Owned By The Alphas: Part Three (7 page)

W
ith Ali holding tightly
to him, Calt covered the terrain between Red’s den and his in good time. He was careful with her; he could feel her trembling from the cold towards the end of the journey, so he gave a short bark and, as though she could understand his other language, she leaned down so that her body was flat against his and able to soak in more of his natural warmth and use his great fur to seal hers in. She looped her arms around his neck and clasped her small hands together as she whispered in his ear, “Good idea.” He thought this peculiar, but wrote it off to women’s intuition, the thing Shaynah had described to him when he was young and she’d known he’d been up to no good. One of many times.

The large, thick bushes that in effect concealed the entrance to his den came into view as they climbed up higher. He slowed only when they were in front of the cave, with him in the lead, Red just a couple steps behind. Stopping, he waited for Ali to climb off. The sun was on its way, and the darkness in the sky was making room for its arrival. Ali looked all around her and breathed, “It’s just so beautiful. I hope I never get used to it.”

Red walked up and stood beside him, still in wolf form, too. All of them were, save for the human. They were waiting for Calt, and Calt realized that Red was doing the same. He met the other alphas eyes and considered him a moment. How interesting to show such respect when he could have easily tried to show his power. But the greater power was to not
need
to show it. That he was giving Calt his due respect in his own home, impressed Calt, and surprised him. He’d had such ill feelings toward the other alpha for so long that he had not expected to like him.

Calt tipped his head back and howled. All joined in; Red as well. Ali’s hands rose up as though in water, floating up at her sides to breast-level as she listened and looked around, her mouth slackened with amazement at the harmonized cacophony of sound. Calt then shook out his fur and changed back to his human form, the others not far behind. As his spine cracked together one vertebra at a time, he rose to his great height and looked to his left to share a moment with Red.

“Come. Let me show you my home.”

“I would be honored,” Red replied.

Calt looked to the others. “Go and get some sleep, everyone. Lucin, would you mind lighting torches in my den? No, make it one torch.”

Lucin grinned and bowed his head. He stole a glance at Lorn, then broke into a run, disappearing inside. That glance captured Calt’s attention for half a heartbeat, but was lost in the more important issues of the day, and tomorrow night. But he’d seen Lorn watching Lucin and vice versa, in a way that caused his insides to twitch on increasingly more occasions over the passing months.

Bloo, Lorn, Dak, and Calus, all went inside, and when Borhan went to follow, Calt stopped him. Red and Ali waited by his sides. “Your leg looks much improved, friend.”

Borhan stretched it out and gave it a shake. “I lost two days worth of muscle, but it will be back together in no time. Still has a slight ache and when I do this…” he bent the knee deeply, “this hurts like hell. But I give it another day or so and then the pain will not be worth mentioning at all.” He smiled, but the smile did not reach his golden eyes.

“Say what you need to say.”

Borhan paused on a glance to the other alpha. When he met his friend’s patient gaze again, he said only, “It is your life,” and bowed his head. “I will see you at sundown.”

“Rest well,” Calt replied.

They watched Borhan walk inside and when he was gone, Calt motioned with a raise of his great hand. “Come. Let us try this no sex thing, shall we?”

Ali rolled her eyes on a grin and walked in front of them. Red threw Calt an appreciative look regarding the human’s backside and Calt nodded, his smile widening. Ali called back, “Don’t think I don’t know you’re checking me out.” Then she spun around and walked backward. “You are checking me out, right?” Her eyebrows twisted together. The alphas laughed and nodded. She ran back to them, the color deepening on her cheeks. “Good. That would have been embarrassing.”

She took their hands and said to Red, “You’re going to love his den. Oh!” Her smile vanished as she worried it might be an insult to Red’s home to love Calt’s so much. But Red smirked and dispelled her awkward feelings.

“I can already see this is a far cry above my home, but Gypha wanted the tree, and so we have done our best with what we have.”

Calt caught of glimpse of pride mingled with a desire for better in all things, crossing Red’s features. But then the look was gone, replaced with a pleasant interest in the new surroundings. Letting go of Ali’s hand, Calt walked ahead as they neared the first room–his den.

“This is where I sleep.”

“He’s here so that if someone comes, he will protect the others,” Ali announced.

Calt smiled at her. “That’s right. You’ve been talking to Lorn, haven’t you?”

She glanced to the floor. “Um…mmhmm. She’s taught me a lot.”

As they walked inside, Calt watched the other alpha take in the room. Lucin placed the lit torch in the wall’s natural crevice and asked, “I could light a fire, too?”

Red started to say something, but stopped himself.

Calt asked him, “What is it?”

“I don’t want to step on your toes, but I believe Ali is shivering. A fire would be nice.” His manner contained none of the ego peacocking it had earlier, and Calt’s glance drifted to Ali to discover she was indeed shivering. He had not noticed.

“Lucin, a fire is necessary.”

“Thank you,” Ali wrapped her arms around herself and walked to the fireplace as Lucin got to work.

Red’s eyes followed her and then landed on the bed of pelts.

Watching him, Calt asked, “Would you like to see the rest now, or shall we wait until tomorrow?”

Bringing himself back from wherever his mind had gone, Red turned, his eyes a little unfocused. “What? Oh, I think tomorrow would be good…”

“Ali needs to sleep,” Calt finished the sentence for him, not wanting to miss another clue. “I think tomorrow is best.”

Red nodded, his expression giving away that he was about to say that very thing. Ali smiled back at them with the sweetest expression and walked to take them each by the hand, pulling them toward the bed with a mischievous look dancing in her soft brown eyes. “I can’t wait for this,” she grinned.

Calt laughed and Red threw him a look as he said, “I have been dreading this, if I’m honest.”

The laugh in Calt grew to a belly laugh then, and he reached out and picked up Ali, sending her flying onto the pelts with a screaming yelp. She bounced several times and had Red laughing with shaking shoulders as she swore at Calt and dug her way under the covers quickly.

“Come here, boys…” she smiled, holding up the pelt she was wearing and tossing it aside in a heap by the wall.

With the flames beginning to lick at the firewood in a way that promised greatness, Lucin, caught up in the fun, grinned from ear to ear as he called over, “Okay then. That is my cue. I will see you all tonight! This is going to be fun!”

Calt called to him, “Take the torch, Lucin. We won’t need it now.”

“You got it!” He grabbed it and vanished with a wave.

Calt and Red climbed in on either side of Ali and she lifted the pelts to let them in. Calt chided the human, “If you keep looking at our cocks like that, you’re going to be ravished before you have a chance to close those pretty eyes of yours.”

She cried out, “Well, you guys are both hard! How can I not look?”

Red leaned over and kissed her nose. “You looking is making me harder.” He burrowed under the pelts, resting on his side facing her, one leg draping over.

Calt surveyed the two as he pulled up the pelts over himself. “How is this going to work?” he frowned, failing to picture it.

Ali thought for a moment and then let her body guide her. She turned onto her side and beckoned Calt to lie on his back. She slid a leg low on his stomach, the back of her knee sliding down to cup Calt’s cock in a warm embrace. Red spooned her from behind and she reached and laid her hand on his hip, her torso sandwiched comfortably between both of theirs. Calt rested his hands on Ali’s legs and heard something he hadn’t expected to, so soon: her little snores.

“She does that all day,” he half-whispered to Red.

Red chuckled, “Really? Huh.” After a few moments, he added thoughtfully, “It’s better than silence.”

Unexpectedly, an image of Tawny sleeping next to him came into his mind, her tan and white fur mingled with his, their bodies hot enough that no fire was ever needed. The image unsettled him and he pushed it away. He listened to the crackling logs for a while and when he hadn’t heard a change in Red’s breathing, he ventured, “How do you feel about her?”

Red didn’t answer at first. “No disrespect, but my feelings are my own. I do not wish to discuss them.”

Calt did not argue. “I will show you the rest of the den when we awaken.”

“I look forward to it. Good day.”

“Good day.” Calt closed his eyes, but sleep did not take him as quickly as it did the previous morning, when things were simpler, and it was just Ali in his bed.

S
he was so relaxed
and cozy, her eyelashes felt heavy. She became aware of two large males wrapped around her, and that they’d switched positions. Calt was now spooning her and her head was on Red’s chest, her leg wrapped around his middle as he laid on his back, breathing quietly, both still asleep. She snuggled closer and burrowed her ass into Calt’s body, finding his length stiffened during sleep and pressing against the back of her soft thigh. She stifled a moan as her sex clenched at the memory of what was to come. But when she closed her eyes again visions of the upcoming battle danced before her so fast that her heart began to thump hard with nervous anxiety.

Her eyes shot open.

What have I gotten myself into? I’m going to be on display in front of both packs. Tawny, who hates me, will be there. How can I not be self-conscious during that? And to top it off, there will be voting! And this was my idea? What the fuck?

Red’s voice rumbled in the darkness, “Having second thoughts?”

She gasped, surprised to have woken him. “I didn’t hear your breathing change. Did I wake you up?”

“No, your thundering heartbeat did.” His smile was apparent in his voice, even if she couldn’t see it.

She brought her fingers up and touched his lips, tracing along the warm, upturned curve of them. “Oh. I’m sorry. I’ll be fine, just a little nervous. Is Calt asleep still?”

He nodded and took her finger into his mouth, lightly flicking it with his tongue, then planting a moist kiss on its tip. “Let me start a fire for you, babe. I know you don’t like being blind.”

She smiled, and the kindness of his offer cooled her boiling nerves. He lifted her leg off of him and gave it a light squeeze as he set it down on the pelts and leaned down to kiss her head. She heard his footsteps grow quieter, and she tucked herself deeper into Calt’s muscular curves until every inch of her was touching a part of him. His soft, hot breaths into her hair sent tingles down her spine and she smiled wider, hugging his arm tighter against her.

In no time, new firewood had been thrown on the ashes of the old, and the sticks Red rubbed together produced a spark that led to flames. He returned silhouetted by the growing light, and Ali couldn’t take her eyes off the wide expanse of his shoulders. Couldn’t it always stay like this?

“I see I am the last to awaken,” Calt rumbled in her hair. She shivered and squeezed in tighter.

“We just woke up,” she assured him, not wanting him to think he’d missed out on anything.

Red sat down on the bed, the light growing so that Ali could see his features becoming clearer now. “I think we may have overslept. I feel too rested.”

Calt rose up on an elbow and agreed, “I needed the sleep more than I realized.” He pulled away from Ali and rose out of the soft, warm bed, walking to the door. Ali sat up and watched his departure, admiring his form as well. His ass wasn’t as high as Red’s, but it was very grab-able, and now in the light, the muscles on his forearm and biceps as his arms swung with his casual stride, were panty-drenching material, if she were wearing any. Guiltily, she glanced up to find Red watching her, his nostrils flaring slightly as he smelled her arousal.

“I watched you walk, too,” she confessed, casting her glance away from his jealousy.

Standing in the doorway, Calt called back, “It is early yet. No one is awake. It was in our imagination that we overslept.”

Red reacted with surprise. “Huh. Well, it will take my pack an hour or so to arrive. What to do with all that time?”

Ali’s stomach grumbled as if on cue. “I have an idea?”

The alphas chuckled and Calt left to wake the betas and send them hunting. Red took Ali off guard by leaping off the bed and joining Calt, after stopping the doorway to inform her, “I’ll go with them. We’ll be back soon.”

“Oh, okay…” she said to the empty doorframe. “I guess I’ll just wait here then.” Glancing around her, Ali shrugged and mumbled to herself, “What am I going to do with myself for an hour except freak the fuck out?” She let out a laugh laced with sarcasm and nearly jumped off the bed when a voice answered back, “Want to take a bath with me?”

Lorn was standing in the doorway, and had been so quiet that Ali hadn’t heard her arrival.

Ali let out an exasperated sigh and held her heart. “You scared the hell out of me! And yes!” She threw off the pelts and walked to the she-wolf, wondering why her eyebrows rose slowly and her beige eyes danced with happiness. “What? Lorn, what’s with the goofy grin?”

“You’re naked, and you didn’t even notice.”

Ali gasped and looked down, covering herself out of habit. The heat from the fire had warmed the room enough for her not to realize she didn’t have her pelt, and she hadn’t slept with it on of course, so it felt natural to be without it. “Whoa!” She stared at herself, and shot her eyes up to her friend. Carefully and slowly, she pulled down her hands and uncrossed her legs, standing straighter, but tense and very self-aware. Lorn watched her like one watches a child walking for the first time, egging her on, “Good girl! That’s it! Now walk around in a circle!”

“I don’t know.”

“Come on!”

Ali had wanted to be naked with them since she’d arrived, to be like they were–free and shameless. All the muscles in her body were tight as she turned in a circle, but she didn’t die, the world did not end. She relaxed a bit more and turned again. Then she jumped in the air and clapped her hands, her breasts, stomach and ass bouncing with her. Lorn laughed as Ali started dancing around the room like a ballerina; a very amateurish one, but one who doesn’t care what anyone thinks, her arms flailing wildly then gracefully, then wildly again.

“God, this feels fucking incredible!”

Lorn joined her, and the two females danced around the fireplace, humming up a song of their own invention. When clapping echoed off the walls, they both whipped around and froze on a squeal. Lucin was leaning on the doorframe and he finished his applause with a sideways grin on his handsome, young face. “Bravo! Bravissimo!”

The war as to whether or not to cover herself was waged quickly in Ali’s mind, and she forced her arms to stay at her sides, albeit awkwardly. “You’re like your girlfriend here, Lucin. You and she can both win awards for sneaky entrances.”

On the word
girlfriend
, Lucin colored and glanced to the ground. Ali looked to Lorn to find her reaction the same. His voice an octave lower now, Lucin offered, “speaking of awards and contests. Yours is coming. Do you need me to do anything to help you prepare?”

Ali chuckled. “I have no idea how I would prepare for something like this. But the dancing was helping me relax. Join us?”

He shook his head on a shy grin. “Oh, I can’t dance.”

Lorn ran forward and held out her hand. “Neither can Ali or I!”

Ali cried out, “Hey!”

But Lorn ignored her, dragging Lucin inside and twirling herself under his extended arm, which she had to hold up for him. “See, it’s easy.”

He watched her with what could only be called
love
, and Ali walked to stand by the wall near the fireplace’s warm heat, her fingers threaded into a cushion behind her back as she leaned proudly not hiding her naked bosom or mound. Lucin moved his feet back and forth, and Lorn followed him. They weren’t very good, but they were beautiful, all because of their smiling faces. Ali’s heart opened as she watched, and when Lucin spun Lorn around on his own next time, he looked so proud when he didn’t make her fall in a heap. She giggled and stared at him as though he owned the world, and his chest broadened as he led her around the room, the comforting glow of the flames making the scene all the more romantic.

Lorn hummed the song, and Lucin led the dance, and when she hummed what sounded like the final bars, he brought her in for a kiss. They stared at each other for a moment and Ali’s heart twisted with longing. Then the young male wolf leaned down as he kissed Lorn, gripping her shoulders tightly as he pressed his lips to hers in a passionate, closed-mouth kiss. When he released her, Lorn was flushed and gasping, and he turned and vanished out the doorway so fast Ali almost couldn’t see his exit.

Both females stared at the cold, empty doorway with very different expressions, both jaws slackened for very different reasons.

“What was that about?” Ali asked. “Why the sudden exit?” Then she saw Lorn’s face and she hurried to be with her, taking her shoulders in her hands like Lucin had, only this time with the intention of supporting her so she would not fall. She looked like she was about to collapse. It was the first time Ali had seen anything but a smile on her sweet face. “Are you okay? What’s going on?” When Lorn’s chin quivered and her eyes filled with tears, Ali begged her, “Lorn, please, talk to me. I’m a friend.” A frown pierced Ali’s brow and she guided Lorn away from the door, taking her back as far as they could get away from curious ears. And then because her instinct told her to, she added, “I won’t tell anyone!”

Those were the magic words. Lorn locked sad eyes on her and whispered, “I love him!”

Ali sighed. “Oh…and he doesn’t love you back? Because it seemed like…”

“No! He does! He loves me with all of his heart,” she whispered on a sob, clearly scared.

“Okay, I don’t understand.”

Lorn followed her lead to sit on the ground by the farthest wall from the door. “You won’t tell anyone? Not even if you were tortured?”

Ali’s head went back on her neck. “Well, I don’t know if I can promise that.” Off the wolf’s expression, she added, “Yes! Even if I were tortured, I wouldn’t tell. But aren’t you being a little dramatic?”

Lorn shook her head, her eyes fired up with desperation. “No. You don’t understand. There can be no favorites. We are a pack. We are as one. There are no twos. See?” It was Ali’s turn to shake her head. “In order to remain strong, we are as one. We care equally about each other, and we spread our love evenly. We are lovers with all, and all with us. Calt threw Tawny out because he’d played favorites with her. Oh, he didn’t mean to! But over time, it happens. And they get along so well, so how could he not? But then she got cocky and acted out and got in Bloo’s face and he called her out and threw her out of the pack.” She was speaking so fast, the words were stumbling over themselves. She took a deep breath and covered her face in her hands, her long, straight hair falling in front of her hunched over body. “I could never lose this family! And Lucin
lives
for them! We love each other, but we cannot lose the others! Oh, what am I going to do?”

Ali’s frown deepened as helpless, she stared. After a few moments of heart-wrenching sobs, she reached out and stroked Lorn’s head, pulling her into a hug. “I see. Well, you don’t have to leave. I hope you don’t. I would miss you!”

Lorn looked up, her cheeks drenched. “You might be leaving, too! If the other alpha wins, you will not be here, and I will miss you!”

Ali smiled and leaned back, pushing Lorn’s hair back behind her ear and softly reminding her, “I don’t have another choice. I have a feeling they won’t share me.”

Lorn’s head shook, and her sad eyes teared up again. “They would never!”

Ali felt an ache at the verbal agreement. She didn’t know until that moment that she’d been harboring a little hope that they just might. That despite the fact that there were two packs, maybe they could all live happily together, with Ali having both alphas all for herself. She chided herself for being so fantastical in her dreams, and softly reminded Lorn, focusing on reality and trying not to be sad, “Well, you still have Lucin here with you. You’re not losing him. And you don’t have to leave the pack. You two can live
here
happily, right?”

Lorn sniffed, and shook her head. “I do not want to couple with anyone besides him anymore. I do not want Dak or Calus or…and I don’t mean helping you out of your fever. I didn’t mind that.”

Ali blushed. “Thank you, Lorn. I appreciate that.” She didn’t add that this was strange to have to say, because frankly, it all was. All things in their way of life were strange to Ali. And the young wolf would not understand. “You don’t have to couple with anyone you don’t want to.”

Lorn wiped her nose with her arm and rose up, her voice hardening. “I do to remain part of a pack. We are equal. And I do love them.”

Ali stood up, too. “I’m sorry. Did I offend you? I’m just trying to help.”

But Lorn was a mile away, staring off. “I have to see if they’re back from the hunt.” Oddly, her normal smile returned and she wiped both cheeks with her hands as if the moment was now put behind her. “I love to cook,” she informed Ali over her shoulder as she went to leave. But as she started out the door, her hand grabbed the granite frame and she glanced back, her beige eyes shimmering with sadness for a brief moment. “Thank you. I hope Calt wins.” Then she vanished.

Ali threw herself on the pelts and pulled some up over her. “What the hell was that exit all about?” she mumbled into the fur. It was so warm and comfy that she didn’t even realize it when after a few moments, her eyelids closed and she began to softly snore.