very tall, and her height combined with her fierce expression gave her the look of an Amazon.

She paused dramatically in the doorway, then strode through and looked from Cressida to Javier and back. Her dark eyes narrowed.

“Ainsley thought you might want to take the edge off before your run,” Cressida said, hoping her voice sounded bored instead of scared.

“Yes,” Ophelia replied, “I’m just trying to figure out why she sent you two.”

Bitch.

Cressida was ready to throw down, super-alpha or no, but she could hear Javier’s heart thundering.

“If you prefer we can send for Tweedle-dee from last night,” she said instead. “Maybe he’ll bring Tweedle-dum to help.”

Ophelia’s stern exterior cracked and she gave Cressida a smirk.

“Let’s see how this plays out,” she said, circling slowly behind Cressida.

Cressida held herself motionless against every instinct. She could feel Ophelia’s eyes on her, making her skin suddenly hyper-sensitive. Ophelia’s hot breath grazed the back of her neck. One wet finger trailed down from Cressida’s neck to the middle of her back.

Suddenly Cressida’s bra was open. Ophelia was smoother than a high school football player.

Cressida took in the odd feeling of the undergarment going from being like a second skin to a foreign piece of lace drooping from her shoulders. It scratched against her nipples, which had gone instantly hard from the cool air in the room. She held her breath, waiting to see what Ophelia might do next. The pleasure of her anticipation surprised her.

But Ophelia had already moved on to Javier.

Cressida locked eyes with him. His jaw was set, but otherwise he looked relaxed. Except for where his boxer briefs tented out in front of him.

Good.

Ophelia should be happy. Cressida was willing to bet good money that most guys went limp when faced with that attitude.

Where Ophelia had barely touched Cressida, she took the opposite approach with Javier. Her hands spread out like starfish all over his back and shoulders, feeling and stroking. Then she circled around to face him.

He pulled his gaze from Cressida’s and gave Ophelia a single smoking hot look before dropping his eyes to her tits deferentially. Nice.

Ophelia had a huge rack, much bigger than Cressida’s. And a fist-sized scar in a crescent shape above her left breast. Wolves healed easily, so it must have been inflicted with silver. Though it looked like an old scar, it was an angry red color with uneven edges. Instead of detracting from Ophelia’s beauty, the scar made her more beautiful - as if it were a demonstration that ugliness couldn’t touch her cold glamor. Or maybe it just made her look like a badass.

In any case, Ophelia certainly wasn’t shy about it being looked at. When Javier licked his lips, she smirked again and ran her hands lightly up and down his chest. Letting her hands drop to his waist and then to his hips, she molded his skin and through the boxer briefs, touching and probing every part of him, except his stiff package.

He stood perfectly still before her, feigning relaxed indifference. Again, Cressida was impressed. Was this really the puppy dog that had been sleeping in Ainsley’s guest room?

Ophelia slid her hands to either side of his penis without touching it to rub his thighs again, and it bobbed between her hands. Cressida felt her own body aching in sympathy.

“Good boy,” Ophelia whispered. “Let’s see what you have for me. Take his boxers off,” she said over her shoulder to Cressida.

For a moment Cressida was frozen. Then she scrambled over to kneel at Javier’s feet. His spicy scent filled her nose and she felt another wave of lust wash over her. She looked up at him and he gave her an imperceptible nod. She slid his shorts down slowly to release his cock. It was rock hard and just inches from her mouth.

Though she had a sudden desire to taste him, she sat back on her heels and looked to Ophelia.

“Not bad. See if you can make it bigger,” the councilwoman said.

Cressida reached for him, but Ophelia grabbed her shoulder roughly.

“No hands.”

For fuck’s sake.

Cressida nodded and brought her hands back to her sides. She knelt forward and looked up into Javier’s eyes as she eased her tongue along the tip of his penis.

His jaw clenched, but he managed not to make a sound.

Cressida shut her eyes and drew him in deeper, until the whole velvety head was snuggled between her lips. She ran her tongue over him while sucking lightly and tasted a single salty drop.

She opened her eyes and saw the fire in his. Her nipples tightened painfully and her whole middle cramped with desire.

Overcome, she slid him deep into her throat, until tears came to her eyes. Soon she was really putting her championship blow job skills to work, giving him a combination of suction and flicking, licking caresses. He went rigid in her mouth and she could hear his heart hammering in time with his pulsing organ.

Just as she was sure he couldn’t take any more, she felt Ophelia’s hands in her hair, ripping her away.

Javier sucked in his breath in his first sign of weakness. Cressida was oddly proud.

“Much better. Good girl,” Ophelia purred.

A warm feeling spread in Cressida’s chest against her will. It was hard not to be gratified when you had pleased an alpha. Even if she was bat shit crazy and sort of sadistic.

“Now it’s my turn,” Ophelia continued, lying down on Erik’s bed spreadeagled.

Cressida looked over at Javier, whose eyes were fixed on Cressida’s mouth. Poor kid. She nodded her head toward Ophelia and they both approached.

Erik’s bed was really a king-sized mattress on the floor. It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford a bed. He was a wolf and felt more comfortable sleeping in a cozy place.