Claimed by the Alphas: Part Three
Read Claimed by the Alphas: Part Three Online
Authors: Viola Rivard
Claimed by the Alphas
PART
THREE
Copyright ©2014 by Viola Rivard
All rights reserved.
Cover Design by Yoly Cortez of Cormar Covers
‘Have you not been listening?’ I asked her. ‘I hate him and I never want to see him again. Now either take me back to Aragón or get out of my way.’
‘Está bien,’
she said. ‘I will take you as far as the foot of the mountain, and when you have had time to think, I will take you back up.’
We walked for hours without speaking. The wolf hummed a tune, while I festered in my rage. I was furious, not just at the philandering alpha, but at the audacity of this doe-eyed waif who thought I would ever go back to him.
As if all I needed was
time.
Day broke as we reached the foot of the mountain. The path ahead was illuminated with golden light, and I knew that
it would lead me back to civilization. There, I could put all of this behind me and move on with my human life.
The wolf changed then, and I climbed onto her back in a daze. The way back up the mountain was hard,
facing Rein was harder, but there are worse things.
Marie du Luponte, 1931
An excerpt from
Wolves of the Cordilleras
She
woke gradually, drifting between sleep and reality. Various sensations brushed against the edge of her consciousness. A caress along the curve of her neck. Something warm and wet travelling up her belly and towards the swell of her breasts. Sharp canines gently scraping across delicate flesh. A heated mouth latching onto a hardening bud of pleasure. She moaned, squirming restlessly against the assault.
Waking up had become Mila Foster’s favorite new thing.
The canines moved up until they captured the sensitive pad of flesh at her ear. A hand worked its way between her thighs, fingers slipping past the nest of curls to find the part of her that was already growing wet with need.
She didn’t have to open her eyes to know which of her alphas was handling her where.
After three nights of sharing her bed with the two males, she knew them by touch alone.
Asch liked to work her slowly
, bringing her awake with teasing touches and soft nips as he nuzzled her neck. His fingers were nothing short of incredible, and in just a few short days the man had found every erogenous patch of flesh she knew she had, and even a few she hadn’t known about.
Caim loved her breasts. He went to sleep with one in his hand eac
h morning, and each evening when he woke, his hungry mouth would seek her out, marveling in her chest as if it were the first time he had experienced it.
The two wolves were completely insatiable. They woke up hard and ready for her every night, immediately seeking to pleasure her awake. For the first time in her life, Mila woke up to a reality that was more amazing than anything she could
’ve ever dreamed of.
And then it quickly devolved into a nightmare.
She stiffened as she felt Caim’s finger sink inside of her. He flexed within her, and then let out a rumbling sound of pleasure against her breast. Against her better judgment, she arched into his touch, her overstimulated body craving the friction.
Predictably, Caim took this as an invitation. He grunted, removing his finger and placing his hand on her bare hip in an attempt to nudge her onto her side. Asch stopped his ministrations abruptly, slapping a hand down onto Caim’s.
“No,” Asch growled.
Here they go again.
Mila cracked an eye open to see Asch and Caim locked in a heated glaring match. The tension between them was palpable, and two days ago it had scared the crap out of Mila. Today, it just annoyed the hell out of her.
She was starting to think that the planets must have been aligned for some sort of mystical harmony the first time they’d had sex together. Either
that, or they had just been on their best behavior because she had been so obviously intimidated. Whatever the reason, both males had been completely insufferable since then.
Caim jerked her hip back in an attempt to loosen Asch’s hand. Asch wasn’t letting go.
His voice low and threatening, he said, “You had her first the last time.”
Mila threw an
arm over her heated face and groaned.
Asch was supposed to be the diplomatic one. He was typically the less dominant of the two alphas, and usually let his much less amicable counterpart do as he pleased. Somewhere between the first
time they had sex and around, oh, six hours later, he had turned into an uncompromising, possessive psycho.
Caim raised himself up on one arm, giving Asch a measuring look.
“I will have her first every morning,” he declared, and then smugly added, “I am not willing to negotiate on this.”
Mila was seriously going to punch him if he said that one more, goddamn time. In the past three days they had discovered a very extensive list of things that Caim was
‘not willing to negotiate on.’
“You may touch her breasts, but not with your mouth
. I am not willing to negotiate on this.”
“You are not permitted to sleep with clothes on, human. I am not willing to negotiate on this.”
“You may only mark her body above the neck. I am not willing to negotiate on this.”
“You are not permitted to pull the human away from me when we sleep. I am not willing to negotiate on this
.”
He seemed to make new rules up on the fly, and t
he list went on and freaking on. The worst part of it was that because Asch had gone all crazy possessive, he completely ignored Caim’s mandates. Usually Caim was too involved in the actual act of having sex to notice when Asch broke one of his rules, but when he did notice, he became downright obstinate.
Sounding more wolf than man, Asch bit out,
“Not. Fucking. Happening.”
Mila instinctively flinched at the familiar tone. No matter how stubborn Caim could be, Asch was always the quickest to aggression. They hadn’t fought since her second day with the pack, but with Caim taking every opportunity to provoke
Asch, it was only a matter of time.
Sitting up, she put her hand on top of theirs and pursed her lips.
Asch looked only slightly apologetic, while Caim was completely unrepentant. He gave her a sly look and glanced back at Asch, parting his lips to say something that would no doubt piss him off further. Not giving him the opportunity, Mila’s hand shot out to cover his mouth.
“Cut it out,” she scolded.
She looked between both men. “You two seriously need to stop fighting. It’s really getting on my nerves.”
Caim swatted her hand
away with a flick of his free wrist.
“Do not try to silence me, human.”
Mila let out a seething breath through her teeth.
“And that’s another thing. My name is
not
Human,” she told him, jabbing a finger into his chest. “And if you don’t start calling me by my
first
name, then you’re never gonna be the
first
to do anything again.”
Caim gave her a sour look, but didn’t reply. She pried
their hands from her hip and then got up from the bed.
It wasn’t entirely dark yet. From her window, Mila could see the brilliant evening sun preparing to dip behind the chain of mountains that flanked the valley.
The light aided her in picking out a dress to wear. She had always been a huge fan of skirts and dresses, but over the past few days she would have killed for a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Unfortunately, her luggage had yet to arrive, and she was stuck picking from the pile of dresses that Rosie had given her. The quirky wolf had very good taste, but her dresses were made to look nice in, and weren’t suitable for daily life in the wilderness.
She chose a simple b
lack dress with a leather trim. Feeling a little vindictive, she shimmied into it slowly. She could feel eyes boring into her back. Weak-willed woman that she was, she refused to look at them until she had made it to the door, knowing she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from getting back into bed with them.
After putting on her boots, she went to leave the room.
Once she had one foot outside of the doorway she glanced back, struggling to look indifferent as she regarded them. Asch’s golden skin seemed to glow in the rosy hues of twilight. His eyes gleamed as he looked at her imploringly. She chewed her lip as her knees went weak and she felt herself leaning back into the room.
Fortunately Caim spared her from making a fool of herself and diving back into bed.
He turned towards her, his hand fisting his massive erection. With narrowed eyes, he said, “You cannot leave me in this state. Get back in bed.”
Mila snorted in disbelief. “
Well good luck finding someone to help you out with that, because it’s not gonna be me.” She turned to make a dramatic exit, but pivoted on her heel, snapping her head back around. “And don’t you dare think of actually finding anyone else. You’re not allowed, and
that
is something I will not negotiate on.”
TWO
Much like their alphas, the wolves were just starting to rouse from sleep. In the spacious central cavern of the Cairn, they rose up from their fur pallets, yawning, shaking their heads, and stretching their limbs. Most slept in their wolf forms, which she knew from her reading was because werebeast senses were heightened in animal form.
Mila was getting to know them little by little. There were only a handful of males and they tended to stay in their wolf forms. They kept their distance from her, and she suspected it was because of some sort of unspoken rule that they weren’t allowed to associate with her.
The women spent much more time in their human forms, and Mila was relieved to see that they weren’t all unnaturally beautiful, though most were at least moderately attractive. When she had initially come to the den, many of them had been openly hostile towards her. They had simmered down after the first day, once Asch and Caim had both imprinted on her. Now, they just seemed curious about her, but also strangely intimidated.
Brae was already awake and conversing with a small group
of females towards the entrance of the den. Mila was relieved to see her. The she-wolf had helped her to come up with the idea of letting the alphas share her, and she was probably the only one that Mila could confide her problems in.
As she made her way across the room,
she raised her hand up, preparing to call out for Brae. Rosie intercepted her.
“Good night, Mila,” she said, materializing in front of Mila. Her
auburn hair was braided into two, thick pigtails that were tied with green ribbons. She was wearing twin sets of gold bangles on both wrists, and Mila noticed that her nails were painted a deep red.
“You have nail polish?” Mila
asked, grabbing Rosie’s wrist. She brought the hand up to examine her meticulously manicured and lacquered digits.
“Do you think they are pretty?” Rosie asked, wiggling her fingers.
“Yeah, you do a good job. I’ve gotta have you do my nails sometime.”
“Were you going to see Brae?” Rosie questioned, glancing at the blonde from over her shoulder. She looked back to Mila. “I can take you to relieve yourself. Do not bother with her. I am a much more valuable friend.”
Mila dropped Rosie’s hand and gave her a tight smile.
“That’s fine, but I need to speak with Brae first.”
Not giving Rosie time to object, Mila sidestepped her and approached Brae. When she noticed her, Brae stopped talking and gave her a wide grin. The women she was with, whom Mila recognized as Kallie and Trina, clamped their mouths shut and shifted uncomfortably.
“
Good night, Mila,” Brae said in her lyrical voice. “Did you sleep well?”
In predominantly female packs, alphas typically had certain
women that they preferred to sleep with, or ‘favorites’. Although no one had outright told her, Mila had inferred that Brae had been Asch’s favorite. It was easy to tell why he would choose her. Aside from being beautiful, she was genuinely kind and sweet. Back home in New York, Mila would have probably never been friends with a woman as nice as her, but in Lazarus territory, Brae was a much-needed friend.
“What are you guys talking about?” Mila asked, insinuating herself into the circle. Kallie and Trina stepped back, both looking as though they were suddenly fascinated by the floor.
Mila’s shoulder’s sagged. She didn’t know how she was supposed to get through to the other females, and frankly, she had enough on her plate with Asch and Caim right now.
“Nothing important,” Brae said, waving a hand. “Are you hungry? Do you
do you need to go outside?”
“I am taking her out. You do not have to concern yourself with her,” Rosie cut in.
Oh yes, and there was that.
Brae folded her arms across her chest. “Do you truly believe that Asch would allow Mila outside of the den with you? A hawk could carry her away and you’d be none-the-wiser.”
“Why do I care what Asch permits? He is not my alpha.”
Brae let out a harsh bark of laughter. “I would enjoy seeing you say that to Asch’s face, you tick.”
“Shut up, shut up,
shut
up
,” Mila snapped, rubbing at her temples. “Why does everything have to be an argument with you people?”
It was just her luck that the only two women that wanted to make friends with her hated each other’s guts. Mila was sure there was some sort of sordid history between the two of them, but she just couldn’t bring herself to care about it.
“Look,” she said, cooling off a little. “I just want to go outside, go pee, and maybe take a walk or something. If you both insist on coming with me then you aren’t allowed to fight.”
Both women nodded stiffly. Mila noticed that Kallie and Trina had slinked off, and hoped her own outburst hadn’t driven them away.
“We really should ask Asch before we leave the den though,” Brae told her.
Mila put her hands on her hips. “I thought the valley was supposed to be safe from your rivals?”
“Cairn Valley is the safest of our dens,” Brae agreed. “However, there are other dangers outside besides rival packs.”
“
Okay, whatever,” Mila said, flicking her hand dismissively. “But I’m not going to wait around for permission to leave the den. Rosie can look out for bears and you can watch the sky for hawks, now let’s go.”
They left the den together, none of them happy with the company. The fresh, night air did little to stave off Mila’s foul mood.
She had never considered herself to be an outdoorsy type of girl. She had grown up in the city, and while she had often fantasized about living in the wilderness, the reality of it was a hard pill to swallow after two and a half decades of modern life.
Time sped by in the city, and everyone was racing to keep up
. In the valley, time seemed stagnant, but Mila felt dizzier than ever. She thought that for the first time in a long while, she wasn’t adapting to change, but was changing herself. Into what? She had no idea.
~~~
The tawny wolf set the piece of luggage on the forest floor and shifted in place. Fur receded into tan skin and taut flesh. It seemed to travel up and sprout from her head where it poured down her back in a golden disarray.
When she met Asc
h’s gaze, Lotus raised her chin, giving him a circumspect look. Beside her, Gem unceremoniously dropped the luggage and dashed forward, shifting as she dove into his waiting arms.
“Asch!” s
he cried, flinging her arms around his neck. The young female buried her head into his chest and inhaled deeply, before letting out a squeal of delight. “You did it! I knew it would be you!”
He put his arms on her shoulder, prying her off his chest. He forced a smile as he looked into her round face.
“Welcome back,” he said. He glanced around the clearing. “Where are the others?”
Asch had caught Lotus’s unmistakable scent just a few minutes earlier. He had peeled off from the hunting party, ordering
one of the betas to take the lead. He hadn’t anticipated they’d be back so soon, and he wasn’t pleased about it.
“River and Fern are still marking the borders,” Gem offered. “Sable is…” She looked up thoughtfully and tapped her chin. “Sable is in a mood.”
Thank God for small favors. Lotus was enough to deal with. The last thing he needed was the two of them back and screwing everything up.
He looked to Lotus, who stood frozen in place. In the moonlight, she looked like
a chunk of marble, hewn into a goddess of righteous indignation.
Not taking his eyes off of Lotus, he patted Gem on the shoulder. “Take the bags to the den. We’ll be back shortly.”
Gem complied without protest. Nearly all of his pack obeyed him without question, even those who favored Caim as alpha. The one, glaring exception was now standing before him, giving him a look that would cower a lesser man.
Once Gem had bounded off with the bags, Asch sauntered over to Lotus. He gave her a slow smile, purposely baiting her.
Lotus didn’t bite. She saw right through the act, visibly relaxing.
“You are many things, but cruel is not one of them. Where is he?”
Asch nodded to the east. “Back in the den. I was leading the hunt when I caught your scent.”
“Good,” she replied curtly.
She stepped past him, striding purposefully towards the den. They were still two miles out from the Cairn, and he knew the fact that she hadn’t shifted meant that she wanted to talk. He fell into step beside her. She was unnaturally stoic, and for the first time, he wasn’t sure what to say to her.
They walked in silence for a few moments. The only sounds were the crunch of leaves beneath their feet and the distant chirpings of crickets. From the corner of his eye, he could see her lips part and close several times
.
“Blackthorn raided three of the human farmsteads on the edge of Tye,” she said, breaking the silence. “River
and Fern are seeking an audience with Talon, though I doubt they will cease hostilities unless you intervene.”
Asch’s jaw clenched at the prospect. He had sent his best to handle the situation.
He hadn’t planned on leaving the valley for at least a few months, and he sure as hell wasn’t leaving when Mila would be fertile any day.
“I’m not the only alpha our pack has. Why don’t you ask Caim to handle it?”
Lotus shot him an impatient look. “Do not patronize me. You know as well as I do that if Caim handled such matters we would never be at peace.”
“And yet you wish it was Caim who imprinted on her and not me.”
It was a low blow, and she immediately fell silent again. His words had been bitterer than he’d intended, and he realized that no matter how irrational it was, Lotus’s rejection stung.
Over the years that they had been friends, and later pack, Lotus had almost always taken his side over Caim’s in important issues. She was a shrewd diplomat and a clever mediator, and always recognized Asch as the superior leader. But while she valued Asch as an alpha, he had no illusions about where her loyalties lied.
“Caim imprinted on her, too,” he told her. He wasn’t interested in keeping up the pretense that Mila had chosen him, when she hadn’t. Instead of being amusing, it was just an irritating reminder that she wasn’t fully his.
“How are you managing that?” Lotus asked, her eyes rounding.
“I don’t think we’re managing to do anything except piss Mila off.”
Lotus laughed then, and the storm clouds that had gathered in her eyes began to clear. Asch felt the strange uneasiness between the two of them begin to wane as well.
“Have you coupled together?”
“A few times.
Mila seems to enjoy it, but Caim’s being an overbearing asshole about it.” Asch scratched the back of his neck. “I guess if I’m being honest, I haven’t been a walk in the park either. I probably want to share her less than he does.”
“
Mmm,” Lotus said, nodding sagely. “How long until the thrall?”
“A few days.”
Asch had already sensed the changes that were taking place in her body, changes that were beginning to affect him as well. Aside from feeling more possessive over Mila, he had begun fostering a low-level aggression towards Caim that seemed to grow by the hour. He knew that Caim must have sensed it too, though the younger male made no mention of it.
In fact, he and Caim had hardly spoken in days. He knew that it had nothing to do with
any awkwardness from their shared sexual experiences. Although he wasn’t about to tell Mila, she was not the first woman they had shared. Not even close.
While it had taken Asch a few years to let go of his human inhibitions, Caim had never viewed
sex as a private or personal thing. When he was younger, Caim had often made it into a sort of game. They would compete to see who could last longer, who could make the female moan louder and come harder, and many more things he’d rather not reflect on.
Now that they were both past their wild youth
s, Asch was more partial to intimacy than pure gratification. He had a few females that he coupled with regularly, usually in a private setting. By comparison, Caim almost seemed to have burnt himself out. For him, sex was a shallow affair, nothing more than a simple release, and he never seemed entirely satisfied.
Lotus placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a tired smile.
“The outcome of this falls on you, Asch.”
“I don’t see why I have to be responsible for everything.”
She shook her head. “No, it is not like that. You think that Caim is ruled by his instincts, but he is the master of them. No matter how affected he is by the thrall, he will be in control. It is you who will have to remember who you are, and what is important to you.”